#I want to see him have an antihero storyline

[disaster-scribbles]

Back after over a year to furiously tell people about my Hawkfrost AU.

Think about it. AU where Hawkfrost fails to kill Firestar and Brambleclaw, but Brambleclaw ends up sparing his life as he can’t bring himself to kill him. I will go into this a lot more, but as a brief look at how the plot could be:

Hawkfrost is kicked from RiverClan after the truth comes out about his plan. However Brambleclaw doesn’t want him to become an outcast from the clans and, knowing that Tigerstar’s manipulation is at least partly to blame, believes that Hawkfrost can change. Hawkfrost doesn’t understand, therefore, when he is allowed to be a member of thunderclan.

Thunderclan is naturally hostile to him, but Firestar trusts Brambleclaw’s judgement. Brambleclaw informs him of the Dark Forest, and so Firestar warns thunderclan of the danger that could be in their dreams. Meanwhile, Hawkfrost hates being in thunderclan and being watched constantly, and so plans to leave.

However this doesn’t happen once he realises that Brambleclaw still cares for him a lot, volunteering to teach him how to hunt in thunderclan territory. His enthusiasm and daring attitude reminds him of tadpole. He eventually makes friends with some other clan mates through plot that I will write someday (this is a very rushed explanation, please understand my sped up pace here). This falls into him becoming a second judgement that challenges Brambleclaw/star’s choices.

Now, lots of the plot stays the same, only I fully believe Hawkfrost would help Leafpool and Squirrelflight in their plan after knowing what it feels like to be an outcast in his own clan due to him being the son of a loner. He has a habit of observing (*cough* spying *cough*) the cats in thunderclan and overhears about Leafpool being pregnant. Rather than tell anyone, he confronts her slyly and says he will aid them for a price - a price which he never follows up, but rather just a front of him wanting to help without saying so. He only asks who the father is, and keeps their secret as they leave.

the plot of the third series remains mostly the same, only Hawkfrost finds himself cornered by Ashfur, who says his plan outright. Hawkfrost never ratted on Ashfur as he didn’t care at the time it was relevant, then believed he would be able to spot if he was going to do something. Hawkfrost pretends to be in with the plan, but says privately to bramblestar to keep an eye on Ashfur. Though the secret of the kits still gets out, bramblestar is there to hear it as he takes hawkfrost’s advice. So he doesn’t get the news thrown at him at a gathering, which is a little nicer I suppose.

Hawkfrost manages to talk Hollyleaf out of trying to freaking murder Leafpool, talking about his own life and experiences. So hollyleaf never runs into the tunnel and gets crushed.

haven’t made up my mind too much from here, still in ramble mode, whoops. But Hawkfrost will 100% see through Sol’s shit, outright laughing at him for his stupid attempt because come on Hawkfrost has class, unlike this guy.

When the dark forest cats come to the living world, Hawkfrost ultimately kills tigerstar after he tries to persuade him to join their side, stating some big speech about how he was wrong whilst also insulting him I guess.

You can bet when Bramblestar tries to turn down helping the sisters Hawkfrost glared at him until he changes his mind, because his mother was in the same position as the sisters and he’d be damned if he turns them away.

I kinda want a role for Hawkfrost where he becomes an unofficial spy for the clans due to his skills in persuasion and manipulation, doing things like joining the kin - a way that makes him seem like he’s unchanged to many cats, but actually intends to silently protect the kits and apprentices from making the same choices he had, and feeling the way he had.

So yeah, sorry for this very underwhelming ramble, though it would be nice to see any expansion on the basic ideas I put out there. I always like to see what would happen if a single character in a story lived.

[tsaricides]

(Sorry for sending this here but your askbox in boyfridged is not working for me 😓) I read the new issue of the Red Hood Hill mini and I have to say I'm fascinated by the kiss one because its literally so out of nowhere, but mainly because it's such a representation of how writers attempt to shove Jason into this boxes that fit the more classical comicbook antihero (not that i think he even is one) without actually writing him as a distinct character.

In abstract I think the exploration of relationships both with friendships and romances with Jason would be interesting just because he has been so isolated and grew up in circumstances that didn't really allow for more normal socialization? and also because he is genuinely so intense and constantly losing the idgf war that hes bound to be an absolute little weirdo in any dynamic like he has no parameters of what a regular friendship or relationship would be or function like anymore

So its so bizarre to see writers still attempting to play him as a womanizer who just does random hookups without accounting for yknow his actual character

all very true; i've seen a lot of people very firmly reject the idea of him being given a romantic storyline at all, or even being quite hellbent on jason having no friends; and i want to say i do agree he is not well equipped to handle any of these relationships, but this is specifically why exploring them would be so fascinating. as you said, he is so intense in terms of how he seeks any sort of relationship out, but something that is also apparent in-text is that he very fiercely searches for connections with people to whom he can relate (one of the main reasons he looks to donna, who has came back from the dead!) i'm also of a rather unpopular opinion that because of that he would be very prone to entering relationships (both platonic and perhaps under certain circumstances even romantic/sexual in nature) that would be detrimental to him, as despite everything he remains quite naive (and i'm saying this lovingly. this is not an attack, despite the word itself having negative connotations) in his grand ideas about love. and, as you pointed out, he has been so isolated that he doesn't really know what normal socialisation should be like, which on top of his own perhaps at times unpleasant social habits makes him rather vulnerable.

alas. dc would rather make him into a cardboard cutout with competence i have no idea where and how he would gain. i understand some of it is logical in a sense that he had to develop *some* communication skills in order for his plans to work out (which is a very generous claim, given most of them actually fell through--) , but there is a difference between commanding people/investigation versus personal relationships-- and i would be even very much interested to see the hints of his own inability to form the latter affect the former (which we used to get. sparsely.)

[presiding]

a doctor turned serial killer turned doctor again, an actor who paints, a gang leader, a mining baron, and a vice overseer walk into the room.

oh yeah and they lead karnaca now.

dishonored 2 is my fav game but i think it's mid, story-wise. here's why dh1 works and why dh2's overarching story sorta misses

tl;dr: story integration is critical for gameplay that offers audience payoff, but emily's personal arc from dishonor to honor is inconsistently demonstrated in the story, and is not an interactive part of the gameplay.

essay/long version under cut >

recap: what's dishonored's deal

[skip if you want] dh1 is an underdog story: corvo is an honorable man swept up in the machinations of a callous city, so his canonical ending being 'this child will rule over an empire' isn't about the child's rule but rather about corvo's reputation being restored in a more hopeful city, due to his & the player's rejection of the violent connotations of the tagline 'revenge solves everything.'

similarly, in dh1 DLCs, daud's story arc is that of an anti-hero: a dishonorable man who realises too late he has done irreparable harm. he sees the error of his ways after a single monumental death, and eventually a single life redeems him when he/the player stepped in to circumvent a terrible fate for a child, enabling her to rule unfettered.

daud & corvo come to a satisfying conclusion within the extent of their narrative arcs. it doesn't matter that a child on a throne isn't really a fix for a decaying empire - the player's actions throughout the city of dunwall was what mattered - and these stories could be framed as parables. in that sense, young emily as a ruler is a metaphor for a hopeful future for the city & empire.

dishonored 1 & its DLCs are also great examples of storytelling with perfectly integrated gameplay - you, the player, worked towards the outcome that redeemed the protagonists.

in your efforts to save young emily, you either achieved a good outcome (corvo) or prevented a worse outcome (daud).

