#ultimately did not affect the plot at all

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Did you read the Adjudicator's backstory that the Director/people from the show talked about? And that apparently they decided not to have anyone mention it on the show because it would make the audience sympathise too much with her? It makes zero sense at all. Rats ate her mouth when she was a baby because of her mother's neglect? This probably around the 1930s and she survived? And learned to talk and everything like nothing happened? Those scars don't even look like rat bites to begging with

I haven't, but I mean. That's all well and good, but it's literally extracanonical and therefore doesn't count? And to further disparage the creators-- if they were worried about making her too sympathetic, they a) did a huge disservice to Katie McGrath's ability to act absolutely reprehensible, and b) did us meme-knowers a huge injustice by assuming we wouldn't gleefully ascribe to the "cool backstory, still murder" gif.

And also, why does she need to be non-sympathetic? She wasn't our villain. Or any villain, really. She didn't actually do anything except get under Mel Gibson's skin, so obviously we were going to eat her up anyway.

I also want to point out that if the creators had this backstory, and it's cool-slash-important enough for the creators to talk about it with fans-- they should have put it in the FUCKING show. Releasing it as twitter bonus content is a real dick move.

Sounds like a whole steaming pile of male-creator bullshit if you ask me.

[lloydfrontera]

tfw when you write an entire novel with two protagonists that spent the entire plot getting closer to each other, becoming best friends and eventually both of them deciding they would rather die than allow the other to not live a long, fulfilling life, their friendship carrying most of the emotional weight of the entire plot and the emotional climax being one of them sacrificing his life so the other can live and then the other crossing literal universes to find him, a tearful smile in his face as he confesses how much he missed him. which is the scene you wanted to write and show the most because, again, this is the pay off to the slowburn you've been writing in the entire novel and what everything has been building up to since the very first chapter. and then you end the novel by having them share a smile, finally confident they'll be able to have a happy future.

but you also just gotta have one of them marry offscreen because everyone knows you can't be happy if you're not in a het marriage with kids lmao it's whatever it's okay i'm fiNE-

[wonder-worker]

"Among their complaints [in 1460, the Yorkists] specifically blamed the earls of Wiltshire and Shrewsbury and Viscount Beaumont for ‘stirring’ the king [Henry VI] to hold a parliament at Coventry that would attaint them and for keeping them from the king’s presence and likely mercy, asserting that this was done against [the king's] will. To this they added the charge that these evil counselors were also tyrannizing other true men* without the king’s knowledge. Such claims of malfeasance obliquely raised the question of Henry’s fitness as a king, for how could he be deemed competent if such things happened without his knowledge and against his wishes? They also tied in rumors circulating somewhat earlier in the southern counties and likely to have originated in Calais that Henry was really ‘good and gracious Lord to the [Yorkists] since, it was alleged, he had not known of or assented to their attainders. On 11 June the king was compelled to issue a proclamation stating that they were indeed traitors and that assertions to the contrary were to be ignored." - Helen Maurer, "Margaret of Anjou: "Queenship and Power in Late Medieval England"

Three things that we can surmise from this:

We know where the "Henry was an innocent helpless king being controlled and manipulated by his Evil™ advisors" rhetoric came from**.

The Yorkists were deliberately trying to downplay Henry VI's actual role and involvement in politics and the Wars of the Roses. They cast him as a "statue of a king", blamed all royal policies and decisions on others*** (claiming that Henry wasn't even aware of them), and framed themselves as righteous and misunderstood counselors who remained loyal to the crown. We should keep this in mind when we look at chronicles' comments of Henry's alleged passivity and the so-called "role reversal" between him and Queen Margaret.

Henry VI's actual agency and involvement is nevertheless proven by his own actions. We know what he thought of the Yorkists, and we know he took the effort to publicly counter their claims through a proclamation of his own. That speaks louder than the politically motivated narrative of his enemies, don't you think?

*There was some truth to these criticisms. For example, Wiltshire (ie: one of the men named in the pamphlet) was reportedly involved in a horrible situation in June which included hangings and imprisonments for tax resistance in Newbury. The best propagandists always contain a degree of truth, etc. **I've seen some theories on why Margaret of Anjou wasn't mentioned in these pamphlets alongside the others even though she was clearly being vilified during that time as well, and honestly, I think those speculations are mostly unnecessary. Margaret was absent because it was regarded as very unseemly to target queens in such an officially public manner. We see a similar situation a decade later: Elizabeth Woodville was vilified and her whole family - popularly and administratively known as "the queen's kin" - was disparaged in Warwick and Clarence's pamphlets. This would have inevitably associated her with their official complaints far more than Margaret had been, but she was also not directly mentioned. It was simply not considered appropriate. ***This narrative was begun by the Duke of York & Warwick and was - demonstrably - already widespread by the end of 1460. When Edward IV came to power, there seems to have been a slight shift in how he spoke of Henry (he referred to Henry as their "great enemy and adversary"; his envoys were clearly willing to acknowledge Henry's role in Lancastrian resistance to Yorkist rule; etc), but he nevertheless continued the former narrative for the most part. I think this was because 1) it was already well-established and widespread by his father, and 2) downplaying Henry's authority would have served to emphasize Edward's own kingship, which was probably advantageous for a usurper whose deposed rival was still alive and out of reach. In some sense, the Lancastrians did the same thing with their own propaganda across the 1460s, which was clearly not as effective in terms of garnering support and is too long to get into right now, but was still very relevant when it came to emphasizing their own right to the throne while disparaging the Yorkists' claim.

[tayraedoll]

Mine for the Taking

Yandere Alastor in rut with innocent reader. Alastor is a manipulative shit and you are all too trusting. 18+ MDNI

Part 2

Word count: 3301

TW: Alastor is his own warning, breeding kink, creampie, scent marking, mating cycles, p in v intercourse, possessive Alastor, oral (fem receiving), blood, pregnancy trapping, manipulation, one swear word I think?

Alastor has a plan for you. You do not know it yet, but YOU. ARE.HIS.

You have been his ever since you stepped foot in the hotel all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. You were newly spawned in Hell, Charlie found you in an alleyway scared and all alone so she immediately gave you refuge at her hotel. And how could she not? You were so sweet and so vulnerable, a complete enigma in Hell. Charlie was certain you would be quick to redeem. Too bad Alastor will never let them happen.

He has been completely enraptured with you since your first meeting. For one, you were a little doe which was a rarity in Hell. But it was your aura of pure innocence that ultimately drew him in. There was no reason for someone like you to have ended up in Hell, you committed no sins in your life. For Alastor, that left just one explanation for your damnation- you were sent here to be his.

Alastor has been in hell for nearly a century; in that time he has acquired status, power, and wealth. For a time, these things were enough to make him happy. But as the years drew on, he started to become quite lonely though he would never admit it aloud. Loneliness was a weakness, he vowed to never feel such a pathetic emotion; but the loneliness crept up on him slowly until it infiltrated his mind every time he found himself without company. At first, he visited Rosie to quell the thirst for companionship and that worked for a while. But overtime even his best companion could not relieve the ache in his heart. The hotel residents did little to provide any solace for him, in fact he could barely stand being around most of them for long. Until you joined their ranks.

With you, Alastor was finally freed from the constant pang in his chest. You immediately accepted him as he was- never casting any judgement on his dark deeds despite what the other hotel residents told you. In fact, you never spoke ill of anyone. You were just too good for Hell, and he will do anything to protect that innocence.

Alastor started bonding with you over books, often catching you in the library. Soon, it became a routine to spend quiet evenings together discussing your favorite stories. That is where he learned of your passion for knowledge, so eager to learn everything you could about anything and everything. This was a quality he admired but also became troublesome for him. You were eager to learn about your deer form, wanting to know how the animal aspect of your being would affect you going forward. When he caught you looking for books on the subject he was immediately irritated that you would not just come to him for the answers you sought. So in retribution for your unwitting transgression he got rid of every book about all cervid forms in hell. He wanted all your knowledge about yourself to come from him, and there were certain parts he wanted to remain hidden.

The demon buck did not tell you about the mating season, did not explain that you would go into heat and he a rut. This gap in your knowledge was by his design. He wanted to ensure there was no way for you to prepare yourself for the season, he meticulously plotted to make you his and it would be tremendously less dramatic if you were unaware of the consequences of what that entailed.

Now, finally, the mating season was upon you both. Alastor could feel the early signs of his rut, made more obvious to him due to the presence of a doe he wished to court. He'd scoured several trees in his bayou, getting all the velvet off his antlers and marking his territory, and he was feeling more aggressive. Just the other day he nearly skewered Angel Dust on a tentacle for a crude remark made in your presence. But the most telltale sign of his upcoming rut was the constant need to be around you, to both protect you from potential threats and ensure that potential competition knew you were spoken for. The moment you showed signs of estrus he would put his plan into action.

Alastor made his way to the kitchen early in the morning to make breakfast for everyone. He had carefully put together a fat and carb-rich meal for you knowing that is what you will crave as your body prepares for breeding and pregnancy. He was just finishing buttering your toast when you entered the kitchen.

"Good morning Al!", you say in your cheery, upbeat tone.

"Good morning Darling! How are you on this lovely day?", he responds as he hands the plate over to you, looking you over as he does so for any sign of change in your usual demeanor.

"Doing well. Thank you for breakfast, I am starved this morning!", you reply as you eagerly dig into the food. 'An increased appetite is a good sign',he notes mentally.

"Ah! Always happy to provide My Dear! Do let me know if you require anything else." You spend the rest of breakfast making small talk until he has to start his duties as hotelier. Before he leaves, however, he orders his shadow to stay close to you and let him know what other changes are seen throughout the day.

The morning passed silently, but come afternoon, his shadow finally reported back to him. You were in the main living area participating in Charlie's trust exercises, but you were obviously distracted and restless. Your leg kept bouncing under you, your ears constantly swiveling around at the smallest sounds, and you were having a hard time paying attention to what the others were saying. You also frequently excused yourself to use the restroom and that got progressively worse throughout the day. Normally, you would join the others at the bar for a drink after the activities concluded, but today you excused yourself saying you wanted some alone time. Alastor jumped out of his seat- restlessness, isolation, and frequent urination were telltale signs of a doe in heat. You were ready, it was time to make his move.

The demon buck shadowed away to your room and used his mic to tap on the door. The moment you opened the door all his suspicions were confirmed. You smelled absolutely divine; honey-lemon and cedarwood invaded his nostrils and he flared them, taking a deep breath that caused the sweet scent to go straight to his cock as it twitched. He cared not for formalities or manners as he pushed passed you into your room. Scanning the area, he noticed that you had made a nest using blankets and pillows in the space between your bed and the wall; the final box ticked on the list of doe in estrus behaviors- bedding in unusual places.

"Can I help you Alastor? I'm sorry, I am not feeling well and I do not want to get you sick", you look up at him with your beautiful, large doe eyes.

"Yes, my dear, you can help me. In fact, you are the only one who can", he speaks slowly, setting his trap. You are a people-pleaser, always eager to help others out and putting your own needs on a backburner. How easy it is to use that delightful little quality against you.

"What is it Al? What do you need?" you plead, desperately wanting to help your friend.

Alastor paused for a bit, formulating the best way to pose his request as he slowly untied his bowtie to better let his pheromones invade your space. "Will you let me protect you Little One?"

