#when they finally get to the arc itself they HAVE to include You Are Always Like This Kim Dokja Do You Think I'm An Emotionless Monster. hs

[anthyies]

happy incarnation kim dokja will die at the hands of the person he loves the most tuesday

[neo--queen--serenity]

Hi..! As Apothecary Diaries fan, can I ask your top 5 fav moments from the series (until now)? Love your posts..!! 🤩🥰

Oh, now I know it's unpopular opinion, but do you think it's weird that I'm a fan of both Maomao and Jinshi but I dislike JinMao ship? Like I wish they will always be just platonic (which I know it's impossible because they'll be endgame romance).

And, thanks for that Black Butler post. As a new fan, I came to love that series so much (and yes, I also became sebaciel shipper).

What a delicious ask, thank you so much for this!! I shamelessly waited until season 2 finished airing to answer this because I wanted to have the most material available before answering.

It's also incredibly hard to pick only 5 favorite moments, but I am a stubborn person who enjoys a challenge, so here goes.

Season 1, Episode 6: When Lihua gives Maomao a hair stick in front of both her own entourage, as well as Gyokuyou's. Lihua's love and appreciation for Maomao is one of my favorite dynamics in the entire series. Lihua's desire to reward Maomao for her kindness and hard work is a recurrent theme in the rear palace, and I do not. Get. Sick of it. I could talk about it for ages, but other tumblr users have elaborated on it rather well already.

Season 1, Episode 19: When Jinshi carries an unconscious and bloody Maomao out of the temple, to the shock and horror of everyone around him. I mean, I've already written a whole post about it, but the scene speaks for itself.

Season 1, Episode 21: When Jinshi walks in on Maomao inspecting a near-naked Lihaku, and Maomao makes things worse every time JInshi tries to understand what's happening. I think all of Jinshi's "jealous of Lihaku" scenes are hilarious (especially since he does eventually get past his jealousy of Lihaku in the novels, and it's very good growth for him), but this scene is just so absurd it's impossible not to laugh at Jinshi's misery.

Season 2, Episode 7: When, in the Shrine of Choosing, the Emperor makes jokes about making Maomao his concubine. First of all, it makes Jinshi pressed, stressed, and under duress (I enjoy his suffering, I won't lie). But I also love that it subtly shows us that the Emperor knows more than he lets on. He knows that Maomao is Lakan's daughter, he knows Jinshi is obsessed with her, and he balances that knowledge with lighthearted conversation in which he subtly (and kindly) tries to convince his son that he approves of Maomao as a choice of consort.

Season 2, Episode 24: The final scene of the season, where Jinshi visits Maomao at her apothecary in the pleasure district. It's the first time they're able to catch up after the events of the Shi clan plot (including his reveal as the Moon Prince). Their conversation is endearingly normal, but carries the weight of Jinshi's romantic intentions for her--which he is choosing to hide less and less (he even bites her, chiding her for pretending not to know where he stands with her). They bicker over whether he's resting enough, and, proving Maomao correct, he promptly falls asleep on her. I am not immune to the jinmao charms...

As for the second part of your ask, I'm not surprised that you like Jinshi and Maomao individually, but not together. I've read the light novels, so I think I'm biased in my opinion of liking them, but I do think their dynamic works well purely because it's the slowest of slow burns. Because they shouldn't get together during any of the events of the story that the anime has covered so far. It wouldn't be natural for Maomao to accept him at this point in the narrative, based on who she is and what she's gone through. But, to me, her endgame affection for him does make sense, since the romance develops so slowly, over the course of several years.

And I'm so happy you saw my Black Butler post!! I only got into the series last year, shortly before the public school arc aired, and I'm so glad I did; it's such a cool show!! After the Emerald Witch arc finished airing two weeks ago, my partner was like "I need more...like...stuff like this..." and I was like, "gothic romanticism?" and he was like "yeah :(" so the show does really well in its genre, I can't deny!!

[puzzleglum]

I posted the original version of this giant Lanyon and Hyde analysis essay (plus theories!) on the 30th of December last year. That was when this page was the latest. Since then, I’m happy to say that it still holds up well, so far! But since I never posted it properly on Tumblr itself, I thought I’d do so now. Especially since I’m planning to write more about Lanyon and Hyde very soon! That will be a bit of a follow-up to my thoughts in this. This version includes edited in comments to account for the NEW pages that came out since I first wrote this essay. So for anyone who’s read it before, you’ll find the new stuff I wrote between brackets! [Like so.] It ended up being about 750 words longer. Total wordcount is now around 3150. I had…a lot of thoughts. For future reference, the latest page, as of the time I posted this edited essay, was this one. Enjoy!! ——— I believe this conversation has the potential to be radically important to the story, the themes, and character arcs. Even lifesaving. Why? Because Hyde has already given up. He knows that saving Jekyll is impossible. It’d be like diving into a black hole and then trying to get out again. You just can’t do it. Hyde would get exactly as stuck in their mind as Jekyll currently is, if he tried to go after him now. But, he didn’t yet try to think of a way around that problem. It’s hard to think when you’re having a mental breakdown, though, so I don’t blame him. What Hyde needs is some help. A chance to calm down and think about any and all solutions he missed. Enter: Lanyon. One of the stubbornest people Jekyll and Hyde have ever known. And thank heck for that, because that stubbornness might be exactly what Hyde needs, right now. There is no way in hell Lanyon is just going to stand by and let Hyde give up. Just like how he couldn't just watch as Jekyll was sacrificing his health and sanity in the name of the Society. He even threatened to close the Society to try and save him!

What Jekyll has done, his mind-suicide attempt, is exactly the end point of what Lanyon was worried about. Because Jekyll did it to save the Society from being destroyed by his secret getting out. He’s placed himself on the altar, deliberately, to bleed out. One final sacrifice as their leader. But of course, on an emotional, visceral level, he really did it to make Hyde suffer.

Hyde’s the one who is now literally bleeding. He’s been abandoned, condemned, and feels like a worthless monster. This is the end for him, and he knows it. So. What will Lanyon do, now that he’s let himself into the office? If I were him…I’d get out the first aid supplies, because Hyde’s glass cuts aren’t going to clean themselves up. [EDIT: this prediction about the first aid turned out to be right! Hooray! But that still leaves the question of whether Lanyon will convince Hyde not to give up on the idea of getting Jekyll back…which requires a more emotional kind of help.]

But the question is, can Hyde allow himself to be helped? He’s prideful, and stubborn. Always has been. And just like Jekyll, he hates to feel emotionally vulnerable. That’s why Hyde’s first reaction when Lanyon opens the office again is to taunt him. Anything to get back even the smallest feeling of control. He refuses to drop the act and admit the obvious: he did make quite a mess of himself. But Lanyon sees through him easily. He, too, knows the feeling of wanting to seem in control. [EDIT: there’s also an element of fear as to why Hyde tries so, so hard to keep up the act. I’ve written more about that here. And, on the latest page, Hyde DID admit that he made a mess of himself! Gradually, Lanyon is managing to chip away at Hyde’s mask. If you ask me, it’s just a matter of time before he drops the act entirely.] But before I talk further about Lanyon and Hyde, I want to talk about Jekyll for a bit. I’ll circle back to those two, no worries. Jekyll never wanted to ask Lanyon for help, either. When Not-Lanyon suggested it, he shut it down immediately. Looking anguished at the very thought of Lanyon finding out about his secret.

It’s not that he didn’t need help. He knew he was struggling, that the conflict with Hyde was wearing him down. But, it’s the idea of letting others in that’s torture to him. The moment he’d let anyone in to help, they’d see how profoundly imperfect he is. They’d see him as a monster. He can’t stand the thought of being seen as anything less than “good.” So he thought he could fix it by himself, because he had to. It was always about shame. He couldn’t let Lanyon know how he had failed to “fix” himself with his experiment—the thoughts he shouldn’t have, the things he shouldn’t want. All so terribly improper. So evil. Asking for help would mean they’d see how truly “rotten on the inside” he is. And Jekyll would’ve rather died than let that happen.

And now they can see it. The secret is out. It’s over. This is the end for him. All his failures, his madness, on full display for everyone to see…it’s his worst nightmare come true. And the worst part is Lanyon seeing him like this. Jekyll has always admired Lanyon, always considered his opinion highly, always cared what he thought of Jekyll. He even used to think of Lanyon as exactly the kind of Perfect Gentleman that Jekyll so desperately wished to be. Until it became clear, during Hyde and Lanyon’s first talk, that Lanyon is simply human, not perfect after all. But I digress. Jekyll was very good at hiding his secrets, until the events of the story slowly took that away from him. Suffering in silence, until he couldn’t anymore. The involuntary transformations, the instability of his and Hyde’s form, was the final nail in the coffin for that secrecy. Lanyon finally got to see why Jekyll thought he was “rotten.” Because the rot has a name, and it’s Hyde. The embodiment of everything Jekyll hates about himself. Everything he could never show others. Everything he tried to separate himself from, in the pursuit of perfection. Everything he never wanted Lanyon to see in him. But, let me rewind a moment. What happened before the reveal? What did Lanyon do?

While Jekyll never asked Lanyon for his help, that doesn’t mean that Lanyon wasn’t trying to help him anyway. He’s been trying to help Jekyll this whole story. But he had no idea what the problem was. And you can’t truly help someone if they refuse to let you in. It hurts, when you want to help your loved ones, and they don’t trust you with knowing what ails them. It hurts, to reach out and be rejected. So Lanyon tried again, desperate to be let in. To help, no matter what it was.

Lanyon still doesn’t know what the problem is, but he can make a reasonable guess. After all, he’s no stranger to internalized homophobia. Or fear of commitment, or attachment. Not to mention that the kind of relationship they have will always carry risk with it. We can’t forget that it was criminalized to be gay in the Victorian period. That fear is perfectly understandable. Which is just one of the many reasons that Lanyon confessing his love for Henry carries such weight for them. He truly wants to be there for Jekyll. No matter what it takes. Even if it means being emotionally vulnerable, something he’s usually quite allergic to himself. It’s something he, Jekyll, and Hyde all have in common. All of that is to say, it’s such a shame what happens next, isn’t it?

Hyde refuses Lanyon’s attempts to reach out, just as Jekyll did. He tricked him so he could make his escape attempt. Once again, Hyde runs away. How ironic then, that Lanyon was just talking about how he understands the urge to run away! [EDIT: not only does Lanyon understand wanting to run away, he also understands putting on an act. Keeping up a certain reputation. Something Jekyll and Hyde are both concerned with. Lanyon’s persona of a cynical dandy who doesn’t care about anything, Jekyll’s persona of a perfect gentleman, Hyde’s persona of the evil spirit of London at night…it’s all a performance. It’s defense, and sometimes offense. It’s excuses. It’s coping strategies, and armor to hide behind. It’s a lot of things, for all three of them. Personas are tools, and we may adopt them for lots of different reasons.] Of course, it’s different from Hyde’s perspective. From Jekyll’s point of view, Hyde is the problem he so desperately tried to “fix” on his own. Obviously, Hyde doesn’t want Jekyll to succeed in his efforts to control or contain him, or get rid of him. What he ultimately wants, what has always motivated him, is to be free. And to that I must ask, free from what, exactly? I’ll get back to that question later. Let’s put a pin in that for now. [EDIT: this is one of those things I’ll talk about more in a follow-up post. No worries!] I’ve seen one read of this scene being that Hyde is jealous. That he wishes that love confession was for him, not Jekyll. Which could certainly be true! But I’d like to add a different read, or at least, to add something else to that read. Earlier, Hyde had been taunting Jekyll with the idea of Hyde stealing Lanyon away from him. Jekyll, naturally, got defensive. What could Lanyon possibly see in Hyde? To that Hyde replied, what could Lanyon see in Jekyll?

