#the worst execution i've ever seen

[vikingpoteto]

I know I shouldn't expect much when Roberto Aguire Sucasa is involved but *holy shit.*

[talentforlying]

@savagecowboy: Meta Topic: I’m sure canon wise this fluctuates a lot, but I’m curious on “your take”. Does Constantine genuinely think he is a “savior” type, like he is meant to be a hero to help prevent the evils of the world? Is he more of a “it’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it? Or is it ultimate reluctance, “if I could retire tomorrow I would”? I feel like you see a bit of all 3, but is any 1 more definitive than the other at his core? — SEND META TOPICS.

there's absolutely a bit of all three involved, and his moods fluctuate sharply enough (i tend to classify him in periods of highs and lows) that he has genuinely believed all three at different points in his life, but i think he has a desperate desire to be a savior, to make up for all the ways he's fucked up previously in life and have a slim chance of doing something good enough to earn his way out of eternal damnation, and i think that desire exists because he believes he's the opposite of one: at his base level, beneath the bravado and arrogance and pride, he quite genuinely considers himself a poison to people. he thinks this mostly on an interpersonal level rather than to the world at large — he's toxic to friends and family, but he prevents apocalypses and worldwide disasters enough to think he actually can do some good for humanity as a whole — but it certainly spreads through the well when he's in a darker mindset.

at his core, i think he's a combination of the last two. he's very, very much someone who would retire tomorrow if he could, he's lived his life hand-in-hand with guilt and violence and grief and the depravities of the human soul almost from day one and he is 70 goddamn years old now, he is so fucking tired. there is nothing he wants more in life than to settle down and be forgotten by the world. that said, he is also one of the biggest obstacles in his own way here. as much as he would find immense relief in no longer being approached as a defender of the desperate and the lost, he has also never been able to look away from people in trouble when he knows he's capable of helping them; it's a dirty job, but if he's the only one willing to do it, then he'll do it. he'll probably regret it, and it'll probably drag him further into other people's drama and politics and mess, but he can't just close his eyes and pretend there's nothing happening.

and yeah, it's a noble and tragic impulse and all that, but there's also just the fact that he's a nosy old bitch à la miss marple, with a narcissistic belief that he is always the only one willing to do the hard tasks and people would be hopelessly lost without him involved. so he does it to himself when he's not being manipulated / dragged kicking and screaming into it first, really.

[tobiasdrake]

Which DBZ antagonist do you like the most?

Boring opinion, I know, but I gotta give it up for the Obvious Choice.

And I'm not just saying that because I haven't had a chance to talk about him yet.

Frieza runs a real estate empire that carries out genocidal acts of gentrification, purging tracts of land of their native inhabitants so he can sell their land for profit. Commenting on this choice for his ultimate villain, Akira Toriyama stated that he made this decision because real estate speculators are the worst people there are.

Fucking based.

From the moment we meet Frieza, he is a monster. Toriyama likes this Big Guy Little Guy dynamic where the Little Guy is the one you really need to watch out for. Frieza is the Littlest Guy ever.

He's so tiny. And yet you know exactly who the most dangerous person in this group is. Zero question.

By the end of this altercation, Frieza reveals one of his signature attacks, giving us our first glimpse of the kind of person and the kind of fighter he is. This is such an important moment for his character and I'm kinda mad that the anime had Dodoria do it instead.

Muri destroys the Scouters and blinds Frieza. I've talked before at length about the devastating impact that this move and the Namekian warriors' attack has on Frieza's campaign.

But once it's done, he has to face the music. He's not getting out of this alive.

In one last desperation play, Muri tells Cargo and Dende to run while blocking them with his body. And that's when it happens.

This is Frieza.

Specifically, this is Frieza's Death Beam. It's never actually given a name, but is generally referred to as Death Beam. We've seen a move like this only once before.

The Dodonpa, signature technique of Tsuru-senryu, first introduced by the assassin Taopaipai, was built for extreme lethality. This is not a technique for fighting; It's a technique for killing.

What makes Frieza's Death Beam stand out from the Dodonpa, however, is its accuracy and its speed. He threads the needle around Muri to hit Cargo before anyone even has a chance to react.

We see its accuracy and speed again six days later, when it finally catches up to the other child fleeing from him here.

The panelwork here calling attention to everyone's reactions as Frieza's ki bullet shoots past them, as his shot threads the needle between all obstacles in his path to strike his target far behind them. Dende is dead before anyone can even process that Frieza fired.

This is the difference between the two techniques. The Dodonpa is a gun. The Death Beam is a sniper rifle. Faced with the physical hurdle of bodies impeding his path, Frieza point-clicked Cargo and Dende to death.

He later executes Vegeta this same way.

Done with you.

All of this context for Frieza's sniping shot serves to set up the stunning subversion when Goku arrives to fight.

Frieza's never seen this before. Goku shouldn't even be able to see the shots coming until they've perforated his lungs. That's how Death Beam works. It's this moment that lays it out: Frieza's about to be tested like he's never been tested before.

Speaking of cool techniques, I've always been partial to this move from his Third Form.

The anime gives Frieza little ki bullets coming out of his fingers but I want to note that we never see a physical projectile when he's doing this. Frieza jams his fingers back and forth in the air while something pulverizes Piccolo.

I've always imagined he's poking the air so fast that it's hitting Piccolo with pressurized air currents. Similar to Goku's Mazoku air current punch from the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai.

But that's just me.

In any case, Frieza's got some fun moves. He's something of a hobbyist martial artist. Which is to say, Frieza has an interest in martial arts. In addition to his Death Beam, Frieza's concocted a litany of other interesting techniques.

He even invented the Kienzan, independently of Krillin.

Though he can remote operate his Kienzan so it's strictly better than Krillin's. Frieza, in his spare time, has come up with a bunch of cool moves. Too bad he has no idea how to use them.

Frieza's greatest weakness is his inexperience. He practices martial arts the way a business CEO who bought a log splitter so he can cut some wood and feel woodsy practices agriculture. Frieza has never had a proper chance to truly experience martial arts, because he was born too powerful.

The only partner who's ever even dirtied his skin was his dad.

And even that isn't much. Frieza's too strong. He wants to pursue martial arts. He wants to hone his technique. But when you win every fight by blinking too hard in the opponent's direction, what even is there to practice?

Frieza created a transformation to seal away his immeasurable ki because he was born with so much ki flowing from him that he can't even contain it. At his peak, Frieza's ki bleeds out of him. He simply can't contain it.

Goku wonders aloud why Frieza took so long, even after the fight turned against him, to go to 100%. Frieza's been all "Oh I'm only using 10% power this is my 50% you made me go to 75%" and Goku's like, "Okay. My dude. What's this about, for real?

This, incidentally, is not a great translation. What Goku's saying here is supposed to be basically, "Perhaps when you use your full power, your body can't handle it."

He is correct.

Frieza's Full Power has a lot in common with Super Saiyan 3. His theoretical maximum ability is wildly different from the reality of what he's capable of, because he bleeds ki like it's going out of style.

So, while other characters wound up earning transformations that make them more powerful, Frieza created a transformation to seal away some of his incomprehensible ki.

Then he created a couple more because even though he could now control his strength and even manipulate the amount of ki he's releasing at a time, he was still too powerful for anyone to ever compete with and needed even more ki sealed away.

Again, not a fantastic translation from the people who brought us "bottom-tier boy", as Frieza's statement here could be interpreted as saying that he gets taken by a berserker rage or something.

What he's saying is more like, "My power is so great that I can't properly contain it."

Point is, Frieza transformed to lock down his ki and seal parts of it away, so he could control the rest better. Then he kept going, locking away more and more and more of his ki. And even at his most nerfed, he's still five times more powerful than the Second Strongest Guy in the Universe.

Frieza has never in his life had the opportunity to be pushed. That's what makes Goku so enthralling to him.

Frieza plays with Goku because he's genuinely having the time of his life. This guy can fight him in his Final Form. Nobody can fight him in his Final Form. He's so happy, he straight-up forgets that he's trying to complete a genocide against Goku's entire race.

He said that five minutes ago. Gohan's hidden power freaked Frieza the fuck out. Saiyans are too strong now. They've gotten too strong. Frieza cannot permit them to keep existing because they're getting strong. Every last Saiyan, every last one, must die. Every single one. Scorched earth, no survivors.

But then he meets a Saiyan martial artist who's a technical master and pushes him more than he ever thought possible and suddenly:

He goes from "Saiyans are TOO STRONG and they all must die because they might threaten me" to "OH MY GOD I'M HAVING SO MUCH FUN CAN I KEEP YOU!?"