"Huh?" you furrowed your brow in confusion, your body subconsciously leaning forward to get a better whiff of him.

The buck began to circle you slowly, starting with wide circles that gradually got smaller with each pass so he slowly go closer to you. "My sweet doe, that feeling you currently have- that hunger in your belly, that dizziness in your head- it's because you are in heat; just like all little does like you are this time of year. I did not tell you about it because I did not want to alarm you, I was not certain the extent of which you would be affected. But with your heat, you are extremely vulnerable. There are many brutish bucks out there who would just love to take advantage of you in this state", he stops in front of you and holds your cheek tenderly in one hand. Your heart is pounding, your large eyes fixed on him with a hint of fear in their depths as you lean into his gentle caress. "I would never forgive myself if something happened to you; you are much too precious to me and everyone else here. It would make me feel better if you would allow me to be your protector. I'd never let anyone harm you, I swear it." To drive his sentiment home his other hand came up to cup your other cheek as he leans his forehead against yours in a soothing and intimate display of affection.

His proximity and unexpected admission left you dizzy. He smelled so good, musky and savory like moss and spice, and you were starting to hope his hands would wander elsewhere on your body. You were suddenly surrounded by him and yet not consumed by him enough. "Yes, please be my protector Alastor. You are the only one I trust to keep me safe", you say as you raise your hands to his wrists and grasp them like a lifeline.

His smile widens, he has you exactly where he wants you. His victory is so close he can taste it. "Seal it with a deal Mon Cher, it is the best way. Through a soul bond I will always be able to find you, help you whenever you are in need." He stands up straight again and places a finger under your chin to lift your face to his. "I promise to take good care of it, to take good care of you." He extends his hand out slowly, as if moving too fast would frighten you away. You do not even hesitate, taking his hand immediately as if selling your soul was the easiest thing you would ever do.

"It's a deal." There is a brief flash of green, Alastor's smile is so wide it threatens to burst at the seams.

"Lovely!", the demon replies as he shadow portals you both to his own room. "Now, how about a drink to celebrate this new union?" He takes a bottle of red wine off a shelf at his desk and conjures two wine glasses. "I have been saving this little beauty for a special occasion. 1982 Chateau Lafite Rothschild Premier Cru Classe, one of the best from Bordeaux, France." He poured the wine out and handed you a glass. You thanked him and sipped it eagerly, it tasted like berries and currants and had a smoky, cigar smell. If Alastor were a wine, you were sure this would be it. You hummed in approval and drank your glass eagerly, completely unaware of the crimson irises that watched you intently.

You set your emptied glass on the table and studied the decor in the room, most notably the alligator skeleton hung on the wall. When you turn back around Alastor is right behind you; you gasp, not having heard him approach. His scent invades you senses again and heat starts to pool in your belly as your mind gets fuzzy. Before you even know what you are doing you have placed your hand on his chest, playing with his shirt buttons. He cups your cheek again, and leans in to capture your lips with his in a heated kiss.

The kiss is your undoing, as you wrap your arms around the much taller demons neck, letting out a lewd moan. You need more, you feel the need to be absolutely devoured by him. He runs his hands down your back, over the swell of your ass, and along the backs of your thighs where he hooks them over his hips. You clasp your ankles together around him as he carries you over to the bed.

He deposits you gently on the mattress and follows you down, keeping his weight on his forearms on either side of you. Alastor breaks the kiss to begin trailing his lips down your throat, burying his nose and inhaling deeply at the sensitive patch of skin right below your ear. A deep growl rips up from his chest that makes you shudder underneath him, goosebumps raising all along your skin.

Propping himself up on one arm, he trails his free hand down your body, cupping your breast through your shirt momentarily before moving his hand beneath your shirt. He gently tickles the soft, sensitive skin of your belly with his claws before grasping your fleshly mounds again, earning himself a whine from you as you begin to grind your hips up into him.

Unsatisfied with the lack of skin contact, he uses his claws to slice straight through your shirt and bra in one motion before snapping his own jacket and shirt away. You take a moment to admire the little tuft of fur on his chest, running your fingers through its silken layers before he leans down and captures one nipple in his mouth. You whine and squeeze his head in your arms, his fingers tweaking the other nipple. "Such a pretty little doe, behaving so well for me. Tell me, Mon Cher, what is it that you want?"

"I want you to touch me please", you whine desperately, face heating up slightly.

Alastor chuckles,"I am touching you! Is this all you want?" He rubs his thumbs over your nipples in slow, deliberate circles. You can feel the sensation down in your core.

"No, I want you to touch me...lower", you are gasping by this point, face red with embarrassment.

"Use your words Mon Cher, where exactly do you want me to touch you?", he teasingly runs a finger down your abdomen, stopping at the waistband on your sweatpants.

"I...I want you to touch my clit, and stick your fingers inside my pussy!", you spit out as fast as you can and hide your face behind your arms.

"My my Mon Cher! How delightfully vulgar! Such a good girl, and good girls get exactly what they want." He moves your arms from your face. "Eyes on me darling, do not look away. Think you can handle that?"

You nod and rest your hands above your head as Alastor swiftly removes your pants and panties in one swipe. You fight the urge to cross your legs, as if hearing your thoughts Alastor wraps his arms around your thighs and pins them to the bed with your already dripping cunt bared to him. Your face heats up as you watch him stare at your core for a moment before he plants sloppy, wet kisses up your inner thigh. Without warning he bites down on the sensitive flesh, eliciting a scream from you as you clench your eyes shut from the potent pain and pleasure cocktail.

Alastor immediately lets go of your thigh and growls out "Open your eyes!" With a bit of effort, you manage to open your eyes again and lock onto his wild, carmine gaze. Satisfied with your compliance, he gently laps at the wound to soothe it and clean up the droplets of blood that pooled there before dragging his tongue north where you wanted him. Your heart was beating so erratically you thought you were having a heart attack.

You squeal the second his tongue connects with your puffy clit, your legs trying to clamp shut but being unable to move due to Alastor's weight on your thighs. You do not dare look away from the man, afraid of what he would do should you earn his ire. He eats you out like it is his last meal, alternating between circling and sucking your clit before plunging his long, hot tongue into your depths. You tremble within his arms, the coil in your belly tightening faster than you ever thought possible. Your enhanced senses pick up every lewd, wet sound, the smell of your own arousal, and the site of his tongue disappearing into your folds. It was all too much, the coil snapped with a force that made your body fold at the waist as your shoulders shot off the mattress; your throat let out a strangled scream of his name.

The demon buck does not give you a second to recover as he climbs back over you, pushing you back into the mattress. His lips claim yours, making you taste your own bodily nectar as he unbuckles his belt and removes his trousers. Before you even realize that he was aligned with your entrance he was pushing into you earning another gasp from your lips that he greedily swallows. He gives you minimal time to adjust before he grunts and begins thrusting into you at a punishing pace. He pulls away from your lips to rub his cheeks along yours, the sensation making you melt into the mattress as his pheromones overtake your mind.

"Tell me you're mine. Whose doe are you?! Tell me!!", he snarls into your ear.

"Yours, I'm all yours Alastor. I'll only ever belong to you!", you cry out as tears begin streaming down your face. Your admission earns you his fingers playing with your clit again, sending you hurtling towards the edge again.

"Look at you, so perfect on my cock. I am going to claim this pussy in every way possible. Your womb is mine to fill with MY seed. You will make the perfect mother to my fawns." His pace turns sloppy as you clench hard around his shaft, your mind too fucked out to comprehend his words as you moan underneath him. Your nails rake down his back, raising angry lines along the contours of his musculature. His thumb presses hard into your clit, riding the edge between pleasure and pain. By this point your whole body was vibrating, every nerve ending lit up in white hot pleasure. "Cum for me Mon Cher. Cum for me and take my seed and don't you dare waste a drop!"

His words were your undoing, like the obedient little doe you were you came hard around him. With one final, powerful thrust he painted your walls white with his spend; your cunt avariciously drank his seed up.

Alastor collapsed on top of you, not daring to pull out yet. He meant it when he said not to waste a drop of his spend. He peppered tender kisses along your face and forehead as you started drifting off, utterly exhausted and fully sated.

As you fell into unconsciousness, Alastor lifted your hips and placed a pillow under them to prevent gravity from pulling his seed from your womb. Once he was satisfied with the angle he finally pulled out. He gave you one, final kiss on your forehead whispering "Mon Cher, sweet mama to my future fawns, I will never allow us to be parted." He nestled in next to you, placing a protective hand over your womb.

There was one detail you were wholly unaware of. Unbeknownst to you, the wine Alastor shared with you was laced with a potion; the same exact potion that allowed Lilith- a human sinner- to conceive Charlie.

Alastor was not a praying man, but that night he called on all the powers that be for his seed to take hold in your freshly fertile womb.

@stattikdemon

Thanks for being patient with me on this one!

[the-crooked-library]

Creative Lineage - Dracula, Orlok, and the others

Here's the thing: the relationship between Nosferatu and Dracula is incredibly interesting - especially considering that Nosferatu (1922) was based on Dracula the book (1897), and most subsequent visual adaptations of Dracula for some reason used aspects of that film as inspiration, instead of adapting the original novel directly. As a result, there have always been endless comparisons between the two; but, in light of our most recent Nosferatu (2024), I must expand on what I personally think is their most significant (in regards to both plot development and analysis) difference.

TL;DR: it's characters. The main source of divergences between Dracula and Nosferatu is that these stories consist of vastly dissimilar characters, stuck in relatively similar situations.

I could go into heavy detail, and I will - under the cut, for the sake of all our dashboards.

At first glance, the stories of Dracula and Nosferatu are almost identical. The beginning sections follow the same essential plot beats - a young, newlywed solicitor travels to a creepy castle in Eastern Europe to assist a reclusive Count in his immigration to the West. This Count is, in fact, a vampire (otherwise known as a nosferatu), and terrorizes the young man for weeks, before departing and leaving him imprisoned; the solicitor escapes, is rescued from the wilderness by a nunnery, and returns home - where the Count has already begun his murderous process of settling in.

Here, in my opinion, is where the similarities end.

The key to understanding Nosferatu is remembering that Orlok is not Dracula; Thomas is not Jonathan; Ellen is not Mina, and so forth; and despite the mutual inspirations that affect each film adaptation of either story, the characters never react to the plot as a viewer would expect, if their precursory experience has been limited to only one or the other version.

Naturally, there are reasons for the continued addition of Nosferatu elements to Dracula adaptations. The most prominent of them is that, quite simply, audiences enjoy a fated, dangerous, inadvisable monster romance. By and large, we are titillated by the taboo; and - without adapting Le Fanu's Carmilla (1872), or adding a vampiric element to an adaptation of Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera (1910), or expanding on the queer elements of Jonathan Harker's sojourn in Transylvania - the easiest piece of classic media to sample for this sort of theme is Nosferatu (1922).

The 1922 film was, in a sense, an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula (at least, enough to get the creators sued by his estate). In its efforts to circumvent copyright laws, it plays fast and loose with Stoker's lore and characters, renaming the Harkers, the Count, and everyone else - and, crucially, adding an element of erotic fixation that the vampire develops upon seeing a portrait of his solicitor's young wife. While still overseas, he builds a psychic connection with the melancholy and sensitive Ellen; it is both horrifying and sensual, and ultimately what she uses to destroy him - sacrificing her own blood and life to keep him out of his coffin until cock-crow. Ellen dies, but the sunlight annihilates Count Orlok, and the ending is a bittersweet new dawn.

