#with the main cast being significantly younger

[sorenlionheart]

i am dangerously close to making my own interpretation of superman

#soren.txt #maws needs to come back before i do something insane #anyways. so what i was thinking of was pulling the same idea maws had #with the main cast being significantly younger #and lois treating her internship like a bootcamp. the idea is so funny to me id kinda love to write it #but then she breaks away from this because of superman. the call to adventure if you will #and clark sorta had a rough time growing up because of his powers #maybe some accident happened which caused him to overcorrect himself so he doesn't use his powers at all #so metropolis is a completely new start for him #BUT during his senior year of highschool is when pa dies #so when he comes to metropolis the trauma is still somewhat raw? especially since he spent the next few years #trying to keep a brave face for the sake of ma because he feels like that's all he really *can* do #he may or may not have some guilt because he feels like he could've prevented it from happening to begin with #i think jimmy would be a nice change of pace for him. grounding him a bit more n all. #while lois is practically begging him to join her. clark is very attached to his safe space with jimmy lol #anyways eventually itd get to the point of clois slowburn and lois building a *platonic* relationship with both clark and supes #because as ive expressed before i kinda wanted stupid love triangle shenanigans and also i love slow burn #and im obsessed with the powers connected to emotions trope that im dialing it up a notch

[wlntrsldler]

Hiiiiii!!!! I love Apple Pie by Lizzy McAlpine!! Can I get Jamie Tartt to apple pie?

apple pie | jamie tartt

based on the song apple pie by lizzy mcalpine

description: jamie gets insecure sometimes, but having you with him helps.

pairing: jamie tartt x actress!reader (f!reader she/her)

warnings: lots of kissing, self-doubt, insecurities, mention of jamie's dad

word count: 2631

ted lasso requests are open | main masterlist

When Jamie first got into a relationship with you, he knew that both of your busy schedules would pose a problem down the road. With his football career seemingly reaching new peaks every season and your acting career taking off after being cast in what is being called “the film that revived the dying genre of romantic comedies,” the amount of time you get to spend with each other decreased significantly since the start of your relationship. 

You first met Jamie halfway through his returning season at AFC Richmond. You met him at a birthday dinner party for a friend of a friend where you relentlessly teased him for his ridiculous, but outstanding performance, on Lust Conquers All. You had originally praised him for it when you were fully under the impression that he was putting on an act. You didn’t find out that he was just being his prick-ish self, albeit his younger prick-ish self, until about four months into your relationship when he embarrassedly admitted it to you. That’s how you found yourself rewatching the entire season together on his couch until 2 hours before Roy knocked on his door for his training session. 

At first, Jamie thought you were making fun of him. His insecurities would still peek in here and there and sometimes he couldn’t help but worry that you’d see him as nothing more than a dumb footballer like everyone else does. He quickly realized, though, that while you were losing your mind laughing at how he acted in the show, making fun of him was the last thing you wanted to do. 

“Why’d ya wanna watch this shit anyways?” he grumbled, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him. “It’s just poopy. ‘M not even like that anymore.” 

“I know,” you sat up, pausing the show when you heard his voice crack. You knew the tone of Jamie’s voice when he was cracking jokes and when he was happy, and this voice wasn’t one or the other. You turned your body to face him, “I know you aren’t like this anymore, I just thought it would be funny.” 

“I dunno, I suppose it doesn’t make much sense to me.” 

“What doesn’t?” you questioned. “Why I want to watch it?” 

“Yeah,” Jamie replied. His eyes were looking at everything but at you. He was playing with the threads of the blanket loosely draped over his legs. He rubbed his nose with his balled-up fist. “Why does it matter how I was before you? I’m better now, yeah? Unless you don’t think so...” 

“Oh, love,” you grabbed his face, forcing him to look at you. You were so engrossed in the episode on the TV that you didn’t realize how uncomfortable Jamie was feeling about the whole situation. “I’m sorry, I should’ve been paying more attention to how you were feeling about this. We can stop watching it.” 

“Yeah, I’d like that.” He hummed, tugging on your hoodie to pull you closer to him. “I just don’t want you to see how I used to be and realize you don’t want to be with a prick like that, even if I have changed, you know? I don’t know… I just thought that with ya, I’d have a fresh start.” 

“Jamie Tartt, enough of that now,” You took over being the big spoon, which made Jamie nuzzle into your neck contently, “You have changed. You’re an amazing man and the best boyfriend I’ve ever had. I only wanted to watch this show because it’s such a shitty show that it’s nice to just unwind. When I watch this Jamie on the screen, my brain can’t even comprehend that it’s you.” 

“You don’t think I’m a prick anymore, yeah?” Jamie asked again, hoping that he’d get a confirmation, “Like you wouldn’t leave me over that?”

You’ve learned over the past few months things about Jamie– one of which is that he needs to be told positive things or else he’d spiral. The thing is, if you could go into his mind and turn off that control box that spews self-doubt and insecurities to him, you would do it in a heartbeat. But since you can’t, you were more than happy to shower him with love and adoration in hopes that your voice can drown the rest of them out. 

“Never,” you placed your lips on his in a soft kiss. “You’d have to work a hell of a lot harder to get rid of me.” 

“I’m working double overtime just so you’d keep me, love,” he murmured, pulling you in for another kiss. His hand reached for the remote to turn the TV off to leave you both in the glow of the floor lamp in his living room. 

“You don’t have to work hard for that.” 

Jamie had gotten used to having you around his flat. He would leave for 4 AM training with Roy with you on his bed, often naked, then return at around 6:30 AM to shower and join you back in bed for another hour before you woke up. He’d wake up for the second time that day with you drawing patterns on his chest and a soft smile on your face. He’d lean over and place a loving kiss on your lips and he’d feel prepared to start the day. 

You were filming a show in London for three months, which meant that for three months, this was Jamie’s life. In between projects, you stayed at his place. For two weeks after the wrap party, you came home to him, visited him at the facility, and went to all the team outings, home games, and away games with him. He was with you 24/7 and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He didn’t realize how he took it for granted until filming ended.

Three weeks ago, you flew to New York City to begin filming another movie. With training and games, Jamie hasn’t been able to take time off to visit you, and with filming just starting, you couldn’t fly back to Richmond either. 

Jamie was doing fine– as fine as someone can be when their daily routine was abruptly disrupted. He was proud of you. The premise of the movie seemed perfect for you and was a seamless continuation of the romantic comedy trend you were on. People were buzzing for your next project, especially after your last one was so well received. He was so proud of you…. But he also missed you. 

During the three weeks that you were gone, you and Jamie still texted each other constantly and FaceTimed everyday, despite the crazy time difference. He wanted to make it work, and so did you, so you did what you could to stay in touch. While not being able to hold you and kiss you for three weeks was killing Jamie, he was glad he was still able to spend time with you. Things didn’t get to Jamie until Jan Maas made an off-handed comment about it.

All of them were packing up after training, feeling extremely antsy with the Man City match on the horizon, Jamie especially. There were a lot of things on his mind, including the possibility of seeing his father, who he hadn’t seen since Wembley, and playing against his old team was always a trip. In short, he wasn’t feeling his best and the fact that you weren’t nearby made it worse. 

“Jamie, we have not seen Y/N in a while,” Sam noted, “Is everything okay with you two?” 

“She’s filming a movie in New York, bruv,” Isaac replied before Jamie could speak, “Right, Tartt?” 

Jamie nodded, putting his shirt over his head, “Yeah. She’ll be gone for a few months, at least.” 

“I do not know how you’re gonna survive, Jamie,” Jan Maas said. “You are so clingy when it comes to her. I don’t think you can make it all those months.” 

The rest of the team chuckled at Jan’s teasing tone, but Jamie furrowed his eyebrows in thought. Was he clingy? He frowned as he continued to put his things away. He picked up his phone from his cubby, smiling when he received a few messages from you while he was at training. As he was about to respond, Jan’s comment made him stop in his tracks. 

Maybe it would be best to let you have a night to yourself. You had a life outside of him and you deserve to be able to live it without having him cling to you all the time. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, slipping his phone in his back pocket, before walking out of the locker room to head to his place. 

When you woke up to no text from Jamie, you assumed that he was just worn out from training and didn’t have the energy to reply. You’ve seen the intense training he went through, so you wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. But as the day went on and there was still no word from Jamie– you’d even checked the timezone clock on your phone to make sure you weren’t being unreasonable– you began to worry. FaceTime calls went unanswered and instead, you were met with the Apple automated response, “Sorry, can’t talk right now.” 

To: lover boy <3

“Hi, love. Got some exciting news, you free to chat? Xx” 

By the time you were boarding the plane to Manchester, Jamie still hadn’t texted you back. After begging the producers to give you a week off filming, they finally agreed. You asked for this week in particular, knowing that you wanted to be there for Jamie for the Man City match. There was a lot on the line for Jamie and you wanted to be there for him no matter what happened. 

