#she's so good at manipulating everyone and preying on their weaknesses

[lecoindecachou]

I might be the only one but I always enjoy whenever Shadow Weaver is in a scene.

#she ra and the princesses of power #she ra #shadow weaver #i know everyone pretty much hates her but idc she's such a fun sinister villain #she's so good at manipulating everyone and preying on their weaknesses #she's someone who should never be redeemed. she should always be plotting #i also just love her voice idk

[ataraxiaspainting]

Icarus.

Yan (Emperor) Zhongli x F Reader.

Synopsis: You were taught ever since you opened your eyes to never go against your god. So why do you wish now that you have never opened them at all?

Warnings: Yandere themes, major power imbalances, manipulation, future forced marriage, some violence/gore, and unhealthy relationships.

Word Count: 3k.

Ten Songs Like This Piece:

Little Dark Age by MGMT

As the World Caves In by Matt Maltese

The Other Side Of Paradise by Glass Animals

All Eyes On Me by Bo Burnham

Space Song by Beach House

Murders by Miracle Musical

Tongues & Teeth by The Crane Wives

Teacher’s Pet by Melanie Martinez

A Pearl by Mitski

Isabella’s Lullaby by Takahiro Obata

*~*~*~*

“‘You know that I love you.’ And despite herself, Coraline nodded. It was true. The other mother loved her. But she loved Coraline as a miser loves money, or a dragon loves its gold. In the other mother's button eyes, Coraline knew that the other mother loved her as a possession, nothing more, a tolerated pet whose behavior was no longer amusing.” – Neil Gaiman, Coraline

*~*~*~*

There is no sin greater than to be a bird.

To be a bird is to be devoid of all burdens, soaring above all who are shackled by them, like a warden overseeing prisoners, or the sweetest and ripest peaches up on the highest of branches so no one can reach it. They can go anywhere, birds, with the winds at their call, the very embodiment of freedom itself, something your god has taught all his people to be wary of. Freedom can be a blessing, he told one of his counselors once, but it can also cause humans to be too conceited. There is no sin greater than to be a bird because all others will be envious. Envy is also a sin, one so common that even Archons are said to possess it. Sin gives birth to more sin, more suffering, and thus only the original that birthed it all shall be punished by Celestia’s fury. 

There is no greater sin than to be a bird, so the gods put in place cages, made to make those trapped by gold and chains and other things entirely. Birds who are not lured into such traps are dealt with by lightning, making them fall back down to the ground below, the last thing they see is the very sky that punished them. The sky, the stars, the moon, the sun… the entire world will be against you when you are a bird.

It will be that way until you die. The world hates birds and the way they fly and soar. Birds are meant for cages, or to be struck down with their corpses made into trophies.

There is no title greater than to be a hunter.

The sin; to be a bird, freedom… the title; to be a hunter, despotism.

To shoot, to stab, to twist until the prey bursts, is the way of someone whose greatest sin is doing good for this world.

To bleed, to be trapped, to be killed and put on display for all to see, that is what a bird’s purpose truly is, in the eyes of the divine.

They are different, quite so, like different ripples in lakes of mixed blood and water.

You can almost hear them, can’t you?

Celestia favors the strong. Celestia despises the weak. It makes sense to most people, those who were born into power be it money made from blood or strength made from blood. They don’t see the way the world works. The way flies feast upon rotting meat and are soon to be eaten by something bigger. It makes sense for most people, but not for you. Despite everything you have ever been taught from word of mouth, life on the streets teaches you otherwise. For everything you have endured, you have learned that you are not weak. In any case, quite the opposite.

You don’t pray anymore with everyone else, as they keep reciting such things over and over again at the states positioned throughout Liyue as if the emperor would listen to them. 

“O Almighty Geo Archon, give us your blessings for the many moons ahead of us all!” They would hold hands with their bodies being placed in circles around the sculptures. They close their eyes altogether, to not see the sacrifices trapped between them at the monuments, the last thing they see is the Lord of Geo’s face, looking down at them with a stone-cold glare laced with eerie delight. “O Almighty Geo Archon, give us your blessings for the many moons ahead of us all! O Almighty Geo Archon, give us your blessings for the many moons ahead of us all!”

To be praying and to be preying are two quite different things, but to the people of Liyue, there is no difference. Blood seeps into the earth all the same, regardless of who sheds it. So, as evidence that the people of Liyue do indeed bow down to Celestia’s every whim, they bring birds of all kinds and steal them of all they have. Their feathers make for excellent clothing, their bones make for stellar weaponry, and their feet make for charms of good luck. Celestia only smiles down upon the strong, after all. Celestia despises freedom because, without the divine, humans would have nothing to leash them onto rationality and laws. Perhaps that is why Mondstadt is very much in chaos now. Their god was said to have betrayed Celestia by giving his people forbidden knowledge of how nature originally ran its course, causing an uproar among the citizens. 

No one knows what happened to the god of Mondstadt after that.

Was he smitten down? Did his people turn on him? No one in Liyue knows for certain, as people of Mondstadt are forbidden from entering the land said to be made up of the purest of gold.

“O Almighty Geo Archon, give us your blessings for the many moons ahead of us all!”

That is the first thing you hear when you wake up, huddled in a corner to prevent yourself from getting even more wet from the rain. You assume that maybe it will be the last thing you hear when you close your eyes for good.

*~*~*~*

You grew up in Qiaoying Village and, once you grew up, got exiled from Qiaoying Village. You stood out, which no one saw in a good light. You were a mischievous, rule-breaking child, always stealing Jadevein Tea Eggs and both tea and tea sets made of fine porcelain. Your older brother taught you lessons far too valuable and unique for the traditionalist settings of Qiaoying Village, lessons like how to pick the elderly’s door’s locks, how to properly identify which pockets had the most Mora, and how to make alleyways a labyrinth for those who chase you.

Your older brother, though, did not partake in thievery himself. You suppose that might have been the first warning sign of many more to come. He made you, a child about half his age, do his dirty work for him. He always hoarded the rewards afterward, and if you got caught or he got caught with whatever treasure you had given him, he would pretend to scold you for going against the way of the Qiaoying. He said it was just pretend, but that look in his eyes still haunts you to this very day. As you got older, though, you got dumber. You crossed a line with everyone. You decided to steal from a Fontainian duke.

It was a foolish decision. Fontainians are known for their high sense of justice, and their tunnel vision when it comes to crimes and punishments. But you were just a child, were you not?

You couldn’t help it. You were just a child. That is what you told yourself then, and it is what you tell yourself now.

No one helped you then, and no one helps you now. Hell, it would be a miracle, a blessing from Celestia, if your older brother came to Liyue Harbor to visit you. But he never loved you, did he? He never loved you, and you never hated him until you saw him for what he truly is. A petty servant of Madam Mei with a spine thinner than that of a twig. He was a coward then, and likely still a coward now. Perhaps it would have been noble of him, while you were still an infant, to use that pocket knife he always carried around. It would have been better for you, for you to not know anything you know about him now. 

But he was a coward, your older brother. The person who taught you everything about thievery is also now the person who taught you how important it is to keep your cards close. Life on the streets calls for both, you suppose. Liyue Harbor may not be the friendliest for the homeless, but at the very least it had pockets to swipe into when no one was looking. Old habits die hard. You ended up relying on every memory of the past, no matter how bitter or how deceivingly sweet they were. You bore it. You bore it all. Every memory, every fragment of a lie, and every fragment of a half-truth. Life is never so simple after all, is it?

Your life was never perfect, and therefore still is not now. But you know deep in your heart that you would prefer this life over seeing your older brother’s face ever again.

But now, with eyes brighter than amber staring above you as you lay, your arm broken, you wish that your brother had taught you some fighting skills instead of everything else he taught you.

But he was a coward, and so are you.

To be fair, though, he never met the emperor and never thought that he would. So did you. No one in Qiaoying Village did, most likely. It was so far from the proclaimed harbor made of gold and trader’s blood and prayers. This was where the emperor lived, in his castle in the mountains surrounding Lingju Pass and Mount Tianheng. It was made up of the finest gold and wood and jewels. Only the best for the emperor, while people like you get mere pebbles. That is why, when you saw yet another stranger in a white cloak roaming around the alleyways, you attempted to strike. Your mistake.

Your mistake.

You were on the ground in an instant, your arm breaking so loudly an elderly man on his deathbed could hear it. 

The stranger’s eyes glittered like gold.

Frozen gold, perhaps, with how he was staring down at you with such disappointment.

So, he stared down at you.

You stared down at your arm.

You should have known better. But you are just someone trying to live, are you not? It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault. But that white cloak the man is wearing with the sigil of geo on the back, one of the few symbols of the emperor himself, should have made you not attempt to pickpocket him. You should have known better. You really should have known better. Should you apologize? You are already as good as dead though, aren’t you?

Does a death sentence await you?

Life? Death? Prison? Life. Death. Prison.

Escape.

You have to escape.

But the emperor seems to know what you are doing, what you are planning.

So he stops you with a simple hand raised, and pillars of geo appear out of nowhere, trapping you in the corner. Now there is nowhere to run.

He stares down at you.

You stare down at your feet, all mangled up from a life made of thievery and poverty.

He doesn’t speak. Neither do you. You prefer it that way.

You are in a cage. But he is not.

Please.

Please don’t kill me. 

Please.

*~*~*~*

Is it a sin to indulge? Perhaps it is, perhaps it is not. Perhaps it depends. Is the indulgence centered in reality or fantasy? This escape attempt, perhaps, is both.

Like the many that came before it, the only sounds you can hear is the rain, the water falling from the glass windows like teardrops, and sometimes you can swear you hear the sound of someone weeping. Despite everything you have gone through though, you do not weep with them, whoever they are. You only keep stepping on ahead for a brighter future, one where you sneak off to Sumeru, a land that prioritizes knowledge over riches. You’d have a better life there than here, you think. Anywhere but here you would run off to actually, even if it was Snezhnaya. 

You are treated well, too well.

You still don’t know why instead of throwing you in the dungeons, Morax placed your unconscious body in one of the many, many guest rooms that were spread about in his castle.

