#tl:dr No I Won't

[abirdie]

Gael García Bernal in Another End (2024, dir. Piero Messina)

(these gifs also feature Renate Reinsve)

Gifs are all 540px wide so you can click to see larger.

[other gael filmography gifsets]

[cheshii-re]

You are not... in league with them, are you? The ones that rot? the ones that eat without mouths? The ones that, when you chew them, chew back? That would rend open your throat from the inside and blossom without a second thought? The ones that give your body back to the earth when you die? Those ones?

[gffa]

One thing that caught my attention while watching The Phantom Menace in the theater, a movie I didn't expect to find anything new with after how many times I've seen it and analyzed it, was that Sidious mentions multiple times that he has to change his plans to fit the new circumstances. It got me to thinking about how Palpatine gets credit for his carefully crafted plans, but often times not for how flexible he is in changing them on the fly, especially in time travel fics where someone destroys one of his plans and that's the end of it. Which, I'm not advocating against, I love a good Take That Wrinkled Walnut The Fuck Down However You Gotta Do It fic and I don't want them to change! But in canon Palpatine makes note of things he's not expecting, like:

When Valorum sends the Jedi as ambassadors, it's not part of Sidious' plan: DAULTAY DOFINE: This scheme of yours has failed, Lord Sidious. The blockade is finished. We dare not go against the Jedi. DARTH SIDIOUS: Viceroy, I don't want this stunted slime in my sight again! This turn of events is unfortunate. We must accelerate our plans. Begin landing your troops. NUTE GUNRAY: My lord, is that… legal? DARTH SIDIOUS: I will make it legal. NUTE GUNRAY: And the Jedi? DARTH SIDIOUS: The Chancellor should never have brought them into this. Kill them immediately!

On the Trade Federation ship, after Queen Amidala has disappeared from Naboo, Palpatine originally planned that she would be forced to sign the treaty, and then brings in Maul to deal with this. DARTH SIDIOUS: And Queen Amidala, has she signed the treaty? NUTE GUNRAY: She has disappeared, My Lord. One Naboo cruiser got pat the blockade. DARTH SIDIOUS: I want that treaty signed. NUTE GUNRAY: My Lord, it's impossible to locate the ship. It's out of our range. DARTH SIDIOUS: Not for a Sith. This is my apprentice. Darth Maul. He will find your lost ship.

On Naboo, after Padme allies with the Gungans: NUTE GUNRAY: We've sent out patrols. We've already located their starship in the swamp....It won't be long, My Lord. DARTH SIDIOUS: This is an unexpected move for her. It's too aggressive. Lord Maul, be mindful. MAUL: Yes, my Master. DARTH SIDIOUS: Be patient... Let them make the first move.

Palpatine's plans aren't static, they adapt and change with the events that happen, just as the other characters react to new information and head in new directions for it, so too does Palpatine and I think it's interesting to note that part of what makes him such a good villain is that he has an outline for what he wants to do, he sets up the dominoes of what he needs, but even when they don't fall precisely into place, he generally gets what he wants. He originally intended that Padme would sign the treaty, the Jedi wouldn't be involved, and that would lead to a vote of No Confidence to oust Valorum, using the sympathy for Naboo as a way to boost himself into the position. But he didn't really need her to sign it and still managed to use the sympathy for Naboo to get elected, it ultimately didn't matter what happened to the planet, so long as it was in danger while he needed it to be, he could use it either way. Nor, honestly, do I think he ever planned for Anakin Skywalker's existence, he had no idea they would find such a boy on Tatooine or how useful he was going to be, that was another way he changed his plans once the opportunity arose. Or a lot of his plots in TCW--he has Cad Bane steal the list of Force-sensitive children and kidnap them, bringing them to Mustafar for some sort of program to use them probably not too unlike how he uses the Inquisitors later. That plan is foiled by the Jedi, the babies are returned to their families, and Sidious' plans fall through, but that doesn't really change the outcome. tl:dr: I don't think Palpatine gets enough credit as a villain whose plans shift and change along with the new events that happen, just as much as the heroes' plans shift and change when new things happen. Yeah, he's a great villain because he creates an impossible trap for people, but also because the thing about him is that he's incredibly charming and charismatic and he knows an opportunity when he sees one, that any one given plan might fall through, but it's not necessary to his overall plot.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for kicking my friend out of the car, then refusing to pay for her uber?

I (23f) am terrified of cars. It took me until just before my 22nd birthday to get a license because i'd break down crying while trying to drive, but I live in a town in the US with little public transport and almost no sidewalks so it's my only option if I wanna get around.

My friend (21f) asked me if I'd drive her home from work because her car wouldn't start up in the parking lot, and they had to call some people to fix it. I said sure, I don't like to drive if unnecessary, but she needed to get home.

I pick her up, and the first issue is that she refuses to put the seatbelt on. Says it 'makes her shoulder hurt' or something. She fumbles with her phone to connect it to bluetooth for a while and all is well, but when she can't get it to work she starts talking to me. I tell her i'd prefer to focus on driving, and we can text when she gets home.

She presses on anyway and goes on about how "you know seatbelts can actually kill you in a crash", which is bullshit by the way. I know everything about car safety, I can safety proof a car like it's my job. Again, terrified of cars and crashes. So while I'm trying to explain that the whole seatbelts thing is actually a few unlucky outliers and a trick of statistics, she reaches over and undoes my seatbelt. while i'm driving.

I pull over into the nearest parking lot and park my car, and then tell her to get the fuck out. She acts like I'm joking up until I completely shut the car off and tell her that we're not moving until she gets the fuck out of my car, that she can't just undo my personal safety equipment, and that frankly her not wearing her seatbelt can also put others at risk in the event of a crash if you were to ricochet around and slam into other occupants. She cusses me out for being a 'grandma' but does eventually get out.

When I get home, she's already sent me an angry text about how she called an uber and I need to pay her back because it's my fault she had to call the uber. It's been like a week and she won't stop trying to get $30 out of me for the uber, saying i'm "killing our friendship over thirty bucks because I can't handle driving." I think I could've been a little less harsh, but I don't wanna have to pay the uber. She never would have had to buy it if she just put her seatbelt on and respected my boundaries.

