#not really just vibes on a character that wasn't shown up yet

[alloftheimaginesblog]

put your head on my shoulder {indiana jones}

plot: you and indy are travelling and you fall asleep with your head on his shoulder.

character: indiana jones x plus size reader

Part of my Plus Size History Professor x Indiana Jones series and part of my Plus Size Reader x Character series!

You weren't the biggest fan of flying. The thought of being trapped in a tin can breathing in the same air as 100 other people freaked you out so before the flight, to help calm your nerves, you'd taken a sleeping tablet recommended by a trusted friend.

You were travelling with your colleague, friend and crush, Indiana Jones. The two of you were professors at the same college and had grown really close over the last year or so. Indy frequently went on archaeological digs and you'd always shown an interest since you were a history professor so this time, he invited you to come along with him.

Excitement wasn't the word.

You were beyond excited, constantly pestering Indy about what to wear, what clothes to take, what sites you'll wind up visiting. Surprisingly, Indy wasn't too annoyed and actually found your excitement about the whole thing quite adorable though he'd never admit that to your face. You and Indy currently had a very flirty, will they-won't they vibe going on. Any time that you thought things would happen, Indy pulled away. He had confided in you previously after one too many whiskeys that he was scared of commitment so you took a bit of a step back from the romantic side of things until he was ready. It hurt but you'd survive seeing as you two were friends and you knew that he cared, it was just that he wasn't ready yet.

You tapped your foot anxiously as you waited for the plane to board. Indy frowned at you, "That pill not kicking in yet, huh?"

"I only just took it, it takes a while to work."

"Why are you so anxious then? What's with all the foot tapping?"

"It's stupid," you scoffed as you shook your head. Indiana frowned at you and gestured for you to spit it out, "I'm stressed about the seat, well the seatbelt."

"What about it?"

"What if it doesn't fit around me? I'm not the skinniest..." Your cheeks burned furiously and Indy sighed. A voice chimed from above saying that your flight was now boarding, "Oh great."

"Then you get an extension." Indy shrugged. One thing you did love about him was his blunt, matter of fact attitude to things. He didn't stress, he didn't' sugar-coat, he just said things how they happened, "No big deal."

You followed him as he stood up in the queue, appreciating his blunt response, "It's silly, I know... I just get so paranoid. Normal seatbelts are black and usually extensions are bright red and it's just broadcasting 'hey everyone look at me I'm so fat I don't fit in the seat'!" You faltered, realising you were word vomiting all over him, "Sorry, I-"

He shook his head, "It's okay," he murmured, voice quieter so no one else your conversation, "I understand. Whether you need the extension or not, it's not a big deal. Doesn't make you any less of a person. Doesn't make you any less beautiful. Matter of fact, you're the prettiest damn person I've ever seen." As he finished, he realised what he had said and cleared his throat, turning away as a pink hue crept up and over his cheeks and ears.

You smiled, ducking your head to hide your bashfulness from him.

Boarding was quick and simple and soon, you and Indy were looking for your seats, "22, 23, here we are, 24. You want the window seat?" He asked which you gladly accepted since you didn't want to sit in the middle next to a stranger. You didn't mind looking out of the window, you found comfort in the clouds even despite your hatred of flying.

As Indy stored your bags in the overhead compartments, you sat on your seat, already finding it uncomfortable. Big hips weren't a great match for a tight plane seat. Oh well. Five hours, you could do this. You took a breath as you tested the seatbelt and...

"Nope."

It was a good 7 inches from closing. You raised your head, cheeks heating up from shame. It was stupid. You didn't know why you were so mortified to need a seatbelt extension on the plane but you just were. You liked your body, you were fat, curvy, plus size whatever you wanted to call it and you didn't mind it anymore but sometimes insecurities snuck up on you, this was one of those moments. You didn't need to look far for assistance because Indy was already handing you a bright red extension for the seatbelt.

"I asked for you. I also asked for a different colour but this is all they have."

You smiled, taking it off of him, "Thank you," you said, clipping it in and securing yourself in your seat. He sat down, "I know it's silly, I don't know why I'm so bothered by it."

Indy looked at you and smiled, "Don't worry about it. Seriously. People are too self absorbed to care whether or not you've got an extension... besides, I think red's your colour."

God, you hated the way he could make your insides turn to gloop and the way he could make your heart race with a simple smile. You thanked him quietly and conversation died down as he settled into his chair.

After around fifteen minutes, when everyone was boarded and the plane had began to move, you were starting to feel the effects of the sleeping pill you took so you tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in. You tried resting your head against the wall of the plane but the vibrations were uncomfortable and irritating. You tried resting your head back on the head rest but as you started to doze off, your head kept falling and you kept waking up. Your failure to fall asleep, or at least find a comfortable position, hadn't gone unnoticed by Indiana who was watching you from the corner of his eye with an amused expression.

"Oh just put your head on my shoulder and go to sleep, stop huffing and puffing," he said with a smirk. You rolled your eyes at him, not realising that he was being serious until he pulled at you to rest on him, "Put your head on my shoulder and go to sleep. I'll wake you up when we're there. Go on, get comfy."

Your heart was racing, pounding hard against your ribs as you settled on his shoulder. You could smell him; coffee, fresh linen and musk. Heaven. His shoulder was surprisingly comfortable, hard yet cushioned by his blazer and shirt. As you settled, your head found its way to rest near the crook of his neck, hand cupping his bicep. You were falling asleep fast but his muscles beneath your fingertips didn't go unnoticed by you.

Your breathing slowed as it tickled his neck and he knew you were sleeping. He swallowed, sparing a glance to you sound asleep on his shoulder, and tried to calm his own racing heartbeat. The way your breath warmed his neck, the way your fingers pressed into his muscle... Indy took a deep breath. He could smell your perfume - sweet and intoxicating - and it took everything in him to not wake you up and kiss you here.

With his spare hand he moved his hat to cover his eyes as his head rested back against the headrest (and then eventually opted to rest on yours) and tried to forget about the way his stomach flipped at the thought of you touching him. Indy had started the day thinking he still wasn't ready but this... this might change things. You were his favourite person. You had been the most constant person in his life for a year solid and that meant a lot to him. He valued you so highly and was scared that if he let you in, you'd end up getting hurt or worse but... he didn't know how long he could push you away for.

"I..." he whispered so softly that even if you were awake you probably wouldn't have heard him over the sound of the airplane and its passengers, "I think I'm in love with you." Maybe he was more ready than he thought.

#one shot #os #indiana jones #indiana jones x reader #indiana jones x plus size reader #reader insert #plus size series #plus size reader #indiana jones x you #indy #ij #indiana jones imagine #imagine #secrets out #secrets out series

[sweettjrose]

Mickey and Friends Age Poll Results

So I sent out about 6 polls asking you all what ages you generally saw the different Mickey Mouse and Friends characters in either the comics, shorts, etc.

I was interested because none of the mediums really clarify ages (Unless they are specifically kids) and keep it vague so I wanted to see what vibes each character (or set of characters) gave. For research reasons.

So here are the results of the Poll and my own thoughts:

Mickey Mouse (120 votes)

Most People see him as... Mid 20's - Early 30's

Seems like just barely over half see Mickey as in his Mid 20's to Early 30's with a quarter seeing Mickey in his Early Adult - Mid 20's. As you can see, I completely agree with the majority. As others have said on the original poll, this Mid 20's to Early 30's is sort of that perfect sweet spot where you are clearly an adult and have and have had responsibilities for quite a while, but you aren't really an expert in anything yet and still trying to find your place in the world.

Mickey tends to reflect this mentality well as he clearly has his own house, can work, and must being paying bills. But he is also usually in a subordinate or student role. Usually the mentee instead of the mentor.

Minnie Mouse (30 votes)

Most People see her as... Mid 20's - Early 30's

This and the following polls got way less votes than the Mickey one (this one got only 1/4 of the same voting size), but I still think the results are interesting to talk about. I considered combining Mickey and Minnie since I feel like most people assume they are the same age or at least very close, but I changed my mind as I really wanted to see if that was the case and based on the poll... That does seem to be the case. Most people agreed that Minnie was in her Mid 20's - Early 30's, even more than Mickey at over 60%.

I know people tend to see or make female counterparts younger than males, so I am glad to see that people see Minnie at about the same age (Then again there is quite a bit of range). I also think it is interesting that the amounts for the other options were generally about the same as the Mickey poll (With even 30's - 40's being at the same exact %)

I, of course, agree with the majority as Minnie seems to be in the same age range as Mickey in terms of clearly having settled a bit as an adult, but still growing and trying to find her place in the world.

Donald and Daisy Duck (51 votes)

Most people see them as... Mid 20's - Early 30's

So the reason I combined Donald and Daisy is for the same reason I was about to combine Mickey and Minnie. I feel like most people see them as generally the same age and if they would have gotten drastically different results, it would have shown up on the Minnie and Mickey poll (I also just didn't want to make way too many polls). But as we saw with that one, there weren't really any changes with gender, so I assume it would have been the same here.

Seems like most people also see Daisy and Donald in their Mid 20's to Early 30's just like Mickey and Minnie. Over 60% of people agreed. I also agree, as I really see them as not really being that much older or younger than Mickey and Minnie, so feel like they should be in the same age range.

What I really think is interesting though is that when it comes to the other options, more people tend to lean more to 30's - 40's at over 25% instead of Early Adult - Mid 20's. Which wasn't the case for Mickey and Minnie. I think part of the reason is that Donald specifically tends to be put in more parental roles than the others. While they all have nieces and nephews, Donald has had quite a bit of media where he is the one who clearly has custody over Huey, Dewey, and Louie and takes care of them. I think that tends to push people to view him as more mature. Someone even mentioned that Ducktales '17 Donald is apparently canonically in his mid-30's, which probably influenced some of the vote.

And honestly, I can see that. I feel like when Donald is on his own or if his relationship with the boys is limited as just uncle and nephews who visit sometimes, I can see him being a bit younger. But if he is actually the one raising them, I can see him as a bit older.

Goofy (26 votes)

Most people see him as... 30's - 40's

So I am actually a bit surprised by this one. Because I actually didn't expect so many people to agree with me on the 30's - 40's. And over 65% did. It seems like over 80% see him as at least over 30 (First of his friends to have people vote 40's - 50's). With less than 20% seeing him in the same age range as the others. It appears that most people in general see Goofy as older.

