#that he was a villain for a bit didn’t change that which was wild but I liked it

[worstloki]

Loki probably thinks he’s good at holding grudges, but really he’s so bad at holding grudges he can barely do it at all and I don’t think the fandom revolves that in our minds enough. Like when Thor leaves him getting shock-tortured and 2 hours later he pops up and doesn’t even bring it up, just worries about Thor’s eye and saves the day by accepting the resurrect-Surtur-suicide-mission.

Loki: I’m so so good at holding grudges. I stand up for myself. I don’t forgive and never forget. I am getting a good grade in vengeance. I’m getting revenge right now this very instance!!

Thor: you’re monologuing again

Loki: MALEVOLENT MONOLOGUE OF GRUDGE-HOLDING!!

[confused-wanderer]

I think we’re not fully utilising Dick’s potential for fuckery. This mean was raised in a circus. Surrounded by trapeze artists. And wild animals. What makes you think he has any regard for safety or self preservation?

So I like to think that sometimes, just sometimes there’s a switch that flips inside him and instead of being mature and practical about the system he lets his intrusive feral child win.

Two-face: Heads or tails little bird. Heads, I kill you. Tails, I surrender.

*flips coin*

Nightwing *throws his escrema stick and it hits the coin which lands in his palm*

Nightwing: Hey Harvey. If I flip it around in my hands I can change the outcome of this

Two-face: .. wait-

Nightwing *flipping his hand around with the coin inside* : Say why don’t we make it more interesting?

*takes out three more coins and puts them all in his palm before switching them around a bit*

Two-face: oh.. no..

*Red Hood and Red Robin watching in horror*

Red robin: .. should we.. should we stop him

Red hood *remembering when a villain knocked away Dick’s weapons and told him if he could draw blood without landing a hit on him he’d tell his army to stop and Dick didn’t wait a second before biting the fucker’s neck and taking a good chunk out of it*

Red hood: he’ll be fine.

[wayfayrr]

Read how the Links would not be ok if you liked a villain. Hm…I don’t like a villain, don’t worry lol. But I have thought about Ganon (totk) and how I feel bad for him. My ex told me (as he’s way more familiar w the games than me) that Ganon is evil bc he’s corrupted by gloom from Demise or something. Therefore it’s not completely his fault, because also I mean, no one is just born evil like that. So I’ve sometimes looked at him in the cut scenes (haven’t finished the game yet so idk the ending) and thought “y do we have to hurt him? If he’s just corrupted by the gloom from demise, then y can’t we find a way to save him? Bc then the three parts of the triangle could work together! So how would Tears feel about that idea floating around my head? Bc I’m not romantically interested in Ganon or anything, just wanna save him.

Also from my last ask, me killing the npcs by accident and laughing like a maniac. Yeah so an example of that would be when you have to save the dude w the horn or whatever (from the band) in the big hole he fell into, and get his wagon out too. So I still only had one battery, so when I attached the hot air balloon and flame emitter, it ate my battery too fast to get out. So the first time I didn’t know that’d happen, so we went up then immediately dropped down and it froze the screen on the dude’s face and his speech bubble said something like “omg I’m gonna die! Put me down!!” And then went black. And that’s where I laughed and my roommate looked at me very concerned 😂

On another side note: yeah no, totally don’t change the camera angle to look at Link’s face, or take pictures, or put him in the Gerudo vai outfit bc I think it’s the cutest thing ever lol. What does Wild think of that outfit? What does he think of me liking that outfit?🙈😂

as for the first bit I think he'd respect the thought behind it - it'd be making his life easier if that would be possible after all, which means more time to fawn over you instead! he also respects how hopeful it is, because honestly ganon is as much a pawn to the games code as he used to be too - he isn't even aware of it either, just a soulless husk for the code to puppet for it's tasks. but don't put too much thought into ganon, else he's going to get jealous. Why are you thinking about him so much when he isn't alive, when he's right here!! if you say too much about ganon without stopping to think about him then it's going to really start getting on his nerves.

sfdgvaesvgadvgga that quest becomes so much easier when you realise you can just recall something back up to the top after pushing it into the hole lmao (definitely not how I solved the quest nuh uh) (also I'm guessing by other ask you mean the one where you used link to calculate hp?) but I can see why your roommate was concerned after the fade to black when you were laughing sdfsdfvdsv

also no never zooming in on his face never ever nuh uh

(only the last one is mine, the others are from pintrest)

I think wild would love the vai outfit - like how tears adores the frostbite one, and it's less the outfit itself and more your reaction to them. even if right now they're just your dressup dolls soon enough they'll be able to show off the outfits for you as more than just pixels on a screen <33

[aspenlovesmedia]

Oh god I made lore for the Life Series superhero au.

So I’ll be using the powers given in Wild Life but I’d take inspiration from all the Life Series (and a tiny bit of Hermitcraft) if that makes sense.

Essentially the gist is that the whole group were chosen by the Watchers and given superpowers to protect the city(?) (may change this, I have come up with this in the last 2 hours lol) and they have to deal with a bunch of villains and stuff (I might base them on the wildcards). Now, some of them were vigilantes before this (specifically Grian, Scar, Scott, Pearl, Martyn, Cleo and Joel) and Mumbo was their tech guy. The initial vigilante group was friends with everyone else too at this point (well, some of the dynamics are slightly complicated but we’ll get to that) but after an experiment gone wrong, Mumbo and Skizz are killed.

Grian did not react well to this and in a mix of greif and desperation called out to the Watchers for help. You see, in this au, the Watchers are essentially mysterious deities that are poorly understood, but known to be incredibly powerful. They grant Grian’s wish, sort of.

The whole group were given abilities, including Gem’s astral projection where she is able to travel anywhere and communicate with the spirits of the dead, and Cleo, who can raise the dead, the drawback being they have to do what she tells them too. Mumbo and Skizz have complicated feelings on this dynamic to put it mildly. Grian will often mimic Gem or Cleo’s ability to talk to his dead friends, and let’s just say he may have crushing guilt over the whole situation.

The cost of them all getting powers and sort of getting their friends back? They are tasked with defeating villains. The original vigilantes train the rest of them, and a superhero team is born.

Now, things are complicated. There are mixed feelings about what Grian did, then on top of that there’s quite a bit of drama in the group anyway. Grian and Scar have a whole messy situation (inspired by Desertduo stuff in general which will include a secret soulmates thing but I haven’t quite figured out what I want to do with it yet but it is a thing). Scott and Pearl started out as vigilantes together, but Pearl’s violent streak didn’t sit well with Scott which led to them not working together anymore.

There will be more stuff I just need to do more research since I don’t remember anything about Last Life for whatever reason, and in general I need to watch a couple more povs I’ve watched Grian’s for all of them and then some from Scott and Pearl.

I hope that makes sense lol. I wrote most of this post very late at night so sorry if it’s a bit confusing.

[thereal-true-ogilvie]

hello everyone welcome to i talk about benrey for a minute here

as someone who’s watched the entirety of hlvrai at least 6 times, the full vods at least 3, and the cast commentary hovering somewhere around 10, i consider myself to be pretty well-versed in the series. i also kin benrey. this is probably important to my perception of him.

the series is about self-aware AI.   its in the title! so it seems obvious enough to me that Benrey was programmed to be the final boss. he was SUPPOSED to be a silly character that antagonizes the protag and throws off the group dynamic, and then it’s a big reveal and you get to beat up this guy that was mean to you!

but he doesnt wanna. hes self aware.

