#but victor is also such a good example of that extremity for love and what happens when its ripped from you.

[martyrbat]

the snow queen

prev. / pt. 3 / next

(ID below cut)

[ID: part three. We continue from where we left off:

As they continued on their journey, they were visited from above. "Such a cold, cold day to travel, wouldn't you agree? Where are you going?" asked the crow. The Batman looked at the Snow Queen before he answered, "I'm still not quite sure." He looks up at the black crow soaring over their heads before it lands on his shoulder.

The crow hopped excitedly, unable to keep its secret. "I know, I know!" exclaimed the crow. "What you're looking for is up ahead at the Ice Palace. Just wait, just wait," said the crow. "First let me tell you a story. There's a man who would do anything to save the one he loved. But now he is the one who needs saving." Growing impatient, the Batman asked, "Is this who we're looking for?" "Could be, could be. See for yourself," answered the crow. "But you'll never get inside." With the taunted warning, the crow flies away.

Before them towered the palace in all its icy splendor. Giant stalagmite columns rising up to touch the sky. Walls formed by drifted snow and window slats cut from the cold winds. A fortress of impenetrable ice. Their final destination. And well guarded! Batman and The Snow Queen stand outside the magnificent castle before being ambushed by guarding dragons. They fight ferociously against Batman and, despite his bravery and efforts, he is unable to weaken them. The Snow Queen gently lays her hand on his shoulder, making him stop and to ponder.

The Batman grew weary and unable to defeat the monsters before him. But her soft touch caused him pause. She didn't bring him all this way to lose him. There was another way...

He stands with his new icy armor. He carries a giant shield and dons a protective helmet to block the monsters' attacks before throwing the frigid spear at them. The narration continues, When he struck them, the beasts shattered, breaking into a hundred pieces. She could now safely enter the palace with her guest by her side.

END ID]

#love when there's direct parallels between bruce and the villains he stands against #the constant reminder that there is no good people or bad people. just people that are capable of doing either #harvey is the most obvious example of just unfair luck and circumstances. the ache of knowing what could of been instead #and if you believe in fate - what never would had been. doomed from the start instead of spontaneous act of tragedy #but victor is also such a good example of that extremity for love and what happens when its ripped from you. #hated the recent story where they make him abusive and controlling instead because theyre too afraid to make villains sympathetic. #but thats another post for another day lol. anyways i think one of the bats should be allowed to have a pet crow. its dramatic and funny #also a reminder of how the story started with 'a man lost in a storm and another who searched for him'... its bout to come up >:3 #c: batman tales: once upon a crime | the snow queen #crypt's panels #batman #transcrypts

[verishii]

I'm very much invested in this Hunger Games AU now and would love to hear about the others!

Good news for you, i would love to talk about the others!

Obligatory read more added as to not clog up dashes, but reminder that I'm not super well acquainted with everyone so if you have ideas of your own I'd love to hear them!!

GeminiTay:

District 7 baby and uh. holy shit. her games were Intense

Extremely underestimated before the games, not by choice as Johanna did but because she was genuinely just soft and sweet and refused to go into the games being anything less than she 100% was. She wasn't going to die a false version of herself.

So Imagine The Surprise that was when sweet Gem, a tribute who never once went to the weapon stations in training and instead looked at plants and snares, was fucking lethal.

Didn't go to the weapon stations because she already knew how to swing an axe - no, she gathered knowledge on areas she lacked. Like she assumed everyone else was doing.

There is very few moments in which the Career Districts feel like they were embarrassed. There is even fewer times the Capitol feels so thrown off about a games conclusion.

Post games she tries to remain active in her district - has a small herb garden she'll hand out, helps out with local infrastructure. If we go with Ethos in district 7 she and him regularly spar - she always wins, but it keeps them both busy.

Unfortunately, by being herself the Capitol turned her into a propaganda play. One of those "even if they look like people, the districts clearly aren't like you and I!" spiel.

Due to that she tries to distance herself from the games, partly because she doesn't want to cause trouble for any tributes and current victors but mainly because she doesn't want the attention. Being gawked at like you're a lion choosing to wear a human skin isn't fun.

GoodTimesWithScar:

District 9 and like a couple other victors in this AU, should not have won. His games were like a series of miraculous fortunate events and near misses that extremely stressed his mentor out.

He swindled almost every single tribute in his arena, and caused rifts when he didn't even mean to. Taking off with your groups supplies isn't great, but when a canon goes off and your group assumes that one of them killed him and stole their stuff? Well, that takes care of that. Imagine the remaining survivor surprise when Scar was not featured in that nights broadcast of the dead.

Charmed a whole lot of people in the Capitol through this, though. So ontop of his insane luck and people skills, he also had sponsors willing to help him out because he made them laugh.

Honestly his games were more comedy of errors than anything. He killed no one, and his final opponent died via anaphylactic shock. Dude had an allergic reaction and gave Scar the win.

Scar did not expect to win the Hunger Games, so he did not try to win the games. He made peace with his death, and decided to live out his final days in joy and luxury. He wandered the arena, messed with people for fun, created structures out of twigs and rocks and sand.

You can imagine his own surprise when he won. You can imagine the oh shit realization he had when he knew that with surviving came another arena - one he can't prance around in with no care for his own safety because it wasn't just his life on the line anymore.

Post games, he still has plenty of fans. What a wondrous example of how the odds may truly be in your favour, the Capitol says. Look at him paint, look at his cat, isn't he still so funny? So oblivious! No spacial awareness! How can he be a victor, haha!

Scar is forced to walk a tightrope that very few can see. He can't show that not killing is an option, so he's a jester. An outlier. He has forced the Capitol to forget that he's an actor with a quick mind, that the alliances he formed and then promptly broke were because of his personality instead of his knowing of what to say to get the other to agree. He is putting on the performance of a lifetime.

Grian:

District 3 and Capitol golden boy, the people love him there. In fact, Grian mainly lives at the Capitol because the constant travel between his district and there was surely becoming too tiresome for him, so might as well cut out the middleman!

Because of that most district citizens (with the exception of the career districts) see him as a traitor, meanwhile all the younger Victors are like 'Holy Shit. They can just, do that?' while the older ones are just like 'Alright what's the game plan. How Do We Prevent Another Doc, Cleo or Ren Situation.'

Game wise he won via rewiring the arena to fit his needs and creating explosions using stray scraps he could scavenge, plus the detonator mines at the cornucopia. A notable moment from his games is when he took out five people at once, three of which were careers.

His only alliance was with a boy from district 4 named Taurtis, and it was Grians own creations that killed him by accident. Coincidentally, post games he has focused more on creating then tinkering. Funny that.

Grian didn't become friends with the other victors until later - and then he was the one to pull Pearl into the group with them. It wasn't out of hatred or anything, he just felt like he couldn't connect with them and that they wouldn't want him anyways. The Capitol had declared them fundamentally different - where their prisons bars were rusted his were gilded. Grian was precious. Grian was theirs. There is a moment late one night when Grian is overlooking the city and he realizes that even if he were to die, they wouldn't let him stay dead. They would force his heart to start and make his lungs breathe through machine power and even in death he wouldn't get to belong to himself.

Xisuma and Mumbo reaching out and enveloping him into the group really helped him. The Capitol wants him so bad? Fine, he'll be their downfall. Collect their secrets and learn the weaknesses and tear it all down. Viva la revolution.

Impulse:

District 1, and one of the older victors. He didn't want to ever enter the games but volunteered, because like False he was the most fit. During his time there was less focus on the glory of the games in his district, less thought that it was an honour to participate, and more a sensibility thing. If you have the best chance to survive out of everyone here, it is your duty. If you don't then you are condemning someone else to death.

Impulse just wanted to take over his fathers gem processing company but no, he had to be talented. His games were very much bog standard hunger games, and a career win was expected. Not many people were shocked that he came out on top.

His return home was met with nods of approval and cheers. He did his duty, he brought the district more food, he saved a life - now he got to choose what to do. Mentor if he wanted, or take on his fathers business like he originally wanted - district 1 had enough mentor candidates already.

There is something terribly isolating about having everyone shrug their shoulders at the worst experience of your life. To become forgotten by the masses because the blood you shed wasn't interesting enough. To be 18 sat in a too big house with the echoes of screams in your ears, and the names of those whose life you cut short already forgotten because these children had the audacity to be mediocre.

Joe, False, Keralis and Xisuma got it - understood what he was feeling. It was little wonder why Impulse grabbed onto them so tightly.

Seeing Doc win the next year made him wonder if it was better to have the world ignore you for meeting expectations, or adore you for surpassing them. If he had the right to feel both bitter and horrified.

Watching his district over the next 23 years glorify the games and make competing in it an honour, to receive revered looks while out and have small children say they want to become just like him, it is something he can't quite describe.

No one else will, so Impulse remembers. Impulse will continue on living because twenty-three others did not have a choice, and to throw that away would be cruel. Impulse will preserve.

Joehills:

District 8, his games were Also very average.

I am going to be so honest here, i do not know enough about Joe beyond his friendship with Cleo and that he's been apart of hermitcraft for a long time to do him justice. I know he is weird. i respect that. i love hearing his parenting stories - none of this transfers to my hunger games au well. joehills community help me please.

He was Cleos mentor and immediately brought her into the gang. She Will Be Supported In These Trying Times.

Iskall:

District 5, and his games were notable in that it was an arctic tundra based arena with the only living thing and place of warmth being a massive sprawling tree in the cornucopia. It was not one of the games that went on for very long

This was, as expected, Not a great arena for him. There is something that most people overlook though - climbing a tree and climbing a wall is not that different, all you have to do is look for footholds that can bear your weight. Taking over the tree wasn't expected from him, but he did it.

Burning the tree down when it came to the final six was also not expected from him, but boy did he do that. Losing his eye was worth it, he says. In the Hunger Games you have to gamble so the odds may be in your favour, and with some gambles you lose.

Iskall has said a lot of cool things about his games, about how it was all strategy. It was not. Iskall pulled things off, went "how did i do that?", shrugged and then did it again. It is the victors best kept secret.

Keralis:

District 4, his games were a bit unexpected in that a career pact did Not form, mainly because Keralis just found the others uptight and it caused a rift. The fractured pack meant the other careers - whose plans and strategies revolved around the usual alliance until the final ten - were easier pickings.

Keralis of course made no such plans or strategies around that, and sufficiently won doing so. Post games, quite a few people thought he did it on purpose so the tougher competition would be taken out and the next few games were watched with baited breath to see if the traditional alliance would continue on, but he quite simply did not like their vibes. If he is going to spend his last days, he will not do so with those he does not enjoy.

Keralis did not get the Gem treatment purely because he was from a career district, his niceties and soft voice made no one question his lethality. The fact he has remained so is a welcome surprise, however.

With victors, there is often an unspoken sense of camaraderie. An acknowledgement that you, too, went through hell. That you, too, are a monster. You are not alone in your sins. Even with that, the most to be expected was a nod of recognition from across the room. Most victors prefer to be solitary. They may bond with victors that share their district, but otherwise go on their own. Even when you are no longer in the games, you are still in the arena, and it is better to not be attached lest you have to throw your fellows under the bus to save your own skin. He, Joe and Xisuma were the first ones to really get together and form friendships outside of their own districts.

He finds it difficult to connect with his own district after everything. He tries. He does. But the faces of his former neighbours no longer look the same, and in a career district he should have been safe but some people won't look him in the eye anymore. His fellow victors from his district should be his friends but it - it feels hollow. There is no love there.

Mumbo:

District 11, and youngest victor to ever win the hunger games ever. That alone had every older victor immediately sweeping him up and going, "alright, our kid now." Joins the group of 'never expected to survive but somehow, they did.'

Mumbo was genuinely a talented kid with a knack for gadgets, but also extremely lucky. His gangly arms and legs let him scamper and get away quickly, but also compact himself into small spaces to survive. His district gave him enough background to know how to deal with hunger, how to step lightly, and how to hide. He was like a multi-tool, a swiss army knife of survivability.

Mumbo only had two kills the entire game. One was a calculated risk, a growing desperation clawing in his chest as the numbers dwindled down that he may actually somehow survive this, and the other an act of mercy. The latter death haunts him in his dreams, even if he does not know why. He's forgotten his first kills face.

Post games he mainly tried to shut himself away, which didn't work. Being the youngest victor meant people had expectations, meant people wanted to see what made him so great. First year post games he was paraded around like a show pony, but it introduced him to most of the other victors that took him under their wing.

Mumbo mentors. There is little to no victors in 11, and he had to take his part. The first year he mentored both kids were older than he was, and died in the bloodbath. He tries his best but Mumbo is not like them and even if they accept his aid there is something in their eyes that lets Mumbo know they find him lacking.

His friends are perhaps the only lifeline he has that keeps his head above water and away from sinking completely. Mumbo was not made for this type of life, he knows. He does not have the grit for it False does, or the showmanship like Scar. He is smart, he is funny, he is kind - but he is not what they want him to be, and having his name brought up every time some poor kid gets selected for slaughter causes an ache. When he realized he was older than any of his tributes will ever be, he vomited.

Doc and Cubfan are currently discussing seeing if they can get Mumbo transferred over to district 3 - getting him out of a mentor role would do him well, and Mumbo is a certified genius. They're trying not to be hopeful though, due to district 11 being agricultural focused Mumbo would have to be caught up to speed on certain things (and he would understand it too, the audacity of being talented) so the Capitol may not consider it a worthwhile effort.

