#they don't go away completely. I'm fucking TERRIFIED of dying

[dragoncarrion]

NEVER grow up in no damn christian household that shit sucks ass

[wizardpink]

I screencapped these two posts four days ago because I had Something to Say and now I have no idea wth it was.

I think it had something to do with power dynamics and how Armand making Daniel a vampire actually handed Daniel a huge amount of power over Armand despite being the fledgling?

So number one Armand rendered his primary weapon against Daniel / form of self-defense completely useless by making Daniel his fledgling. He can no longer use the mind gift to manipulate Daniel or erase his memories. Which of course is true for all makers and fledglings, but most makers' fledglings aren't Sherlock Holmes with a BSJ. Daniel beat Armand's mental saw trap as a human. Armand is never, never getting one over on him now. Daniel will perceive the slightest change in energy coming from Armand and immediately know that he's lying, and 3 seconds of deduction later and he'll know why. He's an open book now, which must be terrifying.

Number two: mentorship. This is how Lestat kept control over Claudia and Louis for so long: he kept them dependent on him through ignorance. He only told them enough about vampirism to get through the day to day: don't go in the sun, don't drink dead blood, the other vampires of the world are vicious, etc. Every fledging needs their maker at LEAST in the beginning to teach them the ropes. Well, Daniel just wrote the goddamned book on vampirism, literally. Daniel sat there and listened as Louis told him everything he knew, everything Lestat ever taught him, everything Armand ever taught him. What other vampire ever got the in-depth two week course on Vampires 101 before they even got turned?! Crazy stuff.

Number three: vampire loneliness. Supposedly the most cruel and painful thing a vampire can endure. It keeps fledglings and makers tied to each other well past the point of being able to stand each other. And god knows Armand is staring down the barrel of having no one but Daniel. Which is unfortunate for him, considering Daniel is besties with his ex husband and touring with his ex boyfriend. Daniel has friends, friends that didn't torture him for 4 days then try to kill him. Oof.

All of this is to say that, with the info we have right now, Daniel has very little need for Armand. Armand in comparison needs him at least not to be alone, but what leverage does he have to get Daniel to stay with him? He's got nothing babes. I'm not a strong believer in the Armand is running from Daniel theory on season 3, but if he is, it's hard to blame him. He is shooting 0 for 1,000 right now, losing left and right, dying of shame and guilt and embarrassment. I'd probably crawl in a hole and die too.

"Oh but wizardpink, that's not very Devil's Minion of you!" AU CONTRAIRE. Because what could be more compelling and romantic than someone who has no use for you but nevertheless wants you? Thinks about you constantly and doesn't know why? You tried to capture them in a glass jar but they broke out and flew away, only to flutter back because they missed you? Yeah inject that straight into my veins.

And on the flip side? Maybe Armand goes straight back to that headspace he was in in '73, the crazed look in his eyes when he told Daniel he was going to teach him to be fascinating. That's ONE thing Armand still has on Daniel, he could probably overpower him enough to keep him trapped somewhere, if Armand thought Daniel was going to leave him. This, too, is Devil's Minion as fuck. Slowest of burns, as they say.

Hmm. Yeah I guess that was what I was gonna say.

[yourhighness6]

NATLA Debrief: Episode 3 (by yours truly)

Hi again! If any of ya'll are interested here's episodes 1 and 2. Thank you to those who have been following these deranged, unorganized posts, especially @phoebester (Just an fyi this will be hella long, just like the other two)

First of all, the way they framed the opening resistence scene was genuinely so cool because I immediately thought back to the cold open for the first episode. The streets are so similar that's where my mind went RIGHT AWAY and if that is not good set design and filming I don't know what is.

The resistance scene was so powerful for so many reasons besides those small details, too. The concept of a resistance within the FN was never addressed at all within the cartoon and I can't express how glad I am that they added this. It just makes logical sense that some people would resist, especially while so many are dying in war, and it really serves to humanize the FN people in a way that's reminiscent of book 3 ATLA. Perfect way to expand on the source material and introduce core themes earlier in the show (M Nite should be taking notes).

It was also a perfect way to introduce both Ozai and Azula's characters. Ozai is this menacing figure stepping out of the shadows (quite literally), an almost larger than life villain who seems to have every move planned and everything calculated. He's brutal and efficient and we can see that. Azula is conniving and smart, the kind of girl who can fool anyone and come out on top, but is ultimately still a weapon under her father's control. You can tell from the moment Ozai mentions Zuko that she is the underdog, but she is determined that it will not stay that way, and she seems just terrifying enough to succeed. (also idc what anyone says Elizabeth Yu has mastered Azula's look and general vibe. I feel like the whole 'miscasting' debacle was a mix of fatphobia and being shown the wrong stills before the show came out. She looked sort of sweet and innocent in those but I get absolutely none of that from this scene)

Ugh the exposition was great and then they have to give us this. What the absolute hell did they do to my Katara? Like there was a whole ass episode in the cartoon devoted to her getting mad because she wasn't progressing as fast as Aang and then in this fucking adaptation the maddest she sounds is when she emotionlessly declares, "I don't get it" to convey mild frustration. I'm sorry Kiawentiio, you're acting is great but the writers clearly have no fucking idea how to put your emotional range to good use. The same problem was present in the last episode and I just don't see them being able to fix it significantly enough at this point, even if they have a desire to. Not to undermine that, but there were a couple good points in this scene: Aang mentions something about bending being "beyond thought" which gives bending a more spiritual aspect that I like, and Katara's PTSD is brought up again in an intelligent way, but still, that doesn't matter if they're going to completely butcher her character. (side note: when is Aang going to learn waterbending? they haven't shown him training at all and I'm getting worried)

This scene was fine or whatever but what in the absolute fuck is going on with Zuko and Zhao? Are they not going to do the agni kai? Like I know there's still animosity there but they were really just sitting there (semi)-calmly enjoying a cup of tea and demonstrating only mild dislike for each other. All I have to say is if they remove the agni kai altogether I'm gonna be so fucking pissed it'll bug me forever and I'll be fucking insufferable.

Also Zuko is so mean to Luitenient Jee for no reason. I know it's because his abuse makes him see any kind of comradery as weakness so it's a good detail if that's what they're going for but ngl I also find it a bit funny. Like what did he ever do to you? And Zhao taking three tries to pass his officer exam is so perfect too like what a fucking looser lmao.

Ba Sing Se looks beautiful. There's something so mystical about it, especially in the way Aang describes it as they walk up to the gate. It's this hub of culture and science and art, but it's also incredibly militaristic and so changed due to war it's almost unrecognizable to someone who was there a hundred years ago. The adaptation of cultures during times of change is something ATLA does so well and I'm glad to see that it's continuing in the LA.

AHH Katara was so awkward during this whole scene and I loved it. For one thing Sokka's commentary was absolutely hilarious but it's also this reminder that Katara has been relatively isolated from other children her age and her brain is like "cute boy flirt how" and its so fucking funny. It might not be the same Katara as the cartoon who is effortlessly comfortable wherever she goes but this is so much more realistic and if she's going to be a bit different this is probably the best thing for them to change (now keep the awkwardness and give her back her anger Netflix I'm begging you)

I am slightly concerned because it looks to me like they're trying to condense at least four episodes into one and I'm not sure if that's going to be a cohesive plotline or a complete mess or not but if handled carefully I think they might be able to pull it off.

Ooooh the explosion was super unexpected and totally cray cray thanks for keeping me on my toes. I'm assuming it was Jet that planted the bomb although I cannot for the life of me think why. Anyways Teo was adorable I'm adopting him.

Also I am so so so happy that they gave him a little more depth beyond just 'happy glider kid' and gave a bit more nuance to his character. Of COURSE kids who grew up in war are going to be desensitized to the bloodshed OF COURSE they're going to be a little vengeful and be thinking about ways to win the war OF COURSE Aang is going to be uncomfortable with that because he didn't grow up with that militaristic mindset even if he did loose everything OF COURSE that's not going to change the fact that kids grow up hearing about death and experiencing loss as extremely young children versus Aang being suddenly thrust into this responsibility and grief because he didn't grow up like that he grew up in peacetime it just makes sense. Good job Netflix this was wonderful this was perfect I loved it.

Okay don't get me wrong I love the way Aang wears his heart on his sleeve I love how their in-the-face storytelling makes a bit more sense with how open and emotional of a person he is it's just part of his character that was improved upon by the LA in my opinion but this is also just... such a misunderstanding of the group dynamic. Like why isn't Katara seeing these people and thinking "I can help with this I have to help with this" and Aang giving this speech to Sokka jumping on the bandwagon? I would even accept them seeing the destruction together and mutually deciding that they need to help the people there (this would probably be best as it allows us to see both character's compassion) or Aang saying something about it and Katara immediately being like "ur absolutely right" but of course they can't do that all we need is a lengthy speech from the protagonist while Katara stands there like robot girl. My mistake.

