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#but still a very much super villain motive
furitbat · 2 years
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i will NEVER forgive marvel for absolutely tearing apart and destroying peter parker’s life for a fake murder allegation but than having clint face like very little consequences over the lives he took during the blip years. make it make sense
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dykemerrilll · 7 months
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was gonna wait til i finished act 2 before posting my nightsong thoughts but actually i want to get my first impressions out to see if they change but…currently i’m pretty disappointed by it because from an rp perspective i literally don’t see a single reason why the pc would let shadowheart kill the nightsong if they weren’t already allied with the absolute.
from a practical perspective your whole aim is to get rid of ketheric’s invulnerability - i guess killing the nightsong might achieve that purpose but to me at least the implication throughout the gauntlet is that if you kill the nightsong as part of the dark justiciar trial she doesn’t actually die. (never mind the fact that aylin seems far too important to both ketheric and shar for her to be sacrificed if an ordinary selûnite would do). obligatory disclaimer that i didn’t let shadowheart kill her so i don’t know what happens in that instance, but that doesn’t really matter in this case because i’m talking about how the choice is presented to you, and to me at least it did not seem like killing aylin would be in any way strategic.
in which case it’s not really a choice because a) practically you are strongly encouraged to let aylin go and b) morally your tav has to justify the murder of a defenceless woman for…what, shadowheart’s career goals? even if you’re romancing shadowheart (which i am) convincing her requires a straightforward persuasion check, the mechanics of which thus far have meant you convince her that your position is correct - there’s not much in the way of lasting relationship consequences in that she won’t get so mad at you she leaves the party because you’ve already convinced her you’re right.
all that is to say that i think this is reflective of bg3’s overall binary attitude towards its major choices - there’s a good route (save the grove, defend isobel, free aylin), and a bad route (destroy the grove, ally with marcus, kill aylin). a lot of those choices compound, as well - other people have talked from actual experience about how allying with minthara will lose you a huge amount of content and allies, thus railroading you into picking a side from both a narrative and gameplay perspective. you’ve a huge amount of freedom in how you go about achieving any of those things - stealth, persuasion, combat etc., but the objectives themselves are pretty static.
so when you then have a companion’s personal quest tied to intrinsically to the plot it negates a huge amount of player choice. thematically, the companion quests are binary because they can either break or perpetuate cycles of abuse - that’s an instance in which binary choices can be very compelling. but the thematic concerns of shadowheart’s very intricate and heartfelt personal quest are totally undercut by the necessities of a pretty straightforward choice. i can’t play a hands-off tav and let this be shadowheart’s decision without to all appearances letting ketheric win. this isn’t a truly grey choice like the decision to sacrifice isolde or go to the circle in dragon age origins. it feels like that’s what bg3 was trying to do here by combining shadowheart’s quest and the main narrative, but because that main narrative is actually relatively inflexible, it just means shadowheart’s quest suffers by comparison.
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skylordhorus · 1 year
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viren is such a good complicated character- i want to study him under a microscope
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kurain-genealogy · 7 months
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i said i was gonna post about it and i am. i don't think william afton hates his kids. i don't think william afton is a mad scientist that kidnapped and put children in hallucinogenic gas chambers. whatever the fuck dittophobia said about afton doing all that, plus not stopping/furthering the bullying between michael and cc, is just dumb & wrong. william wanting his kids to fight, even die, is comically evil in the "bad writing" way. him being characterized as someone who experiments on children (including his own with no regard for their lives) in order to achieve immortality or whatever his supposed motivation is, is just really... nothing? as a character there is nothing to make him feel real. in an attempt to flesh out this character, they made him into a cartoon villain with "evil" being his only defining trait. whatever, i could talk for so long about how dumb i think all the dittophobia stuff is but i think most ppl on tumblr are on the same page regarding that.
to me, william afton is best characterized as someone who, at the Very Least, Doesn't Want His Own Children To Die. he can be a shitty father all around, or he can be a genuine loving father who is also a serial killer, as long as he Cares if they Die? most of what makes william afton an interesting villain, and where a lot of people interpret his motivation comes from, is how despite all his best efforts, he cannot prevent the death or downfall of his own family. he is in a tragedy of his own making, a self-imposed hell crafted by his hubris and violence. if you take this away, why should i care what happens to him? william afton was scariest when he was just purple guy and we knew nothing. william afton is most interesting when we have all these relationships and dynamics where we can seriously study and speculate the circumstances behind/around his actions, when he has something to lose (and will lose). william afton is most stale when more things are added to his story without purpose, filling in gaps that were better unfilled or we didn't even know were there – anything after UCN, basically. bro isn't scary anymore because he's either peepaw afton who's brought back despite his story being over, or he's cartoon network's newest over-the-top villian that you can't take seriously.
okay anyway. ANYWAY. william doesn't hate his kids. even if he's a shitty father, i think he still loves his kids. why else would he try and scare his kids away from the robots if he didn't want them to die? why would he design circus baby after his daughter if he didn't care for her, adore her, even? if you believe the theory that he talked to cc through the fredbear plush (idr if that's actually canon), why would he be trying to protect/comfort him?
i don't think he's a perfect, or even a good father, by any means. if you interpret him to be on the better side, that's great and fine. i'd love to hear how other people interpret/characterize afton if you wanna share! continuing on for this post, i'm going to lay out how i personally see william afton.
to me, he is someone who is very concerned and preoccupied with his image and how others view him & his family. even if he's super shitty and awful towards his kids, he at least cares that they all look good as a family unit, that they're well behaved, that he can send family portrait holiday cards to all his business partners and investors.
he strikes me very much as the typical authoritarian parent of the 80s. harsher on his sons because "men don't cry," wants his kids to say "yes, sir," and "no, sir," believes in "tough love," often says "my house, my rules," he has the final say in everything, maybe thinks hitting them from time to time is a normal, necessary punishment. not all entirely malicious, but thinks he's doing what's best, what's right, acting like a parent and father Should act, perhaps how he himself was raised. unfortunately, a very common parental mindset (even outside of serial killers). maybe he was a little scarier sometimes though, a little more unhinged or violently angry. who's to say.
but he's still just a guy who could exist in real life. he still eats dinner with his family every night, hangs his kids' drawings on the fridge, had to turn the car around because they wouldn't stop fighting in the backseat, attended awkward parent-teacher conferences, everything. he was once a new father who happily came home with his first newborn, lost countless nights of sleep over the course of two more, loves them because they're his.
meticulously and senselessly killed children, then came home and tucked his own into bed and kissed them goodnight.
he can be abusive and still love his kids. he can be a murderer and still care for his own kids' lives. maybe the loss of his own kids is what triggered his actions, or maybe it was something else. i'm fine with not knowing because we don't need to know everything, and it's more interesting when we don't.
Something Is Seriously Wrong With This Guy And We Don't Know What or Why. when acquaintances find out he's a suspected murderer, it should be shocking and upsetting. he's such a great man and father, he wouldn't murder those kids! when michael discovers his father's crimes, he should be in denial. sure, he could be scary sometimes, but he wouldn't kill anyone... right? there's a great cognitive dissonance between who he appears to be and who he actually is.
whether william descended into grief-induced madness and obsession, or was just always some kind of freak, or both, i don't think he saw his own family as disposable. even if he didn't truly love them, he at least needed to keep up his own facade as a friendly family man. personally i like to see him as someone who was a shitty father but still loved his kids, because people like that exist, and it makes him a much more interesting, realistic, and nuanced character than if he just didn't care about them At All.
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reuben-7991 · 3 months
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Octavian’s treatment is one of my least favorite things about HoO because it isn’t his character, it’s his lack of one.
We COULD’VE had an excellent character who was a look into what could truly go wrong with blind devotion like Octavian’s, drawing an excellent parallel to Luke’s blind hatred in the original series (Percy even says Octavian reminds him of Luke).
We COULD’VE had a fantastic contrast into a follower’s descent into insanity after making empty promises of power whilst under the influence of a massively elder being, thus leading to said follower’s death.
What makes me especially mad is that Octavian has no backstory. This is a problem with a lot of Roman characters, but Octavian especially. He doesn’t even have a last name. All we know is:
- He’s a legacy of Apollo.
- He used to be sane and probably very charismatic, due to Reyna stating she used to have a crush on him in TTT.
That’s it! One of Rick’s gold stars is that his human characters are just that: human. They have motivations and flaws, deeply personal origins and ideals that affect their actions and their outcomes. None of the villains are just plain villains, evil by birth. They have motives to back up their actions (now weither those motives make sense or not, that’s another story, but they’re still there.) There’s Luke, Medea, Lityerses (who is an entire other can of worms), Circe, Loki, Gunilla, Randolph, hell, even Kronos and Gaea. All of them have reasons for the shitty stuff they did. Octavian is a glaring exception. We know he’s power-hungry, but we don’t know why. We know he’s violent, but we don’t know why. We know he hates the Greeks, but we don’t know why. You may argue ‘oh, he’s a minor character, he doesn’t really get a reasoning’ which is just blatantly untrue on both fronts.
1: Octavian is NOT a minor character in the slightest. He has major roles in the plot throughout the books.
2: Him being a ‘minor’ villain wouldn’t have anything to do with his motivation. Chris from the OG series has stated motivation, and he’s way more minor than Octavian.
Another thing is that Octavian’s insanity is played off almost comically. He’s relatively well put together in SoN, only being super dramatic and reportedly blackmailing Hazel and probably other legionnaires, but by BoO he’s absolutely broken. He’s utterly obsessed with being a hero to the Romans, with being Pontifex Maximus, with killing Gaea and almost proving himself to Apollo (who is utterly disgusted by him), but it’s all either framed as ‘hate this guy more plsplspls’ or brushed away to the side.