I always saw Goofy as maybe about 5 - 10 years older than the others. I think part of it is his personality. While he is... Well, Goofy. He is also pretty wise and seems to have a bit more understanding or experience than the others. I don't know how to explain it, but he feels a bit more mature than Donald and Mickey at times.

It also helps that he is the one who is usually seen with the oldest child. Usually, Donald's Nephews are about 8 - 12, with a few rare exceptions of teens. Goofy, on the other hand, has been seeing Max as 11, 14, 16, and as a college student a couple of times each.

Pete (24 Votes)

Most people see him as... 40's - 50's

So this one was pretty close as it seems like mostly everyone agrees that he is between 30's - 50's. But it was kind of close on which set of decades he is in. Though more people, almost 55%, believed that he is in the 40's - 50's range, and I agree.

Pete definitely comes across as a character who has a lot of history. Whether it is his more weathered gruffer looks or that he usually tends to be in authority senior roles (landlords, bosses, etc.) and similar to Goofy he also had a teenage/college-age son. I guess the big difference is whether people believe he is in the same range as Goofy or older. I actually don't think he is too much older than Goofy (Between 5 - 10), but he definitely tends to give off almost middle-aged, starting to have a mid-life crisis energy to me. And it seems like more people lean that way too. But I also could see him closer to Goofy's age.

The Phantom Blot (38 Votes)

Most people see him as... 30's - 40's

This was one I was really interested in seeing how people felt, since I feel like Blot doesn't have as clear age markers as the others and his age might depend on a variety of factors. This is the only time where I apparently went against the grain as I saw him as in the 40's - 50's where over 65% saw him in his 30's - 40's. Seems like almost 95% see him as definitely over 30% with about 2 votes seeing him as possibly in his mid 20's - 30's (I talked with someone who had this view and it is really interesting)

So from my perspective, I guess I saw the Phantom Blot as older because he sometimes gives me almost mid-life crisis vibes. I think this does depend on the comics you watched, but sometimes he feels like he is trying to remain relevant and do something meaningful before your life ends, which I feel tends to happen as you get closer to 50. He also in general just seems very knowledgeable and skilled which you get from experience.

But then again, I can also completely see where everyone else is coming from. Blot also in many appearances seems to be at his prime where he is old enough to be skilled and have experience, but still young enough to have a sharp mind and be in good physical shape. It would make sense for him to be in his prime and thus his most dangerous. Honestly I guess it depends on how you see the Blot and both can work.

~

And that is all of the characters and their ages. Seems like I generally agreed with the majority except for the Phantom Blot. Which is better than I expected. I kind of wonder if I should have added more tags as some of the voting pools were much smaller than the others. Also in retrospect, I wonder if I separated Daisy and Donald if Daisy would have polled younger since similar to Mickey and Minnie she doesn't really raise her nieces like Donald does.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

But for fun, if you were to put them in order from Oldest to Youngest (And going off the Percentage Trends)

Pete (Funny since he is actually the oldest character in real life)

The Phantom Blot

Goofy

Donald and Daisy Duck

Mickey Mouse

Minnie Mouse

#disney #mickey and friends #mickey mouse and friends #disney polls #mickey mouse #minnie mouse #donald duck #daisy duck #goofy #peg leg pete #phantom blot

[eponymous-rose]

So I've been rewatching Star Trek: TNG as comfort TV during/post-move and just got to Yesterday's Enterprise, which I remember liking well enough, but man, it's really unusual in the context of the rest of these early episodes. For one thing, the violence shown is a lot more stark than we've seen in the show thus far - Riker with his throat cut, Captain Garrett with the metal shrapnel in her head, lingering close-ups on dead faces. It's dark and moody and the "happy ending" resolution (as far as we know at this point, anyway) is saving the few survivors of a brutal battle, patching them up, and then shipping them straight back into that battle to be killed.

Given the show's not-so-great track record with its female characters, it's weirdly refreshing that we get a re-do for Tasha Yar. And yeah, she falls in love with a dude and goes off with him on his ship, but she was ready to say goodbye to him and that would've been that - what finally prompts her to step willingly into the meat-grinder is the realization that she had an "empty death" (Guinan had some really raw lines in this one) in the other timeline, and that now her death can have some meaning. It's nicely done, if a bit of a self-flagellating "mea culpa" on the writers' parts.

The alternate timeline isn't the gleeful, campy evil of the Mirrorverse, it's just an exhausted grind through the final days of a losing war. Lots of little touches show how desperate things have become - Wesley's been fast-tracked to a full ensign, Picard is a tactician first and foremost (he takes officers' opinions under advisement, yes, but he's also keeping from them the inevitable, imminent surrender), the bridge is laid out so the captain is front and center with everyone else in the background. As a contrast with the actual Enterprise's chill 90s living room lounge vibe, it's pretty striking. It's like a sneak preview into the bleak and war-heavy sci-fi that would start saturating pop culture a decade or so later, and then it's a firm rejection of that premise - "This isn't a ship of war. It's a ship of peace."

I have a long, long history with TNG - DS9 is my favorite Trek on balance, but TNG is encoded in my DNA. From around ages 3 and 5, my brother and I were watching and rewatching TNG constantly. (My parents would laugh over the fact that my brother didn't know how to read yet but had memorized the episode titles of the first couple seasons.) We had pajamas. We scoured every garage sale and had a giant metal can full of action figures and phasers and tricorders and ships and even, shockingly, that transporter toy that made things disappear using mirrors.

The tactile experience of those toys is burned in my brain - the loose nacelles on the Enterprise model, the click of the left phaser button, the little hole at the bottom of the Borg cube that we once stuck a pencil in and had the tip of the graphite snap off and rattle around forevermore. My brother and I played incessantly with our action figures, to the point where most of them had the paint at least partially rubbed off - we created hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of new episodes over the years. The first time I ever used a touchscreen was at some sort of Star Trek exhibition in Canada in the early 90s that we stumbled across on our way to visit my grandparents.

I'm always fascinated by how kids interact with fictional media - my brother and I were so young, but we obviously knew Star Trek wasn't real. Except... I just always assumed that important people watched it, realized "well, that seems nice", and were actively working to make that future happen. I was (perhaps a little embarrassingly) older when I realized that no, we weren't gonna be out there on science missions to the stars during my lifetime. At least, not in an Enterprise kind of way.

At any given time, there's just this Star Trek filter over how I experience the world - when I got to go to college thanks to scholarships, I had that weighty feeling of responsibility and awe that came with daydreaming about Starfleet Academy. I saw my career shift from the gold of engineering to the blue of science to the red of command. And the older I get, the more I appreciate a show that, for all its flaws, managed to make a utopia interesting and complex.

Because TNG was such a phenomenon when I was a little kid in the early 90s, a lot of my family relationships also have TNG tied up in them. I remember going to my grandparents' apartment and my uncle showing us a fan magazine about the show. I remember another uncle who didn't really "get it" but gifted me and my brother astronaut ice cream because he knew we liked that space stuff. I remember watching most episodes curled up on the couch or my parents' bed with my brother and my mom and dad. When Mom got sick and we talked about death, I remember the way she wistfully brought up the Nexus from Generations or how she hoped she could see the next season of Picard (she didn't, sadly, but she really enjoyed that first season). Hell, one of the first real bonding moments I had with my otherwise hyper-professional and businesslike PhD advisor was when she made a TNG joke, I laughed at it, and she said, "I just love that show, everyone's so nice to each other."

It's just been a lot of fun coming back to this show, is all. I think I periodically forget how much it's affected me and the extent to which it was a fundamental, formative influence. While a lot of it either hasn't aged well or fails to hold up to modern media analysis, so much of it is still lovely, and occasionally there are these moments of shockingly good storytelling.

Star Trek good.

#eponymous text post tag #eponymous moving tag 2023 #star trek tng

[dearestones]

The Perils of Being Better than Everyone Else (Idia Shroud and Yuu)

Warnings: The Prefect is described as being shorter and smaller than Idia, gamer lingo, Idia’s poor self esteem combined with his arrogance. 

@fjshii Request: Hello lovely! :)

I was wondering if I could make a request? There's something that's been rotating in my head :) Of course, I just want to emphasize the fact that this is a very casual ask!!! If you're working on other projects or just honestly don't feel like it then yes!!! Perfect :) I am in 100% support 😌😌😌 I enjoy whatever's on the table <3 But yes!!! I just wanted to say that! It was important :)

As for the actual request lol, I was wondering about a twst scenario with one of the boys teaching Yuu how to tie a tie? I just think it could be very sweet :) or hilarious if depending on who we're talking about. Whoever out of the cast is fine! :) I'm just hoping one of the students instead of the faculty (and oddly enough, not Vil please LMAO he just fits the bill a bit too much? if that's okay😂), but honestly, yeah, wherever your gut takes you. I also think this could be a really fun way to test out some characters we haven't seen from you yet before their debut in Caged Birds :)

Anywho! Yes! Only if you really want :) I hope you're having an enjoyable week, and thanks for all you share! :) &lt;3

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Dying on the inside certainly wasn't the worst thing that could ever happen to Idia, but it was definitely one of the top five sensations that he wished he didn't have to live with on a day to day basis. It was a feeling that had plagued him for a long time now, but it seemed that the occurrence of such a feeling seemed to happen with higher frequency after he had first started attending Night Raven College. It didn't take long to amass data points and map it out onto a graph: the points were clear and simple.

Out of everyone else in that hallowed institution, Idia Shroud was a being 'other' than the rest of them.

Yes, there were students who sported fangs. There were those who were blessed (or perhaps even cursed) with furry ears and tails. Others still had pointed ears and a longevity that most mortals would have killed for.

However, among the treasure trove of such eccentricities, Idia was by far one of the strangest.

It was quite obvious, with the flaming hair and the inevitable display of the veritable knives that rose from his gums, that Idia would be singled out as 'strange'.

Well, that was all relative when one had to consider that there was even a student from another world! It was an interesting phenomenon and Idia was sure that there would be more of a hubbub around that student’s origins, but surprisingly, there wasn’t any. At least, Idia hadn’t observed any sort of curious reactions from any NRC students. Then again, he could relate. After all, while the magicless student definitely had main character vibes, they were not as noteworthy as other famous individuals at the school like royalty, child prodigies, and the like. 