So another read I have is that Hyde finds a certain bitter irony in Lanyon’s love confession. Because Lanyon doesn’t even know who Henry really is, and he doesn’t know that Hyde is the Sweetheart side of Henry that he so jealously wanted for himself, fifteen years ago. So, from Hyde’s perspective, perhaps that love confession actually IS, or at least SHOULD be, aimed at himself. And Lanyon doesn’t know there’s such a distinction to be made in the first place. Isn’t that just so deliciously ironic? To say you love someone, without even really knowing them? Maybe Hyde thought that Lanyon got the wrong guy when he said that he loved Henry. (But, in another sense, he absolutely didn’t. Because Hyde is every bit Henry, too.) …But, that read only makes sense if you take Hyde’s taunting towards Jekyll seriously. Obviously, he said all that stuff about stealing Lanyon to upset Jekyll. But does he actually believe any of it? I think he wanted to. Tried to convince himself. Because it would prove he wasn't NOTHING. Remember, he had that whole identity crisis where he realized his Spirit of London persona is, and always was, a lie. But if he can be the Doe-Eyed Sweetheart instead, then he must still be worth something. Still the owner of some kind of identity. But now, with Jekyll gone, he might feel different; he's a worthless monster, and it's silly that Lanyon could ever think otherwise. After all, just because Lanyon wanted the Sweetheart…doesn't mean he actually wants the rest of Hyde, too. The destruction. The ruin. The pathetic, worthless wretch that he is. There is NO WAY Lanyon cares for THAT. Could ever love him when he's obviously NOT being the Doe-Eyed Sweetheart right now, and isn't capable of it in such a bad state, either. So Hyde clinging onto that label of Sweetheart was foolish of him, he might think. Maybe he believes he was delusional to think he was ever anything more than an evil monster. That he COULD be more.

(To be extra clear: I, myself, don’t believe any of the harsh judgments of Hyde in the previous two paragraphs. I just wrote it how I believe Hyde might be seeing it right now. His personal perspective. My own thoughts are very different!) Thus, the insincere taunting towards Lanyon. Because he knows he's no sweetheart, and Lanyon was a stupid lover boy for ever giving him that false hope. That hope of an IDENTITY. A place, or person, to belong to. But, moving on. I can totally see a moment, in the current confrontation between Lanyon and Hyde, where Hyde might be confused as hell if Lanyon doesn’t just…abandon him. Because he should, right? Jekyll is gone. It’s too late to rescue him, as Hyde already told Lanyon. What reason could Lanyon possibly have to stick around? To Hyde, it’s clear as day that he’s hopeless. Saving Jekyll, and thus saving Hyde as well, is a futile endeavor. So that’s my first theory: Lanyon will stick around, and try to help Hyde. Likely starting with cleaning up Hyde’s glass cuts. Hyde won’t get it, at first. Lanyon knows Hyde’s not Jekyll, right? He knows Jekyll is never coming back, right? Then, why, pray tell, won’t Lanyon just leave? Can’t he see that Hyde is evil, and doesn’t deserve any help? [EDIT: judging by how shocked and bewildered Hyde looks when Lanyon goes to patch up his injured hands, I think there is truth to how I envisioned Hyde’s thought process here. But it will be clearer as the scene goes on. Hyde asking whether the fact he caused those injuries to himself horrifies Lanyon also fits with Hyde’s very negative self-image and self-hatred. He’s expecting the answer to be yes, of course it horrifies and offends Lanyon’s sensibilities. Jekyll and Hyde share this fear that Lanyon would hate them if he knew the truth about them. But thankfully, Hyde is wrong. That’s clearly not what Lanyon is leading up to with that “But…” and as for me? I’m expecting a note of acceptance from Lanyon, and likely a re-affirmation of love. That’s what I predict, anyway.] And thus I circle back to my question at the top of this post: Can Hyde allow himself to be helped? Can he find it within himself to let Lanyon in? And to that I say: may I present some visual parallels? :)

“Now, it’s only a matter of time.” This was the start of Jekyll’s resignation to his own fate. There was no getting better. There was no saving him. Inevitably, his secret would get out to the wider public, and then the Society would fall. Everything they’d all worked so hard for, sacrificed for, lost in an instant. The only option left, he realized later, was to bury himself within his own mind, and let his secret die with him. Note that the door is closed. He’s alone, isolated, and left with no hope. Barely any light in his dark office. Now check this out:

It’s the same angle on the office. The same top-down view. This was right after Hyde threw Lanyon to the ground and tried to escape the Society. Both Jekyll and Hyde had refused Lanyon’s attempts to reach out, to help, and be let in. He’s utterly confused, powerless, lying on the floor. But look at the door. It’s halfway open. It’s letting light in, even if it’s not enough yet. The secret is so, so close to being revealed, and very soon after, it will be. Soon, Lanyon will know what Jekyll was dealing with, this whole time. And that brings us to the end of this lovely trifecta:

What a stunning reversal! Now, the one with the power in this scene is Lanyon, unlike before when Hyde was in power. Hyde’s the one who now lies powerless on the office floor. His taunts are completely ineffective. Note the way Lanyon looms over Hyde. Those beautifully piercing eyes of Lanyon, the eyes that Jekyll and Hyde always loved so much, are trained directly on Hyde. He has no intention of letting him out of his sight, for Hyde to run away again. This time is going to be different. The doors are now open all the way. Letting the light in. Because Hyde will not escape being known, anymore. No more secrets, and no more hiding. [EDIT: I love the fact that Lanyon sees through Hyde, just like how Henry saw through Lanyon’s nonsense, all those years ago. I hadn’t expected that flashback story from Lanyon, but it was SO lovely, especially in how it was used to illustrate that Lanyon GETS IT. He understands the desire to keep up an act, a reputation. He gets what it’s like to hide certain aspects of yourself from the wider world. He can RELATE to both Jekyll, and Hyde. Love it!!] In other words, here’s a handy dandy tweet from Sage, which perfectly illustrates my point:

(This was a comment on an update post for the last page of Chapter 15, where Lanyon finally showed up.)

And it IS mortifying, letting people in! I get it! I do. But sometimes, there is no other option left…except for accepting your own annihilation. Resigning to suffering. But Lanyon has always been familiar with Henry’s tendency to resign himself to his own suffering. For fifteen years, in fact.

And he’s not afraid to force the issue. Lanyon, as I’ve said before, is one of the stubbornest people Jekyll and Hyde have ever known. And sometimes, that’s a really good thing. So Hyde will probably try to reject Lanyon’s help at first. But it won’t stop Lanyon from trying to help anyway. And I do believe Hyde will be the first to give in. He’s in a crisis, remember? One’s stubbornness may tend to give way in such extremely high stakes circumstances. The stakes are literally life and death! What’s worth more, then? One’s pride? Or one’s very life?

———

Final new writing starts here: It’s interesting to me that Hyde didn’t physically push Lanyon away when he started with the first aid on Hyde’s poor bloodied hands. I was right that Lanyon would just help him anyway, without waiting for Hyde’s approval, but I was wrong in thinking Hyde would clearly try to reject it. Instead, he’s just…bewildered. Like he has no idea what’s happening anymore. Lanyon isn’t acting how Hyde would expect at all, and that’s throwing Hyde off in a big way. Hyde is probably thinking something like, if Lanyon knows I’m me and not Jekyll, but he’s helping me anyway, then…?! And it just…doesn’t make sense to him. It does not compute. It goes against all of Jekyll and Hyde’s views of themselves, and of the world. If Lanyon--a handsome gentleman who dislikes gross stuff, and never understood Henry’s fascination with monsters or rogue science--is willingly helping Hyde, who believes himself to be a wretched monster (brought forth with mad science! Wicked alchemy!) who ruined himself, ruined everything, then what is even going on anymore? Has the whole world turned upside down?! And so it becomes clear that, not only are Jekyll and Hyde bad at understanding themselves, sometimes they’re quite bad at understanding their loved ones, too. But to be fair, Lanyon was putting on an act, too. He spent so long brushing off any accusation of feelings, of sentimentality, and worry for his best friend. It’s only recently that Lanyon decided to be open with how much he truly cares about Henry. And it’s still a bit hard for him, I imagine. Being vulnerable. Opening yourself up. But Lanyon has learned that it’s worth it, when it counts. And this? This is absolutely the time when it counts the most. The stakes are the highest they’ve ever been. And I hope, and theorize, that soon enough, Hyde will learn the value of opening himself up, too. It might just help save his life.

It might just help them save Jekyll.

...And that's the end! Thank you so much to anyone who reads to the end, and leave a comment in the post reply section, if you feel like it! I love any and all feedback!! I'll be back soon with a follow up where I examine some other things Lanyon and Hyde have in common, among other topics. Stay tuned! :D

[plusultraetc]

I'm gonna NEED you to go on that rant about Shinsou's epilogue look. I'm gonna need that right this minute. (When you get a minute.)

THANK YOU BECAUSE TBH I ALSO NEEDED TO GO ON THIS RANT. It's been percolating for days at this point. I apologize if this is a little (okay a lot) chaotic and disorganized, but I worry that if I nitpick it too much I'll never post it. Hard side-eye @ my inbox, etc.

I should start by saying: I really love Shinsou's epilogue look. Like, enough that I'm already making plans for a second, post-canon shinsou hitoshi expansion pack (current name ideas include: shinsou hitoshi expansion pack ii, 2 shinsou hitoshi 2 expansion pack, and shinsou hitoshi dlc). I love the long hair (he does look darling!! I personally always imaged his older self with shorter hair, but after the first image of him as a pro came out back in August I was sold); his eyebags + eyebrows remain immediately recognizable; and tbh I didn't even realize that he might indeed be wearing some kind of eye mask in that group panel but if he is I love that so much. I know that opinion isn't universal, and that's totally okay!! This is just an emo little ramble about why I personally enjoy a lot of the character design choices made for Pro Hero Nighthide.

Side note: I still can't believe we know his hero name. It was one of the only (realistic) things on my second epilogue wishlist, but honestly I was 50/50 on whether or not we would ever have it confirmed. And yet!! Not only do we know his hero name, but much like @greenhappyseed said in her post, 'Nighthide' reminds me very much of 'Nightwing,' who happens to be my Favorite Superhero Of All Time. So like. That item got two checkmarks on the wishlist. I'm obsessed.

OKAY NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE LOOK ITSELF.

The thing is, it should be gimmicky, shouldn't it? Not only does Shinsou have the same support item as Aizawa, and use the same combat style, and have a similar costume, but the hair? At this point, it feels like the story is leaning hard on The Dadzawa Of It All for a near-comedic effect. And it can be comedic! And also adorable! But it can also reinforce not only a recurring theme throughout MHA, but also Shinsou's own character arc at the same time.