I’m torn on his death scene, because it’s a good scene overall but too much of it is humorous in my opinion. Between Will calling Octavian an ‘anemic loser’ (which like. what.) and Leo describing his screams as a little girl’s, it seems almost too light for such a pivotal point in the story. Octavian has truly lost himself to madness, ranting and raving and insisting no, HE has to be the one to kill Gaea, HE has to be a hero.
His death is horrific, yet it’s framed as a silly oopsie.
What the fuck.
Overall, Octavian is a shining example of missed character potential. We could have gotten the Riordan special and made to empathize more with our villain, like what happened with Luke or Randolph from MCGA, but all we get is a crazy blond kid, character so shallow he could count as a tide pool. It infuriates me to no end how in a sea of good, properly motivated antagonists, Octavian is the outlier.
It’s a real shame.
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millylotus · 9 months
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Super Villain Summer Internships [Everlasting Trio, DpxDc]
Everlasting Trio don’t know what they’re going to do for college, so they decide to just bite the bullet and do a few internships. Although they all forget to tell each other that they’re each interning with villains.
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Danny is with Mister Freeze, going under the name Blizzard
Danny is basically the one doing a bunch of intern work while also not, at first he was just kinda there cause he liked being cold
But then he and Freeze begin to bond over feeling responsible for things that aren’t really their fault, Danny promises to help Freeze revive Nora
They have a father-son relationship, in how they’re actually pretty similar in personality & powers
Sam is with Poison Ivy, under the name Blood Blossom
Sam is the only one to have a legal internship because Ivy actually wrote her down as her legal lab assistant
She and Pam are very Big Sis-Little Sis energy, Sam is the annoying younger sibling who wants to do everything their big sister does
Pam finds this devotion to their ideals adorable, and supports Sam in their joint endeavors
Tucker is with Bane, going as Ruin
Tucker acting as Bane’s tech guy, he’s been working on a new type of venom for Bane he doesn’t get into many fights but if he needs to he doesn’t back down
They have an Uncle-nephew relationship going on but also Tucker gets a bit obsessive about making the best venom that they have Frankenstein & Frankenstein’s Monster going on too
It’s mainly just Tucker getting to cackle evilly while Bane just say “Alright chiquito, have you eaten breakfast yet? You get angry when hungry.”
The batfam is not prepared to deal with two mini rouges and a secret mini rouge who they haven’t met yet but are still worried about
A couple weeks into their internship the Gotham Rogues have their bi-monthly meeting where The Everlasting Trio is introduced to everyone
Ivy, Freeze, & Bane were also surprised to see that their interns actually knew each other/are dating
The Everlasting Trio are the entire reason why the Gotham Rogues are even talking to each other at the moment
Now the bats are even more confused & concerned because the rogues are usually at each other’s throats
It’s the only thing keeping them from taking over tbh
When the batfam find out that the three interns they’ve had to deal with for like most of June, all know each other and are actively in a polycule, they feel like everything makes so much more sense
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The trio do have an ulterior motive to this whole thing, at first it’s just indulging in their less than stellar morals
Until it’s not
They become more enthralled in their ambitions, Sam begins to care less and less about the world outside of plants, she cares less about the civilian casualties, she begins to use ecto-science on plants
Pam & Harley are very concerned because they’re both on their path to redemption and Sam is going in the other direction
Danny becomes just as obsessive as Mister Freeze with trying to bring back Nora, he’s bringing in ecto-science in an attempt to bring her back through re-bonding her soul back to her body
Freeze isn’t against this exactly, but he’s unsure if it’ll bring the real Nora back, he’s still gonna go with it
Tucker has fully fallen into the mad scientist idea, he wants to make Bane the best version of himself the best human possible, his new version of venom is directed by ecto-science and such
Bane of course wants to be stronger but he knows at some point Tucker is gonna go to far, so he’s willing to hold the kid back if need be, but he isn’t going to actually do it he wants Tucker to go bad
By the time the Trio reaches the point of no return their bosses realizes this is not going to go their way anymore
Everlasting Trio: You’re just afraid to take it, One. Step. Further.
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The fight to take back Gotham from the Everlasting Trio is a long one
Sam has complete control over Robinson Park [biggest park in Gotham] along with its botanical gardens and such
The surrounding neighborhoods are overrun with plants, she has people asleep and under her control for the most part
Tucker has most of the upper districts running wild on the venom he’s made, people are now more powerful than Superman himself and have lost their minds in their blind rage, they’re all mainly under his control
Danny has the east bays and the graveyards near by, everything is frozen over, the bodies in the harbor and in the ground have been reanimated into ice soldiers and are under his control most of the time
Ivy, Harley, Freeze, & Bane have to call in the bats for help with the Trio and their plans
They split up to go for their kid, with a few bats behind them to back them up
Ivy & Harley pull on Sam’s care for the rest of the world
Bane brings Tucker down from the high, making him think this through
Freeze gets Danny to realize that nobody he brought back is who they first were
By the end of it the trio is subdued after a big fight and some impassioned speeches
They’re admitted into Arkham Asylum, they promise their mentors that they’ll do better, that they’ll get better & make them proud of them
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Admittedly I completely forgot to mention the trio’s family back in Amity
Let’s just say they don’t all know the nature of their internship
Jack & Maddie are aware that Danny is interning under an important doctor but they weren’t sure who he is
Angela & Maurice don’t know what’s going on with Tucker he hasn’t given them any stable information, he wanted to keep it that way with them thinking he’s still a good kid
Jeremy & Pamela know exactly what Sam was doing, she made sure of it, she wanted them to know they’re baby girl was running with villains now
Jazz is actually living in Gotham while this is going on, she going to college at GU for psychology, she’s interning at Arkham
She’s actually close with the bats, having met Jason, she’s one of the few psychs they trust at all
She knows that Sam is working with Ivy, she’s tried reaching out to her but Sam refuses to talk to her
She’s only ever seen Blizzard from afar, and was unable to connect him with Danny
She didn’t even know Ruin existed until the bats told her, and even then she didn’t know he was Tucker
When they’re taken down Jazz finds out who they are and she’s crushed, she feels she not only failed Sam, but also Danny & Tucker as well
Since the trio are all 18+ by the time they’re arrested nobody from Amity is sent anything to tell them they’ve been arrested
For about a week Jazz is actually their therapist at Arkham before she’s re-assigned when it’s realized she knows them personally
Jazz ends up telling the Foleys and the Fentons what happened
Then Amity gets the broadcast of their very own Samantha Manson being arrested in Gotham, New Jersey for eco-terrorism
Everything else just blows up in their faces after that, The three families don’t even dare show face around for awhile
They go to Gotham to actually visit their kids in Arkham
The Foleys are so disappointed in their son for what he’s done, Tucker can’t even look them in the eyes as the yell at him about everything
For the Mansons it sprouts into a huge shouting match with Sam almost jumping to table to try and physically fight her parents
All the Fentons do is stare at each other, they try to ask Danny why but he’s not cooperating with his biting remarks and not wanting to even see them for almost a week
Regarding their sentence and institutionalization the trio only has about five years or until they show sufficient mental stability for two years straight
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This is another one that's been sitting around for awhile. And I also remembered the the banner i made for Batfam & Everlasting trio content
Main Story Index [It's kinda messy but it's got links to most everything]
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g0ldenzinnie · 6 months
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Unstoppable
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Couple: Mark x fem!reader Genre: fluff; a little bit suggestive; a little dramatic, but who doesn't want a little drama Sinopse: At the end of a horrible day, your boyfriend makes a surprise just for you. DISCLAIMER: This is my first fic, and I hope it will be the first of many more. And also English it's my second language so have mercy on me. Word count: 5,6 k; I recommend listening to https://spotify.link/QPWm3Rr44Db while you read it <3
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You had a bad day. No, sorry, a terrible day. 
First, you overslept. It wasn’t your fault your phone discharged over the night, because you connected the charger wrong. Your class started half an hour ago, but you were still in your apartment, trying to pull your pants up while brushing your teeth. When you got to campus, you were a sweating mess since you had to run to reach the bus. When you enter the classroom slamming the door accidentally, the teacher looked at you like you disrespect him in three languages, however he still continued. You sat down and opened your bag, then you realized you forgot your notebook at home, due to your late night studying and the reason for your oversleeping. That was the second thing that made your day into a nightmare, the final test. In a few minutes, you would have to face the test that would define your future as an engineer, further to top it all you forgot your notes at home. It didn't matter now, you just had to deal with it. You plug your phone under the desk, which for your luck every desk had a uni, and look at your missing messages. That is when you noticed the third thing that was making your day horrible. Your lock screen showed a happy blond boy playing the guitar, you smiled, having a nostalgic feeling in your chest. Mark lee, your boyfriend. You were barely together, since your different schedules and busy calendars. Besides, when you were together, you are so exhausted that you only watch movies on the couch and order takeout. It is not that you didn’t like it, it’s just that you missed having quality time with your boyfriend. You saw in your notifications three missed messages from Mark. 
“Good morning baby ❤️” “Good luck today I know you're gonna kill it” “I miss you ;c” 
You smile at the last messages, you feel comfort knowing that he missed you too. You respond. “Hey baby” “I miss you too bub, I just want to finish this test and see you”
You haven’t seen him in weeks. As you were focused on your career, Mark was focused on his. Now text messages were the only way of communicating. 
“I know princess, but I have rehearsal all day.” You let out a groan. One day they will kill him with so much work. 
