#is it that crazy to think that if you know a character plotline could be contentious you would like

[renatapatata]

reading anything that steve blackman has to say regarding five and lila’s plotlines in season four like

[antisisyphus]

i wish we got more of the parents side of things from riverdale. is there ever an ep where the cast plays their parents as they went to hs?

[failchild]

i can write so much more about why i think severance S2 isn't as strong or enjoyable as S1, but i could truly go on forever so i've organized my thoughts into three categories: lack of inter/departmental connection, dropped storylines, and how the world feels much smaller (1.2k words under the cut)

lack of inter/departmental connection

a significant theme of the S2 finale is the solidarity between different severed departments. MDR, mammalians nurturable, and the marching band department become impromptu allies against lumon management. innie mark is hesitant to save gemma not just because he might cease to exist, but so might the entire severed department. so why wasn't this a theme throughout the whole season?

episode 3 was building up to this: mark and "helly" made contact with mammalians nurturable, and irving visited O&D to share a nice moment with felicia. but that interdepartmental connection is completely dropped until the the finale, seven episodes later.

innie mark's concern for all severed workers rings a bit hollow when he doesn't seem to care about the three innies he got terminated in episode 1, and hasn't thought about irving at all. (i know ignoring grief is mark's whole thing, but he's known irving his whole life! there's not even a single moment of him acknowledging irving after his firing.) like, okay, mark said innie rights! does he really demonstrate that throughout the season, though?

EDIT: oh my god, miss casey—innie mark willingly killed miss casey. if he was truly so concerned about every innie, shouldn't he have been conflicted about leading her to her death? the person he said "we're people, not parts of people" to? the person he said "no one gets to just turn you off" to? (mark! you just turned her off!)

what stands out more is the lack of connection within MDR itself: once irving's gone, MDR just doesn't seem to care about each other. their tight-knit friendship and "we're in this together" dynamic is supplanted by romance. sure, mark and helly love each other now—why does that have to come at the cost of their friendship with dylan? do they just not care that he's been disappearing for half the work day? in the S2 finale, it's a great character moment for dylan when he comes to the rescue, but would helly and mark do the same for him? they didn't seem to notice or care that he was gone for mark's completion of cold harbor.

dropped storylines and dramatic twists that lead nowhere

(i know how television works, i know that plotlines that begin in one season can get resolved in another. okay. now that's out of the way)

remember how bold of a decision it was to have mark reintegrate in episode 3? the building of tension, reghabi asking an increasingly confused mark basic questions ("what season is it?" "you mean, what quarter?"), mark waking up on the severed floor table, and the triumphant soundtrack that follows? none of that seems to matter now: reghabi is out of the picture and mark doesn't get reintegration sickness or hallucinations anymore. reghabi kept warning mark to not move his head—then he fell to the ground and slammed his head, and was beaten in the head by drummond. is his brain okay? did the reintegration process even happen? did i dream this plotline? where am i?

what did the undercover helena plot accomplish? okay, so it was crazy when irving revealed that helena was impersonating helly. what exactly were the consequences of this? besides irving getting fired, there were barely any ripple effects for this seemingly momentous betrayal—mark was uncomfortable for two episodes, and helly was upset for, like, ten minutes tops. it's a fun plot twist for sure, but it doesn't seem to truly affect the character it should matter most to, and helly isn't given the time to wrestle with the fact that she's an eagan (royalty! a god!) and found out mere hours ago. we get to know helena a bit, i guess, but she was already compelling when she was just a face on a TV screen, telling helly that she wasn't a person.

speaking of irving's firing, this was the perfect setup for learning more about his outie, but we learn nothing. we have the same questions as we did in S1: who's he working with? what's his motivation to infiltrate lumon? why does he know about the elevator to the testing floor? irving is just as much of a mystery as he was in S1—and now we don't know if we'll ever see him again and get answers to those crucial character questions.

milchick has undoubtedly the best character arc this season. in episode 9 he finally snaps at upper management and can barely process what it means when outie mark tells him, "work's just work". i don't think milchick would turn his back on lumon entirely, that wouldn't be realistic, but all his character moments throughout the season seemed to be culminating to him realizing that, yeah, work is just work, it's not that serious. it makes sense that he would try his hardest to escape the bathroom, then get greeted by an innie uprising—but that would have also happened to a S1 milchick. after the kier animatronic microaggressions and all the shit he has to do to prepare for cold harbor's completion, would he really try to escape the bathroom that hard? or would he be having a midlife crisis, staring himself down in a mirror? i'm genuinely not sure.

i know i'm in the minority here but i loved ricken in S1—he and his strange followers bring an earnestness and sense of humor that made the show feel unique in how it juggled wildly different tones. ricken was also crucial to the innie story, and helped innie mark realize his potential as a human being. but besides appearing in a single flashback during the gemma episode, ricken's been completely absent since episode 3. what happened to his lumon sellout arc? what does he think his wife, who he has a newborn baby with, is doing? did he die in a private yacht explosion?

we still don't know what cold harbor is, right? we know that each file MDR completes is another room for gemma, but what's cold harbor specifically, and why would it kill her? she starts to disassemble a crib without feeling negative emotions—how is that any different from any other innie? is the point to sever away specific trauma? is that really it? and again, why would that kill her?

the world feels much smaller

the world outside of lumon is absent in S2. S1 had ricken and his weird friends, mark going on dates, back alley concerts, anti-severance protests, snippets of the news—there was life outside of lumon! S2 leaves that all behind to tighten focus on lumon and the people directly involved in the company, which makes the story very insular.

characters are so vitally important now: helly is an eagan, mark is the only one who can finish cold harbor and cold harbor is The Most Important Thing In The World We Have To Complete It Now, everything MDR does is because of gemma, and cobel invented severance. everyone else feels supplemental—people like irving and ricken can be easily discarded. the science fiction aspects, which were bizarre and unknowable in S1, are now directly personal to everyone. it's like milchick lying about the tallest waterfall in the world: it just makes everything seem smaller.

this also muddies S1's central themes and satire of the corporate world. mark isn't just another cog in the machine anymore, he's the most important guy (they fired and rehired a bunch of people, just for him!). the work isn't mysterious anymore, we know exactly what they're doing. mark being an ordinary guy who goes to an office job he doesn't really understand was the point of the corporate satire. severance just isn't interested in that anymore, which i guess is understandable; the show can grow into something different. but using a sci-fi concept to comment on office culture and the different personas we inhabit for work was so clever and special, and now they're just exploring well-trodden ground like identity and what it means to be human. sci-fi has already done that one, guys! many times!

again, i can say a lot more but i think this sums up my main thoughts. and i generally liked each episode individually, but when i look at the season as a whole it just doesn't cohere nearly as well as S1 did.

[nataliaphantomhivesblog]

BLACK BUTLER ENDING

Okay so honestly, since we are reaching the climax of the manga, i can't help but realize how after the climax, there's the falling action...and then finally, the ending. We are getting so close to it and honestly I still can't even begin to elaborate how anxious I am about how it will all wrap up.

There is still many characters and plotlines that are yet needed to wrap up, so I do think building to the climax AND falling action will take a few years (give or take...5-10 years? maybe more if the chapters continues on being cut down and overall slow).

But no matter, I will put my trust in Miss Yana (as i have for years), and she's rarely let me down, so I can only count on her and believe that she will continue to raise the stakes and expectations for Kuroshitsuji.

Now, as for the ending, there's many theories out there, and i'm not in the mood to fully fledge out my theories at the moment, but I do want to talk about what I would wish for the ending of Black Butler as someone who has stuck by this story for years.

For starters, i think the majority of the fandom can agree that the most predictable and plausible ending is o!Ciel fullfilling his revenge, and Sebastian to be able to consume his soul at last.

Honestly, I think if that’s how it ends, it might feel a bit disappointing to some readers—especially since it’s what everyone expects. But there’s also an inevitable tragedy in knowing from the beginning that o!Ciel was always doomed to face a bitter end.

If Yana goes to the safe route of Sebastian eating o!Ciel's soul, here's some elements that I think could add so much nuance to the narrative:

The revenge while being climatic for the readers, being unsatisfying for our earl.

A recurring theme in Black Butler is the inescapable downfall that comes from sacrificing others for your own ambitions.

The BOC arc completely solidifies this ongoing narrative and message:

Ciel isn't laughing mockingly, if anything, he's spiraling.

The circus trope was kidnapping children in order to protect their own, in the end however, it is revealed that Baron Kelvin had already killed these children.

The futility of all their efforts stands out, and you can see a clear parallel between them and their goal, as well as o!Ciel and his pursuit of revenge.

Each of them strayed down a dark path, driven by desperation to achieve something they once believed in—resorting to actions they likely never imagined themselves capable of. Just for it to all be for nothing.

o!Ciel must sense that this might be his own fate too—that when his revenge is fulfilled, it may leave him with nothing but emptiness.

And I don't even need to spell out how deeply the boc arc haunts our earl and the overall narrative: Snake becoming a Phantomhive servant, Joker and Doll resurfacing in The Green Witch arc to taunt o!Ciel’s psyche, Doll’s tragic return as a Bizarre Doll… the echoes are constant.

