#to a ''there is good in evil and evil in good. neither side is 100% right'' thing. or smth like that

[coleomegilla-maculata]

Whose instructions will you follow...?

(OC explanation under read more btw)

So I wanted to make a hypothetical "Selathiel Ending" where you follow its instructions. I would not really call it a "good ending" per se, at least compared to the secret(?) ending where Kinito is deleted (which in itself has some negative consequences if you believe Kinito isn't 100% evil).

My interpretation of Kinito being deleted, including the worlds where he has trapped others who downloaded him as shown in the deletion sequence, is either one of two things: 1) the users are somehow returned to their bodies they had before getting trapped in the digital world; 2) the users are dead but this allows their souls to pass on to the afterlife instead of remaining stuck in their own worlds.

With Selathiel's plan, it would basically be an exorcism to remove Kinito and/or whatever Presence he's got associated with him (assuming the hide and seek and bed scenes aren't just like, dreams or something? I don't know, you clearly don't die because you log right back onto the computer. I suppose something could haunt your dreams, but that's besides the point). However, both due to technicalities with the ritual AND because Selathiel sort of believes all who ended up trapped in Kinito's worlds are basically damned, the souls of the previous people are either flat out removed from existence or sent to purgatory/hell/The Bad Place/what have you. Selathiel is of course fine with this. It set out to remove evil, or what it perceived as evil at least, so this is the best outcome to it.

Selathiel will be mad if you choose to grant Kinito administrative access and will basically declare you beyond saving (see earlier point with damned souls), leaving the computer and locking you into the personalized world ending. With the secret floppy drive ending, it will sort of just be...neutral, I suppose? Kinito is gone, it still thinks you should have done what it told you to do, but the result was the same, so it leaves as it has no further business.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Hey Writers of ATSV, STOP letting White Men off the hook and expecting me to clap.

The fact that Miguel is repeated dehumanized and called an animal even prior to him snapping but George Stacy's scenes are written completely sympathetic towards him -

It doesn't sit right with me. Look at this:

They call Miguel an animal in the opening scenes.

At this point, he's not a threat to anyone but Vulture. In this scene, Miguel is doing exactly what he's supposed to do as Spider-man.

He gets called an animal.

Two pages later it's literal George Stacy holding a gun to his daughters face, and yet it's written completely, 100% sympathetic towards him AND ONLY HIM.

Which like..... Girl... Let me adjust my spectacles because I cannot be reading this right.

He's pointing a loaded gun at his daughter. Gwen is undoubtedly more scared than she's even been in her entire life.

She's confused and desperate, one of our main characters is going through a traumatic event.

The script though? It only cares about George and how he was 'betrayed by his little girl'

As if Gwen isn't her own person.

As if Gwen didn't just save dozens of lives. In a situation where the police could do nothing.

Had Gwen not been there, the police would not have been able to handle Vulture. The threat is subdued - yet he still persists.

It doesn't matter that she just saved multiple lives. It doesn't matter that she's not a threat - or that she's his literal daughter.

What matters is how hard this is for the adult white man with the lethal weapon in his hands.

The scene SHOULD be written from Gwen's point of view. SHE'S the victim.

But no, the white male cop is going through it due to his own emotional incompetency so let's focus on that while calling Miguel an evil animal.

In ATSV both George AND Peter - the two white men in the movie - let Gwen down. They either put her in danger or do nothing as they watch.

George points a gun at her. Peter watches Miguel as he physically assaults Gwen and puts her in the machine, exiling her into homelessness.

Then, he gets to go home to his wife and kids, not even mention to MJ that Gwen and Miles were both assaulted and are now missing. And instead he whines about how he's 'not good at this mentor stuff'.

In ATSV the White Male characters repeatedly fail the people around them with no consequences at all - even from a lot of the audience.

And yeah - Peter Parker is completely neglectful.

To the point it's not okay whatsoever.

I've seen MULTIPLE people say that 'Peter is justified in not helping Gwen during the Go-Home scene. Because Miguel was obviously violent and he's probably scared of him plus he was holding MayDay.'

Which is an excuse that ignores the fact that it's pitiful that GWEN a teenage girl facing homelessness - who is likely weaker than both Peter and Miguel - is more willing to stand up to Miguel than PETER PARKER.

It ignores the fact Miguel would NOT attack a fucking baby. He's a FATHER.

But it's easier to assume the Latino man is a raging, angry, baby killer than to admit the white man is committing neglect.

It baffles me that people will really defend Peter saying 'he was scared - he didn't know what Miguel would do-'

Neither did Gwen. But she still did it.

Because she's a GOOD GUY. Because it mattered to her. Because the people she cared about were getting hurt.

She stood up to Miguel in the face of literal danger and homelessness.

Peter had nothing to lose. He make a joke and shut up when he was told.

Once again: If Gwen and Hobie hadn't come for Peter, we have NO IDEA how long he would've stayed with Miguel. We are given NO INDICATION prior to Gwen's arrival that Peter is actively going to change sides. Or is even really considering it in that moment.

Even in the script Peter shows no remorse or worry for Gwen or Miles at all.

It's as if they don't cross his mind. As if he doesn't care he led Miguel directly to Miles because he forgot he had on a tracking watch. As if what he just witnessed didn't disturb him, as if he isn't worried that Gwen is literally homeless.

All he cares about is him, and his image as mentor.

Like sir, I do not give a DAMN. I might not even give a fuck, if you will.

Shut the fuck up about that mentorship shit 😭😭😭😭 You tryna mentor niggas that's MISSING.

He's like that deadbeat dad that brought you a bike a decade ago at 6 and he still bringing it up asking you why you don't call him 'dad'. Like just because you taught Miles to swing over a year ago doesn't mean you're his mentor mfer. Miles would've learned to swing anyway cause it's literally instinctual and every person bitten eventually learns it by themselves so really Peter wtf 😐

People will scream 'But there's nothing he could do!! Miguel is too scary!!'

One: Peter is one of if not the Spider-person with the most experience. If we assume he was bitten at 18 and he's say 45 now, that's still over 25 years of experience. If he was bitten in high school, that's even more experience.

He has biological powers Miguel doesn't, plus he has years of experience over Miguel - who canonically got his powers as an adult. If anyone in that room can beat Miguel - it's him.

If you're telling me that Peter B. Parker is not only scared of Miguel but he's scared to the point he will not even attempt to question him, even though three people younger than him will - Gwen, Hobie, and Miles - that's pitiful. That's a sad excuse for a Spider-man.

Also He's Spider-Man. The whole point of Spider-man is he fights even if he isn't sure he can win.

Two: At the very least, he can show that he's genuinely concerned for the kids he wants to mentor so bad. But he doesn't even do that. Even bringing them up or saying their names doesn't cross his mind.

But once again, the white male character emotionally neglecting those around him - especially the children who depend on him - and both he are George are either shown as innocent, unwilling to act, or the script is outright sympathetic towards them.

It's easy to call the Latino man an animal but writing a scene in which a white cop is rightfully portrayed as selfish is too hard.

It's easy to call the Latino man a monster but writing Peter Parker as a heroic figure is too hard.

The racism is not just towards Miguel. It's also in the blatant favoritism the white male characters are given.

Both George and Peter actively endanger those around them and at no point do they do something on their own accord that helps anybody but themselves.

Gwen has to go to her father - by force. Gwen has to go to Peter - using Hobie's hard work.

What we NOT GONNA DO is give the white man praise when it's literally the black guy who did all the work.

Fuck - Hobie mentored Gwen TEN TIMES MORE than Peter ever did Miles. Hobie put a roof over Gwen's head and came to get her when no other person would.

Writers, stop trying to make me sympathetic towards the white men who actively hurt the people around them when there's good mentors like Hobie and good parents like Rio and Jeff.

I ain't with the shits'. If anyone is an animal in this script, it's the man who pointed a gun at his daughter.