“It’s okay baby, we can meet another time.” “Just be careful please.” “I don’t want you to pass out”
You responded, but you knew it was helpless. Even if the king himself from England order your boyfriend to stop overworking… he would probably apologize in a very polite matter and go against his order. You knew your golden boy wasn't unbreakable. Occasionally he would call you in the middle of the night just to hear your voice, and get the motivation that he needed. Despite that, he didn't complain a bit. Mark was the kind of person to torture himself, just to not let down the people that depend on him. Sadly, you were that kind of people. You needed to see his face, to hear his voice, you needed him.
“It’s like you don’t even know me baby” “I'm unstoppable”
He sends you a sticker of a bunny flexing his arms, and you laugh out loud. Your teacher sees you with a penetrating look and goes back to the board. Again, you look down over your phone, trying to respond.
“So you’re a superhero then?” “Or a super villain? Were you trying to steal my heart all this time?” “Is this your evil plan?”
 You replied, hoping it would make him laugh. You used to think that when he laughed, one of the most beautiful sounds in the world was produced. 
“A villain, never” “Actually, I am a superhero who is at your side in your time of need.” “I am Spider-Man 🕷️”
You smiled at the cuteness of your boy. You knew his obsession with Spider-man, actually on his birthday you made him a surprise party in his room and decorated it with that theme. He still considers it to be one of his favorite birthday parties. You didn’t have a chance to reply to him when another message came along. 
“I just wish I could use my power to come and see you. So then I could hug you, and give you a kiss.”
You feel the heat coming to your face as you blush. You replied instantly. 
“Just one?”
“Definitely more than one.” “And definitely not just in your lips” 
You let out a giggle, then drop your phone. Mark could be cheesy when he set his mind to it. Your attention to the class was gone long ago. 
“I'm losing focus Mark” “You’re gonna make me fail this class”
“Sorry baby” “But dude, seriously I really need you”“I miss our dates, not like watching movies and eat (which I love, don't get me wrong)” “But like real dates, you know? Like going out somewhere, or doing something else”
Your mode went down, owing to the text. You didn’t want him to feel like this. Some days you asked yourself if this is what torture fells like. 
“Me too baby, but we will see each other again, I know it.” “We just need more patience.” 
You were going to text him an “I love you”, when the fourth thing that made your day terrible happened. Your charger overloaded and stopped working, further your phone turned off seconds later. You put your head against the desk, feeling like a literal mess. The worst part is that when you looked up to see the clock, it was only 11:27 AM. 
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After nine hours on campus, you were ready to go. The day transcurred as you predicted, horrid. The test was practically written in another language you didn’t study every night, in addition, your post anxiety didn’t help you to calm down. The only good thing that happened that day was that one of your classmates lent you their charger. When your phone started working, you found missed calls and messages from your boyfriend worried thinking something happened to you. You explained fast, leaving him with some relief. He told you to let him know when you were out on campus and as you promised, you texted him letting him know you were outside. While you wait for the bus in the freezing and dark night, he called you. 
“Hey baby” 
“Why are they keeping you in campus at this hour?” He said worried. You let out a sigh, tired. Not from him, but from this disgusting day. 
“My insufferable teacher, who didn't let us go before he could end the whole lesson. You should have seen it babe. I thought that literal vapor would come out of his ears when we told him we were supposed to go” You replied laughing, trying to ease your mind. But your boyfriend was doing it for you. Just by hearing his voice, you felt your body more relaxed. But you didn't hear a laugh in return. So you started to worry. Little did you knew that your golden boy's mind was working like a machine. 
“Where are you?” He asks, knowing the answer since he knew you, and your routine like the palm of his hand. 
“I’m at the bus stop, why?”  You respond, looking around at the emptiness of the street. You wait for his answer, yet instead you receive a hung up sound. He cut the call. You thought it was some connection issue, but he didn’t answer your calls, nor your texts. 
“Baby, what happened? Are you okay”“Babe”“Mark, I’m serious, what is going on?”“Dude, answer your phone.”
It passed two minutes after your last text when a black car made a turn in the corner of the street, coming in your direction. Since the street was silent, you could hear the loud music coming from inside. You let it pass, you thought it was a random car like other ones. It was when the car stopped in front of you and the window rolled down, when you realized it wasn’t random. Your vision showed your boyfriend seated in the backseat with a microphone in his hand. You cross your arms and raise an eyebrow, trying to act pissed since he didn’t answer your phone. Still inside of you, you were jumping out of happiness because he was there in front of you.
“Your hero to the rescue.” 
He said with the mic. You couldn't contain your smile, you wanted to hug him, however you didn't even have to take a step. He jumped out of the car and tucked you in, with his arms around your waist, resting his head in the crook of your neck. You wrapped your arms around his, feeling the tears coming to your eyes. You could feel his warmth and cologne, just the way you remembered. He took a step back and took your face gently. He looked at you with so much worship and caring, that you felt your heart melting in the process.
“My beautiful girl” He whispered before he kissed you with all his being. Desperate, but not rough. Full of love and adoration. You respond, enclosing your fingers in his hair. Everything in the world didn’t matter. What happened during the day was forgotten. He was finally there, kissing your lips, pulling you close, needed for your touch like you needed his. It was until the car honked as you returned to reality. Mark broke the kiss and nodded at the driver. He rush to take your hand and pulled you into the car. 
“Let's go, I have a whole date planned just for you.” You smile confused, stepping into the car and closing the door. 
“Baby, nothing is going to be open at this hour on a Monday.” You say, before noticing the things in the car. 
“Who said we were going somewhere?” You didn't know how, but there were disco lights illuminating the inside of the car. Also, your favorite snacks were in the middle seat. The driver who started moving the car couldn't be seen because of the wall separating the front and back of the car.
“Mark, what is this?” He just gives you the other mic and another kiss on your lips as you were distracted. His hand was in the nape of your neck, with his fingers wrapping your hair gently. Your breathing became heavier, pulling him close, grabbing the collar of his sweatshirt. He breaks the kiss and rest on your forehead. Smiling he responds.
“We are going to have a karaoke date. I need to practice my voice, you need to release stress. It's the perfect match.” He turns on the mic and takes out his phone to show you a playlist. You let out a gasp as your heart wrinkles. The playlist name was “For my Angel”, and it was full of your favorite songs. Even your favorite versions. “What do you say?” He asks with his mic, leaving a funny eco behind. You smile and turn on yours. 
“I say let's do this” You claim as you pressed play and a song of Olivia Rodrigo started to sound in the speakers. “Oh my god, babe, you know me so well” Shouting of excitement, you start to sing into the mic. Mark laughs and joins you, since one month ago when the album dropped, you made him learn the lyrics. You laugh, not believing this was happening. One moment ago, you thought you would declare this day to be the worst day of your life. However, the boy next to you, trying to sing in falsetto, made a 180-degree turn of it. 
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Both of you didn't care about what you sounded like, you were just goofing around and singing like your souls were ripping apart. After thirty minutes of singing, rapping and dancing, you’re tired and ask Mark to sing a solo. Since he loved karaoke, and you, he agreed gladly. Even when his throat started to feel dry. That was one of the things you loved about Mark. He always put his soul into things. It didn’t matter what it was or how, he always put his 100%. You smile at him trying to hit a high note of one of Justin Bieber songs, and let out a laugh in the process. You take his hand and caress it with your thumb, he looks at you surprised and stops singing. “What's wrong?”
“I love you” You whispered, hypnotized in his eyes. He smiles and leans over, holding your chin, gently giving you a kiss. It was slow and gentle, his lips were soft against yours, and they were moving with synchrony. Like he knew you in and out, what you needed, indeed. He broke the kiss, leaving a centimeter between you two, while he takes a lock of your hair and puts it behind your ear.
“I love you too” He replied also in a whisper looking at your face carefully, like he wanted to remember every single freckle or other aspect of your face. As he hasn't done it already. He first looks at your lips, the temptation incarnate. Nothing was as distracting and beautiful as your lips, simply he loved that. Then he looks up to your cheeks and nose. He loved to kiss them, to him, they were the cutest thing on your face. Then finally, he looks at your eyes. His favorite thing on planet earth. He claimed that they were as beautiful and unique as the sky. He always told you those things, many times before. Still, he repeated them, to make sure you remember how beautiful you are. You let out a nervous laugh because of his piercing look and lean your head, confused.  
“What?” He shakes his head as if it’s something stupid. “Just… I missed you so much.” He says as leans over to give you a kiss on the forehead. “So much” 
You feel his warm breathing in your left cheek as he goes down to kiss it. Then he does the same with your other cheek, before making a final move, laying a kiss on the top of your nose. He was taking his time filling your face with love and affection, like it was the last thing he was able to do. “I swear, I just can’t get enough of you” He says in the corner of your lips to place another kiss. You smile and try to look away from the embarrassment. His hands went again to your chin to make you look at him. You look at his lips, feeling in the inside of your body the tension you two missed over the last days. His gaze of pure affection makes you feel warm in your chest and butterflies in your lower stomach. He stays inches away from your lips, waiting for your approval, but clearly to you, he didn’t need it. You bend closer to him, eliminating the space between you two, pressing your lips together. Your hand was on his cheek, passing your fingers against his hair, while the other one was on his chest. Mark grabs your waist with a firm grip, approaching you to him. The kiss was desperate, full of passion, nothing like the past ones. “Come here” He whispers raspy, breaking the kiss to take air as he pushes you to his lap. Chills come down your spine when you listen to his tone. You put your legs around his body, your hands in the back of his neck. This time, he starts the kiss by grabbing your hair with one hand and the other one still holding your waist. He was moving his lips slowly but with a hungry matter, helpless by your body on top of him. Your body feels hotter by every move of your boyfriend, full of emotions forgotten through your days apart. As a reaction to all of this, you left out a whimper against his lips, leaving him enough space for him to enter his tongue to your mouth. You move your waist a little to feel him more, instantly, Mark groans in your mouth as a reaction. “Don’t tease me baby, please” He whispers, lowering his mouth to get to your neck. He presses his lips against your soft and now hot skin with a wet kiss, biting a little to taunt you. You bite your lower lip trying to stay quiet, he knew your weak point. “Now who is teasing?” You say mocking him. He laughs, leaving a warm sight that gives you chills. Then goes back to your lips fervently, his hands moving past your body without any shame. Yours were in his neck, trying to pull him closer with the nonexistent distance you had. When his hands were going under your shirt, you heard a knock in the wall that separated the two parts of the car. You stop instantly, looking at Mark with panic in your eyes. Reality hits you like cold water, you weren’t alone. Obviously, you forgot that. 