It's this desire for a true rival, this opportunity to satisfy his amateur's curiosity about martial arts, that ultimately unravels him. Frieza has one ruthless and pragmatic option for ending this fight once it starts to be too much for him. He can technically stop the fight any time he wants.

But he can't bring himself to do it. He wants to fight. He wants to compete. Frieza's been on the outside looking in at martial arts for his entire life and even when his greatest fears are fulfilled and the Super Saiyan is in front of him, he wants to try.

So when he does attempt to pull his Lethal Ragequit, he pulls back at the last second. He can't bring himself to do it. Goku initially assesses that Frieza held back out of fear of hurting himself.

But later, as Frieza begins unlocking the final chains on his ki, Goku changes his assessment. Noting that if Frieza really held back simply out of a mistake, he could have shot the planet again at any point to finish the job. He's been letting this play out because he can't bring himself to end the greatest fight of his life that way.

This fight is still happening because Frieza wants to compete. I mean, he wants to win, of course, but he wants to win as a martial artist. He's never truly gotten to be a martial artist before.

He is not the guy winning the gold medal at the Tenkaichi Budokai. He has never been that guy. He's the guy who buys up the land the Tenkaichi Budokai is held on and then bulldozes all the people off of it. But in his heart of hearts, he wants to be that guy. That guy is so cool. Frieza wants to play too.

In a sense, by hosting the Cell Games, Cell got to live Frieza's greatest fantasy.

This is who Frieza is. He's the cruel and wicked heir to Genocide Realtors Inc., who is in love with the idea of being Tenshinhan - A desire that exists at odds with - and undermines - his pragmatic business sense, so to speak.

He is the most vile character in the history of Dragon Ball. The worst kind of person. He is also an overeager child whose wealth and privilege prevents him from ever truly enjoying his hobbies, to an extent that he'd be almost pitiable but for all the genocides.

And he is Dragon Ball's greatest villain.

[matan4il]

I just saw with my 2 fucking eyes ST calling Bassem Tamimi a peace activist, the guy who made his child go confront IDF soldiers for clout aand thinks stone throwing - which kills people, including friendly fire between Palestinians - is so cool

Nonnie, I am... You know that thing where you just smile wide, because reality is too much to deal with, and you just have to detach from it for a minute? That's me right now.

I mean, one of the things I've noted over the years is that often, the worst takes from Standing Together's leaders are posted on their personal social media accounts rather than the official ones, which makes it a bit harder to explain why the notion of the movement is great, while what they do in practice is awful and anti-Israeli. So when I got your ask I was wondering on which private account they posted that, but no. They posted it on an official ST account. There is not enough 'face palm' in the world for this.

Bassem Tamimi was arrested in October due to suspicion that he was aiding terrorist activity against Israel. If you ask me, he should have been arrested for child abuse as well, the way he's used his kids, pushing them repeatedly at soldiers to gain clout among the anti-Israel crowd, and praising them when they got arrested for violent terrorist activity. He has also generally encouraged rock throwing terrorist attacks.

The ST post claims that Bassem advocates for non-violent resistance, which is an absolute lie. He supports rock throwing at Israelis, which IS a violent act (funny how for the anti-Israel crowd, Israeli words are violence, but Palestinians throwing rocks at Israelis, which has killed more than once, isn't. For some reason, I have never seen any of the people claiming that rock throwing is a form of non-violent resistance volunteering to be its physical targets, I wonder why. Anyway, reminder that when it comes to non-Israelis, people have no issue calling deaths caused by rock throwing "murder," even when executed by teenagers, or calling out the terrorizing quality of such crimes).

Not to mention that Bassem's own daughter, Ahed Tamimi (who is mentioned in the same ST post as having been arrested by Israel "multiple times", and who the family has actually sent countless times to confront soldiers in order to film her "bravery" when really, that's child abuse) was arrested twice, the first time for physically assaulting a soldier. The second time was after the Hamas massacre, when Ahed posted on social media, promising that Palestinians will slaughter Jews, and that "you will say what Hitler did to you is a joke" in comparison, that Palestinians will drink the blood of Jews and eat their skulls. Yeah, SO non-violent!

Let's also not forget that Bassem's niece, Ahlam Tamimi, was a terrorist who helped carry out the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing in 2001, a massacre of 16 people (since the Palestinians insist on counting unborn children when pregnant women get killed in the conflict, I think it's only fair Israelis do the same), leaving another person in a vegetative state for over 20 years. Ahlam's interviews from Israeli prison and after she was freed in a hostage deal are some of the most chilling I've ever seen, and this woman is a "journalist" and an icon for the anti-Israel mob, living in and broadcasting from Jordan, allowing her to help poison the minds of the next generation.

Nothing about the arrests of either Bassem (or Ahed or Ahlam) was arbitrary, unlike the claim in that ST post.

I'm just... beyond sickened. Anyway, this will also go under my Standing Together tag for easy reference, if you ever need it.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[franzkafkagf]

How do you personally think they massacred his potential? I fully agree, by the way. He could have and should have been a fan favourite. He's one of the most tragic characters I've seen, honestly. He's interesting and definitely the most complex character of the season, but the lack of catharsis the writers gave him for his issues is anger inducing.

the concept is just so good to me. the prince with no sense for duty or responsibility, who did not want the throne but feels forced to take it anyways. he takes the throne to save his family and yet, he watches all of them die anyways.

At first, the prince refused to be a part of his mother’s plans. “My sister is the heir, not me,” he said. “What sort of brother steals his sister’s birthright?” Only when Ser Criston convinced him that the princess must surely execute him and his brothers should she don the crown did Aegon waver.

that's just amazing. i cannot stress this enough; it's so profoundly tragic and sad. i don't hate everything they did with him in the show; they have many good ideas actually. him rejecting his valyrian heritage, him being kind of a failure at everything, him being desperate to my accepted/loved... this is all profound and good stuff! but i feel like his tragedy has been squandered by how the writers decided to frame the story. i could go on about how rhaenyra and alicent are potrayed so blandly in this show in order to make their embarrassing gender essentialism theme going but this is about aegon so i won't go into that.

aegon reminds me so much of theon greyjoy. maybe it's just me, but in my head theon and aegon start the story in similar places. they're spoilt, vain and indulgent. then they get their "calling", for aegon it's the crown. it's the first time in his life that he has a reason to get out of bed, to actually do something good for once. also, him believing his father actually wanted him to take the crown and it hurting him when otto scoffed at him for believing it? AMAZING stuff. I love s02xe02 to bits.

because [my father] didn't like me

theon's calling is to finally get his father's approval. balon, obviously, has no fatherly affection towards him and theon kind of knows it, he still betrays the only person he ever truly loved. and what happens to theon? he loses everything, absolutely everything; he is stripped of his pride, his dignity, of his entire identity. i've never seen a character go through something theon went through.

and i see parallels to aegon here! aegon is quite literally made and broken by the weight of a crown he never wanted. his story is more tragic than theon actually; the thing that destroyed him was quite literally forced on him. it actually kills me to think about it. he rushes into rook's rest because he feels powerless; because everybody around him shows him not even one ounce of empathy. his baby is dead and no one seems to care!

and he fails; of course he does. he is BETRAYED by his own brother, the brother he thought was loyal to him. this is just such good stuff my head hurts. his arc after the fall of KL is so amazing too, i'm desperate to see him go on his adventure to dragonstone and actually grow into the type of man that can turn rhaenyra's own people against her.

now, what could've been done to make his arc better in the show? well. let's start with not making him a rapist. i cannot stress this enough. the single worst choice was to introduce him as a rapist. it's actually crazy to me. it's so easy too... just make him like theon; make him promiscuous, make him vain, make him spoilt! they should've introduce his adult version with a drunk sex scene actually. set the tone for his character from the beginning.

he is not suited for the throne; he seeks pleasures, doesn't care for his valyrian lessons (based!), he drinks all day... like, what was the POINT of making him a rapist? what was it? -> the answer is obvious.... they didn't want us sympathizing with him. they were scared of people liking the villain. why is this hbo show scared you might have people sympathizing and pitying the "villain"? are you okay? YOU HAD ONE JOB. DEAR GOD.....

so with that said; make his motivations clearer. have him scream at aemond after jaehaerys dies, change up the godawful brothel scene to actually drive the point home; he is still grieving and his way of grieving is lashing out and drinking himself half to death! focus on his alcoholism and his rashness. I actually rewrote the brothel scene here

make us understand him bettter; there are moments like the "do you love me?" or all of ep 1 and 2 of season 2, but it's too little, too late. the writers in general have such a hard time with writing characters with actual qualities. all of them are so empty and act like robots. only aegon, criston, daemon and rhaenyra (in episodes 1 and 2 at least... then we went right back to robot mode lmao) show moments of actually being a character with rich inner workings. i hate it so much.