Of all the characters, i think Bubby and Tommy are the most “powerful” in that they were able to break their characters the most. Tommy is a bit of a wild card because he doesn’t usually act like an AI. I view him as the “character you’re supposed to protect” in the party, but somewhere along the way he, too, became self-aware and figured out how to handle his own. I think that’s where the age thing comes in. He was programmed to be a 5-year-old that you’re trying to get out of this dangerous facility! but he didn’t want to be a 5-year-old, he’s smarter than that, he’s capable! so he changed it. Him being the son of Gman also probably helped with him being able to just do that.

I take Bubby and Dr. Coomer as both being tutorial characters. Dr. Coomer is a bit broken, but he still does his best to teach you about things. I think he’s the tutorial NPC that goes “watch out for [x]” and “we can use ropes to cross big pits!” and “we should call them Peeper Puppies!” while Bubby was supposed to be the “here’s how you shoot a gun”

Like, Dr. Coomer does the knowledge about the world, and Bubby does the action. for the video game. And Bubby is supposed to be kinda cold to you, because the action-tutorial NPCs tend to be. Like “what you cant even hold your own? tch, guess ill have to teach you.” But Bubby doesn’t do that. He doesn’t WANT to play the game, he wants to go back home. He liked it before the game was switched on. So he doesn’t teach Gordon shit and just tries to speedrun so the player will leave and he can go back home.

one little scene that stood out to me so much was when the crew is sitting around in a circle with the pigeons. not outside, the other scene with them sitting in a circle and there’s pigeons. why are there 2 of those.

anyways, Benrey is just staring at this pigeon behind Gordon, and singing to it, calmly. And then there’s a loud beep that sounds like the vox, and definitely doesnt come from Benrey. and he suddenly gets up and shoots the pigeon. That reads SO HARD like he was being too soft with the game world, so it pushed him to do something evil randomly. Like a little villain reboot.

Almost everything he does to antagonize Gordon can be read as genuine confusion. He kills random NPCs because he knows theyre not important, and that they can’t feel anything, and that they’ll only slow the team’s progress. And what makes Gordon so mad at him is how often Benrey says Gordon shouldnt be allowed in here. I take that as a similar stance to Bubby. Benrey doesn’t want to be the villain. He doesn’t want the player to progress and make him. That gets more obvious the closer we get to the end, and most people tend to notice it in the last scenes before Xen, where he’s suggesting they go all the way back, and basically begging the player to stop here, at least for a little while.

its really sad, honestly. but i take the cast commentary bits as canon. Which makes it adorable when Benrey comes back into the movie theatre with Gordon and we get

“I wonder what will happen. I bet you know what happens!”

“I win!!!”

He did win. He got to get past being the final boss. He got to join the epilogue. I think, he probably wasn’t supposed to be able to. But these guys broke the game enough that he could. Isn’t that sweet? Isn’t that a nice ending for him? I think he deserves it.

Wayne says he acts like “he isn’t aware unless he’s being spoken to” and I think that fits really well. Like, sometimes his actions are coded into his behavior, so he does them without realizing. And then the player interacting with him (which is the premise of the self-awareness) forces him to actually look at what he did, and sometimes he has no idea how to explain it. Leading to his “huh?”

listen to me. are you listening. i need you to hear this. i need more people to understand benrey. and how much i love him. hes trapped in the narrative, doomed by it to be the villain. but he doesn’t want to be. he clearly cares about the crew in his own silly goofy way. he doesn’t want to fight them. i wrote down everything he said in the finale, and he only says 5 outright malicious lines, all of which are directly after an unnatural pause, like he’s being rebooted again. Some important lines: “I knew this was gonna happen,”

“Stop shooting at me, I have to shoot back, I don’t wanna do that,”

“I didn’t have a big plan, I was supposed to be nice, but you forced me to be BAD so I’m gonna be BAD… friend.” the small, quiet “friend” there gets me every time. even after everything, even after his nature is revealed, he wants to believe theyre still friends.

“Don’t go in there, please… I don’t like that room." The amount of times he sounds so genuinely sad when asking them to stop, or even just saying “bro..” like he’s mourning the friendship they could’ve had. The amount of times he sounds genuinely pained when he’s glitching out and stretching across the screen.

And his last words, said childishly of course, but,

“This isn’t fair.”

[napswithwolfie]

LU Pokemon AU

bro the strength it took not to give him a full dog team

Wolfie is still a regular wolf. Not a mightyena, an absol, or even a lycanroc, just a plain regular wolf, and it weirds everyone out because no one has ever seen a creature like wolf link. 

Oh and if his team feels split, well that’s intended. Which half suits him better or does the full team represent him well ;DDD 

Time Sky Warriors 🐶Twilight Wild Legend Hyrule Four Wind

Team descriptions under the cut 👋👀

🐶Poipole: Midna, or his memory of her. So Poipole doesn't join Twi's team until the end of tp after the mirror is shattered. I imagine Poipole is born from the remains of the shattered mirror’s dust, suffused with the negative ‘other worldly’ energy of the arbiter's grounds. 

When Twilight hears giggling in the mirror chamber, he doesn’t think much of it. He has spent too many moments since their separation reminiscing about her. Even now, he decides to humour his heartbreak, imagining some lighthearted quip about how far he has fallen for her to stoop to hallucinations. He chuckles at himself and his imaginary conversation with Midna.

🐶Hisuian Typhlosion: in this au ghost types are the only pokemon unaffected by the Twilight. If anything, they already exist between worlds as, well ahem, ghosts. 

There's even that nostalgic weight leaning on his shoulder... Wait... Twi realises he's down bad, but even this is ridiculous! He whips his head over his right shoulder, and there, face to face, is a creature unlike anything he's seen before, wearing an all-too-familiar grin. They zip up and away, hovering nearby with playful curiosity in their eyes, waiting to see his next move. At his bewildered and stunned reaction, they let out that chiming giggle he heard earlier

---

You don’t have to look far to find where Poipole’s gone. If they aren’t hitching a ride on the back of any of their teammates, then they’re off causing trouble together with Time's mons.

🐶Incineroar: Twi didn’t get a choice when this little litten chose him in the alleys of Castle Town, though as a cat man he doesn't mind this one bit. 

Typhlosion first encountered Twilight when he was miserably lost in the Twilight zone of Death Mountain. Pretending to be one of the wandering souls, unaware of the blanketing twilight, Typhlosion carefully ambled in their direction to get a better look at the strange creature. They could feel a rich and powerful soul within Twilight, and noticed how the twilight both welcomed and repelled it. Even odder was their partner sitting on its back. Typhlosion knew dark energy when they sensed it, and that imp's soul was a pool so dark it threatened to swallow up the light - hrm, now there's an interesting thought. 

---

Just because you don't catch Typhlosion causing trouble doesn't mean they're not as much of a prankster as the others—actually, they're worse. Typhlosion has a knack for roping in carefully selected allies into their mischief. Despite their playful nature, they often go missing, staring out at seemingly nothing. As a ghost type, they're attuned to wandering spirits, and will spend much of their time listening to them and helping them pass on whenever they can.