TL:DR; Scared of driving, friend won't wear seatbelt and undoes my seatbelt while driving so I make her get out and call an uber. Now she wants me to pay the uber bill. AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[princess-dirt]

Number 1 Miquella defender.

Seriously tho (TL:DR), I'm seeing a lot of people online dismissing his character as pure evil, and it's insane to see. Although most of this is my fault for thinking the average gamer thinks about anything deeper than brainrot memes. DLC spoilers btw.

In a universe where there are like a dozen characters guilty of dozens of war crimes and genocide, calling the queer coded femboy pure evil for letting 2 people die and sacrificing himself to End Racism, War, and Genocide is a wild take.

I don't think I'd mind as much, but Ranni's ending and the Frenzied Flame endings are the two most beloved endings by the community. Like, it's ok for Ranni to kill her brother, but Miquella stealing his half brother's body after we kill him is too far.

It's ok to kill everyone because it means Melina gets to live. But Miquella making himself a god to save his sister from a life of constant horrible pain means he is power-hungry and evil.

And this isn't mentioning the whole "trecherous twink" and "Miquelester" memes that are rooted in homophobia.

But that part has a lot to do with misinformation being spread about Miquella's powers. People believing biased people who already decided to hate Miquella making up his powers or taking every bit of dialog or text to the absolute extremes.

The most obvious example being Mogh and how Miquella charmed him. I've seen delusional people go as far as to say Miquella mind controlled Mogh into starting a genocide and a blood cult. This despite the fact that it's entirely possible that Mogh started this process before Miquella was even born yet. Mogh was ambitious and wanted to be Consort to the next God. By all lore, even with the DLC, Mogh wasn't forced into anything. The line of text about the bloody bed chamber is also taken to the furthest extreme despite sexual violence and sec in general being devoid from all fromsoft games.

Even in Dark Souls, where cross breeding is canon and maidens being experimented on is also canon, actual sexual violence can only be inferred, and even then it's fringe theories. In reality, Miquella dies quite early as Mogh puts him in the cacoon and the "bloody bedchamer" is literal as in Mogh lives inside Miquella's blood. Making Miquella's corpse quite literally a bloody bedchamber.

But even if the incest happens. Yes, Mogh beats the rapist and kidnapper allegations, but nothing says he was forced into this. Miquella's power operates by making others not think negatively about him. While it can be argued that the use of the power is coercion, that is not the debate being had, and everything in the dlc shows us that his power can not force anyone to do anything. He can just convince people more easily.

Mogh is a tragic character like Morgott yes, but he is still a horrible person. The Tarnished (the player) kills him as easily as every other boss in the game. Miquella tricking Mogh and using the Tarnished killing him to steal his body is a bad thing.

I won't argue that Miquella's plan has some victims. Even if Radahn made a vow to be his Consort, Miquella still needed him dead to join him in the Land of Shadows. Radahn suffered even if he accepts Miquella by his own free will at the end.

As Ansbach says, taking Mogh's body is a horrible thing to do. Even if Ansbach is a murder cultist and heavily biased, he is right that it was still wrong to do. Ansbach even finds himself taking neither side and instead asking the Tarnished to make a new order. (It's just ironic that Ansbach describes what Miquella wants for the world)

Miquella sacrificing so much of himself is sad. We hear St Trina who is Miquella and likely Miquella's sense of Love personified, beg us to kill Miquella. Not because Miquella is evil, not because St Trina felt betrayed, but because Miquella can't love himself anymore and can accept the prison that is godhood.

And we see Miquella abandon his doubts right before he abandons his love and Trina, hiding them away from danger. We know even after sacrificing every bit of himself, he was still scared facing the Gates of Divinity. He leaves behind even his fear.

He does this all to fix the countless sins of his Mother and extended family and heal himself and his sister's curses.

It's not a coincidence Miquella's first action as a God is removing his own curse and taking the form as an adult. Showing despite everything, his goals remain the same. But of course, as the current or soon to be Elden lord ourselves, we stop him before he ever gets a chance to try fixing the world.

Some Tarnished even go out of their way to the Haligtree, slaughtering refugees from war, and killing Malenia, his sister, in cold blood. And I think this level of moral complexity and lack of clear right and wrong in the world of Elden Ring is tripping up so many people.

They see Mogh be a victim as a child and be tricked by Miquella and cannot fathom how he could still be evil. The genocide he is committing and his blood cult of murderous knights and "medics" are ignored.

Ranni can be forgiven because she is hot. Maliketh is never held at fault for what Marika does or did despite him only ever defending her and helping her. He is just super cool. We are the Tarnished so even when we chose the evil endings, there is still justification for it.

But the femboy who is very strongly queer coded can't be forgiven or understood. And another part of it is Griffith. Griffith is another morally complex feminine prince type character. Miyazaki is famously a massive berserk fanboy so characters like Prince Gwyndolin and Prince Lothric were often compared. But Miquella got the comparison the worst. Berserk spoilers btw.

And Griffith is objectionably a horrible person even before the Eclipse and when he stops being Griffith and becomes Femto. His moral complexity and the many nuances of his character often get forgotten because of the Eclipse, because of his horrible actions. Griffith being SA'd, self harming, having an unhealthy often one sided toxic love, and having so much self doubt that he nearly breaks down several times is forgotten about. They label him as pure evil and any deeper discussions about him as a character are lost.

And Miquella, as soon as he got the Griffith comparison because of his looks was destined for a similar fate when it is revealed he is an antagonist in the DLC. Griffith is pure evil, Miquella has a ton of similarities and thematic parallels to Griffith, so obviously, Miquella is pure evil. The classic no media literacy response.

I am yelling into he void I know, but I love writing and I love Miquella as a character so much. I think deep analysis and reflection is valuable even if it's just me talking to myself.

[thisoneblackjacket]

Another example of Eddie's potential role in Welcome home

First of all: SUPER excited for the Barn Makeship plush!! I gotta save up for it really soon

But second of all: I can't help but point out that even in the advertisement, the theme of Eddie being "unwanted" or only there as the butt of the joke is still present

Now there have been instances (especially after the new update) of Eddie being snubbed/dismissed/isolated, here are a few good posts getting into some specific instances (and what it can mean) and we can see that in the new Makeship video too:

When Howdy is trying to explain how the plush can help "Keep your home safe from even the PESKIEST of UNWANTED guests!", who is the example that he uses here? Eddie.