STOP because her mocking face is so fucking perfect I love Elizabeth Yu she's perfect. Anyway, I think that they're kind of... adjusting her trauma a bit? I mentioned earlier how I feel like she's shown as a little more scrappy and an underdog as opposed to perfectly calculating and not a hair out of place, but after this scene I feel the need to expand on that. In the cartoon, Azula's abuse from her father centers around his unattainably high expectations for her that eventually cause her ultimate breakdown and the conclusion to her devastating character arc. But in the LA, they're portraying her as less of a prodigy and more of a hard worker. She still has incredibly high expectations, but in this version, she never meets them all the time. Her brother is almost leveraged against her in a way. Even if she feels like she is the best and has the constant need to prove she is the best to her father, there's always going to be this nagging insecurity that she won't be good enough to measure up to her brother. She's not being told she's worthless like Zuko, but she's not reaching every goal like cartoon Azula, either. This also might explain why she has arrows. In the cartoon, weapons are viewed with disdain by firebenders, making Zuko using them so controversial, but Azula definetely doesn't seem to be hiding her talent for the bow and arrow and even if it was a her-sneaking-away-to-practice sort of situation that's not very in character and I don't think she would do that. I think in this version she probably has them because she's trying to find every possible way to prove herself to her father beyond just firebending, and mastering a weapon is a way to do that. I'm not sure how I feel about these changes but she is clearly a different character in this version than in the cartoon and moving forward I'm going to treat her as such. (I've noticed this a bit with all of the characters except possibly Sokka: they're different people. I think this actually might be intentional. [even so I still don't like their characterization of Katara her trauma hasn't changed very much to my knowledge she should still have the same core drives and character traits])

As well done as Azula was, there was relatively nothing in the Ty Lee and Mai department. They're just kind of existing, watching her train. Ty Lee is vaguely cheerful (and her costume is great btw) and Mai has one line about exploring the world that gives a bit of insight into her character and has a monotone voice. They're both clearly a little scared of Azula but that's basically it. Hopefully we get more on them soon.

Back in Ba Sing Se, I noticed a bit of a parallel between Teo and Katara. The Mechanist mentions that they lost his mother due to the war, which reminded me specifically of Katara. Throughout this scene, we see that Teo remembers his mother's philosophy and adopts it into his own mindset far more than his father's. Their situation is different because while Katara is arguing for compassion Teo is arguing for fighting back, but they are both fundamentally saying the same thing. It's not enough just to accept their lot in life and try to survive or fight, it's about the big picture, and about defending the things they love. While Katara and Teo both approach this subject from a very different front, the core idea is the same. It's also telling how they are dismissed initially as idealistic for their values when they are really upholding what their mothers stood for in their eyes: for Teo, a symbol of hope in her retellings of the stories of the avatar, and for Katara, a symbol of kindness in her reminders to remain empathetic despite the horrors of war. Make of this what you will, I just thought it was a nice little parallel.

Anyway, allow me to have a few words on the whole Jet thing (in bullet points because I don't have enough brain power to do this)

I'm glad Jet got his freedom fighters outfit. I was a bit worried when I saw what he was wearing in the first scene he was in because the fit is iconic, and so are the swords

God he's so fucking dramatic "they call me Jet" while the sun glints off his swords and he turns slightly for affect it was so funny I laughed out loud

He and Kia have no on-screen chemistry I'm sorry. Like even the fight scene was so awkward and every time they speak to each other they sound so stiff. They're good actors independently but whoever was watching their chemistry check (I'm assuming they had one pre-production but judging by this crap I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't) was either asleep or it was their first day because there is NOTHING there

What the hell did they do to the Freedom Fighters? They're so cheesy and the costumes are so bad (especially Smellerbee's). Like seriously that entire fight scene was so awkward idk what the hell happened there but it was nowhere near the quality of the rest of the episode so far

Overall, I'm not a huge fan. Also where is Sokka I'm pretty sure he's supposed to be there somewhere

Okay here's Sokka finally. Are they just taking him out of the Jet shenanigans entirely? I wouldn't be surprised considering how many episodes they had to condense but still I would have liked to see that. Oh well, I guess they had to have Katara do something in this episode instead of just stand around while her brother and Aang have huge plot points. Anyway, this scene was very interesting to me. Sokka and the Mechanist bonded in the og but not to this extent, and I honestly liked that they did something a bit deeper with it considering they don't have as much screentime to establish Sokka's daddy issues (for lack of a better word). Anywho the Mechanist mentioning that there are other career paths to take besides just being a warrior was super cool and I think we can glean a lot from it about Sokka's future character arc. Maybe in this version he doesn't perfectly live up to his dad's expectations and instead finds his own way? It was nice to see Hakoda proud of him in the original but if they go down this path I definitely won't be mad. It's interesting while staying true to the character, it's just a different direction.

The scene with Aang and Teo was cute. They're both good actors who play off of each other nicely, and Teo talking about how he doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps lends a bit of insight to the conversation the Mechanist had with Sokka. He probably mentioned Sokka's dad because he wondered if his parents were engineers too and maybe is looking for a bit of an apprentice since his son doesn't take after him as much. This is also another way Teo conflicts with the Mechanist's way of life and may be more similar to his mother.

The jetara scenes at the Freedom Fighter camp had a much better dynamic. I think the fight scene was probably just them figuring each other out as actors, it just sucks that it seeped into the final take. I confess I was a bit disappointed that the Freedom Fighters didn't live up in the trees, but I guess that would be a bit difficult to engineer. I also noticed how Jet repeated Teo's "if not us, then who?" statement, which is probably just your basic commentary on how the future generations are our hope blah blah blah. It's a major theme so I shouldn't be as disinterested as I am in it but as it stands I'm still not totally thrilled with the Jet plotline as a whole and I think that may be affecting it. I feel like Sokka should be here to add some variety and spice things up a bit it's kind of boring.

The last jetara scene was definitely the best yet. I can't get over how happy I was to hear Jet say his mother taught him to fight. So often we hear how dads or older brothers are teaching the women in their family to fight but here we have a canonically badass male character saying that an older female relative was the one who taught him. One of the major complaints I have from the cartoon was how for all its talk about women being able to fight and its supposed feminist message, there were no women of the older generation fighting at all except for Jun, who wasn't even a particularly moral character like all these older men. We do have to remember that the cartoon started production over twenty years ago so it is a product of its time, when feminist issues weren't very mainstream. Another factor that might have contributed to the lack of feminism in the original was the generational discrepancies; millennials were the first to have widely accepted equal educational opportunities in the US, and even though educational opportunities are still affected by sexism, college became the norm for both male and female students at that time. This isn't to say women older than millennials didn't go to college, but this is around the time women and men started to become relatively equal as of percentage seeking higher education. Basically, they were the first generation of women expected to have careers, and therefore the writer's minds were probably shaped alongside a similar number of female peers, but primarily by men. This could have contributed to the lack of older women, but as times changed, so to did the amount of older women in professional fields. This line is a reflection of that, and I hope we continue to see more badass older women and older warrior women and women in power as the LA continues.

Other than that, I did take my shipping goggles out during this scene at the "sunrise" bit, and it wasn't about jetara. I heard from other fans in the zutara tag that the "you rise with the moon, I rise with the sun" line was removed but I keep thinking about how Katara is legitimately drawing power from remembering the sun rising, a time when the opposite element, Zuko's element, becomes more powerful. I know I'm reaching, but while I mourn the loss of our beloved "you rise with the moon, I rise with the sun" I have to find a new version. Anyway I think we should call this sunrisegate lol

Also, the way Katara is extremely hesitant to talk about her trauma whereas Jet seems completely fine with being emotional and dumping out exactly what he was feeling may have been a device but it does remind me of something I read about how ppl with PTSD will often react very differently when sharing their trauma and the same is true for many other trauma induced disorders. It was probably unintentional but I still thought it was a nice detail.

Anyway on a less serious note Iroh and Zuko's dynamic is still top tier. I've seen a lot of people complaining about Iroh's character but I don't see anything wrong up to this point. I might be in for a shock in future episodes but I have genuinely no idea what they find so off putting. He's a great actor and the character has legitimately not changed. The line above was a bit undercut by the fact that he's standing in the middle of an enemy city with a cloth half wrapped around his face to keep part of his face from being seen, but I'm just gonna take it at face value (haha pun). I think the thing Zuko despises most is cowardice, and it affects his perception of the war in a huge way. He calls Aang a coward for escaping from prison because he was running away or whatever and I've never considered Zuko a particularly logical character but it's like... bruh he's outnumbered like fifty to one what he is gonna do? Anyway his definition of cowardice is directly tied to his honor and his perception of it in relation to his trauma and the way he held back in the agni kai and him perceiving that as cowardice maybe... Ya'll got me? This isn't fully formed because I obviously haven't seen this new rendition of the agni kai but I'm guessing the events are basically the same. Do with it what you will.

I skipped over the Azula and Zhao scene because I don't have any groundbreaking commentary except to say that I liked it. It ties Azula into the story nicely and gives Zhao something actually interesting about him (I don't hate him as much as I did in the cartoon so whenever he comes up on screen I just sort of yawn).

Anyway, it was nice to see Katara get a bit angry. I think this captured the gaang dynamic pretty well. Aang being relatively neutral/ quiet while the siblings argue and Katara gets twice as mad as Sokka. Also he may have had the last word but she had the last laugh:

Again, the sibling dynamic was really great but I didn't feel like Katara was carrying it as much as in previous episodes. Sokka actually played his part in making it interesting and realistic. I don't think this single argument is enough to redeem Katara's characterization in my eyes but at least we know now there is a little spark there.