It's clear that the themes and consequences of BoC don't just linger—they bleed into nearly every arc that follows, casting long shadows over the entire story.

And i dare say that the message boc conveys was slightly shown even before said arc: (i.e: in the red butler arc, madam red killing prostitutes driven by grief and anger, forcing her to confront her own nephew and getting killed in the process by the one reaper who was fueling Red's blood lust.) So Yana has had this theme loom over the story for years, but in my pov it became fully prominent in the boc arc as stated before.

So i can only hope, that while the revenge that o!Ciel is able to obtain is satisfying for the narrative, I hope it leaves our earl the same way it left the circus trope and many others he has trampled: empty and with a desire to continue living.

It's lowkey crazy how much I want this to be portrayed for this particular ending considering o!ciel is lit my favorite character and I want him to be happy, but at the same time, I am a sucker for tragedy, and if this story will end with o!ciel's demise, I can only hope it follows one of my favorite theme's of the story.

2. Sebastian regretting taking o!Ciel's soul to parallel our earls lack of satisfaction with revenge.

Guys I swear I don't mean this in a uwu s*baciel way or in a "awe bassy is so soft !! I want him to cry after eating his soul in regret!!"

What I DO mean however, is Sebastian to be hit with the realization that his whole motivation of wanting to acquire and eat the most delicious soul meant nothing in comparison to the life he led as the butler, as Sebastian.

We know that this demon actually enjoys his life as a butler, i mean in the GWA he literally states how he prefers it over unleashing the beast:

He also takes into consideration advice from human!butler's and even goes an extra mile and compliment a human butler if they do their job in an admirable manner (albiet, he only does this with human butlers whom he deems respectable, like Agni and Tanaka):

Sebastian takes his role as a butler very seriously, sometimes im convinced he gets lost in it:

Sebastian in this pannel teases o!ciel about how he needs to eat well in order to grow up, the irony is that our little lord will never get the chance to, considering the butler himself will cut his time short.

That's why he stares at Sebastian like this, and what I find intresting is that the demon butler genuienly didn't catch or understand why o!ciel is looking at him this way. If he was really taunting him about never growing up, there would've clearly been a smirk on his face, but he looks actually confused.

(I got this interpretation and example from another post, i can't recall if it was twitter or tumblr, I really wish I could give credits to OP. If you find the original post, please link it down in the coments)

So i think it's safe to say that overtime, Sebastian really started to enjoy and have fun with his butler life, and he will loose that the moment he gains o!Ciel's soul.

I don't want him to miss o!Ciel persay, I want him to miss the life he led as the butler Sebastian Michaelis.

If Sebastian has shaped the boy into what he is now, then maybe the boy can, in some small way, reshape the demon too.

And not just the young master—I want the entirety of Sebastian’s butler life to leave its mark. The loyalty of the Phantomhive servants, Agni’s unwavering warmth, the chaos and quiet of every mission, every case, every twisted corner of human nature he’s come to know.

I want all of it to shape him. I want the accumulation of these experiences to shape Sebastian, not just as a flawless servant, but as a demon who cannot come out of this unchanged.

all in all, I want sebastian to feel miserable and bored as karma for eating my childs soul/hj

3. For the story to not just end the moment Sebastian consumes o!Ciel's soul.

I mean, yana herself has told us how Sebastian is the true protagonist of this story. So for it all to end with o!Ciel’s death and nothing more would feel incomplete.

If they do end up showcasing signs of regret from Sebastian after eating our earls soul (fingers crossed), I want the weight of his actions to loom over the Phantomhive manor, over the servants, Elizabeth, Prince Soma, and everyone who’s been touched by Ciel’s life. The loss is universal, not just limited to Sebastian, and I hope they do showcase that tragedy.

But more than that, I want Sebastian's longing to be palpable. After devouring Ciel’s soul, I want the demon to be trapped in a kind of haunting limbo, unable to shake the life he once had as a butler. It should feel like he's yearning for what he lost—his purpose, his role, that delicate balance between master and servant. His regret would not be just a burden, but a twisted kind of desire for what came before.

To wrap all this ranting up:

If we’re not getting a fluff ending for this manga, then the tragedy better hit so deeply, so irreparably, that it even shakes the protagonist demon we first met as cold, calculated, and entirely unfeeling.

I want the grief to linger in the silence of the manor halls, in the absence of a young master’s voice, in the routines that no longer have purpose.

Because if Ciel’s story ends in devastation, then Sebastian’s should end in the quiet, unbearable echo of everything he can’t unsee, unfeel, or undo. I want the tragedy to crack through that perfect façade—and leave something raw beneath it.

[gayofthefae]

Thinking about how if you cut the whole Cali rode trip plot out season four would not be altered at all. They were missing for a whole episode and nothing was hindered.

So why not cut it?

Because season FIVE would be DESTROYED by it.

Because Byler is so vital it needs this set up. Foundation laying seems useless when you don't know something will be built.

Yes. The Cali plot could have been cut entirely. They were glorified chauffeurs with extra obstacles for filler (and literally only one extra obstacle). But that's actually Byler PROOF.

It was useless to the season 4 plot. So the only reason to keep it in when they could have easily just incorporated the characters into other plotlines - they're able to fly to Hawkins, they go with Joyce, some do one, some do the other, whatever - the only reason to isolate them then have them do seemingly nothing of value is SETUP for something that IS needed.

The only reason for having that is if without it, season 5 rolls around and now VITAL plotlines are out of the blue. It is the "blank makes you crazy" to "From Mike". The "I love her" to "from Mike".

Because Byler was not a plotline in season 4. Not really. Not totally. Not vitally, at least. What it was was threads woven back of a plotline in season FIVE. What it was was planning, preparation.

Jonathan and Argyle are basically comedic relief. Mike and Will do nothing to help El except get to her with a car that they did not drive or need to be in for their plan to work. And if the plot were Mike and El, Mike and El would be there, no. The plot is Mike and Will talking, is just the conversation topic - the same way Will was for Mike and El in season 1.

Mike and Will only setup romantic plotlines, assist the supernatural plotline in no way, and are physically isolated from affecting any other characters' plotline, but have no romantic payoff and their romance is not even addressed.

Because this isn't a vital season plotline. This is "I know you wanna see what the NINA Project is doing but season 5 would be shit without this you guys I promise".

Don't care about it but can't live without it of storytelling. Almost everything in season 4 is the same without it. But almost everything about the ending of the show is exponentially different. Season 4 is unchanged. But season 5 falls apart. Without Byler. Without us knowing the little things here and there that we now know.

Because if you go over it, barely anything even happened in their plotline. I've said this before, it really was just a bunch of unpaid setups - which makes sense given season 4 and 5 were supposed to be one season.

It's really just because we need to go into season 5 with the knowledge in the back of our minds "Will loves Mike, Will lied to Mike tpo get him to stay with El, Mike's scared the truth about his love for her would hurt her, Mike told El he loved her to save her life".

4 facts. 4. Not plotlines, facts. Some of which are single scenes, many of which are just single lines. It's information. It's setup. It doesn't matter now. But not cutting it is their way of saying it WILL. "It'll pay off," as the Duffers said to Finn Wolfhard.

Nothing else happened in this plotline and they could have integrated these characters elsewhere. This plotline didn't even really have a plotline, just a sparsely scattered series of facts.

But as someone who predicts lots of mysteries accurately, THAT'S how they show you their hand. Not what they tell you is important. What they try to convince you is useless (but made space for anyway).

That's a twist the only way to do a twist. They said in tightening the season 4 scripts they went back to episode 1 to write in that Eddie played guitar so it was planted for later. This is the same thing. It's just planting things so they aren't out of the blue. THIS is how you do a twist, and why we know to predict one. People are right, they do not have a love story plotline. But what they do have is 'rewatch details' with no other purpose. What they do have is "uselessness".

If season 4 is unaffected by their plotline, it means season 5 falls apart without it.

