#Villains have a lot of wiggle room for what makes them villains I think :)

[sysig]

What makes a villain a villain for you? Idk very broad question no wrong answers to it

I tend to conflate "villain" and "antagonist" - or at least antagonistic, if they're a main character like Charm is haha - someone who impedes others, who seeks to do harm, who is in some way uncontrollable and therefore dangerous. I also tend to like villains that have someone or something to rage against, very Megamind haha - "If there's bad, good will rise up against it."

Villains can be as complex or simplistic as you like, which is very fun! Some villains like to be evil for funsies! Some are tortured! Some don't realize that what they're doing is harmful! Yves is great example of a BBEG who has only good intentions imo (and coincidentally, is also modeled after my own ADHD lol, I have something of a soft spot for dysregulated villains haha)

One of my favourite aspects of the True Villainy AU, and kind of Just Desserts S2 as a whole, is how different types of villains look and move in that world - Charm was seduced by thoughts of revenge that stemmed from loneliness and bitterness, where Kaiein is a manipulative asshole who gets his kicks from causing chaos from the sidelines. Their motivations are very different, but they both do harm, and are both stopped! Villains ✨

#Villains have a lot of wiggle room for what makes them villains I think :) #And there's certainly more shades of grey to explore than the fairly black-and-white villains that I tend to like lol #Charm is pretty black and white - she's a villain until she isn't #It's still hard for her because she ''learned'' all these maladjusted behaviours to get through her life but she keeps trying! #Kaiein is very black and white - literally lol - he's a villain for funsies and has to be defeated rather than recovered #And Yves is quite black and white as well! He doesn't really consider the harm that he does until it's too late! And he still doesn't stop! #I think just about any antagonist Can be a villain depending on the framing - including those trying to stop my villains here #The JD Residents are villains for causing Charm mental anguish - that's why she seeks revenge in the first place! #And again they're the villains for taking away Kaiein's fun toy - you can tell I have little sympathy for him lol #The AGE crew are villains for trying to stop Yves from resurrecting his God and recreating the spiritual Cambrian explosion! #I think what makes a villain a villain is the harm they're willing to cause on the way to their goal #Anyone properly motivated can be twisted into the shape of a villain - what lengths are they willing to go to? Who are they willing to hurt #It's about finding the Hubristic Downfall and digging from there #Villains Are their characters flaws <3 #I feel like I've mentioned it somewhere but I view Charm specifically as being endearingly flawed like a cat lol #Cats can have so many characters flaws that we would find unacceptable in humans but are charming - haha - in a cat #Charm is my self-love by way of cat-ifying my own character flaws <3 It's why I like villainsonas so much!! #They're little guys! Evil little guys <3 I think it's great :D #Just Desserts #Villainsona #AGE #Yves

[captain-mj]

Superhero au

I got inspired and made a little superhero x antihero au, hope you guys like it <3 Part 2 should be out soon

Ghost was good at what he did. Very good. He got up, he killed villains that the heroes were too pussy to deal with and he went home. Today had been easy. One freak that liked to hurt animals to try to make some weird chimera that he found great joy in murdering.

Ghost had been nice. He had left his face and teeth intact so he could easily be identified. The police were fucking useless and he didn’t want them trying to insist he killed an innocent again. The amount of civilian deaths pinned on him (all later redacted because they were never true) was ridiculous. 

As he slowly went around his living room, considering what he’d do with his night, he heard a creak of his floorboard. Ghost threw one of his knives at that area, seeing… 

“Soap.” He recognized the stupid superhero in his stupid get up. Too much spandex and gold for him personally. 

“Ghost.” Soap smiled at him brightly. “I finally found out where you lived!” Already his smoky tendrils, ones that were so commonly associated with him You couldn’t have one without the other, had wrapped tight around his wrists. Soap tries to break free but they didn’t budge despite his super strength. His smile faltered as he was lifted until his toes were barely touching the ground but he quickly put it back up. 

Ghost hated him so much. His smile was so bright. Literally, there was a light around him that kinda hurt Ghost’s eyes. He was happy he still had his mask on and that Soap did not see his face. 

“How dare you.”

Soap wiggled one hand so Ghost freed it and he pulled out a flier. “So Ghost. I believe that we can find an advantageous alliance for all of us if you were to join th-”

“No. I’m not joining shit. Get lost.” 

Soap smiled tighter, an almost grimace. “Well, ya see. We could pardon you of all crimes.”

“I’ve committed no crimes.”

“You’ve murdered many people.”

Ghost glared at him, the tendrils dancing around him. They felt like nothing against his skin but judging by how Soap was reacting, they must be unpleasant. He was a being of smoke and darkness rather than human. It was for the best that no one knew how human he was under everything. “I murdered monsters. It’s your fault they roam free. I’m just cleaning up the trash.”

Soap tsked. “Such messy morals.”

“Morals? Morals? Are you serious? You let these freaks get back out and hurt more people. Children. Animals. Innocent people. And you think it’s better to let them out? They prove time and time again they won’t change and you insist they will.” 

Soap stared at him blankly and Ghost wondered if he had just tuned him out entirely. “So our lea-”

“I will not be joining any leagues or organizations. I’m already going to have to move thanks to you.”

Soap tapped his fingers against each other for a moment. “I’m not going to tell anyone. But can you just consider it? I think you’d be a good fit.”

“You just said my morals were messy.”

“I did. But a lot of these people can be rehabilitated.”

“How many people have to die while we wait for one of them to heal?” Ghost asked as he started to make himself tea. 

Soap didn’t answer. “I won’t tell anyone. I promise. But… even if you won’t join the league, I see no reason we can’t be friends, ya know?”

Ghost glared at him hard. “Get fucked. I won’t help you. I don’t need your help. I work alone.”

Soap smiled. “Well…” He pulled out a business card and put it on the table. “Just in case.”

Ghost waited until Soap disappeared to look at the business card. He faltered when he actually looked at it. 

All of the heroes had business cards. It included their names, a small rundown of their powers and what league they were a part of if they were a part of any. 

This was not that. 

“John MacTavish”

His actual name. 

Along with his contact information and his address. 

Ghost was a little stunned but he decided to keep the card. He doubted he’d ever need it, but if Soap ever revealed his little flat to anyone, he could spread his information just as fast.

———

Soap was making himself coffee a few weeks later. He had been keeping tabs on Ghost. It was his job. His team even encouraged it. 

After the first week though, he didn’t bother to kid himself. He knew this wasn’t because of duty. Soap did not spend over an hour watching Ghost grocery shop for the greater good. 

Soap didn’t call it stalking. Stalking implied he watched him constantly and he really didn’t. Just when he had a little spare time, he’d use a tiny tiny bit of his reality bending powers to watch what Ghost was doing. He’d usually use mirrors or his phone and it felt almost like a tv show. 

Soap never saw his face. Not just because Ghost constantly wore a mask, but he blurred it. Don’t get him wrong, he’d look in an instant if it was almost anyone else. There’s a reason most super villians never kept their secret identities for long. But with Ghost… it felt wrong. It felt like cheating. 

Ghost was funny. He’d rescue kittens from trees, buy little kids balloons, and seemed to have a thing for gardenias but he never bought them. Just looked at them. 

Soap had been trying to stop. Besides the ethics, his team was starting to notice how much he watched Ghost and he knew if they saw the depth of it, they’d figure it out. Plus Ghost hadn’t done anything bad recently. As far as they could tell, he was laying low. Possibly moving. 

As if he knew Soap was no longer watching, Ghost appeared in his dreams. Usually the dreams were… Soap didn’t know how to describe them. They weren’t nightmares. Certainly not wet dreams despite Gaz’s teasing. Too fragmented and they always left him empty and sometimes… sad. 

Soap had never met a material he couldn’t rip through. Except Ghost. Whatever that living smoke was made of, it had to be indestructible.

He sighed and drank more coffee, trying to tell himself not to watch his favorite tv show. He had managed all week. Just a few more hours and he’d hit it. 

Something hit his door. It sounded… weirdly wet. He sighed and opened it. He wasn’t dressed as a superhero luckily and no one besides his team should know where he lived. 

And there he was. His object of obsession. 

Ghost looked at him, blood dripping down from a wound on his stomach. Soap couldn’t really see it, the smoke was wrapped so tight around him and it hit him suddenly that he was holding the wound together. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know where else to go.” 

Soap quickly ushered him inside and sat him down on his couch. “Why aren’t you healing?”

Ghost frowned. “I don’t have super healing. Sorry to disappoint.”

“So when Captain Price threw you off that building last week you were actually hurt?” Soap asked sarcastically. That made no sense. No one without super healing would fight them so regularly. 

“Yes. That’s why i was taking it easy this week. He bruised my ribs. I nearly fractured some bones in my legs apparently. I thought i was good to go though…” Ghost adjusted himself. “Look, if you can’t help, maybe i should go. I can leave.”3

#call of duty #call of duty modern warfare #simon ghost riley #johnny soap mactavish #call of duty modern warfare ii #cod mw2 #ghostsoap #cod #soapghost #ghoap

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Related to the previous ask, it kind of makes me think of my semi-headcanon. In the source material of the Disney movies, some of the villains aren't really evil (Hades is the most decent Greek god, the sorcerer and the advisor from Aladdin are two different people, etc). What if in TWST, the stories are similar to that?

[Referencing this post!]

TWST has certainly teased or suggested the idea of real happenings being manipulated or changed depending on who tells it + the passage of time. It also happens in the real world, both with historical events, anecdotes, and pieces of fiction (fairy tales, fables, etc.). This probably is what results in the juxtaposition between Yuu's understanding of the Great Seven in their dreams versus how the Great Seven are depicted and revered in Twisted Wonderland.

Right now, it's still unclear as to whether Yuu's perspective or the perspectives of those in their new world is the "true" version. One could be right, both could be right, or neither could be right. I like all of these possibilities!!

It's entirely possible that multiple people and their achievements were merged over time into a single entity credited with all of their achievements. It's also possible that the Great Seven of Twisted Wonderland are actually nothing like the classically evil villains we know of in the original Disney films. The films themselves aren't even "accurate" themselves, as they often pull from fairy tales with many different variations, some of which are quite dark. Disney made their own interpretation, and then TWST made its own interpretation of that interpretation.

That doesn't mean the Great Seven are necessarily infallible heroes (much as the characters and their textbooks often extol them and their accomplishments). I feel like a more realistic real-world parallel would be historical figures that are often painted in a good light due to all the stories circulated about them. Think of like how your own textbooks and how prominent people get praised and credited for various discoveries and inventions!! But as people who have actually existed in their world, surely there must also be instances of the G7’s flaws, failures, or even personal lives beyond their achievements, and it's odd that we so rarely hear about these (particularly the negatives).

There's still a great number of mysteries we have to unravel about the nature of all the Disney lore in our world versus the twisted world!! Lots of wiggle room ripe for speculation ✨

#twst #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #disney twst #notes from the writing raven #question #Yuu

[ursa-tan]

Can I have a request for a wally darling x reader where the reader "captures" wally as the villain of the show and has a bit of a dom kink? This is for playfellowxxx and I am 18 years old. Is this ok to request?

You’re mine

Wally Darling x Fem!Villain!Reader

Requested: Yes!

Word count: 3,312 Reading time: ~12 mins

Part 1, Part 2

TW: None

A/N: Honestly this was the first proper request I've gotten and I got really excited to write it! I hope you like it anon! Also, the reader is approximately 6ft tall, just so everyone knows :) Also, I'm really sorry this took so long to put out, have had a lot of stuff going on in my personal life.

Wally awakens, dizzy and almost completely disorientated – just because he can’t sleep doesn’t mean he can’t be knocked out. The world around him seems to spin for a moment as he attempts to orient himself in the darkness. He tries to move his limbs yet finds himself almost unable to move, bar lightly wiggling his body. Soon, Wally comes to realise that his hands are bound behind his back, to the back of a chair. His legs are also bound, rope wrapped around his ankles to hold them together and to hold them to the chair as well.

The room is dark, murky, almost pitch black if it weren’t for the small beam of light piercing through the side of a blind and streaming into the room. It’s just enough to let Wally see what’s happening around him. The room is still around him, not much happening apart from the wind whistling gently through what he can only assume is an open window tucked behind the blind. There are boxes stacked up around the room, pushed to the edges to make way for a desk. The room itself is small, seemingly more of a storage room than anything else.

