#So I guess a monologue is justified

[cha1cedony]

Just spent like three hours tweaking AO3 HTML to make AO3ception… Like a fic within a fic lol. You will see what I mean eventually. Mwahaha

[jina1028]

Safe Place

Park Jisung x fem!reader

Categories: idol Jisung, older reader (mention of 'noona' once), kissing, making out, marking, oral (m rec), unprotected sex (don't do it irl), creampie, cuddling, really slight dom/sub dynamics (?)

A.N. reader being older is not essential to the plot (what plot?), so if you want just ignore it since it's just randomly mentioned once.

To me the term 'noona' is just a nice way for a younger man to address a woman they're comfortable with, there's no sexual connotation and in this case is justified by the fact the story takes place in Korea. I just thought Jisung would feel nice having someone older to take care of him, hence the little mention.

Plus I'd like older readers to feel more included just adding that little word, if you're uncomfortable or doesn't apply to you just change it with 'y/n' I guess.

Note that english is not my first language.

Enjoy~

~♡~

Your phone suddenly made a dinging sound, letting you know you received a message, making you stop on your tracks while you got up from the sofa to get some water. The sound repeated a couple times. You let out a sigh before reading the name of the person who interrupted your plans and opened the message with newfound interest:

Jisung P.

'Y/n'

'Are you free right now?'

'If you're busy it's ok, I don't want to disturb'

You smiled, you found him so cute when he sent those shy messages, imagining him gnawing on his lips while staring at his phone screen, instant regret on his features thinking he's somehow annoying you, even though you reassured him before that he can message you whenever.

You start typing, unknowingly making him jolt with surprise and apprehension when he sees the dots on his screen.

You

'I'm free'

'Wanna come over?'

Jisung P.

'Can I?'

'I'll just make a quick stop at the dorm to wash up'

You

'Sure, let me know when you're downstairs'

He sent you a little thumbs up emoji and you started to make yourself as pretty as possible. When Jisung asked for your attention it meant he needed to be taken care of, and those times you wanted to spoil him by looking the best for him. So you put on some cute, soft make up and wore your lilac, lacey lingerie, then hid it under some simple sweats and t-shirt to surprise him more when you would strip.

In an hour he was at your door, you let him in examining his tall figure, hiding his face under a black mask and hoodie, dark hair almost covering his eyes.

You greeted him "Jisung! Everything ok coming here? No one followed you, right?"

"Yeah, there were a couple of sasaeng outside the company building but they couldn't follow me much in the traffic, we're good."

You led him to the sofa, letting him sit down while he yanked his mask off and let his head rest on the cushions on the back, exhaling a nervous breath. You brought some water and snacks and sat down on the other side of the sofa facing him.

"What were you doing before coming? Did something happen? You seem nervous."

"Do I?" he chuckled "I was at dance practice. It was stressful, I had a little argument about some moves and changes in the choreo. I'm not satisfied, the comeback is approaching and I feel like where we're at right now is not enough, I don't know..."

He started telling you about his concerns and you let him talk, quietly listening and occasionally humming letting him know you were paying attention.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just rambling, didn't mean to bother you" he interrupted his monologue, looking over at you with apologetic eyes.

"No, it's fine, I like when you open up to me! You know you can tell me anything, I'm not the type of person to judge."

He smiled at you, soon breaking eye contact and sheepishly thanking you.

After a moment of silence you scooted closer to him, the movement making him shift his attention from the palms of his hands to your face, unconciously looking at your lips, then back to your eyes when he caught himself staring.

"Jisung, why, of all people, did you call me so urgently tonight? Tell me."

The boy fidgeted with his hands, biting a little on his lower lip while you rested your hand on his shoulder.

"I missed you... I need you."

You closed the distance between your faces until your lips slightly brushed. You wanted to test how much he was desperate this time: enough to ignore his own shyness and press his round lips to yours with an almost inaudible whine.

Your hands flew to his hair, making a mess of it with your fingers stroking and pulling his locks, while his large ones grasped your waist. Your teeth pulled on his bottom lip and a swipe of your tongue soothed it while Jisung eagerly opened his mouth to chase it with his own, tangling them, wet sounds filling your ears.

You pushed him against the back of the sofa to straddle him, experimentally rolling your hips once on his lap, earning a small groan and feeling his member getting hard against your crotch. You started rolling, picking up a slow, comfortable rhythm. His hands grabbing at whatever he could to try and ground himself, while your lips left his mouth to place wet kisses along his jaw and his throat and neck, nibbling at his side when he let out a low moan.

"Stop it-" he was interrupted by his own gasp "you'll leave a mark like that" he struggled to end his sentence between soft hisses and gasps.

"Just tell your stylists to put make up or a band-aid on it" you replied making him snort.

"That's what I told them last time, had to tell everyone I had a bruise."

You suckled some more before gliding your tongue on the purplish mark you just made.

"Well, technically that wasn't a lie."

You detached from his neck to admire the state he was in and you almost purred at the sight: disheveled hair, glossy half lidded eyes, wet, pink, puffy lips, a soft shade of pink dusting his cheeks and a darker one on the left side of his neck.

You took a mental pic. "So pretty" you complimented, making him smile and blush more.

You smiled back and took the opportunity of this little break to get up and take his hand to guide him to your room. You pushed him down on the mattress.

"Let's get rid of some clothes" you suggested, standing in front of him, slowly raising your t-shirt to reveal your lilac bra, watching his reaction as he seemingly stopped breathing. He only let out his breath when you finally removed your pants as well.

You smirked "I'm not getting on the bed until you strip down too" arms crossed as you watch him scurry to satisfy your simple request, your eyes traveling on his slim body, reaching him and stopping his hands when they came to his boxers.

You gently pushed him to sit in the middle of the bed and slid his boxers down yourself while he timidly rised his hips to help you.

"Now relax, baby, leave everything to me."

Jisung whined at the use of that little nickname and let his head plop on the pillow, closing his eyes, waiting for your next move, for you to take care of him.

You reached up to his lips for a chaste kiss, leaving a trail down his neck, chest, stomach, feeling every rise and fall of his breath, every tremble and shiver, every little gasp until you reached his erection, stiff against his stomach, so big it reached his navel.

You grazed it with your fingers, tracing every vein up and down a few times, savoring his little hisses every time you reached the underside of his tip, swollen and red, and finally circled it with your fist, not being able to close your fingers around it because of the size.

You started stroking it slowly and languidly, paying attention to every little reaction, then you approached with your mouth, lightly fanning your hot breath over it and observing the way he shivered at the sensation, soon taking a lick on the tip to elicit a moan out of him.

You loved to hear his voice, you found it so sexy, so you used every tactic you knew to make him produce any sounds, his voice going straight from your ears to your pussy every time.

You started a nice pace, licking and sucking, taking as much as you could in your mouth, slowly bobbing your head, circling what you couldn't reach with your hand and building up the rhythm based on his reactions.

You tried your best to keep your pace and look up at him, he was too pretty like this, face blushing, eyes squeezed shut, nose occasionally scrunching, so cute, lips parted, red, swollen from all the kissing and his own biting, letting out the most beautiful sounds, his shyness even now urging him to keep quiet but failing for the most part. And the dark mark you painted on his neck.

You kept sucking and pumping, tasting his salty precum, oozing out of the tip with every suck and every twist of your fist.

You could tell he was close when he started slightly humping his hips to meet your mouth, a hand snaking at the back of your head, resting in your hair, still not wanting to hurt you by forcing you on him despite you devouring him like a starved woman. So polite.

With a last suck you popped his cock out of your mouth, a whine leaving his own.

"Not yet, baby" you gently warned him, you were still not over. You climbed up his legs and straddled him once again, stroking your still clothed pussy on his length, the drenched fabric of your lace panties adding to the sensation.