There's a post--or possibly tags of a post--buried somewhere on this blog about how Shinsou's original hero costume is a really interesting combination of elements from both Aizawa's and Midoriya's suits. I've seen & loved posts about how his costume is, like, the perfect 'child of erasermic' costume, but as much as I love a good Mentor Mic moment, he and Shinsou don't really interact in canon. Aizawa and Midoriya are the characters who canonically have had the greatest influence on Shinsou's journey to the Hero Course and beyond. The similarities between his original costume and theirs is in keeping with the MHA tradition of creating a visual link between characters who inspire and characters who are inspired by them--Shirakumo and Aizawa, All Might and Midoriya, and Crimson Riot and Kirishima are just a few examples. That being said, having Shinsou's final hero design lean even harder into the visual similarities with Aizawa just makes sense. It continues the inspiration/homage trend, but it also serves as a reminder of Shinsou's series arc.

A few days ago, I saw some posts on another platform that essentially said that Shinsou's original purpose as a character--to draw attention to and subvert expectations surrounding so-called 'villainous' quirks--had been watered down while he himself was reduced to a mini-Aizawa. And I totally get where op was coming from--there were a lot of potential directions MHA could have taken Shinsou's character, and all of them could have been really interesting, but they all would also have required Shinsou to not be a side character, especially in a show with, like. More side characters than episodes. If we wanted to really delve into quirk discrimination via brainwashing, for example, Shinsou would have needed way more focus that he was just never going to get. THAT BEING SAID, I don't think this means his original purpose was forgotten, or that his taking after Aizawa watered his character down in any way. In fact, I would argue that the exact opposite is true.

Because here's the thing about Shinsou's infamous-to-me, largely-off-screen character arc: it's over in season 5. Obviously, Shinsou continues to be an impactful, important part of the story after the Joint Training Arc, but if you want to get technical about it, Shinsou achieves his aforementioned purpose/goal in as much depth as it will ever be afforded in season 5 when he is accepted into the Hero Course and set to transfer at the start of his second year. Shinsou's motivation is to prove that he can be a hero with a 'villainous' quirk; the concrete way for him to get there is to transfer into the Hero Course, graduate from UA, and become a pro. And in that arc, he takes that first, most important step, from which it is safe to assume that he will continue down the path to success. If we had never seen him again after the training exercise with 1-B aside from the occasional panel to remind us that he's still out there somewhere, waiting to transfer, it would have been both a huge bummer and a waste of his character and quirk, but he still would have had a complete arc. His purpose was never forgotten. It was just fulfilled.

AND YET X2. Shinsou sticks around, big yay, etc. He shows up again with a cool new costume, and then he shows up again again with a new haircut and a cool name post-timeskip. And yes, it's all very Aizawa-inspired, but that's because following in Aizawa's footsteps is exactly how Shinsou achieved his goal!! He wasn't turned into a mini-Aizawa for no reason, or for The Dadzawa Of It All--he was turned into a mini-Aizawa deliberately because that's how he becomes a hero. Shinsou has to approach his goals differently than his peers (see: the Hero Course entrance exam, which they passed & he failed) because his quirk is both viewed differently from theirs and must be used differently, much like Aizawa's. So those visual links hit twice as hard, because not only is Shinsou inspired by Aizawa, but he is quite literally and necessarily following the path Aizawa forged. (The capture cloth is actually a very literal manifestation of this--it took Aizawa five years to master, but he tells Shinsou that it will take him less time because he has someone to teach him. It's the same for every aspect of his hero career--including the social aspect. @bfire92 made a really sweet post about this as well, and I have Many Thoughts and Like Four Drafts about it, but that's a different rant lol)

TL;DR Shinsou looks a lot like a mini-Aizawa, but imo it's a natural continuation of both his character arc and MHA's thematic and visual trends. Also, he just looks cute. That's my son & I'm very proud.

[sir-phineas-lost]

Hello. I have a question. I recently watched tdp. All 7 seasons. There's something in season 6 that's bothering me. When viren sacrifices himself, his last words are : I am a servant. What I understood from that is that he finally managed to do his duty to his people and save them, it's also what king Harrow said to him. Seems fine I guess. But I don't really understand why they had to include that specific dialogue? Viren was already sacrificing himself and from that we could understand that he did his duty and protected his people. They really didn't need to use that dialogue and to be honest, the dialogue seems of to me?? (I talked to a friend and they said it seems like the show has a problem with classism, but they haven't watched the series and only read the reviews and summaries) so I wanted to know your opinion about that? If it's alright? (I have a problem that I can't put my thoughts in order so sometimes I have difficulty when I want to analysis something. Your meta and analysis are so well thought so I thought I would ask you if that's ok)

Sorry for the late reply but honestly I this was tough to put together because I don't think there is all that much to say about the line itself and why he said it. It is a case where an uncomplicated and thoughtless writing-choice creates an issue that is ironically pretty complicated to talk about.

Viren's final words are probably meant to show that he has become that selfless person he always saw himself as at the end because while he was sacrificing himself over and over again since before season 1, it was been clear since his monologue at the mirror in season 2 that some part of him has been doing it for recognition which became his fatal flaw. He gets to say those specific words again as he dies because this time he really means it. I think we see this better in his interaction with Soren and the letter he ultimately burns. The point of that was that he almost did something that seems like it would have been good except he realizes that it would only really help himself and put more of a burden on Soren, so he stops. "Servant" is synonymous with "selfless" in Viren's character arc.

Where is becomes complicated is in the context. The show has often shown Viren's fatal flaw, self-centeredness and need for recognition, by pitting him against people who have institutional power over him like Harrow, Ezran and Aanya. This also plays into the larger conflict between humans and elves and the issue of having magic or having to rely on dark magic, which I have no time to go into here but the crux is that the show is marinated in tropes that rub up against its intended themes in all the wrong ways.

Overall, I think the show has less of a problem with classism specifically and more in that it doesn't quite consider power-dynamics at all, if that makes sense. It doesn't care about solving large issues like feudalism and who has access to powerful resources and is instead very interested in personal choices and journeys. Viren calls himself a "servant" at the very end because the real crux of his redemption is that he is focused solely on helping those he previously hurt with zero expectation of reward or recognition. Which would be fine, except the word-choice has a very different context in this setting and a story where power-imbalance is an unexamined norm. If they had done more to question the power structures of kings, servants, magical creatures and humans and what it really says about those positions it wouldn't be so tone-deaf to have a guy who fucked up and wants to fix his mistakes call himself a "servant" (because it is about selflessly serving others). But they didn't do that so when Viren calls himself servant before dying heroically in a setting where so many main characters are princes, kings and other quasi-nobility, it certainly feels like saying that he is doing right because he finally knows his place in the pecking-order.

The fact that his sacrifice is never even acknowledged by anyone in season 7 certainly doesn't help either.

I feel like that was a lot of words to say very little of substance but there it is.

[welcometothejianghu]

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 少年歌行/The Blood of Youth

The Blood of Youth is a 2022 live-action adaptation of the tale of a deposed, disabled, and incredibly cunty prince who's on his way back to settle the score with his asshole father, and the rag-tag band of weirdos he accumulates along the way, including Spear Girl, Bad Monk, and Fire Puppy (pictured above).

I hope you like shounen anime, because this is the most shounen anime something is allowed to be without actually being based on something running weekly in Shounen Jump. What if Nirvana in Fire were also Naruto? It would be the Blood of Youth.

This show is an underrated gem of action-packed fun that not nearly enough people in English-speaking fandom have seen. In an attempt to correct that -- and ahead of an announced second season and prequel in progress -- I'm here with five reasons you should try it out.

1. Zero thoughts head empty

You do not have to pay an enormous amount of attention to this show to understand what's going on. The show itself does not always know what's going on. It got distracted by a shiny object over there, and now we're all gearing up to go punch the shiny object. We'll get back to the main plot when we're done with the punching.

It has a million billion plot threads going on at any given moment. Bad guys roll in from sects you've never heard of before, using superpowers with stupid names, only to get kicked into next week. There's approximately eleventy thousand characters -- so many, in fact, that I ran into problems several times while making this rec post, because there aren't readily available photos of everyone I want to talk about. Just look at the DramaWiki cast list. See how it goes on for like fifty screens? That's a little what the show feels like.

Except I'm not saying that like it's a bad thing, because the show knows it's doing this, and it acts accordingly. It telegraphs pretty well who's important and who isn't (and then it goes out of its way to color-code the latter, which is handy). What you're left with is absolutely a manga-style plot, complete with training arcs and semi-relevant sidequests, all working up to the final boss match.

It is an extremely self-aware show. On multiple occasions, something would happen, I would crack a joke about it, and then a beat later the show itself would make the exact same joke. I wouldn't call it an outright comedy, but it's still very funny, and on purpose. It has no illusions about being some kind of profound, meaningful epic. Mostly it's just here for a good time.

Yet this lightheartedness is what makes the powerful emotional parts really powerful by contrast. The show is not stupid; it's just goofing around most of the time. When it knuckles down, it can be devastating. And you know what? It does wind up being profound and meaningful about some stuff. How about that.

So yeah, if you're up for something that bops merrily right along and only occasionally rips your heart out, here you go!

2. Putting the poly in polycule

Bisexuals, rejoice! It's representin' time!

Here you go, I made a relationship chart of about 40% of the show's potential and canonical ships. I could have included so many more, but I only had so much space on the image, so I had to leave out some amazing ones, like the sword hedgehog who's real into this one cougar who could easily wipe the floor with him, or the rich nerd who thinks he has a chance with the aforementioned hot butch, or the fancy MILF who cheated on the emperor with a dreamy jianghu man and is trying not to cheat on him again with a different, slightly less dreamy jianghu man. See? There's just so much.

I would also say these are not exclusive ships. They are extremely inclusive ships. I am a fan of most (though admittedly not all) of the pairings listed here, and in fact of many of the three-and-more-somes indicated by these lines. They're such a cuddle puddle of shared intense feelings that it's hard to imagine anyone getting more than mildly jealous. Moreover, the potential for romance does not get in the way of hetero friendships; a boy and a girl who are each dating other people can go do adventures together, and (mostly) nobody gets weird about it, which is nice. If anything, what makes the overall dynamic so polycule-like is how equally friends and love interests get treated, meaning that it's not difficult to see a lot of crossover potential between those two categories.

If you're like me, you're hesitant about canonical romance, especially when it's straight, mostly because so many straight love stories wind up being tiresome, gross, and/or skull-poundingly boring. You will then be pleasantly surprised by how the canon pairings with members of the main cast are not like this at all!

Xiao Se and Sikong Qianluo are the main textual romance, and golly gee, they're just cute as heck. As the chart above indicates, I like interpreting them as two Kinsey 6's who have found their single exceptions, Mulder-and-Scully-style. Maybe one of the best things about their relationship is that it gets sidelined all the time for the plot. They're not so busy being in love that they forget to get shit done. Then they get a bit of downtime and get to go on a date, and you're like, aww, those sweet gay disaster babies are gonna do a little bit of heterosexuality. Just precious.