His concentration on the room is broken when a door opens from somewhere behind him. The sound of the door closing is joined by the clicking of hard bottomed shoes against the wooden floor. He feels fear course through him for a second, jolting him forwards slightly when a hand comes to rest on his shoulder.

“Wally, Darling,” a soft, feminine voice rings out from behind him. Wally already knows exactly who it belongs to. Its full of a sickening joy that causes a pit to open itself up in Wally’s stomach.

“(Y/n),” Wally growls, immediately becoming defensive. The presence of this puppet causes his skin to prickle, making him feel as if his hair is standing on end. “What do you want?” His voice is uncharacteristically sharp and cold, holding a malice that he reserves for when it’s just him and (Y/n).

“Oh, nothing much…” She walks round to his front, crouching down to find herself  eye level with the significantly smaller puppet. Wally stares into her eyes, its one of the few times he’s able to do so. “Just thought you looked especially adorable the other day, couldn’t help but want to snatch you up.” Her voice is playful and flirtatious, it doesn’t match the situation in the slightest.

“You just like causing problems, (Y/n).” Wally can’t help but say her name again, something about it feels good in his mouth, feels like its supposed to sit on his lips.

“Ah, maybe I do, but you love me for it,” She chuckles lightly, standing back up and patting his thigh as she does so. The sudden contact makes him shudder, causing his body to jump – practically pressing himself into her palm. It causes her to freeze, only for a moment, leaning down to stare into Wally’s eyes again.

“Do you like that, Darling?” His last name drips from her lips just like it did before, yet this time it sounds so different. Its sticky and sweet and causes his head to spin slightly.

Wally goes to speak, to say something, but the hand on his thigh halts his voice entirely. He’s not entirely sure why, but he can’t think clearly. The hand on his thigh squeezes lightly, a pressure that causes him to shudder. He wants to lean into it, his mind fogging with something he isn’t quite sue of.

“I need to hear a yes Wally, or I’m going to take my hand away.” Her voice pulls him out of his seeming trance, his head snapping upwards. He stares at her, eyes meeting with a desperation that he didn’t know he could feel.

“Yes,” Wally whispers, pupils blowing wide as he stares.

“Good boy,” She chuckles, voice dripping with that same sticky sweetness from before. Her hand squeezes again, trailing up his thigh and towards his hip. It rests there for a moment before trailing back down to his thigh. “You look like you’re enjoying yourself there”

Wally can’t find it in himself to answer, only staring into (Y/n)’s eyes, vision slightly unfocused. He doesn’t understand why his head is so foggy, but he does know that he wants more of her touch. As a result, he does his best to push his thigh up into her hand.

“Oh, you really do seem to be enjoying yourself,” The smile in her voice is obvious, “I’m going to untie you now, ok? But you have to promise not to try and run.” She seems to have an idea that he can’t think of at all.

Wally just nods, the prospect of being untied doesn’t properly occur in his mind, the idea of escape a million miles away at this very second. He feels her fingers trail down his leg, the other hand joining to untie the rope binding his ankles together. It takes her a few moments of tugging before the rope comes undone, becoming slack and falling to the floor in loose rings. Wally takes a moment to part his legs, stretching them out before returning them to their previous position.

“Good boy, you’re so good for me,” she hums, both hands returning to his thighs, giving them both a squeeze. Her hands are so big, Wally’s sure that she could wrap her hand entirely around his thigh if she wanted to. He wants her to, at least. The words make Wally feel like he’s melting, becoming absolute putty in (Y/n)’s hands.

He melts more when (Y/n) moves behind him, hands coming to his bound wrists and starting to undo them. She’s much softer this time, fingers brushing the bare skin of his wrists as she undoes the ropes. After a few seconds, Wally feels the rope unravel and drop to the floor, yet he doesn’t move. Not even as (Y/n)’s hands begin to trail up his arms, eventually coming to rest on his shoulders, lightly brushing his neck. She stays there for a moment, gently kneading his shoulders, holding him like he’s made of glass. Then, suddenly, her hands are on his face, forcing it backwards so she can stare into his eyes.

“Hi, sweet thing,” she hums, her hands gripping his face rather harshly, forcing him to stay still. She could’ve let go as soon as she tilted his head back, however, Wally wasn’t going to attempt moving. “You look so pretty like this, pupils blown all wide.” She eases up her grip, now stroking his face.

Wally lets out a short sound, something next to a whimper. He can’t tear his eyes away form (Y/n)’s. Her eyes seem to sparkle with something that only serves to draw him in. Like the lore of an anglerfish, he was walking straight into the jaws of danger, yet he couldn’t look away.

(Y/n) tilts his head forwards again, so that she can lean forwards and place her hands on his thighs. They begin to move, one trailing up and under his jumper, under his shirt, splaying across his stomach. Her finger are so warm as they press against Wally’s bare skin. The warmth from her hands bubbled up through his body until it forces a short, soft moan from his lips.

Wally, unable to look into (Y/n)’s eyes from this angle, decides he doesn’t need to keep his eyes open and so let himself relax into the sensations. Eyes fluttering shut, Wally presses himself against her hands, one of his own reaching up to hold onto her bicep. He continues to let out soft moans as (Y/n)’s hands reach up and towards his chest, dancing her fingers delicately across his skin. He finds himself completely unable to focus on anything but the hand on his chest. Until, that is, (Y/n)’s other hand moves to his inner thigh.

It rests rather high up, nearly brushing against his clothed crotch, snapping him out of his earlier fog. The sensation causes Wally to gasp, attempting to buck his hips into her hand without even thinking – its nothing but an involuntary action. He’s desperate for her touch.

(Y/n) chuckles, it’s a sick, sardonic sound that Wally still loves none the less. In fact, he wants to hear it more. More of her voice, more of her. She pulls her hands from his body at the same time, an action that makes him whimper and squirm; but he doesn’t move, he wouldn’t dare.

Footsteps ring out once again as (Y/n) walks round and stops in front of the smaller puppet, crouching down at an attempt to be eye level with him. It doesn’t work, however, as she ends up about chest height, looking up into his blown-out pupils.

“Hey, pretty thing,” She hums, a hand coming up to cup his cheek. “You enjoying yourself?” Everything about her feels like a trap, yet Wally can’t help but lean in. If he gets snatched up and captured, its worth it, as long as it’s her.

“Yes,” Wally murmurs, eyes half lidded as he leans into her palm. He reaches up, one hand coming to rest on top of hers while the other holds her wrist. “Yes… So much…”

“My good boy.” She smirks as she speaks, her voice flirty and now dripping with lust. (Y/n) pulls her hand away as she stands up, and Wally can’t help but reach out for her as she moves away. He’s desperate to have her back against his skin.

“Don’t worry baby, I’m not leaving,” She bends over, now actually being eye level with him, “get up for me, will you doll?”

Wally nods, scrambling to get himself out of the chair. (Y/n) has to take a step back as he hurries to stand so he doesn’t knock his head against hers. As soon as he’s on his feet, Wally is standing as tall as he can in front of her – something drives him to try and impress her.

“Oh baby, relax,” Her voice is sugar coated as she leans in, beginning to unbutton his cardigan. “There’s no need to be so tense.” She pulls his cardigan off, throwing it somewhere behind him. Part of him hopes it landed on the chair he had been sat on, he didn’t want it to get dirty, yet he also didn’t care.

His shirt came off next, being given the same treatment as his cardigan. Wally ignores the sound of it hitting the floor in favour of reaching up to start undoing his ascot. However, he doesn’t get far before (Y/n)’s hands are on his, pulling them away from his neck.

“Oh no you don’t,” she hums, holding his hands to her chest, cupping them near her collar bones, “that looks so cute on you, I want you to keep it on.”

“Ok…” Wally’s voice comes out as delicate whisper. His hands feel so small in hers, so warm and completely encapsulated.

 “Good boy,” She mumbles, dropping his hands and gripping his hips instead and tugging him forwards. Her hands quickly begin work on the button on his trousers, popping it with one hand and using the other to undo the zip. (Y/n) has his trousers on the floor in seconds.

“Actually…” (Y/n) pauses for a second before reaching up, leaving Wally’s painfully hard and still in his boxers. Her hands come back to his ascot and tug at it, pulling it off. The red silk glistens lightly in the soft glow from the sun, laying in her hands.

“Eyes or hands?” She asks, suddenly making eye contact with Wally. He finds himself unable to answer, only able to stare into the perfection that is (Y/n)’s eyes.

“Wally, I’m only going to ask once more. Eyes or hands?” She snaps her fingers in front of his face, brining him back to reality far to fast for his liking.

“Eyes?” Wally mumbles, hesitating a moment before speaking. He’s unsure of what she means, and despite everything that she’d done in the past, he trusts her.

(Y/n) doesn’t answer, only reaching with the ascot in her hands. He isn’t given a chance to react before the red silk is being wrapped round his eyes, obscuring his vision entirely. Wally finds himself deprived of his favourite sense, the one he treasures more than anything else in the world – it should scare him… and yet it doesn’t.

(Y/n)’s hands are back on his hips within seconds of his eyes being covered, this time tugging at the waist band of his boxers. They’re pulled down to around his mid-thigh, freeing his erection and causing him to gasp in both shock and relief. Wally can feel her hands on his thighs, still holding the fabric of his underwear. Although that doesn’t last long, as she tugs them the rest of the way down, leaving them pooled around his ankles much like his trousers.

“Step forwards baby,” She says, holding his hips and guiding him as he takes a step. He’s now completely nude, exposed to her and unable to see anything. His heart is racing yet he wouldn’t change a single thing about what’s going on.

The smaller puppet lets out a yelp as he feels his feet leave the floor. Although he doesn’t flail or worry, as (Y/n)’s hands on his hips hold him steady. He can feel her shifting, but doesn’t know what’s going on until the underneath of his thighs meet her shoulders. He can feel her hair tickling his inner thighs, the wispy strands painting feather soft patterns into the soft, sensitive flesh.

Suddenly, the flat of her tongue is pressing against the underside of his cock. Its warm and wet and has him bucking his hips upwards blindly. He feels (Y/n)’s hands slide up his back, supporting him and holding him against her. Wally leans back into her warm palms for a moment, relaxing just for a second. It is only a second thought, her tongue is back on him, sliding from the base of the shaft to half way up before pulling away and repeating the pattern.

“(Y/n)…” Wally mumbles. This time, its his turn for his voice to drip with lust thick as honey. He reaches down, fingers fumbling to intertwine themself with her hair. Struggling for a moment, Wally finally gets his hands comfortably in her hair, holding the back of her head for support. He defiantly needs it as (Y/n) pulls away, adjusting her head to slip the tip of his cock into her mouth.

Wally bucks his hips forwards, desperate to feel the warmth of her lips around the base of his cock. He partially expects (Y/n) to pull her head away, to scold him for the action – but she doesn’t. Instead, she pushes her head forwards, taking his entire length in one go. It happens so fast that Wally feels himself hit the back of her throat. (Y/n) doesn’t gag.

The warm wetness of her tongue begins to lap at the underside of his cock once more. It’s a sensation that has Wally letting out moans, sounds that bubble up from his chest and spill past his lip. They’re completely uncontrolled sounds, slipping past his lips in the same way foam bubbles out of a soda bottle.

Wally can already feel himself reaching an end. Something about the way she moved, the way she treated him, was driving him towards an edge much faster than he would like to admit. It doesn’t help that he can’t see, that he’s been deprived of his most vital sense.

“(Y/n)-“ he rasps, gripping her hair and tensing his thighs to squish her head slightly. He feels his stomach muscles tense up, causing him to curl forward, around her head.

The taller puppet only hums in response, starting to bob her head. Deliciously slick sounds fill the room. (Y/n)’s hands pressing into Wally’s back to pull him closer, keeping him in place as her tong laves at his shaft. She doesn’t stop her movements or change her pace, continuing to bob her head slightly and swirl her tongue at the pace she had already set.

“I’m- I’m- (Y/n)- I’m-“ Wally can’t splutter out much more than the first word of the sentence that he’s desperately trying to string together. (Y/n)’s pace is driving his towards an edge that he doesn’t want to fall off of – if he does, this ends. Wally is desperate for it not to end.

His hands don’t move from their spot, finding a perfect purchase scrunched up in her hair, holding the back of his head. His hips, however, begin to falter and buck forwards as if they have a mind of their own. Both his body and mind are senselessly chasing pleasure, but only his body wants to reach the finale. And it does.