[inventedfangirling]

My friends i watched love for love's sake and I swear i don't have a fckin clue where even to start.

I know a lot has been said about the show already and i know a LOT more would be said about in the future, but i just can't help adding my own two cents to one of the most thought-provoking, moving and brilliantly executed pieces of art i have ever seen.

I'm not gonna go on about just how much I loved Tae Myungha's character and how he is one of the most interesting people I've seen on screen in a long time. I'm not gonna talk about how unbelievably squishable Yeowoon is and how his duality totally ruined me that I need him to get into my pocket and NEVER leave. And oh I need him to put Myungha in his pocket while at it. I'm also not gonna talk about precious 'of course i'm gay, i've always liked girls, you don't know how to be loved' Sangwon is to me, cos if i start I can promise you I will most certainly never stop.

So for the sake of the rest of this post, I'm moving on. (NOT REALLY THO)

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE all the interpretations that people are coming up with, LOVE LOVE LOVE the show for filling in the gaps but LOVE it more for still leaving room for pretty thought-flowers to bloom around.

You know those artworks or puzzles that have something obvious hidden in a maze of confusion and haze until somebody points out the pattern, you zoom out and realize wow it was this clear all along?? That's a LOT of what watching the show felt like to me. The pattern being how inexplicably inter-connected Myungha and Yeowoon are. Not because they are each other's blorbos, but because why they are eo's blorbos. Why they don't care for each other from a sense of sympathy, but from empathy, despite not knowing the depth of their connections explicitly.

Eventhough we do see glimpses of it from the start, it only gets more clear later how Myungha and Yeowoon really are mirror versions of eo. How the first time Myungha sees Yeowoon he's stopping him from killing himself, and then we later find out that Myungha ends up killing himself. How both of it was triggered by a series of disappointments in life, starting with a troubling family and ending with a grandmother who passes away. Of how both of them seem to really have no one else to call their own in the world. Of leading very lonely depressing lives, that seem to never have a glimpse of hope. How both of them seem closed off, but inside they really are so fragile it hurts to perceive the depth of their feelings. It all comes and hits you once you've taken the whole show in and have gotten a few 1000 seconds to think about it.

We start off with myungha's character wanting to make his blorbo's character happy, and he's in it cos he cares about him, he doesn't have to think about himself. A 'pathetic' character experiencing a lot of pain, what's not to love, Myungha thinks, not realizing that it's his own mirror self that he is feeling so much for. Myungha sees Yeowoon's problems as someone from outside and is therefore able to objectively look at it, and approach it proactively, taking so many steps to help him, my favourite (and arguably most important) of which is the effort he puts in to help form yeowoon a friend circle. Something that he couldn't do for himself cos he never even considered a possibility of that. Why would anybody want to be around him? He ruins everything right?

And then to go on despite believing that, to falling in love, to deciding to choose to save both his grandma and yeowoon, finally FINALLY taking control into his hands even if for a bit to say what he wants, to spending the last few days together, to breaking up cos he just thinks the worst of himself, cos he doesn't know better. And then to the eternal darkness, where moments before leaving, just like in his real life, he realizes he wants in, he wants to live, he wants to love, but more importantly this time, he wants to try being loved. Even if it's difficult, he wants to try.

I love how eventhough the show is heavily Myungha focused, we get meaningful dynamics with multiple characters. Round eyed gasp inducing moments dont just belong to the two mains but also to sangwon whose line to myungha post the stalker incident just ruined me and really set the tone for whatever the show was later revealed to be all about.

I love how complicated the narrative got while still telling a more or less coherent story, how in hindsight, a lot of it makes even more sense now. How as Myungha gets closer to yeowoon his self-hating tendencies manifest in the form of debuffs and errors, because of his own brain's inability to perceive himself as somebody deserving love. His childhood trauma and the numerous rejections life has given him, because of the kind of person he turned out to be because of those rejections, all appear to stand in his way of happiness, as if he can't help being a bundle of sadness and a harbinger of problems. Even as he says he doesn't believe in destiny or fate. Or as we initially are made to believe in the game as, yeowoon's happiness, when in reality this was never about yeowoon at all. Yeowoon never existed in the first place and in "real" life, he never does.

I was blown away by how Myungha is in fact no longer in the mortal world but that fact doesn't hurt as much as that he would have to leave a world where he could finally feel happiness, feel loved, feel cared for, even if he consciously tried avoiding them. They still came to him, they still cared for him, they still fiercely wanted to protect him, (Cos he is just a tiny meow meow, who has been hurt a lot in his life, who wouldn't wanna caress and nurse him back to health HUH) just as much as he wanted to protect them.

And coming to the question of what's the game, where is it happening and who orchestrated it? It's definitely set in the afterlife or the limbo between life and the life after. It could be the author friend doing it, or the author friend has given myungha's brain the power to control the game OR of course the possibility that this has all been happening in myungha's head the whole time.

Whatever it is, the whole point has been to take Myungha from a person not wanting to live his life, feeling so devoid of love and happiness, to a journey of love and friendship, of the importance of fostering connections, of making efforts, of helping others, but equally of letting others help you, of putting your hand out and asking for that help. And in my head I love it most when I think of it as entirely Myungha orchestrated. Of it being a desperate cry of pain to himself, from himself, to save himself. Yeowoon and the game and the missions and all of it was for him to see himself in ways he never allowed himself to be seen as, to take care of himself in ways he never has, to love himself like he has never known to. To finally run towards himself, even if pathetic and sad, the Cha Yeowoon of the game, the person waiting at the end of the finishing line was the Tae Myungha in him all along.

You know that tumblr quote 'do it for her' but its about your future self, right? Myungha rooting for Yeowoon is sort of like that? When he's protecing him, he's protecting himself? When he's cheering for him, he's actually cheering and rooting for himself? When he's loving him, he makes space and place to love himself?

I just love the idea of a (self) love story.

Eitherway Yeowoon x Myungha supremacy.

Extreme(ly accurate?) Interpretations apart, Love for Love's Sake is truly one of the, if not THE finest (self) love story I might have ever seen.

As a person who avoids fics/books with mcd or shows with tragic endings, it felt absolutely revolutionary to me that my biggest joy and relief came from the fact that the main character is dead (the thought of myungha having to leave the game was too much to handle) and he gets to live in this game where he has a cute boyfriend, a supportive, caring friend group and his grandma back. it wasn't the game that was temporary or non-existent, it was actually his life outside. And that's not bad? Cos this is a story and Myungha isn't real, but as real as he is, he got his happy ending.

The show taught us to love, to see love, to be loved and to share that love. It told us that maybe the afterlife is a videogame simulation where we all get to live in friendship and love forever, with our blorbo and our friends. There are a lot worse lives to live. And I'm glad he found it in himself, enough love, courage and hope to write himself a better one :')

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

what do you think of the rumors about Aemond's possible betrayal of Aegon in Ep4?

Oh do I have a lot to say about this one! So here's the thing. A possible Rook's Rest betrayal situation has been a long running theory among F&B readers even before the show. In the book, Vhagar slams into Sunfyre and Meleys from above while the two are locked together fighting, and they all crash to the ground. It's unclear whether Aemond slammed them both because Vhagar was too big to maneuver in a precise way, or if he was intentionally trying to harm his brother. It's ambiguous, but when Aegon is badly injured, Aemond becomes prince regent and declares the crown looks better on him than it ever did on his brother. In Aemond's favor, he did not declare himself king, but it's also the case that in the book, Aegon had a second son, so Aemond wasn't his heir either. Declaring himself king would have been a direct usurpation of Maelor even if Aegon himself died. We also know that at the end of the Dance Aegon wanted statues made of both his brothers, Aemond and Daeron, so Aegon himself likely did not believe Aemond was responsible for his injuries. But it is ambiguous, and book!Aemond does turn out to be not very smart and not much of a team player, so in and of itself, I don't actually mind the betrayal theory so much. But I would prefer it remain a theory, that is, keep it ambiguous, but even if it is an outright betrayal, it's the execution and motivation which concern me.

