#the whole trial or something. like bullshitting a way for her to survive can be forgiven in this case i think.

[batw1nggg]

i know the dr2 survivors having zero chemistry couldve easily been fixed by like. If The Writers Had Taken The Time To Write The Chemistry instead of just last minute throwing in one or two lines literally at the very end. the combo of characters does have lots of potential for chemistry but also i think one thing that wouldve really helped is LETTING HIYOKO SURVIVE 😭😭😭😭😭😭 if dr2 had just had 6 survivors like dr1 their survivor dynamic during chapters 5 and 6 couldve been so much better 😭😭

hiyoko just slots with them perfectly. theyre missing the energy that she’s able to bring if that makes sense like dr1 has hina as its more upbeat survivor and v3 has himiko but dr2’s most upbeat survivor is. like. Akane. am i making sense here. and also hiyoko bonding with any of the dr2 survivors theyre the last people youd expect her to bond with and it can be representative of her character arc and i also wish theyd been able to play more with fuyuhiko’s arc spurring on hiyoko’s because they had that kinda going on too. idk i know we’ve had this conversation as a fandom already but i just get angrier every day that she didnt live. of course adding hiyoko in isnt a Fix All Solution to the issue of the survivors not having been given chemistry but it couldve elevated the dynamic a lot i think :( i wanted to see her fight with and bond with everyone

[terapsina]

Let us begin with the moment where they made their first mistake.

[so many SPOILERS for AGATHA ALL ALONG 1.05]

"We got to get off The Road."

Remind me again... what was rule number one about straying from the path?

Was it mayhaps... not to?

Yeah, I think it's from this point on that they made themselves TRULY vulnerable to the Salem Seven. Not to say that they had much choice, they would definitely have been caught and killed otherwise, but if there are Rules that protect them on The Road itself while between the Trials then leaving that road negates that.

Second mistake. Flying through the Bee-Swarm Of Nightmares.

Also probably the moment the Salem Seven took hold of the next "Trial" (I'm not going to go into the hints about this not being a real Trial that have been noticed by lots of other people here and described better than I ever could, suffice to say that I absolutely agree).

Also of significant note is that after they "escape" the Salem Seven there's still the sound of a buzzing insect that Agatha has to shake out of her hair. So it's a safe bet that they didn't truly slam the doors in the faces of their hunters.

They have eyes on them at the very least.

And then of course they get to the point where they get told what they're supposed to do to escape this Trial is to punish Agatha.

There's two ways that can be looked at. Either this is a legit Trial and they are supposed to come together and remain a united Coven ("Burn and brew with coven true, and glory shall be thine"). Or the Salem Seven are in charge and this is the perfect way to make Agatha face the betrayal of her new Coven the way she betrayed the Coven of their mothers' (which is bullshit actually, I'd say being put to death as an eighteen year old by her own mother puts her pretty firmly in the 'betrayed' camp then too, but we're talking how the Salem Seven would see it).

And if this was a real trial... why would them turning on each other and Agatha killing Alice give them a door?

But I'm getting ahead of myself. At first the really big moment that felt really weird to me was this here.

"What do they want?" "They already told us. Punish Agatha!"

Yes, Jen has the strongest case of a survival instinct in the whole Coven (barring maybe Agatha) but the abruptness of the turn into aggressive Burn The Witch mentality was just... iffy.

It felt more like Classic Under a Spell reaction than something that feels truly in character (something along the lines of that Buffy episode where Joyce and Willow's mom almost burned Buffy and Willow at the stake because of the demonic Hansel and Gretel).

Unconvinced?

Explain then to me this face? This one right here? Right after Jen tells them what the voices screaming in their ears want and the voices... stop.

That is way too creepily pleased for it to be Jen just freaking out and deciding to do what the ghosts want.

Being conflicted and going with the highest chances to live through this would make sense. But smile?

And not even a relieved smile, because that looks way more 'possessed by an evil entity' type of smile (or at least possessed by the feelings of the evil entity smile).

And here's the deal. I do think everyone is exactly who they are, and it's not just a vision in Lilia's head, or an illusion just for Agatha, or anything of the sort.

But I also think that there are certain moments where they get... influenced by an outside party.

And then Agatha's mother possesses Agatha for a second time and Agatha kills Alice.

Basically wrapping everything up with a nice bow to show 'look, see? I was totally right to hate my daughter since birth, see how evil she is? You should hate her too. You should finish what I started'.

Now. I'm not saying this "Trial" won't have consequences. I am however saying that this might not be as bad as it looks like right now (fingers crossed we haven't seen the last of Alice).

[davekat-sucks]

kanaya has way too many limitations as a character, rose just brings her down as a satellite love interest. but people cant even ship karkan as moirails because shes a lesbian and nobody knows if shed be okay with having a man in a concilliatory quadrant. fuck, you cant even show her being friendly with sollux or eridan because people instantly assume you ship them as matesprites.

which, again, limits her, because regardless of shipping shit her best relationship that gives her some ounce of personality and narrative relevance is by far with karkat.

i wanted to know kanayas opinions on culling and how she relates that to karkats mutancy and her duty with the matriorb. does she even like taking care of grubs? how did the auxiliatrixes stiffen her freedom? does she misses her lusus? why does she even like gardening? why did she never try to become god tier?

we dont know, instead we just have to see her act as a battered wife and be reduced to how hot she looks while wiping her tears

Some also wouldn't put Karkat x Kanaya as moirails for the fact that Kanaya is the mom friend. The responsible woman in the group. If a character is labeled as this, regardless of age or context, they are now considered an ADULT and everyone else is minors. Yes, that's how stupid it is. And these people forget that trolls are okay with incest and any troll ship regardless is just them doing it with their relative in some shape or form. I get that her not being able to stay or form in an easy relationship is suppose to play up the whole SPACE PLAYERS ARE DESTINED TO BE LONELY. That's what is the excuse for people still watching Kanaya going through the cucking in Homestuck 2/Beyond Canon. Same for Jade's situation. But fuck that bullshit. Kanaya and Jade deserve a lot better than this. It would be interesting to know another side of Kanaya that isn't about lesbian love. Is her growing plants like some metaphor thing of her giving life of her own despite the fact trolls reproduce differently? Was she bored of making clothes one time and decided to take advantage about her love for the sunlight and have plants grow alongside her? If other mutants do hatch from the Matriorb, would she take care of them? Does she believe all grubs should live and that's why we never hear anything about the trials like it was mentioned, being present on Earth C? The trials was something that states only the trolls who are lucky or strong enough to survive gets to live and have a parent. Did she get rid of that rule so that everyone can have a chance? Does she educate humans and Carapacians how to raise a grub? Could Consorts adopt? Is Kanaya fine with that? If not, why? Because they are dumb animals? There is so much to her that isn't just a tragic beauty who has a trashy interest in the Twilight series.

[kokitschi]

"like, once he's got miu and gonta killed, it's like nooo im totally not acting out because i feel extremely guilty. nooo this kamikaze plan is definitely not a direct result of that. i am simply the antagonist. im evil and crazy and this is what is in character for me. this is simply my curtain call."

I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT LIKE THAT NOOO. but YES omg that. plays SUCH a part. he's trying SO hard to make himself completely logical and cold and calculating to help everyone without all those silly caveats. but he's HUMAN and he FEELS and he's doing this to help everyone and he feels so so bad about everything he's doing (except he's not, obviously, that's sooo dumb why would he feel bad about helping everyone? you're so dumb :/ NO HE'S NOT CRYING SHUT UP)

ohh and that SO helps him detach from everything doesn't it. he so THOROUGHLY sees himself as the antagonist because of his own guilt that he starts planning his own downfall, literally becoming his own worst enemy because he cannot let this shit continue but also he's the one doing it? and it's for the good of everyone? but that's what every villain says.

(man writes his own narrative. tsumugi who?)

(no seriously my most self-indulgent headcanon is that so much of kokichi's bullshit was completely unplanned. like they wrote the characters and some of their progression but they did NOT plan for this so every time some more crazy bullshit happens and tsumugi's got her whole "omg O_O that's so weird guys!!" schtick going it's almost COMPLETELY genuine because internally she's genuinely just going "what the fuck??? i did not sign up for this shit." layers upon layers of pretending. also it's my silly little way of letting kokichi win in my brain. because he DID confuse the mastermind. even if it was mostly just a series of inconveniences.)

anyway your brain is iconic. got me rotating.

im still not over how many crying sprites this guy has - and i also think it's pretty clear when he's fake crying and when he isn't and he certainly was crying for real after the fourth trial.

i think it's very wonderful how emotional he actually is - like, yes, he's logical, smart and he can be cold af. but he also gets happy and sad, he gets devastated and super angry, he gets annoyed and he gets proud. and sure, sometimes he does exaggerate and he lies (a lot) - but i don't think it's all lies. i think he likes to pretend like it is though. and well, what's that one quote... "he wears a mask and his face grows to fit it" or smth like that

and i think that's an important aspect - because no matter how much you tell yourself that it's just a role, a mask - in the end you're still the one doing everything. you are how you act.

and i think kokichis very self aware in this aspect. ch 4 happens and he knows, this isn't something he can come back from. he fucked up beyond repair. and while he did already believe himself to be the villain, and perhaps this was a self fulfilling prophecy of a kind, i think actually having something like basically killing two people on your conscience gives it a whole different weight.

i think he had to confront the reality at this point and i think it made him despair a bit - which then leads to the kamikaze plan. (because why does someone who was just willing to sacrifice two people for his own survival suddenly choose to basically kill himself? and trust someone else to end the game?)

-

i love the hc that kokichi did genuinely derail the whole game! i think it's credible enough too, considering the absolute mess that was chapter 6.

and monokuma sometimes really seemed to have personal beef with him which to me says that he was actually getting pissed at him lol

tsumugi also seemed to be quite wary of him - though you can also interpret that as her setting him up as the antagonist ig. i think it was both.

-

my brain is very honored ♥️

i very much enjoy yours too :D

[thessalian]

Faerun!Alisaie vs Minsc (and Boo)

Heading for the docks

Jaheira: Thank you for not stopping to rob the Counting House. Just by the way.

Alisaie: Eh, not a problem. I'm basically swimming in money right now and the last thing I needed was more stuff. Now, there's one more potential entry to the sewers and undercity that I want to try.