Note: The others will get put in a separate post, because i am Running Out Of Room and also this has taken me like all day LMAO. I don't watch enough Jevin, , Hypno, XB, or Beef to have any solid ideas or characterization. I'm very sorry about that, but if anyone has ideas i would love to hear!!

#i love mumbo sm and i also really like joehills but i just #i dont know how to angst em alright. im like ayyy those are some goofy guys bro !!! #hermitcraft #hermitcraft hunger games au #geminitay #goodtimeswithscar #grian #impulsesv #iskall85 #joehills #keralis #mumbo jumbo

[sleepingcup]

Specter Romance Headcanons

Characters: Specter! Victor Grantz x Reader

Game: Identity V (Halloween Story)

Genre: Fluff

You were one of the victims to Specter’s doll dealership, but you were a special case.

Instead of turning you to a doll, you became a servant to him where you have to obey every order. Of course your wish was pretty unexpected to him, working with him is one of your wishes so here you are.

You do wonder if you regret it.

But that aside you are aware of how his business works and how much souls he manage to capture. And yet your soul is the only one that he didn’t touch….yet.

However that won’t stop him from trying to persuade you to sell your soul to him, but, he has to admit that he doesn’t want you to sell your soul to him.

You were precious to him, so why would he waste his time persuading you when he has other would to capture?

If you may not noticed something from him the most when you love to play with Wick who also wants your attention.

He actually likes you, especially when you are good at resisting his offers. He does think that your personality is interesting to him. And yet he finds himself blushing in the corner blushing a lot while his dog Wick is teasing him for his feelings for you.

If your feelings for him is also stronger then he would actually be embarrassed to know that he is willing to accept your bold confession.

Dating him is something that you would consider, gentlemanly and extremely mischievous or a mixture of both when it comes up to dealing with him. His gentleness side comes from his happy side where he actually makes sure that you are okay, his mischievous side on the other hand may or may not sneak kisses on your head or hug you from behind just to scare you, or he would be both just to find a way to make you fluster.

If you want his actual lips you better make sure that you mange to caught him off guard or embarrassed him for a while before you sneak kisses.

He doesn’t mind your hugs or kisses, plus it makes him happy to know that you actually love him. Heck, he would be on cloud nine when you often pay attention to him and Wick by cuddling on a cozy place.

Each kisses and hugs you give would make him happy but keep in mind that he would try what ever he can to win you over again and again. Examples of that is Specter pinning you to the wall just to give kisses to your lips or bite your cheek to reveal a mark.

The boy may be cute but keep in mind that he would be mischievous about romancing you.

#identity v #identity v x reader #victor grantz #victor grantz x reader #postman #postman x reader

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.167 thoughts

[Feng's Backstory]

...Or Shen will win, as we all figured he would. Obviously I never really thought that Feng would win, I just thought it'd be fun if Tozuka could find a way for Feng to learn his lesson through victory rather than defeat

You won't hear a complaint from me about the real outcome, though, cus in terms of execution, I don't think we could possibly have gotten a more fitting conclusion for Shen and Feng's joint character arc, and for one simple reason: the contrast

Untruth's activation requirement is to feel fondness for the target, but Shen found that "fondness" could be achieved through appreciation of pretty small aspects or situational factors. For example, in the fight against Spoil, he was grateful that Spoil had pushed Andy far enough to become Victor, and thus was able to use Untruth against Spoil; he didn't like Spoil as a person, he just found something to like about Spoil at all. When fighting Feng in the previous loop, though, Shen couldn't even attempt to find something to like about him. He was too blinded by vengeance to try to remember any happy memories or be grateful that he'd given him a path in life; the death of Mei recontextualized every happy memory into just another part of the plot to raise up an enemy, which in turn negated Shen's Rule

But now, as if Untruth had been used on their very lives, the situation is reversed. Now, Feng openly raised Shen with the knowledge that he was the means to an end, that Shen's strength would serve Feng's goals and nothing more. Ironically, because Feng was more openly hostile toward Shen, Shen grew up to learn that Feng's hidden motive was to raise a student that's capable of standing on their own. If they'd met the same way they did before, Shen would have eventually gone from loving to hating Feng as usual, but in this world where Fuuko met Feng first and flipped his motives, Shen went from hating to loving Feng in the end

Being able to use Untruth on Feng isn't the only difference between this battle and their last, though. We were told in their last fight that Untruth would be difficult to use on Feng because of the complexity of Feng's decision-making in the heat of battle as a master martial artist, so even if Shen had been able to use it, finding a good opening to do so would have been extremely difficult. In this battle, though, Shen now knows Feng's habits from getting to know him better as a father, and was able to pinpoint the exact moment that using Untruth would have the greatest effect: when he would be solely focused on charging at Shen and returning to the ring, thus forcing him to stay still outside of it. Shen really did master Untruth immediately considering that he'd only managed to use it to stop Mui from fighting back and force Fuuko to deny his request a second ago. He even realized he could trick his opponent with an untruth just like he did to Victor 140 chapters ago

Feng's personal journey is also heavily affected by a reversal; in his case, the activation of Unfade completely changed the course of his tragedy. Originally, the tragedy of Unfade was simply its timing; Feng had already decided that pursuit of personal strength was more important than communal strength or the building of a legacy, and gained Unfade as he was lamenting that he was no longer in his prime. Unfade forced him to remain in his "accursed" state forevermore, knowing that no matter how hard he trained, his weakened body would only ever pale in comparison to his former glory. Unfade itself was merely a reminder of what he'd lost, not an ability that would make up for the deficit

This time, Feng gained Unfade at his peak (which is likely where Feng's name comes from by the way), which to both his current and previous self seemed like the ideal time for it to manifest, but in the end it only proved that his pursuit of personal greatness was flawed from the beginning. If we assume that Negator abilities are meant to teach their users some kind of lesson, Feng missed it last time, so this time it took a different approach to spell it out for him. Last time, his contemporaries died out while he stood alongside them, raising a student just like they did, but for the wrong reasons. While everyone else was planting trees for the future of their art, he was fattening chickens for himself

This time, Feng was running a very long race, watching everyone else pass him by as strangers came up behind him. He was the strongest as he always wanted, but everyone he knew was gone and replaced before he knew it. What he didn't realize, though, was that they weren't really gone: everything that they had learned had been refined and passed down to and refined by these "strangers," and if he'd taken the time to look at them, he would have seen the echoes of everyone he'd ever cared about, and maybe realized that his method was not cultivating the art at all, but stagnating it

A tree doesn't grow from a single plot of soil. Soil only holds so many nutrients, so in isolation, the tree will eventually choke itself out. A complete ecosystem is needed for even just one tree to thrive; the nutrients create leaves and fruit which attract animals, who bring with them nutrients from past meals or packed into their own bodies should they die around the tree. Everything they bring to the tree, they leave in its soil, which the tree uses to grow more branches and create more fruit to attract more animals, continuing the cycle

Feng thought he was the tree, and attempted to directly consume anyone who got close, but he was wrong. His art, Shin Hakkyoku, was the tree all along, a seed born of the previous Hakkyokuken tree, and whenever it grew a new branch, Feng made sure to cull it in the misguided assumption that this would allow the trunk to grow healthier

Perhaps that metaphor got away from me a bit, but this is all to illustrate that Feng's "man is an island" philosophy was never going to stand. Whether he's an old rotten tree or a runner standing alone on an endless track, Feng's story is about the isolation that comes from carelessness in the face of longevity

I talked about the imagery of aging in UU, but I didn't quite realize just how tragic Feng's current story really was. Feng's not just someone raging against the dying of the light, he's a bitter old man abandoned in a retirement home, watching as everyone else's grandchildren come to visit. He never even realized that he had a visitor that he was sending away this whole time because they weren't the one visitor he wanted

Now that Feng has realized that he had in fact raised a successor and not a sacrifice, it's not hard to guess that the loneliness should start to subside, and that he'll be able to start living with a focus on the future rather than a focus on himself

I said before that aging is a gift, and while that holds true, Feng's story reminds me of another adage. Building a legacy is planting a garden that you'll never get to see, but Feng is in the incredibly unique and fortunate position to potentially see his garden grow indefinitely, and that's a gift that I hope he's finally learned to cherish

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

So, I have rewatched Bia...

Some good news: I liked it way more than the first time! It's something with dcla shows, they need a rewatch to be appreciated more.

They do a lot of things right in this show and I see how much they cared and what they were trying to achieve with it. But, there big thing is that a lot is left unanswered. There's so much left to explore.

I think there's been a plan to have a third season, but due to the pandemic, it wasn't possible, so they had to wrap up everything quickly. But... they just did so weirdly!!

The Helena situation reminds me a lot about the Angie situation in S1 of Violetta. We as viewers know the truth the whole time, and we just wait for the characters to know. The difference here is that, Violetta finds out in season 1, and then is aware Angie is her aunt for the rest of the show. Watching S2 you almost forget she ever kept it a secret. But in Bia... she doesn't know until literally THE LAST TWO MINUTES. Again, I think the plan was to make a third season, and in that season they'd explore how it is now that Bia knows, plus Helena telling everyone else.

But it doesn't take away the fact that

PAULA HAS NOT FOUND OUT LUCAS WAS DRIVING!! Sure, Victor DID tell her and she didn't believe him. But if he told her again, or if anyone else told her, she'd probably believe them that time.

What was up with the last scene of Victor and Helena??

"Whatever happens, I love you" to Thiago is so odd too, if Helena wasn't gonna leave anyway

DAISY AND PIETRO STILL THINK SHE'S ANA THE ACTIVIST

Extremely bittersweet ending of Fundom...

Victor so abruptly leaving

Carmín and Alex suddenly becoming endgame in the last second??

So much else I can't remember with right now!!

With Bia, for me, I feel like there's always a buildup to "bigger" events. Bigger events that never end up happening. It feels like a lot of the time I felt like "that's it? That's all they're gonna do?"

At the same time, there's a lot of good ideas here. Bia does fix a lot of problems previous shows had, and that's good! But despite doing that, I don't feel as entertained as I am with the other shows. I've discussed before that I feel like the humor in this show is more planned. They SAY stuff that sound silly and funny, but they don't act on it. And when they act on it, it's for a video where they do a challenge, where it's planned humor, where you expect someone to get cake in their face or decorate a guitar in a silly way. And maybe this makes the show more realistic - absolutely. But... I don't know, for me, I just didn't find it as funny as previous shows.

I also think that, just because a show "fixes the problems of the previous ones" does not automatically make it "better". Sometimes, a show can be TOO perfect, and then it can almost become boring because what's there to discuss? It's weird, because, of course I don't WANT stupid decisions, but... sometimes characters need to act a little stupid for something to happen. And when they act stupid here, it's either due to a pretty reasonable reason, or not so stupid as they first find it to be, or it's solved quickly.

I also do not think social media plots are that interesting. It IS relatable, because we all have seen youtubers like the ones at Laix, for example. Youtube drama like this happens. But I just don't find social media plots as interesting. I never found the social media plots as fun in the previous shows, either. The only thing interesting is that, watching the shows in chronological order, you see how social media evolves.

With all of this said, I need to say I think a majority of the characters are really charming and fun to see. They have great chemistry with each other, and I root for almost everyone to succeed. The characters I don't like are characters you're supposed to not like, and even then, they humanize most of them so you can see why they act the way they do.

Ships wise, I'm not as invested as in previous shows, but I do find most ships cute. Binuel is the most healthy main character pairing and they are adorable. Thiana has my heart, I love their progression. Daisy and Pietro are really cute, too. I think Pixie is a lesbian, but I like the dynamic between her and Luan.

I'm sorry to say, I do not like Chiara and Guillermo. I don't know what the general thought about them are, since the Bia fandom is significantly smaller than the others, but I get uncomfortable with their age gap and I didn't really feel it between them at all.

I don't think any relationship Alex had was that fun either. Carmín and Mara should've dated each other, thank you.

So... this was how I felt about Bia after this rewatch. A lot of missed potentials that I am not sure if I could blame the writers, because I think they WANTED another season but couldn't. IF they had another season, I think all plots could have been solved, nothing would have felt rushed and they could have brought everything together in a nice knot. As I mentioned, I always waited for something bigger to happen, and then I never felt like it did. But it's still a very sweet show and I can see the love they put into it!

#sara gives bia a second chance #disney bia

[missmacfire]

Shipper Tag Game

Tagged by @4typercent Thanks You! ❤️

This got a bit long... Also some questions where a bit odd? But I tried 😄

What ship were you completely obsessed with as a teenager, but now you don't care about anymore?

Well I didn't really get into shipping until uni, was not really aware of it as a teenager. But one of my earliest ships was Grell x Sebastian and I don't really care for it anymore.

Mostly because I don't really care for Black Butler anymore. The later seasons were bad, and I'm less inclined to look over the problems that were already there from the start.

(A bit sad, there are still good concepts there 😔)

Which ship would you consider your first one?

Not sure, probably Data x Geordi? I strongly remember being obsessed with Data when I first found Star Trek.

Your first fanfic was about which couple?

This one is easier: L x Light from Death Note. (First read)

Do you remember the first couple you saw fan art of?

Absolutely no idea. But the first video edit I saw of a ship was definitely Spock x Kirk.

Have you ever gotten into ship discourse

Probably? I do feel the urge to defend my ships when someone decides they are "problematic"

Oh and I did post hate for that one ship, but I was nice and tagged it with "anti x" and started off my post with "this is anti x, if you like it please keep scrolling" really didn't want to start an argument, I just wanted to rant 😆

Did you use to have any NOTP or have one currently?

Yes I do.

Who were the last couple in the last fanfic you read?