Pretty harsh words to direct towards somebody just trying to do his job, right? Might even make a fella feel less like a welcomed neighbor than ever...

And as Barnaby is getting into his stand up routine, he mentions how he hadn't seen that many lemons (talking about the Wallys, very cute actually) ever since he had "chased Eddie up the lemon tree!"

Which seems a bit more of a rude thing to do to someone rather than funny. Poor Eddie was probably trying to not get hurt again

Not that the audience is really concerned though- they still readily laugh at it

The only person really tried to somewhat stand up for Eddie was Frank, (which might hint at them being more involved with each other than the others know (heck ye protect ur man)).

But the problem with that is that he's literally being labelled as a "Comedy Sourpuss™️", both here, and probably other instances. So while Frank might be giving a legitimate criticism of it not being funny (likely because it was at Eddie's expense), that itself can be easily be dismissed as him being only that. A Sourpuss that doesn't get Comedy and is just trying to ruin the fun for everyone else

It's certainly tough to say at this stage, but I have a hunch that as the story continues on, we might run into an instance of Frank trying to protect Eddie from this treatment in some way (here's a post I saw that gets into that a lil bit via the gelatin and pea dish symbolism).

However, I think he won't be successful in doing so, as the other neighbors (and on a greater scale - the show and its producers themselves) are just as easily ready to dismiss his arguments as him being "too uptight" rather than that of a legitimate concern, leading them to continue on

And while in usual circumstances it would be relatively fine for a show to have a character purely dedicated to being the butt of the joke, it might not so fun when that character has possibly become AWARE of being just a character for a tv show, because they might soon realize that they were only written/designed/wanted as the butt of the joke for that tv show, and nothing more.

This all to say - Eddie is really going through it right now, and there might not really be a way for anyone to help him out, even if they wanted to.

Who knows how and if he can continue to handle all that?

....

(tl:dr - The new Makeship video shows more instances of Eddie being labeled as unwanted/only useful as the butt of the joke, which might be a running theme/future conflict for him as a character in the WH story. If so, it will be difficult for him to escape that predetermined role in the show, which would put him in even more turmoil)

....

But anyways, thank you for reading yet another unwarranted, overanalyzing ramble based on like three new lines✨

[bijoumikhawal]

whenever I see people complaining "why can't men be friends", my response is "they can when being mistaken for gay doesn't get them killed, which is also when actually being gay doesn't get you killed, and I don't control that"

btw people complaining about the lack of well-written or intimate or whatever the fuck friendship between men on tv and film are insane. what the fuck do you think most art is about if not hetero couples where women aren't seen as fully human and relationships between men. familial platonic workplace mentor-student etc. and they have profound effect of each other's lives they make and break each other they build their lives around each other. google homosociality. the real problem is homophobia and misogyny. that's why there are so few well-written romances between men and we get queer baiting and queer coding and physical intimacy between male friends is limited to the battlefield and the boxing ring and men irl and on screen are afraid of looking 'gay' and so many female characters who couldn't possibly have anything meaningful with anyone because women aren't seen as real people. but male friendship. be serious.

[creative-clawmarks]

So I wanna talk paralytics and paralysis in regards to Alex's venom (bc I like going on random science deep dives) SO- as I understand it- there are a few different types of paralytics which affect different bodily functions via different methods, but when most people think of temporary paralysis, they think of neuromuscular paralysis, which is what doctors use during surgeries, and some species of jellyfish and snake use to be absolutely terrifying.

Neuromuscular agents won't knock a person out or prevent pain, they just prevent movement. The problem here is that the diaphragm is a skeletal muscle and is affected by neuromuscular paralysis, meaning that without a ventilator or another breathing apparatus, suffocation is practically guaranteed. Really this applies to all neuromuscular agents/neurotoxins.

Here's the interesting thing I found however- Tick Paralysis, which doesn't always affect breathing. Usually starts out as acute ataxia (muscle weakness) and can progress to muscular paralysis if the tick isn't removed. While tick paralysis is also caused by a neurotoxin, my guess is that because ticks are so small the venom isn't particularly potent, and they don't produce a ton of it.

For Alex's venom to not outright kill via asphyxiation, the potency would probably have to be low enough to allow for diaphragm movement (though probably still weakened) but high enough to trap prey, which is a hell of a needle to thread. That, or it's a neurotoxin that specifically avoids effecting the diaphragm, which doesn't really exist as far as I know (then again, vampires don't either)

TL:DR - Neurotoxins are scary as hell and it's likely that someone envenomed by Alex would experience weakened breathing, if not outright suffocation.

(there's a 2008 movie called The Burrowers where the monsters use a venom that effectively causes Locked-in syndrome, but the science is kinda iffy. Roanoke Gaming as a video on it)

You've given me the perfect opportunity to go into depth on this.

So there's this trope I see in vampire stories where something about the vampire's bite makes it so their victims don't struggle. Usually this is due to supernatural influence, a charm or compulsion that makes the bite pleasant instead of painful.

But I wanted the bite to be painful, and more than that I wanted just the idea of being bitten to be terrifying. So I though, what is something naturally occurring that makes it so that something can't move but can still feel pain?

Why, paralytic venom of course!

(I then proceeded to do zero research lol.)

With this new information I can confidently say that, yes, Alex's venom is a neuromuscular paralytic. It makes it so that his prey cannot escape but leaves them conscious and able to feel pain. It does not, however, bring a risk of asphyxiation, because if Alex is going to kill someone I want it to be on purpose. I suppose that means his venom doesn't target the respiratory system, which considering we're talking about fictional monsters I'm gonna say we can suspend our disbelief here.

Humans stand basically no chance against something like that, but other monsters could fight if off much faster due to their regenerative abilities. That's how Tim survived Entry 56/57, Alex was banking on his venom to keep Tim down but instead he shook it off and managed to flee. He would've gotten away if it weren't for the Operator.