This fixated, possessive, murderous eroticism (first displayed in its currently recognizable form by Carmilla) has become a cornerstone of the vampire genre. Elements of it are recognizable even in relatively modern media like Interview with the Vampire, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight, as well as numerous Dracula adaptations (of which the 1992 Coppola film might be the most well-known); it is even present in other, indirect offshoots like NBC's Hannibal TV series. It is, therefore, essential to note that these overtones did not exist in the same way in Dracula the novel; and the reason for that is, specifically, a difference in character.

Count Dracula, while dangerous, vampiric, and psychic, does not possess that same singular fascination with any given character in Stoker's book (save perhaps for Jonathan Harker, temporarily). He does drain Lucy night after night, and his method of killing, like with all vampires of his type, is allegorically sexual; but it isn't personal. She keeps receiving blood transfusions - effectively, refills!.. Other than her blood, he has little interest in her. He has companionship enough already - after all, he lives with three female vampires, who may be courtesans or wives, but are colloquially referred to as Vampire Brides; and, additionally, he maintains ongoing communication with some of the people and animals that live on his land. As such, when he does bite Jonathan's wife Mina, it is a practical decision - made in order to establish a potential spy in a group of people who appear to be intent on hunting him down.

Similarly, Mina herself - despite the usual characterization of her film portrayals, which are in many ways epitomized by Coppola's 1992 version - was not originally a vulnerable maiden. She is confident and educated, she has worked for a living as an educator prior to her marriage, and she knows how to use a typewriter as well as shorthand. She has no emotional connection to Dracula whatsoever beyond pure incandescent hatred; and, frankly, forcing her into any sort of romance with him is deeply inaccurate to her character - because Mina Harker is endlessly in love with her husband Jonathan.

They may be on the lower end of middle-class, but relatively stable and planning a life together - not only as husband and wife, but as solicitor and secretary, as well. It's as close to a power couple as a novel from the 1890s will approach.

This is not the case for Ellen Hutter, largely because her social circumstances are far more precarious.

Unlike Mina, she has been forcibly isolated for the majority of her life. In that, she is yet another in the line of tragic madwomen of the gothic genre - mostly due to her eccentricities and her psychic gift, which (as the Eggers version specifies) manifested early in her childhood and became socially inexcusable during her teenage years, much like any real-world form of neurodivergence. It is implied that she has been institutionalized at some point as a result; and even prior to that, her father kept her confined indoors and away from other people in efforts to control her.

This isolation is what originally leads to her connection with Orlok - who was woken from his centuries-long deathlike sleep when he heard her reaching out into the ether, begging for a friend. Then, later in her life, the same circumstances unfortunately have a direct effect on her relationship with her husband Thomas, too; while she is attached to him, she cannot ignore that she is also utterly dependent on him as her ticket to a stable life, as well as out from under her father's thumb. Again, unlike Mina, she has no marketable skills or opportunities outside of this marriage; and while Thomas never shames her for her past, he still pressures her to ignore and repress it. The manifestations of her psychic ability concern, then unsettle, then frighten him - and, ultimately, there is a transactional aspect to their union. Thomas expects himself to move ahead in the world, like his friend Friedrich; and Ellen is expected to eventually become normal. She is expected to become a happy, pretty wife and mother like Anna Harding - because, while Thomas cares for her and fully intends to provide for her, he refuses to actually understand her.

Furthermore, it must be noted that leaving her father's estate for her husband's house did not entirely save Ellen from her isolation. Unlike Mina, she has no real friends of her own. Her only friend in the 2024 film is Anna, her husband's best friend's wife; and in the 1922 original, even that tentative affection is unclear. As such, Orlok remains the only character that truly knows and accepts her as she is - which inevitably complicates their dynamic.

While Orlok is, by his own admission, incapable of a human love, he is overwhelmingly and exclusively obsessed with Ellen. Unlike Dracula, who even in death keeps the company of his women and his people, Orlok exists in utter solitude. Prior to his death, he was also heavily avoided due to his being in "covenant with the devil." The 2024 film especially makes it clear that Ellen's call, which woke him from his slumber, is exceptional; their connection is intensely personal, and it is as close to love as he can ever feel.

This aspect of the vampire's characterization fundamentally alters the context of his behaviour throughout the film. While Dracula moved to England in search of new hunting grounds and little else, Orlok goes to Germany specifically to find Ellen. By marrying Thomas Hutter, she broke the covenant she made with Orlok in her youth; thus, knowing that his claim has been infringed upon, the Count makes contact with Hutter's real estate law firm, summons him to the Carpathians, crosses the sea, and arrives to Wisborg as a physical manifestation of every dark urge and ability she has been attempting to repress. He torments her husband, tricks him into signing a marriage annulment, plagues the city, and murders the Hardings - all of it for her. She is his unique and all-consuming motivation. Again and again, he insists upon their covenant, reminding her that she has never truly belonged to the human world, and he is not incorrect in his assessment. Ellen's surrounding society infantilizes and binds her, often literally. She has nothing to lose by leaving it, except for her own sense of morality; and that is why Orlok, who represents her own abnormality, remains a beautiful, nightmarish temptation.

The other characters diverge from Stoker's just as much.

Thomas Hutter has little in common with Jonathan Harker beyond his choice in career and his time at a vampire's castle. Despite his careful attachment to his wife, he does not actually take her opinions into consideration when he plans their life - he prioritizes his social and financial advancements, which are of no interest to her, and which he sees as his duties to her and to himself; and, when she exhibits any of her unusual or melancholic traits, he does his best to try and move past them as quickly as possible. He does not experience the same attraction to the horror that she does; he cannot bring himself to understand it; and both in 1922 and in 2024, he is also largely oblivious to her eccentricities, gifting her flowers despite the fact that she does not like to see them picked and dying in a vase. That is a far cry from Jonathan - who knows his wife's love of train schedules, who is practicing shorthand with her, and who is willing to join her in cursed, godforsaken undeath when faced with the possibility of her turning. Ultimately, Thomas exists too firmly within the same societal constraints that Ellen abhors, and their relationship has none of the foundation that is unshakably shared by Jonathan and Mina.

At the same time, while the Anna is a parallel to Lucy, and her husband is a corresponding Arthur, the Hardings (once again) have no particular commonality with them. Their characterization remains undeveloped in the original 1922 film - and while Eggers does grant them some definition, it is still in no way similar to Stoker's.

Stoker's Lucy is a charming, cheerful, flirty, and a little coquettish young girl; she exists on the cusp of womanhood and marriage, and her pre-vampire arc revolves around her choice between three almost-equally delightful suitors. She adores and idolizes Mina, she is childishly excited about her future; and in these things, she is very different from Anna, who is already married, a mother of two with one on the way - and who does care for Ellen, but in a motherly, rather than girlish, fashion.

Her husband, too, is quite different from Arthur Holmwood.

In 2024, Friedrich Harding is - above all else - the film's personification of the trap that is patriarchy. He is the epitome of what a man is expected to be: a successful business owner with a pretty blonde wife and 2.5 kids (I thought Anna's pregnancy was very much on the nose. Quite literally, 2.5 kids!). He is generous, he cares for his family, and he is firmly Rational. On the surface, Harding appears to be an ideal made flesh; and as the film progresses, it becomes evident that this ideal is designed to crumble.

Much of Harding's rationality is heavily hypocritical. While he claims to be making all his decisions based on pure logic, Ellen's - an outsider's - perspective exposes the truth behind his motivations. He ignores her warnings because he does not like her and considers her impudent; he kicks his own sick best friend out of his house with only his similarly sick wife to care for him, because he is annoyed and unsettled by their references to the supernatural; he refuses to listen to Von Franz and ignores the danger his family is in, because he is frightened of losing them to something he cannot comprehend, rather than a mundane, potentially treatable illness. All of these decisions are emotional, rooted in his misogyny and closed-mindedness - and so, Harding loses his daughters, his wife, his unborn son, as well as the unflappable, rational facade he had been so carefully maintaining. He ends the film a wreckage of himself, having committed necrophilia with the corpse of his wife because he was emotionally, irrationally unable to let go of her even in death; he dies of the plague that came to Wisborg through his own ship yard, holding her in his arms. Even under the guise of benevolence, his patriarchal worldview undermines and fails him entirely. It is a terrible thrill to watch him fall apart, and the ruin that is left in his place is one of the most obvious illustrations of the story's principal themes.

The other characterizations follow a similar sort of pattern. Sievers, unlike Seward, has no romantic rivalry with Harding; and beyond a professional connection, they are not really friends. Von Franz is far less knowledgeable about vampires than Van Helsing - for the majority of the film, he is stumbling in the dark with the rest of the cast, only finding a way of destroying Orlok in Herr Knock's codex. Knock, too, is far less noble than Renfield - even though he is just as insane as his counterpart, he sees Ellen as an object to be traded for money and power, rather than a kind soul that he would die to protect.

(Quincey Morris, unfortunately, does not exist in Nosferatu. Murnau hadn't found a place for a cowboy in his production; consequently, Eggers could not, either.)

The point is, really, that while Dracula and Nosferatu share a common premise, a comparison between them cannot be made without acknowledging the glaring differences between their characters. For instance, even though Orlok's relationship with Ellen is toxic in the usual vampiric way - part sex, part horror, part possession, part liberation - Thomas is by no means a perfect partner for her, either, because he is not Jonathan Harker, and Ellen is not Mina. Similarly, Von Franz, Sievers, and Harding are not a brave vampire hunting team - they are all blind, each in their own specific way (Von Franz, lacking straightforward knowledge; Sievers, trusting Von Franz without question; Harding, unable to think outside of societal rules). Expecting them to react to their situation the same way as the cast of Dracula is an exercise in futility.

As such, if you do get the chance to see the film again, or if it merely plays in the darkness of your skull when you close your eyes - instead of fixating on the few surface-level similarities between two different vampires and the people they haunt, allow the story of Nosferatu to seduce you on its own terms. Whether it is 1922 or 2024, we, as viewers, deserve its living blood - rather than the shadow of its predecessor.

[genericpuff]

rereading the og LO pisses me off bc why did Hestia take Kore’s coat??!! The Minthe plant situation, but as a side note Eros + Psyche was such a beautiful story in the beginning. Also do you plan on giving Hermes a partner?

OH so that's actually sorta explained in the physical books, there's a bonus chapter in Volume 2 that tries to make sense of it.