Wyll: I am a little afraid to ask how you know about any of this.

Alisaie: Wyll ... how long have we travelled together. It's ... what, a month now? And you're still shaky on what 'bard' actually means.

Wyll: Right. Sorry. I suppose I'm not used to this 'combination of rogue, fighter, and wizard who also sings' ... thing you've got going these days. So ... there's an entrance in the docks?

Alisaie: There's an entrance in that warehouse basement.

Jaheira: This heroism requires much more breaking and entering than I expected.

Alisaie: You're a Harper, and therefore you are lying through your teeth.

Jaheira: ...True.

After a somewhat unexpected fight

Shadowheart: Why was he keeping worgs in here?

Jaheira: Because he is cruel to animals.

Wyll: I was going to say 'guard dogs', but given the size of them and the size of this room, I think I'm with you on this one, Jaheira.

Alisaie: My bet is pit fights, personally. Which leads into Jaheira's guess quite well too. Now. Down into the basement.

Jaheira: *peering down* Why does this man have a dungeon in his basement?

Alisaie: Because everyone in this city is a collection of personality disorders wrapped in skin?

Wyll: ...Harsh, but probably fair, if my father's frustration-venting at the dinner table is any indication.

Jaheira: You realise that includes yourself, yes?

Alisaie: I am a glorious collection of personality disorders wrapped in skin.

Shadowheart: Lovely skin, too.

Wyll: *tinysquee*

Jaheira: Gods save me from the romantics.

Alisaie: Aren't we going down to rescue some dude that--

Jaheira: *laughs* No, no! I prefer my partners with something resembling a brain.

And, down in the sewers

Alisaie: There are an awful lot of ways to go down here. Then again, there's an awful lot of bullshit nesting down here.

Wyll: I mean, I understand about Minsc, but ... should we maybe look for Lae'zel first? I mean, Orin has her...

Alisaie: First of all, Lae'zel's bait. Live bait works best. Second, Orin's not the kind of person who'd just present us with a corpse; she'd want to really twist the knife by killing her in front of us. And third, Lae'zel really likes the whole "enduring the trials of life" thing so honestly, while anything Orin might do to her in the meantime probably hurts, she probably also prefers it to lounging in a cushy inn suite.

Shadowheart: ...That makes more sense than I want it to, really.

Alisaie: Right. I hear the dulcet tones of cultists over that way, so...

Jaheira: It is an improvement over grease mephits, anyway.

Alisaie: At least those actually were mephits. Remind me to tell you about Lorroakan's bullshit sometime.

After some stabnation and a little bit of bullshit with sluice valves

Wyll: So that's exactly one thing you're not good at.

Alisaie: Actually, that's a bit more me not giving much of a fuck at this point. If the city survives, they can repair it. If it doesn't, no one's going to notice or care. Now let's go find Jaheira's friend, and quietly so we can eavesdrop some bonus data.

Gnome Bard: Well, that's all of it. We'll put it to good use and--

Minsc: These ones again! I will make squish of them!

Jaheira: Please ... don't ... kill him.

Fake Jaheira: *attacks real Jaheira*

Alisaie: Can I kill her?

Jaheira: No! ...I want to do it!

Alisaie: Fair enough.

Stabnation: *ensues*

After the stabnation is done

Minsc: YOU KILLED JAHEIRA!

Alisaie: Hey ... Emperor? Want to help out here?

Emperor: No. He's a fuckwit and a liability.

Alisaie: We're all fuckwits and liabilities! Just help him!

Emperor: I really don't want to--

Alisaie: And I don't really want to face certain death, but I cope with it! Just shield the man!

Emperor: I had to commune with a soft-hearted person--

Alisaie: --A person who, if she wasn't soft-hearted enough to give people chances and pragmatic enough to understand that sometimes we work with non-trusted individuals just to get shit done, wouldn't have given you the time of day!

Emperor: Oh, fine.

Minsc: AAAAAAAaaaa...? Jaheira? But ... I saw...

Jaheira: You saw me kill ... that, which looked like me, and-- Oh, never mind. You owe this one thanks.

Alisaie: You owe this one a headache remedy, is what.

Minsc: Yes! My thanks! I only willingly heed one tiny creature, and... wait. WHERE IS HE?!?

Alisaie: ...wut.

Emperor: I told you...

Alisaie: Face. Shut.

Minsc: *smashing through a wall* Ah! THERE you are, my adorable and fearsome compatriot!

Alisaie: Um...

Minsc: *holds out Boo* This is Boo! He will not harm you! He knows that you are a friend! He is a miniature giant space hamster!

Boo: *is a hamster*

Alisaie: Hey, Boo.

Boo: *is apparently not talking to the one who swigs a Speaks With Animals potion every day*

Alisaie: Okay. We ... really need to take a breath and figure out the next order of operations. I'm not facing down Orin without a rest, I tell you that much.

Minsc: I want to SMASH THINGS!

Alisaie: Don't you also want to eat things?

Minsc: ...Oh. Yes. That would be good. Come, Boo! To camp!

Shadowheart: Are we sure about this?

Alisaie: Jaheira can keep him in line if it comes to that. Plus, he doesn't seem so bad. A little volatile, but ... come on; Lae'zel.

Shadowheart: ...Fair.

((Controller Person Note: every time I encountered Minsc was an excuse to say, "Hi, Matt". It was fun.))

[flyingincandescent]

This fucking sucks. I do all this shit for this fuck, and what does he do? He fucking kicks me out! Is he really that pants-shitting scared of what I might do, even after I literally came to the aid of damn near everyone in that village? I've seen Jubilife grow before my very eyes as a result of my actions, and yet this shithead can't get his head out of his ass and blames me for the weirdass timespace bullshit in the sky! I can't even fucking use my time powers in this realm! So for now, I'm staying over at some place that Volo lead me to, after the two clans both said they were too chickenshit to take me in. There's something weird going on, and its more than the sky turning red.

Volo took me to see this woman called Cogita, and I get this feeling like she's wise beyond her years or something. Meanwhile with Volo… I don't get what's with him. He's been looking at me differently since I ran into him on the way up to quell Noble Avelugg. I asked my pokemon what they thought of him and a few of them got defensive against him. Alpha Gardevoir has been glaring at him, Slayer the Zoroark hissed threateningly, and Manaphy started crying. I feel like there's something going on, but I can't quite put my finger on it. So now, I'm on a quest to ask the three lake guardians for assistance on the Red Chain. Apparently Cogita thinks its the right thing to seek out, though my past experience with red chain bullshit tells me otherwise. I don't have any other leads however, and seeing as my phone is going with it, opening secret passages out of nowhere and all, apparently I'm supposed to do this. So far I've visited one out of the three.

Mesprit, the being of emotion, gazed deep into my heart, enough to alert Gracidea. Apparently they were satisfied with what they saw, or maybe they were just surprised that I was already Connected to a network of close friends and family. Either way, I passed the trial and was given a plume. I assume this is the Actually Intended method to create the Red Chain, and not the absolutely unethical way that team galactic tried in the present. I wonder if this is the point where they went wrong, when the shitty group that they used to be kicked out the fuck who actually tried to do things the right way. But then again, Cyline, Cyrus's ancestor (who would probably be ashamed of the shit that her descendant did), actually has a backbone and has been supporting me through this whole-ass situation, even sending her abra over to let me access the pokemon I caught. And the last order she gave me… "Don't die alone out there". She may not show it easily, but I can tell she actually fucking cares about me. I don't know how much she sees what I do for everyone, but she actually wants me to survive. Granted, I'm not sure if I can even die properly while I'm here, seeing as I'm able to get back up after I black out against nobles, but the thought behind the order… it makes me want to cry.

Regardless, if I'm expected to set things right here, then I will, even if there's a part of me that wants to spite Kamado for wanting no less than that just to let me back in the door, but I can't let my bitterness get in the way here. Countless lives are at stake here. The people and pokemon here still deserve to not be threatened by disturbances to time and space. Regardless, I still have two more trials to face. At least they're bound to be more fair than any shitty attempt of justice that would be used against me out of fear.

[truckreincarnation]

Slow a Goddamn Second | Shinjuku | Trial 4.3 | RE: Vee, Esmee, Bian, Avery, Germain, Theophania

“......”

“........what?”

As Vee begins their explanation as to why Luz possibly did it, complete with the implication that she wrote the letter present in the post office, Shin just… stops, for a moment. He didn’t look at the letter closely, out of respect for privacy, but to find out….

“......Did Luz-” write, that…..

“............oh-”

His eyes flash down for a moment. When they last discussed this plan, Luz left it as a maybe. Maybe. She was scared about thinking toward the future, so she didn’t, and as such, she left it as a ‘ask me again when everything is done’. But to find out she’s actually considering his offer, that she wants it to be a part of her future, that she is considering it to be her future….

…….fuck.

Shin pauses once more, before clearing his throat. God, keeping everything inside is killing him now.

“.....I can back up everyone else. Luz wouldn’t attempt to do such a thing. Normally, she cares a lot about her own survival, so she wouldn’t do something so risky. But now, even with the letter…. I’ll be the one to say, now that I know that’s hers, the mention of her future…. I proposed an idea to her. Now that she’s considering it… I don’t think she would have risked doing something so dangerous. Something that doomed her future.”

Another pause. “...I feel guilty for looking, and now knowing her thoughts, but… she didn’t do it.”

There, his gaze goes back up toward the group. “....I know I’m not exactly accounted for, but, I think I have a solid alibi, even if I was alone. The whole time I was in the manor, I was upstairs, so if I left, someone was bound to see me come down. Beforehand too, I think coming from the tree to the manor, when I passed by Esmee, she would have seen the bomb. Plus, hell, fuck if I know how to make stuff, even with the books. Theophania can vouch that I tried to make a basic potion for her, and that too was a struggle. Plus-”

A small sigh. “....I wouldn’t chance something so dangerous. I’m a man of risks, but getting others killed because of my actions…. You know I couldn’t bear that.”

Clearing his throat, he goes back to the proper discussion. When Bian chimes in with her theories, Shin blinks. And blinks. Hey, wait.

“Ah, yeah, I said something like that a bit ago.” Oopsies. “...glad we’re on the same page though. Anyway, as I was saying-”

Though as Theophania says no one has that sort of ability in response to Nao, followed up by Avery saying they have that sort of ability, Shin blinks. He glances between the two, before nodding.