So, you would think that having a person with main character vibes would give them plot armor, but…

One should not underestimate the power of SSR Problematic Children, especially those who had orchestrated their own boss battles. 

The incident happened when Idia had been busy getting a drink from one of the vending machines that was situated in one of the hallways of the school. On this particular school day, he had been tasked with the brunt of a presentation and because it had been weeks since he had set foot into an actual classroom, his professor had requested that he attend in real life. Idia tried to put up a fight (read: he had begged and pleaded via email), but his professor had cited the rubric’s requirements and that it was a mandatory project that needed his presence. Needless to say, despite the fight in Idia, he had ended up folding the instant he thought he read an irritated tone in the email correspondence. 

(Idia would have definitely shown up the professor considering that the subject he was required to present was basically the fundamentals to understanding the integration of magic into technology, but decided to let the matter go.

He was merciful like that and he was above such triviality). 

When the time came, Idia felt himself sweating buckeyes and burrowing into the safety of his hooded jacket. Why did the entire world have to be composed of extraverts? Thankfully, during the presentation, his partner had taken the reins, which meant that the Ignihyde Housewarden didn’t have to speak as much as he thought he would. It may or may not be because of the contingency plan he had constructed back when he was a lowly first year. (That is to say,  Idia made sure to send a copy of the presentation and notes to his partner beforehand). 

As always, his plan worked because, after all, he was a genius.

So, after a lengthy class session that involved Idia pretending to listen to his peers drone on and on about their presentations (most of which were either not well researched or as well presented…and sometimes, it was a combination of both) while he was surreptitiously playing games on his phone, Idia was thirsty. It wasn’t like he had talked much, but effort was still effort, even if it wasn’t at his one hundred percent. 

And besides—

Precipice Moirai had teamed up with a lesser known energy drink that Idia had yet to taste. After having checked out the reviews, it was a widespread opinion that the energy drink wasn’t all too dissimilar to others of its kind. The taste wasn’t too remarkable and wasn’t well worth the hype except for the members of the famed idol group plastering their faces upon the tin. 

To say that Idia was annoyed was an understatement. Even if Premo had teamed up with a drink that didn’t taste good, that didn’t mean that fans should turn their backs against their beloved idols! Honestly, what sort of fans were they to talk such pessimistic sentiments about something that they didn’t have to buy? Idia was loyal and he was going to drink at least one can. 

And for those weirdos who left such disparaging comments on the forums… Let’s just say that they were going to be in for a treat when they finally logged back on. 

As Idia punched in the correct combination that would release the sweet, sugary nectar into his waiting grasp, he heard a familiar voice in the hallway. Even if it was from a distance, he felt himself shrink a little in his oversized hoodie and his hands trembled in anxiety. Out of everyone else in this school, no other SSR Problematic Child could appear so cute and unassuming, only to reveal that he himself was as much of a problem as his contemporaries. 

Riddle Rosehearts. 

A taskmaster to the core, the infamous Teapot Tyrant of Heartslabyul was busy berating a first year while Idia could only watch in detached horror. Fascinatingly enough, the first year only looked faintly amused by Riddle’s seemingly heated tirade. Now that Idia thought about it (from the safety of the bulky vending machine), Riddle hadn’t raised his voice or shouted his Unique Magic. Yes, the Taskmaster had been gradually mellowed out because of his Overblot (sadly, the experience hadn’t given Riddle a debuff when it came to his perfunctory nature), but Idia had only observed from hearsay and the off chance he decided to note Riddle’s behavior during meetings.

The change wasn’t drastic, but it reminded Idia of the character development for one of the villains in a manga series he had read a few years’ ago. A scary thought to be sure. There was no way Idia could try to compare the intricacies of an award winning manga to the messiness of human nature, but the fact that he had thought of it! For a mere second! 

Ughhhh… 2D was always better than 3D.

Before the Ignihyde Housewarden could suffer another meltdown that paled in comparison to the ire he felt at the idea of partnering with someone for a school project, he became all too aware that he was no longer alone at the vending machine. Now, Idia was no macho man (the S.T.Y.X. situation had certainly taught him that much), but he would rather go down into the depths of Tartarus or give access to his laptop without restriction to his mother before saying that he shrieked upon the realization. 

Yes, he will admit that he emitted a high pitched sound and jumped a foot in the air at the scare. 

But still.

It was nothing more than an excited exhalation of air. 

Nothing more. 

“Oh, gosh! Sorry about that, Idia! I thought you noticed me since I saw you watching Riddle and I earlier!” The Prefect’s voice was not as grating or as needlessly loud as some of the other students at this school—in fact, it was rather soft and apologetic—but Idia had to bury the urge to cover their mouth with his hands. (No way was he going to risk contaminating his gaming hands with someone who never heard of Premo before!) 

Plus…

Taskmaster Riddle could be still lying in wait for the next person to scold!

“Q-quiet down!” Idia’s tablet may have generated his voice, but it clearly conveyed the urgency and the volume that Idia’s vocal cords would have produced. “The world may be okay with catering to the whims of the extraverted, but as an introvert, I will not bow to such societal pressures.”

The Prefect cocked their head to the side and gave Idia one long, hard look. 

“For sure. Fight the power, Idia.”

Did he raise his friendship meter with the Prefect? Not that he wanted to, the Prefect was calming to talk to on most days, but that didn’t mean that they were exempt from the disease known as “sociability”. Idia didn’t do that. 

“So… is that any good?” 

Idia was about to ask what the Prefect meant by that question before realizing that he was still holding the energy drink (unopened). Ah, he had yet to fulfill today’s daily quest. 

Idia shrugged, feeling a little bit foolish as he regarded his loot. A part of him wanted to run away or shrink into his hoodie, but it would be too troublesome to rule up the Prefect because once you piqued the Prefect’s interest, bad things happened.

Like Riddle mellowing out. 

Or Leona actually taking initiative. 

Or Azul—No, he hadn’t changed a bit. A shady businessman to his core, that one. 

Whatever the case, Idia was so busy trying to come up with an exit strategy to leave ASAP (he had an afternoon campaign and he was AFK for too long!) that he nearly missed the Prefect’s little sigh. 

HAD HE OFFENDED THEM BECAUSE HE HAD SPENT TOO MUCH TIME THINKING?

Utter madness, why did anyone willingly submit themselves to the horrors of etiquette and good manners? The rules of polite society never made that much sense to him… 

“Gosh, I wish I could have some of that.” When did the Prefect step closer to inspect the can? “But if Riddle catches me overloading on sugar again, he’s going to make me help ADeuce with dressing up the flamingos for midmorning croquet.” 

Three years and Heartslabyul was a puzzle that Idia was not hard pressed to solve. RIP, GG to the n00bs who thought that Heartslabyul was one of the nicer dorms. 

Spoiler alert: It wasn’t.

“I know he means well, but he’s not my dad, right?” 

There was a note of ruefulness in the Prefect’s voice that Idia was quick to note, but just as quickly discarded because no. Absolutely not. No, he was not going to get roped up into the Prefect’s problems. He had Board Game Club following the events of the winter holidays and Azul was quick to complain about the destruction done to his restaurant! (There was also the Scarabia Overblot, but not many people talked about it unless you were a Scarabian and offended on Kalim’s behalf, but that was another matter entirely). 

“And you know what else?” Was the Prefect still talking? Sevens, the Prefect was still talking! Was Idia’s blatant discomfort not enough to dissuade further social interaction? Or had Idia unlocked a secret achievement: meeting a sassy, sadistic Prefect? “He told me that I needed to start tying my ties because he won’t do them for me anymore! I can do them, I just like it when he does it because his knots are perfect and I feel like an honor student.”

Idia was going to regret this later (in hindsight, he could have ended that conversation then and there by agreeing with the Prefect and then saying that he had plans to do! because! he! had! a! campaign!), but he piped up, sardonic judgment in his voice, “So that thing around your neck is Riddle’s doing?”

“This gorgeous thing?” The Ramshackle Prefect patted their tie that had been so horrible crumpled and knotted into a sad mass of fabric that looked like it wanted to be a tie, but was weighed down with too much responsibility. Like child support. Taxes. And maybe vehicular manslaughter. Or you know, weighing down your future with expectations that you had to fulfill because of your lineage. “You know, you have the same look Riddle gave me when he saw me earlier. It’s like… he was so amazed by my mad skills that he had no choice but to stare. A total loss for words!”

“You…” Gloomurai abort. Gloomurai. Abort. Gloomurai! Abort! “You need help.”

.

.

.

Scratch that, Idia needed help. 

Send dudes! Send the troops! 

Call in the reinforcements!

Sevens, screw his thoughts regarding internet anonymity! Send in Muscle Red!!! 

He needed an adult!

(Yes, he was technically not a minor anymore, but he needed an adultier adult!)

“Um…”

“Shhh!”

Idia huffed a little to himself as he looked at the length of the Prefect’s tie, the fabric somewhat wrinkled and worn from their attempts to make some sort of bow around their neck. For reasons that Idia could not quite fathom, the conversation right after he had noted how much the Prefect sucked at tying their tie had resulted in this. 

(“You’re such a total n00b! ROTFLOL. No wonder the Taskmaster himself singled you out! In fact, I wonder why the final boss from Pomefiore hasn’t talked to you yet!”

“Oh, Vil? He did.”

“And?” Idia hadn’t meant to ask, but his curiosity was piqued. Thr Ignihyde Housewarden managed to evade his fellow third year because of their differing class schedules, but that didn’t mean he did not have his fair share of scoldings. 

“He told me that poor little potatoes like me needed to get tended to better. Whatever that meant.”

Lucky! Usually, Vil would have had Idia on the ropes, fighting for his life, while Vil threatened to throw toner, moisturizer, and other beauty products at him. Pfffttt, as if the family curse wasn’t already doing wonders to his body.

“Ha! I definitely could do better than you!”

“Oh really?” Oh. Oh no. Whenever normies looked like that, it could mean only one thing: trouble. “Why don’t you show me how?”

Say no. 

Idia say no. 

Idia say—

“You’ll be like my kouhai! For tying ties. Unless you’re as bad at it like me”

That did it. 

Idia placed the energy drink on the ground and began typing in a search query into his tablet. 