Jisung's hands flew to your hips, helping you rub your clit on his shaft, his eyes wandering from your face, to your nipples peaking through your bra, to his cock appearing and disappearing beneath your swollen pussy, back up to your eyes again.

"Y/n, please, I'm close."

"Alright, hold on a little bit more, mh?" you caressed his cheek. With one hand you moved your panties to the side and with the other you spread his precum on his cock to lubricate it and aligned his tip with your hole to slowly sink down, biting your lips at the stretch. After a few moments of stillness and heavy breathing filling the room you started rocking your hips on his, wet sounds and low moans and grunts bringing you slowly but inevitably to your orgasm.

Your clenching signaled him you were close so he grabbed your hips and started pistoning up into you, hitting your sweet spot hard with each thrust, eliciting choked moans and little squeals from you.

Jisung was so lost in the feeling of your wet, hot pussy engulfing him, squeezing him, swallowing him, that he lost it the moment you reached your high with a whine and without a single thought in his head he came hard, spilling his hot, white seed inside of your clenching pussy. He kept shallowly rolling his hips in yours as he came down, little moans and gasps finding their way to your ears. He was ecstatic.

You kissed him slowly and finally you both stilled, then it hit him: this was the first time he came inside of you, the first creampie in general, actually. Wasn't this supposed to be something really intimate? Did you expect him to pull out like the other times? He guessed so, what if you got angry? Was he worthy, for you, of cumming in your pussy? He just knew he loved it and the possessive feeling that came with it, he was yours and viceversa.

He finally voiced his worries, "Noona, I'm sorry, I didn't warn you" his voice was low, his eyes looking up at yours with knitted eyebrows, silently pleading for you to not turn away from him for his mistake, as much as he would've liked to do it again and again.

You smiled, reassuring him, "Jisung, if I didn't want you to come inside I would've told you to wear a condom, right? Come here" you said softly, inviting him in your arms. Jisung slid his hands around your waist and used his weight to push you on your back, resting his head on your chest, inhaling deeply the sweet, fruity scent of your perfume mixed with your own. You started stroking his soft hair, relishing the feeling of his big hands pressing on your back, his breath on your skin, his lashes tickling you while his eyes fluttered shut.

"Stop worrying when you're with me, you know I'm your safe place."

Jisung already started dozing off listening to your heartbeat, but still managed to say one more thing before letting your soothing caresses lull him to sleep:

"I know."

[thyandrawrites]

how would you feel about a canon divergence last arc where Enji is killed entirely anticlimactically by a horde of Twice clones, Shigafo or even kills himself by overheating?

none of the Todorokis would be happy about it, but his absence in the ending and in Touya's final arc leaves a lot of space for the family members drama/bonding without Enji's atonement arc hogging away all the spotlight.

/thanks for the answer in advance! >o</

hi!

I feel like I should preface this by saying that I hate the guy, so my reply will be biased and not to be taken as objective meta! 

I’ve come full circle about how I feel about Enji dying before the end of the manga. I used to think that him dying in battle before he could make it up to his family would just make him a martyr. But after seeing how Horikoshi made him a martyr anyway while also keeping him alive, I think his death would’ve actually improved things. For one, because as you said, he would be removed from the Todofam plotline, giving the story more room to explore all the povs he overshadows in canon by robbing them of screentime. And this is just my opinion, but I feel like him dying while on the job would’ve given his arc a much more thematically coherent ending too tbh. 

The thing is, until the very end, Enji never delivered on the challenge that the narrative set out for him through Shouto. That is, demonstrating that he can be a father. To do that, the story repeatedly calls attention to how he should stop showing off as a hero and hoping that’s enough for his victims. But that’s a lesson he never accepts. 

You can trace this back in every single one of his pov chapters / introspections. Every time he thinks about how he should be doing right by his family, he always, ALWAYS, refers to himself as Endeavor or mentions his duty as a hero. Up until the end, where his way of owning up to Touya is to almost commit murder-suicide with him so that he can keep… protecting the greater good, I guess. And then when his family shows up and kicks his ass for it, he still doesn’t learn from it. When he visits Touya in the tube, guess what the first thing he mentions is?

as usual, ¾ of his monologue is about how he failed his own vision of how he should’ve acted as a hero, followed by a spiel about the shame he feels over his own shortcomings. None of that ever meant anything to his victims, 

but he always mentions it first. His self-image is always at the forefront of his mind, and it is important to him to always lead with it. That’s cause Endeavor is the persona he created to deal with his guilt as a father. It’s not just his job, it’s a mask he always donned to justify his actions in his head. It is important to him that he atones as Endeavor to his family because he wants to forgive himself for the actions he committed in the name of that hero persona. That’s why he never actually steps up as “just” Enji. 

It’s for that reason, though, that I think a death on the job would’ve been thematically appropriate for his arc. 

Remember how in the lead up to the second war arc, Enji made it a point to ignore not only Touya, but refuse to face Shouto as well until Shouto lured him out with an excuse and confronted him? That shows us how Enji ranks his priorities. Family? Negligible, hard to face. Work? The only thing he’s willing to put any active effort into. The only thing that keeps him functioning, in fact. His only source of escapism from the consequences of his actions. 

Now, if Horikoshi had any backbone as a writer, he could’ve written that to its natural end. If Enji keeps turning down any chance to own up to his shit and give priority to work instead… If he actively chooses to push himself close to death every time in a misguided effort to redeem himself… then that should be his fatal flaw. 

If growth isn’t possible with his unwillingness to face the past, then he should’ve died a tragic death. And by tragic I mean in the sense of greek tragedies. His hubris and inability to change his ways should lead to an eventual downfall caused by his flaws. He wants to prove himself as a hero, even when times and times again he was told and shown that won’t be enough to his family? Good, then let him attempt to fistfight his way to redemption and die pointlessly in that struggle. Imo that would’ve been better than what canon did by letting him have the cake and eat it too. It would’ve also sent a better message, by showing that it was his choices that led to a preventable death. He could’ve done better by his family and gotten to live. Instead, he chooses to persist in his old ways, and the narrative doesn’t give him a free pass for it. This would’ve also tied in very nicely to Shouto’s narrative because Shouto firmly believes in personal responsibility over fate and predestination. If his father had actually suffered any consequences for making the wrong calls in the war arc, then it would’ve brought the story full circle from the question Shouto asked him several arcs prior. 

Endeavor is strong, but how will you atone as a father? 

and the answer would be “he won’t”, because Enji chose not to be a father, but a hero instead. 

Also, Enji dying as a consequence of his choices and not as the outcome of Touya’s actions as a villain wouldn’t have impacted Touya’s own arc, or Touya’s own redeemability in the eyes of both the audience and his family. 

So. I’m not opposed to it. It would’ve been a win win situation honestly. Enji surviving against any logic and staying stagnant until the end for shit and giggles actively makes the story worse. Letting him die a thematically coherent death would’ve been better for all the Todorokis arcs, but it also would’ve made a much more poignant argument about how choices matter. Which, you know. would’ve been a nice way to end a subplot about how a single man’s choices almost led to the downfall of a country.

[bbcphile]

3, 13, 17, and 29?

Thanks for the ask, @deathdefyinglifeleaps!