The entire plane ride back to England was filled with dread and anxiety. It wasn’t like Jamie to not respond. Unless he was at a game, training, or sleeping, but even then he had a special ringtone for you that wakes him up whenever you called, he always replied to your messages as soon as possible. When you landed, everything that could go wrong went wrong. Your plane was stuck on the tarmac for an hour because there were problems with the gate. Your luggage got delayed which left you sitting at baggage claim for another 45 minutes. When you finally arrived at the hotel the team was staying at– shoutout to Ted for being yours and Jamie’s number one supporter and telling you where they were staying– Jamie was nowhere to be found. 

You dragged your luggage to Jamie’s room, plopping on the bed tiredly. You glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand. 9:28 PM. Ted mentioned that there was a 10 PM curfew so you hoped that tonight was not one of the nights where Jamie decided to break the rules. Ted also mentioned that Jamie has not been himself lately, which did nothing to soothe your panic. You hopped in the shower to rinse yourself from the long day you’ve had. You did your night routine and dug into Jamie’s bag to retrieve his AFC Richmond hoodie. Before putting it on, you held it up to your nose, sighing as your senses were filled with Jamie. You missed him. 

It was 9:57 PM when you heard the door unlock. You were on his bed, scrolling aimlessly on social media, when you saw him. You sat up, shutting your phone off. He walked in with his head low. His shoulders were hunched over a bit, but he looked okay. He looked better than how Ted described him. 

He kicked off his shoes, before looking at you on his bed, startled. His eyes widened, first in fear that there was someone in his room, then in surprise that it was you in his room. His lips curved down in a frown, eyebrows furrowed in sadness. 

“Baby,” you whispered, moving to the side of the bed to make room for him. 

Jamie knew that he needed to not be clingy. He didn’t want to bother you too much. He was trying to be cool. But when you called him “baby,” with that voice, in his hoodie on his bed, his resolve crumbled to pieces.

He ran to you, nearly tackling you off the bed when he engulfed you in his arms. He buried his face in your neck, a mix of your lotion and the cologne he sprays on his clothes surrounding him. You cradled the back of his head, mumbling how much you missed him into his shoulder. Jamie could cry. He hasn’t seen you in so long, but here you are now. 

“What are you doing here?” He asked when he finally pulled away from you. He couldn’t stray too far though. His arm was still wrapped around you while you cuddled into his side. “I thought you were in New York.” 

“Well, if you bothered to answer my texts,” you trailed off, faking a voice of sadness. You poked his side, “You would’ve seen that I had exciting news. The producers gave me a week off after begging them since I first got to New York and this week is perfect because I know tomorrow’s match is gonna be a lot for you. I wanted to be here for you, whatever the outcome is.” 

“Oh.” Jamie was speechless. Here he was ignoring you like a prick while you were planning to come back just to be here for him. He didn’t deserve you. 

“Yeah,” you continued, “If tomorrow we celebrate, I’ll be here making sure that you drink enough water so that your hangover the next day won’t be too much. If tomorrow we try to never think about it again, I’ll sit next to you on the bus in silence holding your hand and when we get home we can do the same thing.” 

Home. You were here and he felt like he was home. 

“I missed you so much,” Jamie sighed. He kissed you all over your face, giving your lips extra attention. “‘M sorry if I was bothering you by texting and calling so much over the last few weeks… I just missed you loads and I wanted to talk to you.” 

“Baby, you didn’t text and call me enough,” you played with his hair, running your fingers through the strands. “If it was possible, I would stay on a call with you all day, everyday. Can’t get enough of ya.” 

He smiled, his worries disappearing with every word you said, “Yeah?”

“Oh yeah, I love you, Jamie Tartt.” You kissed him deeply. “Couldn’t get tired of you even after a million years. Now, catch me up! Tell me everything.” 

Jamie, feeling like himself again, began to tell you everything you missed over the last few weeks– meeting Sam’s father, meeting Ted’s mum, Roy and Keeley, and seeing his mum earlier that night, which is why he came home late. He talked about how a visit to Georgie and Simon helped lift his spirits, and how Georgie was gushing about you and asking him when you’ll come to visit again. 

Then he talked about his fears for tomorrow and everything that’s been piling up on him ever since you left. As he spoke, you rubbed his back comfortingly, a small reminder that you’ll always be here no matter what. 

Jamie knew that he still had a lot of work to do. He knew that his insecurities could get the best of him sometimes and it can cause him to push back on people who love and care about him, but he was trying. You believed in him and that’s all he needed.

#ted lasso fics #ted lasso #ted lasso imagines #ted lasso imagine #jamie tartt #jamie tartt x y/n #jamie tartt fanfic #jamie tartt imagine #jamie tartt x reader #jamie tartt x yn #jamie tartt oneshot #frances writes #frances song fics

[girl4music]

A character study analysis -

Why Tara Maclay matters

"Now I’ve never been much of a shipper. I think the first ship I ever telegraphed was Harry Potter and Cho Chang, and while I was a little sad they didn’t work things out, I never hated Harry/Ginny. And I accept it as the natural progression of their story. But when I was a kid watching ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ for the first time about 10 years after it first aired there was one ship I fell in love with and was willing to die on a hill for. ... This isn’t going where you think.

I) My Unnecessarily Long Backstory

Very quickly Willow became my favourite character. I’d loved and adored Sarah Michelle Gellar in just about everything I saw her in beforehand but when I finally got around to watching the show that made her famous, I strangely preferred her more as these gals. I’m more receptive to Buffy as a character these days and can appreciate her performance but younger me was all about Willow. Alyson Hannigan’s work continues to impress me with how she transformed a shy bumbling nerd into a powerful confident witch across seven seasons without once making me feel like the characterisation was betrayed. It’s still a marvel to me how Alyson can effortlessly be adorably hilarious in one scene and heartbreakingly emotional in the next. One of the reasons I kinda, sorta love the magic-is-a-drug storyline in Season 6 and the subsequent Dark Willow thing is the strength of this gal’s performance. So now I’ve hopefully established my love and devotion to this character and can convey that if they were going to put her into a relationship with anyone other than me and have me accept it… said partner had better be the perfect match for her. 

Enter Oz. Oz represents a good example of how to create a love interest that exists to put someone in a relationship without feeling like you’re actually doing that. He complimented Willow and his very presence helped her become a better person. Unfortunately by Season 4 Seth Green had grown creatively dissatisfied and scheduled conflicts with another film meant he had to be written out only six episodes into the season. As heart-wrenching as Oz and Willow’s break-up was, it proved beneficial in the long run.

Amber Benson was introduced the same season as a character called Tara Maclay. She was not intended to be a love interest for Willow outright since although Joss Whedon had envisioned one of the main cast turning out to be gay, he was actually leaning more towards Xander being the candidate. The main reason for Tara’s introduction was because Willow had become significantly more powerful over the four seasons and thus was no longer able to convincingly be put in danger the way she used to. So they needed a new character that could serve as their resident distressed damsel. Amber Benson almost wasn’t cast because, well, Joss Whedon has his body preferences. Marti Noxon, however, could see that the vulnerability she brought to the character was what they ultimately needed. Through a combination of convenient timing and the surprising chemistry between the two actresses, their friendship was eventually written to have them become a couple. In what became a shocking move for the series the episode ‘New Moon Rising’, in which Oz returns, ended with him and Willow parting on good terms and Willow choosing to stay with Tara. To say this was met with an uproar would be an understatement. Willow and Oz have been a popular pairing and in the far less enlightened early 2000’s the idea that Willow would not only turn down Oz but do so in favour of another woman… To cut a long story short, Amber Benson was met with so many nasty comments that she nearly left the show. But, of course, she didn’t. And I want to highlight just how impressive it was that this character was despised for no reason other than the fact that Willow chose her over Oz. And then at the end of Season 6 when she was written out, there was even more backlash. While I love Oz it’s impossible for me to ignore that his successor became just as, if not more popular, and her successor was the most despised character in the entire franchise. Seriously, there are Xander fans, Wesley fans, even the odd Riley fan. I will be very surprised if this video reveals the rare thing known as a Kennedy fan. Tara was that tough an act to follow. 

II) The Triumph of Representation

The Willow and Tara relationship was not the first time a queer romance had been depicted on TV and nor was Buffy the first series to have an established character suddenly come out after been assumed straight beforehand. But compare the sitcom Ellen in which the title character came out alongside her actress and was met with a lot of criticism for the tone shifts that followed with people such as Elton John telling Ellen to “shut up about being gay and start being funny again”, Buffy was notable for not having a big coming out moment or a very special episode about homophobia. It also stood out for avoiding the other end of the spectrum. The Willow and Tara relationship was treated with the same grace and seriousness as any other on the show. Incidental and un-stereotypical. It was positive representation without beating you over the head with it. Queer viewers could see themselves in either character and find comfort and relatability. Straight viewers could see another perspective and learn to normalise the idea. The relationship had an uphill struggle behind-the-scenes with restrictions on what the characters could or couldn’t be shown doing. Forcing the writers to use magic as a metaphor for exploring their sexuality. They didn’t share their first on-screen kiss until Season 5’s ’The Body’ after eighteen episodes as a couple. But despite those restrictions they still stood out as being a same-sex couple on a major show, in which they were accepted as a vital part of the main cast. Both powerful and fallible in their own ways and existing as independent characters in their own right rather than tokens there to meet a quota. And while there was obviously a bigger focus on Willow at first, since she’d been on the show since it started, the writers quickly began to explore Tara’s character in interesting ways. 