“Well, I should say, thank you Avery for the information. I figured you would considering your powers. But regardless, that does raise something.”

“I’m not saying that you two are, but we need to consider they could be covering for each other. After all, they said they were with each other for a while before the two went separate ways, but… we need to consider that since the two care for each other a lot, they could be covering up things for each other-”

“.....like just now. Theophania would’ve knew about the ability Avery has, due to how much they fight and explore together.” He flashes a small look their way. “I’m not attacking either of you. This is a point of discussion brought up before previously, and we just have to cover all corners.”

“Regardless, following up with Bian’s accusation, and Germain’s questioning, I do have my own question. After Esmee, did anyone see the two? Can anyone vouch for them? I can suspect they- or at least Theophania- was in the training hall after me, sometime past 8, due to all the rocks around the place. I imagine if she was possibly practicing with the slingshot, then that would explain all the rocks.”

Pause. He blinks a few times. “.....could a smaller bomb be slingshotted? Look, okay, it sounds like bullshit, but some of the rocks in the training hall were pretty big, plus the books were detailing demolition bombs- I also don’t know too much about- so I was just… thinking.”

“So, that, or the bomb that was placed was hit. And then it did a shit ton of damage, with Luz insanely close by it, and Frank close but not as much. Plus Theophania caught in the crossfire…. And, possibly Avery, due to their ability, but I don’t think they would just leave the scene and I don’t have much evidence that says otherwise right now.”

“...besides your bomb knowledge, or course. Plus, since the books placed out would be common knowledge to Avery, I believe, so I think they could make one easily. However, they would not need a book for it, right? Which, I suppose then Theophania could have looked at the book, and also, then again, it could just be an insane coincidence with Avery showing their knowledge with the book and teaching her. Because I know they know a lot and like to show others they care about stuff they care about.”

He flashes a small smile at that, before shaking his head. “Anyway, I’m not accusing either of you, just possible talking points or my attempts to put two and two together. Anyone could have read those books, built the bomb. Being civil, and everything. Like what Esmee said, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions too quickly unless we have stuff to prove so….. Yeah.”

Gooooo team

[thegreymoon]

MINGLAN, NOOOOOO 😫😫

I THOUGHT WE HAD LEARNED SOMETHING!!

***

Yes, Xiaotao! Yell at her!!

***

LMAO, imagine her calling someone else a scoundrel.

I am right, I think, in my assessment that this whole thing is a classism issue. She defines her entire existence and position in the world by being "better" than the concubines and concubine-born children because she has nothing else going for her. She cannot stand that Minlgan married above her. It disturbs her very fragile self-image and this cannot be borne, which is why she is going above and beyond here and exposing herself to ruin by antagonising an entire marquis who can easily end her if he is given enough of a reason to. I don't think it is out of any love for Madam Qin, they are just two opportunists who happen to have a common goal.

***

Yep.

***

I don't understand.

Is she supposed to kill herself in some gruesome way? Why would she do that? Because Minglan is certainly not going to beat her and murder her.

Also, I was right, there is a law protecting these women if somebody is willing to raise enough of a stink about it and the house isn't powerful enough to shut the investigation down. What a shit system.

***

LMAO, I am so sick and tired of her saintly act.

She sets up an entire murder and is all, "But I just wanted her to get some sleep! I didn't mean for her to never wake up!"

***

OH MY GOD 🤣🤣 YOU! IT'S YOU WHO CAUSED HER TO DIE!

She's this meme personified 👇👇

***

Oh, Granny, thank goodness!

Not only is Minglan bringing in reinforcements, SHE IS BRINGING IN THE ENTIRE CAVALRY!

***

I love Granny so much, I could cry 😭😭

***

Of course he does 🙄

Worthless piece of shit man who only thinks of his dick.

***

You know what, I don't even blame Aunt Kang for this as much as I blame her shit, worthless husband.

I hope one of his mistreated daughters grows up to murder him.

***

MTE.

She will just torture them miserably like she's torturing her until they die. The solution is to put an end to Aunt Kang one way or another. A trial and state-sanctioned punishment would be preferable, but frankly, I am not opposed to murder.

***

Jesus Christ.

But why is nobody taking her to court? Why has she been getting away with this bullshit and other assorted crimes (such as money laundering) FOR YEARS AND YEARS?

***

Poor girl. I can't even imagine her trauma.

And then she will marry and her husband will be another piece of shit like 90% of them are. She will have to brave childbirth over and over again and if she survives, she will live to watch her own children suffer. Hell world.

***

I thought as much.

She wields so much power over other people's lives but has so little power in her own, plus she's a terrible person to boot.

The Story of Minglan

Oh my god, that wine is 100% poisoned.

And they would poison her in front of all these people who are either in on it, or will go out of their way to cover it up 🤮

***

SMART GIRL, MINGLAN!

DRINK NOTHING SHE GIVES YOU!!

***

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

GU TINGYE ISN'T EVEN AT HOME!! HOW IS THIS HAPPENING FOR THE THIRD FUCKING TIME???

***

I am beyond pissed off here but honestly, I blame Minglan for this one. She set the precedent by taking in that last bottom feeder to appease these villains so why would they not try this bullshit again?

***

Smh.

Just as I thought.

Minglan really needs to stop with the people-pleasing shenanigans and start murdering the bitches shitting on her doorstep.

***

I started watching this episode last night and had to stop because my head was absolutely pounding, and then it continued to pound all day today. It is now 18:10 and the pain has been persisting for at least 24 hours at this point, but I am momentarily medicated and feel like I can hold my head up straight if I don't move around too much, so I want to see where this bullshit is going. The righteous fury on Minglan's behalf will either heal me or transform the headache into complete agony. There can be no middle ground.

***

"Best temperament" is code for "she lets us walk all over her and mistreat her in every way imaginable without fighting back and still begs for our approval" in this society from what I've seen.

Fuck that. Minglan, give them hell! Who needs a reputation for being a doormat? Your evil aunt is apparently out murdering people and no worse for wear, so you may as well tell them all to fuck off and live to see another day. Also, Gu Tingye will be proud!

***

OMG, Minglan, please start showing that shiny spine!

It is episode 59, it is time to put this shit-stirrer in her place.

***

LMAOOOO, GO OFF, MINGLAN!!

Nanny Chang wasn't enough for her, she had to come back for seconds, so let her have it!! 💪💪

***

I am fascinated that she keeps murdering people and just... getting away with it.

And apparently, everyone knows and nobody does anything about it.

***

LOL, Minglan has decided that today is the day to air ALL the dirty family laundry 🤣🤣

Take note, Madam Qin, if you don't get your act together, you're next!

***

LMAO, now they are accusing Minglan of lying.

Too bad for them that this time, they've bitten off more than they can chew. Minglan will end them all.

***

LMAO, where is this girl's father?

Concubine-born or not, how can she just kick her out of the house like that? Even if she were to marry Gu Tingye as a concubine, surely there must be some kind of process? At least have her pack her things and lend her a cart to carry them over? This just makes no sense, she went out for lunch at the neighbours' place with her stepdaughter in tow and just decided to dump her there. Who does that? Who allows it?

AND THE GROOM ISN'T EVEN AT HOME TO CONSENT TO ANY OF THIS BULLSHIT.

There is no chance any of this is above-board.

***

Bitch, shut up.

Minglan should let more of you die and maybe you'll learn.

***

MTE.

On the one hand, I feel sorry for the cousin, she is clearly being abused in her family home, but on the other looking to Minglan to fix it by SHARING HER HUSBAND WITH HER, OF ALL THINGS, AND ALLOWING HER TO SPY FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE OUT TO LITERALLY KILL HER is just beyond.

***

Oh, shut up.

I see Nanny Chang is there. I trust Nanny Chang.

***

Seriously.

Whether or not Cousin dies is not Minglan's responsibility, especially since they are asking her to resolve it to great personal detriment. Again, I ask, where is this girl's father? Also, is there no law whatsoever here protecting this girl? That fisherwoman accusing Gu Tingye's buddy of rape got a whole trial so there are definitely laws in place here and places to appeal to.

Aunt Kang is getting away with all this bullshit because people are letting her.

***

Words to live by 💪💪

***

OMFG, THEN GO AHEAD AND DIE.

YOU AND EVERY SINGLE OTHER ONE OF YOU WHO HAS TRIED THIS SO FAR.

***

THIRD DAY, THIRD ATTEMPT TO FINISH THIS EPISODE 💪💪

I made it maybe 15 minutes last night before I had to turn everything off and rock back and forth in a dark room as I suffered. I eventually ended up vomiting, which was completely WTF. I've heard that this happens with migraines but this was my first time experiencing it and honestly? I don't think that this was a migraine either because the pain was not the stabbing agony with an aura they describe, but more like a constant throbbing pressure in my entire head. I get headaches often, and yes, they sometimes go on for two or three days, but I have never had one that was this intense, this long and so pain-killer resistant that I ended up vomiting because of it. It is now day three and I can still feel it throbbing in the background. My body is definitely trying to tell me something but I a not sure I am ready to listen 😔

***

Minlgan is too kind.

If it were me in her position, I would not feel one ounce of guilt.

[i-make-fun-of-spn-characters]

I feel like you've given most spn related things some lil spice but I always love the spice on this : hot spicy take on the "Dean is the most horrible character and ruins everyone's life and Sam and Cas are poor little meow meows who only do bad things sometimes because tyran Dean farted in their direction" takes that are not really only said by anti-Dean peeps ? Obsessed with that incredible thesis and would love the added spice ❤

SPICY HOT HOT GHOST PEPPERS CAROLINA REAPERS HELP I'M BURNING

I really try to respect other people’s opinions, and I believe there are a wealth of ways to interpret a story, and I think that’s a deeply beautiful thing. This applies to interpretations I don't agree with and outright dislike as well. That said, some opinions are simply and objectively bad, dishonest, and/or demonstrably false, and I truly do not believe you can sit down and honestly watch through the show with an open mind about all the characters, truly pay attention to what they do, say, and believe, and come to the conclusion that this show is about an evil manipulative abusive man terrorizing his pure and sinless brother and friend. It is an interpretation built from cherry picking facts to suit an ugly, miserable theory, making Mount Everest out of a bunch of the tiny mole hills, making the worst possible presumptions of feelings and intentions, and holding characters to completely different standards in order to neatly divide them into "abused" and "abuser" in a way that, frankly, fetishizes the abused person. I despise this interpretation of the story with every fiber of my being, and I have absolutely no respect for the opinion of anyone who peddles it, regardless of who they cast as villain/victim (because people have also done this with the others—it’s just more “popular” to do it with Dean... I mean... does anyone else remember how people were shitting on Sam after his emotional reaction in 14.12? Calling him an evil abuser? Because I do).