AHH THE SCARF SCENE! Scarfgate was everything I could have asked for and more. Like why does he appear directly behind her like that unless he's trying to fight her? Why does he just let her go by like that? Why does he hold out his hand in the first place? Truly is the Watergate of our time it deserves that name. (also in the same episode as the whole sunrise thing? come on) I'm probably being baited but at least I'm enjoying it.

So I was right about the bombings! I can't believe all those cute little kids are terrorists but I couldn't believe it in the cartoon either so I guess that checks out. Either way I find the bombing far less forgivable than trying to take out the Mechanist. Innocent civilians were hurt and even though I know there was a real possibility that civilians could have been hurt in the attempted bombing for whatever reason it just seems... more brutal somehow. Like the first one was in the center of town, you know? Anyway terrorism is wrong I hope Jet finds his way.

(I was worried about how they were going to tie all the seemingly unrelated plotlines together but I think they pulled it off. Again my main problems were all concentrated around the Jet plotline but when the Mechanist was tied in it became a lot more interesting)

When I heard this I was like "son ur about to get ur ass kicked" but the funny part is he was kind of right. Like when neither of them were bending he was winning. I guess in all fairness he is a lot bigger than Aang but I don't feel like that was an accidental detail. Anyway, I think this fight scene was the most entertaining yet and so much better than jetara against the firebenders earlier. Maybe the affects for water are just worse than air and fire (it feels slower somehow) but I'm very partial to this fight. And that's saying something because I usually fast-forward through fight scenes or just kind of tune them out or barely watch, so you know it was really good.

I think the reason I liked it so much was that it was funny, honestly, not in the same way or to the same degree the cartoon was but I laughed out loud a couple times. For instance Zuko gets hit in the face three times in the span of ten seconds, once with a plate, once with a wicker basket, and once with his own little stick thing. Aang also put a basket over his head and some random ass lady started whacking him with a fan. Kudos to whoever choreographed that it was the best.

Also I liked how Sokka and Katara saved the day together. Cute sibling bonding excersize. And it ended on a cliffhanger with the characters separated! My favorite kind of cliffhanger! It definitely left me wanting more.

Anyway, to recap, things I didn't like:

No Zuko and Zhao agni kai

Mai and Ty Lee were just sort of there

Katara's characterization is still so-so

Jetara plot line was boring and chemistry was not the best

It was kind of a lot for one episode, even if they managed to do it well

Things I did like:

Opening scene

Azula characterization

Teo

The Mechanist plotline

Teo and Katara parallel

Katara DID actually seem a little bit more firey in this episode

SCARFGATE

Zuko and Aang fight scene

Surprisingly good handling of all those loose ends

Cliffhanger

Overall, I would give it a 9/10. That's the highest score I've given an episode so far and I'm standing by it. I know others might have a very different opinion on it since it was condensed so much and differed a lot from the cartoon, but I agreed with many of the changes they made. One thing I would urge everyone to remember is that these are different characters from the cartoon. They're going to act slightly different and have slightly different journys and that's okay. I think it is worth comparing to the original, as it is an adaptation, but we need to remember that an adaptation is not an exact replica, nor should it be. That in no way means that we should make allowances for anything we found negative or mediocre, but it is going to be different and change in it of itself isn't a bad thing. Anyway thank you guys so much for sticking with me! I'll probably have the next episode's debrief up by tomorrow.

[allthehumanflaws]

The Umbrella Academy S4

If you haven't completed season 4 please don't read any further

This is my complete rant- I just ughhh ohkay

So the ending huh I don't even know what to say. I don't know what that was. Was it just me or did someone else also presume that Viktor would be the one dying?? Why did all of them die? It seems so rushed. Just 5 minutes between Five realizing what's gonna happen and what they need to do and then just bam it's over i'm sorry what the fuck- I had so much hope and thrill and passion going into this season all doomed.

Don't even get me started on the Five and Lila thing. hey stevie when some of the people said they'd like to see a number five romantic subplot...... THIS IS NOT WHAT THE MEANT!?!? You're tryna tell me Five "survived 45 years in an apocalypse killed hundreds and thousands of people and the board of directors of a deadly commission just to get back to his family and keep them safe" Hargreeves the Five Hargreeves who had many a year and opportunity to find himself a woman after joining the commission but stayed loyal to a fucking mannequin fell in love with his brother's wife after 7 years of being stuck with her? SPECIALLY after he specially told Diego that Lila wouldn't throw all that away he fell in love with her and was heartbroken when she didn't throw that away????? What of the frenemy dynamic? What of the 'you killed my parents in cold blood' part of that equation? All gone cause of what? I see no point or use of that in the already fucked storyline? I don't even know what to say.

Luther had NO character this season. He's just a big soft bag of fluff I mean i don't hate that not at all but like... and his powers were just reduced to what... accidentally breaking an alarm clock and jumping of a stage into a crowd of women? yay i guess. And WHERE WAS SLOANE? WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?

Klaus oh my poor heart- a germaphobe. Really a germaphobe? Of all the things he could've been. When the grave scene happened where they were shooting outside and he covered his ears I got so excited like yes yes Vietnam Klaus... I mean yeah he's traumatized but I thought they'd work with that even just a little bit but no. None of that just terrified of ghosts druggie Klaus.

Allison Hargreeves - I have a vent about her already posted. And there it seems I hate her and maybe a little yeah but that means there was like a pacific load of area they could've worked with but no? none of that. She is just back to normal a little scared but that's all. "Since Ray walked out!" THAT"S ALL WE GET FROM RAYMOND CHESTNUT!? What why how when under what conditions??????????? Nothing?? Huff man. I know this is too much for one season and I know they couldn't have included everything in one season but they had such a great show. Such a brilliant show. Season 3 was a very apt ending. It was perfect to be very honest, this is just uncalled for. All the characters are so not who we as viewers were shown for 3 seasons which is why I feel it feels more like a disappointment. Yeah without their powers they'd be different, but they're just not them anymore.... Anyway I should probably sleep.

Tell me what you think of all this :)

[kandadze]

Ep 33 loose thoughts

Poor PSJ, this is the *fourth* time now... and the last 😭 I love these star-crossed siblings so much. "Live on well." I sure fucking hope she can, drama!!!

Our guys are also very much Going Through It, and in a way I'm glad that we haven't been forced to see even more of WZY's gloating, I literally feel like flinging things at my screen when it shows his repulsive face.

Looking at ZYC and LL huddled together, ZYC hesitating to go along with the plan because it would mean LL dying, I'm again nearly crying at what could've been and now will never be. (Only in fix-it fics, I guess. At least we have that, right?)

The sound I made when LL wrapped his hand around ZYC's neck (as you do). Like I'm pretty sure that if there are any kinksters in the fandom, at least some of them will agree with me that ZYC and LL's interactions are the most physically charged, whether they fight each other or team up, and from brutal thrashing to this almost sensual neck hold, there's so much going on between them; they tick off so many boxes for me, personally. And the actors are selling it - just look at TJR's face during the power transfer moment, it's perfection. Ahem. (It doesn't hurt that his chemistry with YA is off the charts.)

Holy shit turns out he can just *send* his energy from the distance, he didn't have to touch ZYC at all...

Okay, I'm back on track and crying over him gifting ZYZ the rest of his power, leaving ZYZ in ZYC's care, giving ZYC the Truth Eye (!!!), and just basically marching off to his death, all to protect them and help them win...

Gods, their faces are killing me.

"I hope you can see the world clearly." I immediately flashed back to Ashitaka in Mononoke Hime, whose whole modus operandi is exactly that. I think ZYC has always had that quality, and especially since the nightmare breaking sequence in ep 6, he's never shied away from seeing things as they are (unless it's a shapeshifter demon pretending to be WX, I guess, but he learned really quickly lol).

Awwwww goddamnit ZYZ's faaaace! ZYC supporting him (and preventing him from going after LL)! LL's vow in the voice over! His last call to ZYC! Fuckkkk I hate it here 😭😭😭

(Also LL's true form! Loved it 😭😭😭)

The whole sequence with ZYZ putting wings on ZYC and then adding his attack to ZYC's was something else. Jaw on the floor, stopped breathing, glued to the screen, and did I mentioned stopped breathing? (And the fact that "yì," wing, is a part of ZYC's given name, just adds more meaning and *texture* to the whole thing.)

And that short moment of Li Lun's image superimposed on ZYC, reinforcing the Truth Eye! ::rewatches immediately::

Oh gods, the relief mixed with grief as they're looking at each other. I'll never be over these two.

Oh. Oh no. Something really bad is happening. What's this barrier? Why is ZYC blocked by it at the same time as Bai Jiu, who's in a completely different place? (And where on earth *is* Bai Jiu, did he go back to Chongwu Camp? Shouldn't he and PSJ have run to the Demon Hunting Bureau? We still don't know what happened with WX!) I'm so terrified you guys, what the hellllll

(This is becoming a habit for me, but-) ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME, DRAMA!!!???

(I will never be able to think of phoenixes the same way...) Okay I had every right to be terrified because this is fucking terrifying. If the guy is essentially immortal then they are, essentially, fucked, and not in a good way.

Oh gods, not Bai Jiu forcing his way through the barrier as it's burning him alive 😭😭😭

Oh gods, not ZYC returning the demonic power to ZYZ as WZY is choking him!! (hands off ZYC you creep, only LL can choke him! 😝😭)

ZYZ's face!!! (Seriously, HMH's acting in this drama, he embodied ZYZ so utterly and completely and I believe every emotion and every movement and every look from him. Soooo good.)