Frankly, like most of the bonus episodes, it doesn't really do a good job of filling in plotholes or logical inconsistencies, for a few reasons:

1.) I think it's wild that this episode was supposed to explain Hestia's cruelty in taking the coat (Rachel even addresses this in the author's note leading into the episode) but then Hestia is still kind of an irresponsible asshole when she just IMMEDIATELY starts infodumping to Apollo, completely unprompted, about how Persephone is the newest initiate in her virgin club. Like it's just bad writing for starters because it's clear Rachel's just trying to get the 'plot' of the episode rolling, but it's also like... wasn't this group supposed to be about protecting women from men? Why is she volunteering that information so enthusiastically? 💀 I get it's kind of a nitpick but it still kind of made me go "huh???" because it's frankly just none of Apollo's business as both a man and a non-member and there's just zero reason why Hestia should be releasing that kind of information publicly, especially when it's regarding such a sensitive and personal topic like virginity. Like was there seriously NO BETTER WAY for someone as "conniving" as Apollo to find out this info?? He didn't even intimidate or weasel the info out of her, she just started fucking spilling on her own 😭😆

2.) I don't know why Hestia just immediately took Apollo's word on what he "saw" and opted to go along with his idea to "punish her" which somehow led to the decision to take the coat. He doesn't specifically say to do that, sure, but it's clear she's taking his word over Persephone's literally IMMEDIATELY when she even says aloud that it's out of character for Persephone, and even after getting Persephone's side of the story in that episode where she confronts her, she still takes the coat ???

This is another one of those "where is the feminism???" issues because even with the bonus episode included all we get is "men are evil and awful!" despite the fact that Hestia is a grown ass woman who should be capable of making her own sound judgments. Like where was Hestia's OWN AGENCY that she could have used to decide Persephone was telling the truth about what really happened ??? It's obviously just another opportunity to villainize Apollo which, sure, okay, he's been established as a scumbag rapist at this point so he's undeniably a villain, but... why is Hestia not listening to Persephone at all? And then if that was supposed to be the point, why wasn't that actually addressed in the comic which was still ongoing at the time? Hestia didn't even have the nerve to bring the coat back to Persephone herself, it was Artemis who returned it to her in the end. So we never even get a proper resolution to Hestia's actions, she never apologizes to Persephone, she never takes accountability for her own mistakes in trusting Persephone's rapist over her (which is unfortunately something that happens a lot in these kinds of situations and would have been great to address in a story that's actually trying to be "feminist") and ultimately she just never grows as a character despite having such a direct impact on the main cast.

3.) What was the point of this bonus chapter, exactly? Like I guess we sorta know why Hestia took the coat now (if we don't take ANY of what I addressed above into account) but it doesn't explain at all why that was the decision, nor does it end up affecting the overall plot because Persephone still winds up working in the Underworld, she still spends a shitload of time with Hades, and Hestia is nowhere to be seen, despite the fact that she knows at this point through Apollo that Persephone has interacted with him. How does smugly taking the coat from a 19 year old girl who was recently force fed alcohol to the point of blacking out and then dumped in Hades' car address the original problem that was brought to her attention via Apollo? Despite the bonus episodes being used as a way to "patch up" holes in the narrative, it still doesn't really explain anything, it kinda just raises more questions than it answers.

(*I'll even add real quick that Rachel's apparent reasoning in her author's notes for these bonus chapters not being included in the comic is often so silly because the comic itself is full of so much pointless filler and nonsense that goes nowhere, while the actual important explanations get shoved into the back end of the physical books. It's incredibly backwards and tells me less that these were "deleted scenes" and more that they were attempts to backtrack on Rachel's own poor writing, with the added benefit of making money off it to boot due to these otherwise essential scenes and bits of information being exclusive to the physical books. Many "bonus episodes" feel more like they should have been in the comic and so many canon episodes that got published feel like they could have been bonus episodes. Again, at best, it's bad writing and bad editing, so much so that apparently even Rachel can't fully stand by her decisions because she can't "decide" if these bonus episodes are canon or not.)

4.) Yet another case of "the worst guy ever just made a good point" because even though Apollo's doing it for nefarious, self-centered reasons, he's not wrong that it was extremely concerning for Persephone to spend the night at Hades' place, and that's made worse by the fact that we know Persephone wound up telling her side of the story just for Hestia to punish her anyways. Unfortunately because Apollo has to be Bryce from 13 Reasons Why, the only angle he's coming at it from is "YEAH YOU BETTER GET REVENGE ON PERSEPHONE FOR DOING THAT!!! SHE'S SUCH A SLUT!!!", but there's a whole other separate angle here that his villainy is distracting us from, an angle that actually WOULD have accomplished the subjects of feminism that LO claimed to be tackling and failed at - why was Persephone put into that situation in the first place?

There's never any real consequence to Eros for intentionally getting Persephone blackout drunk and dumping her in Hades' car. There aren't any real consequences to Aphrodite for targeting a girl who did nothing but exist. There aren't any real consequences to Hades for offending Aphrodite within earshot by comparing her to a 19 year old girl who he just spent several minutes oggling through a window. The only one who's actually allowed to suffer consequences is the easily identifiable rapist character, because anyone who knows what sex is knows that Rape is Bad, but no one actually wants to identify and discuss all the other terrible actions and characters within this story - including the leading man who's supposed to be "perfect" for Persephone - because those actions are a lot more subtle and normalized and aren't capable of being consumed easily within a single tweet.

It's a no-brainer to understand "rape is bad"; it takes a lot more self-reflection and honesty with yourself - especially if you're part of LO's core demographic of both young teenage girls and middle aged women - to recognize that Hades and Persephone's relationship is predatory right from the start, and that being a feminist doesn't mean exclusively caring about 'good' women and punishing the 'bad' ones.

[midnightsimpsstuff]

WILDLOWER

WILDFLOWER by Billie Eilish

Spencer Reid x reader

Warning: angst, hurt/comfort (promise), JJ's confession to Spencer, toxic friendship, mention of break ups, happy ending.

Summary: After JJ confesses to Spencer that she is in fact in love with him, he is stuck in a tight spot and doesn’t want the reader to find out because you never knew he liked JJ so he broke up with you with no explanation. Because you are friends with JJ you happened to go to her to cry about the breakup not knowing she’s at fault.

A/n: I found out what Wildflower by Billie Eilish was truly about and I fell in love with the idea so I wrote something with the plot, so enjoy! LOL. There might be a part two so look out for that.

Word Count: 2.3k

Comments, shares and rebloggs are appreciated! :))

Had to add the inspiration ;)

You were walking back home, and your heart was more than broken, you didn’t think anything could be worse than this. Everything was fine before Spencer had gone on that stupid case! You knew he was kidnapped during it, you knew he wouldn’t want to tell you what happened but to break up? That was too far.

You took some time of work, you couldn’t go on, not in this state, your friend JJ, who had even introduced you to Spencer was the only friend of yours that didn’t have work at that moment, she was given a leave for reasons she hadn’t told you.

That was what brought you to her couch watching rom-coms, taking tubs of ice creams at once you just finished crying your eyes out on her shoulder, when you told her about how Spencer just dumped you for absolutely no reason, you felt as she tensed up. You were no profiler but you knew that she knew why but you won’t push her to tell you, in case it was a touchy subject and she kicks you out of her house.

Meanwhile, JJ knew she had never felt more guilty in her life, not when she returned home and she had to hug her kids and sleep side by side with Will, not telling him about the case a she usually would, not when she imagined Spencer was at her side not Will, or her kids looked like Spencer or how much they loved Spencer, and she wished she had known Spencer loved her back then she knew everything would be different.

She didn’t think Spencer would break up with you, it was a life or death situation there was nothing she could do but tell him, she felt instantly better when the burden was off her shoulders, she didn’t one bit think about how it could affect him, how it could affect you.

She comforted you though, trying to take her mind away from how you would act when you find out what she said, what she did, how it was her fault, all her fault, how you didn’t deserve this. You were a perfect fit for Spencer. You let him talk without interruptions, you didn’t use him to make your work easier, you didn’t give him sneaky insults or once tell him to shut up, but she did and she didn’t deserve the kindness both of you showed her endlessly.

You had gone home around the time Will had come back from work, JJ’s face was stuck on a look of despair, she made you feel better sure but when you told her ‘Thank you so much, Jenny. You know exactly how to make me feel better, you’re an awesome person and friend. Good Night!’ she froze at the door as she closed it watching you drive away with your car.

It wasn’t fair on you, she felt like shit, Will had noticed her weird mood and tried to confront her about it but she lashed out at him and went straight to her room. Discarding the takeout that Will had gotten from her and their kids’ favourite store she couldn’t help but subconsciously think about Spencer bringing you home takeout from your favourite food store if not for her and her big mouth.

She should have never loved him in the first place, especially since she got you both together.

Spencer and JJ had returned back to work the two weeks after, everyone in the BAU saw the change in dynamic between both of them, and they noticed Spencer’s mood had ultimately dampened and his migraines weren’t the only reason.

Spencer had suffered the two weeks without you, it was just taking a break from each other, and he secretly hoped you would find out what JJ had said so you would understand that it wasn’t his fault.

Your heart would be crushed and his and your friendship would be crushed, because you would have asked him if he loves JJ back and he honestly doesn’t know. He loves her as a friend for sure but as more? He’s not sure.

He already knew he was going to go over to your place that evening and explain everything to you, he had a feeling you didn’t know if not you would have barged into here a long time ago. He knows you, you don’t know how to keep your anger in check you would have come to confront her right there right then.

He let out a soft sigh. It was lunch break now, he had already ordered the flowers you adored so much to your house. When you get back from work you would see them and when you change and get comfortable you would see him. Hopefully, you would take him back even though he knew that was unlikely he really hurt you.

As he was about to get to his seat, JJ stopped him and he couldn’t help the eye roll he did, he wasn’t on the best terms with her at the moment he was going to make up with her when he has completely made up with you.

“Spencer, I am so sorry about your breakup, I didn’t mean for that to happen.” JJ had started with not noticing how loud she had said it now everyone was listening to them but they didn’t make it obvious.

His eyebrows furrowed, not only because of her pitch but also how did she know? “How do you know, I never told anyone that-“ then it clicked. He never knew she had it in her to be this much of a bitch. But he didn’t want to jump into conclusions.

“She told you didn’t she? But did YOU tell her?” He didn’t care if anyone heard at this point he was pissed. Really? Confess your love to your friend’s boyfriend and comfort her about him.

“I am sorry about everything about everything but you know I couldn’t do that to her.” JJ looked down to the floor in shame, her eyes were watering but she knew she didn’t have the right to be crying at that moment. He couldn’t believe he thought he loved her.

He walked away from her, he looked angrier that before but that subsided when he realised he could go home. He had never done anything as fast in his life, he packed his bag, practically ran out then began driving straight to your house.

You had just arrived at home seeing a huge bouquet of your favourite flowers at your front your door you knew who it was from. You unconsciously smiled before your face dropped remembering the break up, you sighed before carrying it inside your house. Dropping it on your coffee table, you realised it had a note but you weren’t in the right frame of mind to read it yet.

You went to quickly shower, change into something by far more comfortable. Before plopping on your couch, deciding to read the note.

            Dear Y/N it was inconsiderate of me to break up with you without explaining first, I am coming over after work to explain everything to you. If you don’t want me to come over just text me. Love you, Spencer.

It wasn’t his handwriting, he must have sent it over, and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. Funny of him to think you still had his number.

As you began watching something on your TV, you heard your doorbell ring, you went to open it.

“Start talking bitch.”

You sat on the chair opposite Spencer, he had just finished explaining everything to you and your mouth was currently agape. You began backtracking you finally understood. That’s why her body kept going rigid.