I guess assaulting and mentally scaring children is only okay if you do it with a firearm? Or if you make this face while doing it 🥺*

(*coupon not available for the melinated)

I changed my mind i don't forgive Peter or George. Miguel who has a whole ass arc of life and death and loss gets called an animal while the white cop with six minutes of screentime gets shown as father of the year while holding a loaded gun to a child girl you must be kidding me

Maybe Gwen would be in a better mood if we let her kick their asses idk 🤷🏾

[canonizzyhours]

something that always strikes me every time I rewatch the show is that izzy is neither as good or evil as the main two takes seem to be. like he is an asshole, and an antagonist, sure. he's not some misunderstood good guy with ed's best interests at heart, but there's a level of genuineness to him (which mainly comes from con's choices and not the writing, tbf) that my/our(?) side of the fandom seems to ignore. I think a lot of it comes from the fact that izzy sees himself as doing what's right. he's not a gleeful asshole the way nigel and ricky are. he believes he's doing what's best for ed even though he isn't. this deep relationship he has with ed is very real to him. izzy 100% genuinely believes he is closer to ed than anyone else in the world (and like... that bit's probably true. izzy is not the open and available type. the problem is that the reverse isn't true at all).

what makes izzy interesting to me is how three-dimensional he is. it's the combination of all his issues around sexuality and masculinity. it's the way he pleads so damn genuinely with ed in 1x09 not to sign the act of grace and to stick with him instead. he is a successful manipulator and only doing it on purpose half the time. he's deeply socially awkward. he can't read ed for shit. I feel like everyone focuses too much on either his humanity or his bad traits, turning him into a misunderstood puppydog antihero or just a boring flat asshole. he's an asshole with real feelings which is what makes him so captivating!!

#420.

[woozapooza]

Of all the opinions I’ve seen on The Sopranos since I started watching it last year, one of the ones I hate the most is the idea that Richard and Elliot are ultimately proven “right” about Tony. Richard and Elliot do not know Tony! They have never talked to him! And they are literally, factually, not right about him, especially Richard. In “Tennessee Moltisanti,” Richard—who knows nothing about Tony except that you shouldn’t use anti-Italian slurs around him—tells Melfi that eventually she’ll get past “moral relativism” and reach “good and evil. And he’s evil.” Later in that episode, in the family therapy scene, he says that Melfi acknowledged that, in her last encounter with Tony, she saw his “subhuman” side, a word I am 100% sure Melfi herself did not use because come on. Elliot at least doesn’t use these words, but he doesn’t see any good in Tony and consistently acts like Melfi is deluding herself by holding out hope for him. (I’m not going to get into The Blue Comet in this post for the sake of keeping it concise.) But Melfi has seen that Tony has compassion and a conscience, and so have we in the audience. We know more than Richard and Elliot, and so does she!

Now, Tony is obviously not a good person by any means. I think even Melfi would agree with that. But he is a person who, despite his harsh upbringing, despite the machismo and brutality his position demands, still has a tiny spark of tenderness and compassion inside him. That's what makes him so compelling! Of course he was never going to change for the better, because that’s not the kind of show this is. But that is a statement about The Sopranos, a fictional show made by writers who have a certain artistic vision in mind. It does not mean that Tony as a person—i.e., viewed from in-universe—had no choices, that he could never have changed for the better at all, that he was a destined to be a waste of Melfi's time. It's fair to disagree with Melfi's approach to treating Tony, but the idea that both she and the audience are fools for thinking that a human being who has been shaped into a villain by forces beyond his control is still a human being, with all the value and responsibilities that entails, is so fucking r/im14andthisisdeep it makes my skin crawl.

I realize this post is kind of dramatic, and partly that’s because, well, I’ve just always been the sort of person who gets really dramatic about her blorbos, but it’s also because I hate the brutally cynical, weirdly black-and-white worldview that’s implicit in this reading of the show. I hate it so much!!! The Sopranos is very realistic about the limits of what willpower can do, but it’s also very realistic about portraying its protagonist as someone deeply human: someone with a capacity for both evil and good, who does bad things and justifies them by pretending he didn’t have a choice, but I never bought it, and neither did Melfi. Tony cannot simply stop being a mob boss and start being a saint any more than he can simply stop being depressed, but he does have good in him, and he does have the capacity to make better choices, otherwise the story is utterly pointless!!! 

This has been on my mind because I read Emily Nussbaum’s article about the finale, in which she describes Richard and Elliot as “hard to listen to but essentially correct,” and sorry Emily, I think you’re very smart and a good writer, but my god, I hate this article. To me, it boils down to “the finale was Chase scolding us for empathizing with and caring about Tony” which is not at all how I see the show, and thank goodness, because I think it would be pretty ridiculous to spend eight years telling the story of a deeply human, deeply relatable character and then be like “lol wait, you guys related to him? Cringe! Hashtag society” or whatever. She says that in the final half season, Tony “was becoming his real self: the empty golem.” Seriously? The version of Tony who’s had most of his humanity sapped from him is his “real self”? SERIOUSLY? Okay. I’m gonna go calm down now. I promise. (I actually have one other point I want to make related to the Richard-and-Elliot thing, but I’ll save that for another post because this one is looooong.) I'd just like to close this post with this comment that I've posted here before and will probably post again because I love it so much and it makes me tear up whenever I think of it:

[scoutswritingcorner]

Cowboy Romance

Striker x GN!Reader

TW: Fighting, NSFW at the end. 

A/N: I love me a cowboy- especially an evil cowboy..LOVE IT. So let me say- cowboy enemies to lovers? 

-☠️ Striker doesn’t believe in love- he thinks it’s a weakness and a weakness anyone can exploit. 

-☠️So when he sees you, oh god he immediately wants to take you out of the picture. He has a whole plan and back up plan. This man hates you so much.

-☠️ So whenever you keep evading his attacks or just ignoring him it pisses him off even more. Don’t you get it? He hates you so you should hate him.

-☠️ While you- you maybe a farm hand or just another assassin that’s looking for some kinda work or just visiting the Wrath ring! You’ve seen him around and you don’t give a shit about him or you do but you're keeping it hush hush.

-☠️Either way the constant run ins with this crazy man are enough to piss you off to the point where you fight back! Setting up a trap or two, staying up at night cause he’s a sneaky bastard and possibly getting a hit on him, he’s not invincible but he’s strong. So good luck.

-☠️ All in all- this ends up with a lot of sexual tension and then later that evening when your patching yourself up you realize you have a crush on the sneaky bastard. But when he realizes that he caught feelings? Oh boy his anger ramps up to 100% and he’s about to fucking snap. He can’t be having a moment of weakness!

-☠️ And one faithful evening he comes to kill you off for good but it goes sideways and now you both are making out. 

His gloved hands slammed you down onto the ground as he crawled on top of you, never breaking the kiss that has you both breathless and grasping at each other. Your fist balling up his shirt as his tongue easily evades your mouth asserting his dominance over the situation but by how his hands keep touching you tell you how desperately he needed you close to him. “This doesn't mean shit.” He hissed out as he pulled away from the kiss, his tail whipping around behind him. “Uh huh, sure thing cowboy.” You replied, staring up into his yellow eyes, noses brushing together as neither of you made a move to get away. But how he pressed his lips onto yours in a much more gentle manner told you otherwise.

-☠️ So when y’all are in a relationship after months of him breaking into your house or where ever you were staying to make out with you. He’s much sweeter, still kinda rough around the edges but you only get to see the softer side of him.

-☠️ He strikes me as a man who loves it when you rub his back as you both are laying down. Or when you take his hat off of his head to cover up the fact you are kissing.

-☠️ He lets you ride Bombproof with him, and if you don’t know how to ride a horse, he’s teaching you. Like the whole nine yards, don’t worry he’s right beside you guiding the horse around like the true cowboy gentleman he is.

-☠️ He’s constantly busy but he tries to make time for you and on special occasions say date night, birthday, anniversary, etc and he can’t make it because of work? He’s sending you a bouquet of your favorite flowers and a promise of being home as soon as he can.

You huffed watching the clock tick silently, Striker was out doing Satan knows what and you were stuck in a safer place than he was, your phone buzzed alive with texts but not from him. He always called on a burner phone or didn’t call at all. As the clock struck midnight you frowned, he had officially missed your date but you knew his job so you couldn’t hold it against him. A loud knock shook you out of your pity party causing you to rush over and open the door, a random imp holding the large vase of your favorite flowers. Taking it from the imp you quickly say ‘thank you’ before closing the door to put the vase of flowers on the table. A note hidden in the flowers catch your attention, you quickly open it and read it as a smile graces your lips,

‘Sorry for the late bouquet, Darlin. I’ve been busy as you know but I wanted to make it up to you since I can’t be there but I promise as soon as I’m finished here I’ll be heading your way to actually make up for it. With love, yours truly ~S’

-☠️He likes to have a hand on you all the time, his tail curls around your leg or your tail if you have one. If you’re out on the road with him and Bombproof, he’s letting you cuddle up to him the whole time.