Incineroars are excellent with children, and you can't change my mind. They're not named the 'Heel Pokemon' for nothing! They love playing with kids, pretending to be the villain to defeat, staging extravagant fights with spectacular victories for the heroes. Twilight's Incineroar is particularly protective of its family. Despite aiding 'The Hero,' they are anything but honourable in battle. They're not afraid to employ unfair tactics, from small actions like throwing sand in their opponents' faces to targeting eyes and joints, even going after the enemies' allies. They are unflinching in the depths they will go to achieve victory. 

🐶Mudsdale: Epona but buffer. Twilight's first companion, Mudbray would happily tackle the world together with all the confidence of an unstoppable 8 year old.

🐶Volcarona: Twilight was given a pokemon egg after restoring Faroe's light. It was terrifyingly cold when Twilight first held it, so chilling that even Midna thought it might be a morbid joke from the light sprite. Despite this, Twilight insisted on keeping the egg. 

With each zone of Twilight lifted from Hyrule, the Light Spirits would bestow a ‘boon’ onto Twilight’s team. Cryptic as always, Twilight had no clue what help he received. Steadily throughout his quest the egg grew warmer, almost scalding by the time the last zone of Twilight was lifted; and upon receiving the final sprites boon the egg hatched. 

Volcarona can be quite aloof. It lives at its own pace, exuding a divine presence that others cannot easily disrupt.

🐶Garchomp: I wanted a brutish pokemon that reflected (heh mirrors) his curse and it was a difficult decision between Garchomp and Kommo O.  

It was nothing short of a miracle that Twilight survived the encounter with Garchomp. The Twilight Blighted Pokemon was already an apex predator in its territory, its strength bolstered by the dark magic of the twilight. Twilight doubted he could defeat them. Forced to sneak around, he found that being a hero seemed to attract unwanted encounters - Garchomp suddenly stomped its foot, shaking the earth violently the ground threatened to topple Twilight, as sharp pillars of earth tore across the terrain toward his hiding spot.

Fight fight fight and somehow Twilight lives, Garchomp faints, dark mass is dispelled and happy happy cat meme goes here.    

Garchomp sometimes loses itself in battle, with adrenaline accidentally triggering a mega evolution that sends it into a rage. The aftermath leaves Garchomp feeling deeply ashamed, as it struggles to accept its own savagery.

---

Notes: twi’s team gave me the hardest time istg. There were too many mons to try and squeeze in, aaaaahhh a total nightmare: Exhibit A (scrapped idea)

But fr not a single dog in twi's team??? Yea well about that… Have Midna's team:

[Necrozma: The rest of the chain aren't aware he has a sixth pokemon at all. He just tells them he technically counted as one during his quest, satisfied that the lie works.

So nezzie here is a nod to the fused shadow that twi does accept in the manga. I have this idea that he has forced guardianship over the fused shadow, as a punishment, but also his duty as the hero. Twis conflicted regarding nezzie - On the one hand he is comfortable with what it represents but there's a deep fear of shame to admit to others he has formed a bond, though tentative, with nezzie.]

In a dungeon chest Twilight finds a Fire Stone. He gives it to Midna saying how it reminds him of her hair.

(No gogoats for twi. Sadge) 

🔂Time 🐥Sky 🌹Warriors 🐶Twilight 🏹Wild ✌️Legend 🍃Hyrule 🧩Four 🌊Wind

🔴 Partner pokemon: Poipole 

⚪ Smaller team: Poipole, Mudsdale, Incineroar

[murder-cookie-dust393]

This might be an odd brainrot but hear me out. How much of a world of pain would they be in if say... five cookies were to try to rescue S/O from the clutches of a Yandere Pure Vanilla Cookie?

Ok so I’m a bit confused on the wording…so I might not have completely understood. (No blame- I’m just a little dum dum)

I’m not sure who “they” was meant to be, but I’m gonna assume it’s the 5 cookies???

Ok so the 5 cookies…I don’t think it was specified so I’m just gonna spin the wheel-

We got:

KniGHT CooKie

BLACK RAISIN(????)

MOONLIGHT (SCREAMING)

Captain Caviar ✨

ALMOND TOO?? (BRO THIS WHEEL IS WILD)

Mkay so we got 2 Dilfs, a pretty princess who will beat you up, a cookie without a limb and loves birds, and…a knight.

(We should make this a game- just spin the wheel and see which cookies fight against Yan whoever lmao)

Tw: kidnapping, mention of ‘blood’, Pure Vanilla is literally insane, MC gets restrained

Ok so I know Moonlight is def stronger than Pure Vanilla so let’s ist say they’re equal for the sake of convenience.

The team of the 5 cookies were absolutely worried when their good friend literally just got kidnapped by so called “Cookie of pure hope”. What had made the healer so fucking salty that he had to kidnap them??

Thanks to Almond’s ultimate detective skills, the group had managed to find the king. He was cradling MC so tightly, like a deranged madman as his maniacal eyes stared at them.

Poor MC was quivering with fear, their arms bound to their sides. Everything about their expression screamed help.

“…Why are you here? There is no need to attack, they are simply delighted to be in arms.”

Not writing on my laptop so it’s orange ;-;

“PURE VANILLA! I demand you release them immediately! You know what happens if you don’t!”

For once, Moonlight was far from calm, a look of anger crossing her face. She glared at the blonde cookie as if he were vermin.

“Haha! Never.”

He sarcastically laughed, before frowning again, holding MC tighter to his body.

“…My king, what has happened to you?”

Black Raisin was horrified to see healer so troubled. He didn’t look like himself, his heart seemed to be…cold, for once.

“Love changed me. I realized I needed to be harsher against this cruel world who labels my love as ‘insane obsession’.”

…

“That’s because it is! A sane cookie wouldn’t kidnap someone for the sake of love! Your heart is tainted, Pure Vanilla!”

Knight Cookie charged for Pure Vanilla, but his sword was deflected by a sudden object. The knight flew back slightly by the impact, falling down.

Almond helped him stand, and the group saw a big ass Vanilla flower monster, its body towering over behind Pure Vanilla and MC.

(I’m literally bullshitting this story help-)

“Haha…This little guy here is a prototype. Since my magic isn’t for combat, I decided to make myself a guard to help me out here. He’s a good boy isn’t he?”

Pure Vanilla smiled, not in his usual innocent fashion; it was crooked, a cruel smile.

“This bastard…Looks like this won’t be an easy rescue.” Almond mumbled, as the group readied their weapons.

“I would never let you steal my precious dear from me. They NEED me. I’m their comfort. You villains!”

Pure Vanilla exclaimed in a crazed voice, seemingly offended of being underestimated.

“YOUR STRAWBERRY JAM WILL TAINT THESE FLOORS, AS IT DESERVES TO BE!”

Pure Vanilla stood, the eye of his staff wide open.

Caviar held up his ginormous cannon, sighing, “You’re almost as bad as that Black Pearl mermaid-“

——

And the ending will be up to your imagination!

If I miss interpreted the brainrot plz tell me, bcs I am willing to rewrite to its proper form.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Quick Thoughts on Nimona

Based on the graphic novel by the creator of that She-Ra reboot no one likes anymore, Nimona is a movie that is well-worth the wait.

For those who don’t know, this WAS originally a Blue Sky Studios produced movie intended to be in theaters. They got about...80-90% done before Disney shut down the studio and forced Nimona to be indefinitely shelved until someone wanted it.

And it turns out that Netflix wanted it. And boy...Blue Sky REALLY dodged a bullet with this one.

