#they should have done this with buffy the vampire slayer

[littlenastieswewhispered]

“buffy ended the show single :)” ok but only because her current love interest just DIED!! (he near quite literally died in her arms! in sacrifice for her!) her last words of the entire series were telling him she loves him and then saying his name in admiration. she isn’t single; she’s a widow.

[camellcat]

I love spuffy as much as the next guy but ohhh my gawddd I really kinda wish it had been buffy wil and xand to finish the fight. they started it together, and while they've always had outside help, I just think it would've been so good if each of them had their own big important parts to play since this was the last we get to see of them

[a-heart-of-kyber]

The Still Pretty podcast's read of Empty Spaces is...pretty off base. A big yike.

[slashingdisneypasta]

Hades x Reader || Drabble

Plot: He's a villain; So you would- could never, ever fall in love with him.

'Sooner or later you're gonna want it. And the second- the second that happens, you know I'll sup in; have myself a real good day.' - Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

... But he'll still wait patiently, for you.

Warnings: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Mischaracterisation?

Tagging: @asperol-with-izzy , @disney-android-foundation , @lady-love88 , @marinerainbow , @miss_understood , and @yesthetrashbin .

The instant that you see the villain in your house, waiting for you again lounging on your bed, smoke spread all over the floor; you groan. "Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh- "

Hades only shows a flicker or irritation by your obnoxiously drawn-out moan, before its snuffed out with a roll of his shoulders and he gets up from your bed. Now his head grazes the ceiling but he comes here so often, asking you on walks with him and bringing you dinner you couldn't have scrounged for yourself with a weeks pay despite how many time's you've told him no, never, so you're past the fear of him setting the house on fire. His yellow eyes glow in the dim room and, like always, it causes a little warmth to spready in the pit of your belly- you ignore it. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll be gone in a sec, okay babe? I got places to be today, anyway. Just gimmie a minute, here."

"Why should I?"

"Uh- " This time real frustration passes over his face; settling for a few moments as he speaks. "Well you don't have that much of a choice, doya babe? So just shut up and listen, eh?"

Not-at-all scared, you just roll your eyes, setting your basket down on the side table and crossing your arms impatiently over your chest. "Fine. What do you want? I don't see any exotic fruits... another walk?"

Here, a smirk slips over his mouth; The flames atop his head give a happy crackle, and he gently shakes his head. "Not this time. Unless, I mean- you want to?? I can reschedule my meeting with the Fates, if you- " When he reads your expression, a familiar and cold 'hell no' written all over it, he sighs. Disappointed, but... not surprised at all, anymore. "Right. Right- uh, look babe. I just came here to let ya know, I... "

Hades? Lost for words?? That almost concerns you. Almost makes you lower your freezing cold exterior, and ask- ... but no. No. Instead, you tighten your arms over your chest and increase the impatient, expectant look in your eyes. Like, hurry up.

"... Okay. Look. I like you, (Full name). I might even go so far as to say I'm fallin' for ya- and thats new to me. I'm lost in some really unfamiliar waters, here," He chuckles, nervously, looking truly out of his depth for a moment. "Thats never happened to me before, this is new, and I- I- I'm tryin' to do it right. Sweep you off your feet; all that romantic jazz. Which I honestly think is kinda psychotic-... But uh... " His eyes lift from somewhere on the ground to your left, up to your eyes and he gives you another half-smirk. "I think we both know its not my thing."

... breaking your silence for a moment, you give a little tiny nod; not sure where this is going. "We do." You say quietly.

"Yea. Well, between you and me- its not workin' as well as you'd think, is it?"

"... no."

"Right, so," He rolls those broad shoulders again, giving his neck an uncomfortable stretch. "I'm uh- I'm gonna stop trying."

That gives you pause. " -What??"

"-not that I'm done here, exactly, no no no. I don't give up so easy, sweetheart. I'm gonna be here, or well- around. Waiting. And some day if... And someday when, you decide ya want me, then I'll come for ya. Just call."

Eyebrows furrowing, you suddenly remember something Hades said earlier. You'd almost forgotten it, because it seemed unimportant before, but now seems significant. "... Why are you going to meet with the fates?" Does he... know something? Is going to ask something?? What-

He just grins, infuriatingly. And his body begins to disappear into smoke, and your eyes widen- because- wait! "Remember what I just told you, babe. Keep it in mind, mull it over. I got nothin but time and I don't mind using it waiting on you. You're kinda worth it, eh?" -He didn't answer your question!

"But!- "

"Lookin' forward to your call, sweetheart."

"I'm not gonna call!- "

"Uhuh."

[matan4il]

To the Nonnie who asked me about the mass grave in Gaza, you're pretty close to the truth of it rather than the anti-Israel propaganda.

First of all, the mass grave next to the hospital in Gaza has been shown already to have been dug before Israel got there.

Now, it wasn't untouched by the Israeli army, but that is a result of two contributing factors, both of which linked to Hamas.

One is because of the bodies of terrorists, who were using the hospital, and were killed during the fighting. They had to be buried somewhere. This is the Nasser hospital, the biggest medical center which was still active in Gaza after the very biggest, the Shifa hospital, had to be raided twice, because Hamas terrorists returned and re-took it, after the IDF evacuated it to allow the place to function as normal. If during the second operation in the Shifa hospital, there were 200 terrorists killed there, and at least 900 more suspects arrested, of which at least 500 were confirmed terrorists as of the end of the operation on April 1, how many terrorists were fighting against the IDF from Nasser, the last big medical complex they could use, when we know the abuse of Gaza hospitals for murderous purposes by terrorists is systematic? (I'm not accepting any numbers claimed by "Gaza's health officials," where no terrorists are mentioned at all, because that's Hamas speaking) Where do people think all those terrorists went to, those who did not surrender? Do people think this is Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and if you stake a villain through the heart, then their body just goes "poof" into thin air, and there's no need to bury it?

The second factor is that Israel did exhume corpses that had been previously buried on the Nasser hospital grounds, to test them for DNA, in case they were what was left of murdered Israeli hostages, still held captive.

This has been done for a while, before this mass grave by the Nasser hospital started making the social media "headlines," so no one can claim this is an excuse made up now, because of this, and in fact, several bodies of Israeli hostages were returned to Israel thanks to the IDF's work, and the first one that comes to mind is that of 19 years old Noa Marziano, because her body was exhumed from the Shifa hospital grounds. She was held hostage in an apartment near the hospital, then moved into Shifa itself, and murdered in its basement. So yeah, guess where they buried her... Together with Noa, Yehudit Weiss' body was also recovered from the Shifa hospital grounds, and returned to her family in Israel.

If people don't like that the Israeli army has had to check bodies buried on hospital grounds for DNA, and then re-bury them together in a mass grave in the same place, then they should take it up with Hamas for murdering people on hospital grounds and for holding corpses as hostages in the first place. We're all living in the twisted reality created by Hamas.

And you know how we can tell that this part, about the bodies being exhumed to check for DNA isn't made up? Because we have regular Palestinians themselves admitting the bodies they're currently looking for in the mass grave are of their loved ones who were already dead by the time Israel got there.

Just to summarize this lunacy, we are being accused of massacring terrorists (who are legitimate targets, killing them was not a massacre, even if we were really successful at it) and already dead people. Make it make sense.

As for the added accusations that Israel skinned the Gazans and stole their organs... The anti-Israel crowd literally claims Israel stole organs in Haiti, when all we did was to send our military emergency medical staff to set up a field hospital there (to help the victims of the earthquake in 2010), and these lies are currently being repeated in print by The Palestine Telegraph (which is based in Gaza. You know, the place where nothing is published if it goes against Hamas interests). If that act of kindness and help could be turned into something sinister and monstrous just because the Jewish state was involved, it's almost a given the same would happen when Israel is at present dragged against its will into a defensive war. It's a recycling of the age old antisemitic blood libels, portraying the Jews as bloodthirsty and capable of any monstrosity. It's antisemitism, pure and simple. THAT is why the Jewish state has to be "comically evil in every way imaginable," like you said. Remember how for centuries in Europe, the 'bloodthirsty Jew' trope served to lie that we kill Christians to use their blood when baking our Passover matzahs? The following cartoon isn't from the Middle Ages, it's from 2018, and depicts Gazans, not European Christians (see the tire in one Palestinian man's hand? In Hamas-organized violent riots that aimed to breach Israel's border in 2018, as they succeeded in doing on Oct 7, many participants burned tires to create a screen of black smoke that would impair IDF soldiers' vision):

Meanwhile, the Islamist terrorist organization and Hamas' buddy, Hezbollah (which has been intentionally firing at civilian communities in northern Israel for months), has killed yet another Israeli civilian overnight, Sharif Suad, an Israeli Arab Muslim Bedouin. Watch the anti-Israel crowd ignore his murder, just like they erase all Israeli civilians victimized. Arab deaths don't count if they can't be used against the Jewish state.

I hope this helped! Take care. xoxox

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

[prose-for-hire]

Evol (or, a backwards love story)

Pairing: Spike x reader

Request: Hey I love your spike x reader fics I was wondering if you could do one were like they both have a crush on eachother and he invites her over to his crypt but it's super fluffy and he makes it all romantic with candles and shit

Reader isn't a big fan of pink but doesn't like hate it or anything (just a heads up in case you love pink (like me) and it takes you out of the story).

Requested by: anon

A/N: Be kind please this is the first fic I've done in ages! Hope this is okay, love 💖

You had been in deep thought, your mind travelling ahead of you as your limbs tried to follow. But your wandering mind had led you down an unknown path. You had taken a strange turn somewhere and found yourself in unchartered territory.

You were at a crossroads, in almost pitch darkness. The streetlights had disappeared a couple of streets ago and you weren’t entirely sure where you were. You were fumbling through the dark now, trying to find something to hold onto, to anchor you.

