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oh-boy-me · 3 years

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I found your speculation of Satan having a crush on mc from the get go verry interesting. I was wondering if you have any speculations around the other boys? Like in what order do you think the boys fell for mc? Any specific points in the story that you think are the "fall for mc" moments for them?

(HFSDHFSD LISTEN I’ve had this in my drafts for AGES and I’m so sorry I’m just now getting to actually posting it ;w; )

I’m MORE than happy to speculate on this! For the brothers, at least, because I haven’t read up to the parts where the other characters show notable interest in you

Putting most of this under a cut for long post and spoilers, but the tl;dr (with some mysterious elements to catch your interest heheheh) is that I believe the brothers “fall for MC” in this order:

1. Satan 2. Mammon 3. (Lucifer) 4. (Levi) 3. Belphie 4. Beel 4. Levi 4. Lucifer 7. Asmo

That must look a little weird; I hope I’ve piqued your interest!

Now, what am I defining as falling for MC? For consistency, we’re going to consider a brother falling for MC being the moment when they themself realize that they might have feelings for them.

#1 Demon: Satan Moment: As early as day 4

First up is Satan, who I’ve already explained here. An argument can be made that Mammon catches feelings first, but assuming a real-time progression, Satan’s first text reaches MC on their fourth day in the Devildom.

#2 Demon: Mammon Moment: Lesson 4-1

Mammon is interesting, because with this analysis he’s one of only two brothers for which you can actually get a calendar date for their falling for MC. You can do this because the first few lessons cover a very short span of time.

According to the fact that Lucifer says you don’t want to be late on your first day of school after giving you a hint about Goldie, MC makes a pact with Mammon on their second day in the Devildom. (You don’t go to school on day 1.)

Lucifer blocks MC from the attic on the night of day 3, and after that things get shaky again until you hit the TSL movie night with Beel and Mammon.

The reason the movie night is interesting is because Beel specifically states that midterms are coming up soon. Based on the game’s Japanese origin, we’re going to assume that RAD also follows the same three-term system that Japanese schools do. This places the TSL marathon at about a month into MC’s stay.

Anyway, we’re basing Mammon’s interest in you on pretty obvious factors:

We basically don’t see any of Mammon’s trademark tsundere nature until after these lessons. Before this it’s not him being tsundere, he’s genuinely annoyed with you.

He left a toothbrush and charger in your room sometime between Lesson 3-10 and 4-4.

This famous line:

He probably developed feelings sometime during the TSL marathon, but I think it was when you were in danger, and even though he kept saying he’d let you die his first instinct was to save you, that he understood what those feelings were.

#3. Demon: (Lucifer) Moment: Lesson 12-19

Crossed out and in parentheses Lucifer is the first one where we start to go off of assumptions and headcanon rather than concrete in game evidence, but. I’m sure your bigger question is “why is he crossed out AND in parentheses AND why does he show up again later.”

The moment I listed is the lesson where you and Lucifer have to fall in love to escape the “horror game” that Levi “trapped” you in. He spends most of the time seeming like he isn’t interested and doing it out of necessity, but then he turns around and says these lines.

Assuming that was almost a confession, I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided right there, in that moment, that he was developing feelings. Lucifer is very self aware, and very sure of himself, and it’s also not like him to suddenly change his mind about how he’s treating things. If he was hiding his feelings the whole time, I don’t think he would have almost slipped at all.

Of course, right after this, you announce that you’ve met Belphegor, and his developing feelings are overshadowed by rage.

And of course, Lesson 12-19 never happened.

What?

Let me remind you of the timeline. Barbatos explains in Lesson 16-19 that he has the power to choose any timeline as the sole reality, and he chose the timeline you traveled to.

When you jump back in time, you end up in the moment right after making a pact with Satan (Lesson 12-10). This means that everything that happened between Lessons 12-10 and 15-17 was erased from history.

The timeline in Season One looks a little something like this, to simplify.

Admittedly, we don’t know how far into their conversation MC and Lucifer make it in the second timeline, but on Lucifer’s part I don’t think it changes much.

This timeline stuff is important because

#4 Demon: (Leviathan) Moment: Lesson 14-4

Ok, first, I have to say that I really hate the way MC and Levi make up in Lesson 14. imo it has the potential to be really manipulative on both sides. But that’s not the point of this post.

Levi does NOT have a crush on you before Belphie shows up out of nowhere. In Lesson 14-4, he’s talking to himself, and distinctly complains about losing a friend, and how Henry is his only friend.

He’s also refusing to acknowledge your existence, and he’s talking to a fish, so there’s no reason for him to hide how he really feels in the moment.

Then, later on in the same chapter, this is Levi’s response to seeing MC hug Lucifer.

I’m assuming MC isn’t the one he’s jealous of. But what’s interesting here is that, as far as I can remember, this is the first time Levi ever expresses jealousy about you in any sense, platonic or romantic. You don’t really interact with Levi one on one between Lesson 14-4 and this moment, so 14-4 is the most likely catalyst for this change.

Levi does say “you’re my true friend” at the end of 14-4, but you are not a fish, and that doesn’t change the fact that he could have been like “oh wow MC didn’t abandon me they really like me oh no I really like them”

Also, by 16-A he canonically likes you.

But just like with the last one, this exchange never happened and Levi never fell for you.

#3 Demon: Belphie Moment: Between Lessons 18-15 and 18-19

Now Belphie is interesting, because I would argue that he was trying to fall in love with you for a while. All that “making up for lost time” and seeming to spend every waking hour with you in lessons 17 and 18 to me point pretty heavily to the idea that he wants to feel the same way about you that his brothers do. Whether it’s to feel more connected with them or from a genuine interest in you is unclear though.

But then he decides to give you a pact as a present, which is a pretty big deal. Most pacts in the game are made before the demon has feelings for you, but aside from Belphie, Satan is the only one who brings it up himself. And since like I said Satan pretty clearly liked you before making a pact, the same can probably be said of Belphie.

I should also mention that Belphie muses over giving you a pact in Lesson 18-A, which takes place before Lesson 17-7 at the latest. But we have to remember that this is before you’ve helped him mend his relationships with his brothers, and therefore he barely knows you. Satan also barely knew you, but Belphie has the added problem of mixing up you and Lilith. You can make arguments for the others when they were uber nice to you in Lesson 16-19, but for Belphie there’s really no other possible reason than Lilith.

However, Lesson 18-15 is the one where Belphie says he’s going to move forward with his life and stop putting things on hold for Lilith.

So, chances are his attachment to you is pretty unhealthy at first, but I’m choosing the timeframe I did as the moment because in 18-19 he explicitly states that he isn’t confusing you with Lilith.

This would be the moment of confirmation that he likes you, not the idea of what you might represent.

#4 Demon: Leviathan, Beelzebub, Lucifer Moment: Sometime during the time skip

I don’t think we see these three fall for you on camera. The time skip covers literal months, and I think they fall for you in somewhere in that long period of time.

I don’t think I need to tell you that Levi and Beel like you by the time Lesson 20 comes along, since they both confess to you.

Lucifer doesn’t explicitly confess, but if you choose to hug him, he says this

Which heavily implies that he wants to be the one most important to you. Also, I don’t think he’d have made a pact at all otherwise.

#7 Demon: Asmodeus Moment: Lesson 19-17

For Asmo, I think we see the EXACT moment he realizes he’s in love with you.

First off, in Lesson 16-A he noticeably isn’t openly interested in you in any way other than superficially. Granted, 16-A never happened, but it does confirm that he didn’t like you before then.

Then, in his part of Lesson 19, you go drinking with him. Early in the night, he says this.

His answer to your prompt of romance suggests that he doesn’t understand the fact that he does like you like that, or at least that he’s in denial.

However, then you beat him at a drinking game, and the reality of you leaving him behind comes crashing down on him.

The drastic change makes me think that this is the very moment he understands his feelings.

And that’s it! I hope this was an interesting read, and sorry again it took SO long.

#obey me #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me analysis #renoodle #gardengnosis #image

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rhaenyras · 3 years

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EXTENDED LIST OF THINGS THAT ARE WRONG WITH CHAPTER 139

ymir the founder fritz, aka the most powerful and compelling plot device that isayama could have ever employed in order to explain the origin of the titans, the inherent slavery of the eldian people, and also everything else wrong in the world, was emptied of all value and purpose when she was revealed to have loved her abuser and oppressor. her life-long struggle to break free from the slave mentality that was pounded into her since childhood turned out to be... totally hollow. the woman's real purpose was to keep loving the man who cut off her tongue, raped her as a child and eventually had her cannibalized by their daughters when she failed to survive a murder attempt on his person. which makes for a very pinpoint parallel with eren, tbh, but he gets a whole paragraph all to himself later. amor vincit omnia should not become a convenient fix-it trope so that stuff can magically make sense in less than 50 pages. not to mention that this makeshift “solution” doesn't account for countless plot holes, that would only make sense if ymir was an abuse survivor looking to get her agency back. and even if i was keen on excusing the sloppy writing, i still wouldn't let the whole romanticisation of rape and trauma thing slide so easily. by giving a young victim like ymir fritz romantic feelings and a blind devotion towards her rapist, isayama is basically conveying a very pitiful and toxic message, one he refuses to even dignify with a realistic explanation for the thousands of readers who couldn't make a sense of it. the way this twisted version of love seems to be universally accepted by all the characters in the last chapter, as they just shrug it off like some sort of inevitable superior force that works in mysterious ways, made me wanna gouge my eyes out and never read another word again

mikasa's arc. mikasa had the potential to be the only character in the entire manga to come out on top when all was said and done. she had openly opposed eren's idea of a genocide. she had left the scarf behind when he voiced his hatred for her. she seemed ready enough to sever the proverbial umbilical cord and move on, live a life with pride, knowing how she could have outgrown her silly, dependent, obsessive old self. she might have started out as a yandere caricature, a passive and annoying side-effect to having eren as the main character, but she could have done so much better later on. she, too, just like ymir fritz, might have broken free, if only isayama liked liberated and strong women. she had the range. she had the potential, the backstory, everything. given the chance, she could have redeemed herself. but did isayama care? nope. he just threw her to the sickos in the fandom and said “here's your little psycho doll. do what you will with her. also, she's the key to understanding the superior force that works in mysterious ways aka love aka all the nonsense i'm actually too lazy to commit to”. and so, mikasa is as inconsequential in the ending as she ever was as eren's ever-present bodyguard, if not more, because now she's even refusing to look ahead and fight. two things that she at least tried to do every so often back when eren was alive. not only she surrendered to her own mental illness, but she even saw it turned into a pretty fantasy that the readers can idealise (again, romanticisation of all the wrong things) and that she'll never be able to escape so long as she lives. what's worse, she doesn't even want to, because in this manga we love downgrading and being stuck in the past, as the worst possible versions of ourselves.

historia's pregnancy. it shouldn't even have happened in the first place, unless it was dictated by historia's explicit desire to have a child precisely when she asked for one and by that one unnamed farmer guy and nobody else. whether that was the case or not remains, to this day, still shrouded in mystery because, again, isayama didn't think of coming clean about any aspect of historia's sudden decision. the notion that she might have been raped or submitted to something she really didn't want simply for the drama of it leads to some pretty terrifying implications. i have already explained countless times how it didn't even make sense for eren to be so adamant about rejecting the 50 year plan on account of not wanting historia to be breeded like cattle, titanised, and eventually devoured by her children, if he was just... gonna let her have her way, she only had to ask him nicely. why ever would historia need eren's permission to have a child? what was she even trying to tell him in chapter 130? why did eren tell her something as pivotal as the genocide plan if the friendship between them wasn't any different from any other in the 104th? why would eren take the risk to meet her in secret and suggest that they do something as radical as fighting the mp's or running away, if all she had to do was just... ask that he let her get pregnant? i suppose that was just a bait for a very specific side of the fandom, at this point, as the extent of the entire cryptic conversation from ch. 130 was never covered, and we were probably just supposed to forget about it. I can only forgive isayama for basically baiting me into shipping erehisu because he still gave historia a decent wrap-up in the ending, she looked in control and happy enough with her new life, which is something i warmly wished for her. she seems to be in a better spot than most of her former comrades, and virtually, she is the true inheritor of eren's original (and later disowned) ideology, as she is the one who will lead eldia into the future as a free nation, whatever that may mean for them now that titan powers are no longer a thing. I'm very proud of her and generally i am happy with how things played out for her and yeah, thinking back on it with a colder mind... i wouldn't have wanted it any other way, ships be damned

wHY WAS LEVI IN A WHEELCHAIR????? like..... scars aside, he was up and about in one panel, and in the next he was disabled... that was just... idk?? weird but i suppose isayama went overboard to provide us with some residual dramatic value here

the genocide being just a red herring. APPARENTLY eren never believed that the genocide was a solid way to achieve freedom. his true intention was to antagonize himself so that his friends would be hailed as heroes, but like... why... he didn't even achieve the complete annihilation of conflict in the world by doing so? his friends might be heroes now, but they're going to spend the rest of their lives fighting for their very lives. if anything, eren sparked new conflicts and made the new order so much worse for the eldians, as they have no choice but to keep fighting, except with the same weapons as anybody else now. he basically doomed his people to a bleak future of war and possibly extinction. he killed 80% of the entire world to cause nothing but a disappointing regretful outcome, and in the end he even disowned everything he ever believed in. in comparison, zeke's euthanasia plan was some genius level shit that would have achieved the same result as eren, except with not nearly as much bloodshed.

the parasite. again, great idea, poor execution. what on earth happened to it? it was the Scientific Shit that made titans happen one moment, and then gone in the next, wrestled to death by a buff war criminal with ptsd... my disappointment is over the roof

eren himself. like, as a whole. oh, what's not to regret about the 180 eren did in the finale? witnessing a mc forsaking every relevant trait that's ever made him who he is, is simply painful on the eyes. isayama basically went and said “remember eren yaeger aka the suicidal blockhead who would sacrifice everything in order to achieve freedom? yes? well forget about him, you've got aaron yogurt now.” …... who even is this man? when he broke down and cried in front of armin, whining like a baby that he wanted mikasa to never move on from him, i legit got second-hand embarassment. I felt actual shame for the way isayama handled his characterisation. like... he is a mass murderer, ok... how can he just... kneel down and cry about his step-sister whom he never did anything to date anyway like it's nothing??? armin is right to be pissed at him but he's pissed for the wrong reasons, sadly. I don't even want to tackle the topic of eren murdering his own mother, as he basically confessed to going through life on autopilot because the founding titan just erased all his feelings, gave him superior knowledge of all things and compelled him to go with the flow of things, aka the exact opposite of what he's been preaching ever since day 1. W HAT on earth man. like i said in point #1, eren's crush on mikasa is actually very frightening too, and it leads us back to that one dark force that overpowered even ymir fritz. eren is in love with a girl who's obsessed, in denial and damaged. and what's worse, mikasa reciprocates his feelings, even though eren always overlooked her or manipulated her. ymir fritz kept misunderstanding all those red flags from the king as love, probably. this is really not a story of breaking the cursed cycle, because it seems to me that everyone has returned full circle in the end.

CONCLUSION: nothing isayama or anyone might have said in interviews or elsewhere could have prepared me for this raging shitfest. the entirety of that last chapter was farfetched to say the least, everything looked half-hearted and rushed, clumsily glued together because the real isayama died and somebody else had to ghostwrite the ending for him. I am sorry if i do sound a bit disillusioned about the whole thing and can't bring myself to be outraged either, but i've been way too invested into this manga for nearly a decade, and now it all blew up in my face, so i guess i no longer give it the power to upset me lol

#sorry for the wait guys. it's not even that great lol i just had to get some things off my chest and then forget about it #i didn't even edit lol. snk doesn't deserve my efforts #snk spoilers #snk #aot spoilers #anti aot #chapter 139 spoilers #aot #snk chapter 139

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amethystpath-writes · 3 years

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Black and White and Red All Over

(NOT A PROMPT)

Civilian thought that she was marrying a hero, but discovers that he’s actually a villain (make him evil hahaha)

I have a feeling I don’t have to say this given the request but…this one is a little dark.

TWs: murder mentions, murderer (main character), discussion of death (not of main characters), forced marriage, threats, domestic abuse (not physical though there is a wee bit of manhandling)

******

“I thought I told you to stay out of this room.”

Civilian gasped, chest tightening with her too-large breath. She spun in the computer chair, facing the person she once called her lover. Once, as if it weren’t every moment before she walked into this room. Now she wasn’t sure what to call him.

“The door,” she said, “was left wide open. I was just looking for a key since I know you usually leave it locked.” And this was the truth; Civilian really had been looking for a key. It wasn’t in plain sight, but you know what was? The items in her lap. “What are these? Why do you have a bunch of crime cut-outs?” After receiving no response, Civilian asked, “Are they related?”

Of course, Civilian did her best to not assume the worst. Villain must have been a private investigator, a…an agent or something. Maybe she wasn’t allowed in this room because this was all classified; the investigation itself was secret. But- well, these were casual murders. Casual. They weren’t- dare Civilian say- ‘important’ deaths. Not state senators or presidents or monarchs from around the world.

Licking his lips, Civilian’s fiancé stepped into the room, pushing the door shut behind him until it made two soft clicks. The room was small, and reasonably so seeing as it only served one purpose. “This is my trophy room.”

Trophy room? Civilian tried to imagine he meant these- these clippings were all cases her fiancé was on, that he had been working on them and that’s why they were here. But then…why newspaper clippings? Those weren’t released until there was a gruesome report made. And even if he kept the clips as trophies, wouldn’t he want news which revealed the case was closed- that the culprit was found and being punished?

“I- I saw all of these on the news, Villain. They weren’t- they haven’t been solved.” The news station was good at keeping the community updated. Something terrible happened, they covered it, they kept up on it until all was well. There were updates nonstop. These…they were all still mysteries. So, what did Civilian’s love mean, ‘This is my trophy room?’ What does he mean?

“Yes?” Villain chuckled lightly, throwing Civilian into a deeper fit of confusion- and now worry. “And I should hope they’re not solved anytime soon.”

“What do you- Villain. Villain, what are these?” Civilian stood from the chair, waving the paper stack back and forth in the air, not caring to look at how the corners caught the air and nearly flew out of her hand.

Villain only laughed again. Didn’t he already tell her what they were?

What to do, what to do? Villain could try to play it off, continue to act into this charade he already lived in, or…or he could have fun. Tell Civilian the truth, make her brain spin like a carousel gone wrong, if only to watch, and if only to soak in the fact that he himself was the cause of such a reaction.