You are treated far too well, almost to the point that it is maddening. Everything is so perfect, from the morning birds outside your window that wake you up every morning when it just so happens to be time for breakfast to the hairbrush you use to put your hair up when it is time to sleep, the design intricately laced with jade and topaz. Perfect, perfect, perfect. It’s maddening, sickening, how perfect everything is. You wish he had just put you in a cell because at least then everything would not have been so planned out for you, even the type of flowers you saw in the gardens that week. 

“Damn it all…”

In your opinion, the clothes you received today were more intricate than usual. The sleeves are puffed and transition from white to a deep teal color. The dress itself showcases delicate lace patterns of glaze lilies around the waist and wrists, while the skirt is impractically long for any running. Strangely, the inside of the skirt features a constellation pattern, though it seems to be a design meant for your eyes alone. The purpose of this starry sky motif remains unclear. The dress, like everything else, appears flawless and fits you perfectly, almost as if it was tailored specifically for you. Given Morax's wealth, you can't help but entertain the possibility. However, the overwhelming perfection of it all borders on madness. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect, so damn perfect. 

Today, you were not given shoes, presumably due to the rain and the consequent cancellation of your garden visit with Morax, where you typically indulge in tea and wine. As you approached the staircase leading to the dining room, however, the guards obstructed your path. Their actions were gentle, but their words were not. They formed a human barricade, preventing your descent. One guard clicked their tongue disapprovingly, while the other remained silent. Perhaps they harbored some disdain towards you. The servants in this establishment either treated you with utmost care or completely disregarded your presence, so it was not entirely surprising that the guards displayed a semblance of dislike.

The real surprise was you not being allowed to go to the dining room to eat.

“The emperor wants you to stay in your room for the time being. He shall see you shortly there.”

So, you went back, albeit muttering curses along the way. Due to your lack of shoes and the guards not even allowing you to go downstairs, this escape attempt is as short-lived as a moth flying much too close to a flame.

As you were told, Morax came in his usual attire, black and brown robes with a geo sigil on the back. 

“...”

“I have been told that you have been getting a bit too curious with your wandering.”

Ah, straight to the point, it would seem. 

There is no point trying to beat around the bush when it comes to Morax. “It is not like there is anything else to do here.”

He sits beside you on the bed, not too close but not too far either. A perfect balance. “I can give you other activities to do if you would like. I can also answer some questions you have since you’ll be living here from now on.”

“...This isn’t temporary…” You look down at the arm he broke, a time which feels like a millennium ago. “Am I being charged?” Your question is quietly said. “Aren’t thieves simply sent to cells for a few moons?”

His chuckle was unexpected, causing a slight surprise. Morax, who was typically expressionless, wore a smile on his face. Despite the possibly good intentions behind it, the sight and sound were unsettling and made your skin crawl.

“...You don’t tell me anything.” You whisper under your breath. That much is clear. Despite Morax's little attempts to conceal it, his secrecy is unmistakable. You can't help but feel like a naive child stating the obvious.

“You are here for multiple reasons. For instance… you remind me of someone. As such, you must have questions, if you are anything like her.” His eyes glaze over you, from the top of your head where your hair is half put up with a hairpin to the anklet just hovering over your right foot. “All humans are born with an innate sense to pry. I won’t judge, as I am an Archon.” Are his words heartfelt? “Through my veins flow gold, but yours flow with sanguine, life, and desires.” 

His hand reaches forward, but he does not touch you. “You must see yourself as better than us because of this. Am I correct?”

“My feelings are not as monochrome as they seem to you. They are complex, quite so. But you are right, in some regard.”

“This is why I cannot stand the so-called divine.”

“Another reason as to why you are here. You are a sleeper of such, and I intend to help you open your eyes to the truth.”

You look at his eyes, seeing all the horrors within their depths.

The emperor known as Morax possesses eyes of pure gold, along with attractive features and pale, rosy lips that curl into a sickly sweet smile. Your body instinctively reacts, urging you to flee before your mind can fully comprehend the situation. However, your brain, awakening and analyzing the situation, is interrupted by the overpowering force of instinct, echoing the same warning as your body: the charming smile is a mere facade, reminiscent of something unsettlingly artificial. It is akin to a sculpture with painted skin and eyes or a doll with exaggerated, intricate features. This man, with his literal golden eyes, his potentially persuasive words, and his captivating yet unnerving countenance, is someone you cannot trust.

Desperate to escape, you attempt to run, only to find that arms and hands, seemingly made of stone, emerge from the walls, gripping and restraining your own. Two of these strong hands ascend, slithering towards the center of your back, forcefully pushing you down into a bow, while you remain compelled to gaze upwards. Your focus remains fixated solely on the emperor's eyes, observing the eloquent patterns of gold within them.

The caress of their touch is tender upon your cheeks, unlike solid ones that demand for you to stay.

“You shall become my consort and see the gates of Celestia for yourself. Humans are made to worship, after all. The divine are made to simply awaken those who have strayed off the path of destiny.”

*~*~*~*

To possess the gift of sight, encompassing all, is the gravest transgression one can commit. Thus, those winged creatures who lack this awareness are banished to the depths of the earth, their vision, their literal eyes stripped away until their cries reverberate to the surface, where the emperor Morax shall pronounce the ultimate verdict.

#yandere #yandere x reader #author aya #yandere genshin impact x reader #yandere genshin #yandere genshin imagines #yandere genshin x reader #yandere genshin impact #yandere zhongli #yandere zhongli x reader #zhongli x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin imagines #genshin x reader #morax x reader #yandere morax #yandere morax x reader

[aryesdanger24]

Hot take: Alastor doesn't like being the weakest in a room and especially wants to be noticed (he is the center of attention). We can see it when Carmille addresses him at the table for his absence and immediately brushes him off. We see him prickling at the comment but he let's it be since he knows them well and recognizes they still know him enough to recognize his absence.

So, Alastor notices immediately how much everyone puts into seeing Lucifer (we see how he observes when he walks in the room), and I bet there is some envy at the attention. Especially when he doesn't immediately notice Alastor and heads for his daughter.

Then Lucifer leaves Charlie to greet the things not even addressed in the show yet like Kiki and the Razzle Dazzle boys. Instantly putting him below everyone on the list in terms of meeting him.

So, he is thoroughly offended and brings attention back to himself by discussing the wall and instantly Lucifer is confused why his daughter didn't answer and then proceeded to belittle Alastor....which uh clearly leads to a FUCK you comment.

It is the result of not only being ignored and belittled, but also that Lucifer is physically and mentally not as focused on his appearance which I feel might play some part Alastor's jealousy. Lucifer doesn't have to constantly defend himself from people. No one underestimates Lucifer so Alastor takes it upon himself to be his number 1 hater. He revels in his own ability to use Lucifer's daughter as a shield and even a cover to create more distress in the other.

A show that is directly pointed at Lucifer and using Charlie's trust in him to his advantage, he shields and pisses off Lucifer in the process by acting fatherly. That way Lucifer cannot harm him unless he wants Charlie to hate him, which also doubles as a way to be better than Lucifer.

After all, Alastor loves to prey upon weakness and be right about it.

I am not saying that Alastor is not potentially affected by someone (Lillith perhaps?) Which leads him to act this way. Also I am not sure why Alastor let Lucifer finish his father daughter song with Charlie if he aimed to strike issue between them. I think the dad off duet might've been in some way showing Lucifer how absent he was as a father to motivate him to be better.

Regardless of motive, I stick to my theory of Alastor wanting attention which why he has his radio show despite not even killing. He is searching for people to notice him and his absence. Much like when a kid goes on vacations and comes back hoping people ask where they have been.

Update: I have since watched the finale of Hazbin

My view has not changed other than solidifying this envious narcissistic Alastor theory.

The envious part of his so easily seen at the end of the finale as he sang to himself. He desperately wants to be free and clearly has some power being held away by the one who owns him....which only plays into this envy he has towards others.

Moreover, it makes all his little jabs at his character all the more intriguing. He knows his power has been strapped away to some degree but like he tells Charlie "A smile can hide many things and keep you in control no matter what."

That is Alastor's game.

He offered true advise for her for 2 reasons:

1. To avoid extermination since he himself has been limited in power.

2. To reward her for being so easy to manipulate (giving candy to a good kid)

It shows to viewers that Alastor is confident enough to give his behavior away to Charlie. Despite her position she always gave him the respect and fear he craved while being easier to manipulate than most.

Being around her makes him feel powerful and even the hotel does...which is another reason why I believe he is so touchy about being reminded of his deal. This place is clearly a hunting ground that he doesnt want Husk ruining since he is bound here. He is attached to either a main cast member (Charlie being the more obvious choice) or the hotel itself but it's much more likely a cast member.

All and all, that fact makes all the power positioning and false threats and pompous attitude a front to avoid people sensing weakness, but I really believe Alastor craves to be noticed since he gets so many comments about radio being dead and such. He is finding relevancy despite the potential dangers of someone actually calling his bluff. It shows his narcisstic attitude well, that he truly believes he can either talk or bluff his way out of any situation with a dangerous smile.

Also I live for Lucifer and Alastor's rivalry and hatred toward eachother, I hope season 2 has more of their banter.

#lucifer #alastor #dad off #dad duet #charlie hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin lucifer #hazbin hotel finale #lucifer and Alastor #dad fight #alastor the radio demon #alastor theory

[that-ari-blogger]

The Aftermath

The Beacon is a very... disjointed episode. It has the unfortunate placement of between two episodes that are, in my opinion, the two best that the show has to offer, and it doesn't matter how good this episode is, it suffers in the contrast.

The Beacon is trying to set up The Promise and still recovering from No Princess Left Behind, which means that it struggles to tie both together without feeling like a ton of disconnected events.

So, for the sake of analysis, let's look at those events on their own, and see what they do for the story as a whole. Because some of them are really well written.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Catra's moments in this episode are genuinely some of the best little moments for her in the series. We see her kind nature start to show, ever so slightly. She is not kind, I want to stress this, a few actions do not make a redemption (yet), but we start to plant the seeds of that here.

In Entrapta's interrogation scene, we see Catra being manipulative, that much is obvious. But it's interesting how she does it. Catra doesn't belittle, or lie, or even seem disingenuous with her compliments, she is just aware that compliments lead to allegiances, and she is trying desperately to befriend the single smartest person on Etheria.