bringing us to dh2 -

what's emily's arc

emily's arc is a coming of age: we're introduced to a reigning empress who questions her role & skillset ("am i the empress my mother wanted me to be?"), then her titular fall from grace occurs. from there, she learns to reject the violent, selfish connotations in 'take back whats yours' tagline (a la daud & corvo!) while rediscovering why her rule is critical to the empire.

emily's rule is no longer metaphorical, but:

a literal thing for audience assessment (is emily a good ruler?) AND

the crux of her storyline.

at the beginning of dh2, emily is introduced as a disengaged leader ("i wish i could just run away from all this;" "i dont know if whether i should sail to the opposite side of the world, or have everyone around me executed"). the antihero has a precedent for the dishonored series in daud, so it's not at first glance an issue*, however, the fact that emily has ruled poorly reframes corvo & daud's endings as being less than ideal (a moralistic retcon) *we could talk here about how ready an audience was in 2016 for a flawed women as a protagonist, hell, even in 2023,,,

throwback to the beginning of this essay when i said:

'this child will rule over an empire' isn't about the child's rule but rather about corvo's reputation

emily's story arc, unlike for daud & corvo, is literally about the quality of her rule. we're no longer in metaphor territory (ironic phrase): a parable-style ending doesn't work.

does emily become a good ruler

we know she becomes a good ruler because the game says so. it is narrated to the audience via a (literal) word of god in the space of 30 seconds, after the final boss. the outsider tells us that emily becomes known as Just & Clever.

drawing a distinction here - this narration is not the same as the player actively being involved.

the player does not throughout the game become aware that emily has made political allies. during the game, she doesn't talk to these characters about saving karnaca or being a better ruler to the empire (there's a few lines might imply it, but you need to be actively looking and being careful to wait for every voice line. it's a far cry from daud & corvo's fight to save emily being unmissable - even though daud doesn't know at the beginning that's the goal).

how does the game show it

you can coincidentally not kill most of your subjects and never be aware that emily is looking to restore karnaca by means of instating a council - it's never brought up. it *couldn't* be brought up, because that council serves under the fake duke (armando), who is the last person she speaks to before she leaves for dunwall. its her suggestion that he rules karnaca, but armando's condition is that he will rule as he sees fit.

to back up a bit, emily's canonical method of restoring karnaca is by banding together key allies - hypatia, stilton, [byrne &or paolo], pastor, under a council beneath the duke's body double. they are passionate people who would each individually make worthwhile advisors, but if you think about those characters sitting at a table trying to reach an agreement, it feels like an assortment of people that emily didn't kill along the way and doesn't feel organic (up to interpretation). it's not stated if emily herself banded this council together, but logically she must have (worth a mention these are mostly characters that you as the player had reasonable rationale to kill during a high chaos run, except pastor). the underlying concept may be that karnaca's power is returned to its people - which is interesting given that the monarchy remains and armando's decision is final.

this overarching solution could also be taken as a critique to dh1's 'put your kid on the throne,' which is another reason its worthwhile looking at how emily was shown to be a better leader. obviously my point isn't that her solution was bad given the circumstance, but i mean she has very little agency here in all. if emily was shown to be more controlling as a leader, this could be interpreted as character growth, but that's not the case.

coming of age

how do you learn & grow when you can't specify your failings? emily doesn't really touch on her shortcomings as an empress. she non-specifically worries delilah makes a better empress than her. it's hard to argue her worries are meaningful when someone good at their job will still worry when lives are in the balance.

emily's best 'aha' moments (eg. crack in the slab comment about gaining perspective) are consistently undercut by a conversation with sokolov or meagan afterwards in which she demonstrates she hasn't learned anything (before the grand palace, emily condemns 'toadies sucking up to me' and is reminded by meagan that she's part of the problem). the story is confused about what it's trying to say about emily's progress, and when she's meant to show progress, if she was meant to show any progress at all. it could be argued that emily was never even a bad ruler, she had just been fed misinformation about the problems in karnaca and been the victim of slander by her political enemies. the game doesn't make this clear - it's easier to argue that the opposite is true given that her allies only have criticism.

worth a mention here that the heart quotes about armando - a fake ruler - interestingly mirror emily's character concerns. "see how he sighs? his life is a gilded cage." but this essay is already long.

while corvo & daud spend their games (and through the gameplay) 'earning' their redemption, emily is being led by the NPCs around her to a conclusion and a fix for the political mess in karnaca: meagan & sokolov guide emily to her missions, and there's no recurring quest for emily to investigate possible allies. she is able to gather the people she hasn't killed to herself by manner of... post-game narration. during the game, she's primarily concerned with getting her throne back.

an easy fix: if there had been less dialogue & narrative focus on emily's failings perhaps the ending would have felt more satisfying. it has the feel of cut content, but i don't know what was cut to be able to comment on it.

so what went wrong?

i can't help but wonder if arkane were worried they would lose a certain demographic if corvo wasn't playable (may have been deemed too much of a risk - 2013 was a different time), and so they had to take out story elements that were unique to emily's growth as a character/empress, because the usual storyline/gameplay integration had to work for both characters - in other words, gameplay that made sense for both corvo & emily was prioritised before emily's story & character development. which is a silly problem to have in a game that added character voices for the sake of improving characterisation - maybe emily's tale would have felt more akin to a parable if she had less lines that betrayed her ignorance (to the disdain of those around her).

i wish more care had been taken with emily's story. most players will never really notice the large variety of different endings - they're not particularly satisfying in and of themselves.

it's ironic that one of Emily's complaints is about her father/protector being overbearing, when his (parallel universe) presence in the gameplay may be one of the reasons her own narrative arc falls flat.

what are the upsides here

changing tune from what didn't work - don't you think the concept is fantastic? it's a great idea overall - can you imagine if the coming of age storyline was better integrated into the game?

it's valuable to talk about the integration of story and gameplay and characterisation from a craft perspective. dh2 genuinely is my favourite game - it's beautiful, the imm-sim design philosophy makes the world a delight to explore, the combat gives endless creative options for tackling any fight, there is a far greater diversity of cast in an in-text canonical way. there's loads to love!

i love emily as a dodgy leader, to me it adds interesting dimensionality to the outsider's narrations - of course in dunwall there's never a neat happily ever after! emily, like the outsider, both work well as characters who hold ultimate power but aren't necessarily worthy of it - and this makes perfect sense for the dishonored universe's morality & critiques of power. however, within this grey area there's still plenty of room for a satisfying ending, which isn't what we ended up with, whatever the true reason for that was. and also, damn, emily's a marked assassin empress, if she can't lead well then who can?

while dh1 was criticised for its narrative simplicity, dh2 in contrast and in hindsight shows us that simplicity isn't so bad - there's satisfaction in gameplay achieves a clear, simple narrative goal.

[zahri-melitor]

Some more coherent thoughts about Gotham War, now it's settled on me.

(Spoilers below cut, for length and as it's still only Wednesday)

It's not a huge surprise, but Selina's whole 'train henches to steal from the rich non-violently!' ended up being a complete side issue that only existed to get the plot moving. Nobody's conception of this plot, in two years time, will really include this detail, despite the thousands of words spent arguing how ridiculous it was.

Yes it remains a poorly thought out plan on Selina's part (she's never heard of earning money legally) but the narrative also frames it as long term ineffective from the very first issue and knocks it down on multiple occasions.

DC editorial definitely tried to dress this up as a full family event, but realistically it was a Bruce, Selina and Jason event, written by their three current writers, with solid bit parts played by Tim and Dick.