Astarion x Gale. I'm loving Astarion x Wyll, Astarion x Gale and Astarion x Halsin at the moment 🥰 Shipping my vampire boy with all the boys.

Currently, do you have any OTPs?

So, so many.

Is there any couple that, to this day, that you are extremely mad about not getting into?

This is such an odd question, what? Why would anyone care about that? Is there something I'm not understanding?

Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they're kind of interesting?

There are ships I didn't care about in the original source, but then liked when it got a tv-show? Does that count? For example Dream x Hob and Ishamael x Lews Therin.

Do you have any ship that, in the past, would have been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

I have multiple ships with haters that say they are "problematic" but they have always had haters. 🤷‍♀️ So no?

What is your favourite crack ship?

I don't know, Nigel x Antwan was fun?

What is the couple you read the most fanfics about?

Probably still Yuri Katsuki x Victor Nikiforov

What do most of your ships have in common?

That they are a bit stupid about realizing they belong together

What do you absolutely hate in a ship?

Het-Ships where the guy just won't take no for an answer. The whole "don't give up eventually she will say yes" is such a bad trope that is way too common.

Like don't get me wrong, I love Darcy x Elizabeth. That someone says no once and then gets to know the other person better and changes their mind can be done well. But so often it is not, and it just looks like he wears her down 🤮

Tagging: @baba-wodnica @ahopefulsun @deaderthandoubledead @ramsaybaggins @idrisstorey @readingtheentrails @the-scarecrowlover @alwaysawkwardd

No pressure 🥰💕

#tag game #shipping #long post #Shipper Tag Game

[coquelicoq]

Hi! Do you mind mentioning how many 19th century french writers have you read? (And maybe what did you enjoy best about reading each of them?) Sorry if the question is too nosey! 🐰💛

hmm well so far the big ones are alexandre dumas père, victor hugo, and jules verne!

i like dumas's plots, all the intrigue, the balls-to-the-wall shit he gets away with because he makes it so fun. also eugénie danglars is one of the characters of all time, so congrats to him for creating her. and he can be really, really funny. i know i've brought this specific example up so many times you must all be sick of it by now, but i found this bitingly ironic and yet incredibly affectionate passage about albert de morcerf's inability to impress women so endearing and hilarious that i memorized it and now just say it to myself as i'm walking down the street. that shit has stood the test of time, sir. good on ya.

i love victor hugo's earnestness about social issues and i often find his sentences very beautiful. the fact that he also wrote poetry really comes across in the cadence of his prose; he's very good at establishing/reinforcing the tone of a passage just by varying sentence length and clause placement. even the 760-word louis-philippe sentence in les mis is indicative of this: in the context of the rest of the book, such a long sentence with such an extreme degree of repetitive parallel structure (which bores you) against the backdrop of the cognitive load created by holding the subject of the sentence until the very end (thereby heightening syntactic tension and forcing you to pay attention) is a fascinating and canny device. the content of the sentence (which, again, there's a lot of content in this sentence. 760 words of it) almost communicates less than the structure of the sentence does! and in tandem they imply so much that he cannot say outright (and the fact that he has to imply them rather than say them outright tells us even more things). absurdly long and painfully boring, it's a very successful example (imo) of what george saunders calls a "non-normative event", an "excess" that hugo deftly "converts [...] to [a] virtue".

my favorite thing about jules verne's writing is it is just so much easier to read for me as a non-native speaker lol. but also, i love his imagination! he says stuff all the time where i'm like, "that doesn't sound right but i don't know enough about plate tectonics (or whatever) to dispute it" but it doesn't even matter because whatever it is he will take it to its farthest possible conclusion and he will have fun doing it. i also love this character archetype he has of the supercompetent assistant who is just totally unfazed by whatever semi-mad science shit his employer is getting up to. his love for scientific inquiry and the natural world (except sperm whales, he HATES those guys) comes across on every page and it's beautiful to see.

i think what they all have in common is just complete and total commitment to the bit. none of them agree on what the bit is - for dumas it's bonkers plot, for hugo it's social commentary, for verne it's listing every single type of marine life that exists in any body of saltwater anywhere on the planet - but they sure are committed to it. you gotta respect that.

#i love your questions please never apologize for sending them! 🧡🧡 #asks #anon #literature #the count of monte cristo #les mis #alexandre dumas #victor hugo #jules verne #links

[kiefbowl]

i think people (not feminists) find reasons to hate on GoT because it's very "white lady" show about white female empowerment in that sort of culture, which can become a little white savior-y. But i personally like the books and show(s) because they use interesting metaphors to show how women gain power. Like dragons representing Daenerys' propagandized exoticism as a woman, her motherhood, and her pedigree. And how people will overlook a clearly female "messiah" for the dudes with big swords and money.

Hmmm, idk if I completely agree with what you said or even understand it all but I'll go ahead and springboard off this anon to muse a bit about the whole GoT/ASOIAF deal.

To start: I am completely neutral on what other people have to say about ASOIAF. I love those books, I think there's a lot of good stuff in there, I don't think they gotta be read. If a woman (or anyone) doesn't want to read them, totally get it. If a woman (or anyone) reads them and is like "yuck that was bad", I get it! different strokes for different folks! I am also high key critical, too, but I love to be critical. I enjoy taking apart media, whether I like it or not. I don't think there's a single thing on this planet I love unequivocally top-down. Everything has something you can raise an eyebrow at.

more under cut bc it's long....

I think a lot of people, including me, have a lot of good reasons to hate GoT. GoT was a very good adaptation for about 3 seasons, and then dropped off in quality. I'm one of the few who thinks it started getting bad in season 4, while others like to say it was good even until season 6 or whatever. idk cause I gave up on it. They made wild choices that didn't make sense, and they seemed to make choices that were just to be more shocking and violent than they needed to be. For example, the Red Wedding is already insanely brutal and shocking, but for some reason they had to write in Robb's boring love story, cutting the political intrigue of his supposed set-up with his actual wife, just to show some ass and then show a pregnant woman get stabbed in the belly. That fucking sucks so bad. That's bad adaptation, bad writing, bad tv. And that was in season 3, which I already said was still pretty good adaptation. So I got annoyed with GoT good and early, both as a lover of the books and a lover of television in general. I dropped off, but I would keep tabs on it, and delighted in the shitty fuck up it became in seasons 7&8. Still, it's infuriating to know that when it comes to the general public perceptions of some of these characters, the TV show is going to reign supreme.

Now, some feminists might be surprised at some of the female fans of ASOIAF since it's also, like, extremely brutal, violent, and full of rape. And it's true, and GRRM also has made some choices that are just blech. I hate Dany's wedding night scene with Drogo. That was a bad bad choice that hasn't aged well and never will. I guess if I had to choose that scene and a brutally violent scene, I'd choose the one we have, but honestly it would have been better if he just didn't write it. It's also such a strange choice bc in her next chapter it makes it pretty clear Drogo is rough with her going forward, so idk if the wedding scene was part editor's choice or what but it just is so uncomfortable to read. So yeah, GRRM makes some choices that I hate.

But honestly, he makes a lot choices I like. He excels at his mission, which is to write "character's in conflict with the heart." He shines there. And he's created this unbelievably detailed world and history that is really astounding. And even his exploration of misogyny and sexual violence is sometimes quite deft, it's just that it can also be clunky or oblivious a few pages later. But, he's a man, it comes as no surprise. Kinda like how Victor Hugo could write about the horrors of prostitution sympathetically and then go and be a frequent john. Men being men.

And I think ASOIAF has gotten a bit of a bad rep unfairly. Not that it doesn't deserve criticisms, cause it does, and not that women should read it or have to love it, because obviously not. But I think it has a misrepresentation that proceeds it because of 1. the show, which is just it's own mess, and 2. the popularity of calling the books "feminist" at the height of the show's popularity as a reaction to criticisms. It's not feminist, it can never be feminists: it is written by a man.

But if you enjoy fantasy, and want a long and winding series that has unbelievably detailed political intrigue (like it's crazy how the smallest actions and characters still impact the story!), with a deep lore that is surprisingly true to life (not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 different ethnic groups land in Westeros during it's history and they all matter to the culture, story, and plot?? insane I love it), and you want to be in the heads of female characters that treats their pain and suffering as real and important as best as a man could write it, well this has got some stuff for you to like. Otherwise, if you're meh on all of that and you don't want to read about sexual violence, skip it.

[perhaps-in-anotherdream]

Hi how are you? If you don’t mind please hear me out?!

I wanted to ask about Victor and MC..if you think they have physical interest in each other I am kinda new too them and it’s clear the company want to be PG but the amount of time they’ve kiss I can count on my hand lol

Do you think they are physically intimate?

Hope you stay safe and healthy ✨💍❤️🥺

Hello! I’m good, I hope you are doing great too!

Since you are new, I can probably understand why you might feel that way haha~ The train took a bit longer to leave the station, yes, but it has been burning and re-fueling with intensity to the extreme ever since. And if you’re open to spoilers, try to catch up with this train cause you’re missing out on SO MUCH~ >.<🔥💦

Physical touch is an integral part of Victor contents, it’s one of their main love languages.

Victor x MC are a couple who have a Mind Quest solely dedicated to their desire for each other and the upgrade where they both confess just how impossible it is to be rational when the person you love is right in front of you, and what a two weeks separation can do to them~ 💦💀

Up until now, we have in total 25+ dates that explicitly state a kissing action (and it includes MC’s Adam’s apple kiss + leaving

bite mark on Victor’s collarbone. Anyone familiar with the concept of “physical intimacy” would understand what that implies haha ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄ ).

Btw, I haven’t included the dates with ambiguous tones + Alternate universe dates. In which case, the number of dates with kisses will increase. I’ve also excluded the events e.g. anniversary etc.

Since January of 2019, only 2 of Victor’s ASMRs don’t have a kiss, which unfortunately global server didn’t get to experience, yet~ :<

—

However, physical intimacy doesn’t only mean “going at it” and “kisses”! It also refers to the moments that lead up to it, which express your love and passion for your partner.

Take their first kiss for example (Dazzling Date), and how it starts out. It starts with MC kissing every inch of his face first and then moving to his lips. We get to see a repetition of that in an upcoming date as well. These are actions that state just how much you treasure the person you’re with!

Intimacy also means being effortless, holding hands of your partner at all times, seeking to entwine your fingers together when they’re not in between yours, hugging them for no apparent reason, putting your arm around their waist cause he/she is “yours,” a random kiss on the cheek or eyebrows or lips just because you can! Which are the very soul of Victor contents~

We also have a running joke about how handsy Victor x MC are with each other. They are always in physical contact, be it holding hands or making a space for lying down somewhere hugging each other even if it’s not the resting hours LOL.

Anyway, these are some dates that include “spicy kisses”, which I’d recommend for you to read if you can. It would give you a more clear understanding than my words haha––

❤️ || ❤️ || ❤️ || ❤️ || ❤️ || ❤️ || ❤️ || ❤️ ||

—

Also, Victor x MC are currently the pairing to have been confirmed to live together, and they have proposed to each other!

Now, will you ever go that far in a relationship you are not perfectly content with? And that includes both emotional and physical contentment, doesn’t it? (◠‿・)

If you are open to spoilers, I’d highly recommend for you to catch up with all of Victor’s date that are currently available in global server, and especially the ones in CN because we are sadly terribly behind the schedule. I’m sure they’d answer all your questions~

And feel free to send another ask if I failed to grasp your question, or answered wrongly or you have some other curiosity! Take care! 🥺♡

#ask

[quackingwolves]

Such, Such Were the Joys- George Orwell's A Collection of Essays, Part 2

I covered my thoughts of part 1 of this essay, so this post is about the rest of the essay.

Orwell seems to be especially critical of his old boarding school for two reasons- one the financial separation between the boys whose parents paid full tuition and those whose parents paid less due to the likelihood of later scholarship, and the way Orwell was taught. 

Orwell neatly- but a bit long-windedly- sums up his feelings about schooling that the students’ ‘job was to learn exactly those things that would give an examiner the impression that you knew more than you did know, and as far as possible to avoid burdening your brain with anything else.’ In fewer words, the message is this: learn what you’ll be tested on and nothing else.

Orwell writes that history, especially, was bastardized, and I can’t say I disagree. I was taught the same history with ever-deepening layers of detail that ended up saying nothing about how anything actually happened. For example, I was first told that Thanksgiving was a celebration shared between the Native Americans and Pilgrims in the first grade, and didn’t get much more insight than that. What I had no idea of was the violence done by the colonizers on the Native Americans, just to start. History is written by the victors indeed. That’s not even touching on what things I had absolutely no knowledge of until my adulthood- such as how the Vietnam War might have been the first televised war and seen as a huge calamity, but more gay men died in New York City alone from AIDs than the number of American soldiers in that entire war (over 120,000 to not-quite 58,000, if anyone’s wondering). 

I also have no head for dates or names- the only dates I can tell you are that in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and in 1066 was the Battle of Hastings. I couldn’t tell you even now where I picked up the second fact, what country Hastings is in, or what the battle was over. Learning history for me was reading endless lists of names and dates just well enough to pass the test, and then discarding that information once the test was taken. For Orwell, it was apparently the same. He writes about the stress of ‘the exam’ and going to a ‘good’ public school. 