“First of all, kouhai means junior. Obviously, I’m your senpai or your senior. Second of all, of course I know how to tie a tie! What do you take me for? I’m going to tie a tie so—“)

After wrangling the Prefect’s tie away from their ratty uniform, Idia tried to remember how to tie a tie. His fingers, as deft and as quick as they were when commanding the keyboard or maneuvering a mouse, were somewhat slow and clumsy as he tried to shift the fabric into a loop. How did his father teach him again? It was somewhat awkward—when were things not awkward?—and it lasted a lot longer than it should have, but eventually, Idia was choked into submission into society’s standards of what a young man with a promising future should look like. 

Ugh. 

And then his dad tried to talk to him about the future, but Idia kinda, sorta tuned him out because he really didn’t want to think about the future any more than he had to. Thus, Idia was dressed like any first year student should… But that was only for a little while. 

After Idia suffered through a week of choking himself or looking the fool with his poorly tied tie, he ordered a special, custom-made hoodie. And then he never looked back. Yes, he was not as well dressed as someone like Vil or Riddle, but it wasn’t like he aspired to be them. As if anyone other than overachievers and those with images to maintain actually cared about what they looked like.

Idia was already a freak; if he looked like a normal preppy extravert, he would undoubtedly look even more freaky. 

(Like an alien trying to fit in). 

Anyway, back to the matter at hand, Idia was screwed. 

He screwed up. 

GG.

FF.

All of his HP had decreased to  an increasingly concerning level and now, he was only a second away from curling into a ball and crying. Where was Ortho when he needed him? You could only watch the same Magicam video of how to tie a tie so many times before you began to realize that you were not as skilled as you thought you were. 

Also, the Prefect was giving him a strange smile that made Idia’s cheeks heat and his hair—SEVENS HIS HAIR! 

Curse this curse!

“So… do you give—”

Idia, in an uncharacteristic manner, bared his teeth wide as he glared at the Prefect with the power of a million dying suns. “No! I will git gud! This tie will bow down to my brilliance!” 

The tie was not OP, it couldn’t be. 

That was unreal and Idia was being realistic. 

All he needed to do was breathe and—

“You know—” Stop talking. Stop talking. Why are you talking? “—I think I know what the problem is!”

Idia, in near tears and just about ready to call it a day, had no choice but to blurt out, “What? What could it possibly be?”

Yes, he was that desperate. 

“Well, you’re holding it in your hands and tying it that way. Don’t you think that it would be easier if you tied it on me? Plus, if you succeed, I get a perfect tie!”

PHYSICAL CONTACT.

WAS THIS WHAT THE WORLD WAS COMING TO?

PHYSICAL CONTACT?

And then, Idia heard the ‘if’ that the Prefect said. And then the implication set in. 

If he succeeds?

There was obvious psychological manipulation here—the Prefect must have spent way too much time at Octavinelle because this stunk of seafood—but Idia had no choice. 

This was like the sunk cost fallacy. He had already spent so much time trying to show off in front of the Prefect that it would do him no good if he backed off now. 

“O-oh! O-okay!”

Idia’s fingers trembled as he approached the Prefect. Now that he was close to them, he realized that even though he was slouching, the Ramshackle Prefect was actually really short compared to him. In hindsight, he shouldn’t have felt so nervous—the Prefect was not as intimidating as other Night Raven College students—but still. 

Was the Prefect going to recoil in disgust when he touched them? 

Were they going to make fun of him for fumbling for so long?

Or—

“Keep going, Idia!” The Prefect cheered. Their eyes were on his hands, both of which were maneuvering the fabric of the tie around their neck with slow, stuttering movements. Swallowing hard, Idia found himself entranced as the Prefect’s small hands began to guide his own into vaguely familiar movements. 

First, the tie was measured out to its correct length. Then, when Idia began to falter, the Prefect (again) guided his hands until he remembered that he had to cross the length of the left piece of fabric over the right. He would then bring up the left piece again. A beat passed as Idia tried to remember the succeeding steps before starting up again, this time, with a little more confidence. Once that was done, he brought up the left piece of fabric that was longer and thicker than the right so that it could enter into the loop that was created from the previous steps. 

And then, Idia tugged until the knot of the tie was perfectly formed and flush against the Prefect’s throat. 

He… 

He actually did it?

He actually—

“Oh, wow! That’s so cool!” The Prefect beamed the world’s brightest smile at Idia. 

The effect was immediate and painful; the AoE would have been off the charts if it were not for the following move that the Prefect made. 

Without so much as a look of remorse, the Prefect tugged off the tie, undid the loops, and gave Idia the looping, crumpled fabric.

“Now, you gotta teach me this time.”

NO.

NO.

NOOOOOO—

.

.

.

“Ortho, I have now entered my villain era.” Idia slumped into his bed, not at all minding the crumbs from his ultra healthy dietary habits. As he curled up, he saw that Ortho was floating beside his head, a look of concern over his childlike features. 

“Are you referring to your fashion session with the Ramshackle Prefect? I saw the entire thing! I had no idea that the Prefect was so bad at tying ties!”

“Me neither.” 

“But at the very least you managed to taste that new energy drink, right?”

Idia felt his breath catch.

“FUCK.”

.

.

.

If you want to donate a Ko-Fi, feel free https://ko-fi.com/devintrinidad.

TWISTED WONDERLAND MASTERLIST

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst idia #twst yuu #twisted wonderland idia #idia shroud #twisted wonderland yuu #dearestones #devintrinidad #gender neutral #gn! reader

[egg-emperor]

'Show me one time where he's genuinely a good person with good intentions, where selfishness, ego, and desire to survive and save the world so he can rule it isn't involved. There isn't any.' ehh, i don't know, id argue eggman saving tails in lost world counts. dude doesn't need tails to get past the yeti, only sonic. he yells 'tails!' to try and alert him and sounds generally concerned when doing so. He also makes the decision to save him in less than a second, meaning he didn't have time to weigh the pros and cons of saving one of his worst enemies, he just instinctively went to help him. mind you, this doesn't even contradict him threatening to turn tails into mincemeat in sa1, because as he explains, he's a complicated guy *shrug*. not trying to start any drama or anything, but i def believe there are a few stand out moments in game canon when eggmans 'human side' is shown that cant really be explained away without heavily reaching imo

I knew this could possibly be one of the moments someone could raise. But I have a response locked and loaded, I always account for everything and am ready to go lol. And I don't think it requires what I'd consider heavy reaching to explain away because I go by what can be seen/heard of game then carefully think about what it means while considering his character and what tracks with everything we know.

I see Eggman's save of Tails as calculated decision. There are a lot of benefits: Making the team up seem more genuine and convincing, winning Sonic over some more and possibly finally Tails after how hostile they were towards each other, the way the more is up against the D6, the better, and the way Sonic could possibly be less focused on the mission if he lost Tails. Also the bonus of how he'd prefer to kill both Sonic and Tails more personally than some random unplanned battle robot, just like Sonic falling into lava would've been underwhelming.

Eggman could see that he was starting to gain Sonic's reliability when he said that they need him to shut down his machine, while Tails wasn't happy about it and felt like Sonic trusted Eggman more. So if he jumps in and acts like a hero and saves Tails, it's going to help him seem more genuine and possibly win Tails over more too after their beef with each other. It makes sense for him to be prepared to act to seem convincing whatever it may be, even though he of course couldn't have predicted the modified robot to attack him.

I don't purely say this off vibes because when Sonic says "you could've gotten yourself killed" Eggman quickly smiles behind Sonic which makes him seem very suspicious I love it lol

It looks sly and mischievous for a guy who just saved someone's life, it's not giving "he did it out of the goodness of his heart", more like "yes it's working, Sonic said he 'can't figure me out', I'm convincing >:)"

If you think it's not possible that he could've thought that fast to weigh pros and cons, he had the plan to betray Sonic and Tails the moment they got him past the Deadly Six and back to his machine and new Eggrobo all along. So I contextualize everything within this. That gives plenty of time to plan on trying to make his facade of a willingness to work with them without any tricks all the more convincing. This is why I feel that him jumping in to save Tails was more calculated than it appears at first watch.

Plus, we know he can think and act that fast anyway. Because in the Lava Mountain scene where he fakes his death, he was planning to do that the whole time and was prepared but he couldn't have expected for it to be kicked off by the Deadly Six breaking the bridge. Yet he was able to quickly act to save Sonic, so he could still keep the Zeti back while he went to reprogram the machine and he could destroy him himself with his new mech as planned.

Him suddenly thinking fast to save Sonic was for selfish and sinister self motivated reasons, and I think it makes a lot of sense for the same to apply to Tails.

Shrugging it off and saying he's just a complicated guy was also the perfect thing to say that wouldn't make it obvious that he was trying to convince them to keep him around. Because otherwise they would've likely realized it doesn't add up with how he was acting just a couple scenes ago when he said he thinks he "liked it better when [he] was trying to destroy [Tails]" If he dismisses it in such a casual way that can't be disproven, he's not trying too hard to convince them.

But if you think parts of that are a little too speculative, though it does have a little something on screen and the context of why he's teaming up with them to support it, we can also go by how he visibly acts much more blatantly in the later cutscene at Silent Forest, when Tails falls into the trap.

Eggman has no reaction, he just stands and silently watches. Doesn't even have the slightest look of suprise or shock like the Frozen Factory Tails save cutscene, which makes the latter feel more performative of a response while he was right in front of Sonic.

He then gives Sonic a little speech while he's devastated to motivate him, so that he'll "make sure his sacrifice isn't for nothing", his sly way of saying "alright but you've still gotta help me, I'm not letting you get hung up on this" lol

He needs to make sure Sonic won't lose focus of their mission and still work hard and not lose hope, so he can get him past the Zeti and betray him later.

And he just gives a little "eh whatever" shrug while Sonic isn't looking again. Much like how he grinned when Sonic wasn't looking in the other scene. Like when Sonic isn't looking, you see the real same old Eggman and how he really feels about both situations.

It's really funny how much he just doesn't even react or give a fuck in this scene lol. I think it really testifies against him really caring about Tails in his previous save considering this is the next cutscene he's even in.