She loved Spencer. She had a husband yet she loved Spencer. She had kids yet she loved Spencer. Spencer had a girlfriend yet she loved Spencer. Spencer’s girlfriend was someone she considered a best friend yet she loved Spencer. She was extremely beautiful, knew Spencer way longer than you and Spencer once liked her like seven years ago and now she was in love with him. Spencer is the godfather of her child and she loves him?!

You were no more shocked, the reality of the situation was dawning on you, softly laughing to yourself about everything. “You don’t love her back, right?” you didn’t know what you would do if he said he does but the moment the question came out of your mouth. Spencer shouted no so loud you flinched.

His face was now pink from embarrassment, “No, I don’t, not anymore, not again it’s just you I love and want to love.” He said meeting your eyes with a smile.

His eyes began doing that drawing in puppy dog eye thing it usually did when he wanted to get something he wanted, you knew he wasn’t doing it on purpose, but it sure felt like he did because how could you not take him back when he is doing his face that way.

You walked over to him, your face was neutral, and he didn’t know what you were going to do. When you stood beside him you held his face, caressing his skin as he looked up at you his eyes still doing the thing. You slapped him really hard, “That’s for hurting my heart for the past two weeks.” Then you crouched down to him giving him a passionate kiss. “That’s because you went out of your way to explain and apologize and because I love you.

His face still hurt but he was sincerely happier now he had you back. You went away to get your phone to send a quick message to JJ.

‘We need to talk, come over tomorrow.” you sent her. You gave your phone to Spencer so he could see the message. His face visibly tensed, “Are you ending your friendship with her?” he asked. He’d feel pretty bad, you two have always been so close.

“No, we just need to talk some things through. Don’t worry my love” you said as you took a seat in his lap and as he drew circles on your thigh.

“Should I end my friendship with her?” Spencer asked shyly, he felt like you would say no but he did really value JJ as a friend so it might hurt a bit.

“Do you want to?” you asked him, you were just playing with him finding it funny as his face began changing from thoughtful to fear. He felt like it was a trick.

He feebly nodded, you smiled “Then no, Spencer. That won’t be fair on you. You two have been friends longer than I knew you” you told him while looking at him with love.

Everything was better and looking up for you.

But with JJ she felt her heart leap out of her chest as she read your message, she just read it again and again and again. The face of Spencer’s fury and your sad face was in her head she didn’t know what to do she didn’t want to lose any of you but she knew what was coming.

She just came between a good relationship because of her stupid feelings. She would have cried even more if she wasn’t tired of crying.

After getting the message from you she got enough courage to tell Will about everything. He reacted better than she thought he would have, although he was mad. When she had assured him she doesn’t love him anymore and only loved Will. He wasn’t so mad anymore but he asked for a bit of space because the way she had been neglecting him throughout the weeks she was at home and he said it’s best she knows what it felt like a bit.

JJ without fail had come to your home the next day, immediately after work. Texting Will about where she would be. She didn’t get a response though he left her on read, but she understood she had hurt many people and it was beginning to come on her.

You opened the door smiling at her. JJ wanted to cry, why were you smiling, did you not know, did you know and weren’t angry, she doesn’t know whether you and Spencer got back together. But she knew she couldn’t take it any longer.

“Y/N, I have something to tell you…” she stated while motioning her head inside as if asking if she could come in. You moved away so she could seat in on your couch.

You already knew and you felt touched she wanted to come clean. You looked at her expectantly waiting for her to speak.

“I confessed my love to Spencer on our last case, I think that’s why you two broke up.” She was fiddling with her ring.

“I already apologized to him, and to Will and I felt it’s time to apologize to you, I don’t want to lose any of you. I am so sorry I got you two together, I am sorry I pulled you both apart, I am sorry you trusted me enough to cry to me about what happened. I don’t deserve you.”

When she finally looked up at you, she realised you didn’t look angry. “Spencer told me.” You said. She felt something in her stomach drop. “You knew the whole time?” she asked, now she felt this was a plan for you to become the next unsub.

But instead your eyes widened, “No, he told me yesterday. Relax.” You said rubbing her back.

“I forgive you don’t worry. I want my friend back. You two hugged and she held unto you tighter than she had ever done before. Spencer watched you two from the kitchen.

This is how it’s meant to be.

[godzillabreath]

unfortunately I do have more to say about wwdits.

I think one of the most egregious things about the development of the show over the seasons is the tonal shift. I was watching it from the beginning to convince myself I wasn’t crazy for feeling the first three seasons were better, and I felt vindicated.

It was always a dark comedy, but it wasn’t always a zany dark comedy. It had been grounded in real, everyday life. The vampires prey on a LARP group, the vampires ride a late night bus to go to a city council meeting, Nandor tries for citizenship, etc. I think once they started introducing a slew of supernatural creatures like a monster-of-the-week a la carte, the show became increasingly less focused and outlandish. There are episode I don’t like even in seasons 2 and 3 that are emblematic of this shift. The siren, the gargoyles, the troll—they just feel out of place in a story that is supposed to focus on out-of-time vampires and how they engage with the modern world. They aren’t really adding anything to the characters or the plot when they appear either. They just make a flashy CGI appearance and give some quippy line, which ultimately eats up time where our main cast that we actually care about could otherwise be on screen, doing things. And then there was a point in time where this show just did not allow itself any more sentimental moments between characters. These moments, for me, made for refreshing moments between comedic situations. It balanced the humanity in all of the main cast. But the show opted out of those moments, and it just became a back-to-back comedic situation with less and less interesting character moments to look forward to. Anyway, I just find it kind of sad that the writers completely detonated all of the characters’ inner emotional lives by the series finale. I liked to see Nadja bored in her marriage and pursuing this lustful encounter with Gregor through reincarnated generations. I liked to see Colin challenged by another energy vampire undermining his territory. I liked to see Guillermo struggling with his fractured relationship with his family, his discomfort in his own sexual identity, and his need to cling on to this group of vampires that disrespect him if only to find family and personal liberation in their company. I liked Nandor being so disconnected from modernity that he became listless and depressed and lonely and clung on to the idea that he might make himself human again. I liked the romance that the writers were building literally textually and in all of their marketing material from season 3: that Guillermo (at least) had these unrequited and very frustrating feelings for Nandor and how that affected their relationship with each other. I liked the idea of Laszlo forming these personal connections with both Sean and Colin, even if I found their conclusive arcs to be lackluster, strange, or unpalatable (baby Colin to weird co-parent Colin was a bizarre arc.) I liked the idea of Nadja wanting power and community because of the impoverished, desolate conditions she grew up under (especially the class dynamic of marrying Laszlo and how that could be at times a schism in their relationship), even if the writers did not care to expand upon this. The potential just drives me crazy. I can’t believe they opted out of tying up any of these emotional hooks. I think it might drive me crazy forever.

[yvannahaleth]

Despair Disease! Kokichi Ouma x Reader

GN! Reader, SFW, Fluff, little angst?

Note: I tried my best to keep the time setting as vague as possible. So, it has no spoilers for the game.

"What?"

"Oh, he has the Despair Disease. That's why, i-"

"No, i heard what you said. It's just- Are you telling me that you knew but didn't do anything?"

Miu parts her lips to speak up, yet words don't come up. She awkwardly averts her gaze, as if hoping you'd drop the fact that she, infact, doesn't care.

You sigh, rubbing the crook of your nose. It's only been a while of you locking yourself in your room to plan a way for you and the others to exit the game, if it is even possible. Yet, somehow, Kokichi follows your step, locking himself in his room, refusing anyone to let them in. Not because he's plotting an escape plan. But because he's sick.

You only just finally opened the door of your room to go to grab a drink. Coincidentally, Miu noticed you and approached you, giving you a heads up about Kokichi's status.

"Wha- Whatever, I'm just here to tell you. Since he's your boyfriend or something," Miu makes sure you see her crossing her arms before walking away, leaving you frustrated at the lack of their attention to Kokichi.

You watch as Miu disappear from the dormitory, perhaps to the gym or whatever. You couldn't care less. Like how they did to Kokichi.

You don't waste any time and hurry, practically running to Kokichi's bedroom even if it's not that far from yours.

You stare at his door for a while before knocking, "Hey. It's me. I heard the news. Can i come in?"

It's quiet. Too quiet. He would've been grinning and trying to get under your skin by now. Something like, "Oh, what's this? You're so worried about me. You're in love with me, huh? I can tell."

But, no. Even if how badly you want him to annoy you, he's not responding. You wait and waited. A minute or two had passed, perhaps. Yet, at least, you hear faint sounds coming from the other side of the door. It sounds like... Something heavy getting dragged. You start getting worried, which is why you knock a few times again.

"Hey? Kichi? Are you there? Is everything alr-"

Before you know it, there he is, the Ultimate Supreme Leader, opening the door. He's the same like always. Well, except the messy hair, eyebags, and... tired hollow eyes.

You waste no time to reach to him, cupping both of his cheeks gently as he blankly stares at you. The door opens wider, giving you a clear sight of his messier bedroom.

"Hey, did you eat?"

He doesn't respond, at all. Instead, he sighes softly, shutting his eyes and leaning onto your touch. It's quite a shock to see him like this. The normal Kokichi would laugh and refuse to let you see his weakness. But here he is now, wanting more of your affection.

"... Where have you been?" He mumbles, his voice is kind of muffled yet you could make out what he's trying to say. His voice is quite raspier than usual. Perhaps it's because of the disease. "I miss you."

You try your best to ignore the last statement, dismissing it as a side effect of the disease.

"You don't remember? I'm just having some me-time. It's good for me, especially at a time like this," You smile at his purple eyes, the ones that you adore so badly, glancing back at yours.

You don't really want anyone to know that you're planning to escape with them. Plans will get destroyed if more people know about it. It will be better if it's kept hidden.

Unfortunately, Kokichi, who is more sensitive now, takes it the wrong way.

"... I knew you'll get bored of me any time soon," He whispers hoarsely, yet loud enough for you to hear. "Am i that boring?"

Wow. You asked Miu for more informations about the Despair Disease, yet she didn't give you much. You didn't really have time to ask others as well. But, is this what Despair Disease could do to your mental state?

Even if his tone is weak and disappointed, yet he still clings onto your figure, making you support his weight, not caring whether he'll fall now. As if he trusts you enough.

The Kokichi you know would never say what's on his mind, genuinely. He'll speak in riddles or even say the opposite and you have to figure it all out on your own. And again, here he is, speaking clearly.

You need to get used to this side of him, otherwise you'll start prefer him to tease you again like how he usually does.

"... Let's just get inside, alright? Let's get you to bed. We don't want anyone to see you at this state, right?" You whisper softly to him as you pat his back gently, gesturing him to start walking to his bed.

He nods faintly. Yet as soon as you try to pull away, he trips. You catch him in time, though. Finally, you figured out that earlier, the two minutes he took to open his door, is him crawling on the floor to open it.

God, you feel so bad.

You give him a small reassuring smile as you rest his arm around your shoulder. Your arm holds his waist gently, beginning to help him walk to his bed slowly yet steady.

He never really said anything, but you figured he thank you silently. Or perhaps he's just too tired to say anything. If that's the case, then he really gave his all to blurt words to you back then.

As you lay his thin figure onto his bed gently, you make sure the pillow is fluffy enough, giving it a little preparation. Kokichi watches as you tucks him in under the blanket. You notice the way his breath hitches as you pull away. Is he afraid that you'll leave him again?