[phoebebuggers]

teaser preliminary thoughts

the opening scene being joyce and will talking about the vanishing of will byers was a very intentional choice - not only is will the central character this season, with a major plot point revolving around them discovering why and how will went missing and his connection to vecna (which i believe will also tie into holly's disappearance.) for a second i thought this could be a conversation about holly where joyce and will compare her being missing to what happened to will but i'm leaning toward no..it feels personal to me

the majority of the teaser was preexisting scenes, which i guess could be a little disappointing but it seemed like they wanted to ramp up the nostolgia with the st segment overall which is understandable for the show that "made" netflix. i also think we will be seeing those scenes with young will or maybe new ones from his disappearance as flashbacks anyways

edit: just realized i forgot this clip.. robin, will (*the* outfit!!) and erica in the background, not suure who's on the ledge behind joyce...someone let me know if you have a guess on what this wooden structure is, it almost looks like a stable or a barn. there's definitely some crazy shit behind that door, interesting that joyce seems to have a weapon and the other two do not. im really excited to see robin and joyce's dynamic (definitely see that playing a role in willl coming out)

i think there's a possibility that we'll see karen wheeler's character expanded on this season, possibly in tandem with the explanation for mike's behavior in the previous 2 seasons (the wheelers and conformity) as she takes on a role simillar to joyce in season 1. i'm wondering if this shot is before or after holly disappearing - also that one leak about karen getting injured (maybe in the process of protecting holly??) also, with the theme of conformity and ted wheeler generally sucking im wondering if his behavior this season will end up endangering the wheelers

definitely an emphasis on parent-child relationships this season (this is the third one we've seen). i think that we're going to see el and hopper working together in a way similar to the season 3 finale in a way that redeems that tragic ending, where hopper accepts that el isn't a kid who needs to be protected but a strong young woman who needs to be supported. i lowk have no idea what she's covering her ears about though, maybe coming down from projecting somewhere??

on the topic of hopper, rest in peace russia plotline, i have no idea how they're gonna resolve all that in hawkins lmao

seems like dustin is paired with the older teens again...which i lowk hate but it's kind of been that way since season 1 so i get it. i just don't understand the constant need to seperate him from the party. it looks like they might be in hawkins lab here, but i guess it could be anywhere

i was pretty much certain they were gonna show a shot like this in the teaser, max's coma is pretty much the biggest cliffhanger on the last season and they're going to continue to tease that. i love the coloring in this scene, i think we're gonna see lucas alone a lot this season in a more serious light than ever before (season 4 set the stage for this). i also don't see max getting a recovery until well into the second half of the season (but i do think she'll survive). i also think max is going to be up to a lot more than just laying in a hospital bed though, i really see her being able to reach el/vecna/will(?) through her mind and i think her and el will be paired a lot this season (maybe that's wishful thinking)

i think the two biggest mysteries they're hiding from audiences and shushing the cast about are whether max survives and whether byler is happening. and i think both of these things are happening...personally (notice that these two are the only couple shown together in the entire teaser).

this ss is bad but this is either two people (2 lights) or one person alone (1 flashlight and 1 lantern). i really want to know what that pink thing is, it almost looks like a head

mike is the heart of the party, blah blah blah....this shot really is so telling though like he's such a natural protector. i think we're reallly gonna see him return to his roots this season. it looks like the kids behind him are those new friends of erica's, and that's definitely joyce holding someone...they look too small to be will and i dont know why he would be hiding in the back like that anyway so i really dont know who that is. i think this definitely has to do with the vecna/mr whatsit plotline

im assuming erica is with this group as well but for some reason she isn't pictured. it seems like they're trying to introduce a kind of "new gen" of preteens this season which is a questionable choice for a finale but the duffers have always been good at getting us to care about new characters so i have faith.

finally will on his main character shit and the scream that was leaked - my working theory for this scene is that he's sensing something only he would know because of his connection to vecna and warning the other characters, possibly using himself as some kind of bait?? this is mostly a hunch tho. im not sure where he is here, it's definitely not the upside down but it looks kind of industrial?? the floor actually looks like to could be the same as the previous shot with mike but i dont think so

jonathan is getting absolutely ignored to my devastation, not a single feature unless he was the other character in that scene with joyce and the axe. i feel like he's one of the most likely characters to die but i really hope they do something interesting with him

nancy was also mia...we know she and jonathan are paired with steve and dustin at some point (car picture) but not sure what they're up to other than that nancy walk em down wheeler will be there im sure..

im down with the release schedule, we knew it was gonna be in parts and as a college student i am definitely glad it's during holidays/breaks because im going to want to watch asap. the wait might kill me though

on the topic of byler, i don't think this told us anything new but the fact that they didn't show mike with will or el at any point is good news in my opinion. will being front and center and mike taking a leadership role are signs to character development for both of them!!

[moonlightsapphic]

thoughts on xo, kitty:

i had the time of my life getting straightbaited in s1, loved it and very much believed it was set up beautifully for a kittyuri ending

i once again had the time of my life getting straightbaited by the s2 trailer (which had initially dissapointed me), and then once again squealing at kittyuri moments in the actual season lol

god yuri is so hot

god minho is so hot

this show is bisexual propaganda if there ever was any

i have said it before and i will say it again: this is the queer/sapphic teen asian american romcom we want and need! it’s just like the dumb straight shows! WE DESERVE TO GIGGLE AND CRINGE TOO

i was surprised (but not displeased!) to see a setup for another season rather than an ending with this one. manifesting an easy renewal. (thank u, straight taltbilb fandom, for helping feed the netflix marketing beast for our chaotic bisexual show.) that being said, they could totally have ended it here and idk what the fuck they’re even going to have as a plot for s3.

i have a love/hate relationship with new characters being introduced and the silly plotlines and also the somewhat disjointed dialogues sometimes but it’s also all very endearing lol.

i love the family drama in the show! the execution is lighthearted yes but fellow asian viewers know what i mean. <333

i genuinely don’t know who kitty is going to end up with! but that’s jenny han to you. tsitp would feel the same if the source material didn’t already tell us the ending, too.

i was a kittyuri truther after s1 but now i’m leaning mooncovey just because of how the development/excecution went … and i’m not mad either way lol. all i can tell you is that something viscerally bisexual was happening to me everytime i saw kittyuri on screen in s1 and mooncovey on screen in s2 (with some overlap. screams)

i did feel a little dissapointed to see yuri always chasing what she can’t have this season but really it made a lot of sense and i’m excited to see her development next season.

while yuri has commited many crimes which is what makes her iconic, minho is so babygirl and has never done anything wrong in his life. the shoujo manga/kdrama mooncovey moments were just *chef’s kiss* YES MA’AM GIVE THE VIEWERS WHAT THEY WANT

my girlfriend ships mindae and i think she’s crazy but also i see it, dae is the only one other than kitty that minho could satisfactorily end up with. god i was so mad when i thought they were making an ohio rando his endgame lmaoooo and i was GENUINELY concerned that the kittyuri hate train from mooncovey shippers would descend like bloodthirsty sharks if that happened. praying to god they don’t just push minho or yuri with any ole new character at the end of s3 just to have them not be single. that would be lame. mindae is more than fair game though. 😝 they get into so many fights, it has to mean something … brb getting lost in the gay dae theories …

yuri & dae’s friendship will never grow old to me. i love i love i LOVE

also love it when the characters speak korean amongst themselves, which really drives home how multicultural the show really is. (also it’s hilarious how madison, a literal white girl, speaks better korean than kitty lmao.)

a part of the mooncovey fanbase is very biphobic and lesbophobic and we really need to shame them for it because it’s super annoying. like yeah i know you’re coming from tatbilb which taught you queers exist only in the form of the gay guy best friend for the straight girl protagonist but! jenny han has grown! have you not seen tsitp?! have you also not noticed kitty was never like lara jean?! she wore a mf suit to their dad’s wedding for god’s sake sigh. disrespectfully, if your ship can’t exist without lame excuses on why an alternate ship isn’t as “valid”, then your ship probably isn’t that great in the first place. which is sad, because mooncovey is an awesome ship.

overall a slay. jenny han i know we have a fraught relationship but they could never make me hate you. truly one of the few people in mainstream cishet romcom media that said “actually queer people should be included af because they’re FUN and an underappreciated goldmine!” she also never lets the fandom tell her what to do. you keep doing you, queen!!! i mean it! 💖

[curly-fry-3]

Hi could I request daughter¡reader hyperfiction on a show or something and constantly talks about it to Dean?

𖦹Hyperfixated𖦹

summary𖦹 Dean would happily listen to you talk for hours

pairing𖦹 Dean Winchester x Daughter!Reader

word count𖦹 393

notes𖦹 I may be 16 but Damian is my child

You won't stop talking, and Dean isn't exactly complaining. You were going on about your current hyperfixation, Batman. Well, in your words “it's not just batman, it's the whole batfam. Bruce isn't even my favorite, he's not even in my top five. I lowkey care about batcow more than bruce.” Whatever that means. He of course is listening and trying his best to understand, but it got kinda confusing when you mentioned multiple robins.

You did this every couple of months. You would find a new piece of media and obsess over it until you got bored of it and found something else. It was cute, you could go on for hours about your favorite characters and plotlines. Dean loved listening cause you always got this look on your face when you went into yapping mode. You would light up and you'd have the biggest smile ever. Dean loved seeing you so happy. He would let you talk his ear off if you would be that excited.

You were currently sitting on the counter next to him while he was cooking breakfast. You’re dangling your feet and talking animatedly with your hands. “Everyone freaking hates on Damian like bro he's just a kid. And if you were raised being told you were the best around then it's not crazy to think that you're better than everyone.”

Dean nods his head in agreement, “yeah, but he's still kind of a booger”

I stop my movement with shock, “you don't know him like I do, ok? I have maternal instincts for damian. He can do no wrong in my eyes”

He looks over at you dumbfounded “maternal instincts?”

“Don't judge me” You defend

Dean moves the eggs from the pan onto a plate “i'm not judging, don't worry”

You hop off the counter and sit at the bar “Good. Damian isn't mean he's just misunderstood. He doesn't want to seem weak”

“Yeah I mean, with everything you told me, it sounds like he just doesn't want to be underestimated” He agrees while pushing your breakfast towards you

You pick up your fork and start digging in, “See, you get it” 

Dean watches as you eat the food and continue to ramble on about robin. He's happy that you've found things that make you so happy and that you can talk to him about them.

sorry for any typos

@areswasneverhere

[syzthefrizz]

Tips for writing dream sequences (from someone who has really vivid, weird dreams on a frequent basis)

My biggest pet peeve with fictional dream sequences is that they make too much sense!! They're too relevant! There's not enough random crazy stuff! That's not always unrealistic per se, but you are missing out on some of the fun ways you can reveal information about your character's mindset, fears, struggles, and future.

