#villain 114

[sonderwrit]

C114: Somewhat familiar

I Have to Be a Great Villain - Masterpost

Author's 木火然 Weibo post:

Translation: You should sleep early tonight~ Giving you guys a preview of young adult!Wang Yi ahead of schedule! (The preview hasn't been updated yet) There should be a few more chapters of peaceful years~ It's not that I want knives [read: angst], it's just that it's almost time for the main storyline. ^_^

(Me: Author that's hardly enough, lemme add a couple pics of my own...)

S-0: (Huu…so Mr. Qin transmigrated into Host's master this time.) <- ran off previously to connect with Main System

["It's already fully healed, Master's spiritual energy has healing properties."]

S-0: (The Main System should be in the middle of extracting data right now.)

S-0: (As long as it verifies everything's normal, everything that happened beforehand will be safe.)

S-0: [My task is to quietly protect them.]

S-0: [And help Host grow up…healthy under Sword Saint Qin's hands.]

S-0: (However…)

—

Wang Yi: That there, Master doesn't need to mend it, I have lots more. [A rich second generation villain]

S-0: [I keep feeling like these scenes are somewhat familiar.]

S-0: [As if…]

S-0: [A long, long time ago, in the memories during a time when my consciousness was still chaotic.] 

S-0: [Mr. Qin and Host…seemed to look like this when they were together.]

(In flashback)

Y: ?

S-0: (So nice~~~~)

[A few years later—]

[Sword Peak]

Wang Yi: Huu…

[Wang Yi - Cultivator - 15 years old]

Qin Xian: ?

QX: What is it? (Usually he's the first to run up to this Master after cleaning up the secret realm.)

WY: …ah, Master's back?

WY: I'm find, I'm just thinking over some questions.

QX: ……

WY: Don't look at me with those eyes.

WY: So cold…

WY: It really is nothing.

WY: It's just that recently a little junior sister said she liked me while I was practicing with fellow disciples.

Junior Sister: That um…shixiong*, your swordsmanship is really beautiful…I really like it (you).

*sect brother, senior brother in this case lol

WY: But I had no idea how to reply, so…

WY: Thanks, I like it too.

WY: And then all the sect siblings ridiculed me.

Other disciples: HAHAHA! You're too much!

WY: But I can't understand what I can't understand.

WY: Master's lived for so long, can you understand what she meant?

*CRACK*

QX: ….

[Sword Saint Qin Xian, cultivated purely for thousands of years, never lost a battle.]

QX: Urk…disciple is still young, it's normal to not understand.

WY: I'm not little anymore.

[For the first time he encountered—a topic he's no good in either.] (Anyways, just pretend he knows a lot.)

WY: According to mortal ages, I'm of age to take a wife already.

[Specification: Note that in ancient times you could get married at 15.]

QX: …then is there anyone disciple cares about…or someone you always want to see? *racking his brains*

WY: Hm?

WY: Master's someone I care about. (Since you're the closest to me.)

WY: As for someone I always want to see, I do like seeing senior sister beating up the shixiongs until they cry out for mercy.

(Shixiong: Good junior sister, shixiong really can't take it anymoooooore—)

*CRAAAaaCCCK*

QX: (Hold on.)

QX: (Isn't there something wrong with that?) [knowledge in hindsight]

QX: ….beg for mercy?

QX &lt;;- was instructed by the sect leader to properly bring up his disciple

WY: Mhm. Is it strange?

QX: It's not strange. It's getting late so this Master is tired, you can leave first.

QX: As for your doubts, Master will answer them tomorrow.

WY: (This is…my room, right?)

—

[Thousands of years ago—]

Random Girl: That um, I really ike your swordsmanship.

Random: (Like, I like so much)

QX: Good, then [the esteemed] I shall accept this battle manual.

QX: (Since she likes to compete so much, I'll agree to it.)

Random Girl: ???

—

[Yunshan Sect - Medicinal Division]

(Same girl, now leader of the medicinal sect): …..

Woman: Sword Saint Qin, if you want to reminiscence about old times, please come back during time off.

QX: There's something important to discuss.

Woman (in the middle of class): What?

Woman: It's not something like a problem of the seal array of the sect, or invasion by demonic cultivators right…

QX: The seal array is very stable and chaotic demonic forces have been thoroughly eliminated.

QX: This esteemed one just wants to ask, when you said you liked the esteemed I back then—

Woman: *SNORTS* HAHAH, TODAY'S CLASS WILL END EARLY, PLEASE LEAVE IN AN ORDERLY MANNER!

*jabs dao whisk into QX's mouth*

Woman: (AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!)

—

(And so and thus) (Like this like that)

Woman: Huff…Sword Saint means to say, that child was similar to you in the past, with weak emotions?

QX: No, perhaps more so. His likes seem to lean towards those of demonic cultivators. (He likes seeing people in pain and whatnot…)

Woman: Aish—~ Retribution.

Woman: Cough cough, I mean, The cycle of Heaven—is tried and tested again.

Woman: First off, I'd like to say I've seen through the world of mortals to devote myself to the Way, and thus lost all of my former emotions towards the Sword Saint long ago. (*ptooey*)

QX: Mm.

Woman: Your disciple's situation is rare, perhaps due to his innate soul of the former heavenly deity and hidden bloodline.

Woman: We can't exempt the fact that he left home early and entered the sect, leading to neglect by the Sword Saint.

QX: *is faceslapped*

Woman: But no matter the case, it's not an illness any pill could cure, so I'm sorry I can't help.

QX: ….

QX: Neglect?

Woman: Right.

Woman: Hasn't the Sword Saint been constantly in closed door cultivation or off eliminating demons outside? (Half the time you're not even at the sect, right?)

Woman: At the same time you were busying ascending your skills, your disciple was probably alone at Sword Peak—

Woman: Waiting for you the entire time.

—

WY: (How come Master still isn't back yet?)

—

QX: ?!

[doctorforks]

I feel like people aren't appreciating fyodor enough after the recent chapter. This guy has not only gaslit the characters, but us the audience for what? 15 volumes? He pulled the very same party trick he pulled on Ace, and we fell for it.