III) A Different Kind of Empowerment

The 90’s were the era of aggressive, in-your-face girl power in which women declared they could do exactly what the men did and asserted their strength in a multitude of ways. Buffy expressed her strength through physical prowess and razor sharp wit. Willow expressed hers through intelligence and, later, unrivalled magic powers. Cordelia and Anya likewise stood out for their unfiltered, independent attitudes towards life that were then refined through character development to being unafraid to do the right thing. Tara stood out by being defined through her kindness and empathy. She’s introduced as the only Wiccan at a college meeting who listens to Willow and validates her interest in pursuing more advanced spell casting. She then acts as Willow’s guide and mentor to help her improve her powers, remaining an understanding and empathetic teacher the whole time. Even when meeting Oz, she’s understanding of the idea that he and Willow might get back together despite how much pain this would cause her. Throughout the series kindness and compassion would be her defining characteristics. And showing that she is far more than just ‘the nice character’, her first episode establishes that she is also a powerful witch in her own right, providing Willow with enough assistance to fight off The Gentlemen. This helped set her apart from, say, Dawn, who ended up in distress so much the show itself had to lampshade it. Tara was given just enough competency that her ending up in trouble was never annoying, and she justified her presence in the main cast. This made her an easy character to root for and accept. 

IV) Tara as Her Own Person

Once she was established as Willow’s girlfriend the show set about developing her into her own person so as not to remain a satellite character. The Season 5 episode ‘Family’ properly delves into her backstory revealing that she comes from a history of abuse and has been brought up to think that she’ll turn into a demon when she reaches adulthood. This story serves to put the audience on Tara’s side where we see that she fears Willow and the others will reject her if they discover this. We’re shown what she’s had to put up with from her family, explaining her shyness and vulnerability, and thus endearing her to us all. So in the end, when the demon thing is revealed to be just a lie to keep the women in the family in line, the episode celebrates that Tara can remain within the main cast. Also her relatives disapproval of her interest in magic and witchcraft is an effective parallel to her sexuality, making the ‘family of choice’ theme very relatable. The episode ends with an affirmation that Tara is an essential part of the group and the show.

But I’d argue that the most significant turning point in her character development isn’t actually from an episode that centers around her. Season 5’s ’The Body’ is considered one of the best episodes of the entire series and it is important for Tara not just because it features her and Willow’s first on-screen kiss. This right here gives Tara a role that only she can fill in the show. Someone who has experienced the loss of her mother at a young age and can relate to what Buffy, and indeed Dawn, are feeling. And as someone who didn’t know Joyce as well as the others, she is able to be the one who can hold it together and be a rock for everyone. We’re normally used to seeing Willow reassuring Tara or being the stronger partner, but this allows Tara to fill that role too. Putting them on an equal footing. In the next episode ‘Forever’ Tara establishes her identity as someone with a different perspective from Willow in what would be a recurring source of conflict for them. Willow - the witch who came to the craft late - always wants to bend the rules and push the limits of what she can accomplish while Tara - the natural witch - knows and respects these limits and doesn’t like meddling with the natural order. Conflict between them is further explored in the episode ‘Tough Love’, highlighting another part of Tara that distinguishes her as her own person. The inner-belief that Willow sees her as just an experiment and will go back to boys as soon as she loses interest in her. And while this isn’t great for Willow to hear, it serves to reaffirm that Tara is her own person with her own thoughts and fears and not just an extension of her girlfriend. She is then the one who is targeted by Glory and has her mind… well I don’t know what the technical term is but because of that Tara then reveals the season’s big secret to the villain. That scene may be a little clunky but the act itself further puts Tara on an equal footing with the main cast. Things now only happen because of her that can only be done by her. A conflict set up by her disharmony with another character that then leads the turning point towards the finale and now she becomes the secondary part of the main tension. It’s not just ‘will they protect Dawn and stop Glory?’ But now ‘will they save Tara too?’. And once it happens in the big battle Tara contributes in a way that reminds the audience that she is also a powerful witch just like Willow.

That’ll continue into the next season. So Season 5 ends with Tara no longer being ‘just Willow but less powerful’, but an important character who serves the narrative. 

V) Character Development

The two-part episodes that opens Buffy’s first season on the UPN network is the best season premiere across the entire series. Beginning what is my second favourite Buffy season after three. Tara is one of four characters preparing a dark spell to resurrect Buffy from the dead after she sacrificed herself at the end of Season 5. Initially on-board with the idea we see that aforementioned conflict come into play when it’s clarified how Willow has been hiding some of the darker parts of the spell because Tara is the one who would question her. And one of the things I love about this episode is how it shows Tara rising to the occasion. In a crisis where Willow was too drained to be their heavy hitter, Tara steps it up and demonstrates how she’s a force to be reckoned with too. And I don’t want to gloss over this badass moment either. Like in ’The Body’ we’re shown that when Buffy is M.I.A it is Tara who the group really needs. She keeps everyone together and ensures they stay on track. And what is the next significant development in her story this season?

Tara is the first one to become aware of Willow’s increasing problems with magic use and what happens next becomes a fascinatingly ironic twist in the tale where Willow erases Tara’s memory of their arguments just in time for the musical episode in which Tara gets an entire song to herself titled ‘Under Your Spell’. While a double-meaning to the memory erasing Willow did, it’s mainly about how their relationship has helped her come out of her shell and shine to her full potential. Besides designating her as important enough to have her own solo the song serves as an important next step in something very hard she has to do. In the episode ’Tabula Rasa’, when Willow’s problems become impossible to ignore and it’s clear she can’t be reasoned with, Tara breaks up with her. Despite how much it hurts her to leave and the cold reaction she gets from Dawn in response, she walks out because she now knows her own self-worth and understands her right to be treated with respect. At a point in the series where Buffy and Willow falls so low they resort to using the ones they care about, Xander and Dawn just hurt people, and Giles abandons someone who needs his guidance, Tara has reached her peak in knowing when to stand up for herself and not tolerate mistreatment. And she doesn’t punish the other characters who cared about her for Willow’s actions. She still makes an effort to be involved in Dawn’s life after the break-up. Even staying over at the house after Buffy and Willow are out all night. Even though Dawn is on paper just the little sister of her girlfriend’s best friend and Tara has no obligation to keep in contact with her, she still looks out for her and tries to provide some stability. But Tara’s friendship with Buffy is something that just made me love her even more. And like in the previous season, this creates a role for Tara that only she could fulfil. Buffy could never talk to Xander or Willow about her relationship problems. Giles is out of the picture. And, well, Anya isn’t the sort of person you kiss and tell to. Tara meanwhle is outside of the group at this point so Buffy feels safer going to her about problems. And Tara again shares this understanding with Buffy that allows her to open up. Having feelings that you’re ashamed of and worrying you’re biologically wrong for things outside your control. The script for this scene in ‘Dead Things’ originally had a line where Tara drew parallels between her being a lesbian who’s had to hide her relationships to Buffy being ashamed of hers with Spike. And it’s not drawn attention to but Tara herself was recently in a relationship with someone who could be very virtuous but also had a dark side and was doing bad things that was getting impossible to ignore and justify. Tara is able to provide that support to Buffy and be there for her and making sure Spike stays in line. And even with regards to Willow she’s supportive of her attempts to get clean in a healthy enough way. Take this scene in ‘Older And Far Away’ where Anya is trying to pressure Willow to cast a spell that will allow them to leave the house they’ve been magically trapped in. While the metaphor doesn’t really land (how many life or death situations require alcohol or drugs to get out of?) the sentiment does. Tara stands up for Willow, recognising that she is trying to be better, and again, serving as that grounding presence who prevents the others from falling apart.

By her final episode, this shy wallflower who put up with mistreatment for so long has transformed into a confident, passionate woman who stands up for what she believes in, will lay down boundaries that she will not tolerate the disrespect of,… but also balances that with being 100% there for her loved ones and not hesitating to help someone in need. I hate to constantly reference ‘Games Of Thrones’ but the development of Sansa makes for a good contrast. Both she and Tara start out in perpetual victim mode and their powerlessness is frequently emphasised. Sansa’s character development into ‘empowered woman’ involves shedding her femininity and the attributes that defined her virtues in opposition to her flaws. Most notably her compassion and ability to be smarter than she’s given credit for. Someone who took pity on a drunk knight, became friends with an inexperienced handmaiden, comforted several scared women in a war zone, and stood up for her husband when his family tried to publicly humiliate him develops into someone who smirks after feeding a man to his own hounds, nearly has her own sister assassinated, trash talks a woman who’s literally fighting on the front lines for her, and her reaction to being indirectly responsible for an entire city of innocents being destroyed is…

Tara’s character development allowed her to become stronger and more confident while still retaining the virtues that were built into her characterisation from the beginning. She doesn’t become perfect and I’d argue that restarting her relationship with Willow at the end of ‘Entropy’ probably wasn’t the wisest move that she herself admits - but hey, she’s human. And then what happens?