Wally tenses up fully as he finally reaches his peak, thighs clenching around (Y/n)’s head. His arms pull in tight, hips pushing forwards as he desperately tries to push himself as far down (Y/n)’s throat as possible. He manages to push until he’s hitting the back of her throat, his tip touching the soft warmth in a way that has his whimpering and pleading for more.

The smaller puppet finally spills himself into her mouth, painting her throat white and filling her mouth with a slightly bitter taste. (Y/n) doesn’t recoil though, instead swirling her tongue around his length and continuing to bob her head to the best of her abilities. Wally feels like she’s trying to pull out everything he’s got.

“A-Ah!” he yelps, the sensation suddenly becoming entirely too much. Wally is whimpering, trying to pull away, wordlessly pleading for her to stop.

Eventually, (Y/n) does, pulling away from him and letting him fall from her saliva coated lips. She keeps Wally sat on her shoulders, looking up at him through thick eyelashes, eyes sparkling with mischief in what little light there is in the room.

“Too much baby?~” She purrs, voice still filled with lust.

Wally can only nod, letting out another pathetic sound as he does.

“Oh, you poor thing… Come here,” She mumbles, shifting his position until he’s got his legs wrapped around her waist. Her tone is so much softer now, as is her touch, as she comes to gently cradle his shaking body against hers. She holds him so easily, her much larger hands supporting under his ass and against his back.

“Would you like a bath darling?” (Y/n)’s voice is right next to his ear as she speaks. It’s accompanied by feather light kisses full of love. Her hands are so warm, radiating outwards and into him in a way that almost has him falling asleep where he is. Wally shakes his head. All he wants now is to curl up and sleep.

“Ok then,” she pauses again to kiss the top of his head, something she can do now thanks to his pompadour falling apart, “What about something to eat? Or drink?” Her questions are so gentle, they don’t really need answers.

Wally shakes his head once again, burying his face in (Y/n)’s neck. Her skin is so soft, he can’t help but relax against her. Although that relaxing is interrupted for a moment when (Y/n) pulls the ascot free from his eyes, discarding it somewhere on the floor. Its most likely piles up with the rest of his discarded clothes.

She continues to hold him tight against her body as she walks. Wally is far too drowsy to pay attention to where they’re going. But he takes not of it - a few short steps and a turn to the left.

Suddenly, (Y/n) is shifting the blue haired puppet. He’s sitting in her lap, partially straddling her thighs with his head resting against her chest. (Y/n) in mostly laying down, hands resting on Wally’s back, providing a pleasing weight.

(Y/n) doesn’t say anything as she begins to stroke Wally’s hair, placing many short kisses on top of his head. He can slowly feel his grip on consciousness loosening. He knows he isn’t going to fall asleep, but he’s not going to be awake anymore.

“I’ve got you, baby,” (Y/n) mumbles. It’s the last thing Wally hears before the world slips away from him.

#fanfic #fanfiction #x reader #playfellowxxx #request #requested #smut #I was so excited to write this #antagonist x protagonist

[chickenleafs-world]

Rewatching the original animated X-men series in preparation for 97, so of course I’ve also been seeing a lot of X-men posts. And, as always, I have strong opinions on what people on the internet say. Most of the time those opinions are “how did these people read/watch X-men growing up and not get that they’re the villains” because people are being bigots and are upset that their favorite heroes aren’t. But sometimes I’m stuck being frustratingly close to agreeing and my strong opinions are much harder to voice. In part because you don’t want to walk into the Discourse Landmine, but also in part because there’s so much to go over on the take.

Case in point: the “Magneto is right, Xavier is wrong” take, where my main problem with people is more the lack of nuance than the base take. And I know most of the people saying it are also doing it in part as a joke and get the nuance is there, but it still irks me.

Let’s be clear, in general, Magneto is not right, but he isn’t wrong either. Xavier isn’t wrong, but he isn’t right either. Obviously it’s partly dependent on whoever is writing at the moment, but also depending on which individual take of Magneto’s or Xavier’s you’re talking about. Yes, sometimes Xavier is frustratingly, harmfully liberal. Yes, sometimes Erik is doing the best possible for mutant well being. But there’s a lot of wiggle room with individual portrayals, and I think Xavier deserves justice for it. I’m not saying Magneto is just a villain, Stan Lee himself didn’t see him as such, but depending on the writers he can certainly be wrong.

Xavier is wrong when he focuses just on mutants with “useful” powers or conventionally attractive and human looks. He’s wrong when he puts the safety of bigots over the safety of the mutants they’re oppressing. He’s wrong when his only way of helping mutants is through the system. He’s wrong when he’s sending the X-men out to fight mutants more than bigots. He’s wrong when he hides he’s a mutant to avoid the stigma, even when the reveal would help solidarity and public trust. He’s wrong a lot.

But Xavier is right when he focuses on teaching mutants to love themselves and teaches them to control their powers and use them for good. He’s right when he says mutants and non-mutants can live in harmony. He’s right when he send the X-men out to destroy government/private property that’s being used to hurt mutants. He’s right when he takes out all his students, “attractive” or not, to speak up for mutant rights. He’s right when he sends the X-men to break innocent mutants out of prison/jail/unlawful containment. He’s right when he opens his institute to all mutants, so they have a safe place to go to. He’s right when he gives X-men choice and training for hard experiences, be it the choice to hide their powers or be open with them, to break out of jail/avoid arrest, or wait and go through an unfair trial for the sake of mutant visibility and legal precedent. He’s right when he finds places like the institute around the world. He’s right when he himself is on good terms with Magneto and works with him when it’s necessary for mutant good.

Don’t get me wrong, a lot of writers put Professor X as a filthy liberal. It sucks. Focuses on performative acts, letting fascists take ground for the sake of “civility,” and putting minorities at risk for the sake of optics, those are all bad. But sometimes liberal acts can be tools in the tool box. Voting isn’t gonna solve shit, but it can make it go downhill slower. Putting gay people in media isn’t going to end homophobia, but it will normalize gay people. Testifying before Congress for mutant rights might not be the flashiest or most effective way to get mutants’ rights, but it is a way to advance public opinion and slow anti-mutant laws. Just that isn’t good enough to beat the liberal accusations, but combined with the actions of some incarnations it genuinely changes their context. We can’t ignore all the times that Xavier has actively sent the X-men out to break laws and destroy government property for the sake of mutant well being. As much as we joke about the X-men being liberals, they usually aren’t afraid to break laws, break property, and raise hell for the sake of their people. And don’t forget that lot’s of “peaceful” acts of protest still cause disruption and still make a difference, even when it seems liberal on the surface, and can be organized by genuinely leftist people. Lots of Professor X’s portrayals could be genuinely leftist.

Likewise, Magneto is right a lot. He’s right when he says mutants shouldn’t be forced to stay in places where they’re being violently persecuted. He’s right when he advocates mutants fight back when bigots attack instead of just taking it. He’s right when he takes in mutants despite how palatable or useful they are. He’s right to actively fight fascists rising to exterminate his people. He’s right when he gives no fucks about the law when it comes to protecting minorities. He’s right when he creates a safe haven for mutants.

But boy, Magneto is also wrong a lot. He’s wrong when he says mutants and non-mutants can’t live together. He’s wrong when he says non-mutants are inferior. He’s wrong when he gets upset at mutants for wanting to live in harmony with humans. He’s wrong when he invalidates mutants who are upset with where being a mutant has gotten them, without helping them through the complicated feelings it brings. He’s wrong when he frames the X-men, a fellow mutant group, for his crimes. He’s wrong when he says mutants should exterminate non-mutants. He’s wrong when he thinks a mutant ethnostate is the end-all-be-all of mutant rights.

Erik is the kind of antagonist you get. He’s right on a lot of things. He has a lot of emotional appeal. As a (let’s be honest, gay) Jewish holocaust survivor, you know he’s coming from experience with his tactics. He genuinely doesn’t hate Xavier in most incarnations. But that doesn’t mean that in the incarnations where he literally calls for genocide, he should be let off the hook. Violence and resistance are important to most leftists movements, or even just mildly progressive ones. Be it a civil war to end US slavery, the riots at Stonewall, slave rebellions, or any number of revolutionary wars, sometimes active violence is necessary to stop the passive violence that minorities go through while oppressed. At the same time, it’s a fundamentally leftist ideal to believe in rehabilitation and the importance of people changing. And it’s also important to remember that genocide is bad no matter who’s doing it. Letting the genocidal versions of Magneto off the hook because it was “for mutants” is the same logic that lets Israel get away with how it treats Palestine.

I know that’s a lot of rambling to say something a lot of people already know, but as much as I love the “magneto was right” memes and the posts making fun of liberal X-men, I don’t want the genuinely leftists parts of the X-men to go unappreciated, nor the genuinely harmful parts of Magneto’s ideology excused.

#x men #x-men #xmen #x men 97 #charles xavier #professor x #magneto #erik lehnsherr #leftism #liberals #media

[faeriekit]

Quiet Respite 🕸️❤️🦇

find the whole thing on Ao3 or read the previous updates here on tumblr

A DC x MCU fic inspired by Dark Matter, Cassandra Cain meets Peter Parker in an exploratory romance slash “mystery” fic. (If you’ve read a lot of these before, you pretty much can tell what’s going on in the background.) Features: Cass’s turn as POV character, use of sign language, the flimsiest timeline you’ve ever seen, teen romance, hurt/comfort, implied homelessness, fight scenes, Cass’s teen rebellion arc, Spider-Man villain arc?? (whoopsie), and a good deal of sneaking around. Updates on tumblr before ao3.

Previous updates are listed above, so if you don’t want to start off with ch 15 below, click on those. This is just to consolidate a big post into something slightly smaller. Anyway, enjoy the continuation of Peter’s trauma-induced depression arc.

🕸🕷🕸❤

The next day is dance class.

Baby Bat’s school will be waiting for him tomorrow, which means Peter will either go, or not go.

That’s a tomorrow problem. Today, Cass has dance.

She hovers her hand over Peter’s stomach. “Can I…touch?” She uses her voice to ask.

He lets her touch. She gently prods his ribs.

“They don’t hurt anymore,” Peter whispers as he signs, exhausted, but awake. “I ate. I slept. I healed.”

He heals quickly, then. Some creatures do. Cass nods.

“Okay.” Cass can sign that one without even looking at him. She rolls off of her bed. “We are going.”

Peter frowns. He’s confused. “We…?” he starts, but his hands fall before finishes his thought. He’s too tired.

Cass hums a doing chores song that Alfred likes. “Mmhmm,” she vocalizes in her throat, more thought than sound. She reaches underneath her Peter, and he barely even flails. So gentle with her.

“Wait, where are we—?” He squawks. If he’s signing, it’s at the wrong angle for Cass to see. “What?? Cass— Wait—“

Having his bare skin against her arms is kind of nice. He’s kind of squishy. Cass is hopeful that with more food, he might be even squishier. His body is a little too cold. He needs clothing.

Cass makes it over to the door. An almost-free hand wiggles enough to get Cass’s fluffy purple robe from the hook on back of it, and positioning Peter beneath it makes it fall neatly onto his face.

Peter makes a wounded noise. But he’s not hurt. Cass whistles Alfred’s cleaning tune and opens the door with a careful stretch and her toes.

Cass pokes her head through the door.

Cass looks left. Cass looks right.

“I don’t think anyone is here,” Peter murmurs, close to her ear. He’s looking where she’s looking but— right. Peter and the spider are the same. He can hear things Cass can only feel whispers of. She nods. She carries him down to Bigger Bird’s room.

Bigger Bird’s not here, but his pants are. Cass pulls open a drawer with her toes (new skill!), sticks Peter closer, and let him choose.

…And prods him to choose, when he doesn’t.

“Are we stealing?” Peter mumbles, upset. But he picks a pair of shiny, dark blue shorts. “Because I stopped that now.”

“No. Giving back. Later.”

“Oh. Well, then.”

Baby Bat’s shirts fit better. Cass walks them across the hall to Baby Bat’s room, stepping over the clutter and noise to get to his closet.

“It is a little weird how comfortable you are with going into other people’s closets,” Peter says under an exhausted sigh. Cass understands most of the sentence: the part that says This is weird. The rest is probably about the clothing.

“One child,” she accuses of him easily. “Normal.”

Peter barely looks at the shirts. He picks one off the closet without examining it. “Only child?”

“Mmhmm.” What’s the difference?

The door cracks open. Cass knows it’s going to be Baby Bat, so she doesn’t worry. Baby Bat likes Peter. He appears in the doorway, head-speakers half on and half off, computer under his arm. “Ca— Peter?!”