"People can be so simple, they truly think they are thinking for themselves. If they discover something themselves, they see value in that, and don't want to think they're being led by the nose"

This applies to us as well. We too made theories and connected the dots as to what fyodor's truth may be, and felt comforted when dazai came up with the same conclusion only for fyodor to be the one feeding us this false information with his magnificent performance. As much as it is frustrating, it's just as fascinating. To have the reader go back all those volumes ago and find out that the clues were there, yet still blatantly lie till the end is amazing. It makes me so sick and insane and I love it. Truly fyodoresque!

[aethon-recs]

This Week in Tomarrymort (23 – 29 August 2024)

An exciting week in Tomarrymort land! 🎉 Some highlights and news:

aurora polaris (E, 217k, Voldemort wins AU with a side of amnesia!Harry) by @aglassroseneverfades finished with a 2-chapter update.

A Dangerous Game (E, 316k, Diary Tom in Harry's time) by @cybrid updated with a 9-chapter drop, and we are one chapter (only the epilogue!) away from the end.

AO3 user beetaker dropped a 135k completed fic this week alone??? (Dulce Et Decorum Mori - E, 135k, Harry Potter & Tom Riddle grow up together) It’s rarer than a blue moon that we see huge drops like this in Tomarry, so be sure not to miss it, as the whole fic posted all in this week.

The @tomarryverse Discord server is running a fest (AO3 collection link).

See below for a list of either ongoing Tomarrymort fics that I’m subscribed to or one shots that I found while browsing that were updated in the last week.

Previous Tomarrymort weeklies: 7-15 August 2024 | 15-22 August 2024

*

Tomarrymort One Shots and Completed Fic

Chapters 38 and 39 (complete) of aurora polaris by @aglassroseneverfades

Chapters 1 through 10 (complete) of Dulce Et Decorum Mori by beetaker

One Shot | Big Things by @dividawrites

One Shot | phases of the moon by @jjaegerb0mb

One Shot | fundamentals of internet safety by @cindle-writes

One Shot | New Category: Pining Homosexuals by kcg07

One Shot | The Snake Speakers by sparrowshellcat

One Shot | Dawn Over Dust by Wolf_of_Lilacs

*

Tomarrymort Ongoing Fics

Chapters 52 through 60 of A Dangerous Game by @cybrid

Chapter 6 of Ills of Murder by @shadow-of-the-eclipse

Chapter 6 of Anytime, Anywhere, Always by @moontearpensfic

Chapter 31 of Part One - The Solitude of Suffering by @iseliljathedreamer

Chapter 6 of Like we were before by tzutzutrain

Chapters 1 and 2 of Hole in the Wall by tomrddle

Chapter 5 of Saint Harry by @alenablack @chaos-bear

Chapter 32 of Terrible, But Great by @isalisewrites

Chapters 114 through 116 of Liquida Tenebris (Remastered) by @dymis

Chapter 14 of Learning to love by @l-archiduchesse

Chapter 9 of Lovely and the Lion by @skellington24

Chapter 13 of Outrunning the Villain in You by @zenyteehee

Chapter 9 of Unfamiliar Recognition by @karnage-tsurugi

Chapter 8 of A Snake in the Grass by @teaandsweaters9

Chapter 3 of the silence in between by ermineah

Chapter 19 of What In Me Is Dark, Illumine by @telelli-writes

Chapter 1 of In My Lover's Room (i am free) by @bunnieblair

Chapter 7  of we made universes out of bitten lips and broken hands by @boyneptunee

Chapter 2 of quid pro quo by marshall_1300

Chapter 6 of His condition by @ciacconne

Chapter 16 of Date Ideas for the Linguistically Inclined by Antique_Mango

Chapter 4 of These Fragments We've Shored by @rowena-rain

Chapter 1 of friend of the devil (a friend of mine) by @shyinsunlight

Chapter 3 of Cane Sugar by @blogalinda @cindle-writes @reggieblk @telectronique

Chapter 1 of before the day is done by @midsummersins

Chapter 3 of midnight train by @girl-with-goats

Chapter 5 of God is a Wizard by @onehitpleb

Chapter 4 of In a world where you and I dance by thelxiepeia

Chapter 19 of Occultation by TimaeusKosmou

*

[radiance1]

Inspired by this post.

So, we have Danny, who outlived his friends and family (none of them became ghosts.) is the prince of the Infinite Realms.

As soon as he didn't have any ties to the living world anymore, at the young age of 114 was Danny scooped up and taken to the ghost zone for royal tutelage.

Things like balance training, how to carry himself prim and proper, how to invoke power with his voice (not literally, mostly how to sound commanding at stuff), what he should wear, knowledge about the ghost zone etc, etc.

Although, History beyond a certain point had to be taught exclusively by Clockwork, since the only other person who could teach him about the Infinite Realms' full History would be Pariah Dark, who was the first ghost ever to have been conceived by the Realms, and no one really wanted to wake up him.

Of course, that would mean there would be a void where Clockwork can't teach, but that knowledge is.... not necessary for the young prince to learn.

[It was really just about Pariah acquiring the ring and crown, the rest is uh, cough the lovey-dovey arc of Pariah Dark and Clockwork that will stay lost to time if Clockwork has anything to say about. Look, they were babies then compared to now, no one needs to know what happened back then alright?]

So, after all this I imagine him wearing something like this, staff and all.

However, Danny has an arch-nemesis.

Dark Danny.

Who somehow managed to escape from his imprisonment and causes havoc and chaos wherever he goes. His thing to do was to escape to the living world to make it befall the same fate he caused to his own.

He, however, probably did not expect for Danny to be more experienced, and his skills more honed than 100 years ago. Not that Dark Danny knew such time had passed, as he went through the trouble of trying to locate Danny's parents, sister, and best friends to make try and set him on the path to become him.

He failed, obviously, as they were already long gone.

His next thing to do? Locate Vlad and consume his ghost half. However, Danny made it just in time before he could do so.