It makes sense for the reasons behind the save is a combination of performing heroics to seem more reliable in this truce because he was planning to betray them the whole time, along with how he expected Sonic to lose focus of their mission and not perform as well if he was devastated by the loss of Tails. So when he couldn't save him this time, he brings out the little motivating speech since it's all he can do now.

Especially since the modified battle robot would've certainly resulted in Tails' death which of course would've had a heavy impact on Sonic and could've affected his performance, while they weren't sure what the Deadly Six were going to do with Tails though Eggman did think of it as like a "sacrifice". So I see that as explaining his earlier actions of the save.

Like this, I can't think of any others that I wouldn't also have an explanation for that tracks with the way he's selfish and self motivated. Lost World, to me, really seems like another prime example of that instead. I love Lost World Eggman and just how much there is to explore and consider about his actions, knowing that he was using them and was going to betray them the whole time.

Eggman does a have a human side and genuinely human moments in the series because being human isn't being a good person. There are many ways to be. Selfishness is very human too. He has a bunch of human traits and moments that remind us that he's human and none involve him being a genuinely good selfless or caring person because it's not required for him to be.

I haven't seen anything that people use as examples of him being a good person that I can't find reasons to argue against and they don't require any huge reaches or speculation as there are always scenes and dialogue to support my points, like the stuff I used here. The more I go back and reanalyze, I only find more to support them despite my open mind and neutrality looking into it.

I only see a pure evil villain with a funny side who is exclusively self motivated only acts for purely selfish reasons that personally benefit him. Which tracks with the kind of egotist and narcissist he is, it's the strong defining core of his character that influences his mindset, goals, and actions throughout the series consistently. There isn't any scene where I can see any exceptions to this.

I encourage you to have your own take and disagree so we can have a discussion like this though. I understand you're not trying to start drama and respect your perspective, I'm interested to see and discuss and share my thoughts. I understand what it's like for people think it's your intention though, it sucks. This is always a chill space to agree or disagree as long as you're chill about it too. 🤝

#I want to watermark this but man it's a bad pain day #I'll have to do it tomorrow #sorry for poor quality had to screenshot my vid on phone. don't usually but hurts to use laptop :') #eggman #dr eggman #dr robotnik #dr. eggman #sonic the hedgehog #asks #my post #sonic lost world

[purpleandstarlight]

I feel like chapter two of the Kuroshitsuji manga does a horrible job of introducing Lizzy and her relationship with o!Ciel?

I love them both to death and (although I don't ship them bc they're literally cousins) I am very fond of their interactions most of the time.

But that one chapter really wasn't it. Maybe it was Yana's intention, like a fake out, or maybe it was just that she didn't have all of the details about them straight yet, but compared to any other interaction they have, it's off character for both of them.

In that chapter, o!Ciel acts like Lizzie's presence is a bother he's just putting up with, almost slaps her (in a justified fit of anger, but it's not the best move nonetheless) and at the end, while he does end up making her happy, it doesn't give me the good vibes it usually gives me, since this one time he had a right with being upset and he was just putting on a mask for her sake.

Lizzie appears much more selfish than she usually is. Lizzy's whole deal is that she wants to protect "Ciel" and be there for him to support him and make him happy. Even if he's different from when they were kids because of his trauma she knows nothing about (and the fact that he isn't the same person in the first place, but she didn't know that yet), she never makes it a fault of him and she still loves him. This is very mature, and something shes been doing since she was literally eleven. She can go a bit overboard sometimes when trying to cheer him up, as she herself states in the birthday chapter, and ending up making things worse (Because she's literally a kid, no one can fault her for that) but she's doesn't get into his business too much. She never brings up his past in front of him. She's also observant enough to notice that he wears high heels to feel taller and genuinely goes out of her way to make him less self conscious about his height, so I find it hard to believe that she would be so insistent on taking off his Family Ring and even going as far as breaking in because "she didn't know it was important.".

Sure, she can notice something as minimal and unspoken as him wearing heels to look less like a tiny child when working in an adult world, but not think that 'Hey, maybe the family ring (you know, the family who died in very traumatic circumstances only a few years ago) could be kind of important to him"? I find that hard to believe.

Also the thing that Mei-Rin, Finny and Bard didn't know who she was, even though they've been working there for AT LEAST a year. I know Yana probably just wanted a way to introduce her as his fiance and cousin to the readers, but she could have done it in a way that doesnt make it seem like Lizzie's never around when, actually, she's frequently shown coming into the Manor from that point onward during the entirety of the manga. The Phantomhive Manor is home as much as her own house is. She spent a lot of time there with R!Ciel, Angelina and Rachel. It is also the house of his fiance, and she's canonically shown to not give a shit and show up completely by surprise there often (Her first introduction. The Circus arc when o!Ciel wasn't even home. That time where she came into the Manor to tell him about her trip on the Campania at the beginning of the arc). So forgive me for finding it hard to believe that they wouldn't know her.

Anyway yeah these are just my thoughts. Live love laugh Ciel and Lizzie

#kuroshitsuji #black butler #ciel phantomhive #o!ciel #elizabeth midford #lizzie midford #lizzy midford #character analysis #-ish? #i guess

[lokiinmediasideblog]

Loki S2 Ep 2

Spoilers ahead

I really am enjoying this season way more than the first. There's just more going on, and I like that.

I was pleasantly surprised that the pruning of timelines was not framed as a "necessary evil" as I expected it to be, and our protagonists tried to stop this or mourned it.

Also, I kinda love that there's a bunch of grey or somewhat scummy characters that are either similar or worse to Loki? I was expecting Loki to torture some guy that randomly grew a conscience for being a little shit, either in some copagandic move by Disney or "look at how evil Loki is" move. And lol, this will inspire a lot of Dark!Loki fic...

I mean, Loki DID get to be an evil little shit, after Brad brought up his mother (these people need to learn that's how you get on Loki's shit list). But Brad was just some self-serving guy that only cared about his own survival and fame, and would have let the rest of them die if his neck wasn't on the line as well. I will have to rewatch it because he either distracted them so Dox got to achieve her plans, or he was just self-serving and happy to let them all die as long as he was safe. Seemed pretty loyal to Dox until his neck was on the line.

I am STILL hoping the pie is drugged , and I am upset that it doesn't seem likely yet. The muscle memory of the TVA workers thing is very weird though, so it's not a discarded theory yet. Their bodies yearn for the pie. Hope it doesn't affect Loki too, as he had some as well.

I thought OB being like "figure it out yourselves; I've got to keep this place from collapsing" was so relatable, as someone in a technical field. Casey fanboying over OB was cute. And I liked how Sylvie has that cool punk aunt vibe towards the McDonald's kid, and she's shown be so traumatized to not be able to stomach the TVA, to the point of staying in a potentially pruned branch.

I liked how Mobius can't stomach the idea of having lost some good life.

I think my only complaint for now is that the dialogue in the reunion felt a little weird (and somewhat frustrating, but that might be intentional). Maybe my opinion will change after a rewatch.

I won't really complain over Loki claiming it's his feelings getting out of hand that caused the invasion. Loki has a tendency of being euphemistic regarding pain (e.g. time slipping being "not that bad"). And it still does not fuck up my head cannons (and a part of me would be scared the MCU will go the "Thanos was a good boss that gave everyone employee benefits" route because he's some writer's pet due to his whole eco-fascist schtick being framed as an "ethical dilemma", so I am scared of them touching that, like they did in "What If?" despite him canonically torturing children for the lulz).

#loki season 2 spoilers #loki series #mcu!loki #mcu!sylvie #mcu!mobius #mcu!OB #mcu!ouroboros #mcu!bradwolfe #mcu!x-5 #mcu!dox #mcu!casey #personal thoughts on the episode

[juhbebbie]

Okayyyyy so City of the Dead thoughts for anyone who cares

Was I disappointed? My expectations weren't super high so I guess not, but the super overdramatic self pitying narration threw me off quite a bit. Like okay man chill out a bit. Kind of expected to not see Layla until the end so I guess there I was disappointed but not surprised. Fingers crossed she will be a central character from here on out and not a one and done thing in the series.

Okay elephant in the room time. I know a lot of people have been saying they REALLY did not like it and I really cannot blame them, but also I'm trying to stay hopeful because it just the first issue. I'm hesitant to get pissed off over the total lack of Jake and Steven just yet, when in Mackay's series neither made an appearance until like a year into the run. Yes this series isn't going to be nearly as long, but still. That being said, no I definitely don't expect Moon Knight to really be shown as a system, but I'm gonna give Prepose a couple more issues to prove me wrong (the bar is on the floor). Mainly just because I feel like it would be hypocritical of me to denounce Prepose for not including them and then praise Mackay when it took him 12 issues to really acknowledge that they are a system. I'm going to give Prepose a chance since he wrote a pretty good Black, White, and Blood story that did have them shown as a system in a pretty cool way imo.

All this to say that I'm not trying to undermine anyone else's concerns, this is just my own opinion and trust me, based on what little interviews I've read I fully expect Jake and Steven to be completely ignored and if (and when) that happens I will be right there with the rest of yall lol. I will say that it's already very clear that the set up so far was not written with the intention of having a place for Steven or Jake, which is very disappointing.

Okay positive things! I enjoyed seeing Dr Badr a lot and i didn't have much of an issue with how he and Marc's relationship was portrayed. Yes in the main run they're closer now, but they are still very much at odds but willing to work together towards a common goal, which is exactly what we see here in this issue.

I also liked where the thing with the kid is going. The detail of him being kicked out after his brother's death definitely makes me think he's going to be a reflection of Marc, which would be a cool parallel to have.

And the art for the most part was really gorgeous! I don't know what the hell was going on with Layla there at the end (otherwise great male artists not knowing how to draw women), but other than that I REALLY loved how the actual city looked.

And the Egyptian mythology was actually a lot more accurate than it usually is, which, as someone who has always been a total nerd about that stuff, actually made me really happy. There are several specific things I wanted to point out but this post is long enough as is.

Also. "I don't care if I burn" that was badass as shit come on. One of the (admittedly several!) moments of overdramatic writing that came off very well kind of like how it does in the Mackay run (don't wanna compare this too much to the Mackay run though because I understand it's obviously going to be different and that's fine)

But yeah. The overall feel and tone was very... off. I was on board with the general plot and Marc's motivations but everything around the basic plot structure just seemed like Prepose was trying to do a weird Huston run thing and it wasn't working (I don't think it worked in the Huston run either but I digress).