Ok, that should be everything...

"But wait!" I hear you cry, "If Alex's venom is super scary and not at all pleasant, then why does Jay like getting bitten by him?"

Because Jay is a freak. Next question.

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KO-FI

[byslantedlight]

Hello OFMD Tumblr thingie, and all the amazing people who are out there, and especially the ones who've been making all the posts that have made me so happy over the last few months. 💖💖💖 First and most importantly, thank you, thank you, thank you, to anyone who sees this!

This is my first post to Tumblr (probably pretty obvious from my huge lack of Tumblr sophistication! And the length of this post...) If you don't count reblogging things that I wanted to be able to find again. I've braved up to comment thank you to people a couple of times, but that's been it so far. I must admit it all looks a bit scary from this side of the glass, even though I can also see how friendly people mostly are.

But OFMD fandom is big! And you've been here a long time! I loved Series 1 when I watched it, and knew I wanted to watch out for Series 2, but it wasn't until I re-watched it when the Series 2 trailer came out on BBC iPlayer that I fell veeeery in love with it! And by then you were already here, and there was a language and debates about things I'd barely even noticed, and it's mostly me staring with big eyes thinking wow, and sometimes huh? and... well, you know. Plus there's trying to work out Tumblr, which I definitely haven't actually managed to do yet, and possibly never will, so... I decided to just jump in and post summat. Even just rambling, which is a bit of a specialty of mine... I mean - what's the worst that can happen, right? 😬

So... how come now? Well, I can't make art or gorgeous screenshots or gifs. I do write, but I'm still hanging out to get the right voices in my keyboard... I know them when I hear them, but you've gotta get the right rhythm going, and I'm not quite there yet, I don't think. Although really, I should probably just sit down and try (and stop waiting for work to shut up and give me time - I should be a pirate and take it!)

Anyway (told you about the rambling...) what I'm mostly doing apart from rewatching the eps on a constant loop is reading the fic. I'm picking it according to kudos on AO3, and according to recs that I see on Tumblr, and it's occured to me that alot of the stories I'm loving must have been recced looong ago, and that newbies like me totally missed them, and so maybe I could do my own recs, even if they are of older stories, and someone might find them useful. You know, if I work out how anyone else might ever see my posts. 😁 And if people aren't put off by my probably age-revealing use of emojis. (But I am entirely age-appropriate for Ed and Stede, and if I had to look up what zaddy meant too, well, that just means I matched Rhys Darby's expression in the bts, right? 🤨)

So it's not much, but I'd like to contribute even just a tiny bit to OFMD fandom in return for everything it gives me, so... yeah. That's my plan. I'll start in a bit, but this post is probably already too long since it's just rambling. And kind of dull. I should probably have said tl:dr at the top, shouldn't I, but then maybe anyone who actually saw this wouldn't, so... See, I kind of live in hope. 😊

Okay. Tags next, right? ... ack ... why won't it let me create new tags instead of just using ones from the drop down...? Well, those will have to do for now... maybe someone who sees this will have mercy and tell me how? I'll just be over here being a slight failure at Tumblr... And if you've made it this far (how long is an acceptable post over here?! Not this long, I don't think...) - thank you hugely for just that, and may your dreams be OFMD and joyous!

[rookiesbookies]

Greek God!Captain John Price x Maiden!Reader

TL:DR - this is what happens to the sacrifices sent to Price from my if the boys were greek gods post. Just a little thought exercise for myself.

Please send requests! I love hearing from you guys! Also Masterlist is pinned on my account❤️

Each of the boys have a forest dedicated to them surrounding the small village. Each are great hunters so it made sense, Konig has the mountain that separates the village from the neighboring war people, serving as protection.

When the neighboring war people did attack, it wasn’t pretty. Often killing half the men and taking whatever women they saw fit.

However, this girl escaped. She ran from their tents, and bolted into the woods. It wasn’t long before the men chased after her. Axes in hand. Yelling. Sprinting. Laughing darkly. Taunting her.

She ran as far as she could. She could see the fir trees. The big, thick, Grand Firs that were close together like a shield. She was lucky they hadn’t gotten her past the mountain. She would have been done for.

Her knees scraped against the limbs of the trees. Sap stuck to her whole body. Her dress tore against the branches. She began to cry.

Until she saw it. The glittering alter to one of their gods. She flung herself atop it.

She breathed out a prayer.

“Dear God Price, please God of Protection, save me now. Take me as a sacrifice if you must. Please, I beg of you. Protect me or send me a savior.” She cried out against the gold bench. Her fists clenched in the thin fabric of the drape over the altar.

She could hear the shouts of the men, gasping and crying harder.

She turned over and put her head in her hands, pulling her knees close. She prayed they’d run right past her.

She felt a warm hand touch her shoulder. She opened her mouth to scream but another covered it.

“Don’t. You’ll give us away, lass.”

She wanted to cry as she watched the war people stand in front of her, peeking around. It was as if they didn’t see her or the altar.

“See, yer a bit young for what I normally take as sacrifice, but I’m sure I can put a use to ya.”

As the people walked away she sighed and mumbled, “where do the other women god?”

“Simple, really. I see if they would fit as a bride for myself. If it doesnt work out, say we aren’t compatible, I see if I can find a man in another neighboring town that would best suit them and protect them. I put an illusion on the town yer from, as it is so remote, so that if you ever saw any of the women you wouldn’t recognize them.” He cleared his throat, “not very good pickings from your village as I see it.”

“So what is to happen to me?”

“I will see if you will work as a bride, if you do not, I will find you a protector and husband to care for you for the rest of your days.”

She shot up and hugged him. She didn’t expect gods to be this benevolent, much less a son of Zeus, but she had dreamed of escaping her village for so long. The torment of the war people was too much.

“But you said I was too young-“ she started. He patted her head.

“If it works out it will be a miracle. You’re about 10 years younger than I wanted my wife to be for the rest of time, but it will do.” He sighed, “most women do not seem to get along with me, so it would be a great deal of luck needed for you to.”

He tucked a hand under her knees and one behind her back. She held onto him around his neck as he flew. He landed in a far section of the woods. There was a cottage on top of a hill, it looks very nice and large. There was a big chimney sticking up from it with soft smoke coming from it.