VI) A Meaningful Death

The real twist of Buffy Season 6 is that The Trio of Warren, Jonathan and Andrew aren’t the true Big Bads. Their actions just unleash the real one. Enraged and distressed at Tara’s accidental death, Willow goes off the deep end and first just tries to kill the three boys in revenge but then escalates into trying to destroy the world to alleviate her pain. It’s probably my favourite arc in the series - or close enough. And even though Tara isn’t technically involved in this arc - what with her dying to start it off - it still speaks to the strength of her character. Tara had previously shown herself as the anchor who kept the group grounded in the aftermaths of deaths or absences, and it was her leaving Willow and being less involved with the group that led to them falling apart. So her death is indeed what allows for things to escalate this way. Remove the group’s anchor from the equation permanently and the conflict increases for maximum drama and therefore excitement. And because Tara was such a beloved character it just adds to the emotional investment. We don’t just want Buffy to stop Willow because the world ending would be a downer in general. We want Willow to be stopped before she crosses lines in a way that Tara herself wouldn’t want, and that she would permanently stop being the character we know and love. Tara’s death also forces things like Xander and Anya to actually talk about their issues rather than what they’ve actually been doing in the fallout of the wedding. Or Buffy to stop seeing Dawn as just someone to protect and closer to an equal member of the team. The resolution to this storyline is not an elaborate spell, fight routine or comically large weapon… but having compassion for the monster and stopping the apocalypse with an act of love - which, arguably, is a very Tara solution to things. 

VII) Conclusion

Despite Tara dying at the end of Season 6 there were plans to bring her back in various capacities before the series ended. Given that the Big Bad of Season 7 could impersonate anyone on the show who’s died, she was a prime candidate for that. The episode ‘Conversations With Dead People’ was, in fact, supposed to have her in this scene instead of Cassie but Amber Benson turned it down. Her reasoning being that the Willow/Tara relationship had meant so much and been a lifeline to many viewers who related to it, and seeing Tara as an evil being telling Willow to die “would just destroy people”. You can read the script for that scene in the link below. And yeah, it’s good, but what we got with Cassie is just as effective. There was also a proposed episode where Buffy would get one wish from The Powers That Be and consider using it to, say, restore Angel’s humanity, defeat The First for good, or bring her mother back to life. And it would end with her showing off a new pair of shoes to Willow - letting her believe she used the wish for that - before stepping aside to reveal Tara. The reason for this not happening was initially just that Amber Benson had a directing opportunity in the UK but she later confessed the following: 

“I had had some issues with somebody on the show and it had kind of come to a head just as I was getting ready to leave… Leaving the show was sad, because there were some of the crew and the writers and some of the cast that I just adore… But I had made my peace with that person and the show, and I was done… I’m leaving everything in a good place… I don’t need to come back…” 

Would the series have been served well by having Tara come back from the dead? On the one hand - that part of Season 7 showing Willow dealing with mourning her and learning to balance magic on her own is pretty strong. On the other - Kennedy, am I right? Part of me feels that Buffy was never the sort of show to have the wish fufillment element. On something like ‘Charmed’ - yeah, no bother. But Buffy always had this gloomy 90’s ‘life sucks - do what you can with it’ vibe. Mainly from Joss Whedon’s mantra that happy people make for boring television. Bringing Tara back may have been little more than fan service. And it’s actually another actor on the show commenting on their character that helps me come down on the side of letting Tara stay dead. Emma Caulfield spoke about how Anya was killed off in the finale, and unfortunately I can’t remember the exact quote or where to find it, but she used the fact that people were upset at the death and that it affected them as a sign that she was successful as a character since a death that no one cared about would hardly be an example of good writing. Tara was lucky in that she got the generous treatment from the writers. Never being given these low moments that were less organic character flaws and more ‘WTF Whedon?!’ I mean Willow will probably be the character I love most overall. Buffy is great and Oz can’t be touched. Gotta love Anya and Cordelia too. But I think Tara easily had the best development and avoided any nasty derailment that virtually nearly everyone else got at some point. And she’s a testament to what the show did right and what holds up about it all these years later.” - Better With Bob?

A fantastic well-worded and reasoned character study analysis of the character Tara Maclay and why she matters even though she was never credited as part of the main or season regular cast. While I don’t believe that Tara had the best character development - by a long mile - I can’t argue with the sentiment that she was a significant character in the show that taught above all that empathy, compassion, kindness and love is all-important in telling a story about flawed characters that so often need it and that rarely, if at all, ever got it. If not for Tara - who could provide it? Sure, tragic and dramatic storytelling is compelling and teaches many lessons but without the balance of hope and love, it feels more like torture than catharsis. You can’t just throw in the dark without the light, the hard without the ease, and the heavy without the heart. And I think - if it weren’t for Tara and the marvellous way Amber Benson portrayed her, Whedon would have taken all the substance out of what he calls a “weight-y story’. Yeah, life does suck and we should just deal with it however way we can, but empathy is enduring a battle that hasn’t been won yet. It provides the empowerment needed to keep fighting against insurmountable odds. We may not win the battle - but least we can say we never gave up the fight and that we never lost ourselves within it.

And that was what Tara Maclay represented alongside being the personification of purity and ‘the nice character’ and ‘Willow’s girlfriend’. She represented that motivation to keep going, to keep fighting, to keep enduring, and to also remain our best selves in the process because it’s not easy to be a fighter and a lover at the same time. It requires real strength and power too few possess or realize that they once did. It’s not just Willow who needed that lesson. Every main protagonist character did. And Tara Maclay showed them how to endure in the fight through love.

#buffy the vampire slayer #tara maclay #amber benson #willow rosenberg #alyson hannigan #willow and tara #empathy #compassion #kindness #love #characterisation #character representation #character development #why tara is the best #better with bob? #character study #analysis

[nekropsii]

Could I ask for your homestuck hot takes/unpopular opinions? :00

Absolutely, though this list won’t include everything! These will be a mix of how fans interact with Homestuck, and about Homestuck itself. Hope you don’t mind!!

The ending of Homestuck/[S] Collide were not that bad. Honestly, I think most of the hate comes from having a Serialized Experience vs. a Complete Experience, but even then… I was a Homestuck fan during the comic’s run. I was around when [S] Collide dropped. It was never that bad to me. Honestly, I liked it, it seemed like a pretty logical way to end the story, even if some things were left unresolved. Leaving things more open-ended and with a lot of loose ends for the fans to tie together themselves just felt… Perfect for Homestuck. Fan interpretation has always been important.

The Retconning was neat, in my opinion. I think the hate for it once again comes from the difference between having a Serialized Experience vs. a Complete Experience- with the Unofficial Homestuck Collection, you have the option to leave the Retcons in during your first read-through, and that foreshadowing makes the whole thing significantly cooler. Plus, it just… Makes complete sense that that would happen, from my perspective. SBURB is notorious for being nearly impossible to win, and Timeline Shenanigans make up a significant portion of the plot. It’s been explained over and over again how different timelines aren’t any more or less valid than others- a lot of the people complaining about how the timeline we started with either “isn’t canon” or “doesn’t matter anymore” have missed the point, to me. I just think our starting timeline having been doomed the entire time really adds to the overall vibe of Homestuck- at the end of the day, it’s a Tragicomedy. I can’t get mad at a Tragicomedy for being Tragic.

Bigotry absolutely saturates the story whether people like it or not. I’m not saying this to be cynical, I’m trying to be realistic here. You physically cannot separate Homestuck from its bigotry. That’s like trying to take the eggs out of a cake after it’s already been baked and frosted. You physically cannot do it. No amount of diversity headcanons is going to cure Homestuck of its bigotry, it doesn’t erase it at all, it’s just putting a new coat of paint on the same product. This isn’t me putting anyone down, or telling people not to like it, or not to have fun with headcanons- I quite like the story and I have a menagerie of headcanons myself- I’m just saying that headcanoning characters as X, Y, or Z Minority does not absolve the source material of sin, because I have seen people act like that before. The best thing you can do is take a step back and critically analyze how bigotry affects the story and its characters, and work to not perpetuate that. It really is nigh unavoidable, though, in some situations… Gamzee comes to mind as an example of this.

Shocking and super totally unexpected of me opinion coming up: The Alpha Trolls are fun to analyze, some of you guys are just mean. They aren’t “nothing characters”- they do have substance, flavor, and interesting lore to them, they do present you with fascinating concepts, and they give you just enough material for you to have both plenty to work with and build off of, and plenty of room to speculate. They’re a fascinating case study, and I really wish people would take them seriously more often..