Yet, you never will. You shift to sit at the side of the bed, giving him a small smile as you rub his chest gently to give him a sense of comfort. Something he never really felt until he met you. Even at a time like this. Well, not that you'll know.

It's been a while of him staring back at you in silence. He's sick. Of course he acts differently than the usual. You figured it would be best to stay quiet, as well.

Actually, you're getting quite used to this state of his. His calm state. Well, he's been calm, yes. But, when he's not trying to gouge reactions of others. When he's not trying to get their attention by saying something off-putting.

Kokichi, the usual trickster, being not afraid to show you who he really is, is quite sweet. You could always tell that he has a special liking towards you. You're the most frequent one to get annoyed by him. Not because he hates you. But, because he likes your reaction more than anyone's. Who'd care for the other's reactions if he could see yours?

He'd never admit it, but he's quite at ease if he's beside you. At your side. With you.

Breaking the silence, he parts his lips, "I'm hungry."

Oh, so now he's hungry. You never really think about how he's been when he's without you around. Does he starve himself because he doesn't trust anyone but you?

"Come to think of it, you didn't answer my question earlier."

"Which one...?"

"The one about whether you ate or not today, dear."

"... I dunno. Forgot," He averts his gaze, his cheeks slightly redden. Luckily enough for him, you didn't notice it.

You smile, gritting your teeth as you try your absolute best to hide the fact that you're rather furious. Not at him, of course. To them who don't care about him. The others.

Well, you can't really blame them. Kokichi is... Quite something to handle. It's not surprising for them to avoid him. But, seriously? Even when he's vulnerable? When he needs someone to cling to?

No matter how much you try to hide it, Kokichi could tell that you're mad. Which is why, he weakly rests his warm fingers on the back of your palm. As if reassuring you. Or to calm you down. Who knows.

"... I'll try to cook something. A soup might be good, yeah?" You give him a small smile as you pull away, getting up from his bed, making him let out slight whimper.

"No... Stay," His voice becomes more desperate now, squeezing your hand gently in his, not wanting you to let go. His pleading eyes are enough to convince you to stay a bit longer. "... Please? I want you here."

Hell, with him acting adorable like this, you kind of wish to see this side of him more often.

"Come on, you need to eat. Otherwise, i won't be here," You sigh, gently pulling away from his clinging fingers.

He sits up almost immediately, if it's not because of his disease, causing his movement to become much slower, "... What? Why?"

"I don't like people who don't eat," You pout, gesturing you're mad at him if he's not taking care of himself. It's quite an unconvincing act, probably only works for children, but who knows?

"... Soup is nice," He mumbles, his eyes widen slightly, pretty much convinced at your act. He's definitely a skillful liar. With him believing your act, you figured it must be because of the disease.

You offer a small smile as you ruffle his messy hair gently before getting up from his bed, "Wait here, alright? I'll be back soon."

He sighs softly, laying down again, watching you leave his room. He's alone. Again. But at least, you were here.

"As long as you're here," He mumbles to himself, shifting slightly under the blanket. No matter how much he wish for you to accidentally hear his words, you're too busy preparing his soup.

*

"Oh! He must had the Honesty Disease! It's a symptom caused by Despair Disease!" Monokuma claims.

Ever since you found out about Kokichi's sickness, you took care of him for several days; staying in his room. He refused to let you leave him alone and often acts more clingy than before. He started to blurt words he never would before, like how he wish for you to pat his back and sing him to sleep, directly to your face.

You assumed it's because of the side effects of the disease, causing him to speak nonsense. But, was it, though?

"... Honesty Disease? So, it makes the infected to... Become honest?" You repeat to yourself, quite taken aback at the reveal.

You should've known better than to not talk to Monokuma to ask more of the disease. As soon as Kokichi gets better and is well enough to move freely, you took the chance to speak to Monokuma about the disease.

But, Honesty Disease? Seriously? What, so, the way he acts when he's sick... Is how he usually is? When he's not masking or lying? Is that even possible?

Wait, but doesn't that mean he... Clings to you genuinely because he trusts you? You could tell but to actually hear it as a fact is quite... Something. His words are genuine? His gestures are... Sincere? He wants you to accompany him?

"Also, did you tell me that you stayed with him for a few days? How come you didn't get infected too?" Monokuma added, tilting his head to the side. "Well, maybe you'll catch it soon."

Truly, you were too focused to help him get better and forgot about the fact that the disease may be highly contagious. Perhaps, that's why your throat feels more sore lately.

"What?" You heard what he said clearly, yet blurts out the word anyway.

Seems like a certain someone has to help you now.

[goatschild]

i think “take responsibility” is meant to relate to all of the characters, not just Jimmy.

for Jimmy, there’s the obvious- he crashed the ship purposely but didn’t admit it, nor did he ever admit he did anything wrong at all. instead he chose to keep insisting that he’d fix everything

for Daisuke, it relates to his character in the form of him not wanting his parents to feel guilty for his death. He’s also one of the more notable connections to capitalism- his death demands that corporations “take responsibility” for what they forced upon such a young life.

for Swansea, he feels shame for not protecting Daisuke, and for not letting himself learn the lessons Daisuke could’ve taught him had he opened up a bit more. I think there’s more to be said, but i haven’t uncovered that yet

for Anya, i think her character as a whole represents the “responsibility” the game wants to be taken. she moves the plot forward by being a constant reminder to jimmy and also curly of what happens when responsibility *isnt* taken. but, also, on a smaller scale, Anya seems to feel guilt over being such a squeamish nurse, and over curly’s state of being (specifically how much she struggles giving him his pain meds)

for Curly, he failed to hold Jimmy responsible for what he did to Anya. he let his crew down and ultimately added to their demise. as the ship’s captain he also could represent the overbearing corporation and its affects on everyone’s lives. though his character is often received as the one telling Jimmy to take responsibility, that wasn’t how i saw it. i think he’s also faced with guilt, though he has more room to recognize where he went wrong than Jimmy ever did.

i think maybe i’d like Curly more if the fandom acknowledged where he went wrong. i think the game is not only commenting on the complexities of people but also on capitalism, and by ignoring how the message relates to each individual character, not just Jimmy, that theme of capitalistic greed is lost

[velaryqns]

Can you please do a House fic where Reader and House reconcile after a break up (it’s been a few years)?

Reconciliation

Fandom: House MD

Pairing: Greg House x Reader

Summary: you were already reluctant to accept Cuddy’s request to return to Princeton Plainsboro, your ex boyfriend’s sudden return made it all the worse

Warnings: angst, House being House, past relationship (bad writing on my end, whoops)

Set during season six, but not strictly following the show plot

Your memories of Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital hadn’t exactly been the greatest. From people you considered being your friends getting injured, to your relationship with the head diagnostician in the hospital. Cuddy had assured you of his absence, as had Wilson and the rest of his former team.

Former.

Foreman had filled you in on what happened, and you’d honestly felt a bit of hope flutter in your chest when discovering that House had gone to Rehab. But only a bit.

You knew it was only too good to be true when Greg House appeared in your office doorway a few weeks after you had started. You could only stare, and then quickly rose to your feet and crossed the room, “No.”

Before you could hear anything from him, the door shut in his face. You were glad Lisa had provided you with an office with a solid door rather than a glass one. You could see his shadow through the crack of the door by your feet, as well as it shift when he finally walked away.

A sigh of relief passed through your lips, and you shook your head and returned to sitting at your desk. You snatched the phone from its receiver and dialed up Cuddy's office. You sat back in your chair, one arm crossed and your other resting on top of it as the phone rang.

"Doctor Cuddy," Lisa's semi-cheerful tone met your ears, but you were less than cheerful.

"When did he get back?"

"Y/n," Cuddy immediately sounded remorseful as she tried to figure out what to tell you, "I meant to talk to you sooner...it wasn't my intention for you to just find out."

"I don't want to be working with him, Cuddy,"

"Why don't we talk about this in person?"

"Because he's already tried coming into my office and I don't need him catching me in the halls," you muttered in annoyance.

"Please just come to my office, we can talk about it there,"

You were silent, shaking your head before huffed, "Fine."

You put the phone down and rose to your feet, leaving your office and toward Cuddy's office. It's not that you and Greg split on bad terms, they were bad for you anyway. He had made his choices and you made your own, and he ultimately chose to cut off the relationship. And you left Princeton Plainsboro.

Cuddy was already seated at her desk, lost in thought when you walked in. She frowned when she saw you, shaking her head, "I'm so sorry you didn't get a proper warning about House coming back. Wilson thought it wasn't best since you just came back, and right now we value your work more than we can trust his."

"I'm pretty sure I should've known to begin with," you countered, sitting in the chair across from her and folding one leg over the other. You were unimpressed with the reasoning, and excuse, "I won't leave if that's what you're afraid of."

Cuddy's face dropped, shocked and showing she entirely expected you to leave, but you were more mature than the other half of the problem. She waved a hand, "Wow, are you sure? We'd understand completely."

"Letting Gregory House drive me out of my place of work is the last thing I need right now,"

With that, you resumed your work in the hospital. You had a few run-ins with House, but overall it didn't affect your work in the hospital until he could finally corner you in your office one day. You'd been talking to Wilson when House knocked and came in, sending Wilson out and leaving the two of you alone.

"I was getting a consult," you informed him, focusing on anything other than how he watched you and the turtleneck he'd worn.

"Who says I don't need a consult from you?" You looked at him through your lashes, unimpressed as he leaned on his cane, "It's possible."

"I don't want to do this today, House,"

"Yeesh, what happened to 'Greg'?" You shook your head and went back to reading the file for the case you were working on, "Just five minutes."

"I could spend five minutes helping my patients, you could too,"

"And yet you're still sitting here...talking to me,"

You pressed your hands against your face, and sighed, "What do you want?"

"You don't talk to me, you don't look at me, ya know the typical stuff I'd expect from an ex," he waved a hand around, sitting in the chair across from you, "But c'mon, we're coworkers now. You've gotta have a little bit of kindness to share."

"I do," you nod, "When we actually work together for something."

You had a gut feeling as to what he was really after, but you wanted to get back to work as he hummed, "You don't think I've seen you making eyes or anything?"

"I'm not crazy, Greg," He hummed doubtfully and you rolled your eyes, "Please leave."

He did, and a few days later he called you in for a consult. But it was really just him sitting in a clinic room waiting for you. You scoffed when you walked in and shook your head, "I swear you just beg for attention."

"Our soap is on, figured you'd like to join for it," You fell silent, processing his words and looking between him and the small device he'd set up, "I know you want to."

"I want to work," you told him.

"Just come sit with me, and if you still hate me after this, you don't have to talk to me again," he pat the empty chair next to him, holding out a bag of chips with his other hand.

You conceded, walking over to the chair and taking one of the chips, “I don’t hate you.”

He hummed, but was too engrossed in the drama happening on the screen to pay attention to your words. You watched as the drama unfolded, and for a moment everything felt like it had nearly five years ago when you were together.

Almost.

When the episode ended, you were brought back into reality as another started and your pager went off. You left without a word, but for some reason, you missed the feeling you’d had from a few moments earlier.