"You're not mad? People usually get mad." "Are you kidding?"

There is an empathy here with Catra. I mentioned in the previous post that everyone's greatest strength is their greatest weakness. And the same is true for Catra. She is exceedingly emotionally attuned. She sees herself in Entrapta, as the person left behind. The side effect of this is that she falls on her sword a bit when Adora leaves, but also in a weird, other way.

"Don't worry about that thing with Hordack. I've got plenty of experience getting yelled at... you get used to it."

Catra is talking to Shadow Weaver here, of all people. Why? Because she sees a person feeling low, and offers some condolences. Without concern for who she is, or what she has done. Catra offers a hand of peace. I want to stress that empathy isn't a weakness, that's not how this works, but it makes her easy prey for Shadow Weaver, because Catra is a child, a teenager, who is naive, and Shadow Weaver is evil.

But how does Shadow Weaver return the openness that Catra has displayed?

"I will not get used to mediocrity like you"

She returns kindness with an insult, and through her touch. Shadow Weaver desires power above all else, so when she is at her weakest, she tries to grab it from the one person she thinks she can mentally overpower.

This is why Catra is the way she is, any attempt at kindness is met with animosity for reasons she has no command in. But that little influence of Adora, and now Scorpia and even Entrapta, has kept the instinct alive. The empathy is there, just buried deep under the surface.

"I just wanted to prepare you for the world"

I love that Shadow Weaver has worked out her tactics are failing on Catra, so she tries giving the Adora treatment to her, and even that fails. I think that's rather satisfying. I pity her, but it is definitely gratifying to see her this low.

Shadow Weaver fits the same bill as everyone else in the series (strengths and weaknesses being the same), but she forms a weird parallel with Bow of all people. Shadow Weaver thinks big picture, she is the strategist, and she gets undermined time and again by the tiny things, such as personal determination, and unconditional love. This parallel isn't dwelled upon, but it's a neat thing to point out that Shadow Weaver's opposite isn't Catra or Adora, but Bow.

Speaking of Bow. The man is supportive of everyone, similarly to Sea Hawk. Bow still thinks big picture, but the difference between him and Shadow Weaver is that when Bow meets a wall, instead of thinking of a way to break it down, he finds another route. Bow is a strategist of the heart, making sure everyone is at their best and ready to step in to keep people's moral up, should they need it.

I also really like Glimmer's line:

"Your sorry is wrong and mine is right."

I think this is extremely revelatory about Glimmer, but that won't come up for a while.

Finally, there is Adora.

Under stress, she reverts. This is what Shadow Weaver did to her, she gave her a few set behaviours in response to certain stimuli. Notably, when scared, punch what I tell you. Shadow Weaver isn't here to give a target, so Adora decks the first thing she can get her hands on. Namely, this light.

There are other sections in the episode when she is in the background of other shots. And instead of just standing there, and looking apathetic, she shadow boxes. Adora cannot focus when she's directionless.

So naturally, she jumps at the opportunity to heal Glimmer, including possibly stabbing her, just to feel useful. Again, preprogrammed responses. She needs to feel useful, so she will run towards whomever is offering her that purpose.

"You want me to be weak? Well (Throws Sword), I am"

This leads into the above line. Adora believes she needs to be weak, and the first thing she does to achieve that is return to her original form and throw away her sword. Adora has associated strength with ability to achieve a given task. In this case, heal.

But the fascinating thing is how she goes about the accountability of failing. She has a weird internalisation of good things being She-Ra's fault, and bad things being Adora's fault. It's awful.

I'm going to finish this on a mildly happy note, because Glimmer and Angella have a really sweet interaction in this episode. Its the reassurance that a parent figure can offer. She offers support, and affirmation that this may not have worked, but it wasn't because of Glimmer's ideals, but her methods, which can be worked on.

Compare the following two lines.

"I will not get used to mediocrity like you" "We'll figure it out, together."

I have boldened a few words, because they reveal character quite nicely. One tries to separate the speaker from its subject, complete with an insult and a comparison, the other is supportive and constructive, and strives to make the listener understand this fact. Angella is a great mum.

Final Thoughts

This episode isn't particularly memorable. Which isn't its own fault. It is sandwiched by The Promise and No Princess Left Behind, which both render it rather uninspiring.

But this episode is actually quite decent. Its moments string together cohesively enough, and Marcus Scribner (Bow's Voice Actor) kills every line.

However, that opening sequence steals the show for me, as everyone leaves on their own way. That was why Entrapta's fake out death doesn't feel cheap. It actually hurts these people, and they don't get over it. This is a death that has its cake and eats it too, and that's a difficult thing to pull off. I think the thing that sells it is this is the only scene so far in the show (I think) in which Sea Hawk stays quiet, the events of the previous episode have managed to make the bard stop singing.

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#rants #literary analysis #literature analysis #what's so special about...? #character analysis #she ra and the princesses of power #she ra catra #she ra adora #she ra spop #adora #catra #spop #shadow weaver #she ra #she ra princess of power #she ra bow

[e-creativemind]

Some thoughts to share about Siuan’s behaviour after watching the 6th episode of season 1 and the 7th episode of season 2 back to back:

1) If you remember well in episode 6 it was Moiraine’s suggestion to bring the other sisters in in their mission after she realised that they hah hit kind of a dead end in their search for the dragon reborn. Siuan dismissed Moiraine’s frustrations and worries as “exhaustion talking” and dismissed her idea by remaining adamant that no one else should know about their mission and that they work together. Moiraine was indeed exhausted from having to carry the burden of the search alone but Siuan was not ready to ask for help by fear of the consequences.

2) Also in episode 6, Siuan proposes to Moiraine to go to the Eye of the world with the 4 potential dragons now as she believes that it’s the best moment to strike against the Dark One based on what she sees in her dreams. Moiraine, although against the idea first, succumbs to it and follows Siuan’s plan.

Fast forward to season 2:

1) From the first time we see Siuan riding in her wagon, her face seems exhausted, she doesn’t seem to hold herself in the same regal way that she was in season 1, she looks more human than in any other time we have seen her. We know that she has been absent from the Tower and on the road but other than that, we don’t really know what has been happening with her and to her, we don’t know if her dreams worsened, we know nothing. Apart from the fact that she looks tired. And that out of the blue one good night, Lan finds her to tell her that Moiraine has been stilled. Let’s bare in mind that when Moiraine decided to share the truth of what happened to her with Siuan, it was already too late because Lan told her first and by the time she decided to send the letter, Siuan was already at her doorstep.

2) So Siuan goes to Moiraine to see first hand what is going on with her wife but of course she will be angry and feeling betrayed. Why feeling betrayed? Because for 6 months Moiraine was pretending that everything was okay when in fact things were not. She had lost sight of Rand, she had lost any way to teach him and control him and she was too blocked emotionally to think clearly and objectively. Instead of running to Lan and Siuan for help, she closed off and convinced herself that she was still capable of helping Rand. Was she though? By refusing to accept her new reality, she kept fooling herself that she was able to help the dragon reborn and thus put everyone and everything in danger, herself included. And that is what Siuan realised in Carhiein.

3) So, in episode 7 we have a Siuan who is exhausted, feeling betrayed by her wife, and feeling lost and angry upon the realisation that her wife had created such a mess due to her inability to accept her new reality. And what does a person do when they feel all of the above? They resort to the safest option and that was to bring the other sisters in (same as Moiraine thought in episode 6, season 1) and follow the White Tower protocol. Why follow the White Tower protocol? For the same reason that protocols were created in the first place: to allow people to follow a predetermined plan that has been tested for its efficiency in times of crises where people need to coordinate with each other quickly with the least damage and loss possible. And in a way, Siuan (exhausted as she was now) decided to follow Moiraine’s plan from season 1. A plan which both women voiced in their own time of exhaustion. A plan which was equally dismissed by the other.

In my opinion, Siuan did what a good leader would do in a time of crisis: she put her own fears aside ( the other sisters finding out that they were working together and being stilled), she looked at the situation objectively and weighed the damage vs the benefit. Moiraine was stilled with no control over Rand, Rand was weak, useless and an easy prey to the Forsaken (which was proven already to us by how easily Lanfear manipulated him already) and their outside-the-box way of dealing with the dragon reborn had lead already to one failure. There was no room for a second failure and Siuan knew that better than Moiraine. As a leader what was she supposed to do? As a wife what was she supposed to do? Let Moiraine and Rand go, unprepared and weak, straight to the enemy’s embrace?

But no, Moiraine doesn’t see it this way - especially when she got her powers back. No, Moiraine believes that she knows better and allow me to say that this is very dangerous in this situation. Shes is indeed proud and selfish and in my opinion this is what leads inevitably to the big rift in her relationship with Siuan. Perhaps she will be proved right in the end, perhaps not but as Siuan said: this is too much of an important matter to let it to chance.

In episode 7, Siuan was the voice of reason and she paid dearly for it. Yes, she used the oath to force Moiraine to do her bidding but did she have any other choice, really? Moiraine was not listening to her, she was defying her orders and she was providing no concrete plans on how to move forward in a safely manner. Not to mention that within the span of a day she went from “I’m stilled” to “I’ve got my powers back”. Siuan doesn’t know what to believe anymore and what she sees in front of her is a Moiraine who is unstable, untrustworthy, closed off, stubborn and volatile: the perfect combination for a huge and irreparable mistake to happen. Her only option left was to force Moiraine to listen to her as any other option wasn’t working.

And she immediately felt bad for it and regretted it. But in front of saving the world and her wife from sure destruction, breaking the trust of her lover was a necessary evil.

#wheel of time #moiraine sedai #moiraine x siuan #siuan sanche #siuan #moiraine #wot s2 #wot #moiraine and siuan #heartbroken from this episode but trying to make sense of Siuan’s motivations #I want them back together #fishwives

[beansoup3000]

Hell Bent Spoilers!! Very many of them

Okay, so the characters! I am a character driven reader and Miss Bardugo always delivers on character-driven plots. I was initially disappointed with Hell Bent because I felt that the breakneck pace wasn't allowing room for the deepening of characters that I was expecting (I had definitely formed some expectations based on the trajectory of SoC and CK and how CK comes with more backstory and development for almost everyone). But I think that we did get more insight into our main cast--it just happened as part of The Horrors that were plaguing them. Not-Hellie and Not-Blake and the others were really clever ways to maintain the action but add some emotional torment and give us some insight into these characters' worst thoughts about themselves.