I've seen people saying that they didn't like how Marc was an enthusiastic follower of Khonshu, but that wasn't really the vibe I got at all? If anything it was pretty clear how much he hated everything he was doing. Which also kinda felt off. Having him say that everything was "punishment" over and over just kind of felt like I was getting hit on the head with a theme that didn't even make sense for the character, at least not at this point. Don't get me wrong, self punishment is absolutely a big part of Marc Spector's character, but there is an important distinction between doing things to right your past wrongs and doing them because you feel like you deserve it. And it seemed like Prepose understood that at first, but then later into the issue I was like Marc PLEASE shut the fuck up about punishment lol.

People more knowledgeable than myself have said things about how this looks from the standpoint that this is also a Jewish character, but all I'm going to say as a general statement for all of Moon Knight's runs is that I wish they would let him be explicitly Jewish more often. It's mentioned in Mackay's run the clash between Marc's service to Khonshu and his Judaism, but I think that that is such an interesting part of his character that needs to be discussed WAY more!

Anyway, to make a long story short, definitely not the strongest first issue, but it absolutely had some great moments and I'm going to go forward with my expectations still pretty low, but willing to give it a shot for Layla's sake. But the fact that a run featuring Layla is already not turning out to be very good is a little bit heartbreaking for me I'm not gonna lie lol. I was going to go and buy myself a copy of this issue, but after actually reading it I didn't really want it anymore. So 😬 fingers crossed for the next issue I guess?

#and i cannot stress enough that this is just my opinion #and really not liking it or not wanting to continue reading the series is a very justified view to have in my opinion #im interested enough that i want to see where it goes and i didnt HATE reading it but i also didnt enjoy it nearly as much as i wanted to #moon knight #moon knight comics #moon knight: city of the dead #moon knight city of the dead #marvel #marvel comics

[whispangleblogger]

With how much Tangle and Whisper meas to you.. are there any specific moments in the comics that made you love them? What initiated that spark? :3

That is actually a really complex question for me...

I would say it's the full package ?

Lemme go a little bit into detail here, i try to split this into two parts:

Part 1 - How they affected my personal life in a positive way

When i first started to read the IDW Comics the relationship of Tangle and Whisper did stick out to me immediately.

I always enjoyed Sonic the Hedgehog as a medium, played the Games whenever they did tickle my interest, grabbed me some merch when i thought it looked nice, i literally grew up with the blue blur. I always looked at it as funny cartoon animals do funny things to annoy big bad Dr. Eggman, because that's what it was for me since childhood.

So when i jumped into IDW it is probably an understatement that i was surprised by it's depth and how all these characters were shown in a different light, a more serious tone, in relatable situations, they have their flaws, their strength, their fears, they suddenly had a wide set of emotions brought into play i honestly wasn't sure for a while if i was reading official Sonic the Hedgehog Comics by SEGA or a really good fanproject.

Anyway, it didn't take me too long until i catched up with Tangle and Whisper.

Back then (early 2021) i was in a really weak position and went through a hard time in life (Still trying to recover from it as you know) and let's just say the Tangle and Whisper Mini helped me to look up and enjoy life again.

Whisper's backstory, losing her team, trying to find a footing in life, opening up to people again, dealing with her own trauma somehow just spoke to me on many levels.

And mixed up with Tangle being the sunshine she is, the bound they formed during the events of the comics, it somehow gave me strength to not give up on myself.

I know this might sound weird to some people that literally cartoon animals helped me to regain my spirit again.

Ngl it did surprise me too, never in my life would i have thought that actual Sonic characters/comics would get me out of that dark swamp i was trapped in.

But life is never 100% predictable. In the end i just embraced it for what it is even if it did strike me a little weird.

So much about my personal experience.

Part 2 - Actual organic LGBT representation that feels natural in it's buildup.

So that is a thing that did really stick out to me a lot while reading the comics.

Tangle and Whisper's bound did evolve very organic throughout the course of the whole comic series, it added depth with the mini series, showed growth through the annual story and their overall interactions with each other while fighting side by side during the metal virus arc.

From being distant to slowly starting to embrace each other more and more, Whisper's breakdown when she found out she lost Tangle to the Virus, tackle hugging her out of relieve that she got her back, ending in a flirty scene even + many more small details, little interactions and be it just Tangle wrapping her tail around Whisper for comfort.

There is a lot of unspoken body language between these two as well that adds a lot to their narrative in my eyes.

Heck even their whole Cover Art Selection for their Mini Series is truly something else.

These two girls gave me such a massive gay/lesbian vibe and they were also so close to each other on the page, that i was actually surprised (Heh, again) when i found out that they weren't pitched that way in the first place.

Like, excuse me but huh !?

Supporting, healing, growing, feelings, baby steps, it's all there.

I was really happy to see a wlw relationship blossom in such a normal way that it felt like fresh air to me. (Back then it wasn't even confirmed yet) Tbh i didn't delve too much into details at that point i just enjoyed the story surrounding them.

A typical case of good written slowburn. And man i love slowburn romance haha

Usually i was used to a lot of subtext till the end (Korrasami for example, it is a good story but was extremely restricted)

Anyway i don't want to make this any longer than it already is, BUT I THINK we could say that all of the above initiated that "spark" for me.

And tbh i am not even sure if my words here give it enough justice at all. Honestly i was never a big shipper for anything in my life prior to these two.

I bet i could squeeze more outta my head but that's honestly already a lot of digging here on my part.

#Ask & Answer #Damn long answer #my brain feels like mush lol

[n0brainjustvibes]

mucka blucka (intro into cacophony) by Chonny Jash is a huge Shallan song (unfortunately it works even better when you know chonny jash lore which i doubt you know)

OUGHBH GOD YEAG. even from the album cover I can see it's gonna be good. alas I do not know the lore but I'll do my best!

huh this kinda fits with how much she controls and conditions her own mental state...

she do be a bard (Lightweaver)

yeah! this lyric is also a kenzie lyric btw :)

and now i. am having Emotions about shallan using jokes and stories and art as emotional first-aid for her brothers. shallan the emotional field medic, putting pressure on the wound even as the bullets rain down. she's a bit like kaladin with bridge 4. trying her damnedest to help those around her even in an actively traumatising situation.

LMAO, OKAY, THERE'S LOW HANGING FRUIT HERE...

...but I'm really more invested in this bit, which I think also fits her past. Trying to help her brothers but knowing that the abuse just keeps recurring.

GOD, FUCK, YEAH. yeah. YEAH. that's her past. we've seen the effects of Lin's abuse of her brothers, now we're seeing the trauma he inflicted on her by forcing her to put up the perfect-daughter facade in front of guests - the me that's shown to everyone else. "Gets paraded" also hits; I think Shallan's past was a lot more dehumanising than many people realise, that she was treated in large part as an ornament to use. And "stuck underground" fits with how she's restricted physically to the house, restricted socially to her family and immediate guests, restricted emotionally and unable to express herself except in fear behind closed doors, restricted intellectually with her neglected education.

fits on vibes alone! the contradiction of shallan davar. I'm sure there's way more to say about this too. To me, it's Shallan in Kharbranth - pride in what education she did manage to scrape, and joy in her newfound freedom, clashing with her hidden mission to steal Jasnah's Soulcaster, her shame at realising how insufficient her education was, and the echoes of her father (and mother, though I won't elaborate because spoilers for the asker)'s treatment on her self-esteem. Also, she's seeing Pattern here, and thinks she's going mad. Fun times!

The "I/We" pronoun shift is also interesting. Someone who knows more about DID could probably say more about it than me, but from what I understand DID develops to deal with trauma, and some alters take on more(?) of that trauma - so maybe this shows the Three system as a whole taking on the burden, while Shallan gets a breather to act as a more carefree scholar? But then again, I'm pretty sure she wasn't plural yet at this point, so idk if it would work that way.

AND SPEAKING OF THE THREE AS A SYSTEM!! I don't think this necessarily maps directly onto the Three, but it's kind of the same idea, right? Different parts of oneself to take on traumas/'tolls'.

And this is exactly what Shallan consciously wants, thinks she needs, but must move away from as a Lightweaver. She must admit truths about 'the man behind the lines', whom she hides with jokes and art, to progress in her Oaths and character arc.

This whole part feels like her trying to turn Pattern away at the start of their bond. Which I don't recall whether she did, but feels like something she would do.

[cough] LIGHTWEAVER!!!!!!

This bit reminds me of how Hoid tried to help out younger Shallan, iirc, encouraged her, but she still had to go back to her home and experience further trauma.

h.ough. yeag. don't really have anything to say abt this. i think this fits something (someone?) that happens in RoW, but spoilers.

[deep breaths]. holy shit. that was. a Lot. um. yeah really good song about trauma and identity and fracturing of the self and art as a means for concealing, expressing, and shaping one's identity! incredibly shallan. and incredibly Three.

#shallan davar #not all Shallan songs are Three songs imo but this one is definitely both #banger tunes for my blorbos #stormlight archive

[messymindofmine]

I've been rewatching s2 and I can honestly say it is the messiest season in the entire show. I suppose it's kind of understandable since a) the show was still kind of finding it's footing with expanding on characters and plotlines and b) the pandemic really changed a lot of plans. The messiest thing they did though was the entire storyline revolving around Gwyn and Owen.

As much as I liked Gwyn, I never got the feeling even when the season first aired that she was meant to stick around for good and rewatching has reinforced that for me. Considering we barely even got a mention of her on s1, it seems very strange that they would suddenly have her moving in with Owen in s2. I suspect that the real reason she was even brought in is bc both the actress who played Zoe and Liv Tyler decided to leave and bc heaven forbid Owen have one season without a love interest or at least some female character that he has sexual tension with, they decided to bring Gwyn in. I do like that they chose Lisa Edelstein bc her and Rob Lowe obviously have great chemistry and it's a really cool nod to their time on the West Wing. It's actually really cool bc if you watch their scenes in the West Wing, you can kind of imagine them as a young Owen and Gwyn when they first got together. But then they introduced the whole baby thing. And the whole surprise baby storyline has always been my most despised trope in any show bc it is so narratively lazy and 99% of the time adds absolutely nothing to the show. It certainly didn't add anything to this one. There was literally no reason to bring that in especially considering that the plan was pretty obviously to always have Gwn and Owen break up again.