Most of my dreams have a goal or objective driving the plot, and it's usually urgent. Ex. "escape the huge storm on the horizon", "find a place to sleep for the night in an unfamiliar town", "find a bathroom". This is especially true of stress dreams.

Everything going on in the dream makes perfect sense to you during the dream. It doesn't feel like reality per se, but you think it is. You're living in a house full of vampires that could eat you at any moment? Seems legit.

Emotions and situations from the dreamer's life can/will find their way into dreams, with varying levels of subtlety. The dream could be about the stressful event itself, or it could be some sort of exaggerated metaphor. Ex. I was worried about whether I was a competent CS major while I was still trying to find a summer job/internship, and I was worried about what my professors must think of me. Such a good student on paper, still without summer plans. I dreamed that I ran into my professors all having lunch together at a restaurant (during a dream with a completely different storyline), and I was wearing my pajamas. They judged me.

Certain things are very hard to do in dreams. This could vary from person to person. For me, it's always driving (the brakes never work right), flying (I can't stay off the ground for very long), and running (it's like trying to run through waist-deep water).

People with PTSD may dream about the traumatic event happening differently than it actually happened. (Take this one with a grain of salt - I don't suffer from PTSD, I just research it sometimes so my blorbos can suffer accurately).

You can have a string of loosely connected or disconnected dream sequences back to back, each with an entirely different plot, setting, etc.

People can have reoccurring themes or plotlines in their dreams, which are often connected to their lives/psyche somehow. I frequently dream about running away from tornadoes and being in situations where there's some catastrophe coming but I'm the only one who understands that there's a problem and nobody will listen to me.

It's common for me to have a dream setting that I KNOW is someplace I'm familiar with, but it doesn't actually look like that place at all. Ex. "I dreamed that we were at my house, but it didn't look like my house..."

Dreams can end in cliffhangers. Sometimes I wake up right before I'm about to eat something delicious.

Sometimes people have dreams about doing things that they would never, ever do in real life, and they wake up feeling disgusted. This is Not a manifestation of their secret desires (*glares at Freud*).

Images are the most memorable parts of dreams. I forget the specific plot points, but I can still picture dozens of liminal spaces my brain has created, even years after I dreamed about it.

Dreams will fade from memory very quickly unless the dream had a strong impression on you, you write details about it down or you tell someone about it before you forget.

If you realize you're dreaming during your dream, sometimes you can control the dream going forward. This is called lucid dreaming. I've done it accidentally a couple times, and it's really hard to "hold on" to the dream and control it. I usually wake up soon after starting. With practice, you can get better at it.

Sometimes a normal/good dream can turn into a nightmare, and vice versa. Most of my dreams aren't really good or bad, they're something in between.

Your subconscious brain is CRAZY intuitive. We can argue over the existence of prophetic dreams (I've heard so many crazy stories), but at the end of the day, your subconscious brain knows things that you don't consciously know. If your character is in love with someone, their subconscious brain will know even if the character doesn't. Relationship problems? Deepest darkest fears and insecurities? Your brain knows. A dream predicted the downfall of my first relationship eight months before it happened, down to the reason why we failed. You can absolutely foreshadow this way. A character might subconsciously know what the consequences of their or other people's actions will be, understand things about the situation they're in, know things about the people they're interacting with, and more, despite their conscious realizations.

There are plenty of ways to make a dream sequence relevant to your story, but don't forget to add in some fun, random details. Character A is secretly in love with Character B? Have Character A dream about Character B confessing feelings to them while in a Vine Nostalgia themed restaurant over a plate of mac-n-cheese. The details are the fun part, and you can get as weird as you want. I once ran into my aunt in a dream, and she was wearing a backpack with a bunch of (fake?) hands sticking out of it, making a fan that rose above her back behind her head like some sort of peacock feather costume piece. I was so freaked out that I woke up. I dare you to get weirder than that.

Not everyone's brain works the same way. I have vivid, random, detailed, memorable dreams on a frequent basis. When I describe them to people they often ask "what were you on?". My roommate only remembers her dreams when they're nightmares. I have some friends who say they don't dream. Other friends have really boring, mundane dreams about their normal lives. Some people have weird dreams but only once in a blue moon. It's a good idea to decide off the bat what kinds of dreams your character has, and how often they remember them.

That's it for now, but I might make a part two if I think of more things to add. Feel free to reblog with your own personal dream expertise!

[delawaredetroit]

hi, i just went through your #bakugo critical tag as a bakugo hater myself, and i love love love how you take the time to pull textual evidence for your claims and arguments in a lot of bite-size posts

i wanted to ask - what are your thoughts on how bakugo lacks a fundamental understanding of all might as a hero?

in many of your posts about bakugo's lackluster arc and conclusion, you talk about how he never embodies the true definition of "hero" that the series tries to put out. yet as someone who idolizes all might, THE number one hero who saves people with a smile, bakugo never comes to this realization that he should actually emulate his hero and care about the people he is meant to be saving. that never sat right with me, especially since all might was a catalyst for bakugo's guilt in kamino ward and since bakugo "honored" all might in his (frankly) dumb hero name.

another question i have is: do you think bakugo's character arc would have improved if he had discovered that all might was quirkless before receiving one for all?

i felt like all might being quirkless was such an underused character detail, especially given that discrimination against quirkless people was literally a motivator for izuku and (again) bakugo idolized all might so much yet never understood him. though all might being quirkless was a huge secret, i feel like, if written well, bakugo discovering all might's past through one way or another could have caused a significant shift in his beliefs and in his relationship with izuku

sorry for the rant, i've been sitting on these bakugo critiques for a while, but i'm super interested to hear your thoughts!

Thanks. If I'm going to criticize a character as polarizing as Bakugou, there needs to be receipts of course.

As for Bakugou fundamentally misunderstanding All Might as a hero, I don't think that was a narrative problem in Act One at least. That misunderstanding of heroism as strength and victory alone was a good part of his fundamental conflict with Izuku.

And early on in Act Two with Deku versus Kacchan Part 2 it seemed promising. Bakugou realized Izuku gained power and that All Might chose him, so he was thinking hard about why All Might would do that. If this wasn't all about natural strength, then why would he choose Izuku?

And Bakugou did learn in Act Two that victory also means completing the save. He also learned to smile in the face of despair. By the time he received his own provisional license, he realized that All Might was the type of person who valued saving above victory despite his insistence that both were needed.

But instead of trying to understand that difference in values, Bakugou decided that All Might and Izuku were crazy for valuing others above themselves. And Bakugou's understanding of All Might pretty much stagnated from that point onwards.

It's part of why Bakugou saving All Might in the last arc lacks the impact that it should have. Other than the overcoming fate plotline between Izuku and All Might being largely disregarded, Bakugou still didn't understand and accept All Might as he was. Izuku admired All Might the hero as a fanboy, but after becoming his successor Yagi Toshinori the person became Izuku's hero. Even in Act Three, it's unclear to me if Bakugou would have respected All Might if he hadn't been the former hero popularity contest winner.

And it might have been interesting for Bakugou to grapple with the fact that All Might was once quirkless. To some extent, he probably knows that after learning how One for All works and noticing that All Might did not add a quirk to the mix. But to be honest, Bakugou already took up too much of the oxygen in the room on the plotlines related to quirklessness in canon, so it's fine that Bakugou didn't have some big revelation on that.

tl;dr: Bakugou's inability to understand All Might at a fundamental level only became narratively unforgivable in Act Three. Until that point, the misunderstanding was a good source of ideological conflict and potential growth, but it became a glaring problem when reformed Bakugou still didn't get All Might's heroism.

[erinwantstowrite]

ERIN i cannot believe you are a fan of twisted wonderland too, you have feed me once again with your beautiful art thank you so much 🛐🛐

But who are your favorite tw characters?? And how do you think other batfam members would do in yuu's situation?

i love Twisted Wonderland!! in a sense that I ignore the Mickey Mouse plotline because what even is going on there LMFAO

It's so hard to choose a fav cause they're all so stinky and I adore the idiots so much,,, but my rankings are: Ace and Deuce for 1st place, Grim for second, Ruggie for third, Epel and Kalim for fourth, and Malleus for fifth. And this is if I HAVE to choose. the rest of them are so silly that I can not be contained. I need to torment Azul and shake him around <3

Tim would thrive the MOST in Twisted Wonderland, but we know how I feel about that by now. As for the others... I'm assuming we're going with them but when they were the same age as the first years in Twisted Wonderland (cause it's a school). In all of these scenarios, Crowley does not stand a chance. Also they all steal Grim.