I was absolutely broken by Not-Hellie's haunting of Alex and her flashback to Babbit Rabbit. Alex wants to be a protector of innocents. She might scoff at that if you said it to her outright, but she has the tendency. She carries a righteous anger against people who prey on the weak and the societally vulnerable. It is her self-identification with Tara and her anger at how easily she was disposed of that leads her to investigate Tara's murder. The same righteous anger shows up when she defeats Belbalm and extracts the souls of her victims. So to see her wracked with guilt about all the innocent people who have died "because of her" destroyed me. We see that there's a part of her that believes that she is just like Belbalm: selfish, willing to leave a trail of innocents in her wake to survive. We also have further variations on the theme of Alex Is Not A Good Person; when Mercy learns about Alex's murderous past and her lack of regret she does not offer absolution. Golgarot wants to take her soul in exchange for Darlington's because unlike Darlington, she belongs in hell. The first time I cried in Hell Bent was this sequence: the Babbit Rabbit flashback followed by what initially looks like Alex offering up her soul because she, too, believes that she deserves this. She deserves it not because of her five kills at Ground Zero, but because of the one that she didn't kill. Because of Babbit Rabbit, because of Hellie, because of Darlington. Because she fails to protect the innocents, and in the wake of her failure they are doomed. I let you die. To save myself, I let you die. That is the danger of keeping company with survivors.

But that isn't what happens. Alex is not offering up her soul and she never planned to. Because that's the other key to Alex's character: And wasn't that the worst of it? she did. She did want to live and always had . . . I want to survive this world that keeps trying to destroy me. Alex is desperate, Alex is stubborn, Alex has lived most of her life subject to the power of evil men who try to manipulate her understanding of herself and her place in the world (Len, Eitan, Sandow...). Her power is her rejection of those narratives and her stubborn, stubborn survival. Instead of giving in to the guilt of those that she could not save, instead of accepting her place in hell, she offers Eitan's soul. She saves herself and her friends. There's something so deeply meaningful to me about Alex's persistence. That's really all I have to say about it.

I also meant to write about Dawes and Turner and Tripp and Michelle and Darlington, but Alex stole the show as she always does for me. I will say that Alex and Darlington's new dynamic is fantastic. Leigh really wasn't joking when she said slow burn, huh? We'll just have to subsist on Alex calling Darlington her gentleman demon for the next few years. I would also like to note that as soon as Dawes said that to descend into hell they would need a soldier, scholar, priest and prince I knew that Alex would be the soldier and Dawes the scholar.

#my dearest darlingest fucked up murder woman #hell bent #hell bent spoilers #alex stern #darlington #leigh bardugo

[maddymoreau]

I LOVE that we ended up having the same favorite companion, Raul is the best!!

YESSSSSSS 🤝!!!!! RAUL REALLY IS THE BEST!!!!!! I LOVE HIM AND HIS STORY SO MUCH!!!!!!!!

His line before the Second Battle of Hoover Dam made me AN EMOTIONAL MESS ( ᵒ̴̶̷̥́ _ᵒ̴̶̷̣̥̀ )!!!!!!

I’M HIJACKING THIS ASK TO RAMBLE ABOUT MY HEADCANONS INVOLVING RAUL!!!

• He’s AroAce

• When upgrading the Presidential Suite in the Lucky 38, Madison (Courier Six) gets the Sunset Sarsaparilla Vending Machine just for Raul. While it comes out of her pay Mr. House restocks it regularly.

• Raul and her both LOVE and bond over sweets. In the beginning Raul would play the 😔 “At my age this might be my last chance to enjoy something sweet” card. It worked every-time on her.

• When Raul gets bubble gum he gives her the temporary tattoo it comes with. Madison hands them out to kids she encounters on her travels (Freeside, The Boomers ETC.)

• She indulges Raul’s sweet tooth to the point he has to go see Dr. Usanagi to get a bad cavity fixed and a few teeth implants.

• Raul teaches her about basic weapon repair. However not enough that she doesn’t need him.

• Together they collect the Star Sunset Sarsaparilla Caps. While not surprised they're both disappointed by the reward. Raul keeps the Pew Pew gun while Madison gives the toy deputy badges to kids.

Afterwards they continue to collect the Star Sunset Sarsaparilla Caps. Inside the Lucky 38 there’s a jar filled with them.

• Out of all the human companions, Raul is the one Madison trusts the most. She will privately discuss Mr. House's plans and what he wants her to do. Madison loves all her companions but knows not everyone would support the actions Mr. House deems necessary. Madison believes once they see the results, they’ll understand. Which obviously isn't the case.

Other companions are uncertain, but Raul is completely aware how loyal Madison is to Mr. House.

Arcade is the best example saying, “I have to say I don't understand where you're going with Mr. House. The man's been manipulating the locals for as long as anyone can remember. If you help him kick the NCR and Legion out, he's going to keep right on doing it. The people in Freeside will be just as bad off as they ever were. If you can find a way to push Mr. House out of the picture as well, I think everyone will be better off."

• Before Raul leaves for his own journey post game, Madison gives him a custom medal. She designed it but commissioned Michael Angelo to make it. It’s something Raul always wears.

• Although Raul becomes the Ghost-Vaquero who hunts down those who prey on the weak. Raul still makes it a point to visit her from time to time. He knows she’d miss his beautiful face.

• While unintentional when Raul visits they ALWAYS end up taking a nap together. They’ll be sitting on one of the couches talking then BOOM knocked out. Old habits die hard.

• Since Madison’s medicine skill is really high she’ll massage Raul and try to help him with his pain.

• Speaking of which after the Second Battle of Hoover Dam Madison’s first luxury purchase is renting out the ENTIRE Ultra-Luxe Casino’s bathhouse.

I imagine they don't typically allow Ghouls in there so she uses this chance to try and help Raul.

Since soaking in salt water has a lot of benefits for your health like easing muscle cramps, relieving stiffness in joints, back pain ETC. She wants to show Raul her appreciation for everything he’s done for her. Also they’re both extremely sore after that huge battle.

I’m not sure if the saltwater used in the Ultra-Luxe Casino is sterile but if it is it’d also be good for any open wounds Raul might have as a Ghoul.

• Madison offers to cover the entire cost for Raul to be put in a chamber similar to Mr. House’s. However he rejects her offer. When Raul eventually dies she broadcasts a recording of a mariachi band through every radio. She doesn't announce his death wanting the legend of the Ghost-Vaquero to live on forever.

This exchange perfectly describes their bond:

Madison: "Come, Raul, adventure awaits!"

Raul: "Sorry boss, but as much as I'd like to risk getting killed by your side, you seem to already have some help." or "Words cannot contain my excitement at the chance to throw myself headlong into danger with you again, boss."

#To clarify Raul doesn't die young or anything. Raul could live another 200+ years. #Madison will just always outlive him because she did get put into a chamber similar to Robert's. #ALSO THIS LINE OF HIS KILLS ME -> #If we run we might still catch Benny! Well you might. I'll just be wheezing along behind you. #Fallout New Vegas #MaddyMoreauPost #Raul Tejada #Long Text #Long Post

[pussyistheforbiddenfruit]

There is no such thing as a nongoldstar lesbians. Nongoldstar lesbians are homophobic bisexual women which is why they have a festering hatred for goldstar lesbians aka female homosexuals.. because goldstar lesbians are proof that all their dumb excuses are bullshit lies, that it is actually easy for a lesbian woman to not fuck a man.. because it’s not in her nature to.

Almost all of their arguments are based off of lies, such as that nasty anon who used rape victims. No goldstar mentions rape victims, everyone knows rape is nonconsensual. The thing is however if you consented to sex with a man, you’re not a lesbian. Lesbians are completely incapable of consenting to sex with a man because it goes against their homosexual nature. This isn’t about rape, forced prostitution, lesbians living in hyperconservative places where they have absolutely no option. Lesbians using beards to avoid being disowned by their families. Nongoldstar “lesbians” know this but they’re manipulative homophobic bisexual women who use these womens stories to explain away their obvious male attraction. My opinion is that lesbians allowing bisexual women aka “nongoldstars” to colonise their own sexuality & space has done insane amounts of damage to lesbianism itself. Before transwomen preyed on lesbians with “girl cock” and “transbian” bisexual women preyed on lesbians first with their nongoldstar garbage, both transwomen & bisexual women hate “goldstars” because they’re both predatory homophobes. U should ask urself why it’s ONLY lesbianism the only sexuality that doesn’t centre men, that has been split into two parts, the lesbians & the “lesbians” with a MALE history.

Yep lesbians are too spinless and allowed bisexuals and trans ppl to conquer our sexuality its fucking sucks.

I already explained my opinion about non-goldstars, alot of them are bi thats obvious however i also believe their could be an exception for that one who had sex with a male in highschool i know i said some but alot of women are weak minded and doormats tbh 🤦🏽‍♀️ especially when she is young she probably pushes her disgust to the side and felt traumatized by it.

Of course its not in our nature to do so, then we wouldn't be lesbians lol. Another reason they hate us cause of that internalize disgust, inferiority complex and victim mindset they got..maybe even guilt too but idk about that especially they way so freely and happily roleplay as us lol.

Of course both of them would hate goldstars, bi women are male adjecent and transwoMEN are well men 😂. No shocker there but bi women its absolutely disgusts me i dont expect better from men but i have exceptions for women.

I agree alot of them are predatory and male minded, they view their same sex attraction the same way men do, they use and objectify lesbians, feel entitled to our pussies, its fucking disgusting and now they want our word too.