All this storyline did was make both Gwyn and Owen look pretty bad as parents. I usually defend Owen quite a bit (and will continue to do so bc the hate this man gets is truly ridiculous) but I do understand why people were so upset with him in s2. The Owen we saw in s2 was almost unrecognizable than the one we saw in s1. The version we got in s3 was better than what we got in early s2. It's like he literally forgot that he had a son during that time. And the same goes for Gwyn too. Not once did either Gwyn or Owen think about how they were hurting their son with the way they were behaving. The storyline also made no sense from a realistic perspective. Gwyn would've been in her 50s in s2 and at the very least pre-menopausal yet somehow she gets accidentally pregnant? And then the same Gwyn who is shown to be very pragmatic and reasonable doesn't once consider the very large risk factors involved with pregnancy at such an advanced age? Not to mention how that would affect her career at that point in her life? Instead Owen is shown to be the one who's struggling with the idea. Tbh as much as I commend the show for usually dealing with sensitive topics really well, this whole storyline gave me some real "written by men who have no idea how women even work" vibes. It made zero sense to have the storyline at all considering they have Owen and Gwyn break up anyway.

It made even less sense after they decided to kill Gwyn off. And tbh I wasn't even surprised that they decided to do that bc like I said, it was pretty obvious that Gwyn was never meant to be brought into the show to begin with. Even when they brought her back in s3, it was obviously done to fuel Owen's s3 mid-life crisis. In fact, this point is literally stated by Mateo. As sad as her death was bc I did like Gwyn, at least it contributed something to the show itself as well as allow a deeper look into TK's character. The same can not be said for the baby storyline at all.

I know some people have been upset that we don't see or hear any mention of Jonah or Enzo and I do understand why. It does seem really weird. But at the same time, I'm actually not upset bc I never liked that whole storyline to begin with and I'm glad to just forget about it lol. Besides, I feel that the baby storyline is similar to the Iris storyline but in the opposite direction. As in, with Iris they may well have planned something for her in s2 but bc Liv Tyler left they decided to scrap those plans. That's understandable but then by bringing her back in s4, they ended up creating all these plotholes for the previous seasons. But ok, at least Iris's storyline contributed something and we got introduced to an interesting new character. As I said before, I would be down for seeing Iris again. But with the baby thing, it was created pretty obviously for the sole purpose of drama, it clearly wasn't all that popular even at the time and I think the writers probably regretted creating it to begin with. Not that they'd ever admit it since they couldn't even admit that the Iris storyline was not something that they'd been planning the whole time even though it's super obvious. It genuinely feels like they started regretting it very early on but bc it's a procedural show on cable TV didn't feel comfortable really taking the plunge to maybe find a way to get rid of the storyline in a realistic way (eg miscarriage or abortion) and so just ended up going along with it in the messiest way possible. Any mention we got of the baby pretty much from the beginning felt so forced. As if the writers kept thinking "oh shoot we brought this in and now we have to follow it through." But now they have no reason to do so and I suspect that they're perfectly happy to effectively retcon the whole thing and act like it never happened. And you know what? I'm not even upset about it. All things considered, retconning it actually makes more sense that having had it in the first place. At least, they're still including Gwyn and remembering her. To me, that matters more. I'm not gonna tell anybody else what to do but I feel like it might just be better to go with the flow and erase the baby thing from our minds for our own sanity. It's not like the show makes it hard.

Anyway, I just needed to get these thoughts out bc rewatching the first couple of seasons with the hindsight that we have now is truly an experience

#911 on fox #911 lone star #911 lone star s1 #911 lone star s2 #911 lone star s3 #911 lone star s4 #tk strand #carlos reyes #tarlos #owen strand #gwyn morgan #michelle blake #iris blake

[ljf613]

OwlCrate Unboxed (01/24)

I just got my first @owlcrate box, and honestly, I wasn't really sure what to expect, or if this was really worth it-- I rarely spend more than $10 on a book, so the full charge of just one of these boxes (including shipping) definitely had me thinking twice. And what if, after all that, I didn't even like the book?

But one of the reasons I was willing to take a risk on this one was because the theme was clearly tailor-made for me specifically.

"Enchated to Meet You"? Regency-esque romance with magic and royalty? That soft, vintage aesthetic that I adore? Yes, please.

And I was not disappointed. While I still haven't read the book, so I can't say if I'll like it or not, what I can tell you is that before I even got particularly deep into the box, I already knew that the price I'd paid was more than worth it even without the book.

(To avoid spoilers, product images and reviews beneath the cut.)

First up, this canvas tote bag:

The design is based on a book called Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber. (It's on my to-read list, I'm just waiting for my hold to come in!) It's got a sweet, elfish woodland vibe going on-- I half-expect to see a tiny winged fairy peeking out from behind one of those toadstools. This bag is also has great functionality. I am always in need of a sturdy cloth bag to carry my books, and I am positive this is one I'll be getting a lot of use out of. The material is thick and durable, and it's wide and deep enough to easily hold at least half a dozen books without any stress. An all-around cute and useful item!

Next up, a reusable cleaning cloth:

The design is based on a book called Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. (I'd never heard of this book before, but it looks intriguing, so I suppose I'll add it to the list.) It's kind of generic, but I do like the colors. And it does look like the kind of thing that would be perfect for dusting my desk and bookshelves. It's probably my least favorite item in the box, but I don't hate it.

Moving on to the metal bookmark:

The design is inspired by Emily Wilde's Encylopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. (I just read it a few weeks ago, and the sequel is currently sitting on top of my dresser waithing for me to read it.) It's supposed to be Shadow, the dog belonging to the stories main character. However, my first thought upon seeing a large black dog in a forest, standing on a pile of skulls, was of Ruth from The Ancient Magus' Bride-- who just-so-happens to be one of my favorite characters ever. I hope no one minds if I continue to see it that way. (No hate to Shadow-- he's a good boy!) It's a very whimsical design and I like it a lot!

And now the coloring kit:

I definitely wasn't expecting this from a subscription book box, but I am absolutely not complaining. (I've been thinking I wanted to sit down with some colored pencils and coloring pages one of these days.) The quote on the left is from Pride & Prejudice (my beloved), the top-most is from Bridgerton (read the books and liked them well enough but have zero interest in watching the show), and the one on the right is from Outlander (I think that's a show based on some books, maybe I'll look into it one of these days). The quotes are lovely, I like the simple yet elegant floral designs, and I love the soft pastel color palette (and will absolutely be holding onto those pencils).

The last item (aside from the book) is the enamel pin:

The characters shown here are Sophie and Howl (+ Calcifer!) from Howl's Moving Castle (the book, not the movie, though I love them both!). I love enamel pins and happen to have a decent-sized collection, but I don't think I've ever seen a sliding design like this. This design is absolutely enchanting, and I'm looking forward to seeing more from this pin collection in future boxes. I included the envelope it came in because I think it's really cute, and it gives me some serious Violet Evergarden vibes. (The design on the backer card is also pretty! It's really evident that a lot of thought and care was put into every aspect of every item in this box.)

And, of course, there's the book:

This is A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft. I'm not going to take pictures of every single customization in this one, but suffice it to say that it looks really pretty and I'm hoping the story inside lives up to everything else in here.

All in all, I'm really happy with this box, and glad that I got it.

#owlcrate #enchanted to meet you #thoughts #product review #subscription box #i think i'm going to skip february's box because i just don't vibe with the 'treacherous love' aesthetic #but i'll do another review of whatever my next one is if y'all want #all queued up

[lemonhemlock]

"ryan has been quoted in the past saying aegon ii is his favourite aegon and also a "grey character" yet in the show he has more monstrous hobbies than ramsay and little character development."

I've never heard this interview and it's just wow… "he is grey" when he is a rapist and children fighting pits enjoyer? It's a pity this interview was before these episodes, I wish someone asked Ryan about this. You'd think they don't understand how their writing translates to the viewers but they know what they are doing very well, I mean, look how they made Rhaenyra into the chosen one and how most of her characteristics are shown in a positive light and the show never focuses on the bad things she does, always framing her as a sympathetic character. A scene where she walks after giving birth to see Alicent wasn't in the script, but they wanted to make the audience sympathize with Emma's Rhaenyra from the start and they threw Olivia's Alicent under the bus for it. HBO used this scene as a preview of the episode and people were hating Alicent even before they've seen her. Daemon also has this heroic framing, his fighting sequence was so impressive people think he is the best fighter in all GoT universe, the writers romanticized daemyra by making them star-crossed lovers, they even showed a scene that can be seen as him bonding with two dragons at the same time, he is literally the coolest. This is why I will never understand team black complaining that the showrunners hate Daemon. I get what Ryan is saying about Aegon being complicated and fascinating to write, but his complexity is simply overshadowed by the terrible things they wrote for him. (This is just a rant)

If Ryan is truthful about him stanning Aegon, it's possible that the decisions to monsterize him didn't come from Ryan, but he can't exactly come out publicly and criticize his working colleagues either. So, when asked about his take on Aegon, he can only talk from his perspective and that's obviously not going to jive with what's on screen. "Yeah, I think Aegon is a complex and interesting character, but X and Y came into my sandbox and stamped all over my plans" - that's not going to happen.

Something definitely went down behind the scenes if Miguel Sapochnik left, while Ryan Condal stayed, because the reason given reads very PR to me. But we have to wait until next season to see whether if Ryan is a secret green or whether the team black whitewashers were weeded out or not or whether HBO thinks they're gonna make more money if they turn Rhaenyra into a saint.

Ryan says he's been a fan for 20 years, so that's a start. But in any case, all of this is speculation based on vibes, we don't really have any concrete proof - like, if the original scripts leaked at least we'd have something to go off on, comparing the script with what ended up being filmed. But we are not in any way privy to backroom discussions and complaints and power struggles.

A scene where she walks after giving birth to see Alicent wasn't in the script

Oh, I didn't know this!

#ask #anon #hotd critical [production] #hotd critical [storytelling]

[golden--doodler]

I SAW ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE.

This is my official warning for extreme spoilers because I want to give my full, uncensored thoughts.

