#and fans have to do a blood sacrifice to get the next season

[the-marathon-continues-nip]

I was in the supercorp team… but you all are giving me fandom envy

hey buddy!!!! I haven't seen supergirl but I've always loved the gifs of super Corp, Kara seems sweet and lena seems so kickass!

and haha, the grass is always greener I think however the mdzs/wangxian fandom is pretty fun. it's so large that I can literally just lurk, read fic and Have Brain Rot.

the story is so expansive that once you realize you like it, you're in too deep. I always recommend giving it a go because there is something for everyone. there are excellent fic writers too and a lot of them a wlw who write the ship as is and also as f/f so it's like you have the most popular fic writers who also write f/f content (we are so spoiled in this fandom!)

just fyi most ppl watched the Netflix show, however its based on a novel that is the 'real' story...the series of Netflix had to be adapted to censorship so the plot line is a bit different but the overarching themes are there. there is also a donghua (chinese animation/cartoon) version and YouTube should have free episodes as well (the cartoon is great with the supernatural stuff, the cgi in the live show isn't the best but the actors in the live action sold their relationship even with censorship!)

[ladyloveandjustice]

Salivating (Dunmeshi Farcille Fic)

A new Marcille x Falin fic, snuck in just before this season's last episode. This one should be accessible to anime-onlies as it's an AU what if rather than being rooted in any part of the story. It's actually based off this fan animation, which makes ME salivate every time I see it. So this one gets a little horny, which is unusual for me, but this level of horny is probably nothing for anyone else on the planet.

cw for some violent deaths and ideas. I have an additional note on the bottom. Enjoy!

---

Marcille ran through the tunnel, gasping with every step. Falin’s—the chimera’s—footsteps thundered behind her, shaking loose soil off the walls.

Marcille had never been a fast runner. Rivers of sweat were pouring down her face, her heavy breathing turning to a desperate wheeze. But she kept going, pure adrenaline driving her on.

She wanted to curse her own stupidity, but she knew if it happened again, she would make the exact same choice.

They hadn’t expected to meet Falin so soon. They’d been eating a meal when she’d found them. Laios had been the quickest to react and the first to go down. He landed a few hits before Falin tore at his face and slammed him to the floor with her clawed foot. Marcille would never forget Laios trying to talk, to yell whatever his plan was this time, even as his bones snapped and blood bubbled out of his mouth

Marcille rushed forward. She had to get to Laios, she had to heal him. Not just because his spasms of agony were tearing through her like the pain was her own, but because of Falin. If Falin killed her brother and remembered that after they saved her, the guilt would crush her.

 But Chilchuck yanked her back behind some fallen rubble. “Don’t go charging in! You’re the only one who can heal and resurrect us! We need you, idiot!”  He hissed it at her, even as his hands shook, even as Falin smashed Senshi into a wall with a sweep of her tail. Izutsumi was nowhere to be found—maybe she’d run off.

“I can’t just—” Marcille snarled.

“You will!” Chilchuck snapped. “Look, I’m going to distract her, I’ll buy you time to do a big spell. If she kills me, get out of here and come back later to save us. That’s our only shot at surviving!”

“No!” she cried, but Chilchuck was already running. Falin snarled, trying to stomp on him, but he was too small and fast. He darted this way and that, and ran past where Senshi was lying prone.

“Senshi! Are you okay? Wake up!” he called. He only slowed down a fraction, but that fraction was enough.

Falin’s mouth twisted in rage. She started to mutter a spell.

No. No!

Marcille didn’t care what Chilchuck wanted or what the best plan was. How dare he ask her stand there and watch him suffer. He couldn’t force her to sacrifice her friends, to watch the woman she loved tear them to pieces. He couldn’t make her murder Falin and be left alone, surrounded by everyone’s dead bodies. She wouldn’t do it!

Chilchuck looked up at Falin looming above him, his face pale.

Marcille swung her staff, setting off an explosion right next to Falin. Falin turned, her eyes wide. “Come and get me!” Marcille screamed, setting off another one. And then she turned and ran. She could hear Chilchuck cursing her out distantly, but it didn’t matter. She knew Falin would come after her. She was the biggest threat right now.