-☠️ He loves singing to you and about you all the time. Some folks who have been his targets have heard him singing about his little ‘Desert Flower’ before meeting their untimely demise.

-☠️ He loves showing off for you and showing how tough he is. He’s like a little peacock, please give him some kisses so he can stop flexing for you.

-☠️ Won’t let you touch his weapons. Not because he doesn’t trust you with them but they are super fucking dangerous and he wants to protect you. Speaking of protecting you- this man is super fucking protective and will not hesitate to either put a bullet in someone or break their bones for putting you in harms way.

NSFW BELOW HERE MINORS GET OUT 18+

-☠️ Most of the time you both are making out, it turns into ripping your clothes off one another and fucking like wild animals.

-☠️ He’s a dom for sure. Like you can try be somehow always wrangles you to the ground so he has more control over how he fucks you.

-☠️ Has a thing for being called ‘Sir’. No, I will not apologize. 

-☠️ His favorite position is either missionary, cowgirl or you sitting on his lap. He just likes to watch your face as he pleasures you. 

-☠️ Grab his horns if he’s going down on you, he loves it so much. Also wear his hat, if you know you know. Honestly wearing any of his clothes usually does the trick.

-☠️ He can be gentle and will be gentle if you want him to be but he likes it rough. Especially when it starts off gentle and slow then escalates to everything being rough.

[weregonnabecoolbeans]

I am so happy with how this week’s episode went down.

I’ve been so worried that the point of the show was just going to end up being: Sometimes the Jedi are the Bad Guys and maybe the villains have a point! or The witches were Evil and Deserved to be killed!!

Because those would be such boring stories to tell.

We all know the jedi have flaws and that they make mistakes. We don’t need a show to use that as some dramatic reveal. I wouldn’t enjoy star wars as a franchise if the jedi were perfect.

The idea of their innate goodness being exploited and manipulated and used against them has always been really interesting to me. I’ve always believed the jedi as a whole are good and that the problems come from individuals.

That could mean individual jedi who struggle with what being a jedi requires. (Anakin and Sol with their clear struggles with attachment) Jedi who have experienced certain trauma that inevitably affects their decisions. (Anakin, Barriss, Reva, and so many more) Or those who shouldn’t’ve been jedi in the first place (pong krell🤬)

It also means basically anyone else who believes and/or has gone through similar things. (the martez sisters blaming the jedi for their parent’s death, the people of the republic who believed the jedi were responsible for the war etc.)

And of course there are the actual villains who intentionally cause problems.

These things are all unavoidable and thats what makes star wars so compelling to me. The fall of the jedi was the result of Palpatine amplifying these factors to bring forth something that was always going to happen and that nobody could stop.

On the other side, I am so relieved that the witches weren’t revealed as the true villains or something because that would’ve also been so boring, and also kinda dumb.

Introducing this beautiful group of women with their own unique history, culture, and way of using the force…only to turn around and be like

Ha ha nope! The jedi are the only good guys and everyone else is evil!

Yeah I would’ve hated that.

I feel like this episode did a really good job at showing that what happened was a combination of everyone’s fears, biases, and hubris clashing in the worst way imaginable.

Neither the Jedi as a whole, nor the witches were 100% responsible.

The council told the jedi to leave the witches alone but they didn’t listen. The order cannot be blamed only those who were apart of that mission.

You can blame either side for their choices but both sides had their reasons and both sides were neither right nor wrong.

Sol was wrong to prioritize attachment to osha over following orders. But he was right to want what was best for her.

Torbin was wrong to run back and infiltrate their home. But he was made to believe it would mean completing his mission.

Mae was wrong to lock the place down and start a fire. But she just wanted her sister to stay.

Koril was wrong to go straight to violence. But she wanted to keep her children, and her past has led her not to trust.

I could go on and on but I’m getting too lazy to type more.

Basically what I’m saying is I am happy that the show didn’t chose to be fully anti jedi.

And I am happy that the show didn’t introduce a badass GORGEOUS black lesbian witch as the ruler of this coven only to make her a villain for loving her children

[eerna]

I came across one of your posts about tdp (they're great btw I really like reading them) and one of the tags talked about how the show writers treat Callum like a vile character whose done evil things when he hasn't. Can you elaborate on that? And do you think there's a huge difference between on how the show and fandom treat Callum and rayla?

Aww thanks~ Sure, I don't mind elaborating!

So Callum. This show has a problem where the characters have no logical progress, they just do whatever the plot needs them to do, and Callum is a great example of this. Callum is meant to be an awkward average guy who feels like he doesn't belong anywhere. He's the adopted son of the royal family, which means he's not a peasant who is born into a career, but neither is he a real prince, since he is passed over in the inheritance line. He's not good at being a warrior, or a leader, or any other things that might guarantee him a place in court. Things change when he discovers he has a talent for magic, but since he is human and can't connect to an arcanum, he is forced to choose between letting this one useful thing he's good at go, or doing the "evil" dark magic. An interesting character setup: will he go against what he believes is right to realize his full potential? I wonder where this arc will go! The answer is nowhere, he becomes the first human in history to be able to connect to true arcanum magic the way magical creatures do. Okay, so here is his second character setup: the one and only creature in the world who can connect to EVERY arcanum at once! He will spend each season learning how to connect to different arcanums, and through him, we as the audience will understand the world better. That is exciting, as it's something the magical creatures can't do! Except THAT'S also abandoned right away, and his THIRD setup pretends it never happened and we return to a continuation of the first setup: will he join the dark side and become a vessel for the evil guys to use, will he fall into the same trap of "I would do anything for those I love" as the villains? This could be interesting, but it is now over halfway through the story, so the writers have to resort to cheap writing tricks to make the stakes higher and the tension more real. You see, Callum's "downward spiral" relies on him making bad choices for the right reason, but those bad choices aren't truly bad because the writers are scared of writing a hero who messes up for real. Those bad choices are using dark magic twice, but both times he used it out of selflessness, as a personal sacrifice to save Rayla. He used an already dead ingredient to turn some chains into snakes to save his friend... twice. Both times Rayla reacts as if he'd just slaughtered a whole herd of adorable magical baby deer in front of her. The Starscraper elves say his soul is dark and he has been consumed by evil. The only logical reprimand is given by Sol Regem, who just says "I can smell you've done dark magic before" and gets upset bc Sol Regem is a racist asshole character so it makes sense a single whiff of human magic would anger him. But these other characters are meant to be 100% correct in their assessment of Callum's morality. There is no discussion of whether the end justifies the means, there is no nuance or suggestion that maybe a dead bug is worth saving a life, Callum has done something objectively wrong and should never repeat it again. Here it all dissolves into the age old "is dark magic as presented in TDP morally ok" discourse, which I won't rehash here bc it is well discussed and the TL;DR is: no, TDP didn't do a good job setting dark magic up as an inflexible evil, but the story still acts as if it is one. And it is dumb, because Callum doesn't need to do dark magic to make mistakes! Several times throughout the season I thought they were gonna put him at odds with the rest of the cast, and maybe mess up and "fall into darkness" that way. For example, I thought that when everyone disagreed with him on the topic of destroying Aaravos' prison, he was going to defy everyone out of paranoia (since he is the most sensitive one about this subject) and accidently cause Aaravos' escape that way. But no, they don't even argue over it before finding a solution that makes everyone happy and it turns out that Aaravos was freed by a series of contrivances that tell us nothing new or interesting about any character involved in it, which is CLEARLY a much better story.

This third storyline gets even more muddled by Callum choosing to do the Starscraper Morality Challenge or whatever it's called to try and fix the damage dark magic did to his soul. Okay, so we've established that Callum's love for Rayla makes him act in morally questionable ways, which led to his soul deteriorating, and now this ritual will help him find his way back from it. And so the ritual reveals that he can redeem himself if he focuses on... wait. Am I reading this right? The answer to his issues is RAYLA????? So this means that somehow, loving Rayla is both the reason for his evil deeds, and a way for him not to do evil deeds??? I suppose the story could be saying that loving Rayla doesn't mean doing whatever it takes to save her, but listening to her advice and trusting her when she says she doesn't want to be saved by dark magic, but that is just such a dumb character arc that isn't about Callum or his character arc in the least. His way to deal with his issues has nothing to do with his realizing his potential, it has nothing to do with his journey of connecting to the arcanums. It is a "man needs a woman to act normal" story, and that is just plain dumb and boring and no proper character arc.