In the show, Aemond has a very clear second son syndrome. Whether it's true or not, he certainly thinks he's smarter, better, more dutiful, and of course on top of all that, he has the largest dragon. Show!Aegon, on the other hand, is insecure and struggling with depression, alcoholism, and a big case of imposter syndrome. He's impulsive and reactive, wasn't properly prepared to be king, didn't particularly want to be king, but now that he is king, he's desperate not to fail. In the events leading up to the war, Aemond kills Luke in a moment that seems more rash than calculated, and this ultimately leads to Aegon's small son being decapitated by Blood and Cheese in revenge, throwing him deep into grief and rage. On top of that, Aegon is feeling undermined by his council, including Aemond, and Larys is planting the seeds of mistrust between Aegon and his brother. It's absolutely reasonable for there to be some resentment between the two and some unresolved issues that might manifest on the battlefield. Would these issues lead to an actual attempted murder? Eh, I tend to think that, in the spirit of leaving it ambiguous, Aemond might have the passing thought that he could totally "accidentally" allow Aegon to come to harm. He might even hesitate just long enough that Meleys is able to seriously wound Aegon or Sunfyre before he joins in, causing him to feel a great deal of guilt. This is my preferred scenario.

The problem I have is with how the show is framing it so far. I've never been a fan of the way the bullying storyline seemed to humanize Aemond at Aegon's expense, but it now appears as if it's being used as a motivation or justification for Aemond betraying Aegon at Rook's Rest, as well as his general shift to a darker character, which I find cliched and disappointing. At this point Aemond is a grown man by all Westerosi standards, and despite their issues, we've seem Aegon display loyalty towards Aemond more than we've seen him "bully" him. They're siblings, they're going to fight and bicker and tease, but we've seen nothing from Aegon so far that would justify murder. Maybe if your brother is going through the worst thing a person can possibly experience, losing his son in a murder that, while not your fault, happened as a retribution for your actions, perhaps you could grant him some grace, even if he makes some obnoxious comments in a brothel. I've seen so many takes which basically amount to "Aegon had it coming" as if we haven't seen Aegon absolutely distraught over the death of his child, receiving no emotional support from his family, least of all Aemond himself, and spiraling back into alcoholism and reckless behavior. Now is really not the time to get pissy about teasing. It's not about you, Aemond. A child is dead.

And in fact, we've seen Aegon be supportive of Aemond on screen in ways that we generally haven't seen Aemond support Aegon. Aegon speaks up on Aemond's behalf, inviting him into the council when Alicent wants to shut him out, and we've seen him support Aemond's battle plans, even though we know Cole and Aemond have been planning behind Aegon's back. In S1 we've seen Aegon have Aemond's back at dinner with Rhaenyra's family, and going even further back, we've seen Aegon allow Aemond to throw him under the bus about the bastard comments, taking the fall even though he was not the culprit. There is certainly jealousy and rivalry there from both sides, but as much as Aegon is an ass, it is clear he loves his brother.

Also, I think some fans, perhaps because the well was poisoned against Aegon in S1 in ways that his character has struggled to recover from, tend to read everything Aegon does uncharitably and ignore some of Aemond's more questionable behavior, granting him grace that they do not grant others. I rarely see critical analysis about Aemond the way I do about Aegon, so I'm going to be frank here for a moment. Aemond is only the "good" brother to Aegon's "bad" brother because we haven't seen him at his worst yet, but the potential is there for him to be so much worse than Aegon could ever be. Show!Aemond is thin skinned, self-centered, and a bit of a "can dish it out but can't take it" type. Aemond's assholery is more subtle (for example, Aemond's patronizing little "that's a brave thought" to Aegon in council), whereas Aegon's is loud and obnoxious, but Aemond knows how to make his insults pointed and hurtful ("Strong boys" toast, you will die screaming in flames like your father). And look no further than his reaction to Blood and Cheese to see his egotism in action. In this moment when he's supposed to be showing some level of vulnerability with the madame, he's talking about how honored he is that sempai Daemon noticed him. Mind you, this notice is what resulted in the death of his four year old nephew. His "remorse" over killing Lucerys amounts to "I do regret that business with Luke," while immediately following up with his justification, citing how they used to tease him for not having a dragon. Sincere remorse involves examining your own actions without immediately justifying them or centering yourself, and in that moment I felt no remorse from Aemond, or even sympathy for what his killing of Luke might have unleashed upon the family. Aemond hasn't even mentioned Helaena once post-B&C, and you'd think that even if he doesn't feel sorry for Aegon, surely he'd show some sympathy for his innocent sister? And yet, nothing.

So while I can't say it would be necessarily out of character for the Aemond they've been giving us in S2, I don't really like this take on Aemond at all, and I just don't find this supposed grudge against Aegon a particularly compelling justification for attempted murder. While the bullying storyline humanized Aemond in S1 as a child, keeping it going now, as a motive for harming his brother and his brother's dragon, which, lets be clear, would absolutely fuck over his entire faction, is ridiculous and unnecessary, and really kind of saps any goodwill I might have had for Aemond. I don't have any sympathy for someone who was rather mildly teased and decides his brother deserves to die for it, and it makes me feel incredibly sad for Aegon who is just getting dumped on by his entire family to the point where it's honestly kind of hard to watch. There is plenty of drama inherent in the situation already as-is. If this happened because of tensions over Storm's End and Blood and Cheese, it would still be stupid for Aemond to do, but Aemond has never been as smart as he thinks, and it would frame the betrayal in the context of the ways Aegon and Aemond have hurt each other. However, if it is framed as Aegon's comeuppance for being an asshole, Aemond's Joker moment where he goes fully dark in some sort of bullying revenge plot that he decides to enact in the middle of a war? Honestly, forget building gigantic gold covered statues, I'd be burning effigies.

[alwayshere195]

I wish we got Diego and Five in the timeline subway instead of Lila and Five. The deep desire for us getting the same premise but with a different execution.

Imagine Diego going and asking why Five can't blink only to end up in the subway with him. Five reluctantly, explaining everything he knows. Something Diego isn't fully comprehending but understands.

The silly idea of Diego coming up with the timeline travel and getting stuck in the subway with Five. The possibilities of their interactions.

The idea of Apocalypse Five shooting at them, causing Diego to ask who's that. "Me, of course, who else was in the apocalypses?!" Five responds, heading back down into the subway. Diego follows, "Well, sorrrry! I thought you had better aim than that!" Five shoots him a look.

The idea of when they realized they're trapped, we hear dialog. Diego shouting that this is EXACTLY what Five wanted. Klaus was right! He is a chaos junkie!

Five, throwing his hands up: I don't know why everyone says that! I'm not. This isn't what I wanted.

Diego: You appear in your element!

Five: Of course I do! This is all I know, Diego! I got stuck in an apocalypse at 13! 13! I was trapped for 45 years in it! Besides living in it, need I remind that I witnessed it again and again and again?! But that doesn't mean I want it!

Diego: Then what do you want? Because (mocking) Need I remind, you went off to join the CIA. You barely kept in contact for the past 6 years. You-

Five: I want peace! I want silence! I want to not worry about you idiots! I want... Forget it. Let's keep looking to get out of here.

How it finally pushes these two to talk. Their relationship has been rocky but there's always trust between them. Plus, Five doesn't really open up. So for the day to come where Diego once again pushes Fives buttons but the correct ones this time to get a

Five: I'm tired, ok? I have seen you all die again and again and again. I'm tired. I tried time traveling, I tried talking, I tried murder, I've tried, and it all keeps going to hell. There's only so much before it feels impossible or that I'm the problem. Sure, Viktor caused the first three apocalypse but not those after that. Not all this (refering to the subway). Only I could come here...

Diego, sighing after hearing all this for the first time: Yeah, you are a problem. A problematic piece of shit like the rest of us. And for holding all this in like a secret to take to the grave. But you're not to blame for everything. If anyone's to blame, it's Dad.

How they grow closer and Diego realizes just how tired Five is. He's exhausted and barely holding on. It doesn't help that no one in the family ever truly thanked him. So he does. Gives Five a genuine "Thanks by the way. For spending 45 years and some figuring out how to save us. I appreciate it. I like being alive." And how Five gets quiet as thats all he ever truly wanted. A thank you.

How Diego opens up about his relationship issues and how his rants turn into frustration about it all. Him voicing how he'd LOVE "bookclub" because FUCK MAN he needs a "bookclub" too! He'd be in full support! And he wished she was more vocal about things like he is instead of playing the guessing game. And how it turns into all the things he wants to do when he sees her again. Tell her everything. Open up. Hold her. Kiss her. Be in the same love he always really had for her. Fives there supporting him.