 She ran for her life, even as her legs shook with exhaustion. Sometimes when she took sharp turns, she banged into walls, stone scraping her skin. But she never slowed down. She knew the only reason Falin hadn’t caught up to her was because it was hard for her to move in these narrow tunnels. But Marcille would have to face her at some point.  I need to come up with a plan, I need a plan, I need a plan!

Then she found the thing she’d been dreading all along. A huge cavern. A brick wall. A dead end.

She couldn’t double back, so she ran for the wall, pressing her hands against it, trying to find an opening, a patch of dungeon cleaners, anything. But there was no time. A roar exploded behind her. Marcille whipped around. Falin was squeezing herself out of the tunnel. She landed on the cavern floor with a thud and the whole place shuddered.

Marcille’s staff shook as she tightened her grip on it. She had to do something…something…another explosion, maybe…

Falin towered above her now. She cocked her head, studying Marcille curiously. The rage and snarling from earlier was gone. She didn’t seem to care that Marcille was pointing a weapon at her, as if she knew the threat was empty. Marcille opened her mouth, searching for a spell, but nothing came.

Falin bent down, down, down until her face was level with Marcille’s.

And that was what undid her.

This was the face of the woman she loved. Her golden eyes alight with curiosity, her wheat colored hair that fell in soft wisps around her chin, her apple red cheeks…it was all just as Marcille remembered. Even with blood dripping from her mouth, Falin was so stunningly, achingly beautiful.

And in Falin’s searching eyes, Marcille saw an echo of the exquisite, inquisitive woman who gazed wonderingly at bugs, who explored new places, who discovered strange magic…who gently coaxed out every feeling Marcille tried to bury.

“Falin,” Marcille’s voice cracked. “I know you’re in there. Please, come back to me.”

 Falin leaned forward. Marcille jerked in fear as Falin's hand shot out, but it wasn't the blow she expected. Instead, Falin's fingertips trailed down Marcille's face, soft as whisper. It was the touch she'd been craving for so long. She could even feel Falin's calluses, the ones she'd studied like a map. Marcille wanted to lean into it, let Falin cup her chin like she used to. Her hand felt so right, so perfect, even covered in red.

Her scent enveloped Marcille, that smell of new soil and raspberries …now mixed with the sharp tang of blood. Falin’s hot breath tickled Marcille’s face. Goosebumps raised on her arms. Falin was so close, Marcille could count the faint freckles on her nose. Her lips were pink, soft, parted…

Could she be…?

She’s dangerous, she’s dangerous, it’s really Falin, don’t be an idiot, now’s not the time…!

But even as she thought this, even as she pressed her back against the wall, Marcille’s lips parted too.

Falin grabbed Marcille hard around the chin and jerked her forward. Marcille cried out, but Falin ignored her. She dragged her tongue slowly up Marcille’s cheek, lapping up the blood leaking from the cuts on her face.

A strange shiver raced through Marcille, hot and electric. Her chest heaved.

Seriously?  Some distant part of her mind scolded. What are you doing right now? She’s a MONSTER. She's going to kill you! Where are your priorities?

But then Falin licked her again, and she melted. Falin’s warm tongue traveled up curve of her face, smearing blood everywhere, leaving her skin tingling. Marcille let out a strangled squeak. A flush crawled up her neck.

But even as her knees got weaker with each stroke of Falin’s tongue, even as the blush spread through her entire body, even as ecstasy bloomed, the fear grew in Marcille. With numb horror, she realized that it was Laios’ blood that Falin was dribbling onto her face. She was next. Falin had gotten her taste now. She wasn’t going to stop. Her hand was clamping tighter and tighter around Marcille’s chin.

She had to act. At this range, if she used explosion magic, she’d blow Falin’s head off. The thought made her sick. She could imagine Falin’s scream, being drenched in her blood and brains. She could never hurt Falin like that. But blinding her temporarily with a flash spell…that could work. It would at least give Marcille a chance to run.

Hoarsely, she started to mutter the spell.

The second she did, Falin reared back, lifting her into the air by her throat. Marcille screamed, choked, writhed, and her staff fell to the floor with a clatter. Falin grabbed her around the waist to keep her still, letting go of her neck.