And here we transition into your second question. I am not sure what exactly you meant, so feel free to clarify, but I will do my best to answer as is. I think that Rayla and Callum are treated by the fandom EXACTLY the same way as by the show, but sadly this means they suck (it is no secret I was super duper into shipping them once upon a time, so no one is allowed to call me a hater over this opinion). The first two seasons were fine, but from s3 onwards their relationship also faces a lack of a proper arc. In the beginning it seemed like the emotional, gentle Callum was going to de-radicalize the cold, emotionally constipated Rayla and teach her the joys of having people who care for her as a person and not just a weapon. However, this was quickly abandoned for reasons listed in my Runaan family post - Rayla needed a quick escape from her emotional issues to remove any bad parenting responsibility from Runaan and Ethari's backs. From then on their writing problems are a mix of the previously mentioned "characters doing what the plot needs them to do" issue and playing into fan shipping expectations. And thus when they start dating in s3 it is in the blandest, most boring way possible. They are super happy together, they have no friction, Rayla is suddenly more than happy to be emotionally open. Then the plot needs them separated, so she remembers she is supposed to have emotional issues and leaves. Then the plot needs them back together so they start dating. None of this is supported by a logical arc. S3 and onwards reads like a fanfic in the most negative way possible. The "frozen ship" monologue from s6 made me feel like my brain was actively trying to escape my skull, so I KNOW the crew working on the show is aware of the fan perception and are actively playing into them on purpose. Fan tropes are perfect in the context of fanworks, but they also make canon material worse.

Whew. This was long. But Yeah that's basically what I have to say about that.

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

HELLO!!! i have a request for a platonic Crowley and Aziraphale x fem!reader with she/they pronouns 😄 if you know Nimona, then thats what i want the reader to be like. theyre a spunky, immortal, young teenager anarchist who can shapeshift and has unnaturally coloured eyes and hair. one day they find the two (husbands), and kinda just stays, so Crowley and Aziraphale accept their fate!! i dont mind if you decide to include a smudge of angst (or a shit ton whatever you prefer, but im impartial to both, so do with that what you will,) because after the newest season, i cant get enough of it.

many thanks!!

Oh! I haven't seen the movie but I know about Nimona!

......

You met Aziraphale and Crowley in 537 AD, encountering them by pure chance.

At first you intimidate them as a dragon, thinking they were two hapless knights who lost their way back to their kingdom..

Until you saw Crowley's snake eyes, and you realize he's not human at all.

"You there...I like your eyes.....are you another shapeshifter?"

"...um..nope." The demon in black armor looks incredibly confused, especially at this dragon talking to him. "Don't know what gave you that idea.."

"Well technically he is." The white knight adds on, smiling nervously. "You see, my erm..."rival" here is something of a serpent who was sent to-"

"Shut it, Angel. This beast doesn't need our lifestory! Now if you could kindly excuse us, o' great dragon, we have to discuss-"

"Hate to break it to you, but....I'm not actually a dragon."

"Then what are you exactly? You...said something about "shapeshifting" before, didn't you?"

To answer Crowley's question, you transform into a young human clad in knight armor, taking off your helmet to reveal your unnaturally-colored eyes and hair, smiling. "Bingo."

The pair are quite impressed, so they have no reason to hide the fact they were an angel and demon.

You explained how you've had these shapeshifting powers for a long time, being on the run since everyone thinks you're a "cursed child" or some monster that was once banished, wanting nothing more than to drive a sword through your heart.

When it's clear that neither Aziraphale nor Crowley have any intentions of hurting you....that's when you decided to stick with them.

It took them 20 years to realize you never aged, learning you're an immortal being in a teenager's body.

Your powers allow you to keep up with the times, disguising yourself as animals, people...or even angels and demons if your heart so desired.

Sometimes you'll turn into a snake much like Crowley's own snake form (although your scales have the color of your hair, ofc, so you're not 100% identical).

You haven't mastered turning just your head into a snake, however.

In the modern era, you enjoy being a nightingale after learning they were both fond of those birds, often singing in the bookshop out of boredom.

Although Crowley's fully aware you're not a demon, you got a spunky and rebellious personality and love getting up to mischief.

And he 100% encourages this (while poor Aziraphale's practically begging you to stay out of trouble).

But you're definitely on the angel's side anytime he compliments Crowley, who just snarls and denies ever doing something "nice" or "good".

You don't believe he's all that evil for even a moment.

While you're aware that they have to act like they despise each other bc they're on opposite sides...in your eyes, they behave so much like an old married human couple.

Aziraphale emphasizing "our car" when talking about the Bentley made you roll your eyes and joke about when the wedding's gonna start.

When Aziraphale returns to Heaven without Crowley, you realize that maybe your "marriage jokes" went a bit too far...even though neither of them blame you for their falling out.

Still, you feel bad bc you can tell Crowley was genuinely in love with him.

You overheard everything, and after his "no nightingales" remark, you're reluctant to shapeshift into one again out of fear of upsetting him.

Yet he asks you, too, as he couldn't bear the silence in the bookshop anymore...and listening to any of Aziraphale's music records would've been too painful for him.

You obliged, staying perched on his shoulder as he stared out the window for hours...hoping that his angel would come back to him.

You hoped so, too, waiting everyday by his side...until the end of time if you had to.

[emeraldtart]

Descendants AU where the villains are surprisingly good parents. Out of spite but then it turned genuine.

It started off with some of the good characters of Auradon said that its impossible for villains to love or even comprehend what love is.

You know what the villains think? Aight, bet.

Some of the villains are genuinely good parents, like Hades since he is the god with the less shenanigans out of the entire pantheon.

Since this is an AU, I've thought of making Mal close with the Underworld family rather than being directly related to Hades (maybe she's very distantly related, some generations back from her father's side?)

Hadie's real name was Zagreus, but since he looks after his father a lot other villain parents calls him Hadie as a nickname. When he reached adolescence only the adults knows his real name.

Hades and Captain Hook might be the best dads on the island, and they have a friendly rivalry on who's the top dad on the island is.

Spoiler, it was Facilier who won that title.

Captain Hook is probably one of the first to be on board the idea of trying to raise a child (or three) properly, because his nemesis is a boy who brings children to a dangerous island and 'thins them out' when they get older, of course he'd grow a conscience.

Hook's wife lives in our world, along with their three children, but when the barrier was erected the magic pulled the children to the Isle.

His wife also happens to be Mary Darling's sister, which make Wendy and her brothers cousins with the Hook kids.

The Hook siblings' mother never knew what happened to them. She thinks that The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up took them as revenge for being bested by Hook long ago.

Hook having his three children (Harriet, Harry and CJ) suddenly ended up on his bed at three in the morning surely isn't how he expects fatherhood to come back to him.

Mal is technically the oldest Villain Kid on the Isle, because she was a dragon fae she came from an egg, and her egg was laid more than a century before the villains were banished to the Isle of Lost.

Her egg was supposed to hatch about 100 years ago, but due to the whole fiasco with Sleeping Beauty and some of the fairies hating what Maleficent did, they cursed her egg so it won't hatch until Sleeping Beauty woke up.

And the fact that the father was a human and there was no magic on the Isle rises the possibility of the child dying within the shells of their egg.

It caused Maleficent so much grief during that 100 years time. Even when she was banished she worries that the people of Auradon were right; she doesn't know how to love. That's why her child don't hatch.

Mal's birth was the greatest thing to happen to Maleficent, next to the happier times in her past.

The Evil Queen/Grimhilde is best friends with Maleficent. She was by Maleficent's side when she was grieving the fate of her unhatched child.

Grimhilde is the best at gossip because of her mirror.

She and Cruella probably make a living on making children clothes.

Gaston probably struggled in how to take care of children. Before, he wanted boys yes, so he can teach them how to hunt and be a man. But when he realised that parenthood started even before the child is born he knew he needed help.

Unfortunately none of the villain dad group could help Gaston with his horrible naming scheme.

At least Gil was spared from the confusing fate of sharing his name with his dad.

Ursula also needs help when raising Uma, since she has no idea how to raise a half-mer daughter.