Then wanna cry and play victim when we wont date (fuck) them 🙄

All of this trans shit could be avoided if lesbains grow a pair and fight back, like fr stop the fucking asskissing and validation seeking omfg its pisses me off, lesbians are the reason there spaces are being ruined in the western world, stop being whiny little bitches and fight DAMN, its so annoying, i dont even care about the trans bullshit anymore because its so stupid and could easily be solved and its also cause i dont live in a country where that affects me directly so i dont feel like its my place to talk about these things 😅

But i also kind of disagree with your last sentence there its not only lesbians who have those two things too, gay men have them you see "gay" men getting married and making women pregnant too, they put them in the forefront of homosexuality too alongside with "lesbians" who fuck males. Ppl hate homosexuality period. but ofc lesbians more cause as we dont worship males and dick like good women are suppose to do.

Ppl also take gay men seriously too, gay men dont have to worry about their "reputation" being ruined they can fuck and get women pregnant ppl still believe they're gay, but lesbians we are on "thin ice", ppl dont wanna take us seriously and will use any excuse not to.

Which is why they LOVVEE non-goldstars and sneakdickers they prove them right that the only way to know if u like women is through males and they must serectly like dudes still.

Honestly i dont care what male worshippers and males say about us anymore who gives a fuck if they dont take lesbians seriously? Its not like lesbians going to go extinct or disappear cause they dont believe us im tired of talking to a bunch of brick walls about this obvious shit.

Even though i know now its a different type of erasure instead of pretending that we dont exist they are invading our space and stealing our words, welp if lesbians dont fight back i guess they gotta say bye bye to their spaces and their words. Me though? I couldnt care anymore I know i will forever be attracted to only women even if the word didnt exist or is being used incorrectly now.

[dnpanimationstudioclone]

About Spectra🕷

The "good" doctor has always been trapping people in her webs. As a well skilled psychologist she used her know how of people to get what she wanted, especially through her clients. Wether it's persuading extra pay offers, sharing confidential info, she'd do anything for the right price. Eventually though the consequences of her less ethical practices catched up to her and bit her hard, literally! Now she continues to haunt the world, trying to trap people in her webs, this time they’re even harder to get out of!”.

Character:

For her I'm getting rid of the search for beauty and focusing on her being a person who takes advantage of others for her self gain. I'm thinking of making her dark neutral. She mostly does what she does for her self gain and won't go to more trouble than she has to, for what she wants and willing to work with anyone, for the right price. On the other hand her utter lack of care for the people around her as well as her willingness to abuse her power usually makes her an enemy. She also takes joy in causing the misfortune and doesn’t show much concern or remorse for it, especially if its someone she hates.

I also want to push the parallel between her and Jazz more,both being people I with skills and interest in psychology. She could be what Jazz became if she jsut stopped caring about helping people with their issues and used them to only benefit herself. I’m thinking form a young age, Spectra was aware of humanity not being naturally good and saw that more and more as she grew. Eventually she adapted a ““let them be evil” mindset and worked to be just as, if not more cunning and underhanded than the people around her.

Spectra-You can etheir be their prey or they can be yours.

Im thinking for her ep, Jazz at first likes and really looks up to her especially for her profession(fun fact, OG Jazz in one of her futures goes to Yale, which I’m headcanon Spectra graduated from) Perhaps feels like she’s able to confide to her, always trying to look out for everyone else especially her brother, it’s nice to have someone care about her business, perhaps even encouraged Jazz to care for herself more. She’s definetley much more hurt to say the least when she realizes Spectra’s true colors. I can honestly see Spectra see a bit of herself in Jazz, even has some respect for Jazz’s ability to connect with others, with that said she wouldn’t hesitate to use Jazz as Phantom bait if it benefits her or she proved to be too much of an inconvenience. Which….

She and Jazz, have a sort of similar parallel to Vlad and Danny, if perhaps not as intense.

Facts:

Headcanon VA-Teri Hatcher(Other Mother, Coraline), Kathleen Barr(Queen Chrysalis, My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic), Amy Landecker(Dr. Emilia KATAOWB), Allison Janey- Goldie O Gilt, Ducktales, Wendi Malick( Beatrice Horseman Bojack Horseman, also Eda Clawthorne The Owl House), Faye Mata(Katie Killjoy, Hazbin Hotel), Jean Smart(Depression Kitty, Big Mouth), Amy Sedaris(Princess Carolyn, Bojack Horseman), April Winchell(Ms. Finster, Recess).

Abilities- Can make webs that can drain someone's energy as well as trap and grab things and people, even make things out of said webbing and people, can crawl and climb all over walls and ceilings, can shoot out her webbing Spider-Man style, can remove her body parts and attach them back on(like sewing a doll), can fit herself into small spaces, high jumper, very flexible, sharp claws, legs and teeth, venomous bite, experience and skill in Psychology, dark empath, master manipulator, great vision(especially since she can move her eyes around), a sense of danger(like a spidey sense Spectra-NOT LIKE SPIDER-MAN!), good with the piano, experienced in forgery, knows ASL(picked it up for clients with hearing disabilities), great charisma, greater lying and great with textile.

@tachvintlogic​ helped gave me a lot of good ideas on how her web powers can work! 

Weaknesses- Webs can only last so long before she needs to remake them, weak ghost so she cant use too much and will etheir need new people to drain energy from or wait and conserve herself, she or her webs aren’t great getting wet, not strong in cold temperatures, strength if webs depend on her own state, hence why she drains people so much, not the greatest with modern tech, hard to trust even when she’s telling the truth, has little to no compassion, huge ego and too selfish for her own good.

If a person is physically or mentally down already, her webs can drain more out.

Likes- Psychology(more so using it on people), draining people, negative emotions and energy, DRAMA, textile, weaving, sewing, knitting, macrame, textile especially weave art, textile puns, dark comedy, fine arts, acting fine and cultured, getting spa treatments, vintage things, silk, red wine, insects and spiders(to eat), brunch, French cuisine, devilled eggs, coffee, dark chocolate, bitter tastes, cappuccino, brunch, fashion, gossip, piano music, the night, the color red, reading, philosophy, psychological horror/thrillers, dark spaces, interior design shows, reality tv shows(especially for the drama), and getting what she wants.

Dislikes- Jazz, Danny Phantom, Sidney( on the plus side, he’s got tons of negativity she can drain from him, on the downside it’s hard to when he can slice you to threads with his pincers in a matter of seconds), Danny’s puns, Walker and his enforcement, a lot of the ghosts in the Zone(they def reciprocate her feelings), people getting in her way, having to deal with teenagers, getting poked by needle and pins, Bertrand's snark and sass, being weak, the color blue, Jazz’s essential oils(fun fact spiders don’t like smells like lavender, peppermint or the color blue, especially light blue which Jazz wears a lot), bright lights, being called "Other Mother", being called “old”, not having her coffee, when the coffee shops get her order wrong or puts the wrong name on the cup, rain, her work getting ruined, getting wet, the cold, missing threads, loose ends, people commenting on her age and being screwed over.

Fav food- Misery ofcourse😭

Second fav- Spiders. They help her gain energy is spiders and the webbing in them🕷She'll go for insects as well🦋🐞🪲(Likes dipping such as dark chocolate or cheese covered ones like cocoa beetles).

Loves to target teens for all their hormones as well as middle-age adults. Mid-Life crisis’ are gold mines for her.

Will now and then team up with Vlad🧛‍♂️ Especially if it involves revenge on the Fenton Family. He’s one of the few ghosts she actually gets along with. With that said, they wouldn’t hesitate to turn on each other when push comes to shove. I can totally see them brunch while badmouthing people(especially the Fentons). 

Can make silk from her webbing. It’s very soft and smooth…perfect to get it on people😈

Enjoys making dolls of people she hates so she can destroy them for stress relief.

Usually smells like vintage perfume. It’s not bad but she tends to wear a lot on her, usually trying to cover up anything like say…ecto.

Though she hates the cold, has her office still cold as it makes clients accept her gifts more or warm up with stuff she made. As well as to cover up Phantom’s Ghost senses. She uses her own webbing to keep herself warm enough.

When under Walker's control, kept far away from the other prisoners so she can't feed too much on their misery. He has her do psycho-analysis of the inmates, to figure out what makes them tick. One of her biggest cases is Sidney Pointdexter. Her cell tends to have a bunch of cobwebs in it, her bed having layers and crafted pillows from her own webbing for comfort.

Made Bertrand with her powers. Reference to Other Father. The main reason he does her bidding’s because he needs her webbing to keep him together. She made him basically to do all the grunt work, she doesn’t want to waste energy on(cleaning her office, organizing her files, coffee runs, scaring the students so they’ll need to get counselled and can drain them, etc).

Also tends to have Bertrand prepare snacks and drinks for the students, to make them feel more comfortable( and TOTALLY not to make sure one doesnt end up passing out if too much energy was drained). A bit of a reference to how Other Mother lured Coraline with delicious food.

Died in 1990. Gaiman started writing the story, Coraline(Spectras inspired by Other Mother) in 1990. Died via, Black widow spider bite🕷

Got her degrees from Yale👩‍🎓 She brags about that ALOT to people. Blackmailed her psych professor.

When she isn’t draining people of their misery, will now and then swindle  people for quick crash. Her fav tactic is selling people knockoff fashion products, which after the purchase don’t even last(as she made them with her webbing). 

Prefers cash over credit💵.

Sometimes makes fake products or steals things like Chanel and Gucci for herself, to make people think she’s rich and classy👜

She and Klemper knew each other as kids🕷☃️.

Her footsteps and fingers hitting the surface sounds like needles🪡

Has definetley been involved in quite a few pyramid schemes.

Would love Melvina’s Therapy.

Keeps a sewing kit on her🧵🪡

Likes to hum. Usually "the itsy bitsy spider"🕷

Loved puppet shows as a kid. Still enjoys them now. 

She made a lot of the clothes she wears. Even made Bertrand a sleeveless vest, def not to drain him ofcourse...

Can move her extra eyes around her face. Likes to do it to creep people out.

How she died. Still working out the details but it was partly because of a black widow spider bite, was an act of revenge(client or someone close to the client she’d been screwing over) and  it wasn’t a peaceful death to say the least.

What do u think? Any headcanons u have for Spectra. I'd love to know💖

#danny phantom #spectra #dp spectra #penelope spectra #Dp headcanons #phandom #dnp rewrite #My art

[dixbolik-lovers]

Can I have a question about the Criminal Girls AU, more specifically, their powers? I think you mentioned Kuroe can control people and other things like puppet, what about the other girls? Thank you!