His demonic marks are so beautiful.

Huh, he's right. How did the one-word spell that gave ZYC wings actually work? He was supposed to be immune...

They care for each other so much, this fucking hurts. The *look* ZYC gives him to encourage him! (now I need to yell about TJR's acting! AAAAAA 😭)

Bai Jiu clutching ZYC's bells as he continues to slowly, painfully so, move forward (I already said how I feel about Lin Ziye's acting, but for a good measure - AAAAA!)... and then he sees ZYC reaching out to him!!!

....................

....................

😭😭😭

Oh gods, this was agonizing.

ZYZ just kneeling there in the snow as the ashes are swirling in the air around him, looking so broken, thinking he just killed ZYC with his spell.

And then the camera moving back to give us a wider view, just enough for us to see the hem of ZYC's garments, and his hand reaching out to ZYZ - again, always - to support him, to steady him. The way we're guided to look from their hands, shaking, clasping together, to their faces, their tears, hesitant smiles which then turn to relief and just pure exhaustion (but also wonder, because huh, the "break" spell didn't work on ZYC after all) is so, so well done. I'm still trying to calm my breathing.

And then ZYC's face when realization hits him, and cut to Bai Jiu's "goodbye." Fucking hell, of course they stopped here!

Am I gonna even survive the finale at this rate? 😭

[foralternateuniverses]

Vinsmoke 1/2 au

All the vinsibs share Ranma's role, since Judge kept promising his child's hand in marriage but no one knew that he had more than one nor did he ever specify

Sanji is the only one with the curse to turn into a girl (he goes by Candy)

Yonji gets to be P-chan (same name)

Niji turns into a hedgehog (they call him Speedy)

Cat Ichiji (they call him  Nyasha)

And Reiju gets the inverse of Sanji (she gets to turn into a man and goes by Romeo) 

Garp offered the hand of his eldest grandkid (he only had Ace & Luffy at the time) so when Judge drags his kids to Dadan's house Sabo said he was the eldest at the same time as Ace (his big plan to create confusion and put the arrangement in a standstill while he came up with another plan to stop it altogether) and Luffy -laughing- said that they were twins

Judge is like “well, I have kids to spare so they can both choose one if they don't want to share" but Dadan completely opposes this idea since Garp only promised 1 grandchild (and Garp isn't there to say shit atm)

So the Vinsmoke settle with Dadan while the circus show begins and takes place

Some of the other fiances the VINSIBS have thanks to Judge:

Pudding

Viola (her dad accepted while drunk and only Judge takes it seriously)

Ratchet

Uta

Page 1 (Ulti is hunting down Niji)

Deuce (ran away from home to avoid the arrangement and is living in Raftell -where ASL live-)

I also haven't decided if it should be Ace or Sabo who gets to fight everyone every morning (maybe both for different reasons? Or maybe the same?)

The reason Ace and Sabo fight about half the student population every morning when they arrive at school is that they won't let people ask Luffy out if they can't defeat them Not that it matters cuz Luffy is only interested in Law (an upper classmate and also one of the Vinsmoke 's many fiances, thanks to Mingo)

btw

ASL (and mostly Ace) has a lot of oversized clothes cuz he inherited\took Dadan's old ones 

A lil angst idea

Ichiji is the most obedient of the siblings This detail is going to haunt Ace as he falls in love with Ichiji He makes moves on Ichiji in moments of passion/impulse just to regret and feel guilty about it later because he's sure that Ichiji is only reciprocating because of Judge's orders regarding the arrangement ordeal

Like, he legit fears Ichiji would sleep with him even if didn't actually want to if his father told him (directly or indirectly)

WIP:

I think I'm in love

Ace panted through his smile, just like Ichiji did, almost laughing, sweaty and radiant under the sunlight.

Ichiji, standing right in front of him, regained his breath and smiled Ace's way, a truly rare and treasured occurrence.

Ace's body moved on its own, following a long-ignored desire, and the blood in his veins ran a scalding heat under his skin as his hand reached for Ichiji's cheek, caressing it with the pad of his thumb and feeling the dyed strands of red hair between his fingers.

He dragged Ichiji at the same time as he leaned in, pressing their lips against each other. Ichiji froze for a single second, unsure of how to react, but he didn't take long to reciprocate, pushing back and tilting his head for a better angle.

A second hand joined the first and Ace found himself holding onto Ichiji's head as he leaned more and more into Ichiji's space. Ichiji's hands reached Ace, holding onto the loose shirt hanging from his torso.

They kissed again and again and again.

Holding onto each other, standing in the middle of the empty back street.

Ace licked Ichiji's lip and the redhead parted them obediently, awaiting.

But the honey drowning Ace's brain finished leaking out and he stopped suddenly terrified.

"Fuck" he whispered.

Ichiji made a small questioning noise that just awoke Ace from his daze even more. Suddenly realising what he did, what they had been doing, he let go of Ichiji and took a big step back.

Ichiji didn't cling.

"I'm sorry, fuck, Ichiji I'm so so sorry" Ichiji opened his mouth to say something, but Ace turned in his place and ran.

Ichiji just stands there, a little heartbroken, even as the rain starts pouring and he turns small and fluffy

Ace goes home and has and almost has an anxious/panic attack over the whole ordeal He tries to go on as if nothing happened But Ichiji doesn't return that night

[tinyowlthoughts]

Bury Your Gays by @drchucktingle

I laughed. I cried. I read it in one sitting and will read it again before the week is over.

Holy fuck.

The horror is exquisite. Not just that people are dying (both in-story but also fictionally through film) in fascinating and creative ways, as well as being stalked/threatened/jump scared/etc., but in the way that the horror characters are connected to the protagonists history. Habits, smells, sights - everything is part of the whole.

There are no throw-away details in this book - everything has meaning, everything connects in some way. This is the kind of tapestry woven that would take up an entire wall of a castle, the kind with so many small, intricate details that it would take you hours of examination to notice and appreciate all of them. The matchbooks, the phones, the crossword with pen - all of it has a meaning that reflects on the overall story. It's insane.

Misha is fantastic. He's smart and successful, but also a deeply flawed character in that he can't accept praise, not to mention being so deep in the closet for half the book he's having tea with Aslan and playing bridge with the Babadook on Thursdays. (But hey, double date potential for Misha & Zeke with Babadook & Pennywise!) His flaws aren't just 'he's in the closet', either. No, he's forgetful at times, not always great at communicating with his boyfriend (another great character), or with his employers. It's mentioned he has a snappy, harsh history with the paparazzi. Still, he's someone you want to root for throughout the book. He deserves to win, after you see his inner turmoil over everything going on.

Zeke, Tara, and Jack are all fantastic as characters as well. Zeke is adorkable, Tara is kick-ass, and Jack is - well, I spent most of the book HATING Jack, but he's a symptom of a larger problem, and well he is an asshole, he's not a complete one.

Also, FUCK YEAH ACE HERO! As an asexual, I'm used to not seeing myself in media. Having such a kickass aroace character was AMAZING, and she made me so happy. I've already started doodling some of her fantastic outfits.

The plot was fascinating. It started with this 'big corp v little guy over profits' idea, and it carries it through, but there is so much more to it than that. It touches on the effect of AI in Hollywood/creative endeavors, on how authors don't always own their characters in the same way after they've been franchised, on how important tech privacy is in a world where we just let cell phone towers do what they want. The horror characters are great - they're terrifying, lurking in the shadows, waiting to spring out at the most inopportune time - but they're a small part of the bigger threat - a symptom of the big bad evil guy. They're creative and fascinating and I really, really want to cuddle Black Lamb even if that is a supremely bad idea (as demonstrated by Josiah). Honestly, the Smoker stole the show for me. I loved when he showed up - an amazing character.

At one point in the story, Misha gives a speech. I'm going to be 100% clear here: I cried. I cried because I understood it. I cried because I grew up thinking I was broken, thinking there was something deeply wrong with me, that I was unworthy of love and acceptance, because I didn't feel romantic feelings towards boys. Because I didn't want to date or kiss or have sex. I didn't see characters like me on TV or in movies or in books. Just like Misha, I didn't see myself.

I am so fucking thankful that is changing. I'm so glad that media is going from 'queer coding' to overt 'be gay and slay'. I'm so happy to see the younger generations rising up and replacing the boomers with stories that preach tolerance and love and queer joy. I'm ecstatic that creators are changing entertainment media to include queer characters. I'm so hopeful that in the next few years, I'll be one of them.

Most of all I'm glad I read this book today. I'm glad I saw the post on Tumblr this morning and got it on my Kindle. I'm glad I got to experience the heart-pounding terror Misha went through because he wanted his two characters to kiss. I'm glad I've experienced a whirlwind of emotions in the past few hours as I dove into this experience headfirst.

I'm glad Chuck Tingle wrote this book.

And I'm ecstatic that he's proving Love is Real.

Thank you for another amazing novel, Mr. Tingle.

(And, should Mr. Tingle ever read this: what happened to the people injured on the plane? Did they recover in the end? Did poor seat mate ever finish his crossword?!?!)

[candyskiez]

Yo, what do you think about jasper, her arc and character as a whole?