Vandal Savage remains ridiculous and ready to sacrifice anyone and I appreciate that about him. As a villain he was just the right level of stakes for this event.

I enjoyed getting to see Scandal, even if her fans would say she got done dirty here. Scandal usually has enough sense not to believe anything Vandal says, and I admit I was somewhat waiting for some level of twist here as to why Scandal was all for immortality at this point in time, but it never came.

I still agree it felt a lot like three separate plotlines intersecting, but I think they managed to land the event successfully (while leaving some nice loose threads). I actually appreciate they didn't overreach in their goals.

It still finished out with two separate plotlines: Bruce and Selina and Jason; and Dick and Tim and the rest of the family. Structurally this again reminded me as much of Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul as Batman #138 did; the main plot and then the far more interesting Dick & Tim sideplot which is what I go back to reread. (Chip Zdarsky is clearly also a fan)

Also promisingly for an event yes, it did actually shake up the status quo and push the participants off in new directions.

So Bruce is now doing the Loner Batman thing (in that he's locked out of the fam computers/comm lines), Selina is officially 'dead' (what is with all these fake dead people with titles, Penguin is too right now), and Jason has what's effectively permanent fear toxin response to stressful situations. Also, apparently, we are getting Dick and Barbara back 'running' the Batfam while Bruce is on the outs.

As far as Bruce goes, what has been really notable in this event is how much Chip Zdarsky loves early 2000s Bat comics and their dynamics, and particularly Joker's Last Laugh. There's a lot of structural things about how this event was shaped, what specific characters did, and emotional beats that feel very JLL as someone who's read it at least half a dozen times. It's not the only influence, but it's a pretty prominent one.

Bruce ending the event in a position where he's effectively not working with most of the other Bats actually tracks reasonably well over to Batman & Robin, to my surprise. It makes sense that it's just Bruce and Damian and they're focusing on homelife and domestic relationship details between the two. It gives Bruce an excuse for why he's closely focused on Damian there.

I will admit I have not been reading Catwoman, but from the event it seems they're spinning her off to keep moving her back into a more antihero position. Tini Howard clearly has a direction she wants to take Selina.

I actually think this has pretty interesting storytelling potential for Jason. It means that he has to stay calm, or has to overcome his own fear to achieve things. It gives him a goal? Matthew Rosenberg clearly seems interested in using it for his Jason storytelling and he's got Jason right now, so...

I'm personally delighted by how much Tim Zdarsky wrote into this storyline. He used the space more to show off Dick and Tim's brotherhood and what Tim is good at, rather than push the Tim side of the Zur story we're all expecting to occur (there's that waiting Zur-Robin costume). Means he's planning it for Batman as a title itself rather than getting it tangled up here.

"It was the only way to become the second-best Robin". Yes, this is Tim getting to show off his core competencies - he probably is the only Bat other than Bruce who would have extensively studied all the trophies. Dick would remember a lot of them simply because a lot of the trophies are from old adventures, but pretty much all the others are not particularly retrospective, respect the past sort of members of the group, while Tim has always been surrounded by the shadows of the past. I loved this note.

I haven't talked about Babs yet! She's in green, in glasses, sitting down at her computers with a novelty mug, directing everyone, answering to Oracle. That's her! That's my Oracle!

I do think Bruce expecting Dick to take over running the Batfam right now is a big ask, given he's also running the Titans as the main superhero team on the planet and handling Bludhaven, but Tom Taylor's writing both those books so I don't expect to see the stress catching up with Dick there. Benefits of writer choice right now, I guess. Also personally 'Babs and Dick organise everyone while Bruce has a breakdown elsewhere' is one of my favourite Batfam dynamics so you know, I'm pretty excited if we actually get to see this play out.

New Lazarus Pit in Gotham! This won't be a problem at all.

[totallynuwonhere]

Saw the moots doing it and I wanted to be included U-U SHFHSJ/lh

MY TOP 10 REDACTED BOIS

NOTE: I WILL BE GETTING A LOT OF SIDE EYES FOR THIS, BUT IMA BE RANKING THEM BASE ON HOW MUCH THEY CAN HOLD MY INTEREST TO JUST CUZ I LOVE THEM OK? IT’S IN THAT ORDER

1. Blake 💀 - I KNOW, I KNOW. BUT LISTEN, I LOVE ME AN ANTIHERO PROTAGONIST, IT’S JUST SO INTERESTING and, and his storyline is like the very foundation, the conduit, if you will, of this whole meridian shtick. HE’S THE PUPPET, HE’S THE LIL LOVESICK DUMDUM, and you gotta admire that naive dedication

2. Morgan - I have to admit, I didn’t care much for his first two episodes, but his last one definitely made me a devout Morganer, like i will learn how to dance for you sir. I can tell ima be loving how his story will go.

3. Vincent - I love me this whole royal thing they have going on ok, it’s my most loved thing about the solaire storyline, the glitz, the glamour, a good scandal, yeah I watch too much bridgerton.

4. David - His character development is my most favorite, especially the contrast with his valenweek flashback to, let’s say his halloween one. I love this man.

5. Asher - Ion have much to say besides, I like me fluff, he is the sweetest boy and I will not take criticism.

6. James - Ngl him as M*rcus’ boss at ETS, I didn’t care for, except when he confronted him, cuz I cheered when he did. BUT WHEN HIS VALENWEEK EP DROPPED, He had me hook, line, and sinker. I desperately need to see their marriage happy.

7. Porter - He’s such a diva I love him. Like I would invite this man to brunch to shittalk about people. (Mostly A!exis)

8. Aaron- HE’S MY SWEET SNARKY DIRECTOR OF ACCOUNTING OK? OK.

9. Sam - I love me southern hospitality. He’s the reason for my cowboy obsession.

10. D.A.M.N Crew - I’m grouping them together cuz ion have much to say about them, and not putting them here would be a disservice. I love the found familyness of these guys, they just hold a very special place in my heart.

[nobodysdaydreams]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 21, and 25 for Curtain/Nathanial Benedict, SQ and Jeffers on the Character Ask Game! You can pick whichever character applies the most to a question. :)

Hope you’re having a lovely day! 💕

Hey Nova! Sorry this took so long! I’m having a lovely day and I hope you are too!

Curtain/Nathaniel Benedict

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

I dislike him for all the obvious reasons. Horrible brother, father, uncle, friend, boss and person, trapped in his own mind, refuses therapy, makes his issues everyone else’s problem, is a perpetual martyr and victim, constantly hypocritical, and insufferably smug about it all. What do I like about him? Specifically for the show version, I loved the glimpses of his humanity. Nathaniel doing art projects with SQ, connecting with Sticky in the Whisperer when he says he fears not being wanting, and joking with Nicholas in the compound. Even just his little quirks, his silly dancing and theater kid vibes, his love of oddly specific foods, the flashbacks of little Nathaniel making that hair gel to impress new parents. You hate him so much but you really feel Nicholas and SQ’s frustrations and understand how they can hold out so much hope for him because you see the potential.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

That they gave him a history with Nicholas, made him SQ’s dad, and gave him a uh, a “friend” in Garrison. Intriguing storylines and they should have done more with them.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

I’d say the way he treats others but he’s the villain. He’s written that way, it’s expected that he wouldn’t be nice, but when he apologizes to Nicholas and turns good we don’t get ONE MENTION OF SQ??? If you’re gonna be a good guy now, you might want to start by caring about your missing child.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Wolf359. I cannot tell you how many times I write “Curtain” and “Cutter” at the wrong times on accident. Nathaniel would absolutely have an evil space company. @sophieswundergarten and I had an AU for this if anyone is interested I can post about it sometime.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Antihero by Taylor Swift for sure. The song summarizes Nathaniel perfectly, and if you don’t believe me, I hope this edit changes your mind. I think it might be one of my favorite edits I've ever made, though my star wars one is close, it's a tough call.