“What?” Your boyfriend asked, pissed because your moment was interrupted. “Mister Lee, you have five minutes. Then we have to go back to the company.” Mark cusses underneath his breath and closes his eyes. Now you understand why he was acting like he didn’t have enough time. He actually didn’t have it. “Okay, just… just keep driving, please.” He says, in conflict with himself, grabbing his temple. The car moved with the same speed as before. “I’m sorry I didn't tell you.” He says without looking at you with embarrassment. “They just gave me an hour recess, the members stayed at the company but I just… I just really wanted to see you” You were pissed, but not at him. You were mad at the universe, for tearing both apart. For the unfair situation. But you were not going to spend the last five minutes with your boyfriend for god knows how long, making a fuss. So you grab his chin to make him look at you. His gaze was angry, as also sad. The same feelings you had. You lean your forehead against his and close your eyes, sensing his skin with all your faculties. “It's okay. It doesn’t matter now.” His breathing got heavier as he shook his head. You also knew him like the palm of your hand. You knew his anxiety of the future was caving in. His mind having all the questions both of you didn’t have an answer. “Hey, focus on me.” You say, leaning a hand in his chest, the other one still in his head. You breathe calmly, trying for him to follow you. It’s difficult, but he does it with time. Then you start talking.
 “I love you. Nothing matters. That’s the only thing you need to think about now. Okay?” He doesn’t do anything, still with his eyes closed trying to keep his breath under control, you fear he is going to have a panic attack. After a while, he nods. You smile and give him a quick kiss. “You’re unstoppable.” He smiles remembering his text and opens his eyes, finally looking at you. “We are” he states, looking at you directly, with a gaze you think is full of starlight. You feel tears in your throat, but you swallow them. You don’t want to cry now. “That’s my golden boy” You gave him another kiss, this time longer but sweet. He stays still for a second, then wraps his arms around your body in a hug, breathing hard for the strong emotions inside him. If he had the power, he would steal you right now, and hide you where no one or nothing could stop him from loving you, over and over. You separate and rest on his forehead. He caressed your nose with his, then lefts a giggle out of his mouth. 
“How about one more song?” You say, grabbing his phone to look for one specific thing. He leans his head confused and tries to take a look, but you move away from his gaze. “C’mon, babe, let me see.” He says sulky, you laugh and shake your head. “You’ll see. Just wait a mo - oh, there it is.” You press play and the intro of Locked out of heaven from Bruno Mars starts to play. Mark leans his head back and screams. “Yo! Babe, that's my song!” You smile and start to get out of his lap, however, he pulls you back, holding your waist. “Where are you going? Sing with me.” He grabs the mic and starts to sing the first line, before leaning the mic to you to sing the second. You follow his dynamic with a goofy smile and start to sing, moving your head. When the song hits the chorus, the two of you sing in the same mic, enjoying yourselves totally. Screaming the lyrics to each other because you felt like you were locked out of heaven because of each other. As your love felt wrong and incorrect, clearly the world practically was keeping you apart, it felt so good. Like two angels intertwined on a mission to find and love one another. The bridge was coming along and Mark made a howling sound to the ceiling, you laughed and followed him, feeling more alive than ever. “Are you ready baby?” He asks, moving his head to the rhythm. You nod, smiling at him, watching how his excitement was filling his body. “Okay, let’s go!” He shouts before singing the bridge with you. You feel like all the happiness in the world was headed your way. Closing your eyes, singing your heart out with the man you loved. You look at him just when you both sang, “Can I just stay here?! Spend the rest of my days here?!” You observed how the veins of his neck were pumping out since he sang so loudly. His eyes closed, shrinking, trying to hit the right note. You smile, watching your boyfriend be happy before he goes. He then looks at you and locks his gaze with yours, holding your hand tight while the other still held the mic. Basically, the only thing that was separating your lips. Then he presses his forehead against yours to feel closer to you. “Can I just stay here?! Spend the rest of my days here?! Cause you make me feel like, I’ve looked out of heaven” You both sing to the mic, smiling and actually begging to god or whatever is up there, to let you stay with each other. You feel the tears coming to your eyes because this moment was about to end. You could barely sing anymore, so you stop and put your hand against your face. Mark drops the mic, letting the last part of the song go, to hold the back of your head and let you rest in his shoulder. You let yourself go and cry without any shame. Your boyfriend feels the tears coming as well, however he didn’t drop any of them. His concentration was fully into you. He kept stroking your hair and kissing your cheek repeatedly. With your fingers, you start to hold strongly to his sleeves. Believing, he wouldn't go away for that, unfortunately you and him didn't control that. 
The car stopped, and you started shaking your head, knowing what's coming next. “Baby” Marks whispers in your ear, fondling the back of your head with one hand and the other one on your waist. “Just one second” You instantly responded, holding him close without looking at him. You thought that if you did, your heart would break more than it already is. “Baby please, I need to-” “Just, just give a moment” Another knock from the wall came. “Mister Lee, we’re outside the company. You need to get out of the car” Mark was really trying to hold himself together at this point. “Give me one minute, please” He says with his jaw clenched, trying not to break something. “Y/n, please look at me. I’m not gonna forgive myself if you don't” He begs you, raising his hand to your cheek to separate you from his shoulder. You do, but you still look down sobbing, while looking at his chest. The heart of your boyfriend was broken by seeing you like this. He pressed his cheeks against yours, attempting to form a connection with you. He needed you to look at him, one last time. “Please y/n. Look at me” By his implore, you raise your gaze and meet his dark eyes. You instantly broke and Mark does it with you. “When you’ll be back?” You ask, wiping his tears away. He does the same with you, his lips forming a line. “I don't know. I have to stay at the dorm for the promotion, and then they want to do another comeback with dream.” You cursed and look at the ceiling, trying to stop your crying. “Hey, hey, no, no. We won't say goodbye like this.” He says, holding your head with his hands on your cheeks, making you look down. You close your eyes and cup his hand. “I don't want to say goodbye.” You whisper, finally opening your eyes. The man in front of you was tired. Of his schedule, his tireless work, and most importantly tired of being apart from you. A strong kiss closed the distance between both, and his breathing left strong through his nose. The kiss felt wet and salty because of your tears. Your hands were on the side of his head, pushing him to you. Mark deepened the kiss and you followed him gladly.  Both of you didn't want to separate, but sadly, breathing was necessary for you. When you broke the kiss, Mark says in your lips after. “Sorry, I said it wrong.” You look at him confused, as a response he gives you a quick kiss before saying. “It's a see you soon”.
The tears were appearing again, but he focused on kissing you. His hands were hugging your back, pulling you closer together. Your lips were in synchrony, however, they were interrupted by a knock on the window. “Dude, I say a minute please” Marks says against your lips trying to continue, suddenly the door open and shown your boyfriend's teammate, Johnny. “Hey y/n.” He says flirty, leaning his body to the door of the car. You feel the blood rising to your checks, and try to hide it in the neck of your boyfriend. “Hi” you say, still there. “Johnny, what are you doing here?” Mark ask, putting his hand in your hair to caress it. A laugh comes from the best friend of your boyfriend. “Taeyong is calling us to the practice room.” You also hear a pause, like he's taking it time to say what's next. “Sorry man, but we have to go. Now” You know he means it. Johnny was one of the first to support your relationship. He wanted to see Mark happy, same as you. So you thank him silently when he closed the door after he said. “You have 30 seconds to do whatever you please. But dude, I'm serious, 30 seconds.” Mark nods and sighs. You feel Jonny walking away a little, to give you space, and Mark started talking. “We don't have much time.” “I know” You answer, leaving his lap for good. He lets out a groan of disapproval, but you better step off now. You both stay quiet for a few seconds, just looking at each other, feeling each other hands. It was you who started the conversation. “What I told you before, it wasn't a lie” He settles to the side to see you better. “I know, but I can’t stop thinking about the damage that this is causing.” You get close and took his face. “Better to be like this together, than being apart” He analyzed you, trying to see any regret on your face, nevertheless, he didn’t find anything. “Unstoppable, remember?” You state, smiling, Mark gives you a little laugh and nod with his head. He leans closer to your face and kiss you gently, pulling a piece of your hair behind your ear. After you separate, you rest in his shoulder, with Mark leaving kisses in your forehead. “I love you” he whispers, caressing your arm with his fingertips, giving you chills in the process. “I love you too” you respond, giving him a kiss in the shoulder. He holds you close by wrapping his arms around you and placing his head on top of yours. You stay like that for a while.