You found yourself connecting with something, a figure in the shadows. You groaned, the last thing you needed tonight was to get eaten, your top was brand new. You recoiled slightly but a pair of steady hands righted you. He, of course, could see in the dark.

“What’re you doing round these parts, pet?” His voice came from the darkness, retracting his hands, a flame from his lighter ignited so that you could see.

“Got kinda turned around… I’m lost”

“Can’t have that, can we, love? If you’re not careful somethin’ nasty might eat you up” His eyes glinted with amusement, his lips curled slightly in that irresistible way he did. Even when he was being ‘evil’ he was attractive to you. You were doomed to fall for him.

“What did we talk about Spike?”

“Too much?”

“Only a little” you smiled despite yourself, now unable to look up from your feet. You were afraid that you would reveal too much, he could read you like a book. He always had, ever since you met a year ago.

It was tongues and teeth. Blood and sweat. You were backed against the wall, the vibrations from the music pulsing through you. You grasped the black t-shirt that clung to him so perfectly, the vampire you had only heard about.

You knew he and Buffy had faced each other on numerous occasions, you just happened to miss him each time. You had met them in college and had only known of the stories about William the Bloody at this point. But you always liked to judge people for yourself, anyway. And, well, you hadn’t realised how beautiful he was, you had been taken by him as soon as he stomped up to the bar and sulkily ordered a beer.

You heard voices through the crowd, through the headiness of that moment. Voices you recognised. You pulled away, your face a picture; as if you had seen a ghost. You weren’t supposed to be here,

“Go home” He had hissed, covering you as you slid away. Taking Buffy’s attention.

You should have known then he had a soft spot. Or, well, the potential for one. Usually he would have relished the awkwardness of Buffy walking in to find you kissing a vampire. Drinking with demons and beating them at kitten poker. But if he had the chance to do that again he wasn’t going to ruin it by getting the ultimate mood slayer involved, now was he.

But you hadn’t ever had any real time alone since. Sure, sometimes it felt like you were both the only people in the room but there was barely a chance to even allude to what you had done let alone reignite the moment again. Though he of course tried at every moment he got.

“Got have plans, love? My crypt’s only down the way” he spoke softly, almost tentatively if you didn’t know better.

“I’m late. I’m supposed to meet some… friends” You hesitated and you knew he caught it before you looked back into his eyes. Eyes you were slowly being lost in.

“Not those bloody losers again. You’re better than them”

“Those losers are actually my friends”

“Friends that you hide yourself from” He shrugged, not entirely able to drop it. He couldn’t hide his distaste for Buffy and the others.

Despite it all he gestured with his head, offering to take you to your friends. Even though you knew Sunnydale quite well after moving into your dorm a year ago and running around the town many times after (or often away from) demons, you still got lost a lot. It was a kind of running joke amongst the other scoobies.

He lit a cigarette as you rounded the corner, only pausing to offer you one which you declined with a soft smile. A smile that made him want to drop to his knees and declare his undying love for you. It pained him, how soft he was for you.

He shoved the other hand in the pocket of his duster, jaw tensing as he saw your friends speaking rapidly, apparently concerned about something. Willow noticed you first.

“We thought you’d been all ookified, we were worried!” She flung herself around you with a big smile of relief.

“You got lost, huh?” Buffy said with a smile, which quickly dropped when she noticed the company you were in.

“Yeah, Spike helped me get my bearings. Thanks, again” You grinned, despite Xander and Buffy’s distaste. Anya patted your head a little patronisingly at your habit of getting yourself lost.

“Anytime, pet”

“Yeah, right, evil dead is only good for being evil… and dead”

“Not that I’m not enjoying the boy’s wit, but I’ll be off now” He addressed only you, hoping to keep the barbs at his expense from the group to a minimum. Someone muttered something distasteful about Spike, which was of course in his earshot, but he didn’t turn back around.

“He’s, like, the lowest of the low.” someone agreed, shaking her head at the figure walking away.

You weren’t sure why that moment was the moment. Why you spoke something that had been so safely unspoken.

“Spike! Spike, wait-”

“Y/n, what’re you doing?!” your friends called after you, still in earshot as Spike ditched his cigarette and swung around to face you.

“Love, you go and do the friendship thing with the meddlin’ kids, okay? I’d rather stake myself than spend an evening with them”

“I know, I was wondering if the offer’s still on that is, well, I’m free tomorrow night”

He put both hands in his duster, rocking on the balls of his feet and looking down. It was as if he thought you were being cruel to him. Taking him up on his offer just to hurt him by rejecting him in the next breath with all your friends watching. He had to know you better than that, surely.

You reached for his arm, willing him to feel what you felt. Know what you knew. That you and him were meant for each other, that this chance that you were trying to take meant a lot. For someone you had kissed so passionately before it was strange how nervous you were suddenly at even grazing his skin.

“After sunset, tomorrow at your crypt?” You asked softly, though the vulnerability in your voice bled through. He saw it, he saw that your intentions were pure. There were some gasps and some vague unimpressed whispering from your friends behind you but you couldn’t bring yourself to take notice.

Instead you waited with bated breath for his answer. You knew he had offered earlier but there was always the chance he was doing it to tease you. That he had no interest in you. That he was playing with you, looking for something quick and easy. You could do that, of course you could, if it meant being close with him. But it may just break your heart beyond recognition.

This purgatory, which only lasted a second, felt like it lasted hours. Your grip on him tightened, as if you were afraid he would slip away from you.

He nodded, to anyone else it probably looked as if he wasn’t bothered. What he didn’t know was that you could read him in the way he did for you. You saw the slight upturn of his mouth before it disappeared, you noticed the way his eyes searched you with wonder for a fraction of a moment. You knew then, for sure, he felt for you as deeply as you had started to fall for him. Everything you had learned about him you held close, collecting it as the most valuable treasures.

You arrived the next night a minute after the sun set and promptly knocked on the door of Spike’s crypt. You could hear some scuffling about from behind the door and a lot of a British accent muttering ‘bloody bollocks’ every so often which made you smile softly.

You waited patiently until he swung the door open, allowing you to walk in. You gasped, he had transformed the main level of his crypt for the evening. There were candles everywhere, on every single available surface and surrounding the sofa where there was a couple of blankets piled up and a stack of VHS tapes.

There were wilted roses that had shed their petals all over the floor beside the TV set and you tried to ignore the high probability that these came from a few of the graves surrounding the crypt. Stuck haphazardly to the walls were pink and red hearts made from crepe paper and various strips hanging about.

I mean, it was a huge fire risk but you tried to ignore this fact as you appreciated his scattered decorations. You assumed that Spike was ensuring you were aware that he thought of this as a date.

“How was your night with America’s most haunted?” Spike asked, you could tell he was genuinely interested if you had a nice evening after he left you at the Bronze.

You told him everything in complete detail, you were a keen storyteller and he adored this about you. You spoke in such detail that he could picture himself there beside you as the night played out.

“Drink, pet?”

“Please”

You looked around as he started rummaging around with bottles and glasses. You read the words on some of the hearts, your brow furrowing slightly.

“EVOL? I think it’s spelt-”

“No, love, it was meant to be- they’re from the craft store. They, well, I didn’t want it to scare you off now did I?” He turned the heart around, the word was actually ‘love’. He hadn’t wanted you to think he was coming on too strong so he had hidden the word. Though the rose petals and the various pink and red crafts might well have done that if you hadn’t realised how deeply you felt for him.

You laughed, you couldn’t help it. You hadn’t been sure if he was making sure that all this romantic stuff didn’t take away from him being bad. Telling you he was ‘evil’.

He passed you a glass, different from usual where he would just drink straight from the bottle. You were surprised to note that it was your favourite drink. It was incredibly endearing that he had learned this about you, or perhaps it was his favourite and you just had that in common.

The glow of the candlelight accentuated his features, casting shadows from his cheekbones. You felt yourself leaning into him as he spoke animatedly, it was entirely involuntary. When you thought about it, you had done everything in reverse. You were tentatively courting after sharing a much more passionate moment the night you properly met. You much preferred it this way though, in some ways it cemented now just how much Spike had grown to care for you through the stolen moments you had together through the year.

Quick glances and lingering touches. The way he had thrown himself in front of a demon to ensure you would be safe. The way he always offered to walk you home, even if he was shot down every time by the slayer. He always made jokes in the hope that you would laugh.

The evening was lovely, you shared drinks and watched films together, while Spike made biting commentary on each scene. You were wrapped in a blanket while he stayed room temperature. He sat a little more rigidly than usual, seemingly unable to relax. He wanted the night to be perfect. He was concerned he might say something wrong, something a little too murderous and off-putting.

You hadn’t really been paying attention to the film. He had done everything to try and prove he was a man worthy of your love. You could sense he was holding back but you loved him for who he was, the flaws wrapped into the thread of his personality were just as important to you.

“I really like you, Spike. You don’t need to impress me, you know that right? I’m already yours, if you’d let me be” You spoke barely above a whisper. He turned to you, searching your face before a smile grew slowly on his lips. It was a smile you had only ever seen him give to you.

“You’re tellin’ me I can take all this sodding pink bollocks off my walls now then?”

“I mean, it’s a real improvement from the cobwebs but it’s not really my colour,” You grinned, pressing your lips to his quickly before pulling away.

You leaned against him as the night progressed, leaning your head into the crook of his neck. He shifted as you moved down the sofa so that you could comfortably rest against him. He inhaled, savouring your scent. It felt like home. He closed his eyes, focusing on your heartbeat thrum steadily. You were truly here, by his side.

Your body was made to fit beside his, you knew this as if it was fact. You couldn’t imagine a future where you wouldn’t hold each other. Or share moments such as this. The warmth from the candles and the care and attention that Spike continued to show you told you that his feelings at their core were clearly no act, his execution had been slightly exaggerated only because he hadn’t really dated in the usual way for a good few decades.