“What’s black and white and read all over?”

“Wha- I’m not in the mood for riddles right now. Tell me what this is.”

Was she in the wrong here? Civilian did walk into the room Villain asked her to stay out of, the one he even locked. But didn’t that justify her actions? He locked it. Why did Villain feel such a great need to keep Civilian out of this room?

If it were for simple privacy, he would trust Civilian not to go in- though maybe this fact affected their compatibility more than Villain’s suspicious actions. Civilian ignored the possibility, continuing in her suspicions. This was big enough that he needed to lock it, which meant it was surely something dastardly, something Civilian should know about before marrying Villain.

“Oh, come on. Three guesses. It’s the answer to your question.”

Civilian knew the answer. She’d only heard this riddle a billion times. “A newspaper. I already know that’s what this is. I want to know-”

Villain interrupted, “You’re wrong.”

“What do you mean I’m wro-”

“Red. The colour red- a noun, not a verb. Though I suppose you are still right, in your own way. Not in mine.” Villain walked with a shoulder forward, walking sideways, dodging Civilian as he stepped right passed her, plopping down in his computer chair. “What is black and white and red all over?” he asked again. This time, he answered the question himself, “The newspapers detectives tried to confront me with before I killed them.”

The statement was so blunt that Civilian couldn’t believe it- no, no. She couldn’t process it. “The newspapers detectives confronted me with,” she repeated in a whisper, her eyes seeming to be glued to the clippings in her hand, when in reality they were unfocused.

“You missed saying the best part.” Villain’s mouth bunched up to one side in disappointment. “Before I killed them,” he said again. “You didn’t even flinch at that part, yet you couldn’t say it. Denial, maybe?”

Civilian shook her head, her free hand reaching behind her until she grasped the doorknob. She tried to turn it, to fling it open before running out, but she only found herself facing the closed door as she swivelled on a heel and stepped forward.

“Thought you might try to do that. Can’t let you spread the word around, right?”

The door was locked. Of course, all it would take for Civilian to open the door would be to twist that little bar on the knob before opening the door, but it couldn’t be done in time before Villain reached out, grabbed Civilian’s arm, and pulled her away from her only escape. Civilian couldn’t scream, couldn’t speak as she was spun to the other side of the room, back striking the wall. She was frozen, placid in her fear.

“I can’t tell if I regret telling you yet. We were about to wed- that could have been interesting. Say”- Villain smiled- “how about we still marry? Might be nice to come home to a wife who I can tell the most fun stories to.” He laid a hand on Civilian’s cheek, as if he really did love her, as if she could still foolishly love him. “And how entertaining for you to learn how to get away with murder- if you ever wanted to.”

“I would never,” Civilian managed, but it was rasp. With a sudden bout of manic determination, she pushed Villain’s hand harshly off her cheek. She only swallowed when he smiled, a soft reminder that he was a murderer- not just a murderer. Villain was a serial killer. Civilian would have taken a step back if she weren’t already pushed back against the wall.

“Well, even if you have no wish to, you tell people what I do and you’ll be imprisoned, too.”

She wouldn’t be imprisoned. “I- I have nothing to do with what you’ve done.”

“Not what I’ve done,” Villain said. “It’s what I’m doing. And anyway, no one would believe the girl who lived with a murderer, who married him after knowing. And I don’t plan on hurting you, so it’s not as if anyone could prove I forced you into this life.” He shrugged. “Of course, there are other ways of forcing a person to do what you want. I could kill more. You have two younger siblings.”

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burnedbyshoto · 4 years

Text

the manliest man

— Hoodies and playlists, a simple and effective way to capture your heart. —

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pairing: kirishima eijirou x reader

warnings: cursing, fluff

word count: 3,805

a/n: I had like a sudden kirishima fluff mood, and this was transpired. it was so weird because I typically dont get character moods for anyone who isn’t shouto, anyways enjoy my rewritten story because i did not save it HA

⋄⋆⊹⋄⋆⋄⋆⊹⋄⋆⋄⋆⊹⋄⋆

“Take your sweater, dumbass, you’ll get cold at night!”

The second those words left Bakugou’s lips, you knew that he was right, but you were never one to follow directions. Especially Bakugou’s instructions.

Today had been disgustingly hot.

You were wearing your shortest pair of shorts and a tank top that was practically see-through due to your sweat and the ocean water. After all, there was nothing like spending the hottest day at the beach with your closest friends.

But like most hot summer days, once the sun began to set upon the horizon, the crystal blue waters fading from their crisp blue to emeralds and purples, and the sky becoming a rainbow of warm deep colors, did it begin to cool off. It was a gentle chill at first, a small tickle on your skin that you had believed to be just the effect of no longer having the blazing sun beating down on your skin. But it grew stronger.

Soon after the night sky had turn black, the only source of light coming from the firepit before you, and its illuminations against Kirishima’s brightly smiling face did you notice that your skin had turned numb with the cold. As a side effect of your quirk, your hands were always warm, but against your frozen skin, you yelped.

Kaminari, who had been in the midst of a winning argument against Bakugou solely because his ignorance was outpacing Bakugou’s irritation, stopped and looked at you. Your face began to heat up when all of your friends turned to look at you too. Sero, who never seemed to grow cold, smirked at you with his dumb short-sleeved sweater. Bakugou, who was wearing too many layers despite the summer night, frowned at you. Mina’s lips spread into a grin, her eyes shifting over quickly between you and… you couldn’t tell, but she had a mischievous look in her eyes.

“Are you cold?”

Kirishima’s voice was curious and concerned at your side. Daring to look over at the redhead who was sitting on the same log as you, your cheeks heat up more in your embarrassment. Kirishima had been another person who Bakugou had yelled at earlier to bring a jacket for the night time, as he often got cold too. Bakugou had cursed the two of you like some angry parent, swearing that if either one of you got cold that night, he wasn’t going to share any of the jackets he brought for himself. Together, you and your friend stuck out your tongue at the angry Pomeranian and skipped off to the van in merry joy. However, unlike how you were currently out of a jacket, Kirishima had a two-second conversation with Mina before eventually returning to the van with a hoodie.

So instead of two cold idiots, there was only one.

“N-No,” you stammer, your gaze dropping from his concerned red ones. “I just thought of something scary.”

“Oh, yeah?” Bakugou sneers, obviously taking his frustration of not being able to beat Kaminari in this senseless argument to beat you in your denial. “What’s so damn scary, dumbass?”

Your mouth screws up into a pout, you didn’t like to lose to Bakugou Katsuki, and at times like this, it showed.

For the next twenty minutes, the two of you would fire insults and debate at each other, the potent words holding no weight as the two of you held small grins on your face. But it was all for naught, the moment after you managed to get in a closing insult, the roaring laughter of your friends heavy in your ears, did a shiver run down your spine.

Fuck, it was so cold.

“SEE, DAMN IDIOT, YOU ARE COLD!” Bakugou roared.

You pouted, your arms folding around you, the need for warmth growing.

But you were surprised to feel something warm fall on your lap. Your eyes peered down to see the red hoodie that belonged to Kirishima, and you focused your attention on the red-haired boy who was pulling his orange shirt further down his stomach.

Kirishima looked up, meeting your gaze once again, and he smiled gently.

“I’m not that cold, you can wear my sweater for now.”

“No!” you shake your head, trying to return the warm fabric back to Kirishima. “I’m the one that didn’t bring a sweater, I can’t take yours!”

You place the sweater on his lap.

Kirishima throws his hands up, skillfully avoiding the clothing back from you, “It’s not manly if I let you grow cold!”

He puts the sweater back on your lap.

“Kiri, please, it’s not manly if I let you get sick!”

It’s back on his lap.

“It’s summer, I promise I won’t get sick!”

And it’s on yours.

You shake your head, you were practically on Kirishima’s leg, shoving the red hoodie into his chest. “I’ll steal one of Bakugou’s!”

“Like hell you are,” Bakugou snaps, his eyes narrowing in on you, daring you to try.

You stuck out your tongue at Bakugou but decided to keep your attention on the man before you. “I can’t just take your hoodie.”

“Well, we can’t share it.”

You thought about how the hoodie was practically form-fitting on your friend, and in your memory, you can see how the fabric was taut around his muscle, highlighting the divets in his arms, the bulges in his arms, and the muscles on his chest. You blinked rapidly at that thought, did you just—?

“Hey, are you okay, y/l/n?” Kirishima asks, his fingers brushing against your shoulder.

Your shoulders were bare due to the tank top you wore, and you felt the sheer warmth of his calloused hands. His fingers pressing against your skin sent shooting warmth into your bones, and the next thing you knew, you were tumbling off the log onto the sand.

“Y/N!” They all shouted while you stumbled back onto your feet, the sand falling off your body while you squeaked out apologies.

“Put on the sweater, y/n,” Mina shouted while you were in the middle of a made-up explanation as to why you tumbled onto the floor like some clutzy child and not the Pro Hero you were.

“Yeah, of c-course,” you say, yanking the red hoodie over your head while you continue your conversation. Your actions don’t entirely hit you until the heavy fabric hangs loosely around you, so unlike the tight fit against Kirishima. It never really hit you how much smaller you were than Kirishima until then.

But the conversation had moved, and they were no longer focused on the way that you were standing there. Warmth finally settling into your skin, but you weren’t quite ready to sit down. The lingering scent of Kirishima lay within the confinements of his sweater.

It was a clean scent, mixed with the tiniest whiff of floral and a muted spice. It invaded your senses slowly, and you swore you found yourself with your eyes closed, nose buried into the sweater, needing more.

“Y/n?” A soft voice called for you, and you whipped around to see Kirishima sliding down onto the sand, his legs separated. An embarrassed blush sat on his face, and you willed your entire power not to stare at his arms that were not concealed with the muscle shirt he wore.

“Yeah?” You answer stupidly with your eyes wide.

“Do you mind, um, sitting here?” he asked, patting the space between his legs. “I have a feeling we won’t be leaving anytime soon, and I do get cold… if you don’t want to, I totally get it—!”

“You didn’t need to ask,” you interrupt Kirishima before he could start rambling, and you watched the red head’s face burst into a broad smile.

“Okay!”

The rest of the night, you stay wrapped in between Kirishima’s arms and legs, your head resting against his chest in your comfortable warmth. You would never understand the mystery behind how this man could get cold. He threw off so much body heat; it was almost a crime that he did get so cold. Wrapped in his sweater and leaning against his body made you extremely warm, not to mention that as time passed, his arms were now secured around your waist. While you had always known that he was muscular — his hero costume had never been modest in that regard — it was a whole new awakening when you could feel it pressed against you.

But as all things in life do, the time at the beach ended.

You held onto the wet towels, walking side by side with Kirishima all the way to the car.

“I’ve missed hanging out with you,” Kirishima spoke out of the blue, the stillness of the night broken by those words.

It had been two years since you had graduated from U.A., and to say the least, you had truly missed your old friend group. No one in your class had gone to the same hero agency, well besides Bakugou and Midoriya, which no one would have seen coming for the longest of time. While Kirishima was finally going solo from the FatGum agency, you were doing the same from Edgeshot’s agency. The two of you had also learned that you were residing within the same apartment building as well last year.

So of your old friend group, you saw Kirishima the most, but still, you missed the days where you would be up until the brink of dawn with your friends. Especially since most runs in’s with Kirishima involved one of you smelling like blood and grime and overall not ready for human interaction.

“We really do suck, huh?” you respond, dumping the towels into the trunk of the van. “We need to hang out more, but this hero life is a lot more time consuming than I ever gave it credit for.”

He nods his head in agreement, closing the trunk once you step back.

“When else are you free this week? Or when is your lunch break?”

You smiled, looking over at your friend over your shoulder while making your way into the van.

“I always get Thursday’s off, and I take my lunch at two.”

You didn’t see the way that Kaminari clapped Kirishima’s back in a small victory while you climbed to the end of the van. You had opted to take the seat in the back.

Bakugou had insisted that no one was allowed to sit next to him when he drove, as last time it happened, Kirishima was in front and well… long story short: the car was nearly forced off a cliff.

So an official ‘Bakugou-hangs-out-with-his-friends’ rule was: no one was allowed to ride shotgun with him driving. Bakugou was also the official driver in the friend group, so that meant that he was always in the front alone.

Consequentially that meant that Sero, Kaminari, and Kirishima would take the middle row, and you and Mina were in the back.

“Kiri, go in the back with y/n!” Mina shouted, shoving the large man in behind you.

Having already been seated comfortably, you smiled up at the dark shadows that illuminated on Kirishima’s face. You watched the comfortable grin stretch across his face when he sat next to you. To be honest, you couldn’t remember much of the ride back, only that Bakugou had blasted his classical music to destress for keeping him up so late at night.

All you knew is that at some point, you had pressed up into Kirishima’s side, his arm draping around your shoulder, holding you gently to him. His chest hummed with his laughter while he and Kaminari continued to pester Bakugou, and you saw Sero and Mina out cold.

In the warmth of it all, the comfort of being pressed into Kirishima’s side and the soft warmth of his sweater, his scent, and the car, you dozed off.

“Hey, y/n, wake up...”

Your eyes slowly blinked open, the light of the van was on, illuminating softly onto your face. Clattering noises of Mina, Sero, and Kaminari, making it evident that you were now back at the parking lot of your apartment complex. You and Kirishima had lived the closest to the beach, so everyone had met up at your complex.

Your hand was fisted into Kirishima’s shirt, and that’s all you needed to tear away from him, a squeak muffled by his hoodie sleeve.

“Sorry,” you mutter while his lips quirk into a gentle smile.

“It’s all good! It was actually very comfortable.”

“Would you both get the fuck out of the car and help out?! I’m fucking tired...”

Grinning at Kirishima, you exited the car after Kirishima.

Going around, you hugged your friends' goodbye, laughing loudly when Bakugou tried to act like he didn’t enjoy having a hug. Finally, you reached Mina, who threw her arms around you like it was nothing, and she brought her lips to your ear.

“You and Ei are looking pretty damn comfy back there.”

Rolling your eyes, you pinched your best friend on the side, ignoring your beating heart.

“How would you know, you were knocked out?!”

“I have my ways, sweetheart, goodnight!!! Have some fun tonight!”

“It’s one in the morning, I’m taking a shower and having a fun sleep,” you sass. Mina scrunches her nose and presses a kiss to your cheek.

“NIGHT!!! Ei, get her inside safely for me!”

“You know, I will!” Kirishima calls from where he stands. It seems that he is in the middle of some slugfest with the boys, although you’re not sure who is hitting who.

It takes about five minutes more of verbal banter before everyone finally climbs into their cars and leaves. Waving goodbye until you could no longer, Kirishima opens the front door, letting you in first.

“I’ll walk you to your door,” Kirishima states, hitting your floor level on the elevator but not his own.

“You don’t have to do that,” you yawn, pressing your hand to your mouth to stifle the loud noise from your mouth. “Go to your place!”

As you reached to press his floor button on the elevator, he batted your hand to the side. Your eyes widened while you retract your hand.

“Jerk!”

The rest of the elevator ride consisted of you trying to press Kirishima’s floor level, but he managed to keep you away. It wasn’t until the elevator door slide open did he throw you over his shoulder and walked off towards your apartment despite your pleading. Your stomach pressed into his shoulder a bit uncomfortably, but you figured it was just his stupidly buff shoulder.

Placing you back on the floor, you huffed slightly, your arms folding while Kirishima grins down at you.

“I could’ve made it back by myself just fine,” you insist, your arms folding in front of your chest. But you don’t miss the way that his eyes drag down your body, a smile soft on his face, undisturbed, relaxed.

“I know you could’ve,” he whispers, his fingers brushing a strand of hair behind your ear. Your eyes widen at the feeling of his calloused fingers against your cheek. He truly amazed you, how someone who took the mass brunt of the most significant attacks in their hero career could still be scarless beside the small one by his eye was beyond you. “Goodnight, y/n.”

He presses a small kiss to your cheek, and your face flares into a fire pit.

“Goodnight, Ei,” you murmur, feeling disheartened when you push him away.

He watches you walk into your apartment, and all you can see is his red eyes staying on you until the door is closed behind you. Despite the late hour of the night, you sank to the ground no longer able to contain the slight squeal in your voice.

Years of having a slight crush on the red head man had been forgotten over your new life as a hero, but in a single night, those darkening embers had returned in blazing glory. Pressing your head to the door, you realized that you were still wearing Kirishima’s sweater.

Cursing, you rose to your feet, throwing open the door in hopes that he was still in the hallway.

He wasn’t.

Sighing, you closed the door. You could bring it to him tomorrow, it would give you another excuse to visit the smiling man tomorrow. Sliding your hands into the pocket, your fingers brushing against something cold and hard.

Frowning, you pulled out an iPod.

Your eyebrows furrowed, but it soon melted into a warm smile. Of course, Kirishima would still have an iPod, he was a man of… refined taste, after all.

Thinking back to your days at U.A., you tried to remember what music he was into. But besides a very, very fuzzy memory of the song he had used to try out for the class band’s performance during the culture festival, he was never one to control the music.

Harmlessly, your finger pressed the center button, a small smile spreading on your face at the memory of your own iPod from a long time ago. Once the apple logo faded to the home screen, you slide down to the songs. But you had overshot it, and with your fingers used to the touchscreen technology you had, you accidentally entered his playlists.

Groaning to yourself, you walked into your bathroom, peeling off his sweatshirt while you took out your toothbrush.

There were only three playlists.

Workout.

Patrol.

Y/n.

Your eyes widened.

Was that your name?

That couldn’t be you, right? You tracked your memory in an attempt to remember any other y/n’s that Kirishima could possibly know in his life, and to your thrill of your already pounding heart, there were none. Taking in a shaky breath, you hoped there was no intrusion when you selected your name.

Now you were not a music fanatic. You knew your famous songs and every weird song that Mina enjoyed to dance to, but besides that, you were not educated in music, still there was no stopping your shocked glee when you began to play his playlist.

best part by HER

How would you feel by Ed Sheeran

Mystery of love by sufjan Stevens

Old fashioned by Bruno major

Please notice by Christian leave

Cheek to cheek by Frank Astaire

Please notice by Christian Akridge

Paper Rings by Taylor Swift

Adore You by harry styles

Better Man by 5SOS

To Be So Lonely by Harry Styles

Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift

Work Song by Hozier

Strong by One Direction

beautiful by Bazzi

Strawberry Blonde by Mitski

Dance With Me by beabadoobee

One Sweet Day by boyz II men

Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley

Softly by clairo

Nobody like you by Little Mix

Yellow by Coldplay

CORDUROY DREAMS BY REX ORANGE COUNTY

Lo Que Siento by Cuco

Still Together by Mac DeMarco

Distance by Emily King

Flirting in Space by Brad Stank

Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop by Landon Pigg

Someone To You by Banners She by Dodie

Cherry Wine by Hozier

Let’s Fall in Love for The Night by FINNEAS

Song after song played, the words of every song playing from the small device and into your ear. The words, the intention, of every single lyric swelled your chest, making your head spin while you lay in your bed.