AAAaaaa a Criminal Girls question!!!! ;A; Thank youuuu!! I haven't written about those girls in a while, but I promise I am still VERY MUCH obsessed with them isugs

As for powers— yep, I was intending to give everyone some unique abilities, if I remember right. I'll list some ideas/things I recall from the fic here. They'll be based on the girls' abilities/skills in the game (as well as taking into account what kinds of powers the boys use in canon), since that makes the most sense to me. XD

. . .

Shinoa

Hypnotism. It's mainly used for forcing her prey into unconsciousness, but other applications include paralyzing their bodies and slowing down their thoughts.

Since she's a poison user in the game, I think it'd be fitting if she has some kind of (likely highly painful) venom in her bite. It's not used all the time, but as a little extra bonus if she wants to be especially mean to her victims.

Lily

I'm... not too sure about her. Her main ability in the game is electricity, so probably something of that sort. Small-scale shocks seem appropriate, though— good for training.

I recall a scene where Laito could mess with electricity/phone lines too, so yep, same for Lily. She can manipulate electronics to some degree; usually things like shutting down a victim's means of calling for help, or suddenly taking away light.

Yurine

Aphrodisiac saliva or something, definitely. The perfect way to make her prey so dizzy with lust that they can't even think of resisting her! And she likes the attention.

Fire abilities (like Kanato's) fit her in-game skills. She probably doesn't use them very often, though, not liking the mess they can cause. Beyond that, her strength is downright impressive, even by vampire standards.

Mizuki

I don't think she'd have any particularly unique abilities. She's the youngest of the group, for one... and definitely more of the type to rely on her superior physical capabilities.

That means Mizuki is the brute-force type. She's stronger and faster than humans, and that's more than enough to get what she wants from them. ...however, I could also see her having some kind of lie-detection ability.

Kuroe

As you said, Kuroe can puppet people and objects. She mostly uses it with her stuffed donkey, Baron, but the power ends up turned on her prey when she's particularly upset.

Ice magic is her specialty— she can lower temperatures and freeze things over, her body is downright frigid, and the general area around her always seems colder than it should be. The chill gets out of control when she's distressed, though.

Tsukasa

Definitely the resident potion menace. While she doesn't seem the type at all, Tsukasa is the one who has all kinds of nasty concoctions at her disposal. Especially aphrodisiacs.

She's also quite knowledgeable in medical matters, in general... which mostly means piecing her prey back together after she's gone a little too far. This goes as far as healing magic— all the better to keep her toys alive!

Sui

Magic of all kinds. She's definitely the most proficient in the subject of the group of them, which means her abilities would be pretty varied and adaptable.

Her body is the weakest of them, so she's also relying on that magic quite a bit. I think she'd also have a fondness for summons and familiars, as they can compensate for her physical weaknesses more easily than exerting herself would be.

#Criminal Girls Au

[angrylizardjacket]

Run to Paradise {Nikki Sixx} Part 37

37. bare so much hate for the ones we love

Summary: lola tells tommy the truth, but plays the bad guy for the sake of his relationship with heather.

Warnings: angst, discussions of manipulation and infidelity

ragtag bunch of misfits: @starlalove @xrosegoldwolfx @ksjo @lovehelpmewrite @letsxmcfrickenloseit @glitterdreamsz @freddiessmallnipples @crazysaladchopshop @dramatique-moi @calspixie @catsoo12 @sweetshutter @silvertonguedserpent @shamelessobsessions @lavenderbones22 @keepcalm-and-beyou @scarecrowmax @nicholeh7 @unknownoblivion @sighsophiia @fruitinthebottom @misscharlottelee @local-troubled-writer @talktowallpaper @redlipscrystalskies14 @kaitieskidmore1 @shugarsnaps @m-1234

{ MASTERLIST }

For all that Lola's played the villain, she's never done it quite like this, never so deliberately, and never with such good intentions. Relatively speaking. Maybe she should have told Tommy her plan beforehand, but all considered, she knew the hopeless romantic wouldn't let her fall on this grenade alone.

When she asks Tommy to visit, she insists he bring Heather too. Heather wasn't exactly thrilled, but at least she agreed to come; small miracles.

After the initial greetings and obligatory small talk, Lola asks to speak to Heather alone. Both Tommy and Heather are hesitant to agree, but Lola is imploring and pregnant and there's still the faintest guilt the pair feel regarding her OD's proximity to their wedding, so finally they oblige.

So Lola, sober and with years of second hand PR training in the back of her head, and having vastly expanding her lexicon after months of actual therapy, tells Heather about the night she slept with Tommy, less than a month before their wedding. Lola twists her words and implications with hindsight, weaving a story and a web of lies where she'd seduced Tommy intentionally by playing the victim, that she'd preyed on his good heart in her own time of weakness, and the regret Tommy had felt in the aftermath. Lola's own regret and guilt were left out of the retelling; she was not looking for forgiveness for herself, she simply wanted to cause one of the few people she truly loved as little pain as possible, and that meant she had to be the villain of this story.

"Why the hell would you tell me this? I know he loves you, okay?" Heather hisses with tears in her eyes. Lola's had this fight before; Heather even looks a bit like Sharise.

"Tommy loves everyone, that's my point," Lola fires back sharply, "and I used that against him, knowing-" Lola's voice catches for a moment and her gaze drops; Nikki's voice is an old echo in her head but she fights to ignore it, "knowing how happy you make him. I was jealous and alone and- and- and I think I missed before, when I had the whole band wrapped around my little finger. I knew it would hurt him but I didn't- at the time I was so fucked I didn't care. I'm sorry; you are well within your rights to never forgive me, but I still owe you an apology."

A long silence fills the space between them both; Lola can't look up from her hands.

"Your kid is his, isn't it?" Heather's betrayed tone is watery, crying silently across from Lola, "that's why you're telling me all this shit."

"He doesn't know," Lola murmurs faintly, "and I didn't want you to hate him for it."

"He's a fucking idiot but you're a fucking monster," Heather spits, tone so sharp Lola actually flinches. Her fidgeting fingers curling into themselves reflexively and grow still, "but it's still his kid." Heather stands sharply, hands braced on the table. After a beat, she sighs deeply and heads to the door of the side room Lola'd been graciously given for the visiting time.

At the door Lola hears her call for Tommy, and tiredly informs him that she was heading back to their hotel, and that they'd need to talk once he got back. But she kisses him with a kind of tenderness that sets Lola's anxious heart to rest for the time being, at least until Tommy closes the door behind himself and asks what Lola had said to his wife.

And Lola is honest in a way that makes Tommy look ill, stating candidly that she had told Heather about how they slept together a month before his wedding. He's in the seat across from her practically whining, asking why she would do that, and Lola takes a moment and a deep breath.

"I told her I seduced you, that I was lonely and played the victim and manipulated your good nature -"

"Lols, that night you didn't- you said -"

"I know," unlike with Heather, Lola can't break eye contact with Tommy; he's always been safe, even now, she'd never cut herself on a look he's given her, "I know what I said, and I promise I never wanted any of this, I never wanted to do something that would end up causing you any sort of pain-" Lola insists, "and if there was any other way I could have kept that between us I promise I would have -" her words catch, truth feeling like it was about to choke her, "I'm tired of being a homewrecker, Tommy, but this was the only option I could think of where- where- where-"

"Where she didn't end up hating me," Tommy's voice is so soft and rich with sudden understanding, it's enough to set off Lola's waterworks.

"Stop looking at me like that," Lola's voice trembled as she finally ducked her gaze, "you stupid motherfucker stop looking at me like you still love me!" Lola sobbed loudly now, hunching in on herself, arms wrapped around her bowed head, shaking and shuddering as she cried, "Heather makes you happy!"

"Lola," his voice is so gentle, as is the way he carefully rests his hand on one of hers, "you make me-"

"Don't you fucking dare," Lola grits her teeth and looks up; there's a heartbroken fury in her eyes, in her razor sharp words, "after everything that's happened and everything we've been through, after you followed through and married Heather, can you fucking please not keep stringing me along like this?"

Tommy let's her go. His expression falls; he stammers out half-apologies but Lola cuts him off with a deep, loud sigh.

"I'm okay with being your friend, but I'm Heather's villain and if you love her you can't keep loving me, or letting me love you like this; if things were different I'd probably try and let you go completely, but I can't," and finally Lola sits back, looking Tommy in the eyes with her cheeks tear-stained, "because this kid is yours."

"Oh."

Tommy is unreadable.

He's looking her in the eyes, but for the first time since she's known him, Lola has absolutely no idea what he's thinking or feeling in this moment.

And he leaves without another word, and one of the nurses finds Lola at the end of visitation, still in the side room, crying her eyes out.

It's a new and horrible kind of radio silence that follows, the kind where she's been allowed to do the business side of the band's management from her rehab, and Zutaut has hired a stand in manager to go with the band on their upcoming tour. With all that she knows about what they're doing, the contact with them is sporadic at best.

Nikki calls the most, but his calls are always brief. Vince's calls are always late, when Lola's awake but his own daughter isn't, and Lola will let him vent about the band and the tour like the others won't put up with. Mick will only call if he has a professional question or concern, but he always asks how she is.

And she's getting better day by day, but Tommy never calls.

Her stay at the facility last the entirety of her pregnancy at her own request, stable and self aware enough now that she wasn't to be trusted in these last few months. It means that despite the life Lola had chosen to live before, her daughter is born miraculously healthy.

Lola calls Athena, Tommy's sister, and asks if it would be appropriate, if Tommy would hate her for it, if the family would be okay with it-

She's got his eyes, just as Tommy was born with his father's before him, and Tommy's mother, Vassiliki, cries with joy the first time she holds her granddaughter, Vassilisa Carlotta Lee, named in her honour.

#the dirt #the dirt movie #nikki sixx #tommy lee #nikki sixx imagine #tommy lee imagine #nikki sixx x oc #tommy lee x oc #motley crue imagine #the angry lizard writes #rtp

[docholligay]

Doc can any Utena character simply blame Akio for their problems and call it a day?