Oh, not because the movie is bad. Again, it is VERY well-worth the wait.

The animation is stellar, having a unique style that sets it apart from other animated movies, as well as having fluent movements and bombastic facial expressions. The most it shines are in the action sequences, which are fun to watch even if there’s not many of them (really wish there were, though).

And the characters are also pretty decent. Ballister has a very tragic beginning to his story, as well as a character arc that’s pretty endearing.

His boyfriend Ambrosius is also endearing, having a decent conflict that makes you understand his side and why he’s always willing to go back and forth on what to do.

And the main antagonist, who is a surprise that’s cleverly revealed halfway, is a great villain representing the flaws of authority and why the people who make the laws actually have zero value on human life. It IS easy to tell they’re the twist villain, and their motivations are a little lacking, but you can let that stuff go if its thematically appropriate, which it is.

But then there’s the real star of the film: Nimona. At first, I found it a little weird how she’s top billing with how much of the story’s conflict is based on Ballister, but the film really picks up with Nimona, who is the heart of the movie. She’s definitely that character who some are going to love while others are going to hate, but I find her wild and violent tendencies entertaining and her chemistry with Ballister to be on point. Plus, her backstory and attitude towards how people see her really helps to endear her.

Seriously, I wasn’t expecting too much drama from Nimona, but BOY does it deliver with a few heart-clenching scenes that almost got to me a few times.

Not to mention that the themes of...I guess anti-police is the best way to put it. It’s made pretty obvious that the knights and their director are to represent the police system, and the movie does well to illustrate the flaws of it. Not EVERYTHING is perfect, but it’s...good enough.

Any real complaints I have towards the movie is the pacing and the jokes. The movie knows when to slow down for when it’s important, but there are some scenes that fly by, particularly some bonding moments between Ballister and Nimona and the development of their relationship. And the jokes can be hit or miss. When it hits, it’s REALLY funny. When it doesn’t, it’s REALLY awkward.

But that’s about it...So, WHY do I say that Blue Sky dodged a bullet with this one?

Because this is a movie that’s very against police and VERY supportive of the LGBTQA+ community. Nimona makes it clear that the bad guys are the ones who kill what society deems as monsters, even though some of these monsters got that name because all they did was exist.

If Disney didn’t kill Blue Sky, the amount of homophobic and conservative parents demanding that Nimona got pulled from theaters WOULD.

People already aren’t alright with the gay and mind-changing stuff that’s on TV nowadays. Hell, I saw on Twitter that a guy destroyed his sons Funko pop collection AND TV just because the kid was watching THE OWL HOUSE. There are VERY bad parents out there who would do anything to “protect the children,” and Blue Sky would have undoubtedly went down for a VERY brave stand to take.

Which is a shame because Nimona really is that good. It’s a solid 7/10 film that left me entertained throughout and should be seen by everyone. Bit of a warning, there’s a bit of an attempt to self-harm/suicide near the end...but thankfully it was only an attempt.

Still, check out Nimona. It’s fun, it has heart, and it’s pleasant on the eyes. You won’t be disappointed by this one.

[buttherainbowhasabeard]

Unpopular Opinion: David Tennant Should Never Have Returned To Doctor Who

When a teary eyed David Tennant as The Doctor uttered the words “I don’t want to go” in his 2010 generation scene, it was a heartbreaking moment for fans. Saying goodbye to such a universally loved incarnation would be hard, but this was Doctor Who. Change was inevitable, and often, exciting.

So when the BBC announced that Tennant would be returning to the iconic role 15 years on, as part of a series of 60th anniversary specials, I was sceptical. 

It looked like I was the only one though, as the internet erupted with anticipation and jubilation. I, however, thought the 14th Doctor reveal was a huge distraction that disrespected both the outgoing and the incoming actors.

Don’t get me wrong, Tennant is one of my favourite modern Doctor’s. His mid 2000s run as the 10th Doctor was funny, frightening, heartfelt and unforgettable. He had some of the best companions and villains, and some of the smartest and most compelling stories. But all good things come to an end, and now his emotional first exit felt a bit hollow. 

His return really took the shine off Jodie Whittaker’s finale. Yes, her years as the 13th Doctor were responsible for some of the worst Doctor Who storylines in recent memory. But this was hardly her fault, and instead of enjoying her last moments as The Doctor and reflecting on the good bits (the first female Doctor in the show’s history), fans were shouting at their screens for her to hurry up and regenerate so their favourite could return. It was almost like the show was doing a reset and hoping we’d forget about her.

It also meant that the now 15th Doctor (Ncuti Gawta, the first gay, black Doctor in the show’s history) had to wait a little longer to make his debut, which seemed on-the-nose too. 

The BBC were making it crystal clear who they thought their most popular Doctor was. Tennant has had more screen time than any other modern era Doctor, and now he’s the only one still alive and kicking post regeneration across all eras. Haven’t they ever heard of 'jumping the shark' or having too much of a good thing?!

He had four consecutive seasons from 2005-2008, with a fake regeneration at the end of Series 4 that saw him get cloned and live happily ever after with Rose Tyler on parallel earth. From 2008-2010 he travelled sans companion in a series of specials, before reluctantly regenerating into Matt Smith. In 2013, he made an appearance alongside Smith in the 50th anniversary special.

And now in 2023, he’s done three extra episodes alongside Catherine Tate reprising her role as his much loved Series 4 companion Donna Noble. These specials ended with him bi-generating (one Tennant Doctor, one Gatwa Doctor - don’t ask!) and continuing on as The Doctor, complete with his own TARDIS. He will, he says, stay put on earth to let Gatwa go off and have his own adventures. How generous of him! 

Firstly, Tennant’s latest run didn’t feel like a 60th anniversary either. Instead it felt like a very late follow up and conclusion (or even an alternative ending) to Series 4, so the opportunity to include other cameos and celebrate the show’s rich history was lost.

In ‘The Star Beast’, the monstrous Meep really just provided a reason for The Doctor to see Donna again. In ‘Wild Blue Yonder’, The Doctor and Donna fought creepy doppelgängers of themselves (again, talk about self-indulgent!), and in ‘The Giggle’, Neil Patrick Harris’ promising Celestial Toymaker did little more than put on a funny accent and do a funny dance.

Sure, it had some fun and heartfelt moments. I'm glad the DoctorDonna Human-Time Lord metacrisis has been resolved. The Doctor's tender moments with Donna were nice. His two redheaded companions (Donna and Mel) holding his hands as he "regenerated" was touching. Even Tennant and Gatwa's interactions were surprisingly sweet. However, the whole jaunt just felt like an excuse to reunite Tennant and Tate and capitalise on their lingering popularity. Which leads me to my second point… 

No other actor has been able to continue on as The Doctor, so the fact that this is the first exception to the rule shows that the studio is very obviously playing favourites. They are keeping Tennant’s sprightly sneaker wearing, pin stripe suited spaceman up their sleeves to roll out whenever they please. If the ratings plummet, they can bring Tennant back. If the fans want it, they can bring Tennant back. If Tennant wants it, they can bring Tennant back. Does anyone else smell a spin-off?

Thirdly, I don’t buy the idea that The Doctor can be - and wants to be - domesticated at all. Despite everyone telling him that he needs to stop and slow down, he has never once done so. In every incarnation, he/she is an energetic, chaotic and forever on-the-go entity that can’t stand waiting or having to sit idly by.