Kirishima Eijirou… liked you too?

It was soon four in the morning by the time you had gotten through every song, but you were nowhere near sleepy anymore. Grasping the iPod in your hand, you pushed up off your bed and ran out the door.

There was nothing that could stop you, you had taken the staircase instead of the elevator, climbing four flights of stairs until you crashed through the door. Your heart was in your throat when you pounded on his door, your breathing sharp and shallow. Although you had no idea whether it was from running to his apartment in less than a minute, or because this emotional overload you were experiencing.

He liked you.

“Wha— y/n? Are you okay? It’s four a.m. is something… is something wrong? Is it a spider again?” Kirishima yawned deeply when the front door opened.

He looked at you, sleep heavy on his eyes, but there was that alertness and concern that even sleepiness couldn’t contain.

“I saw your playlist for me,” you breathe, staring up at him, your eyes wide.

“Y-You wh-what?!” Kirishima squeaked, his cheeks turning redder than his hair, his eyes now gone of tiredness, but now worry and embarrassment.

“I listened to it,” you say, a shiver running down your spine.

The adrenaline of this revelation had left your body, and with you standing in the highly air-conditioned hallway wearing a tank top and shorts. The two of you stared at each other while Kirishima seemed to gulp thickly, his eyes flickering from random points around you when he settled.

“Fuck,” he hissed his hair raking through his unstyled hair. “You weren’t supposed to see that…”

“Why?” you question, a pit forming in your stomach, did you read into this wrongly? Maybe he no longer liked you?

“I was supposed to ask you out on a date first,” Kirishima admitted, his shoulders sagging a bit. “I’m not… I wasn’t manly enough to confess to you without help, and Mina suggested that I make a playlist of all the songs that reminded me of you! But whenever I tried to ask you out, I froze up, like a coward. I was going to try again on Thursday, actually! I’m so sorry if I put you in an uncomfortable position! O-Of course I’m not trying to assume that you like me back! If you don’t, that’s totally okay—!”

“I think you’re the manliest man I know…” you laugh, your eyes brimming with tears. “Kiss me, Eijirou,” you whisper, stepping closer to him, eyes blazing with a gentle need for the man before you.

Like a collision of color, Kirishima’s mouth slammed against yours, and your heart soared when his warm body pressed against yours. He brought you in like bright colors, capturing your attention, commanding your actions, and your arms wrapped around his shoulders. In his arms, you felt safe, the gentleness felt with cooler colors, and when the door closed behind you, you could feel his mouth stretch into a grin against your mouth.

There were plenty more kisses that night, kisses that let the two of you learn and explore more about each other than words could ever attain. It would end when your body was cuddled into his side, the blankets of his bed doing nothing in comparison to his body heat. But your now tired fingers stroked his cheek, and his hand grabbed your fingers and pressed the gentlest of kisses against it.

“Goodnight...”

“Sweet dreams...”

To think that tonight had only happened because you had forgotten your sweater.

#kirishima x reader #kirishima eijiro x reader #kirishima eijirou #kirishima fluff #bnha x reader #bnha #mha x reader #mha

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neondrawsthethings · 3 years

Text

Uhm... Hey everyone lol. And welcome to my Danny Phantom & Flynn Fenton story.

I am alive, I’ve just been so busy with personal stuff and college. I mostly wanted to post this because I am an avid fan of Danny Phantom and I absolutely wanted to talk about the video Butch put out a few days ago with Danny having a “mysterious older brother.”

This has actually inspired me to write for the first time in a millennia and while I’m a bit late to the party and very nervous, I really wanted to make my own version of the story on top of expressing my opinions. So here we go!

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I don’t like Butch like most people in the Phandom but I just want to preface this by saying that I think that his idea for a mysterious older sibling for Danny isn't a bad one, but the execution of it was very poor. The issues I mostly have of it is that it messes up some consistencies with the show, it has plot holes and instead of making Jack and Maddie slightly incompetent with people's safety, it makes them out to be negligible criminals.

A Summary Of The Original Story:

The original story went that they had 3 kids, Flynn Fenton (who's age was not disclosed but he might have been about 10), Jazz Fenton who was 4 at the time and Danny who was 2. Jack and Maddie had created a uncompleted Ghost Portal that Flynn had turned on, wandered too close to when it somehow started working and was subsequently grabbed by a mysterious ghost from the other end. The portal suddenly stopped working afterwards. Jack and Maddie found out about this after reviewing security footage in the lab, which they coincidentally didn't have when Danny had turned into a ghost.

After the whole incident, they hid the fact that Jazz and Danny had an older brother for years and take their time getting the portal to work again so they could save their son. Years pass and Jazz suddenly has a dream about Flynn and eventually confronts their parents over what happened and they tell their kids everything.

As for Flynn, Butch goes off in a tangent about a ghost who was responsible for the uprising and rebellion against Pariah Dark. I forget her name, but it was edgy and she honestly looks like a cartoon concept design for Thor's sister in Ragnarok, but if she had a Spiderman appeal to her.

Anyway, once Pariah was sealed away in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, she wanted to rule the ghost zone fairly and with justice. Or something. However chaos ensued now that the ghosts were free to do as they please without Pariah's wrath hanging over their heads. Over time, trying to keep balance in the Ghost Zone took a toll on “Thor’s sister” and she one day stumbled across and open portal and saw Flynn on the other side. She essentially kidnapped him and raised him to be her soldier for justice. Like the Winter Soldier.

The logic for this was that humans have ghost powers in the Ghost Zone. I mean, yeah they can fly and phase through things, but it was never actually mentioned whether or not humans had super strength in it. But go off Butch. Then he goes on to explain that in some reference to the Ant Man movie, over time Flynn just sort of gained powers as he became "one with the Ghost Zone" and became a powerful protector called "Exodus." Then Fartman went on to mention it was a reference for a machine in the Halloween episode.

So yeah, eventually Danny finds him and they've kind of got that dynamic of "I think you're the bad guy in this situation" when they aren't and duke it out until Danny eventually convinces this dude they're related. Oh yeah and Flynn had no memories of his human life.

Gonna be honest, I might have misremembered a few things but it’s honestly close enough.

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The issues I have with this concept are as follows:

⦁ Jack and Maddie have essentially been the direct cause for 3 people being harmed (and sorta killed) in some way by their Ghost Portal experiments. This doesn't even border on negligible at this point. It basically is, especially considering they should have learned not to let Danny near their experiments after losing their first son.

⦁ They come off as criminals considering they hid all traces and knowledge of Flynn from Danny, Jazz and most likely all family members and didn't even report his disappearance. They even had cameras in their lab and that honestly puts across the idea that they disabled them in case one of their other kids gets hurt.

⦁ There's already a ghost who considers himself to be the law of the Ghost Zone and it would appear that Butch forgot he created Walker for that exact purpose.

⦁ The female character who was responsible for putting away Pariah Dark honestly isn't well fleshed out. She can imprison the most powerful ghost in existence but is essentially useless at stopping lesser ghosts from causing chaos? Even if she did have help, how exactly was she capable of such a feat to begin with?

⦁ This messes with the cannon a bit considering there are some plot holes that can't really mix well with the established story.

I saw some of these concerns were also mentioned by the Phandom. Giving Butch the benefit of the doubt here, I don't hate the concept but I think it needs to be worked on more. I've read about what some people's opinions were and at least the ones that gave real critiques had some good ideas. Like maybe making the sibling either Jack's or Maddie's and it would have helped with their obsession of ghosts.

I have my own plot hole filled ideas with how this could maybe be told better. I'm not a storywriter and this might come off a little edgy, but man I love coming up with ideas. So here's mine:

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My Story:

After the incident with Vlad, Maddie and Jack decide that their ghost hunting days are over and resolve to live a normal family life. They have their first son Flynn, who had solidified their decision to quit ghost hunting and settle. After a few years, Jazz and Danny were eventually born and it seemed they had the perfect life.

One day while vacationing in a wooded area (location can change), Flynn had wandered not too far from the camp. Then a flash of light suddenly burst in front of him and he could see a whole other world. Jack and Maddie were alerted to the sound and ran towards where it came from. They gasped at what they saw and knew exactly what Flynn was staring into; a ghost portal.

Before they could yell for him to stay away, a hand suddenly reached out and pulled Flynn in, the portal immediately closing as soon as he entered. Maddie and Jack were devastated. No one believed them when they explained what happened to their son, and this incident became the catalyst for them to start their ghost hunting careers again.

They worked tirelessly for years to get the portal to work again. Jazz had eventually chalked up their obsession to being a coping mechanism because they couldn't handle the guilt of losing Flynn and were in denial that he was gone. Danny was more of a social outcast than ever because people assumed his parents had something to do with Flynn's disappearance.

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Now with regards to why Flynn was pulled into the Ghost Zone, I would actually like to think Clockwork played a hand in it. I watched the Blood of Zeus recently and I kind of wanted to play around with an idea that inspired this next part.

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Clockwork knows that Dark Dan was never going to stay imprisoned forever. The fact that he still exists, even outside of time, was an omen he needed to heed. So maybe he meddled with a few future possibilities. Maybe he tried to get Maddie and Jack to realise Ghost Hunting was something they shouldn't mess with after hurting Vlad, which led to their decision to settle for a family. Maybe... He wanted Flynn to exist for a purpose.

He was the one who pulled Flynn into the Ghost Zone. Clockwork told Flynn that he would be the key to saving the future from Dark Dan, but withheld information on who he really was until he was old enough. He taught him everything he needed to know on how to defeat Dark Dan and trained him over the years in combat.

Going off the idea that Danny is kind of really average in comparison to the rest of his family, Flynn is a technological prodigy. He created weapons that Vlad could only dream of creating and can utilise technology that puts Tucker to shame. Once he was old enough, Clockwork finally revealed who Dark Dan was and how he came to be.

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As for the fighting portion of everything, I'm honestly not too sure how I could go about writing it. Obviously they team up to destroy Dan for good and Flynn gets reunited with everyone. He might actually prefer to stay in the Ghost Zone and be Clockwork's assistant. Idk.

This is as far as I can go with regards to the story and it was super fun to write. Hope you guys enjoyed reading it too!

#danny phantom #flynn fenton #dp #flynn #I've never posted a real story online before #have mercy on me #lol #and I gotta say that the original story really felt attention grabby on Butch's part

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thegayhimbo · 3 years

Text

Instances where Bill Compton has committed Rape/Sexual Assault:

The Southern Vampire Mystery Books:

1.) The Graveyard Scene in Dead Until Dark (Book 1). In the book, it’s mentioned that Bill is angry over the deaths of the Monroe Vampires, and grabs Sookie to force her to have sex with him. During this time, Sookie describes how scared she is of Bill because of his rage, and feels like she’s unable to struggle against him because she’s afraid that he will hurt her and kill her if she resists. If a woman is unable to say “No” to sex and feels like she has to go along with it because she’s scared that the other person might hurt her if she refuses, that automatically makes it rape. Her orgasming during the act is irrelevant. Orgasming is a physical sensation, and there are instances where male and female rape victims have orgasmed when they’ve been raped. It doesn’t change the fact that what Bill did to Sookie in this scene is still rape.

2.) Probably the most infamous example is the rape scene in Club Dead (book 3). In the book, Sookie gets locked in the back of a truck with Bill by Debbie. Bill proceeds to attack Sookie, feed on her, and then rape her.

TRIGGER WARNING AHEAD! This is the rape scene in all of its gruesome detail:

“His voice sounded rough, his throat was sore. He had stopped taking blood. Now another need was on him, one closely related to feeding. His hands pulled down my sweatpants and after a lot of fumbling and rearranging and contorting HE ENTERED ME with no preparation at all. I screamed and he clapped a hand over my mouth. I was crying, sobbing, and my nose was all stopped up and I needed to breathe through my mouth” (SVM, Book 3)

There’s always been a debate about this scene over how much control Bill had in this instance, especially since he had been tortured by Lorena and was suppose to be “out of it” when he raped Sookie. I have always found this to be questionable, especially because of how the scene is written and how we only sees this from Sookie’s POV. Personally, I believe he had a lot more control in this situation than initially believed, especially with the whole “fumbling and rearranging and contorting,” which gives the impression that he had to have some idea of what he was doing but just didn’t care because it was all about his needs in that moment. I think what’s damning about this scene is that it isn’t just Bill raping Sookie while mindlessly feeding on her; it’s that he was done feeding from her and took the time to pull off her clothes, rearrange her body so it was in line with his, and then put his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming while he raped her. This gives the impression there was some cognitive awareness from Bill in what he was doing, which is why I question if he was truly “out of it.” Maybe this isn’t how Charlaine Harris intended this scene to come across, but that’s what I ended up taking away from this.

What makes this worse is that the later books try to retcon this by claiming it was “attempted rape” or “near rape” which................NO, it wasn’t. There is no way to read this scene in the book and not see it as a rape scene. I don’t know why Harris tried to do this, but regardless of her reasoning, it was not okay. She chose to go this direction with Bill, and she doesn’t get to backtrack on this just because she likes Bill’s character and doesn’t want him to be seen as a rapist.

3.) There’s also the revelation in Club Dead that Bill intended to pension off Sookie so he could be with Lorena. Even if this didn’t actually happen the way Bill wanted it to, it’s still disgusting that he would try to do this AND that he would keep it from Sookie.

TV Show:

1.) During the 70 years Bill spent with Lorena, both of them raped, tortured, drained, and killed women and men in the most sadistic and gruesome way possible. From the flashbacks we get of their disgusting exploits:

a.) In season 5, there's a flashback where Bill and Lorena are at Pam's brothel and Bill is biting in-between a proustite's legs while Lorena glamours the poor woman to say degrading things like calling Bill "Daddy" in a sexual manner. What Bill did here constitutes rape. And before you start telling me he was feeding from her, a.) He could have bitten her anywhere else (like on her arm or neck) and he specifically chose to bite her in that area, and b.) Regardless of whether or not he was feeding from her, it's still rape because she was not able to give consent in that situation. If I ever put my mouth in-between a woman's legs and bit her without her consent, my actions would be labeled as rape. This is no different with Bill, and it’s all but stated this isn’t the first time he’s done something like this.

b.) The Chicago couple in the 1926 flashback in season 2. Both Bill and Lorena tortured this couple, sadistically taunted them, bit and fed on the couple without their consent, forced both victims to watch each other suffer, stripped them of most of their clothes as a way to sexually humiliate them, and reveled in their suffering while getting sexually aroused by it. In one scene, Bill comes from a different room to meet up with Lorena while dragging the male victim inside with him. Bill has no pants on during this scene, and the implication is that Bill raped the guy off-screen.

2.) In season 3, it’s revealed that Bill has been employed as Queen Sophie Anne’s procurer for 35 years (starting as far back as 1974). Procurer by definition is someone who obtains another person as a prostitute for a client, which means that Bill was obtaining humans (either through kidnapping or glamouring) to be taken to Sophie Anne to be fed on, raped, paraded around as her pets, turned into vampires if she desired, or else disposed of once she was done with them. What he did here amounts to forced prostitution at best and human trafficking at worst. And in the case of Sophie Anne, I say rape because she was in a position of power over the humans procured for her as both a vampire and the Queen of Louisiana. These humans were not in a position to say no to her if she demanded sex from them, and there’s also the question of whether or not she used glamouring or V to keep them docile to her. Everything about this situation was disgusting and disturbing.

3.) In season 1, after the deaths of Malcom, Liam, and Diane, Sookie goes out to the graveyard and Bill (who is buried in the ground) grabs Sookie by her leg with the intent of forcing himself on her. This was described by Stephen Moyer (the actor who plays Bill Compton) in a 2009 interview as a rape scene:

“But when do you know it’s OK to crawl out of the mud and rape her [as Bill does in one scene]… ”

--Stephen Moyer in a 2009 interview with Nylon Magazine (the answer is a bit cut from the original)

The scene becomes even more disgusting when you remember how Bill got into this relationship with Sookie in the first place: He had been sent by Queen Sophie Anne to procure Sookie because of what she might have been (aka a faerie). To this end, he stood by and allowed the Rattarays to beat the shit out of Sookie (to the point she was puking up blood) so he could pretend to be a hero by “rescuing her” from them and then drug her with his blood. Said blood was both a tracking device, a drug, and a powerful aphrodisiac that was used to manipulate Sookie into falling in love with him. To make matters worse, while Bill did tell her that her libido might be enhanced, he did not tell her that the blood would make her sexually attracted to him. Bill then used this to take advantage of her grief over Gran’s death to get into her pants, and Sookie was still under the influence of his blood when Bill tried to force himself on her in the graveyard. No matter how you try to spin, that makes the consent in the graveyard dubious at best and non-existent at worst. Bill intended to rape Sookie in that moment.

4.) In season 3, in an attempt to get revenge on Lorena, Bill gets on the bed with her, violently twists her head 180 degrees, and proceeds to rape Lorena as a way to punish her. This was also described as a rape scene by Stephen Moyer at Paleyfest 2011:

“That particular scene was so.........I was worried about it, probably not for the reason you think. I was worried about it because I......I couldn’t see where Bill was going with that. What was the reason to turn anger into RAPE. And Alan and I talked about it, and I called Alan personally, and we talked about it, and.......it’s the only thing he has over her.”

--Stephen Moyer at Paleyfest 2011

5.) In the season 3 episode “9 Crimes,” Bill is sent to procure a stripper from a bar for Russell, Lorena, and himself to feed on. Bill chooses a woman named Anne who has no family and is depressed and suicidal. Bill glamours Anne into coming with him, and when Russell and Lorena are feeding on Anne, Bill chooses to bite her in the groin. He could have chosen anywhere else on the body, and he chose to bite her in that region. Regardless of whether or not he was feeding from her, what he did here constitutes sexual assault/rape.