I mean, they CAN, in that I have known plenty of people in my life unwilling to take any amount of ownership of their actions. But if you mean, "Can they say this with naught but a shrug from you?" the answer is probably no.

I mean, really. Can we look at everyone in Revolutionary Girl utena and go, "Yeah, the only problem in your life is Akio." I mean really?

Touga? His only problem is Akio taking his grasping and manipulative nature, and making him believe that he can be the top dog Akio is? That's it? I mean...the manipulative nature was coming from inside the house.

Kozue Kaoru, hateful bitch I adore, was ONLY caused problems by Akio? There was nothing IN HER that caused this? She wasn't simultaneously resentful of and obsessed with her brother before Akio got in the mix?

Miki wasn't a weak ass naive bitch?

Juri, LOL JURI MY GIRL, Juri who was so fucking frustrated and closeted she hallucinated a man into being that represented all that? Akio was the problem there?

I mean I think the fairest two we could say had problems caused by Akio are Anthy, of course, and Utena herself, and even for those it doesn't work for me, or at the very least, if I accept that Akio is the sole cause of their problems, it makes the anime less good to me. One of the ABSOLUTE BEST things about RGU is the way it refuses to allow the victim and villain narrative to be simple. Anthy is a victim, absolutely, and she also absolutely sucks, and engages in retaliatory abuse toward not only her brother, but others who did fuck all nothing to her! And I LOVE that. I love love thart we can look at Anthy and go, "Wow a lot of fucked up things happened to you but boy are you also the genesis of some fucked up actions" RGU in many ways is what I LIKE narratives to be. I can want the best for Anthy and also think she's...a little bit of a monster. Love that. Adore it. We LIVE for complication.

Even Utena, who is such a fucking dipshit it's sometimes hard to be mad at her, can't blame Akio for WANTING things so bad she refuses to see the truth behind them. Even taking into account that she's supposed to be young, Utena deludes HERSELF, in a way that's...sometimes I think, intentional.

So like, yes, blame Akio for many things, but I think also the narrative supports the idea that Akio is preying on things that were already in these people, not creating problems out of nowhere. We all COULD be prey to Akio--a man without any actual power, mind--because of the weaknesses in ourselves and not our stars, to steal both from Shakespeare and the imagery of Akio's apartment.

(RGU would be a damn near perfect anime if they aged everyone up JUST slightly--normally with anime '14' I'm like "these people are 18-22' but I think so much of RGU supports a 16-19 reading, in an actual human way. Not in a "she's allowed to have inhuman power and be chosen and all that and it's NOT inherently horrific but also she's allowed to break down in the line of fire :)" way. )

#doc watches Utena #man I feel like I've been chasing the RGU high since watching it #That show just did something for me #and I HATED it out of the gate #HATED #and boy did it change my motherfucking mind #it's not a PERFECT anime #but boy could i see it being the anime that sailed 1000 weeb ships #its great

[lazerith]

Attempting to fix The Dawn of Yangchen, Pt. 2: Power Overwhelming

Spoilers for The Dawn of Yangchen, The Legend of Korra and The Rise of Kyoshi.

There's a saying you often hear in writing: your protagonist is only as good as your antagonist.

It's why you hear people gushing on and on about Batman's villains, and why most of them have their own spinoff movies/series now. Case in point:

But let's jump to an example I imagine more of you are familiar with.

Now don't get me wrong, this show is flawed and Nickelodeon was quite literally trying to tank it while it was still on air, but there's a reason why when people start discussing Avatar villains on r/TheLastAirbender, Korra's antagonists always find their way into the conversation (aside to the fact that she has four separate ones versus Aang's main one).

It's funny to hear people call Korra overpowered or a "Mary Sue", because what people don't realize what they're really saying is that Korra's antagonists are overpowered to the point that she feels overpowered when she finally defeats them.

Amon, Unalaq, Zaheer, and Kuvira all challenge Korra in different ways. Korra is good at brute force; she'll throw the elements at you and probably beat the crap out of you, but she also

lacks patience and believes her only value as a person is in being able to bend all four elements (Amon)

lacks spirituality and is too trusting/easily manipulated (Unalaq)

is too selfless and puts everyone else before her (Zaheer)

believes her friends and the world will not accept her as the avatar in her injured state (Kuvira)

(Forgive me if any of these are a bit off, it's been a while since I've watched Lok lol)

All of Korra's weaknesses are exposed (and ultimately resolved) as she struggles against her antagonists. They reveal aspects of her that Korra would otherwise keep hidden; this process, while painful, ultimately creates a more complex character. A good antagonist forces your protagonist to change in order to defeat them. And so we see that with every new antagonist Korra faces, she becomes a more-rounded, more mature Avatar.

Note also that ability-wise, each antagonist is much more skilled at a certain type of bending than Korra, at least at the beginning of the season. Compared to Korra, their powers are overwhelming.

Not all antagonists have to be physically dangerous to your protagonist, but in the type of action/adventure story that the Avatar series falls under, they better be.

Not only do Korra's villains pose great mental threats, but they also pose great physical ones. And for that reason, they are good antagonists.

Because a good antagonist feels impossible to defeat up until the very moment that they are defeated.

The same can be said about Kyoshi's antagonists, Jianzhu and Yun. Both prey on her insecurities and kind-hearted nature, forcing Kyoshi to make difficult choice after difficult choice.

Both also present a genuine physical threat to Kyoshi and the people she cares about; both are incredibly powerful benders, both are cold-blooded murderers, and both will do whatever it takes to get what they want.

I'd argue Jianzhu is a better antagonist for the simple reason that Yun is kind of a carbon copy of him in terms of how he functions as an antagonist. That's not to say Yun is not an interesting character, just that he doesn't reveal much new about Kyoshi that Jianzhu didn't already "tell" us.

Kyoshi is a powerful avatar because of Jianzhu and Yun. Korra is a powerful avatar because of Amon, Unalaq, Zaheer, and Kuvira.

But that's not true of Yangchen.

Because of the poor character plotting I already discussed in pt. 1, Yangchen's time is split between battling many different antagonists.

The main antagonist is Henshe, because he's the one who appears in the story's climax. But Henshe is also absent from most of the book because Yangchen is busy in Jonduri dealing with Chaisee, who is a much more effective antagonist than Henshe because she actually delivers on her threats.

I don't know about you, but I was downright terrified when Yangchen received that note from Chaisee in the fire nation. Again, Yee is not a bad writer; he can deliver suspense when it matters. But faced with the evidence, it does seem like Yee is not a good plotter.

All Henshe does is stand around, pick up the three benders at the dock, and then deliver them food and tell them where to aim. That's it.

But by far the worst transgression is that Henshe doesn't challenge Yangchen in any way. He is not an exceptional bender--in fact, he's not a bender at all; he doesn't prey on Yangchen's kind-heartedness as Chaisee does; he doesn't attempt to use Yangchen's weakness/ghost against her, nor does he really seem to know what Yangchen's weakness is anyway; and neither is he some great strategist who outsmarts Yangchen at every turn, forcing her to use her "fists" for once.

All in all, Henshe is barely an antagonist, just a person who appears in the third act to orchestrate some physical conflict that is immediately resolved once Yangchen arrives. He presents no real physical or mental threat to Yangchen.

Henshe, as he presently stands, is pathetic. And a hero who defeats a pathetic villain just isn't very heroic.

Okay, but what about the benders in unanimity? you ask. What if this is one of those twist-villain endings, where you think Henshe is the antagonist, but it's actually the combustion-benders?

Well, maybe, kinda--there are hints towards that when Thapa sort of threatens to turn on Henshe, but all he really does is ask for more money, then Henshe tells him to blow up people for a change because we need to raise the stakes somehow, and both of them are promptly defeated when Yangchen--I imagine--does what Zaheer does to the Earth Queen in LoK season three.

Which would've been cool if this was the first time we've seen this technique be used, but it's not (even though chronologically, this happened first), so……

No matter which way you cut it, neither Thapa nor Henshe are antagonists strong enough to actually challenge Yangchen. They never surprise Yangchen in any way, forcing her to think outside the box. And as a result, Yangchen fails utterly to surprise us, the audience, as well.

Because of her lackluster antagonists, Yangchen ends up feeling weak to us. Weak compared to Aang, weak compared to Korra, and especially weak when compared to Kyoshi.

And because her antagonist(s) never make the effort to reveal her weaknesses to us, Yangchen feels underdeveloped, underexplored, and unchanged by the end of DoY.

Yangchen deserved a better antagonist.

Hopefully, Yee gives her a more deserving one in LoY. (Fingers crossed!)

#dawn of yangchen #avatar: the last airbender #atla #writing critique #avatar kyoshi #avatar korra

[roobylavender]

i honestly genuinely truly loathe how often sasusaku is lumped into this realm of toxic ships where boys treat girls poorly for no good reason whatsoever like it just speaks to this egregious misunderstanding of sasusaku’s dynamic let alone the context of naruto or its characters in general.. sasuke isn’t some dickhead rich boy who’s grown up entitled his entire life. he came home at the age of six to see that his entire immediate and extended family had been slaughtered by his older brother and then he had to spend years after living in the remains of that compound with no concept of therapy or proper support available to him all while he relived the nightmare of that day repeatedly. he was a twelve year old child at the start of the series and there was a repeated stress on how his untreated trauma and resulting emotional volatility made him easy to manipulate. he was manipulated not only by itachi but also by orochimaru and obito bc all of them viewed him as nothing more than a product of trauma and power to be exploited. where sasuke’s behavior and closed-off attitude with naruto and sakura even began to improve in the land of waves arc it was thereafter thwarted bc orochimaru literally bit him and as mentioned previously preyed on his trauma to extract power. itachi came back to the village near right after and showed sasuke once again that he was utterly powerless and that he could potentially lose everyone he cared about all over again. the fact that naruto had to save him infuriated him bc he felt helpless in the face of the person who literally massacred his whole family. later in part two when he tried to kill sakura it was near immediately after sasuke fought danzo and found out that the latter literally had all of the eyeballs of his dead family implanted into his arm. prior to that fight his relationship with taka was stable and while sasuke was driven to exact any means to defeat itachi he acted respectably with his teammates and even compared the bond he was developing with them to the bond he used to have with team seven. his reaction to sakura expressing care for him right before his final fight with naruto was to wonder why she had any feelings for someone like him bc he didn’t even believe he was worth loving. he compared her love to the love that he used to have with his own family and how it was utterly futile in the face of violence. all of sasuke’s violent and condescending reactions to expressions of care by naruto and sakura are inherently contextualized in light of that trauma and that’s not to say naruto and sakura deserve that from him but none of this is sasuke going on some abusive power trip like fandom so often loves to peddle when they’re arguing as to why sasuke and sakura’s relationship specifically is terrible.. sakura is someone who cares for a teammate seriously trying to reach out to him bc she sees how that trauma has impacted him and sasuke not being susceptible to that initially bc he’s so deeply traumatized isn’t equivalent to assholes in shoujo manga and romance novels simply acting like bullies bc they can. i’m tired of people acting like sakura was somehow disserviced in narrative for loving someone who was a victim of state violence (the same way that naruto loved sasuke and that is so praised in comparison!) and that her trying to help sasuke without physically fighting him was a weakness on her part. i think there is a lot about naruto that is worth criticizing but the constant condescension to sakura’s kindness and empathy and the selective ignorance of the impact of sasuke’s trauma when it comes to naruto but not sakura is genuinely infuriating like PLEASE LEARN TO READ.. 