Most of the shitty things that the main characters do are not worth the level and amount of discourse and vitriol that people cast towards them. This is a trap I fell into when I was younger, but there was definitely a reason for that, and I need more people- grown adults especially!- to realize what I realized, and know why none of this is worth so much anger and stress… Yeah, so… The main characters? They’re all teenagers. They’re children. These are kids. They’re middle school age.

A lot of Vriscourse is based in Misogyny. This is just a basic fact of life, but a lot of people still don’t recognize it. Fun Fact: Even when I was a kid- back when I hated Vriska- I thought the way that the fanbase treated her was really fucking weird, and really, really offputting. If an oblivious 14 year old can recognize that there’s some kind of underlying, hidden sentiment within your overly-charged fandom discourse that they’d otherwise agree with, there’s an issue.

This isn’t a hot take, and is more just a statement, but every time I see people forget that Trolls are Bug Aliens I lose 5 years off my life. I’m begging people to get more funky with that. I promise you that it’s an interesting thing to study, and I promise you that you can make Bug Anatomy look cute/cool/whatever vibe you’re going for. Just remember that they’re Bug Aliens. Please.

Also not a hot take, this is just a fact, but the Extended Zodiac website is straight up wrong about some Aspects. I don’t mean that it doesn’t align with my personal view of how Aspects function- I’m not that petty, the world doesn’t revolve around me, et cetera- I mean that it’s straight up, irrefutably, factually incorrect about some of the Aspects, and it drives me insane.

#homestuck #homestuck meta #homestuck fandom #beta kids #beta trolls #alpha kids #alpha trolls #vriscourse #classpect #classpecting #homestuck.pdf #nekro.pdf #nekro.sms

[brad-bakshi-loves-bugs]

totally random: do you think brad was bullied is high school?

so i actually have a LOT of theories/ideas about this! i definitely think he was, because it's almost to be expected that any minority (in any regard) has been bullied in school at some point, but i think it was probably significantly worse in elementary and middle school than it was in high school. partly because younger kids are meaner, and partly because i imagine he was a small and sickly kid from malnutrition and the abuse from zack and their father. but danny pudi is 6'0, and i imagine at some point in high school brad would have hit his growth spurt and all of a sudden he was towering over most of his classmates, so the bullying probably slowed or even stopped completely around that time. he was occasionally bullied after that for random things (being gay, being indian, being a smartass, being soft with bugs, etc), but mostly kids left him alone which he was grateful for.

danny pudi is the tallest of the main cast as well, so i'm going to headcanon that brad is insecure about his height because he was tormented for being small for so long as a young kid that now he has to be the tallest person in a room or he gets very self-conscious. tall people will always be more respected than shorter people by default, so he wants that respect to be directed toward him rather than anyone else. plus there's the underlying, subconscious fear of anyone taller than him, as most of his childhood bullies towered over him as did his father and brother until he outgrew both of them in his late teens and they started to back off because they realized he was big enough to actually fight back.

but basically to answer your question anon yeah i think he was most certainly bullied in high school, but not as severely as he was in elementary/middle school. this was a really good ask, thank you!! i love rambling about my headcanons LMAO

#mythic quest #brad bakshi #asks answered #we are fleeting we are feeling #wafwaf #headcanon #tay rambles #i really liked this one #send me more asks abt my headcanons or fic or whatever PLEASE ill always answer them #theyre my favorite #also sorry i completely went off on a tangent about brads height LMAO #i think about it a lot

[dark-roleplay-finder]

🕊️[20+, m/m or nb/m] hey y'all! i've been itching to do this concept for a bit--or at least something with very similar dynamic. i rp mostly on email but i can do discord; i write 3rd person in present tense, semi-lit/novella; and i love me some angst and complicated relationships hehe. (while nsfw or smut is encouraged, i don't have much rp experience specifically if that's something important to you!) i'd like a character-focused plot and love worldbuilding + i'm experienced in writing a recurring side cast.

SOLE SURVIVOR OF A FAILED REVOLUTION (A) X HEIR TO THE TYRANT THEY TRIED TO OVERTHROW (B)

aka Tired x Chaotic; Uses Head x Follows Heart

slow-burn, possibly sci-fi, psychological, drama, power imbalance. very fucked world overall. potential for co-dependency, obsessive/possessive behavior, power play, and manipulation. slight age difference with B being a little younger than A for timeline purposes. dubious consent for the power imbalance, especially if both are privy to each other's exact identities from the start, and each having something to gain from the other.

set in a dystopian society in a nation suffering from ecological disaster that caused most of the population to bear the brunt of it

i'd love an assertive but goofy muse who's also a bit naive while being capable of casual murder/violence, to go against someone incredibly world-weary and reluctantly living on autopilot, resigned to his circumstances yet still harboring a lot of rage. in spite of bedroom roles, hit me with some trope subversion and characterization beyond those please.

the vibesTM: asking about your favorite candy and your relationship with your family over takeout after an unceremonious bathroom hookup; a bloody kiss after one protects the other; hysterical, broken laughter right before a breakdown during sex (or anything that's supposed to be an intimate and tender moment); tracing scars in fascination with a sense of pride that you're the first/only one to see them; looking at the lights and motions of a city from above and feeling a sense of longing/alienation; whatever emotions you experienced while watching Netflix's Beef.

A + B somehow meet and get attached to each other, forming a genuine connection and feeling something for the first time in years in spite of how it draws scorn from their respective communities. give me flawed people who aren't necessarily out to fix each other that get their own sort of happy ending (happy being subjective here LOL).

B is intrigued by someone as "real" as A, being delighted that A treats them something close to human and is blunt about how they abhor B's standing and what they represent (looks at A with a hint of romanticization of poverty too) while A can't help but find it fascinating that someone who's so removed from regular people and is capable of destruction manages to have such childlike wonder at life. plus, B pays for food.

to some extent, they're both spectators gawking at each other as if the other is some animal in a zoo. they're both also very lonely people aching to feel seen and wanted.

important: my activity levels vary significantly since I kinda work 2 jobs and my main one takes a lot of my energy. if long gaps between replies make you anxious/irritate you or if you prefer fast-paced plots and rapid-fire responses, this probably ain't gonna work tbh--ofc i will try my best to communicate with you when things come up. busy people with loaded schedules that still like writing in their downtime to the front pls🥲

hope to build something neat that we can both yell about during weird hours! interact with the post and i'll reach out :]

Like this post and the asker will reach out!

#roleplay #roleplay ad #1x1 rp #dead dove roleplay #discord rp #email rp #20+ rp #mxm rp #nbxm rp #semi literate roleplay #novella rp

[re-alku]

Mortals AU (Comic Aurora)

Paragraph time baybee!! (Characters are from @comicaurora​​) The Mortals AU is an AU where the gods (excluding any race gods and a few handpicked idea gods) have become mortal characters. This story has a significantly lighter tone than the canon and would follow an episodic format.

I separated the gods I liked into three groups for their mortal versions, while there are other gods who are characters and just not prominent (I will be listing those):

Our Main Duo:

Vash, a Crucible who is missing one of his arms after burning it off when he was younger during a storm. He is searching for the forging god Tahraim so that he can make him a sword. Caliban is just watching him take on a wild goose chase while they stay in Tahraim’s forge. They haven’t told Tahraim yet. He is an oddity due to him having blue eyes, I made that correlate with his fire for aesthetic reasons. His eyes also always are flaming because I wanted him to resemble himself in canon. Zuurith, a hedgehog ferin who serves under the Paladins and has a desire to protect the ones around him. Boy is a little bit angsty. He can pass as an elf with rather unkempt hair. I decided that he figured out how to weaponize his spines but when he was younger the paladins who raised him constantly were getting scratched, those scratches remain to this day. These two are our main two who are both. a little bit of dumbasses and funny little guys. They are definitely less of rivals in this AU and are pretty evenly matched in fighting. Vash is more carefree and Zuurith is trying his best to keep him out of trouble. Zuurith likes to pretend he’s the reasonable one of the duo but he’s just as much of a dumbass (Affectionate) as Vash.   Next we have Tynan, a metalcaste who was struck by lightning after being born near the Elemental Storm before he could ever have thoughts of his own and when he was sparked he ran off only to fall into a life of underground fighting. Thank god bc this boy hasn’t killed anyone yet out of fear of ruining the shows for his audience, our boy travels alone. Tynan, Vash and Zuurith met after Vash had been curious about the underground fighting, while reluctant, he managed to drag Zuurith along. We have the classic anime trope of an unbeatable fighter getting beaten by our protagonist and since Tynan isn’t a god damn murderer in this AU, they became sort of friends? Zuurith does not like the guy but since he hasn’t technically done anything yet, he can’t really do anything.