6.) In season 5, Bill (along with Salome and the other Chancellors at the Authority) sanction a human trafficking ring where humans are kept naked in cells to be fed on, raped, and disposed of. It doesn’t take a genius to understand why the humans were naked, and it’s specifically mentioned by Roman that the Sanguinistas (which Bill and the other Chancellors were a part of) believe in the torture, slavery, and rape of humans.

7.) In season 5, when Bill and the other Authority members attack the patrons at the bar and start slaughtering everyone, there's a brief moment where Bill is on top of a woman biting and sucking from her breast. Even if he was feeding from her, what he does here constitutes sexual assault.

It’s always been stunning to me that fans (especially of the TV show) are in denial about Bill being a rapist, and either go out of their way to deny it or else double-down on it. All of the examples I’ve listed above are instances of Bill committing rape, sexual assault, or human trafficking. All of them are instances where Bill did NOT care about boundaries or how his actions were hurting other people.

The most infuriating part of this is Bill is rarely called out for his behavior. Instead, the books and the show try to deflect responsibility from Bill by placing the blame on someone or something so he doesn’t have to be held accountable for his actions, or they actively downplay/retcon the severity of Bill being a rapist.

Bill Compton is a walking embodiment of rape culture, and a prime example of how our society continues to make excuses for abusive men.

#true blood #the southern vampire mysteries #charlaine harris #bill compton #anti bill compton #anti bookie #sophie anne leclerq #sookie stackhouse #stephen moyer

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another-sonic-blog · 4 years

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Here's a request! Whats your list of personal/what you think are the best shadamy fics to read? And your reasonings why? Again love your work! ♡ (i literally redownloaded wattpad after 5 years of staying away just to read your ff 😳😅)

Thank you so much! I am really happy that you like my work, I am honored ... Thank you!

Alright before I start this list, I will be making a few disclaimers.

I. Honestly, I don't have a favorite ShadAmy fanfiction. I've read a lot of it but I usually drop the story for the following reasons. (Opinion based)

-The story plot is the same as other fics. (Ex. Amy gets lost after chasing Sonic and rejecting her, Shadow gets there. He saves her, Amy dates Shadow. Sonic is jealous and loves Amy and blah blah blah)

-They depict Sonic as a jerk.

It's ok to have a different interpretation of a character, but it really gets uncomfortable when a friendly character like Sonic starts screaming and even punching Amy.

-Over-sexualization of characters. It's ok if there's sexual tension, it's normal in teens. However, explicitly writing sex scenes with characters that are made for kids it's a no for me.

-Writing Amy as suicidal. This one just hits home too much. It makes me uncomfortable sometimes to read about a character I relate to being depressed and suicidal because it reminds me of dark times in my life.

-Shadow being a complete jerk and having an abusive relationship with Amy. This is a big NO for me. Romanticizing toxic relationships is wrong and shouldn't be accepted.

-There is more I don’t like. Shadow bullying Amy or Shadow keeping Amy as captive. Shadow being abusive towards Amy and her falling in love with him even when Shadow keeps mistreating her. And other cliches in the ShadAmy fanfiction I don't like.

II. I am a fanfic writer. However, the one criticizing the following works would be me, as a reader. If I say any 'negative' comments, it doesn't mean I do it better nor it means I am better than them. The one analyzing their work is the reader, the one who consumes their content.

And because I don't really have a lot of fics to share with you, I will be sharing a few comics I enjoyed reading a lot!

Let's start!

3.Scripted Romance by BitterKiss

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13210221/1/Scripted-Romance

Alright, this story is good maybe because I have something for comedy romance. This story is a Sonic Boom!AU where our main cast are actors for the Sonic Boom TV series. There is a heavy tension between Amy and Shadow where everyone notices but them. Amy and Shadow have a pretty good friendship and chemistry which is refreshing. Shadow likes Amy and its fun to read how he fails every time he attempts to get closer to her. I can't honestly say much about the story because although the writing it's good, there are only five chapters and there's not much to criticize nor analyze. (Which is not a bad thing, every writer has the time to take the time they need to write.)

2.One Hundred Moments by Laineybug04

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13153102/1/One-Hundred-Moments

This story makes me sad but not in a bad way. Ten good written chapters with good quality and extremely good character development. Some stories have the mistake of rushing relationships but in this story, they take it nice and slow. Not so slow that there is no development and not so rushed that their relationship looks fake. The story has a Romeo and Juliet premise. Two hedgehogs who want to be together but can't because their friends think they will betray their own responsibilities. It's really good to see Shadow doing things he wouldn't normally do just to please Amy. It's great to see Amy being vulnerable with Shadow. Not only that but it's great to see how other characters react to their friendship. Rouge may be a bit too overwhelming since at this point she is the main one who tries to separate them. Although I think her reasons may not be the most valid, they are reasonable. This story is beyond entertaining and in only ten chapters, the writer was able to create a growing friendship and romance that will leave you wanting to read more!

1.Team Dark's Rose by Nothin’Fancy

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13221856/1/Team-Dark-s-Rose

Uff.

What can I say? There are only two 'negative’ things I can say about this story.

One. Rouge and especially Shadow may be too mean to Amy. However, everyone has their own character interpretation. The writer is free to do whatever they want to do with such character as long as that leads to development.

There is a fine line between a character teasing, showing they dislike another character and being abusive.

The writer does not cross this line and I am sure they are aware of the difference.

I honestly can't wait to see how the writer develops Team Dark and how they start to open up to Amy. It's going to be really nice to see the characters realizing their mistakes and misjudgment towards Amy.

Second, the story only has seven chapters so far.

Seven chapters filled with character analyzation and world-building.

The premise of this story is "What if Amy joined Team Dark?" Although it sounds simple, it's far from that. The writer really takes the time to develop each character and explain the reasons behind their actions. Each character is equally important. Although the protagonist of this story is Amy; the story, in reality, is about Team Dark trying to accept Amy.

There are two main conflicts in the story. External and internal conflicts and to create a good story, you need both. In this story it goes like this. External: GU.N.'s discrimination towards Team Dark. Internal: Team Dark's denial of accepting Amy. Of their disliking and even jealousy towards her.

The ShadAmy is there but right now it's slowly developing. If you want a story that it's more focused on their relationship then I recommend reading the first two stories I mentioned earlier.

Comics:

Damn, I write too much, the reviews for the following comics will be shorter.

3.Love & Life by Cardonanavas.

Link: https://www.deviantart.com/cardonanavas/art/L-L-Family-page-1-279994522

Have you ever wonder what would be the life of Shadow and Amy as a family?

The story develops after 'Just a ShadAmy comic' (Which I recommend as well, but in my opinion, the sequel is better than the first comic)

Here we see the still developing relationship of Shadow and Amy. After three years of dating, Amy is ready to take the next step as she feels like her time is running out (Because she is sick) Shadow, however, doesn't like the idea of having a baby of his own with the thought he might become a weapon. Shadow is unaware of Amy's sickness until one day ...

Shadow will go the impossible to have a normal life with Amy but the story is not only about that. It's much more! Drama, mystery, comedy. It's everything!

Right now, the comic is in progress but still, it's totally worth a read!

2.ShadAmy comic by Zketcherz

Link: https://www.deviantart.com/zketcherz/art/Shadamy-comic-pg-1-717180957

This comic is in progress but it's still extremely good! Amy and Shadow are relatable characters and they are slowly developing. So far, there's not much ShadAmy but the interactions they have are really good and they are not over the top. There are no overly convenient romance cliches and the situations they are put in are realistic and they react well according to it.

I can argue, however, that I don't agree with how Shadow reacts later on the story. I can't say much about this simply because that would be spoiling you an important part of the plot.

1.Shadow the Hedgehog by 0Carkki0

Link: https://www.deviantart.com/0carkki0/art/Shadow-The-Hedgehog-25822745

I have nothing to say about this. The only bad thing about this comic is that it's incomplete and it will probably never be finished. However ... there are 208 pages! 208 pages filled with greatness. There is no 'love' but there is a lot of teasing and kissing.

I won't say anything about the plot, do yourself a favor and just read!

With this, I conclude my list. I hope you enjoyed it! Once again, thank you so much for reading my stories and I hope I gave you other stories you can enjoy as well. Sorry if my answer is too long, but believe me this is the shortest I could do. These stories are great and I strongly recommend reading them!

#shadamy au #shadamy #shadow and amy #shadowxamy #shadow the hedgehog #Amy Rose #amyrose #shadow x amy #shadow #sonic fanfiction #sonic fanfic #romance #recommended

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benisasoftboi · 3 years

Text

Unorganised thoughts on Trails From Zero:

So I had to experience this one via Let’s Play (shout-out to TheTwitGamer over on YouTube) due to computer limitations, which made the experience a little different. But not worse, because Zero is very, very good

I learnt that I have been pronouncing a lot of things wrong (most egregiously, I’d been saying Liberl as ‘liberal’ and Aidios as ‘eye-dios’)

Oh, also shout-out to GeoFront for their excellent patch work

I’ve also been playing Cold Steel 1 at the same time (nearly at the end), which has affected my views on a few things

First thing I’ve got to say is that I think Crossbell has the best art style I’ve seen from the series so far. I don’t dislike Sky’s, but it’s a little unpolished, and meanwhile Cold Steel is maybe too polished, to a point that it looks kind of generic. Crossbell and its characters have a really distinct, stylish look, and I love it. I actually prefer Renne in this style

(the exception is Joshua. What did they do to his eyes!?!?!)

So, overall plot - very good, well paced, picks up nicely from Sky while also introducing new elements. I cannot believe it got darker than Star Door 15

Like during that whole scene where Joachim is explaining all of the truly, truly evil things the cult did, I was just sitting there silently screaming ‘REMEMBER WHEN THIS SERIES WAS ABOUT A COUPLE OF TEENAGERS EXPLORING THE SEWERS UNDER THEIR HOMETOWN AND ESTELLE’S BIGGEST WORRY WAS HAVING TO TAKE A WRITTEN EXAM CAN WE GO BACK TO THAT PLEASE’

Am excited by all these mysterious bells in Crossbell. Can’t wait to find out what that’s all about

Never trust a mayor’s secretary or an eccentric professor is what I’m learning from this series

Now the characters! The main thing I really care about in any story!

So overall I think having a close knit group of four at the centre was a smart choice because it meant I really came to care for all of them in a way I sort of haven’t with all of Class VII so far

Lloyd: I like Lloyd. I wasn’t sure I would at first, he seemed a little generic, but the thing that swung it was the scene after he talks with Elie on the roof. The others start teasing them about being a thing and this stupid, stupid man starts going into Full Denial Mode, and he’s just such a moron in that scene. I found it extremely funny and now I love him (honestly, all a man really needs to do to get me to like him is be an idiot)

There’s also that scene later where the man has his hand on Elie’s cheek, they get interrupted, and then when she suggests they continue this later he has the AUDACITY to not know what she means. My LPer and I were equally exasperated at his sheer density. I love it

Elie: Elie might actually be favourite non-Estelle girl in this series so far. She’s well designed, smart, makes a good Team Mum... she’s Katara. She’s Katara from ATLA. Which I recently rewatched. Oh my god

Oh I really liked that her parents are divorced and not dead. Makes a nice change from all the other dead relatives in this series

And yes I think she and Lloyd are cute haha

Randy: Easily my least favourite of the four, but I like him well enough. I think it was a good thing that I was far enough ahead in Cold Steel to know about Red Constellation, it made that reveal more impactful. I’m looking forward to learning more about him. I like how he nicknames people, also

Tio: Might be my other favourite non-Estelle girl. Heartbreaking backstory, gets some really funny lines, her relationship with Jona was great - Tio’s just awesome

KeA: Adorable and loveable. Suspiciously adorable and loveable... Very excited to learn more about her origins

Noel: Don’t think I know enough about her yet, but I like her so far, she’s cool. So’s her sister, I loved the sidequest with Anton. The sound effects in that one, PEAK comedy

Dudley: He reminds me of Miles Edgeworth, one of my favourite characters in anything ever, so of course I like him

Arios: Again, don’t think I know enough to say...

Wazy: Oh, man, like I have a huge bias for long-haired pretty boys but I instantly loved Wazy. So excited for more of him :D

Renne: So glad we got to see her story finally get a happy ending. She deserves it. And man she is just such a good Mysterious Character

I forgot to mention this before, but I think it’s hilarious that she has three PhDs. Who gave them to her!?

Estelle and Joshua: So of course I love them and was very happy to see them again... but also maybe they shouldn’t have been here? They ended up feeling a little superfluous to me, ngl, kinda like Falcom weren’t confident people would play the games with a whole new cast if they weren’t around. Was really fun to see them from an outsiders perspective, though

Joachim: So, I’d been thinking for ages now how interesting Aidios is. In most JRPGs you get to meet and/or fight God at some point, so it’s very, very clear that they exist. But since as early as FC I’ve kind of been wondering... is Aidios real? In universe. Like, the way we see worship work, it isn’t a Fire Emblem thing where God is right there and you can chat with her - instead, it’s very similar to our world. And from there, what I’ve been thinking is ‘it would be really cool to see an Aidios atheist’

‘Ai-theist’?

So this was very exciting for me. I would also now like to see an ai-theist who is not an evil, evil monster, but I’m pretty happy as is

Oh, yeah, Joachim is obviously a horrible person, good villain

It kills me that they were all ‘oh no, he died, I wish we could have saved him’ at the end. Guys. The man set up multiple child torture facilities. You weren’t going to be able to Zuko him. This is for the best

What else

Crossbell City is a very cool location, big fan

I am now spoiled on the following - something about timelines, resetting and divergence, the grass comes back and is linked to septium veins, something Bad happens to Olivier (NO), and something Very Bad happens to Crossbell (but like, I knew that, because they keep mentioning how precarious their situation is and I have basic literary comprehension skills)

I hope Ziet is more relevant in Azure

More of Wazy and Wald’s weird friendship please (are they a ship? they kind of feel like they would be, at least in Zero. Rhetorical question, btw)

I hope we see Rixia again, I liked her and her deal, I think I’m also spoiled on Yin returning in Cold Steel in some capacity? Exciting

Yeah this was a really, really good game, and I hope it gets an official release one day (honestly, whoever’s doing Falcom localisation these days - buy Geofront’s work. It’s damn good)

Super hyped for Azure and to keep playing Cold Steel!!

No but seriously what did they do to Joshua

Like, this is after he stops being dead inside, right? Either way, I’m never sleeping again

#trails #trails from zero #kiseki series #trails series #crossbell arc

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andrewlloydwebber · 4 years

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I’ve been mulling over your thoughts on Gleb, but I don’t think giving him Dmitry’s backstory works because movie!Dmitry’s backstory involves the palace getting stormed and being the boy in the wall, but musical!Dmitry’s backstory is more historically accurate involving Yekaterinburg (not the palace) and him basically being a Russian Aladdin-type street rat. I’m not saying I know how to “fix” the musical’s flaws, but I know they exist and I still love it 😍 but Gleb needs to go

I’m not sure I explained it properly, and that’s on me. In my rewrite, Gleb opened the wall as a teenager, AFTER Anya’s family was killed. In the original musical, It’s never explained how she actually escaped, Tresnjak’s direction and the libretto indicate she was with them during the shooting but how she escaped that room is a mystery. Maybe Gleb also worked in the house, as a kitchen boy or guard or driver something, and had some sort of friendship/flirtation with Anastasia. Anya had so many diamonds sewn in her dress that she was protected from the bullets (that’s a historical detail, the Romanov children did not die immediately). Maybe Gleb was sent to deal with the bodies and discovered she was alive but with some sort of head trauma, he “opened the wall” and snuck her out and took her to place where someone would find her. The combination head injury and traumatic experience would explain the amnesia. Gleb would either be in denial that he did that or believe that Anastasia might have died of exposure, and seeing Anya in St. Petersburg would stir up feelings and memories all over again.

Gleb would have some connection to Anya besides “my dad killed her family” and be a stronger character. It wouldn’t be revealed until their final confrontation though. Anya would have mentioned the “boy opened the wall” story to Dmitry who, obviously, knew nothing about it. She would ask him something poetic like “you saved my life once, will you take it now?” (I’m not a good writer). Anyway Gleb would put the gun to his head (see RK can make good choices) but not shoot himself.

I’m not saying this is a good rewrite, but it’s my best idea to “fix” Gleb besides giving him a talking bat sidekick. Or we could throw the whole man out

#Anonymous

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toko-ton · 4 years

Text

Kizuna novel ch.3-4 notes

Ch. 3:

- Back in chapter 2, when Yamato asks the 02 group to investigate Menoa, Ken mentions that he's heard of her, and he specifically says that he knows she's a prodigy who skipped grades to get into college early and has a doctorate and some patents. I didn't think of it until I realized that she's actually close in age to the Adventure kids, but the part about skipping grades reminded me of this:

I wonder if maybe Ken first heard about Menoa because people insisted on comparing him to her back when he was the Kaiser?

- Menoa wasn't blocked from entering the Digital World, so presumably anyone with the tech to open a gate can go there, regardless of whether they have a Digimon partner or not. Which means that partner Digimon do cease to exist in both worlds when their bond disappears, because otherwise, she'd be able to reunite with Morphomon.

- I know it's supposed to be a serious scene, but it's almost comedic when Taichi and Yamato brag about having the edge in numbers and experience as Greymon and Garurumon finish off Eosmon, only for Menoa to casually snap her fingers and summon an entire swarm.

- Menoa indirectly explains the origin of Eosmon's name. She spent years trying to bring Morphomon back, but failed trying to bring the data to life. Then on the day the mysterious aurora appeared three months ago, she was suddenly able to create Eosmon, who was presumably named after the aurora. (I'm kind of surprised that the book doesn't point out that Eos and Aurora were equivalent Greek and Roman goddesses. I guess they assumed that people already know that?)

- If Menoa only made Eosmon three months ago, why has Imura been investigating her for years? It's never hinted that she did anything illegal or even unethical before that point, unless people have a problem with her trying to create a Digimon.

- Sora is the only one of the original Adventure kids missing from Menoa's neverland. Even without Koushirou's list, Menoa knows who all of them are, so I guess it must have already been too late by the time Menoa tried to send an Eosmon?

- If Menoa and Eosmon can't reunite people with Digimon partners who have already been lost (or at least illusions of them), then this scene confirms that Meicoomon did come back to life at some point.

- Menoa insists over and over that all the Chosen are there of their own free will, no mental influence involved, but the fact that they all turn silent and emotionless with glowing red eyes makes that a little bit difficult to believe.