She figured it out, mostly. But sometimes Uma just went and do some of the weirdest things that are neither Merfolk things nor human things. Eventually the entire island just chalk it up to an average child's weirdness.

Jay and Carlos are neighbours, and they stick to each other's sides, thick as thieves. Carlos sometimes take scrap fur and sew them into a blanket they use for fort.

The Core Four and Sea Three are friends, although the shrimp accident happened because Gil's brothers think it'd be funny.

That was the day the island learned that Mal has way too many teeth in her mouth and too little reason not to use them.

When Ben became king and asked the Isle children to come to Auradon, he doesn't realise what he had brought to the kingdom.

Harry asked Smee in forging three more letters so the Sea Three can go to Auradon too.

Mal made a magic copy of the original letter and printed it to avoid magic detectors.

Jay swapped the fake with the original, and nobody realise that there aren't supposed to be seven Isle kids in the kingdom.

Ben did and asked why there's seven of them, to which Carlos said, "What do you mean? Of course there's seven of us, it says so in the letter. Everyone of us gets it,"

There's still plot with Audrey being bitter with her breakup, but instead of the entire island save the cast falling asleep, everyone (on Auradon and Isle of Lost) falls asleep and the Core Seven has to navigate the dreams and reach Audrey.

Maybe the Core Seven sees their parents' lives before the Isle.

Maybe at one point they end up in London, somehow the magic Audrey used connected them to that world via Hook's wife.

[mostlymihawk]

"I hate marines."

Marines x GN reader.

CW: Threats

"Axe-hand" Morgan:

Holds your chin with his axe in a clear threat.

"Is that so?"

Gaslighting. So much gaslighting.

Add a splash of narcissistic denial of reality and you've got the perfect storm.

Justifies literal war crimes by saying it's for the greater good.

You've heard it all before.

That doesn't make you want to punch him any less.

You also don't trust him not to murder you if you push the subject, so you pretend his speech won you over.

And make triple sure he's not in earshot next time you denounce the marines.

Koby:

He doesn't agree, but he understands.

Having watched a pirate hunter protect a little girl from a marine, he knows exactly what you mean.

Quietly insists that there are good marines, too.

Maybe even goes so far as to say most marines are good.

"I won't be one of the bad marines. I promise."

Understands completely if you're not ready to hear it yet.

Helmeppo:

"Are you mad? Have you lost your marbles?"

Absolutely flabbergasted.

"The marines are all that stand between good and evil, the last defense of the people against complete anarchy! How could you possibly hate the marines?"

All the same talking points as Morgan.

The difference is he actually believes it.

Yes, he is a narcissist, and he is (or was) a real jerk, but he's not so far gone as Morgan.

He genuinely believes the marines are heroes.

And, unfortunately, will not be convinced otherwise no matter how many times you point out his own abuse of power to harm the common citizen.

To his credit, though, he is getting better.

Vice Admiral Garp:

Having an absolute blast.

This man loves nothing more than a debate where neither side can be swayed.

Would actually be disappointed if anything he said changed your mind.

Also lowkey agrees 100%.

The cadets can be molded into proper marines, but the higher ups are pompous, self-absorbed assholes.

That's why he never accepted a promotion to Admiral, after all.

"Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. That's what they say, isn't it?"

For flavour, this entire conversation happens over a game of go.

Garp forces a stalemate, because he doesn't want anyone to win the literal or figurative war.

[katnisspeetaprim]

Jeon So-Hee meets Han So-Hee

So this is a drabble for my slice of life series! We aren't at this point in time during the story yet, but I realised I gave their daughter the same name as Han So-Hee, who was in the Seven MV, so I thought this would be super cute!

Warnings: None

Word Count: 621 M.list

Yours and Jungkook’s daughter, so-Hee, had been bouncing off the walls all morning, telling anyone who would listen that she’d be watching her daddy film his new music video.

Things like this were no new rodeo for the young girl, having been exposed to her fathers career practically as soon as she was born, but her excitement never dwindled. One of her favourite things in the world was watching her dad and uncles perform, she’d even gone as far as to say she wanted to be an idol just like her dad when she was older! But that was another conversation for another time, one that Jungkook would be all too happy if she never bought up again.

You’d arrived on set a while after jungkook. Neither of you wanted your daughter to be stood around needlessly for hours. Even though she loved being on set, they weren’t the best place for children.

As soon as the assistant walked you on set, So-Hee was already bolting away from you and towards her dad. You noticed they weren’t currently filming so you saw no reason to stop the excited child. Jungkook was stood to the side of the set with the actress Han So-Hee. They were both wrapped in towels, having just finished filming a water scene.

‘Daddy!’ Jungkook’s eyes lit up when he heard his little girls voice. He kneeled down as she ran to catch her and keep her at arms length since he was wet and didn’t want her to catch cold. She pouted at not being able to hug him.

‘Ah baby! I’ve been waiting for you!’ he ruffled her hair, causing her to squeal and bat at his hand.

You smiled brightly at the interaction as you made your way over and stood next to the actress. She looked over and smiled at you.

‘Hi! You’re Y/N right?’

‘Yeah that’s right. Nice to meet you!’ She looked at you for a second before smirking.

‘And I’m guessing this song’s about you?’ Your face lit up with a harsh blush at her insinuation. God, you could have killed Jungkook when you heard the explicit version of Seven, even your closest friends had began making jokes and comments about the song, though it was all in good fun. Plus it’s not like he was lying and you knew deep down that you loved it really.

So-Hee tilted her had back with laughter.

‘I’m kidding! I’m So-Hee by the way.’ She reached her hand out for you to shake, which you did. You were about to reply by saying that you knew who she was and that you were a bit of a fan, when your daughters head snapped to the woman, eyes wide like saucers.

‘Your names So-Hee? But that’s my name!’ All three adults began to laugh.

‘Baby, more than one person can have the same name!.’ Jungkook explained through giggles. Her small face scrunched up, as if she were considering this new information, before turning back to the older woman.

‘So...Since we share the same name, does that make us best friends?’

‘Ah yes 100%!’ Han So-Hee didn’t miss a beat before enthusiastically responding, even bending down so she could look the young girl in the eye. ‘You can even call me unnie if you like!’ Your daughter bounced up and down with excitement as she continued to fawn over her new friend.

‘I would hug you, but I’m soaking wet.’ You turned to see Jungkook now stood beside you with a coy smile.

‘Shame. Guess you don’t get a kiss either then.’ You smirked back

‘You’re evil.’ He chuckled, leaning in a kissing your cheek anyway. ‘Oh yeah? Then why’d you write a song about me?’

[changingplumbob]

Coming this rotation, a new High School!

In my mod frustration I took a break from gameplay and rebuilt my old very square high school. I changed the time of day for taking photos and cheated the weather to sunny about 5 times but it kept raining so we're just going to roll with it. I mean at least it shows off the covered walkways?

As you walk on to the grounds the building on the right is the first stop. It is the reception area of the school and features the first aid room and principals office. We may or may not see the principals office depending on how evil a certain sim will be once they age up to a teen.

If you exited the office and went past the picnic tables to a side walkway you would find the basketball court (yes this is 100% here because @matchalovertrait character Dulce played basketball which made me remember most high schools have a court). The end of the walkway has a group cheer mat which Onyx may or may not use, obviously not in this weather, they like their hair too much. Opposite this is a proper sized pool inspired by the wonderful high school build done by @stargazer-sims (seriously wanting a pool even close to yours was a main drive of redoing the place).

What? We can walk from the pool to the main building without getting rained on? How convenient in this deluge! As we turn to look back at the pool notice how the watcher solved the empty space problem by chucking down a whole skating rink. Back into the main building and we're greeted by a pride flag because this is an inclusive school even if the principal is an arse gosh darn it!

I thought I couldn't get a more colourful cafeteria then I went and built it! Please notice the pride flag wall (please let me know if I forgot any key ones and I'll add them), colourful menus and a security camera to keep track of who really starts those food fights.

Double doors lead to an outside eating area, once again covered and- who put a waterslide back there? Seriously questionable building taste (it's me, I have questionable building taste). There's also a couple of swing sets because you're never too old for swings.

The other set of internal double doors lead to the library which is kindly being modeled by the default principal. Space for group study and comfy reading. I liked the idea of taller tables and normal height tables coexisting in the space. Room to work on projects together or study alone.