3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Hmm. I think it's "What's Sealed Away" (MLC). I was really proud of how I fleshed out what the show gave us about how a-Fei's amnesia works with aspects of my own lived experiences of having amnesia and tried to answer some questions that the show (possibly unintentionally) raised with some character decisions that happen later in that arc. I'm really pleased with the emotional range it covered and I really love the voice I used for it. There are some more lyrical passages from it that I sometimes go back and reread if I need reminders that I do in fact know how to write, no matter what my brain tells me. :D

13. How much planning do you do before writing?

Hah. 😅 Ummmmm. *nervous laughter * A lot. So much. So, whenever I write for a new fandom, I make a document where I write particularly characteristic lines of dialogue (and translate some of the lines myself if I feel like the translation is obscuring something), make note of what sorts of things they ask as questions vs state as assertions, how they express different types of emotions verbally, physically, etc. Basically, trying to capture a full model of them so that when I plot things and write dialogue, I can reference what they've done in the show and then make sure what I'm doing is in keeping with the show, or if it's different, then make sure that the differences are justified by something else that's happened in my fic.

When it comes to actually writing fic itself, I first do a really detailed outline that will have some chunks of dialogue as a part of it, but will mainly focus on the main scenes/beats that are the meat of the story: for a shorter fic, it's basically a very sloppy first draft and it includes emotional beats, choreography/blocking, internal monologue, etc. If it's a multi-chaptered fic, then I do an outline for the whole thing, then a detailed outline like I described above for each chapter. I'll also usually do a character outline to look at the growth or emotional trajectory I want to cover to make sure the pacing makes sense and that the things in my plot outline are showcasing the character-specific themes I'm invested in. Once I have my outlines, I'll do a fleshed out version of what I wrote there, and it usually takes 3-4 drafts before it's something I'm happy with (sometimes they are VERY different from each other and from the original draft and have involved TONS of rewriting.)

17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic?

I researched the Drury Lane theater for a Hornblower fic; specifically, when its renovations happened, what the renovations included, what shows were done in which year, what concessions would be served, etc., so I could write a fic where Archie drags Horatio to see his first Shakespeare play. :D

Oh, and I spent SO MANY HOURS with Google Street maps to research Greenwich for Harboured and Encompassed; I especially spent ages watching videos and images of the Emerites Air Line (now the IFS Cloud Cable Car) for That One Scene. I was a little embarrassed to discover when I actually got to go on it several years later that they couldn't have escaped it the way I wrote it, but oh well! AU where the support pillars double as emergency exits! :D

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic.

I feel like most of my followers wouldn't be very interested in the scene I was contemplating sharing from the sequel to Harboured and Encompassed, so I guess I'll bend the rules a little and share an alternate version of an argument in a chapter that will be included in my long MLC fic (although it goes in a different direction so it doesn't include these lines):

Di Feisheng’s hands shook so hard Dao rattled in its scabbard. “This whole time, you thought I would kill you for a rematch?” Xiangyi scratched a spot near the bridge of his nose. “Not . . . the whole time,” he countered. “Just . . . some of it.” “Li Xiangyi!” he shouted, just barely keeping his voice steady. “I told you multiple times I wanted you to live!” “When you didn’t have your memories!” Xiangyi yelled. “That doesn’t count!” If Xiangyi didn’t believe he wanted him to live while he had amnesia, and he wouldn’t have changed his mind during the time he was pretending to work for Shan Gudao, then that meant– Oh. Oh gods, no. He swallowed until he was sure he could open his mouth without being sick all over the bed, took a long, slow breath that caught and snagged on every rib, and forced himself to look him in the eye. “Li Xiangyi,” he said, his voice shaking as hard as his hands, “When we drank wedding wine and fucked in the newly wed suite, tell me you didn’t still think I planned to kill you!”

[dicenote]

touta matsuda

discuss

omg YES ty! This is gonna be a long, disorganized ramble, so bear with me!

Touta Matsuda. My blorbo, skrunky scrimblo, love of my life, etc.

There are so many things about Matsuda's character that I could talk about. His impulsivity, his loyalty, his uncertainty... All of it makes a very real and very interesting character. And I think that a lot of his traits shine in one of the most horrifying scenes from his perspective: the Yellow Box Warehouse.

Like, let's take a step back and look at the numbers here. On one side of the warehouse, we've got a guy claiming to be L, and the three members of the old Kira Task Force that he brought with him. On the other side, we've got a different guy claiming to be L and three members of the SPK that he brought with him (oh. and the guy from the Task Force that got kidnapped in the mix). Outside, Kira's accomplice is lying in wait. So we've got ten people in all who are ready for the final showdown. The reveal. The evidence that will finally end this years-long nightmare and point to the true identity of Kira.

And of those 10 people, only one of them doesn't have a clue who Kira really is.

Light is Kira. Mikami is X-Kira and finds out who Kira is as soon as he looks in the room. Near and the SPK are all on the same page. Mogi and Aizawa know. Ide's a bit more on the fence but he wasn't completely in the dark. So Matsuda is the only one who goes in totally blind.

If anyone were to re-write Death Note purely from Matsuda's perspective, the Warehouse scene would go from tense to horrifying. To (nearly) everyone else there, this confrontation isn’t meant to reveal an unexpected truth, it’s to confirm something that they already know. But for Matsuda? Near's request to meet at the warehouse is, at worst, a tactic to once again frame Light. Because Light obviously can't be Kira, right? Light will show Near that he's wrong, and the investigation will continue as normal until the real Kira is caught.

But then Near presents that irrefutable evidence, and everything that Matsuda knew for over five years comes crumbling down. Light starts monologuing about how the world had to be fixed and how no one could ever make it as far as he did. Kira and Light are one and the same. Matsuda always thought that Kira was a well-intentioned person who was helping change the world. Ide and Aizawa and Mogi believed that Kira was evil, they were much stronger in their resolve than Matsuda ever could be. But Light had confessed to him once that he too questioned if what they were doing was right. If Kira was doing right.

Light has always been Kira.

And then comes the absolutely tasty part where Matsuda shoots Light. I love how chapter 106 is called "Intent to Kill", because it reminds me of how Matsuda and Light are foils to each other. Better yet, they can be compared against a man they both held such deep respect for, Soichiro Yagami.

See, Soichiro threatens to kill people a good couple times, and even holds a gun to his son's face, but he never has any intent to kill. In fact, he's never killed anyone, as (I think) Mello points out. It's almost kind of silly. Like, Soichiro draws the line at firing bullets or writing full names in the Death Note, and that's it? Everything else is fair game? Weird line to draw, but go off I guess.

Light, meanwhile, justifies killing thousands. But only with the Death Note. With the Death Note, his intent to kill becomes a righteous one, another step on the path to becoming God of a New World. The criminals deserved to die. Those who get in Kira's way deserve to die. Because Light isn't a serial killer. He's doing the right thing! Crime is going down, war has stopped, and Light is the only one who could have possibly gone this far and done this much good.

And then we're back to Matsuda. I believe the mafia raid is the first time we see Matsuda using a gun, and we see that he's damn good at it. So good, in fact, that he's able to fire only non-lethal shots to get the Death Note back. (Also, fun tidbit: I'm pretty sure he's the only one who doesn't go into the raid with a rifle, he's just got like, a standard-issue cop pistol with a light on it.) The same thing happens in the warehouse, at least initially. He fires at Light's hand to get him to stop writing. Then he and Light yell at each other for a little bit about (who else?) Soichiro. Light demands that Matsuda shoot the others, because he's the only one who understands Kira. When Matsuda hesitates, Light resumes writing Near's name. Then Matsuda fires again and again and again. Anything to make Light stop. Anything to make it all stop. But it becomes obvious that he's not just shooting Light as a deterrent. What does Matsuda say as he's doing it?

"He needs to die!"

The others literally have to drag Matsuda away before he can execute Light on the spot.

Matsuda is a character full of contradictions. He dedicates over half a decade to fighting Kira, but he doubts the whole time. He tries to follow in Soichiro's footsteps but in the end makes the same justification that Light did when he first started writing in the Death Note. This man is a criminal. He deserves to die. The Yellow Box Warehouse not only exposed Light's true colors, but Matsuda's as well.