Five finds the journal and ponders it. Keeps the information hidden from Diego for a day or two before he's caught reading it. Diego's rightfully upset but Five brings up points.

Five: I was reading it. Making sure I understood what to do before we had a talk.

Diego: A talk? What is there to talk about?

Five: What if it went to shit out there and everyone's died? What if-

Diego: No, Five. There is no ifs here. We're going back and we're going to see how things are. Worst case scenario, we go back in time and save their lousy asses. Together. Best case scenario, we see our family again. I get to see Lila and my kids again.

Five: Right...

They go back and they find out that Luther and Lila ended up going to the CIA because "My husband always talks about this place, and my brother-in-law works here. So maybe there's information." And it makes Diego's hesrt flutter.

Just... what we could have had.

[antianakin]

Number 9 for the ask game! For both disneycanon and legends :)

9. worst part of canon

Man, this is a hard question to answer, mostly because there's so many things I could answer.

So I am assuming here that when you say "Legends" you actually just mean Lucas canon that existed pre Disney canon since "Legends" has never been and will never be canon in and of itself. If you were hoping to hear me speak about something that was ACTUALLY from Legends, I'm very sorry, but I'm not familiar enough with it and I don't think it works for the prompt anyway, so all of my answers are going to be from Disney Canon or Lucas Canon.

Some of these will land more in the realm of "the concept is fine/good, the execution was bad" and some will be more "the concept in and of itself is awful regardless of whether it was executed well or not."

In the Ahsoka show, the concept of Ahsoka facing her past with Anakin and how that's impacted who she's become is a great idea and it's really the only way to move her character forward, but the execution of it was so badly done that I wish it had never happened and we'd just never seen Ahsoka again or ever learned what she felt about Anakin. I've spoken enough about this show for anyone more familiar with me to know why I feel that way. If you haven't read my posts about it and want to hear more of them, you can search under the tags "ahsoka show" and "anti ahsoka show."

Turning the Darksaber into Mandalorian Excalibur is, perhaps controversially, a bad concept. It's introduced in the hands of a Mandalorian, sure, but it's also introduced specifically as a stolen Jedi relic. And between those two things, somehow the fact that it was in the hands of a Mandalorian got considered the more important part of it rather than the fact that it was a JEDI relic that got stolen from them.

And unfortunately turning the Darksaber into Mandalorian Excalibur has made the Mandos even more boring than they already were. It forces everything that was established about them in TCW to be basically erased and ignored. The whole aspect of them having a government of any kind, having a Council and a Prime Minister, is gone, and leaders are chosen by who can wield a stolen relic real good (or, more accurately, who can wield a DIFFERENT WEAPON well enough to defeat the person who IS wielding the stolen relic) rather than chosen more democratically by the people themselves.

The Darksaber also just isn't even being used very well in the narrative. It got handed to Sabine and we went through an entire lovely arc for her to earn it both the Jedi way and the Mandalorian way only for her to hand it off the very next season to someone who hadn't earned it at all. Then that person loses it and it somehow ends up in the hands of Din Djarin who seems to START an arc about earning it only for that to just get completely dropped so he can hand it right back to the same person Sabine handed it to last time and then it gets destroyed a few episodes later. There's not been any point to the Darksaber at all since it first showed up in Pre Viszla's hands in TCW. It should've stayed a fancy-looking stolen Jedi relic (and arguably should've just been handed back to the Jedi) if they weren't going to do a single interesting thing with any of the Mandos who ended up with it.

Moving on from the Darksaber, and looking at the Sequels, I think killing off all of Luke's Jedi students and destroying Leia's New Republic was a terrible terrible idea as a concept. I understand the idea of like... "Darkness always comes back, the fight is never completely over" but destroying ALL OF THE PROGRESS made in the last trilogy by the main characters just to force the new characters to do the exact same thing all over again is stupid. There are ways to do "darkness always comes back" as a theme without making Luke, Leia, and Han's arcs completely irrelevant. It doesn't feel hopeful by the end anymore, it just feels a little pointless because if everything is always going to be destroyed over and over again then why try to build anything at all? What's the fucking point of it all if none of the triumphs last long enough to mean anything?

And adding onto that, making the New Republic completely incompetent and also so horrible that they're basically the Empire in all but name feels equally frustrating as a concept because now not only were they destroyed before anything meaningful could be done with them, but it's not even a bad thing that they were destroyed because Leia failed long before Starkiller blew up those five planets. The New Republic was a failure from the moment of its inception because it's just filled with and run by cowards and greedy assholes who won't help anyone or do anything useful at all apparently.

I won't touch on R*ylo much because plenty of other people have, but everything about that was awful and it never should've been made canon.

While we're on romantic failures, I don't think Obi-Wan has ever needed a romantic interest, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be done well. But Obitine just wasn't it. Obitine was executed so incredibly poorly that it just made both characters radically less interesting and if I didn't already enjoy Obi-Wan as a character, his relationship with Satine would probably turn me off of Obi-Wan entirely given that he's literally a sexist asshole to her. Obitine never should've happened and if they HAD to do it, they should've gotten better writers to handle it so that it didn't ruin a beloved character as a result.

I'm sure there's more I could complain about, but that's what's coming to mind right now.

[jelloapocalypse]

caught you answering questions whichs means I can finally ask my own!

First question, what opinion or review have you shared do you think has made people the MOST angry?

Second, has anyone ever been really weird about your character to your face before? (You know like, WEIRD weird)

And thirdly, do you have any VA roles you regret doing?

these are very incendiary questions

I mean the obvious answer to the first is that I didn't like Infinity Train. I went out of my way to watch it when it had just been cancelled so that if it was good I could raise my voice alongside the other people in order to defend it, but I genuinely think it was one of the most unpleasant watching experiences I've ever had, especially Season 4. Kez in particular is truly one of the worst executions of a character I've seen put to screen.

I also got a lot of flack for complaining about the way children's media handles generational trauma as a theme. Speaking as someone with some pretty impactful generational issues on my mom's side, I dislike how it sets up a parental or grandparental figure as the root of all evil and then "resolves" that by having the lead character go "You are being mean!" and then said parent/grandparent just turns their personality on a dime to create a "happy ending". It just feels so disingenuous and it's the kind of lesson that will get kids hit in the face with a shoe.

Of course, the two big examples I used were the two relevant ones at the time, Encanto and Turning Red, so I got accusations of being racist etc. etc., twitter.

That's very funny because Turning Red and Everything Everywhere All at Once have the same three-generational divide setup and the same culture of origin and I think the latter movie managed to stick the landing in the exact way I think Turning Red missed.

I don't have a lot of popular characters I've voiced but people have walked up to me in person at cons and stuff and given me porn of my characters, which is insanely awkward.

I did a "Did You Know Anime" narration on Baccano! once and I just really phoned it in. No idea why, it's just an awful performance. I still feel kinda bad about that.

[tomhollandisabae]

Idk but maybe something with ghost and y/n. Like benefits that turn into feelings but ghost fucks another girl and reader gets jealous and screws a team member and ghost is jelly

thank u for the request darling 🥰❤️

pay back- simon "ghost" riley x f!reader

masterlist

summary; after you see simon fucking some other girl you decide to make him pay by fucking one of his worst enemies, phillip graves

warnings; smut, mature language, angst, phillip graves, fluff, english is not my first language, [18+/ M.D.I.]

words; 1.9k

a/n; so apparently now i have also a crush on alejandro and graves too (don't come after me about the last one... tiktok is to be blamed for that)

You and simon had been fuck buddies for almost 8 months now. It was nothing serious, just a way to blow of some steam after or during missions. However, things started to become a little more complicated when you started calling one another over at your houses, fucking in between missions too.

You had to admit that simon knew how to pleasure a woman, he had learn your body better than you and was able to make your legs shake- literally. He was the best you've ever been with and you wanted that to last for as long as it was possible.

The problem was that after some time you started catching feelings for him. At first you blamed it on the experience of your high and the afterglow of your climax, but as time passed by you realised that it wasn't just that. You had fallen for the man that was hiding his face behind a skull mask. A man you had never seen the full face of, although you had fucked hundreds of times.

But you had to be tough, so you pushed those feelings away, only for them to become even stronger one morning where you were just arriving at simon’s house when you saw a girl leaving.

That hurt a lot.