“Did you mean to leave the fire burning?”

“I was in a bit of a hurry when I heard your prayer.” Price gently set her down before making his way inside. “I’m going to be chopping wood to keep the fire going out back. If you need anything, I won't be hard to find.”

She spotted dishes in the sink and decided she could have some use. So, she grabbed a wash rag and began to wash the glass cups and ceramic plates. She noticed the table had four places set. She wondered why, she assumed most gods spent their time alone. Maybe a second would make sense for whatever sacrificial woman he had at that point. But four?

There was a loud knock at the door. Without hesitation, three men came strolling in.

“Hello lass, could ya point us in the direction of Price?”

She pointed softly towards the back door of the cabin, the man with the mohawk and the tanner man walked toward the door. The blonde one stood there and stared at her.

“Bit earlier for a sacrifice ‘in’it?”

She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out, so she looked down at her feet.

The man huffed and watched the back door. The two men came back in with Price, the one with the mohawk had his arm around Price’s shoulder and they were laughing.

“I hope Simon didn’t scare you too bad, love!” The one with the mohawk chirped. “I’m Soap, one of yer resident gods. And that’s Gaz.”

Gaz gave a little wave.

She would admit, she hadn’t assumed gods played poker or that they ate. However, Price did end up cooking a noodle meal with beef sauce. It had a couple vegetables like onions and peppers in it, which he had asked her to help slice. She did so with no complaints.

“I see you took to washing dishes earlier.”

“Was I not supposed to?”

“I was just a bit surprised, love, most of the women just make themselves at home on the couch or try to take me to bed to see what a god can do.”

“Oh,” she said softly. She carefully watched the knife as she cut. Price stepped away to get a spare chair from a closet, Soap and Gaz unfolded the table to reveal a hidden piece that made it longer.

Price helped teach her how to finish cooking the meal before plating for the boys and themselves. Price guided her to the seat next to his and they all ate merrily.

“Say, Captain, how do ya feel about a wee game of poker?” Soap began to deal and she gestured that she didn’t want to. “Ever played, lass?”

She shook her head.

“Watch the master then.” Soap flexed his arms with a proud smile, Simon rolled his eyes and Gaz jabbed him in the stomach, making him smack his hand pout.

The game continued and she watched all the men play, Price was showing her his card and talking her through the rules and the different hands as the game went on, using it as a way to throw Soap off. By the end of the night, Simon had won two games, Price had won three, Gaz had won two, and Soap had won one.

The boy began to head out and Simon smacked the back of Soap’s head, “so much of a winner now are ya,” and laughed to himself.

Price laughed to himself about it as well, under his breath though, he didn’t need Soap hearing him and getting upset or offended.

“How was that for a night, love?”

She giggled, finally starting to warm up to the god in front of her, “pretty fun.”

“I hope you don’t mind helping me clean up.” He said softly as she pushed a chair in and took plates to the sink. Price cleaned up the drink Gaz had accidentally knocked over on himself when Simon won.

Her cheeks began to heat up as he stood behind her, putting a plate in the sink. The were meer inches between them. “There’s spare undershirts of mine in the bottom drawer of the wardrobe up stairs. Go get some rest, I’ll take the couch.”

“I-I can’t rob you of your bed! That feels cruel!”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded profusely.

“Than I suppose I have another idea, since I refuse to make a lady take the couch.”

Part 2 is on my pinned master list

Let me know in comments or my inbox if you want a part 2! Please sent requests in my inbox!

[3-why-am-i-here-3]

Venting about the discourse regarding Gwen and her relationship to Miles in this fandom, not because I think it will do any good, but because i just want to say it.

What happened between Miles and Gwen in ATSV and the consequential fallout opened the door for some very interesting discourse. Discussions can be had about the events leading up to Gwen's blunders, whether she can earn forgiveness, and how these things will affect Mile's relationship with her, as well as how these types of situations play out in real relationships. These discussions have been happening to an extent, but not in a way that is conducive to good discourse.

What often keeps people from healthy discussion of these topics is the many different interpretations of Gwen; specifically the very polarized opinions people have of her. Some believe what she has done should never be forgiven, while others believe she has done nothing wrong to begin with.

I fall somewhere in the middle; I like Gwen, and I hope she is redeemed in the next movie, but I also acknowledge that she does need redemption. Obviously, you can like Gwen; you can also dislike her, but there is nothing wrong with either. What I see a lot of, though, are people who like or dislike her to the point of mischaracterization.

I believe there is room for interpretation of her character, but there does come a point where it becomes illogical. For example, some people who dislike Gwen will make her out to be completely evil, and the sole reason for every bad thing that happened to Miles. Others who do like her will paint her as a martyr and a saint. Neither are true. Gwen is a teenage girl who was caught between a rock and a hard place. She messed up and needs to work to earn her forgiveness. Both these statements are true, but depending on which side of the debate people fall on, they will only believe one or the other.

People don't (or won't) seem to understand that Gwen (and her situation) were nuanced. It is not black or white, but some shade of grey. And maybe you're reading this and thinking, "duh," but even if many people know this, they don't act like it. I'm not saying you can't criticize or praise Gwen, but I see people get so caught up in either blasting or defending her that it destroys any opportunity for an actual good discussion. I think Gwen's character is complex, and that's why I like her so much. I love it when characters accidently pave the road to hell with the best intentions, and I love seeing discourse about what they did wrong and what they did right. All this fandom does, however, is wage wars over whether Gwen is a demon or an angel at the expense of her character and Miles', for that matter.

I also see so many people engaging with content that would be better ignored. I can't stress this enough: if there is a user saying something that you don't like and it's not harmful to you or anyone else, then unless you intend to respectfully give your opinion in a way that's conducive to productive converstaion, DO NOT ENGAGE! Block them, report them, whatever, just don't interact. I see so many people in the comments of posts that they simply disagree with being disrespectful to the poster or anyone who agrees with them. What's even more infuriating is when the post is obvious rage bait. I've seen so many rage bait posts about Gwen trying to ignite either side of the debate over her character and they always get what they want: a bunch of people arguing in the replies.