So, all of a sudden we're expected to believe that he’s going to stay with Donna and her family and just hang out on earth like a regular human? I doubt it. He even said it himself to Rose in Season 2, when trying to justify why he can’t settle down. "You can spend the rest of your life with me. But I can't spend the rest of mine with you." If bi-generation had have happened to Peter Capaldi’s 12th Doctor, I might have accepted it better because he said he wanted to rest. It would’ve made more sense there.

And lastly, but probably most importantly, everyone loves a bit of nostalgia, but bringing beloved characters back from the dead to get ratings up again isn’t a good enough reason. In reality, it just reeks of lazy writing or a lack of creativity, and in turn, a lack of closure. The whole point and poignancy of a show like Doctor Who is that The Doctor must change and move on, as we, the audience, have to move on.

When someone plays The Doctor, they do it for a limited time but they leave a lasting legacy. Having Tennant on standby undermines that. I want the writers to invest in their new actors and have faith in their new adventures instead of having earlier models waiting in the wings.

So for me, the best thing about these three specials and the finale wasn’t that Tennant didn't have to say goodbye this time. It was that Gatwa finally got to say hello...

[kiarpennington]

For no particular reason, I have a bit of a Hunger Games rant to go on. Going from being one of THG biggest fans to its biggest opp has been a wild experience for me, especially since I’ll still defend it…..kinda like now. I’m finding a lot of people don’t actually understand a lot of the aspects of THG but still romanticize it as this glorious revolution to aspire to……which is why I need that lady to let go of the idea of turning it into a series 🥴🫠

But just to clear up a few things:

Katniss Everdeen is not some girl boss revolutionist to aspire to. “We are Katniss Everdeen and if we burn you burn with us!”. Um…..no you’re not. Katniss didn’t even wanna be Katniss. Katniss was a 16-17 year old girl who was manipulated into being the mockingjay by the adults around her who took advantage of her wanting to protect Prim and Peeta.

Furthermore, in hindsight, it’s wild how the love triangle is treated vs the romanticism of Katniss as a revolutionist. “Peeta and Gale are whining about who Katniss likes more, meanwhile she’s just trying to survive”. That’s funny bc she’s literally just trying to survive when she gets manipulated by the adults around her and turned into this revolutionary symbol that’s meant to overthrow a 70 year old oppressive regime. Although I don’t agree with how they hyped it up in the movie, it’s much more realistic that a couple of TEENAGERS are trying to figure out their hormones rather than trying to overthrow a 70 year old oppressive regime

Gale is actually the revolutionist yall claim Katniss is. Now I know it’s popular to hate Gale—I actually don’t trust people who go so hard for Gale cause he’s just not that deep a character to have those kind of riders—BUT out of the three—Peeta, Gale, and Katniss—GALE was the one ready to pop off from the get go, followed by Peeta, then RELUCTANTLY Katniss. Now that’s not to say Katniss was fine with the way things were and that she didn’t WANT change, but even in her “if we burn, you burn with us” moments, she knew SHE wasn’t the one to be leading that and was literally looking at Coin funny for using that moment the way she did.

We know who represents Snow but who represents Coin? Let’s see. At the end of it all, Coin was ready to sacrifice the privilege kids in a symbolic HG as some form of retaliation. Although the ones who will mostly be impacted over the next four years look more like residents from districts 10-12, it can be argued that we as Americans are more privileged than other countries. And yet, certain people who scream “We are Katniss and if we burn, you burn with us” …are now okay with that symbolic HG and WATCHING the bonfire bc we all deserved to be punished for something overseas that we can’t control, despite the fact that many face some of those same fears here. So….who’s really Coin?

In no way, shape, or form would Katniss have agreed with all those protest votes. Hell, in the movie, she ended up transferring power TO a Black woman. Also, Katniss, after taking out Coin, had no intentions of seeing the aftermath. Like, NONE……WHATSOEVER. A true revolutionist wouldn’t have left the country in that kinda state. But Katniss ISN’T A REVOLUTIONIST.

Lastly, would yall REALLY rock with Katniss if she looked like her book counterpart. I mean, of course the books are wildly popular, but movie Katniss happens to fall victim to whitewashing and I’ve noticed……people…….love to aspire to revolutionists that look like them while making villains of real life revolutionaries who…..don’t…..look like them. Which, again, is why I wish she’d stop adding on. I’ve started before, but I don’t buy into the “she only writes when she has something to say” line. TBOSAS, to me, didn’t add anything to o.g. story that couldn’t already be inferred. But to continue to add on with other characters—who were described to look like Katniss, who was not as she appeared in the films—is to continue to whitewash them bc you HAVE to bc the characters are based on white characters now. That don’t feel strange to you as a writer? To see your non white characters…..be CONTINUOUSLY whitewashed…..all so you can turn a coin?

Yall are not Katniss. She would not have agreed with yall. Stop using her. Let her rest. 🫠

And on another semi related note, reading is, has always been, and will always be political. But just because you read about a fictional teenager character overthrowing decade old governments with only the power of friendship doesn’t mean you can. Half of yall argue up and down how you don’t owe anyone anything and that there are no benefits to be kind and then expect to be the revolutionists to unify us all. Give it a rest….🙄

[twistedtummies2]

Year of the Bat - Number 5

Welcome to Year of the Bat! In honor of Kevin Conroy, Arleen Sorkin, and Richard Moll, I’ve been counting down my Top 31 Favorite Episodes of “Batman: The Animated Series” throughout this January. We’re now in the Top 5 of the countdown! TODAY’S EPISODE QUOTE: “My fault…I didn’t get the joke…” Number 5 is…Mad Love.

It was hard to choose between “Mad Love” and our previous pick, “Heart of Ice.” In some ways, I would honestly argue the latter is technically better than the former…but the reasons I place “Mad Love” over it are twofold. One, I just like Harley more than Mr. Freeze, in general. Plain and simple. Two, while “Heart of Ice” helped to re-invent a backstory for a great villain, and thus revamped them in an inspired way for future generations…this story is a bit different. Originally published as a spin-off graphic novel for the show, “Mad Love” was adapted into an actual episode during the TNBA era. It is the official origin story for Harley Quinn, and – considering everything that goes into Harley BEING Harley, so to speak – I think that’s an even more noteworthy achievement.

Harley’s origins had been hinted at a few times in earlier episodes, most notably “Harlequinade,” which I already covered earlier in the countdown. But “Mad Love” finally gave viewers the full scoop, and adapts its comic source pretty darn faithfully. With one or two possible exceptions (among them being the infamously…questionable redesign for the Joker in “The New Batman Adventures”), it once again improves on its source material, making Harley even more sympathetic than in the comic version, as well as tightening up the pace and using the full breadth of this visual, moving medium to its advantage. “Mad Love” begins with Harley feeling fed up with the Joker paying more attention to Batman than to her. This causes her to reminisce on her past, and the full story of her background is revealed: once upon a time, she was Dr. Harleen Quinzel, a new up-and-coming psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. It’s implied, however, that Harleen was more interested in using the inmates as research material for her own ambitions, than she really was with curing them. Her ambitions, combined with an inborn naivete, led to her being seduced by the Joker, and she fell in love with her deranged patient. After a particularly grueling battle with Batman left the Clown Prince of Crime badly injured, Harleen finally snapped, and – determined to help her “puddin’” out – she became the wild card that is Harley Quinn.