However, Dark Danny's sheer, raw power, still eclipsed his own. However, while his raw power may be superior, he had something that would let him reliably go head-to-head in a fight with his alternate self and not win due to being underestimated and the sudden appearance of the ghost wail.

A staff, one naturally formed when he was crowned as Prince. An artifact that granted him a boost in power, and furthered his strengths regarding magic, giving him a roughly equal playing field when he confronts Dan.

It by itself may have only been equal to that of the Ring of Rage or Crown of Fire individually, but the fact it could compare to either one when not paired together spoke well of its power.

Dark Danny was, obviously, not expecting him to be as well-equipped and powerful as he was now. So, he underestimated him yet again, and almost led to his defeat and subsequent containment. However, Danny didn't expect for him to escape as he did, and run into another dimension.

Danny, both as himself and Prince of the Ghost Zone, has the responsibility to go after his evil self. So, he entered the portal, with some equipment made by Vlad as both a thanks and silent 'Find him as quickly as possible', which was a device meant to track Dark Danny's energy whenever he uses a good amount of it.

He... didn't expect, to land in a dimension of Superheroes and Villains.

However, he could let such things distract him from the task at hand, Dark Danny was surprisingly laying low for some reason. Probably to recuperate the damage Danny managed to do to him, so that left him a while to get familiar enough with this dimension.

He got a few odd looks here and there, mostly due to how he was dressed. He was worried about it for a while, before overhearing others calling him a cosplayer and him, suddenly remembering that those do indeed exist, decides to use that as a cover for how he dresses.

A month later, still with no sign of his alternate self, and making Danny worry about if he wasn't in this dimension at all. The device finally picked up Dark Danny's signature, and he hurried to said location, when he arrived, the place was not in the best of shape.

Upturned cars, broken buildings, rubble on the street, fire here and there. Not the best welcome party.

There were multiple other villains than just his future self there, but he didn't put them in mind. He was here for one, and one alone.

A few members of what he believes to be Young Justice took to fighting his alternate self, while other members of their team and the Justice League fight the other villains. He saw what could only be the start of a ghost wail, and hurried over.

In front of them, he slammed the butt of his staff on the ground and conjured a shield, which took the entirety of the attack with a few cracks.

"Still as strong as ever, I see." Danny said, lowering the shield as his twin rings run up and down his body respectively, hair turning a white glow and eyes as green as toxic waste. He raised his staff, pointing it at his future self, who looked none too pleased to see him at all. "Now then, shall we continue our fight you so rudely left unfinished?"

Of course, Danny no longer had the card of underestimation, but he could do well without it. Unfortunately, after quite the battle, Dark Danny managed to escape once again, due to some kind of teleport spell of another magic user.

Danny didn't escape unscathed from the fight, but nothing that couldn't be healed in time.

Of course, then he had to interact with both the Justice League, and Young Justice after his sudden introduction.

[raineandsky]

#114

The last thing the hero remembers is someone shoving them into a white van—and frankly, with a last memory like that, they’re expecting to wake up in a grimy jail, or maybe some weird torture basement.

What they aren’t expecting is to wake up in an actual bed, in an actual room. There’s actual windows, for god’s sake, and unbarred. They woke up ten minutes ago, and spent about six of those minutes revelling in how comfortable the bed is before realising they should at least try to get out.

They're in the midst of fiddling with the latch on the window—conveniently impossible to open, they notice—when the criminal behind this weird situation decides to make an appearance.

“Good to see you awake,” the villain says cheerfully, then, with a little more apprehension, “and on your feet.”

The hero at least has the courtesy to stop trying to break out. “What the hell do you want, [Villain]?”

The villain’s bright smile doesn’t move. They carefully shut the door behind them. “I don’t want anything. I’m doing you a favour.”

From the lavish bed and actual walking space in here, the hero can kind of see that. “I seriously doubt you are doing me a favour.”

“When was the last time you slept in a bed that comfortable?”

A long time ago. The hero can even barely remember. It feels like they’ve always been a hero. Always been a little uncomfortable. “Last night, thank you very much.”

The hum the villain gives that is so disbelieving it’s painful. “I don’t like the agency,” they say after a moment, “and as a result I didn’t like you. I just kind of… bunched you in with them.”

“Well, yeah.” The hero shuffles awkwardly. “Probably because I work for them.”

“But exactly! You know I hate the modern working world.” The villain smiles, like everything is obvious. It’s really not. “I saw you as an equal to the agency, but you’re not, are you? You’re under them.”

“I don’t like what you’re implying.”

The villain’s not done. “You’re on their whim. You’re not an ally to them, you’re a victim.”

There’s a long silence in which the hero tries valiantly to process what the villain just said. “I think you’re a little confused, [Villain], I’m not—”

“When did you last have any free time? Enjoy life? See friends? I bet the agency doesn’t let you have friends.”

“I have friends!”

“Yeah? Who?”

“There’s… heroes.”

“Hm.” The villain smirks. “Only allowed to hang out with people they approve of, then.”

The hero returns that with a scowl. “Look,” the villain continues gently, “you can do a lot better than the agency. You’re better than all of this.”

“I’m not becoming a criminal.”

“I’m not saying that.” The villain shifts their gaze to the window the hero was just trying to open. “I’m just suggesting… I don’t know. Go do something that actually puts some good out there.”

“And you’re telling me this, of all people.”

The villain laughs at that. The hero smiles too—it is weird to get a morality lesson from someone who notoriously doesn’t have any. “Hey, you do the good stuff and I’ll stick to the bad stuff. Only good if there’s bad and vice versa, right?”

The villain opens the door, clearly considering their point made. “You really think the agency’s that bad?” the hero blurts.

“I don’t think there’s anything worse.” The villain idly runs their hand over the grooves in the door handle for a moment. “You have a lot of potential, [Hero]. I think I’d like to see what it’s like to fight you in your prime rather than as the agency’s lapdog.”

The hero nods sagely. “This is for personal gain, then.”