It's such a shame because this could have produced some great conversations, but people have instead faught over it. It all comes down to a lack of nuanced opinions of a nuanced character, in my opinion. I'm hoping BTSV will calm people down and maybe then there will be room for more respectful conversation, but right now? It's a war zone and I want no part of it.

TL:DR: People who don't understand nuance and only deal in absolutes have made this fandom a lot less fun.

[chaifootsteps]

that tweet anon shared with the analysis clip - the guy's not entirely wrong that if Stolas said 'what can I do to prove [his love] to Blitz', Blitz wouldn't know what it would take

but here's the thing - Stolas doesn't even ask. He doesn't even make a commitment that he wants to prove it to Blitz no matter what, he doesn't promise to be better to prove it, he doesn't even give Blitz a minute to process his own feelings

Look My Way Stolas had the dramatic turning point that he was going to try to make amends for how he'd made Blitz 'a means to an end' (probably because Paranoid DJ wrote it, not Viv, and removing that moment wrecks the impetus of the whole song). Even When I See Him Stolas recognized he had behaved monstrously

but when it comes to the moment of truth Stolas wasn't interested in doing much more than ending the deal, then expecting Blitz's love immediately in return. There's such a disconnect here where in both songs Stolas is concerned he's treated Blitz badly, yet he doesn't consider maybe Blitz needs time to trust he means what he says and that he (Stolas) needs to be the one to put the effort in this time

but he just doesn't do that. It doesn't matter to Stolas that Blitz is the one who's bent over backwards to please him in bed all this time in order to keep his business going and the most effort Stolas has put in has been wishy-washy texts where he won't come out and say what he actually wants and is incapable of connecting with Blitz on any real level because he doesn't recognize the power imbalance and fails to take much real accountability for it

in Stolas' head Blitz may have been hurt but it doesn't matter that much, because ultimately the relationship he wants isn't that difference than the one he had. he wants Blitz putting in all the work to make him feel wanted and to validate his feelings. in his head Blitz's feelings are just confusing and inscrutable (and ultimately they don't matter that much) even though he's had several opportunities now where he could have conversed with him. Blitz gave him that on a silver platter in apology tour and Stolas bungled it again. like yes he was drunk but ditching to make out with another guy is really the sign of where his priorities lie

saying 'oh Blitz is too traumatized anyway to accept it if Stolas treated him well' or 'it's Blitz's fault for not indicating what he needs to hear to believe it' is shifting the blame again, because Stolas never asked about what Blitz needs or showed any signs of caring.

they have Stolas say 'we really must converse' in the duet but when the scene comes, he makes no attempt at doing that. he freaks Blitz out taking the book back, does a big grandstanding romantic gesture where he just talks at Blitz and then when Blitz doesn't immediately trust it's genuine (understandable) Stolas avoids the opening to converse with him and instead immediately shuts down because in his own words, he's got his 'answer'

that's not a conversation, that's a binary 'do you want me or not' proposition that Blitz clearly wasn't expecting or ready for

and after that Stolas just jumps right into 'I feel hurt therefore I'm the one who's been wronged', gaslights Blitz horrifically then still rejects him when there was yet another opportunity to talk

tl:dr but Stolas was never interested in proving anything to Blitz. He treats him like a slot machine where he assumes treating him with the basic respect of ending the deal entitles him to Blitz's love, immediately as he wants it and how he wants it

To sum it all up, here's a quote that Stolas and this fandom could both stand to memorize.

[duckprintspress]

Sorry for being a little in the dark, but can you explain what happened with NaNoWriMo? Or at least point me towards some resources pls?

Hey anon!

Never apologize for that. Life is so fucking busy, no one can be apprised of everything going on all the time. Our brains would break even trying. Anyway, multiple things have happened with NaNoWriMo, but for the current debacle, the best answer is probably to read their own words as appended in a reblog to my original post about how to delete.

The TL:DR is, to paraphrase NaNo's own words (after they got a sponsorship from ProWritingAid, an "AI" company), they support using "AI" as part of NaNoWriMo, accusing people who disagree of being ableist and classist.

Having read both their statements, they at least imply that they mean "AI" such as grammar checkers, rather than generative "AI," but they don't actually clarify and it's at best ambiguous if they include generative LLM as being allowed and reasonable. When people got upset with them, they doubled down, saying things like "not everyone can afford an editor," which as someone who personally couldn't afford an editor and so taught myself to edit at a professional level over ten years, I'll own I find a fucking insane and insulting take. A lot of us worked our asses off to learn these skills, and it's not classist to suggest that other people...can learn too. But also...like...if I was certain they only meant grammar checkers, I might be a bit more forgiving (I mean, I use Word's grammar checker, though it's often wrong), but which LLM usages they're actually defending isn't clarified and they jump right to defending their position by tarring people who disagree with them as -isms, and that's some kinda bs argument right there.

To be clear, I think policies banning people from using LLMs in events like NaNoWriMo or on platforms like AO3 is an exercise in futility. Bans are unenforceable, and attempts to moderate will turn into harassment tools. The line between "work written by someone who isn't proficient yet" and "LLM" isn't clear, and policing that line would consume huge amounts of moderating effort for basically no benefit. IMO, for places like AO3 the best bet is simply transparency, as in, people using LLMs should fucking tag it.

To be clear secondarily, putting my "I own a small Press" hat, if someone sends us something verifiably LLM-generated, they will be permanently banned, but honestly, even something I can't verify as LLM-generated, like. Won't be good writing. It might be technically precise but an LLM can't generate a coherent story because it can't think or remember. It's just a word-probability engine. We've never had an LLM-generated submission to the best of my knowledge, but if we did, well. Ban hammer.

Anyway. Sorry. I got off topic. The point is, NaNo basically said we were all ableist and classist because we want people to write (even if they write badly!) for the...write a novel challenge.

And this made a lot of people very angry.

[kassandrasdisciple]

~spoilers for ATLA, LOK and ALL COMICS~

A critique of

(Significant Spoilers / final panel spoilers)

Tl:dr at the end

Disclosure

Hi, this is going to be a critique specifically about how June and irohs interaction in bato of the watertribe (BotWT) was delt with in the bounty hunter and the tea maker (BHatTB).