The thing that always gets me about this take isn't just how dishonest, unfair, mean-spirited, and compassionless it is in its treatment of Dean’s feelings, circumstances, and intentions... but how deeply reductive and offensive it is toward Sam and Castiel, sucking away their identities to turn them into effigies to mourn for their sad, Stockholm syndrome-esque attachment to their "abuser". Further, it grips the heart of the show—the relationship between Sam and Dean, and then the relationship among TFW as a whole—in a tight, uncompromising fist and pulverizes it. It literally rips out the heart of the show (the RELATIONSHIPS) and replaces it with something unprepossessing of any merit: A miserable, 15 years long story about a malicious abuser getting away with terrorizing those closest to him for his entire life, while his poor abuse victims suffer through until they die for him/happy to be reunited with him because they “don’t know any better” and never ever learned better, I guess. What a stupid, sad sack of a story.

Castiel is a thousands of years old celestial being who has literally beaten Dean into the pavement under no form of mind control, and has shown over and over again that he will do whatever the hell he wants, regardless of whatever Dean thinks about being sidelined. If he thinks whatever he is doing is in Dean's best interest, he literally does not care how Dean feels about it. He will nod and smile and then fly off and swallow thousands of souls with Dean begging him not to, shove Dean out of the way to attack the big bad, leave Dean alone in Purgatory, refuse to come out of Purgatory so he can self-flagellate, fly off with the angel tablet, help Sam with the Book of the Damned, let Lucifer possess him without anyone's knowledge or agreement, come into Dean's room under the guise of apologizing for ghosting him so that he can steal The Colt out from under his pillow and murder someone, decide not to murder that person and still prevent Sam and Dean from helping by knocking them both unconscious, get himself killed, make a deal to trade his life for Jack's and never tell anyone, hide information and worries and ignore phone calls, ghost Sam and Dean, and bicker and fight with Dean as if they are a married couple. Love sickness and feelings of worthlessness (which Cas has a wealth of reasons to feel—many of which aren’t even related to Dean but to his heavenly family) are reinterpreted as the result of some sort of constant, terrorizing emotional abuse. Power and authority that Dean does not actually have is forced into his hands by these fans. Maybe listen when Cas says, “Hey—not everything is your fault.” Maybe listen when he says “I loved the whole world because of you”, calls Dean a role model, says he enjoys their conversations, offers to die with him and dies for him multiple times. Maybe treat these feelings as genuine and valid and HIS and not as the delusions of some poor manipulated baby. 

Sam is framed this way even more often than Cas, and it's a damn shame, because what I typically see is this: Sam’s development into a mediator and peacemaker is twisted and reinterpreted as coming from a place of weakness and/or fear. Rationality, maturity, wisdom, and compassion are not the traits of a scared, powerless child. They are the traits of a mature adult, who has been beaten down by life, and fought and raged against his circumstances, and somehow come out of it with more kindness and understanding and strength instead of less. He has made his own decisions whenever it was possible, within the set of circumstances doled out to him. From telling his dad to go fuck himself and going to college, to getting back into hunting to avenge Jess (NOT because of Dean—Dean took him home without complaint at the end of the woman in white case), to continuing to hunt after their father died because he wanted to feel close to him (Dean was actually weirded out and sort of disgusted by this), raging and fighting to save Dean from his deal against Dean’s wishes, continuing to hunt and working with Ruby (directly against Dean’s dying wish), drinking demon blood, jumping in the cage, leaving hunting to go be with Amelia, coming back to hunting to save Kevin, fighting with Dean over what he had with Amelia and threatening to leave if Dean didn't shut his mouth, leaving Amelia to go back to hunting (Dean ultimately suggests he go back to her—Sam chooses to stay), trying to kill Benny, demanding to be the one to do The Trials and saying he is going to SURVIVE them—that being the ENTIRE POINT, losing that resolve in a fit of depression but choosing to drop the knife, demanding space from Dean (and being given it), fighting to save Demon Dean who didn’t want to be found or saved, using the Book of the Damned against Dean’s wishes, telling Charlie that this is what he wants—that he used to want normal but now all he wants is to hunt with Dean and that he doesn’t know what he’ll do if he can’t have that, unleashing the Darkness in his desperation to keep Dean with him and even saying, “I would do it again” in the aftermath, saving the town being destroyed by Amara, getting into The Cage with Lucifer, leading a team against the British Men of Letters, nurturing Jack, punching Dean in the face when he was going to sacrifice himself, leading more hunters, wielding a gun against Chuck... and that’s just some highlights. Sam Fucking Winchester does not need your bullshit about him being some sad, scared, helpless baby lorded over by mean old Dean who has never let him do anything he wants. 

Yes, in the text itself, there is jealousy and resentment at times, and there is legitimate and righteous anger on Sam’s part on a few occasions. There is blame cast on Dean by Sam for some of these choices/circumstances. Some of those moments where Dean is blamed are legitimate, and some of them... frankly, are not. Within the framework of the fucked up dynamics of the way they were raised, Sam and some fans bristle when they feel Dean is casting himself as the parent he is not, but Sam also has been guilty in the past of trying to reframe himself as Dean’s child when things got tough. Neither of them is responsible for the origin of that dynamic, but they BOTH have responsibility to change it, and they both, ultimately, succeed in doing so. For Sam, his part comes in recognizing and learning to fully own his own choices. Recognizing that he is not a child, and he is certainly not Dean’s child, and it isn’t just “Mummy—loosen the grip”, but Sam has to too—not claim independence only to blame Dean for his choices when his own decisions have an ultimate outcome he is unhappy with. That is a legitimate arc that Sam goes through imo, but he comes out the other side of it, and he and Dean relate to each other much better as peers from then on—and I’d like to note that throughout the entire series, when they don’t relate as perfect peers and teammates, it isn’t always Dean “bossing Sam around”, but Sam also trying to sideline Dean and yes—boss him around. And when they lied and hurt each other and yes, even manipulated each other, Dean most certainly wasn't always the one doing the lying and hurting and manipulating. Always, always, ALWAYS, they both had an understandable point of view, and it was complex, and you could understand why they made the choices they did, even if you thought of those choices as being wrong ones. 

I also would like to point out (because this is basically what I see all of the time) that Dean being hurt by someone or simply voicing his feelings or opinion is in no way abusive or manipulative. Dean is certainly charismatic and loved and his returning love and respect is often deeply desired, but he is not an actual siren, who bends people to his will simply by speaking or being. People are, in fact, able to tell him “no”, and frequently FREQUENTLY do. Further more, no one is owed his affection, his unwavering loyalty, or his trust. He has a right to his boundaries, regardless of if it makes some poor sad sap feel deprived of the “wellspring of coveted love” while he works through things. He can be hurt and angry, and he can wear his heart on his sleeve at times, and he can be flawed, and broken. [Insert Castiel's speech from 15.18 here]. So can Sam. So can Cas. None of them are manipulating each other by virtue of getting angry, feeling hurt, being traumatized, needing space, or having differing opinions or feelings. Sam didn’t punch Dean in the face in 14.12 because he's a cruel, manipulative abuser trying to force Dean under his thumb. He didn’t work behind Dean’s back with Ruby, insist on doing The Trials, beg Dean to use Doc Benton’s alchemy, use the Book of the Damned to cure Dean, pump him full of blood to cure him of being a demon despite the fact that it might kill him, or scream at him and fight him for wanting to get in the Ma’lak box because he “doesn’t respect his autonomy” and “wants to control him” and “doesn’t respect his right to his own body”. He did it because he loves him desperately, and Dean could stand to fucking hate himself less, and he fiercely wanted Dean to live even when Dean didn’t want to or couldn’t picture what that could be like. He didn’t force Dean to do anything simply by opening his mouth to voice disagreement and swaying Dean when he did so. Now reverse that. 

Cas didn't beat Dean into the ground in season 5 because he wanted to terrorize him into never going against Castiel ever again. He didn’t go behind his back dozens of times, sideline him, go MIA, all because he wanted to manipulate and control Dean and punish him. He didn’t throw sassy remarks at him to shatter his self-esteem. Now reverse that. 

*Breathes*

Anyway, fuck "X is abusive” interpretations. 

[junko-enoshima-in-dark-souls]

around a year ago, this guy told me a sentence i hated: 'junko enoshima is the most hopeful character'

and even though he proceeded to go off on the stupidest reasonings about it, how 'zetsubou' doesn't even mean despair but, uh. 'socially unacceptable behavior' and apparently homosexuality falls under 'zetsubou', and also how 'hope' in its 'PURE, UNCORRUPTED' meaning should just mean 'the thing driving determination'

so really, it was nonsense. but i think there's a kernel of truth to the last bit. she has a lot of determination. and in a way, a strong self-preservation instinct

she's gone through so much bullshit. her entire childhood, which can be easily inferred from ultra despair girls and dr0. being abandoned by the one person that stuck with her through all of that, escaping, being licorne, going through all that shit, putting her own self through the fashion industry to stand on the fucking top of it

she's gone through so much bullshit. she's pushed on, and on, and on, working to better her life, survive, exist

and it still. all. sucks.

she hates every bit of it. she hates how she'll wake up tomorrow, and be fine. be alive. because she'll continue existing in this world of hope that constantly drives her to the brink of self-destruction through insisting on values like forgiveness and love and kindness and hope

and no one has ever forgiven her, she will never forgive her countless abusers, she has been abandoned by love over and over, she has never received kindness, she has never once been helped by hope

and it's all dull. dull. boring. she'll wake up tomorrow and be fine. she'll wake up tomorrow and continue suffering this dull, boring feeling of nothing, not even permitted to resent the world around her

and you have two paths here. you have a path where you fight, fight even more, for a world where you can exist like you want to, or a path towards self-destruction

and filled with determination, she chooses the latter

she could end it all there and then, of course, but she doesn't

because there won't be either even a moment of catharsis, and in all likelihood, really, she won't be able to push the knife into her heart at the last moment

and most importantly, the whole world will continue being this disgustingly boring shade of hope