He slid his arm along the headrest behind you and you settled into watch the next movie. After a moment you realised his eyes were still trained on you, he couldn’t keep his eyes off you. When you looked at him, giving him a quizzical look, he just gestured back at the screen with his head a soft smile on his face.

If this was the first proper date, you were looking forward to the rest. In fact, as his arm snaked around you and pulled you close, you were not sure you would ever be ready to leave.

[coraniaid]

Buffy Summers is my favorite character on Buffy and (with a couple of exceptions that I prefer to put down to bad writing) I will always find her sympathetic, but. The only reading of the second half of Season 7 that makes any sense to me at all is that we are supposed to think Buffy is doing a pretty bad job of taking care of the Potentials, and that this is why they all end up choosing to gamble on Faith's leadership instead of hers. Like, yes, obviously Empty Places is a badly written episode and the central conflict isn't motivated very well and Dawn kicking Buffy out of her own house is absurd.

But I mean ... look, let's just pick a few of Buffy's inspiring speeches at random, shall we?

From Showtime, in which Buffy 'inspires' the Potentials by ... uh, fighting a powerful vampire while reminding them all how much stronger than them she is:

"Looks good [for the Turok-Han Buffy's about to fight], doesn't it? [The Potentials] are trapped in here. Terrified [...] and there's nothing they can do but wait. That's all they've been doing for days. Waiting to be picked off. Having nightmares about monsters that can't be killed. But I don't believe in that. I always find a way. I'm the thing that monsters have nightmares about. And right now, you and me are gonna show 'em why."

Or from Potential, the very next episode, when Buffy follows that up by telling the Potentials over and over again how likely they are to die:

"You’re all going to die. But you knew that already because that’s the cool reward for being human. […] Don’t kid yourselves, you guys. This whole thing is all about death. You think you’re different because you might be the next Slayer? Death is what a Slayer breathes, what a Slayer dreams about when she sleeps. Death is what a Slayer lives. […] The odds are against us. Time is against us. And some of us will die in this battle."

And from Get It Done, speaking after they just found out that a young Potential called Chloe killed herself:

"Anyone want to say a few words about Chloe? Let me. Chloe was an idiot. Chloe was stupid. She was weak. And anyone in a rush to be the next dead body I bury, it's easy. Just…think of Chloe, and do what she did. […] I'm the slayer. The one with the power. […] I've been carrying you - all of you - too far, too long. Ride's over."

See also, Buffy's speech in Selfless ("there's just me ... I am the law".) See also her admission in Conversations With Dead People that she thinks she's better than all the guys she's ever dated.

To me, it feels obvious that the intended arc of this season, however imperfectly executed, is that Buffy has a sense of herself as uniquely and especially "the one with the power'", but that she's never had any real leadership or mentorship role before and she doesn't know how to use that power to look after all of the Potentials. That she's afraid she won't be able to protect them all and so doesn't want to make emotional connections with them and tells herself (and them) over and over that some of them are going to die no matter what and they just have to accept that. That she tries to keep them at arm's length and hide how badly their deaths actually do affect her, and that she adopts a protective tough-love approach which backfires spectacularly. And that eventually she realizes this approach isn't working and that she should be trying to share her power with them instead of using it to tell them what to do.

And yet so many people on here seem to think that when the Potentials get (understandably) upset about this -- upset about being called weak and stupid by a woman who barely seems to know their names and can't seem to stop reminding them that she has power and that they don't -- that we're meant to think "oh, they are all so ungrateful and unpleasant and Buffy is a saint for taking such good care of them anyway". That her "arc" this season is that she is perfect and doesn't need to learn anything and doesn't have to change in any way, all while people keep giving her shit for literally no reason.

And I just don't see how that makes sense! I just don't find it an interesting narrative and I don't really see how the show itself supports it. The Buffy Summers who gives the speeches I quoted above wouldn't think of sharing her power with others. That's an idea she only comes to when she realizes that being "the thing that monsters have nightmares about" is no substitute for being a good leader and making real connections with other people.

[raisedbythetv89]

Listennnnn to be loved is to be seen

Buffy is SURROUNDED by people who project and project and project some more onto her without ever truly seeing her and just trying to force her to be whatever they want/need her to be often leaving her feeling used, abused, and lonely.

And so while yes on the surface the Buffy bot is icky as hell and obviously irl all of us would be rightfully horrified if that happened to us. This is fictional and with a still evil but trying to be good but with no human soul to help guide him on how to be good Spike - who has been rejected and is honoring that rejection and finding a solution to leave real Buffy alone by giving him a place to put all his feelings for Buffy somewhere that isn’t Buffy herself - programs her so well and therefore showing how well he sees and understands her!! NO ONE ELSE could have programmed that exact Buffy that was believable enough to fool her friends. So yes it’s twisted but this is a vampire falling in love with the slayer if you want completely healthy truly go elsewhere lololol but so the bot is used to show just how well Spike truly understands her and more importantly what he loves about her which given the partner she had right before this was Riley who VERY CLEARLY hated how strong she was and that she was the slayer…

spike is like SHE NEEDS A DEDICATED SLAYER FOLDER

HE PUT THE YEAR WILLOW CAME OUT IN HER BIO 😭😭😭😭 angel and riley truly could never in a million years pay close enough attention to the people in her life that Buffy cares about to add info like that

The choice of “make spike happy” instead of something like “pleasing spike” feels significant because it’s able to encompass a wider range of things including her care for her friends since that seems to be the active folder when she’s accessing information on them. Buffy caring about other people makes him happy even though he’s morally grey at best at this moment 😭 AND TWO KISSING PROGRAMS ARE THE VERY FIRST THINGS IN THAT FOLDER 😭😭😭 he doesn’t just ��want to fuck her” like people try to claim he wants to love her 🥲 he wants her kisses like I’m gonna throw up from how disgustingly tender and heartbreaking that is

Buffy bot calls both her and Buffy very pretty and tells Giles he “should listen to the other Buffy because she’s very smart”. Spike made sure the Buffy bot was a Buffy that loved herself and valued her intelligence like I cannot even begin to tell you how NONE of this is your run of the mill making just a sex bot of your crush because not being able to have sex with them upsets you. He wants to love her because he knows she needs it as much as he wants to give it to her

We have this moment where Buffy bot has finally found Spike who she’s been looking for and worried about the whole time and seemingly only cares about him and no one else and she sees he’s SEVERELY injured yet when Giles calls for help Buffy bot responds at the same time as Buffy does and runs to his aide leaving Spike like she’s still just so BUFFY at her core even if the superficial aspects have been changed 😭

if we compare this moment to the one in something blue where xander calls out for help in the crypt in an IDENTICAL situation yet ACTUAL BUFFY just continues to make out with Spike when he’s not even injured at all 💀 like Spike didn’t even give Buffy bot the “extra love sick” component Buffy herself exhibits for him on multiple occasions 😭

and of course - WE END WITH THIS KISS AND THE WAY SHE’S FUCKING LOOKING AT HIM BRO 😩 she’s like holy shit he was for real when he said he loved me no one has ever done anything like this for me while simultaneously showing how COMPLETELY loyal and obsessed they are and how well they know and love all of me AND my sister like

‼️I CAN DEPEND ON HIM‼️

So close to death even Xander is feeling sympathy for him yet clocks IMMEDIATELY it’s her and she’s just like hi 🥹 yes it’s me, I really just did that. I see you and what you did for me. HAVE HOPE KEEP TRYING DONT GIVE UP.

If Buffy loves you she forgives you pretty easily and I personally think that’s what we’re seeing here with Spike like kissing him in the same ep she learns of the Buffy bot is low key CRAZY 😹 but truly people who have done less for her have done far worse!!! The bot kept dawn and tara from being taken instead and he proved he would protect both of them with his life and like she already loves him which is why she even went for the kiss she was like REALLY THE SITUATION CALLS FOR IT WHAT’S A GIRL TO DO 🤷🏼‍♀️

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

Our victors, everyone! After over two months of polls, we have our winners, our beloved ladies done the absolute dirtiest. Writers, take heed: do not follow in their writers' footsteps! Learn from the pitfalls their writing fell into, and do better! Delightful characters, all three, who were mistreated by the narrative and written with misogynistic tropes that should not be replicated.

In third place, we have Misa Amane from Death Note!

In second place, we have Cordelia Chase from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series!

And finally, in first place, we have Bumble from Warrior Cats!

Stay tuned, everyone, the Misogynistic Media Tournament to determine the series we should replicate least when it comes to writing ladies and beat with a Respect Women bat most will be coming December 5, 2023 at 12pm EST over at @misogynisticmediatournament!

[tyrantisterror]

A Dozen Or So Great Vampire Ladies

Ok, so, on a mostly unrelated post the topic of good vampire ladies came up, and @bisexualdaikaiju suggested/challenged me to do a top 10 vampire women list. As a self-professed lover of vampire women, it felt like a challenge I couldn't back down from. But it is kind of challenging, for two kind of contradictory reasons.

First, while there are MANY female vampires in fiction, most of them feel like afterthoughts, getting far less characterization than their male counterparts, who more often than not are the star villains of the show. When these supporting lady vampires do get something to do, it's generally the same role: make their human lovers sad when they rise from the dead as a monster that has to be killed, an emotional beat that is often undercut by a lot of these vampire women not getting much characterization to endear them to us before they died. Everyone wants to have the Lucy Westerna plot beat from Dracula but they don't want to do the work that Bram did to make Lucy lovable. The lady vamps who get to step out of Lucy's shadow are rare - but that just makes them all the more wonderful.