“Of course it is!” The villain grins. It’s a lot more genuine than their usual victorious smirk. “Everything I do is for personal gain, you know that.”

The hero can’t help but smile gratefully as the villain shuts the door behind them. Maybe they can think on it. Maybe they can consider their options, here, in this lovely little room that's more than they’ve had in years.

If giving the hero a nice bed and a beautiful view is for personal gain, then the villain should be selfish more often.

[soupthatistohot]

BSD: An Absurdist Analysis - Ch. 114

My thoughts on "Crime and Punishment"

[BSD Absurdism Masterpost]

Okay, so! Fyodor probably isn't dead.

And my theory for what his ability is would tie into Asagiri's absurdist storytelling thus far.

In Sigma's flashback, we see Fyodor get impaled in a manner that is eerily similar to how he dies in the helicopter, a way that pratically guarantees his death. Yet, as Sigma observes, he must have escaped the execution in order for him to still be alive.

My theory, put simply, is that when someone successfully kills Fyodor, he takes their place.

His ability is called Crime and Punishment, right? And if the ultimate crime (sin) is murder, then the punishment would be death. So, then, perhaps when someone is able to kill Fyodor, it causes their death, and somehow Fyodor takes on their lifeforce (for lack of a better term) and is able to keep living.

This would also explain why he has been able to live for such a long time. If he keeps getting killed by people whose lifeforce he assumes, then he can theoretically live forever as long as people keep attempting to murder him.

This would explain the end of the chapter where the body is shown to clearly not be Fyodor's. The helicopter pilot would have paid the consequence for Fyodor's murder, and thus been the one to die. For whatever reason, I suppose this means he and Fyodor switched likenesses? This is further supported by the panel in the flashback/memory where something seems to be happening to the man who impaled Fyodor after he does so. This part I cannot explain as well, but I think y'all can understand what I'm getting at with this.

Additionally, this theory of Crime and Punishment explains the purpose of the prison-break game, he's been trying to goad Dazai into killing him all along so he can die in turn, and finally be rid of his rival.

(Edit: the above point is likely rendered invalid because No Longer Human would very likely protect Dazai from death by Fyodor’s ability. That being said, it further explains why Fyodor is so determined to kill Dazai — not only is he his match in wits, but he might be the only one capable of killing him for good.)

Further, it could possibly explain Nikolai's desire to kill Fyodor. Perhaps Nikolai knows the nature of Fyodor's ability, and is the only one who does, which is why he considers them to be so close. He idolizes Fyodor, and so he desires to one day kill him, because he knows it will kill him in turn and Fyodor will get to continue living on. This one's a bit of a reach, but I do think it's a potential explanation if my theory about Crime and Punishment is correct.

And now for how this all fits into absurdism!

Fyodor has been the main antagonist for a really long time, basically for half of the manga's run. Up until this point we've had little to no clues about the nature of his ability and if my theory turns out to be correct, wouldn't that just be the greatest absurdity of all time? A villain that literally cannot die because when someone kills him, they actually die instead of him? How do you even defeat such a person?

I'm fairly confident about this theory, my only question would be why he would reveal this now? Surely, he knows that Dazai would figure it out, both from Sigma and from the corpse clearly not being him, so what benefit does Fyodor gain from revealing not only that he's survived, but what his ability is?

[zahri-melitor]

Not that I would ever write a Titans Tower fic because of so many reasons but, if we gently massage the timeline just a lil bit here I can make such a better set of starting conditions than your average fic. That actually, you know, recognises when the story is set.

Teen Titans #29 is a December 2005 story, the same month that Dick agrees to work with Slade to train Rose (and proceeds to 'train' Rose as a villain by pointing out all the ways she needs to learn how to fight against the various members of the Society of Super Villains for the inevitable occasion they betray her dad. Oh Dick. You are so bad at being a villain. Anyway). The following month Roy shows up to go "what are you DOING DICK" at the request of Oracle and Dick kicks him around a bit in Nightwing #114.

But what if we shift events in Nightwing just a little forward, ahead of Teen Titans.

So then we can have this Roy-Dick-Rose are fighting Venom-pumped mooks fight scene...and Roy gets an emergency override from Oracle in his ear, letting him know that Titans Tower has gone into lockdown for some reason, setting off an alert.

Now, Mia's on the Teen Titans at this point. So Roy freaks out because Mia's supposed to be there and tells Dick who ALSO FREAKS OUT because the first information about the lockdown Oracle passes along has some detail about the alert giving very bad vibes (hinting that it's one of Jason's codes or something like that, or Tim's managed to set off a distress call or why am I overthinking this, it's a Titans Tower fic).

And Dick (still dressed as Ravager, I might add) turns around with Roy to go storm the Tower and figure out what has gone on, telling Rose "you wanted practice being bad? We're going to go break into Titans Tower".

And given it's Roy and Dick, they are immediately in agreement that they take Rose with them for a fun and educational trip (also Rose knows how to sneak around the Tower just as well as anyone, she's lived there before too while she was Lian's nanny, even though she's recently had her mental breakdown and stabbed out her eyeball an extra body who knows how the Tower works is helpful right now).

So the upshot of this and Dick using his very not-supposed-to-be-used JL transporter codes he nicked off Bruce, probably assisted by Dinah given she's an Actual JLAer at this very point in time and standing right next to Babs during all of these shenanigans, is that Jason Todd, in full weeb 'I'm not having a tantrum about no longer being Robin, honestly I'm not' costume turns around from fighting Tim and bearing down on him is a chick in what looks like a Deathstroke costume knockoff, a creepy red vigilante he's never seen before, and a fuming mad Roy Harper.

We go from there. Jason is having a very bad day.

There's also this angle where Dick's just been explaining to Rose exactly how bad news Talia al Ghul is almost immediately before all of this occurs, so if you want some dramatic irony there is another line to exploit...