Ch. 4:

- Eosmon start popping out of internet-connected devices all over the world and attacking Chosen. Despite Hawkmon warning that it's probably a bad idea, Miyako uses her laptop to try to find information on what's happening in the confusion, and of course, she only ends up letting another one through.

- Yamato must have given them a partial explanation at some point, since Daisuke knows enough to guess that the Digimon they're fighting are Eosmon. Likewise, Iori worries that the chaos means that something has happened to Yamato and the others, but they're too busy fighting off Eosmon to do anything to help.

- The entire 02 team seems to be calling Yamato "Yamato-senpai" now, or at least Daisuke, Ken, and Iori all do. (I don't think Miyako ever says his name, so I'm not sure about her.)

- Taichi and Yamato are hiding, uncertain of what to do. After some encouragement from Gabumon and Agumon (who says he gets the feeling that they'll be with Taichi and Yamato forever), the two of them resolve to fight. Taichi, who had been wearing his old goggles around his neck, finally puts them up on his head and says "We'll show them the bonds we have. Let's do this!"

- The kids with Menoa are back to playing with their Digimon, and still acting extremely creepy: The children gazed at Menoa with eyes filled with adoration. Perhaps she seemed like a goddess or Madonna to them.

- Daisuke and Ken don't evolve Paildramon or Imperialdramon even though the 02 team is having a rough time fending off all the Eosmon. I guess Yamato must have warned them to avoid unnecessary evolutions, even if he didn't say why? They're much too upbeat to have been confronted with the full truth.

- This just occurred to me... The Eosmon aren't invisible, so back in chapter 1, how did one of them steal Ayaka's consciousness in the middle of a restaurant without being seen?

- After Eosmon defeats Omegamon, the other Adventure kids restrain Taichi and Yamato to keep them from running to Agumon and Gabumon (Hikari and Koushirou for Taichi, and Takeru, Mimi, and Jou for Yamato), and then their partners start attacking the two.

- As soon as they come to their senses, Hikari and the others return to their present-day appearances. Koushirou is fascinated by the evolved Eosmon, and Tentomon has to exasperatedly remind him that he really doesn't have time to stand around lost in thought.

- Menoa lost her partner when she got into college... because she wanted to be self-sufficient? It looks like they're trying to portray partner Digimon as existing solely for the kids' personal growth, and that's why they disappear when the kids are sufficiently mature? I'm not a fan of the idea. (Just to be completely clear, the the scenes of the Digimon disappearing strongly gave me this impression, but it isn’t explicitly stated anywhere. So it’s entirely possible that this isn’t what the creators intended.)

- I mean, I don’t think that the sudden and traumatic loss of one of your closest loved ones is a good metaphor for the struggles of becoming an adult.

- I'm also not fond of the way it reduces the Digimon to literal props for the kids, in-universe, even if the original anime never did a particularly good job of treating them as individuals.

- "Menoa! I'll save you!" Taichi yelled. Yamato shouted, "Your choice wasn't a mistake!" "But even if a choice leads to something happening..." "We have to live in the future we chose!" (This dialogue would work better for me if the kids had any meaningful choice in the first place. Menoa was going to lose Morphomon before long, no matter what she did.)

- "We may not be able to change fate*..." "But we can change our destiny**!" * 宿命 = absolute, unchangeable fate ** 運命 = destiny/fate in general (Why are they so sure that losing their Digimon is the latter and not the former? What makes Taichi and Yamato’s refusal to accept the loss of their partners optimism, while Menoa’s is just denial?)

- Sorry if this has been a little too negative! I do like Kizuna overall, especially for the character interaction. I’m just disappointed in this particular element of the plot.

- I’ve now finished the book, and they never do explain the aurora that allowed Eosmon to come to life. I wonder if it’ll be brought up again if there’s a sequel?

- I can’t think of anything else I want to comment on right now, so just in case anyone reading this hasn’t seen it yet, I’ll link to Onkei’s summary again:

https://pastebin.com/hqVwmAaS

It’s much more comprehensive than my notes here (especially since I tried to focus on things that weren’t already covered there), so if you haven’t already, go read it!

- Also, I’ll be glad to answer any questions about the story (if I can), so if there’s anything you’re curious about, please feel free to ask!

#digimon #spoilers #kizuna novelization #last evolution kizuna

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currentlyreadingmanga · 4 years

Text

Toilet-bound Hanako-kun: Chapter 8 - The Confession Tree

My thoughts so far: okay so I’m starting the manga on this chapter since I’ve already watched episodes 1-4 of the anime which cover chapters 1-7. The story so far is not at all what I expected (in the best way possible). I really like the dynamic we are establishing with what seems to be our main trio (I already kinda ship Hanako and Yashiro but I guess that’s to be expected). I also love the mechanic they explained regarding the rumors and the effect they have on the aparitions, it’s very cool and I can’t wait to meet the other mysteries. Also I’m incredibly curious about Hanako’s past and from some comments I’ve seen online of manga readers sobbing about the angst, I’m more that sure that this series will make me cry at some point.

Previously: We last left of with the resolution of the Misaki Stairs arc (and an adorable little peck on the cheek that I was not ready for). Also, we were introduced to two new characters, Natsuhiko and the green haired girl, which seemed to be keeping tabs on Yashiro and Hanako, and they also seemed to have a grey/black version of Haku-Joudai named Koku-Joudai. I’m curious to know if one of them could end up being an aparition like Hanako or if they could be working for one of the seven mysteries (since the girl was shown in the anime to be the one on the radio spreading the rumors about the mysteries)

Now onto the new chapter!

Okay so the chapter starts with what seems to be one of Yashiro’s daydreams about her prince charming, bless her heart

One thing I’ve found really interesting about her so far is her personality: she’s definitely a romantic person, someone whose head is on the clouds and thrives on romantic and over the top gestures and stories. But at the same time this idealistic part of her also shows us (like how she realised herself in episode one) that it’s not so much that she’s in infatuated with every pretty boy she meets but more so that she’s in love with the idea of being in love, of having the kind of romance you see in movies or read in books.

And this panel once again reinforces that idea we established in chapter one.

Kinda went on a long tangent there but anyways, she’s daydreaming and-

pffft that made me laugh. I see that Hanako’s little kiss affected her more than she wants to admit even to herself. That’s adorable omg. Poor thing can’t catch a break and starts yelling NO in the middle of class. That’s really not good since people have already seen her “talking to herself” in the hallways.

Okay but this cover page?? and this title??? I smell the romantic tropes coming and I’m totally okay with it omg

We skip to gardening class and we learn that it’s been a month since Yashiro and Hanako met and the bond was forged.

“I don’t think anything good’s ever come from it” keep telling yourself that, sweetie, but you know you like his little sassy self even if just as a friend by now.

Omg

That really hit her hard, huh? Denial is not just a river in Egypt, Yashiro dear

But she says she’s never been kissed before and I understand how much importance she puts into it. With her romantic personality, she probably wanted it to be a special occasion with someone she already had feelings for

Gotta say, it’s kinda refreshing to see that this is one of the first things she considers. Because while Hanako does seem to have a teasing personality in general (or at least it seems to me so far that he enjoys teasing her in particular), as she starts to connects all the shipping moments so far, it is a logical conclusion to reach.

Aoi arrives and oh! Yashiro actually talks to her about what’s been happening with Hanako (omiting the ghost part, I assume)

Aoi seems to agree that he seems to like her and

That’s an awfully happy reaction for you to later say that “he’s not your type” (then again, she’s probably happy already by the fact that someone likes her, but still)

“I can’t tell her he’s a ghost, so...” okay, good lol

Okay yeah, she’s definitely over the moon with the idea that he might like her

Now Aoi presents the idea of “why not date him anyway to see what it’s like”. And I’m a little conflicted, I know she means well and I know that’s not where this situation will probably go, but it could also lead to a scenario of where he feels like he was lead on.

Anyway, Aoi says that she should probably get ready since it seems likely that he will confess soon

Ah, here it is, our new mystery or aparition and Yashiro notices that something is off about this whole situation. If she doesn’t remember the tree being there, could it be because of new rumors? and also, why is she the only one notice it? I’m guessing it is because of her bond with Hanako, and that lets her have a stronger connection with the spiritual world in the school; just like during the last arc, since she and Kou were the only ones who noticed the people who had gone missing.

Nevertheless, it seems like we can see the tree work its magic right now and um-

ngl I was so confused for a second there by his lukewarm reaction lol so he’s practicing to confess to Aoi and his friend here is being a good sport about it kinda by helping him

Aoi points out how there seem to be a lot of new couples lately thanks to the influence of the confession tree

When Aoi suggests that a “special someone” could be asking Yashiro soon to meet him under that tree she’s all like “nooo of course he wouldn’t”. And that in my book means “of course he will but probably not to confess to you because come on, the couple can’t get together so soon”

And yep

Seems it will go that way. You know, the “one person thinks one thing, the other thinks another thing but both of the think they are on the same page but then they realize and it’s embarrassing” way. I kinda hope I’m wrong though because if he doesn’t confess, Yashiro is probably gonna be really sad about it and I don’t want her to be sad

Okay, next day. Yashiro is excited to tell the news to Aoi but it seems something happened that made her cry

I guess I should have seen this coming when they mentioned the onslaught of new couples but I didn’t expect that it would work even on people who weren’t actually confessing to each other. I wonder if it would work its magic on any type of confession, even the ones that were rejected, or if it worked here because even if they were practicing, his friend still said “yes”

These two are pretty cute together but it seems like Aoi isn’t taking it so well.

Apparently she knew that Akane liked her (it seems like it’s been like this for a long time since they’re childhood friends) but she rejected him. Or that’s my guess since she says that she doesn’t like him and the day before she knew that he was practicing to confess to her. But yeah, for her to be this torn over it, I think that she likes him more than she wants to admit. Huh, seems like Yashiro and Aoi have a lot in common in that regard

Anyway, it seems that Yashiro wasn’t able to talk with Aoi about her future meeting with Hanako under the tree but that’s not gonna stop her

I love Yashiro so much, bless her heart and this manga’s self awareness

This chart omg I love it pffft Poor Kou and Hanako, classified as little wild boys. I’m a firm believer of the idea that it doesn’t matter if you have a clear “type”, you could still fall for someone when you least expect it. So what I’m trying to say is that this won’t stop me from hoping that this ship comes true. I’m already invested

Now she sees it waiting by the tree and thinks “he can be pretty cool sometimes” while blushing. That’s good, Yashiro, acceptance starts with baby steps

Oh man, here we go. I think I’m right but I don’t want to be

Ahhhhhhh this is beautiful but I feel like Yashiro’s happiness is gonna get crushed real soon ahhhh

Ahhh baby she’s so happy that she was confessed to, I can’t

And there it is. Hanako is urging her to turn him down quickly and she looks so confused ;n; bby

Is he trying to get the spirit to show up by forcing it to work harder since the confession didn’t work out naturally? It would be a way to do it, I guess, and it would answer my question from earlier

Yep, that seems to be the case. And by the sounds of it the tree doesn’t sound very happy about this

I-I don’t know what I was expecting from this tree but it really wasn’t this omfg that face

Yashiro voices my thoughts by saying “gross” and the tree feels very offended by this and tries to attack her but it seems he can’t touch her.

At first I thought Hanako had stopped it, but it looks like Yashiro had a protection spell on her cheek. Well, I’m guessing that Hanako still stopped it since it says “seven” and it makes sense that he would cast something like that on her considering how prone she is to find herself in this situations

Now the tree is trying to justify its actions but Hanako replies that what it’s is nothing more than meddling with people’s lives and yeah, that about sums it up. Even if the core goal was to make the couples happy, it still went overboard like with Akana and his friend.

Aaaaand Hanako defeated it. Now it’s a really small tree. And he explains that it is a “kodama”, meaning a supernatural tree and that its methods were indeed forceful when it started gaing power thanks to the rumors.

Oh. Oh no. Now that he’s explaining everything to Yashiro he’s like “but didn’t you already now this since you were helping me?” and she’s trying to convince herself that she’s not bothered by it but she clearly is and awww baby it’s okay.

Oh nox2 Hanako realized what she was thinking and he’s gonna tease her about it but I don’t think it’s a good idea right now oh no

Noooooooooooooooooo she’s crying oh no ;n; She wears her heart on her sleeve and she was so happy, poor baby

You know, I heard that this series gets angsty later on but I didn’t expect to be fighting back tears so soon

Well, Hanako is obviously startled by this reaction. She’s so embarrassed and oh, he says that the kiss he gave her was the moment he placed the protection spell so she wouldn’t get attacked by supernatural for a while! Ohhhh that explains why the writing appeared on her cheek, makes sense

But anyway, she says it was confusing and tbh she has a point, specially when you consider it in relation of how he normally behaves around her. She’s walking home, and I can’t really blame her, even if it was a misunderstanding, she probably feels like her emotions were played with a little bit

Oh this is a beautiful double page spread:

He took his hat for the first time! and you can tell that he really feels bad about what happened. Like, yes, he enjoys teasing her but I truly believe (at least so far) that he would never really try to hurt her on purpose

Ahhh and the next close up of his face! baby boy, he looks so sad noooo ;n; and he really does look like such a young boy, which can be easy to forget due to his easy going and teasing Hanako of the Bathroom self.

He asks her to stay with him until she’s done crying since he probably doesn’t want her to leave while she’s still upset ahhhh (ಥ﹏ಥ)

“Today, at this moment, for the first time...I felt like I wanted to know more about him” (TдT) (TдT) (TдT)

#toilet bound hanako kun #jibaku shounen hanako kun #jshk spoilers #live blogging

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makeste · 5 years

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some asks about BnHA 241 and 240 and then some random other asks

I agree with this completely, anon (especially given his attitude throughout the rest of the chapter), but I didn’t edit my initial response since I think there’s a good likelihood that he still deadpanned the line despite being 100% sincere. one could say he was Accidentally Sarcastic. anyways yeah, Todoroki Shouto is a disaster more at 11.

(but also, he’s totally right and Bakugou is in full-blown denial over their blossoming friendship. because he already decided that they’re Not Friends, and thus he has to actively work to maintain that status now. which Todoroki is making very difficult these days! can you fucking do your part to keep the fucking rivalry going, Icy-Hot?? can you at least try?? why does he have to do all the work. sometimes he forgets for a moment and Todo catches him off guard and he responds normally without thinking and doesn’t realize it until later, and god. why is everything and everyone so stupid.)

I have not forgotten (though I did mix up Pixie-Bob with Mandalay though woop)! and that annoyed me too. we only have like six female pros out there as it is. why do half of them (looking at you too, Midnight) have to be mildly sex-crazed. I know it’s not serious and they’re not actually being serious, but still, is it really asking so much to get some female pros whose eccentricities are less specifically tailored to common male fantasies. you’re a fucking hero Pixie-Bob! you’re a fucking earthbender and you’re hot as heck. why are you so worried about not being able to Get A Man. with Mt. Lady it at least fits more with her general personality from what we’ve seen, I guess. anyways, y’all know I love like 98% of this series, but this is part of the 2%, so. it is what it is.

Tomura is Endgame Thanos, a.k.a. the most sinister and most genuinely frightening of the Thanoses. this really isn’t on track to end well sob.

ah, my bad. (regardless, it was still dramatic af.)

I think she’s a six-year-old (?? she seems six-ish, idk) girl who was terrified of her father and trying to stay under his radar (which was frankly the smart thing to do based on what we’ve seen), and was trying to teach her younger brother how to do the same, and I don’t blame her at all for throwing Tenko under the bus (if that’s indeed what happened); I’m sure she just panicked and didn’t mean it. she’s just a kid. -- was just a kid. anyways she was super cute and would have made a fucking awesome hero, and her death is easily the one I’m still the most raw about out of that whole fucking nightmare. I’m not getting over that. I want her to still be alive; at one point I was convinced of a conspiracy theory that AFO had secretly spared her too (because two Shimura heirs to manipulate are better than one), and Tomura only believed that she was dead due to his fragmented memories. but that seems less likely post-chapter 236.

so yeah, I’m still very upset about this. she was good and kind and loved her brother and had a lot of spirit and she did not even remotely deserve what happened to her.

thank you so much!! one of the best parts of fandom is interacting with other people and reading everyone’s different takes and theories. lord knows I miss a lot of stuff when I read, even when I’m trying very hard to pay attention. so I love when other people point stuff out and bring up ideas I hadn’t thought about.

also! without exception, every single person I’ve ever interacted with in this fandom on tumblr has been polite and courteous and civil as fuck, even on the occasions when we disagree, and I absolutely can’t take credit for that. people are just cool. so thank you everyone. (and particular shoutout to @thequietmanno1, who for some reason I can’t tag, but whom this ask is almost certainly referring to specifically.)

lmao anon this made my fucking day. thank you!!

all right, here goes!

a) this is possible for sure in that as a rule, I never put anything past AFO, and I don’t doubt for a second he’d be capable of this. but, it would kind of suck though. specifically it would suck for Tomura, who’s only just starting to come into his own at long last, and who has gone through quite a lot to get to this point. like, that would be devastating to see him reduced to a literal puppet after all of that. and if it did happen, I don’t know what the odds would be of him actually being “saved” after that (All Might at least would try, but I can’t see anyone else being concerned enough to bother. well except for the rest of the League, come to think of it. that could be interesting), and I’d be really sad if that ended up being how he went out. these things usually don’t end up working out too well for the body snatchee.

plus, this also hinges on whether or not AFO is capable of transferring his quirk to Tomura’s body. if not, there’s no way he’d take the tradeoff, regardless of how powerful Tomura’s own quirk has become at this point. that would just be a really bad deal. like trading the cow for beans, except these ones aren’t even magic beans, just like. normal beans. but if he does have a way of transferring the AFO quirk, then yeah. although he could take anyone’s body then if that was the case, and I can think of a few targets who just might be even more tempting than his protege. All Might’s protege, for one. ...you know what, this line of thinking is starting to get a little too horrifying so let’s move on to the other theory lol.