Without thinking much, you turned your car around and drove back home. After that, you were avoiding him as much as you could, but still sleeping together here and there.

You wanted to make him pay in any kind of way.

So at first, after you had calmed down, you were treating him as before; always joking around, poking him and in general being yourself. You just waited for the right moment, or more like; the right person. Two months later that moment finally arrived.

Your victim was phillip graves.

Simon had confessed to you that he didn't like that guy at all.

“You're always friendly with him though. i've seen you interacting with people you don't like and trust me when i say; that's not how you do it.” You had said in an attempt to make sure that he really doesn't like graves.

“I do it for the team’s sake. Doesn't mean, however, that I don't have a bad feeling about him.” He had told you and you just nodded.

More or less, you had decide to fuck graves, but you also had to make sure that ghost knew about this or you had to figure out some way so that he could learn about it. In the meantime, you were being very subtle about flirting with graves. You didn't want ghost to catch up and ruin your plan. Sooner or later an evil idea came to your mind.

The meeting room, right before your meeting. Ghost always arrives first so that was the perfect way to execute your plan.

So here you were now; on top of the meeting table, underwear discarded on the floor, legs spread and graves between them fucking you like there was no tomorrow. You had to admit that he wasn't that bad, but still… he wasn't simon. However, the teasing and the feeling of your orgasm always approaching and then being gone was getting on your nerves.

You had no other option but to think about simon and how he would fuck you; pumping his huge cock in and out of you, pulling all the way out till the tip and then slamming back inside you, always hitting your g spot.

You let out a moan at that and wrapped your arms around graves while keeping your eyes closed.

Graves’ thrusts were fast but not as hard as you'd like them to be. Ghost was always making sure that you could feel all of him, even though impossible at first; due to him being way bigger than the average, after some time, though, your clit would connect with his pubic bone making you see stars from the stretch and the fact that his tip was kissing your cervix.

After a little while you heard movements outside the door and you were pretty sure that it was him, so you had to make your presence known.

“Uugghh phillip…” you let out a fake moan and the show began.

“fuck y/n, you feel so good” he groaned in the crook of your neck.

“fuck yes!! Fucking me so well!! Ohh my fucking g—” you couldn't finish your sentence as you let out another fake scream this time.

“phillip yes yes yesss!!” that made him go even faster.

That made you wonder what the hell was he doing? At this point you were annoyed and just wanted to get over with it so you tighten your walls around him pretending to be reaching your climax.

“shit baby, can feel you clenching ‘round me” he breathes out.

You just let out another moan in response and threw your head back as you faltered your walls around him faking your orgasm.

“fuck i'm cumming shit shit shit” you yelled and that send him over the edge as he finally pulled out and came on your stomach.

Gross.

“fuck y/n” he exclaimed trying to catch his breath.

You didn't say anything just laid back supporting yourself on your elbows waiting for him to clean you up, but he only tacked himself back in his trousers and walked away.

Realising that he wasn't going to clean you up you sighed and grabbed one of the tissues on the table and did it yourself.

Not even a few seconds after you were cleaned up and had put your clothes back, the door opened and ghost came in.

Without paying any attention to him, you say on the far end of the table being further away from both men.

“ghost nice seeing you” graves smirked as he sat down on his chair too.

Simon didn't say anything just followed graves’ moves taking a seat while waiting for the others.

During the meeting simon had his eyes clued on you, while you were trying to avoid eye contact. He was hella pissed for sure.

When the meeting finally ended, everyone, including yourself, rose from their seats and left the room. Graves, however, made sure to talk to you before leaving.

“whenever you want to repeat that, you know where to find me” he smirked while whispering in your ear before leaving too.

It was just ghost and you now in the room. You didn't know what to do. You hadn't thought that your plan would actually work.

“ghost you're not leaving?” you asked as you turned to face him.

“why? So graves can come back and fuck you again?” he responded with a raspy voice.

“whatever you mean?” you tried not to smirk as you acted clueless.

“i'm talking about what happened before the meeting” he approached you, now towering over you “when you had made sure I was outside the door, before giving the worst performance of your life, because trust me I know how you react when you cum and that wasn't it.” He said leaving you speechless. He didn't do anything else just walked passed you and then towards the door.

“why? Did you made that girl cum then?” you finally fired back as you saw him freezing where he was.

“what?” he turned around.

“don't act like a fool simon, I saw that girl leaving your house one day when I had decide to come over and surprise you, turns out you were the one that surprised me.” You crossed your arms across your chest.

You saw his fist clenching as he walked up to you and pushed you back against the table while grabbing your neck putting pressure on your arteries on either side.

“so that gave you the right to go and fuck graves huh? After I had told you that I dislike him?” you didn't say anything as you felt his cock rubbing against you through your clothes.

graves had left you extremely frustrated.

“answer me.” He tighten his hold on your neck.

“I wanted to make you jealous.” You admitted.

“why the hell would I be jealous?” he questioned and that took you aback.

You hadn't thought that there could be a chance that he wouldn't care about you. After all, you were the one that had feelings, not him.

“i- i…” you tried to say something, but you didn't know what.

“fucking hell y/n” he exhaled as he released your neck and took a few steps backs.

“I knew this would happen…” he murmured.

“what do you mean?” you asked confused.

“why the fuck would I care about you that much that I would be jealous? The only thing I care about is the fact that you fucked the guy I told you to stay away from.” His words stabbed your heart like a sharp knife that kept twisting and twisting.

“i'm sorry…” you lowered your head.

“fucking hell y/n” he looked away from you “why did you have to do this?”

“because i love you” you finally admitted and his head turned immediately towards you.

He didn't say anything, just kept looking at you. There was your answer, of course he wouldn't be feeling anything towards you. that's why you decided to leave, but as you were making your way pass him, he grabbed your arm and lifted his mask before crushing his lips against yours.

You were in shock. It took you awhile to realise what was going on, but sooner or later you returned the kiss while wrapping your arms around his neck as his hands snaked around your waist pulling you even closer to him.

He had never kissed you like this before, so many feelings hidden finally being revealed through your actions. His tongue slipped into your mouth as he was expressing thousands of emotions with his lips against your own. Could he love you? How could someone like him, so broken, left out, being in love? He just pitted you that's all.

You finally pulled back as you pressed a hand against his chest.

“please, don't play with my feelings anymore. I can't do this” you whispered while lowering your head.

“darling…” he exclaimed as he lifted your head slowly locking his eyes with yours “i'm not playing with your feelings and i'm not intending on doing so” he placed his forehead on yours “do you mean it?” he asked.

“mean what?” your voice barely audible.

“that you love me?” his lips brushed against yours.

“of course” you said and his hand made its way through your hair locks as he pushed your face against his.

“good. Because I love you too.” He finally told you, but before you could react in any kind of way he had crushed his lips against yours, kissing you with so much care and affection.

“don't go anywhere near graves ever again. Do you hear me?” he instructed when you broke away.

“yes sir” you smirked.

“fucking hell… after what you did I shouldn't let you cum for at least a week” he said making your eyes widen.

“wha—” he interrupted you.

“behave and you shall receive darling.” He smirked and kissed you once again.

[c-u-c-koo-4-40k]

Got another Husbandry Rambling in the tank so here we go!

Due to some Awesome writing by the many talented authors in the husbandry space @kit-williams @sleepyfan-blog @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan @egrets-not-regrets @bleedingichorhearts and others I will also tag cause I'm shit at remembering them all without looking directly at my messages and following list.

I've got some head canons I'd like to offer up!

How are Space Marine's punished for crimes in Husbandry?

Now there seems to be a consensus that those who Kill humans are hunted and culled. That seems to be the standard. This is assuming the offending Astartes goes on the run as soon as the crime is committed. Or that the human killer Astarte(s) have some kind of base where the killing occurs that eventually gets raided.

But what about those who commit lesser crimes? Or those who are apprehended before they can go on the run? Or even ones that aren't feral, but commited their crimes while living amongst the allied bases and humans?

I think Astartes Do have a prosecution system, though probably not one that is perfectly defined.

I imagine for some groups, the Astartes would hold their own responsible. I could see Imperial Fists, Salamanders, Ultramarines and Blood Angels "taking care" of their own bad actors. And for those groups I'd like to believe they'd generally take the task seriously and not just brush off wrong doings.

Others, and I hate to say it's mostly the traitor and chaos legions, might let things they consider "lesser" slide. Like if a Nightlord maims an unbonded human I could see the others of his claw covering for him. So he doesn't get punished.