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

We’re both theater kids who also do STEM stuff. Idk what that says about me.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

My favorite thing to do for any character is explore themes of guilt, redemption, forgiveness, and healing. I love it, and Nathaniel is the perfect character for it. I don’t like stories that say either A) he can’t be redeemed no matter how sorry he is or B) no boundaries, consequences, or struggle necessary. He apologized; he gets a free pass! (Disclaimer: write what you want, don’t let me stop you, but I like to show the journey. Especially in a way that’s realistic and shows the complications that do come with these kinds of big life/perspective changes).

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

At first, I wasn’t sure about him in the show. He was clearly aged down, and his character was different. Then they dropped the whole thing about the twins knowing each other growing up in the orphanage and Nathaniel being SQ’s adoptive father and I was like “oohhh… I see what they’re doing. I’m 100% on board. This is interesting.” If only they'd seen it through.

Shepard Quaid (SQ)

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

What’s not to like? Books or show, he’s sweet, precious, good, the best boy, and believes in everyone. For the show specifically I love that they made him more assertive to show the parent and child relationship he has with Curtain. He questions his dad, lies to his face, and I love that he does that! I wanted more of that! (And his art and love of animals). Incredible character. The only dislikes are that he didn’t get more screen time and the way other characters treat him. He deserves better. He deserves his father on his knees groveling with an apology (and explanation about what happened to his birth parents to because I’m sorry his dad just “worked with Curtain and got sick???” And what happened to the mom? I’d assume he had one???)

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Rat by Penelope Scott. The people have spoken.

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

We're both neurodivergent (that's more of a headcanon, but I don't think anyone is gonna fight me on this).

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

I love writing about him discovering who his family really is and finding his place in the world on his own terms because that’s his whole arc. However, I don’t like the fact I have to write him in pain so often. The poor boy deserves a break but sadly I must hurt him for the plot.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

10/10 books AND show first impression for obvious reasons. As for now, the show version is sadly a ?/10 because WHERE IS HE? But in all seriousness, I love the character, and SQ has consistently been my #1.

Jeffers

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

His silly speech about the perimeter. It's so unserious and unnecessary but 100% iconic.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

I don't know if there's anything I really hate about him. I know some people were upset he wasn't as threatening as the ten men, but that's just not his character, you know? He's comedic relief, and I think he did a nice job with that, especially in season 2.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Father Brown. He looks exactly like Inspector Mallory with the mustache, and he'd be just as incompetent, if not more.

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

We both like to dramatically monologue. I don't know what that says about me.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

I like writing his silly little comedic relief disasters. Something I don't like is that there actually aren't a lot of fics with his character tag on AO3. So I'm glad I could give the fandom some Jeepers shenanigans nobody asked for.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

In season 1, I thought his character was kind of unnecessary and honestly, couldn't even remember his name. In season 2 when he got more screentime he was really funny and had great comedic timing.

[nispakamuy]

So there's something so goddamn compelling about Rinne being indigenous ainu and his storyline it keeps driving me goddamn crazy.

Rinne is intelligent he is curious he wants to know about the world and what he finds is that his people are ostracized, they are seen as inferior, but there is a nuance to it that is so powerful compared to the usual straight up "I love all my culture and people" indigenous characters we usually see.

Rinne also resents his upbringing, he does not like how they hate embracing change, how they hate embracing technology, or the wonders of the world. He hates how conservative they are, he thinks they should move on despite it all, so his own community resents him for that, and when he goes to the city, the city resents him for who he is.

He is alone.

And he goes: Fuck that I am a monarch, I am smart and gorgeous I am going to take over the world! And he decides to become the most powerful entity in the world who are beloved by everyone, because he was never loved for who he truly was in the past. He becomes an idol.And he is amazing at it.

And he does not lose his integrity, he absolutely says fuck the system at every turn, cause chaos. The thing compared to other characters is that because of his status, because of how he is, Rinne has nothing to lose in this gamble against the institution.

No matter if he bends down or not, he will always be inferior. He cannot take a break from it. I do headcanon that since HE did not want to give he and Hiiro a darker skintone that the bright blue eyes and red hair are so striking they are a given to their origin instead. No matter where Rinne go he will always be stepped down and there are two choices to that either you wallow in misery or you stand up and fight and he will do the latter until he dies. His first motivation is that he knows he deserves better than every other privileged person who can ignore those issues, but to say he did not care about the movement is false too, even if he has himself first. Because Rinne has Hiiro. He wants his brother who he loves so much and want to protect to not live in a world where he is ostracized, where he has to come to those awful realities.

That is why Eichi brought Hiiro to ES. To cripple Rinne. Eichi knows that Rinne has a soft spot for his brother. Unlike Eichi, Rinne cannot bring himself to actually exploit people for his goals because he knows how it is to be exploited, he has been his entire life. Rinne is so so scared about Hiiro being hurt the same way he has been. The same way their people have been. Despite Rinne disliking their home village, Hiiro thrived in it. He was safe. And seeing Hiiro being exposed to everything makes him so scared. It is not that Rinne does not think Hiiro cannot handle things like friends squabbles or going to a more numerous school. Rinne is afraid that Hiiro will be faced with the traumatic wounds of systemic persecution which he has no control over. Rinne drinks. He gambles. Everyday his struggle facing colonization and not being able to escape from it is infinitely heavy. And he does not want this weight on his brother. The entire purpose of the main story arc was Rinne seeing that Hiiro was ok, that he was surrounded by a precious support group, and to let him spread his wings despite very, very real fears.

The writing does not explicitly say it but I totally see it, it is as coded as they are. And that is the thing, from where he comes from, a place with next to no privilege at all, Rinne cannot bring himself to exploit people. This is what makes him an antihero and not a villain. When doing the smear camping of the other units, he never did release anything too personal to hurt the people behind the units, he used things which hurt the brand of the units, something impersonal when I'm sure he's had plenty of more hurtful things. For example Rei it is way too easy to smear UNDEAD through Rei's past and yet Rinne did not, he attacked UNDEAD as a whole, for being temporarily an enemy, Rinne did not, unlike literally every enemy in Rei's life, put a target on the weak spot. And what is this? This is the sign of a good leader. A leader who is ruthless but has a heart to not be cruel.

And the headband. The headband. God I love it. Rinne loves the city life. He loves the modern life. Way way more than he loves the way of living in his home village. But it is still a part of him that he is proud of despite what he says. It is a nuance. And him wearing the headband everyday is proof of that. It's his crown as chieftain. It's part of him. And I love that for him. And there is another weight to him having to take it off every time he goes on stage as an idol. He has no stage outfit where the headband is present and I'm like AAAAA RInneeeeee. And during their time as a duo I think that Rinne definitely opened up about his difficulties to Niki. And Niki is extremely supportive. Them eloping together… my heart. Niki does not have to be 100% aware of every intricacy but he sees how much Rinne care and actually trusts him and believe him. Trust is something Rinne was never given when showing all his colors and Niki is the first and even currently the only one who does that. That's so powerful. Niki is the reason Rinne can keep on going because despite his ambitions and his energy, at the end of the day Rinne is human. He needs a home. He needs someone to be present and just love him. And Niki is that for him.