After a few seconds, you hear a knock on the window. “Dude, I can’t extend this any longer.” Mark sighs and separates from you. Jonny leans against the car to wait for him. “See you soon?” Mark says, putting his hand against your check. “Yeah” you whisper before kissing him. The door opens and Johnny pulls Mark by the sleeve outside the car. “Let's go Romeo” He says, pushing him to the doors of the company. He almost trips by his best friend strength, but manage to stay on his feet. He turns and waves at you, walking backwards before entering the company. Your heart breaks by every step he took, and you let the tears that remain in your system fall in your face. “I had to take him out, if I didn't, he would probably run away with you.” Johnny states gently. You sniff and nod. “We don’t want that” You say looking at him, the expression he gave you was comprehensive. He shakes his head softly. “No, we don’t” What's best for Mark, apart from knowing him, that was the reason Johnny and you were friends. “The car is gonna drop you at home, so just try to relax. Okay?” He tells you, placing his arm against the door frame. You nod and try to wipe your tears and smile. “Take care of him for me, would you?” He laughs and nods. “It won’t be long, you know? It’s just because you love each other so much, that you think it is going to be an eternity before you see each other.” You giggle and sigh, resting your back on the seat. You suddenly felt tired. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” You respond, closing your eyes in the process. Johnny reads your body and leaves a small smile. “Have a safe travel, y/n” He says before closing the door. Yet before he closed the door you say “Thank you, Johnny, for everything.” You didn't see him, but he smiles at you with carrying and closes the door. After you hear two knocks on the roof of the car, this started moving. Your body felt palled after all those emotions, and you started to get sleepy. Before your whole system could go to the lands of dreams, you remember the words of Johnny. With a smile on your face, you start to feel hope. Believing truly that it won't be long before you see your golden boy again.
3 weeks later. 
Your legs were heavier than ever trying to climb the stairs of your building. Since you were on vacation, you decided to have a job full time in the cafeteria a few blocks away. Obviously now, you were regretting your decision. But hey, at least the money is always good. When you reach your floor, you feel relieve. At least, it was Friday. So you would have the whole weekend to relax. Sadly, you would have to do that alone. Mark was still busy with his calendar, however, he called every night to check on you. So you didn’t felt so sad about his absence.  When you get to your door, you open your bag pack to find your keys. The panic started to rise when you didn't find them there. You also opened the front pocket but again nothing. You curse and kick the door, angry. Now you had to look for the locksmith downstairs, which meant you had to experience the pain of your legs all over again. Just because you forgot your keys inside, when you left the apartment in the morning. When you started to walk away, preparing yourself for torture, you feel the door open. You turn scared believing it was a ghost, however the surprise came in when you see your boyfriend, leaning in the door frame holding your keys with his finger. “Your hero to the rescue, again.” He says with the raspy voice you missed. You gasp, covering your mouth in surprise. Your brain couldn’t load the information that was happening. “Dude, you're kidding” You say, still with your hand on your mouth. He smiles at how cute your reaction is. “I'm not.” In a quick movement, he takes your arm to pull you to him and give you a passionate kiss. His lips moving, with hunger and desire. Your tiredness and lack of motivation stop from existing. Your backpack drops from your shoulder but Mark grabs it quickly with one hand. The other one was reaching down your lower back, pulling you closer to feel him more. He breaks the kiss to go lower to your neck. You bit your lip to not let any embarrassed sound come out, since you were still in the hallway. “Inside now” You whisper with need in his ear. He grins against your neck and pulls you to the apartment to not waste any more time to love you. 
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dappledpaintbrush · 2 months
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Hey question, what’s your honest opinions on canon Dimentio? Like, wasted potential maybe?
OOOOO this is very interesting
I’m not saying this because he’s my ultimate fave (I’m very critical of super paper mario and it’s my ultimate fave game-wise), but I believe he’s perfect. Like honest to god if the writers nailed ANYTHING, they nailed Dimentio and everything about him
Dimentio is a very secretive character. Sure, he might not initially appear to be. He’s consistently flaunting himself in his attire and his words, words that seem so full at a glance, but are ominously empty when scrutinized. He forces the audience’s attention to fall upon him. He WANTS all eyes to stare, both the characters’ and the person’s on the other side of the screen. He is draped in a rich, smooth purple and a sharp, extremely pale yellow. He makes purple and yellow, two complementary colors, seem inverse. He makes them wrong. He makes everything wrong. Something about this character is wrong. It’s not the fact he’s on the villain’s team. It’s something else. Something you can feel but can’t put into words. It’s those words. It’s those colors. It’s that smile. It’s that two-faced mask.
And of course you’re right. Of course he’s the secret villain. He has to be. What else is his purpose? The heroes are victorious, the villain who was also destroying all worlds is redeemed because his motive was known, the other villains live the rest of their lives with good intent in their hearts, and Dimentio is dead.
And … It can stay that way. You don’t have to know anything else. There’s no more Memories. There’s nothing more that you cannot miss. Dimentio can remain as he wished to be: Unreadable. Secretive. Wrong.
But, if you wanted to, you could go beyond what the game intended you to. You could find and take out the narrative that was tucked away and hidden for you. Only you. There’s no cast of characters or musical score witnessing this part of the story with you. It’s just you. You, and Dimentio. Dimentio is dead.
I love Blumiere so, so much. He’s such a beautifully crafted character that is pure tragedy personified, and he deserves nothing but love, and thankfully, that is something he is lucky enough to possess. But Blumiere is a liar. Dimentio is a liar, too. Blumiere lost someone he loved. Dimentio lost someone he loved, too. Blumiere never found happiness. Dimentio never found happiness, either. Blumiere tried to destroy existence. Dimentio tried to destroy existence, too. Blumiere revealed his secrets. Dimentio did not. Blumiere is, somewhere, alive. Dimentio is dead.
How crazy is it that something that was so critical for Super Paper Mario’s story to unfold was only halfway told? How crazy is it that the writers created two characters that are so beautiful and so tragic and have to be handled with the utmost amount of care and an unbelievable amount of nuance and only one’s story is brought to light? To me, that is the best thing they could have done. Dimentio’s story did not need to be told like Blumiere’s. It would have harmed his character- his secretive, unreadable character. The writers wanted him to be a mystery, and by god they did not go back on their word. They kept him true to himself, and he died true to himself. Maybe he’s alive, somewhere, true to himself. It would not be the first time he and Blumiere mirrored one another.
It is fascinating to me. It’s something I’ve rarely seen accomplished this well, it’s something I’ve rarely seen accomplished at ALL. To me, Dimentio is far from wasted potential. To me, he is one of the best characters, both good and evil, that Nintendo has ever created, and the fact a good portion of people may be confused with why I hold that perspective is precisely why I personally have it. Dimentio’s perfection as a character IS that confusion. What is not known is what makes everything. This game’s writing is beyond words and I believe that even when it’s showered in praise it still remains unappreciated. It’s part of why I hold it so close to my heart and have for all these years. It’s so unique. It’s so beautiful. It’s so tragic. It’s so secretive. It’s alive.
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vinelark · 10 months
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do you have any good reverse robins fic to rec?
oh hell yeah!
Reverse Robins: Joker Junior series by miyaji_08 i rec’d the second fic in this series over here for the timkon of it all, but the series—two parts, both complete—is also one of my absolute favorite reverse robins stories. it goes the joker junior!tim route, so heads up for A Lot of tim-centric trauma, but gives tim (and everyone else) so much healing, too. it also gets creative with the robin of it all, as in, the call sign for batman’s partner is different from the jump because dick wasn’t around to originate “robin” for it, which i always think is a fun extra detail. the batfam characters are great and the young justice crew is also great, so read for top-tier hurt and comfort and great characters and satisfying plot and tim and damian competing to see who is the most Tired big brother of the bunch.
blood of the covenant by envysparkler robins are angsty in any order, but man does this hit the angst sweet spot, which in turn makes the soft parts feel even softer. i genuinely can’t decide what my favorite dynamic is in this AU, between damian & tim (damian wracked with guilt, tim hurting and still wanting an older brother even if he’d never admit it) and tim & jason (no spoilers but chapter 4 especially lights my brain up like a supernova) and tim & dick (i think about the part where dick grayson [tiny, cheerful] uses tim [undead, annoyed] as a jungle gym like once a week).
Wing Beats in Reverse by firefright a longfic where jason gets kidnapped by the mysterious red hood, who turns out to be jason’s not-so-dead predecessor. the jason pov here is great, and i was so compelled by how this AU explored his place in the bat family, and how it managed the emotional fallout from the kidnapping. tim is also so interesting in this—it does something i love in a reverse robins concept, which is make tim’s motivations (and lazarus pit effects) less about anger/hurt/revenge and more about ice cold logic, about being the villain so the bats don’t have to/whether they want him to or not. plus some league of assassins trauma as a cherry on top. also, kon gets to show up for a bit. (as a fair warning—and spoilers ahead—the fic has a somewhat hopeful ending for tim, but doesn’t reach full reconciliation in the scope of the plot.)
i woke up so worried that the angels let go by circees a short but potent batkids age reversal au that’s also a grisha au, starring duke as the coveted sun summoner that damian is trying to deliver to safety without mentally adopting a new brother (damian fails on the second part). even with my limited memory of grisha lore i could tell a lot of thought was put into this au, and i have a feeling it would be even better if you are able to catch all the details. i also love that even in a fantasy world where some of the bat family have magical abilities, duke is still extra special—a great analogy to being a metahuman among the bats.
The 90s Are Back! by RedWritingHood saving the two silly ones for last to lighten the mood! in this one, red hood!tim gets de-aged to sixteen and meets all his new siblings. it’s like .01% angst and 99.99% shenanigans, and pretty much all the dialogue is super quotable but Dick holds out his hands like he's calming a bunch of wild animals. "Okay, I know everyone's real upsetti spaghetti right now, but I think we all just need to calm down." might take the cake.