(b) a few people have mentioned the Shimura Momo theory to me, but to be totally honest, I can’t see much of a logical basis for it other than them bearing a slight resemblance and having similar hairstyles. Inko has also been brought up as potentially being related to Nana for the same reasons. it’d be cool, no doubt, but for me, I need more evidence than just that. I just don’t see how this would advance the plot or the characters’ storylines in any meaningful way. I guess it could potentially tie Momo in more to the central plot, but it’d be kind of a weird way to do it, idk.

then again I’m one to talk, because until fairly recently I was on board with Hagakure of all people turning out to be a Shimura (Hana, to be specific). she’s the traitor, she’s invisible, we never did find out what Hana’s quirk was, and this would mean that Hana was still alive this whole time which would be GREAT, because seriously fuck you Horikoshi!! but yeah that doesn’t seem likely now either. dammit.

anyway, so I’ll just say that both of these theories are possible, but for me personally, in order to be sold on a specific theory I need to be able to see how it logically fits within the storyline and how it moves the story forward. like, Dabi being Todoroki Touya is something I’m 100% on board with, because that’s an established mystery in the series (who is Touya, what happened to him, who is Dabi, etc.), and Dabi fits into place with the evidence we have, and it gives us a lot of Todoroki drama and gives Endeavor and Shouto a personal connection to the Leagu... Pliff. but for something like the Momo theory, I would need there to be some indication that there’s a third sibling we don’t know about, and some hinting about there being more to Momo’s past than we know, and right now I don’t see either of those things, so it’s hard to get on board. hopefully that makes sense.

anon I really like that you phrased this as an inevitability lol. (and I am 100% on board.)

assuming this happens at the very end of the series, I like to think Tomura and the rest of his gang will manage to “escape” the heroes (“oh no... Tomura... he’s getting away... this is awful... somebody stop him” meanwhile no one is making even the slightest effort to move lol), at which point they will live the rest of their lives happily ever after as Lovable Outlaws and All-Around Scamps. like, maybe they’ll still commit some crimes, but they won’t be like serious crimes or anything. they’ll have more of a Guardians of the Galaxy vibe, maybe. I want them to be happy and I don’t want them to go to jail even though they’re teeeeeeeechnically murderers, I GUESS (look, nobody’s perfect!!). but maybe they steal the occasional priceless artifact and inadvertently wind up saving the world. seems like the best compromise.

lol I don’t know what this means either. like in the way a Youtuber has their own brand?? or like Frito-Lays. idk all I really do is talk a lot about an extremely popular manga, so I don’t think that’d really count?? I’m fine with this just being a little tumblr discussion blog haha.

so I’ve gotten like a half dozen asks and messages about this lol. (someone actually told me a very specific detail about said past! so just to remind everyone, I’m spoiler-free on Vigilantes right now guys, I’m sorry. I know it’s no fun.) I regret to admit that I still have not yet gotten around to it. I don’t know what it is, but I’m having a lot of trouble reading new stuff right now. I tried to start the other new BnHA spin-off which @temperatezone told me about (and btw no I did not know about it, so thank you!!) (and also! BnHA has THREE SEPARATE FUCKING SPIN-OFFS right now, how fucking crazy is that. like, I don’t want to accuse a manga series of literally trying to take over the world, but!! seriously that’s just insane), which has an amazing premise, but I haven’t had time/been in the right mindset to start that yet either. it sucks. I’m sorry. I’m working on it. ;;

press f to pay respects to what could have been, guys. they literally had it all. class, an ironic acronym, you name it. and now it’s just PLF. the Iron Patriot of villain organization names.

#bnha #bnha 241 #bnha 240 #shigaraki tomura #all for one #yaoyorozu momo #shimura hana #todoroki shouto #bakugou katsuki #bnha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #asks #anon asks

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thisiswhatwereupagainst · 4 years

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@shattered-catalyst asked me what underused female Marvel characters that I’d like to see in the RPC. I misread it as asking what underused female characters I would like to see in a canon Marvel story, and started making this list. Then I realized what they ACTUALLY asked me---and answered it HERE-- but since I had this list started I thought I would post it! As a note, I tried to overlook my own biases for whom *I* simply want to see back in action, versus if there’s actually story potential there that I think other fans would genuinely want to see. It’s also by no means complete/comprehensive, so if you think someone is missing and deserves to be on here---you’re probably right! Feel free to add to it! BLINDSPOT - Blindspot is a female member of Mystique’s Brotherhood who was friends with Rogue, and had the powers of memory manipulation. After several missions, Mystique decided to cut ties with her due to lack of trust. Blindspot left, but not without wiping herself out of Mystique and Rogue's memories first, as she always covered her tracks, which is why Rogue doesn’t remember her (actual reason is she was retconned in, she’s a 2000s creation) Years later, when Rogue had become an X-Men, they would come into conflict once more, as Blindspot wanted to ‘save” Rogue from Xavier’s “brainwashing”, but Rogue would still leave Blindspot with her X-uniform to remember her by. Blindspot is unique in having been a Brotherhood friend to Rogue, as she was never shown as close to any of the other members, and was also mysteriously immune to Rogue’s powers. I think Rogue fans might enjoy seeing her in a Rogue story again, and perhaps learning more about their time together. CATSEYE - I think ALL the Hellions were criminally underused, and I know from X-Men/comics discussion boards that there’s an audience for their return. Catseye seems to be the favorite in terms of who people found most interesting, and I agree. A girl who believes she’s a cat who can turn into a human form, rather than the reverse, is a really neat concept, not to mention Sharon had a charming personality with surprising depth for what little time she got. There’s a lot that could be done with her return, and I think she could totally be the lead in a revived Hellions story on Krakoa, or a story depicting their time as Frost’s students at the Massachusetts Academy. CORDELIA FROST - Look, everyone loves Emma Frost, I think it’d be easy to get people interested in a Cordelia story. Not to mention the fact that like...Adrienne is dead, Christian was institutionalized, but Cordelia has been running around this whole time. She seems to have had some big plans once upon a time, what happened to that? Nothing ever came of it. Why not? What’s she been up to all this time? Also, we should finally get to see what kind of powers she has! I’ve seen it quoted around the Internet that Emma claims Cordy is “the Professor Xavier of empaths” but I’ve not only never seen the source for where she says this, she’s never demonstrated ANY kind of powers in canon, besides Emma not being able to read her mind. I would like to see what the “subtle, dark, and devious” Frost baby gets up to! DARKSTAR - Darkstar is a mutant and she’s been present in the comics since 1976. She’s been a member of X-Corps, as well as served in the Champions with Angel and Iceman back in the day. Yet her loyalty (coughBRAINWASHINGcough) has always brought her back to serving Mother Russia first and foremost. We saw recently though that Russia has gone back to its “All mutants serve the State or die!” position, and not allowing its mutants to go to Krakoa. It’s pretty easy to work Darkstar into a story about that, and finally exploring the way she was deeply conditioned to the point her “choice” to serve her country is probably anything but, and coming to terms with that at last. I’d really like to see a story like this, because Darkstar is kind of unique in that her brainwashing wasn’t a dramatic trauma-conga full of torture and abuse, she actually seems to have been treated well, she was just also kidnapped as a baby and never knew anything else. I think it’s about time we get a story that shows abuse doesn’t always “look like abuse” and how denial of someone’s agency can run so deep that their own choices that they THINK they’re making of their own free will, really are products of that. Also, her story could be an easy way to get my STARLIGHT fix, and FANTASMA on top of that. Remember, Fantasma was banished to Limbo, and pulled Starlight in after her. Why WOULDN’T Darkstar want to go rescue her teammate? And there’s a member of the X-Men who is mistress of Limbo and can open portals there, it’s totally easy! Darkstar enlists Magik (who has a huge fan following, and thus would get people interested) to guide her through Limbo so they can find Starlight and bring her home, but on the way they run afoul of Fantasma! Who, being a Dire Wraith sorceress, makes a great foe for Magik! PHANTAZIA - During 1990s, Toad struck out on his own and formed his own Brotherhood, which consisted of several old faces---Pyro, Blob, and Sauron (despite Sauron not being a mutant)---and a new one, the woman known as Phantazia, aka Eileen Harsaw. Phantazia had the power to manipulate electromagnetic energy fields. This allowed her to fly, disrupt machinery, and disrupt the bioelectric energy fields and nervous systems of other living beings as well, resulting in pain, paralysis, loss of physical coordination, and in the case of superhumans, the inability to control their powers, causing them to fluctuate in strength, cease functioning altogether, or spew out uncontrollably. Not much is known about her personality, but she seems to have been well-educated, as Blob refers to her as “Ms. PhD” and tended to stay out of the arguments between her male teammates, ignoring them while she read books on scientific subjects, such as astrophysics. . She also displayed loyalty, such as when she also opted to stay with her teammates when only she among them was invited to Magneto’s new mutant sanctuary of Avalon. Alas, Eileen met a wicked fate---for some reason, she was one of the few mutants to retain their memories of the “House of M” reality shift, and the shifting back and forth drove her insane. She was last seen in a S.H.I.E.L.D. custody cell, babbling “House of M” over and over. I think Eileen was interesting. She had a cool powerset, hints of a personality, and was never much of a “bad guy” certainly not enough to deserve what happened to her. Female Brotherhood members are also pretty rare, so she catches my eye for that too. I like to think Xavier found her and fixed her mind, and she’s going to hang out with her old pals Pyro, Blob, and Toad on Krakoa. HAVEN - I’ve been yelling about her on this blog for like 5 years, but if you’re not familiar with her, Radha Dastoor aka Haven was a villain who ran a cult dedicated to bringing about the end of the world as we know it in order to usher in a golden age of peace. She only did this, however, because she was being possessed by a demon. Her real self was a kind, charitable woman who was just all about feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, and, as it happens, advocating for mutants. Though it had little to do with her villainy, Haven still found time to be a demon-posessed super-terrorist AND write books promoting mutant/human peace and give lectures condemning bigotry. She seems like someone who SHOULD have gotten saved from said demon, but no, she dies alone in the mud after being victim-blamed by a Marvel deity. Her entire arc is really misogynistic, she’s only possessed because she had sex once and then got pregnant, she’s basically punished for breaking the purity taboos of her culture once, and it’s also pretty...racist isn’t the right word, but she’s the first Indian and Hindu character in the X-Men comics, and a lot of her terrorist philosophy fed to her by the demon comes from actual Hinduism, which has unfortunate implications, as does the fact that the “brown woman with a funny religion ended up being a terrorist just like the government said so X-Factor attacking her before they were sure of this is okay” was part of her story. Eesh. Anyway, she was a very good person and an interesting character, I think bringing her back as someone trying to do good in the world again as a human ally to mutants while also dealing with what happened to her and what she did and her loss of 20 years of agency to possession, would be a good story. I at least want to see a cameo of her taking care of a bunch of orphan and refugee kids who are a mix of mutants, Inhumans, Warpies, aliens, and humans. LORELEI - Lorelei is another little-known woman from the Brotherhood of Mutants, and unique in that she’s NOT a mutant. At one point, Magneto used a machine to mutate members of the native tribes in the Savage Land, giving them super-powers. These Savage Land Mutates served him in their homeland, fighting the X-Men at his command, but he left them behind when he returned back to the rest of the world...all save Lorelei, who he took with him for his new Brotherhood, citing a possible “Pygmalion complex” for why. Lorelei was a beautiful blonde woman who could control men with her voice. However, she seems to have a childlike intellect, as she speaks very simply and in the third person, and doesn’t really seem aware of what she’s doing or why she’s being told by Magneto to do it. It’s a really worrying dynamic, and I also worry about Lorelei once Magneto just...kinda ditched her, I guess, and left her with Unus, Blob, and the Vanisher. Then she turns up back in the Savage Land serving yet another bad guy. Lorelei--or Lani Ubanu, as seems to be her name before Magneto transformed her--comes off as an unaware innocent that just gets constantly picked up and used by greater villains because she doesn’t know any better, and given that this is because of the powers Magneto gave her, I’d like to see that come back and have him take responsibility for her. And if she’s NOT as unaware and innocent as she seems, I’d like to see that, because she’s been around since 1969 and she doesn’t have a personality and she barely speaks! Flesh this girl out! MADELYNE PRYOR - I feel like this one is cheating a bit, because I’m not sure I’d say Maddy is under-used. She’s seen more action just this decade than all the others on this list saw in their entire careers COMBINED. It’s more than she’s just...not used well, in my opinion. 2000s writers generally seem to forget that her stint as the Goblyn Queen came from being infected by demonic energy and also insane (for VERY understandable reasons), and seem to think she’s just evil on her own. Not to mention they take all the depth out of her; she’s a character with a full personality of her own and some very fucked up struggles that she was not to blame for, but that all gets boiled down to “Scott’s sexy evil ex who is mad he left her so now she trounces around in skimpy clothes she never actually wore when she wasn’t possessed because EVIL LADIES ARE SEXY CUZ FEMALE SEXUALITY IS EVIL” and it’s just....u g h. When Maddy was herself, she actually was very heroic, to the point she sacrificed her life to save the world (her FIRST death, which everyone forgets). But she also has good reason to be really angry and bitter at the X-Men, and I don’t see her letting go of that even when she’s back in her right mind. So I think depicting her as an anti-hero, who saves innocent people yet works against the X-Men, would be a neat story, with the ultimate conclusion being her letting go of her grudge, not for THEIR sake but for HERS, to not have her be tethered to them any longer, not even by hate, and finally live a life that is HERS. MISS SINISTER - So, Miss Sinister is NOT Nathaniel Essex in a lady suit. She’s actually an entirely different person, and actually has a very sympathetic situation. She’s a woman named Claudine Renko, whom Mr. Sinister injected with a virus containing his own DNA. The idea was that in the event of his death, the virus would activate in her or one of his other test subjects, transforming them into Sinister complete with his consciousness replacing their own. But when it activated in Claudine after Sinister’s apparent (but in fact only temporary) death in the “Messiah Complex” story, Claudine did not become possessed by Mr. Sinister nor become him---not exactly. She became essentially a female clone of him, gaining aspects of his appearance (such as the chalk white skin) as well as his telepathic powers. He might also be how she got her wicked personality, but since we don’t know anything about her prior to this, that could just be how she was already. But she also suffered invasive memories of Essex's life, and that as a malignant presence within her mind, he was slowly killing her as a means of self-resurrection. He even managed to manifest briefly before being re-absorbed back into her. It was for this reason that she wanted to switch bodies with X-23, thus gaining Laura's healing factor, something she had wanted after her stabbing, and thereby freeing herself of Essex. The plan backfired when Essex took control of Laura's body and used her to mortally wound Claudine. Laura managed to overcome Essex's presence in her mind, expelling it through force of will. She was next seen working with Emma Frost on using The Mothervine, though Emma ended up turning on her. I remember feeling bad for Claudine when I read her story with X-23. Having someone else trying to take over your body is a pretty good motive for doing something as evil as trying to steal someone else’s, while also being inexcusable to do. It’s unlikely she was a willing subject for Sinister, so she probably isn’t to blame for what happened to her, but is to blame for her actions after, which is the kind of villain I like. Also, while she’s usually in lingerie ala a Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, she wore a really cute little normal outfit in a story with Sebastian Shaw and Daken...which ironically is when she actually was Black Queen! I’d like to see more of Claudine, and find out more about her story and who she was before all this, and whether or not she’s REALLY free of Sinister, as she seems to be now. After all...is anyone ever free of him? Bonus if she teams up with Madelyne Pryor! NOCTURNE - No not TJ Wagner, THIS LADY! I don’t think anyone (except me) is hoping for her return, as I don’t think anyone else really knows about her, but Spider-Man stuff is still popular so there’s no reason she couldn’t come back and have a prominent role in that. I really hope they go with the interpretation that she’s gay, since now is a time that they can actually have that open instead of coded, but more than just the representation of a gay WOC (which is awesome) I really am interested in her adjustment and journey into her new identity, and in particular her communication via empathy powers rather than speech. That really intrigues me about her. I think she could become very compelling and popular if brought back and handled well, perhaps in a story that brings back other neglected characters in the Spider franchise as well. SAT-YR-9 - Okay, so in the Captain Britain/Excalibur comics of the 80s, there was a woman named Courtney Ross. She was a banker and Captain Britain’s ex, and she became a side character, having adventures with the team and even besting none other than ARCADE through STAND UP COMEDY. Then one night, a version of her from another universe emerged in apartment, killed her, and took her place. This evil counterpart was Sat-Yr-9, who had been a cruel dictator in homeworld, and has been running around doing evil in 616 since while masquerading as Courtney. Captain Britain discovered the ruse and vowed revenge...but has yet to really do anything, probably because Sat-Yr-9 herself really hasn’t done anything since either. She popped up for a brief moment in the 2000s as the new White Queen of the Hellfire Club, but that’s it. I would like to see more of her, in that role or outside it. Given her connection to both the Hellfire Club and to Kitty (whom she was grooming under the guise of “Courtney Ross” and seemed to have big plans for, as well as some mysterious connection to that was never explained) I think she’d be great for the Marauders series. Or in the new “Excalibur” series that stars Psylocke as the new Captain Britain! I also think there would be interest in a story that finally resolves her murder of Courtney and shows Brian finally at least TRYING to make her pay, I still see it talked about on Marvel boards how unsatisfying and frustrating it is that Brian vowed revenge DECADES ago and has yet to do anything about it, and how much of a waste that makes Courtney’s death (Courtney was surprisingly popular with fans even to this day due to how she handled Arcade, it instantly endeared them to her...and then that’s RIGHT when she got killed off, literally the evening after) Maybe Betsy is the one who finally gets her at last! THRENODY - I think that Threnody’s coming back in the recent Deadpool series revived enough interest to justify bring her back yet again, and I think her baby being killed, however monstrous it was, means that fans are probably ready to see her get a happy ending for once. I know I sure am. ZALADANE - Zaladane was a personal villain to Polaris, and given that Polaris has never really had a book that was about her (as far as I know, I’m far from a Lorna expert) I think bringing her back as the bad guy for a Lorna solo series would be cool. I also would like it resolved if she’s Lorna’s sister or not. It seems to add up at the time it was written, but changes to Lorna’s backstory continuity since make it impossible. I think that a suitably comic-booky explanation could work for that, such as “she *is* Lorna’s sister but from another dimension, not 616, and also that explains how/why she’s in the Savage Land” or something like that. Plus it satisfies both the people who think she is and who think she isn’t.

#xmen #x men #x-men #marvel #marvel women

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whitewolfofwinterfell · 5 years

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My favourite Charmed episodes - season 4

This is the fourth part of my Favourite Charmed Episodes meta series all posts in the series will be tagged as #favecharmedeps.

Season 4 is a brilliant season, there’s no denying that. Over the years whenever I’ve seen fans discussing their favourite seasons, season 4 is usually always near the top and for a good reason. This season is when we’re introduced to Paige, whose transition onto the show is done brilliantly, the sister dynamics are beautiful and each of the sisters has their own unique arc. Overall, it’s just a great season that is strong throughout and although I think season 3 was a great season, I feel like this season is when Charmed truly hit it’s peak. I’ve picked 8 episodes from season 4 (which is the most episodes from any of the seasons) and they are - Charmed Again, Hell Hath No Fury, A Knight to Remember, Brain Drain, A Paige from the Past, Lost and Bound, Charmed and Dangerous and Long Live the Queen.