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

Clinging too much to the Mask

Or Miles' is neglecting his civilian life for his hero one.

Something I love about Across the Spider-verse, is that no one is truly evil, but that doesn't justify their actions. Likewise, the heroes aren't perfect, in some cases they actively need to work to own their mistakes, and in others, they need to learn a more simple lesson.

I think this last one can apply to Miles. Because while he is doing his best, I feel the story tries to point out that despite "balancing" his double life, he may be prioritizing one over the other.

We get to see this before we properly get to see Miles, who instead of being in this meeting-

He is going around the city.

Not gonna lie, in my first viewing, I felt Rio and Jeff needed to cut Miles some slack; like sure they were being kind of harsh because they didn't know what was going on, but Miles was truly trying hard!

However, the more I rewatched the movie, and the more I keep looking at certain things, the more I realized that Miles' parents are being WAY nicer about all of this than other parents I had seen, and also, that even if you have the context he is not handling this very well.

Let's start with this scene, shall we?

So, Rio and Jeff want to talk about university opportunities and scholarships, which I feel is a bit early for a fifteen-year-old, but if he wants to get into the best Physics program in the nation, I guess it makes sense needing to start early. I am assuming Miles had at least mention wanting to do big things; which is of course what his parents want because they know what he is capable of; so I wouldn't be surprised if they arranged this meeting SPECIFICALLY because Miles set his future on this.

But regardless if it was Miles's idea or his parents, the fact on the matter is this: he should be here.

Because let's remember, he isn't skipping this meeting because the Spot or a villain with a bigger profile was causing a ruckus, we saw him slinging around the city as if he was strolling, and when he goes to get the Spot, he first does this:

I know Spider-man is known for witty remarks and Miles is definitely not an anomaly on that front, but you cannot tell me he didn't explicitly want a patty and it just so happens to have a bad guy in the place; he may have not grabbed himself hasn't the Spot not being there but I bet he would have gone to this shop ruckus or not.

Even if that wasn't the case, he is already late for the meeting; but he still took his time to patrol the city for, as far as we can tell, no real reason besides just checking around.

I get that he is Spider-man and has responsibilities with the city, but when Miles has an important meeting to be in, and he decides just swinging across the city is more important than being there; we have to admit that this is a problem.

And the longer we spend in 1610 the more that shows.

This monologue feels like it can be unrelated, at first.

Miles doing the Spider-man presentation makes sense; it has been established in this franchise as a device to present the characters, so having him update on his spidey-situation while following the trope presentation they had done before it's perfect to match the tone of the first movie.

But I am also a firm defender of "weaponize tropes to press further the message of the story" and I think having Miles do this presentation can support how much emphasis he puts on his hero life.

Last time during the first movie, he did his own spidey-presentation at the end, but he also talked about finishing his essay, and doing art with his dad. In this one, we only get mentions of things related to being Spider-man, you can argue that including his uncle on the recap may also be involved because he died just in the time he was becoming Spider-man.

(This is also to remind the audience of this plot point for the ending but shhh we are focussing on other things here.)

This is nothing new for Spidey-people, Gwen the more repressed she is the more she clings to her duty, which only makes her repress more and makes the cycle continue. Peter B was okay with the idea of staying behind even if it meant dying, and let's be real here, part of the reason he was okay with it was that dying as a spider-man is an idea he made peace with years ago, but confronting MJ about what happened was scarier.

This also happened in the first movie.

This is before they know they may die if they stay, however, you have to admit is a tad unsettling that after being told "You will need to destroy your only way to get home," everyone IMMEDIATELY says they will do it.

Forget being superheroes, no one has any doubts? Any fears of how long it would take to go back home, if at all?

Peni and Gwen worry me especially because I know why those two may just prefer to ditch their home dimensions for a good while (Gwen because she already lost her Peter, was in a flaky relationship with her dad, and probably was neglecting other people too. Peni if you had read some of her comics is not that surprising, heck I want to get her out of that dimension myself.)

I could go on, because I don't think we had seen a Spidey person in this franchise who isn't putting way too much emphasis on their hero identity; but you get the idea. This is a common problem.

And Miles is no different.

When we go to the Party for his dad (something his mom reminded him of before he bolted out to capture the Spot,) we see that the Party is in full swing. Music is in, people had already started digging in the food, and kids are playing.

Look, growing up my family had parties like this, fairly often growing up. This one is to celebrate Captain Morales obviously, but I had been at family reunions that are easily this size.

Considering the size and for who is the Party, I am surprised they didn't call him non-stop when he didn't show up to help put everything up (because I am having a hard time believing he wouldn't be expected to help to put everything,) it was already late when the first person showed up, so by this point, this is beyond lateness.

And where he is at?

JUST NOW he is picking up the cake, AS SPIDERMAN.

Miles, mijo ¿Qué estás haciendo? Para este punto de la partida yo ya estaría haciendo mi testamento.

(Trans: Miles, son, what are you doing? By this point I would be doing my will.)

Ok jokes aside, I don't know what's more unbelievable, that he is just now getting the cake, or that he is doing it in the Spidey costume.

This tells us EXACTLY what he was doing before coming up to pick this cake.

Last time we see him, he told his dad he didn't believe The Spot would come back, which means he didn't exactly think there was any danger. Nothing in the movie shows or tells us there was another big emergency he didn't need to attend to, either; and it has CLEARLY been a few hours since that moment since the lightning has changed.

Don't tell me he came in with his Spidey suit to get a better deal or something, the woman clearly doesn't care about it; and even then, at any moment he seems to find a way to change just so he can move around the city more easily.

Not to mention that while he was trying to come to the Party, this happened.

In case you need to make sure what's happening, since this moment happens in a few seconds during Jeff speech; because someone was stealing shoes (with a guard who is clearly not giving a shit,) he sent a web to stop him.

And rather than just, going on with his day, he stops to sign some autographs and pics, to the point someone else thinks the taxi is waiting for a new client, which the guy obviously accepts.

Honestly, once this moment clicked for me I feel a little dumb to not realize that this is actually a thing Miles needs to confront about himself and not just the natural back and forth that is expected with this life.

And you can see it in other things too.

Miles isn't a loner, or at least he wasn't one in Into the Spider-verse.

I remember that when I saw the movie the contrast surprised me, like many other people, I had grown up with plenty Peter Parker adaptations, where he is most of the time, a nerd that deals with bullying to some degree. Even with Miles being his own character, I was surprised that at least in his old school and neighborhood, he not only has friends, he is basically a popular kid.

Now in ATSV? That seems to have gone away.

Is such a small detail in both movies, but it still shocks me every time I think about it hard enough.

Miles had tons of friends, or at least people he definitely got along with; people who said that miss him and such. Even if we never hear a name from him; look at the people greeting him at the beginning at ITSV, go to see the movie and see how much Miles scrolls on his contact list; there is no way in hell he wasn't close to some of these people.

But all of them seem to have gone away by this movie, not only did neither of his parents think of asking about anyone in the neighborhood, Miles himself only scratches the names of his spidey-friends. This either means Rio and Jeff know enough of the people in the neighborhood to be aware Miles is not going out with any of them; or the relationships had deteriorated enough that neither party even thinks of the possibility of being with any of them.

That's...that's a lot.

Look, I am not going to say Miles changing school wouldn't affect his previous friendships, I know exactly how that works.

But in ITSV, Miles said it himself, he still lives here, none of them look like they live too far to be impossible to hang out with; and despite that, the only friend he seems to have is Genki; who aside from being his rommie, is the only person he has that knows his secret.

Which is probably, the only reason they are close enough for Miles's parents to know about him.

To top it all off, this shows that Miles isn't exactly shy, he may have not been fitting too well with his classmates at first but it has been over a year, and he should have been able to make more friends. If he wanted to.