Clowns Don’t Kill People by mademoisellePlume very short, very silly reverse robins brother shenanigans, in which tiny dick grayson isn’t scared of recovering joker junior!tim because dick, having been raised in the circus, doesn’t associate clowns with evil yet. the fic is fun (and a great palate cleanser if you need a break from the angst above), and the author’s note at the end made me fully laugh out loud.
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void-rock · 1 month
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I shahshsgs finally started actually making proper designs for the mcd characters. I wanted to do Zane first because he legit lives in my head rent free. I still haven’t worked out all the beats of his story, but think like over looked over worked little sibling driven to literal madness and losing himself in the process. Yes eventually he is redeemed, but it takes a lot of trauma and pain before that.
(More below the cut !)
Slight Tw: mention of emotional incest, and childhood neglect.
Zane is a super compelling villain (no I don’t just think that because I’ve had a crush on him since childhood shut UP). But I’ve always felt his motive was just like “Rahh I’m evil just bc.” Where as in my rewrite it is definitely a slow burn, but he really just wishes to be seen as a person, and accepted by his family, and he resents his older brothers for the childhood he never got. (He grew up in an all girls convent and was forced to watch his brothers learn how to fight and be men and loved by their father just because they were boys). He always wanted approval from his father, and literally never got it because his father died before Zane got to show him he was a person worth fighting for too, which spiraled him out of control. Which is about the time he transitioned (spite and hate definitely fuels his transition, but he still very much identifies as a man) Zianna, eager to have a boy back in her life (atp Garroth and Vlyad have both abandoned the two of them) helps him transition, she has a very… boy mom relationship with her children, and after Garte dies is definitely emotionally incest-y with Zane. Yah she’s kind of just a different evil than Garte but still an awful parent.
He works in the church to get away from his mother, and basically wipes away all the traces of his old life. So much so, that when Garroth and him reunite Garroth doesn’t even recognize him, only turns his head when his last name is brought up. Zane looks for power anywhere he can get it, and it’s all the better if it’s leverage against his brother, which is why he targets Aphmau.
Anyways I could rant about his motives all day, but I won’t! Unless u wish me too in another post! But yes this was very fun, hopefully I won’t lose motivation. Who should I do next???
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longwuzhere · 8 months
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Some cool Easter eggs I caught watching My Adventures with Superman that I want to show to people so they can be in on it with comic book readers
Episode 1 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
Episode 2 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
Episode 3 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
Episode 4 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
Episode 5 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
Episode 6 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
Episode 7 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here and here
Episode 9 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
Episode 10 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
Apologies for the late posts, A LOT happened like Arleen Sorkin's passing and Kamen Rider Geats ending. So I needed to take a break, but I am back. SPOILERS if you havent seen episode 8 obviously.
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We start things off with the captured villains letting out of their prison. We got Silver Banshee, Roundhouse, Heatwave, Livewire, and then eventually we seen Ivo/Parasite and Mist who luckily escaped and is trying to get his friend and sister back. I talked more about in their respective episodes so if you want to read up more about them click on their names.
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Task Force X/Suicide Squad is known for exploding the heads of their prisoners teammates if they fuck up a mission (you might have seen it in the live action movies, animated movies, or even read the comics) and MAwS solution to not have it be so gory is to use shock collars.
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Cut to Clark who developed super hearing and has not slept for a few days and is on caffeine so he can help the people of Metropolis. The idea of Superman 24/7 has been thrown around in the comics for a while usually saying no Clark deserves a break. He needs to be Clark and not Superman when he can get the chance. If you want to check out the comics that does it I recommend reading Superman #296 to 299 (1979), Who Took the Super out of Superman by writers,Cary Bates, Elliot S. Maggins, penciler, Curt Swan, inker, Bob Oskner, colorist, Carl Gafford, and letterer Ben Oda.
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We see in the hologram projector/data sphere thing that Lois took from the League of Lois Lane's displaying Overman wrecking the city. I talked more about him here
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We then see Perry asking Lois to help out with Vicki Vale who is asked to be a guest writer on the Daily Planet, we later see in the ep that she's got ulterior motives for this. I talked a bit about her here. In the comics Vicki is usually a journalist for the Gotham Gazette and is sometimes in a relationship with Bruce Wayne. Her comic counterpart is usually very ethical when it comes to journalism much like Lois Lane, but here in MAwS, she's very conniving. Never meet your heroes sometimes I guess, huh MAwS Lois?
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Lois talks about the things Vicki wrote for the Gazette and name drops Queen Industries. If you know your DC universe, that is the last name of Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow.
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Oliver Queen and Roy Harper aka Speedy, make their first appearance in More Fun Comics #73 (1941) co-created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp who did the panel here. Robin Hood was an obvious inspiration for Oliver in terms of design but also his ethics in a sense. Despite the wealth, Oliver would be left wing and fight for the people arguably more so than Bruce Wayne. You can see in the panel that Oliver doesn't have his signature goatee you'll see that happen later when Neal Adams pencils Ollie in the Brave and the Bold #85 (1969)
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who also redesigned Ollies costume too. Check out Green Lantern/Green Arrow series to see Oliver's liberal stances on what was going on in the world in the early 1980s. Nowadays, Oliver's been redesigned to to wear a hood instead of the Robin Hood cap, but he's still the left wing hero that we adore
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Fantastic cover to the 80 years of Green Arrow hardcover book by Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair.
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The Falcones get a mention as one of the stories Vicki Vale wrote about. The Falcones make their first appearance in Batman #405 (1987) created by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli in the Batman Year One storyline.
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The man with the pipe in the second panel, by Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli, Richmond Lewis, and Todd Klein, is the head of the head of the Falcones, Gotham's biggest mob family, Carmine "the Roman" Falcone. He and his family gets expanded explored in Batman: The Long Halloween. Both it and Batman Year One are fantastic reads, highly recommended.
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The Gotham Gazette, and in a roundabout way, Gotham, gets a name drop from Perry White. The paper make its first appearance in Batman #4 (1940) and Vicki Vale is employed by them as the photojournalist.
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Perry asks Lois and Jimmy to help Vicki out with a story about smearing Superman and they decide to interview people. First up is Captain Immonen who Clark saved in episode 3. The captain's last name is a reference to...
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comic book artist, Stuart Immonen. He's worked on various Superman-related titles like Action Comics or the Adventures of Superman.
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Probably the Superman book I enjoyed his work in, and highly recommend checking out for everyone who reads this is, Superman: Secret Identity (cover art here by Stuart Immonen) with writer Kurt Busiek about a teen who happens to be named Clark Kent in his world where there are no superheroes, only in the comic books, but somehow slowly develops powers on his own. Very cool non-canon story that is a fresh take on the Superman mythology.
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The next interviewee I have to assume based on the credits at the end of the episode is, Mrs. Quietly who is a reference to...
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comic book artist, Frank Quitely. You may know his name on the New X-Men with Grant Morrison, but in terms of Superman, he was the penciler for All-Star Superman (cover by Frank Quitely and Jamie Grant)...
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the comic series that got an animated movie adaptation and will be the inspiration for the upcoming Superman: Legacy live action movie. The book has Superman dying thanks to Luthor and has Clark live out his final days saving the world and the future in a sense one last time. It's a great read! And speaking of Grant Morrison...
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Grant Morrison got their reference through the name of a pawn shop in Metropolis.
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Grant Morrison, fantastic writer, has worked on a lot of comics. As mentioned before Morrison worked with Frank Quitely on New X-Men but in terms of Superman, is best known for writing All-Star Superman with Quitely. Both have also worked on Batman and Robin together and equally great series if you want to see Dick Grayson as Batman try to wrangle in Damian Wayne as Robin.
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We see Lex Luthor Alex here as the final interviewee who says Superman is a menace for ruining his job and destroyed the building he worked in. Will he lose his hair and go into business? I don't know, but when Alex gets a confirmed last name, most likely Luthor, I'll take more about him.
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Later in the episode we seen screen names, LoriLemaris59 and Bibbo87 streaming videos of Superman getting his but handed to him by Task Force X. Both names are references to characters in the Superman comics.
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Lori Lemaris first appeared in Superman #129 (1959) by Bill Finger, Wayne Boring, and Stan Kaye. She and Clark met in college where she posed as a wheelchair-using student and both took interest in each other, however when they're out on dates, Lori would cut the date short because of her mermaid nature. Clark tried to propose to her, but she turned him down because both are from two different worlds and it wouldn't work out. She also knew Clark was Superman because her people could read minds but she's totally cool with keeping it a secret for him. Jimmy, in MAwS, mentioned mermaids, but I did not want to point it out until we get a Lori Lemaris reference in and lo and behold it came true! The other name is a reference to Bibbo Bibbowski one of the supporting cast for Superman.
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Bibbo Bibbowski makes his first appearance in the Adventures of Superman #428 (1987) by Marv Wolfman, Jerry Ordway, Tom Ziuko, and John Costanza. Superman arrives at the Ace O' Club's bar asking for information on Perry White's son, Jerry who was kidnapped. Bibbo, thinking Superman is just some guy in a costume punches Superman, gets his hand busted, and finds a new respect for him.
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As mentioned before Task Force X is out to capture Superman as he and Mist try to save his sister and friend, but it turns out they are more than willing get revenge on Superman for their freedom. Even though in this universe they are Task Force X, a majority of the team is made up of Superman villains so in a sense you can make an argument that this is a Superman Revenge Squad. The first use of the team name is from the silver age, in Superman #94 (1961) where the squad was a group of aliens. The Superman villains teaming up together to get revenge on Superman first appeared in the Adventures of Superman #543 (1997). Parasite (Rudy Jones), who was part of that team, shares names with a Superman villain in MAwS here.