Just a heads up before you start reading, this post is pretty long (I just couldn’t help myself, season 4 is my favourite season).

Charmed Again Part 1 & 2 (4x01+2)

I’m including Charmed Again parts 1 and 2 as one episode (and I’ll refer to it as one episode from now on just to make it simpler), even though they’re technically two because they’re the same story split across two episodes. As the years have gone by I’ve come to love Charmed Again more and more. Despite how sad it is because it’s the first time we face the aftermath of Prue’s death, it’s a fantastic episode which manages to successfully explore the sisters grief and gives fans some closure about Prue’s death, introduce Paige as the new sister and stay true to Charmed whilst also establishing a new dynamic without Prue and with Paige in her place. It’s no easy task to kill off a main character in the middle of a series and Prue was a very big character and very important to the show. Her death could’ve easily destroyed the show, but the writers handled it amazingly. I’m one of the biggest Prue fans in the world, and even I can’t deny that they did her death justice and introduced Paige in a very authentic way despite how rushed it was and the way in which Prue (Shannen) left the show.

I love the opening scene of the episode and the way in which it makes us doubt whether Prue is really dead, only to bring the hard-hitting reality back home. I love the contrast between the sisters grief with Piper outwardly expressing her devastation and Phoebe retreating into herself and trying to keep busy and hold everything together. It immediately demonstrates that the sister dynamic has been completely turned upside down, since Phoebe in seasons 1-3 is known for being the youngest sister and the least responsible, but now it falls to her to take charge. These differences in how they handle Prue’s death is also shown in how Piper completely shuts down and refuses to continue being a Charmed One and saving innocents, whilst in comparison, Phoebe throws herself into trying to save Paige and believes that whether Prue is alive or not her premonitions still have meaning and she needs to act on them. The follow-up from this is the different ways in which the sisters react to finding out that Paige is their sister. When Patty tells Piper and Phoebe about Paige, Phoebe’s instant reaction is shock but also joy to an extent, whereas Piper’s is just shock and anger. She says that she’ll save Paige because she’s an innocent, but she has no interest in developing a relationship with her or reconstituting the Power of Three. Personally, I think Piper’s closed-off attitude to Paige in contrast to Phoebe’s open attitude perfectly shows the ways in which they dealt with Prue’s death in different ways. For Piper, accepting another sister feels like a betrayal to Prue. I also think that at this point, deep down inside she resents Paige because Prue’s loss is so fresh and in Piper’s eyes, nobody could ever compare to Prue. I think she probably hates herself for thinking it but some part of her probably wished that Prue was still there in Paige’s place and that was very difficult for her to deal with. But for Phoebe, she sees Paige as the only positive to come out of Prue’s death. She grieves Prue, of course she does, but she chooses to see Prue’s death as having meaning because it has brought them to Paige. Phoebe is faster to accept Prue’s death and that acceptance enables her to open up to Paige and see it as an opportunity to bond with another sister.

I love that the writers chose to write it this way, because I think these two different reactions from the sisters represented how most of us felt as fans and viewers. Some of us were Piper - in denial and distraught to have lost Prue; some of us were Phoebe - accepting that Prue was gone and open to the new start that Paige would bring. And whatever side we were on, it was important to that we saw those two reactions from Piper and Phoebe, because that allowed us to come to the acceptance stage through them.

Putting aside the sisters grief over Prue, this episode is one of the most intriguing and mysterious episodes of Charmed because Prue has just died and now anything can happen. In regards to the plot, it is super interesting to see The Source attempt to corrupt Paige, because there is that feeling of I don’t know what’s going to happen. As a brand new character there are no guarantees that Paige is safe from dying or that the sisters are capable of saving her without the Power of Three. Even when the Power of Three is reformed, there’s uncertainty about whether it will be as powerful as the original trio. Overall, this episode has very high stakes and no matter how many times I watch it, I find myself being sucked into it.

The introduction of Paige is seamless and she is immediately established as a unique character different from the other sisters. She’s sympathetic and it’s easy to connect to her from the off. Although I can’t quite put my finger on how, the writers and Rose manage to portray Paige as having Halliwell characteristics that make her feel like one of the family very quickly. But she still has that element of individuality that makes her very different from the other sisters. We learn enough about Paige - that she doesn’t drink, she’s scared of being hurt, she’s a social worker, her parents are dead etc. - to like her but not too much so that there’s an element of mystery about her that leaves us with the oppourtunity to continue getting to know her throughout the season. Although we are emotionally aligned with Piper and Phoebe since we’ve been with them for three years and are dealing with Prue’s loss, Paige’s dilemma evokes a similar amount of empathy. Her world is turned upside down and the only person she has to turn to is Shane, who is possessed by The Source. Paige’s inexperience and lack of knowledge regarding the magical world makes her an easy target and her denial of what’s happening to her is very understandable. In this episode we see Paige go on an emotional journey and the end is such a fantastic pay-off - the sisters bring her to the manor and she meets Patty for the first time. To date, I still consider that one of the most beautiful scenes of the series. It’s the perfect end to the episode and solidifies the fact that although there’s still a lot of development to be had, Paige is absolutely a Halliwell and she belongs with Piper and Phoebe at the manor.

Overall, this episode is the perfect follow-up to All Hell Breaks Loose. When I was younger I had a lot of problems with the way the episode skipped right over the immediate aftermath of Prue’s death and felt we were robbed of seeing that process, but now I see that actually the episode handles it exactly right. Prue is gone and Paige is here and this episode shows that without being too forceful or making it so that Paige is Prue’s replacement, even though in reality that’s exactly what she is and we all know it.

Hell Hath No Fury (4x03)

This episode is one of my all time favourites across the entire series. Why? Because it has everything - Cole, Piper and Phoebe working together to fight demons, Paige experimenting with being a witch for the first time with rather humorous consequences and then being forced to step up and face the reality of being a witch as events take a dark turn, we see Phoebe dealing with being the middle sister and having to mediate between Piper and Paige just like Piper used to do for her and Prue, and of course we see Piper’s grief over losing Prue. It’s the perfect continuation from Charmed Again in addressing the grief over Prue’s death and establishing Paige in both the magical world and the Halliwell family.

Holly’s acting in this episode is phenomenal and that’s something I have to mention when discussing this episode. Her breakdown in the mausoleum is far and above one of the most raw and emotional scenes of the entire series. It’s so powerful and it doesn’t matter how many times I see it, it still really upsets me. In fact, I find that scene the most upsetting one out of all the ones there are about Prue’s death including the scene where she actually dies, because I think that’s the moment where it really sinks in that Prue is gone and she’s not coming back. Although Charmed Again reaffirms the fact that Prue is gone, by the end of the episode Piper was still in denial and in this episode Piper has shifted from denial to anger. It’s the natural process we’re all familiar with - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

What is so beautiful about Piper’s outburst towards the end of the episode is that Paige is the one that is with her. The two struggle to bond as sisters because of Piper’s grief over losing Prue, but in this scene in the mausoleum they are able to connect as two people who have lost their family. Paige knows exactly how Piper is feeling and she’s able to articulate that for her in a way that no one else can because she’s experienced that kind of loss. It’s actually a very underrated sister moment between Piper and Paige, because it’s the first time they really connect, even if it is only for a brief moment. It’s overlooked as a sister moment because the focus is on Piper’s emotional reaction but there’s a bond that’s forged in this moment between the two sisters. The writers were very clever to specifically choose Paige to share that moment with Piper, because it wouldn’t have worked in the same way if it had been Phoebe. And them sharing that moment is what allows Piper at the end of the episode to finally open herself up to Paige for the first time. The scene at the end of the episode where Piper brings Paige muffins and calls her her sister is one of the sweetest moments ever, because it’s such a simple gesture but it demonstrates that Piper has reached the acceptance stage and is ready to welcome Paige into her life and her heart.

Speaking of Paige, I love her development in this episode. In Charmed Again she reacted very negatively to being a witch and wanted to run from it, yet in this episode we see her start to embrace it. Like any other young woman in her position would, she starts to wonder what perks being a witch could bring and although her stealing the Book and casting a series of spells is technically wrong and against the rules, I can’t help but love her for it because it’s so human. Who wouldn’t do that in the same situation? I’d definitely want to have some fun! That happening also demonstrates though that the sisters aren’t there for Paige in the way they should be. It’s understandable given how fresh Prue’s death is, but Paige really needs Piper and Phoebe’s guidance and support and as Phoebe rightfully points out, the fact that they don’t give her that time leads her to steal the Book not knowing that it is wrong. So not only is it a valuable lesson for Paige on personal gain, it’s a valuable lesson for Piper and Phoebe, who take a much more hands-on approach with Paige from this episode onwards. As the episode progresses, Paige has to deal with Piper’s transformation into a Fury, despite being completely new to the magical world. But like Phoebe tells Piper at the end of the episode, she doesn’t freak out, she handles it and she actually takes initiative and figures out that the Call For a Lost Witch Spell will work if they substitute the word sister for witch. And on reflection, Paige is actually the one that saves the day in this episode. Her actions are what save Piper. Her idea to change the spell and use Cole as bait is what draws Piper back to them and Paige’s intuition about Piper’s feelings allow her to get Piper to fully open up about how she’s feeling and that’s what turns her back into herself. It’s very subtle but this episode shows that whilst the death of a sister broke Piper, the discovery of another healed her. And that’s why in Sam I Am in season 5 Piper talks about how Paige brought the family back together and how she’s the reason she is still standing there. It’s true and the legacy of that sister relationship begins here.

What I love most about this episode is how authentic it is in exploring the aftermath of Prue’s death. It shows that grief is an ongoing process, it doesn’t just magically get better overnight and it manifests itself in a variety of ways. Piper handles it very differently from Phoebe, but they both struggle in their own ways. But the important thing that this episode establishes is that the new trio has the potential to work, both as a sisterhood and The Power of Three. Paige manages to overcome her fears of demons to fight back and she takes initiative to find Piper, all demonstrating her potential as a witch. She also manages to access the deepest part of Piper’s grief and enable her to face it so that she can finally open herself up to Paige for the first time. It’s just such a beautiful episode with a great payoff and really lays the foundation for what the new trio can be and what they eventually become.

A Knight to Remember (4x06)

The reason I love this episode can be pretty much summed up in one word: Paige. Up until this point Paige was likeable to me, but this is the episode that really showed me that Paige was an individual with her own personality and uniqueness and that I could love her every bit as much as I loved Prue.

Generally speaking, I am a sucker for any fairytale-esque episodes, so that’s likely part of the reason I like this episode so much, but mostly it’s because of Paige. It’s so good to see her relationship with Glenn and her past self in the form of the Enchantress because it gives us a deeper insight into Paige’s life before she met the sisters and also her depths as a character. In the past Phoebe always chastised herself for having a past self that was ‘evil’ (in Pardon My Past) so by creating the same for Paige, there was a common-ground for both the sisters which acted as a bond for their relationship. All of the sister relationships are unique, but Phoebe and Paige’s relationship is unique because of the way in which they can relate to each other for being more rebellious and ‘dark’ in nature, and although we see elements of that before this episode, the seeds of that are fully sown in this episode.

Moving on from that for a moment, I love the scene at the beginning of the episode with Piper going into Prue’s room and putting on her leather jacket. It’s important to see that the grief process is ongoing and that Piper has moved past the raw emotion to be able to remember Prue in a more peaceful way. I always felt that Piper putting on Prue’s leather jacket was very symbolic of her taking her rightful place as the eldest sister and accepting that responsibility, since she’d been quite resistant and slightly resentful of it up until this point.

Back to Paige, it’s interesting to see that inner battle she’s still having about what being a witch means for her. On the one hand, we’ve seen her embrace being a witch to some extent in previous episodes, but in this episode we see her still being reluctant to give up her ‘normal’ life to fully commit to being a witch. She strongly resists moving into the manor, insisting that she wants to keep a life separate from magic along with her privacy, but really her reasons are deeper than that and much more emotional. Paige is afraid to live with the sisters because it’s a huge step, not just for her but for all of them (something that Piper and Phoebe fail to consider until later on in the episode) and she doesn’t feel ready. She’s worried that the sisters are still grieving Prue and will compare her to Prue, placing her in Prue’s shadow and resulting in her feeling like an outsider. This is huge for Paige since she actually doesn’t have a family (except Uncle Dave, who is only mentioned once and never again, which still kinda annoys me, but that’s a separate issue haha) and finding the sisters means a lot to her. Although Piper and Phoebe embrace Paige eventually, finding her doesn’t mean the same to them at this point as it does for Paige. Piper and Phoebe didn’t need or want family, they had each other and Prue, but Paige was practically all alone in the world. When the sisters ask her to move in, she doesn’t want to potentially ruin that chance at having a family because it means so much to her, so she tries to run from it instead. What this episode does is allow Paige to come to terms with moving in with the sisters in her own way. Her determination to deal with the Enchantress alone has consequences and Piper and Phoebe get pulled into a portal, and it’s at that point that she realises she needs to start working with her sisters, not against them. Again, this is the beginning of an ongoing issue for Paige whereby she has to constantly try to negotiate with her sisters, give up her independence and adjust to being part of a team and a family.

Putting the deeper emotional and symbolic meanings aside, this episode has some light-hearted humour with the Prince arriving in San Francisco and being head over heels for Paige. Also seeing Leo take on the guards in the past was a legendary moment.

Overall, I like this episode because it solidifies Paige as an interesting, unique character with her own personality and past. And of course, I love to see the three sisters in the manor where they belong.

Brain Drain (4x07)

Years ago, this episode definitely wouldn’t have made it onto my list. I always found it very creepy because of some personal issues and deep-rooted fears I have regarding some of the themes featured in the episodes. However, as I’ve gotten older I’ve really come to enjoy and appreciate this episode for everything it represents and its importance for Piper as a character.

Piper goes through a huge change in this season because of Prue’s death. I always think it’s a little unfair that Piper gets all the attention when it comes to Prue’s death and Phoebe is kind of forgotten, but objectively, no one can deny that Piper is more profoundly affected by it. It really comes down to the fundamental differences in Piper and Phoebe as people but also their relationships with Prue, but I digress. The point is that Piper undergoes a huge change and in the episodes leading up to this one we’ve seen her dealing with the loss of Prue. However, by this episode there’s almost an assumption that Piper is totally fine (because outwardly that’s how it appears) and that she has fully embraced Paige, but what this episode does that no other does (not even Hell Hath No Fury) is address Piper’s emotions and underlying grief head-on and give it complete closure.

In previous seasons we’ve seen the sisters be targeted by demons and warlocks who seek to worm their way into their lives and strike when they’re most vulnerable. Generally, Phoebe has been the target because she’s perceived as the easiest to infiltrate because her inherent optimism and caring spirit compels her to see the good in people and trust them. In this episode, Piper is chosen because her emotional fragility makes her susceptible to the Source’s master plan (which, in my opinion, is a very effective plan and I actually think the Source’s intelligence in this instance is very overlooked). Piper is a very unhappy person at this point - Prue is dead, she wants a baby but feels she can’t because of the danger the baby would be in, she craves a normal life but feels she can’t have one - and seeing her friend Wendy reaffirms all of the negative emotions she feels and that desire to be ‘normal’. By attacking Piper’s mind in the way he does, the Source is able to dig into the deepest part of Piper’s fears and desires and it’s very revealing. The entire basis of getting Piper to reveal the power relinquishing spell is to tell her that Prue is still alive. Over and over Alistair (the Source) tells her that if she allows him to help her she’ll be able to leave the institution and be with Prue again. That’s how powerful Piper’s grief still is at this point - so powerful that the thought that she could see Prue again is enough to tempt her to give in. In addition to this, we see the Source play on Piper’s desire for a life without magic by bringing in her friend Wendy and her baby. But what’s taken forgranted, is that this desire for a normal life is linked to Prue. Although Piper expresses in season 1 that she just wants to be normal again and we see her say something similar on a few other occasions, this season is where we truly see that desire rear it’s ugly head and it’s directly connected to Prue’s death. Piper no longer sees the value of magic, can no longer make sense of its purpose and believes that ultimately all it does is put her loves ones in mortal danger. She wants a normal life because she can’t face anymore loss and she doesn’t want to have to live in a world or possess powers that she feels are responsible for getting her sister killed. The scariest thing about all of this is how close Piper comes to giving it all up. By preying on these emotions and thoughts she has the Source manages to break her spirit in the harshest way and the turmoil Piper endures in this episode is really overlooked, in my opinion.

What makes this so significant is that when the sisters and Leo appear to her and the spell is broken, Piper is finally able to appreciate her life and her sisters in a way she’s been unable to since Prue’s death. She realises that she’s not alone - Phoebe understands how she feels about losing Prue and both Phoebe and Paige understand what it’s like to want a normal life - and she also realises that she can still have some semblance of normal life whilst being a witch. It’s a huge turning point for Piper and a reality check for her to appreciate what she has and find a way to get the balance in her life between magic and ordinary life. As a side note, this is why My Three Witches (and season 6 onwards generally) really bugs me because it’s so inconsistent with Piper’s character development. In this episode she faces up to what a life without magic could look like and realises that her notion of having a ‘normal’ life isn’t everything she imagines it could be and that she’s actually very lucky to have the life she has (a theme that’s continued in Lost and Bound, which I’ll discuss more in-depth below). So to then revert her back to the whole “I want a normal life” mantra is so frustrating.

A Paige from the Past (4x10)

Once again, the reasons I love this episode are probably a little obvious: it’s Paige centric. This is one of the most important Paige centric episodes across the entire series because it’s the only one that actually gives us real insight into Paige’s life before she met the sisters and more importantly, her parents. It still frustrates me so much that we only get to meet Paige’s parents once and that they’re barely mentioned again.

However, this episode beautifully explores Paige’s underlying guilt over her parents death and how it’s shaped her life. We learn that Paige was a rebellious teen that defied her parents and that her actions indirectly led to their death. That one event in Paige’s life is what led her to change and from the day of her parents death she devoted herself to striving to be better and do better to honour their memory. It’s a great insight into Paige’s psyche, and just as A Knight to Remember establishes a connection between Paige and Phoebe through their similarities, this episode provides a common connection between Prue and Paige through their trauma over their parents deaths. Prue was hugely affected by Patty’s death and that ultimately shaped the person she became, just as Paige’s parents’ deaths shaped who she became. Just like Prue who actually saw Patty when she was dead, Paige witnessed her parents die and that profoundly affected her.