And is not the only thing suffering.

I am not sure if the joke is that Miles is trying to soften the blow and the teacher is telling on him, or, that he legit forgot the number of classes. Considering it was obvious the woman was going to know and had no incentive in hiding this from his parents; I am inclined to believe Miles actually forgot how many classes he lost.

Considering how spidey emergencies work, 6 classes isn't that big of a thing, assuming this is the only class he has lost classes on. Knowing how the hero gig works you could expect more, but for my own sanity I will pretend it has been only these.

There is a big chance he missed those classes for really, bad situations where he needed to be there. However, we aren't actually sure; and considering the direction this movie is going, it is very feasible he may be messing around a few times.

And look, Miles grades are freaking amazing; seriously I was doing a lot worse in school without any hero business involved. But even if he obviously puts some level of priority in his studies, you can see that this is a struggling battle.

Not to mention the elephant in the room, that is the fact that the reason we know he is working so hard to have good grades, is because he wants to go to Princeton University.

Miles can't give the exact reason as to why in this scene, but this is really all we need to hear:

I really don't need to explain myself further, but because I already had the image at hand from something else, here it is.

The only not related to Spider-man is that he is somewhat prioritizing, and has to do more to see the other Spiders than his actual future.

I think this becomes more obvious when you remember that as smart as he is with Physics, in the first movie he wasn't really interested; despite what he knew he was trying to fumble that class like the rest of them, trying to quit. The only thing he seemed passionate about was his art, which is the other class that he is doing amazingly.

I had seen people argue Miles' dream will probably be related to art, if it wasn't because seeing the other spiders has become even more important than that, deciding to try to get into the best Physics Program in the country just to see if he has a chance to meet them again. That's a lot of time, effort, and work; and is not even about him or what he wants to do for the rest of his life.

In a way, this movie comes to a conclusion about it, but I think I want to talk more about that when we focus on Miles' parents.

Thank you for reading, hope this gives you guys some perspective about Miles; I feel I don't see a lot of people picking up on this, which is a shame since I feel the story with his family gains a deeper layer by having both parties struggling in their own areas.

[randomgentlefolk]

CPC CHAPTER 167

YO PROPS TO WITCH!!!

Hm, I wonder how Leelathae writes in her diary? I mean, does she write them in just dialogue, or narrative, or what? Either she is writes in dialogue, or she described the witch pretty well for Gwen to recognize who the witch is.

I mean, I didn't expect these ingredients, but sure. Does this imply there's a cemetery near The Pastel Kingdom? Cause Leelathae isn't allowed to be far from home, right? And I doubt she would ask someone to get dirt from cemetery for her...

I wonder what Leelathae plan was? Cause she didn't get the chance to execute it since her portrait was stolen by Leland. Or maybe she did execute it while in the Plaid Kingdom?

I agree with the witch so much. The painters fr did Leelathae dirty 💀

THE WITCH WASN'T LYING. SHE DOES LOOK COOL AF. LIKE. BRO?? HOW AM I NOT SUPPOSED TO FALL IN LOVE.

Huh. How does the ingredient turn into a paint-like liquid?? None of the ingredients are liquid based. Maybe the dirt?

This whole spell thing is sick man. It's so dang cool!! I wonder if anyone notices Leelathae sparkling?? I mean, one of the maids has got to notice right?

Also I've never knew there's tea inside snickerdoodles (chai is tea, right?). Well, it's not like I've ever tried snickerdoodles, but last time I read the recipe, I don't remember tea being in the recipe. But that was years ago so it might just be my memory.

Well, the mystery of the portrait is finally solved! And yet there's another mystery.. what writing did Leelathae put behind her portrait? Yes, the diary is one of them, but there are other things too. Like those brown and green papers. I'm guessing it's a message toward her kids?

Ohh, that's why!! Leelathae was glowy because of the spell!

BRUH SO WAS IT LIKE, A MISUNDERSTANDING THIS WHOLE TIME?? I did kinda predict it in my really old post, but I was joking T_T

Something's kinda bothering me about what Leelathae said in her 3rd wish. Why is she only talking about her daughters? What about Jamie? Or is there a hidden meaning that I am not getting here? If someone would enlighten me, that would be nice.

Aw. It's actually pretty sweet when you think about how they didn't even know how to speak to each other at first, but they still fell in love with each other <3

Oh. Oohhh....okay. This doesn't justify what Leland is doing right now, but it sure give a big reason for it. Yikes. Damn. That must've hurt.

Okay okay, let me just remember the past episodes to realize all the causes here.

Leland's parents died due to tragic carriage accident (didn't a carriage accident happen more than once? Tho I can't remember to who besides Leland's parents)

His best friend, Jack, didn't arrive to Leland's parents' funeral, which is the moment he needed him the most (not Jack's fault though, since he was literally stranded in an island)

Leland obviously has a little crush on Jack, which is why it hurts him when he found out Jack brought Leelathae to Pastel Kingdom (again, not Jack's fault). I think this is where he jealousy starts, the point where Leland thinks he has to be better at every love things than Jack.

He overheard Jack saying he didn't need him, which is probably the nail in the coffin for Leland. I mean that monologue Leland has? That's kinda internal mental breakdown right there. (I gotta say, this scenario is kindaaa similar to Gwen overhearing Frederick calls her ugly. I wouldn't say it's the exact same thing of course. It's just the overhearing that makes it similar)

So! Looking at these 4 reasons, it is highly likely that Leland has some problems (no shit sherlock). HEAR ME OUT. I don't know what it is yet. I was thinking of abandonment issues, but I have yet to read much about it, so i'm not sure yet.

HAH! Glad Leelathae decided to haunt his dreams tho!

OH SHIT OH SHIT. NAH LELAND NAHHHH. HE BETTER NOT. ....well at the time i'm writing this the next episode is already out so.. guess we're gonna find out...IN THE NEXT REVIEW!!

Yeah I haven't read the episode yet lol. I bet it's gonna be chaotic though.

That's it for now, until next time.

Mono out! (But still in to hear your thoughts)

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1102 - Initial Thoughts

And we have returned

For more Emotional Devastation!

Bonney's cathartic freedom is still undermined by the reality of hindsight, and before we end the year Oda intends to make sure we leave in sadness and mourning.

One more time, for Kuma

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release

A Bonney-themed cover this time, eating hot dogs with some wolves

True to her word Bonney has set to sea to find her father, unleashing the Bonney Pirates onto any leads she can find

Typically, the government string up lies to vilify Bonney by saying she attacked villages of elderly and children

Kuma was indeed there, but to protect her and honor his arrangement he has to leave, surprised she became a pirate

Bonney's annoyed, but she is patient too, she also intends to find Nika as well, something to show off to him when they find him

This happens in parallel to Luffy getting his bounty, right after Arlong Park

Dragon decides to 'conveniently' head to Loguetown

Rare Smoker cameo, I miss that dude

Ace getting to show off in front of Jinbe, his brother did just beat his former subordinate after all

Kuma also seems to admire the irony of Luffy being a pirate given his parentage

Meanwhile, Bonney proves herself to still be a good person; only plunder from bad guys and only help people if they need it

The others also help her look older, giving her lipstick and the piercing so that Kuma would recognize her

Bonney also feels that if she becomes a big enough deal, she'll get her father's attention

Back with Kuma though the Pacifista are ready

It would be surreal to see a clone army of yourself in pods

This is around Enies Lobby time, as they mention that some 'rookies' declared war on the WG

Even Vegapunk didn't know about Dragon having a son, but since Vegapunk is gonna be going through Kuma's memories there's no point hiding it

Kuma has made the similarities between Luffy and Nika known too

Thriller Bark recap this time from Kuma's perspective

That Ursus Shock was still madness, I guess now we know how they all survived it though

And look at all this Nothing Happened about to happen

Even Kuma thinks this amount of pain could take him out, showing just how incredible a feat this was

Then we shift to Sabaody, Kuma's got his summons for the upcoming Paramount War

But Kuma is not at Sabaody for Luffy, he's come to get one last look at Bonney

A guy that size cannot sneak in a public place XD

But he's halted by another incident: the punching of a Celestial Dragon

'Who would dare do that?' I think you know bud

It's always good to see Charloss KO'd

And seeing that Luffy did it to protect a Fishman too compels him to make his move

The division is now shown through Kuma's monologue

A tragic monologue as Kuma apologizes to the Revolutionaries for leaving, how he wishes to put his faith into Bonney and Luffy as a legacy, and how he internally apologizes to Luffy, noting that they are not ready yet

'Don't go there yet, after all, you will someday save the world' - I might need a minute for this

And now the Gorosei are back to their fuckery

Kuma has a self-destruct mechanism!?