Then, Orwell started to thoroughly disgust me, almost to the point of gagging at the vivid picture he painted in my mind, by describing the lack of cleanliness of his school. I will ignore all of that in this reaction to the essay in order to avoid the images at all costs. But despite the overall horrible conditions regarding cleanliness, Orwell writes that he hated school for a few more reasons. Despite this, he never wrote home about his complaints. He writes that boys never want to admit any unhappiness or unpopularity, which saddens me. Orwell was away from home, in a place he hated, and he had absolutely no one to help or comfort him. He must have felt utterly alone. I know he moves on from that, escapes this horrible situation and becomes successful, but there are so many that can’t move on, that don’t escape, that are seriously scarred from the situation. I know everyone has something that happened in their past, something that bothers them deeply at times, but as I said- some don’t escape or can’t deal with the pain.

Orwell also writes of Bingo, and his and the other boys’ fear and love of her. The love was an odd one- tempered by the aforementioned fear, but also a hefty helping of intense dislike. And I really can’t blame the feeling based on Orwell’s recollections. Evidently, Bingo was extremely mercurial- the same action would, on different days, mean a beating, a laugh about how boys will be boys, or a reward for their bravery. 

A person with a temperament like Bingo’s (or, at least, Orwell’s memory of her) must have been awful. Because the outcome would be either reward or punishment- with no clue as to which it would be- any action would be a crapshoot. Everyone wants reward, no one wants punishment. Carrot and stick. But they are both held by the same person, who has control over their own actions and you don’t know what they’ll choose. Especially at a young age, when adults seem both all-knowing and unable to understand you, it’s confusing. It takes experience to predict life, and even then you can be wrong. That’s the nature of being human- you’ll make mistakes. There’s a reason there’s a saying that to err is human.

Orwell also writes about a series of lectures the teachers gave them after a rumor of homosexual activities. Orwell dubbed the lectures privately as the lecture on ‘the Temple of the Body.’ Orwell includes a line I quite liked the wording of, but not the context- ‘I have gazed anxiously into the glass, looking for the first hint of that dreaded stigma, the confession which the secret sinner writes upon his own face.’ 

How many people have looked into the mirror and wondered if anyone could see how much of a ‘failure’ they are, that somehow what they believe is inherent is also physical? I’d guess a lot. I know I’ve looked into the mirror and wondered what personality traits people could see. But the answer is ‘none.’ No physical trait will show a personality one- not crooked teeth, nor straight teeth; not a big nose nor a small one; not brown eyes nor blue nor green. They’re just traits. Traits inherited from your family, that you have nothing to do with. And when you feel that you have some personal shortcoming- no matter what it is- and you’re worried everyone who sees it will see it as if you’re wearing a sign around your neck proclaiming that shortcoming in bold letters, don’t worry. Everyone is too worried about what they think is written on their face than anyone else’s, and even then it’s impossible to see any ‘failure’ on someone physically. 

Despite all of Crossgates’ shortcomings, Orwell recalls some good memories. That’s true of any part of your life- you’re not miserable every second of every day, there are times when you’re happy. 

Funnily, Orwell writes that he loved cricket, even though he wssn’t good at it. I feel the exact same way about a certain video game- Minecraft. I love resource gathering and building, but I have notoriously died about seven different times in three couple-hour sessions on peaceful. 

Orwell also writes about the experience he had with nature and being intrigued by it even though he was never formally schooled in it and in fact actively herded away from. I underlined a particularly interesting quote: ‘This business of being out for a walk, coming across something of fascinating interest and then being dragged away from it by a yell from the master, like a god jerked onwards by the leash, is an important feature of school life, and helps to build up the conviction, so strong in many children, that the things you most want to do are always unattainable.’ This is true- nearly all children, in my experience, are curious by nature. They explore the world, ask questions, ask more questions, explore some more. Unfortunately, most adults try to discourage this accidentally. When a child asks ‘why’ repeatedly, it’s not out of an intent to be annoying, it’s out of a desire to understand. When children ask ‘obvious’ questions, they can get laughed at, which makes the child embarrassed and less likely to ask any questions in the future. 

Children’s curiosity shouldn’t be squashed at all. When they come home full of mud and holding worms excitedly, get them a bucket with dirt and wash them up before researching worm facts with them. When they chase butterflies, teach them about what you know about them. When they ask questions, answer them to the best of your ability and teach them where to look if they want to learn more. Libraries are a beautiful thing. And if you don’t know an answer, say something to the effect of: ‘I actually don’t know that. Let’s find out together!’ Not knowing something isn’t the end of the world, quite the opposite. It’s a way to open your world up a bit more. No knowledge is wasted.  

#a collection of essays #george orwell #my reads #such such were the joys

[nutdesire9]

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[batfamtv]

I was wondering if you can do a request with Finnick Odair and my oc/me (Hannah). You don’t have to use my name, but it’s Hannah if you do. So here’s some backstory. So Hannah’s father is a district 1 victor of the hunger games, her mother is a stylist and her father lived in the capital now due to district 1’s privileges. Hannah was born and raised in the capital, but was taunt by her parents to be anti hunger games, due to her father being in the games and seeingnn the horrors along with being traumatized by seeing them when she was 8. So her and finnick met while her mother was his stylist in the games. They became friends and caught feelings when they were 16. She was one of the only person who knew the truth about his “many lovers” and she was there to help him through it. They started dating when they were 19 and when they were 21, they were able to sneak Hannah back on the train with them into district 4. The capital tried to get her back, but since this was great publicity and stuff, they just left it because it wasn’t as important. Finnick proposed to her in the capital before the 75th games. She was kidnapped and toutured by the capital with Joanna and Peeta before being rescued by Gale and the others she was also tortured with the tracker jacke serum which made her extremely paranoid. So maybe you can do something where Hannah and finnick get reunited in district 13 after she was rescued.

i would pull you from the tide

finnick odair x f!reader

in between the screams and the pain, you see finnick.

you remember the first time you meet him: young, handsome boy with a playful smile. he didn’t like you at first, thinking you were just another spoilt capitolite, but you and your family were kind, making sure he was being cared for while he stayed at the capitol (snow’s orders) for his ‘clients’.

“hi finnick dear,” your mother had introduced you then, “this is my daughter, y/n. she’s your age and wanted to meet you.” finnick had eyed you from top to bottom, but didn’t say anything other than a stiff nod. you had remained there beside your mother, almost feeling hurt for his coldness, if not for the sympathy you felt for him when he emerged out of the arena.

you also remember the first time he had actually let you in: when you came by his capitol apartment to bring him the stew your parents made for dinner, and finnick was there, crying on the floor. you knew what snow was making him do, and your family have been trying hard to make sure the victors are safe and protected here in the capitol, but you can only do so much. finnick had stared at you then, and you expected him to yell at you, to flinch when you came closer, to shove you away when your arms wrapped around him. instead, he held onto you, and cried in your arms. “i hate it here,” he had mumbled against you, “i hate it, i hate it, i hate it!” and there was nothing for you to say but “i’m sorry” and “i’m here finnick, i won’t leave you alone.”

you saw him every year, yet with another set of tributes from his district. but finnick wasn’t cold to you anymore, instead sought you whenever he had free time, because you loved to hear stories about the ocean, and how one time he saw a huge whale breach the surface of the water, and you felt his youth glowing from him, and you had decided then and there that finnick odair deserves to be happy.

“you should come to district four sometimes, y/n,” he had told you enthusiastically, even though you both knew it was forbidden to travel between districts. the wishful thinking was enough though, as you watch him remember the ocean, and you could see the ocean itself in his eyes, “i know you’ll love it!”

nodding, you ran your hands through his hair, almost smelling the saltiness of the sea in him, “yeah,” you had smiled at him, “maybe i will.”

more of those years go by in your mind, but when you open your eyes, you are still somewhat trapped in time. shivering from the cold, sore from all the beatings, you can hear peeta’s cry from a couple of cells down. you also hear johanna’s voice, she’s calling out to you, wondering if you are still alive.

“y/n?” she asks. “are you there?”

“yes,” you croak, the sound gravelly and painful. you struggle to move closer to johanna’s cell and you can almost see her grinning face.

“good,” you hear her say, “finnick would kick my ass so hard if you died.”

absolutely exhausted and pained, you close your eyes, and more memories come.

you don’t remember exactly when your feelings for him changed, but when it did, it hit hard. you remember staring at finnick, and blushing whenever he caught you.

“were you looking at me, y/n?” one eyebrow raised, he tossed another sugar cube up in the air before catching it in his mouth.

blushing red, you shook your head vehemently, “no! why would i do that?”

he shrugged, “well, i am pretty attractive.”

he tossed another sugar cube, but failed to catch it. hearing your laugh, he turned to face you with a dramatic frown. you only shook your head, “sure you are,” before turning away (absolutely hoping he didn’t see your face burn bright red after you jokingly admitted to him that you did, after all, find him attractive).

he would always smile that teasing and boyish smile before sauntering toward you and making you even more flustered. you remember one night when it was really bad for him, limping towards his apartment because he was hurt by one of his clients, and you had fussed over him, worry etched on your face. you remember him crying against you as you held him, and him whispering to you that you kept him sane. you had fallen asleep like that, arms around finnick odair, silently hoping you could do more to protect him from this life. 

finnick odair had loved you then, maybe way before then, but he didn’t tell you yet.

and perhaps, one of the reasons why he was so reluctant to tell you, and everyone else about what he felt, was because he knew the president would set his eyes on you. and finnick didn’t like that.

you remember the smile on finnick’s face, so so bright and beautiful, when he saw you get out of the train in district four. your parents snuck you out of the capitol to surprise him, and he was both worried and exhilarated. you also remember how nice it was in his district, especially that one night when you both walked by the shore at night under the full moon, when he had kissed your lips so softly as though he was scared to break you. you remember the warmth in your chest that exploded throughout your body when you threw your arms around him and kissed him back.

when you open your eyes again, it’s another day. you’re sure that you’re awake for most of the time, when they beat you up and submerge you under the water, but you don’t remember any of it. something in your mind tells you that you may have pushed those memories away, locked them deep down and all you can remember is finnick, finnick, finnick.

one of the worst days of your life was when he was reaped for the quarter quell. your family had been contacted by plutarch heavensbee immediately after, and you remember how plutarch silently apologized to you that finnick got reaped, and you made him promise to get finnick alive.

“katniss everdeen is our priority.”

“then make him second,” you pleaded, tears threatening to leave your eyes, “please.”

plutarch had nodded grimly, and you promised to yourself that you would do anything it takes to keep finnick alive.

the night before the games, he brought you to the rooftop. you were scared, for him, for the rebellion, for everything. you were scared that everything was going to change.

“not all change is bad,” finnick reassured you as he took both of your hands in his. “for example,” he smiled cheekily, biting his lower lip, “when this is over, we can get married.”

“what?” your eyes widened at his statement. he pulled out a ring, something so simple and yet beautiful (and resembled the one you were sure you saw at a shop while in district four).

“when there are no more games,” he smiled as he slid the ring to your ring finger, “when can get married. build a cottage by the sea.”

you admired the ring on your finger, overwhelmed by the proclamation and enticed by the thought of waking up next to finnick odair in your own little seaside cottage. then you threw your arms around him, pressing your lips on his with a smile.

“this is why you need to win,” you whispered against his lips.

finnick nodded, “this is why i need to win.”

the next time you’re conscious, you can hear peeta’s screams again. you’re too tired to move, limbs too sore to use and so you just lay there. as peeta’s screams for katniss faded into the background, you hear finnick’s voice.

finnick screaming your name.

you remember watching him run aimlessly through the forest, the sound of your voice calling him. “y/n! y/n!”

katniss tried to tell him that the voices are from jabberjays, they weren’t real. but finnick was inconsolable, insisting that jabberjays copy sounds from the source.

“please, let me go!” he had yelled at katniss. “they got her, they got y/n!”

he was panicked, crying for you, and you couldn’t do anything but watch as it went on for an hour. you wanted to console him right then and there, to hold him and reassure him that you’re fine, but you weren’t able to.

you didn’t want to open your eyes, but you hear his voice again. finnick’s not screaming your name, but he is whispering it. something warm covers your hand, and you almost flinch if not for the familiarity of it. when you do open your eyes, you are met by a bright light, almost harsh, but most of all--

“finnick,” you whisper, and your voice is hoarse.

finnick exhales when he looks into your eyes and sees that you’re really here, you’re alive. he cups your hand in his, pressing kisses on it as he tries to keep his tears from falling. “y/n, how are you feeling?”

you don’t know what to tell him. confused as to where you are. tired and sore. relieved to see that he’s here in front of you. in love.

despite all of this, you can only think of one thing. the one thing you’ve always felt whenever you look into finnick odair’s eyes.

“happy.”

finnick smiles boyishly, as he look down, clearly flustered. it takes someone special to make him flustered like that, and it’s always been you.

he reaches over to plant a gentle kiss on your temple, nose, cheek, and then lips. “me too.”

#batfamtv #hunger games #hunger games imagine #thg imagine #finnick odair #finnick odair x reader #finnick odair imagine

[kindaeccentric]

When I was writing my university bachelor's degree thesis (that I'm still to defend) about Penny Dreadful as a modern adaptation of Frankenstein I noticed how the original novel's homoeroticism is realized by the series in an interesting way.

In the way he is presented, it seems to me that Victor secretly desires men, but thinks that only through creating a perfect one by himself he's allowed to touch other man's skin. His endeavour to pierce the veil between life and death is an excuse, since Victor from the series grew up lonely after the death of his mother and he searches for companionship, for someone who would love him unconditionally, like his mother used to. He believes he can find such love only in a person he creates himself, brings from the dead, and who would see him as his only friend, calm and obedient. Yet his first instinct is to make a man, not a woman, and a handsome man at that.