Bruce isn't Batman yet when he's that young, but he's certainly just as crazy as he'll be in his twenties-fourties, maybe even MORE so because he doesn't have the experience of training yet. After figuring out that this isn't a hallucination or weird altered state that he's in (coma, spell, etc), he'd be an unbending force that gives them all a run for their money. He's incredibly smart and I doubt he'd be willing to put up with any bullshit that gets pulled. He would manage to get himself home and refuse to make any friends... but he would probably grow soft for Grim, Ace, and Deuce. Grim because Yuu takes care of Grim, and we all know how Bruce is about adoption. Same for Ace and Deuce, they're so stupid that Bruce would end up worrying about them 24/7. His paranoia about keeping them safe would prevent Azul getting a contract with them, etc etc.

Dick when he was Robin? He's terrorizing Crowley the entire time, with a smile on his face. He's so strong willed that anytime Crowley tries to put him into a situation where Crowley gets to fake being nice and magnanimous without actually helping, Dick calls him out and forces him into actually doing something, lest everyone see how he really is. (They know already but Crowley would try to save face.) He'd make friends with everyone- he'd tame Grim pretty fast and probably see it as an exercise to teach him how to be more patient. Honestly, Grim's temperament would remind Dick of himself when he was just starting off as Robin. It'd be like having a little brother and when Dick isn't stuck angsting about some shit Bruce pulled when being emotionally stunted, he's a good big brother. He'd make friends, but he wouldn't tell them anything about himself, keeping it close to his chest. Secret identities, and all that. Dick would also get himself home very fast, not willing to make B wait long. Plus he really missed Alfred.

He would try to steal Grim though. He would probably succeed, actually. All he'd have to do is tell Grim about the world he's from and how he knows magic users far beyond the level of the teachers at this school who could use a new student, and Grim would likely accept.

For Jason, when he was Robin, he was the sunshine kid. This would be after he's mellowed out with Bruce, when he's started to accept his life with B and Alfred, and started to grow into his own as Robin. They would all mistake his willingness to help as weakness, but Jason can be just as stubborn and clever as any other Robin. It's in their blood. He wouldn't be willing to let them talk down to him- he's used to people looking down on him because of where he comes from. The big fancy schools at home think he's trash from the bad parts of Gotham, and here isn't really any different. They think he can't get by without magic? Boy, will Jason sure show them. He's Robin.

I have a feeling that this, combined with Jason's love of school, would mean that Jason gets a little sidetracked with learning about this world, magic, and history, etc. He and Grim butt heads a lot, but Jason would get protective over him. Jason took care of the kids younger than him before, and his Robin is known for the comfort and kindness he shows.

He, too, would not make B wait a long time for him to come back. He's not as much of a detective as Batman or Nightwing, but he's clever enough to get himself home because of what he's learned. He would also steal Grim. In this scenario, it'd been a long time since anyone had cared about Grim the way Jason does about him. He'd come even without the speech about magic in Jason's world.

Tim... is the only Robin who'd make Batman wait. Not even out of a sense of being an ass about it, Tim would just thrive in Twisted Wonderland. He'd play up a role of being a "damsel in distress" or being silly and carefree and clumsy, etc etc. All the while Tim has been picking apart this mystery in front of him and he's got it all figured out. He's having a blast. It's Batman that comes to get him, and Tim probably wasn't expecting that, but, hey! Batman came to get him!

Damian. Holy shit is he a force to be reckoned with. He gets under everyone's skins, he doesn't bother hiding in plain sight, he demands to be treated the way he deserves. He's the son of Talia al Ghul and Bruce fucking Wayne. You try to put him in Ramshackle and he'll gut you with his sword for the disrespect. I think it'd be funny if Damian was like "this distasteful chandelier was only worth a billion of your currency?" and ADeuce try to kill him. Eventually they get along in the most hilarious way, but they're constantly fighting. Damian takes charge of their group, naturally, but he finds himself on equal footing with ADeuce at some point because they're from Twisted Wonderland and help him fill in the gaps of his knowledge. He's also studious (the PhD thing) and Deuce would ask for his help. Ace would get roped into it.

The only one that he gets along with? Grim. Because he's a cat with fire powers. Damian would think he's so fucking cool, he basically has a fuzzy little dragon. That can fit in his bed and cuddle with him and can talk. Come on. What 14 year old like Damian wouldn't think that's the sickest shit ever? He'd demand only the best for Grim, but would also easily start shaping him up to be a better mage. No, not better- the best. Damian would understand Grim's desire to find his legacy.

And, like, here's the thing. Even with all of that... Damian is a very empathetic kid. If he's about freshman year-aged, he'd be, what, 14? I think? That's after he started letting himself be more empathetic. After he lost his dad for a year and learned to be Robin because of Dick. Literally no one would expect Damian to be understanding or listen to the prefects' insecurities or hurt, nor willing to talk to them about it. But he does. He also hands their asses to them when they fight, but while that's happening, Damian is talking to them.

He steals Grim whether he wants to or not. But Grim does want to go with him.

This got WAYYY longer than I expected it to but this got me to thinking and we know I love to yap. I'd add Stephanie, Duke, Cass, Babs, etc, but I don't want this to get too long.

[gothic-aesthetic-gal]

Old Scars (Part 24)

Ledger!joker x reader

Fem!reader is kidnapped by the joker and his henchmen while just trying to get a moment's reprieve from her boring, soul-destroying job ✨️

Tw: I mean, we all saw TDK, right? I'd say this is on the same level/rating. Kidnapping, violence more generally, some NSFW moments. In this chapter specifically, descriptions of violence, mentions of modern slavery/ST. Part of the plotline involves main character taking on a gang running a trafficking ring and trying to take them down, so anything associated with that. Probably not suitable for minors 🔞 MDNI

Part 24 -

"Who?! Who is this crazy bitch?" Yelled Alexe in frustration, clawing at his tie, trying to loosen it.

I could see the sweat starting to bead up on his forehead as the toxin was begining to take effect.

"Yeah, i'm not crazy." I replied bitterly.

"You're a fucking psycho, you belong in the looney bin," Brady argued in disbelief.

"Have you heard the news yet?" I asked casually, deciding to ignore his further insults.

"What news?" Snapped Alexe, wiping the growing sweat from his brow.

"The news that your little operation on Fiskin Avenue has burned to the ground. All the information on your hard drives is in the possession of the GCPD and the District Attorney's Office, oh, and that all of your men have all been arrested," I grinned.

I watched them intently as they cycled through all the stages of grief. Firstly, denial and anger, then eventually miserable acceptance.

"The Joker did this," Brady concluded finally, stunned.

"No," I snapped, my anger flaring up at his assumption, "No. I did this. Alone. Think about it for just a second and maybe you'll realise why."

"What the fuck is going on? Don't you know who you're dealing with?" Alexe blabbed in red-faced shock, his clenched fist slamming down onto the table.

"You stupid, self-righteous cunt. You have no idea what you've started. There will be consequences. And not just for you..." Brady laughed.

The way he was looking at me was enough to make my trigger finger twitch.

Meanwhile, Alexe rose up to full height in an attempt to intimidate me as he picked up where his associate left off. He was not used to being refused, in any capacity, by anyone and the unbridled rage taking over him showed it plainly. He was so incensed that spit was flying from his mouth.

"... Your family, your friends, hell, even your fucking dog if you have one. You've put a target on the backs of everyone you ever cared about, and when they are all dead, then we will come after you."

I patiently waited for him to finish, still holding him at gunpoint and unable to stop the grin from lighting up my face.

"Do you really think I would be here if I had any of that?"

He clearly did not know what to make of my response.

"Who are you? What, you - you work for one of our rivals? Is that it?"

I shook my head.

"No."

"Then what - you wanted to extort us for money?"

"Wrong again. I don't care about money," I laughed as his face was beginning to show signs of growing fear and he sank back into his seat, clasping a hand to the side of his head.

Suddenly a new idea bloomed in my mind.

"Actually, on second thoughts, give me all your cash and I'll leave without killing both of you."

I had never intended to kill either of them in the first place, as tempting as it was. I didn't want that on my conscience or to attract the attention of the GCPD for a double homicide.

My demands for money seemed to make more sense to them than anything I had said before and they both reluctantly threw down 2 stacks of dog-eared bills which I quickly grabbed and stuffed into my purse. I tossed my calling cards onto the table as I backed away. By now the gang leader was beginning to look very disorientated and afraid, he trembled as he stared at me, wide-eyed. I recalled how it had started with my limbs feeling weak and my vision flickering. He was on the same path now... his eyes seemed fixed on my mask as he began to shake uncontrollably and point.

Before I could do anything else to silence him, Alexe began to scream for his men to help him. In the same moment, Brady jumped up from the table, trying to bolt. Crap. Things from here were less clear. All I knew was that I needed to get out of the club as quickly as possible. My life now depended on it.

I crashed into Brady as we both launched ourselves towards the booth's exit, sending our bodies tumbling through the heavy velvet curtains and onto the floor. The fabric was wrenched from it's fixings by the sudden impact and so we both found ourselves tangled in it as we scrambled to get back up. For the briefest moment our eyes met as I stared into the face of the man who had so recently tried to do the unspeakable to me. I managed to re-establish myself much quicker than him as he struggled with his injuries.