I recognize this is only 1 page in a 78 page long comic but I think it's worthy critiquing how this was handled. I've watched both shows, read all the ATLA comics, along with the one shot ALTA comics, I'm not meatriding for Iroh in this as you'll see, neither will I do the like for the writers of the show or the comics, I also won't demonize either, I'll just be stating what i disagree with and what direction I think would serve the world/characters better.

1. The Comic in Question

This comic is an okay comic, like the other one shots it's self-contained, if you don't read these, it's fine as they won't come up in any other works from avatar studios (apart from maybe Azula: and the spirit temple). Due to this microcosm, they have all focused on characters or world building that either the audience or the writers think is worthy of expansion (the metelbending academy, sukis imprisonment, ect). You'll also notice a meta theme in that all these comics are woman-focused, expanding the role and background of our female cast, this is a mystery mouse KaTool that'll help us later. This is interrupted by our deuteragoists of BHatTB.

The plot, in summary, is that June is hired to capture Iroh by an old soldier who served under iroh and wants revenge for Iroh leaving him in Ba Sing Sei. In the background is tea cartels and the dying career as a bounty hunter in a peaceful world.

The title would lead you to believe that both protagonists have equal impact but make no mistake this is an Iroh comic. I love Iroh as a character, bit this comic was written with the explicit effect of maintaining his pedestal. After hes captured by June he gives the "perfect" apology by hitting all the action points, initiating the apology and leaving June to accept it on her own time. Later we get an acceptance of the apology and she starts working for Iroh, making it explicit that he's been forgiven by June for how he acted in BotWT.

Secondly, in the beginning and end of the comic he explicitly rebukes his warmongering ways, apologizing to a earth kingdom protester (side note: this scene is a whole thing, I personally found it distasteful but I'll leave it to another day) and later apologizing to his ex-soldier while reinforcing his repentance for being a general. This is a more general apology to all the people who make "Iroh is a war criminal" memes.

2. Why was this nessesary

Because BotWT aged like milk. There's a conspiracy theory that the third writer, Ian Wilcox, was blacklisted from writing for the show after this, but I can't find any evidence other than the fact this was the only episode he wrote, compared to others writing multiple episodes, however he was a busy writer so he might've just not had time. Also both Bryan and Micheal are credited so their just as complicit.

It makes the most likeable fire nation character so far seem incredibly creepy. Unfortunately it aired in 2005 and this was an incredibly common gag, especially in anime(and still is), which avatar took a lot of inspiration from (think of master Roshi from DB or Jiraiya from Naruto). Iroh is filling the pervy old man trope and in the early 2000s that was perfectly fine.

Tragically time isn't stationary and as writers rooms for cartoons have gotten more diverse we've all come to the conclusion it's weird as fuck. I think it's weird as fuck. However why did 1 scene from 1 episode nearly 20 years ago (I just gave myself psychic damage FUCK I'm old) need a comic tie in?

Because media literacy is dead and CinemaSins.

Okay no, so the TL;DR is that Iroh has become a mascot for avatar studios, but also people make perv and war criminal memes about him, and you don't want to sell merch with the war criminal on. So they did the beauty and the beast remake move and made a follow-up to address all the CinemaSin-esque takes.

Unfortunately the interesting part of Iroh is that he was a war criminal (this is a joke, IK they dont have Geneva, chill). He was an interesting shade of grey but when you put someone on a pedestal they either stay in the sky or fall, and avatar studios decided to build some scaffolding. This entire comic was a way to scrub the morally bad parts of Iroh away, and personally? I think that's pretty boring, so what else could we do?

3. The ReWrite

So first thing what's the comics theme? I don't want to change too much so let's keep that the same, luckily I think June's mum sums it up.

Freedom, and along with that, responsibility to grant freedom. June wants to be free and gives freedom to Iroh, Iroh wants to be free of his guilt but to do so he must take responsibility, Fan and the others wanted freedom and took responsibility for their lives, making a homestead, and lastly Keung wanted Freedom from his past and was going to make Iroh take responsibility.

Metatextually this is also a comic about freedom for Iroh and June's characters by taking responsibility for what happened in BotWT, so we'll keep that theme.

Secondly, I lied about not making big changes, we're kicking out Iroh and the tea cartel plot. Our new title is The Bounty Hunter And The Fire Lord. Our new plot is going to be set after azula and the spirit temple, and follow an unsuccessful attempt my Zuko to find Azula with June's help. We're keep June struggling to find work, and even meeting Fan and the ex-hunters. We're also going to keep the fallout of BotWT.

5. Why Zuko

For this story I envision a fire nation that is returning to pre-war mentalities, and I think in this nation sexism would be returning hard. Just like the UK after WW2 women had been moving towards egalitarianism but were shoved back to the household once peace was established. In this climate Zuko doesn't know what to do, remember, the 2 non-genociding states are both patriarchal with misogyny baked in, the Water tribes are Overt, but outside of Kyoshi island we don't see women in power in the Earth Kingdom. Zuko doesn't have a societal reference for equality other than his homeland, and he's previously been erasing alot of fire nation culture (dragon hunting, colonies, royal deification), he's now dealing with advisors trying to tell him how women should act and he's frozen, should they be like the water tribes?

Secondly, Zuko has no female advisors, he has Katara and Toph as friends, he has Suki and Mai in the palace but none of them know the court machinations, not like Azula would. His mother has been out of the court longer than she was in it, and is still pretty traumatized. So, spurred on by his need to do the right thing and as another excuse to bring Azula back into the family, he hires June to help him find his sister.

I know it might seem out of left field but personally, it would be great worldbuilding for how we went from the treatment of Zeisan and Ursa to fire lord Izumi. Secondly Zuko is always itching to reconnect with Azula in the comics and he loves making bad decisions, he's also got more backstory with June than Iroh.

Onto the meat of it, on their road trip June opens up more to Zuko, same as she did with Iroh, and zuko uses June as a sounding board for all these questions he wants to ask Azula. June has traveled the world's underbelly, she knows what women are capable of and the calculating demeanor means she gives similar answers Azula would.