The second problem is that, since this is an obsession of mine that few seem to share (there are lots of vampire fans, but man do the boy vamps get to hog the spotlight among them), I've done a lot of scattered thinking about it and I just know I'm bound to forget at least one excellent lady vampire character that should be here. And whittling it down to ten, and trying to rank them? That's too hard! My thoughts are too mercurial to do that reliably in a way I don't forget!

So instead here's a list of, like, a dozen or so lady vampires that I think are just fucking stellar, many of which I think break the mold of what pop culture makes us expect lady vampires to be. It is not ranked - I love all these characters more or less equally, and think it's a lot more interesting to see how they take their archetype in different directions than to figure out which one is "best" of the lot.

Carmilla Karnstein

I'm going to start with the most famous literary female vampire, Mircalla Karnstein from Carmilla. I think she might be the first vampire to have an unhealthy obsession with using anagrams of her real name as aliases, though I'm sure now that I've typed that someone will find an earlier example to school me. She's also the one who popularized the idea of lady vampires being extremely sapphic, with an arguably genuine romantic affection for her female victims. She's got well-deserved clout, basically, and like Dracula has been adapted countless times and reinterpreted in some excellent ways. My favorite screen Carmilla is Ingrid Pitt's take, which captures her fierceness, passion, and tragic nature so well.

2. Amy from Fright Night

Ok, we're having one Lucy Westerna knockoff on this list, but as Lucy knockoffs go, Amy is one of the best. It actually helps that she spends 90% of her movie as a human, because we get to know and love her so much before she turns monstrous. And once she does...

It is pants-shittingly terrifying. I will never stop raving about the vampire designs in this movie - they made their "game faces" so fucking monstrous and I feel like in a better world this would be the standard ever since, especially since they still gave the vampires pathos while making them so ghastly when they've got their feeding faces on.

3. Drusilla

Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a bunch of vampire characters, and to its credit they did a decent job of making the ladies just as distinct as the gents. Harmony and Darla could both have made this list, but my favorite was always Drusilla, who was so traumatized before she became a vampire that it kind of overwhelms the demon spirit inside her. Like, bare minimum thing to make a lady vampire more interesting than 90% of other female vampires in fiction: give her at least one personality trait, preferably an interesting one, outside of being a vampire. Drusilla's fun, and she survives the entire series after dumping her boyfriend to be a single female vampire. Good for her.

4. Ruby from Scary Godmother

Ok look I am a fake Scary Godmother fan but kudos to the artist of the books for making a lady vampire who's very clearly of the nosferatu mold and is also explicitly benign and sweet. A+ vampire lady character design. I hope it doesn't awaken anything in me.

5. Nadja

What We Do in the Shadows is excellent at finding new takes on vampires in general - it even made me actually like Psychic Vampires as a concept, a feat I thought was impossible - but goddamn do I love Nadja specifically. She's got a distinct personality as vampire ladies go, being very confident and self-assured while also being a complete fucking goober (it is a comedy, after all). She's perfectly capable of being terrifying AND hilarious, often at the same time. A vampire girl failure, in the parlance of our site. I love her.

6. Lady Dimitrescu

I know that she's apparently only in a fourth of the game, but it's still pretty great that Resident Evil 8 decided its mascot villain - its equivalent of the Tyrant, G, Nemesis, etc. - would be the hottest woman I've ever seen a milf an 8 foot tall lady vampire. She's not dainty and willowy like most lady vamps in fiction - not an ambush hunter - but rather HUGE and capable of tossing a human around like a rag doll. She's a physical powerhouse and she looks fine feminine while doing it. Despite being an unabashed blood-sucking monster, she still has enough depth and complexity to have important relationships (like a genuine love for her "giant mass of hive mind flies" daughters), and also she gets to have an awesome transformation into a fungal vampire dragon, which is rad as hell. Also goddamn, her fashion sense is immaculate.

7. Hecate from Hellboy

"Hey, she's not a vampire! She's a goddess! That doesn't count!" Fuck you, my list, my rules. Hecate posits herself as the progenitor and mother of vampires, she drinks blood, and her main form in the comic is as a sicknasty lamia version of the iron maiden used by Elizabeth fucking Bathory, if she doesn't count as a vampire, nothing should. She is the concept of a vampire amped up to maximum capacity, a major mythological figure and an awesome villain.

...also I lowkey shipped her and Hellboy when I was a teenager. They could have made it work!

8 - 12. Carmilla and her girl squad from Castlevania

I suppose I could have counted Castlevania's Carmilla as an adaptation of Miss Karnstein - they're both basted out of Styria, both sapphic, and it's clear she's meant to be an adaptation of the former, just as the Dracula of this show is meant to be a take on Bram's famous vampire. But ultimately they're VERY different characters in the grand scheme of things - Castlevania's Carmilla has none of the tenderness and vulnerability of her literary counterpart, instead being full of barely restrained fury. She is an excellent villain, complex enough to be interesting but thoroughly despicable enough to make it VERY satisfying when she bites it.

I also love her girl posse... in concept, at least. They've all got great designs and the groundwork of interesting characters, but of the the three, only Lenore, the waifish redhead, gets to do much of note. The two on the edges kind of just show up for a few scenes and then bail before the plot catches up to them, doing very little of note - though at least the big hunky one gets one of the coolest fight scenes in the whole show.

Back to Lenore though - she gets a really nice character arc, and manages to become one of the few sympathetic vampires in the series (while still doing a lot of monstrous shit - she is not a defanged vampire by any stretch). I think her death scene is one of the most moving moments in the series finale.

13. Seras Victoria

A good female vampire has at least one non-vampire part of her personality, right? Ok, so, Seras is:

the muscle in almost every scene she is, which is to say, the one absolutely beating the shit out of people while her allies run for cover

the perky henchman/morality pet of one of history's greatest monsters

the sole ray of sunshine in cast of edgy, cigar-chomping grizzled mercnaries and antiheroes she's been pressganged into fighting alongside

the victim of some HIDEOUS trauma even before her vampirization

the protege of a wise master who gets a full hero's journey arc, taking up his mantle at the end of the series

Like, I love her. She's the secret protagonist of Hellsing. She's got layers like an onion. The scene where she killed Zora Blitz reminded me why I love anime.

(yeah it's the TFS version fuck you)

14. Youko Shiragami

My Monster Secret is not a horror manga. It is a romantic comedy about a bunch of idiots trying to keep painfully obvious secrets hidden and succeeding only because almost everyone around them is as dumb as they are, just in very different ways. It is a manga where an entire chapter can be summarized as "all the characters race to get the last McRib, using their various supernatural abilities to try and cheat their way to the front of the pack." It is one of the funniest and most heart-warming stories I have ever read, one of my favorite romances of all time, and an excellent piece of long form story-telling.

One of the two main characters is Youko Shiragami, a vampire girl who can't let anyone know she's a vampire or else her dad will pull her out of school. She desperately wants to have a normal life with friends and, like, school shenanigans, but her fear of people uncovering her secret and hating her is so immense that she's been isolating herself from everyone, accidentally torturing herself by being close to what she wants but unable to actually have it.

At least, until Kuromine, the other main character of the story, discovers her secret while trying to ask her out on a date. He ends up promising to keep her secret, and the two of them form a real friendship that blossoms into a very sweet romance, where Youko gets to display all her incongruous personality traits that go against what you'd expect of vampires - namely, that she's kind of a ditz, with an unrefined style of speech and a complete inability to be suave and seductive. She's a sweet, flaky goofball with a big heart, who just happens to drink blood and tan really quickly in the sunlight. There is no other vampire like her, and the world is richer for her being in it.

15. Marceline, the Vampire Queen

This list isn't ranked, but if it was, I'd put Marceline at the top. I think she is not only the most unique and deeply characterized lady vampire in fiction, but ranks right up there with Dracula in how she redefines the idea of what a vampire can be. Like, look at the forms she takes!

There are DOZENS of different monstrous shapes Marceline takes during Adventure Time's 9+ seasons of television, and any one of them would be a superb and memorable vampire on its own. And she's ALL of them. Just on a design standpoint, she is a standout. I think only Dracula himself could compete.

But she also explores what the concept of what a vampire is in ways no other vampire in fiction can, in part because of the unique nature of Adventure Time's setting. In a world where humans are an extreme minority and most people are weird monsters, a vampire isn't that odd, so we get to explore what being a vampire means divorced from the comparison to "normal" human beings. There's the expected tragedy to Marceline, of course - she's a 16 year old who has been stuck in that adolescent state for hundreds of years, and much of her character arc over the show (including the magnificent vampire-centric storyline, "Stakes") focuses on the horror of being stuck in that transitional state, not quite a child but not quite an adult. Marceline struggles to mature, to understand herself and others, and her vampirism both keeps her distant from reaching those goals but also gives her a lot of time to figure out how to approach them when the opportunity arirves. Marceline goes from one of the most immature and selfish characters in the show to perhaps the most emotionally intelligent, blossoming into a sensitive and thoughtful person she could never have been without first becoming a creature that seems so inherently opposed to ever having those traits.

And she did it all in a children's show where she was rarely if ever allowed to actually drink blood - a problem the writers got around by having her suck the red color out of things, which is right up there with the Joker Venom from BTAS in terms of genius ideas spawned by children's show censorship.

Marceline is the GOAT.

[whosdinkleyhenderson]

PROLOGUE

Previous part: Y/N L/N'S BIOGRAPHY

Next part: CHAPTER 1

“I swear to God, Timmy. If that bitch is there, I’m gonna Rocky Balboa her non-existent ass.” 

A little giggle escaped her make-up artist Erin’s lips. A satisfactory smile appeared on the h/c’s face. 

Timothee had been pacing and snapped his head at her girl in the make-up chair.

“You will not be Rocky Balboa, anyone’s ass, anywhere.” He hissed sternly.

Y/n had to suppress her e/c eyes from an oncoming eye roll. It wasn’t her fault she couldn’t stand the bitch. 