Marcille coughed, eyes streaming. She was pressed against Falin now, with silky feathers brushing her arms.

Falin licked her lips, tongue gliding along her teeth, wetting the blood around her mouth. She was salivating.

Marcille went limp, weighed down by exhaustion. It was over. If Falin wanted to kill her, rip out her throat, even eat her…didn’t she have the right? Marcille was the one who turned her into this, after all. It was what she deserved.

There was something almost freeing about the thought of Falin devouring her, tearing at her flesh, swallowing her bit by bit, finding pleasure in the meal. At least this way, she could do something for Falin. She’d could fill her up, become part of her, if only for a moment.

Marcille closed her eyes. It was better this way. At least now she wouldn’t have to live in a world without Falin…she wouldn’t have to outlive Falin or any of her friends…

Her friends.

Laios lying broken on the floor. Senshi covered in rubble.

Chilchuck’s desperate voice. “You’re the only one who can heal and resurrect us! We need you, idiot!”

Would she abandon them? Would she leave them there to die?

Would she give up on getting Falin back? On hearing her laugh again, on being by her side?

Would she give up on her dream, after all her endless work and struggle?

No. Never.

She opened her eyes. Falin was already nearly at her throat, fangs bared. Marcille struggled, yanking desperately at Falin's hair, pulling out her feathers. Falin simply smiled, as if she was enjoying Marcille's feeble attempts. Her sharp teeth closed around Marcille’s neck, slowly sinking in...

A feral yell tore through the air. Izutsumi leaped out of the tunnel, slashing at Falin’s leg with her claws. It didn’t do much damage, but it was enough to distract Falin. She swiped at Izutsumi, holding Marcille aloft. The catgirl dodged easily.

“Izutsumi!” Marcille shouted, wanting to cry with happiness. She hadn’t abandoned them after all.

Izutsumi grabbed the staff from the floor and tossed it up at Marcille. “You better not blow this!”

Marcille caught it.

Falin’s head turned. Marcille took in her lovely face one last time. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I promise I’ll save you.”

She pressed her staff against Falin’s ribs. And this time, she didn’t hesitate.

---

(Notes: I know Chimera Falin can't digest raw meat and blood, but Marcille doesn't. She does really like the taste of Marcille's blood (romantic), but she's just planning to kill her so she can slurp it up in small amounts at her leisure, without too much tummy trouble. If you need to know.)

[snowbreeze64]

HOT D S2 OP Details

So the s2 opening of hot d seems to show the history of the targaryen family in the form of a tapestry (of which i am a big fan).

First we open up with a close view of the tapestry, with blood staining through it and spreading throughout it, showing how the targaryen dynasty is woven with bloodshed (fire and blood and all) and how the blood shed can't really be untangled from the legacy itself.

This first shot is of valyria. we see the massive buildings, the tall spires, and central to it is the blood running through the central tower. valyria is built on blood and sacrifice.

Next is what i believe to be some valyrian sorcerers doing sorcery shit. those candles at the bottom might be burning obsidian candles, too. as for the thing in the center, i'm not sure what it is. looks like some sort of chimera. possibly some sort of valyrian sorcery experimentation with animals. or it could be a depiction of the fourteen flames, as there appears to be fire spreading out of its back, that the blood dripping from the previous image quells.

This is a closer view of the previous tapestry. the sorcerer is doing some wack shit, and there's someone approaching them from behind with a knife. if this is a sorcerer thatt is maintaining a spell to keep the fourteen flames from erupting, then this could be a depiction of the moment of the doom itself -- one of the theories for the doom of valyria was that the sorcerers maintaining the spells around the flames were assassinated. possibly by the faceless men, who brought the gift of death to the valyrian masters.

anyway, this could be taken as a confirmation for what caused the doom of valyria, but idk. i'm more of the mind that this tapestry is supposed to show what history remembers, which is why it looks like one of those narrative tapestries. in which case, this would just be a depiction of how history thinks the doom went down.

Next we see two people, who appear to be valyrian, with dragonstone in the distance. i think this is daenys the dreamer, and it shows her vision of the doom, and she's holding a family member who would have been killed in the doom as rivers of blood flow around them. dragonstone in the distance is where the targaryens fled to after daenys shared her visions.