But of course neither of the above examples are Always accurate. Just examples to help get the picture. There are probably hypocrite loyalists and traitors that meat out proper punishment for offenses.

But I imagine if enough problems add up like with a certain [redacted], and it can't be ignored any longer, the offending Astartes could be captured and put on trial.

The trial would involve reps from different marines hearing out evidence and probably a jury vote to determine guilt. This would occur in situations where the offender isn't caught literally in the act...or the murder den that we've seen in other fics.

But what comes After is what I'm most interested in. Once a marine is determined to be guilty; whether in a trial or by literally being caught in the act, who is in charge of the punishment...or in some cases...the execution?

Some legions would be the ones to remove their own bad actors. It would be a matter of Pride for both them and a small amount of honor for the guilty.

We purge you from our ranks and in doing so make up for the wrongs you've committed.

But what if a Space Marines actions are considered too Vile, too Agregious for an honorable death?

Well...thats when the executioners get involved. And only One Legion truly fits this parameter.

The Night Lords.

They were the Empire's shock troopers, the most frightening of all Astartes to Ever encounter as a mortal.

If the Court feels an Astartes has fallen so far from grace he requires not punishment, not rehabilitation, not even an honorable death, but a painful combination of vengeance and execution....

You call the Nightlords.

You hand the guilty off to them, not just so they may be punished....but so they can be made an Example of.

It is a fate worst than death, reserved Only for the most vile actors of Astarte kind.

[cosmicjoke]

Eh, well, that was disappointing. Or at least, it would be if I actually thought Gojo was magically back to life, which I never really did. I guess it's appropriate and supposed to be a reinforcement of the bleakness of JJK's underlying message, or whatever, that Gojo's body, even in death, is still being used as a weapon. It's just such a bore, is the problem. This whole manga has become a hideous bore with the way it's all been executed.

But I swear to god, if this doesn't kill Sukana and the stupid fight continues on with Yuta dying for nothing, and Gojo's body being desecrated for nothing, I'll call this the worst fucking trash I've ever read and it won't even be an exaggeration. It's already practically there with the god awful pacing and dropped plot points and foreshadowing that seemingly went nowhere. But we'll see.

I'm just done. I've been done for a while.

I mean, it is sad that Gojo's entire legacy is just one of being seen and used as a weapon, even by his own students, whom he cared for so much and wanted to preserve the youth of. That's definitely a tragedy. It's just... the whole build up to this moment, the execution, the horrible pacing and fake-out cliffhangers (including this last one, which anyone with any familiarity with this manga and the way Gege writes should have seen coming)... it's too exhausting and too cynical to feel like any of it matters or to want to become invested. It's honestly awful. Maybe I'm too hard on this story. Maybe I'm too dumb and my inability to enjoy all the complexity of the CT's and what it all means made it impossible for me to enjoy the story the way someone smarter might be able to. I really loved it at first, and anyone who knows me knows I'm never opposed to tragic endings. And it seems inevitably that JJK will have a tragic ending. I'm not opposed to cynicism or tragedy, if it's done well. Even if they beat Sukana, the way it seems they're having to go about it, assuming this actually works (which, again, I'm not holding my breath), it will be a tragedy.

It's just, between the convoluted, unending explanations of cursed techniques, the boring, meaningless, dragged out fights that went nowhere and meant nothing, the foreshadowing for certain confrontations and revelations and characters that have yet to be resolved or touched upon, even... I don't know. It's just not doing it for me, anymore.

I am sad about Gojo. What a shit deal he got. Maybe Gege really hates him, or maybe he just feels sorry for him. Either way, it's pretty heartbreaking. Well, hopefully the story will end soon, because I honestly don't see where else it can go from here.

[katyaromanoffpetrova]

Our goddess and savior: Natasha Romanoff

Katya is good at ending up in bad situations. Natasha is good at getting her out of them.

• Natasha Romanoff x Fem!OC • Wordcount: 1.7k • Warnings: descriptions of gore and an execution This is part of my series where I post small scenes I've written over the years that have never seen the light of day because they didn't fit into the story the way I wanted them to Masterlist

Do not repost my work as your own or translate my work!!

A/N: this one is for you @milfs69420

2010

Katya's wrists ached where the rope cut into them, a wooden pole digging into the valley between her shoulder blades. She tried to feel for the small knife hidden in the sleeve of her mission suit, but they'd successfully managed to strip her of all her weapons. There was nowhere to go, and her muscles were aching as she used the pole to keep herself up.

Fuck this mission. And fuck herself for messing it up once more. 

Maybe Natasha was right and she really was the worst best spy ever. Somehow, she always walked out with the correct information or the right person's heart pierced by her knife. But it was always after almost dying or getting hurt.

Right now, Katya found herself on the other side of a firing squad. About ten men patiently awaited orders to empty the magazines of their automatic weapons into her body. Behind them, a hundred more from their shitty organization gathered to watch the whole thing happen, like pathetic little sheep.

They were using her for propaganda and a demonstration of power. How nice. 

''Look,'' Katya sighed exasperatedly, using her last bit of energy to cover up her dread. If she was going out, she was going out with sass. ''I know I'm pretty, my girlfriend says so, but is the display really necessary?'' 

God, she could really use Natasha right about now, mere moments away from a possibly very shitty death. Imagine getting delivered back to SHIELD with hundreds of bullet holes in her body. 

A wave of guilt nearly brought her to her knees. That would leave her gorgeous girlfriend traumatized for sure.

''Yes.'' A short man in front of her answered. He barked orders at the firing squad earlier. Now he was slowly pacing back and forth, waiting for something. Katya wasn't sure what. His French accent annoyed her. ''You're an example.''

''Of beauty?'' She feigned an exaggerated smile. ''Thanks.''

''No. Of idiocy.'' He scoffed, stepping up to her. His creepy little eyes traveled up and down her body in disdain, as if he was bitter he didn't get to shoot her himself. ''Thought you were one of the best. The Ghost.'' 

Katya wasn't backing off—not that she could. She squinted at him when she spat out her code name. ''Yeah, well, I have a reputation of messing up.''

''Clearly.'' He smirked when he heard someone coming up to him, stretching out his arm to receive something. ''So, this is you paying the price for it.''

Dread swirled in Katya's gut as she watched him fiddle with the mysterious thing in his hand. He'd turned around and walked back to his men, so it wasn't clear what it was, but she had a bad, bad feeling about it. Worse than her upcoming death. ''What's that?''

Smugly, the man turned around, lifting and pointing the object at her. It was a video camera. ''I am going to film this, if that's alright with you? Give your friends something to remember you by.''

All the blood drained from Katya's face at once. Gone was her attitude.

She could handle dying. And she was pretty sure Fury would shield Natasha from ever seeing her destroyed body. But if this shitty little man got her death on video, he would dangle the footage over Natasha's head and use it to absolutely destroy her soul. 

Katya could handle dying, but she would not drag her girlfriend along with her.

''No. Don't,'' she said firmly, her whole body on edge. She wanted to snatch that recorder from his hand and throw it so hard against a wall that it shattered in a million pieces. But she was helpless, tied to this godforsaken wooden pole like a witch in the seventeenth century.

The man's smirk widened. ''Oh, someone's getting queasy.''

Katya's fingers curled into fists to keep her fearless composure. ''You can kill me all you want, but don't put it on tape. That's really not necessary.''

''Too bad.'' Slowly, he backed up, until he stood between the row of shooters. He was enjoying it, this asshole. He knew he had her on the edge of desperation. ''Any last words?'' When the red light on his recorder started to flicker, Katya knew it was too late.

''None meant for you.'' 

Defeated, accepting of her upcoming fate, she closed her teary eyes, leaning her head back against the pole. 

Death was fine by her. That wasn't the part she feared. But all Katya could think about was the people she'd leave behind. People who would actually care if she was gone now. 

Well, just one person, actually. Natasha. How heartbroken she'd be. She would never let another person get close again, give up on love forever. Maybe she'd run from the pain, give up on everything good she was achieving with SHIELD. All that growth, everything that made her into a human being again, gone. 

In this moment, though, there was nothing else to do but accept the situation. Dozens of soldiers, tightly tied to a pole, defenseless; Katya was stuck and utterly hopeless. 

''Guns ready!''

Nat, I love you. It's the only thing she could think of. I love you, I love you, and I'm so sorry I'm leaving you again. Please, forgive me. 

''And—''

His voice got cut off by a choking sound.