Tang Lian and Fairy Rui are right up there with the cuteness. She's a sex-positive dancing beauty who wants to ride that pretty boy like she stole him, and he's a shy sword boy so tightly bottled up that he'll explode if he sees a bare ankle. Avoiding spoilers, I will simply say that this is a pairing of two relatively soft people, until a bad thing happens to one of them and the other hardens up about it. If that's your jam, they're here for you.

Lei Wujie and Ye Ruoye are probably the most magical and the most practical of the bunch. They have a beautiful, super-dreamy, really horny sword-dance meet-cute, complete with its own pop song ... and then that's it, they're basically just together. She likes him, he likes her, good for them. In-laws aside, it's a refreshingly low-drama situation. Besides, I always love it when the hypercompetent woman gets the sweet, devoted himbo who'd do anything for her. Ruoye's had a hard life, and she deserves someone who can dick her down good at night and make her a nourishing breakfast the next morning.

And then there is, of course, The Ship:

Xiao Se and Wuxin are canonical, textual soulmates. The show treats their dynamic as more important than any other. It's so important, in fact, that the show has to sideline Wuxin for huge parts of the drama, lest everything get too damn gay. They each get a boyfriend catch on the other. They both do fairly reckless things when the other is in trouble. They are the secret hidden happy ending to the series. They share the kind of ride-or-die relationship built on mutually being the hugest bitches in any given room. Whether or not you think this is romance, it is extremely romantic, and the series agrees as much as it can, all things considered.

And if none of those flavors of love float your boat? Well, have you considered ... eunuchs?

3. She likes e4e

So I'm on record as being real into eunuch characters, right? Well, if you're with me on that, you are in for a treat here, because these are some absolutely buck-wild eunuchs.

There's five main ones, and I can't even begin to scratch the surface of what's going there. Like, really, I don't even think I understood all of what was happening with them. They're kind of the bad guys, but then they're kind of the good guys, but then some of them are the bad guys, but then they're just working for the bad guys, but then they screw over the bad guys, and ... it's just a lot, okay? It's a lot, and it's all happening with this bunch of catty bitches.

Also, you would not believe the difficult time I had finding any images for this section. I guess for some reason, fandom isn't way into a bunch of canonically dickless color-coordinated middle-aged men in weird hats? Whatever, man, they are missing out. If, however, you have the good sense to be into the intense and complicated (semi-romantic??) relationships among colleagues who also professionally just happen to be missing their external genitalia, buddy, strap in (and maybe strap on, depending).

Don't let me oversell how much these guys are in the show. They're not. They're vaguely important at points throughout, and they become incredibly important near the end, but they're hardly main characters. They're mostly back at the palace, doing their various schemes and looking absolutely fantastic.

So if they're such a minor part of the story, why do they get their own selling point? Well, I think their presence is a good example of two specific things about the show:

Specific thing the first: It's so queer -- not gay, but queer. Thinking back to my last selling point, you will notice how many of those straight pairings may look normie on the outside, but once you get down to it are not playing by cishet rules. (For instance, I've seen a lot of people read Tang Lian's resistance to sexual advances as asexuality, which, sure!) Likewise, there are lots of incredibly important, intimate relationships that don't conform to standard romantic pair dynamics. Add to that a lot of bodies with unusual characteristics and conditions, and you've got the makings of plenty of delightful non-normative love stories.

Specific thing the second: There are so many things going on with so many side characters that there's a kink here for everyone. Don't care for eunuchs? How about slinky villains with mind-control powers? Devoted servants who would do anything for their masters? Former bad guys who owe life-debts to the good guys who saved them? Bonded pairs traipsing around the jianghu together? Sons nursing legitimate grudges against the men who killed their fathers? Alcoholic widowers with incredibly slutty necklines? Mysterious cross-dressers with unconvincing moustaches? Vengeful brides? Martial siblings? Murderous royals? Guilt-ridden half-siblings? Boring star-crossed lovers? All these and more! It's a smorgasbord of rarepair fuel!

Also, I just love these toxic drama queens. It's like if RuPaul's Drag Race had the authority to have you executed.

4. The most intriguing outfits I've ever seen in anything (and yes, I'm including Winter Begonia)

Time for a fashion show!

The asymmetrical fits, the detailed embroidery on everything, the brilliant colors -- everybody just looks so good. And yet everything still looks ... eh, I don't know if "practical" is the word I want, but at least wearable. Nobody's dragging ten-foot trains of fabric behind them or wrapped in eighty floofy layers of gauze (except Rui, but she's special). Their outfits are strange and elaborate, but they don't defy physics.

What's truly stunning is how often they get new outfits. Xiao Se alone changes clothes about once every other episode, and more if he's getting a flashback. He is the fashion plate of the whole series, and every look he serves is pitch-perfect.

They're not outright color-coded, but the main characters do have certain colors associated with them -- which is extra-fun when you watch those colors bleeding into their friends' clothes as their relationships get stronger. I also think -- and I'm willing to be proven wrong on this point, but I think I'm right -- that they recycle some characters' outfits into parts of other characters' outfits. On more than one occasion, I'd swear that Lei Wujie shows up wearing the left half of something Xiao Se was wearing a few episodes back (tailored to fit him, of course, because that dumb ponytail boy is tall).

Where I think the costume design gets massive points, though, is that the costumes are themselves adaptations.

Before the live-action series, there was a 2018 3D animated donghua. I have never watched the latter, but apparently the drama is intensely faithful to the animated visuals, to the point where some fights are shot-for-shot remakes.

Of course, you can do a lot more with unreal clothing and bodies in animation -- and you can show a lot more skin, at least according to Chinese content laws. The live-action costumers chose to preserve about as many of the appearance beats from the donghua as they could manage, while still accepting the limitations of real-life bodies and materials. You can see some side-by-side comparisons here. The live-action outfits manage to be instantly recognizable without being slavishly devoted recreating to their inspirations.

So if you're sick and tired of dreary, ill-lit shows with bland palettes, this vibrant, colorful drama may be just the thing for you. It's a rainbow from start to finish.

5. Actually a good central plot?

Despite all the wacky delightful shounen nonsense that this show has -- and it has a lot -- the core of the whole narrative, which is Xiao Se's story, is surprisingly great and cohesive.

The short version is this: Xiao Se used to be Xiao Chuhe, sixth prince and somewhat heir apparent. Then he and his jerk-ass dad had a falling-out that resulted in the prince's having his martial arts abilities all but taken from him. He's been living the life of a very well-dressed innkeeper for several years, trying to avoid all of that palace garbage. But now his jerk-ass dad is dying, which means that a lot of horrible decisions are finally having unfortunate consequences for everyone, and Xiao Se's got to get back in there to make sure everything does not go to shit and land someone terrible on the throne -- even if it has to mean taking it himself.

His central conflict is between what he used to be and what he's become. Does he miss being Xiao Chuhe, high-ranked martial artist and future emperor? Or is he happier being Xiao Se, long-suffering nobody who can barely run a business, much less hold his own in a fight? What would he be willing to do to get back what he's lost? What are his obligations to himself versus his obligations to everyone else? How much is he responsible for his father's bullshit? And why has he wound up having to babysit this stupid Fire Puppy?

It's okay, they're best friends now. Lei Wujie decided.

No spoilers, but I liked Xiao Se's ending a lot. I feel it's very true to the character and shows a real understanding of who he is and what he values. And really, at the end of the day, sometimes all you need for a happy ending is your girlfriend, your girlfriend's girlfriend, your girlfriend's girlfriend's boyfriend who's also your boyfriend, your other boyfriend, his girlfriend, and your long-distance for-real soulmate.

Feel like giving the youths a try?

You can find them on YouTube or on Viki. But be absolutely sure that no matter where you watch it, you make sure to go watch the epilogue as well. (And if you get real into the story, well, here's a link to information about all the other adaptations.)

You are also welcome for how I did not spend this post going off for five hundred years on how much I love Wuxin and his funky relationship to Buddhism. I figured that's way too niche of a selling point for most people, and might indeed have even been counterproductive. But know that I could have.

Also, I'm very happy about the announcement of a second season, because that's going to mean Liu Xueyi has to shave his head again, and he looks unbearably good with a shaved head.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention the whole motorcycle photoshoot?

In case you hadn't noticed, the whole cast is stupidly hot. Hachi machi.

[flower-boi16]

The Problems With Charlie As The Main Protagonist

I've spoken about my thoughts on Charlie as a character before a few times on this blog, but I think it's finally time to discuss why Charlie isn't exactly the best protagonist. On the surface, there doesn't seem to be much wrong with her, she's likable and endearing enough and she's easy to root for. But...once you look deeper, the problems begin to rear their ugly head.

1. Charlie Never Grows

The first major issue with Charlie as a character is how she never really grows over the course of the first season. The show never really gives her much of an arc...? Like, by the end of the season, what does Charlie really learn by the end? The only thing I can think of is that she was right about sinners being redeemed and...that's it.

And it doesn't really make Charlie that particularly compelling as a character, she's entirely stagnant. She does have a conflict with her father, which, while executed fine, isn't enough to make her a developed character. She only gets small tinges of development and that isn't really enough for me.

Charlie doesn't learn anything or grow as a character, which makes her pretty underdeveloped as a character. The show never really gives her any real character flaws to grow from and become a better person, she's always portrayed as in the right anyway and never challenged once. Speaking of that...

2. Charlie is Always Right

This more or less ties back into the "Charlie never grows" point I've said before and I've talked about this several times before, but it's still an issue with Charlie's character; she is ALWAYS in the right. Charlie's "everyone can be redeemed" mentality is never once challenged by the narrative, and anybody who does oppose Charlie in any way is considered as wrong by the narrative.

The reason why this is a problem is because Hazbin Hotel heavily preaches about being against black-and-white moralities, as seen with Heaven and especially Adam. Heaven is meant to be seen as bad because of its black-and-white mindset of "Sinners can't be redeemed and never will". This is put on full display with Adam, and his song Hell is Forever, to the point it literally includes lyrics like "the rules are black and white there's no use in trying to fight it".

You Didn't Know further pushes this with this line "the rules are shades of gray when you don't do as you say and you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again".

So the show wants to push a message of "black and white morals are bad", but...it's rendered moot by the fact that Charlie is purely portrayed as in the right. Charlie is completely correct, everybody can be redeemed, everyone even the most evil people who did the worst possible things can still be good, and anyone who opposes her is wrong cuz she's completely in the right...gee, for a show so heavily against black-and-white moralities...doesn't this all seem very black and white in it of itself?

Charlie's "everyone can be redeemed" mentality is just as black and white as Adam's "nobody can be redeemed", they are both extremes leaning in opposite directions, that are also both wrong in their own ways, yet the show portrays Charlie's extreme as the right one and Adam's as the wrong one.

I've already talked about this before but Adam is a pure straw character; he only exists so Charlie can prove him wrong, he cant have any real character depth beyond being a generic asshole or have a real point because the show is so dead-set on making Charlie purely in the right no matter what; the narrative never challenges her and anyone who opposes her is portrayed as automatically in the wrong.