And in the closeup, we see blood spreading out from daenys's head, as well as golden thread. i think this is symbolic of the legacy of the targaryens that spread from this moment -- they have been motivated by dragon dreams and prophecy (the golden thread that emerges from daenys's head), which has brought bloodshed in its wake. targaryen prophecy brought about aegon's conquest (according to season 1), viserys's deathbed words (although it's arguable how much this contributed), and rhaegar's whole...thing.

The doom of valyria. volcanos erupting, dragons falling out of the sky, the same tall tower from the beginning in flames, the blood from the people sacrificed to it no longer running down its center. this is probably the closest we'll ever get to seeing the doom of valyria on screen.

In order: aegon i riding balerion, rhaenys riding meraxes, visenya rising vhagar. i can't quite see the sigils on the ships below them, but the one in the middle is probably velaryon.

This shows a lot of major battles during the conquest -- balerion and vhagar teaming up to burn the shit out of a bunch of soldiers from the reach -- there are a couple shields with the green hand of the gardeners on them. the other shield i'm not too sure about. i thought it looked like the caswell sigil, but idk. could be the lannister sigil as well, as they were one of the notable participants (participants is a strong word, they participated in dying) of the field of fire, but i don't think it's shaped like the lannister sigil.

the guy in ironborn armor with the axe who's dead in the center is harren the black, the burnt up castle behind him is harrenhal. and above it, you can see meraxes falling in a hail of scorpion bolts in the dunes of dorne.

the fire the dragons breathe is colored using the blood flowing through the tapestry -- fire and blood.

From left to right: sharra arryn and her son ronnel kneeling to vhagar, torrhen stark and edmyn tully kneeling to balerion. aegon and visenya aren't visible in this shot, but the scales of balerion and vhagar are. the targaryens are seen as synonymous to their dragons, from which they derive their power. they'd surely have a difficult time holding onto that power were the dragons to die but surely that won't happen!

The targaryen sigil over the red keep in king's landing, where aegon made his capital.

Maegor the cool, getting got on the iron throne. those are vermithor and silverwing beneath him, roaring.

Joe and alysanne, with vermithor and silverwing behind them. again, pretty much every time a targaryen ruler is shown, it's with their dragon. would be a real shame if something happened to them.

anyway, next to joe is the symbol of the faith of the seven, showing how he reconciled the targaryens with the faith, by making the argument that "targaryens are really more gods than men anyways, and so should be allowed to marry their siblings. and if you don't like it, take it up with the dragons."

there also seems to be blood emerging from the symbol of the seven, possibly showing the strife between the targaryens and the faith, something that joe was able to patch over during his time but would continue to persist in other ways. notably, the hightowers are the lords of oldtown, the center of the faith.

next to aly are gold pieces, to show how the realm was prosperous during their rule. that might also be a well next to them, to show how alysanne was responsible for wells that would bring clean water to king's landing.

The great council of 101. rld joe in the center on his chair. on his right is ryam redwine, lord commander of the kingsguard. on the left is septon barth. (or at least, those are my best guesses based on the scene from s1 that this tapestry shows). further to the right is corlys and rhaenys, pressing the claim of rhaenys('s son laenor). to the left is viserys and aemma, pressing vizzy t's claim.

and above jaehaerys is an inexplicable black dragon. considering the blackfyre rebellions happen like...60 ish years after the dance of the dragons, and an entire 80-odd years after the council.

Alicent on one side, rhaenyra on the other, their respective families between them, divided by a stripe of red that fades into black. On rhaenyra's side is daemon, rhaenys, corlys, and her three sons jacaerys, lucerys, and joffrey, which is one more son than she had at the end of season 1. and on alicent's side is helaena, aegon ii, aemond, and i'm guessing the one in white is criston cole and the one after him is otto dickwad hightower.

alicent with her green dress and the blood seeping in the archway behind her looks sort of like the high tower aflame. at least i think so.

anyway, it sort of looks like they're seated at tables with plates in front of them. i think this is a callback to the feast from s1, and how it's no longer possible because of the blood spilled that's come between them.

Aegon ii on the iron throne, rhaenyra at dragonstone, the bases of power each of them start with. aegon's wearing a green cloak and has got aegon i's crown, rhaenyra's wearing a black cloak and is wearing aenys i's crown.