You went to House’s office at the end of the day, letting yourself in with a knock. He looked up at you, smirking, “Look who’s chasing who now.”

“Shut up,” you shook your head, grinning as you approached his desk, “I just wanted to thank you. It was nice being away from work for a while. Maybe we should do it again.”

“I’ll consider it,” he spoke dismissively, looking down at his paperwork as you smiled and turned away, walking toward the door again, “Maybe at my place this time?”

You turned to see him looking up, a semi-hopeful look on his face. You smiled and nodded your head, “Maybe.”

[identityflawed]

i really appreciate that DEXTER has gotten a surge of appreciation and love since it’s been added back to netflix. i’ve been a fan of the show for six years now! i always get disappointed, however, by the demographic of men who choose to watch the show with the same sort of ignorant mindset that they consume all other media with. dexter is by no means a perfect show — sometimes the plot is a slog and the characters are dumb, and the show takes an unfortunate fall-off as the writers lose the core idea of dexter’s character — but it’s worth paying attention to because the characters are very human and real, other than dexter. that’s the point of it all: that he’s surrounded by individuals who are flawed and complex and complicated and angry in their own ways, as close to violence as he’s always been, dancing on the edges of their own knives. they make bad decisions in the name of their moral codes and beliefs, just as he does. his own connection to what makes people human is faded and invisible to him, but he is in fact, human. his act of killing is vengeful and is of his father’s orders, and the sins of the father are pervasive in the show, time and time again. you are ultimately what your parents make you until you choose to try and change. he was a traumatized child who was supposedly young enough to forget what happened to him in that shipping container, but harry still raised him to be a killer.

i feel a lot of vehemence towards fans who dislike deb because they think she’s a bop, or she sleeps around, or she’s over-emotional, or a pick me. she’s more tragic than dexter. forgotten by her own biological father because harry wanted a gun to point at criminals that the justice system let go, and saw that in dexter when she wanted him to see it in her, too. she wanted to be anything that her dad wanted and she never got to do that; and more than that, she loved her father more intensely than dexter did — and she loves everything more intensely — and hates that for all her love and affection and desperation, the adopted son who is so kind to her still got what she wanted more than anything. she’s tragic because everything she did was to make her dad proud of her, and he died before he could ever see it. harry was a horrible father to both of them, but she sought him out in every man she loved. and she kept losing them, too. her resentment for herself and her hatred of her life choices is so profound that we see her hurting herself frequently — tossing medication after injuries, drinking, working out obsessively, turning down people’s help just so she can wallow and hate herself — in any way that still lets her feel like she’s strong and not weak. and then she projects these ideas on dexter when she’s furious, because she’s always been jealous of him. she’s gone further than he has and with less years behind her, but she’s not religious enough to believe her father’s ghost is looking down at her with a smile. she doesn’t even get dexter’s privilege of hallucinating his pride, because how can you visualize something you’ve never even had?

the supporting cast of dexter is all complex and strange. masuka cracks perverted jokes all the time because he likes being funny and it lightens the gruesome mood, but then gets worried when he realizes maybe his humor undermines his intelligence or how much he cares for the people around him. joey’s a hardliner and a dirty cop who gets himself into trouble for his love of money and comfort, but it’s paired with his determination to protect and avenge the people he loves — and he loves very easily, and hates very easily. angel is a good cop and a good friend who can’t put parameters on his love because he’s antsy, and a free spirit in the worst of ways because being devoted to any one thing forever seems to scare him, because in the past he’s fumbled everything he tries, so he wants to leave an out for himself in everything he does. rita is a recovering abuse victim who offers more kindness to dexter than she should because there’s a part of her that’s afraid she’ll lose the only man her kids have felt safe around, and the only man who seems to respect her and defend her. she gives more than she thinks she’ll receive — placating gestures, forgiving him and waiting patiently for him to repair his mistakes — because some part of her is grateful for any small kindness the world can give her. laguerta is a woman who fought tooth and nail for the power she finally received in an environment that doesn’t treat people of her color or her sex well enough, and would do anything to keep it even if it means stepping on the toes of others, because she doesn’t want to lose it and spend her whole life regretting things. she hates regret, hates hesitation, hates anything that your average male cop does but has to hate it in a different way because aggression is not something well-appreciated in women for the time. she must be pretty and efficient and political; she is not afforded the privilege that everyone else has of being morally forward. doakes was a military man who suffered severe PTSD from his tours and went into the police force because it was the only place he felt like he was channeling himself right, with moral superiority that he had to give himself. like dexter, he would kill those he saw as irredeemably evil, and couldn’t stomach the thought of being around dexter because it’s like looking in the mirror but not knowing why the reflection is so clear. he couldn’t understand where dexter had been to put the look in his eyes that doakes always woke up to, and that made him antsy. his determination to find answers and clear-cut his entire existence into good and evil after a life of morally grey smudges caused his entire postmortem reputation to be a morally grey smudge. there are more: christine hill, frank lundy, arthur mitchell, paul bennett, even astor and cody, miguel prado, to an extent. you can’t love or hate any of them. dexter is a show that reexamines the complexity of humanity from the eyes of a man who doesn’t think he’s human at all.

i think the final two seasons of dexter were a waste. i think what they did for his final love interest and for his ending were destructive to that message. i don’t think he deserved a happy ending, but dexter is indeed a tragedy. i hope that Resurrection ends with him in an electric chair, mirroring the fear harry had for him in childhood, because there isn’t any real escape for a man like him. after the season four finale, his humanity swelled in season 5 and 6 and then died in seasons 7 and 8, and then twisted about in new blood, in some inverted idea of the five stages of grief. well-handled. dexter is his own destructive force because he feels so far removed from society — as most serial killers do — that he destroys the people around him who think he’s close enough to touch their own hearts and then tear them open. and that’s sad, because it’s all the sins of the father and an unstoppable cycle.

the writers don’t get any more self aware than they do in 4x7 “hungry man” when trinity’s daughter mentions aeschylus in passing — the father of tragedy. and indeed that’s what it closes out to. aeschylus’ plays mirror things displayed in dexter. so fascinating and wildly off-topic. but give it a look.

[rei-ismyname]

Let's talk R-LDS

R-LDS or Resurrection-Linked Degenerative Sickness was alluded to in X-Men #4 and the Infinity Comics before being named in X-Men #7. We're told that Magneto has it and it's directly caused by Krakoan resurrection/The Five, kinda.

Here's Beast doing some alluding.

In the panels above, we learn that Hank McCoy is the only one working on the problem - the problem being Magneto's loss of his powers and his body breaking down rapidly - his very chromosomes unraveling. He seems quite sure that it could happen to 'any of us' though the lack of quarantine suggests it's not contagious.

The next bit of information we receive is from Magneto and Scott in conversation, reflecting on The Iron Night. They took down a wild sentinel that was attacking the town and Mags lost control over his powers immediately after, requiring Scott to knock him out for safety's sake. Scott is no scientist, and while Magneto is a genius polymath autodidact (with plenty of experience in genetics) it's not a character trait that's seen focus lately. Thus, I'm assuming they're discussing it as amateurs and as patient zero in Magneto's case.

Magneto confidently names the condition for the first time as well as using an acronym for it, suggesting it's confirmed to exist, he's had a positive diagnosis, and they're using the term enough to require shorthand. He even spells out the subtext for us - it was a hidden flaw in Krakoan resurrection. I'll come back to that notion. Scott says 'we don't know that for sure,' implying that R-LDS is just a theory or speculation, which Mags doesn't directly refute. Instead he lays out the worst case scenario. They can't both be right here, so what's the deal? Magneto's symptoms are obviously confirmed, but how did they get from there to here?

If Magneto is the first and only person affected by his condition, why are he and Beast so sure about its providence and everyone being in danger? How could they possibly link it to Krakoan resurrection? I'm no scientist but I do know that there's only so much you can conclude from a single data point. Magneto was indeed only resurrected by the Five once, but he died again after that on Arakko (X-Men Red #7). The body he's in came out of a portal from Overspace in Adam Brashear's underwater base (Resurrection of Magneto #3.) His body suffering a condition borne of something that happened to a different body doesn't make sense. Considering he's the only person to return to life that way AND the only one allegedly with R-LDS, that would be the place to start for Beast's sciencing.

There he is, good as new.

Word of God

In a recent AIPT interview, Tom Brevoort removed any ambiguity and just straight up confirmed it. With the caveat that his recent X-history knowledge seems pretty poor, he is the de jure ultimate authority on the matter. I don't agree with that, and not just because I don't respect him as a creator. This habit of on-panel ambiguity and editorialising in interviews is vexing.

It's especially vexing when he contradicts himself. He counterpoints his own information with some of what I just pointed out, but the fact that they've made a list of who was and wasn't resurrected suggests R-LDS is a plot point they're committed to. I have to wonder why he bothered giving a detailed answer to this question if it's 'yes,' then 'maybe', then 'it will definitely be a thing you'll see as we progress.' Saying all of that and then ending with 'we know very little so far' really makes me wonder what he's thinking. Tom Brevoort could have given his usual cagey answer about not wanting to spoil anything, but he didn't here. I'm saving most of my Brevoort-specific criticism for a separate piece, but this glib and irreverent tone is typical of his commentary - even managing a light jab at Jordan D White.

Frankly, I think it's a graceless and cynical development. There are so many character beats, mistakes, and conflicts to use from the First Krakoan Age that choosing to create R-LDS feels like a shot at the core of hopefulness and creativity that blew our socks off in 2019.

HoxPoX

House of X/Powers of X was hopeful and magical. After a decade plus of endless misery and genocides, dull stories and bizarre characterisation, for once mutants got a W. The ability to use mutants working together to right the horrendous wrongs they'd suffered was central to that - the power of community and cooperation. What they built wasn't perfect but The Five was something they got right.

What would possess someone to take the cornerstone of the greatest X-Men story of all time (don't @ me) and try to tear it down? Remember, when the dust settled we ended up in Moira X life 10E. In 10A, the original Krakoan experiment, the mutants won! They thrived and protected what was theirs against Dominions. It took a literal apex AI God existing outside of space and time directly opposing them to fail. Enigma, on the back foot, sent Omega Sentinel through time to start ORCHIS years early and ensure Krakoa's collapse. Am I to believe 'no, sorry. That was a dead end?'

Haven't we been here before?

We've had mutants suffer from the Legacy Virus and M-Pox already, and I might even be missing other examples of nebulous diseases that threatened to wipe out all mutants. Obviously it's the prerogative of the X-Office to use whatever plot points they want, but do we really have to do this again? There are plenty of ways to sideline Magneto as a combatant that don't require repackaging old storylines. We've even had Hank McCoy decades behind the curve desperately trying to catch up before - in All-New All-Different X-Men.

Small World

Defenders-era Hank McCoy might be the worst possible 616 scientist to tackle this problem. He's literally decades behind the science curve and doesn't have the experience in dealing with anything like this. He's not the same guy that worked on M-Pox or the Legacy Virus. He never set foot on Krakoa and has never met any of the Five. We don't know how much data was recorded or kept from The Five but Beast may not have access to it.