[mareastrorum]

I’ve been working off and on with a longer post about villains and their roles in a story, but in light of the latest episode, one part seems especially relevant:

Villains and antagonists are different roles in a narrative. Some characters overlap, but they aren’t the same thing. A villain represents the wrong conclusion of something; they are the narrative’s spotlight on a destructive, immoral, or self-defeating way of handling a perceived problem. They aren’t necessarily opponents. In comparison, an antagonist is an obstacle for protagonists, whether they are right or wrong. If the story doesn’t dig into those issues, then that character is likely just an antagonist and shouldn’t be expected to carry much narrative weight. In narratives like an improv D&D actual play show, there’s a Schrodinger’s villain aspect going on here because these roles depend on the choices of multiple participants, so we can’t really judge except in hindsight.

That said, Vox Machina wasn’t going to fight against villains in episodes 113 and 114 because their story within the C3 narrative didn’t need a villain. VM wasn’t here for some overarching narrative conclusion to occur during their appearance. They were here to save Vax, break the bridge, and help prevent the end of the world. C3 isn’t their story; this side story is like the EXU breakaways. Every VM antagonist was someone we hadn’t really seen before and didn’t know much of anything about because making them face villains wouldn’t have made sense. They’re not here to face the narrative questions of C3.

I’ve had the impression that the story purpose to include VM and the MN is that they will be contrasts for the motivations and decisions that Bell’s Hells are going to make for the finale. However, because that is my understanding of their purpose, I don’t expect either of those teams to face any villains. They’re going to face antagonists. Maybe there will be some minor comparisons between the Weave Mind and Cognouza or the Cerberus Assembly, but I don’t anticipate those will be more than passing statements. It likely won’t be the focus of the interaction and the players probably won’t dig deep on it. The parties simply don’t have a reason to care why their opponents are doing this, there isn’t any motivation for them to be invested in correcting any wrong conclusions, and the players probably have character stuff they’d rather focus on.

Then, at the end, we’re going to see Bell’s Hells deal with the story’s actual villains: Ludinus Da’leth, Liliana Temult, and the other exaltants of the Ruby Vanguard. From Matt’s perspective as the DM, the villains are on the wrong path. Does Bell’s Hells agree? What are they going to do about it? Are they going to be heroic like VM, sacrificing their own wants and desires for a greater good, even if they take small moments for themselves? Or are they more like MN, who are like, fuck, no one else is gonna do this, and we don’t want the world to end, and apparently we’re experts on psychic bullshit, so we’re here killing some jackass I guess? Or something else?

Not every conflict within a story needs a villain. Sometimes it’s just a bunch of mean assholes so that the drama can focus on the protagonists and their hangups.

[blackcat419]

Viserys never cares about Aemma or Alicent.

You would think a guy who saw his first wife go through so much suffering to give him a son and literallly died trying to make him happy wouldn’t want to see someone ever go through that again. But Viserys gets Alicent pregnant with barely a year between her first two children. We see during Aegon’s second name day hunt that Alicent is very pregnant. Rhaenyra even asks if she should be traveling because she’s so pregnant. So if Alicent is 8 or 9 months pregnant, that means Viserys got her pregnant only 1 year and 4/3 months after birthing Aegon. This would be really hard on Alicent’s body as shes not even 18 when she has her first kid.

When we look at the ages of their other two kids, Aemond and Daeron, it gets even worst. Aemond is born a year after Haelena, 109 and 110, which gives us at most another year and three months before Alicent became pregnant or at the worst 3 months. Either way this is a quick turn around and not good for Alicent. Daeron’s age is more iffy because we haven’t seen him in the show, but based on the books he is born in 114. This gives Alicent time to recover before she’s forced to be pregnant again.

This should show people that Viserys never learned from Aemma’s death and was willing to put another young girl at risk for his own desires. Viserys is the true villain of this show and should be treated as the horrible father, husband, and friend he is.

[blackstarchanx3new]

LOZ Four Swords Returns AU Masterpost

Crossing my fingers and hoping this works.

Four Heroes Return 1

Pages 1-6

Pages 7-14

Pages 15-20

Back Home 2

Pages 21-24

Pages 25-28

Pages 29-32

A "Walk" 3

Pages 33-36

Pages 37-40

Pages 41-44

Pages 45-48

Pages 49-51

Pages 52-54

Pages 55-57

Library 4

Pages 58-62

Pages 63-65

Pages 66-67

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Pages 74-76

Pages 77-81

A Promise 5

Pages 82-84

Pages 85-87

Pages 88-90

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Pages 94-96

Pages 97-101

Pages 102-104

Pages 105-108

Memory Lane 6

Pages 109-111

Pages 112-114

Pages 115-117

Pages 118-120

Pages 121-124

Pages 125-128

A Hero Playing a Villain 7

Pages 129-131

Pages 132-134

Pages 135-139

Pages 140-144

Pages 145-150

Pages 151-155

Pages 156-159

Pages 160-164

Pages 165-172

Pages 173-177

Dark Mirror's shards 8

Pages 178-182

Pages 183-186

Pages 187-191

Pages 192-196

Triforce of Power 9

Pages 197-200

Page 201-205

Pages 206-210

Uncontrollable Curse 10

Pages 211-214

Pages 215-218

Pages 219-222

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Pages 234-240

Pages 241-244

Unfinished Business 11

Pages 245-250

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Home again 12

Pages 339-342

Pages 343-347

Pages 348-350

Pages 352-355

Pages 356-360

Darkness and Vaati 13

Pages 361-363

Pages 364-366

Pages 367-370

A Waking Nightmare 14

Pages 371-375

Pages 376-379

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Pages 383-385

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Pages 409-411

[physalian]

Y'all remember when the whole reason children of the Big Three were banned was because Hades's kids were Nazis?

"The winning side" being of course the Allied Powers? Page 114 of the Miramax paperback, chapter 8.

I woke up randomly thinking about this today and I know the book is 18 years old (good god) but. Um. "Hey Nico, you know how you're from the 40s? You had cousins who were Nazis and were probably the reason you were going to leave Italy. Definitely the reason Hades panicked, saved probably the last two children he had, and locked you in the Lotus Casino for 70 years. Perhaps your cousins were even behind Mussolini. Perhaps if you'd stayed, you would have been found and conscripted. Who knows?"