This is not the only time this happens btw. In episode 5, Lucifer is also portrayed as automatically wrong for opposing his daughter’s goals. He himself says that “Our people are AWFUL. They got gifted free will and look what they did with it!”, and the show…never counters this, despite what Lucifer is saying…being true. The people in Hell ARE awful and it's their own fault, many of them ARE deserving of death because…well, their shitty people.

Charlie is never challenged once throughout the show and its a problem because not only does it fly in the face of the show being so anti black and white, it also wastes an opportunity for the show to develop Charlie as a character; with her learning that some people can't be redeemed because they either are incapable or uninterested in changing.

That would fit more with the show’s anti-black-and-white themes and also have Charlie go through real growth as a character as she learns that not everything is all sunshine and rainbows. But sadly, we can't really have that.

So Charlie's ideals are never challenged by the narrative and thus it not only flies in the face of the show's themes it also wastes an opportunity for Charlie to grow as a character. Now it's best to get into the next issue with her...

3. Charlie is Barely Focused On

Another big issue with Charlie as the show's main protagonist is that the show doesn't really focus on her that much, especially the first half. Now, shows don't need to focus on the main protagonist at all times, obviously giving some screen time to other characters is definitely something shows should do.

But the problem is that Charlie gets very LITTLE focus in the series despite being the main protagonist, and this contributes to the problem of her being underdeveloped. The first half of the show is especially bad at this; episode 1 Is the only episode in the first half that focuses on Charlie, but even then it's overtaken by the B-plot involving the other characters trying to film a commercial.

Episodes 2&3 are entirely dedicated to what characters like Alastor or Angel Dust are doing and episode 4 is completely focused on Angel and his arc. It contributes to the issue of the show not being able to develop Charlie that much as a character because she's constantly being overshadowed by other characters. The second half is better in this regard for focusing more on Charlie but still, for the first half of the show, it feels like Charlie is overshadowed by other characters which is embarrassing because, well, she's the main character, yet she feels like she's barely gotten any actual spotlight.

4. Conclusion

I want to love Charlie as a character. I really do. I mean, she's a part of one of my favorite character archetypes. I always LOVE over joyful optimistic characters because I just find them a joy to watch on screen, but sadly, Charlie doesn't have much depth beyond that archetype. She isn't that developed making her fail to be much of a compelling protagonist, her ideology is never challenged by the narrative wasting an opportunity for her to grow and contradicting the show's themes, and she's heavily overshadowed by other characters despite being the main protagonist.

So ya, that's why Charlie isn't that great of a protagonist...bye.

[heaven-s-black-box]

Blurred Lines- Sunday x fem!Reader

Return to File

Recovery date: February 9th, 2024

Description: A personal entry for the Valentine's event, location: Hotel!

Includes- slight plot, not much smut (sorry), office sex, fem receiving oral

Notes: Not Beta read, also there's so little content/info on Sunday that is is probably ooc. Link to the Valentine's event is HERE, it's still ongoing and I have no requests rn!

Word count: 1 009

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Penacony is the land of dreams. 

Is a land of dreams. It exists beyond the border of consciousness, tethered to reality by only a single building– a hotel that stands as the only line between dream and reality. 

The Reverie.

As a native and current resident in this land of dreams, Sunday prides himself in being able to confidently distinguish between these two faces of his homeland. The hotel in reality is always occupied with people milling about and guests checking in or out. It has an artificial brightness cast upon it by the lights, and despite what guests claim, it’s rather dull. At least compared to the Reverie in the dreamscape. Only there can he see the hotel from the guests point of view, where the hotel itself glows and the lights cast a golden haze. 

Also, his office, where he frankly spends most of his time, does not exist in the dreamscape. It doesn’t need to, but if he were to explain to someone how he can tell the difference between the two Reverie’s, that’s what he’d say. The absence of his office gives away the dream and separates it from reality.

If he’s in his office, he’s in reality.

“Sundaaay,” Y/n drags out as she wraps her arms around his shoulders and nuzzles against the side of his face.

His wings flutter against her cheek, making her giggle and place a gentle kiss on the feathery appendage. This earns her a shaky sigh from the leader of the Oak family as he relaxes into her hold, setting his pen down and raising a hand to hold her arm.

“Yes?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Sunday watched Y/n gnaw on her lip as she considered what she wanted to say next. He knew it was getting late, he was expecting her to usher him to bed and perhaps into a date somewhere in the dreamscape, so as she mulled over her words he began to stack the papers he’d been signing. His movements were slow so as not to disrupt her, but when he finished and she still hadn’t moved he turned his chair around and forced her to let go.

He ducked forward as his chair swiveled, narrowly avoiding knocking their faces together, and came to a stop when they were face to face.

“Have you come to usher me to bed?” He prompted upon further silence, settling his hands on her waist. Y/n was still awkwardly leaning over him, but the second his hands touched her waist she straightened up as if snapped from her daze.

“Sorry,” she sighed, letting him drag her into his lap. She took a seat on one of his thighs and threw her legs over the other arm of his desk chair. Sunday ducked his head and began to litter gentle kisses along her neck, nipping gently when Y/n’s hands wrapped around his neck and began to scratch gently at his wings. “I really just came to remind you to eat,” Y/n sighed contently as Sunday kissed up to her jaw, then he pulled away to look into her eyes, “but maybe going to bed is a good idea.”

Sunday’s thumb began to rub gentle arcs against her hip as he leaned in closer, eyes half lidded before they slid shut and his lips connected to Y/n’s. The kiss was slow and lazy, the day’s exhaustion weighing on them both as they finally found themselves in eachother’s warm hold.

Lazy kisses turned into lazily roaming hands as Y/n brought one hand down Sunday’s chest to undo his vest and Sunday’s hand began to bunch her dress up at her waist. The silky fabric of his glove scraped against the skin of her thigh, making the muscles clench up. With a soft chuckle, Sunday spun the chair back around and rapped his knuckles twice against the desk before helping Y/n up.

He took a moment to move the papers he’d been working on into a drawer, and then placed his hands on either side of her hips.

“Well I think I should thank you for taking such good care of me.”

“The door’s not locked.”

“Do you really think someone would have the gall to enter my office without permission?” He whispered against the shell of her ear before kneeling down between her legs.

Y/n dragged her nails against his scalp, tangling the soft gray hair near his wings around her fingers while he kissed up her thigh and helped her out of her underwear.

Sunday prided himself in the ease with which he could distinguish the dreamscape Reverie from its counterpart in reality. His office was a safe space in that way, being tangible proof that he was in reality.

His office was located in reality. 

The words floated aimlessly in his head as he licked a wide strip through Y/n’s folds. Her thighs snapped closed around his head, pinning his wings down. Everytime they tried to flutter, a small shudder would wrack Y/n’s body as they tickled her and the shudder would cause her to roll against his tongue making her sigh. Y/n leaned back, resting her weight on her hands, and smoothing her bunched up dress enough to see Sunday’s eyes.

This was reality. 

The words faded into the wet slurping as he tongue fucked Y/n, looking up at her through his lashes as he moved a hand from her thigh to her clit. Her eyes screwed shut as the tension in her abdomen grew and she began rolling her hips forward to match his rhythm.

Was he sure this was reality? 

The thought grazed the edge of his consciousness as Y/n’s thighs practically crushed his head and he pressed himself further against her cunt. Maybe it was the limited oxygen that had made his mind grow hazy, or maybe it was the pleasured noises coming from the women above him, but…

The lines between dream and reality were starting to blur.

[yall-it-me]

look. do i think we're getting buddie canon on thursday? no. do i think we'll get feelings realization on thursday? from buck, possibly, from eddie no. and this isn't because i don't ship buddie or because i don't think it's going to happen at all, i just don't think it's gonna happen thursday.

in terms of buddie canon as a whole, i think it would be rushing it to have them like kiss in the finale. that seems strange to say given that it's been seven seasons, but rushing it in the sense that the idea that buck could be in love with eddie at all (in canon) was only full-on acknowledged in 8b. since then, we also haven't seen a ton of eddie (ryan guzman please speak to your boss), let alone eddie actually reckoning with what happens with him and his family now that he has chris back, and certainly not now that he has chris back in la. in many ways, i think it would be nice to have an arc in season 9 about eddie coming to terms with who buck is to him and what that means, and for buck to come to terms with who eddie is to him and what that means. and i just don't think that can all be done well in the finale given that there are so many other things we have to cover, including the emergency itself, the captaincy, athena and chimney's relationship, and - god willing - bobby being alive.

now, we know from the bts that eddie is in gear for the emergency, and if trapped dads is true and real, then great. i also think if buck is trapped and eddie isn't there is some room for this development of both of them understanding more about what they mean to each other. but i don't think it's necessarily going to be in an "oh. oh." kind of way. one of the things that hasn't really been resolved is obviously buck's grief, and i think there's scope to really highlight the fact that buck doesn't currently feel like anyone needs him by having eddie express that he needs buck; not necessarily in a romantic sense, but in that he wouldn't have been able to do what he needed to get chris back without buck (there's more he would be able to say here, but). and not to make it about bbc merlin, but im envisioning a less dramatic version of in the finale of merlin when arthur says to merlin "everything you've done. i know now. for me, for camelot. for the kingdom you helped me build," and merlin says, "you'd have done it without me," and arthur just kind of chuckles and says, "maybe." like that's the energy im feeling. where it's so electrifyingly intimate to the point you feel insane but it leaves room for the writer's to develop more of the story.

i do think that for narrative sense, buck working through his grief should happen with eddie, but honestly i don't always believe that shows care about that, and so i also see room for buck's grief to be resolved with ravi almost as a callback to when buck was going to quit because he thought it was best and was prepping ravi to replace him. so it could be buck is going to give up on getting out, because bobby is gone so whatever, and ravi helps him see his place is still being alive and at the 118. in this event i still think there can be some buddie stuff after the emergency okay it's fine.

this has been long, but all to say that honest to god no matter what happens in the finale i will still be buddiemaxxing and bobbyalivemaxxing i do not care shipping is fun and i will continue to enjoy myself

[vestaclinicpod]

Audio Drama Sunday - 15th December ✨

I listened to so much audio drama this week and have so many thoughts!! 🫨

🌨️ @thewhitevault (15) First off all, PSA: someone has been leaving negative comments on Spotify instead of hitting pause and moving on with their life like a normal person would. I personally love the split focus between Goshawk and Cairo and really feel like we’re getting closer to finding out what is actually happening to the sites. Sure, it’s a different kind of tension, but if the show followed the same formula every season it wouldn’t be the best in the game, would it? If everyone could show some love to TWV this week, that would be good!!

🌲 @hellofromthehallowoods (177) damn, I’m sorry but I think Mx Wellman needs to teach action-writing because these scenes are so tense but also fluid and easy to follow! I guess we finally know who the quartet are? I think I had been hoping that it wasn’t going to be the people we knew a little as kids but . . . isn’t that just the way in life that people you knew as children grow up and join a corrupt system of oppression that allows them to perpetrate harm!! Shank remains such an interesting character, of course he’s going to go for the Sheriff’s dpt now, why not! And the actual pig memories made my heart hurt a little. 