This, however, is not the end of “Mad Love.” That’s just the beginning. We cut back to the present, where Harley forms a surprisingly clever scheme to kill Batman, hoping that if he’s finally out of the picture, she can finally have the Joker all to herself. I feel hesitant to say much more in great detail, for a lot of reasons, but suffice it to say things don’t go the way Harley expected, and the audience is given an uncomfortably deeper perspective on the dangerous relationship she and the Joker have. All three main characters – Batman, the Joker, and ESPECIALLY Harley Quinn – really make this story great. Harley’s origins themselves are classic, of course, and have really never changed much since this story. Certain details and elements have been expanded on or slightly altered over the years, but the basic concept has remained fixed. However, it’s the look at this trio and their relationships to each other that makes the story so splendid, as well as so disturbing at times. It also allows all three actors to deliver some of the best performances in the entire series; with the exception of “The Laughing Fish,” in fact, I would argue this is Mark Hamill’s single best performance as the Joker in all of the Animated Series (discounting movies and later series spinoffs, like “Justice League”). For Conroy, it’s an episode that allows his Batman to shine, even when he’s not the focus, as he shows his own cunning side in the way he’s able to manipulate both villains to come out on top. And of course, for Arleen Sorkin, this was the saddest, most heartbreaking story she ever got as Quinn, and she brings everything into it, showing that she could manage the tragedy of Harley as well as the humor. Also, the title references a Peter Lorre movie. That’s just cool, A+.

We’re getting close to the end now, friends. Tomorrow we move on to Number 4! Hint: “Gotham can be a Wonderland, Alice! Tonight, let me be your guide.”

[ambriel-angstwitch]

So weird AU idea I got that literally came to me in a Dream.

Sofia the first My Hero Academia AU. Though after I continued to come up with ideas it began to turn into a Tangled the series MHA AU as well

So the premise is Sofia is in a way the Midoriya of this story she is born quirkless. Before the series starts her mother marries Roland the Second who is the Owner of the most successful support item industry, and as well as a pro hero (quirk- steel like TetsuTetsu) though he’s mostly retired from hero work to focus on his kids. Her two step siblings are James whose quirk is steel which he inherited from his father and Amber whose quirk is jewel shields (like Rarity in EQG). Amber inherited her quirk from their mother who died in a fight against a villain when they were very young. James is pretty nice to Sofia off of the bat but Amber is a bit quirkest and is mean to Sofia (similar to her being mean to Sofia when they first meet in the original series, and her reasons for being mean to her in the original series still stand, she doesn’t like what seems like an intrusion on their family.)

She is a big Fan of the Pro-Hero Cinder, who is actually in a way this stories version of All Might. Cinder (Cinderella) was born with a simple spark quirk which was relatively useless but combined with another vestiges power of energy she was able to make flames. (I know with recent reveals about OFA her having a quirk would be slightly problematic but this is an au and it makes sense for the backstory I have in my head)

The other Vestiges with their quirks are (in no particular order):

Belle - Energy - (Used it for healing)

Tiana - animal shapeshifter

Snow White - Snow powers

Aurora- Anivoice

Jasmine - Size changing

Mulan - Super Strength

Ariel - Mermaid transformation and water control (like Cleo from H20 just add water)

Elena is the original vestige

Obviously with the different powers the plot will take some different turns. But I wanted to give Sofia powers that she uses in the show instead of just making her a gender bent Deku of sorts.

Now for our UA staff. I kind of want Cedric to be our Version of Aizawa, first of all because I adore him but also because he has that disgruntled vibe where he pretends he hates kids but is willing to die for them. The quirk I’m going to give for him is called the Wild Card. I came up with the idea for it based off of the fact that his spells often don’t go to as planned. It means that he has a wide variety of powers which are activated through card tricks. When he was younger he struggled with control and things blew up his face (often literally) he had to learn what certain combinations and types of cards meant and would produce.

Merida is a pro hero and her quirk is Predator Vision (a real MHA quirk that) because I wanted her to have a cool quirk that would assist her but I still wanted her bow skills to be her own (though I did for a bit consider making her like Lady Nagant). I love Merida so I had to include her and she just didn’t fit as a vestige so a pro hero it was. Sofia interns under her.

Princess Ivy is our version of Shiggy. Her black and white dragonflies which she produces are able to consume anything (instead of erasing memory like they did in STF) similar to how Shiggy can decay stuff.

Vor is All for One. She has the same powers and everything. I’m tempted to make her related to Elena somehow because I kind of like that aspect of the AFO/OFA struggle. It’s my au I could do whatever I wanted I could make them sisters if I desired and I am kind of tempted to.

Rapunzel’s backstory is that she has been held by Mother Gothel who is part of a mafia (Zhan Tiri). She has the similar powers to what she has in the show/movie her hair glows and reverses damage. She is sort of this story’s Eri. Mother Gothel can produce black or blue rocks that are unbreakable, as can her daughter Cassandra.

Cassandra was adopted by a policeman after a raid on a quirk trafficking ring by some hero’s. She resents her mother because she abandoned her. When her quirk came in her father was surprised to realize that she was Mother Gothel’s daughter but loved her nonetheless. The same could not be said for the others around her most people her age started ignoring her or antagonizing her from that point on. She decided she wanted to follow in her fathers footsteps and help people so she enrolls in the hero course. Eventually her and Sofia are part of the mission later to save Rapunzel

(This has been in my drafts since my Sofia the First hyperfixation. I wanted to make it more fleshed out and I kind of have but I’ve decided just to post it as is. If anyone is interested I can elaborate on parts of it but right now this is it. Also though I doubt anyone would anyone can use any concepts I present here as long as I get credit.)

[vidumavi]

Who of the married into Gondorian nobility trinity worked the best? Seems like there could be multiple answers here.

I think it really depends on how you define “worked best”! The reason I lumped Mithrellas, Berúthiel and Vidumavi into one category in my head is that to me, their stories (or how I think about their stories because lbr, the canon information is sparse here) all involve a strong sense of alienation and othering from the culture they’ve married into.

Vidumavi was probably the happiest with her life- she married her husband out of love, there are no hints that she did not have a loving marriage and a good relationship with her son and she died before the civil war started and her grandson was murdered. Still, she left her home behind to become Queen of a country whose nobility- including her husband’s relatives- considered her racially inferior, and no matter how happy she was with her family, that grief and anger and worry for her children and grandchildren would have probably followed her her whole life. But she did ultimately have a choice in coming to Gondor, which doesn’t seem true for Berúthiel, whose marriage was likely political and who despised her husband (both Vidumavi and Berúthiel have to change their names to Sindarin, though, an interesting parallel of having to give up parts of their identity).

(Most mentions of Berúthiel that we get have a sense of historical mythmaking and dramatization about them and I tend to read them as a wild, one-dimensional exaggeration by people who did not understand her at all. She should get to do a little bit of dark magic and cat-communing, though. As a treat)

Berúthiel was probably ostracized and treated as cruelly as Vidumavi, it’s just not mentioned because her entire role is to be a semi-legendary villain (and to be a vehicle for Jirts weird hatred of cats. Booo.). Her stint as Queen of Gondor ends with her husband possibly attempting to murder (??) her and like 20 years (?) later Gondor conquers her home, so whatever diplomacy might have been attempted by her family in marrying her off to Tarannon was probably no success. She gets one good hit in, though, by refusing her husband heirs (possibly through cat magic, we don’t know. this is one of those “Jirt scrabbled it onto the back of a receipt and it’s illegible to human eyes” drafts). And I suppose if “traumatize the population of Gondor so much that they whisper her name thousands of years later” was something she would have considered a victory (based if true), she won that one too.