'boring' isn't even the right word. something much stronger. like 'despise' compared to 'hate' compared to 'dislike'

but that's the thing! no matter what, she still hangs onto it. and it hurts her that she does. she sees her sister, back with her, doing her best to do everything to make up for the hurt she caused her, and she hates it, because it feels like just another reminder that she's never going to just exist as a normal human, but something to be fixed, made better, and it frustrates, because she wanted her sister, her one person in the world, to maybe be someone who understands her, but she doesn't, not in the way junko wants

but she still clings to her. she still spends the entirety of chapter 5 essentially crytyping her way through the trial because she's so damn full of despair at killing her. because she wants to feel like caring, loving, is not going to hurt her, but it does, maybe as a self-fulfilling prophecy to a degree, and so she does everything to get rid of it, killing her own most beloved sister

and that's the thing! look at what she does to get to the end of chapter 6, the end of her

she kills every person she cares for, or makes them hate her. to remove every little bit of hope she could possibly have

she kills mukuro, she kills ryoko, she kills y*suke (piece of shit, bye, will never be missed, bye), she kills chiaki, she removes herself from her adoptive children (out of all the things she's terrible for, she's a good mom. fight me.), from the world, and makes every one of her friends either feel nothing but hatred for her, or drives them to the same love of despair she has

and she only finally ends it all when they all have condemned her to death. even makoto can only muster the weakest opposition to her going through with it

where am i going with this?

my point is, hope will never save junko. it's the thing that drives her to despair, in the first place

but she still cares. she still really cares. just look at how she interacts with kyoko. these are childhood friends (licorne). she cares so deeply. mukuro, ryoko - even though she doesn't even realise that's what it is, in this case, mikan, her entire class

she projects so hard onto izuru because she hopes against hope itself that maybe, finally, she'll have someone to call community, because fundamentally, even though she cares for so many people, she feels completely outcast from them all, because ultimately, unlike her, they're all saved by hope. not big H Hope from kibougamine, strictly, because that fucking sucks and i could make a whole other rant about it, but hope, in some form

and she's not. in a way, the apocalypse is her rebellion against life

so how do you get junko out of this endless spiral of destruction?

you jump right in there with her, if you ask me. show her she does have community. that the deep, indescribable boredom and dissatisfaction she has with the existence of a tomorrow is not something she's alone in. and then, maybe, you'll instead build a better today together

i feel like i didn't exactly get what i wanted across but there that's a junko rant while i continue to ignore the existence of my python notebook

[carpedzem]

Oh, thank goodness, because I see lots on how c!Dream is evil and is obviously still manipulating people, but all I can see is someone who is broken, tired, and imprisoned for something he only half deserves without even a proper trial... Am I wrong for thinking that?

hello there nonny! here's short answer: no, of course not!

here's very long answer :D

all /rp

people can enjoy dark media and villains. it's fun! idk why we still have this discussion about villains. enjoying something problematic doesn't mean you are going immediately imply it to your life. even if Dream was just pure evil, people are allowed to like him! he is fun to watch in a sense of: look at his master plan! look how he does everything from the shadow! look how he is losing because he did bad things! so even if Dream was pure villainy it's still okay to like him!

that being said I don't believe Dream is actually only a villain. he is the same morally grey character like everyone. the only complicated thing about him is that we don't have his POV (but soon! :D). but even without it you can find pieces of his actions and sometimes even his mind and put them together to understand his character more. does it excuse his action? no, of course not. he did a lot of terrible things and he deserves consequences. but can we sympathize with him and understand why he did it? of course! exactly like with every other character! and that's why feeling for him, liking him, looking for explanations of his action is not a bad thing. it's a good thing and it might be, again, fun, because you have this very mysterious character!

also, the story is clearly setting Dream into something! redemption arc? better understanding of his action? I can't answer that but form the storytelling perspective, putting a bad guy though so much just to be back into villain story is just dumb. so yeah as much as Dream had fair share of manipulation I think (I said it before and I will say it again) they gave 'a manipulative Dream' closure during Disc Confrontation. most of his actions right now, with Techno or Quackity or Sam or hell, even Ghosbur are not manipulations. they are instincts of surviving and/or desperation.

and there is the whole thing of Dream being happy once, Dream being called villain before he became one, Dream loving and being loved, Dream having attachments, Dream trying to do the right thing, Dream's and Ranboo's connection but if we start talking about it I will never be back studying lol

when it comes to the deserving being in prison - no one deserves to ba in Pandora Vault. it's a terrible, terrible place, home of all torture. Dream did deserve consequences. and then he deserves chance of rehabilitation. he doesn't deserve being tortured. the same way Tommy didn't deserved abuse on the exile. but people have this twisted sense of justice. but this isn't justice. this is torture. literally.

there was never trial, because they were going to kill him for good and didn't because he might be useful in the future. they never pretend this to be fair imprisonment. but again, that what's justice was for them. for more hot takes in this matter consider: @/peppsta

in conclusion Dream is really tragic sad character. and there are people who like characters like that. and they are allowed to. no one is going to tell anyone who they might like to watch or sympathize with

here's cool meme that summarise it all!

and now I PRESENT: ✨ a few salty words about the fandom ✨

the whole 'abuser apologist' discourse is just a bullshit. I, a this point, don't know what apologist even mean because everyone has their own definition. I understand that Tommy is very relatable character, but someone's trauma shouldn't be reason why people can't enjoy media. also at this point I'm calling myself abuser apologist sarcastically because honestly, this is such an empty phase in the fandom, it's sad

'dream is hot/did nothing wrong' is a joke. made mostly by people who are tired explaining their reasons. I understand them because the first thing I learn joining fandom is that I'm a terrible person for liking Dream. however, if anyone uses it as a real argument (I heard it happens on twt sometimes? idk I avoid that hell site) I think they are a little dumb :)

Dreams apologists/systematizers/enjoyers/enthusiasts etc were through shit while others can do whatever they want and that's so annoying. we have to explain people that 'hey, torture bad, maybe?' while Wilbur apologists jumped Nikki's throat because she dared to say that their meow meow lied to her. that's b u l l s h i t

sadly we can't control fandom and we are going to see a few dumb takes from time to time. here's something that helps me a little when I'm annoyed why people don't see that they are clearly wrong.

if anyone is giving crap like, personally, block them. really. it's not worth it. fandom experience supposed to be fun! if you need I can recommend a few c!Dream friendly blogs! and they can recommend even more blogs! :D

and remember: between fictional character Dream, real people who enjoy fictional character and real people who attack other real people over fictional character - who is really a bad guy here? :)

[midnightscxre]

feral-fuqboi-danny​:

Tired of the back talk Danny grabs Clare by her hair and tugs her close to his mask, his temper momentarily flaring up. He hated being talked down to.

“Listen here, dollface, just because I’m calling the shots doesn’t mean you have to cry about it. Now be good for me, yeah? I want you to apologize for all the bullshit you’ve done, and don’t you dare mess with me again, do you understand?”

His breathing was so heavy under the mask he was nearly fogging up his vision and blowing clouds of smoke passed his mask into the snowy wind between them. ‘Why is she so frustrating!?’ He never lost his cool like this over something this small. She was the problem, it had something to do with her.

“We can make a little deal, how about that?” He smiles under the mask, “since you’ve seemingly caught my attention I’ll be easy on you, wouldn’t wanna hurt this pretty face.” Danny says in a mocking tone as he taps his bloody blade across her cheek. “You let those little friends of yours suffer any trial I’m in and I’ll share some of my offerings with you. Like you said, I’m a 'mama’s boy’ and I get special treatment. Ever miss real food? A tv? A nice warm bath? So, what do you say? Some of your friends suffering for a break of your own every now and then?”

The roughness coming her way was taken with unusual ease, like the grip on the ruby curls wasn’t even bothering her. . . at least not in the way the man probably wanted. Clare’s blood pressure reached unimaginable levels, not only because of the nerve of this guy to corner her on his own playground without even a surviving chance, but because the tingles between her thighs and adrenaline feeding the flaring desire caused by his violently inserted domination and intoxicating closeness made her nerves to be devoured. She shouldn’t be feeling nothing but contempt at this point, not aroused and excited. It didn’t sit well, not at all. 

Suddenly a loud sound of laughter exploded from her busty chest. “ Apologize?! If that is what you are after, you wasted a hell lot of time and effort kissing entity’s ass. “ 

Apologize? Never. She would quite literally rather be gutted over and over again, than to apologize to anyone, let alone a man who butchers them for fun. She couldn’t even start explaining what was wrong with that idea. Although, the sentence did had a mine or two set out for her. . . ‘ be good for me’, damn that hit the sweet spot for the fiery redhead. Too bad her most honest thoughts almost never matched the things formed by her insolent tongue. But before she continued, her head slightly tilted from his words. 

Deal. Uhhh, Clare adored deals. At those, she was the best. As she listened to his offer, the expression of her face was unreadable. Selling them out. Selling her friends out. Friends. Never. Clare was alone her whole life, and only in this hell did she find something that resembled friendship. She was not risking it for no muffins, bubble baths, tv shows, not even her flesh and blood. Clare was ready to tell him off one lest time before he would probably slaughter her like a goat, but instead, a red light bulb signaled her to keep her mouth shut for just a moment longer. Why do this? When this was a perfect moment to stay alive and get something. All he needed was to hear her say what he wanted. . .  and what she will go later, well,  that is another story. Redhead decided she can forgive herself for restraining her rude tongue, and make a different plan. 