(Also your explanation of pearl was so good I loved it)

oooo good question!

jasper, imo, is a very good portrayal of an abuser. she's so realistic, dude. she isn't evil, mustache twirling. she's a person who's abusive and THATS what makes her relationship with lazuli gutwrenching. because it's something you'd see in real life. it's not black and white. it's two deeply fucked up and traumatized people hurting each other. it's not good vs evil. it's two people who are horrible for each other.

jasper is just. extremely realistic to me. she's someone who hurts people around her to make them stay, to make them look at her and admit that she's strong. she needs constant external validation because nothing fills that void in her life of someone treating her better. she hurts everyone and then is crushed by them leaving. she's so interesting because she NEEDS people near her but shes the one shoving them out. she's the one constantly hurting them and they leave to get away from being mistreated. it's. she has so much pressure and experiences so much constant mistreatment and she's convinced it's what makes her strong, it's what makes her special. to admit she's hurting would be to be weak. she convinces herself anyone leaving is a sign of weakness. it's not because of *her*, it's not because what she's like is bad. because admitting how she treats people is wrong is admitting how SHE was treated is wrong. and she can't do that. she can't handle reevaluating her entire identity being the next battle and the next fight and how much pain she can take. she can't let herself even consider changing, because that means admitting she was miserable. and only a weak gem would hate how they're supposed to be.

she's a victim and an abuser, those things aren't mutually exclusive and I wish people wouldn't act like they were. she was hurt so fucking badly, and she also hurt so many people so fucking badly.

her "everyone I fuse with leaves me" was haunting, man. it's, again, a very accurate depiction of an abuser who was caught in the cycle. you want to grab her and shake her and say, stop you're hurting yourself you're ruining your own life. but she refuses to see it and she refuses to get better and it. hurts to watch.

I see her as a cautionary tale. nobody can force you to change. YOU have to look at yourself and ask if you're the problem. YOU have to look at how you treat others before you scream that they left you. YOU have to look at your life and ask, is this what I want?

she's a cautionary tale and works well as one.

there is one thing I don't really like and that's how her being shattered was handled? her being shattered completely and then some how brought back was. Cheap, ngl. although her reaction to being shattered was. fucking terrifying. obviously from stevens point of view but also it's just so fucking telling about her mental state. she romanticized being shattered. she romanticized the thought of dying gloriously in battle. she respected steven for shattering her. it's just. fucking *horrifying.* did she WANT to be shattered? holy shit, is jasper suicidal ? the implications are. Awful. I don't want her to be around the others because she keeps hurting them but at the same time I'm going "someone fucking HELP her!" but she doesn't WANT help and it's. it's fucking hard to watch. she's so set on her own destruction and it's physically painful. she can't get better until *she* decides she wants to. that's the only way her pains going to stop.

I also don't like the way steven shattered her. I wish it was portrayed more how his thoughts of shattering white was. his anger, his trauma towards her, his hatred of how much pain she gave him and the fact he's just supposed to be FINE with it now. shattering jasper, though it told us a lot about her, ultimately felt repetitive? because I mean, we already get steven's urge to shatter white. and it's handled a little better. maybe steven going too far and severely damaging jaspers gem and her still being impressed to make the audience go "jasper wtf are you good" and "OH SHIT STEVEN" at the same time, while also adding more weight to his anger at white diamond,, I dunno, this is my scattered ramblings.

I get why some people wanted a redemption arc for jasper. I don't think there was enough time to make a satisfying one. I do think she could potentially heal still, but she HAS to realize it herself. everyone keeps trying to give her tools to heal, she refuses to take them. she has to start working on herself. I'm not against a jasper redemption whatsoever, hell I think if done right it could be good.

a thing I do want to say though, FUCK the idea of her getting back with lapis. they are *horrible* for each other. and I mean this both ways. both of them hurt and traumatized each other. lapis was miserable with her and *jasper was too.* they both can heal but they need to do that completely separately thank you very much.

confession, I have an OC named jasper so I was VERY confused by this ask at first. was about to write a five page essay on him. oops 😭 I have to refer to this jasper as jasper (gem) with my friends. which is also hard considering a nickname for jasper (OC) IS gem. and ironically in the steven universe au me and one friend are working on, jasper (oc) is a pearl, not a jasper, and it's. Yeah! we are so good at this.

hope you enjoyed my scrambled ramblings ksgdldjdk. sorry for disjointedness this isn't like a professional meta or anything it's just me rambling about a cool show.

(ask me things!)

[kteezy997]

I’m With You-Part Five//Lee (Bones and All)

Warnings: smut in the beginning, cannibalism!!, blood, scared/upset reader, crying Lee, self-loathing Lee

You got out of the truck and shut the door and headed for the cornfield. The further you ventured in, you could hear a man moaning, you could tell it wasn’t Lee. “Faster man, faster, faster.” Carnival Guy demanded. He was panting. You came closer to them and looked ahead and you saw them: Lee was shirtless, standing behind Carnival Guy, who was completely naked.

Lee was reaching in front of the other man, jerking him off. “Faster.” Cried the carnie, moaning louder. Jealousy and anger pulsed through your veins. You wanted to yell at Lee, you wanted to hurt him for the way he was hurting you right now. You were absolutely disgusted by his actions, and you couldn’t wrap your head around what was happening.

You could feel yourself trembling like mad, just seconds away from screaming at Lee. But the moment you opened your mouth to say something, you saw Lee take something out of his back pocket and he brought the small object up to the Carnival Guy’s neck. With one clean cut, he sliced a blade across his throat, slinging blood as he did.

You gasped, covering your mouth with your hands in fear of being heard or noticed. Your heart pounded so hard, you thought it might burst right out of your chest. With a thud, the carnie’s body fell to the ground. He was on his back, blood pouring from his mouth and dripping from the fatal wound across his jugular.

You couldn’t look away, it was like a train wreck. You watched as Lee kneeled down beside the other man’s body. He gasped for air as he gargled blood, it was the most horrific thing you’d ever seen. Or so you thought. Lee leaned down even further on the ground, placed his hand on the dying man’s chest and…he took a bite out of him, and then another, and another.

You tried to believe you were only experiencing a nightmare, the most grotesque and terrifying nightmare that could be dreamt of. But deep down you knew it wasn’t. Not only had you witnessed Lee slit someone’s throat, but now he was eating them. You felt nauseous and weak beyond measure. You needed to leave, you needed to not see this for another second longer.

You managed to turn around and run back the way you came. Lee heard your running steps and the rustling of the cornstalks. “Y/n!” he yelled for you, but you ignored him. You ran to the truck and got in, fully intending to leave and never look back. That’s how scared you were of him. But he had the keys.

“Shit!” you cried out as you began to sob. The next time you looked up, there he was: blood from his cheeks down to his chest. “Y/n, hold on! Please!” he ran to the side of the truck. “I’m not gonna hurt you! I would never hurt you, y/n, please, I need you to believe that. Just let me talk to you.” You just looked at him, unable to stop the tears from falling.

He saw the pain and the anguish in your eyes, and he said, “Fuck. Y/n," he shook, "I am so sorry! I did not want you to see that." He looked away from you, his face twisted up as he cried. His face became smeared with tears and blood. It was heartbreaking to see him in this moment. "I need you to know that I hate this part of myself." he said, no longer able to look at you.

"Lee," you did your best to calm down and speak fully, "I can't.. I can't be around you right now. I-I think I need some time to myself." More tears fell, "I don't know if I can see you anymore, Lee. I'm... scared." you took a breath, but it was ragged. "No! You don't ever have to be scared of me. I'll never hurt you, I swear it! I don't...like to hurt people." You shook your head; you just simply couldn't process anything more at this time.

"I... I have to go. Please give me the keys." you said with as much firmness as you could muster up. Lee sighed, fumbling into his pockets, eventually fishing out the keys to the truck. He handed them over to you and you quickly grabbed them. "y/n, I know you are afraid and confused right now, and maybe I have no right saying this, but I wanna beg you to not disappear on me forever. Please, I don't think I can bear it. Not you. You were...so unexpected, but I really care for you. I don't want to be without you. Take all the time you need, but please find me again, I... need to explain. Please."

"Lee, I can't do this." you sniffled, shoving the key into the ignition. He put his hand on the door. "I know, but I just need you to know how I feel. I do not want you to feel sorry for me, or want you to feel obligated to me, or anything like that. But I don't know what I'll do if I never see you again." "I have to go!" you yelled, feeling bad for it, but not backing down. "Goodbye, Lee."

@chalabagellunafluff @gatoenlaciudad @sexylifestylesblog @quicksilversg1rl

[abbacchiosbelt]

"Risotto, i was just wondering, but whats your [i] Darkest [/i] desire? What'd you do if I let you do anything to me?"

cw for: violence, blood, non-con, mention of death, and use of metallica on the reader. 18+ only.

"Risotto, I was just wondering... But what's your darkest desire? What would you do if I let you do anything to me?"

Your question makes Risotto pause. He sets down the mission briefs he was going over and leans onto his desk, arms crossed in front of him. He's silent while he contemplates, and the anticipation of hearing him answer has you squirming in your seat. He wasn't doing it to make you anxious, though - you knew him well enough to know that he was genuinely deep in thought.

After a minute or so passes, he lifts his gaze to look at you. "Are you sure you'd like to know?"