Mithrellas is the odd one out here, mostly because we know so little about her and because she didn’t really have an impact on geopolitics, but I’ve always found it hard to believe that her marriage to Imrazor was a happy one. People who vanish into the night alone immediately after giving birth never to be seen again are probably not in a very good situation, though I go back and forth on how consensual the marriage was in the first place. She was entirely alone, lost in a strange country and had just lost all her companions when he found her and I think it would have been very easy for him to take advantage of her in that situation, even if she agreed to marry him of her own free will (I’m having thoughts about her and Berúthiel both rejecting motherhood in some way, but god help me this post is already long enough).

I love rolling these three around in my head and looking at parallels and juxtapositions between them. All three of them are in fraught positions with limited power despite their status, considered Other, all three are, in a sense, alone. I think Vidumavi “works” best, because she actually has a family around that loves her- she's the only one, I think, who wouldn't change much about her life if she looked back at the end of it- but of course the society around her is so bigoted that what should have been simply a marriage makes someone start a civil war that permanently destabilizes the kingdom.

[alicesadventuresinffxiv]

Thoughts on Dawntrail MSQ

May as well write up my thoughts on the Dawntrail MSQ while it’s still relevant! (full spoilers for that obviously)

What I Liked

-The new characters (especially Wuk Lamat, Erenville, and Koana) were great! Wuk Lamat in particular started out rough but endearing, and conveying her development into a empathetic and decisive leader was, in my opinion, the main place the story succeeded. In the past I’ve often felt that FFXIV short-changed the arcs of its female characters (Moenbryda, Ysayle, Lyse… even Zero left pretty abruptly), but with Lamaty’i I ended the expansion feeling satisfied with her arc rather than frustrated because I wanted more.

-Thancred, Urianger, and Estinien had just enough screentime - and impactful stuff to do during that screentime - to feel well-used but not overshadow other characters. Estinien showing up as a mysterious stranger in the Wild West was just hilariously perfect.

-The final zone felt a bit like it was trying to have its cake and eat it too with the ambiguity over whether the Endless were people, but I didn’t care because it still repeatedly got me to tear up. Plus the whole conceit of the finale to the Americas expansion being Evil Parasitic Disneyland that you slowly but surely shut down was inspired. And I loved how even before you shut it down, if you went exploring past the warning cordons, you could see the front is just a shallow facade over the machinery that makes the magic happen, just like real theme parks!

-That interdimensional key is definitely related to Azem and I am VERY curious where the story will go with it next!

What I Disliked

-Is it just me, but has the writing felt a lot more… hand-holdy? since 6.0? It’s hard to put my finger on, but it seems like there are a lot more instances where characters basically turn to the camera and explain the subtext of whatever just happened in the preceding scene. Like, there will be a great moment showing how Zero/Vrtra/Wuk Lamat/Koana/etc. has changed as a character… and then the next scene will have the Scions directly talk about “wow [person] sure has grown!” It’s a minor annoyance at worst, but a lot of what I liked about the writing of characters like Fordola and Emet-Selch is that the game trusts you to understand their complexities without handing them to you on a plate…

-Villains are often what make or break a story for me, and in my opinion DT’s trio were the weakest since Heavensward. Bakool Ja Ja was fun as a cartoonish bully, and even more fun as a boisterous “huh, doing good feels good?” new ally, but the transition from one to the other felt really abrupt. (Why bring up consequences for him if they never happen?) Zoraal Ja was a lot like Thordan in that he was critical to the story’s themes but not very interesting or entertaining to watch as a character. And Sphene… I really wanted to like her, the phase transition in the final boss makes me kind of want to ship her with Lamaty’i… but she seems like she’s intentionally written to feel flat and hollow because she’s ultimately more program than person.

-When the twins and the WoL actually got to do some mentoring, it was nice, and I enjoyed the WoL taking more of a backseat role! But most of the time, it felt like the three of us were interchangeable and underwritten, just here to fill out Duty Support roles for Wuk Lamat. Which leads me to…

-As a Krile fan, Krile was by far the biggest disappointment. She tags along the whole journey, she has a personal reason to be invested in the plot… and yet she barely has a character arc. Even after going on this journey and meeting her parents, it didn’t change anything about who she was as a person or what she wanted to do with her life. And despite participating in combat encounters now, she came across even more passive in the narrative than in prior expansions, where at least she did things like tease the other Scions and go behind our backs to recruit Zenos. Here… here she mostly exists to carry around a Plot Trinket earring and wait politely for answers to her questions.

Where’s my lil’ shit who ruthlessly hunted Estinien down with a smile on her face? Hopefully in the patch story…

Overall

I certainly had fun with Dawntrail, but it's not especially high on my ranking of expansions. Of course it couldn't capture the highs of ShB and EW bringing a close to a huge narrative arc, but I wasn't expecting it to. Ultimately, I think I'd place it between StB and HW - losing out to StB only because I am very much a Stormblood Enjoyer and love all the characters from that expansion. Dawntrail's characters haven't grown on me as much, though who knows? Again, maybe the patch quests will change my mind!

[lenievi]

For the random character asks: 1, 30, and 37? Dealer's choice of character ;)

I initially wanted to answer each one for a different character, but it became just Kirk...

1. Canon I outright reject I'm someone who follows canon (sometimes to my own detriment, especially when it comes to fics lol), so I typically am able to reconcile pretty much anything (even things I initially had an ugh reaction about).

When it comes to Kirk, I reject the entirety of Requiem for Methuselah though – I haven't seen it since 2020, but accepting that Kirk would just flirt and fall in love with a woman when his entire crew was dying is absolutely wild to me. So… the episode just doesn't exist for me, and I take nothing from it into consideration. I know that I should rewatch it now when time passed (and I also have a different understanding of the characters), and even if I ended up changing my mind, just knowing that the episode ends with Spock manipulating Kirk's memories and feelings is so offputting to me (or rather knowing that a lot of people romanticize the moment and villainize McCoy…)

ETA: I know what the ending scene was going for with its "If only I could forget." "I wish he could forget her." "Forget." (and I do kind of enjoy the idea that McCoy can manipulate Spock - but that's not the popular reading of the scene), I just dislike Spock erasing Kirk's memory and people seeing it as positive or proof of "love", rather than something really messed up on Spock's part, something Kirk would hate being done to him without his knowledge. If I didn't know what the fandom thinks about this episode, it might be better.

30. Sleeping habits It's really hard to keep a schedule on a starship, especially when you're a captain. Typically, when everything is calm, Kirk makes sure to be in his room by ten o’clock. He takes a shower, takes care of stuff, reads a book for thirty minutes, and goes to sleep. Never after eleven, if he can help it. (Because he likes to get up early.)

When things aren’t calm, he just steals an hour or two whenever he can, to hide in his room and at least rest if not sleep.

37. What they really think about themselves hmmmm I think Kirk in his early 30s was very insecure about his age, because he felt he was too young and many people he served with were around the same as him (or even older), and he could sometimes feel like he didn’t have their complete trust. His insecurities made him put up a front, which then put a distance between himself and his crew (and it got a bit worse after he killed Gary), and he believed that was for the best.