What's that you say? I've never looked into voidcritter lore despite owning kids room stuff? Me neither my friend. Didn't stop me from decorating the locker section with them though. If we continue clockwise- oh look, a full length mirror! How convenient for image obsessed teens without them clogging the bathrooms. You can also see the space on the opposite side of the cafeteria where there is a mural outline in case sims want to fill it in (I'm looking at you art lover Carson who still managed to get a low boost to his exam despite not having art knowledge). Anyway back to clockwise, this is my math class. Math diagrams because math.

And then we come out of the side hallway where the entrance to math was and face back towards the front entrance. Let me just take a minute to highlight that all bathrooms here are unisex individual spaces. Gender is a social construct and honestly making a group of young people who are already self conscious get changed in the same space is... not a great plan. The bathrooms in the pool also look like this. Down our second side corridor and I wonder what could be here. Oh look at that art, it kind of looks like something @eljeebee reblogged yesterday... silver and yellow... (I swear I forgot about seeing it until after I finished the build and I rechecked tumblr and saw it again. It's not my fault Lana is being an influencer)

Through the door you will find the graphics studio/art class. Hopefully it can inspire the students a bit. Alas not much room for easels but in graphics in high school all we needed was blank paper and a good desk.

Then we have business class right by the front entrance. Why is it so feminine I hear you say? Because business is for women to! Eliza is proving that. And I fell in love with the colour scheme and ran with it... And I wanted to try different style individual desks in different classes. Have you noticed this is the third room with different style desk? Probably not as this is the first time I'm mentioning it.

To the other side of the entrance we have two more classes (these are bordering the cafeteria). First up, computer science! Not a single computer in sight! Because when I tried to put computers at desks the students just sat in a huddle by the door and all got yelled at by the principal didn't they (I am sorry about that detention Onyx and Carson, my bad). Next we have social studies, one of my school favourites! Broke out the dino wallpaper and some maps to go with historic pieces. Fun fact, I'm useless at geography, couldn't find anywhere on a map really.

Now upstairs may seem a bit of a jumble... But that's just because it is. The main landing connects with a small workout area. Here we have a punching bad, some yoga mats, and the traditional exercise machine and treadmill for those before class tasks. Of course we have a sneaky bit of unicorn art as tribute to the queen of unicorns @azuhrasims herself.

In one of the upstairs corners we have our Language Studies room. And look, there's the big blank spot on the wall I couldn't decide decor for, oops. I have a film poster in here because my English teacher had film posters up and I loved them! Then we have a chill hang out space with a variety of comfy seats to choose from. These wall murals really set the vibe I wanted. A place to relax indoors that wasn't the cafeteria.

Next corner we have the science class where I definitely did not go overboard with green, nope not me. I wanted to chuck some chem labs in here but I also wanted each class to be able to sit 10. When I play the Pancakes next both teens will need to be in the same class so I'm going to run that week with a larger mixed class, they'll each have 4 friends of their own age in their class for company. Then we have what I assume was the builder's attempt at a Foreign Language classroom? Between quilted floor tiles and gingham walls I'd guess they were out of ideas by the time they got to this room (yeah I kind of was, plus I just don't know what to put in a foreign language class when all simlish is foreign to me)

And finally we have Olive Grim! Wife of the reaper who is kindly testing my build out for me in the photography save. I should have had her test a shower in the bathrooms but hindsight is 20/20 or whatever the saying is. She's chilling in the most bland boring room I could make for my sims to have to sit exams in. No inspiration and no cheating off classroom posters!

Thank you for coming on my tour. Once again I am sorry about the rain! I even skipped forward a whole other day and it was still there... at least we're putting the covered walkways to use I guess?

[soullessjack]

not sure if I’ve ever made a post about this before but the idea of jack being non-binary is truly so perfect for so many reasons. firstly he’s always existed in this taboo gray area between two rigid/opposing binaries (human/angel ; good/evil ; mother/father)

and there’s also some gendering in those binaries if you squint hard enough but I’m not a fervent genderstudiesnatural expert

neither side of these binaries can fully accept that jack is a sum of their parts (for lack of better phrasing); Lucifer and AU Michael both view his humanity as a weakness/malfunction or a phase he’ll mature out of, and several hunters—namely AU Bobby—treat Jack’s angelic heritage like the equivalent of rabies, a ticking time bomb that will inherently and eventually go off. of course everyone can acknowledge that jack is a Nephil in his own right, but he’s still viewed specifically as two halves instead of one Whole being. it’s probably worth adding that he literally will die or become a megalomaniac if he isn’t a mix of his two halves

then, jack is also exceptionally morally gray. frankly the writing of the show doesn’t fully portray this well, and while he does openly position himself as a Good Guy and a Hero and aspire to be such,…. So did the rest of tfw and look at all the shit under their belt. They’re antiheroes at best but that’s another post

in AlCal’s own words:

jack is all-encompassing. he shows various parts of the rigid moral dichotomy—he literally has a penchant for torturing enemies out of sheer hatred for them while being nicknamed ‘sweetheart’—but isn’t really confined to either one (although he does try and fail to confine himself).

lastly, there’s a very common experience among queer autistic people called gender indifference, which is exactly what it sounds like. We just..don’t care about gender. there’s no strong attachment between it and our identity. I know what I am biologically but I literally don’t feel it, so I wouldn’t and haven’t cared if I was misgendered. and I think for jack, someone who deals with the weight of being this archaic nebulous creature while having an extremely new relatively-human body, there would be similar feelings of disconnection and indifference.

also, whenever people ask him what/who he is the answer is literally always “I’m Jack.” like. That’s it. That’s the sum of it. he’s not entirely good or bad or human or archangel; he’s not 100% kelly or Lucifer. he’s just jack :3c

[loki-cees-all]

Chapter 1 - And the Silence Splits Me Open {TLTGYA - Post!TVA Loki x OFC Longfic}

Prologue / TLTGYA Masterlist / A03 Link / Next Chapter

Pairing : Post-TVA!Loki x Oliviette (OFC)

Chapter Summary : Loki isn’t sure how long he’s been hiding, alone and forgotten, in this damp and squalid dungeon cell, but he’s fine with it. Really, he’s completely and 100% fine with this.

Chapter W/c : 3.1k

Chapter Tags / Content : Heavy Angst

Author's Note : Well - here goes nothing! Hopefully I can maintain a regular schedule of posting chapters on Sundays, but we'll see how it goes? Enjoy!

18+ Only - Minors DNI

⊱ ─ ༓ ── ⋅•⋅⊰ ─  ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ∙ ⋅  ─ ⊱⋅•⋅ ── ༓ ─ ⊰

For nearly every living thing, choice breeds shame, and uncertainty, and regret.

Loki had stopped counting after a thousand days.

A thousand days of darkness, and of silence. Without hearing his own voice, or gazing upon the sunlight, or any type of sustenance. It was lonely to be sure, and some might consider it an unreasonable torture, but Loki didn’t. In fact, he preferred it this way.

Because it was also another kind of milestone - a thousand days without any mistakes. Without betraying or being betrayed, without killing or contributing to the evils in the universe. It was his longest streak ever, but Loki couldn’t give himself too much credit for that; it’s quite difficult to make new mistakes when you’re too busy lamenting on your old ones.

And he had a lot of mistakes to think about.

By now, Loki had memorized the patterns of cracks in the stone walls, winding and splitting their way around the room, much like the cracks in himself. The stone offered no comfort, and neither did the iron bars that made up the only door to the cell. And with no windows to speak of, and the only light coming from poorly lit lanterns in the dungeon hallway, he had become good friends with the darkness.

The walls were broken and imperfect, but still doing their duty. Still confining him, still keeping everyone safe from him. And he was doing his part too - suffering, with nothing but the cries of anguish from the other prisoners to keep him company.

Loki’s muscles, curving and molding unwillingly against the rough stone floor, cried out in agony as he lay on his side. His cell was bleak and unforgiving and exactly what he deserved. But was it really his if whomever was running this place didn’t know he was there?

The guards hadn’t abducted him, like they did the other prisoners, and there were plenty of shadows to hide in. And with no one crying out for help or mercy or salvation, there was no reason for anyone to look inside to see him.

Lately, the prisoner population had started to dwindle - the guards were killing without replacing for some reason. The screams were starting to fade, and with no new stock brought in to replace them, Loki was growing accustomed to the ambient sounds of the dungeon.