The finality in his words makes it clear that this is the only time you'll ever get this out of him. Perhaps you'd just asked at a good time, or maybe you'd caught him in an indulgent mood. Either way, you were dying to know. You nod eagerly and scoot forward on your seat. "Please," you reply. "I won't judge you. I asked, after all."

Risotto nods, once, and begins. "I have never had a partner that shared this particular... fantasy of mine." He pauses and looks at you, but continues before you can say anything. "It comes from a part of me that I try to channel elsewhere. I want to first say that I would never hurt you... Unless you wanted it, tesoro." Risotto's gaze goes soft for a moment, and he reaches over to squeeze your hand. Before he talks himself out of it, he begins speaking again.

"There's a part of me that wants every inch of you to belong to me," he starts. He gives your hand a gentle squeeze before dropping it, the soft touch not fitting for what he was about to reveal to you. "I... I think about taking you in every way, until I'm there to see the life go out of your eyes." He swallows, and shifts in his seat. Your eyes are wide, but you say nothing. You were aware of things like this, but to hear Risotto say it about you... It brought a strange, new feeling to your chest. "I'd start by dragging you away from our bed. Whether I've knocked you or you're kicking and screaming... it depends on the day."

Risotto exhales, chancing a quick glance at you before he continues. "I'd take you somewhere nice... Somewhere I had set up just for you. It's what you would deserve. A pretty end for my ultimate prize." He licks his lips. "And then I'd chain you up with Metallica so you're completely exposed. You wouldn't ever need clothes again. Ah, to lick the blood from your flesh where Metallica rips through it..." There's a genuine blush on Risotto's face. His words have you glued to your seat, your mind terrified yet intrigued by the way Risotto's love drips through his darkest desires. "Once I clean you up, though, I'd be making a mess all over again."

Risotto's gaze drifts to the ceiling. He's looking everywhere but you, you realize - but you don't blame him. Risotto continues. "I know you like to play with me, let me stuff you with my cock while you pretend you don't want it. But this time you'd know... You'd bite and scratch me while I fuck you full of my come over and over again. Everyone would know you had belonged to me. It'd be tempting to end it with my hand around your pretty throat." Risotto leans forward in his seat, and you instinctively bring your hand up protectively around your neck. His gaze finally turns towards you, and he groans at the sight. "To keep you quiet I'd have to fuck your throat until you couldn't speak any longer."

Risotto stands from his seat and walks towards you, reaching his hand out. You accept it nervously and he pulls you to your feet, dragging you in until you're pressed against his body. He's so warm that it's uncomfortable, and you can feel his hard cock against you. He leans in so that his nose is pressed against your neck and inhales deeply before he murmurs your name. "I'm not done yet. Every inch of you... I'd use you until you couldn't move any longer. To see you like that, having given everything to me but your life..." He grits his teeth and breathes out, harsh. "And then I'd kiss you long and hard, until Metallica is desperate to slice your neck open and finish what I started. You'd look so beautiful like that. So perfect."

He leans back to look at you, the wide-eyed expression on your face furthering the arousal that had built up in his body. "And even then, I'd use you one last time. No one could ever compare to you." Silence fills the air, Risotto no longer having any words to share. You're unsure what to say at all - it should disgust you and send you running, but... You asked. And something about it, deep down, had you hanging off of Risotto's every word.

[aro-pancake-writes]

WIP Wednesday. This is what I got, still need a way to finish.

Tagged by: @thatsgoodsquishy0

Tagging: @silurisanguine, @eridanidreams, @lady-raziel, @bearlytolerant, @malwa1216, @spookyspecterino @fangbangerghoul for the love!

Be prepared for lots of Lillian slander, as I say everything I didn't get to tell her during Matters of the Hart, as I was feeling chaotic.

Also, I used my character, Charlie (they/them).

Truths for the Hart

"We don't have time to ask for backup." Lillian says, and I get up from my seat in a rage.

From the first time Sam told me about her, I knew I wouldn't like her, but I put up my good face and deflected the subject.

But this is the end of my patience for that woman.

I see Cora, wanting to butt in on Sam and Lillian's argument, and call her over to me.

"Here kiddo, take this, go to my quarters and close the doors." I give her my music player and send her off. There's no argument as she understands that things are about to get ugly here.

I wait for the door to the bridge to close before I step between Sam and Lillian.

"Enough." I say, pushing her away from him. "You, shut your hypocrite hole." I point at her. "Sam, darling," I turn to him, "I love you, and please don't be mad at me."

He looks at me confused for a second, as I turn back to Lillian.

"Lils, dearest," I make my best overly sweet voice and put on my largest smile, "don't you fucking dare to say shit."

"What do you know?" She scowls at me, crossing her arms ready for an argument. "And you can't call me that."

"It's my ship. I'll call you whatever the fuck I want to call you." It's becoming harder to maintain my smile. "If you want to not call backup, as per your own sayings, we'll drop Cora by at New Atlantis."

"We don't have the time! The Syndicate will–" I cut her off by raising a finger, my smile dying as I square my shoulders and fix my posture.

"Then you won't ever again bother us for taking Cora along. You won't ever again say anything about her tagging along. Ever." She opens and closes her mouth like a fish. "You'll shut up until I drop you off back on Neon, so you can try to gaslight and bullshit your way out of any future trouble you get yourself into."

"Who are you to say anything about how I parent? Do you have any ideas of the sacrifices I've made for her?" That's it.

I crack up, laughing.

"Sacrifices? Parenting?" I manage to say between laughs. "You don't know the meaning of the words."

"I was called out for reading Dumas by my colleagues, for heaven's sake." She tries and I manage to stop laughing.

"A sacrifice is stopping my own deep cover work to get rid of the Crimson Fleet to come and save your ass from the small fry, because Cora asked me to." I say, taking a step towards her."A sacrifice is having you here because Cora was worried about you. I've been with her for less than a month, and I've been her parent more than you ever bothered to be in twelve years." I snarl, and she looks terrified.

"Charlie, please, that's enough." Sam places a hand on my shoulder, making me stop. "She heard enough."

"No." Lillian says, bearing that cocky smile that I want to punch out of her face. "Let's hear what your new sweetheart has to say, Sammy."

That has me seeing red. How much more shit can come out of one person's mouth.

"What about the fact that you claim to want a professional distance from your coworkers, to the point where Jaylen doesn't know your daughter's name, but he knows everything about me and my accomplishments, that were sent to you by Cora?" I remember the way Sam was treated at the Neon Ranger post.

"What are you talking about? I talk plenty about my kid!" She tries, but I'm not buying it. "And so what I mentioned the stranger my daughter seems to like more than me? It's embarrassing!"

"EMBARRASSING?" I shout at her, completely lost in my rage. "Embarrassing is claiming you put your neck out to save someone, but doing it for your own selfish purposes. Is bailing on your daughter every time she tries to see you and then complaining that she likes someone else, who is actually there for her, better than you."

She jumps me, going for a hit on my stomach. I manage to dodge and she slips, but doesn't fall.

"You just got here!" She screams, turning to come back at me and hitting a punch to my face. "You have no idea what you're talking about!"

"I know what is going on." I smile, cleaning out blood from my face. "Your priorities are anywhere but where they actually should be." She comes for another punch, and I let her. "You're scared of accepting that you fucked up, so you hide behind your work!"

The third punch has me losing my balance and falling. Lillian jumps at the opportunity to sit on my waist and hold me down.

"You know that you lost Sam the moment Cora was born." I continue, despite her barrage. "You lost your hold on him. The idea of love that you gave him. And now, that he's moving on, that someone else wants what you didn't want, you're angry. Because if you can't have him, no one can." I had enough of her, so I remove her from me by annulling the gravity where we are.

I watch as she floats helplessly while I do my best to get up.

"How in the blazes–" the effect ends before she can finish her question, and she falls flat on the floor.

"Lillian, leave. Go find something else to do." Sam says, helping me to my chair. He's cold, holding his anger back.

"I'm not leaving until we get to the Syndicate hideout." She gets up, cleaning her jacket and standing there as if she didn't just beat me up.

"Leave us alone." He says again, and she finally gets the message, grumbling all the way out of the bridge.

"It looks worse than it is." Sam kneels before me, picking up a med kit and making me look up so he can see the injuries. "But you didn't have to push that much, Charlie. Not if it ends up with you getting hurt like this."

"I had." I say, licking at where my lip broke. "I couldn't stand the way she talked to you. Or how she thinks that the minimum effort is a massive sacrifice. For you and Cora."

"And that last thing you said?" He offers me a light smile. "You want me?"

I look everywhere but at him. If my face wasn't hurting so much, I'd be all smiles and blushing.

"Only if you want to try." Too late to not tell the truth. "I've been interested since we got that Artifact."

"Charlie," he takes a deep breath, cleaning a bad wound on my temple and adding a bandage, "why didn't you say anything before?"

I can't hold back the tears, not anymore.

"Because you only ever talked about her." I gather the courage to look at his eyes. "I was there, flirting, trying to hide away that it bothered me. And every other word you said were about her. Praising her at every turn. I said it the first time that I was jealous, and it was true." I take his hand in mine, making him stop.

"She's a good–"

"A good ranger, I know." I try to calm myself down. "But she's an awful person, Sam. I'm not changing my mind on that. You said it yourself that she dismissed you, your feelings. And now that we're getting close, that I'm close to Cora, she wants back in. Even if not… romantically, if you don't feel the same way I do." That last part hurts, but I have to say it.