I said it before but with Endless Vide... if Niki was gone, Rinne would break. With Kohaku, Rinne sees part of himself. Kohaku is from an isolated traditional family and Rinne is happy to be here while he is discovering the world. Part of him wants to protect him, but also know Kohaku is strong enough to take care of himself. Rinne does not react as emotionally to Kohaku as he does with Hiiro.

With HiMERU, Rinne understands what it is to want to protect your family at all cost, no matter how destructive it is. He is more well adjusted when it comes to Hiiro, but seeing HiMERU, he understands. It is a path he could see himself having taken and he respects it. But he also knows how heavy the weight of that burden is. And he is supportive of HiMERU's choice but also gives him a safe space to let go. Rinne does not have a "I will make Crazy:B my found family" mindset, but because he is such a kind and good leader, he naturally has people attracted to him. Despite the chaos, despite his burdens. People even without realizing feel the qualities he has and he amass people around him who would go through everything with him. And that is so poetic and beautiful.

[spookyprime]

Hi, me again!

How does Jason get the Batboy title in your RR au? Does he get it from Damian as a temp while Tim’s missing? Or is it passed down to him after the JJ reveal? Was Tim planning on giving it to him and move on to his own title before Joker nabbed him? Were there two Batboys working when Tim was kidnapped?

And does Steph fake her death in this au too? Or is she just tortured by Black Mask and the Bats know where she’s hiding? (Or a different rogue, we don’t know how many people she’s pissed off)

Also maybe Steph starts the Batgirl mantle as a joke of Bruce and Damian. But then Cass likes the idea of it so much she asks if she could try it out and Steph gives it to her as a gift!

Also also! I think the idea of a baby Babs running around in a homemade Batgirl costume during the day is so adorable! Poor Gordon, can’t catch a break.

Because Jason and Tim knew each other for a liiiiittle bit before tim got Got, I think it's reasonable for them to assume that Jason was going to be next in line and then the process just sort of got...sped up. If Tim hadn't got taken he would probably have started the process of passing on the mantle within the next few months. I think timeline wise he's about 17/18 at that point and feels it's appropriate to move on and do something else. Jason probably debuts as the next batboy before joker shows off jj.

And steph...hm. i...don't know? I want to say no mostly because I just don't like that storyline in the first place and I feel like it reflects poorly on her. I am also genuinely gonna be honest with you I am NOT super familiar with this area of the comics at all. It's kind of my big shame that I haven't looked more into the Batgirl stuff, especially considering I DO like the characters. I just have a limited amount of time and an ever growing list of things to read :((

Steph doing the Batgirl thing first, more as an antihero "I'm making fun of you" type of thing then doing it for real- then passing it to Cass who is...older than her is really funny. I am for some reason imagining Cass as black bat running around doing her thing and seeing the Batgirl costume going like 8-O!! "I GOTTA GET ME THAT!!"

[remarcely]

After receiving a lengthy comment on one of my recent ao3 works, I’ve spent most of my morning thinking about how fanfic writers portray Jason Todd.

People write fanfic for a few reason, one big one is they don’t like the canon and think more can be done with the characters/plot. It’s not the only reason, but it’s fuelled plenty of fandoms over the years.

Jason is a difficult character to write. He’s been handed around countless writers, had some good stories and some bad ones. He was unfortunately relabelled as the angry Robin, killed off in a way that a lot of people were not happy with, and the legacy he left behind in-universe affected every character. 

I have mixed opinions on Under The Red Hood. I own the comic, I’ve read it, and I did enjoy it as a storyline. Do I like Jason as a morally grey antihero/villain? Yes. Do I think he deserved more than to be used as a pawn in the succession of Batman, Talia’s plan to send Damian off to Gotham, and essentially being a distraction? Yes.

Not that he could have been ‘good’. His anger was justified from his perspective- because nothing worthwhile changed. He died and, sure, Bruce changed the way Robins operate and the gear to add extra protection, but that’s still a child soldier. Jason was the first Robin in line to the grave, even if the major deaths were retconned later on.

It’s his anger at Tim- which yes can be accounted partiality to being replaced and pit madness- that I disagree with. Jason died as a kid because of Robin, no matter which way you spin it. That anger at the injustice should have been spun to his brutal protection of any child. Tim shouldn’t have been excluded, if anything he should have been protected more.

A lot of the stuff I write is AU I don’t write Jason as a villain much currently but I’ve always enjoyed the more anti-hero leaning Jason. I don’t care about him killing, being a crime lord, or antagonising the Bats.

I can see everything his character is and has been and still wish his hand of cards had been better.

My personal opinion, which means shit all to any one else and you are very welcome to take with a grain of salt, is Jason's villain-arc should have been him acting solitary, separate from the League of Assassins. One gripe I have with fanfic is others writing that a non-league affected Jason would go straight back to Bruce. I don’t know about you, but if I were in Jason's decomposing dress shoes I’d be pretty pissed.

As I’m writing this now, I really want to create that story myself- which is the whole point of fanfiction.

This is longwinded and could be put in better words, but these are the only ones I’ve got I’m afraid. Fanfiction can be a change to canon and it’s characters, some good and bad, but always different. It doesn’t mean we ‘don’t even like the character’ or aren’t a true fan. Every portrayal will variate from the original.

Robin in the past has been viewed as a generic side kick, with very little difference between Robin 1 & 2. Their designs were near identical, their creation based on being Batman's partner, and No.2 was quite literally voted by the readers to be murdered. Of course they will be different as they grow and change with their audiences, they are stories.

Jason Todd is not the same character he was 40 years ago and he will continue to evolve for the next 40 years. Fandom will defer from canon as it picks an audiences favourite parts and ignore the lesser liked. I don’t try to write Batman comics, I personally have no interest of doing so, I am perfectly happy writing short online works about what I like from the stories I’ve been provided with.

If you don’t like fanon, read canon. If you don’t like canon, read fanon. It is as simple as that, there is no need to start insulting peoples understanding of your favourite characters because they hold different opinions to you. Enjoy comics without policing others.

Do not send any hate to the comment I am referring to if you come across it, they are welcome to their opinion, even if could be construed as rude.

[fizzingwizard]

Things I'd want from a new Little Mermaid, which was my favorite Disney movie as a little girl. I've read nothing about the live action other than the actors so this is just me rambling about what I'd like to do if somehow I were writing it lol.

More significant relationship build up. What Eric and Ariel have in the Disney movie is infatuation - infatuation that gets a pass because it's a children's movie and a fairy tale. But I'd love to see more. I don't need them to see discussing how many kids they'll have and whether they'll have a joint bank account. Just you know. Something more than bonding over Punch and Judy.

A memorable part of the storyline for Ariel's sisters. In the Andersen story, the sisters play a critical role, so that would be a nice nod. And, given the awesome sisterhood we've seen in Frozen and Encanto, it would be cool to see it in a live action too.

Seawitch with clear motivation and backstory. I don't really jive with "she's Triton's banished sister" but it's a start anyway. Ursula has a lot of personality, all she needs is more interesting motivation. For example, why does she have tentacles? Was she cursed? Did she choose them? Where did she learn her magic? Isn't there anyone with a grudge against her for turning a loved one into a seaweed thingy?? I don't need antihero Ursula (though I might be into it), but there are so many interesting things you can do with her as a villain.