Water seeped through the fractures in the stone and condensed along the iron bars of the door. And every falling drop punctuated another memory of another failure as it landed on the hard, cold floor. Jotunnheim. Thanos. Tesseract.

As soon as Loki had stepped through the Time Door, he could smell the snow and ice outside, in spite of the rust and decay inside. For a while he was afraid he’d somehow arrived on Jotunnheim, before he had unleashed the full power of the Bifrost on his ancestral home. Before he discovered what he truly was. Before he ruined everything.

Thor. Frigga. The Dark Elves.

But once Loki finally saw the guards running the dungeon - each one a different species he couldn’t place - he breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He wasn’t anywhere he’d ever heard of before, and it was likely that no one there had ever heard of him either. Thankfully the TemPad didn’t seem to possess the same kind of irony that everything else did.

He used to watch the guards from the shadows, as they dragged screaming and struggling prisoners to their cells and subsequently away again. Loki didn’t know who they were or what they wanted, and he couldn’t bring himself to care. There was nothing he could do to help; in fact, he’d probably just make it worse.

Asgard. Odin. Tesseract.

Occasionally he caught himself wondering if Heimdall, or anyone else back home, could see him now. He didn’t know where or when he was, and it was possible Asgard had already been destroyed during Ragnarok. It was just as possible that everyone he’d ever known simply didn’t exist yet. The TemPad he had stolen was surely dead by now, so there was no way for him to check the sequence he had typed in at random before coming here - and that had been the point.

TVA. He Who Remains. Tesseract.

It somehow always came back to the Tesseract, didn’t it? The most cursed object in the Nine Realms, but no better than a paperweight inside the Time Variance Authority. It had yanked him to and fro, from captor to abuser and back again, uncaring and inconsiderate as it helped them chip away at his own autonomy.

If only he had known the horrors the Tesseract would lead to. If only he’d been in a place where he felt strong and secure about himself before ever coming into contact with it, then a Space Stone wouldn’t have been necessary in the first place. But at least now he could take solace in the fact that he’d never have to see or hear about it ever again.

No one would ever know he was here. The stone and iron were keeping him safe from harm and absolved of choice, but even now, Loki considered his needs secondary to the bigger picture. The dungeon was the only way to stop him from causing more destruction and chaos and death. It was the only way to stop caring.

In fact, Loki cared so little that he was still wearing the TVA uniform. It was conspicuous, but as long as he stayed in the shadows, what would be the point of using magic to change his clothes? When the clothes could serve a larger purpose - a reminder of how much he’d failed.

A thousand days inside that button-up shirt, the frayed tie, the torn pants - each one stained with sweat and grime and blood. And who knew what condition his hair was in; it had definitely grown in his isolation, down past the grooves of his hollowed out collarbones. And then one day it just…stopped growing. A side-effect of the starvation, he supposed.

Another side-effect was the absence of his magic - he couldn’t feel it in his bones, or his heart, or his mind anymore. It had been a precious gift bestowed upon him by his mother, and now it was gone. But he wasn’t worthy of it anyway, and its departure just served as another impediment should he ever get the insane notion to attempt escape.

Logically, he knew there was no good reason to try running again; all that waited for him on the outside was more disappointment and failure. Everything he’d ever done, for better and for worse, had been the very definition of futile, and this was surely better than the alternative.

The one creature comfort Loki allowed himself was a cloak that must have belonged to a previous occupant of the cell, left behind somehow as they were dragged away to their doom. The cloak was as dark as night, and heavy enough to drown out the noises of tortured souls screaming in the distance. It smelled of decay, and the hems were torn and frayed, and it was exactly what he deserved.

He had pulled it over his head, and bunched it up between his neck and the stone into a makeshift pillow. Laying on his side, facing the rear wall of the cell, Loki had settled in for a long nap, and tried not to think about the kind of cruel end that must have come for its previous owner.

Loki hadn’t moved since then - curled up into himself, unable to differentiate between the nightmares and reality. Content to wither away in solitary confinement, where no one would ever know how he met his end.

He was used to being alone, but the isolation he experienced before had always been in spite of himself. He never meant to push people away, but it somehow became a habit, and then a necessity. The only difference between then and now was that he didn’t have to concern himself over what happened to anyone else anymore.

Except that obviously wasn’t true. There was still plenty to worry about, and Loki tried so hard to convince himself that he didn’t care anymore. Thanos, He Who Remains, the TVA - there were just too many dangers on the board, and they all led back to him.

In one way or another, Loki - or another version of him - was the only common element, the single being that every evil loved to curl its heinous claws around. He was the perfect instrument for malice - inherently broken, crushed at just the right pressure, burned at just the right temperature, and malleable enough to be used for nothing good.

So it was better for all if he stayed there, hidden in that dungeon on a mysterious planet, where not even he could fall prey to the illusion of choice anymore. Loki believed this arrangement was beneficial to everyone - there was nothing here for him to ruin, there were no wrong decisions to make, and nothing real was ever at stake.

There was no reason to charm, manipulate, or lie; no one to hurt, no one to lose, and no one to disappoint. And for the most part, Loki was finally at peace.

But occasionally, during the deepest and most frightening times of introspection, Loki would feel himself starting to yearn for something more. And unfortunately, the loneliest parts of his soul could never settle on a single need.

Sometimes it was companionship - the touch of anyone that had seen the worst parts of him, and still moved closer anyway. Other times, it was just a place to belong - where no one whispered behind his back, or criticized him right to his face.

And for the most part, he longed for the opportunity to just be. To just exist as himself.

But who was he? If he stripped himself down, if he somehow shed the veils of glorious purposes that were decided for him by his previous owners, then what was left of him?

Clinging to the notion of a throne was a lie. It was a facile explanation for his actions, because it was easier to hide under the guise of vanity rather than admit he didn’t know who he was. That he didn’t have anyone in his corner. That he couldn’t come to terms with being unable to figure himself out.

And if he couldn’t do that back on Asgard, as a Prince with everything going his way and cushioned with every advantage of being the son of the Throne, then all hope for him was lost. Which was exactly why he had let go of Odin’s spear in the first place - a decision that ultimately led to all of this.

It seemed like only yesterday he was hanging off the Bifrost with his older brother. Suspended over a wormhole caused by the Bifrost’s destruction, watching in quiet resignation as his father awoke from sleep to save his favorite heir from certain death, and shattering as Odin rejected Loki for the last time. At the time, falling into a wormhole was preferable than trying to come back from that.

So much had happened since then - none of it good, and all of it Loki’s fault. He didn’t swing the hammer, but he did set those events in motion while suffering the ill effects of wanting, needing, and longing. And even though no reasonable person could have expected anyone to shake off that same look of disappointment - so visceral and palpable - on their own father’s face, Loki still believed he was to blame for it all.

He often wondered, when he was too exhausted to push it back down, how Odin’s expression that night would compare to the one he’d have now. Loki was pathetic and broken, a complete and total failure, and drowning in loneliness on the floor of a cold and dirty dungeon cell.

This was certainly no place fit for a Prince, or a King; and yet even still, maybe Odin might be proud of him for finally making the right decision. Because while a Prince or a King may not belong there - the God of Mischief certainly did. It was a fitting end for him, because there was no way he was ever going to find anything good in that dungeon, and there was no way he was ever going to leave it either.

A familiar and long-forgotten sound drifted over Loki’s eardrums, rousing him from his self-loathing - laborious footsteps shuffling against the stone, metallic keys clinking together, and a surely unconscious body dragging across the floor.

It had been ages since he heard those noises. His eyelids drifted open and blinked once, twice, three times, as he waited for his pupils to dilate. And as the dungeon guards unlocked the door to his cell, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

Norns, no. Please, not another one…

Loki’s heart sank as the door swung open, creaking and groaning before crashing against the metal bars on the other side of itself. It echoed wildly throughout the chamber, and he remained frozen and unmoving as the guards dragged the stranger inside.

“Unwrap these chains. Quickly,” the higher-ranking guard ordered, his voice blunt and disdainful as he shuffled around the room. “When was the last time you rüzdæts cleaned out these cells?!”

Loki’s jaw set in place as he lay still, buried and hidden under the cloak in the shadows, even as the guard moved closer. What would he do if they discovered him now? Would he fight back, or would he just allow them to torture him too? Loki didn’t want to have to think about it.