“ Only them huh? And I get everything? “ she tried to sound convincing, fighting with her all being to suppress her true self. Clare was a lot of things, but selfish? Never. Staring at his mask, she wanted to continue, lie, act, anything, but the final words just didn’t come out. She was unable to even lie about it, telling him she will do it. No, Clare Archer chose a path that was if nothing- familiar to her. “ I have a better idea. How about. . .next time in the trial I really do take your mask off, and shove my foot down your throat to finally shut you up. take a picture and trade that with your dear entity for a nice little frame to put it in, to forever remember that sweet moment when you couldn’t open your mouth for at least a minute. “ Clare’s head turned, biting down on his head holding a knife, before spitting it out. “ I suggest you take what you have. You needed assistance catching me? So gut me already, get your fucking fill. It will be the last time you do it for a long time. “ She came closer, glaring into the two holes of the mask. “ Because we both know you can’t catch me alone. And one more thing, do me a kindness and bury me upside-down, with me hips still above the ground. . . so you can kiss my fucking ass even in death! “

[witchofrvnswood]

the toxicity of sophie and agatha’s friendship (aka let’s bash on sophie time)

why hello! yes, it is i, bringing you yet another essay at 10 pm, when my brain is ready to die and my eyes keep shutting as i type this.

so i’ve been thinking of agaphie’s dynamic lately and the more i reread their scenes, the more i realized just how toxic and almost unbelievable their friendship is?

now, it should come as no surprise that sophie is a very toxic and bitter friend in the first arc, but i feel like her treatment of agatha contributed a lot to agatha’s character. or maybe agatha’s character contributed a lot to their friendship.

let’s analyze this.

so in the first book, we can see that their friendship, as sweet and pure as it seems, was only initiated because sophie wanted to go to the school for good. she befriended agatha because she was the resident outcast, the loner, maybe even an evil witch. despite becoming close over time, she still strongly believed agatha was a witch and would end up alone or go to the school for evil where she supposedly belonged.

as the book progresses, we see her at first, completely jealous of agatha’s place in the school she wanted to go to, but she starts being kind again as tedros starts flirting with her, seeming like she could have her happily ever after while in evil. but when that doesn’t work, she convinces agatha to visit the school master with her to ask to switch schools. when that doesn’t work, she begrudgingly agrees to go home, but when the riddle seems to say she must make tedros fall in love with her and kiss her, she abandons ALL plans, COMPLETELY disregards agatha’s longing to go home, and even decides to let her stay trapped in the good school, all so she can make tedros fall in love with her and STAY with him.

it reaches a breaking point when sophie avoids agatha after scoring tedros yet comes back to her after panicking about the trial and realizing she needs agatha to survive. only to blame agatha for her mistake with tedros, accuse her of being a witch and ruining her fairytale, and ultimately throwing her away.

we can see where this is going, yeah?

so obviously,,,, she’s a very conflicted and negative character in book 1, and very toxic and cruel to agatha. she doesn’t see her as a genuine friend, she has always seen her as a tool to get what she wants.

and the problem is, agatha lets her get away with it. but why?

the truth is, agatha has always been lonely. she’s an outcast, no one wants to talk to her. but when sophie showed up, she finally had a purpose in life. she finally earned someone’s love and she wanted to do anything she could to keep it,,, which is,,,, toxic! while sophie’s friendship with her had bad intentions, agatha only had good intentions, even if it led to actions that hurt her.

i feel like since agatha was clearly depressed with her life in general, when sophie came, she put all her happiness and potential happiness in her to a point where she couldn’t imagine a life without her. it’s just like callis said, agatha is revolving her whole life around sophie and being loyal to her “like a dog” rather than a human being.

in book two, we finally see agatha try to advocate for her own happiness, realizing she was trapped in a toxic friendship with sophie and that she thought happiness only lied with sophie, but it turns out it didn’t. on the other hand, sophie now sees agatha as a tool once again for her happy ending, except this time, it lies with her. she cheats and schemes to ensure that agatha has no connection to tedros and manipulates her into completely trusting her and even feeling BAD for even doubting her in the first place despite the fact that she tried to kill her and has only ever used her for her own personal gain.

in the end, agatha leaves sophie, sophie feels betrayed, and turns to rafal, which is a toxic relationship on it’s own - we’ll get to that on another day. agatha is now navigating her new relationship with tedros, they’re finally actually together, hip hip hooray. but they also have issues,,, which,,, majorly stem from agatha.

with tedros and agatha, we see a dynamic very different from sophie. with sophie, agatha has to be self sacrificing and do everything she can for sophie’s happiness for maybe some kind words and i love yous. she knows this is wrong but this is what she’s used to - so deep down, she expects this kind of treatment from tedros too. and when he ends up reciprocating her love completely and even being self sacrificial for her.... it feels wrong. it doesn’t feel liberating or good or free, it just feels wrong to her. because when you’re stuck in a toxic relationship for a long time, normal ones don’t feel right to you.

this causes her to pull away and question if she’s good enough for him. she’s doubting him because this doesn’t feel real to her, a love as good as that, seems like it’s ready to break at any moment. and sophie’s constant putting down of her at times can play into this too.

and finally, when sophie realizes that she doesn’t need a future with rafal to be queen, but instead sees an opportunity to manipulate tedros into being with her instead, she takes it. she doesn’t even seem concerned or at all guilty for what this means to agatha. she’s literally STEALING her man. and she has no shame.

why? because she doesn’t value agatha as a person. she sees her as her loyal friend, her savior, that’s all. she whole heartedly expects agatha to just drop tedros for her, because she’s proved she can do anything for sophie.

and when agatha resists, when she fights against sophie’s manipulation, she resorts to degrading her. she noticed that agatha felt unsure on being queen, and she pounced on that. 

Y’ALL, SHE WENT AS FAR AS TO CREATE  A FALSE REALITY WHERE AGATHA BEING QUEEN COULD JEOPARDIZE TEDROS’ FUTURE AND MADE AGATHA BELIEVE IT.

what the actual fucking fuck bullshit is this. that’s an AWFUL person.

she was even said to look at agatha as if they were friends working towards a new goal, as if she hadn’t just ask her to give up her happiness for her.

yeah i’m getting super heated just typing this.

even in the handbook and book four, we see her to be jealous of agatha’s role as queen and got enraged whenever someone brought her up. even throughout the camelot years, despite helping agatha and tedros through thick and thin, she was still pretty darn jealous of them and was not satisfied with being cast to the side. despite taking a break from relationships, after rafal’s emotional abuse, she desperately craves a love as pure as the one agatha has, and immediately gives rhian a chance.

to be honest, i’m not surprised with tedros and everyone else’s mistrust of sophie in book five, like she’s a SNAKE, she has proven she can do anything.

something else that bothers me? the way sophie never genuinely apologized for how she treated agatha or anyone else in the book she treated poorly, like DOT. (ahem fatshaming her despite her constant support and friendship).

(and the WAY nicola was dragged by the fandom for calling out sophie when NO ONE else bothered to. y’all suck sometimes, just saying it)

anyways i’m going to bed, it’s 11 now, the salt has been written, and i desperately need sleep- 

<3

[cargopantsman]

Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here

Trigger warnings: All of them, because I am lazy. Also none of this is sensical.

Utter, hyper-caffeinated brain noise.

The problem with the concept of a "sense of self" is it already tries to concretize an amorphous abstract. It makes us want to point at some thing and say "Well... that's me." Whether it is a set of ideals that we try to live by, a set of activities that brings us a sense of joy or fulfillment, or, gods forbid, and entirely different and other person that "completes us."

I've always had an affinity for trickster figures and shapeshifters. The wearers of masks, the truthful liars, the artisans of duality, yada, yada. Since I was a child my first instinct has always been to blend in. If into the background, great, but if need be, if I needed to blend into the social fabric around me, I could do that too. To throw this into the high school backdrop; I wasn't a social butterfly, I was shy as could be, but I got along with the jocks, the goths, the nerds, the art freaks, the band kids, the preps, the whatever. Where ever I was I could fake that I belonged there. I was comfortable drifting in between worlds. (Looking back, I could have caused a lot more chaos with the information I was privy to at the time...[Oh, there's a constant point. I'm good at keeping secrets, keeping confidence. I'll lie my ass off to keep a secret.]) Does any of that really help drive a sense of self though? When your natural instinct is to mirror, to blend, to fade? When your point of pride is walking into a room unnoticed and, even better, leaving a party unseen? Does being a ghost count as an identity?

"Expression of Will" comes to mind... what does that mean? Ok, so some abstract thing is inside of you and you manifest it objectly outwardly. I was an artist. I made images in my head and "kind of" manifest them on paper. Some times people see that paper...  I was a writer... images in my head "became" words and some people saw that. I combined them into comics. Some people Saw that. Is that a lasting affect? Maybe the fights I've been into?! That time in 2nd grade someone was picking on a friend and I laid them out... the time in 8th grade someone was picking on me and clocked them down. Or in high school when someone decided to start some rumors and I held them up by their throat in the air until they turned blue? That was an inward thing that manifested outwardly. Nevermind good or bad, but was any of that... me?

Hmm. The beast. The primal... come back to that later.

"Expression of Will," "Expression of Will," "Expression of Will" ... What the fuck even is "Will"? Is this why philosophers get their heads so far up their ass? Is it a desire? The will to live.... living requires eating and the amount of times I forget to even do that... Maybe been looking at the phrase all wrong...

Will to Live (noun) It isn't a thing.

Will (verb) to (preposition) Live (verb)

Why does that sound better?

Desire to Live (noun)

Desire (verb) to (preposition) Live (verb)

Okay, that feels better even, but still... Sense of self, will, desire, expressions thereof. Are these just the aimless desires and wills? The fleeting flights of frivolous fancies festering forlornly in frontal cortices?

The self with the will can direct the desires towards living. "Get in the fucking robot Shinji!" "I don't wanna"

The (ghost) with the (strength) can direct the (impulses) towards (being). Getting too close to a concept of a soul on that one huh?

Forget self. It's a useless moniker right now. There is no self. It's just this mind alone for the first time in its entire life. (Not alone alone, there are friends, but they've learned more about me in the past two weeks than the past 6 years so...) "What did they learn?" asked the projection of self that defines itself by interactions with other.

I thought we were forgetting self.... not an option really. Sentience is a bitch like that. But they've learned I'll put up with a lot of bullshit under the guise of strength and integrity when I should've callously called this whole thing ages ago. That I can shut myself down completely in the interest of bodily-self preservation. (Not Self-self preservation, fuck the English language). What did I sacrifice? What did I shut down?

Everything.

That is less than helpful.

The Beast. Vince. Your Shadow.

My Shadow...

What do you desire?

Blood in the cut, tears in their eyes, power over someone that wants that power over them...

Do you want that? I don't want it, I just need it. No... I want it.

Is that all you are? A sadist? An animal?

Maybe... probably not though. A caretaker, and a sparring partner. A trickster and a shapeshifter. A crafter whose tools are destruction.