I can imagine both Rory Kinnear and Alex Price are not everybody's cup of tea (I do find them attractive, they are quite charismatic), but the way the original Creature and Proteus are shown makes them attractive. Proteus we see through Victor's eyes, when he is tending to his body before its even reanimated, when he sketches him (a sure sign of affection) and when he teaches him how to eat in a way that becomes seductive, because of how the camera lingers on his lips and then, in a closeup, on his fingers running down his long throat, immediately bringing to mind erotic imagery. Some may argue that Victor tries to emulate the relationship between his mother and himself taking the parental role and projecting onto Proteus the role of his childhood self, and as much as it is partially true, their relationship bears these marks of hidden desire on Victor's part from the start. The image at the end of the first episode when Proteus is born shows Victor trembling, teary-eyed, looking at the body, a torn and stitched back together, but human body, of a naked man. He's afraid, but not necessarily of the man, but of finally getting what he wanted, it's a fear resulting from excitement. Then the man is touching his face tenderly and Victor, still trembling, cannot stop himself from a little smile. Their faces are softly illuminated by the orange light of the gas lamp, creating an intimate atmosphere of a warm bedroom. Victor practically gasps hearing his own name smoken by Proteus. I doubt all of it was intentional in the way I read it, but it doesn't change the fact that the final scene can be easily interpreted this way.

Then the original Creature, with the violence surrounding his return, presents him as highly masculine, smart, powerful, a direct opposite to the delicate, clueless Proteus Victor could easily form into whatever he wanted. The Creature throughout the entire series is perceived as ugly by some and easily tolerated by others, making his ugliness purely subjective, since, despite his small deformities he remains strangely alluring with his gothic qualities (black long hair, black lips, white skin, yellow eyes, proportional features) of a dark brooding gentleman. With blood on his face he becomes vampire-like (vampires always a symbol of hidden desires and 'depraved' sexuality, the Creature and Victor becoming a mirror image of Vanessa and vampire Mina, both Creature's and Mina's monstrosity an indirect result of Victor's and Vanessa's desire towards having a same-sex companion). The Creature touches Victor's face, a callback to Proteus doing it, but the Creature is not gentle, he smears blood all over Victor's face (blood in vampire narratives was always a symbol for other bodily fluids, that's why it seems so sexy, it also gained another meaning in the 80s, due to the HIV epidemic, which no filmmaker can shake off if they tried, I could discuss it more with The Lost Boys, but no time for that right now).

The dynamic between Victor and the Creature is a reversal of Victor's budding relationship with Proteus, experience winning over innocence. Victor is under another man's rule, and it terrifies him, because it would force him into a position of having to admit his attraction, whereas as the one in control he could have still easily deny it. The Creature, with all his attributes, symbolizes carnal love, he's all 'body', where Proteus was virginal, pious love (to an extent). In one of the scenes where we see Proteus he looks up into the skylight at Victor's apartment and appears angelic, as if in a halo of white light.

It's revealed Victor never had a woman, and the series wants the viewer to believe it's because of his awkwardness and passion for science that consumed him, but his dedication to creating himself male companions instead of searching for a living female one is exactly what makes him seem more queer coded.

It's clear that the lack of paternal figure results in Victor quickly becoming close with older men he encounters (Sir Malcolm, Van Helsing), but it also puts him into a position where he's constantly surrounded by men, with whom he feels more at ease, and is intimidated by women. The rivalry between him and Ethan is that of siblings, until the moment when Ethan teaches him how to shoot a gun. It might be a stretch (it is a bit of a stretch, I admit), but a gun often, especially in horror, alongside a knife, represents manhood and masculine power. Victor allows Ethan to touch him and encourages him to show off with the gun, which is a scene all too familiar from many other movies where the role of Victor is reserved for a woman and the interaction is flirtatious (can't pull examples out of thin air, but if you saw over 1400 movies like me you know I'm not lying). All this adds to the general image of Victor.

The Creature and Victor, when they are on a walk, have a very revealing conversation in which the Creature points out how quick Victor was to grow attached to his more perfect man, and Victor doesn't deny it, he admits that he did in fact feel affection towards Proteus, although the meaning of it as the scorned past partner expressing jealousy over the love he didn't get while someone else did is largely subtext. When the Creature says that he's lonely, Victor answers 'I cannot love you' (paraphrase, because I can't find the exact quote right now) and the Creature, disillusioned, mocks him, 'I do not want what you cannot give' suggesting that Victor, by making himself a meek obedient man, is selfish, cruel, manipulating, and a coward, therefore could not have loved Proteus truly. Then again, Victor cannot bring himself to love his original Creature, because he's not the ideal man he envisioned and by then the Creature being too aware of his flaws of character. The Creature/Caliban/John Clare knows that Victor is 'monstrous', not just because he's someone who desecrates dead bodies, plays God and abandons his creation, but because of his queer desire. It's important that in the case of Penny Dreadful 'monstrosity' signifies many different things, literal (being a vampire werewolf, witch, and so on), metaphorical (bad deeds, like letting your son die a horrible death, cheating, killing etc.) and wholy subjective, merely condemned by ignorant society (Sembene's blackness, Brona's sex work, Lily's want to be equal or greater than men, Vanessa's want for sexual freedom, the Creature's ugliness, Angelique being transgender and other cases), so it's NOT that much of a stretch this time.

We also have the whole problem with Lily. Victor is so attached to Lily (who takes up both Elizabeth's and creature's bride parts in the novel) because he believes that only by possessing a good woman he'll be redeemed for his 'sinful' desires, but he's foolish to think that. This belief reduces a woman to a semi-maternal, semi-virginal angelic ideal with no sexual urges or agency, like virgin Mary. Lily is a true replacement for Victor's mother, and his imagined redemption. As long as she's similar to Proteus, in that she's not sexual, and pure like an angel. Yet Lily is not a woman in that sense. She is another of Victor's creatures, so she partially also takes over the role of the original Creature from the novel, a male. She's not an ideal of a Victorian obedient wife, she has power, or tries to have it, but power in the context of patriarchal society is masculine by nature. The moment she drops her pretenses of a weak delicate wife-like girl Victor does not want her like this. He doesn't want a woman that is sexually liberated, because he doesn't like women in this way, and yet, by being similar to the first Creature (from Victor's perspective, from hers John Clare is similar to Victor-a man, I could delve into Brona's sexuality, but later, this thing is already way longer than I intended) she's 'the man' he wanted.

There is also Henry. Henry Jekyll takes the role of his namesake in the novel, Henry Clerval, Victor's closest friend, and a character most often cited to have homoerotic tension with Victor. It's true that some of the eroticism might be accidental, stemming from the prevalence of homosocial interactions in 'Frankenstein' which in turn is a result of misogynistic nature of 19th century Genevian society and in-novel universe reflecting it, but like I mentioned before, it still feeds into the queer reading of the text and translates beautifully into Jekyll and Victor being both extremely misogynistic towards Lily and their mutual homoerotic tension. In the scenes where Henry purposes his plan to Victor he practically seductively purrs it into his ear, Lily becomes merely a female buffer that allows for that interaction, a female presence which is an excuse for male closeness (here I have a couple of examples actually: Dead Ringers, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Scream (in a roundabout way, through murder) and a couple others, but that deserves its own article). I won't even mention more references to the novel, because that's a lot already.

Penny Dreadful, although I believe largely unintentionally, expands on what is already there through the changes it introduces in relation to the novel's plot. I have nothing else smart to say, I just think it's worth considering.

*I use the word 'queer', because that's the umbrella term we use in academic writing for years now and even our lgbt+ group at university is called 'queer', so don't come at me with stupid takes

#Penny Dreadful #queer readings #Frankenstein #Victor Frankenstein #lily frankenstein

[detectivemarvelingcomics]

Could you do some hcs for dating the teen titans?

Yes I can!! I just got HBO Max so I’ve been binging both the animated and the live action series haha 😂 Thank you so much for being my first request!

Also I’m guessing you’re referring to the original teen titans, so if you want the new teen titans just shoot me another request!

Dating the Teen Titans Would Include...

No Specified AU

TW: Language

Genre: Fluff

[DC Masterlist]

Word Count: 2.0K (About 0.2K per Titan)

Dick Grayson

You must have an insane amount of patience, truly, to be able to date Dick Grayson

If the joke book he probably carries around isn’t enough, I would’ve been certain that the ego would drive you away but nope you’re still here

And that’s how you both knew that it was true fucking love you’re both inseparable and the Titans know it.

To put things simply... he loves you and the Titans fear you.

While you’re both somewhat easygoing and hospitable, one would do well not to piss off one or the other because you both come as a package deal and you can kick ass when necessary you just choose not to embarrass Dick like that because you could totally outmatch him.

Don’t ask him that though he’d insist that he’d win.

Best not bring up the first time you met or else the Titans would never let him live it down

But in all seriousness, I see the relationship as rather lighthearted and enjoyable, maybe a bit spontaneous too. Want to go to the beach? Done. Want to kick some ass in Gotham? For sure. It’s like a match made in heaven.

Not to mention that the Titans rather look up to you, which is a definite plus. Not just anyone can date the Dick Grayson.

Wally West

As opposed to popular opinion... I’d think that this is a rather slow relationship. 

Speedsters are more than just familiar with how life just flashes by so I think Wally would like to enjoy the relationship at a slower pace, he wants it to last as long as possible.

With that said, you’re both menaces. His speed combined with your cleverness? No one is safe and the Titans know it.

The best moment of your relationship, although this is debatable, was when you and Wally successfully turned the Titan tower into an all-out prank minefield. Trash cans were covered with plastic, buckets of water places on doorways, even wardrobes were switched.

And all done in ten seconds, impressive. Nothing quite like starting a war in the Tower then grabbing burgers after, right?

Kind of cheesy but I can see you both having frequent movie nights that differ in genre according to month. You both probably rotate on who chooses the movie too.

Overall I think you both have a lot of fun together, if I were to compare the “vibes” to something, I would say a summer relationship (that obviously lasts longer than just a summer) where everything is just living life as it goes

Nah because like I said before you guys don’t want to rush things, and you’re always there to remind Wally to just slow down every now and then.

I should probably mention that this is a competitive relationship too, before I go, not everything’s a competition but everything’s a competition, you know? It’s a shame that the Titans often get caught in the cross fire though-

Donna Troy

Oh this one’s fun. Donna’s new to this whole “rest of the world” stuff but luckily she has a wonderful partner who’s willing to teach her everything.

A lot of the relationship consists of you explaining things, but it’s kind of endearing despite Donna’s headstrong attitude towards anything

But Donna is also the kind to be open to learning new things, and you’re open to trying new things. It works like clockwork, you’re both young and willing.

Now these “things” can range from baking cookies to extreme mountain climbing so be prepared for anything in this relationship.

Overall I think the Titans see you both as a really cute relationship, one that anyone could be slightly envious of and one that they’re glad that exists

But despite this loving relationship I think you’d both be absolute machines in a battle, I think one thing that is important to Donna is ultimately respect for each other’s abilities, having grown up on Themyscira and all, and maybe that one battle where you absolutely demolished the enemy was when she really caught interest.

Or not. It could’ve also been when you mistakenly ran into one of the glass walls in the tower and she developed a crush over you while you mumbled a series of curses.

This relationship is strongly built on loyalty, so I think you both would be describes as a pair of ride-or-dies who typically tend to lean towards the latter, especially when trying the more extreme things that Donna asked you about.

But overall I think it’s a really sweet relationship with few bumps, they’re still there but I mean that you’re both good at working through them.

Victor Stone

I feel like this relationship is very classical high school romance, you know?

Like walking to class together, holding each other’s books, stuff like that.

But on the other hand I feel like you’re both a very fun couple to be around, like you know how when you’re with some couples it feels like you’re third wheeling? Not these two. You feel like you’re part of the crew

You guys probably switch between fun couple and parent couple every now and then, I can see the Titans relying on both of you a lot for different things.

You and Victor are definitely the type to play games to determine who buys food, like things as simple as rock-paper-scissors to things as complicated as 8-Ball, and so far you’ve been winning at a ratio of 3:1.

Definitely a very trusting relationship, I feel like you both reach that comfortable stage faster than most, but it feels right, you know? I think you’d both understand that relationships go both ways.

There are probably times where you’re both in a teasing mode too, I think, but they’re mostly light hearted pranks, definitely not anything in the realm of what Wally would do

I kinda want to say that you’re a very active couple in that you both like to go to the gym together and idk take hikes together but at the same time I also want to say that you’re both inclined to stay home and play video games so I guess it’s like a 50/50

I can also see Victor being the type to do small acts of generosity as opposed to like buying gifts to show his appreciation for you, like I feel like he’s more inclined to help you with small tasks when he knows you need it, you know? Overall very cute, hehe

Raven (Rachel Roth)

Now this one’s interesting, you and Raven are certainly an interesting duo, but the most interesting thing would likely be how you met. Let’s say it involved a blood sacrifice, a bat, and a very old bicycle.

No you weren’t trying to summon her someone else was you just ended up being at the wrong place at the wrong time anyway moving on

You’re both the perfect example of opposites attract for more reasons than just one. 

But what makes it better is that you’re always open and willing to learn and understand many of the things that Raven does and she appreciates it a lot

It goes both ways also! She’s always willing to do whatever you ask her to and you both end up having at least some fun even if it happens to be something she isn’t used to.

Random, but I think a favorite pass time for both of you is simply sitting in her room and reading books, weird, I know, but like there’s something inherently romantic about either of you excitedly showing the other a certain passage you both enjoyed or telling them about your book, it’s just so sweet.