Peter’s head lolls in Baby Bat’s direction. Cass shifts to accommodate him. “…Hi,” says Peter.

“You’re in my house?” Baby Bat asks, confused. His eyebrows are pushed together. He doesn’t understand why they’re in his room, or in his room, together.

“…I have been? For a few days?” Peter asks, more confused than Baby Bat is. Cass hasn’t told him they were hiding him.

(To be fair, she thought it was obvious.)

“Shirt, please,” Cass rasps, and gestures to Peter, clad in only her purple robe and with his stuck-up hair.

Thankfully, signing: “Okay??” only takes one hand and a strong expression. Cass loves Baby Bat. She might kiss his hair on the way out.  

Cass wheels them out into the hallway, almost backs into a fancy art thing on a tiny table, and ferries Peter back into her room.

His dirty clothes and his metal skin are still on her floor. They’ll have to stay there until Alfred cleans her room tomorrow and the laundry goes away.

Peter. Stands. He holds the clothes. He doesn’t change.

That’s okay. Cass takes his choices from his hands and carefully guides him through the process. Sometimes just touching the body is enough to bring someone back to it. His arms go up. The shirt goes over his head. Cass touches each foot to guide his legs into the shorts.

His body is dressed, although he is without shoes. Cass fetches skinny little socks from her drawer, because his body is always too cold to her touch and loving people means giving heat and warmth.

Hm. Maybe he should have her jacket too.

Bigger Bat is fending for himself in doing job things. Bigger Bird is doing day work in his very far, very smelly city. Baby Bat already likes lying to Bigger Bat for fun.

All Cass has to do is take Peter into the car with her.

…With Alfred.

Cass is very gentle with Peter. He’s strong and he’s healed and she doesn’t have to be gentle, but Bigger Bat is always gentle with Cass even though he doesn’t have to be too. She takes Peter’s hand to walk him downstairs for fear that he won’t come after her if she doesn’t. They slip through the long halls and heavy doors of Cass’s new nest on socked feet.

Alfred is already at the door when Cass and Peter get there. When Cass puts herself between Alfred and Peter, it’s almost unconscious.

Alfred looks up.

Alfred looks down.

He does not look…surprised.

“I had thought Cass was hiding a cat,” Alfred signs, slowly and precisely, as he always does.

“P-e-t-e-r,” Cass fingerspells instead. She tries not to look sheepish. She is doing a good thing. She doesn’t have to be shy about it.

“Indeed. To the car?” Alfred signs, and speaks, in case Peter doesn’t understand ASL.

Peter doesn’t sign back; but still, he’s pliable. Cass guides him into the car, and he buckles himself in.

They go to dance.

Peter doesn’t dance, but that’s okay; Alfred is clear with his words and tone that say Leave him alone and Be nice at the same time, and all the same ballerinas who had watched Cass be tossed with envy are careful and quiet with him.

The music plays. A dozen feet fall on the same beat, and Cass dances.

Arms. Legs. Bend. Twirl. Dip, and bend. Turn. Angle her head, just so, so that Cass can watch Peter without breaking the line of perfectly organized dancers.

Peter watches, legs crossed, knees up to his chin.

The lessons end, and the ballerinas leave— kindly waving to Cass, to Peter, with shy shoulders and soft-spoken concern. They’re nice. Cass loves dance-partners. They mean as much to her as fight-partners ever could.

The ballerinas leave. The teacher, in her black leotard and taut leggings, leaves.

Cass doesn’t leave. The floors smell like wood and wax. There’s the smell of sweat and emotion in the air. The mirror is the only cool part of the humid, sweaty room. Cass, not Batgirl and yet in a black bodysuit, sits beside Peter.

Peter says nothing.

Cass says nothing.

…Cass holds out a hand.

Peter. Looks at it. He isn’t sure he wants to take it, she can tell— knows what it’s for, but doesn’t have the energy to do anything about the gesture.

“Please,” Cass asks. Animals that do not move are doomed to die.

Her spider sees the expression on her face. His own falters because of it.

His grip is hesitant, but Cass is certain. She hauls him to his feet and puts them in pose: their fingers entwined, his palms to her, her body to his, her cheek to his collarbone.

For a moment, they just breathe, in silent embrace.

And then Cass moves, and Peter moves with her, two minds and one body.

Peter only follows old memories at first; muscle memory works to keep his body upright, to bend and to hold her, to keep Cass steady and sure.

But Cass knows what’s going to happen before it happens; her spider is a creature of movement, just like her.

Slowly, as she spins, as he follows, his eyes soften. His practiced care becomes intentional. Then it becomes artistic, and Peter joins her in the music.

The girl who wears Batgirl’s skin and a spider boy dance in an empty studio, arm in arm, dancing to music she has heard in her dreams. Their footsteps are a whisper of an echo against the plaster walls and glass mirror around them. Cass can see their reflections when she’s angled to— in the sunset angling through the windows, they are little more than the shadows they pretend to be.

She isn’t surprised when Peter lifts her— she knows he knows she likes it— but the relief that Peter feels safe enough to play a little makes her laugh. Openly. Loudly.

Peter’s eyes go wide with awe.

Cass can’t help but adore him for it.

He slowly lets her down. He doesn’t let go of her.

It’s good that he doesn’t. She wants to (and she does) angle Peter’s head down, until she can press a kiss to his curls. She pulls him in close and he comes to her.

Tears find Cass’s shirt. She welcomes them as long as Peter needs to cry them.

“T-they’re,” Peter hiccups, too close to her to sign. “They’re gone. Everyone’s gone. My aunt, my friends, my…my team, my uncle.”

Cass knew some of that. Not the details. Her arms circle around him so she can pull him tighter. “I’m here,” Cass whispers.

There’s a sob against her chest. “What do I do? Where do I go from here? Everyone’s…”

“I’m here,” Cass whispers again, because it’s the truth. “Let me…help. Brothers help. Dad helps.”

“They’re not…” Peter grips her back— careful not to crush her, not like Cass had hurt him days before. “They’re your family. Not mine.”

Cass clicks her tongue. That can easily change. Once upon a time, the Bat hadn’t been her parent either. Now she has two-and-more brothers and parent and a purple friend and an Alfred. “Can share.” And then, because she means it: “Stupid.” She bonks her head down onto his. Peter’s laugh is watery, but it’s bright.

Cass carries Peter to the car this time. He almost smiles.

(Alfred does.)

“I hope you understand that this does require you to be at dinner, young Masters,” Alfred says, signing the gist to Cass as they go. Cass catches most of it, though his white gloves make it hard to tell where Alfred’s fingers are.

Cass sticks out her tongue. Peter splutters, wide-eyed.

(They trade the sight of pink tongues all the ride home.)

(Alfred pretends not to see them, but Cass catches his smile in the mirror at odd glances.) 

#dc x marvel #quiet respite #faer fic #NO Marvel ONLY Spider-man #dcu crossover #mcu #but only mcu in the ways I personally think are cool and interesting #if they are NANOBOTS why can they not change COLOR #spider #? #spider gif #arachnophobia warning

[quirkwizard]

Here’s another dramatic, story shifting “What-If” scenario. What if All Might or Gran Torino had discovered Tenko/Shigaraki while he was wandering the streets? I can’t imagine it would specifically effect AFO’s plans too much, since all he needed was a child with a strong quirk he could nurture a deep hatred within, which shouldn’t be that hard to find before he got reconstructive surgery from All Might.

While normally I dislike talking about such a massive change so far back, as it's difficult to account for so much of the story being altered, I think this is an interesting enough to talk about and would fit better as a character focused what if.

If the two had found him, they'd likely ask questions about Tenko and put two and two together, both about what exactly happened and that he's Nana's grandson. Obviously, All Might and Gran Torino would try to help Tenko, and I certainly don't think they'd send him away somewhere else either. The world and society are a lot safer than they were when she was the user of "One For All" and they don't need to do that unless it was something Tenko wanted. I like to think that incidents like this aren't totally uncommon and that they'd have procedures in place to help deal with them either. In this case, they'd try to make "Decay" less of a problem. First by getting certain equipment to help limit it, like a set of half-fingerless gloves to cover up most of his hand, and then training to help keep it under control. So instead of the early series state of "Decay" being the result of repressed emotions, it's the result of them trying to turn it into a more manageable state. Now, I don't think either Gran Torino or All Might would adopt Tenko or anything. I like to believe that they'd both realize they couldn't really be around for Tenko given their roles, but they would try to be present in his life and support him to get him back on the right path. They would tell him about Nana though to set the record straight on that.

As for Tenko himself, there are a lot of directions I could see this going. I could see a scenario where his hatred resurfaces somehow and he still becomes a villain, but I don't practically care for that. Considering that Tenko wasn't totally lost by the time All For One found him and he still needed to be pushed and traumatized more into becoming Tomura, there would be some wiggle room for him. And if Eri can come back from her own trauma, I'm sure there would be hope for Tenko as well. Regardless, there would still be a lot of mental and emotional problems stemming from this that would need to be worked through. An interesting direction would be the mixing of Tenko's sense of hatred and All Might's ideas of heroism, making a lot of his anger more inward, especially considering the connection between people and their Quirks. Though I prefer to think that because of All Might saving him, showing that heroes don't just abandon people and replacing All For One as a much healthier father figure, I ultimately think he'd turn out for the better. Now, could he be a hero like he always wanted? Maybe given the right support and coaxing, like him not thinking that he's unworthy of becoming a hero, but I'm not going to delve too much into the ideas of Tenko as a hero, as that could easily be its own post.

#My Hero Academia #Not Quirks #Tomura Shigaraki #Toshinori Yagi #All Might #Torino Sorahiko #Gran Torino #MHA Meta #MHA Theory

[monstersdownthepath]

Greetings, I have been a fan for quite some time, and I am ever so curious on how you would portray the Rakshasa Immortals, as I have always been frustrated with how lazy Paizo was with their domains and areas of concern. How would you make them unique? I currently portray Rakshasas using the Three Poisons, with Delusion being their theme, having convinced themselves that the cycle of souls is a sucker’s game, and that repeated, escalating incarnations are the key to “winning” the cosmos.

Oh god I'm with you on that. Such enormous wiggle room for expanding into the concept of "supernatural, animal-themed tyrants," such little done with it. There's almost no lore present for any of them, not even in the Complete Book of the Damned, where they languish in obscurity with the likes of the Sahkil Tormentors, the Oni Daimyo, and especially the Asura Rana. Only one of them got an illustration, which technically puts them ahead of the Rana, but none of the quartet have any particular storyline relevance except as one-off villains.

I find the "all three have the same Domains and Subdomains" concept to be lazy design; certainly, the ritual that imbues them with their wicked power and which binds their spirit to the world would give them similar Domains (likely Animal and Evil, Animal and Law, or all three), having all of them be the same doesn't make sense considering what they then do with their power, and it makes even less sense due to all the different ways they expanded their power and conquered death. Just giving them a cursory glance, Aksha should have the Fire domain, Jyotah would have Knowledge, Prihasta should have War, etc etc etc. There's more I could do, certainly, but that's something I'll have to devote a little more thought juice to than I have available tonight.

I personally would portray them as people who think they've "won." Won what? Life. Existence. Everything. Each of them likely feels like they won something different (Zabha probably thinks he's won at Being Evil). But mostly, they've won life itself! Like you said, the Cycle of Souls is for suckers; eternal existence in the now is where it's at. You idiots want to dissolve into the outer realms? Psh, good luck with that, idiot. I'll be here, enjoying my damn life and doing whatever I damn well please until time ends.

Their lack of lore just means I can fill in the blanks with whatever nonsense I need, though I do want to say I really enjoy the idea of having each of them lean into one, two, or even all three of the Three Poisons. I'll admit that I only have a surface level understanding of the concept (and of Buddhism in general), but the more I read on it, the more I come to truly love it (which makes sense, considering their mythological background)! The Three Poisons--Greed, Hate, and Delusion--are supposedly the root of suffering which keeps a soul trapped in the cycle of eternal rebirth, and, well... sounds a lot like the Rakshasa in general. So twisted by their desires that they become literally twisted.

#asks #anonymous

[muffinrecord]

Goodbye Storage was pretty good and I have some thoughts after finishing it-

First off, it's another example of how Magia Record will choose the most convoluted explanation whenever possible instead of doing something far more simple and understandable and SOMEHOW making it work. Additionally, it'll have like... a lot of exposition that you just can't look at too hard.