“Timmy, she fat-shamed Selena. How can I just stand there, smile, and go ‘omg hiiiii. Nah, me oh, it’s cool that you fat-shamed my non-biological sister and gave her hell’ with the sweetest tone and then giggle. Like a dickhead.” 

She dramatised, swinging her hands around the room, almost knocking out Erin. 

“Would you be careful? Nearly sent Erin into a coma.” 

“Sorry, Erin.” 

The older woman waved her off.

“Y/n, I’ve known you since you were twelve. My duck and cover skills are at their peak.” 

Smiling, Y/n looked up at Erin with appreciation. 

“That reminds me, thank you for coming all this way.” 

Carefully dusting the eyeshadow, Erin pulled away and smiled. 

“I should thank you for flying me out and sending a limo… especially with that hot driver. You spoiled me.” 

Timothee watched as the two conversed. 

He couldn’t help but smile; Y/n had been in a bit of a rut for the past two months. She had expressed wanting to fly back home to Australia but with the finalising of Nosferatu, premiers and interviews. Time was not on her side, so having Erin here had brought the young girl a sense of home and familiarity that she had so desperately yearned for. 

“And there we have it. All done, my dear…wait let me fix this piece of hair…okay…yep now we’re done.”

He watched as her eyes danced along her features in the mirror, lips creeping up into that gorgeous smile. 

“Oh, Erin.” In a flash, the h/c wrapped her arms around the blonde, squeezing her tightly. 

“I’ve missed you so much…I swear you’re my fairy godmother…hands of gold.” 

Blushing, Erin ushered Y/n away. 

“Okay, enough of that; you'll make me cry. Now go put your dress on. You can't walk around in your undies.” 

Y/n tossed her robe over Timmy’s head and winked at Erin. 

“Wouldn’t you like that? Toodles.” She cackled and disappeared behind the curtain. 

“I know Lorenzo would.”

“SHUT UP TIMOTHEE!”

“It’s official: I hate heels. I don't care what anyone says. They’re painful…how the hell does Cecilia walk in these.” She complained. 

If someone were to have walked in, they would think she was dancing to the twist.  

Timothee rolled his eyes and brought the red clutch to her. With one final twist, she stood up straight. 

“You know, I wish I was at home watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer right now…at least then I do have to wear heels. I could be in the living room fighting, doing flying kicks and punches. You know, get my vampire slayer on.” She explained, shifting into a boxing stance. 

Timmy took hold of her hands and brought them down to her side. “If you decided to do that, you won’t see Lorenzo tonight.”

Way to use my kryptonite. She thought.

“Plus, you can do that once we come home. Get some pizza, popcorn and Moscato.” 

She eyed him carefully. “What’s the catch, big boy?”

She knew him too well. 

“Don’t Rocky Balboa anyone, and we can do it…Rocky Balboa, someone and I’ll force you to come with me to see Kylie on our next outing with Kendal.” Timmy watched as a mortified expression formed on her face.

“You wouldn’t dare.” 

Casting that Jack Nicholson smile, he chuckled. “Watch me, babe. Just watch me.” 

“Fucking asshole.” She mumbled as he opened the door. 

The crowd was wild. 

Flashing lights left, right, and centre.

Celebrities posing for the camera. 

The paparazzi called for pictures. 

Fans screamed at the top of their lungs. 

Interviewers were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. 

Eyes danced across the chaotic scene before her as the flashing lights gave her a slight headache. She had been standing to the side, waiting for Timmy's return. Checking her watch every five seconds, she noticed that her patience was wearing thin, and the line for the red carpet was beginning to get overcrowded. And damn well knew that leaving this place early was not an option. 

“Boo.” A cold, wet hand grasped at her shoulders. Spooked, she spun around and threw a fist in the direction of the person as they ducked before she could knock them out. 

“Geez, Y/n. Your flight or fight senses kick in like a bitch.” 

“You should know better than to come up behind me, you jackass.” She hissed and shoved the man. 

“Where’s lil ol Tim Tim?”

“He said the toilet, but God knows.”

His brown eyes caught the young French actor being interviewed by Entertainment Tonight. 

“Looks like Frenchie is being interviewed.” 

Y/n followed his stare in Timothee's direction and shook her head. “Typical…”

Hearing the annoyance in her voice, he linked his arm with hers and smiled.  

“Come on, princess. Gotta turn that frown upside for Mr Lorenzo Zurzolo.” 

“You better watch that tongue of yours.” 

The two stepped away from the flashing cameras and to the interview station. 

Y/n felt a gentle pressure on the small of her back. Looking back, she noticed his tanned hand resting there as he led her towards an unoccupied table. 

“They should provide sunglasses. Those flashing lights are going to make me blind, I swear.” 

“Well, I’ll make sure to pass the message on.” 

She shot him a look, brow slightly raised, and smirked. “Sure baby, whatever-” A tap on her shoulder stopped her from finishing that sentence. 

“Excuse me.” 

The two turned around. A young woman in a gorgeous ivory satin dress nervously smiled with a cameraman behind her. 

“Hey, what’s up?” Y/n smiled at the two.

“Would it be okay if I interviewed you both?”

“Of course.” Y/n beamed, taking hold of the young woman’s hand. “You don’t mind if I ask you for your name, hon?” 

The young woman’s head perked at Y/n’s comment. 

“Emilia.” 

“A beautiful name for a beautiful woman. Got me jealous over here.” She winked as Emilia blushed.

“You’re such a flirt, Y/n…shall we?”

She handed the microphones to the two actors, who began to play lightsabers with them. 

“Good evening, and welcome to the Academy Museum Gala 2024. I’m Emilia Rivers, and tonight I am here with.”

“Kelso.” He winked into the camera.

“and Jackie from that 70s show.” Y/n smiled cheekily. 

“Sorry, sorry. Y/n L/n.” 

“And Joe Keery.” 

During their interview, Timothee interrupted Joe by giving him a peck on the cheek. 

Emilia contained a giggle as Christian panned the camera to Y/n, who held her mic firmly and fluttered her eyelashes. 

“And there, folks, is a new and beautiful romance between two star-crossed lovers.” 

“I apologise on behalf of him. Please continue, Emilia.” Joe’s statement cleared the air.

“Thank you, Joe. Now I have one more question for you both.”

“Shoot away, hon.”

“As you know, we have two brand new faces here tonight. Have you come across the Netflix TV series Monsters?”

Joe beamed at the question, whereas Y/n blankly stared at Emilia. 

“Yes, of course, I’ve watched it. I found it quite interesting. The art between separation of reality and fiction.” Joe’s words began as Y/n zoned out. She had no interest in watching a TV show about murders or a documentary. At least in the documentary, it's fact rather than an overly sexualised fantasy. Too in her thoughts, she missed Emilia's call out to her. 

“Hmm?”

“Emilia here asked about-” Joe started.

“Oh yes! I remember, haha, sorry. No, I haven’t, sadly. Though I do recall my grandmother,  according to my sister, did but only made it through a few episodes. Too modern for her taste, haha.” She finished tucking a strand of hair.

Emilia smiled at Y/n’s actions. 

“That’s so adorable. Well, thank you so much for the interview tonight. I hope you both have a wonderful rest of the night.”

The two actors smiled kindly, thanking Emilia and Christian, as Y/n blew kisses.

“God bless you both.” 

Joe excitedly rubbed his palms together as the two walked away. 

“She was very nice.”

“Yeah, she was the nicest and most beautiful presenter I've spoken to all year round…she and Christian look cute together. Did you see how they shot each other those cute little looks? Ahhh, young love, how beautiful.” Y/n sang with a skip. 

“You know, for someone who loves her paranormal, blood, gore and murder. It freaks me out how you still have a soft spot for romance.” Joe laughed and died a little when he noticed Y/n went quiet. 

“Out of all the interviews I've had this year. Emilia is the first person not to ask about Bill.” She sighed.

“That bad, huh?”

She paused and rested a hand on her temple. 

“I…uh…I just… it’s hard, you know. I’ve known him since I was sixteen years old… honestly, I didn’t think he would take a liking to me…someone ten years his junior, ya know.”

Joe nodded along to her words. “Yeah, I understand… but hey, I’m also ten years your senior.” 

She smiled, shaking her head before she met his eye. 

“I know, but with you… it feels perfect… I feel somewhat safe in the presence of you and Timmy. Hell, even the little encounters I’ve had with Lorenzo…I know, I know, it's weird that I say that. But you, Timmy and Lorenzo, don't cast a big shadow over me. You three don't make me feel like I’m being swallowed whole… but for my father, Bill is perfect.” Joe knew where Y/n was coming from and how she felt. He saw it for himself when Bill would show up on the set of Stranger Things to see her. 

He thought the two looked cute together despite their height and age difference. But secretly,, he was hoping Lorenzo and Y/n would finally date. 

Joe and even Timmy could see it in her eyes; they didn’t sparkle for Bill. But only for him, Lorenzo Zurzolo. 

Joe turned to Y/n and grasped her hand. “Come on, let’s go find Hailee and Ella.”

...................................................LOADING..................................................

On the other side of the gala, two men stood beside each other, posing for the cameras. 

Flash!

Snap!

Flash!

Snap! 

His eyes squinted, and lights blinded him, but he still held his stance firm, death glare along his handsome features. 

“Alright, that’s a wrap. Thank you, Nicholas and Cooper.” 

They sighed and moved to the side after being there for hours. The relentless photos, interviews, and check-ins with event staff and other celebrities were starting to annoy him.

“Hey, check that cutie out. She seems like your type, Nick. Small, bright eyes.” Cooper pointed out. 

Following his friend's gaze, he noticed a young girl interviewing Selena Gomez. While she was attractive, her beauty didn’t intrigue him. He craved being star-struck and amazed by a woman’s presence. 