🔎 @224bbaker (13) Had a relisten this week for the general release and, my god, there are too many banger lines in this ep to list them all but no context giggles include: “Push that down, James, it’s probably nothing.” & “balancing the egos of the hogs, you get it”. ALSO thank god for the transcript because tell me why I initially re-evaluated McMurphy as a character when I thought I was referring to his ex: “Joe Caster” 😭😂 Oops. I love Madge’s arc so far this season - so interesting to have a female lead who has some growing to do in the equality department. And a great gentle reminder for us all to stop appeasing the people holding us down xo 

🦋 @remnantspod (19) Another fantastic ep! That heart sinking feeling moments into meeting the teacher! Damn, that’s good writing!! Also, if we’re weighing in on whether someone should be judged on their own terms if they make those terms clear and exacting - I don’t think it is actually possible to judge someone without your own bias affecting your judgement. Now, the current almost-clean-slate of the Apprentice makes this interesting but immediately Sir asks him to compare Adelaide to Sid. Can one judge without comparison?? I don’t think so? Maybe the poor Apprentice was just relieved to have someone finally give some guidance on how to measure a soul. I also found it veryyyy interesting that the Apprentice chose to discard this remnant. It did come across a little bit churlish to me, as though he chose to do that to piss Sir off. But it did remind me of his reaction to Jonny in ep 2. Clearly murder is a touchy subject. . . 

🎙️WTNV (258 & 259) Listening to Night Vale is always such an easy little treat for me. Sounds like Steve is about to bite off a bit more than he can chew with a car company that’s literally called detour. 

🧋 @hinaypod (25&26) Ooough spooky dolls are spooky! My heart just about tied itself in knots hearing Donner and Mari reconnect and him realise she already had a Halloween Date. Then it froze hearing Mari sob 😭 she’s MY goodly witch and you need to stop making her cry!!! 

🗺 @tales-from-the-low-city (13) Absolutely gripping!! It might just be me, but I feel like this season is much darker in tone compared to last and this tale about a Fallen assassin fits right in. I adored the music, it added so much to the tension of the writing without being distracting. Loved it. 

🍾 @ameliapodcast (38) I love the fantastical eps as much as the plausible ones!! Truth serum, eh? I can’t wait to find out how this goes wrong 😂

🧳 Travelling Light @monstrousproductions (Q+A part 1) so lovely to hear Hero AND Matt answering the questions. The chat about working to deadlines and making peace with producing lots of work that is good but, most-importantly, finished is …. Really something to think about… I also definitely noticed when Óli disappeared from the polls 😂 it was fun to make the choices more mysterious!! 

Have a good week, everyone!!

[dccomicsnews]

A Final Word on Leah Williams' Power Girl...Maybe...

About two and a half years ago with the end of the Lazarus Planet event, Leah Williams began writing Power Girl. First in Lazarus Planet: Assault on Krypton #1 and then as a short series of back ups in Action Comics beginning with issue #1051.  Williams completed that first story arc in the Power Girl Special #1 which came out just about two years ago and then despite the dubious quality and Williams' disconnected take on the character, Power Girl graduated into a new ongoing solo series.  Clearly this was part of the plan all along, I don't think anyone was clamoring for more of Williams' destruction of the character.  

Power Girl #20 to JSA #7 This solo series ended quite recently with issue #20.  Not much more can be said about the series itself or the damage Williams' has done to the character.  However, Power Girl shows up in Jeff Lemire's JSA #7 at the funeral of Ted (Wildcat) Grant.  You'll recall that Geoff Johns was penning a Justice Society of America series concurrent with Williams' Power Girl.  In that series, Power Girl was still Karen Starr, and she had her traditional personality.  Johns seemed to purposely ignore what Williams was doing or perhaps he wasn't even aware of it, despite the fact that PG appeared in her new costume introduced in Williams' run.  

Power Girl's appearance in JSA #7 is an opportunity to see how Jeff Lemire and DC Comics will handle the character post- Williams' Power Girl series.  She doesn't get a lot of page time in the issue, but she does have an interaction with Yolanda (Wildcat) Montez.  Lemire has already shown Power Girl in a flashback of Justice Society history in JSA #1, so we know that Lemire was aware of her history with the team and presumably her characterization.  

One would have hoped that Lemire would just ignore Williams' Power Girl or just write around any references.  He could easily have kept PG's personality and wrote her in a traditional manner as Geoff Johns had done.  However, Lemire has Yolanda call Power Girl, "Paige."  Williams had created a nonsensical reason for Power Girl to get rid of the name "Karen Starr" and allow Jon Kent (whom she barely knows) name her "Paige."  She later added the surname "Stetler."  Changing a name indicates a significant change that distances the character from the events that the character experienced under that name.  In this case, Williams is saying that the events that occurred in Power Girl's life while she was "Karen Starr" no longer matter, that she doesn't have a connection to that part of life.  For the record, that life was everything before Flashpoint.  That's her original life on Earth-Two when she first appeared and joined the Justice Society, her time as a founding member of Infinity, Inc., her post-Crisis life on the main DC earth when she thought she was a descendant of Arion of Atlantis and the revelation she was in fact who she always thought she was, the dimensionally displaced Kara Zor-L, cousin of Superman of Earth-Two during the Infinite Crisis event.  This includes her time as a technology entrepreneur which had been a consistent aspect of her character since her first solo story running through Showcase #97-99.

Which Power Girl Is This? One my believe that Williams intended this to be a new Power Girl, a different Power Girl or even the New 52 Power Girl.  However, Williams references specific incidents that it mean it can only be the original Earth-Two Power Girl.  Furthermore, the idea is validated by a blog post on the official DC website, "Everything You Wanted to Know About Power Girl (But Were Afraid to Ask)."  It goes to great lengths to reinforce that this is the original Power Girl from the original pre-Crisis Earth-Two and that it is specifically not the New 52 version of the character.  So, for Williams, whether it makes sense or not, this is the original character.

The Crux of the Matter There are times when characters and series can go in new directions with a story.  But, it can't be done without getting a character from Point A to Point B first.  Batman just can't suddenly start killing people without a story.  Superman can't start working as a bartender without a story to get him there.  Power Girl can't suddenly have insecurities and a 180 degree personality swing without a story.  But, that's what Leah Williams' Power Girl does.  Simply put, her past as asserted by DC and even Williams herself to some degree is incongruous with the character that Williams writes.

If she's got the history with the Justice Society there's no reason she'd feel lonely and unconnected.  If she's had the career as a Tech Entrepreneur then she wouldn't be unfamiliar with living on Earth as a human- she wouldn't be portrayed as new to Earth and Earth customs.  She can't have these emotional issues if she's had the past she's been shown to have in her appearances over the past nearly 50 years.  Quite simply, if you accept Williams' Power Girl, her appearance in JSA #7 is impossible.  The Power Girl she writes would not have been in the JSA, known Ted Grant and Yolanda Montez and developed friendships and found a home among the team.  And, conversely if she's had this past with the team, she wouldn't have the emotional struggles that Williams has grafted onto her character.  The two things simply don't connect.  She can't simultaneously move on from her past changing her name and at the same time continue to associate with those relationships she's claimed to have moved beyond.  "Paige" can't be both a new identity and existence AND a character with a long history and storied past and deep relationships at the same time.  She can't have "Paige Stetler's" personality and emotional distress, but rely on "Karen Starr's" history and relationships.  It's one or the other. 

Going forward, that's the problem.  Williams' Power Girl just doesn't make sense in the the context of her past with the JSA.  With Yolanda calling her "Paige" it becomes disturbingly clear just how out of place Williams' Power Girl is.  If DC continues to refer to her as "Paige" and utilize Williams' series as canon, her appearances elsewhere will continue to be awkward and contradictory to her past.  DC can't see this, but it's about all Power Girl fans can see.

The ironic thing about this situation is that despite all my criticism of her appearances over the past two and a half years, I'm a huge fan of Power Girl.  She's one of my all time favorites.  Along with Helena Wayne/ Huntress...they may be my two favorite, yet I've been reduced to chastising DC over her treatment.  There are a lot of great things about Power Girl, it's just that none of them are in Leah Williams' Power Girl.   Read the full article

[mswyrr]

"ready or not" - grace/daniel ship meta

It's a delightful Horror/dark comedy film about how rich people suck. Scary but not too scary (I am a 'fraidy cat about Horror movies) and just a romp really. It's paced well and has a great Final Girl and I'd recommend it.

But now I want to talk about my ship lol

SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

Hm, so, are they "in love" exactly? No. There's chemistry and ultimately they appreciate each other (as the only two people in that house "who [have] a soul" - Daniel is able to recognize and appreciate that Grace has one because he's still got one too, albeit tattered and buried deep). But the more important thing, for me, is the structural shift between the two brothers and how that strongly implies things would have turned out happier if Grace had fallen in love with Daniel.

Namely, Alex has a heel turn arc and Daniel has a face turn arc. And, the one who face turns acts on the promises the one who heel turns broke.

The film is a wedding night gone wrong, specifically a new spouse who proves untrue. Grace says her problem was "in-laws," but it's actually Alex breaking the vows he just made to her that comes closest to killing her. The in-laws themselves are not the most efficient threat ever. They're pretty bumbling. Alex keeps Grace in the dark and Alex turns on her, that is what brings her close to death. As well as a funny political satire, it's a satire of the tensions marriage brings into a family, over who your new spouse will be loyal to - you above all others, as they've promised, or the family that raised them, even if it's shitty.

Grace marries one man who promises to be good to her, care for and love and protect her. To be her family, when she is a foster kid who has no family. And then Alex proves false and the other brother, the "weak" one, poisons his family and puts himself between her and a bullet.

Daniel does what Alex promised to do.

Now, he largely thought he was doing this for Alex (not realizing Alex would have a heel turn), so it's not primarily about Grace - HOWEVER, Daniel independently recognizes and values Grace as a person as well as doing it for Alex. Loving his little brother and trying to protect him is how Daniel kept his soul; he's that kind of person at heart. And the structure lends itself to asking how well he and Grace would get along in other circumstances. If this is how he is when they barely know each other, what would he be like if he was the one who'd met and fallen in love with her? Or what if he survived?

The writing includes other elements that strength this as well: they both recognize each other. Early on, Daniel keeps saying "You don't belong in this family - I mean that as a compliment" and saying she "has a soul" so she'll never fit in. And Grace recognizes his soul too. She keeps reaching out to him and believed Daniel would help her before he knew it himself. ("I knew you'd help me." / "I didn't.")

A YouTube review was like talking about how Grace doesn't survive by her own wits because she trusts Alex and he turns on her, it's only "good luck" that saves her. That she has “plot armor.” And I was like wuuut lol Good luck is part of it, but not beyond belief - and Grace does keep herself alive with her grit and wits and then she reaches out to someone and that person poisons his family and takes a bullet for her.

Another point is that, despite it clearly not being a love match, Daniel warned his wife, Charity, about the family cult before their marriage and let her decide whether she wanted to take the risk. Alex hid the information from Grace because "If I told you, you would've left."

That's the key choice where Alex doesn't put Grace first. He puts what he wants (to keep her with him) first. And that foreshadows him putting what his family wants first. Subconsciously, Alex was always ready to betray Grace if she pulled the wrong card. He betrayed her by not warning her.