Vegapunk is again strongly against such a plan, but Saturn continues to gaslight and try to justify their immeasurable cruelty

Means that Kuma has a ticking bomb in him, could that have any key information to where he's going in present?

Vegapunk wants to try and sneak in a way to maintain some of Kuma's personality in exchange, but Saturn shuts him down quickly

'Any attempts to deceive me will fail' - yeah about that one?

The time has come to erase Bartholomew Kuma though, and despite Vegapunk's objections, Kuma feels at ease for how much he fought for him

We bring in the command for Kuma to protect the Sunny

'I'd like to be a stubborn guardian for their home' man...

With Luffy's poster in hand, Kuma notes how moved and motivated he's become by Luffy, how much like the legend of Nika he's become

He believes he'll be king as well

Kuma removes his memories too, not a full on procedure it's like a copy, but one which'll dissipate on touch

Vegapunk however has devised a way to view it without touching though to study it

Kuma gets to watch his life unfold, wondering how many were harmed or troubled by his actions

Panel by panel Kuma sees his life, his parents, Ivankov, Ginny, Dragon, the fishermen, Bonney, Vegapunk, each time running through that field a little older

Tears stream down Vegapunk's eyes at the precipice of the lever

'Your life hasn't caused anyone harm or trouble, but your death will pain everyone who loves you' - fucking god Oda

And before he goes, as all of Egghead mourn the loss of a true saint, he leaves one last message for Bonney, heard in present when she takes the bubble

'Please wish her a happy 10th birthday'

Bartholomew Kuma did not deserve any of this.

Bartholomew Kuma did not deserve any of this.

BARTHOLOMEW KUMA DID NOT DESERVE A FUCKING DAMN THING OF THIS!

Typical for Oda to end the year on a wave of emotions. But it was a spectacularly heart-wrenching chapter, Kuma once again seen through a new lens which elevates him to a top tier character.

There's not much else to say, nothing else really to intuit except whether present-Kuma knows the bomb is in him, and maybe if Vegapunk managed to keep a small piece of his ego within him to act this way. I think we all just need to have a small cry or something.

We'll have a break now so we'll only see a chapter in January, but we can live with that, we do need to recover.

Bartholomew Kuma did not deserve any of this, but he loved, he sacrificed, and his legacy will live on.

[aegonette]

It's so great that we had to listen to at least one "It's the Song of ICE and Fire prophecy" monologue each episode in season 2, in the writers' attempt to mythologise the Targaryen dynasty I guess. And we see the Starks for like 2 minutes total... No ruler before and no one currently worrying about the ICE threat that apparently justifies their conquest and divine rule. Another excellent addition to the lore, thank you HBO.

[fecto-forgo]

question for susie: who do you think are the top 5 other kirby characters that could most get along with her? the 5 most likely ones that could be her friends, basically

i usually try to answer these as soon as i get them bc i have autism but i actually didnt manage to this time bc.honestly? i dont think susie has 5 friends.best conclusion i got is she has 3 friends n 2 girls who think theyre acquaintances

susie is just.so herself? i feel everyone thinks shes some degree of obnoxious n lacking on morals n just kinda seems weirdly shady.for ppl that like her tho:

i feel kirby is rly obvious but Who Doesnt Kirby Like? susie helped last at the end of KPR so as far as kirby cares shes all set for becoming a friend! in fact she essentially already is! she hasnt done evil things again so rly theyre on great terms.she lets them test ice cream flavor samples for HWCs ice cream brand

i think both susie n magolor consider each other annoying but they mean it affectionately.they get on each others nerves (its nearly always magolor doing the annoying) but somehow get along great anyways.its a mystery they just never fight seriously

taranza would get along w her as well, i think out of every wave 3 character hes the most actually friendable for everyone bc his freak isnt immediately noticed, but.theyre both freaks w no moral compasses n taranza is a professional woman apologist n what would susie want more than to get cry shoujo tears explaining her tragic story while he pats her back like "i completely understand...you were so justified queen dont listen to the haters"

rly she could tell magolor n taranza shes doing anything morally questionable n theyd reply "okay lol" "okay ^_^" if not straight up go w her

now the next 2.susie sure has intense feelings abt but they do not !

susies intense grudge for francisca originates from susie never outgrowing her "i HAVE to kill girls i feel threaten ME being the prettiest in the room" phase bc she didnt get a proper growing up experience.shes constantly making up ways francisca is stealing the spotlight from her.idk francisca was probably more welcomed by the other allies bc shes polite (i am not claiming franny is a nice girlie shes just polite but has the american psycho monologue going on in her head that entire introduction) n susies never gonna get over that bc "IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME EVERYONE LIKED!!!" anyways i think itd just be so godamn funny if francisca didnt? know susie wants her dead? shes socially absent she doesnt pay attention she doesnt care lmao.she thinks theyre acquaintances bc of how often susie "talks to her" (shes trying to be subtly mean).even if she realized susie hated her shed be like "okay lol.good morning to you too"

n ive already mentioned it before but im a suzan yuri believer but not a "susie can win anyone over" believer.shes had a long running lesbian crush on zan w 50 layers to it (ranges from "she has such an aura of coolness ♪" to "i can fix her n i can kill her father too i can save her" to "WE CAN MATCH EACH OTHERS FREAKS.TOGETHER.") n has tried every way to try winning her over n zan doesnt understand a single one of them.she believes theyre acquaintances.susie could literally kiss her n shed reply "...my HP bar is already full but thanks.i guess." ironically most times that get zan liking susie a little more is when shes not actively trying to rizz her up, bc oh man.susie was right they match each others freaks of "im the only normal person in this room.(unstable weirdo)".the only ppl this yuri can be considered toxic for is everyone else.

outside of those 5 i think everyone to some degree dislikes her.n yes i think shed play victim abt that.im a firm believer nobody in wave 3/4 save for flamberge is properly befriendable to most of the cast (franny n taranza r in good terms w most ppl but again.inner american psycho monologue girl n polite looking guy who had way too much working for the evil monarch).n thats their appeal theyre all kinda shitty ppl 🩷 i wish i could end this w a beautiful rant on how shitty traumatized ppl still deserve love n redemption but honestly i just think characters r more fun when they kinda suck lol

[aquaburst3]

Jamil's dream wasn't as bad I thought. Which doesn't say much since the bar is literally in Hell at this point, but at least it's something...I guess. He doesn't pull a Sultan Jafar and just beat Kalim up. But it's still pretty dumb.

The dream is a complete role reversal. Kalim is the poor servant, who is waiting on him hand and foot, while Jamil is the rich kid. Jamil has his own school built honouring Jafar, where he's the school council president. After Jamil orders the dream!Kalim to make them a feast, things start to fall apart. Kalim and Jamil fist fight...for some reason. Jamil overblots and has a random villain monologue. He's defeated. Move on to the next dream. Where do I start?