A zoomed out version of the scene with aegon and rhaenys. from aegon's side, a green hand sends ravens flying, informing the nobility of westeros that viserys finally died to death and that aegon is the new king. from rhaenyra's side, a black hand sends two dragons (vermax and arrax) to the north and storm's end, respectively, to secure their allegiances. blood seeps from both of the hands, showing that these efforts to peacefully-ish secure the allegiance of the realm are not to be.

around them are various sigils.

on the top, left to right: looks like corbray (vale) in the top left corner, then fossoway (reach), then tarbeck (westerlands), then what looks like the falwells (westerlands). the one to their right i'm gonna be honest i have no idea what it could be maybe buckler (stormlands)? and then in the top right corner there's stark (north), probably.

on the right: under stark is arryn (vale), followed by velaryon (crownlands), then tully (riverlands), then...i want to say frey (riverlands).

on the bottom: to the left of frey(?) is beeeeeesbury (reach), bar emmon (crownlands) i think, stokeworth (crownlands), the one to the left of that i have no idea, but it sort of looks like an animal roaring. and then in the bottom left we have the celtigars (crownlands) of krabby patty, i think.

on the left: above celtigar is baratheon (stormlands), hightower (reach), and lannister (westerlands).

the positioning of each house on each side of the tapestry seems to roughly correlate with the side they took during the dance, but not completely-ish. idk.

anyway, in the zoomed out version, you can also see how each square of the tapestry connects to the sections before it.

and here you see aemond doing a hit and run on a middle schooler with his fire-breathing truck. aka the point in time where it all hopes of a peaceful resolution were quashed and it was killing time.

Final shot of the iron throne literally looming over everything but also out of reach.

Anyway i stopped mentioning it because it was like, everywhere, but the blood from the opening appears on pretty much every scene, from the red capes some of the targs wear to the literal blood from the people dying. bloodshed is literally baked in to the targaryen story, from valyria to the iron throne. also, it being a tapestry, and the final shot of the tapestry, shows how the past weaves into the present and all that, and also how the targaryen's dreams shaped their future (usually for the worst, honestly). as heleana said, "Hand turns loom; spool of green, spool of black. Dragons of flesh, weaving dragons of thread."

[grifonecoronato]

Let the Characters on Ahsoka Season 2 Express Emotions!

(spoilers for Ahsoka, Season 1)

I enjoyed Ahsoka season 1 overall, but I have a major gripe with its directorial style.

Simply put, the performances are so needlessly wooden! This is not the actor's fault, mind you... it's the fault of the directors and showrunner.

In fact, even Rosario Dawson expressed hope that she could show more emotion in Season 2, saying:

"I think I'm hoping that there's some levity and some lightness that can kind of come to her. I really liked that kind of spunky energy she had when she first came on the scene. I know that rubbed some people the wrong way, but I really dug that. Natasha very much has that spirit and form. So, I would really like to be able to play with that a little bit." -- Dawson, FAN EXPO Canada, Toronto, 2024

I agree with Dawson. And as a case study, let's examine Sabine's reunification with Ezra.

But before we get to the reunion, let's summarise what Sabine had gone through up until then...

1. Sabine's Life Sucks

When the series starts, Sabine is in a low place in her life. She lives alone in Ezra's comunications tower outside the capital city on Lothal, with only her cat to keep her company.

All of Sabine's blood relatives are dead.

Sabine's chosen family -- the Spectres -- have either died (Kanan), are presumed dead (Ezra), or moved on with their lives, and now serve the New Republic (Hera as a General, Chopper as her trusty homicidal droid companion, and Zeb as part of the New Republic Starfighter Corp).

Sabine holds out hope that Ezra still lives, somehow. But the trail has largely gone cold.

She tried to move on with her life, and dabbled in Jedi training under Ahsoka's tutelage, but that was unsuccessful.

(side note: Ahsoka failing to train Sabine shatters both women's confidence, and is the reason she refuses to train Grogu during the events of the Mandalorian)

And then, one fateful day, Ahsoka returns with something that could point the way to Ezra's whereabouts!

2. Sabine Sacrifices So Much...

So what does Sabine do...?