Like Mikoto starts off the first ten minutes with a billion revelations on how her new parasite-powers/witchdom stuff works. How the fuck does she know any of that. How did she piece that together while she's in a dark void. How.

But you know what? Once you get past those three minutes, it's all good. Hanna and Mikoto have such a good god damn dynamic, wow. There are moments with surprising heart and clarity. Moments that make you think, "someone writing this really went through something." Hanna and Mikoto feel like real people-- they go back and forth on things. Sometimes Mikoto will feel one way and then completely backtrack and feel another, and it's not in a character-breaking way, but it feels more like someone who is standing on unsteady ground, who thinks one way and feels another.

Hanna does the anime trope thing of "I will be a villain to prove that heroism is right" which tbh I kind of hate because who the fuck does that irl. No one.

But it's okay, because honestly-- Hanna is not in a good state of mind here at all. Girl is clearly going through it. She had a horrible start to her life, still going through the horrors, she made her first friend then that friend BECAME A WITCH RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER IN A HORRID PAINFUL MANNER. THEN THAT FRIEND BECOMES A GHOST??? LIVING IN HANNA'S BRAIN??? LIKE. BRUH.

It doesn't surprise me that she's made her plan all convoluted. She's clearly not mentally well at the moment. I don't mean that in a diagnosis kind of way, but like the girl is traumatized and not thinking straight.

There's also all sorts of ways that you can dig into the event. It's straightforward on some stuff so you have a place to latch on to but it's ambiguous enough on other things so that you have enough wiggle room to have interesting interpretations and variances. Like;

Is Mikoto's presence making Hanna do things that she wouldn't normally want to do? Hanna wants heroism to win out. She wants to lose. Is that because, deep down, she's doing something she doesn't want to do?

I mean, Hanna has never been the nicest person either. It's possible she would have done this anyways-- but it's also possible that Mikoto's presence made Hanna even more extreme than she was before, or pushed her more than she ever would have gone.

There's just a lot of good stuff in it.

If you haven't watched it, I highly recommend it. It does have weak writing moments sometimes but it also has really really strong ones. I think it's def up there as one of my favorites now.

It's kind of a shame that both of them are dead, cause I really digged their dynamic. It felt very... earnest. Sometimes they yell at each other, sometimes they disagree and misread one another. They both want to make the other one happy, but they go about it in selfish ways that the other one doesn't want. But that's not a bad thing. It feels like it's because they're young. Like they need to make mistakes to learn how to love the way they want to be loved and to love another.

But that's the whole problem, isn't it? Mikoto is dead. Hanna will be dead soon too. They're not going to have a future where those mistakes build a foundation for them. This is it for them.

IDK. It's good bro.

#Magia Record #Goodbye Storage #Mikoto Sena #Hanna Sarasa

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

OKAY OKAY, I've been reading your Ch4 text posts, and I was gonna just comment, but it got so long, and I was ITCHING to interact so-

Honestly, I think the big reason Ch4 is underappreciated is because of just how divisive Ch4 is as a WHOLE.

Ch5 and Ch6 in a lot of ways are a lot more straight forward!! Especially in characterization. It could (and frequently is) argued what Kaito and Kokichi's motivations are in Ch5, and how they are meant to be interpreted- but it's super open-ended and people can really easily view it the way THEY want to. Kaito and Kokichi can so easily fall into what the viewer WANTS them to be.

Ch4, on the other hand, fundamentally challenges how the characters view each other and, more importantly, how the AUDIENCE sees the characters. For example if you have hated Kokichi since the start, its easy to write him off in ch5 and say he deserved it, but in ch4 you have to confront the fact that Miu was planning to take him out, and that he was SCARED. I've seen people argue the fact that Kokichi SHOULDN'T have been scared as a way to justify how they feel about him and Ch4.

And of course the major Ch4 elephant in the room: A lot of people have to grapple with (or chose to ignore) the real tragedy Gonta faced, because it would mean fully embracing how complicated he is as a character. A lot of people wanted a straightforward: perfect wholesome character was manipulated by an evil villain to kill and faced the consequences, but that's just not what happened. Gonta is a genuinely kind soul and was placed between a rock and a hard place, and whether or not Kokichi had TOLD him... would have been deeply affected by losing another friend, one he thought HE was close with. He lost his memory, not because he was stupid, but because he didn't have the same DOMINANT HAND as everyone else and got his wires mixed up. There's so much to be said about Gonta in chapter 4 but all of it involves a mental confrontation with the fact that he's a human being with free will, who can make both informed decisions and mistakes.

I keep using the word "confront," because that really is what chapter 4 is. Confrontational. Kaito embodies someone who can't handle that confrontation, Shuichi has to cope with the truth and confronting others WITH that truth (including a perpetrator that forgot what he did-), Kokichi has to confront the horrors of the outside world alongside the fact that someone he trusted and worked alongside is planning to kill him, he has to confront the fact that Gonta lost his memory and the fact everyone thinks that Kokichi is just trying to frame his friend, and Gonta has to confront so much of that alongside Kokichi as well as what he, himself did. Something he IS willing to take responsibility for because he recognizes his OWN agency.

(Repeating my thesis like this is a report -) Chapter 4 is incredibly hard to swallow and harder to digest, and because of that gets overshadowed by the following chapters that have a lot more ambiguity and room to pack in as much interpretation as the audience can imagine. There's no fun in wondering how Miu's last moments played out, unlike wondering what REALLY happened in the hangar. Interpretations can be played around with a LOT when it comes to pregame characters, but it's a lot less fun to place blame in a situation full of people who were only trying to defend themselves. To fully appreciate Chapter 4 you have to be open minded to the fact that characters can do "bad" things and it doesn't make them bad people, and that situations can be deeply and blatantly unfair to those you love and those you hate alike.

It's a really complicated chapter, I see you in being obsessed with it, thank you for coming to my Ted talk lol.

(I didnt even know you could send asks this long holy hell!!)

I can see that ch5 and ch6 have a long more areas of wiggle room and ambiguity to play around in. It's no surprise hangar fics are so common. I guess that makes a good deal of sense- the interest in ch4 is less in "What happened that we didnt see" and more the implications of what concretely happened on the characters and their motivations/inner thoughts for doing what they did.

An image I have in my head extremely vividly of trial 4 is Kaito, Shuichi, and Kokichi arguing with eachother (metaphorically with truth bullets- Ideals vs Truth vs Lies (Ive been struggling to think of an art composition along this theme since I finished the damn chapter a year ago ghdsjkf)) with Gonta in the centre in the crossfire. It is a BRUTAL chapter for all of these characters. But within that there is so much to dig into. What was going through Kaito's head as it became increasingly clear Gonta could not be innocent? How did Shuichi deal with his number one support lashing out and rejecting him like he did? What the genuine fuck was going through Kokichi's head?

I'm going to be fully honest here (so I apologize if this is a bit blunt or anything I am trying my best), but I REALLY struggle to grapple with Kokichi's role in ch4 wrt gonta in any type of sympathetic light. With Miu and Kokichi I see the complexity in its entirety. It's heartbreaking to think that those two were friends and Miu chose to target him in her desperation, and Kokichi had to deal with the fact that she was trying to kill him AND with whatever he saw from the truth of the outside world. But when it comes to Gonta.. I almost feel like I can't talk about it objectively. Even just thinking about the trial from that perspective makes my stomach turn in knots. But there is an amount of fun in that yknow?? I cannot tell you how many hours I've spent trying to unravel all that, especially before I played ch5 5 months after I finished trial 4.

The fun and the interest in trial 4 is that its so complex. There's no one complete villain and there's no one true hero, despite what a superficial look at the chapter might tell you (especially pre ch5). Putting these characters in situations where they're so outside of what their standard role in v3 had been so far is so entertaining to me.

Miu asking Kokichi not to struggle as she betrays him (what caused her desperation to get to this point?). Kokichi pushing past being just mischievous and perhaps insensitive to being downright cruel (and what caused the change in his behaviour). Kaito's righteous anger and rejection of Shuichi, his desperation to defend Gonta. (fun fact- they used a sprite for Kaito here that is only used twice in the game AFAIR, once when Gonta is proved without a shadow of a doubt to be guilty, again when he saw the truth of the outside world. It's one of my favourite Kaito sprites). Shuichi having to push through the trial with his only support being Kokichi (which he does not necessarily want) and Kiibo with everyone else against him. The subversion of what Gonta had been saying about himself, and what his classmates had been implying about him the entire time, that he is not stupid, and they've all been brushing him aside because of their own preconceptions, hurting him in the process. It drives me insane. It's so good.

You're so so right, and thank you for this ask. This is the kind of analysis of ch4 that I ADORE.

#pluto answers #I hope I was coherent I think I mightve just been gushing for a bit

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

makenzie!! batman adaptation discussion for you: it could be argued that there are small elements of camp in batman begins (jonathan crane & falcone embodying them specifically, but also zsasz a little bit lmao), that are nearly obliterated in the two sequels... like nolan was toying with the idea of letting loose, mayhaps. it's really interesting to me, especially because batman begins is arguably the most boring film of the three. would love to know if you have thoughts on this

(my thoughts are getting away from me but also like how does this compare to the kind of camp in batman 2022?? neither are very similar to the 80s/90s films)

hi Elizabeth!!! I was waiting to answer this because I thought my Batman movie club was going to knock out all three Nolan movies pretty quick and I could give a more informed answer, but alas - we've hit a hiatus after Batman Begins, so that's all I'm going to have to work with and it's going to have to suffice because I don't want to leave this sitting in the inbox any longer.

I think for the most part Nolan's Batman movies are too wildly self conscious to qualify for true camp status, but without having revisited the Dark Knight and Rises yet I think I can agree that Begins has the most flirtation with maybe getting a little silly? I think Zsasz is too minor to make much of a dent in the all-consuming self-seriousness, but Cillian Murphy is really breathlessly committed to the Scarecrow and playing him as a straight-up comic book villain in a way that doesn't get to happen much later in the series. he tells Batman to lighten up while he sets him on fire, which rules and would, I think, probably not be allowed in the later movies. he ends the movie wearing a straightjacket riding a stolen police horse and gets immediately taken out by a lawyer with a taser! he's giving us everything he has to give! he has like four minutes of screen time and all of them are perfect.

I do think it's very interesting that throughout all three movies, Nolan is picking out antagonists who are known for being like. BOMBASTICALLY weird and over the top - Scarecrow! Two-Face! Catwoman! Bane! the fucking Joker!!! an entire secret society of assassins, COME ON - and then kind of fighting against the very nature of these characters to make them fit into the world he's envisioned, with mixed results; Harvey and Selina and Bane in particular all fall pretty flat for me. like, fuck, where's Lady Shiva's movie? not that she's not also on some freak shit, but a vicious martial artist obsessed with proving herself against the best fighters in the world seems way easier to fit into a grounded Bat universe in a way that doesn't feel anticlimactic than, say, a bad CGI Two-Face who almost immediately gets murdered. there were options!

anyway I've gotten way off topic, but I agree that Begins had the most wiggle room to set the tone for the universe by virtue of being the first and it did Try Some Things, especially with the presentation and pomp of the League of Shadows, as well as some of Bruce's Brucier moments when he's playing up his rich dolt image, but ultimately a lot of it got rejected in the latter installations in favor of getting ever grimmer.

comparing it to the 2022 movie is REALLY INTERESTING because they're both very dark and gritty, tonally, and I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out why one of them mostly works for me and the other one mostly doesn't (although I'll preface this by saying that they both have high and low points, especially: re their casting; Murphy's Scarecrow is inspired in a mostly bland movie and Paul Dano's Riddler is miserable in a mostly excellent movie, etc).

for me personally a lot of it comes down to how much trust the respective directors seem to be willing to put in their audiences to buy in and accept Batman as a story for what it is; this is largely what I mean when I say Nolan seems insecure in his story. Batman Begins, in particular, has much of its first hour bogged down by explanations of where every individual piece of Bat costuming and tech comes from, almost like Nolan feels a need to look at the audience and prove that it totally makes sense and could work; it comes across like he was specifically anticipating and writing for people who would call Batman's gadgetry unrealistic plot holes, and preemptively apologizing for what Batman is. the whole trilogy comes across as similarly cringing, like it can't quite shake being embarrassed by where it comes from.