She definitely has a personal bias towards you, obviously, Garfield can say a joke and she’d stare at him with a straight face but you could say the exact same joke probably right after him and she would crack a smile and she probably does that on purpose but it still feels nice

You also may or may not have caught on to her incantations and now you may or may not be able to perform these spells but you haven’t tried because you wouldn’t know how to but it’s just telling of how much time you spent together.

I only mention this because there was an event in which you corrected her incantation and suddenly hell fire appeared which she had to figure out how to get rid of and since then you both mutually agreed to both (a) not tell the Titans and (b) not say incantations out loud

Koriand’r (Starfire)

STOP YOU GUYS ARE SO CUTE anyway you’re definitely both kinds to see beauty in everything

Maybe this relationship is rather dangerous considering you’re both curious people and Kori happens to be able to shoot lasers out of her eyes so maybe you should both be just a little more careful

You’re both probably very doting on both each other and the rest of the Titans and although you’re both well intentioned it has become a case of “oh no there’s two of them” but in like a teasing way

I feel like Kori is very open to sharing a lot of aspects about her culture with you, and you have always found Tamaran culture to be beautiful so it fits

Likewise you share a lot of things about your culture too and you both bond over finding ways to combine them together to make a nice fusion of understandings and it’s all a sweet combination

See a big thing about this relationship if that you both put your everything into it, it is an equal push and equal pull kind of thing where you both love each other with everything that you have and it creates this unbreakable bond that even non-supers have come to acknowledge

Though this also results in the both of you frequently being in your own world even when others are around and that’s something you both promised to fix but yeah...

It’s coming around, don’t worry. You’re both making active efforts but sometimes it just slips your mind and whoops

Now this should go without saying but this trust often leads to powerful combinations when in missions, you’re both fiercely loyal to each other and this often plays in overall favor so all is well

Garfield Logan

This is a fun relationship, definitely, and one that’s also very fulfilling.

You’re both definitely an outdoorsy couple, things like hikes, nature walks (which I guess is also a hike but I’ve been told otherwise), trips to the zoo, etc. but this all just builds the relationship

Also a very sweet one! You both have an unlimited amount of energy and love that you’re often expending said energy volunteering somewhere and helping others out

But when it boils down you’re both also very touchy, I think, you both like being together at all times and cuddles are a frequent occurrence but at the will of the other Titans you both do this in privacy

I also feel like this sweetness can also “flip,” so to say. As in if someone messes with either of you in the relationship the other will come running regardless of whether or not they could do anything about it.

To put it short, you both have each other’s back all the time. Literally, like I said you’re both inseparable. 

Despite these I think the relationship would actually be rather lowkey, I don’t think he would be the type to constantly showcase the relationship. I think he’d mention it like once to get it out there but after that he wouldn’t flaunt you around.

I just think that Garfield, even with his usual out and about behavior, is rather modest when it comes to this topic because you’re more to him than just someone to show off, you’re someone who’s important to him and overall he just wants you to be comfortable

If there’s one flaw in this relationship it’s that when you have arguments it’s just horrible, but also rather comedic. Neither of you talk to the other but you both end up still being in the same room together subconsciously. It’s kind of awkward but the coincidences are what makes the other Titans laugh and honestly you both make up within, like, a day or something.

#dc #dc x reader #dc headcanons #teen titans #teen titans x reader #teen titans headcanons #dc scenarios #teen titans scenarios #my writings #requests

[give-your-name-away]

Hunger Games Name Analysis

 I remember when I was in middle school I was obsessed with the Hunger Games. I only ever had the first book, but I read it over and over again until it's pages were completely warned out. I didn't care about the romance, but I was hooked by everything else. The games were what drew me in, but the world building is what got me hooked. I could tell very easily how different all the districts were and how the capitol kept them under control. I could see how cruel the country was, but everyone lived with it because they had no other choice. It was fascinating to me.

The Hunger Games is actually what started my love for names in the first place, and there is a very good reason for it. Suzanne Collins was very clever with how she used names in her world building and it shows. It helps fleshes out her world and her districts in a very fascinating and unique way.

It took me a while to put my finger on how exactly she does this, but once I did I found it even more fascinating. The key is she didn't look at her world as a monolith. This sounds obvious, but when it comes to the small things like names it's easy to overlook. Collins did not make this mistake, and in turn each district has their own rules for naming their children.

(If you want to read this on AO3 then the link is here https://archiveofourown.org/works/32092420)

District 12: This is one of the districts we see the most of, as it's the home of the main character, Katniss. Some of the names used are Katniss, Primrose, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch, Lucy Grey, Leevy, Posy, and Thom. These are some of the more down to earth names in the universe, and most of them seem familiar, if not a little altered. Peeta seems to be a variant of Peter, Haymitch a variant of Hamish. Leevy could either be decended from Levi or Livy. The names evolved from modern names, which makes sense considering how long in the future it is. In District 12 you either name your children already known names, or names based on nature. (Katniss, Gale, Primrose, Posy, ect) and even some of the natural names change through time. One example is Thom instead of Thorn, or it could be a variation of Thomas.

The thing that is interesting about district twelve is people aren't getting 'creative' with spellings or variants, at least not on purpose. They're naming their children off of things they already know, which is what happened before people had access to things like internet or other cultures to mingle with. District 12 is very isolated, so they use names they already know, names that are familiar even to us. People are also struggling to get by, so they don’t spend much time getting creative.

Capital: The next location we go to is the Capital, and we spend quite a long time there. Some of the names we run into are Coriolanus, Effie, Cinna, Diana, Tigris, Arachne, Seneca, Caesar, Messalla, Octavia, Venia, Urban, and Portia. Most English speakers have somewhat of a familiarity with these names, though more from stories than from people in real life. There seem to be three different categories of names. Names that are descended from Greek names like Effie, Arachne, Portia, Caesar, and Cinna are good examples. There are Roman names like Coriolanus, Diana, Seneca, and Octavia are good examples.

Finally there are the noun names, or noun variant names. They’re not nearly as common it seems, but Tigris and Urban are good examples. They break the rule of exclusively Roman and Greek names which is a good way not to make the Capitol seem like a monolith.

District One: District One names are extremely distinted, and it’s hard not to notice how odd they seem from the beginning, when Katniss mentioned that the district one female was named Glimmer. Other names include Velvereen, Facet, Augustus, Glimmer, Marvel, Cashmere, and Gloss. We don’t have a wide variety of names but the ones we do have are very telling.

There are fabric names like Cashmere, Facet and velvereen, a variant of velveteen. Adjective names are pretty common too. These seem odd to us, but I find them akin to virtue names.

There is an oddball name there, Augustus. It is a Roman name that seems to fit in with the capitol. This could be reminiscent of name trends changing quickly in such an affluent district as he was the victor in the 67th hunger games, or it could just show the closeness between Distinct One and the Capital, to the point that even the baby names are influenced.

District Two: District two names are also distinct, but it’s harder to place exactly why. Some of them are Cato, Clove, Brutus, Enobaria, Lyme, Cray, Romulus, Pugnax, Sejanus, Marcus and Sabyn. As we can clearly see, most of these are Roman. Cato, Brutus, Enobaria, Romulus, Pugnax, Sejanus, and Marcus. Unlike the capital there don’t seem to be any Greek names.

However there are some odd names in the mix. Clove, Lyme, Cray, and Sabyn. They are quite hard to place. Some are real names, but their meanings don’t fit with the district, so I believe Suzanne Collins took the same route as she did in District three (More information below) where she took career related words and altered them enough just to be unrecognizable. After all District two’s official purpose is masonry. 

Clove is the present tense of the term Cleave. Lyme is most likely a variant on the word Lye, as the only other thing I could find was the disease, which seems unlikely. Cray could either be the English name that already exists, or a variant of clay. 

Sabyn is a bit harder to place, but it seems to be a variant of Sabine, which was a term for people who lived in Rome. It’s not of Roman origin, but it still fits.

District Three: There are only four names to draw from in district three. Beetee, Wiress, Circ, and Teslee. The pattern here is very easy to decipher. They seem to be district career related names, but changed somewhat. Unlike district one names that name their children directly after verbs and nouns very purposefully, district three names are slightly more subtle.

Beetee seems to be based off of the brand name BT. Wiress is clearly based off of Wireless. Circ is a shortened version of Circuit, and Teslee seems to be a variant on Tesla. It’s unlikely that the brands Tesla and BT are still around. They probably just morphed into the language, with the citizens of district three not knowing where they came from, similar to how most people don’t know where names like ‘Mary’ or ‘Zoe’ came from. I’m unsure if Circ and Wiress follow this same pattern, as circuits and wireless seem like they should still exist in the world, but it doesn’t seem purposeful.

District four: District four has much more interesting naming conventions with the names of Mags, Finnick, Annie, Coral, and Mizzen. They seem a little odd, but downright normal. 

Coral and Mizzen seem to be the only names that are fishing or water related. Mizzen is the mast in front of a ship's main mast, and Coral is coral. Even then Coral is a perfectly common name in English, so these conventions don’t seem too related to the career of district four.

However Mags is a variant of Margaret, which means pearl. Finnick means marshland, which is a type of wetlands.

Annie does not have a water related name, simply meaning grace. However the existence of both the names Annie and Mags seems to show that it’s common for district four to use nicknames as full names. That itself is not uncommon with how much time had passed, but it is interesting to point out.

District five: While Foxface is from this district ‘Foxface’ is not her real name, so she doesn’t count. There are theories about her real name, but nothing canonical, so I’m not including her. This is a shame because we only have three names to work with. Hy, Sol, and Porter.

The names are very short compared to the other districts. However they also directly relate to the district’s industry of power. While I find this debatable myself Hy seems to be related to Hydraulic power. A little more obvious is Sol being related to Solar power. Porter seems slightly different, named after a porter cable instead of a direct power source.

There isn’t a lot known about this district, so it’s hard to analyze much further.

District Six: Everything about district six is vague. Even it’s industry, which is transportation, isn’t very specific, and there isn’t much to analyze. The names we have are Otto, Ginnee, and Titus. 

Names seem to be unrelated to the industry, similar to twelve. Furthermore, similar to twelve the names seem to be alterations on well known names. Otto is just Otto, but Ginnee is a variant on Ginny.

Titus is a bit more complicated. It is a Roman name, like the capitol and the second district. This could mean a lot of things. I find it rather likely that do to their purpose as transportation they have the ability to leave, even if only occasionally, and unlike other districts can absorb certain facets of culture like baby names from outside their district. Of course with such a small sample size this is just a theory.

District Seven: District seven is the lumber district, and the names appear to be very reflective of that, though not in the obvious way. If someone were to think of lumber inspired names they’d probably come up with things like Willow, Oak, Leaf, and Ash, or something obvious. Instead we have Treech, Lamina, Johanna, and Blight.

You really have to look into the meanings, but once you do the implications become clear. Treech is a variant on the word tree. Lamina is the blade of a leaf. Blight is a disease that commonly affects trees and plants, which I find it odd to name your kid after, but it still fits.

Johanna isn’t related to trees in any way, instead it is a common English name. It makes sense for English names to still exist, considering that it takes place in what used to be America. Plus it isn’t the only example of this, as Annie from district four’s name also works like this.

District Eight: We actually have a good sample size from district eight, the district in charge of textiles, despite it being a rather minor district in the story. Bonnie, Bobbin, Cecelia, Woof, Twill, Paylor, and Wovey.

As we see with Bonnie, Cecelia, and Paylor the default names seem to be of European origin rather than Roman origin the further the districts are from the capitol. While I don’t believe this is purposeful I don’t believe it’s entirely accidental. With how far they are from the capitol it makes sense that there wouldn’t be much influence, but on the other hand it also makes sense that the little influence there is wouldn’t be purposefully emulated due to the hatred of the capitol.

The other names seem to be industry related as well. Bobbin is a small tool used in a sewing machine. Woof are the crosswise threads in woven fabric. Twill is a type of fabric weave, and Wovey is from the word wove, the past tense of weave.

Bonnie could either be a normal English name, or a variant of the name Bobbin. Variant names are extremely common, and it’s quite natural that they could develop. 

District Nine: District nine is the district of grain, and along with ten we know the least about these two districts. We only have two names to draw from, Panlo and Sheaf, but they are both related to grain.

Sheaf is related directly, as sheaf is the term for when grain is tied together. Panlo is indirectly related, as it is based on the latin word for bread, panis.

District Ten: District ten is the livestock district, but their names don’t seem as related to their industry as the others are. Though we only have three data points to draw from. Brandy, Dalton, and Tanner.

Tanner seems to be the only one directly related to livestock, as Tanner is a career of tanning animal hides. 

Brandy is a type of alcoholic drink, and it’s also already a name. Same as Dalton, which means settlement in the valley.

Unlike the other districts all three of these names are actual names used in modern day life. And unlike other districts with common English names these have a distinctly more modern feel to them.

District Eleven: District eleven names are a personal favorite of mine, though I may be slightly biased because of Rue, my favorite character. We have a decent pool to draw from. Rue, Thresh, Chaff, Seeder, Reaper, Martin, and Dill.

I like the symbolism of Rue. The word Rue in english means regret, however it is also a type of flowering plant. Thresh is either named after the method for separating grain from a plant, or the thrush bird. Chaff is the word for a corn husk separated from the corn. A seeder is a type of tool for seeding the ground. Reaper doesn’t mean grim reaper, instead it’s the term for someone who uses a scythe to reap grain. Dill is also a type of herb.

Martin doesn’t relate to the other names, and seems to fall into the ‘leftover English names’ category that seems to exist in all districts.