She solves the map puzzle that reveals Ezra's location...

...gets into her first lightsaber fight (which she loses)...

...recovers...

...survives a space battle...

...gets into another lightsaber battle (which ends in a draw this time)...

...watches Ahsoka die...

...and makes a fateful choice to give the map to the enemy...

...is then taken to a another galaxy and meets her enemy Thrawn...

...fights raiders...

...before finally... FINALLY... reuniting with Ezra.

3. ...But It's All Worth It ... Right?

And yet, all they do is exchange two quippy lines, some bashful smiles and share a warm-yet-restrained hug...

That's it?!

Quips, smiles, and a restrained hug?!?!? After all that, she finally gets her prize... and all she gives are ℚ𝙪𝙞𝓅𝙨, 𝒔𝘮𝙞𝗹𝗲𝑠, 𝒶𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝒓𝗲𝔰𝕥𝘳𝘢𝙞𝑛𝖊𝔡 𝓱𝚞𝘨?!?!?

Natasha Liu Bordizzo is a good actress, don't get me wrong. I love her as Sabine and I know she's capable of so much. But she was given direction to be understated and play it cool.

And that was a huge mistake.

And I know that it was a directorial / showrunner note to play it that way because we get the exact same scene mirrored when Ezra and Hera are reunited at the end!!

Mother-figure and the youngest member of her pack, casually meandering toward each other after one of them was presumed dead... y'know, as you do...

4. Let Your Actors Show Some Emotion, Please!

If I were in Sabine's shoes, I would imagine the weight of the entire galaxy would be on my shoulders as I made one sacrifice after the next for the chance -- not the certainty, but the mere chance -- that it would all be worth it because I'd be reunited with my brother-in-arms.

And when it finally happened and I see him alive and well, that burden would have been lifted immediately.

I imagine I'd probably break down in tears or something. I know I'd give a much tighter, borderline aggressive and desperate hug, rather than the sort of familial greeting I offer the relatives I only sort of like at yearly events.

This was a momentous occasion! It was the absolute worst time to ask the actors to show restraint and play it cool.

[ileniagennari]

Hey bestie! First time asker first time fan!

SO!

I have a mythical monster and creature question about Italy. See, I like making monsters and characters based on different Monsters and Mythology. (Ex: Wereanimals, Fairies, the Unicorn, Bigfoot/Sasquatch, Witches, Etc....) and sometimes, I will get inspired by characters/media that will make me design said creature (Susie from Summer Camp Island and James from Derry Girls for my Witches. Mean Girls for my Unicorn.) OTHER characters like that....

well THIS time. Because Tiktok has been showing me pics of Titanic and movie-related Titanic stuff. Then I got fixated on Danny Nuccis character of Fabrizio from the Movie. POINT is. I wanna make a character is more of a base italian character and go more in depth of italian culture and childhood (as I do for all of my characters). DO you have any refs or monsters/Mythology from Italy that is kinda like monsters and were-animals or creatures? And not like- ghosts from other real people or demons from hell and the underworld. Please and thanks!

YAYY questions about italian characters! Ok let me think... YES. But you have more choices. As you can see, Italy quite differs from north to south and both north and south had different influences. Northern regions were influenced by celtic, etruscan, ligurian and venetian folklore being homeland to many celtic tribes before (north Italy was called Cisalpine Gaul by romans) and lombard people (Germanic people from Scandinavia) after. South is instead very influenced by etruscan, roman, arabian and greek folklore! Sardinia aside being so isolated they actually have a super colorful and ancient folkloristic world. It's very hard to walk around demons, ghosts and so on, since christianity really changed our folklore for good, but I found something underneath:

Lupi Mannari

-We have a lot of werewolf stories in Italy, we call them Lupi Mannari. Two recent cases even in the legend: Pasquale Rossi, so called Werewolf from Villa Borghese. Or Iolanda Pascucci, called Wolf of Posillipo. The woman got married and they put her in a sanatorium. She ran away, hiding in Napoli, scared she might have passed the curse to her children.

-Very specific Werewolf from Basilicata:

Lu Lupi Minaro

Cursed to be transformed under a full moon, for being born on Christmas Eve, while the bells of Christmas were tolling. You can be cured if a brave man stings you and takes some blood drips from you.