The Batman 2022, to me, is sort of tonally similar, in that it's very grounded in the crime and corruption and grimiest parts of Gotham, but it reminds me much more of stories like the Long Halloween the way it's taking place in a sweaty haze version of the city that feels like a fever dream. everything is so heightened where Nolan's movies are so grounded as to be miserably earthbound; from the opening narration Bruce is already a prowling, larger than life shadow who calls himself a creature of the night and sulks around his miserable gothic mansion in running eye makeup while flinching from the sunlight. Reeves doesn't waste a fucking second explaining what Batman is or why Batman is because you are a 21st century moviegoer, you know what and why Batman is and we have shit to do. he already knows Gordon, the Joker is already in prison, the Batmobile is a muscle car that looks goddamn possessed and no, you don't need to worry about where it came from.

the whole movie is wrapped is this fucking. vaguely horny neon ambiance where you mostly know the rules but also have this sense that anything weird could happen at any moment; it's a space that is operating without powers or anything too outlandish for now but very much feels like it has room for a Poison Ivy or a Scarecrow twisting your mind, for a Clayface making you paranoid as you don't know who to trust. it's a gorgeous world to play in and I think it's going to lend itself much more to adapting the world, much more so than the Nolan movies where the addition of each new iconic character just came with the question of how much would be stripped away and flattened to make them fit in. camp requires that kind of playful artifice, things masquerading as other things, to work, and I think Batman 2022 really nailed that.

#thee batman #batman 2022 #nolanverse

[romancomicsnews]

Movie Redo: My take on the MCU's Illuminati

While I was a fan of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, one aspect of the film I was the least impressed with was the execution of the Illuminati, a Marvel "Team" from the comics full of some of the leaders of the Marvel universe.

The Team works behind the scenes for bigger picture problems effecting the superhuman world. As the leaders of the Fantastic Four, The Inhumans, The Avengers, The X-Men, Atlantis, and The Sorceror Supreme, they often make decisions, with the best of attentions, from places of privilege, and often make the wrong call.

While the team in the MCU does appear to lie to the public about Doctor Strange's death, and appear to control an Ultron Army, they do not appear to be as morally grey as the team we see in the comics. They're basically that universe's Avengers, which is a disservice to the team.

I'd like to pitch some small changes to the people who were chosen to be a part of the Illuminati and some choices in the film that were made to better represent the team and make the movie more interesting.

Motivation

The Illuminati in the film capture Strange in order to stop him from causing another incursion and are trying to figure out what to do with him and America Chavez. While they are hinderances, they are not exactly villains or heroes in the film. While they should not be on Wandas side, they absolutely need to be villains.

A small and simple change should be they are using Strange as bait, and are trying to extract Americas powers themselves in order to kill Wanda and Multiversal threats in the future. They see their "utopia" as the right way of living, and hope to expand their peace across dimensions.

This bold and insane goal is exactly the type of arrogant, terrible and small minded plan the Illuminati should be doing.

Who do we keep?

While I love all of these actors, for the betterment of this story, we need to change up some things.

I believe because the role they play in comics, the Illuminati are the only team I can think of that needs to be all White and all Men. All of them come from places of privilege, all of them are in positions of power, and are short sighted due to their lack of different experiences.

Immediately, Captain Marvel, Captain Carter, and Baron Mordo are gone. I also think Krasinski adds nothing, and so I'd like him gone too.

Patrick Stewart as Professor X is a good inclusion and should stay as is, though he needs to be more villainous.

Black Bolt is by far my favorite inclusion of the crew, every detail down to his death. Needs to stay. Shoutout to everyone like me who saw Inhumans in IMAX.

Whole roles need to be filled?

As we have the leader of the X-Men and Inhumans, we should run through the other types of members of the team in order to narrow down picks and actors. We'll need a leader of a space team, a sorcerer, a king, and a leader of the Avengers.

While this does narrow down the team members, we have wiggle room with the multiverse and MCU actors. While I didn't love this team, clearly whoever chose it had some fun creative ideas. I want to emulate that.

We also need to think of visually different people for Wanda to fight and destroy. They need to be powerful enough to make it a fight but in the end overpowered and killed due to their own arrogance.

Leader of the Avengers - James Barnes AKA Captain America

While I don't love Krasinski as Mr. Fantastic, one thing I did love about it was it gave a lot of fans what they've been asking for.

While I love Sam Wilson as Captain America and he is the right choice for it, a lot of fans, including myself, did also want Bucky to take on the mantle. While we won't see that happen anytime soon, I think giving Sebastian Stan his version of the costume in this movie would've made a lot of fans really happy.

Bucky will lead a much more brutal Avengers, which is more of a military force. I'm imagining in this universe darker versions of hand to hand combat fighters like Daredevil, Moon Knight, and Shang-Chi.

Making him a darker version of Cap would also cement why Sam was the right choice for the role. Plus, who doesn't love more Sebastian Stan?

King of Latveria - Victor Von Doom AKA Doctor Doom

Taking up the place of Namor and sort of Reed, we are bringing back Julian McMahon as Victor Von Doom.

Doom will be the tech specialist of the team and the funder of the team. Instead of Ultron bots, headquarters will be manned and Defended by Doom bots. This will be an underpowered version of the character who still uses electricity and technology.

I think this will be a fun easter egg for older fans, and give a good actor a second chance at an excellent character. If Toby Kebbell is preferred, that's cool too. But I think people prefer the classics.

Leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy: Peter Quill AKA Star-Lord The Living Planet

Who better to face Wanda than another being that control reality?

Serving as the Illuminati's Doctor Manhattan would be Star-Lord, now a full celestial.

After Rocket Raccoon found a way to drain Ego of his power, Star-Lord became a living god. After using that power to defeat villains like Thanos, Hela, Gorr, and other cosmic threats, Star-Lord brought piece to his galaxy, and kept his operatives in key points in the Galaxy to ensure peace.

Star-Lord will be much less human than he has ever been portrayed, isolated in his cosmic abilities.

Much like Captain Marvel was, Star-Lord will be the last one standing, obviously the biggest threat to Wanda. In the end, she will destroy his planet, turning Peter into dust.

Sorcerer Supreme - Quentin Beck AKA Mysterio

The inclusion of Mordo was fun, but it did not think big enough.

Having a villain of the MCU be the new Sorcerer Supreme, it should be someone we do not expect, and neither does Strange.

In this universe, after being fired from the Baxter Foundation for their failed illusion technology, Quentin Beck traveled to Kamar-Taj and became the Sorcerer Supreme, basically having the same story Strange had.

Having a trickster like Beck now actually have magic would make him a dangerous enemy for both Strange and Wanda. I hope for a magic fight between the two that ends with Strange tricking Beck somehow, perhaps with a move he tried to pull on Peter Parker.

And that is the team.

Professor X, Black Bolt, Captain America, Doctor Doom, Star-Lord, and Mysterio feel like the right mix of abilities, chaos, MCU lore and comic lore that would get fans excited. This is the type of team I want Wanda to absolutely slaughter.

If only Marvel called me a couple of years ago.

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#mcu #marvel #marvel studios #doctor strange #doctor strange in the multiverse of madness #wanda maximoff #scarlet witch #wong #marvel illuminati #illuminati #marvel comics #fantastic four #john krasinski #mr fantastic #baron mordo #captain marvel #captain carter #agent carter #peggy carter #professor x #charles xavier #patrick stewart #black bolt #anson mount #captain america #bucky barnes #winter soldier #sebastian stan #doctor doom #victor von doom

[lesbianwriter]

Part one

I’m definitely projecting on Villain a little (a lot) bit here

Villain wiggled as much as she could.

Her idea of romance wasn’t being tied to a chair. It wasn’t being sealed into an interrogation room with a few red candles and a bouquet of roses in the center. Whatever Hero had planned, Villain already knew she hated it.

She didn’t even know what romance was to her. Of course, she had an idea of what it was for other people, the type of things that made other people’s hearts flutter and dates that lovers enjoyed together, but none of that ever resonated with Villain. It was detached. Sure, she wanted it. She was jealous of people who had it. But it didn’t feel like it was anything attainable.

Once, when she was younger, she had a massive crush. Friend was everything to Villain. She was the sun and the moon and the entire night sky. Suffice to say, Villain had fallen head over heels for her, despite her being entirely out of her reach. The dilemma? Her friend was a straight girl and Villain was a lesbian; a lesbian that buried it deep inside her heart as if it were a shameful secret, retreating into a shell to keep herself safe. To keep herself from ridicule, from taunts. Still, despite her armored shell, it hit Villain like a stone to the gut when she was forced to open her eyes and realize that she was a lesbian no matter how many times she lied about it. Her feelings for her friend were still there even if she pretended they weren’t. 

It was an impossible situation. 

Villain lost no matter how the cards were played.

To keep safe, she didn’t tell anybody about her crush. Especially not Friend. And when she allowed herself to lose feelings for her friend, she didn’t have a crush on another person again. She wasn’t close enough to have that type of feeling for another person again, and she avoided being too friendly with others whenever it was possible.

Her attention was snapped back to reality by the door squealing open then shutting again. A person stumbled into the room, looking back at the door with a disgruntled grimace.

“Hi, I’m Thief.” The person said, holding their wrists in front of them awkwardly, bound by handcuffs. “So…you’re Villain?”

Suspiciously, Villain nodded, her lips sealed.

“Aha. Cool.” Thief looked around the room. He leaned against the door, glancing over Villain. “Look, I’m gay. I don’t think this is going to work.”

“Right back at ya.” Villain muttered, yanking herself backwards, her back pressing hard against the chair until there were indents in her back. The ropes were attached to a hook on the floor that showed no intent on loosening. It didn’t even rattle. She pushed her leg against the table and pulled herself backwards, grunting as the rope rubbed coarsely on her wrists.

“Hero isn’t that good at this, huh?” Thief blew a lock of hair of his face. “By the way, I was stealing from you before Hero handcuffed me and asked me if I’d do this—I only agreed because I want to prolong the amount of time I have before I go to jail. I’m not made for a place like that.”

“Are you going to keep talking?” Villain narrowed her eyes at the floor. He was annoying. She didn’t care to hear him talk, she didn’t want to be in this stupid matchmaking plot of Hero’s.

“That’s mean.” Thief rolled his eyes. “I can see why Hero has to arrest people to get you on a date.”

“I don’t care about a date. I’m not that desperate.” She scoffed. Okay, she was miserable when it came to her love life, she knew it, but she hadn’t stooped to his level. Especially since neither of them were attracted to the other.

“You’re getting more chatty.” Thief flashed a shit-eating grin.

Huffing, Villain gave up thrashing in her binds and instead looked Thief in the eyes as calmly as she could. “When I get out of this, I don’t care where you are or what you’re doing, but I will cut out your tongue and slap you with it if you don’t stop talking to me. How about that for mean?”

“How do you stay so calm when making threats like that? I mean, it must take practice. Do you stare at yourself in the mirror and practice you’re delivery—oh, wait! You look absolutely murderous now. There it is!” Thief laughed, tipping his head back against the door. 

He didn’t get to laugh much longer.

A blast cut off the rest of his laughter, and he sailed in the air and into the back wall, the blood splatter hardly missing Villain. He groaned, sliding down to his knees.

Whipping her head back around, Villain stared at the gaping hole in the wall, and the person standing in the center of the rubble, a figure of a goddess in the center of smoking ruins.

“Friend?!”

“I go by Vigilante now.” She smiled. “I heard you need a date?”

#friends to lovers #my writing #vigilante x villain #heroes and villains #hero x villain #wlw #hero x villain community #thief was never heard from again #rest in peace buddy #lesbian pride

[infini-tree]

ok thinking about every post/video/theory that goes along the lines of, “oogway was the True Villain all along”. and if you’ve been here long enough you know how much i... disagree, to put it mildly.

that isn’t to say that oogway hasn’t done some questionable things or has no “negative” character traits, but between his minor role in the story, the implications of his backstory being minimal in the final product and any further elaboration is in the concept art books, and biases, its often conflated into its worst case. 

consider this a counter-argument turned me gushing about my favorite scenes in a kfp short and casual oogway character essay (but we’re not there yet, ssh).

speaking of, what is oogway’s negative trait? its also his greatest boon: his knowledge and wisdom! it comes through in different ways, but it usually amounts to his worldliness and how he can see the big picture. it helps guide himself and others to a greater goal-- which more or less amounts to keeping the peace. 