"I'll put an end to it, for good." He leans closer to me, cupping my face with his hands. "No more talking of Lillian. We'll finish this, get rid of her, and we can talk, ok?"

I nod lightly, taking a medpack that he offers me to get rid of the worse of my bruising.

[hyperfixation-tangentopia]

Ah ha, I've got a question for you :3

Who's your favorite LMK villain (aside from Macaque)?

Okay fair restriction XD

LBD. Without a doubt. She was my fave next to MK on first watch.

The scenes where someone attacks her and she does nothing but they just stop is chilling. Her scenes with Wukong are FANTASTIC. She's facing someone who's taken her down once and can fight and beat GODS with so much confidence. Her scenes with MK are BETTER. I have a thing for manipulative villains and DAMN the way she gets into MK's head HURTS. I think the only reason I don't like her more is because I'm too emotionally attached to the characters and try to ignore just how TERRIFIED she makes MK. She has ONE SCENE with Red Son and in not even 5 minutes she emotionally drags him through the dirt before PHYSICALLY YEETING HIM.

OH YEAH I HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THAT FREAKING POSSESSION

ALL OF THEM

So first one DBK! It lasted one episode so not much to say about it EXCEPT NO THERE'S A LOT TO SAY ABOUT IT

FROM HOW IT LOOKS LIKE SHE'S AFFECTING HIM BEFORE SHE EVER ESCAPES to HOW SHE EMOTIONALLY DESTROYS RED SON

SORRY SHE HAS TWO SCENES AND WRECKS HIM IN BOTH

Okay and then THE LITTLE GIRL (Bai He? Something like that? Fanonically?) I KNOW SHE GETS 0 CHARACTER BUT TO POSSESS A LITTLE GIRL TRYING TO GET HER CAT? COLD LBD. COLD.

Okay and apparently I can't go one ask without talking about Macaque BUT HER ABILITY TO TAKE A CHARACTER WE'VE ONLY EVER SEEN CONFIDENT AND SMILING TO FREAKING OUT AND IN CHAINS IN SECONDS IS ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING. DOWN TO ACTIVELY KILLING HIM WITH HER POWERS BECAUSE HE WILL EITHER GET IT DONE OR DIE TRYING. I WILL NEVER GET OVER THAT.

AND THEN THE OBVIOUS. WUKONG. FREAKING. POSSESSED. WUKONG. FROM HER HOLDING HER OWN AGAINST HIM NOT AT HER FULL POWER TO NOT MORE THAN 10 SECONDS OF A FIGHT? HIS COLORS PHYSICALLY DIM WHEN HE'S POSSESSED. AND THE FACT SHE HELD HIM FOR SO LONG DESPITE HIM OBVIOUSLY FIGHTING BACK, WHILE ALSO PICKING AWAY AT MEI AND HER MECH? SPREAD TOO THIN SURE BUT THAT'S STILL ABSOLUTELY POWERFUL.

POSSESSED WUKONG IS PROBABLY THE MOST TERRIFYING THING I'VE EVER SCENE THAT I DON'T TALK ABOUT. FUCKING STONE-COLD (no pun intended). THE THREATS? THE TAKING OUT RED SON IN A SECOND? WITH FISTS IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY?? THE STALKING THROUGH THE SAMADHI FIRE TO GET MEI? THE ICE AND TELEPORTATION? ALSO GETTING WUKONG TO DESTROY NEZHA AND FLING HIMSELF AT MK WITH 0 HESITATION? I CAN'T HANDLE IT.

AND THAT'S SAYING NOTHING ABOUT HIS FINAL FIGHT?? FLINGING WUKONG AT MK, AGAIN, 0 HESITATION, AND THEN DESTROYING MACAQUE AND THROWING HIM ON THE FLOOR, ONCE AGAIN, USUALLY SMILING AND CONFIDENT AS ALL HELL. AND WUKONG ONLY BROKE FREE AT THE LAST SECOND AND HE STILL WASN'T RID OF HER COMPLETELY????

I CAN'T. DEAL. WITH THIS WOMAN.

AND SHE FOUGHT SO GODDAM HARD TO STAY ON HER TRACK, BROKE THROUGH MEI AND WIELED THE SAMADHI FIRE, AND EVEN WHEN SHE WAS DYING SHE WASN'T FUCKING DONE.

WHO WOULD I BE IF I WENT ON THIS RANT WITHOUT MENTIONING IT.

"That pursuit only leads to one thing."

"Uh-huh. To destiny, right?"

*Small, amused smile* "No. To pain."

WHAT. THE. FUCK???

I LOVE THIS WOMAN AND SHE DOES NOT GET ENOUGH CREDIT. SHE MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY DESTROYS MOST OF THE CAST DOWN TO WUKONG HIMSELF, DODGES DEATH MULTIPLE TIMES, NOT EVEN TO MENTION THAT CHILLING SCENE IN THE CELESTIAL REALM, AND EVEN HER DEATH WAS JUST THE FINAL BLOW TO EXPLOSIVES SHE'D BEEN SETTING OFF ALL SEASON.

LADY. BONE. DEMON. NEEDS. MORE. CREDIT.

SHE IS AN AWESOME AND TERRIFYING VILLAIN. NOBODY EVERY DIRECTLY SAYS "SHE'S SO POWERFUL" (THAT I REMEMBER) AND THAT'S BECAUSE THEY DON'T NEED TO. EVERYTHING SHE DOES, EVERY MOVE SHE MAKES, EVERY AFFECT SHE SETS OFF, IS TELLING TO HER POWER. NOBODY NEEDS TO STATE IT BECAUSE IS IT SO. PAINFULLY. CLEAR.

THE HOPELESSNESS AND FEAR THE CHARACTERS FEEL GOING UP AGAINST HER? IT DESERVED. IT'S REAL.

Anyway thank you for the opportunity to rant about the character I for some reason have so much trouble getting myself to ramble about. Anyway. I love the monkies so much and they glow in those first three seasons but LBD? LBD ran it.

[bots-and-cons]

Need to complain... again

School is starting next week, 5th of September. I finally got my summer courses done a few days ago. It's kinda sad that I had 3 months of vacation from school and during that time I'm only going to have this one week for myself before school starts, when I don't have to do anything. I'm so not going to take summer courses next year, holy shit, it was such a mistake. On the brighter side, I got my teacher to agree that I don't have to do practical training this fall, and I can move it to next spring. I honestly would have burnt myself out if I'd had to do the practical training too. I was so fucking exhausted last spring with just the five weeks of 5 hour days. The next practical training is supposed to be 6 weeks and 7 hour days. The first one was supposed to be 3 weeks, but I got to do it in a longer period of time, due to my various problems with mental health and stuff.

The school stuff is all handled though, that's not really what I wanted to complain about. Since I moved away from my home town my best friend who still lives there keeps telling me I abandoned her and I hate that she uses that specific word. "Abandon", like I left just to spite her and leave her alone. I'm not saying she can't feel lonely or annoyed at me for moving, but I can't stand that she keeps using saying "What do you think it's like for ME ever since YOU abandoned me?" She still has her family there and people she knows. I moved to a completely new town, where I don't know anyone and all my family is a couple hours away. I literally have no one here. My school acquaintances/friends/whatever don't live here either, and I'm not going to be able to see them either because almost all my lectures are remote this fall and from now on. The few lectures I do have on campus, are not the same courses as my friend's so I won't see them then either.

My "best friend" has not asked me once, if I'm lonely. She just keeps saying if I make new friends, I'm gonna forget about her and "abandon" her. So I haven't really made the attempt to socialize because it makes me feel so guilty, because all I can hear is her voice in my head. Then she tells me how she spent 7 hours talking with someone on discord, even though she couldn't even answer my texts that day. She also doesn't come to see me, and I'm always the one who has to go to her. She could get on a train or a bus and come here, my apartment is literally about 800 meters from the bus and train stations. She absolutely hates driving here, she came to get me once during December 2023, and she has absolutely refused to drive here after that. This is a much bigger town than our hometown, but still, it just fucking sucks. It's like I'm not even worth a train ticket.

I'm fucking dying here, honestly. I hope it's gonna get better when school starts, but I also want to actually see the people I love. I suck at making friends and I'm so fucking anxious about meeting new people and this whole thing is fucking terrifying. I want to talk to the people I know. I want to see the people I know. Some of you have offered to talk with me, but what I really want, is someone who already knows me and to talk to someone I love. I appreciate the offer though.

I miss my mom and my dad and my younger siblings, and one of my brothers might be coming to see me in the next month, but that's a long as time away most likely. I also miss my best friend, even if she constantly makes me feel like shit.

I feel like nowadays I never get what I need from my BFF. She doesn't focus on me like she used to when we talked, and I feel like she's never there for me. I know I'm not entitled to her time or attention, but I would at least hope she'd reciprocate what I give her. We've been friends for about 18 years, but I feel like she's the one abandoning me. I always have to initiate conversation, and I'm pretty sure if I didn't text her, I would never hear from her again.

Am I really worth that little to her? Am I not worth a phone call or even answering my texts in the same day? I'm I not worth even a train ride here (which I would probably pay for)? Did I do something wrong? Is it my fault? Am I not enough? Makes me feel fucking bad man...