However, before getting into all of that, I wanted to say beforehand that this movie is a part one. It ends in a cliffhanger which caught me completely off-guard, and I just want to tell people who haven't seen it yet that this is only the beginning of this particular story. If anyone wants to watch this movie at home when it comes out on video/streaming and just catch the conclusion in theaters (or at least I hope it's the conclusion) because that would be more satisfying to them, I want them to have that ability, and be aware of this.

Okay, now getting into the actual movie, oh my god it was freaking incredible 🥳. I want this movie's art style more than anything. Somehow they improved upon the magnificent, ground-breaking animation style of the first, and made it even better! Gwen's universe has this super cool, almost painterly art style (which is the best way I can describe it) and everyone moves in such a fluid, distinct way.

And speaking of Gwen, I love how the movie opens with her and briefly shows what her relationship was like with her dad and Peter. It makes it all the more sadder knowing what Peter's inevitable fate is. However, the moment Gwen reveals herself as Spider-Woman to her dad is even sadder because despite everything, he's still afraid of her and everything that's happened, and it's absolutely gut-wrenching. I really want to give the girl a hug.

Not only that, but the fact that they used a joke that wasn't even originally going to be in the first movie (the whole bagel joke was just something made off-the-cuff that ended up making it into the final cut because it made everyone laugh so much) and turned the person that said joke happened to into a genuinely tragic character and menacing supervillain is nothing short of massively impressive. I adore the villain in this movie because of how genuinely terrifying he ends up being after being shown in the beginning to seem like just another sad bank robber. By the way, that entire scene is freaking hilarious. And the way that his entire life was "ruined" by Miles and the reactor, so he in turn wants to ruin Miles' life, is so awful, yet one can definitely understand where he's coming from. I can't wait to see what they do with him in part two, and what that final battle's going to be like.

I love how they reintroduced Peter B. Parker, and they gave him a daughter who is the cutest little girl, oh my gosh. The way he's such a proud, excited dad, showing off photos of her on his phone, is the most wholesome thing ever. And his whole heart-to-heart with Miles was really sweet, too. I can't believe meeting Miles is what caused him to want to actually be a father after originally divorcing MJ because he was too afraid to be one 🥺

Miguel is also an interesting character, and this exchange was fascinating:

Gwen: We're supposed to be the good guys!

Miguel: We are the good guys.

I don't want him to become a villain, exactly, but it's clear he's misguided, and I'm sure he'll continue making rash decisions and hunting down Miles in part two. I think his reasoning for wanting to sacrifice one person to save a ton more gave me Infinity War vibes and I'm wondering what they'll do with him next.

Oh yes, and I loved Pavitr Prabhakar, the Indian Spider-Man variant. He was effortlessly talented and also just a genuinely nice guy. I always love it when effortlessly talented people are also genuinely nice. They could've made him a jerk so easily, but they didn't, and I appreciate that.

I also want to praise this movie for the fact that it gave Miles' mother more to do. I adore her speech to Miles about wanting what's best for him, and that there will be people in the future who don't believe in him like his parents do, so he needs to look out for himself and "that little boy". She's such a fun character and a wonderful mother.

This is usually the spot where I'd put any criticisms, but honestly, the only thing I could really say in that regard is because it's a part one, there is definitely a lot of setup. But all in all, I think it's great even on its own, and it leaves you wanting more.

Okay, okay, and the ending. I can't believe a variant of Miles is the Prowler, and I have no idea what that means for the next movie, but I'm so intrigued to find out. God, they really got me, hook, line, and sinker.

There's a lot more I could say about this movie, and I might make another post to add more thoughts that I forgot to add here, but I cannot emphasize enough or put into enough words how much I love it. If you don't mind cliffhangers, go see it in theaters to support it.

#across the spiderverse #definitely one of the highlights of the summer #i'm so happy it's out even though i'm not happy about how long we'll have to wait for the actual conclusion #i'm genuinely curious about other people's thoughts are about it #i just love animation and the first movie and this one just completely reinvented the wheel

[that-sarcastic-writer]

I'm sorry but the more I think about it the harder it is for me to dislike soldier boy. Like he gives me asshole yet charismatic anti hero vibes.

I'm thinking about his character and what we know so far and he honestly seems redeemable and even likable. Like hes not a good person by any means, hes an absolute asshole and pretty entitled, and has obviously hurt a lot of people with a lit of the things he hasdone, but he doesn't seem as trigger happy, delusional, and as disregarding for human life as homelander is. They're supposed to be the same, but from different times, but I just cant see that yet. Soldier Boy seemed genuinely regretful about the people he accidentally killed. He obviously doesn't apologize, he saw them more as collateral damage, which honestly seems to part with his military background, but it looked like he felt genuinely bad. When have we ever seen a supe feel bad for hurting someone? Theres also his interactions with hughie and butcher. He seemed to genuinely get along with them, and he was willing to help them despite not really getting anything in return (he could probably find the rest of his team on his own if he really tried, he didn't need butcher) and also having absolutely no idea what he was getting into with taking on homelander, but he helped then anyway. He did nothing to Starlight or MM despite both of them trying to fight him/were antagonistic as hell towards him. And he stood down when butcher told him to. I guarantee you homelander would've lasered them both on the spot. So he seems to be keeping his word and is actually working with them. I also noticed his attitude towards butcher and hughie was pretty chill and receptive. He wasnt antagonistic, he wasnt on edge or on defense, and despite being an asshole, he wasn't as condescending or as much of a bully as I had expected him to be. He was willing to talk to them and also listen to them. He also opened up to Hughie about how he felt forgotten despite fighting for his country, about countess and about midtown. It felt like a pretty genuine moment of weakness, it honestly felt very human of him. I truly didnt expect him to be so chill and down to earth considering hes a supe and knowing his backstory. I was expecting so much worse.

Now I know hes done plenty of bad shit. MMs family obviously being the main thing in the story right now. But even then, from what we know, it was an accident, it wasnt like a blue hawk situation where he was targeting innocent people and actively murdering them with complete disregard. Like it was, once again, collateral damage to him. And that's not a good thing, like he lacks accountability, as it was shown by his very condescending response to MM, but that's why I think hes on that grey area of an anti hero.

We really do have to keep on watching to know more about where the fuck we stand with his character. But so far, I kinda like him. And if the writers decide to keep him as an ally, and obviously not turn him into homelander, I think he could be a good part of the boys. I mean fuck did yall see his coordination with butcher and Hughie? Like those three were more of a team than the seven is supposed to be. And the three of them seem to get along. I can honestly see them chilling and drinking beer together. I would personally like to see soldier boy team up with the boys to take down vought and expose them, and I would hate to see his character, along with Jensen's acting be wasted by killing him off or going down the let's make him a bad guy road.

But we'll have to see.

These are just my thoughts thus far. I'm in no way absolutely correct about his character, my thoughts could be entirely wrong and that's okay. Yall can disagree and that's also okay. Just wanted to get my thoughts out there because I've seen a lot of debate about his character. Sorry for the long rant and thank you.

#soldier boy #the boy #the boys season 3 #lia rants #character analysis #kind of

[myddrinmob]

Coenen Onnen

It’s long past dusk, but the market never truly stops. Only changes faces - vendors, stalls, patrons - like a mummer in a masked show. The stranger who stalks through its crowded thoroughfare is entirely unfamiliar with its many guises: so, though he strides like a predator, he looks over his shoulder like prey. In the hidden nook to which he is heading - though, pertinently, cannot yet see - wait two figures. One is the owner, short and middling in age, surrounded by the accoutrements of high war. We might assume he is a master armourer and weaponsmith. The other is in shadow.

Chapter two! This episode probably gets the top spot for 'least changed from canon'. The original episode is just so good: the beginning of a rapport between Merlin and Arthur, growing to trust; first showing of the worth of commoners vs nobility in Camelot; Gwen! Gwen! Gwen!

So what changes are there? Well, for starters.

Why does Arthur have literally no other servants?

ARTHUR My chambers are a complete mess. My clothes need washing. My, uh, armour needs repairing. My boots need cleaning. My dogs need exercising. My fireplace needs sweeping. My bed needs changing. And someone needs to muck out my stables…

Like, arguably none of this should be Merlin's job. The world of BBC Merlin exists in a quasi-historical fantasy medieval setting, sure, so we have wriggle room, but even in the earliest and lowliest of post-antiquity royal households, most of these are done by different people. Merlin, as a personal manservant, might organise them, and get different servants to do them, but he largely won't be doing them himself.

A castle would have a laundry, where they'd probably also do repairs, and may have the bootboys too. They'd have a dedicated stable staff, farriers and stablehands and horse breeders and so on - depending on the household, they'd have a Marshal or it's equivalent to oversee all that. The knights would have pages and squires and drill masters and armoursmiths - who would probably be different from the weaponsmiths, and definately different from smiths that make general goods, like nails. You'd have kennel masters for the dogs and chambermaids to do the cleaning and -

You get the gist.

I get why all this wasn't shown - budget, rotating cast of extras, it's just easier to have Merlin involved in literally every aspect of Arthur's life - but! I think it also kneecaps Merlin's character.

This is the tip of the iceburg of my ongoing quibble with the series regarding Merlin the perpetual servant. I'll get into it more in future episodes, but essentially I think the maintenance of the shows initial premise - high school au Arthuriana, Merlin-as-servant - reduced the potential character growth we could have seen, and a real fulfilment of the idea of Arthur and Merlin as equals (two sides of the same coin, anyone?).

It's also really funny to imagine Arthur driving away everyone who might be in his service, to the point he doesn't even have a squire. Like damn, how bad an employer are you?

The only other thing that got changed was the weird...thing... between Arthur and Morgana. Whatever that was, it died a death midway through season one and was never addressed again. I'm not against weird incest vibes in my Arthurian media - it'd be terribly genre-blind of me to be so - but it's not what I'm going for here. Or at least, Arthur and Morgana themselves don't see each other that way - they have lived too long as childhood peers to do so - and if it ever comes up, it'll be in the way that Gwen mentions it. People on the outside of the relationship assume that Uther means to betroth them at some point, to the pairs unbridled objection. Everyone else unknowingly condones incest, but not the actual participants.

That's it for ep two - ep three is already up as well, so I'll do a bts on that sometime soon.

In other news, our priestess is back >.>

#bbc merlin #arthur pendragon #merlin #valiant #season one