I think the final thing that makes it work for me is that Daniel and Alex were both children the last time someone pulled the Hide and Seek card. As much as the movie tries to make us not feel bad about the kids today, they're not to blame for the shitty way they've been raised, and Alex and Daniel weren’t to blame for what happened 30 years ago.They were kids.

It's *this* time that they're both adults and making decisions as full moral agents. It's this time that they both find out who they really are. And the decision Daniel makes is to put a stop to all the ritual murder bullshit.

It's also about the heroine's victory. What does Grace *want* from the very beginning of the story? A permanent family, people who will stick by her and love her.

In the canon movie ending, Grace survives, but she's still a foster kid with no family. Though she's legally filthy rich now, it's not the same. She doesn't actually get what she told us she wanted from the beginning of the movie. In fact, she loses the one person she was certain would be family to her, along with the hope her in-laws would be there for her. So there's that sadness to it, which makes the ship meaningful on her side. In this terrible circumstance, she found someone who has a good heart too and would prove true.

The story both provides us with a lack (Grace, the heroine, not getting her heart's desire) and someone who the story shows us could be that for her. Someone who has a soul, despite everything, and wants to do the right thing, to protect and love.

There's a reason why there's timeloop stories where Grace keeps playing the game until she can have a "complete victory" by saving Daniel and winning the family she wanted as well as getting away with her life and the money. The heroine's victory in the film itself is compromised.

The reason why there's a lovely bunch of gems of fanfic about Grace and Daniel on Ao3 is that the story itself provides that bitterness to the sweetness of Grace's survival, that she's still so alone, and a strong foundation for ways they could have been happier or worked out if they'd fallen in love instead of Grace and Alex or if Daniel had survived.

[muninnhuginn]

TBHX Episode 4 Thoughts

So, finally approaching the end of the first arc, curious to see how it resolves itself. For previous liveblogs, check here, but otherwise, if you'd like my thoughts on episode four, see below the cut!

Starting with a recap and the perspective from the branding side: essentially, so long as they stay silent, Nice/Moon shippers will overwhelm the narrative and let them retain control. Yay mob mentality? (Not that I'm expecting it to work out as branding would like)

"In one hour, I will kill Moon." I don't know if it's because I have marketing ideas already in my head for this show, but *classic* sales tactic. Adding time pressure to force action without having chance to properly think.

pictured: the power of cnet. But huh, actually I hadn't considered that the will of fans would extend that far. That them just wanting him to act in a particular way would make him do so. It makes sense, given what else we know, but it's not even an existing misconception, so much as them willing this result from thin air.

"I've already sent someone to deal with [Moon]" I'd ask deal in what capacity because I'd usually take that as code for killing her, but given that's what God Eye already 'wants', I'm presuming it's some other tactic to try and wrestle back control. Unless they could kill her *and* turn the story their way. Idk idk.

Huh, that's actually more callous than I'd been taking it. Comes back to the way that the fans clearly don't see 'Nice' as a person. They want him to 'win' within the parameters of the game. Moon was already subsumed to be part of Nice's legacy rather than her own so Nice taking 'priority' makes sense to fans within the Trust framework, because on the most basic level, Moon was always just a 'prize' for Nice anyway.

"chains you must endure" relating to the consequences of fame being contrasted by the swing...

Hm, okay, so they're claiming this new hero is in to save Moon. Clean-up specialist??? That's... not reassuring

"He can also destroy his opponent's memories" <- well that's a brand new pack of worms.

And destroying the memories of those who know Lin Ling is Nice, at that. Essentially locking him into the role. His past has already been taken when it was framed as a suicide, but this would also rob his future. Lin Ling is already pretty isolated at this point, after all.

Using truth to destroy perceptions, similar to the previous episode with Firm Man. Of course, even though this is the truth in this case, it's less about what's true vs. false and more about what information is able to spread. What narratives pick up steam and are latched onto by believers.

2d art!

Am liking the transition through art styles and periods of his life here as he's stripped back to his past.

Back to the promo vid from the start of ep 1 and it's immediately derided as 'crappy', rip.

Ah, his hair is fading back. I'd sorta thought when they were just showing his lower body they were going to pan back to his head as Lin Ling so I was... a quarter right?

Two thoughts here. 1) Seems he's able to cast away some of the effects of the beliefs by disowning the role of Nice (promo vid presumably reminded him). 2) Looking very nervously of that 14m (including ending) left of the episode. Wait, I lied, three thoughts. 3) Big fan of his character design here retaining the one strand of white hair.

"What I wanted to become from the beginning wasn't Nice, but a real hero" Aha, yes, it was the promo vid! ...and also Moon.

Things are Going Well.

"I didn't think his powers would diminish that quickly." Technically, that's not what--

Yay imagery

aww more than one person realised he 'died'. Take that, the one hit on the news article of Lin Ling's 'death'. There were actually maybe two hits.

Smh, tried to get a good screenshot of the cool x-ray shot at the moment he punches him, but couldn't pause at the right time

Not the fans accusing Lin Ling of being parasocial about Moon. I mean, to be fair, he kinda was, especially at first, but have they looked in the mirror lately? Oh? "So the one who cried for her at the wedding" ...the power of shipping has returned to the game?

Got the X guy on the building behind God Eye and all the other buildings are calling Lin Ling FAKE. Also, is that a KFC? Sorry sorry I should be focusing on the motive rant. He does kinda have a point honestly (even if one wrapped up in envy). Plus, "all you in the audience" is fun on a meta level. We don't have the same conflation of fiction and reality as the audience in-universe here, but something something treating real life as a spectator sport can definitely be relevant.

Welcome back, arc words.

More calling back to episode one and inadvertently answering my question from back then about whether he had anyone in his life as Lin Ling to protect back then. (The answer is 'no' apparently)

Headbutt attack breaking through. Lin Ling is staying in 3d for this.

"Vulnerability detected" appearing all over God Eye's screens because Lin Ling's strength *isn't* in perfection. He's doing this entirely imperfectly.

And there's the 2d, as he gains a Trust value as Lin Ling.

Ooh I need to go find some gifsets when I'm fully caught up of the sequence with the explosion onwards. Sakuga.....

And we're back to recruitment going on in the background even mid-fight. Even without being tied down to the Nice role, Lin Ling is still being subject to the pressures.

"What is the truth?" Well, it's what you make it, clearly. Next question.

"Going to pin everything on Enlighter" etc etc. You know when there's a big disaster and it hits the news and everyone else uses it as an excuse to clear out any bad-looking news that on any other day would make the headlines?

"You're an anti-fake and yet you used a fake?" Ends justify the means + it's what information *spreads* not whether it's true or false that matters.

i-it's not KFC, it's XFC

Belated title card:

Something about Moon seeming to make her escape only to still be 'trapped' just the same as Lin Ling 'escaping' the role of Nice only to still be in the same Trust system. <- crossing this out because. well. Like, I knew something was coming and there weren't enough minutes left for there to be ending credits but.

Ugh, sick of them pulling this kind of thing. ('Them' can be general but can also specifically be LH0) At least this time had the foreshadowing in the end of ep 1, but overall, really not a huge fan of such blatant fridging.

Another timeline to keep an eye on. (The other being the x years after commission)

Misc:

Overall, episode four did a good job calling back to the threads laid out previously especially in episode one

Guessing this heroes tournament is going to be overarching plot

I think Lin Ling's arc itself was... relatively well-rounded? Moon had some decent moments too, but given how unceremoniously she was taken out at the end there, I'm retrospectively thinking she didn't have enough actuall--

This show has a tendency to toss out a lot of genuinely fascinating questions about the systems inherent in its world building but then not really answer them? (The PR aspects/Trust value system/most of God Eye's ranting tbh) It could be that it's going to go into these aspects more in future arcs, but I think Lin Ling would have been the obvious entry point to thoroughly explore most of them given his own background in marketing. I guess we'll see

Visuals still really strong. Seemed like less of the symbolism stuff this time, but more than made up for it with the action sequences

Oh yeah, am also presuming the whole Fear deal will continue throughout the arcs. If the aim is to tear down the Trust system it's almost hard to argue against that given that from what we've seen thus far, it punishes the heroes beholden to it. The methods of inflicting Fear itself are obviously exploiting people's vulnerabilities and airing a whole load of dirty laundry in some kind of hyper cancellation, but Trust vs Fear isn't a black and white scenario, at least.

[nokay08]

FULL OPINION ABOUT MOOMINVALLEY 4 SPOILERS FOR MOOMINVALLEY SEASON 4 ⚠️⚠️⚠️

THE CHARACTERS:

There were some new characters introduced (like Joxter and Aunt Jane) that I thought were really great, along with others we've seen shine this season (Snork and the Groke), which I’ve been very pleased about. I know some people have complained about Sniff, but I thought he was rather cute, even if a bit annoying.

I particularly loved seeing Moomintroll more mature compared to his season 1 arc, where he would cry to his mamma (lol) and instead actually take charge of "operations." Moominmamma was great as always, and Moominpappa was really funny this season. Snorkmaiden also seemed more mature than at the beginning.

Some characters were definitely more discreet (COUGHCOUGH Snufkin COUGH), but overall, each had their moments.

NEGATIVE POINTS:

As I mentioned, some characters were left out, like Snufkin. I think it's odd that he didn’t get any episodes focused on him, especially since (correct me if I’m wrong) it seems like most characters had their own episode in this final season. It feels like he was barely present, even at times when he could have easily been included (like the Midsummer bonfire).

Another point, which ties into my last, is the weird getting back together of Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden. While I love the pair, we’d already established in previous seasons that this couple was not working out. For example, in the episode where they have their own house, or in the last episode of season 3, where Moomintroll is said not to be Snorkmaiden's soulmate. I love seeing them together as platonic friends, but not as a couple—it feels weird and rushed that they’re back together in a single episode.

And this leads to the final, and maybe most problematic, issue: the Moomintroll and Snufkin dynamic. In previous seasons, their relationship seemed to be gradually leaning toward something more romantic, especially in season 3 with the "Lonely Mountains" arc. Even as someone skeptical of ships, I thought the show was hinting at a romantic pairing. So, for season 4, I had expectations, but we ended up getting less than nothing. While there were some sweet moments, the lack of Snufkin this season makes me feel like they were avoiding any development of that buildup.

I'm genuinely disappointed. Not because Moomin and Snorkmaiden got together—good for them, I guess! ✋😭✋ But it just feels like they completely disregarded the whole Snufmin relationship here. It really sucks that the representation ended up feeling fake, especially from a show with an openly queer creator.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time (looking at you, BBC Sherlock 🫵😡), but it really can't keep happening. I wouldn’t have minded if Snufkin and Moomin weren't hinted at by the show itself, only to give false hope and, I guess, use those hopes for economic reasons.

CONCLUSION:

Okay ! It seems like there’s ton of negative points there but I swear I love that show 😭 It’s just that I feel like queerbaiting is not talked about enough and I hate that it keeps happening even in 2024!

but anyways, the show was great, and kudos to the animation crew for that great looking show 🙌💙

[bonefall]

Is Crowfeather's parenting and abuse of Breeze going to be any different and/or handled differently by other cats in BB? Thinking about his honor title being for Feathertail and... ugh this poor woman having to watch a cat who named himself for his love for her be so horrible to his own kin after she's torn from hers so soon. She should get to come down and knock some sense into him, if that's even possible

I haven't been able to get into BB!Feathertail yet, but she's fascinating honestly. I like the vibe that Feather x Crow is like this cosmically doomed ship, destined to torpedo itself time and time again for various reasons, and that's the foundation of them in BB.