The next characters I do not have art for but I do have some brainrot. This is our third group which is a travelling group composed of:

Ilia, an elf of Sekrai descent who is a powerful water mage. I looked at Ilia in canon and went “Yeah she probably would be a focused and practiced fighter”. Ilia is one of the strongest out of the cast and I gave her a neat little tattoo on her upper back that glows when she fights. She wears a lot of clothing made of Windsilk that is similar to that of the clothing that Elven nobility wear, along with a lot of her clothes having an open back. Gleicann, he is a Gladestrider with a goat bottom half and serves as sort of a replacement for Alinua in terms of power. He is a life mage who Ilia found one day while travelling and from that day onward they decided to be besties. He is a lot less volatile than Alinua and is more relaxed, also I did keep the big guy design that he has currently, even if he didn’t have it always. I am a sucker for big guys with big hearts. Skieron, my boy! He is a swampstrider and while a lot of things aren’t known about him in canon, I still made a few guesses. Skieron is basically what connects the entire main cast together, he became friends with Vash after he had come from the Ignan Deserts and is what brought Vash and Zuurith to know Gleicann and Ilia. After that he met Tynan through Vash.

Side characters!

Asera is an elven and scientist scholar, Zuurith knows them through paladin work and Ilia does too. They are known in the scientific community for their unorthodox methods but they have gathered knowledge on some of the most important discoveries and have gone through a lot of effort to build connections to as many groups as possible Shayansi and Sennaia are both of stygian elf descent and are a travelling duo of a storyteller and a scholar. Shayansi spins the truth and stretches it, both to make a better story and to infuriate Sennaia, while all Sennaia can do is look angrily on as their partner decides to fuck up history. The Twins! I am indecisive about them! There are two possible routes I can go with them, but for the sake of simplicity I am just going with the idea that they are a pair of mysterious artists who hide away in the mountains and are rumored to resemble the gods that made the world. Vash and Zuurith meet them on their travels and spend the majority of their visit not seeing them because shock and horror, they don’t have enough time to split between commissions and talking to guests.

#comicauora #aurorafanart #comicaurorafanart #mortals!AU

[bakerstreetbabble]

Review: Enola Holmes 2 (Netflix)

Several weeks ago, my family sat down to watch Netflix's Enola Holmes 2. For those who may not have heard of the Enola Holmes franchise, the films are based on a series of young adult novels by Nancy Springer, which feature a young protagonist named Enola Holmes, the younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes. Enola's name, as the reader may already suspect, is the word "alone" spelled backwards. In the films, Enola is played by the excellent British actress, Millie Bobby Brown, who became famous due to her role as Eleven in the very popular Netflix series, Stranger Things. We had all watched the first Enola Holmes film, and we had all thoroughly enjoyed it, so our expectations for the second film were quite high. I am pleased to report that our expectations were absolutely met!

First of all, Millie Bobby Brown continues to be a delight in her role as the title character. She's an intelligent, feisty young woman, with deductive capabilities that rival those of her big brother, Sherlock (played in the films by British actor Henry Cavill). One fun little convention in the films is Enola's penchant for "breaking the fourth wall" and addressing the camera (and thus, the viewer) directly from time to time. As the father of two daughters, both of whom are loving this series of films, I am especially pleased to see a young female character being portrayed as strong and intelligent. Enola displays those qualities in spades.

Although the films tend to play a bit fast and loose with the historical period surrounding the plot, I don't think they are much different from Arthur Conan Doyle's stories in that respect. Viewers will almost certainly be aware of more multiculturalism (particularly in the casting), but from my point of view, this enhances the world of the film, even if it's not strictly historically accurate. One prominent plot thread in Enola Holmes 2 deals with feminism and union organization among workers in a match factory, which I'm fairly certain was more or less unknown during the Victorian period. (However, if anyone knows of any feminist or unionist movements in the period of which I'm unaware, I'd love to hear from you!)

I should say a word about Henry Cavill's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. If you watch the films, you will see a Holmes who is supposed to be a bit younger than he is when Conan Doyle introduces him in A Study in Scarlet. Thus, Cavill plays Holmes as a bit more "human" than we often see him in other adaptations. He is not overly emotional, but he is also not quite the calculating deductive machine who is often presented. Moreover, keeping in mind that Enola is the main character, and Sherlock is a supporting role, I found Cavill's portrayal to be quite effective. Some Sherlockian "purists" may find the revision of Sherlock's back story disappointing, especially at the end of this film (which I will not spoil here). I found it entertaining.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the performance of Helena Bonham Carter as Eudoria Holmes, mother to  Sherlock and Enola (Mycroft does not appear in this film, although he did appear in the first one, as a rather unpleasant character). As in the first film, she turned in what I found to be a wonderful performance. I had read shortly after the first film came out that some significantly more conservative viewers were outraged by Eudoria Holmes shirking what they saw as her duties and responsibilities as a mother. (One Roman Catholic priest apparently found the first Enola Holmes film to be one of the most "evil" films he'd seen.) I, personally, do not share that outrage. Indeed, Eudoria Holmes's strengths (and weaknesses) as a mother contribute to her progeny's unique talents in the deductive arena.

Finally, as the second Enola Holmes film did not have to concern itself with quite as much exposition as the first film did, I feel like the main plot, and the mystery contained therein, was a bit better than the first film. Indeed, when the film was over, we all felt that we had enjoyed this installment even more than its predecessor! I would certainly recommend the movie to all fans of Sherlock Holmes, as well as anyone who enjoys a good, entertaining action/mystery story.

#Enola Holmes 2 #Netflix #Millie Bobby Brown #Henry Cavill

[yugiohz]

my chainsaw man review :) major spoilers be warned

Genre: I think it’s funny how, for the most part, csm makes it a point to repeatedly mock the hero archetype only for the story to have a VERY heroic ending with the city getting attacked by a Devil and Denji getting ready to fight it’s oddly satisfying .

World building: initially, I was left very dissatisfied with the world building: csm establishes several interesting elements, it never really bothers to expand on these, let alone explain its magic system but halfway through the story it becomes clear that csm is much less about the world/magic system/an abstract us vs them conflict and much more about how everything relates to Denji’s character, so in hindsight I don’t mind the lack of in-depth world-building because it’s a character-driven story, which I did not expect but enjoyed and even prefer tbh.

Which brings me to my next point

Characters: as I said, it’s a character-driven story and thus focuses heavily on Denji, which on one hand is great because he’s an intriguing protagonist but on the other, every other character falls very flat next to him, which I personally don’t mind since it’s easy to only focus on Denji but yeah I did notttt care about 90% of the cast. Power is a really fun character and Aki is cute but outside of the main trio I really did not care about who dies and who survives.

The one thing that lowered csm’s enjoyment factor significantly for me was the female characters’ writing; every non-Power csm can be reduced to one quirky characteristic and I could not care less about himeno (had to google her name) dying she’s so pathetic im sorryyyy but she needs to work on her issues and stop pining after boys that are significantly younger than her it was a bit repulsing rip.

Theme: I think csm’s strength definitely lies in its theme of consumption and how it reflects the diegetic power politics. Food/consumption metaphoric is rlly nice in general and csm implements it really well for a manga, it was easy to catch on quickly and anticipate more and the ending was very satisfying so all in all interesting theme, nice development and good closure. I know there’s also religious themes but I didn’t really notice those tbh but there’s videos on that I’m gonna watch maybe it’s gonna change my general opinion who knows,.

Anyway back to the theme of consumption, I really loved that oneeee, it’s straightforward but nice nonetheless. I really like how the food immediately reflects Denji’s (lack of) power and his vulnerability throughout the chapters: The manga opens with Denji being forced to eat a cigarette (non-edible // Denji is an abandoned child) to eating rotten food (a bit more edible // still alone) to eating basic food (edible but really odd combination (the sandwich)// lives with aki so he’s slowly socializing) to eating fancy food in a restaurant (big change // socializing, Denji has worth) to eating Makima (climax). It’s interesting how his triumph over her is different from manga like a*t (sorry) where it’s violent mid-fight consumption. Instead, he takes his time to prepare her as a meal which emphasizes his newly-gained agency through this deliberate performance, which is really important I think because throughout the manga, several adult women take advantage of his vulnerability and powerlessness so yeah the final cannibalistic act is nice because it reflects denji’s development and growth so well, albeit morbidly.

Narrative foils: Lastly I don’t want to get too much into the grooming, I think on one hand it’s definitely meant to emphasize Denji’s vulnerability so it has a right to exist in the story, on the other it quickly turns voyeuristic (and fetishistic) which I could only side-eye it is what it is. One thing I’ll say is that Makima wasn’t really a complex/interesting antagonist to me, she works well and is the perfect antagonist for this very specific protagonist (denji as a very limited focalising protagnoist vs Makima as an omniscient but closed antagonist) but outside of their antithetic dynamic, I think she’s boring but I also know the author did not have me in mind when he wrote csm so it’s whatever jskncd.

LASTLY csm has some reallyyyyyy really beautiful paneling and art I loved taking my time to stare at some pages I am sooo obsessed with the gun devil (?)’s attack and how the death count was displayed so neatly in front of the silent visual chaos, also the whole snowball scene was cinema!!!!