Why isn't he talking to Cecilia Reyes, Forge, Jean Grey, Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, Adam Brashear, Healer, Doctor Nemesis? Even doctor dickhead that extorted Storm has the ability to instantly diagnose anyone. It makes the world feel tiny, and when you're following an era of interconnectedness that's just so disappointing. Portraying him as supremely concerned about 'all of us being ticking time bombs' rings hollow if he's working on it solo. Hank McCoy has always had a sense of arrogance where his scientific ability is concerned but not to this degree. Look at the guy! He's hating the stress he's under.

Sins of Sinister and the White Hot Room

I have to wonder if the implications of linking Magneto's illness to The Five's resurrection have been fully considered. The Sins of Sinister timeline ran for a millennium with the Five resurrecting on an industrial scale. Rasputin IV would have noticed, or the Quiet Council. The mutants left behind in the White Hot Room in RotPox spent 15 years bringing back ALL the dead mutants. That's 16 million, minimum. 15 years is less than a thousand but it's still longer than the First Krakoan Age, several times over. Nobody noticed anything? Elixir, member of the Five and Omega biokinetic, with his unlimited mastery of DNA didn't notice anything? Destiny didn't see mutants falling apart? Sounds dubious as hell to me.

Towards the end of the era many humans were resurrected too. 5% of the Five's work was set aside for bringing back poor children etc through the Phoenix Foundation. Steve Rogers was resurrected into his current body on Judgement Day. I am extremely skeptical that this has been considered, and in Steve's case whether the X-Office can even use him.

Conclusion

Magneto's physical degradation has been swift. Here he is in Uncanny X-Men #700, implied to be at most 6 months before X-Men #1. I think I've demonstrated that the concept is nonsensical and to reiterate, I think it's a terrible narrative choice. If I'm being generous, it'll be interesting to see if they can explain R-LDS in a way that makes sense - if they can do something new and interesting with a tired concept. There's only been one issue since it was introduced, so perhaps I'm jumping the gun on breaking it down. Let's check back in 6 months.

What do you think of R-LDS? Do you think my reasoning is sound? As always, I'd love to hear what other fans think.

[silvervinewine]

Hii! I saw ur reqs are open!! :D if its ok can I request dottore (+segments) relationship hcs?

DOTTORE (+SEGMENTS) RELATIONSHIP HC

introductions were short and brief, a simple hello before you got to work alongside him, or the multiple hims. (very confusing to digest at the very start)

an assistant, supposedly an easy job for just about anyone. but it isnt just anyone youre working for, its a harbinger and his multiple freaky clones, come on !

being dragged off to help fairly younger versions of him with their experiments of dubious ethical values, being careful as to do your best.

one wrong move and youll end up in the cleaners, great job prospect for you !! surprisingly enough though, they accept you in their circle.

compared to the older versions of him, the younger segments are less guarded... and more carefree. you joke around with em, you bring them gifts and they happily accept em.

you talk to em and slowly but surely they start revealin parts of their history. fast movin experiments, considerable murders and lotsa studying within the academiya was what they told you about.

you accepted them for them with a little hesistance, but still do. and to their delight (?), not very clear they come to seek for you. yearn is silent within all dotttore variants, but mutual respect becomes one sided puppy love.

dumb crushes and the ruse they put up, being in love.. they did not realize you were also a scholar, one with a little more sense of social awareness. soon enough you cracked open their supposedly top secret plot.

their eagerness and surprising acceptance leads you to work with some of the older clones. a challenging next step for you.

blunt and close guarded, thats whats you came to know the few late adult clones as.

engaging in conversation which would lead to laughter and giggles with the young adult variants quickly fell on deaf ears.

you became used to ignoring and being ignored, and you came to miss the younger guys, repeatedly seeking them out.

using your lunch break to talk to the younger bunch, some of them really liked you some of then merely respected you and that was normal within their little society.

talking and lunching, before being found out by the superiors. it was your lunch break, you were mortal and you needed to eat but the segments didnt.

fighting back and through persuasive means you managed to lure a few older clones, little by little.

sweet dinners lit by the firelight and you were able to seduce a couple of older clones into talking, they told you about their plights and you listened.

touchstarved and unloved were the segments, and you could change that. you could. brushing hands and sitting a little closer before ultimately hugging them.

definetly the begginning of the end, and in little to no time did you have an older segment in your lap resting while you ran your fingers across their hair.

then there were two, then three segments, then four, and eight and more. all competing for affection, all yearnin for something they hadnt experienced.

one day IL DOTTORE stepped in though, the real deal, the doctor.

heard of all the talk from within the grapevine, a distraction and there could be no distractions for the segments.

they were an extension of him, carefully crafted to do their individual jobs. careful workers, guarded and alone. a part of his conciousness, and he knew he was indeed guarded and he had no need for any romantic nuisances around.

stepping into a room to find upwards of 4 segments all curled around you as you read a story. this was not bound to happen, not bound to when they needed to work.

he shooes them away, brushing them off before demanding you at once worked directly with him. whisking you away to a far away laboratory.

the doctor himself was cold, cold and harsh with everyone around him. yet with careful consideration, you managed to find the man within him.

soft bribes with the best pastries and careful hugs and caresses and he was under your spell, geez did he come to love you.

you promised him you would stay by his side, keep him company and suddenly a good part of his years looked better than before.

a gruff man, he knew himself to be cold and calculated but you threw him haywire somehow. he didnt know what could be.

until he did, he came to realize you loved him and from there on he didnt let go.

one step at a time, and slowly but surely you entered a state of relationship. a state of pure lovesick bliss.

whether it was romantic dinner dates or soft picnics, he loved it.

he came to tell you bits n pieces of his past and you held him all throughout, holding his face and kissing it gently much to his dismay (pleasure actually, but he wouldnt ever admit that).

as long as you were beside him, he was down.

you loved him and he loved you, and that was a given. even though he was cold and a bit egocentric, he still loved you n only you.

(A/N not proof read or spelling checked or grammae checked, sorey if this isnt what you qanted kinda went off the deep end geez )

[fkevin073]

I think what I like so much about the ballad of songbirds and snakes is that it shows the true extent of corruption and how it pollutes the soul. Snow wasn't born evil. He was undoubtedly prejudiced against the districts. He was certainly ambitious and snobby. But I think what I find most satisfying about his arc is that - to me at least - there are moments of genuine goodness on his part, or at least the potential to be good.

I think on some level, he did genuinely care about Lucy Gray. He did care Sejanus too, I think, though he didn't want to. Obviously all of this is complicated by his own toxicity and prejudices, but I think Suzanne Collins wanted to highlight the power of choices.

Snow could have chosen love and friendship. He an ample opportunity to. Those seeds of potential to do better and be better could have blossomed. but it didn't because of his own choices. because of what he valued.

I don't think Snow was born as the monster he eventually became, and I certainly don't think these moments of genuine care and affection on his part when he was younger excuses the irredeemable things he did when he was in power. But I think the great tragedy for everyone around him that were most affected by his actions (that knew him personally)- Lucy Gray, Sejanus, Tigris - is that those glimmers of goodness they saw in him that inspired them to attach themselves to Snow in the first place were, to some extent, real.

He just decided not to care anymore. He decided to complete/encourage the system instead of trying to dismantle it. Instead of seeing Lucy Gray as proof that his prejudices against the districts were wrong, he sees her as the exception. Instead of acknowledging Tigris and appreciating the sacrifices she made for him, he chose to honour his reputation and "pride" more. I could go on, really.

But part of the reason why I loved this book so much and that I'm still thinking about it months later is because it shows that Snow actively chose to become what he did. He didn't do it out of vengeance or some tragic revenge plot against the districts. He did it because ultimately he loved power more.

[blasphemousclaw]

For send a character ask: Radahn!

ahh, Radahn… forever an enigma

• favorite thing about them

who he is as a person — his family background, his beliefs, and who he ultimately chooses to be — is so endlessly interesting to me. being a child of both the Erdtree and the Moon, growing up idolizing the Erdtree’s champions like his father and Godfrey, but being a talented sorcerer in his own right like his mother, was he conflicted when Radagon betrayed Rennala? did he ever come to resent his father, both for breaking his mother’s heart and for replacing his greatest idol, Godfrey? there’s something so significant to me about Radagon despising his red hair, and Radahn embracing that same hair he inherited as the mark of a champion. did this affect his relationship with Radagon? on the other hand, did he know that challenging the stars was also halting his Carian family’s fate? did he care? there’s such a fascinating back-and-forth between Radahn and both sides of his family!

• least favorite thing about them

his writing in the dlc… will never get over how botched it feels. and I’m not talking about the actual plot points, I’m talking about how those plot points were revealed to us in the story! the reason why everyone felt like him showing up was an asspull plot twist was because there’s no hint whatsoever in the base game that Miquella and Radahn ever had a relationship at all. as a result, I think the writers had to speedrun a Radahn-Miquella reveal plotline with Freyja and Ansbach, while cramming references to Radahn into the dlc (like the Red Bear npc, and his relationship to Gaius and Messmer) to make him seem less out of nowhere… but to me it just comes across as a rushed plotline with extremely clumsy foreshadowing. I guess they didn’t know they would get to make a dlc when they made the game so they didn’t include anything about him and Miquella in the base game so there wouldn’t be random plot threads that go nowhere, or they originally planned something slightly different that didn’t pan out so they had to rework it but were only able to do so in the dlc. either way extremely disappointing. also his promised consort remembrance weapons are the laziest excuse for a remembrance of all time they’re just the starscourge greatswords again but different. is this some kind of sick joke

• favorite line

[footage not found]

just kidding he does have a few quotes: I’ve always liked “I was born a champion’s cub. Now I am the Lord of the Battlefield’s lion.” because of what it says about how he sees Radagon and Godfrey!

• brOTP

Rykard :33 his painting of Radahn means so much to me, it’s such a fond gesture… and the abductor virgins in Caelid seem like Rykard was really looking out for him! it makes me sad to think that they might’ve once been really close but drifted apart because of the war and their own priorities, but also still cared about each other

• ОТР

I don’t actively ship him with anyone tbh nothing has especially caught my interest

• nОТР

I resent Radahn/Miquella ONLY because their relationship has no buildup whatsoever and completely breaks the “show don’t tell” rule of storytelling. we’re told Miquella admired Radahn, but we never see this until he shows up as the final boss! I definitely wouldn’t dislike this ship if they had handled this storyline better but unfortunately with how things went it’s just embarrassing to me

• random headcanon

loves the outdoors… camping, hiking, riding, hunting, any physical activity where he gets to be outside. Rykard is the opposite. Radahn used to bring him on trips and he’d complain the whole way through

• unpopular opinion

I wrote a post about this already, but I think people are too quick to assume that he’s a Golden Order loyalist who wants to preserve the world in its current state. you could go on and on listing reasons why he would actually oppose the current Order… and in fact I did go on and on about it here. I think the most crucial thing to note is that Radahn has always made idolizing Godfrey his entire personality, and Godfrey was literally banished… the Order is very different now from what it once was!

• song i associate with them

again I only listen to instrumental music so I don’t really have thoughts on this sorry 🥹

• favorite picture of them

the Rykard painting <3

I really like how he’s depicted here… he’s got like a mature, lined face, and the way the painting is displayed (in a nicely furnished drawing room above the fireplace) feels like a very public declaration of respect and admiration? I think it says something about Radahn’s character that his brother who despises the Golden Order still seems to look up to him and care for him!