Probably most importantly - I want Ariel's curiosity and adventurous spirit to continue beyond falling in love with Eric. It is not surprising that, given she has only three days, the falling in love adventure would take precedence. But since we don't get to see Ariel after, all we remember of her is how she fell in love at first sight, made very questionable choices in pursuit of that love, and gave up everything she ever knew for him in the end anyway. I'd really, really love to see Ariel without her voice impressing Eric with her eagerness to learn - not just being cute and lively as she gazes in wonder at a fork and sticks it in her hair. (Which is one of my favorite Disney scenes.)

Aaaaand... I'd just really like the stakes at the end of the movie to be more complex. She doesn't need to turn into bubbles, but some marriage of the little mermaid's self-sacrificing love with the courage and hope of Ariel - would be the icing on the cake.

[memoriesoftanalorr]

Author note: Didn't know my fav rock singer Jared Leto get into Spider-Man related movie. He's portrayed Michael Morbius the Living Vampire! As a kid I watched that Spider Man cartoon and as a kid I was sympathetic towards dramatic and tragic antihero right huh? I don't really into vampires in movies huh said the one who owns Interview with a vampire book, by the way didn't read it yet. But he's so badass, I'm in love and I'm bet that's a good movie. So plus I'm upset so here I wanna write Morbius x teen female reader, wanna write something like father figure/daughter figure love instead. Sorry if this is not that good, I'm on my phone huh. Sets a bit after the events of the movie and I'm actually don't want Morbius get info jail, how about to make it a bit different storyline. It's all because I feel sympathy to him. X3 kinda self-insert but slightly. Ghost by Jacob Lee, listen to his music, he's great. Also lately listening to some songs of 30 seconds to Mars XD X3

Summary: Y/n is a 17 years old teenager who grieving about her mother who gets sick badly two years ago, she's kind and curious and hardworking student at college also Y/n is emotional empath, one day Morbius meets the girl at one of the New York city streets and getting a random chat but somehow the two liked each other and later on becoming friends. When Michael reveals that he's vampire, Y/N get shocked but she's didn't get scared much and she will not leave him but it's complicated since Michael decide to get distant from Y/n for her safety.

Tittle: Ghost (Michael Morbius x Teen Female Reader)

Ghost, I see you standing there Don't turn away, I want you to stay Ghost, what's your name? Why so surprised? I'm interested

You're just a soul that blends into the crowd I hear you so loud no one else hears a sound You reach out your hand no one else feels a thing And I'm just a stranger who could be a friend

You could have been so great I won't let you slip away Is there any hope for us left Even a ghost needs a friend You could have been someone But you let them into your head I want you to know this instead That I see the light in your chest

Ghost, where you from? I can take you away, so far away Ghost, I'll make sure they all see The kind of man, that you can be

Open your lungs and inhale my words I see in your eyes a reflection of hurt The book in your mind hasn't come to an end There's always a page, that hasn't been read

You could have been so great I won't let you slip away Is there any hope for us left Even a ghost needs a friend You could have been someone But you let them into your head I want you to know this instead That I see the light in your chest

Your heart, it beats Forever, forever, we see I will believe But there's a ghost in me Your lungs they breathe Forever, forever, we see I will believe

Y/n wearing denim jacket with a shirt and jeans and boots, she is coming back home from the college at the afternoon in crowded New York city street. Her phone starts ringing and Y/n pick it. She talking on the phone with a low and upset voice, "Hey, auntie. I'm just tired, I'm on my way home, everything is okay." Y/n waiting over the bus stop, she sat on the bench and reading something. Morbius quenched his bloodlust for a while and hides in the shadows, he is wearing a jacket with a hood. Suddenly he was distracted by your voice, he listened carefully. Your voice was tired but soft, like a lovely melody. He smiled and glanced at you. Y/n get into the bus, still holding her textbook and reading.

Y/n entered the house, locked the door and then she began to wash her hands in the bathroom and change her clothes. Her bag was on the sofa. Y/n come inside her bedroom then seat down over her desk, she started doing her homework. At the dinner time her dad is come home after the work day. Y/n said hello to him but both of them didn't talk much, he is rude and stern man that sometimes didn't ever want to listen his own daughter. That upsetting her sometimes and after that her mother get in coma two years ago, sometimes she feels herself lonely and depressed. Y/n washed the dishes, get a shower and get to bed.

On the next morning you went to college, everything was well but at the end of the day one of your classmates insulting you. "How's your mother is doing?" She was so fake that this was so disgusting to you. "I know you're asking not because you're care about me, you're so fake and my empathy says so." Y/n answered sharply. "Yeah, yeah. So why you're not crying? It was a long time since that day, you loved her so much, don't you?" Your classmate replied with a sly smile. "I don't get any news how's she and we're fine and that's the most important, so shut up!" Y/n runned away. "Go on, run but it's doesn't change anything." Your classmate about to catch your arm but you're shrugged her hand away. "Leave me alone!" Y/n screamed at her. When you reached the bus stop, you sat on the bench and crying your heart out. Morbius hears your heartbeat and crying from the distance and he wanted to help you something. Y/n crying hiding her face with her hands, someone sat on the bench beside her, "Are you okay, miss? Can I help you something?" A man asked a girl. "I don't think you can help me, sir…" Y/n wiped her tears and glanced at the man, he has jacket with a hoodie, his sapphire blue eyes charms you immediately. Somehow you have a feeling that you felt his presence before and that was weird and mysterious. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, we're actually strangers to each other." Morbius told you. "Oh, I think I can tell you. I'm crying because I'm upset… My mother get in coma two years ago and my mean classmate reminded me that." Somebow you're feel comfortable around that man, he has a calm and strong aura. "I'm sorry, miss." He patted your shoulder gently. "Uhm, thanks." Y/n looked at him with a small smile.

"I hope you'll get through this." Man replied. "Uhm, can I ask you… Could I see you before somewhere? I just have a feeling that I know you." Y/n said shyly. "I don't think so. But I'd love to know such a lovely young lady. I am Dr. Michael Morbius. Nice to meet you." "Oh, I'm honored to meet with such a bright scientist! My name is Y/n, nice to meet you." Y/n said excitedly. "What a wonderful name. Can I lead you home? it's a really late now." Michael asked you. "Oh, my house is not so far from where we are though, just a few bus stops." Y/n blushes. Michael suddenly struggled but then he follow you on a empty bus. You thought he just didn't want the attention from the other people, they're could ask him questions about his research, he's famous after all. When you and Michael came up to your house, he said goodbye to you and you waved to him and entered the house. After dinner before going to bed you thinking of Morbius, it's was a really interesting meeting and a bit mysterious too but you didn't figure out what exactly make you feel this way.

At the weekend, a girl decided to take a walk and relax, she went along the familiar New York street, Y/n decided to go to the park. You sat down on the grass and began to dream about something, you had a pocket radio with you and turned it on to listen to the news or about the weather. On the radio, the announcer said it was going to rain soon and you didn't have an umbrella with you. You think a little and went to the city, you had a favorite abandoned house where sometimes you hide when you were sad.

A girl noticed someone in the rain, it was Morbius. Y/n glanced at him, "Dr. Morbius? What are you doing here?" you asked. "That's a long story." He struggled. "Follow me, I show you where we can wait until the rain is over." Y/n said. "That's great idea. Call me just Michael." He told you as he take your hand in his, making you blush a little. "Alright." Y/n giggled.