Also just. The insinuation that Hades's kids are natural born villains (like a certain House in Harry Potter) when that all gets quielty retconned later because Nico exists, and then Nico becomes one of the most beloved characters in the canon, and Hades ends up being the best Olympian parent by a country mile.

And... and at no other point in history were Zeus or Poseidon's kids ever "evil" enough to warrant a pact? Or Hades's kids ever "good" enough? Like, say... the world war that just happened right before this one? With less clear-cut sides and "bad guys"?

But also. Given that so many prominent historical figures in this universe were demigods, the chance that some big names in that war were Hades's kids is pretty high.

I know the first book is oozing anti-Hades propaganda but this deserved some addressing. At some point. Just a little? Unless of course Grover is a victim of said propaganda and has his facts wrong, in which case this very much needed addressing.

Buddy I think you owe Nico an apology.

They did cut this from the Disney show, didn't they? I am never watching that again to confirm, but if they did, they needed some other lore behind the Big Three Pact.

[longitudinalwaveme]

Gaps Between Character Appearances: Flash vol. 1

Basically what it says on the tin: an examination of the longest amounts of time a character was absent for during the Silver/Bronze Age Flash run.

Heroes and Supporting Cast:

Barry Allen: Since he was the main character, Barry was, unsurprisingly, basically in every issue of the Flash. There are therefore no significant gaps in his appearances.

Iris West-Allen: Iris was in pretty much every issue from 1956 to 1979, when she was killed by the Reverse-Flash. She then disappeared from the comic until 1985, when she returned for the end of the Trial of the Flash arc---an absence of six years.

Henry and Nora Allen: Their biggest absence was a seven-year gap between 1966 and 1973. There was then a second large gap between their appearance in 1973 and their reappearance in 1978.

Daphne Dean: Her biggest gap was an 11-year disappearance from 1966 to 1977. She then had another large gap between 1977 and 1982.

Ira West: His biggest gap was a 3-year gap between 1975 and 1978. He then pretty much disappeared from the book entirely after 1979.

Solovar: His biggest absence was a 13-year gap between 1965 and 1978.

Wally West: As Kid Flash, he appeared pretty consistently, either with Barry or on his own, until the very end of the run. The biggest gap is a two-year span between 1981 and 1983.

Patty Spivot: She didn't have any gaps of more than a year at any point between 1977 and and 1984, her full run on the series.

Fiona Webb: Fiona didn't have any gaps of more than a year for her full run on the series, either, which lasted from 1980 to 1985.

Joan Garrick: Her biggest gap in the Flash series was between 1978 and 1982 (the latter of which was her last appearance in Barry's run).

Jay Garrick: His biggest gap is the same 4-year gap as Joan's (between 1978 and 1982). He then disappears from the comic for its last three years (most of which were taken up by the never-ending Trial of the Flash arc).

Dexter Myles: His biggest gap was a roughly three-year period between 1970 and 1973.

Villains:

Professor Zoom the Reverse-Flash: The biggest gap in appearances he had prior to his death was the 5-year gap between 1969 ("Time Times 3 Equals--?") and 1974 ("Green Lantern---Master Criminal of the 25th Century"). After his death in 1980, he effectively disappeared for 3 years, reappearing in 1983 only to die again.

Abra Kadabra: His biggest gap in appearances was the five-year gap between 1972 ("The Flash in Cartoon-Land!") and 1977 ("Kill Me, Flash--Faster, Faster!"). There was also a 4-year gap between 1968 ("The Thief Who Stole All the Money in Central City") and 1972.

Gorilla Grodd: Grodd was absent for seven years, between 1971 (“Beyond the Speed of Life!”, otherwise known as the issue where Digger and James trip the Flash and he dies) and 1978 (“Beyond the Super-Speed Barrier").

Captain Cold: Captain Cold had two fairly sizeable gaps between appearances: a five-year gap between 1969 ("Captain Cold Blows His Cool") and 1974 ("The Hot-Cold War in Central City!"), and a four-year gap between 1977 ("To Believe or Not to Believe!") and 1981 ("Captain Cold's Cold, Cold Flame"). There was also a 3-year gap between his appearance in Showcase #8 and his appearance in Flash #114.

Mirror Master: Mirror Master had a number of two-year gaps between appearances, but never anything more than that. He was the most consistently appearing Flash villain.

Heat Wave: The biggest gap for Heat Wave was basically the same as for Captain Cold---a five-year gap between 1969 and 1974.

Captain Boomerang: Digger disappeared for four years between 1967 ("The Stupendous Triumph of the Six Super-Villains") and 1971 ("Beyond the Speed of Life!"). He was also missing for a 3-year period between 1976 (“The Last Day of June is the Last Day of Central City!”) and 1979 ("Road to Oblivion!").

Trickster: Trickster had a number of 3-year gaps between appearances---between 1965 ("The Trickster's Toy Thefts") and 1968 ("The Swell-Headed Super Hero"), between 1968 and 1971 ("Beyond the Speed of Life!"), between 1971 and 1974 ("The Day I Saved the Flash!", also known as writer Cary Bates' self-insert fanfic), between 1977 ("Prisoner of the Past") and 1980 ("If, At First You Don't Succeed"), and between 1980 and 1983 ("Dead Reckoning").

Weather Wizard: Weather Wizard was absent for six years, from 1967 ("The Race to the End of the Universe") to 1973 ("The Heart that Attacked the World").

Pied Piper: Hartley was absent from 1967 ("The Stupendous Triumph of the Six Supervillains") to 1972 ("The Flash of 1000 Faces"), a gap of five years. He also had a roughly four-year gap between 1977 ("Prisoner of the Past") and 1981 ("The Pied Piper's Paradox Peril"), and a 4-year gap between his first appearance in 1959 and his second appearance in 1963.