6.5/10 I think but im not sure im so bad with concrete ratings let’s say it was a ride.

#csm spoilers #chainsaw man spoilers #not rebloggable bjt feel free to disagree or comment etc etc this is all very subjective etc #idk what else I should tag this as I don’t thing anymore cw apply and it’s clear that I’m spoiling a lot

[calsyee]

Re: the Kit Connor situation, as someone who lived through the heydays of Supernatural, Sherlock, and Teen Wolf, I want younger/newer fandom types to understand something about queerbaiting, and specifically when and why the term came about.

In 2012-2013, the media landscape was hugely different. Queerness in media was significantly rarer than it is today, especially in media that had significant fandoms — Glee, Hannibal, and Welcome To Night Vale were then-current, yes, but by and large, many shows had exactly 0 canonically queer characters, with many of the characters who did exist being side characters who appeared once or twice and either died or were jokes (RIP to Lily, the unnamed gay guy from SPN 1x10 "Faith," and Alan J. Corbett, particularly). So, like, not exactly a breeding ground for queer fans to latch on to queer characters, you understand?

But shows like Sherlock, SPN, and Teen Wolf felt different. The veil between creators and fans had thinned, even broken, and we felt we could express ourselves in ways that might be heard by creators — and, on top of that, these shows had seemingly intentional gay subtext about the main characters.

It felt like maybe we could get something we wanted.

And then we didn't, but the subtext and winks and nudges to us didn't let up, and, in fact, often got more intense and overt, and, eventually, we realized we were being had.

These creators didn't want to tell queer stories with their shows, but they knew that having queer subtext attached to their main cast would keep people like us hooked without ever having to deliver and potentially alienate the homophobes in the "mainstream" audience. We were cash cows for them, nothing more.

We called that behavior — seeding subtext without any intention to deliver on it, with that specific intent to make money off us without giving us anything concrete — "queerbaiting."

It's a specific term that refers to a specific phenomenon and comes out of a specific fandom history & legacy.

It is not an accusation to throw at a real human individual about his personal identity & relationships. Kit Connor is a human being, and he does not owe you information on his private life and identity just because he plays a queer you like on the TV, and the fact that some of y'all made the climate so toxic that he felt he needed to come out to get you all off his back is absolutely fucking vile.

#kit connor #fandom history #queerbaiting

[tokudocu]

Geats Extra & VCine

With Geats's ending slated on the last Sunday of August, discussions of a VCines has cropped up. It ranged from who among the many characters and Riders within Geats's show needs and will have a Vcine or special dedicated to them to the potential plot of said specials and VCine.

I would like to remind everyone that Revice, the season before Geats, only has one Vcine, and that was the Vcine with Demons, Live, and Evil.

In the same vein, Revice also had a number of specials from the Mystery to Dear Gaga, they even had two Hyper Battle DVDs.

Whereas Geats has three specials currently, PunkJack's, Tycoon's, and the chibi anime thing.

We are nearing the Endgame for Geats, after the crossover movie with Gotchard, it remains up in the air which characters would get a Vcine.

I will say that both Michinaga, and Sara have significantly lower chances of being in a Vcine, I would even wager that Michinaga's appearance in the crossover movie would be lessened due to how busy Michinaga's actor, Mokudai, is.

Mokudai has one other show airing as Geats reach its end, I think its the same show where he stars with Sara's actress's, Nene Shida, younger sister - Kohaku.

Speaking of Nene, she was recently cast in a stage play, as the main heroine, that would go on tour around October.

Depending on how much Ace's, Keiwa's, and Neon's respective actors blow up in Japan's entertainment industry, we'd also have more or lesser chances of getting them back for another Geats Extra or Vcine.

But never say never, I just want everyone's expectations to be lowered.

#kamen rider geats

[thebreakfastgenie]

🍈🫐🍍 for the fruit writer ask game !! Love your works btw :-)

🍈 Who’s your blorbo and what are some of your favorite headcanons/ideas about them that repeatedly show up in your fics? Free pass to rant about blorbo opinions.

My current active blorbo is Hawkeye Pierce and this is one of those questions that is such a good question and as soon as someone asks my mind just goes blank!! I suppose..... you could say dying and being dead, but that's only one published fic so far, the other two are WIPs (and he survives one of them in the end; it's a time loop). I can't say for sure all of these come up in my published fics, but they are always informing my writing and may be used in WIPs you haven't seen yet. Being born in 1922 and going to Bowdoin are canon to me, to those are always going to turn up. I have a lot of ideas about his background in Maine and I reference a lot of local Maine details because I know and love Maine. He had the childhood diseases early, because his dad brought them home from work. He was a precocious kid who read his dad's medical textbooks. I think he read a lot of novels and poetry his mom had, too. He was kind of an odd kid, but still popular--a class clown. After his mom died, he started helping out more at home because it was just him and dad, so he learned how to take care of himself younger than most boys did at the time. His family was financially secure, so during the Depression they weren't at risk of starving or losing their home, but things were still lean. He was a tiny kid until he was twelve or thirteen when he stayed skinny but got tall overnight. Once puberty hit he started attracting and enjoying attention from girls. I do feel very strongly about who he is but it's surprisingly hard to articulate. I think he kind of walks a cliff-edge with his mental health, even before we meet him (that comes up in the Hamlet fic). I think he just says stuff a lot of the time but he's being honest, just not entirely literal. He doesn't sleep well or enough--that one is a bit of projection, too.

My other blorbo, who I'm not actively writing right now but will again in the future, is Josh Lyman. I draw on his secular Jewish background a lot, because I share it, and New England too because I have strong ties to this region. His loyalty to his friends is my favorite character trait and I like digging into that with regards to his various relationships. I write a lot about his stubbornness and determination, too. His sister Joanie was significantly older--seven or eight years--which may be because his parents had trouble having children in between them. He's always affected by being shot, though he gets better at dealing with it. This comes up a lot in my fics because so many of them are about that trauma. I think Josh is misunderstood in-universe and I like exploring the dissonance between who he really is and his public image (that he helps to cultivate).

🫐 What’s your favorite underrated thing in your fandom? (A ship that only you seem to write for, a character there’s almost no fics about, a trope that criminally hasn’t been written yet, etc.)

The first thing that comes to mind is just gen fic. Case fic, too. Missing episode type stuff!! Just... more of the show. I also want more sick fic but not like cute somebody takes care of someone with a cold sick fic... a little angstier than that, I guess. Plotty fic, please!!! MASH gives so many interesting story opportunities and I want them all! Definitely more of the original cast, too. More character development for Henry and Trapper, since they didn't get a ton of it on the show. I wish there was more Hawkeye/Margaret too because I have kind of particular taste in that.

In West Wing fandom I am always desperate for fic about Josh and CJ, Josh and Toby, or Josh and Leo. Those dynamics compel me more than anything. Also, 1998 Bartlet for America era!!!

🍍 What kind of AUs do you like? Are there any AUs you hate or just generally have beef with?

I love canon divergence so much. AUs that stay pretty close to the source, but change one significant thing are sooo interesting. I love me some major character death AUs. Full on AUs can be fun, but I usually like them more as posts or conversations with friends. It depends on the fandom a lot too, but MASH and The West Wing are both such specific and delicious premises that I don't usually want an AU. It's also hard to imagine those characters in an AU, because their jobs are so integral to who they are. It's hard to imagine a Josh Lyman who doesn't work in politics, or a Hawkeye Pierce who isn't a doctor. That being said, a well-written AU can be really fun! I hate superhero AUs. I've just never encountered one I actually liked. Maybe my mind could be changed. I hate soulmate AUs because I have beef with the entire concept. I'm not a big fan of magic/fantasy AUs, especially if they involve extensive worldbuilding.

#thank you so much this was so fun!!! #if I think of more i'll add it

[fragrantminded]

King Arthur 2004

This film has a surprisingly successful cast, the main attraction being Kiera Knightley, who is once again cast as the love interest of a man significantly older than her, as she is a teenager.  This seems to be an alarmingly common theme in Kiera Knightley's movies of the 2000s  This one is actually even worse because in Love, Actually, Kiera Knightley was 18, and her on screen husband was 26, but in this film, Knightley is 19, and her love interest, Clive Owen was 40 years old.   Now a bit of a tangent, a joke I have seen made a few times surrounding John Mayer and his relationship with Taylor Swift when he was in his 30s and she was only 19, using one of his songs goes: half my heart? More like half my age.  But that was always a hyperbole.  She wasn't actually half his age.  But in this film, Kiera Knightley also isn't half his age.  She is somehow, even younger than that.  I don't blame the actors for this, I personally think they should have cast someone other than Kiera Knightley as Guinevere, not only because she is the complete wrong age, and it's incredibly uncomfortable to watch the romance, but because I definitely don't think this role suited her.  To be fair, I don't think this role would have suited anyone. Guinevere's character was my least favorite part of the movie because she makes very little sense.  The movie relies so much on Kiera Knightley (putting her at the forefront of the movie poster), when she isn't even introduced until about halfway into the movie.  She is rescued by Arthur and his knights, and is only a traumatized, shell shocked victim for a portion of her screen time, and then, all of sudden she's super interested in Arthur, and is apparently some super warrior.  At one point there was an intimate scene between the two of them, that I was quite frankly very uncomfortable watching it.   The beginning of this monstrous paragraph was about the cast of the movie, so other notable cast members that are now very beloved are Mads Mikkelsen, Hugh Dancy, and Stellan Skarsgård.