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I think someone on the MAwS team is a fan of the X-Men arcade game cuz Livewire flies the same way Magneto does in that game.
Again very sorry for the delay in this, but if you made it this far down, be sure to check out my other posts about the easter eggs in My Adventures with Superman:
Episode 1 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
Episode 2 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
Episode 3 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
Episode 4 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
Episode 5 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
Episode 6 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
Episode 7 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here and here
Episode 9 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
Episode 10 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here
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hananono · 3 days
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ok some thoughts about the hnk ending now that ive sat with it a little
i think ultimately i am satisfied with phos' ending. theyre among people who are happy just having them around, who have no expectations or ulterior motives—just pure, unconditional friendship. no one's ever offered that to them before. and yes, one day theyll break away entirely, and one day brother will shut down, but thats ok. it doesn't need to last forever. the cycle doesn't have to repeat. the process that lead to all of the pain they were put through isnt going to be renewed.
however, where i feel like things are lacking is in regards to the side characters—pretty much every interpersonal conflict with the gems was never really resolved? like on one hand i think the ambiguity is kind of okay, since i don't think we were ever supposed to see them becoming lunarians as a unanimously happy thing (like, padparadscha is still emotionally distant from rutile, the diamonds are estranged more or less for good, and i think these were left unresolved on purpose)—but on the other hand i feel like a lot of it was just dropped, and there were some things that really should have played out on the page (i am thinking especially of welegato, ghost, and aechmea here). and while i feel like phos agreeing to pray and make them all disappear made sense from an in character perspective, it felt a bit lacking in... vindication? im not sure if thats the right word for it, but emotionally, i felt unsatisfied. aechmea just getting everything he wanted in the end felt kind of lame since he was very much set up as a villain, or at the very least a shithead. i wonder if certain plans ichikawa may have had were changed on the fly, resulting in some of these threads feeling like they were sped through or dropped entirely.
i think one of houseki no kuni's major themes is breaking cycles—and chapter 108 definitely feels like it satisfies this theme, giving us the hope that somewhere out there, these little rocks will do better than the gems, the lunarians, and humanity did. and i think with the direction the manga ended up taking, im not upset with this ending. but i also do kind of wish things had gone a bit differently in regards to a lot of the side characters' arcs, and i think if those had been given the same attention they were given in the early manga, what we could have gotten would have been really amazing. i don't have a super satisfying conclusion to this post either, unfortunately. but i enjoyed the ride regardless.
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wherewolfwasteland · 2 months
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Apollo justice + some dual destinies (ace attorney spoilers and rant !!!)
I've cleared the game a little while ago and while there was some aspects i liked,overall I was very mixed . First of all I love phoenix and his character change , it makes things interesting and I don't mind that he just goes back to himself later in the game . I also really like ema skye and how despite her talent she didn't make it into the job she wanted , it's realistic and gives her even more character growth . The soundtrack and animations were beautiful as well and the first case was one of my favourite first cases (tied with the first case of trials and tribulations)
Now for the things i didn't like (there's a lot unfortunately)
- apollo justice: first of all I won't be the first or last person to say he was a side character in his OWN GAME but that's not all that I don't like about him . First of all it really annoys me when he points out people's nervous traits every single time. I understood the first time since it was new to the player but everytime after that? Its cringe . I'm sorry but if I were a witness and the defence attorney told me that I was playing with my hands when I was nervous or something , I'd make a conscious effort to stop doing it . Uggghhh so cringe . It makes all of the witnesses look stupid af . Another thing i don't like about him is how little we actually learn about him . I like how he deals with his own trauma (pushing it away) and even in dual destinies going his own path was very interesting. But his inner monologue was very lacking in personality or anything really. Honestly it sucks because I do like him as a base character but the fandom definitely made me like him, and gave him more characterisation then those two games ever did .
Trucy : don't get me wrong , she has her great moments and she's super cute (I do love her overall) but I have some issues as well . First of all I hate the fact they made her super pale , there are no black characters in ace attorney , and even though I understand her not being black , she could have been tanned like her father. I don't wanna hear no "ace attorney is made in Japan so no black people" bullshit. This game isn't very realistic in the slightest so when people use that as an excuse for lack of diversity it annoys me so much ! And one more thing I don't like about trucy is that she is used as a panties joke wayyyyyy tooooo muccchhhhh , I'm sick of the panties !!!! Give it a resttttttttttttt . Ah I do love her lots and lots though . Okay okay moving on .
Klavier : and this is going to piss people offfff i know!! Bur he is just really really boring!! Which is so unfortunate because he had all of the makings to be great . He's in a band (that's awesome!) And he has great charisma and presence. But over the game when though so much happens to him he just brushes it all off, and not in a pushing away his trauma like apollo way either. It's always going to be harder to portray a character the player doesn't get to play since we can't hear his inner monologue (which would have been so cool) but still - I mean his best friend / band mate and his own brother both turn out to be murderers and he literally does not care in the slightest . Don't even get me started on how weird he is in aa5 . Also the fact that he was supposed to be your rival throughout the game and he really wasn't at all made going against him boring too . Don't get me wrong, going into a case I already know I'm winning , but in this game I knew I was winning if you get me . Other then the huge lost potential with him, I do think he is interesting, unfortunately mostly in fanon .
Kristoph: I mean I really really liked him as a villain I did ! But it was all too soon. This man had no real motive at the end of the day and he was gone before I even cared enough about him. He was apollos mentor and klaviers brother and he could have been given so much hype before the twist but no , first case and I'm over him . I don't even care he forged the evidence at that point . I knew he was evil. Also they should have made him go all out ! Like kidnap trucy at the end ! Go completely nuts !!! Especially since he has those 5 black locks , he could have been one of the greats .
Others : now there was other small things I liked and didn't like , overall I am happy that I played the game , I like the added characters despite their flaws and I like how they expanded their powers and stuff . I know some people don't like the fantasy elements but I like them a lot . I think it can add fun gameplay and stuff so yeah!!
Lastly here is somethings I would have done to change and improve the story (this is my opinion . I'm a meer fan with no writing experience so take this with a grain of salt)
Firstly I would have had kristoph be apollos mentor throughout the game until the last case . This way we grow attached to him as apollo but also it would give klavier someone to bounce off of . If he was going to be nice to apollo maybe he could have disliked his brother and been mean to him in the court (kristoph being mean back of course ) or they could have had that strange love hate siblings rivalry going on . It would give us a chance to really get more out of klavier. Kristoph (him manipulating apollo making us even madder at the end when we figured it out) and apollo , finding it hard to trust phoenix at first and growing to trust him later in dual destinies (until the last case where he departs the agency and yeah we all know what happens) . It could have been such great insightful character development.
Like imagine , this mentor has been by your side the whole game , helping you win ! Boosting you up (to make his brother look bad but you don't know that. Oh and also to be a better attorney than wright in a way , I like the idea of him hating phoenix and wanting to best him (so giving him the forged evidence) just not in the way it was done. I want him to really hate phoenix for phoenix and not because some guy chose phoenix over him once) anyways. This guy, you grow to trust him , even defend him against his brother even though the brother is being sweet to you, no way would your mentor be awful ! He's definitely lying . (He's not lying) and yeah the final case, he kills trucys father or he could even kill trucys father at the first case and produces forged evidence so that he gets off free !! Could be interesting and would have no effect on apollo since kristoph would be the one to forge it . Anyways either way . He kills trucys dad, forges wrights evidence , maybe even forges his own . He kills another person and also gets desperate as he realises that phoenix is onto him (he's kinda desperate but also thinks phoenix can't really get him since he's barred) , he kidnaps trucy because she has been too close to his crimes and then as apollo you are trying to solve the murder, find trucys kidnapper and discover the culprit behind the forgery all along . You slowly piece together that it was your mentor who had lied and manipulated you (apollo) this whole time and you can't believe it . (Heck klavier can't even believe it ! He knew his brother was awful but he never would suspect that ) kristoph is sent to prison , trucy is saved , phoenix is dropped of his forgery allegations , the person who got a guilty from the first case is set free ( if they decided to have kristoph produces forged evidence then) and apollo and klavier sit down. Get a drink maybe some food . And they bond over their shared trauma and hurt . Leading them to be best friends in aa5
Other thoughts :
The gameplay was great in apollo justice (not so much in dual destinies tbh) so I definitely would have kept that the same with less flashbacks , telling me what to do too much and the whole apollo telling people their nervous traits .
Next the story of trucy and apollos parents (mother especially ) was very very very very messy . Idk how to fix that jdjskskskx also it's just gone after this ?? Phoenix doesn't tell them and their mother also doesn't care about them ?? Also also another thing I want to mention ! I wish trucy didn't have the same power as apollo . I know his is stronger because of the bracelet but still . It cheapens his abilities because they aren't special at all . Like I feel that pearl and maya , even though had similar abilities were both useful in their own way but in apollos case sometimes it really seems as if trucy is better than him at his own ability idk . I would have definitely made it so she didn't have that ability.