Back on my feet, I made ready to sprint back onto the club floor, but was suddenly met with the obstacle of the two enormous security men. Seeing that they were both reaching for their guns, only slowed down a little by the sedatives they had unknowingly taken, I made a split second decision to shoot first. My first shot missed completely, passing between them, but then I hit the first one in the shoulder, and the second in the leg, still determined to use non-lethal force if I could. They stumbled and ducked for cover, upturning two of the nearby tables. I needed to cause a distraction to make it past them without my back being an open target as I ran...

I looked up suddenly, thinking of the fire sprinklers. Sure enough I could see the line of heads dotted along the ceiling, and more importantly the pipe feeding them. I prayed that my aim would stay sharp as I fired a couple more rounds upwards. Sure enough, the pipe ruptured in two places, sending a cascading spray of pressurised water down over the two men. I hurriedly slipped my dislogded mask back down over my face and ducked away from Brady, who made a grab for me now he was finally back up. He caught me by the sleeve of my blouse, tearing the fabric as I struggled away.

"Aw fuck! I liked this outfit!" I muttered as I smacked him across the face with the gun in my hand.

I thought I might've felt a crunch as it impacted his nose, but I didn't have time to dwell on that, instead sprinting through the streams of cold water and past the two downed men for the entrance to the VIP section.

As I darted towards the horrified man who had let me in, I was amazed to see that no one on the club floor seemed to have heard anything, not even the gunshots. Everyone was continuing as though nothing was wrong, still dancing and boozing away unaware. A quick glance behind me let me know that all three men were now stumbling after me in pursuit.

"Stop her! She fucking shot us!" One of them bellowed.

My eyes darted to the man beside me at the gate, and his gaze quickly met mine.

"Get out of my way!" I yelled in panic, pulling the gun on him and gesturing him to back up.

He stood transfixed, glued to the spot like a rabbit in a pair of car headlights, so instead I skirted around him and out towards the bar with another desperate plan. As soon as I reached the panel on the back wall, I smashed the glass and pulled the little chain so hard it broke off in my hand. The fire alarms instantly triggered, blaring over the music which was still thudding away. Everyone looked around in confusion. Some began to run for the exits, others stayed stuck in their drunken stupor. I weaved quickly in and out of the jostling sea of bodies, still being pursued by the three men, towards the back way in and out of the nightclub.

Suddenly, presumably because of the alarm and maybe the damage i'd caused to one line in the system, all the sprinklers activated and it began to pour with rain indoors. This only worsened the club patrons' panic and now they were all operating on every man-for-himself rules, pushing and shoving like a herd of stampeding livestock.

The torrent of cold water quickly soaked me through to the bone as I navigated through people crashing into one another and screaming as they poured towards the exit at the front of the club. I was so close to the double doors that marked the secret exit, If I could just make it outside I had a real chance of getting away safely...

Another of the club bouncers caught me totally off guard as he slammed into me from the left sending me skidding onto my hands and knees. I cursed as the impact jolted my wrist and the gun slipped from my grasp. My teeth also clacked together as I was unable to totally stop my face from bouncing off the deck, stunning me enough to see stars for a moment. The strobing lights and lazers of the dancefloor only added to my dazed and disoriented view as my vision slowly began to pull back into sharper focus.

Then, as I frantically started to crawl forwards trying to regain my weapon, my assailant grabbed hold of me by the scruff of the neck. Before I could even try to get free I was wrenched clear of the ground in one swift movement. The grip he had was choking me as the fabric of my shirt pulled taught against my jugular. I gasped for air as the cold water continued to rain down everywhere around us. The screams, the alarms sounding, and the still beating music combined into one oppressive wall of sound as I struggled. He switched from holding me at the back of the neck to lifting me up by his free hand clamped around the front, threatening to crush my windpipe. My hands both shot up to pull down on his, desperately trying to keep my airways open.

I could taste the blood where my teeth had struck my lip, and was by now literally dripping with the water. My legs were swinging above the floor as I kicked them out as much as I could. Wriggling frantically, I prayed that I would be too slippery to hold on to, and I was right. The moment I got free I made a panic-driven grab for the first thing I could.

It was a bar stool. I put so much momentum into the swing and there was so little traction on the floor in the pooling water, that I went crashing down after it - but not before it hit him. It connected full force with his unguarded ribs, sending him into the concrete pillar beside us.

As I yet again picked myself up from the floor and this time successfully retrieved my handgun, my three pursuers were almost on me. I spun around just in time to see the fastest of the bunch charging towards me like a raging bull. I somehow managed to fling myself out of his path at the last second, sending him skidding full-force into the row of chairs behind us as he failed to apply the brakes. Seeing the window for escape rapidly closing on me, I kicked open the door into the back hallway and blundered through into the dimly lit space.

I knew there were mere seconds between me and disaster as I ran forwards, towards the sounds of the still-bustling kitchen of the Golden Dragon ahead of me. I could hear the shouts of Brady and the other men behind me and the confused murmerings of the restaurant staff as I made no attempts to hide myself this time as I tore by. I practically kicked the final door from it's hinges as I sprinted into the alley. A gunshot passed just overhead as I dove for cover behind the row of dumpsters. I wasted no time in returning fire randomly to try and keep them at a distance. I had to get to my backpack, and then get the hell out of dodge.

I fired two more shots towards the men's hiding spot and made a break for it, moving faster than I ever had to before. My legs muscles ached and screamed in protest as I grabbed up the backpack without even slowing, barrelling out into the open street where I was met with the huge crowd pouring out of the front of the nightclub.

Running right into an open space I hesitated for a moment, unsure what to do as I saw the men were almost caught up to me.

"Don't let her get away!"

"Stop her!" They yelled.

People were staring at me now.

"Shit," I muttered, wracking my brain.

I needed another distraction. And fast.

In desperation I reached into my purse, grabbed the huge stack of loose bills I stole from Alexe and sent them hurtling up into the air. As the green paper fluttered down over peoples' heads the crowd suddenly became like shark infested waters: almost everyone was scrabbling around desperately grabbing as much money as they could, rushing into the gap between me and the men on my tail. It worked like a charm and I sprinted away from the scene of my crime on shaking legs, battered and bruised, but incredibly lucky to be otherwise unharmed.

♤ ♤ ♤ ♤ ♤ ♤ ♤ ♤

The further I got into the city, the more the overwhelming rush of adrenaline began to take over me. I had stuffed the mask, my gun, and my purse back into the rucksack and pulled the hoodie back on over my torn shirt. My body was already acheing with developing brusies from the fight and the demand on my legs for the cardio of running, which I was not at all used to. The realisation of what I had just pulled off was too much for my brain to really take in and I boarded the metro in a daze, slipping unseen through the crowds of people heading downtown. As much as I wanted to, I knew better than to immediately head for my hotel. It would be better to ride the metro randomly for some time, in case I was being followed. Sure, i'd have to go back there eventually, but for now changing trains and directions randomly would help me to stay safe.

My clothes were so damp that they were still uncomfortably plastered to my skin and I was sure I looked a sight with my running makeup and wet hair. Still, it was the kind of thing people didn't question in Gotham. They would much rather turn a blind eye, hoping that if they stayed in their own little worlds they were less likely to get sucked into the ever-present undercurrent of crime. I had been just like that. It hadn't worked out for me... Not since I'd decided to walk into a clothing store for rich socialites where I didn't belong. Why couldn't I have just walked on by?

As the city lights and the hours rolled by, I was beginning to feel a sense of relief. As I sat on the final train which would actually take me back towards the hotel, in a mostly empty train car, I stole a peek inside my backpack. I'd just remembered the money I had made it rain in my desperate escape was only half of what I'd liberated. I had thrown Alexe's stack, but Brady's still sat there - secured with a rubber band.

Glancing around to see if anyone was watching, and keeping my hands inside the bag, I started to count it. To my shock they were all hundreds. I had no idea I had taken almost $5000 dollars... and whatever amount the rest totalled had bought me my escape - a priceless trade-off. It also explained why people had become as frenzied as they did over the money, once they realised it was raining big bills. Suddenly, I was afraid for a moment, as I realised people had been killed over so much less, by far less hardened criminals.

I stuffed the money deeper into the bag, hiding it under the other things in there, and zipped it up tight. Thankfully the chances of any push back were slim to none given how low down the mob pecking order they were, and I guessed that my fear toxin attack on Alexe was also a good reason not to seek me out. No, instead some other hopefuls would just fill the small-time power vacuum I had created. Nothing long-term would change, I knew that, but at least those specific men's lives were never going to be the same: that was enough for me. I was done and wanted nothing more than to get out of this hellhole of a city.

I was careful to look behind me as I exited the train and descended the platform steps back onto the street level. Thankfully, no one was following. I felt my shoulders slowly drop as I finally began to relax. I had done it. I had really done it! Despite the growing pain I was experiencing, a smile worked its way onto my face as I climbed the steps to the old hotel, glad to be out of the rain.

I was surprised that for the first time since I'd arrived, the desk was unmanned: neither the aged man who liked to watch tv with his legs propped up on the desk, nor the younger one who sat smoking and filling out his crosswords were anywhere to be seen. I entered the murky stairwell, my limbs heavy and my body bruised from the trials of the past few days. It felt like there were twice as many steps. My legs protested each one. I paused as I reached my floor, pushed my still damp hair out of my face, wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand and resettled my bag on my shoulder as it started to slip.