He believed that he always needed to be in control, he needed to be able to make a difference, to show everyone that he was worth it, that his life wouldn’t be wasted, and that he deserved to live when others died (because of him). He thought he didn’t deserve his own life, only the life dictated to him by the Enterprise...

[away-ward]

If you could erase any storyline from devil’s night series, which storyline would you get rid of?

Personally:

Damon not telling Winter it was him till the videos were released. I love Damon, but he deserved that jail time because Winter didn’t know who he was half the time.

I felt like Alex served zero purpose, she just made shit confusing. Also the whole black church plot was f-ing weird.

Allex and Will - I like that they were close but I just felt like them sleeping together was unnecessary, like it would have been nice to have an actual friendship that was asexual for a change.

Alex and Aydin story should have been focused in another book. NF was supposed to be about Will and Emory and to have another random couple thrown into the mix really took away from their story.

The group Wedding was just weird. I mean I like this ride & die dynamic between friends, but that doesn't mean that they have to share everything together. The wedding between the couple's should have been personal to them. I really wanted to see Michael and Ricka getting married under the night sky infront of St. Killian's as they had planned because it was them and the gazebo wedding should have been between Will and Emory without much fuss, it was a a spot that was important and personal to them.

Kill Switch should have been the last book and Nightfall the third in the series. I'm sorry but Emory and Will's relationship needed more breathing room to develop properly, we needed to see more of them as an actual couple and Emory as a character needed more time develop into the circle of friends to make it more believable to where they all consider each other family. It's really weird because Will and Emory's story has the most potential but it's also least developed one. Also having Michael's father as the main villain was just weak especially compared to Banks and Damon's father and even Damon himself who was quite a wild card, you could've really done so much more on that front.

The guys should have apologized for what they done to Ricka and how they treated Emory. I love the Horsemen and all, but one think that continuously pissed me off about them is how they kept blaming their own actions onto other people especially the girls who frankly got dragged into the shit they themselves caused instead taking accountability for their crimes and mistakes they committed. Also Ricka and Emory should've been more pissed at the guys, it should have taken quite a bit more for them to forgive them after what they had done and said to them but an apology should have been the absolute minimum and we never got it.

Willemmy needed more alone time to talk. Instead of the train scene where Emory was getting it on with Alex infront of everyone (which was hot and all) we needed more so a scene between Will and Emory to talk some shit through and resolve their problems and thereby get closer on an emotional level.

But Alas that's just me, what is your take?

It’s funny that you ask because I wrote this thing several months ago. We have a lot of the same points as far as KS and NF go.

For me it’s not so much that I would remove or erase a storyline or plot point, but that I would have liked to see it handled differently. Removing anything, especially the big things, would create an entirely different story.

With Winter and Damon, I have mixed feelings. Catfishing anyone is violating. Convincing Winter that he was someone else, letting it go as fair as he did, I consider sexual assault. She didn’t know it was him and if she did, she wouldn’t have consented and he knew that; he used it against her. He violated her. There’s no getting around that.

But…she…knew she didn’t know his name. She made the decision to sleep with someone who’s identity was being concealed from her. Can we really place all the blame on Damon when Winter was aware that he was lying to her, that he could have been anyone – including Damon Torrance – and in fact, that was part of the draw and attraction? I don’t think so. I think both of them share responsibility for how things went. Damon should have been punished, and I don’t think there was any getting around him being put on a watch list, because even if Winter had come forward, he still did it. But it’s not fair that he carries the entire burden of their secret relationship, and that’s probably the core of their story – Winter admitting that she had a hand in it.

So I wouldn’t change this storyline. I think it’s fine as it is.

Alex and Will: I don’t think I would change that storyline either. Their relationship began with Will being one of her clients. If they weren’t having sex at all, there would be no reason for Alex to have been introduced. Their relationship grew to friendship from there. I agree at some point it should have become completely platonic, but you’re dealing with a group of people who treat sex as causally, so it’s not out of the norm for them to just keep it up. I wouldn’t have minded if Alex didn’t try to sleep with everyone in the group or complain that she didn’t get to. I kinda feel that undermines her character, but that’s just me.

I don’t mind that Alex and Aydin started in NF, but since PD didn’t want to write a novella just for them, they sort of backed themselves into a corner, because they then needed to finish it in NF, which took valuable and needed pages from Willemmy, and Emory’s story in general. I think a novella for the Alex fans would have been a good compromise, because then those who wanted to continue Alex’s story could have, and those who didn’t still got a well rounded and completed conclusion to the core cast, especially NF’s main characters. I would have welcomed that change.

The group wedding. Oh boy. Yeah, I might have opted to change this. The way I see it, the wedding was not just a ceremony for the core couples to commit to each other, but it was The Family committing to each other. I would have preferred if we got a wedding for Michael and Rika as promised, and then later a ritual ceremony for the family. Some real secret society, magic friendship nonsense. Maybe something in the catacombs or out in the woods around St. Killian’s. Or even, at midnight in the gazebo*. Something with just the family and no on-lookers. And I don't think it should have been too heavy, but something a bit silly and lighter; they should have been able to joke with each other so we could see their bonds strengthening. Will and Emmy could have had their wedding at a later point – and maybe Winter could have interrupted it by going into labor and then we get the scene where Emmy tells Will she’s pregnant.

We almost had it all.

The forgiveness and friendliness between everyone happened so quickly for me, but I don’t know if I would have been happy with a whole apology scene. But maybe something that truly indicated they were going to elevate their woman in the future and acknowledging it was them that dragged everyone through a mess they created.

Like I said, I don’t want to completely change the story. The concepts were fine, but perhaps need to be developed a little differently. After all, if the concepts were that terrible, I wouldn't still be here, blogging about it a year later.

However! A change I would have made that I don’t think would have changed this story at all:

Rika and Damon shouldn’t be siblings. It just creates more confusion and trauma for Damon and makes the scenes in Corrupt even more uncomfortable from Rika’s POV. Even though we know what’s going on with Damon, the fact that it even gets to that point and then it’s never discussed, except for jokingly, is a bit weird. And the storyline doesn’t really go anywhere except for Damon being mad at a woman who, quite frankly, has always been framed as weak-willed. And his father was certainly no joke. It makes it hard to side with him in his anger when from his “mother’s” point of view, she really had no choice. But I’m not sure if PD is really concerned with us siding with or justifying Damon’s anger…

And as mentioned in the other post, I would have liked if Aydin was aged up to somewhere in his early 30s. Him being the same age as Will and the others makes it hard to believe in his authority or his "big brother" relationship with Emory. Even that minor change would make it a bit more convincing for me. Also, I feel that Alex is suited to a man nearly 10 years older than her; let's not pretend that's a significant age gap for this genre.

Hmm....I'll probably update the post if there's anything else, but I can't think of anything right now. The other post does talk about how I would have liked Alex to be a better character, but I think we've all discussed that to death.

Maybe the timelines! For my own sanity, I wish those were clearer. But then, I can't really be mad at PD for bad math.

...I think that's it.

Anyone have any other thoughts?

*I’m reading divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood right now so I can see this very clearly at the moment.

(I feel inclined to do that youtuber closing thing for giggles. You know, if you liked this post, give it a thumbs up (like). If you like my channel, subscribe (follow). Ring the bell for notifications. I post...whenever. Anyway...)