Next problem, grandeur. Mythologizing everything. But how to see a thing if you don't blow it up/magnify it?

You lack a sense of self because no one ever tested your sense of self. No one actually fought you for who you are. To find out who you are. The ex didn't. An old friend did until she got scared by what she found there.

You don't want to be yourself because it's not nice is it? You were raised to be nice.

College. I controlled the group. Never hit anyone after high school aside from set matches in classes or sparring for funsies. They all saw my eyes and stopped if they were getting out of hand.

The Dom-Friend.

Don't use the d-word on me.

Destroyer? Yeah, that one's fine. That one fits. He says as he carelessly tosses lit matches around his entire life. Can we bring up the phoenix or is that too grandiose? Why shouldn't it be grandiose? We spend every day of our lives going through the same kind of tedious bullshit all the time why not make our inner lives a bit bigger, a bit richer?

A bit darker.

Why do you want them to bleed? Hurt and comfort. That's a big theme, a trope if you will. Why not have both at the same? Why not let her think that I'm about to kill her but let her rest in the trust that I won't? Why not let me think that I'm about to break her while believing she is the most precious thing in the world?

Caretaker. A caretaker kills all the time. Tearing out weeds, uprooting the prized plant to move it to a better place for its growth.

Growth.

The self isn't going to be found just in ones self... not in another either. No, the self has to be found in everything. The things one wants to run to and run from. The soul (oops) is formed by what it crashes into right? The mind recoils from traumas races towards panaceas, why not, if one can, flip the polarity on the two. Bring the darkness screaming into the light so you can see it, bring the light quivering into the darkness so it can loose its terrifying brillance. Balance in all things right?

You're not a very positive person, they say. No... I'm not. It lashes out in bad ways sometimes, sure. Control, control, you must learn control. But being negative isn't bad. Not if you can grow from it. No plant can survive the sun for 24 hours. Trees sleep in the winter. We sleep, we heal, we grow.

Self-Destruction!! That's a fun one... seven fucking months downing a bottle of whisky a night. Whooo boy. Do Not Recommend.

Got a nice stay in the underworld though and trudged up a lot of shit. Now I'm sitting here with my ears ringing because I finally hit the personal limit on Monsters and my brain is overclocked enough I can finally see shit at 4 angles at the same time. I am a god damned quantum supercomputer of emotions right now.

Faith and faithlessness are the same thing. Have faith, trust the future, don't expect anything, don't plan your now for your future. Sounds sadly like live in the moment type bullshit, but life is weird and people are complex. Shifting drifting clueless animals that want to be safe but don't want to get stuck in anothers arms even when there is one whose arms are so safe.

The damage runs deep... and two people with damage running that deep. Hmm. How much healing can falling do? The other just puts a bandage over a puncture wound and both try to ignore it, but then the blood gets pumping, the heart pounds and poisons surge to the surface. It's neither one's fault really. Life is a trial of knives and we don't always have time or concern to tend the wounds properly. There's always something else that needs to be taken care of first.

Divorce is a helluva drug. It is maddening, the freedom to finally to be yourself is line having the lineart stripped off, there is a terrifying infinity in front of you and the only thing to do for awhile is melt. Let the slings and arrows just pierce and sink in. Anyone else tries to push the sludge of you into a shape might get hurt when they find the arrows. I want to go absolutely feral in a way. In a way the whole COVID mess is keeping me under lock and key so I'm just prowling around the empty house like I always have been, but now there's some sense... of purpose.

I'm raging against any depression, the executive dysfunction is going to have a talking to. The sense of self is going to be found in stripping this house down to bare walls and making a blank canvas. Bring everything down, ruin it all, start again.

My self is emptiness, it always has been. I can be anything, but I should be wary of ever wanting to be something. (My career options are AWESOME). But this is a different emptiness than before. Before I pulled the trigger and splattered the brains of the marriage across the floor I was just a void, and inky black pit of nothingness. Somehow, having the Shadow rise up and finally start getting along with the rest of me, the emptiness isn't.... void. It's just nascent possibility and that shouldn't scare me.

It does, of course, terrify me. First time in 40 years being legitimately alone is terrifying, should have done this kinda thing when I was 20, but... I was an idiot back then (60 year old me laughs from the future). But I think I can get a grip on the concept that "I" don't exist, but I'm real... ever changing ever dynamic, not who I was while I was married, but a mix of the me before, a angry beast now, and something yet unseen in the future.

[novannna]

“Let go of my hand.” for nodrian pls

hi anon!!!  tysm for the request!!

i have not written nodrian in a hot second, it was weird to write them again ngl

wc:1360

Adrian finds out Nova is Nightmare, and confronts her

 Nova looked at the mask held in Adrian’s hands, the glint of metal handcuffs hanging on his belt, the bright red R emblazoned on his chest.  Anywhere but his face.  He glared daggers into Nova, and the change from his soft gazes filled with joy to this hard stare made her shrink back. The face that used to be soft curves and gentle smiles, was now a mess of barely held tears, a clenched jaw and eyebrows slanted angrily.  

Nova’s eyes accidentally caught his, and she flinched at the hatred in them.  

Why had she been so damn stupid, to think that there was an ending that ended in something other than tragedy for them.  

“Adrian, I can explain-” she started, knowing it was pointless.

“Stop.  Talking.”  He said tightly.  “I don’t want to listen to your lies.”

“Adrian, I swear I’m telling the truth.”

“The truth?”  He scoffed, tone incredulous.  “Why the hell should I believe you?”

Nova felt tears gathering up, threatening to spill over.  “I’m not going to lie to you anymore.  I just need you to understand.”

Somehow, his tone got angrier.  “Oh, I understand plenty,” he spat viciously.  “I understand how you were working against us for months, while we were ready to die for you.  I understand how you used me, and Ruby, and Oscar, and Danna, just to get something for yourself.  I understand how you pretended to be a Renegade, just so you could bring it all tumbling down.  I understand how you faked everything with me, you used me, made a fool out of me.  I understand exactly who you are, Nova Mclain.”  he paused.  “Or, should I say Nova Artino?  You’re just like the rest of them. I’d expect nothing less from the niece of Ace Anarchy.”

“Adrian, that’s not true-” she tried.  “I did care about you.  A lot.  Enough to leave my entire life behind.”

“Are you denying it?  Are you saying you aren’t an anarchist?  You aren’t Nightmare?”  He held the bright metal mask up, a reminder of the chasm of lies in between them.  

Nova shook her head, the tears finally spilling over.  She couldn’t control anything anymore, it seemed.  “I was Nightmare.  I was an Anarchist.  But I’m not anymore.  I left, so I could be with you, and I could do good.  Adrian, you made me realize that I wanted to be a good person.  I wanted to be a hero, not a villain.  I was ready to give my whole world up for you.”  She dared to meet his eyes, tears still spilling out of her own, tired brown ones.  

There was a second where everything was soft.  Adrian was looking at her with… it almost seemed like hope.  And, though Nova could have imagined it all, it seemed as if there was still some love left in his gaze.  

But it was only a second, and reality is never what Nova would wish it was.

“Lies!”  Adrian screamed.  “Stop manipulating me.  Stop trying to make me believe this complete bullshit you are coming up with.  You’re just flailing in deep water, trying to claw your way out of this hole you dug yourself.”  He inhaled, and straightened, his eyes slightly glassed over, as if he was trying to hide the emotions warring in his mind.  

Nova felt a part of herself break apart.  “Adrian..”  She should put him to sleep, and run away.  She should fight her way out of this mess, and survive another day.  But she couldn’t bring herself to lift a finger against Adrian.  She couldn’t hurt him more than she already had.  Nova honestly didn’t think she could live with herself if she did.  

“My dad’s and the rest of the council will be here soon.  They will take over, and you will have a short trial, and then be shipped off to Cragmoor, like the criminal you are.  Then, you will be administered a dose of Agent N, and you will cease to be a prodigy.”

“And you’re fine with all of this?”  Nova asked desperately, feeling as if she were about to throw up.  “You’re fine with them wrongfully banding me as a criminal, when everything I have done is to help this organization?  When you don’t even know the whole story?  Adrian, I never chose this.  I didn’t ask for my parents to be killed, and for my uncle to be the only one who would take me in.  I didn’t fucking ask to be manipulated and forced into a hatred of the Renegades for my whole life.  I never had a choice.  I was leaving for you.  I’m not a criminal, I’m still a scared little girl, who’s screaming as the world's passing me by, looking at all those people who don’t spare me a glance.  Please, will you at least listen to me.”

Adrian’s fists tightened.  “You didn’t need to stay with the Anarchists.  You could have left.  You could have forgotten them, and just told me the truth.  You never had to hurt anyone.  You never had to hurt me”

Nova shook her head.  “How?  How could I have left my entire life?  Everything that I knew was with the Anarchists.  They fed my hatred, they fueled me on my journey for vengeance.  They wouldn’t have just let me walk, and you know that.  Adrian, you need to understand.”

“The council is almost here.  I hope you save some of your begging for them.”  Adrian’s voice was ice once again.  Nova dared to look at his face, cringing away from the anger and hostility radiating off of him.  

“For what it’s worth,” she said quietly.  “I’m sorry. For hurting you.  I never wanted too.”  She paused, then added, “and it was all real.  My feelings for you.   I just wish you could understand it wasn’t my fault, and I’m not the guilty one.”

“Stop talking now,” Adrian spat.  “I can’t listen to your voice anymore.”

His wristband buzzed, startling the both of them.  He looked down.  

“One minute until you’re out of my life forever,” Adrian said tightly.  

Nova felt that panic inside her writhe.  She wasn’t going to be a prodigy.  She’d be forced to spend her life as a prisoner, when she had been ready to leave the Anarchists for Adrian.  It would be ironic, except Nova was shaking with both fear and exhaustment, and she was just so tired.  

And still, she tried to sway Adrian.  

Maybe it was fruitless, but she had to make him understand.  

“Adrian, I deserve your hate, your anger, all of it, I do.  I lied to you, and I now see that was the worst decision I could have made.  But are you ready to succumb me to a fate worse than death, without even beginning to hear my side?”

“The council will give you a trial.”