#sorry nobody wants to see this anti ss content just makes me feel violent 90% of the time #to be deleted

[tailsrevane]

[comic & movie review] teen titans: the judas contract

“ooh, i’m gonna sign up for this thing called ‘tweeter.’ you put up what you’re thinking like, ‘i love pizza,’ or ‘i’m having pizza now,’ or even ‘pizza is awesome!’”

another one where i saw the movie before i read the comic. when i finally read the comic it ended up feeling like a more bare-bones version of the movie with cornier dialogue.

it was cool to see dick’s debut as nightwing, but that was actually kinda infuriatingly- written? like, he decides he needs to sort out his whole superhero identity shit before he can go rescue his friends who are in mortal danger? just… what the heck, dick???

i liked the movie version a lot better, honestly. mostly down to there being a lot more “there” there when it comes to characterization. the plot also feels quite a bit more coherent while still hitting a lot of the same landmarks.

i also liked the team composition a lot more in the movie, which is basically just a continuation of the team and relationships from justice league vs. teen titans. having damian there in particular really added a lot.

there’s also just… a lot in terra’s characterization that i didn’t like in the comic, especially towards the end. although it has its issues (which we’ll come back to shortly), having the general idea be that slade was grooming her makes a lot more sense than going out of your way to say that she was evil the whole time and deserves no sympathy.

just… people can do bad things and still be victims, guys. you don’t need to be an angel to deserve the safety of not being preyed upon by gross older men.

i really could’ve done without the entire “pressure makes diamonds” bullshit in the movie, though. you are a movie that LITERALLY shows someone having ptsd flashbacks and having everyone else immediately get it because THEY’VE had ptsd flashbacks.

trauma doesn’t make people great. trauma reveals the greatness that was already there, and which would have flourished in a nurturing, loving environment. and there are plenty of people who ARE destroyed by trauma, and that doesn’t mean they were weak or not special enough or whatever the fuck. it’s all circumstance. and there’s nothing good about it.

i get that it’s tempting to see a silver lining in things that suck, but this kind of thinking can EASILY slide into abuse apologism, “i just wanted you to be the best you could be” etc and i think it’s really important to challenge it whenever it appears.

showing slade to be a grooming piece of shit is not necessarily automatically the wrong thing to do, but like a lot of these movies that get into edgier territory the movie just didn’t punish him enough if that’s where they were gonna go. his bullshit quip about there “not being a lot of grey” in terra’s betrayal of the titans applies pretty directly to him. grooming is a kind of evil you just fucking don’t come back from. taking someone vulnerable and knowingly manipulating and victimizing them... when you’re willing to do that kind of shit, you are the fucking worst kind of evil, and you need to be unambiguously ended, not buried in rubble and shuffled offscreen so you can probably come back in a few movies.

having terra kill herself after all that is just the icing on this bad idea cake. i fucking hate all of this.

... so here’s why i like the movie anyway.

nightwing and robin’s relationship has fucking ruled in all of these movies, but this movie takes it to a new level. robin congratulating nightwing on moving in with starfire in a stiff, overly formal way was just so godsdamned precious. he’s trying so hard, he’s such a good boy! at this point i think i’m just the president of the damian wayne fanclub, at least in these movies.

speaking of damian being the best, him bratting at slade absolutely ruled.

speaking of bratting, the movie basically confirmed multiple times that nightwing is a bottom, and especially in the context of his relationship with starfire. like, she got him all flustered several times, and to top it all off at one point she literally tackled him onto a couch and called him a brat. dick grayson continues to be the most intensely relatable character for me.

i know she was basically the centerpiece of the last movie but the movie version didn’t have nearly enough raven for my tastes? it did somewhat make up for that by having her deliver the final blow to blood, but yeah. at least there was plenty of beast boy and blue beetle. they’re such good boys!

and, yeah, the fight scenes mostly ruled, especially dick versus slade. which was lifted more or less directly from the comic in terms of scenario, but expanded upon and executed so well it was honestly one of the best fights of the entire movie series.

so like... as much as there are a few big picture things to complain about, i enjoyed probably 90% of the movie’s runtime? it’s just that the things i didn’t like were extremely deep tissue so it’s kind of always a little hard to figure out what to do with that.

comic: c-rank

movie: b-rank

#teen titans #the judas contract #dc universe original movies #new teen titans #comic review #comics #movie review #movies #reviews #dc comics #robin dick grayson #nightwing #robin damian #damian wayne #damian wayne rules #i love damian wayne #i want to have damian wayne's babies #what nothing

[buggachat]

Related to the Zoé ask you responded earlier: what’s your opinion on Chloé? Do you think she can still become a better person?

Because, personally, I do. And just as you, I hope Zoé can help her in that.

I just think people take Thomas Astruc way too seriously. I’m not arguing whether you should like him or not, he’s just a normal person after all and it’s fine if you dislike him.

But he’s trolled us a lot of times. When people asked him about Felix, he always said his concept get dumped. Instead he was recycled as Adrien’s cousins.

Or, like, before the firsts “hints” of Chloé humanity, he always said on Twitter she was just a bad person. But I think it’s more complicated than that, otherwise why show her struggle with her mother?

I was skeptical when we found out Zoé is Chloe’s half-sister, but I gotta say I like the idea. She seems very sweet and I hope they can get along eventually.

What are your thoughts on it?

I absolutely agree with you.

People take what Astruc says on twitter way too seriously, considering he’s constantly playing devil’s advocate, trolling, and straight up lying to us about things in the show. That’s all not even mentioning language barriers and the like. It’s his way of combating spoilers, and just because he implies something, doesn’t mean at all that it’s true. 

I find it kind of frustrating that everyone is hating on Chloe’s arc when we have absolutely no idea where it’s going. We DON’T know that she wont get a redemption, but everyone acts like that’s definitely the case and attacks the creators of the show over it. 

People act like her betrayal was completely out of left field, as if it wasn’t HEAVILY foreshadowed in Miraculer and just..... made sense.

Like, who cares about what the guy on twitter who constantly lies to us says? Let’s look at the ACTUAL TEXT of the show. 

Chloé didn’t just randomly turn against Ladybug. Hawkmoth, a grown ass man who has known her since she was a toddler, decided to specifically prey on her insecurities and weaknesses. He tried it in Miraculer, and it didn't work (which took SO MUCH WILLPOWER FROM HER??), so he planned it out more thoroughly and tried it again... after making sure she was feeling as vulnerable as possible.... by akumatizing her parents.

Her turning point was choreographed like an akumatization! The grunting, the trying to the resist, the shot of the person's head being hung.... and then looking up at the camera and agreeing with Hawkmoth.

And why? Because that's basically what happened to Chloé, just without the magical assistance. Akumatizations happen when Hawkmoth preys on people's emotional vulnerabilities when they're at their weakest..... and that's exactly what he did to her.

Chloé isn't a great person. And yes, she is a brat..... but that doesn't mean she's incapable of change. It doesn't mean she can't try to be better. She was trying! But the fact of the matter is that trying is hard, especially when the supervillain of the series is a man who is a master of manipulating people at their lowest. Chloe's attempt at being a better person was put to the test, and she failed.

But she wasn't happy about it.

Once Miracle Queen failed, Chloe stood there and let Ladybug pluck the miraculous off her head.

And then, in her shame, she tried to flee the country.

Really, I need to emphasize this. When Miracle Queen lost, Chloé let Ladybug take her miraculous off and then declared that she would flee the country. She didn't swear revenge on Ladybug. She didn't declare herself a threat. (and no, saying “im not your fan anymore!” is not declaring yourself a threat). She just seemed....... angry, yes, but mostly ashamed.

She tried to be a better person and failed, yes. But that just means she has to try harder. And maybe she'll never be Queen Bee again, but she'll have to accept that she doesn't have to be a superhero to be a good person.

Literally the scene Chloé’s in right after her betrayal is THIS:

The ACTUAL TEXT of the show portrays what is at worst a tragedy (a young girl being manipulated by a man at her most vulnerable to do something she regrets) and at best a redemption in the making (remember how the Ba Sing Se arc ended for Zuko?).

.... But everyone ignores it because....... “thomas astruc, the person who constantly says weird things on twitter, said some weird things on twitter". And honestly that makes me sad, because I think this is a really interesting and engaging arc so far.

Chloé’s a brat. She’s been a brat the entire time. She doesn’t want to be a brat anymore. She was relying on being Queen Bee to be her big break, but she lost that privilege..... and now she has to rely on herself to get her out. She wont get better instantly. I’m sure she’ll continue to be a brat for a while— but, to me, the show always has and still is implying that she’s trying.

And, I dunno, Zoe’s inclusion in the show sounds to me like their way to move Chloé’s arc forward.

#Anonymous #chloe bourgeois #ml spoilers #and this is all barely mentioning miraculer and ignoring malediktator #two episodes very centric on the idea of chloe TRYING to be better #and yes. astruc had a hand in ALL OF THESE EPISODES