“Are you sure we’re supposed to bring her in here?” The second guard’s voice was much more timid and unsure of himself, like it was his very first day working in a torture dungeon.

“For the last time, Orfeo - yes, this is where she’s supposed to be! Now hurry up!”

Loki could sense the guard’s trepidation even as he unshackled the newest prisoner. He’d never heard any of the guards questioning themselves before, and it was oddly unsettling.“I don’t know, this feels like…kánslha. We shouldn’t be doing this…”

The first guard, the one more sure of himself, continued snapping at the other. Telling him to just do as he was instructed, asking him if he still believed in their cause. Reminding him of what would happen should he suddenly have a change of heart.

Loki had never asked for much - just to be left alone. But it had never been given to him freely; he had to take it instead, and apparently he wasn’t allowed to even hold on to it for very long. He could feel the adrenaline start to rise in his body - his hands clenching, his muscles starting to come back to life.

There was no telling why she was supposed to be in that specific cell, or what their “cause” actually was. Loki had never paid any attention to them before; but now his curiosity was piqued, and he absolutely hated it.

Silence was worth fighting for, wasn’t it? Even if fighting meant revealing his very presence? But once he did that, once he crossed that line, he wouldn’t be able to stop until every single one of them was dead…

No. Stop. This is still suffering. Let it go…

As Loki attempted to calm himself back down, the guards finally took their leave, bickering and arguing as they relocked the door and their footsteps faded away. Silence descended upon him again, and Loki held his breath as he tried to listen for any signs of life coming from his new cell mate.

Her own breath was light, faint, fleeting. Loki almost felt sorry for her, much to his own chagrin. He didn’t want to care, because caring led to compassion, and empathy, and trust, and every other good feeling that inevitably led to more pain.

And maybe she deserved to be there, or maybe she didn’t. Loki couldn’t let that be his problem; not when he had enough of his own.

Even so, Loki was curious to see her - the one somehow important enough to make a guard question himself. To make Loki question himself - to make him consider disclosing his presence, even if it was just to kill every guard in that place in the name of silence.

Slowly and quietly, Loki tried to push himself upright. But his muscles, stiff and hardened from such little use, refused to cooperate. It was a struggle to move without grunting, and thus revealing, that someone else was still alive in that cell.

Finally, he managed to roll himself onto his back, landing against the floor with a groan. Loki had forgotten about the harness still strapped to his back, and his muscles screamed as they stretched around the stiff leather underneath him. He froze, biting his tongue as he waited to see if there would be a reaction from her. And when none came, he slowly turned his head to look.

A woman laid unconscious across from him on the floor. Twisted on her side, her face dirty and blood, her long and crimson hair woven into a tangled braid. Like Loki, she wore a dark cloak, and like Loki, she looked broken.

And despite the dried blood and the bruises starting to form on her skin already, she was beautiful. Even Loki couldn’t deny that. But was that enough to explain why the guards were behaving so strangely about her? No, there had to be more to it than that.

She resembled the mortals on Midgard, more so than the guards did, but that didn’t necessarily mean that she was human, or that Loki had been on Midgard all along. It didn’t mean anything; it just created more questions. The intricacies of traveling through both time and space were already complicated enough, and then adding in the context of his destination being a mystery even to himself…

Just as he realized how far his mind had wandered, her fingers twitched, and his eyes snapped back into focus. The woman was starting to wake up, and he was staring right at her - exposed, and vulnerable, and wondering.

She let out a soft groan, and Loki quickly turned back onto his side, facing the rear wall again as he silently cursed to himself. None of his questions would matter in the end; even if she woke up, she was already dead.

Loki swore he wasn’t going to get involved with anyone else ever again. He was already committed to doing nothing, especially for strangers.

And he had spent the last thousand days doing nothing. How hard could another three or four be?

⊱ ─ ༓ ── ⋅•⋅⊰ ─  ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ∙ ⋅  ─ ⊱⋅•⋅ ── ༓ ─ ⊰

Prologue / TLTGYA Masterlist / A03 Link / Next Chapter

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[kozachenko]

I feel like that talk of yours was amazing. I just want to add one character who I feel represents Gensokyo as a whole, both in bad and in good: Mamizou Futatsuiwa. I've been insulting Mamizou constantly, calling her a crook, a backstabber, a robber. While admittedly most of that isn't WRONG, one line of Doremy Sweet's can kinda show some insight into her character that she herself probably doesn't think of:

"In your dreams, you seem to be terrified of humans. Are you scared of the ones in the outside world?"

Mamizou is actually traumatized to some extent from the condition of tanuki in the outside world. Her friends and family, probably hunted for their pelts, displaced from their homes. Yet, in Gensokyo, she's the one calling the shots. She lives in such comfort that she fears almost NOTHING, let alone Reimu, or any of the sages.

And, regarding Gensokyo not being grimdark, even with its flaws: remember that Mamizou hasn't killed anyone. Fortune Teller sticks out so much because a character with a defined personality DYING is so bizarre in this series, and for not much reason.

That's probably the reason why Mamizou played such a huge role in Forbidden Scrollery and why she was so important to Kosuzu's character in that manga. Mamizou is the embodiment of Gensokyo. She's someone who has been helped out immensely by Gensokyo's existence, but she's also one of the people keeping corrupting the system and making it a living nightmare for those who are outside of it. As for why the Fortune Teller died, I definitely feel like he was there to show the extremes Reimu is willing to go to to keep Gensokyo in balance. It sticks out so much simply because it's the most straightforward way of telling us who Reimu is, as previously we've only heard other characters talk about how Reimu can be pretty ruthless but we've never actually seen it. It's weird to the audience because we're simply not used to seeing Reimu's more ruthless side. I'd say I wished this got explored more, but if we had too many of these types of scenes in the series, it would diminish the impact of that first moment. I do think there could be more moments like these in the series when appropriate for the narrative of course.

It is really interesting how neither side in Gensokyo, human or Youkai, is 100% evil or 100% good. They're both sympathetic considering the circumstances. I find that it makes many of the characters on both sides more nuanced than just a clear "good and bad." Not even touching upon the gods which is an entirely separate rabbit hole that I won't get into right now because it'll take too long lol.

[tokillamockingbird427]

first of all happy pri(de mon)th

second of all I posted this on my blog but no one saw it so alas here I am

chronically online logan and kick who are close enough in age but occupy completely different spaces on the Internet. kick is into top 20 most DANGEROUS PLACES, looking for ghosts at 3 AM and he does know the skibidi toilet lore. he's not gonna use it for anything but it's up there. and logan is participating in fandom discourse on forums and telling people to kys over it (hesh finds out and logan is in tears begging him to not tell elias) (little does logan know hesh is an anime fan and can't blow his cover) he likes dbz and the typical shounen stuff but likes slice of life animes more than he cares too admit bcs they usually have an animal side characters. he also had a "concerning shojo" phase I will not elaborate and he likes horror as an adult but doesn't watch it often bcs he doesn't wanna scare logan (logans fine hesh is just babying him)

-angel :] decided to go non anon

CHRONICALLY ONLINE

Kick 100% used Randonautica at some point. (That one "Random locations" app that blew up a while back.) Also 100% watched those "Exploring abandoned mall at 3AM! (WE GOT CHASED OUT!!)" vids that were popular before then. (Shout out to anyone who watched Sam and Colby.) Kick knows the lore but doesn't use it for good or evil; Simply possesses it.

FANDOM DISCOURSE..... real. "Don't tell dad!!!" "You swatted someone because they said your otp wasn't canon." "IT'S FANDOM, THE POINT IS TO MAKE SHIT UP.... Also you're way too familiar with saying "otp" David." "Uh..." *nervous sweating* (Hesh should have never showed his brother how to find someone's address.)

Hesh "Anime Lover" headcanoners RISE!!! "shounen" Oh I know this mf watched Nauruto. (QUICK IMAGINE HESH NAURUTO RUNNING!!!) Young David was just covering all his bases dw dw. I think even alongside everything else he'd really enjoy the big ones like The Vinland Saga and Beserk. He is Guts fr fr. (Fun fact: I aspire write Logan like Thorfinn is written. Not that I've read a lot; But what I've seen seems very promising.)

(At some point Logan and Hesh got into an anonymous back and forth on a fandom they intersected on and neither of them know it was each other to this day.)

Off anon pog