Katya's eyes flew open, disoriented and confused. Her heart raced in her chest as she followed the noise of the video recorder shattering on the floor to the man from before. 

A knife sat deeply lodged in his throat. Blood sprayed out of his artery, his mouth wide open as he fruitlessly clawed at his neck. But there was absolutely no fixing this. His knees instantly gave out, and in a mere five seconds, he was as dead as they could be.

Frantically, Katya looked around for the thrower, her savior. Although from the precision with which that knife was thrown, it could only be one person. The only one almost as good as her. 

The realization made her laugh, and she dropped her head back against the pole once more. This time with a wide smile on her lips. 

''Always the dramatic entrance, darling!''

Like she was in the walls, Natasha's chuckle echoed all around. The dozens of aimless men in front of Katya were spinning hopelessly in their spot, raising their guns, trying to find her, but Natasha was nowhere to be found. The shadows loved her as much as the setting sun loved her orange hair. 

A horrifying humming filled the space, a slow tune which made neckhairs rise and skin crawl. Something straight out of a horror movie. ''You look so pretty tied up, baby.''

Despite the situation, Katya felt her smile morph into a sly smirk. She shifted restlessly, eager to get out of these ties now that rescue was near. ''Then why don't you come down here and help yourself?''

''I am here, baby.''

She jumped six figurative feet in the air, her wrists painfully sliding across the rough wood from the pole. Natasha's voice sounded from right behind her, where she had never expected it. ''Jesus!''

''Close your eyes,'' Natasha muttered, her mouth close to Katya's ear.

''Why—'' A loud shriek left her lips. The sound of a million gunshots bounced off the walls of the warehouse, amplified by the bare concrete and metal support beams holding the place up. It was deafening. If it weren't for the hands covering her ears, Katya feared she may have had a ringing in her ears for a week. 

Her eyes closed all on their own as—what must be—SHIELD STRIKE teams laid down fire upon everyone in the room. Natasha must have brought them with her when she realized what the situation was like. Katya recognized an execution when she heard one. She couldn't say she hated this one. Something about karma. 

The noise abruptly died out. Safe for some rattling of empty bullet shells, the warehouse was completely silent after Natasha took her hands away. The dozen, quick-moving, heavy footsteps that moved in on the very dead crowd were mere whispers compared to the thunderstorm from before.

Natasha sighed, stepping in front of Katya with a disappointed yet amused shake of her head. It was probably the near-death experience, but Katya had never seen anything more beautiful than this. Was this what religious people saw when Jesus came to them in a dream? ''You really did it this time. A firing squad.''

Katya grinned, trying not to focus on all the dead bodies behind her girlfriend. The relief she felt was indescribable. Natasha saved her life once again. ''Impeccable timing, honey.''

''I let you sweat a bit. Was here, like, fifteen minutes ago.'' Natasha shrugged, pulling another knife from her thigh to cut the rope with. 

She pretended not to see the murderous glare Katya sent her as she disappeared behind her again, because that was such a dick move, to try and teach her a lesson by almost letting her get murdered. It wouldn't even work, because Katya just kept ending up in these situations, even if she tried to be more careful. Especially then.

''Hey, what were you thinking about right before I treated that guy to my knife?'' Natasha knowingly asked as she cut away at the rope around Katya's wrists. ''You had that frown on your face.''

They both knew she did that dramatic mental goodbye, but Katya refused to give in to the teasing. Relieved, she brought her hands to her chest when they were freed, rubbing her raw wrists. ''Thinking about the chicken I had for dinner. It was very good.''

''Mhm,'' the redhead hummed skeptically. She returned to Katya's front to cut away the rope around her ankles, tossing her hair over her shoulder before she crouched down.

''And about how sexy you look in your mission suit.'' Katya's eyes lit up, risking everything by staring at Natasha's cleavage while the woman had a very sharp knife very close to her Achilles heel. This top view just did wonders for her chest. ''By the way, that knife and the psycho tint after? Incredibly hot.''

Natasha smirked, her gaze flickering up to Katya's. ''I thought you'd like it.''

Like? Katya had nearly crumbled on the spot. ''Baby, I think once you cut me loose, my knees might give in on me.'' She chuckled humorlessly.

Somehow, Natasha looked excited by that fact. ''I'll have to carry you then.''

[strangecloud]

I mean no hate or disrespect when I say that Fallout 4 has what is probably the worst story I've seen in a videogame.

I want to preface this with the fact that I enjoy Fallout 4. That game is mad fun. Shooting feels good, exploring is nice, the crafting is very well done. It's a high quality release as far as I'm concerned and I deeply enjoy it. And I don't even mean that it's the worst quality story I've ever seen, but it is a very awkward fit for the game it's in.

The most interesting thing about it is that it's a reversal from Fallout 3. Instead of searching for your dad, you're searching for your son. And there's so much that doesn't really work and is executed poorly on that front.

Remember how Todd made a big deal about how you could name your character something like "Fuckface" and your pet robot would actually refer to you by name? That always seemed weird to me. Not just that it only really works for this one robot, but also that it happens with your player character. I always thought it would work way better if you could name your kid instead, and have that also happen on a slightly larger scale. It's a step in solving one of the main problems in Fallout 4, which is that your family isn't very interesting or fun to care about.

You get to customize both Nate and Nora, and it just feels like a waste to have one of them killed off. If you could meet them and either work alongside or fight against them would have given the relationship so much more dynamism and also reward you for getting invested in your character's family, instead of all of them just being plot devices to deliver a bad twist about your son not being a baby and also the villain.

And you know, in isolation maybe those things don't seem like a problem. The cool thing about games is that you can largely ignore their plots and just engage with them on a mechanical level, but there's so much badgering that the story does to the player in Fallout 4. I've seen worse stories but Fallout 4's is the only one that will not leave me the fuck alone and keeps asking my opinions on things and people and places and factions that I simply don't care about.

When I say it's the worst story it's because it's hard to enjoy and even harder to ignore. It makes me not want to play the game, which no story in any game has ever done before. Which is a shame, because the game is absolutely worth playing but I can't be doing with this writing man.

[merakiui]

this is my first time doing this so i hoping im doing this right but i was in my english class the other day and the poem we were reading reminded so much of monops!jade. The poem is about a Duke talking to a servant about his late wife and at first youre like “aww he seems to miss his wife” until you read further and youre like “huh this sounds kinda suspicious”. The duke says that his wife was too easily impressed by the sunset and cherries a “officious fool” gave her. His jealousy continued to show through when he says that his gift of his last name was treated like any other gift and it got to point that he got so jealous that his late wife smiled at everyone that it he sent out a command that made “all smiles stopped together”

Like the jealousy and the possessiveness that the duke had towards everyone and his wife reminds me of how monops!jade was like! Anyways i just wanted to get this off my chest because my head couldn’t stop thinking about jade in this poem :D

:O !!!!! Would that happen to be "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning? I've read and studied it before! It really is such a fascinating poem. Even as a portrait, the Duchess is forever his, as he is given the control to show her off as he pleases (which is what he does in his monologue). Even the title has ownership: My Last Duchess. The pleasure in having absolute control is derived from the fact that, whether alive or dead, the Duchess will never have agency for herself and thus the Duke is free to keep and control her forever. Even the way she was painted and portrayed was to suit the Duke's tastes! Her entire being is more so a possession for the Duke, which makes the frame that contains her all the more tragic. >_<

I can definitely see Monops!Jade in this poem! He's so possessive, much like the Duke, and hates the fact that you show him the same smile you show to everyone else (especially Floyd). Jade's obsession in that story is especially gross. T^T most of the story is about how determined Jade is to wipe that smile off your face and make you show him an expression he's never seen before (tears). He's greedy and heartless and led by obsessive hedonism. It's all about control and destructive avarice. Even at the end, when Jade has you for himself, he doesn't feel satisfied. He's spent the entire plot aiming to have you and now that he does he doesn't feel fulfilled. Perhaps it's something in which he'll never truly feel whole no matter what he does...

I like Jade's character because he can appear so normal and composed at first, which makes Floyd seem worse by default. But then you'll see Jade at his worst and realize he is far more terrifying than Floyd could ever be. Floyd is like an execution: swift and brutal, but over before you know it (and you also know it's coming). Jade is an invasive species or a sickness that creeps up on you and, by the time you finally notice it, it's already too late. I think an unhinged Jade is so creepy!!!!! Jade as the Duke in the poem is such a good thought and comparison... he really would have a monologue that starts off innocent and grows more suspicious and unsettling as he continues!