District Thirteen: District thirteen is an interesting one. They don’t have an industry, not anymore at least, nor do they have any ties to other districts that could influence their names. We have Alma, Boggs, Homes, Mitchell, Jackson, and York.

The interesting thing about these names is that they’re all surnames. Some can be first names like Jackson and Mitchell, but even those ones originate from surnames.

There has been a trend in recent years of parents using surnames as first names. A few examples of this are Sawyer, Taylor, Sutton, Carter, and Madison.

I’m not entirely sure why this trend developed, but I do have a few theories. District thirteen is very strict and militaristic. In such an environment it’s pretty common to refer to people by their surnames, so it makes sense that surnames would start to leak into first names.

Another theory is that referring to someone by their surname was a sign of respect in district 13, similar to how it is in the real world. It’s possible that either consciously or subconsciously parents started using surnames as first names to bring their children prestige. This happens in real life two. One of the most prevalent examples is parents giving their daughters either masculine or male names in hopes that it would help them in the workforce. Of course in district 13 it seems far more widespread than in real life, but unlike real life district 13 has a noticeable lack of outside influences that could provide a more diverse culture.

Although at the end district 13 was taking in refugees from other districts due to their lack of fertility. Their seemed to be people from multiple districts. There was 10% of the population from 12, at least one boy mentioned from 10 and most likely more, quite a few people from the capital, and while it’s only mentioned that two people tried to get there from 8 and failed it wouldn’t be unlikely to assume that there were a few that succeeded in coming to 13. In the future of the universe it would be interesting to see how this would effect naming culture and the development of new names.

#hunger games #the hunger games #district 12 #district 1 #district 2 #the capitol #name analysis

[gpsoftun]

Hurry, team! Mainstream Media is making a monumental massacre of mental health!

In my last post, I spotlighted the leading lady of the First Family of Superheroes, Jessica Alba's Sue Storm-Richards. Now, the time has come to defend the rest of her team along with their films, Fantastic Four 2005 and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer 2007.

These are not the only superhero films with which I find favorable elements while the rest of fandom loathes them with extreme prejudice. A good example of this is Batman and Robin 1997. In no way is that film high art, but it achieves what the gritty films of today grossly lack. It has entertainment value. It's not as serious as its prior two films and that is made evident upfront by the tone. It's colorful, jokes around, makes fun of itself- I often re-watch my favorite part, the bat credit card (no, your eyes do not deceive). The villains catch a lot of flack for their- obviously intentional- corny humor. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze still gets the worst of it. However, all dialogue issues fall on the script much more than the actors. Arnold "Terminator" Schwarzenegger could have pulled off a very intimidating ice foe were he not directed to do otherwise.

Another is Daredevil 2003. I admit that the script could have been much better, but I loved every second of seeing Ben Affleck on screen. Some nice RL foreshadowing to him becoming my favorite version of 21st century Batman. They also had a black villain who was not raced-swapped for pandering. The Kingpin was originally meant to be black, but Stan Lee did not want to be offensive. Ugh, that's just like a civil rights era white man- lynching, torching, empathizing.....

In the case of the Fantastic Four films, I maintain that the continued hate spewed in their direction is criminally overblown. Especially since the only complaint the Marvel Mafia has a leg to stand on is the lack of action scenes. Something that is more than compensated by characterization and surprising cliche avoidance.

Ioan Grufford is elastic

Admittedly, on first viewing, I wasn't all that impressed by Ioan as Reed Richards. With continued re-watches, though, I can't picture anyone else in the role. Comic book Reed is usually so socially clueless that some readers interpret him as a jerk. In the films, Reed is not the first guy you would appoint leader. He has an uncanny scientific mind, but he's suffered a lot of setbacks, has little confidence, retreats into his work at the detriment of sorting through his emotions, and is capable of near fatal miscalculations. He's intimidated by his college rival and mission benefactor, Victor Von Doom. Worse, Victor is with his ex-girlfriend. Reed wants Sue back, but again, awkward social issues and low self-esteem get in the way.

Of course, he also has good points.

Due to how meticulous he is with research and development, he focuses on perfection and misses out on profit. When the space mission goes terribly wrong, we see why he takes the time to overanalyze every detail before making a single move. Once Ben is changed into the Thing, Reed is wrecked with guilt and obsesses on how to reverse the damage. Reed isn't demonized for his errors or made to be enslaved to his own ego. His integrity seems greater than his intellect. He's a genius yet still a flawed man.

Reed's heroism begins when he moves the Storms into his and Ben's place. He accepts full responsibility for his best friend's transformation and wants to fix it (No, no, no, Reed, what are you doing? If you cause your most loyal friend's physical impairment and loss of the woman he loves, you're supposed to transfer the blame and join the nearest evil faction. Everybody knows that!). Reed's quest takes priority over his own health to the point of using himself as a guinea pig. When the team is endangered by Victor, there's a boost in Reed's confidence. No longer seeing himself as inferior to his rival, the newly minted Mr. Fantastic comes up with the way to defeat him. He even proposes to Sue. His loyalty, devotion, knowledge, and bravery make him the best choice to lead the Fantastic Four.

In Silver Surfer, Reed is still a bit on the oblivious and awkward side but not to an egregious degree. Though still a workaholic (it's a superhero thing), his ability to get in touch with his emotions has improved. At one point, his upcoming marriage to Sue dawns on him so intensely, he all but collapses on Ben, who basically has to carry the hazy elastic man (Ben, what do you think you're doing? Your burdened leader and best bro needs support and you're giving it to him instead of mocking his emotional issues?? Yeah, when you guys get a sec, there's another super powered team over in Westchester that would like a word with you). Reed's relationship with Johnny is better, too as he eagerly shows his little brother-in-law his new inventions and indulges his request for a bachelor party

The take-charge man Sue wanted is definitely there. When Johnny is reckless during a mission, Reed- who usually defends the youngest team member- reprimands and clearly has an effect on the brazen boy. When the military that asked for the Four's help gets snide one too many times, Reed nonchalantly dresses him down in front of everyone. He demands respect for his team and the general grudgingly complies. It's a genuine empowering moment that demonstrates the fact that naturally nice, non-antagonistic people are NOT submissive weaklings.

Jessica Alba can fade from sight

Since I've already emphasized the greatness that is Sue Storm-Richards, this won't be too long. I love how one of her heroic feats is dismantling romantic drama cliches- something surprisingly prevalent in superhero media. Yes, she's dating her ex-boyfriend's rival, but Reed had no idea Sue was working for Victor, let alone seeing him. Clearly, she hadn't been rubbing Reed's face in it. After Victor proposes, Sue is very uncomfortable and breaks up with him after the space mission. She warms up to Reed and drops her passive aggression to talk and work things out with him.

Not a lot is disclosed about the Storm siblings' past, but the sequel alludes to it being comic accurate. Sue has to be more of a mother than sister to Johnny and it causes them to butt heads at times. The two are obviously close. Johnny even works for Sue and Victor. When he receives literal fire powers, Sue becomes protective of her already impulsive brother.

The Invisible Woman has something of a loving brother-sister dynamic with Ben also. Despite her issues with Reed, Sue is glad to see and work with Ben again. Among the Four, the two of them seem to get along best.

After her powers massively advanced, Sue became more of an asset to the team. In-between planning her wedding. Unlike pretty much every other superheroine, Sue doesn't play make-believe Xena 24/7. Crime-fighting is important to her, but she's still a person- a *woman* even! She wants to marry Reed and produce beautiful genius babies with him. And God bless her for it.

When they found the Silver Surfer, the empathetic Sue is the one able to appeal to the space traveler's better nature. Good thing because he restore her after she died a heroic death. A situation she walked away from with a reaffirmed commitment to the Four and desire to wed Reed. HOW is Sue Storm-Richards a legit beautiful golden-haired celebrity yet packs more humility and selflessness than Raven Xavier??! I guess that's the difference between the girl who came from tragedy and the spoiled rich blue brat.

Chris Evans is the Human Torch

(😡And absolutely no one else😤)

Good golly, casting director- what lucky star were you born under?? Chris Evans IS the one and only flesh-made-fire, Jonathan Storm. His look (get this, he's white and blonde! I was blown away, too) and characterization not only gets Johnny to the letter but provides most of the levity and fun filled moments in the films.

Very much like his comic book counterpoint, Johnny is the youngest and most childlike member of the team. He's around 19-20 years old in the films. His lowkey hyper intelligence is made evident hy the fact that he's employed by Victor and co-pilots the shuttle with Ben. However, his brilliance is well-cloaked by his hedonistic nature. He sneaks girls into company flight simulators, loves extreme sports, never takes a situation too seriously, and is simultaneously an attention-seeker yet attention-grabber. Chris portrays it all without making him annoying to have on screen.

While Sue tends to rain on his brand of fun, Johnny undoubtedly loves and respects his big sister. Not only do they work together, he's Sue's first-choice pick to pilot the shuttle. It can be inferred that Sue prefers to keep Johnny in her line of sight while Johnny has an excuse for staying in proximity to the most constant person in his life. As Sue is towards him, Johnny can get protective towards her. He expresses that he doesn't want Reed trying to get back together with his sister. None of Johnny's animosity towards Reed is genuine. He's simply Team Sue.

The director's cut- my firm canon cut-  gives us more insight into Johnny. In particular, his relationships with the older males in his life. It's obvious why the wealthy, seemingly cool and spoiling Victor is his initial preference for a brother-in-law. It's Ben Grimm, his former commanding officer at NASA, who Johnny seeks out most. For all things prank and general taunting related. The two couldn't be more different with Johnny as the immature fly-boy and Ben as the much older serious pilot. Still, there's some underlying special affection between them also. Reed is somewhat the middle-ground between lenient Victor and stern Ben.  Even though Johnny's not too fond of him since the breakup with Sue, Reed has nothing against him. He tries to mediate between the boy and Ben, claiming Johnny is merely full of youthful exuberance. When Johnny crosses the line, Reed does make an effort to rein him in.

After being hit by the cosmic rays, Johnny's reaction to brand new super powers is probably the most realistic. He uses his fire to make a sideshow of himself, pick up women, compete in sports, and anything else to gain as many onlookers as possible. He is the only one who doesn't want the powers reversed and exercises his Human Torch abilities to the max. Of interesting note, Johnny assigns the team's codenames. He calls Reed Mr. Fantastic but makes a crude joke about his 'anatomy' to deflect from the sweet gesture. He referred to his sister as the Invisible 'Girl' at first, annoying Sue and providing a funny comic reference. Picking the Thing for Ben resulted in a very crushed car for the cheeky boy. Bonus points for Sue scolding her brother before going to calm Ben, leaving Johnny to Reed. Don't cross your big sis, John Boy.

When the Storms get into a fight over Johnny making a degrading spectacle of himself, Johnny accuses her of treating him like a little boy and being too overbearing. He declares he wants to live his own life and huffs off. Following this, there is absolutely zero communication between the two for ten years. Johnny became a hardened, heroic freedom fighter for oppressed younger siblings everywhere while a devastated Sue grew too depressed to- of course, I'm kidding. Yeah, the brother she practically raised just flat-out abandoned her after one fight, resulting in a decade long estrangement. That is the stupidest, most forced, elaborate excuse to divide a family I've ever heard. What's next? The Human Torch goes insane with his fire powers, remembers his father's failures and mother's car accident, and kills Reed during a contrived outburst? Come on, no comic book franchise could be that woefully moronic. Johnny comes to his senses the same night and returns to help Sue and the guys. He even risks himself to lead a heat-seeking missile away from them.

By the Silver Surfer, Johnny is supremely enjoying the Four's celebrity status and rotating conga line of female company. However, we learn that he uses the decadent lifestyle as a front. Johnny sees Reed and Ben happily settled in committed relationships and starts to wonder if he wants the same for himself. His relationships with the rest of the team have grown. He has a very loving moment with Sue before her wedding and is the one to walk her down the aisle. He throws Reed a bachelor party and later, instantly agrees to keep a secret Reed doesn't want Sue to find out about. Johnny's definitely in huge favor of their marriage. He and Ben still have their bickering bond, but now, they're comfortable confiding in each other.

Interestingly, after being the one to master his powers so quickly, Johnny struggles in that area in the sequel. After being exposed to the Silver Surfer, his powers become unstable and direct contact with the rest of the Four causes them to swap powers. This is played for jokes until a mission mishap nearly gets Sue seriously injured. Already feeling guilty, Johnny can't even respond when Reed uncharacteristically berates him. During the climax, Johnny absorbs the abilities of everyone in order to stop a cosmic threat. When the Silver Surfer revitalizes a deceased Sue, Johnny is so grateful, he helps the Surfer rocket into space. In turn, the Surfer corrects the Torch's power problems.

Michael Chilakis just loves to fight

Of all the awesome casting choices, I have the most respect for Michael Chilakis as Ben Grimm. Michael is a serious Fantastic Four fan and wanted to put his best foot forward to properly portray not only the Thing but the Ben within. He vetoed the use of cgi and opted to wear the impressive but heavy and difficult Thing suit. Most actors gripe over facial prosthetics but Michael wanted to maintain Ben's humanity for the audience. What is with Marvel Michael actors and this character commitment stuff? Well, white Michael actors, I suppose. The black one has his picture in the dictionary next to Failure.

While Ben is a former NASA employee and experienced pilot, he's not as defined by his work as Reed. Ben sees and conducts himself as just a regular guy from Brooklyn. He's plain-spoken and highly masculine but also a real romantic with high respect for women. The references to his love for his fiance Debbie highlight this but also work to make Ben the tragic figure he becomes later.