Okay okay I'm rambling at this point ,I really am but ugh so many thoughts in my adhd brain that won't shut up (so I'm sorry if this is messy) but yeah I do want to say again I do love these characters and stuff so no hate :3 (thank you )
So yes this rant was all over the place but I hope for the most part it was legible ! Please comment below because I'd love to talk more about this but for now, rant over :D
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rawliverandgoronspice · 9 months
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TLOZ translations always seem to be a bit shitty. I still see people talk about the weird translation of the Demise monologue at the end of SkSw. I think someone said that Demise was more general with his statement, as in there will always be forces from the demon tribe fighting against the light or smth? Not specifically "us three will always fight". (I've read it a few times, but hard to remember, sorry.) (On the topic of SkSw, I kinda dislike how much it impacted theories within TLOZ, some theories are really cool, don't get me wrong. But now, even games that existed for years before suddenly are being pushed to fit with the lore presented in that game. Ganondorf being the best example: He no longer is his own character who did bad things because of his own will and actions, it's now "He did it all because an evil curse made him do it. He had no choice, he was born as a vessel for the demonic lord." The implications that "the curse of Demise" also would mainly go for the already vilified race of the Gerudo, and make their one male an evil warlord is already kinda... yeah... no. (Not to mention that there are other demon lords throughout the franchise that have nothing to do with Ganon.)
Ohh speaking of this I recently saw this post that did a good translation of that very moment, and pretty much confirms what you are mentioning anon; that it's basically a promise of that cycle coming back moreso than Demise himself coming back (especially since his actual and definitive death is a big deal in that game).
But yeah, I agree it has taken a huge space in the way the series is thought about. I pretty much completely missed that hard turn, as I couldn't play Skyward Sword when it released and wasn't super into Zelda afterward anymore (I had gotten too edgy.... 2011 was the year where I got obsessed with every horror videogame in existence basically except for Resident Evil for some reason I could never get into that series ANYWAY WAY off topic........), so coming back a few years later had me very ???? puzzled about how the theories had reconstructed themselves around Hylia and Demise and endless cycles (it's not that it wasn't a thing before, but I wouldn't say it was as much a Series Trademark as it is now).
But yeah. Ganondorf having his own motivations makes him immediately stronger as an antagonist, especially since his deal is quite complicated all things considered.
I am having a thought about how a lot of Zelda villains' motivation is a sort of rebellion against nature. I have scratched enough digital paper about Ganondorf's situation, but like... Minish Cap Vaati is also very much motivated by his refusal to remain small and whimsical and seize power instead of staying in his lane (and then he gets horny in Four Sword so, maybe let's not go there), Zant is.... Zant, Hilda in A Link Between World has been cosmically punished for trying to reject the Goddesses and create a world on its own terms --like SERIOUSLY this is HORRIFYING I feel like we don't talk enough about how utterly nightmarish of a reality that paints for Hyrule as a whole-- Girahim is devoted but fights for the side more or less destined to lose... It's interesting how Hyrule is hostile to change and anything that threatens the statut quo.
(then you have the occasional Majora and Yuga, whomst I dooon't think really fit the above category --to their full credit! and then you have Bellum, who is..... a blob...... And I don't remember enough from either the Oracles game or about Malladus to put them in either category, I need to replay those games)
Hyrule really has this frightening quality to it when you stare at it for too long: that your two only options are to either graciously submit to your assigned cosmic role, or fight it and become darkness incarnate in some way. A Link Between World showed, quite starkly, that trying to escape that binary choice is *not an option*.
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gingersnapwolves · 3 months
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Final thoughts on Mysterious Lotus Casebook~
Things I loved:
The main characters! Fang Xiaobao for character of all time. Who’s doing it like him? That ponytail should win an award for best supporting actor. Li Lianhua is obviously incredible but I’m going to hold a grudge against him for making Xiaobao sad. Di Feisheng was unexpectedly hilarious. Man comes out of a ten year recovery period and his first words are ‘I need a rematch’.
The minor characters! Princess Xiaoling was amazing. Yang Yunchun constantly simping for Shi from Baichuan court was hilarious. Shoutout to Murong Yao for being super hot. Qiao Wanmian for queen of everything. 
The villains (mostly)! Shan Gudao and Xiao Zijin being parallels because nobody was comparing you to Li Xiangyi except you (but it’s still so understandable that they would be so envious even as it doesn’t excuse their actions)! Shan Gudao not actually being secret royalty! Local man needs to just get a grip (but won’t)!
The themes! Dealing with grief and loss! Finding closure! Learning to live after a tragedy! Great job everyone, hit the showers.
The hurt/comfort! Enough said.
The wonderful trope I will choose every time: you don’t have to go along with your biological family when they’re toxic as fuck! I kept waiting for Xiaobao to be like ‘but he’s my real father, I have to do what he wants!’ but every single time Xiaobao was just like ‘wow fuck that guy, I’ve got parents who raised me and who love me and that dude fuckin’ sucks’. 1000000/10, no notes.
Things I did not love as much:
Although I don’t think JLQ is supposed to be particularly relatable, her whole motivation was like. Lady. He’s just not into you. Get a grip. Got very annoying by the end.
Most mystery shows, I like to try to solve things as clues are revealed and that was just not possible in this show. It felt like every single case ended with LLH giving a five minute monologue on stuff that there was no possible way the audience could have known, but he personally had figured out. I could barely track it even while he explained it. I’m still not sure who murdered Jin Mantang. Don’t get me wrong, the cases were fun and interesting, but Agatha Christie, they weren’t. Especially egregious towards the end, what with Li ‘I’ve deduced the entire imperial line is illegitimate based on two seconds looking at this mural which the audience hasn’t even seen’ Lianhua.
The ending didn’t thrill me. Like, it’s sad but you see it coming so you can kind of make peace with it. I even get why LLH wouldn’t let FDB even try to save him, because he didn’t want FDB to feel like he failed. But in that case, why the ambiguity? Couldn’t he have gone to his master’s grave and let them find his body or something? Just feels very rude lol.
tl;dr solid show and a lot of fun, definitely enjoyed it but don’t feel it rewiring my brain lol
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Avatar fandom on TikTok is scaring me so I am going to teach you all media literacy if it kills me. 
I steadfastly believe that the Neytiri/Quaritch/Spider trio is the most interesting and layered character development JC has going for him rn. Ya’ll not having the basic human empathy to understand Spider or Neytiri’s povs is freaking me out. 
First, Neytiri. Neytiri is someone who has lost half her family, half her clan, and the only home she’s ever known to an oppressive colonizing force. Quaritch is the physical representation of all that pain and loss. He had not only killed countless Na’vi, killed Grace, tried to destroy their connection to all of their ancestors, and is the person who destroyed her home and killed her father, he is also the person who almost killed Jake. He also in a way, represents Jake’s betrayal. We forget, but Jake did betray Neytiri. He stayed with the Omaticaya knowing what Quaritch and Parker Selfridge had planned for them, feeding them information about their home and their strengths, and she forgave him, but Na’vi mate for life and he didn’t disclose that vital information beforehand. Jake was working and spying directly for Quaritch. He represents that hurt. For her, Spider is like a ticking time bomb. He is around her kids and she can’t ever feel safe with this child, this human child of her worst enemy who has caused all of the worst things in her life, in her life and with her family. She tolerates him for her kids but that’s it. I think her mindset totally makes sense, and I really hope she’s able to see past his parentage and accept him! 
Spider is a child. He is not responsible for the actions of his parents, obviously. He has spent his entire life being raised by people that really don’t want anything to do with him. He has been basically a burden his entire life. The scientists were forced to keep him because he was too young to send to Earth, and the Sully’s were not equipped (and did not really try) to take on a human child. They are basically his family, but they don’t treat him as such. Everything that happens with Quaritch is Stockholm syndrome times 10000. And the opposite for Quaritch, which is Lima syndrome. This kid has never had an adult show him care or affection, and now he’s getting it from a weird reanimated clone of his father in a kidapping/hostage situation. Quaritch’s first move is to take Spider from torture. He says you can come with me or you can be tortured. He conditions him from the get go, that’s bad stuff here is good stuff. Even more importantly, in Spider’s eyes he saves his life from Neytiri. I would LOVE to know later if she intended to kill him (pls check out my post on my opinion on the significance of the cut on his chest) but regardless, Spider thinks she did and that Quaritch saved him. Regardless of his motives and how bad of a person he is (irredeemably sorry Quaritch girlies), Spider can’t leave him to die. It’s such a hard decision for him, but he’s a kid and a good person. One who values life like all Na’vi are taught to. And he still leaves him to go back to the Sully’s, who have not bothered to even try to be concerned about him outside of the kids. 
I’m not even gonna get too far into Quaritch, because I know there’s a lot of Quaritch stans out there now which does boggle my mind. But, as awful of a person as he is, he is a super super interesting character in this movie. In the first movie, he is a blatant representation of racism and colonialism in the worst sense, in a way that makes him a great villain but not a very layered character. He is a foil for Jake, showing us the worst of Jake in an outside antagonist. It’s easy to forget by AWOW that Jake used to have a similar mindset to Quaritch. Placing Quaritch in the body of those he fears and hates the most I think is a very fun twist. But what I really loved was his fear of Neytiri and how much that is highlighted in the film. The way he looks at her arrows is just spine chilling, and I can’t wait to see her kill him again because I can’t see it culminating any other way. 
The other thing relating to this is Spider’s fear of Neytiri. Her mistrust and fear of him had been a block in his life basically since birth. Her kids love and accept him as a brother easily, and Jake keeps him at arms length for Neytiri (which is a whole Jake issue but we can get into Jake another time). Neytiri stands between Spider and the family he’s always wanted, and him seeing her fight and just backing up in fear before she grabs him is so good, just a great culmination of all events. What I’d love to see from it is Neytiri and Spider having to come to terms with their fear of the other in order to move on and create a family unit. A son for a son, right, Quaritch gets Neteyam killed so Neytiri, Quaritch’s biggest fear, gets what he wants right now, which is Spider. 
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