The Top: Roscoe was absent for six years, from 1967 ("The Stupendous Triumph of the Six Supervillains") to 1973 ("The Million-Dollar Death Trap!"). He was then basically absent from his death in 1976 to his return as a ghost in 1981, a five-year gap. His last appearance in the comic was in November 1981.

Golden Glider: Her biggest gap was a three-year absence from 1978 (“The Golden Glider’s Final Fling!”) to 1981 ("1981--A Flash Odyssey!"). Her last appearance in the comic was in October 1982.

Rainbow Raider: His biggest gap was a year-and-a-half-to-two year gap between 1981 ("A Stab in the Black!") and 1983 ("Trade Heroes and Win!").

Mr. Element/Dr. Alchemy: There was a six-year gap between Dr. Alchemy's appearance in 1958 ("The Man Who Changed the Earth!") and Mr. Element's appearance in 1964 ("Our Enemy, the Flash!"). Albert Desmond disappeared again from 1966 ("One Bridegroom Too Many!”) to 1972 ("The Curse of the Dragon’s Eye!”), a roughly six-year gap. He also disappeared for another six years between 1974 (“The Fury of the Fire-Demon!”) and 1980 (“Dr. Alchemy and Mr. Desmond"). His last appearance in the series was in September 1980. Alvin only appeared from July to September 1980 during Barry's run, and as such there were no gaps between his appearances.

Paul Gambi: Paul was absent for 10 years between 1963 and 1973, and then had a 9-year gap between 1976 and 1985.

Among the villains, Grodd had the biggest gap between his appearances, since he was gone from the pages of the Flash for seven years. Albert Desmond had the most frequent long absences, though, with three different six-year gaps.

Among the Rogues proper, The Top and the Weather Wizard had the largest gaps between appearances, though the Top's death meant that he was gone for more of the series than Weather Wizard.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

furthering my evil plan mwahahahahahahah 📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚

HERE WE GO!

114 sentences for Ravi:

---

“Wait. What?”

“It’s called Hollywood Dream Homes,” Anil continues. “The network’s answer to Selling Sunset and Buying Beverly Hills.” 

“Wow,” Ravi exhales. 

He’s in utter disbelief. Namely because their father hates those kinds of shows. Says they’re embarrassing, unprofessional, you name it. Reality television in general, their parents just don’t get. What do their parents think? They often ask about literally any reality television star across almost every sub genre. He imagines that if Anil has told them about this, they already don’t approve. 

“Yeah, it’s kind of a huge deal,” Anil says. “They’re figuring out who they want to focus on, and it could be me. You know, I could be a main cast member.”

Every show needs a villain.

“Again, wow.” Ravi says. “But that still doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

Or why being yelled at by literal firefighters didn’t run him out. 

“The producers want a story,” Anil sighs. 

“A story?” Ravi parrots. 

“Like a hook, for me. To make audiences connect.”

Because his personality is so abhorrent they can’t be sure audiences won’t wish for him to be set adrift on a sinking boat? 

“Again, what does this have to do with me?” Ravi asks.

Anil has the nerve to look sheepish as he speaks next. 

“Well, I was thinking… You know, our family went through a lot.”

“We grew up in Beverly Hills.” Ravi frowns.

“But with your cancer,” Anil says. “That was difficult.” 

Ravi blinks. “My cancer?”

“I’m sure you remember having it,” Anil says flatly. 

Ravi wants to defy the natural order of his profession and light his brother on fire.

“Of course I remember having cancer,” he snaps. “I only mean, what the fuck does that have to do with your reality show?”

“That could be the story!” Anil offers, like it makes perfect, easy sense. “How we rallied together as a family to support you. How that early childhood experience has impacted me, shaped who I am.”

Ravi’s jaw drops. 

“You’re kidding, right?” 

Anil furrows his brows. “I’m not.”

“Well, you should be.” Ravi replies coolly. “Because you’re crazy if you think I want that on a show about selling houses to C-List celebrities.”

Anil’s expression falters at this description of his show. But - and probably in the interest of accomplishing his goal - he lets it go. 

“It could be good for you, too.” Anil explains. “Get your face out there. Your name. You could appear in the show.”

Ravi shrugs. “I don’t need that. You’ll have to do it without my blessing or involvement.”

Anil groans. “I can’t.”

“You can’t?” 

“I talked to our parents about it.” Anil explains. “They’ll only agree to talk about it if you do. They say it’s up to you.”

Oh. Well. Isn’t that fucking interesting. Anil needs him. He needs him. He needs the part of Ravi he despises. The part of Ravi he resents. And for once, his parents aren’t giving into his whims. That’s… New. 

Ravi nods, feeling somewhat self-satisfied. “What an inconvenient time to have burnt a bridge.”

“Ravi, come on, man.” Anil tries. “I’ve never asked you for shit. And you know how stubborn they can be. How set in their ways.” 

Ravi scoffs. As if they can share their mutual woes over their parents. Like real brothers might. No fucking way. Ravi may have his issues with his parents. His grievances. His hurt, caused by them believing in Anil and ignoring the harm he does. But his parents are good people. They love him. Nothing they do, they do out of malice. Ravi can’t say the same about his brother.

“The answer is no,” Ravi says again. “And not just because I don’t care whether or not this is successful for you. But also because, even if I did care, the thought of reliving that for someone’s minor shot at celebrity makes me very uncomfortable. If you knew shit about me, you’d know that.”

“So that’s just it, then?” Anil demands. The shocked, pissed-off look in his brother’s eyes is as good as gold. “You’re going to ruin this for me?”

Ravi mock winces. “Guess that’s sort of what I do, right?” 

“Should’ve known better than to think you’d be anything but a jealous, toxic dickhead,” Anil shakes his head. 

And, normally, Ravi might have tried to refute this claim. Now, he just shrugs. What more can Anil do, really? He’s already alienated Ravi from one family. He tried and failed today with a second. Today, Ravi is the one with the upper hand.