This dream doesn't fit Jamil at all. Jamil isn't after power like Jafar. All he wants is to be free of the Asim's grasp and travel the world. What about that would fit...this? While I know the point is that Malleus doesn't understand what will actually make these guys happy, something like this would make Jamil snap out of it faster. He should know that something doesn't feel right. He would break out to join the others.

Plus, Jamil seems a little OOC as well. He seems much more Jafar-like, being pompous and overly indulgent asshole. Yes, those traits were there the whole time. That's why he wanted to have a feast and have everyone praise him was enough evidence of that. But my reading of that was that Jamil was so beaten down by a family of rich assholes that he wanted to kick back for once and be served for once, not that he has a secretly wants to be sultan himself and for everyone to worship him like a god! This is so off base that I genuinely wonder if Yana know her own characters, if Vil acting like a spoiled diva in the last one wasn't obvious enough of that.

What's with Malleus gifting Jamil a school in it? He's super smart and studious, but school isn't the be all end all of his existence, so it seems like a random conclusion for him to come to. Same goes for Kalim, if not more so.

Why do Kalim and Jamil randomly fist fight? Kalim punching Jamil should've happened at the end of Book 4. If this happened then, it would be a hundred percent justified. Jamil backstabbed Kalim and mind controlled him. Hell, I would even say that would be good writing, since it would be a fantastic set up and pay off. But now? It just seems random and like Kalim's resentful for that back then, which is in turn is OOC.

Mentioned this on my server and to one of my online friends, but why the hell is this arc so fucking long? This arc has been going on forever!

Why add all of these pointless dream sequences and flashbacks!? She could've made them a quick montage. Or, better yet, not added them at all and came up with something else. Especially since a lot of these are completely OOC, make no sense or both.

One of my mutuals mentioned that they thought that Lilia would be put to sleep so Malleus could keep him close and block everyone else out with thorns, so we have to work with everyone to get through them like Philip to stop him. Why couldn't it just be that? It would make the writing tighter and get to the fucking point much faster. More importantly, make much more sense. Instead we get a bunch of overlyindulgent trippy dream sequences that only pad things out. What a waste.

At least I give the latest update this. I think Jamil's outfit is FAR better than his overblot design. It makes him look regal, seeming like a younger Jafar, and is much simpler instead of being an overdesigned mess. I'll end up using this one in my fic instead.

[deathlooksgoodonyou-if]

I do wonder a lot about MC's characterization. See, I often play a character who is as kind and sunny as possible. Yet, of course, certain IFs have a main character in mind that simply does not work as a blank slate, and so, a player must adapt to what makes sense. This is not a complain, at all, since many of my favorite IFs do this (like Fallen Hero, where Sidestep has a more or less defined personality, and we can choose between the options that makes sense within the parameters of said personality).

In this case, at least some features are defined. But not everything, I suspect.

That said, I do wonder how kind and friendly my MC would be able to be. I don't imagine we can be very cheerful, at least not for a while, given Jules death. And even if it wasn't for Jules death, everything about the relationship with Jules invokes so much angst I cannot conceive my typical sunny MC being all smiles during those troubling times.

Although I do wonder how Jules thinks of themselves when they begin a relationship with Dylan and know they have hurt this kind of MC. Someone who is always kind, someone who is basically the person who lighthens a room. I guess there is guilt, but Jules seems like the kind of person who tries to justify all their actions. I just cannot imagine how that would work now.

If it's an spoiler feel free to not answer, of course. No pressure. I understand.

Hello, hi! The mc can be kind and cheerful or bubbly during certain times or with certain people. Not all the time due to the harrowing and grim setting. Mc's inner monologue when alone will always be depressive— to the point it could get overwhelming at times. I hope that's okay.

Although I do wonder how Jules thinks of themselves when they begin a relationship with Dylan and know they have hurt this kind of MC. Someone who is always kind, someone who is basically the person who lighthens a room. I guess there is guilt, but Jules seems like the kind of person who tries to justify all their actions. I just cannot imagine how that would work now.

Truthfully, it doesn't matter to Jules haha. Mc could literally be a demon that walked right out of hell and they wouldn't bat an eye. The guilt (when or if it is there) comes more from having hurt the only person who ever genuinely cared about them. Stoic, sarcastic, playful mcs— they are all the same to Jules.

[ddarker-dreams]

reading crime and punishment rn and i cant help but think what are chrollo's thoughts while reading this...he probably think he could do better and is confused with raskolnikov's guilt

this ask has me rolling up my sleeves . dostoevsky and chrollo in the same ask?? i'm running at top speeds.

i think the start of crime and punishment would make chrollo nostalgic, in a way. bring him back to the inception of the phantom troupe and when he first departed from meteor city. there are some interesting parallels between raskolnikov and a younger chrollo. both were intellectuals, impoverished, and aware that to obtain great accomplishments, they'll have to do things typically shunned in society's eyes.

i'm reminded of the line chrollo told uvogin after finding sarasa's corpse:

it's a melancholic mood, a begrudging acceptance, not delighting in the carnage that is to come.

maybe it's a stretch, but raskolnikov (at least at the start of C&P) and little chrollo are both somewhat adhering to nietzsche's übermensch concept. that an extraordinary being cannot be held to the same standards we hold others. in raskolnikov's case, he frequently compares himself to napoleon in seeking to justify his murder of the two women, best exemplified in this monologue here:

It was like this: I asked myself one day this question—what if Napoleon, for instance, had happened to be in my place, and if he had not had Toulon nor Egypt nor the passage of Mont Blanc to begin his career with, but instead of all those picturesque and monumental things, there had simply been some ridiculous old hag, a pawnbroker, who had to be murdered too to get money from her trunk (for his career, you understand). Well, would he have brought himself to that if there had been no other means? Wouldn’t he have felt a pang at its being so far from monumental and… and sinful, too? Well, I must tell you that I worried myself fearfully over that ‘question’ so that I was awfully ashamed when I guessed at last (all of a sudden, somehow) that it would not have given him the least pang, that it would not even have struck him that it was not monumental… that he would not have seen that there was anything in it to pause over, and that, if he had had no other way, he would have strangled her in a minute without thinking about it! Well, I too… left off thinking about it… murdered her, following his example."

the main difference between the two would be how they act after their respective murders. raskolnikov is burdened with guilt and anxiety to the point of being feverish, clearly incapable of committing such a deed again. we haven't seen chrollo's reaction after he killed for the first time, but seeing the person he went on to become, i'll infer any guilt he felt the first time (if any at all) was nowhere near as debilitating.

sonia brought raskolnikov back to his humanity after he strayed from it, chrollo had no such centering force. the nascent phantom troupe was willing to accept chrollo's methods. perhaps if sarasa was alive, she could've served the same purpose sonia did to raskolnikov, but we'll never know for sure.

imo, that'd be chrollo's main takeaway from the story. entertaining the various what-ifs.

[ace-the-fox]

One thought I've always had on Frankenstein is that... both we and Victor technically don't know creature killed William until the guy admits it in his big ass monologue (I believe).

Like, obviously, he did. But I probably wouldn't have entirely thought so myself had my English teacher not told us by this point. I mean, Victor's evidence was what? The creature just... standing there? It very well could have been a wrong time, wrong place situation.

Feel like that says a lot about Victor. A lot of Victor apologists (as a Victor apologist myself lol) justify Victor insulting and threatening to fight his creature at the point they first formally meet because of William's murder, but, if you think about it, the creature could have literally just gotten there by the time Victor saw him for all he knows. It was really more of a lucky guess born from projection and guilt than a solid accusation.