On top of all this, I keep hallucinating more and more, (mostly cats) and the intrusive thoughts are getting worse and worse. I'm overwhelmed all the time and I basically live with my headphones glued to my head, because it makes all the noise and shit a bit more bearable. I don't want to shower, or wash my teeth, the dishes and laundry keep piling up and making food is a fucking pain in the ass. I'm turning to candy and sweets for comfort, which also isn't good. I don't understand what the fuck is wrong with me...

[yandere-fics]

You asked for gross horny thoughts so here goes, I got a bit carried away, warnings for fearplay, possibly some dubcon, and gross. Just so gross.

I love the idea of Eliza taking bunny darling to meet her pack, but she starts getting really overprotective the day before you meet them, she seems constantly on edge and won't respond when asked what's wrong. However that night she puts her plan into action, she needs everyone to know that

1: Darling is hers and hers only.

2: Darling is not food.

3: If Darling WAS food, you're her food.

You wake up in the dead of night to the sound of locks, or chains? Something. You look to your side and Eliza isn't there. Worried, you get up and poke your head out the hallway, slowly shuffling towards where you heard the noise until a shadowy, giant figure leaps towards you, pinning you down, tearing your clothes off with her teeth and grazing them against your neck. The shock triggers your natural prey response, and you start releasing fear pheramones, which only gets Eliza more worked up, triggering her own scent to release in response. You squirm under her, not really knowing what's happening, if Eliza has snapped and decided she needs to eat you, or if this is even Eliza at all, she's ignoring your pleas and cries, making your heart race all the more. A million frantic thoughts race through your mind 'maybe she's gone feral, she always said you tasted good but maybe she's out for blood, you're gonna die if she eats you, you don't wanna die!!'. She continues to bite and chew along your neck, then runs her long, saliva coated tongue up your face, baring her teeth right next to your ears as she presses her claws against your stomach.

Your fear is now going into overdrive, you're a whimpering terrified mess and Eliza is loving it. The smell you give off when scared is so delicious, and she's going to make sure it mixes perfectly with hers. You won't be able to be within 500 feet of another wolf without them smelling her all over you. Yeah you're scared, but you'd understand, she's just being a good girl and protecting you from the meanies back home! However it's not enough. Not yet.

She pretends to get distracted, allowing you the chance to run. Eliza waits a moment, admiring the way your ears bounce as you desperately go for the door - you're such a silly bunny. She gets on all fours and bounds after you before pouncing, knocking you down to the floor, face down ass up. She completely dominates you now, wrapping a clawed hand around your throat, your ass pressed to Eliza's groin, her legs spred in between yours. She playfully pulls at your tail, amused at the way it twitches as you whimper and whine.

'I'm gonna die! Oh gods I'm gonna die!! This can't be it!! She's going to eat me!!'

You try to tell her to stop, that you're her bunny, she must be confused, but your words come out as nothing more than incoherent babbling. You close your eyes and prepare for the feeling of her claws ripping your throat out when-

"Hehe, what'd ya do that for, silly?" She giggled, another smell filled the room and your face went hot.

God fucking dammit. Not only are you going to get eaten, but you pissed yourself. Maybe dying isn't so bad, it's not like you'll ever live this down now.

However to Eliza, it was exactly what she was waiting for, no more fight, no more flight, no more dignity. You're all hers. Eliza grins, moving her hand from your throat into your mouth, sticking her long, clawed fingers all the way down to your gag reflex as she presses her cock to your hole.

"Mine. All mine."

-girlfailure

I have no words, this was beautiful.

[fascinationstreetmp3]

simultaneously interested and kind of excited for the remake even just in terms of graphics ([taps my fingers together] high resolution graphics of the boss that still look decent and not uncanny valley please please please please please i'm nothing... i'm not even gonna state the obvious other hope) and absolutely fucking terrified (i'll be honest volgin genuinely scares me and the pachislot version was bad enough i do not need him to get better graphics i need him to get worse graphics. i want this man to look like he came out of the original metal gear solid and i want all of his voice lines to be replaced by sound clips of adults talking in peanuts cartoons <- insane)

but everything else too really. like what if they fuck up the graphics, yes, but also what if they fuck up the voice acting. what if they somehow manage to make their 'hilarious' homophobic joke even worse. but on the other hand. what if they improve those things too. it could go either way

really though the trailer should have showed more characters to settle all our nerves like come on. come ON.

^ sorry for the monologue i've been dying about this since i found out

yesss i'm nervous about what they're gonna do to the boss and eva too, based off snake they're not going exactly with the pachislot models but they still could be close to them and i really don't like eva's like. who!! is she!! i don't know but it's not my eva </3 she needs her dark circles and her bumpy nose

(also i realised ocelot's is kinda? based on his mgsv model i think and i don't want them to go that route because as much as i love all ocelots, mgsv is the least visually ocelotlike of them all to me)

remake volgin is actually a video of a live action hand puppet that plays every time he's on screen, we never see him interact with anyone directly he just flails around and then it cuts away and snake goes flying like he's been punched

that developer announcement said the game will feature the original actors but it's not really clear if that means original voice acting completely or getting the old actors back to record it all again. the first option seems more likely if they're promising all the original voice actors, but if it's more like... a majority of them are coming back and some have been replaced then i guess it could be the latter. and if it's all original voice acting i guess they won't be adding/changing any cutscenes, but new voice acting would allow them to do that (not sure if they would though considering kojima wouldn't be directing any of the new stuff) i'm also curious about the mocap. whether they're gonna record new stuff based off the original scenes or change the facial animations so they match up with english dialogue and stuff like that

i'm too attached to the original voice acting to want anything new but in the end it is a remake and even if it all sucks no one's stopping me from going back to the original lol

but yeah i hope they can show some more characters next to satisfy our curiosity... just some renders or something... Please

[bulkyphrase]

I love reading your opinions so I'm going to limit myself to 4 (for now...)

2) What's your biggest Stony pet peeve? (or if you don't feel like talking about Stony, talk about any other pairing you wanna rant about!)

9) What's something that bugs you in fanfiction that you encounter often, but isn't necessarily a dealbreaker for you as a reader?

11) Name a fanfiction trope that you can't get on board with?

12) What's something that you think __[insert fandom/pairing]__ doesn't have nearly enough of, that you're starving for?

20) Have you ever deleted/wanted to delete your blog? Why?

❤❤❤❤ Thank you!!! I love sharing my opinions and reading yours too!!

2) What's your biggest Stony pet peeve? (or if you don't feel like talking about Stony, talk about any other pairing you wanna rant about!)

Probably the very common tendency for fic to write (MCU) Tony as younger than he is in canon--either by actually aging him down to be Steve's age or younger, or by writing this 45-year-old man as if he has mind of a teenager. And of course people can like what they like, and Tony's not the most mature guy in the world. But I really like the canon age gap, and don't really vibe with either younger or older-but-immature Tony.

9) What's something that bugs you in fanfiction that you encounter often, but isn't necessarily a dealbreaker for you as a reader?

Stories that focus so tightly on the main couple's relationship that they completely downplay any of the other relationships in their lives. (For example, Stucky stories that depict Steve and Bucky retiring from superhero life and living far away from the Avengers as a happy and fulfilling ending. Or MCU canon fics where Steve and/or Tony consider the other their best friend--Sam, Rhodey, Nat, Pepper, and Bucky would like a word)

Honestly m/m fanfic can be worse than the MCU canon at writing fleshed out female characters that exist for any reason aside from propping up the dudes, and that's saying something.

11) Name a fanfiction trope that you can't get on board with?

Omegaverse. It's not the weird fantasy anatomy and dubcon/fuck or die situations--I love that stuff. But I can't handle the gender dystopia world-building they usually involve.

For a lot of people, writing or reading about their favorite male characters facing extreme sexism seems to be a way to deal with the terrifying reality we live in at a safer emotionally distance? But for me it's just a reminder that I live in a deeply regressive red state that seems to be taking the world of The Handmaid's Tale as an ideal to work towards. Plus a lot of omegaverse does read to me as, like, "what if gender essentialism was really sexy" and "I want to have pregnancy and sexism plots but don't want to include any icky women" but that might just be me being mean.

There are some omegaverse stories I enjoy (of course I have a list). For the most part they depict a level of sexism about on par with the modern world (and any mpreg is safely theoretical and offscreen).

12) What's something that you think [insert fandom/pairing] doesn't have nearly enough of, that you're starving for?

I am dying for fic set in Steve's post-endgame alternate timeline that doesn't leave the extra Steve in the ice. Not only do I think that Steve knows better than anyone how painful it was to wake up displaced from his own time by decades and would never do that to himself, but it also ignores so many delicious narrative possibilities. How would the world be different with two Steves? How would you work through having two Steves without one feeling redundant or replaced? And the shipping potential! Steve selfcest, Peggy/Steve/Steve ménage à trois, or extra Steve with Howard or Bucky or Natasha somehow--the world is your oyster!.

20) Have you ever deleted/wanted to delete your blog? Why?

Never! How could I ever deprive the world of this artfully curated collection of fic recs and reblogged Captain America gifs? I may completely abandon this blog someday, but can't really see myself deleting unless tumblr is taken over by someone evil. Even then I hope I would try to at least save copies of my rec lists, etc. and find somewhere else to host them.

For the Grievances ask game!