Eventually Zuko says he could've asked Iroh for his help on the topic, but June snorts at him, she tells the story of what happened to her from her POV. We don't have Iroh to give us a perfect apology, we have Zuko having to choose if he defends his uncles honour or not, who does he believe? This is what his story is about, does he believe his advisors or the women of his country.

Let June use her knowledge of what the dark side of the world is like, let her say what a noble fire nation man probably grew up hearing about women, especially when in the beginning of the war we see no female soldiers, so the gender roles where probably still enforced.

If you want to address Iroh's actions then have them serve the greater narrative, how have women been treated by the fire nation, and also don't have the interaction be kept to just June and Iroh, have it between a woman extending trust and a Fire lord who all to often puts Iroh on the same pedestal as the audience.

If you want, you can have a final scene with Iroh, where he sides with June and apologizes, but I think what we where given serves only the male cast and relegates June's story to a checklist, instead of treating it like a narrative she should get to control.

TL:DR

BHatTB whimped out on adressing Irohs actions, and it's easy to see that they did so just to get people to stop bringing it up. I'd instead propose this conversation happens with Zuko; with Zuko being treated as the audience, glamourisng Iroh, and June reinstating that he's still a human man, and that he isn't free of societal influence.

Have it be about freedom, both individually and societally, and responsibilities; to those you hurt and to those you've sworn to protect.

Again, this critique was focused on this one interaction, if I was to do a full rewrite I would change other aspects and flesh out how I think a June/Zuko road trip would go, still it would be vastly more interesting than what we got.

[cmykitsune]

i highly appreciate the chimera queenie love but i feel like the tadc fandom is overstepping my boundaries which kinda makes me lose motivation to draw her more:

my profile literally says 18+ only. i don't mind this as much when it comes to just liking and reblogging but do not follow me if you're under 18! i might prefer fully sfw art but i can draw suggestive and gore content! and so many of you don't have any age indicator that i'm too scared to wrongly block others. i am warning you before i unintentionally jumpscare a kid with a furry in scandalous clothes. yes i'm planning to draw that soon

the main reason it's 18+ is that i am an adult who wants to interact with adults. please respect my boundaries, i am indeed a person behind a puter and i have those.

i am not open for requests. like at all. your ask will be instantly deleted. i mention nowhere that my requests are open and its such a pet peeve for me. at least pay me smh /hj

i am multifandom and tadc isn't even my main interest LMAO. if you don't mind the other stuff with occasional tadc sure welcome abroad

if you crave more chimera queenie, i won't mind people doing their own content (like fanart, their own spin etc.)! i made her a tag...you can use it (credit would be cool but i won't be mad lol) :3

tl:dr: minors begone, no requests, i don't focus on tadc and the fandom can be silly with chimera queenie

[yellowocaballero]

hi! i've been reading some of your older fics and was wondering if there's any merit in watching buffy for the first time in the year 2024

This may not be obvious, but this is actually an extremely complicated and highly subjective question. I'll try to go on for too long.

As background: my mother loved Buffy and its spin-off Angel growing up. It was our Bible (besides the actual Bible). Not kidding, she was on the forums and fan groups and wrote fanfiction for it and everything (These days, she's really into kdramas and Asian dramas, and calls me about how the Thai seem like big fans of gay people). So I'm quite biased.

BTVS is both a product of its times and ahead of its times. It was a show about feminism and the struggle of living in this world as a woman, when very few shows were doing that. It was the first show to have a long-lasting lesbian couple, and the first show to depict a kiss between them. For better or for worse, it was one of the codifiers of broody vampire boyfriend. It was pretty unafraid to be experimental in a lot of what it did. It had incredibly complex and nuanced character work and growth that I still aspire to. Spike's arc is still matched in quality only by Avatar's Zuko. Angel's long term arc, from Buffy to his spin-off series, still makes him one of the most complex characters on TV. It had the most complex depiction of depression on TV at the time and I still think it's one of the best. I think the show had very high highs.

It also had very low lows. Some of the feminism is problematic in retrospect. The sapphic couple has a rather famous element that was severely problematic. There are, overall, some deeply atrocious arcs that I can appreciate objectively but not in practice. Xander: a whole-ass character aged awfully. On a meta level, the workplace conditions were bad (thanks, Whedon.) There are no people of color. The spoiler's sake I won't go into detail on this, but in general the good stuff was so influential and the bad stuff was just awful.

I think these days people tend to brush off the entire thing because it's Whedon. That is more than fair. But I'd also say that Whedon & Buffy is extremely similar to Brian Michael Bendis & Ultimate Spider-Man. Bendis was fantastic at writing sassy, bouncy, permanently stressed-out teens - issue was, he wrote entirely different serious adult characters the way he wrote these sassy teens. Same with Whedon: the annoyingly constant quips are perfect for Buffy, because that's who the characters are. They're awful in Marvel, because Steve Rogers is not Xander. Kinda similarly, Buffy was genuinely feminist for 90s TV - issue is, Whedon has not grown or developed his views, and now his works feel so sexist (oh my fucking god why did you treat Natasha like that). After a certain point it's egotistical: you're writing like that because you're Joss Whedon and it's how you write, not because it's what's best for the characters and story. But it was really important to me to get the character voices right, and it's freaking difficult to endlessly write dialogue that distinct, full of voice, witty, and clever.

I think BTVS & Angel TV's greatest influence on my writing is how intensely character-driven both of those shows were, and how intricate the characters were. What every character did was something they would do, if that made sense. Even the stuff I hated to watch, that made me uncomfortable, was the culmination of so much (usually). I think I also picked up the constant wit and humor lol. On a personal level, the conversations I would have with my mother where she broke down the character motivations and composition of the story was my first exposure to looking at storytelling from an analytical perspective and a framework of critical analysis, which was an approach I carried into the rest of the media I consumed and that was the primary reason I was able to become a decent writer. Thanks, Mom. Have fun with your kdramas.

TL:DR: There is merit, especially if you care about good character work. There are things about it that may make you want to drop it, which is extremely valid. Season 1 is rough but interesting, Season 2 and 5 are the best, Season 3 is pretty good, Season 4 and 7 skippable, and Season 6 is........epic highs, epic lows......