They were NEVER going to work. Crowfoot has a ton of issues he's working through. Feathertail values herself too much to allow him to mistreat her in the meanwhile. If Feathertail never died, the breakup would have been good for him. He REALLY needed it, actually. Calm, funny, easygoing Feathertail just laying their problems on the table, why she doesn't want a relationship, but still spinning it in that way-of-hers that softens a hard blow.

It wouldn't have fixed him overnight, of course. It just would have been a spark. Paws on a better, happier path. Not a lover in another Clan, but a friend, if he took her words to heart.

But she's dead. She died horribly. And her memory is this perfect fantasy for the magical, flawless love they could have had, an impossible standard Crowfeather viciously holds all of his future lovers to. So as a spirit guide, with all her eloquence, she'd say to him, "That's not very cash money of you."

But anyway, on Breeze's abuse.

For one, I absolutely would want to make sure to stress Breeze's good qualities sooner and harder, and explicitly make them friends at certain points.

The Tribe Journey in particular, where there's a lot of opportunities to get him away from Crowfeather. By the end of it, I would want to include a poignant moment where they have one final nice moment together, before Crowfeather barks for him, and it's gone.

(and, also, add a couple of cats who help The Three discuss their complicated emotions towards seeing their bully being abused.)

I would also actually remove the way that the cats of WindClan "look to" Crowfeather on how Breezepelt should be treated, particularly from Crowfeather's Trial. I feel it misses the point and ends up saying that Breezepelt could NEVER get the social approval he craves unless his abusive dad CHOSE to stop mistreating him.

Like!! FUCK no!!! You do NOT need the approval of a guy who NEVER would have given it without 3 different women and Onestar screaming it into his ear!

Instead, I'd stress how the Clan was beginning to turn on him as soon as his problems escalated into active reckless endangerment. His abuse was causing his social alienation by making his behavior worse and worse.

That seems like a minor change, but it's one of my bigger complaints. ALL of WindClan shouldn't be looking to an abusive parent to model how they'll react to his son. PLEASE let the cats have their own unique social opinions.

One of Breezepelt's adult defenders is Brushblaze. I will be picking more-- but there's always going to be some cats in his corner besides Nightcloud and Heathertail (and Harestar of course who is poly with Heather and Breeze in BB.)

(though Pro-Breeze cats are in the minority unfortunately.)

MOST of the Dark Forest trainees from WindClan were personal friends of Breezepelt. Harespring, Sunstrike, Furzepelt, and Antpelt all came into the training because of him.

All that said, not much else is different about the setup of Breezepelt's childhood abuse! It's a part of canon I think is good and I would like to stay relatively faithful to it.

His arc also continues into BB!AVoS. Continued distrust of him after fighting for the Dark Forest, misplacing his anger onto Harespring when he manages to take deputyship, and Dishonor Titles from Onestar end up causing him and his friends to feel so rejected that they join The Kin.

Its message, that they are "The Kin that the Clans abandoned" appeals to over a dozen cats from other Clans who are shunned for various reasons. HalfClan cats, codebreakers, and Dark Forest trainees alike all come together, because BB!The Kin is mostly comprised of Clan cats, particularly ones from SkyClan, NOT rogues.

There's about 6 or so non-Clanborn cats in The Kin; Rain, Raven, Flame, Dragonfly, Roach, Nettle. If I end up keeping Silt, Thistle, or any of the 7-10 unnamed cats, they'll get shuffled to be Clanborn.

(Max, Loki, and Zelda are cut. Many of Zelda's roles are being absorbed by Dragonfly, who is remaining with Violetshine after The Kin disbands)

[scifibabee]

hey fam, my spreadsheet is FINALLY up to date so i am FINALLY getting back to the monthly rec lists! here's the cream of the crop from July :)

as a reminder: the ingredients for a five star rating typically (but not always!!) include some combination of a.) believable characterizations of both Hannibal and Will, b.) compelling plot and/or character arcs, and c.) high quality smut.

that being said, my judgment of the aforementioned ingredients is powered almost exclusively by vibes and as such, is incredibly subjective.

you can find past recs below:

February March April May June

and if you have any recs of your own for me, PLEASE SHARE.

without further ado, let's go!

One Way Out of Many by hellotailor

Word Count: 59937 Summary: Hannibal planned to keep Will in the dark about his encephalitis so he could watch that brilliant mind burn itself up and become something new. In a world without daemons, he might have got away with it.An AU incorporating elements of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, beginning partway through the first season of Hannibal. Due to the existence of daemons, the course of the Chesapeake Ripper case is drastically altered — and so too is the relationship between Hannibal and Will.

Everybody say "Thank you, Serri" because this fic was SO GOOD. I didn't know how I'd feel about the mortal instruments crossover, but it was highly enjoyable.

Long Flights Can Be Torture by ThisIsMyDesignHannibal

Word Count: 6334 Summary: Will and Hannibal are finally flying to somewhere they hope to settle down. Will’s nerves are making him restless…but how better to entertain himself then by toying mercilessly with the man he loves? Will wants to see just how far he can coax Hannibal out from behind that impeccable person-suit, preying on his insatiable attraction, and pushing him as far as he can…just, you know, for fun. Hey, long flights can be torture!

Will flirting with the stewardess?? Secret butt plugs???

certain dark things by multifandom_fanfic_writer

Word Count: 28090 Summary: “Now, you will kneel.”Will opens his mouth and issues his Command. And Hannibal, who has spent forty-four years defying his dynamic, who has never once in his life followed anyone’s commands--falls to his knees.

Blood Will Have Blood by idonthaveyourappetite

Word Count: 13481 Summary: Will and Hannibal are living in a post WotL limbo, a sexless pretense at domesticity full of tension and frustration. Will, unable to get over his guilt and complicity in their new life together, has been holding that part of himself back, but subconsciously hopes that Hannibal will push him, HARD, to take that next step. Hannibal, although increasingly frustrated, has been infuriatingly patient with him. Finally realizing that patience isn’t helping either of them, Hannibal forces Will to confront and accept his desire, giving him exactly what he needs. Their first time is exactly how they both need it to be.

And Cure His Heart by ThisIsMyDesignHannibal

Word Count: 10460 Summary: Will’s irritability and frustration have been mounting since going on the run, and Hannibal has been bearing the brunt of it. Unconsciously craving one particular way Hannibal can help him quiet his whirring mind, it’s time for Will to face up to what he needs, swallow his pride, and ask for it. This time, however, actions speak more eloquently than words ever could. Relinquishing control can be its own form of therapy. Relief is often found in surrender.

Oh my God, Will not knowing how to ask Hannibal for what he needs? And the devastation when Hannibal realizes how he's been neglecting Will? Chefs kiss, perfection.

I'll Take Care of You by sourweather

Word Count: 6339 Summary: After an Acute Stress Reaction and continued trauma at work leave Will feeling desperate for release, Hannibal reveals that he has a very effective technique for Letting Go

Whoops, I like fics where Will is put into subspace as "therapy" SUE ME.

Cuisine Euphonique by thecountessolivia

Word Count: 35335 Summary: Nightmares brought on by a gruesome case lead Will to some unorthodox therapy in the form of a YouTube cooking channel.[Completed]

This fic was absolutely incredible and I desperately wish I could read it for the first time all over again.

Hannibal Lecter and the Great Cat-astrophy of 1812 by slut_arc

Word Count: 1582 Summary: If Will Graham knows one thing about owning dogs (and a cannibal), waking to complete silence is suspicious.Whatever could be distracting Hannibal and the dogs so greatly that they left the house without even eating breakfast?

cat dad Hannibal cat dad Hannibal!!!

the distance is quite simply much too far for me to row by softhan

Word Count: 15355 Summary: Hannibal is having a rough time recovering from his injuries post-fall, and retreats into himself to avoid confrontation with Will while he's still weak and ill. Having to play happy husbands hardly helps

Fake relationship AND vulnerable Hannibal??? it hurts, but it's worth it.

Consenting to Dream by emungere

Word Count: 32188 Summary: A seduction through physical objects. It starts with a scarf loaned to Will on a cold day, but Hannibal, as usual, isn't satisfied with anything small.

Possibly one of the sweetest sugar daddy fics I could imagine reading, oh my god, I love them so much. Will having to get comfortable with allowing someone to care for him? OUCH.

Conduit by mokuyoubi

Word Count: 9288 Summary: No one has ever known Will as well as Hannibal, and if only he could get over his reservations, he knows that they could be amazing together. Hannibal, happy to have Will in whatever capacity he is able, is only too willing to give Will anything he wants, even if it's someone other than himself.Or, Hannibal watches while Will has sex with a woman, and Will gets off on how much Hannibal gets off on it, and voila, sexuality crisis averted!

This was very hot, 10/10.

I Don't Even Like Lana Del Rey by perpetuallycaffeinated

Word Count: 4328 Summary: Will’s thoughts were going in a very inappropriate direction, and he had a growing suspicion that they were being led in that direction by a firm, determined hand. He gave another half-hearted bark of a laugh and threw back the remaining coffee like a shot. “Maybe Zeller and Price changed the wrong number’s ringtone. Jack’s not the one listening to me when I feel like I’m coming unhinged and feeding me the best damn food I’ve ever eaten in my life.”“No,” Hannibal agreed quietly, “he is not.”The tension and low thrum of arousal were making Will speak impulsively. He knew this, but he’d just finished his drink. There was nothing he could use to stop the question, blunt and presumptuous and rude.“So, what, you’re my daddy?”

Dancing with the Beast by proser

Word Count: 86347 Summary: In order to catch a mediocre serial killer, Will must pose as Hannibal's date for a series of pretentious social events.Hannibal is dramatic and jealous as ever, and Will is having a great time without the encephalitis. Of course, it's a love story.

FAKE RELATIONSHIP AND IT'S SO GOOD.

Never Conquered, Rarely Came by thisisthefamilybusiness

Word Count: 3242 Summary: Normally, this is the part where Will would pick up his cell phone and leave an anonymous tip on the police crime hotline, tell them there was a cannibalistic serial murderer lurking around the area code of the phone number given in the ad. But not today. Not when his very bones ache and all the raw and bruised places on his skin throb in time with his pulse. Not when exhaustion is slowly eating away at him in a way that has nothing to do with how little he slept last night.Not when these ink-stains on his fingertips and the man behind them are his last chance to get away.Fill for HannibalKink for this prompt: "Will is in an abusive relationship but can't see a way out - he's tried to leave before, but his partner is in law enforcement and always manages to track him down while pretending to be the understanding, forgiving, loving type. One day, Will stumbles across an ad in the Classifieds of the cleverly worded cannibal-seeking-fresh-meat-but-veiled-as-private-cooking-classes type, and decides to answer. Hannibal is pleased when his ad bears fruit, then surprised when his intended dinner apparently knows exactly what he's in for."

this starts off TOUGH, but it's such an interesting concept and it really is a happy ending.