When he took your hand, you felt a strong grip, so much strength. Y/n lead him into abandoned house. "Where are we?" Morbius asked. "This is my favorite secret place, it's either a abandoned house or an a abandoned library cause here a lot of old newspapers and books. You can take off your jacket now." Y/n taking off her jacket and closed the door. She could look at his face now when he take off his jacket, he has a beard, pale skin, a long hair tied into a bun and wonderful sapphire blue eyes. "I feel comfortable here." Morbius said with a smile. "That's right. Take a seat please." Y/n pointed at the sofa in the middle of the living room. A rain pouring outside stronger and Y/n sit down at the sofa with a blanket, you both sitting side by side. "We can read something for a while if you want to." Y/n glanced at him. "I'd rather talk to you about something, my dear friend." Michael said softly. "Okay. I never seen such a wonderful eyes like yours, so magically blue." Y/n look into his eyes. "Thank you, yours is lovely as well." He chunckled softly.

"You're welcome. You know, my father and me had a good bonding but from some moment, he become mean and rude to me. But I'm don't know what went wrong." Y/n lowered her head. "I hope your relationships going to improve." Michael touched your hand. "I'm not sure but we're have few moments when we're not insulting or teasing or argue with each other but at least we're alright." Y/n replied. "Are you a student, right? What faculty?" Morbius changed the subject of conversation. "Archival Science." Y/n replied. "I see." Michael looked at you.

You got up from the sofa and looked at the bookshelf and took the book and sat down again. Rain still pouring and Y/n get asleep after a hour, you laid your head on Michael's shoulder. He couldn't stay any longer, "Sorry, I can't stay longer with you, my dear friend. See you later." Michael whispered, stroking your hair and quietly leaves the house.

You and Michael meet sometimes, he even write you letters what makes you happier, you write him as well; mostly he was busy working at his lab. Once you two meet at your secret abandoned library. Y/n feel excited to see him again but he seems gloomy. "How's my man is doing?" Y/n hugged him but Morbius didn't hug you back. "What's wrong, buddy?" Y/n felt his frustration. "I need to tell you something." Morbius said nervously. "Sure." Y/n touched his hand for comfort.

"I want to tell you about my experiment." Michael get a deep breath and look at you. "Why you're so nervous? I'm listening." Y/n assured him. "I know but---" Michael lowered his head. "It's okay, tell me." Y/n patted his shoulder as he calm down a bit. "Since I was a kid I suffering from blood disease, all my life I wanted to find a cure and I successes in this." Michael rised his voice. "Is this about your research of artificial blood?" Y/n asked. "You have no idea of what I'm done…" Morbius answered. "So what is it then?" Y/n asked curiously. "I mixed human blood with bat DNA and it's heals me but I get a side effects… This turned me into vampire." Morbius's voice cracks as he looked at you. Y/n widened her eyes in shock, "How it's even possible?" "Yes, it possible. Also I've got a superhuman strength and reflexes. I can hear your heartbeat from miles away." Morbius replied. "Uhm, that's really shocking. But you're look pretty normal." A voice of his young friend was determined and that impressed Morbius. "This is because I control my transformation well. Tell me how you feel now?" Morbius asked in despair. "You can tell it yourself with a help of your superhuman senses." Y/n pointed out.

"Your heartbeat is normal and your voice is determined… I just want you to tell me what you think about me now? Would you still be around? I am a monster, right? You're seen nothing yet and I don't want you to see me like this." Michael's tears falls down his face. "You're not a monster. There's good in you." Y/n rushed towards Morbius and hugged him tight. "Why you so sure?" he asked. "I feel it! And my superpower is emotional empathy. Sometimes I can feel emotions of the others." Y/n confessed. He didn't answered you, he just cuddled into your shoulder gently. "Why you shared this with me?" Y/n wondered. "Because you're my friend. After all you're shared with me about you talent too." Morbius told you. "You can feel safe with that. I gonna keep your secret." Y/n replied. "I know." Michael said softly. "Okay, I need to go now, my man. Bye." Y/n make a small smile.

"See you later." Morbius replied.

Two weeks ago your father find out that some mysterious murder has done by someone near your district and police still working on the case. Your father decided to move to another city until it's over. You agreed with him this time but you wanted to meet with Morbius until you leave the city. Meantime Morbius start to feel the presence of another vampire. It was Bancroft, he thought she died back then. When he figure out who is this was, Michael starts to panic, he should stop her. On the next night, you were at home and preparing for the trip but suddenly you noticed Morbius next to you window. "Oh my god, you scared me! You didn't tell me you can fly though I could guees it myself. What's wrong? That's good that my dad is not at home yet or it's would be a scene." Y/n rolled her eyes. "I'm so sorry, I don't wanted to scare you. I should tell you something. I felt a presence of the other vampire, I want you to be safe." Morbius apologies. "Who's this vampire?" You freeze in shock. "Her name is Martine Bancroft, she was my colleague and I thought she's dead. When she died I drank her blood…" Michael stopped talking and closed his eyes. "How tragic. I'm sorry." Y/n sighed. "I should stop her or else she willing to make a vampire army. I didn't see it coming and I hope it isn't going to happen." Y/n get scared for a first time and cuddling into his chest for comfort. "Don't worry. I'll never let someone hurt you. I'll do anything to protect you." He stroked your hair.

"Good luck, my man."

Morbius leaves quickly and you continue your preparing for the trip.

(Time skip)

It was three months since you and your dad leaves New York City, you both stopped at the countryside. You could walk into a forest and near the lake but as long as everything is safe. Your dad said it's already safe in the city but he wanted to stay longer at the countryside. Once you walked deep in the woods and thinking why Morbius didn't show up yet, is he okay? You seat down on the fallen tree and look down. "I wish you were here, Michael." Suddenly Y/n could feel someone standing behind her. "Hello, my dear friend. I missed you so much." Morbius said with a smile. "Hey, I missed you too!" Y/n rushed towards him with a hug. "How are you doing?" He hugs you back. "We're fine. I'm mean me and my dad. And you?" Y/n smiled. "I'm more or less fine. I just wanted to make sure everything is safe again, I'm sorry if this take you so long waiting for me." Morbius spoke. "It's okay." Y/n said. "I love you." He pressed his forehead with yours carefully. "Why's confession? I love you too but it's depends on what kind of love is it." You turned red. "You're empath, you can tell me this yourself." Michael said playfully. "Alright I think I can guess it." Y/n smiled. "You're my dear friend and I glad that we're met." He spoke again. "Yeah, I'd say since we're met, my life become more crazy and mysterious and also interesting."

The End

[chamerionwrites]

The thing that is both terrible and kind of darkly hilarious about Saw Gerrera as a character is that while he's definitely a case of characterization shifting to suit the narrative needs and/or biases of whoever happens to be writing him, the unifying thread is this archetype of Radical Antihero/Well-Intentioned Extremist. He's a lot of things as a character - not all of them entirely coherent - but first and foremost he is the GFFA's vehicle for exploring the legitimacy of violent resistance.

What this actually looks like runs the gamut from storylines that boil down to Saw Bad Because Violence (lol), to fans unironically saying that Saw Did Nothing Wrong (torture is def wrong, my dudes), to very justified criticisms of those simplistic storylines and of the choice to have the prominent black revolutionary character occupy the role of Violent Extremist Who Takes Things Too Far. But ultimately the upshot is that one way or another many people seem to have Saw pigeonholed into the role of either Radical Space Leftist (affectionate) or Radical Space Leftist (derogatory).