[tlbodine]

Vampire Double Feature

Our newest film challenge puts us at the mercy of a random number generator -- which is a fun way to find stuff I might not otherwise know about and try watching things that may be outside our comfort zone. And because randomness is fun. (Yes I stole this idea from a podcast and no I'm not sorry)

Anyway, I previously posted a list of vampire movies we shortlisted for our first roll, "pure-horror vampires." Below are the two we settled on.

Afflicted (2013) is the directorial debut of Canadian filmmakers Derek Lee and Clif Prowse, who also play the main characters. It's a found-footage style low-budget film following a pair of dudes on a Eurotrip that goes horribly awry when one of them comes down with a slight case of vampirism.

Sensing a path to viral fame, they initially document and upload his transformation, but things soon take a dark turn. What follows is a lot of body horror (achieved often with some neat practical effects and camera tricks, which I appreciate)

This is a perfectly solid film and deserves a lot more attention than it got. It's doing something clever with vampirism, the characters are reasonably genre savvy, and while the plot doesn't really tread any new ground or uncover any brilliant wisdom, it's a perfectly fine showcase for some cool effects. I have certainly seen significantly worse found footage movies.

We joked (but it's totally true) that this movie and What We Do in the Shadows should be essential viewing for newbie Vampire: The Masquerade players -- the "what you think the game will be like" vs "what the game is actually like" experiences.

My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To (2020) was written and directed by Jonathan Cuartas. It's about two siblings struggling to care for the, uh, special needs of their younger brother. Needs that involve, among other things, not exposing him to sunlight and routinely killing people so he can drink their blood.

Let me just get this part out of the way: this is not a "true horror" type movie. For that part of the dice roll, it fails. I did really like it, though. It's the sort of film I enjoy a lot -- a tiny cast, minimal settings, microbudget indie film with a primary focus on character interaction, dialogue-driven storytelling, rich atmosphere and compelling, messy themes that get explored without a clear resolution.

I think most of those type of movies fall under the "mumblecore" genre. Around here we just call them Tiana Movies, and I fucking love them.

Anyway. So the central conflict of this film is that vampirism is a chronic, debilitating disease, and however tragic and sweet their baby brother is, being his full-time caretakers has begun to take a tremendous toll on the older siblings. Caring for him is an unreasonable ask -- they have to find new victims all the time, run a perpetual risk of being caught or injured in the process, and their lifestyle forces them into social isolation and poverty. It's not fair that they have to do this. But if they don't, who will? There is no security net in place to protect baby vampires.

The movie lingers on the painful realities of this "unmovable object, unstoppable force" conundrum, winding its way toward an inevitable tragic conclusion. But in painting the situation as hopeless, I think the film actually shines a light on all the many ways their situation could have been better -- which is, I think, the function of a really good tragedy.

I'm curious to hear people's reads on this movie through a lens of ableism, because on the one hand it is bleak in its resolutions...but on the other hand, I think the question it asks is a valid one. It's a movie that leaves you with a lot to think about, if you let yourself engage with the material.

I think it would make an excellent double feature with Lamb, for reasons that are difficult to articulate but which feel very accurate. If anybody has seen this movie, please come talk to me about it.

#horror movies #RNG horror #afflicted #my heart can't beat unless you tell it to #mumblecore #Youtube

[faerociousbeast]

anyways at the time of shippuden the youngest he could be is 32-34. this is assuming he immediately had a kid when he was 18. and then, that kid, since the grandson is the same age as boruto-

if 32, then the kid would be two years younger than our main cast/naruto, who got married at 19 and had a kid at 20. yaguras kid would be 18.

if 34, which is what ive been going with because its significantly easier to calculate generation wise, then they would also be 20 at the time of having their kid/the grandson. same age as naruto.

the biggest issue is... how did he. have. the kid like im fairly sure he was already being controlled when he was 18? if we go with 34, since we dont know the ages of kakashi and rin when That incident happened.. i just went with 14 for rin. so then yagura would also be 14 when switching hosts and taking over but also being controlled?

the only possibility uhh... maybe its like. a raiden puppet thing?? they were obviously really busy with other matters and they dont give us the specifics of Oh yeah we were controlling this guy at ALL but. yeah maybe they just gave him some commands and left him and then he went and had a kid with some poor, poor person?

given his.. status, its either he didnt know about the kid at all, and he was presumably being controlled from such a young age maybe he got fucking married before having the kid and just Straight Up doesnt know about any of that, orrr he. one night standed and the person knew that this is yaguras kid and later that kid told THEIR kid aka the grandchild that hey thats your grandfather

the issue is how long was he "leading" for? the bloody mist era started when zabuza graduated. he was 9 when he graduated, and 26 when we meet him in the first part, so he would be like. 29-30ish in shippuden. if kakashi is 31 in shippuden, and rin would be 34, which means yagura is also 34, which means he is around 4-5 years older. or 2-3 years older if 32.

the reason why i went with 34 over 32 is because 12 is a bit early for All of that, it is still possible though?? idk??? either way, when bloody mist started, yagura was 11-14. which is why the having a kid part is weird. he wasnt concious for that at all if he was already under control when he was under 18

edit: OH YEAH and if 34, he wouldve died at around 30, pretty sure? i think during the chuunin exams they mentioned something like that

[nyaruelle-oc-archives]

"Veliliah, the jellyfish divine, in precious pink, she'll always shine."

Name: Veliliah Aurelis Emoji: 🪼 Age: 22 Birthday: 5th of Trinidad Pronouns: she/her Species: Aquatic (jellyfish) Profession: Idol Orientation: demi sapphic Residence: Valenvin Floor MBTI: INFP Role: Side Story Status: Alive Goal: Work towards becoming the top Idol group for the annual music awards Flaws: Clumsy and sensitive to criticism

History:

Veliliah, a former choir member, achieved stardom as the lead vocalist of the underwater idol group GXEM. Before her debut, she hailed from the Valenvin Floor and harbored dreams of a singing career since her early years. Her peers held her in high regard, and she gained widespread popularity for her relatable personality and captivating social media content, which offers glimpses into her daily life. Veliliah has endeared herself to the public, capturing the affection of countless fans. Despite hailing from the ocean, Veliliah enjoys having concerts on land and would take any opportunity she can to stay before she heading back into the ocean again.

Extra:

- Veliliah in my original AU used to be a noble from one of the merepeople aristocratic family branches.

- She was given a redesign to be used for a DTIYS art entry I participated in a long time ago

Relationships:

Aedele Delphine [Bandmate]

Aedele is the sub vocalist and main rapper of GXEM and bandmate of Veliliah. Their relationship is characterized by mutual support and understanding; Veliliah plays the role of a caring and thoughtful companion, always attuned to Aedele's needs, while Aedele assumes the protective mantle, readily coming to Veliliah's aid whenever challenges arise. Initially, Veliliah felt somewhat intimidated by Aedele, but over time, their connection has evolved significantly from their first encounter.

Una Langelight [Bandmate]

Una is the leader of GXEM and bandmate of Veliliah. Una sees Veliliah like a younger sister figure and Veliliah feels the same towards Una. Outside of Tetra, Una is the second favourite person Veliliah enjoys spending time with. Una is the kind of friend that Veliliah would be comfortable renting to when she has a bad day

Tetra Estaville [Bandmate]

Tetra is the main dancer/choreographer for GXEM and bandmate of Veliliah. Tetra and Veliliah have a best friend relationship among the idol group. The two are inseparable and are often seen hanging out with one another on their off days. Tetra also plays a pivotal role in aiding Veliliah's dance skills, recognizing her as needing extra support in this aspect.

Calliope Urchintide [Bandmate]

Calliope is the sub vocalist and backup dancer for GXEM and bandmate of Veliliah. The two share a friendly relationship despite not being extremely close, the two do care for one another's well being and make time to learn from one another.

~~~

Alignment: Rogue

Skill:

✦ [Vocal Manipulation]

Ability all Aquatics have that allows them to cast magic through their voices. Vocal spells appear as a echo from a aquatic's mouth, the more emphasis they place on the spell, the strong it gets

✦ [Venomous Bite]

Able to infect others with jellyfish venom when bitten

Headcanon Voice: Dani Chambers

~~~

Design Reference:

Design History:

#rogue #female #aquatic #GXEM #Valenvin Floor #Character Bios