“Hey.” 

To their surprise, the two Monsters actors were face to face with none other than Joe Keery. 

“I’m Joe Keery, nice to meet you.” Joe greeted, holding out his hand. 

Nicholas smiled and took hold of Joe’s hand, giving it a firm shake. 

“Hey, Nicholas Chavez.” 

Joe Keery, the late 2010s heartthrob who captured his ex-girlfriend's heart.

Nicholas’ smile deflated at the thought of his ex. His gaze became harsh as he took in Joe's features. Luscious brown hair, warm brown eyes. 5’11 and built like an athlete. 

The young actor understood the fascination. 

The two men shared similar features, such as brown eyes, hair and tan skin. But compared to him, Joe was small. He did not compare to Nicholas’ thick, solid muscles and his overpowering 6’2 hulking figure. 

Nicholas's intimidating gaze was humbled. There, she stood a few meters away from Joe. 

Her flowing red dress danced with her laughter while her hand rested softly on Timothee Chalamet’s bicep. With a smile, her eyelashes fluttered as she gazed up at the blue-eyed man. 

He couldn’t keep his eyes off her as he took in her features. H/c hair was neatly styled in a Dutch braid. A few wisps of hair fell in front of her eyes. The colour of e/c eyes with a hint of red when in the light were complimented by long black eyelashes that brushed so gently against her fair cheeks. He wished she was looking at him with the glint in her eye instead of Timothee. 

Feeling eyes burning on their back, both Y/n and Timothee turned to find a strange young man amongst a group of Joe’s, staring them down. Moving in closely, Y/n pulled Timothee closer to her as her gaze hardened; two can play at this game fuckface. She thought.

“The hell is he looking at?”

“Y/n, you can’t say that.” 

The young woman turned her attention to her best friend and smirked. “I can do and say as I please, Timmy.” 

“Nick, you okay, man?” Cooper called. Turning his gaze toward the group, he smiled. 

“Yeah…just who’s she.” The two men followed his stare to Y/n, who was getting ready to give Nicholas the finger. 

“Y/n! Put your finger down right now.” Timothee's voice called from across the room. 

"Spoil my fun, why don't ya?" 

Joe and Cooper share a look, stunned by the young woman’s menacing behaviour. She sure is one of a kind. Not afraid to be who she was. 

“Who? Oh, her, she’s Y/n L/n. She’s an interesting one at first. She’s not easily swooned by men and not easily open to women. Hence her almost giving you the finger.” The statement made Nicholas chuckle. This girl seemed feisty, a challenge he could work with.

“I’ll break her walls down… Watch me… by the end of this year, she’ll be my girl.”

“Ha, good luck with that, Romeo. She’s head over heels for Lorenzo Zurzolo, according to sources.” Cooper purred.

Tags: @comfortzonequeen

A/N: let me know if there are any ideas you would like to see or even if you want me to do one shots on Nicholas Chavez characters. feel free to dm or something. Idk, but chapter 1 in is the works. Until next time.

[thequeenofsastiel]

I wish they had made Spike softer in season 5. I mean, I know that Angel brings out the worst in him, but he could have been softer when he wasn't interacting with Angel. I'm thinking about how he reacted to the first woman he rescued when he was being manipulated by Lindsey. His reaction to her gratitude was to harshly victim blame. He didn't have to be like that. If he really needed to chastise her, he could have done it gently.

The show essentially didn't change his personality whatsoever. Sure, he had a couple of moments of guilt and self reflection, like when he was talking to Angel about Dana(the Slayer who had been tortured into insanity in 5x11), and said that just because it wasn't her family he had murdered, that didn't make him not guilty of murdering other families. But other than that, there was very little. Sure, he was soft with Fred, but soulless Spike demonstrated with Dawn that he had it in him to be soft with women he cared for. The only difference was that he was more polite about asking her to help him become corporeal than I think soulless Spike would have been.

It frustrates me. Angel's entire personality changed when he got a soul. Literally everything about who he was became different. So why didn't we see that with Spike?

My best guess is that unlike other vampires, Spike retained elements of who he had been when he was human. That streak of gentleness I keep talking about. So perhaps soulless Spike, especially after he fell in love with Buffy, just wasn't that different from who his soul made him be. He simply stopped wanting to rape, torture, and murder. Or at least had a better grip on controlling those instincts that his vampire soul gave him.

Still, I wish the show had made him softer. I feel like Spike's gentleness should have been massively increased. A soul turned Angel from an extremely evil and cruel person into someone who actually wanted to help people. Sure, he was closed off at first, but that was because he only had evil vampires in his life. Once he was surrounded by good humans, he became gentle with a strong desire to help others. Spike was already surrounded by good humans. He should have become better faster.

Idk, maybe it really is that just being around Angel turned him into the worst version of himself.

Sorry, that was rambly, I just have FEELINGS.

[camellcat]

thinking about making a pack au where they actually stick closer to hyenas than whatever the fuck they did in that episode

bc uh he-LLO? hyenas are like... one of the BIG popular matriarchal animals and we just acted like xander was all scary now? pshh. I mean he was hyenas are scary but buffy is absolutely highest rank top dog here no wayyy he'd be all scary to her since they're already y'know a "pack" of sorts. like I'm pretty sure he'd still defer to her. plus willow! her making friends with buffy first and just generally being a girl he'd rank below her as well (though I do wonder where his stance with giles would be)

and I get that xander already sorta had a new clan with the other possessed kids but even then why was HE at the top of that hierarchy?? in fact it was so barely structured at all I'm only assuming xander was a high rank bc he's just one of our mains. and the shot of them all walking ofc where he was front and center I can read basic filmmaking choices lol

but also hyenas have FRIENDS! they have cliques and groups within their own clan. isn't that so cool? why did they just disregard xander's friendship with the scoobies? I think the fact xander had friends and quite loyal ones is like important? I mean okay I suppose it's all he's in this clan now he's cut ties with the scoobies, but to me at least I think that's kinda boring haha. though actually even if xander had the support of the scoobies, with how that clan were already a group before xander and not with xander at all, he'd actually probably be like real goddamn low anyways instead of more equal like it was shown

look I really have no idea about any of this I've just been looking up hyena facts for the past hour bc I thought it was neat. I simply think they should've done more with this instead of oo look xander's all feral and evil when they literally chose hyena to be their animal. like ooookay then whateverrrr lame

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

tumblr.com/coconutsaiyan/762919117205487616/the-zutara-shippers-having-fun

Kataang antis please stop using ships that nothing to do with Avatar challenge. (I don’t disagree that there are bad apples on the Kataang shipping side, but to acting like there are zero bad apples on the anti side/ZK side is false advertising).

For real, that's one of the things that pisses me off the most about zutara fans: forcing connections with ships that have LITTLE TO NO SIMMILARITIES.

I got to the tags of How I Met Your Mother? I see people go "Zuko and Katara, two characters that barely interacted and never had feelings for each other, not ending up together was as much of a betrayal to the show and fans as Barney and Robin's romance being build up for 7+years only for them to get divorced in the finale, when they had just gotten married!"

I go into the Buffy the Vampire Slayer tag? I see people comparing Bryan and Mike, who a good relationship with all the actors in the show, to Joss Whedon, a notorious misogynist that sexually harrassed the actresses, over-worked the entire crew, and slammed Spike's actor against the wall and told him "You're DEAD!" for the crime of playing a character too well and becoming one of the fan-favorite choices for who the main character should end up with.

Hell, I go into the Hunger Games tag and see people comparing Zuko and Katara to Gale and Katniss because "Zuko was done dirty just like Gale!" Nevermind that Zuko's whole arc was about realizing violence is not the answer and thus wins over Katara's friendship and trust eventually, while Gale lost Katniss's trust and friendship permanently because his refusal to see "the enemy" as humans made him create the very bombs that killed her sister, aka even if Zuko WAS the Gale to Katara's Katniss that would not be the win they think it'd be because this ship was not endgame for a damn good reason!

Zutara has so little going for it that the fans have to take other ships' stories and pretend it's theirs to make it look like they were "robbed."

[thinking-about-bats-again]

PSA for anyone writing vampires

It’s December. The nights are getting longer, and the air will soon be cold as death (in temperate regions, anyway). So, let’s talk about vampires. If you want to write about vampires for a book, a short story, a comic, a tabletop game, or even a personal OC, read on.

So I was looking up vampire folklore a while ago (mainly via TV Tropes), and if you’re writing vampires, you should too. To oversimplify, most of the “rules” about vampires actually aren’t rules at all.

Vampires in fiction have lots of “rules”: fangs, pale skin, drink blood, burn in sunlight, can’t have garlic, turn into bats, etc. Most of the vampire rules have lingered in fiction for long enough to enter the public knowledge and shape the average person’s knowledge of what a vampire must be. This means that, while vampires in fiction are varied, there are specific expectations of them that writers must acknowledge in some way (either including them, including variations of them, or addressing them as myths in-universe) in order to write something that reads as a vampire.

But why are these properties “rules”? Where did they come from? It seems that most writers assume that vampire rules are quintessential elements from age-old vampire stories, but a lot of them are surprisingly new. Looking into the “rules” of folkloric vampires reveals that a lot of what people think of as hard-and-fast rules are just regular tropes.

Here’s a few of my findings:

The whole “drinking the vampire’s blood to become a vampire” thing? Complete misconception. Some people claimed that this was how it was done in Dracula, but nope. He could turn with just a bite, and drinking his blood was just a way to enhance a psychic bond. And in folklore, vampires were usually born that way, or became that way due to practicing witchcraft.

Some people claim that vampires should have reflections in modern media because we don’t use silver-backed mirrors anymore, but silver was never the reason why vamps don’t reflect. It’s actually because people used to believe mirrors reflected your soul, and vampires don’t have souls.