This episode reinforces an important and valuable lesson that the sisters already discovered way back in season 1 in That 70s Episode, and that lesson is that you can’t change the past no matter how much you may want to. Destiny is a huge theme throughout the show and some events are fixed because they’re meant to be. We’re told that Prue is meant to die because that leads Piper and Phoebe to Paige. Similarly, Paige’s parents are meant to die because that shapes who she becomes and is part of a sequence of events that leads her to Piper and Phoebe. In addition, the purpose of Paige going back in time is to understand and realise that she wasn’t responsible for her parents deaths. It was a tragic accident that was out of her control and she was saved by magic because she was supposed to. Without going back in time Paige may have carried the burden of guilt for the rest of her life and that would’ve prevented her from being able to fully move forward and grow as a person. And the fact that Paige not only gets to interact with her parents in the past, see their death from an outside perspective and understand it wasn’t her fault, she also gets to communicate with them in the present. The one thing she wanted was for her parents to see the person she became and be proud of her, and she gets that chance. That is a pivotal moment for Paige in allowing her to truly move forward and continue to blossom of a person. A price really can’t be placed on Paige being able to see her parents and know they’ve seen all that she’s done since they’ve died and that they’re proud of her. It’s a beautiful moment to witness, and one of my favourite moments for Paige because of the meaning it holds for her.

The side-plot of the episode with Phoebe and Cole being possessed by ghosts is a somewhat comedic off-set to Paige’s plot. But it also allows Phoebe and Cole to vicariously live through Frankie and Lulu and deal with their difference of opinion on marriage. It’s also good to see Piper try and effectively manage the situation without Leo to lean on, as it’s all part of solidifying her new role as the eldest sister. I also like seeing the close bond that’s developed between Leo and Paige in this episode. Leo has a unique bond with all of the sisters’ and it’s good to see how supportive Leo is of Paige as both a Whitelighter and brother-in-law.

Lost and Bound (4x12)

In this series there’ll be quite a lot of episodes that most people would also list as being one of their favourites, but this episode isn’t one of them. Generally, I don’t think this is an episode that stands out in people’s minds because it’s not particularly memorable but I really like it for a few reasons.

First of all, I should say that I, like most fans, find Tyler very irritating. The character himself is good and works in the episode well, but the choice of actor was awful and I wish they had picked someone more appropriate and experienced for the role. But this doesn’t deter me from listing this as one of my favourite episodes because of the character development. I know I keep blathering on about character development, but for me personally, an ‘average’ episode plot-wise can still make it into my favourites if it has good characterisation and that’s a pattern you’ll notice with most/all of the episodes I choose.

This episode is the perfect follow-up from Brain Drain and great for Piper. As I mentioned above, Brain Drain delved into Piper’s desires to be ‘normal’ more so than any other episode up until this point and this episode shows us how Piper has moved forward and grown from that. We see her in this episode acknowledging the importance of magic and how special it is for probably the first time. She feels so strongly that magic is a part of her as an individual and her family heritage that she gets into a dispute with Leo about the possibility of binding their future child’s powers. Tyler acts as the perfect conduit for Piper’s issues in this episode, because not only does he give her the chance to establish a bond with a child that connects to her motherly instincts, it also gives her clarity on the issue of being a magicical child. She helps Tyler try and control his powers and see that it can be channelled for the right purposes which further reinforces her belief that magic is valuable and something to be cherished. But Tyler’s decision to bind his powers at the end of the episode also reminds her that she also once (not so long ago) wished to be non-magical and that having powers means something different for everyone, but particularly for a child. As a child Tyler doesn’t have any desire to be different or special, he just wants to be like every other child his age and to fit in. There are so many negative repercussions to having powers as a child that I really can’t blame him for making the decision to bind his powers. The scene with Piper and Leo at the end where Piper talks about how Grams binding their powers gave her and her sisters the greatest gift of all - the gift of innocence - helps her to finally see Leo’s perspective on binding their child’s powers and to respect the decision that Grams made when the sisters were young. It’s really a beautiful episode in addressing Piper’s issues with being a witch and bringing this character arc to a wholesome conclusion. Now she doesn’t want to have an ordinary life or to give up her powers, she understands that they’re special. She also knows that there are negatives and dangers that come from having those powers, but that ultimately, she would never give them up because they’re fundamentally a part of who she is and she is able to do much more good with them than she could without them.

In addition to Piper’s character development in this episode, Phoebe also has a great arc. Throughout season 4 we see Phoebe have a bit of an identity crisis following on from Prue’s death and her transition from the youngest to the middle sister. We also see her struggle with Cole’s marriage proposal because she doesn’t feel ready and is generally afraid of marriage and what it represents. In this episode, we see the perfect play-out for this underlying fear Phoebe has. Although the way it’s done is somewhat comical, Grams’ cursed ring allows Phoebe to quite literally live her greatest fears of marriage. She becomes a domesticated housewife whose sole purpose of existing is to please and look after her husband at the detriment and sacrifice of her own identity. By being able to experience this Phoebe comes to the realisation that her notions of marriage are just that - notions. It’s not the reality and marriage’s are unique depending upon the couple. In the final scene with Cole the couple discuss this and agree that they aren’t those kinds of people and their marriage will not become what they perceive to be ‘typical’ because they themselves aren’t ‘typical’ as a witch and an ex-demon-turned-human. Along the way we get to see some funny scenes - the scene in the bathroom is a particular favourite of mine and Leo’s face when Phoebe asks him the ‘very important question’ of whether Tyler is staying for lunch. Not forgetting her little song; “I’m making soup for Cole, he’ll eat it in a bowl, I guess that’s my new role, just making soup for Cole” haha.

Although Paige isn’t as central in this episode, we even get to see her growth as she writes her first ever vanquishing spell by herself, demonstrating her abilities as a witch and the potential she has, which we get to see plenty of in season 5.

Even Cole’s characterisation is good in this episode as we witness him struggle to make the transition from demon to human and get his first job. It’s interesting to see that inner struggle he has between his instinct to do good and his instinct to do good things in not-so-good ways. For example, he desperately wants to get justice for the awful actions of the slumlord, but ultimately his solution to that is to use violence. Personally, I love this version of Cole because it demonstrates that he’s a very morally grey character and unlike the other main characters - the sisters and Leo - he really can’t be boxed in as being wholly good or wholly bad. It’s a very realistic take on his struggle to find his identity as a human who has been a half demon for over a century, and it’s a shame that his character arc didn’t continue down this road.

On a final note, I really enjoy this episode because everything just feels together. Piper and Leo are happy and planning to have a baby; Cole and Phoebe are happy and growing both individually and as a couple; Paige has found her feet within the family and the trio and the family feels united and strong. I actually think that the first half of season 4 up until this point is when the family is at it’s strongest and I loved seeing the togetherness of Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Leo and Cole.

Charmed and Dangerous (4x13)

Many of the episodes in this series are episodes that I’ve come to love and appreciate more and more as I’ve gotten older, but Charmed and Dangerous has always been one of my all time favourites. It’d be impossible for me to ever choose my number one favourite episode, but this one would definitely be near the top because for me, this is Charmed at its absolute best.

For me, The Source is the Big Bad of the entire series and as much as the writers attempted to conjure up bigger and more powerful evil nothing topped The Source. This episode is a build up of almost an entire season of mentions of The Source, of him sending demons and warlocks after the sisters and it’s a glorious pay off. From start to finish it’s a thrilling ride that feels unpredictable. Even now when I watch it, I know what happens and how it ends, but it still feels like the sisters really may lose this battle and that anything can happen. The Source is cunning and has spent a very long time gathering information on the sisters to discover their biggest weaknesses and using the Hollow to steal their powers is a very effective method of attempting to defeat them. The sisters genuinely believe that there’s a high chance The Source will kill them which we see through Piper planning a will and Paige using magic to help Carolyn get her son back. The stakes are high in this episode and the tension is palpable. The reveal of The Source’s face for the first time is a great moment and the general action in this episode is gripping. It’s interesting to see the sisters trying to win the fight without their active powers and it’s pretty refreshing to see them use their other wiccan abilities, since as the seasons progress they become more and more dependent upon their powers.

Strangely, I don’t have much more to say about this, because it’s not so much about characterisation in this episode as it is about plot and action. It’s a satisfying and gripping battle between the sisters and The Source - which is essentially the greatest force of good versus the greatest force of evil - and come on, what’s not to love about that?! Plus the ending with Cole becoming The Source is a great cliffhanger to the episode.

Long Live the Queen (4x20)

How could I not include this episode? Regardless of whether you love or hate Cole and his relationship with Phoebe, this episode is amazing. We see the sisters take a walk on the dark side multiple times in seasons 1-3 but never like this. Previously the sisters have been turned evil either by transformations e.g. Piper becoming a wendigo, Phoebe a banshee, Paige a vampire or by possession, but this time Phoebe is corrupted by love and her pregnancy and chooses to become Queen of the Underworld. Because of that, in this episode, much like Charmed and Dangerous, there’s a sense that anything can happen.

From the opening scenes of the episode the tone is set with Phoebe killing some of Cole’s subjects out of annoyance and simply because she can. It’s a very clear statement that Phoebe has completely gone over to the dark side. This is a particularly interesting transformation for Phoebe since canonically she is the sister that is portrayed as having more of an inclination to the dark side. Part of me wonders if from the very beginning Phoebe falling in love was part of that underlying pull she had to darkness. She didn’t know Cole was a demon, but she also knew that he was mysterious and I also think that deep down she did know he was a demon before the reveal in Sleuthing with the Enemy, but that’s kind of a separate issue. What this episode does very well, as it has done in previous episodes, is show the inner battle between good and evil that exists within most of us. Phoebe struggles to find the balance between her new place in the demon world as Queen of the Underworld and her conscience and love for her family which compels her to want to continue saving innocents. But more than showing us Phoebe’s inner turmoil with the light and dark that coexists inside her, this episode perfectly explores the heart-wrenching pain of having to choose between the love of a partner and the love of family. And what I respect about how this episode handled that issue is that it showed how difficult of a choice that was. Phoebe didn’t know who to choose or what to do until the last second when she was forced to choose between the lives of her sisters and Leo or Cole. I could never ever judge Phoebe for how reluctant and unsure she is in making that choice because I can’t imagine having to choose between the person I love and my family. In the end Phoebe’s choice doesn’t just come down to family, it also comes down to good and evil. Phoebe is completely in love with Cole but she knows deep down in her heart that he’s evil - he’s The Source after all - and there is no future for them as a couple or a family (with the sisters and Leo) if they’re evil. As Cole rightfully said in Bride and Gloom, there is no such thing as evil love. Watching Phoebe go through this emotional struggle is heart-breaking to watch, but also compelling. It’s the first time we really see a sister come up against this kind of emotional and moral dilemma which is so huge that the word ‘dilemma’ seems too light a word to use.

Obviously Phoebe is the central focus of this episode, but it’s also very interesting in regards to Piper and Paige and the dynamics between the sisters. Piper’s pessimism stands in contrast to Paige’s determination, and for a lot of fans Piper’s reaction can actually come as a bit of a shock. Personally, before watching the episode if someone had asked me how Piper would react in this situation I would’ve said that she would do whatever it took to get Phoebe back and wouldn’t stop until she did. However, knowing how she does react and having had plenty of years to reflect on it, I completely understand her reaction and it’s perfectly fitting for her to react that way under the circumstances. Prue’s death was the biggest trauma in Piper’s life and although outwardly by this point she seems completely fine, this episode is just another reminder that that pain is still with her. Just as we see Phoebe struggle with the transition from youngest to middle sister, Piper struggles with the transition from middle to eldest sister, and in a way, the transition Piper has to undergo is more difficult. Piper is practically the opposite to Prue; she’s not a natural leader, she’s not very pragmatic, she’s not commanding and when it comes to the sisterhood (particularly as witches) in seasons 1-3 she takes a much more passive position within the trio. So for her to lose Prue, who was her strength and her security, and then to actually have to become her was incredibly difficult for her to deal with. The scene where she’s drunk in P3 demonstrates how she feels she’s failed in her role as the eldest sister and although she doesn’t explicitly say it, the subtext almost says, “This would’ve never happened if Prue was still here”. She feels that she’s failed Phoebe by not being the best big sister she could be and it reflects that insecurity she has that she’s not capable of being the responsible big sister and that she’s not fit to fulfil the role Prue once did so well. So her pessimism towards Phoebe may come across at first as resentment for choosing Cole over her family (I don’t doubt some part of it is), but in reality, it’s her own self-loathing coming out side-wards. She hates herself for allowing Phoebe to go to the place she does but instead of admitting that, she projects that onto Phoebe and it comes out as anger. And there’s also the fact that she is most likely devastated because she feels that she’s lost yet another sister. Unfortunately, there’s not really a solid resolution in this episode for Piper’s feelings. Phoebe choosing to vanquish Cole to save her, Paige and Leo ends Phoebe’s reign as Queen, but it doesn’t solve this underlying insecurity and uncertainty Piper has about being the eldest sister. Nonetheless, it’s interesting to see how Phoebe’s stint as the Queen impacts Piper.

As for Paige, this episode just reaffirms how much I love her. This is a young woman who was thrust into a world of magic completely out of the blue and had to learn the craft and attempt to fit in with the sisters and develop a relationship with them organically, without treading on Prue’s toes and giving them the space to grieve her and then this awful thing happens with Phoebe becoming the Queen of the Underworld all she cares about is helping Phoebe and Piper. She never once shows any fear, she fights to remain positive and chooses to believe that Phoebe still has enough goodness inside her and love for her family that she can be saved. In the face of Piper’s emotional downward spiral, she stays strong, saves the innocent (by herself, might I add), picks Piper back up and encourages her to fight for Phoebe with her. Paige is truly a hero in this episode and her strength and determination is overlooked because the focus is primarily on Phoebe. But this episode is just more proof of how awesome Paige is and how much the sisters need her.

Returning to Phoebe and Cole who are obviously at the centre of this episode, nothing really compares to those final scenes where Phoebe says the vanquishing spell and kills Cole. It’s shocking, it’s heartbreaking, it’s a relief; it’s just so damn emotional. Nothing shows the strength of Phoebe’s character than that moment, and weirdly, in my opinion, no other moment shows the strength of the love Phoebe and Cole have than in that moment and this episode as a whole. These are two people that are not themselves (Cole is possessed by The Source and Phoebe is under the influence of The Source’s spawn) and yet their love is powerful enough to overcome all of the evil that is taking them over from the inside to be together. In reality, Cole should’ve killed Phoebe a long time ago when he was first possessed by The Source, but his love for her is so strong that he can’t. And Phoebe, despite knowing from the second she makes the choice to be with Cole that it’s wrong, makes her decision out of love. It may be wrong, it may be unhealthy, but once again, I don’t judge Phoebe and I think that some fans judge her decisions and actions too harshly in this situation. This is also where I have a slight problem with Piper’s reaction, because her belief is that Phoebe is delusional for choosing Cole because she should’ve chosen her family point blank, end of story. But it’s not that black and white and I’ve always thought that if Piper had been in the same situation, she would’ve done exactly what Phoebe did. Piper prioritises Leo above her sisters so many times because he is her husband and the man she loves, and because of how much she loves Leo I always felt that she should’ve been slightly more understanding. Phoebe didn’t choose The Source, she chose Cole.

Back to the point, this episode is one of the most emotional and memorable in the series. It explores some very heavy issues regarding good vs evil, love vs family, duty vs loyalty and choice vs conscience. And the very last scene with the sisters comforting Phoebe is by far one of the simplest yet touching scenes and sister moments across the series. It encapsulates every bit of emotion from the episode in just a 2-3 minute scene without even a word of dialogue and I love it.

And that brings me to the end of my favourite season 4 episodes. I know this was quite a lot longer than seasons 1-3, but that’s because season 4 is my favourite season so I have lots more to say about it. Like any long-term Charmed fan, my favourite season has changed over the years, but season 4 has always been near the top because it’s the best season in terms of character development and arcs. All three of the sisters have fantastic, coherent character arcs and the transition from the original trio to the new trio is organic, and despite the heartbreak of Prue’s death, it’s actually refreshing and enjoyable to watch. It’s a rare thing that I’m able to watch a show after the death of my favourite character and still find enjoyment, and embrace the change of tone and pace, but with Charmed, I really do. Admittedly, the Cole/Phoebe plot gets a little too much focus towards the end of the season which is slightly detrimental to the season overall, but it doesn’t take away from the brilliance of the season in overall. Beyond the character development this season far and above has some of the most memorable scenes and episodes of the season - the whole of Charmed Again and Hell Hath No Fury, Cole’s vanquish, the face-off with the Source and Phoebe becoming the Queen of the Underworld - whether you like it or hate it, few people can deny that those are the scenes that stick with us most for how powerful and emotional they are.

As always, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed hearing my thoughts and feel free to share yours with me. The next post will be my favourite season 5 episodes which is currently my second favourite season so once again you can expect lots of analysis.

#charmed #mine #my meta #charmed meta #favecharmedeps #text post #this will likely be the longest post #s5 will be long-ish #and then after that seasons 6-8 will be VERY short because i don't really have any fave eps from the later seasons

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thegayhimbo · 3 years

Text

Instances where Bill Compton has committed Rape/Sexual Assault:

The Southern Vampire Mystery Books:

TRIGGER WARNING AHEAD! This is the rape scene in all of its gruesome detail:

TV Show:

“But when do you know it’s OK to crawl out of the mud and rape her [as Bill does in one scene]… ”

--Stephen Moyer in a 2009 interview with Nylon Magazine (the answer is a bit cut from the original)

--Stephen Moyer at Paleyfest 2011

EDIT TO ADD: 7.) In season 5, when Bill and the other Authority members attack the patrons at the bar and start slaughtering everyone, there's a brief moment where Bill is on top of a woman biting and sucking from her breast. Even if he was feeding from her, what he does here constitutes sexual assault.

Bill Compton is a walking embodiment of rape culture, and a prime example of how our society continues to make excuses for abusive men.

#true blood #the southern vampire mysteries #bill compton #anti bill compton #charlaine harris #dead until dark #living dead in dallas #club dead #sookie stackhouse #lorena krasiki #sophie anne leclerq #stephen moyer #alan ball

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