[ajfoxships]

so I just binged MHA episode 114-127

*spoilers obvi*

*inhale* HOLY FUCK WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!??? HOW DID EVERYTHING GO TO SHIT IN THIRTEEN GODDAMNED EPISODES 😭

LIKE I KNEW IT WOULD BE BAD ITS CALLED THE ‘WAR ARC’ FOR A REASON BUT DUDE!

Holy fuck I feel so bad for everyone, but I felt especially bad for Mic, Aizawa, Hawks, Dabi, and the rest of the Todorokis. because goddamn!

Hawks, A: gets his wings set on fucking fire B: finds out his biggest hero failed so spectacularly he created the 2nd most wanted villain in Japan C: has his real name revealed D: did I mention that his wings were set on fire E: will have to deal with the press on top of this!

And I mean I the span of what, 3 days? Mic and Aizawa find out that A: their best friend’s corpse was stolen, mutilated, and used to create a monster. B: fight a losing battle knowing that literal children are acting as soldiers and they can’t do anything about it C: Hizashi learned that the LOV didn’t even want oboro they were after Shouta and took the next best thing when they failed to capture him, AND now he has to decide if he should tell his best friend who already blamed himself that the league wanted him instead!? D: Shouta cut. off. his. goddamned. leg. E: midnight fucking died F: a bunch of their students got hurt and they won’t even be recognized for their bravery.

aND DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE TODOROKIS!!! (To preface I unfortunately already knew about the dabi/touya reveal)

A: 2ND MOST WANTED VILLAIN IN THE COUNTRY IS THEIR OLDEST CHILD/SIBLING!!! B: endeavor is partly responsible for the actions of dabi/touya C: REI JUST FOUND OUT THAT HER SON IS A MURDER AND HER HUSBAND IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CHAIN OF EVENTS THAT LED TO IT D: THE OTHERS JUST LEARNED THE FULL EXTENT OF ENDEAVORS ABUSE E: TOUYA LITERALLY BURNED HIMSELF ALIVE TRYING TO GET HIS FATHER TO CARE ABOUT HIS FAMILY

HIR3HCNIDUSUNCBUICS UHFDJIFDBUSI I CANT WITH THIS MY HEART HURTS!!!!!!!!!!

-tHE ONLY GOOD THING ABOUT THIS IS THAT LEMILLION IS BACK! I TELL YOU I SCREAMED WHEN I RECOGNIZED MIRIO’S CAPE! MY BOY IS OKAY!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭

[lesbianboyfriend]

The ugliest part of the DSM-IlI story is "the people involved," those who practiced what Lewis calls "bad politics" (109). This story is a shocking array of subterfuges and exclusions, with the role of chief villain going to Robert Spitzer, chair of the task force that created DSM-III. Lewis reports that the committee assembled by Spitzer during late 1974 and early 1975 consisted of five psychiatrists who formed an “invisible college” of like-minded researchers" (112) and "carefully eliminated any people with alternative perspectives," including clinicians (114). The task force quickly made major changes to the manual, including its new emphasis on medicalization and classification, and then, for five years, "covered its tracks" by engaging in a long process of "field trials" that, Lewis maintains, "effectively covered over" the fact that a very small group had already made most of the major ideological and procedural changes (114). The DSM-III, Lewis points out, claims that the field trials involved over 12,000 patients evaluated by about 550 clinicians, and lists hundreds of "contributors" (114). But those involved in the field trials "tested the manual according to the rules, norms, and priorities of the initial [five-member] task force" (115). In other words, these "contributors" were "testing" a model that had already been radically shifted; they were not involved in the ideological, rhetorical, and clinical shift itself.

From that point, Lewis's story of "bad politics" grows even more disturbing, citing exclusion of psychologists, social workers, and researchers who attempted to bring feminist perspectives to DSM-III. "[P]retty much anyone who was not a privileged, white, male, academic psychiatrist," Lewis concludes, was "systematically snubbed, ignored, denigrated, and dismissed" (115).

Margaret Price, Mad at School: Rhetorics of Mental Disability and Academic Life

[the-pink-quill]

KimChay vs PheeNon Parallels

If you take the couples themselves with no regards to their situations and history, just how they work together and treat each other and react to each other's actions, then Kim is to Chay what Non is to Phee.

And I know what you would think. Feral Kim and Poor Little Non? Similar? But yeah, in my opinion, they are. And that makes the way people react to Chay and Phee blocking them very very interesting.

First off, of course, is how the relationship began. Chay and Phee asked Kim and Non out respectively, and Kim and Non both just kissed them in lieu of giving a proper answer.

Of course the way PheeNon's whole dynamic works is a lot more high heat and high stakes than the coffee shop AU feels that KimChay gives, but I would say the depth of their feelings was the same, since KimChay's relationship probably lasted a few weeks (giving allowance for the pictures), as did PheeNon's.

Chay felt betrayed because he felt used for the entire duration of their relationship, however long that may have been. Phee felt betrayed because he found Non being intimate with the someone he already suspected Non to be involved with.

Remember a year ago, when Chay blocked Kim after having all of the latter's lies exposed, we cheered him on. Kim's trauma - which undoubtedly existed considering all the points made in all the fics and meta posts we all have read - was irrelevant; we were all clapping Chay for prioritizing his own mental wellbeing above that of his ex's.

Why then, are Phee's different? Why is he villainized for priortizing his own mental wellbeing over Non's, which the later was never forthcoming about as is?

Kim was traumatized by an adult (Korn), So is Non (Keng).

Kim cannot take solace in family (I think we all agree he was aware about Korn faking his own death, but never told his brothers, for reasons talked about in about 114 meta posts). Neither can Non.

Kim lied because he did not want Chay involved in his problems. Same as Non.

Chay was hurt by Kim's rejection, even after giving him a chance despite his lies. Phee was hurt by the video, even after repeatedly asking Non to come clean about his problems and Keng.

18-year old Chay blocked Kim because regardless of the background information, Kim hurt him, and his own feelings took priority.

Explain to me like a five year old why 15-year old Phee is wrong for the same reaction.

"Because the situations are different?"

In regards to their age, relationship-duration and their knowledge about their significant other's situations, HOW. Just how.