Garlic is effective, but so are garlic flowers in some folklore. Salt was also traditionally used to ward off vampires: like garlic, it has anti-spirit properties (they’re also both effective preservatives, which is likely related, as decaying food was probably assumed to be the work of evil spirits before microbes were discovered).

Staking didn’t originally kill a vampire. In folklore, it just kept them from escaping their coffins. And it was usually done while the vamps were asleep, because it’s actually really hard to drive a stake into someone’s chest without a hammer (it looks easy in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but that’s probably because the protagonist has superhuman strength).

And speaking of killing during the day, here’s the fact that inspired me to make this post:

Vampires didn’t burn in sunlight until the 1920s.

Yup. The most popular vampire weakness, the one that nearly every modern vampire work either follows or intentionally plays with (even Twilight vampires have some reaction to the sunlight), wasn’t even a weakness until the twentieth century.

Folkloric vampires didn’t burn. They were weaker during the day, but that’s because they were usually sleeping by then, making them easier to sneak up on. In many folkloric tales, vampires were required to sleep in their coffins during the day, but none of them claimed that they would set ablaze if they didn’t. The original reason for the coffin sleeping was people blaming crimes on normal corpses that they believed were turning into vampires by night. (Hey, fictional vampires who think that sleeping in coffins is a ridiculous stereotype, but still burn in sunlight? You’re the ridiculous one.)

And no, Dracula didn’t burn either. The most famous vampire was a daywalker. You see what I mean? This trope became so prevalent, we have a term for vampires who don’t burn in the sun. We should be calling the ones who do burn nightwalkers!

So where did this trope come from? It didn’t come from a book or a story at all. It came from movies. In classic vampire movies, vampires burned in the sun, because it looked cool on screen. Essentially, burning in the sun is as much a property of vampires as exploding into bloody messes like in True Blood: it’s just for spectacle.

So, what’s the takeaway from all this? Most of the rules of “traditional” or “realistic” vampires are actually modern inventions. So write vampires how you want. You can still make them burn in the sun, but you can also make them not burn, and you don’t have to justify it. If you want to write about vampires, looking into folklore (and old novels, and even classic movies) is a good way to get inspiration, and will help your vamps stand out from other modern works. And above all, if someone tries to tell you that you’re writing vampires wrong, they probably know surprisingly little about “real” vampires, so pay no mind to them. Maybe someday, your version of vampires will become the basis for a bunch of misconceptions. (Hopefully not, but that would be interesting.)

[linkspooky]

Hey, love your fanfic and your metas. I have a thing that's been bothering me since I read your Azula rant a few months ago (which aside from this one thing, was AWESOME. GO THE FUCK OFF.). You bring up how Azula protected Zuko and looked out for him and he repaid her by treating her like she was a live wire meant to be pitied instead of helped. I agree that Azula was done dirty by the narrative, especially with your points added, but I couldn't help but feel that your reasoning for Azula being a better sibling to Zuko was based mostly on conjecture for her motivations rather than what was told to us from the show. So that brings me to my actual question: Should Zuko help Azula because he's supposed to as her family or because he's supposed to be a hero? And will the fic acknowledge their equal share in their toxic dynamic in later chapters?

I agree that most of my arguments on Azula's motivations are based on inference and not directly stated in text. If you don't find my arguments convincing than that's that. I can only argue my interpretation I can't tell you how to read it.

However, briefly I'd like to point out that Azula's motivations are muddled at best. I used killing the avatar as an example, because unless Azula is omniscient she had no way of knowing that Aang could have lived. She reacted with complete surprise when Zuko questioned if the avatar was really dead. If the show was telling us that Azula planned all along to throw her brother under the bus in case the avatar turned out to be alive, that doesn't really make sense. Azula's motivations aren't really made clear to us because 90% of the time she's being shown to us through Zuko's perspective who has very mixed feelings about his sister at best. Azula is also ultimately intended as just to be a part of Zuko's arc and foil to him not really her own independent character so like, I kind of have to infer her motivations.

Anyway, to addressing your actual question. I'm going to use an example to show what I think is the ideal development for Zuko and Azula's relationship by comparing it to another media. Namely, the redemption arc of Faith in Angel the Series. It's briefly covered in this video redemption for her but I'm going to write my own spin.

Faith is the other slayer, a girl chosen to hunt vampires in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Her intention with the start is similiar to Azula's, she's meant to serve as a dark foil to the main character and while Buffy triumphs Faith was destined from the start to take a fall. Faith is also the bad victim to Buffy's good victim. They've both suffered from severe physical and sexual abuse, but Buffy ultimately has a support system while Faith does not. Buffy is also unable to save Faith and basically gives up on trying, because she's suffered very personal abuse under Faith's hands.

Faith takes a fall from lack of any real support system just like Azula. She envies Buffy for the fact that Buffy has everything, a mom, a watcher, firends the same way that people in Azula's life (her mom, her uncle, Mai and Ty Lee also sidenote Mai and Ty lee aren't obligated to choose Azula she made those relationships toxic but like Azula's mother and uncle war criminal are just playing favorites) have always chosen Zuko over her.

Buffy: Why, Faith? What's in it for you? Faith: What isn't? You know, I come to Sunnydale. I'm the Slayer. I do my job kicking ass better than anyone. What do I hear about everywhere I go? Buffy. So I slay, I behave, I do the good little girl routine. And who's everybody thank? Buffy. Buffy: It's not my fault. Faith: Everybody always asks, why can't you be more like Buffy? But did anyone ever ask if you could be more like me? Angel: I know I didn't. Faith: You get the Watcher. You get the mom. You get the little Scooby gang. What do I get? Jack squat. This is supposed to be my town!

Faith basically has nothing, and she's defined by her lack of stability and identity. Similarly to Azula's breakdown, she's almost terrified by the idea of love. Azula can't trust people and can only resort to controlling them with fear because the person who should have loved her unconditional abandoned her and the only parent who showed her attention made her earn it and the person who modeled her relationships showed her how to control others through fear and obedience and that taints all her other relationships. Azula is a toxic individual who doesn't deserve Mai and Ty Lee's forgiveness, and she's also literally never been shown what a healthy relationship looks like and people can't understand that if they've never been taugh tit both of these things are true simultaneously. Faith envies Buffy's life but she's also terrified of unconditional love because abuse and abandonment is basically all she knows.

[Riley is on top of Buffy, looking down at her.] Riley: I love you. Faith in Buffy's body: Uggnnh Get off. No. No. No! [Pushing Riley away]Get-get off! No. Off me. Get off. No, no-o. G-get [Buffy stands] Riley: Buffy...What? What's wrong? Faith: (gasping) Who are you? What do you want from h-her? Riley: Should I not have...? Faith: This is meaningless. Riley: You're shaking. [He gets up and puts a blanket/sheet on her.] Faith: Nnnh. Riley: What happened? Faith: Nothing. Nothing.

Faith is committing sexual assault here, just by the way. Faith is honestly worse than Azula (they both try to do a mass murder for their daddies) and gets shown way more narrative sympathy than Azula ever does. But you know, Faith is also her own fully fledged character while Azula only exists to be a part of Zuko's arc and most of her deeper writing was Aaron Ehasz champining her cause. I guess Faith exists in a show where the writers allow women to be messy human beings.

Ursa: [appearing in the mirror] What a shame. You always had such beautiful hair. Azula: What are you doing here? Ursa: I didn't want to miss my own daughter's coronation. Azula: Don't pretend to act proud. I know what you really think of me. You think I'm a monster. Ursa: I think you're confused. All your life you've used fear to control people. Like your friends Mai and Ty Lee. Azula: [hysterically] Well what choice do I have? Trust is for fools! Fear is the only reliable way. Even you fear me. Ursa: [gently] No. I love you, Azula. I do. [Azula screams and hurls the brush at her mirror, breaking it; then collapses, sobbing]

As one final parallel both of them are aware on some level that they are a monster, and that their actions are bad. Ursa is just Azula's own mind telling her, so if Ursa is telling her that using fear to control Mai and Ty Lee is wrong then Azula is on some level aware of that. Faith and Azula define themselves as the bad one, and use that as a personal shield from both guilt and other's people rejection.

AZULA: "My own mother thought I was a monster... she was right of course, but it still hurt." vs. ANGEL: You can't imagine the true price of evil. FAITH: Yeah? I hope evil takes mastercard.

While Faith shares many parallels with Azula, I'd also like to point out the parallels between Angel and Zuko. They are both marked as having "the redemption arc" for their show. That's literally Angel's concept from day one, he's a vampire with a soul trying to atone for his past deeds. His entire spinoff show is Angel trying to find redemption by saving others. Zuko on the other hand is not only considered like one of THE REDEMPTION ARCS of all time but also his entire arc is learning that the fire nation was wrong and redeeming himself by joining the avatar the person he used to hunt and atoning for the ways he hurt Aang and his friends.

I think Zuko's character arc is much more similar to Angel's than Spike's to be honest (they're both characters in buffy who receive redemption). In that as you said above in your ask Zuko's arc is about him learning to be a proper hero. We don't really get to the part where Zuko like, develops his identity as a person outside of being a hero who saves others. Zuko does like learn to calm down and not express his rage and learns about unconditional love from Iroh but like his act of redeeming himself is switching sides and helping the heroes. Spike swithces sides too but that doesn't redeem him, Spike's redemption is gaining a soul himself and learning to develop his own morality and do good deeds for the right reason and not because he wants to get Buffy's approval.

In my writing I'm planning to continue it so Zuko has to let go of the notion of redeeming himself through heroism and instead has to learn that real redemption is trying to be a better person every single day, not defeating the fire lord and being a GOOD KING TM.