(when i say negative, its in the context of the scene/characters interpreting it. traits are inherently neutral unless put up against a situation that would hurt/help-- being bullheaded to refuse help and the determination to save the day still comes from the same root of stubbornness.

as an aside, one could say how that could derive from his previous experience as a former warlord but that’s not what this is talking about)

the negative aspects are more in regards to the chain reaction. seeing the big picture leads to hurting the individuals involved whether he means to or not. people like to talk about oogway’s treatment of tai lung or kai, but a lot of it is more in the subtext or concept art books-- while useful, it leaves a lot of wiggle room.

so let’s pivot and talk about secrets of the masters. 

maybe people will brush this off on account of it not being Main Canon Material (ie. the movies), but considering that it was often bundled with kfp2′s dvd releases its meant to be supplementary material and additional context to the main canon. plus, it showcases oogway as an actual character and being “manipulative” on-screen in a way the tai lung and kai examples don’t have, which you think would make this prime evidence.

in the short, the entire reason why the past Master’s Council comes together is because (spoilers) oogway lies to them! when he tries to mobilize them to join him, he tries to appeal to them by mentioning the abstract good that can be done by accomplishing the mission to go to the hubei volcano and defeating the wu sisters-- he talks about using their kung fu for a noble purpose and helping the innocent.

this does not impress the past Master’s Council, who are much more pragmatic and are looking out for a material reward. and this is his reaction.

CROC: I can’t help but feel that something is still missing.

OOGWAY: [sighs] Because upon completing the mission, you’ll discover a path to a wealth of riches.

oogway pivots quick from listing off virtues to something they would want to hear once  he realizes his usual speech won’t rouse them to his side. far from his usual peaceful, unshakeable self from a few moments ago-- let alone the movies-- he's exasperated and a little thrown off that the trio wouldn’t do it without the promise of a theoretical reward.

and that exasperation continues throughout the short. it’s interesting that while the plot hinges on oogway basically manipulating them, he is at his most blunt, where he expresses frustration and an awareness to his own role (which arguably can be construed as either genre savviness for laughs, complete confidence/arrogance, or an attempt to impart the wisdom that they’re stronger together, depending on how you want to read the scene).

OOGWAY: It’s so nice you’ve managed to take the most respected art form in China and use it to pursue nothing but fame.

T. RHINO: How does this help us get across?

OOGWAY: [chuckles] It doesn’t! It helps me... and by helping me, you help yourself.

but the lie does eventually catch up with oogway, to disastrous consequences. whatever goodwill was built up in the journey to defeat the wu sisters immediately crumbles-- both literally and metaphorically as the ground crumbles under the trio and into a lava river headed straight over a cliff... only for oogway to save them and be deemed dead on the spot as he plummets in their place.

OOGWAY: Well, I never said money.

CROC: You did!

OOGWAY: I said riches, as in emotional riches.

[...]

T. RHINO: Wait a sec-- no money? That’s the only reason why we followed you.

while in the end, they get the character growth needed to fight the wu sisters and become the master’s council, it didn’t come without a cost-- the trio were manipulated for most of the journey, through unforgiving terrain far from home, nearly died, and just saw someone they trusted basically die in front of them. they don’t have the hindsight that oogway isn’t going to die like the audience. and that was before they even had to fight the wu sisters! 

it’s messed up if you put it plainly. however, one could argue that oogway was performing his role as a mentor figure to them. while he may have known the “end result” leading them to being the council by whatever means established in canon, in the end he had to put his faith on them that they’ll do the right thing without him being there-- which is a lot to ask.

another argument one can posit is that since oogway is trying to do this for good or that it lead to notable good results, that this action wasn’t manipulative and was teaching them a lesson so it doesn’t count. its both! it is complicated! 

how is him trying to do the best under the circumstances shown in masters different from him not giving tai lung the dragon scroll? how is it not different from him going up against kai and having to “send him to the Spirit Realm” and later hide his past legacy? he tried to look at the big picture to do what’s best, but in these situations his attempts backfired horribly. 

anyway tl;dr: oogway’s doing his best, yes the fact that he looks so big picture that he ends up hurting others is his greatest weakness but also why he’s managed to protect others, inspire to protect others, and why kung fu continues to be a thing

#mells thinking out loud on her blog again #uhhhhh i hope this makes sense i wrote this to try and not think abt the thing making me anxious so forgive me for any inaccuracies #this is also an excuse for me to drop my favorite Oogway Line Ever #ch: you're the one to change your story

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

ace ruggie azul jamil for the character bingo! if four is too much, just ace ruggie and azul is fine!

Character Opinion Bingo for Azul here!

Character Opinion Bingo for Ruggie here!

***Standard disclaimer: These are just my personal opinions of the character(s); regardless of what I may think of them, sharing my thoughts is NOT meant to offend or to shame anyone that thinks differently.***

HEY IT’S J WORD

... Oh, wrong J word 😔 IT’S OKAY, I LIKE JAMIL TOO

I’m going to be real with you, I’ve got a thing for butler/bodyguard characters, and since Jamil is presented as Kalim’s caretaker (kind of like a butler) AND Jamil is professionally trained as a bodyguard (confirmed in episode 6), he checks off a lot of boxes for me. I actually feel kind of guilty for liking Jamil because of those attributes though, since he has stated that he dislikes his position in life 💦 I do like other aspects of Jamil, though! It’s just the butler/bodyguard vibes that initially drew me to him, along with his appearance. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a character with a hairstyle as intricate as Jamil’s??????? But it’s really pleasing to look at (and probably really pleasing to listen to, like just imagine all the little hair ornaments clinking or jingling as he walks)! His eyes are also interesting; they look kind of blank at first glance, but upon further inspection I kind of understand what Leona meant when he said Jamil has eyes that “always glare”.

I think the best thing about Jamil is how... understated he is? He has a resting bitch face, and he acts so unassuming, but when he’s given a chance to speak from the heart, he can be petty and passive aggressive 🤣 which I think is a real treat! As I mentioned in my character opinion bingo for Vil, I love characters who operate under the radar or scheme in the shadows, and Jamil definitely does so it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that I like him. Jamil also gives off those intense “tired mom”, “disappointed but not surprised”, and “I’m so done with this shit” energy, which I find extremely relatable. I feel bad for him when I see him suffering (because I know I would also be exasperated if I were in his shoes), but at the same time I have a sadistic part of me that wants to giggle, thankful that I’m not him right now. If I stop pointing and laughing at Jamil for a second, I’m happy that he finally has a little more wiggle room to act freely; the poor man’s been through a lot and he REALLY deserves a vacation and some freedom.

I think Jamil plays off of other characters so well, particularly when he’s being petty with them or is fed up with playing babysitter. One of my favorite character dynamics is Jamil and Azul; Azul’s eagerness to befriend and/or recruit Jamil to his dorm and Jamil vehemently resisting and firing back… I find it funny in a dry kind of way.

Weirdly enough, I don’t enjoy Jamil as much when he goes unhinged because he makes uncomfortable and unflattering facial expressions when he does ashdbaosydasdsd ALSO, LIKE. I don’t know if this is just me, but Jamil’s brand of “evil” feels like he’s trying too hard????? So it ends up coming across to me as more pathetic than how Jamil wants it to be perceived... especially when he laughs like that and has extended monologues about how great he is and how he has finally succeeded with his plans. It feels like I’m watching a Saturday morning cartoon where the villain is making their speech about how it’s too late to stop them RIGHT BEFORE THE HEROES CRASH IN AND STOP THEM. I’m also not a fan of his Overblot design, especially the weird hair-snake turban and the ink goatee thing??????????? THAT’S SO UGLY AND JAMIL DESERVED BETTER 😭

I think Jamil gets it kind of bad when it comes to fandom takes. I don’t believe I’ve seen anything that outright paints him as a “bad” person completely in the wrong after the events of episode 4, but I get the distinct impression that people oversimplify Jamil’s issues. “Oh, Kalim can just set him free when he succeeds the Asim family”/”Kalim can talk to his dad about it”, as if it’s just as easy to do as Aladdin wishing the Genie free. Kalim himself acts like it’s something can be easily done. It’s not, and to believe that it is as Kalim does demonstrates a sense of naivety. The fact of the matter is that this is something that extends far beyond what Kalim or Jamil can do individually to resolve it; it’s not a problem between just them, but between them and the systems that their families have become so accustomed to. You cannot just shatter or overturn a generations-long relationship just like that, which is exactly why Jamil is forced into a position where he HAS to continue serving under Kalim post-episode 4. Believing that it’s so simple undermines Jamil’s struggles and paints him as someone who was overreacting to a problem that could “easily” be resolved. I think a large part of this ideation comes from EN’s intentional censorship of how dire Jamil’s situation is 💦 which is a shame, as that really undercuts his motivations and how desperate he is… (EN makes Jamil and Kalim “employee” and “employer” not “servant” and “master”. Additionally, EN removes Jamil’s lines about his whole family will be thrown out on the streets if he defies the Asims.)

Another common take I see about Jamil is that he apparently hates Kalim and Kalim specifically (especially seeing as Jamil goes off on a rant post-OB about how much he despises Kalim’s smile and having to serve him). I believe it’s true to some extent, but that it’s also not the entirety of the picture. Why does Jamil hate Kalim? Because he’s forced to work for him? No, what Jamil truly hates is what Kalim stands for, the people who happen to be born in higher social statuses and are ignorant to the struggles of the people below them. He just happens to project his anger at Kalim in particular because he’s an easy target and someone he’s always with. “As long as [Kalim] exists, I will never be free,” Jamil says. Why? If Kalim dies, won’t Jamil just be relegated to serving the rest of the VERY extensive Asim family? Therefore, literally being rid of Kalim and Kalim alone would do nothing to alleviate Jamil’s distress. This leads me to believe “Kalim” in that line is metaphorical and refers to the establishments that Jamil hates, the thing that Kalim represents, rather than Kalim himself.

In episode 6, Jamil demonstrates holding similar vitriol for other people, such as Leona, and expresses disdain toward others and feels as though he cannot trust anyone at all to be competent. He directs a lot of hate to the people around him, but often just keeps it to himself to maintain a veneer of politeness... and I don’t think that’s healthy for him 😔 Good on Leona for talking some sense into him-- Jamil could literally be so powerful if he wasn’t busy blaming others for his own complicated emotions and being held back by his own ego.

I’ve already mentioned that I relate to Jamil a lot in terms of his energy, but even more than just that, I relate to Jamil in terms of his struggle against a society that doesn’t understand or find value in his desire to be free. I’m not going to go into too much detail about my own issue, but I know what Jamil is feeling and how difficult those feelings can be. I know what it’s like to feel helpless and like nothing can be done to help myself when it seems like the whole world and all of its systems were designed to work against you... but I also have way too much pride and too little trust in others to speak openly about it. Maybe I’m thinking way too hard about this or maybe I’m just projecting way too strongly, but Jamil is so much like me that it hurts 😭 I want to break free too, Jamil... I get you, my dude. LET’S BE FRIENDS--

I’m very split on Ace. On one hand, I don’t tend to like immature characters (which, let’s be honest, Ace is), but on the other hand, he has a kind of charm to his brattiness. His bright personality touched with mischief is refreshing, and I particularly adore the voice impressions he does of other characters (they’re really cute!)~ ... But at the same time, I really cannot stand it when Ace talks for too long, because he inevitably ends up doing or saying something to make me regret ever thinking he was cute to begin with (like when he dodges responsibility or blames other people for his fuck-ups). I also do not care for his selfish side or when he speaks without a filter; he needs to watch what he says a little better, because it constantly nets him trouble and makes me facepalm.

I guess I would liken Ace to a little brother? Like, he constantly gets on my nerves, but I end up forgiving him sooner or later because he’ll do something cute or say something snarky that temporarily redeems him right before he does something stupid or terrible again to make my opinion of him do another 180. I just kind of want to squish him into a little pouch and carry him around on my back so I can keep my eye on him at all times and make sure he’s not causing more trouble for himself or for others 😔

OKAY, NOTHING AGAINST HOW ACE LOOKS BUT HE HAS SOME OF THE MOST “GENERIC ANIME PROTAG” HAIR I’VE EVER SEEN with maybe only Deuce being the character that one-ups him in terms of “generic anime protag” hair-ness. It works well with Ace’s cheery (yet sassy) personality, but every time I see him I can’t help but think “Wow, you look like such a protag.” The funniest part about that is Ace acts NOTHING like a stereotypical bland nice guy protag, he’s such a fucking asshole 😂 which, again, I’m very conflicted on because sometimes his asshole-ry or brutal honesty is funny or warranted (like when he calls Riddle out), but other times it’s straight up just mean for no good reason (particularly when he bullies Deuce). 