And...it's not that I don't see where they're coming from. But I also sometimes get the overpowering urge to point out that in his original incarnation, Saw was (1) a monarchist (don't worry though guys, he supports the Good Monarch!) (2) being trained and funded by the Republic to fight for their side in a proxy war while (3) Anakin & Co kinda do space Iran Contra to run guns to his rebel group.

I mean they definitely have all the aesthetic trappings of Cool Underdog Rebels because Star Wars has always been into that, and everything in the GFFA has always been monarchs no matter how much they talk about democracy, and TCW is particularly silly even by the standards of Star Wars so I don't blame you in the slightest if you just want to ignore it, but. Still.

It's just funny, you know?

[aeroargonic]

Finished S3 of The Boys and I have some thoughts

Things I liked:

MM getting the chance to patch things up with his daughter and work out his traumas.

Hughie and Annie finally talking to each other and working things out. Personally, they could've done more and I really hope they have a moment where they sit down and have That Conversation about Hughie's insecurities, Annie's stress and desire to do the right thing and how it combats with Hughie's Butcher-inspired philosophies. But it's a good start to see Hughie apologize for being a dick.

Black Noir being useful for once.

Seeing Elena again.

Just a lot of bonding between The Boys as they help each other out. Scenes like this show how strong they really are as a united front and how much they all truly care for one another.

Crimson Countess. IDK, she's funny.

The Hughie-Butcher-Soldier Boy team up against Homelander at Herogasm.

Jamie.

The parody of the Pepsi commercial made me laugh harder than it should've.

THEY KILLED STORMFRONT FINALLY THANK GOD.

Supersonic, sans the jealous Hughie part. I personally think close platonic bonds between a MF pair are severely underrated in media so Starlight having a friend who kinda understood her plights in a different way was a nice touch. And honestly, he seems like a good dude.

I'm not crazy for Homelander's descent into insanity, but I do like the vulnerability he shows and the cracks in his facade as he tries to hold it all together. He's a very detailed character and I like how they show his inner turmoil.

Things I disliked:

The Deep. His story here just feels like a rehashing of his story in S2 minus the whole Church thing where everything he does is to impress Homelander/get back into the Seven. Could be because of his character in the source material barely doing much, but Deep here does not interest me in the slightest and I feel his character arc with the way it's handled now has no interesting plotline to tell.

A-Train. I do like how they go in with the comparisons to a cheating athlete with him, and I'm glad he has a different storyline here because his S2 one was way too similar to Deep. But it felt like S2 was indicating he might jump ship and I honestly wanted to see it happen because A-Train isn't much more interesting; he's doing what Deep does to stay in the Seven and keep Homelander happy despite the constant bullying. At least he finally apologized for Robin tho.

Supersonic's death. I feel like he had a lot of potential and his death was really wasted. It would've been nice to see Starlight have a friend in the Seven, especially after what happens to Maeve.

Black Noir's death. He was just starting to contribute to the plot and then he died.

Butcher. IDK it feels like he was much more nastier than usual this season and way more of an asshole. At times he was practically impossible to root for and really, I felt I only wanted him to succeed because Homelander was the greater of two evils and because he was on Hughie's side. I don't really like how it's Hughie's job to keep Butcher in check and I really wanted Butcher to move past that this season.

They could've had the guts to kill Maeve and Soldier Boy but I guess Maeve is kinda out of the picture anyway so that doesn't change much.

Overall, the pacing felt a little off? The trip to Russia barely happened, most of an episode is spent watching Hughie and Soldier Boy track down Mindstorm but he just quickly gets killed off at the end.

It was a pretty good season that had its ups and downs. However, I'm a little worried about the direction the show is headed in because some of the sideplots are starting to mesh together/overall wind up uninteresting. A few characters are starting to go from antiheroes to just straight up unlikeable, which makes me worry. There's still a lot of potential this show has, but it needs to be used properly.

[jerichogender]

I mean, Wolfman wanted Deathstroke to be DC's Punisher, a villain who quickly becomes a mostly-heroic type. But he clearly had plans for a second son. (For me it's kind of funny because while it's hard not to draw comparisons between the Wilsons and the Waynes, since Deathstroke is in many ways an odd evil Batman-Captain America mash-up, Joey is the anti-Tim in a lot of ways.)

Definitely, Marv Wolfman wanted Slade to come off as villain that becomes more of an antihero as we get to know him, almost someone we see as a noble criminal. As for the Wilsons’ backstory, George Pérez mentioned in an afterward he wrote for the Judas Contract in 1998 that when they sat down to plan out that storyline, they knew that they wanted to introduce a new character to the team to replace Wally. He said that Marv had a name for the character and knew that he would be Deathstroke’s son, but George was the one who came up with Jericho’s design, personality, and backstory after they’d been stuck on the character and they were getting closer and closer to the time they were going to bring him in. If this ask is in response to that post I made about Slade kidnapping Sarah Simms and threatening to slit her throat open, my point was that they didn’t have what happened to Joey in the back of their heads at that point. Overall, I think the two of them did a pretty great job of establishing the right amount of information early on and feeding the readers more details slowly enough that they bought themselves some time to figure out exactly what they were gonna do with the backstory we get the full version of in the Judas Contract. I get where you’re going with Slade being a play on the government experiment super soldier with a darker twist, but I’m not sure what you mean about Joey being the anti-Tim

[felixfathom]

Slight argument: Felix's backstory IS useless and doesn't really change/answer anything, but that's because the writers completely failed to incorporate it in a meaningful and/or relevant way. Like it definitely could have been legitimately important and impactful but instead it serves no real purpose at all. The worst part of ML is consistently the wasted potential and I think this is a great example of that.

yeah like felix's arc doesn't really benefit or add to anything/anyone BUT felix himself and it took me a while to realize that's why most people didn't like the direction his character took in S5 despite me adoring every bit of it. if you loved him as a villain you're disappointed that they woobified him and if you were never sold on him in the first place you'd regard him as a cheap useless addition to the series a-la luka/kagami/zoe.

i can understand those POVs even if i don't necessarily agree with them because i think his role as an antihero is indispensable and i love how he's linked to all the central themes of the show so well! people see the senti storyline as the point where the show truly went downhill and it's only natural to include felix in that because one could argue it's more about him than it's ever been about adrien. and it IS messy, not only because of the dubious implications but because he's a side character with less than 10 episodes to his name and he's got a standing ovation over the deuteragonist. but at the same time his arc is one of the only ones to even come close to feel Polished and well set-up that it's sort of a guilty pleasure at this point !

but all in all i'm not like . Actually pissed that they threw in a traumadump for felix at the very last second bc i'd be lying my ass off if i said it didn't change my life and for as much there is to complain about i'm overrall satisfied with his character. i just feel like i need to humble myself sometimes because i don't want my mutuals or anyone else for that matter think i lack the self-awareness to see that felix is a botched mess 😭 i love him for BOTH the concept and execution but i live thinking i could've done the latter a million times better

[thedevotionaltour]

i do have to say it's funny though jason fans go no he's sooo much better and complex than the other guy didn't you read the 500th storyline about his grief towards bruce and his resurrection that's totally not the same as the last storyline that did just this and then the shitty storyline where they put him with two other heroes or antiheroes or villains for the 70th time. see i wouldn't care as much if they weren't so intently defensive and would somehow find a way to like say you're an actually bad person for not caring about a fictional guy. they are such an interesting breed of fan see you guys are your own worst enemy bc look what you're doing you're making me hate Jason when u want me to love him. i liked him a lot more before i knew Abt u people. U Ruin Him For Me.