I shoved through the difficult door to the hall, which by now I had figured out the knack to. It had clearly dropped on its hinges, requiring brute force to open it. I caught sight of myself in the dirty glass window set into the door. The makeup was extremely smudged. Mingling with the rain and sweat on my face it looked quite scary and was beginning to sting in my eyes.

I could hear muffled music in the hall, which was different to the usual songs I was treated to through the thin walls. It seemed to get louder as I approached my door, as though it was coming from a room close to my own. I had been fairly lucky that neither of the rooms beside my own had seemed to be occupied during my stay, until now. I was more than desperate to get inside and pack up. All I had left to do was disposing any evidence - of the handgun too, removing any traces I could of my involvement in anything criminal, and then I could finally catch the bus. I was finally free. I felt a sense of elation at the thought of watching the city disappear behind me.

As I turned the key in the lock, I could hear the swell of a piano, like waves on a distant shore and the trill of a woman's voice... Opera. It struck me as strange while the door gave way to the darkness of my room and I stepped inwards. I couldn't make out the words, not that you usually can with opera, but it seemed to me she was singing in a Slavic language. Maybe Russian? I frowned. The music was loud and clear, how thin were the walls between rooms?

I hurriedly tossed down my backpack by the dresser and closed the door behind me, sliding the deadbolt across and locking it with the key. I was so tired. I could barely see by the tiny amount of light seeping through the window. My hand found the lightswitch and clicked it down.

"Someone's been busy," a rough voice intruded, shattering my sense of relief and safety in an instant.

Tag List

If I forgot anyone or you want to be removed from the tag list - please let me know! 💕

@dis0rderly-cl0wn-nerd

@dance-like-a-clown

@furisodespirit

@heath-ledger-jokers-wife

@sunfyrejoker

@lightsabergirl

@clowning--around

@ruby-da-archangel

@harleenqvinn

@helchronicles

@ostricx

@knoepfl

@vampiiriic

@jumpingjellyfishhaha

@nicklet94

@torossosebs

@all-bi-myselfs-blog

@myassisasolarsystem

@secondminkoq

@mikuley

@robin-the-enby

Link below for the other chapters: ⬇️

[optics-anddesign2]

okay I had the strangest experience because I watched the first 3 episodes and went "this is great! a little silly but thats to be expected, no where near as bad as season 3" and then the last 3 episodes happened !! anyways

thoughts/take aways :

ty for letting them say fuck

aidan gallagher get out of the writers room and get a girlfriend

baby shark, seriously, that was at least 4 years ago

lila character assasination is CRAZY omg. she would never?? do anything with five 😭 her and five have hated eachother this entire time no matter how many years they were in a train station she would not get w his dusty ass

I dont understand how this happened except somehow aidan got leverage with the plot bc the GREENHOUSE?? SHOTS??? ARE LIKE IDENTICAL?? TO HIS WEIRD INSTAGRAM SELF INSERT FIC?? i hate this boy, get ur hands off my tua

also generally the way they have Lila act abt her family??? idk it feels like such a bland plotline to make her and diego hate being parents

the chubby jokes about diego are also crazy

the fives scene was so cringey 😭 i see what u were going for but it literally just gave citadel of ricks it was not good, and the rain man joke.

the plotline of klaus getting kidnapped was genuinely crazy to toss in there and play for jokes, they only acted like it was serious when the guy threatened allison like no he has been sex trafficking the hargreeves on screen for an entire episode

also while klaus being really paranoid of dying without his powers COULD have been a good plot line I feel like they did not do it well and it just ended up feeling like promoting his addiction

that goop ending was really weird, why'd they get gooped, what if they all died normally no goop involved, they window breaking shot was cool just have that massive monster kick their asses why goop

why did they imply Viktor is like treating all the women in town badly in the first episode 😭 viktor has NEVER acted like this. like please let trans men be GOOD men it doesnt men them girly to not treat women like shit

they act like sloan died and then never elaborated on it???

please explore why raymond left allison and fire aidan gallagher

klaus immediately going for the dog tags was actually rlly sweet almost cried

the two seconds of young apocalypse five were the best moments of the whole season

plot holes bc i was gonna be nice but you did this to yourself :

why is everyone calling it marigold like its not just random thing harlan came up with

"power up" THIS IS NOT WHAT ANY OF UR POWERS LOOKED LIKE UNTIL RN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING

and fives jumps are purple??? for the reason of ??? ??? why??

and WHY THE HELL DOES LILA HAVE LaZER EYES. ALL THEIR POWERS ARE LIKE THEIRS BUT SLIGHTLY DIF/MORE POWERFUL AND SHES JUST GOT LAZER EYES 😭

why were lila and five living like they were in the apocalypse in that train station when they clearly could pop up and time travel around??? like go up take a shower, time travel to sometime with stores, buy some meat, why are you hunting rats, theres literally a deli in there

also they were in there for SEVEN YEARS and never saw another five until the last episode????

I also really heavily doubt it would take five 7+ years to figure out the train system

also the way allison pours the marigold directly into klaus' wound and it just works 😭 how does it work both by drinking it AND ALSO BY POURING IT DIRECTLY IN A MANS GUNSOHT WOULD

what? was going on w Sy Grossman ?? did we ever figure that out?? did they just kill him off and leave us wondering?? why did he say he was Jennifers dad? was he actually with the Keepers? was he just working for Abigail?? no fucking clue

one of the hargreeves (i think luther) called bens death the jennifer incident in s3,,,, but they did not know the girls name and also allegedly had their memories wiped???? okay,,,

also i thought sparrow ben KNEW jennifer already cuz he had her name in his journal or whatever?? but now he doesn't???

why was she in the squid 😭 ?

honestly im sure theres more ive forgotton but omg, that was not good 😭

[cloversnstrawberries]

SUMMARY ! !

You’re a Guardian Angel in training! In a stroke of luck, you’ve been chosen amongst hundreds upon thousands of other applicants to attend the Academy of Helping Hands; one of the most prestigious schools for becoming a Guardian Angel!

But something is… off, and you just can’t place your finger on it. Maybe the classmate that seems a little more off-putting than the rest of your peers, or the student council member that keeps electing you for rewards you don’t believe you deserve.

The longer you stay at The Academy of Helping Hands, the more off it all seems. But you’re in too deep now— they’re notorious for not allowing mid-semester switchouts, so… guess you have to deal with it for the year.

You’re sure you can make it; after all, one of the most necessary traits to be a Guardian Angel is persistence and dedication!

[more information, masterlist/directory, and warnings below the cut !]

clover explains ! !

hello!! this is a project of mine that’s been stuck in my head for quite some time! I was sick a few weeks ago, and as a result binge watched Angel & Friends on youtube. from there, this idea spawned and has had me in a death-grip ever since.

‘to bite the hand that feeds you’ is a big undertaking, one i hope i can stick to. It is it’s own universe indefinitely, and i’ll be posting lots of character bios, tidbits, and lore explanations before the actual chapters are posted.

BUT! i’ve decided to make this series a kind of ‘choose your own adventure’, where at the end of most (maybe all, i haven’t decided yet), there will be a poll where you can vote for reader’s next decision, an additional story element, or something like that!

+as a default, reader is a gn!teen!angel / guardian angel in training, but other types of readers could be requested for spinoffs and such! this will also be majority, if not nearly all platonic unless otherwise requested :-] (& that would most likely be a spinoff and not canon to the mane storyline)

overall warnings ! !

heavy depictions of religion and religious imagery (particularly catholic/roman catholic, and maybe some judaism as well), yanderes, possessive behavior, overprotectiveness, violence, terror, manipulation/threats, and there will be more added if they are prevalent enough in this world as i continue to write it.

DIRECTORY ! !

main story masterlist [TBA]

hall of characters [coming soon]

comprehensive lore posts [coming soon]

lore drops, character tidbits, and other answered questions ! !

this is where i would put them… IF I HAD ANY!

ending note ! !

i will be working on this in the coming days, but if you want to know anything about the world or suggest a character/archetype (art teacher, gardening club member, etc), PLEASE do not hesitate to send me an ask, comment, or DM about it!! even if you think it’s ‘stupid’, i’d still love to hear it!!

This series/world will be very interactive, or at least i plan for it to be. go crazy!!! infodump in my inbox about angels, saints, a mechanic you think is cool, a plotline— and i might add it in!!

^that’s all i have for now!! hope u enjoy :]^

[melocherie]

I will never get over how Noor BUTCHERED princess mononoke ( sorry I just wanna rant about it )

Her downgrading not only ashitaka but also kaya in sen's arc is genuinely so baffling. I remember when Noor said she finds ashitaka a boring character/ protagonist and to me that's crazy because his personality is almost like mc in the sense that they both have a strong sense of justice , willing to hear both sides while also standing that they do not want violence. The only difference is that ashitaka doesn't express himself as much , he has a flat tone , he's very blunt and he's a calm person. These aren't boring qualities in my opinion at least

And kaya OML

Sorry I just wanna say

NOOR BUTCHERED SO BAD THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KAYA AND ASHITAKA. These two have respect and care for each other, it's hinted that their engagement was arranged. He takes care and protects her and she does the same with him, even if ashitaka never loved her romantically. Kaya could have had romantic feelings for ashitaka but that's up for interpretation, when she gave ashitaka that necklace you see the worry look on her face.