I hope this all makes sense the way it does in my brain.

[chaos0pikachu]

i'm sorry for jumping into your inbox like this but what bothers me about people going "the show is making a point about how society treats sluts!" when talking about only friends, and boston in particular, is that this point is made (a lot of the time, from what I've seen) in this weird condescending tone, as if the people questioning the narrative and going "hey, what the fuck" are just too stupid to get it, yk

(also, sidenote: if the show was trying to make a point, do a commentary, a critique if you will about how society (even queer society) slut shames and treats nonmonogamy, it failed imo, lmao)

Don't be sorry! I've basically been bothering my penpal about this all day lmao they don't even watch the show but they're feeling my rage today so bother away you're very literally doing them a favor

Personally, and this is me being openly a bitch, I think some folks are just looking for excuses to justify that they're fine with the finale (b/c ppl don't wanna feel guilty about liking something problematic~) or that Jojo isn't a bad writer actually. Which, bro who cares, if you enjoyed the ending dope, I didn't.

I've said this before, but other media has made commentary regarding sex, and slut shaming in ways that hits harder and better. Without doing the office looking into the camera action. I hate when ppl say that we're not fucking stupid like my god I work in a creative industry I understand both how narrative works and how it's literally made. I've SEEN the sausage I've been to the factory front row.

But even without that experience ppl aren't dumb, they can tell when they're being sold something disingenuous. Those takes that "well you just don't see~~ the vision" or "the show doesn't have a message, actually" when Yo was literally monologuing the message for 5mins at the end of the show is hella disingenuous. People also seem to forget that inherent and implicit bias are a thing in all of us, yes even the creators you like.

Also you can't have both, either the show was purposely making commentary regarding how society treats promiscuous people, people who are poly or want open relationships and critiquing that OR the show didn't have a message at all and was totally egalitarian.

If it's the former it failed drastically, I wrote weeks ago that the show was slut shaming Boston, I had a whole draft about how the hypocrisy of the characters wasn't intentional (but it'll stay in the drafts now I don't feel like cleaning it up lol), Boston ended up punished every step of the narrative repeatedly - with Mew blackmailing him, with Gap non-con recording him, with Atom, with Cheum, with the whole friend group, and in the end even Nick left him - with no recourse. With no opposing viewpoint. Nick was the only char who showed Boston a shred of empathy - and even then, he still showed Atom more empathy than he deserved - and in the end that was used up too.

If it's the latter the show still failed b/c the show absolutely had a ton of bias - I've had multiple ppl point out to me that the darker skinned chars are all predators or slutty whores in the show - and dropped storylines that should have been expanded on - Gap has folders upon folders of sex tapes???? Does Boston's privacy not matter?? - that were dropped in favor of further punishing Boston. And when things were supposed to be seen as "bad" the narrative made them clear.

Mew partying was bad, Ray drinking was bad, Boston sleeping around, welp you guessed it.

but yeah, how exhausting tbh all I want post-series is a bunch of Boston fanfic that gives him justice or even some fucking nuance (oh and that playboyy the series is actually good lol)

[smolvenger]

Some thoughts on Crimson Peak and the Thomas vrs Lucille who is bad and who is good debate and Why Thomas tends to be more "redeemable" than Lucile- DON'T LIKE DON'T READ/INTERACT, just some ramblings.

tw: spoilers for Crimson Peak, discussions of child abuse, murder, incest, death, and violence.

Warning, I will be more defensive of Thomas than Lucille so if you don't like that, don't interact

Okay, lately there has been a lot of Discourse (tm) on Crimson Peak and the whole thing about Lucille vrs. Thomas. A lot of people's consensus lately being Thomas has gotten way too off the hook- but it is Lucille who is more redeemable and more pitiful.

And I am not saying that both are not sympathetic in their backstories and for what abuse they faced...but with the whole thing about how justifiable either character is, it tends to hinge on one thing-

How consensual is the incest?

And that itself is iffy and left ambiguous, in typical Del Toro fashion (like in Pan's Labrinth, was it all a tragic dream or real? It depends on who you ask) because he doesn't give us answers and leave things open. The books say that it was "a mutual source of comfort" that began when Thomas was nine and Lucille eleven...however, given the fact that they were children when this began and those ages, that is what makes it iffy personally for me and the hardest to wrap my brain around.

Now, personal story time. I...was abused by my cousin when I was that age- I was eight/nine/ten and he was about a pre-teen and early teen. I said "yes" at the time...but I didn't understand what I was saying yes to. I was curious, and I wanted to feel "special"...and then I remember crying and asking him to stop- because, and I cannot emphasize this, though I said yes I didn't comprehend what I was saying yes to because I was *checks notes* a child.

Because children can't really give consent and given the psychological development between a nine-year-old and an eleven-year-old, I find it personally hard to justify the incest as anything but iffy considering their ages when it started. If it began when they were adults and was consensual a la The Borgias, then...uh, fine I guess. But...no, it began as children. So it makes consent iffy.

The other thing is that Lucille is a control freak. We understand WHY she is a control freak after how shitty her whole childhood was. This is a tendency in Del Toro with his antagonists. Captain Vidal in Pan's Labyrinth is a Control Freak and that ultimately leads to his downfall. Everyone loves to quote Lucille's monologue about how everything she did was out of love for her brother- "the horror was for love." And they use it to justify her actions and it is an eye opening monologue.

But no one remembers Edith's response to it:

"That's not true, you suffocate him."

And let me show you what TV Tropes says about their relationship. To paraphrase, she controls his time and actions, guilt trips him to try to kill Alan, and when he admits to loving Edith, she kills him, which tends to be a common pattern in abusive relationships.

Now, with Thomas, the most we can say that he canonically does is A) gaslight Edith by saying "There's no ghosts" when there definitely is, B) Seduce her into marriage knowing what was going to happen as he did with the three other women, C) Agree to poison her and deliver said poison.

And yes, though he DOES want his invention and all that funded, and that is his motivation and why he is implicit in the plot and murders...

He doesn't seem to actually enjoy it.

It is left open ended as to whose idea the giant plot and poisoning was, but it was stated in interviews that Thomas tends to be...bad at being a villain. He doesn't have it in him to directly kill the wives other than being the one to deliver them the poisoned tea (note, Thomas uses poison, which is considered traditionally as "a woman's weapon" versus Lucille actually butchering them with cleavers and whatnot). The novelization says he would leave the house whenever Lucille would kill the wives, showing not just implicitness but implying he doesn't enjoy it. And Rather than kill the dog he just...tosses it outside and maybe it will just...starve or something- and then it doesn't. Lucille actually kills the dog herself to spite Edith.

But the thing is that Thomas shows regret like Lucille...but he is the one to take action to make ammends.

He asks Alan where to hit him where it won't be fatal and delivers him to safety, since Edith is the first one to show him healthy love and kindness with no conditions, he decides he shouldn't go forward and kill her and should spare her, he burns the documents that would transfer the money to them- he shows the least amount of pleasure in being evil and tries to save Edith at the cost of his life, caring for her needs over his at the end. And THAT is why (not taking into effect that Tom Hiddleston being hot plays him) he tends to be more "redeemable" in fandom and fics than Lucille. He shows anger and regret over the crimes...and Lucille shows regret, but only after she sees Thomas's ghost, which implies she regrets killing Thomas.

Though, honestly...the Thomas fans and Lucille fans aren't that different at all. We are BOTH "my poor sweet meow meow is just a lil baby and it's the OTHER sibling who is the bad one *points fingers*" and it also is "look at how BEAUTIFUL my lil bb is and how attractive they are to me! So it's the OTHER sibling who is the bad one! Bc I don't want to boink them like I do this one," so...in the end, we're just the same in different fonts.

Ok, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.