The ONE thing I will firmly defend about Ace is that he is a lot more clever than people usually think he is. The fandom frequently refers to Ace and Deuce together as “the single brain cell duo” (sometimes trio, if Grim is included in the count), implying that they’re all pretty dumb. It’s definitely true that Ace is lacking in terms of his grades, but that’s moreso because he is too lazy to put effort into studying, not because he is inherently “stupid”. Ace is the REVERSE of Deuce, because Deuce is the one that actually puts forth an honest effort to be an honors student but lacks inherent classroom smarts, whereas Ace is the one that CAN be smart if he applies himself in lessons but he’d rather slack. He is a very quick thinker and an adept liar when he wants to be, and I think Ace deserves more credit for that.

Something that’s been bothering me about Ace is his lack of presence in recent main story content. He was gone for most of episode 4, barely did anything in episode 5 except for getting cursed and being mean to Deuce, and then in episode 6 he gets knocked out along with Deuce, so he can’t go along with Pomefiore for the rescue mission. I was really hoping to see Ace getting jealous of Deuce’s unique magic or feeling left out or useless because he hasn’t gotten his own yet 🤔 With how long of an episode 6 is, it feels so weird having this large span of the main story (even if, in universe, it has only been a few days between 5 and 6) where we get NOTHING on Ace’s feelings post-VDC. Episode 7, it’s all up to you now... Please let Ace reflect on his own actions and question his own abilities or something, PLEASE LET ACE GET HIS UNIQUE MAGIC TOO.

#Ace Trappola #Jamil Viper #twst #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #notes from the writing raven #spoilers #ask game #character opinion bingo

[trashyswitch]

Day 21: Haunted House

Luigi and Mario are spending time together in the same room, the same night Luigi rescued everyone. But...things go a bit more chaotic than expected.

Part 2 to Day 16: Ghost Link to Part 16

I hope you enjoy! I had fun writing this one.

Luigi was hanging out in his hotel room with Mario and Polterpup. He had just saved Mario, Peach and the roads from King Boo that day, and was now spending as much time with his brother as he could. 

They were laying backwards on the king-sized bed while Luigi was using the Poltergust G-00 to light up the big wall in front of them. 

“So Mario: what-a do you think of the ghosts that live here?” Luigi asked. 

Mario shrugged his shoulders. “They’re-a nice. A lot of names.” Mario replied. 

Luigi laughed a bit as Polterpup laid against Luigi’s side. “E. Gadd takes care of the ghosts himself. He keeps them busy and spends time with them like they are family.” Luigi told him. 

Mario smiled. “I see.” 

Luigi looked at Mario and looked up as he felt his hat slip off. He reached up to grab his hat, but found that the hat was missing. Luigi sat up and looked behind himself. “Huh?” Luigi asked. 

Luigi looked to the left…

He looked to the right…

Then he looked up, and saw Polterpup attempting to bark at him through the green hat in his mouth. Luigi hung his head and chuckled. “Puppy has my hat.” Luigi told Mario. 

“Let him have it. You don’t need it.” Mario told him. 

Luigi raised an eyebrow at Mario…before snatching Mario’s hat. 

“Hey! My hat!” Mario reacted. “Give it back!” Mario ordered, reaching to grab it. 

“Never! My hat now.” Luigi declared, putting the hat onto his own head. But Mario’s hat was slightly bigger than Luigi’s head…so the hat kinda sat crooked on his head. 

Mario couldn’t help but laugh at Luigi. The hat barely fit his narrow head. “Small head.” Mario teased. 

Luigi shrugged his shoulders and hung his head, pouting. 

Mario laughed harder upon seeing his brother pout like a toddler. “Aww, poor Weegee. Are you-a mad?” Mario asked, poking his side. 

Luigi’s lips quivered slightly as he was poked. “N-No…I’m-a not.” Luigi mumbled. 

“Oh reeeaaally?” Mario teased, poking his side again. “Are you-a sure?” Mario asked, poking him with his other index finger. 

Luigi felt his lips wobble into a smile for only a second or two…Before falling into a strained pout. 

Mario giggled and suddenly picked up Luigi before adjusting his grip so Luigi’s back was against his chest. Luigi screeched in surprise and started squirming to get out of his brother’s grip. 

“Mario! Let me go!” Luigi yelled. 

Mario giggled. “What’s-a wrong, Luigi? You don’t happen to be-a ticklish, do you?” Mario asked with an evil smirk. 

Luigi bit his lip. “I…You already know! You are my brother!” Luigi reacted. 

Mario laughed and started skittering his fingers on Luigi’s ribs. “Coochy coochy coo!” 

Luigi yelped loudly and tittered as he wiggled around to get out of his grasp. “No! M-Mahario, noooo!” Luigi whined. 

“Not-a gonna laugh?” Mario asked. 

Luigi could feel his lips growing into a toothy smile. It was impossible to resist his need to smile and laugh. “N-Noho! Nehe- GAH! NO! N-Never!” Luigi yelled back. 

Mario tsked and shook his head. “Don’t-a make me use my mustache, Luigi~” Mario reminded him. 

Luigi froze in horror. No! Not the mustache! ANYTHING BUT THAT!

But…At the same time, he was determined to keep himself together. 

“Do…” Luigi turned his head to look at Mario out of the corner of his eye. He looked at him with a determined look. “Do your worst.” 

Luigi turned his head back around way too soon…Because Luigi had completely missed Mario’s huge, villainous grin. 

Mario suddenly turned Luigi around and pushed Luigi so his back fell onto the bed. Luigi flopped onto the soft bed, and lifted up his head just in time to see the shadow of Mario cover his body. “Wha- WAAAAHH!” Luigi screamed as Mario blew a huge raspberry onto his belly. “BAAHAHAHAHAhahahaha! NOOOOOhohohohoho!” Luigi laughed, pushing his hands against Mario’s head of hair. 

Mario removed his lips from Luigi’s belly…then took in a deep breath before blowing another big raspberry onto Luigi’s belly. 

“EEEEHEHEHEHAHAHAHA! MAHARIOHOHOHO!” Luigi yelled. 

Mario removed his face from Luigi’s belly. “Yes Luigi?” Mario replied with a smug grin. 

“Stahahahahap!” Luigi begged, hugging his belly with his arms. 

Mario giggled. “But I did stop!” Mario reacted. “Why are you still laughing if I already stopped?” Mario asked. 

Luigi was giggling and smiling widely. “Ihihi dohohon’t knohow.” Luigi admitted. 

“So if I just…” Mario poked Luigi’s belly button. 

“WhaaAAAHAHAHA!” Luigi threw his head back with a large fit of laughter. “YAAAHAHAHAHAhahahaha! NOHOHO BEHEHELLY BUHUTTOHOHON!” Luigi begged. 

Mario laughed. “You’re so ticklish, Luigi. It would be a shame if Dr. E. Gadd just…happened to find out…” Mario teased. 

Luigi threw his head up so fast. “NO! DON’T TELL E. GADD!” Luigi ordered. 

“What is-a stopping me from telling him?” Mario asked. 

Luigi bit his lip. “Uuuuh…He’s not here?” Luigi asked. 

Mario shrugged his shoulders. “Actually, he IS here.” Mario told him. 

Luigi screeched. “WHAT?! Where?!” Luigi asked, looking towards the door. 

“Don’t you know? He’s in the room across from you!” Mario reacted. 

Luigi could feel sweat droplets falling down his face. 

Suddenly, Mario jumped off the bed and took off running to the door. Luigi SCREAMED in horror and sprinted after his brother. “MARIONO-”

Mario managed to close the door just in time for Luigi to slide into the door and faceplant the wood. Luigi groaned in pain and held his nose for a couple seconds…

Then, Luigi remembered what he was supposed to be doing! 

Luigi opened the door and sprinted after his brother. “MARIO, I WILL BLIND YOU WITH-A MY FLASHLIGHT IF YOU TELL HIM!” Luigi shouted. 

Mario opened the door to Professor E. Gadd’s hotel room and skidded to a halt. “Elvin! I need to-a tell you-” 

Mario yelped as he was tackled to the ground by Luigi. “E. Gadd, ignore him. He had-a too many mushrooms-” 

Mario pushed Luigi off himself. “You are gonna LOVE this-” 

Luigi shoved a pillow into Mario’s face. “No you won’t! It’s a boring fact!” Luigi yelled back. 

Mario shoved the same pillow into Luigi’s face before pushing Luigi to the ground. “It’s-a really funny! I swear!” Mario yelled next. 

“Boys-” E. Gadd called. 

Luigi grabbed Mario by the waist and ground-slammed him to the floor. “SHUSH!” Luigi yelled at him.

“NEVER!” Mario yelled, reaching his hands backwards to grab at his sides. 

Luigi yelped and quickly started digging his own fingers into Mario’s hips. “You tell him, and I RUIN you!” Luigi threatened. 

Mario yelped and removed Luigi’s hands from his hips. “Is that a threat?” Mario asked. “Did you just-a threaten your big brother?!” Mario asked. 

“Are you scared, piccoletto?” Luigi asked. 

“Piccoletto?! Dice il bambino della famiglia!” Mario spat. 

“PARLARE INGLESE!” Luigi yelled. “SPEAK ENGLISH!” 

“Mi piacerebbe molto.” Mario replied with a smug look. “E. Gadd! Luigi is ti-” Luigi covered Mario’s mouth with his glove. “Stai zitto!!” Luigi yelled. 

“Boys…” E. Gadd called. 

Mario pulled Luigi’s hand off his mouth. “What happened to speaking english?!” Mario reacted. 

Luigi narrowed his eyes before smirking. “Mario has ticklish hips!” Luigi declared, looking at E. Gadd with a smug look. 

Mario gasped and placed a hand on his own chest to show his hurt. “You little-” Mario turned to Dr. E. Gadd. “Luigi is ticklish everywhere!” Mario yelled. 

“Am NOT!” Luigi yelled. 

“I...Am so confused.” E. Gadd muttered. 

“Are too!” Mario declared as he started skittering his fingers on Luigi’s ribs. 

Luigi yelped and threw his head back as he burst out laughing. “AIEEEEHEHEHEHE! NOHOHOHO!” Luigi yelled. 

“See? His-a ribs are a good spot too!” Mario told E. Gadd. 

E. Gadd nodded as he pulled out a notepad. “Intriguing…” 

Mario quickly started skittering his fingers in Luigi’s armpits this time. Luigi gasped and SHOUTED! He finally gave up wiggling and just flopped onto the ground in fits of cackles. 

E. Gadd bit his lip. “I’m glad to see you two together again. However…” E. Gadd showed him the notebook. “I am afraid I have some news…” 

Mario stopped tickling and put Luigi down. Then, he walked closer to the notebook so he could read the paper better. 

[The ghosts can hear you…~vO]

Mario widened his eyes as the written words finally registered in his head. 

“Uuh-...Uh oh…” Luigi muttered. 

Mario froze as he felt thousands of hollow eyes staring at him. 

“M-Mario? You…Might want toooooo…” Luigi mentioned to him.

Mario gulped. He didn’t want to see how many ghosts were behind him. A few seconds later, Mario slowly turned around and felt a red blush fill his cheeks as it was revealed how many ghosts were floating there.

“Good luck, boys.” E. Gadd told him as he slowly covered up his face with a gardening book.

Mario and Luigi both sprinted out of E. Gadd’s room as over a thousand ghosts of different colors and sizes started chasing the brothers around the hotel. To make matters worse, Luigi and Mario were alive and mortal…meaning they would both run out of air eventually and have to give up. 

Eventually, the two boys were caught by the ghosts and tickled to oblivion. 

“YAHAHAHAHAHA! EEEHEHEHEHEHE NOHOHOHOHO!” Mario laughed. 

“E. GAAHAHAHAHAHADD! HEHEHEHELP UHUHUHUS!” Luigi pleaded. 

E. Gadd put in some earplugs that had the GADD SCIENCE™ logo printed into the sponge. Then, E. Gadd smiled as he watched the polterpup fly in with Luigi’s hat on his head. 

With Polterpup here to listen to the chaos, E. Gadd decided to spend some time reading the book before he would go to bed. 

Though…

…The laughter wouldn’t calm down until roughly 11:30 that night. 

#tickletober2022 #day 21 #haunted house #funny #sibling rivalry #sibling bonding #ticklefic #ler!ghosts #switch!mario #switch!luigi