Because of course her ( now ex ) fiancee is now leaving the town forever with a curse no one knows how to cure.

She could've given this necklace to ease his mind when he gets homesick or a last gift of love to him

( this is what Noor said btw below )

It doesn't make sense at all that kaya could be pregnant with ashitaka's ( especially with how conservative Japan is )

Also like dude really a girl being pregnant in the movie is now the same with a guy wanting to force a girl to be pregnant????

OMG WHAT?? Also I've seen that Noor finds it weird that ashitaka gave the necklace kaya gave to him to San

So why didn't she just write Kano as a worried and sad ex fiancee that went to MC because he was worried , show him upset that sen has the gift that he sent to MC

Also how did Kano even leave the village?? Doesn't that have any consequences? Wouldn't the people there be worried

I don't know man I have so many thoughts but I just wanna share them with you

unfortunately,  i  still  haven’t  seen  princess  mononoke  since  i’d  like  to  watch  the  movie  before  reading  sen’s  arc  so  the  details  are  still  fresh  in  my  mind.  as  a  result,  while  i  agree  with  you  based  on  what  little  i’ve  seen  the  arc,  i’m  afraid  i  can’t  add  much  to  the  discussion.  nonetheless,  i  am  aware  of  hayao  miyazaki  as  a  writer,  and  your  thoughts  regarding  the  butchering  of  his  characters  brought  to  mind  this  quote  from  him:

“I've  become  skeptical  of  the  unwritten  rule  that  just  because  a  boy  and  girl  appear  in  the  same  feature,  a  romance  must  ensue.  Rather,  I  want  to  portray  a  slightly  different  relationship,  one  where  the  two  mutually  inspire  each  other  to  live—  if  l'm  able  to,  then  perhaps  I'll  be  closer  to  portraying  a  true  expression  of  love.”

it  seems  strange  to  me  that  miyazaki,  known  for  portraying  complex,  platonic  relationships  and  for  his  strong  female  characters,  would  fate  a  teenage  girl  to  raise  a  child  after  her  fiancé  is  exiled  without  offering  any  attention  to  the  anguish  she  would  experience.  i  understand  that  princess  mononoke  is  far  more  mature  compared  to  ponyo  or  kiki’s  delivery  service,  but  i  don't  think  it  makes  sense  for  such  an  blatantly  mature  plotline  to  be  sidelined  off  screen.  i  can  comprehend  an  arranged  marriage  between  the  teens,  but  a  ghibli  film  that  implied  underage  sex?  are  you  sure?

and  it's  these  kinds  of  uncertainties  that  make  me  cringe  at  noor’s  decision  to  use  this  blatant  lie  to  turn  this  innocent  little  girl  into  a  rapist.  while  "wouldn't  it  be  wild  if  this  happened?"  is  a  legitimate  approach  to  storytelling,  it  shouldn't  be  the  only  method  of  handling  a  significant  character  in  a  story's  arc.

i  feel  terrible  for  comparing  a  quotev  story  to  tatsuki  fujimoto,  but  i  think  fire  punch  is  an  excellent  example  of  what  i  mean. 

the  world  of  fire  punch  is  considerably  bleaker  and  darker  than  everything  in  iaptbap,  with  every  trigger  warning  under  the  sun,  from  dismemberment  to  incest  to  sexual  assault,  and  as  a  result,  i  found  it  an  unpleasant  read,  yet  despite  the  copious edge  there’s  an  elegance  to  fujimoto's  writing.  the  post-apocalyptic  world  of  fire  punch  isn't  just  "wouldn't  it  be  wild  if  people  had  to  resort  to  cannibalism  to  survive";  it's  a  statement  on  how  ignorant  people  will  become  if  denied  the  tools  to  live  and  an  education,  and  how  ignorance  can  be  shaped  into  cruelty.

one  of  its  characters  is  togata,  who’s  essentially  immortal  and  whose  sole  passion  is  cinema.  they,  like  most  characters,  aren’t  a  moral  person.  in  their  second  chapter,  they  wait  idly  by  while  men  attempt  to  assault  a  child  because  they  believe  the  act  will  make  the  men  more  hateable  as  characters,  thus  improving  the  film  their  directing. 

likewise,  "wouldn't  it  be  wild  for  quirky  togata  to  do  that"  isn't  the  pinnacle  of  their  character.  another  theme  in  fire  punch  is  how  individuals  and  mankind  as  a  whole  will  find the  means  to  live.  togata,  who  is  three  hundred  years  old  and  has  seen  old  humanity  die  before  their  eyes,  is  so  disillusioned  with  life  that  they  can  only  engage  with  the  world  through  the  escapism  of  movies,  a  relic  of  old  humanity  in  this  post-apocalyptic  world.  despite  their  shocking  actions,  the  characters  of  fire  punch  don’t  feel  like  puppets  on  a  string,  dancing  to  the  writer's  whims  but  real,  multifaceted  people.  they  are  the  narrative,  it’s  themes  and  questions,  not  merely  vehicles  to  ride  to  the  next  insane  thing  that  happens. 

and  i  can  never  count  on  noor  to  have  a  fraction  of  this care.  why  waste  time  exploring  kaya's  personality,  thoughts,  dreams,  and  feelings  when  the  event  of  assaulting  the  protagonist  is  far  more  interesting.  it  would  be  incredibly  messed  up  and  crazy  if  she  did  this,  so  why  bother utilizing  her  to  delve  deeper  into  the  themes  already  explored  in  the  film?  why  even  care  about  the  themes  in  princess  mononoke  any  way  when  we  can  spend  the  chapters  smooching  our  6’8  feral  wolf  boy  hottie! (  ♥  )  /sarc

[slothpower-central]

Here's my super early before everything Canto 8 bingo card

You all asked for it so I shall hand it over, keep in mind this is subject to change massively based on things like the intermissions, I want to be the first person to make a Bingo card for way in the future, call it a....long term investment Here is my super early Canto 8 Bingo card!!

Okay so I kinda wanna explain the board choices for funsies!

Hong Lu is a rock-.....obviously the big theory is on here!

Mothershu crumbs-So my friends and I refer to like character moments and hints as crumbs and mothershu is what we refer to as Ryoshu being a mother or like alluding to that(like with smth like Spider Bud)

Sinclair snaps-We get another moment similar to his shut the fuck up moment in Canto 7

Freak Lu- uhm this one is more of a silly one since with the number of times that man is tied up or smth and is chill with it (What do you mean it was a unique and fun experience?!?!) my friends and I think he's into it, so we included it for fun

No romance plotline-sigh. Wishful thinking on the part of a Hong Lu yume shipper(me) one of the original novels main plotlines is a whole romance love triangle thing goin on with Baoyu. My friend an I were going back and forth on if/how they could adapt that madness so to subvert expectations,we said no romance

We go to the Land of Illusion-Look if Baoyu goes there in the original, who's to say we won't go in Limbus

Outis Family crumbs- Outis saying anything about her family or home or Penelope or any of that

Uhm the Lin Daiyu space is self-explanatory aside from the descriptors, it's more in reference to my friend's bingo card she made for Canto 7, and it had "Dulcinea is a baddie" on there so I had to carry on the joke

That Grey Bastard appears-uhm.... that's in reference to Demian. My friend group is not a fan of him (I'm literally close friends with the real reincarnation of Emil Sinclair, of course we have conflicting feelings on Demian)

Levels copy the style of chapter names- So the names of levels last canto matched up with the way chapters in Don Quixote are titled and it was the same way in Canto 5 so Amia and I thought it might carry over to Canto 8 ^^

Heathcliff crumbs-We kinda threw his one in here but y'know more Heathcliff family moments or more Heathcath

Baoyu name reveal-Okay before you say, "But Sloth, they did reveal it to the sinners!" uhm no, look at who was in that convo. It was Wei, Xichun and Hong Lu, the other sinners do not know, or they just really decided to not comment on that

Chapter with the most npcs-This one is a prediction because guys. The original novel has like 400 characters in it.

Story Dungeon in Canto-So I always like to ask whether we'll get one since in Canto 6,we didn't get a dungeon,so we put it on there

Hong Lu is a "Charon situation"- I proposed some kind of crazy idea that Hong Lu was like overwriting Baoyu's personality/old self or smth and Amia responds with "Charon situation" since in Leviathan Lapis gets herself overwritten by one of her mirror worlds, that being Charon. So maybe something of a similar nature happened to Hong Lu (Yes this is different enough from rock theory to me)

Hong Lu doesn't distort- Ha you thought! Amia and I are like *convinced* the Hell's Chicken line is a red herring meant to throw us off. Like Quixote distortion was a big theory for a while and she didn't distort (Can bloodfiends distort? Idk) I know we're in the minority but like unless something changes my mind, I'm gonna keep being in the minority