“The council?”  Nova couldn’t help but scoff.  “The council are the ones who left me to die 10 years ago.  They won’t give me a fair trial.  They’ll look at the metal mask, and paint me guilty without bothering to ask me why any of this happened.  The council would sentence me to death if they could.  Hell, maybe they will!”  

Adrian glanced up, looking to the sky.  Thunderbird was hovering high above them, waiting to descend. 

“Your time’s up.”

No.  Nova couldn’t let this happen.  She couldn’t let herself be captured.  Not now.  Not with so many things left unsaid.  

Unthinkingly, she grabbed onto Adrian’s hand quickly.  It was warm, the calloused skin so comforting to her.  She could sense his blood flowing, her heart beating in perfect sync with his. 

“Adrian, you cannot let them do this to me,” she begged, fully sobbing now, both from grief and fear.  

For a brief moment, Nova thought she had gotten through to him.  She thought he was about to step out of her way, and let her flee the city for good.  She thought, maybe he finally understood that she wasn’t the villain, she was the victim.  

Instead, his voice hardened, and his eyes turned as cold as ice.  

“Let go of my hand,” he hissed. 

[electronicdelusionstarlight]

wait a minute. So I've read your bits on civil war 2008, and I have a question for you: all the characters in the civil war event, at least the major players(like stark, Cap, Spidey, FF), do you believe that they are acting OOC, or that the writers chose to bring out the character's worse qualities to create drama?

And do you think that if the writers had written them In Character, or at least written them to be more balanced, would it have improved the story? Actually, do you think that Civil War could have been... at least A not Bad Story under an intense rewrite? or that the whole concept should have been thrown away?

The OOC talk is tempting and also partially justified. There is a batch of previous stories scattered through the years with the Fantastic Four dealing with similar scenarios where Reed is pretty much anti-government.

1) In one Social Services sue the FF4 for endangering Reed and Sue Kids by keeping them in the Baxter Building despite it being blown up once every 2 weeks. They ask them to "register" them and put them in a safe government facility, so to spearhead a new law where they can get pre-teen superhumans "out of harm way" or some shit.

Keep in mind Franklin is still a Mutant in this story (And still is right now because FUCK YOU SLOTT). Anyway, Reed seemingly agrees,only to set up a dummy facility and "register" his kids there. He doesn't even announce it he literally only writes it in the Government's documentation and shit.

The facility is razed to the ground a couple hours later. Because yes the Baxter Building can explode at any time but AT LEAST they are there to protect the kids from the countless people.

2) In another story, Reed is asked by Congress to create a device that outs mutants and "abnormal" humans, so the government can better individuate them for "reasons." Reed agrees, and makes a device SO POWERFUL it detects every deviations from the supposed norm, so when he gives a demonstration in Congress, he reveals half of its members would qualify as "Mutants" if they kept that line of inquiry, which makes them hastily drop the whole thing. This was intentional, because who the fuck are they to decide who is or isn't not normal?

3) Compare and Contrast with Civil Ear Reed Richards, who is a McCarthy apologist who goes "Logically speaking, we need to listen to the government on this one otherwise we might get burned just like my (gay coded) artist uncle was by the McCarthy Trials in the 50s when he told the court to shove it and his life was ruined as a result. It's the rational way to do it."

4) (The three main proponents of the Registration Side being Rich, White, Heterosexual Men in positions of powers, with jobs in the science field that justify their decision with "Facts and Logic" was PROBABLY unintentional, but is also a great unintended allegory for this kind of shit. The ones who are hurt the most but these kind of laws are the ones who can't afford it after all, and who is ever going to go after the rich and powerful first? Especially if they come with little repercussions on their lives (Tony, Reed and Hank where all already outed as Superheroes after all))

5) Peter is OOC in OMD mind you, Civil War goes pretty much how you'd expect him to go (gets manipulated by authority figure into it, MJ and May are supportive of him because they see only half the facts, the SECOND Peter realizes that those people are monsters he drops them and gets the shit beaten out of him for it, unlike Reed or Tony who can AFFORD having their identities public Peter barely has the money to survive which ends with May getting shot for it). It's an incredibly poignant scenario that I wish was used to TELL A MESSAGE rather than just a backdrop to shoehorn OMD in.

6) Which is to say Civil War could indeed be written better under the same premise. If they want to keep the Patriot Act Allegory, they should be aware of what that would entail for the characters that support it.

We are currently seeing a similar scenario going on in Marvel in the Champions comics where the registration side is pretty much spearheaded by an unambiguous evil corporation and shit. In light of Civil War I existing the whole thing kinda loses its impact (Like that one joke scene where Tony goes "Maybe we should register them" with a smug look on his face as if he isn't responsible for so many deaths), but at least they are trying to shift the conversation? The villain is not the Government of course it's Evil Apple, but at least it's not a "Both Sides are equally ok" centrist bullshit take like they did in Civil War or in Skyrim.

Like, fuck, it's literally called CIVIL WAR to invoke the American Civil War in the context of the "brother kills brother" interpretation some bastards are so fond off, I wouldn't call THAT a "Both Sides are valid" scenario by a long fucking mile, yet here we are.

7) I think the best way to put it would be to set up the same scenario but make it realistic to the setting and shit.

Hank and Tony still support the Government because one is a Skrull Chaos Agent the other is misguided, Carol takes Reed's place in the Triad because Women can be War Criminals too (She was leading the equivalent of a child soldier program during Civil War so she is one already at least). Steve is also anti government because this is happening during the fucking BUSH ADMINISTRATION and he goes "When will Washington decide who the villains are?" Like he did in canon but in, like, a poignant moment.

Speaking of Reed he will keep his family neutral and go "I admit superheroing does need failsafes and some kind of oversight mind you, I just don't this this country's government has demonstrated their right to be that."

Let's not put the "Cap you are out of touch because you don't know what MySpace is" or "Luke every time I see a Sentinel that's like seeing a Burning Cross" rants in the story too because those were some raw shit.

Tony, again, lives in privilege, so it wouldn't exactly affect him, and is genuinely trying to do good, so we need to put him as the "Patsy" who gets duped by Skrull Hank Pym for it, the government is the one with the secret prison for Superheroes, Hank is the one recruiting Nazi Scientists and starting child soldier programs, clones Thor, sets up with the Government a Super Prison in the Ocean (can't use the negative zone without Reed), outside of US Jurisdiction so the government can ship then there with no trial and torture them. When Skrull Hank Pym is confronted for it, and the blame is attempted to be pinned on him and him alone, he goes "Are you earthlings daft or something? I did almost nothing, it was your government who did most of the work in their desire for security and safety, I just sped up the process for them, they would have done all of this with or without me."

Around the ending Tony finds out and is devastated and drops the whole thing."

When someone tries to comfort Tony over it because he didn't know any of this he goes "Oh, that's were you're wrong Peter. I knew. Deep down, I knew things weren't right, unjust, but I did nothing, because I could make things better from the inside, because it didn't affect me, because It would have been inconvenient to me to stop this. This is on me for passively accepting it as it is on the ones who enforced it." Which leads him to make amends, that way he is not as much of a awful character here.

The scene where The US kidnaps Ororo so they can strong arm Tchalla into getting registered happens but is treated as a international crisis as it deserves.

The Prison Break finale happens because Namor discovers the prison in HIS FUCKING DOMAIN and just goes ham on it with the help of the Anti Registration side, he drops a line like "I've seen shit like this before, I've seen what happens when man declares another man a criminal for things out of their control, for what they've been from birth, and I say NOT IN MY KINGDOM!" or some shit (He is a WWII veteran after all).

Since Steve isn't pummeling to the ground Tony in this scenario there isn't the dumb as fuck Everyday Heroes scene and he doesn't get shot by Sharon later on..

We have instead the scene from Secret Invasion where Skrull Hank Pym kills Steve (In SI it was Skrull Queen killing Janet Van Dyne) on national television, which leads to the anger of everyone involved who rush him, only for Tony to be the one who pull the trigger.

Tony is put in charge of SHIELD, which leads to Iron Reign (Dark Reign equivalent), and the story ends with him going "Let's see if things can reach change from the inside this time" as he actually reforms Shield from his position of power. The Registration Act becomes unpopular due to Steve's death and Alien Interferences, so that helps, and leads to actual protests in the streets after Namor reveals to the UN the war crimes the US is committing. It's a slow process, but is something.

OMD doesn't happen, The Peter storyline remains pretty much the same, but instead of Tony bragging about his private prisons for Superheroes in hell, it's the Punisher who shows up to him and reveals some troubling shit he discovered, Peter Confront Tony for it who dismisses it as fake news because he doesn't want to believe, Peter drops the registration side out of disgust, which then leads to the government sending villains after him rather than Tony. Tony is then seen strongly arguing with Maria Hill for this since Peter almost died from what he got from his suit readings (which he never hijacked or deactivated), but the Skrull Hank Pym shows up and supports Maria Hill for it, and Carol is busy with her child soldier program to comment.

May still gets shot and dies right as Peter and MJ discover MJ is pregnant with their second Daughter, which is ripe for lots of good stuff.

Maria Hill will therefore have to take even more of a role as a Government Plant and shit, but what's new.

Johnny Storm still gets hate crimed on but not by black people. Maybe confirm him as Bi while we're at it? You know, to get topical and all.

Ideally No More Mutants never happened so mutants are still a thing and most of them are vehemently anti registration. Emma Frost appears neutral at first glance, but ultimately she is playing the long game, secretly helping militant mutant groups and shielding the school from unwanted attention. She still has a restraining order filled for Tony Stark, she still points out to Carol how fucking dangerous a mutant life can be if outed via mind powers.

Can't think of much else for now, maybe Felicia helping MJ and May while they are in hiding? MJ is nauseous and all and she goes "must be the nerves" and Felicia agrees but May knows. This could lead to the polycule post May death since Felicia blames herself for it for not being fast enough, and MJ now is pregnant and scared and the Registration Act is getting repealed by the future is still glum and Peter is depressed so they all comfort each other and then 69 issues later we have a two parter maxi event where they face their fears and BANG we get the polycule.

Aunt May still poisons the Chameleon while he was posing as Peter. She actually actually poisons him rather then just drug him this time, because she knows of that one time he tried to force himself on MJ while posing as Peter which lead to MJ beating the shit out of him with a baseball bat, and May is a nice old lady but there are things she really can't stand you know?

Felicia and MJ help her hide the body. Peter never finds out.

And that's it?