The Brooklyn native is Reed's most loyal friend, through bankruptcy and all. He even resides in the Baxter Building with him. The actors make their history as childhood friendship/brotherhood very believable. Ben was the popular jock to Reed's introverted nerd. Even as adults, Ben instinctively shields Reed from any threat of bullying. He takes that responsibility so seriously, Victor Von Doom wisely refrains from antagonizing Reed in the outspoken man's presence. Promptly after recuperating from the space mission,  Ben has no animosity towards Reed. He even prioritizes getting the uncertain scientist back together with Sue.

There's no doubt that the Four had a history pre-Fantastic. Their reactions to seeing each other after a few years easily come off as the aftermath of a divorce between Reed and Sue instead of a breakup. Though he's Team Reed, Ben still adores Sue. He is gentlest towards her and treats her like a younger sister. He always uses his nickname for her, Suzie. His rapport with the younger Storm sibling is a slightly different story.

As soon as they're working together again, Johnny steps back into his calling as Ben's personal troll. The seasoned pilot was his CO at NASA and Ben takes glee in being the head pilot for their mission. While often irritated by the kid, their interaction implies Ben acted as a paternal figure to the fatherless Johnny. The mischievous young man can't miss a minute to pull a prank on him. Johnny makes the occasional crack at Reed but gets no reaction from the scientist. From Ben, Johnny receives instant fury, making it interpretable that he craves Ben's attention. Their closer relationship in the sequel reinforces this, where Ben promises to always be there for him.

While Reed handles the research and presentation, Ben works better in the field. Because of this, he's most exposed to the cosmic rays. After he's transformed, Ben tries to explain the situation to Debbie. She's too horrified by him and even after seeing him act heroically, she returns his engagement ring. Needless to say, his rock hard body doesn't prevent him from shattering. The breakup is not the end of Ben's troubles as he finds performing the most basic of tasks almost impossible. He grows depressed, nostalgically yearning for his life before the space mission.

While at a bar in his old neighborhood, Ben meets his comic book love interest, Alicia Masters. Played by Kerry Washington, the film version depicts her as black. This doesn't come off as forced and fake, though. It actually better showcases her and Ben as the unlikely couple they're known as. Alicia is very beautiful but blind. Ben finds himself hideous, but the artistic Alicia finds his rocky texture captivating and falls for Ben's personality in a big way. The director's cut gave Alicia additional screentime to build her personality and their romance.

The pair are in a beautifully stable committed relationship in the sequel. We also get to see more of Alicia, not only with Ben but interacting with the rest of the Four. Sue is clearly pleased to have another woman around to talk to. Despite his jokes about their relationship, Johnny quietly envies Ben and Alicia.

Thanks to some seeds of doubt planted by Victor, Ben starts to believe that Reed is taking his time with the cure to be around Sue. When Reed returns from a date with her, a very angry Ben accuses him of stalling. Reed insists that he has to make sure the machine is right. Ben is too upset and irrational to listen. They get into a fight and Ben punches the smaller man excessively before paralyzing and discarding him.... Yeah, right, this is flippin Ben Grimm and Reed Richards we're talking about. They wrestle somewhat aggressively for a bit until Reed basically stretch-snuggles Ben until he calms down. Ben declares he's done protecting Reed and leaves.

This heart-wrenching rift lasts a good two or three hours until Reed is abducted by Victor. To keep Ben out of the way, Victor invented the reversal machine. However, upon hearing about the peril of his best nerd, Ben willingly becomes the Thing again to help the team. After they win the day in addition to the public's favor, Reed is still adamant about curing Ben. The rocky man tells him not to worry about it, as he wants to use his new form to save people. Though he remains Reed's personal advocate, Ben is proud and accepting of Mr. Fantastic's leadership.

When the Silver Surfer rises, we see Ben basking in more contentment than in any other adaptation. He meant what he said about wanting to stay super strong and rock solid. While he enjoys a brief return of his flesh via power-swapping with Johnny, he no longer has contempt for his Thing form. The power switching was a really creative means of giving Michael a little face time. Ben has made accommodations with clothing, dishes, and things to improve his quality of life. Alicia is the light of his life and he's so grateful to have her.

In fact, after being the saddest one in the last film, Ben is now the only one in a totally positive mental state. He serves as Reed's best man in every way, always there to support and keep the eccentric scientist's feet on the ground. Ben is eager for Suzie to marry Reed and does whatever he can to help their relationship.

Through this, Ben is attentive to Johnny. The young Torch goes to Ben with concerns that Sue and Reed might be leaving the team. Johnny sounds similar to a kid angry over a potential divorce. Sue only kept the possibility from him because she didn't want to add more worries to Johnny's power issues. Ben actually takes Johnny's side, though he's civil about it. He expresses that Reed and Sue should have discussed it with them from the jump. When Johnny is filled with doubt before a major mission, Ben gives him reassurance. During the last battle, a de-powered Ben aides Johnny in taking down the threat.

Julian McMahon is.....😍😍😍😍

Amidst all of the divisive reactions to Julian McMahon's casting, I have to utter words I never thought I would: I LOVE Victor Von Doom! Oh, my goodness, I don't care what anybody says about the drastic changes from the comics. I could never stand Dr. Doom. He's always been such a generic narcissistic megalomaniac with no entertainment value whatsoever. Some might say turning him into a CEO is generic, but Julian McMahon pulls off an intimidating but confidently seductive portrayal.

Other changes are an improvement as well. Victor and Reed are still college rivals, but Victor's tenacity gave him wealth while Reed's pragmatism reduced him to near poverty. Reed has the uncanny brain to Victor's money, looks, and high self-esteem. It's reasonable to see why Sue would be initially drawn to him. Humiliatingly, Reed goes to Victor to finance his space discovery. Victor gives him a hard time, but believes Reed knows his stuff and accepts. He even joins them in space.

What's great is that in this version, Victor is a legitimate innovator himself. He came up with the custom space suits that would, ironically, serve as the Fantastic Four uniforms. Also, in this one, Victor is not solely to blame for the botched mission and exposure to the rays. After investing countless dollars, Victor did not want to give up the mission so quickly. Still, it was Reed's miscalculations that made scrubbing it necessary. Being a surprisingly good sport, Victor has everyone treated at his private hospital once they return to Earth.

The space debacle crashed Victor's stock monumentally and his investors threaten to withdraw. Victor goes to the Baxter Building to get his relationship with Sue back on track. However, it's clear that her feelings have changed and they break up later. Victor also has it out with Reed over the failed mission. If not for Ben popping up, an enraged Victor would have hit the other man.

Victor's powers- which seem to be metallic skin and lightning bursts- develop slower than the Four's. That side effect along with his skyrocketing frustration and stress impact Victor's mental state severely. When the doctor he sees tells him he has to call the CDC in case Victor spreads his condition, Victor kills him with lightning to prevent it. He goes on to murder his board members.

Dr. Doom persona fully embraced, he starts to work meticulously to divide the Four. He has the easiest time with Johnny, stroking the younger man's ego with promises of the three F's: fortune, fame, and females. From that brief interaction, we can attest that Victor regularly uses money and influence to make Sue's impressionable brother favor him. Getting to a depressed Ben wasn't difficult, either. Victor implied that Reed wanted Sue to stay in his orbit more than he wanted Ben cured.

All of the resulting chaos served as a means of Victor getting close enough to Reed to kidnap him. The rest of the team come to Reed's aide, starting with a very unfriendly Invisible Woman. The Four get the upper hand by freezing Victor in his metal state and immobilizing him.

Victor made his return in the sequel. Initially, the military brought him in due to Victor previously facing off against the Silver Surfer. They wanted him to partner with Reed to build a weapon to stop the alien. To no surprise, Victor really came to take the Surfer's powers for himself.

In any other superhero sequel, a previous villain returning when there's already a new one would make the film overloaded and incoherent. However, Rise of the Silver Surfer maintains good pacing without sacrificing characterization. There's no love triangle rehashing a la Spider-Man, as Sue and Victor verbalize their disdain for each other. The Four grudgingly work with him but not one of them trusts Dr. Doom for a moment.

The Silver Surfer expands greatly on the world of the previous film. The team has to do a lot of globe-trotting over the new cosmic threat. We see more of them as a unified team in different locations. The most chilling moment in the otherwise tame film had to be right after Victor stole the Surfer's powers. He viciously murders the general who brought into the mission. After seeing him for most of the movie, it's so jarring to witness the remains of the general's charred corpse. Yep, there's the dark action you so desperately had to have, folks. Enjoy.

As usual, people are entitled to their own opinions and not everyone will like every movie. Here's a few franchises I find overrated.

Christian Bale Batman: I can understand people enjoying the origin movie but the Dark Knight is regarded as some sort of masterpiece. Heath Ledger's Joker completely eclipses Batman in his own movie. Joker is just some agent of chaos, causing random violent acts for the giggles as he philosophies about it. With no weakness or humanity at all to speak of, he feels like a gary stu villain more than anything. Did Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent's friendship really need to be non-existent so that they could emotionally duel over some woman? It's shocking when Rachel dies but who cares? All she did was lead both guys on. And I'm still not over the skank slapping a grieving Bruce twice in the first movie. In the third one, apparently Bruce stopped being Batman for eight years over this chick..... WHAT?! The guy who didn't stop after his son and sidekick was brutally murdered spiraled out over some chick he never actually dated! Little 19-year-old Peter Parker watches his actual loving girlfriend die but only grieves for three months while this rich playboy fool.... Come on! Then he retires with some other chick! And people have the nerve to criticize Ben Affleck for excessive force?! The name is Bat-MAN, people, not Bat-simp.

Sam Raimi Spider-Man: Once upon a time I enjoyed this series but even then, I knew something was wrong. People look back on this as the lighthearted Spider-series but UMMMM, were we watching the same films? The first one is okay enough. But Peter spends all of the second one being cruelly kicked in every direction. It was too depressing for words. Then, Mary Jane ditching her astronaut fiance on the day of their wedding to run to Peter is meant to be a happy ending- no! In the infamous third, Mary Jane and Peter are stunted and immature. Three films and not an ounce of growth between them. Also, Goblin and Doc Ock- both with a personal connection to Peter- both just had to die but the guy who killed Uncle Ben gets to go free?!!!!!!! That still gets my blood pressure up. But oh look, cool fight scenes and totally rad special effects! Who cares if the characters are sad, depressing, frustrating vessels of suck?

Are the Fantastic Four films perfect? By superhero standards, yes honestly. Could they have done some things better? Of course. But I hate how they don't get credit for everything they got right.

We're talking about the First Family of Superheroes. Unlike the X-Men movies, the individuals and the family as a whole took priority over the action elements. When they did battle, it was a cathartic thrill to watch. In this age of seeing the hero journey fast-forwarded while said hero is only there to give the powers center stage, how can anyone knock these films?!

Not only did they stay mostly faithful to the comic book origins of the Four, they improved in many areas. The X-Men took twenty years to feature space travel and the Four did it all the way back in 2005. They didn't come up with ludicrous alternate methods of them receiving their problems nor were any characters assassinated. Other movies are terrible at balancing an ensemble. These films showcase the team's individual personalities, struggles, interpersonal relationships, and team dynamic- all in the first film!

Rise of the Silver Surfer was a RARE sequel that raised the stakes and explored new concepts without the heroes getting overshadowed by spectacle. There was no repetition and regressing of the Four at a. There was no needless romantic drama to slow things down and make the audience hate the main couple. Everybody stayed true to themselves yet their development was clear and so well done. Despite Jessica Alba having the most clout and presence on the posters, no one is benched for actor favoritism- try not to die from shock, Logan and Raven. They didn't permanently kill off main characters for edginess and emotional manipulation. They had not only a strong female character but the *best* one ever featured in a Marvel movie. Through whatever conflict, the team felt whole and devoted to each other. Unseen in today's cinematic world, the ending is an earnestly uplifting one.

Again, I'm not an MCU fan but I've heard and seen plenty of you go on about how the Avengers never felt like a real team. Many of you complain about their relationships being underdeveloped. So many claim that the team showed no sincere camaraderie before they split apart. Don't get me started on varying endgame reactions.

We're all entitled to our opinions. Yours just happen to be dead wrong on this one and you should feel complete shame for that reason. Fear not. The Fantastic Four will accept your apologies. They're not into the whole holding onto resentment for decades thing.

My, this is certainly long but it doesn't have anything particularly controversial. Hmmm- oh, I almost forgot.

So, that fan-4-stick fail? Do you know what the most ludicrous part of that pandering puke pile was? That allegedly gritty, realism grounded blunder wants people to believe that a black family- the group that makes up 15% of the US population yet accounts for the majority of absentee fathers- would not only be pro-adoption but would willingly take in and pay out of their own pocket for a little white child.... 😂😂😂😂😂

Look, teleportation, super powers via cosmic anomalies, and some idiot thinking there's a single trickle of talent to be found among that cast of frauds are infinitely more probable than that scenario 😏

#Fantastic Four 2005 #Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer 2007 #anti days of future past #anti dark phoenix #anti x-men movies #anti michael b. jordan #anti sam raimi spider-man movies #anti woke #Ioan Grufford #Reed Richards #Jessica Alba #Sue Storm-Richards #Chris Evans #Johnny Storm #Michael Chiklis #Ben Grimm #Definitive Fantastic Four #superhero film critique #Kerry Washington #Alicia Masters #Julian McMahon #Victor von Doom #superhero genre critique #First Family of Superheroes #Stan Lee #Fantastic Four comics