Back to Angel, he's a vampire with a soul. Rather he spent 200 years as a soulless vampire killing people and then he was cursed to have a soul and suddenly feel guilt and remorse for his actions. It's like how Zuko eventually realized he was on the wrong side. Angel can deeply empathize with Faith because he has been where she has. At the same time there's a marked difference. Angel's redemption was basically handed to him on a silver platter. He didn't decide to get a soul and start feeling guilt for his actions again it was forced on him.

The parallels between them culminate in Five by Five, one of my favorite episodes of television ever. Basically Faith has escaped the consequences of her actions and is running away from Buffy. She goes to LA and gets a contract to kill angel at which point a lawfirm will drop all murder charges against her and also continue to pay her to kill people form them.

While Faith is hunting Angel down, the episode flashes back several times to the series of events that started angel's redemption. First Angel deciding to murder a young girl, and getting cursed by her family to regain his soul and feel the guilt for what he did forever.

The next flashback depicts angel's mental breakdown after his ability to feel guilt is restored. He's immediately abandoned by his partner, another soulless vampire who finds his guilt and his soul disgusting. He's left alone with his guilt and there's no comfort in the world for him.

In the third flashback in spite of his guilt, Angel tries to be a monster again and go back to his old self by feeding on a woman in an alleyway only to find the guilt is too strong and he can't bring himself to kill her so he runs away in shame.

Buffy walks the really fine line between the fact that just because you feel guilty doesn't mean you're owed forgiveness or your feelings of guilt take priority over the people you hurt and also that it's painful feeling guilt and everyone at some time feels and struggles with guilt after hurting someone.

Angel is a mass murderer who feels guilty, which like yeah you should feel guilty. He's also a human being feeling genuine remorse with no idea how to make up for his actions.

Angel is able to sympathize with Faith because he knows that guilt, he knows that feeling that there's nothing you can ever do to apologize for your actions and it seems almost better to just kill yourself. To be so hopeless to believe you're just not capable of good.

Angel: (harshly) I can't do it again, Buffy. I can't become a k*ller. Buffy: Then fight it. Angel: It's too hard. Buffy: (desperately) Angel, please, you *have* to get inside. Angel: It told me to k*ll you. You were in the dream. You know. It told me to lose my soul in you and become a monster again. Buffy: I know what it told you. What does it matter? Angel: (raises his voice) Because I wanted to! Because I want you so badly! I want to take comfort in you, and I know it'll cost me my soul, and a part of me doesn't care. He sobs. Buffy is at a loss for words. Angel: Look, I'm weak. I've never been anything else. It's not the demon in me that needs k*lling, Buffy. It's the man. Buffy: You're weak. Everybody is. Everybody fails. Maybe this evil did bring you back, but if it did, it's because it needs you. And that means that you can hurt it. Angel doesn't want to believe her. Buffy: (pleadingly) Angel, you have the power to do real good, to make amends. (raises her voice) But if you die now, then all that you ever were was a monster.

Angel has also previously in the show attempted suicide because he believed he wasn't capable of being better or ever apologizing for his actions and when that happened he had someone who believed in him unconditionally and urged him to keep living.

So, really what right does Angel have to deny Faith that same support? How can we believe Angel's truly grown as a person if he doesn't show other people the same kindness that's been taught to him?

Which leads to one of the most beautiful scenes in all of television.

Faith: "You're gonna die!" Wesley is almost done sawing through his ropes. Faith keeps hitting and kicking Angel. Halfway through this it starts to first rain then pour. Faith: "You hear me? - You don't know what evil is! - I'm bad! - Fight back!" Wesley has freed his hands and is untying the other ropes. Faith keeps whaling on Angel, sometimes he ducks, sometimes the hits connect. Angel grabs a hold of her: "Nice try, Faith." He tosses her away from him. Then walks after her. Angel: "I know what you want." She hits him and he hits back dropping her. She comes back up hitting and screaming, but not making much of a dent. Wesley leans out of the window and sees Faith beating up on Angel. He goes into the kitchen and grabs a butcher knife, then heads for the door. Angel as he dodges another hit: "I'm not gonna make it easy for you." Faith throws herself against Angel screaming: "I'm evil! I'm bad! I'm evil! Do you hear me? I'm bad! Angel, I'm bad! (She begins to sob, grabbing a hold of Angel's shirt and shaking him) I'm ba-ad. Do you hear me? I'm bad! I'm bad! I'm bad. Please. Angel, please, just do it." Wesley comes running out of the house. Faith sobbing: "Angel please, just do it. Just do it. Just k*ll me. Just k*ll me." Angel wraps his arms around her shoulders and pulls her against him. She over balances them and they sink to their knees, Angel still holding her as she cries. Angel: "Shh. It's all right. It's okay. I'm here. I'm right here. Shh."

As I said in my longass Avatar post we could have gotten this scene with Zuko and Azula. Zuko doesn't even have to necessarily forgive her, but we could have seen him at least embrace Azula out of sympathy at the lowest point in her life.

It would have been a parallel to the way when Zuko reunited with Iroh the first thing he did was hug him after Zuko was so worried his Uncle would never forgive him. Even if we didn't get a full redemption arc we could have just gotten this as a start, a sign that things might get better for Azula one day.

This is how I plan on writing Zuko and Azula's arc though. Zuko eventually needs to reach a place of self-awareness where he can help Azula get through the crushing guilt she feels because he's been there too. He had help when he was struggling at his lowest point, and now Zuko being that support for someone else is a way to demonstrate his growth as a person. That's a major theme I want to tackle in this fic, that helping the avatar and being a good firelord isn't the end to Zuko's development.

He can also do that while still holding Azula accountable for the hurt she's caused others and him. To emphasize she needs to actually do something to better herself, because feeling guilt isn't enough.

Faith: "Oh, maybe we - just don't mention it then." Angel: "Maybe we do." Faith: "Are you saying I got to apologize?" Angel: "Think you can?" Faith: "I don’t' know. - How do you say 'Gee, I'm really sorry tortured you I nearly to death?'" Angel: "Well, first off I think I'd leave off the 'Gee.' And secondly I think you have to ask yourself: are you?" Faith: "What?" Angel: "Sorry." Faith: "And what if I *can't* say it? There are some things you can't just take back, no matter how sorry you *are*, right?" Angel: "Yeah, there are. I've got some experience in that area." Faith: "Right. And you've been doing this for a hundred years! I'm not gonna make it through the next ten minutes." Angel: "So make it through the next five, the next minute." Faith: "I don't think I can." Angel: "Yes, you can." Faith walks away: "God, it hurts. I hate that it hurts like this." Angel follows her: "Oh well, it's supposed to hurt. All that pain, all that suffering you caused is coming back on you. Feel it! Deal with it! Then maybe you've got a shot at being free." Faith lets out something between a laugh and a sob: "I've got to be the first Slayer in history sponsored by a vampire." Angel: "Yeah, well, I've got some experience in that area, too."

Once again the fine line between "Yeah, you should feel guilty when you hurt people that's how it works" and also "You can still live with the guilt and get better."

As for Azula and Zuko's relationship and the way I plan on writing it, first and foremost I plan to make things get worse before they get better.

I do want to portray Zuko and Azula as being equally bad to each other. Azula was willing to throw Zuko under the bus for her father's favor. When Zuko is firelord though and the tables are turned and he has power over her, the way he treats her isn't exactly great let's say.

It's almost like abuse is born out of an unequal power dynamic and not just something that bad people do to innocent victims.

I know so far the narrative is incredibly slanted towards Azula, but one I'm just writing the way Zuko acted in the comisc, and two it's from Azula's perspective. Now that Zuko is finally getting his POV I plan on covering a lot of his pain from the way Azula hurt him too.

If you've ever read Interview with a Vampire and the Sequel Lestat, I'm planning on doing something similiar to Lestat and Louis' divorce arc. Each of them narrates a story from their own perspective and each of them paints the other in the worst light possible while highlighting their own qualties.

Also to some extent I do think Zuko believes that he's "the good one". That part of his treatment for Azula comes not from anything Azula's done, but from projecting his worst flaws onto Azula because they were both groomed by Ozai and wanting to convince himself he's NOT LIKE THAT.

Whereas Azula views Zuko as an ungrateful trait. I think they'd both have to essentially get over it. Zuko betrayed the fire nation because the way Azula and Ozai treated him was wrong and the fire nation was wrong. Zuko can't play good victim bad victim. You don't become a good person by pointing the finger and scapegoating someone else as evil, you do it by working on yourself every day.

The way I want to model their relationship is something like Sanemi and Giyu, or Blackfire and Starfire. The pain that they caused each other is legitimate and shouldn't be shied away from but also both ulitmately grew up and survived the same abusive household together. That's a special kind of understanding that they have for each other that no one else does, and I think Zuko needs that understanding from someone. Ursa ran away, Kiyi is an innocent kid, I don't think he could connect with either of them the way that he could with Azula who shared Zuko's same abuse.

Forgiving Azula and seeing how her trauma affected her can also be a way of Zuko forgiving himself and learning about himself. He can look at Azula's abusive behaviors and be like, oh I do that too. I'm not quite over that yet. It's impossible to be truly over the ways my abuse affected me, but I can keep working on it.

This is basically the note I want both of them to end on where they're both still working on redemption together.

ANGEL Faith, wake up! FAITH (wakes) I've rolled the bones. You for me. ANGEL (walks away from the fight with Angelus to talk to Faith) I used to think that. That there'd be a point when I'd paid my dues. ANGEL Faith, listen to me. You saw me drink. It doesn't get much lower than that. And I thought I could make up for it by disappearing. FAITH I did my time. ANGEL Our time is never up, Faith. We pay for everything. FAITH It hurts. ANGEL I know. I know.

Anyway, thnak you for the ask. I'm happy you're interested in my fic. If you have any more questions of comments on my fic feel free to send them.