L'Uomo Cervo (Gl'Cerv)

-From the ancient Etruscan and Celtic Folklore we have a Deer Man, L'Uomo Cervo (Gl'Cerv), from Castelnuovo al Volturno (Molise). Every year in this place they have a festival called DeerMan Carnival: a monstrous hybrid Deer-Man roams the city, hunting down people. But (as a symbol of rebirth and seasons changing) he gets defeated and dies. He will reborn the next year, he is the Winter and the Death, getting defeated so the season can change again and the new year come.

The influences are from Cernunnos, a god from celtic folklore, symbol of wild animals, natural force but also death and afterworld. Defeating the death you leave again space for new life, in Spring. (Maybe he's not literally a were-being but I think you can tiptoe around the concept. He is one and almighty tho, so I don't think you have MANY of these. It's like a god, a spirit, so you will have just one Were-Deer per sacrifice.)

-From Sardinia:

The Coga (or Bruxa)

Unaware people, born as Coga can transform into one at night. Imagine a mix between a witch and a vampire. Long hair, a little tail, long nails and a hairy cross on the back.

Even if you are born a male or a female, when a Coga you become an old ugly woman, which can transform herself into a dog, cat, snake or an insect. Revenge and anger feeling could bring people to actually become a Coga even if not born one, the wannabe Coga have to perform a ritual:

Must go to a graveyard and take away from a fresh c*rpse some body fat; mix it with virgin blood and holy oil. Then cover some body parts and the metamorphosis begins

Su Boe Erchitu

Instead of transform yourself into a wolf, you get transformed into a monstrous minotaur-thing, with two metallic horns and two candles on the tips. The only way to break the curse is to estinguish the two candles.

From Sicily:

Donas de fuera

Mostly women but not exclusive. Very beautiful, dressed in white, red or black. The feet can be cat-like, horse-like or strangely round feet. Roaming in groups, the man of the group plays liute or guitar while the others dance. Donas can transform into cats or Aydonos, an offensive version of themself, being able to kill. You don't offend a Dona. Do not disturb them or trick them to gain something. They can also transform into incorporeal mass.

Heavily inspired by nimphs and leprecauns from ancient greek, clearly, but with a nordic celtic influence. Very nice mixing.

This is everything I found so far, but keep in mind that Streghe, Masche, Bruxe, Janare etc etc can ALL transform into animals: cats, dogs, crows, owls, snakes. It's very common for witches to transform into animals. Hope I helped!

Sources:

[ireadyabooks]

Spring Releases to Look Forward to from I Read YA! 📖✨

The beginning of the year is the perfect time to get ahead on your 2024 reading goal! That’s why we have compiled a list of all the books you can look forward to from I Read YA this spring. We have everything you need this season, from heartfelt rom-coms and stunning graphic novels to bone-chilling dystopian horrors and stirring historical fiction. Check out our list below to find your next favorite read!  

Okay, Cupid by Mason Deaver

As a cupid, Jude thinks they understand love a little bit more than the average human. Yes, they might currently be on probation for doing something that they absolutely, definitely shouldn't have done... but they're ready to prove they can make matches without ever getting involved. However, their next assignment might just show that maybe Jude hasn't learned the first lesson of humans and love . . . It’s complicated.

Start reading Okay, Cupid now!

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang

Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a "pleasure to have in class." It’s not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. Sadie doesn't have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them . . . that is, until they're accidentally sent out. Overnight, Sadie’s carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned completely upside down.

Start reading I Hope This Doesn’t Find You now!

Rainbow! Volume 1 by Gloom & Sunny

Boo Meadows has a very vivid imagination so much so that she has trouble separating from the real world. Her daydreams are full of magic, but her reality is not so extraordinary. As she grows closer with Mimi, a new student at school, it may finally be time for Boo to face reality . . . Who is the real Mimi? The one in her dreams? Or the one in real life?

Rainbow! is perfect for fans of Heartstopper and Magical Boy, full of heart, adorable illustrations, and a storyline that any teenager can relate to!

Start reading Rainbow! Volume 1 now!

Your Blood, My Bones by Kelly Andrew

A seductively twisted romance about loyalty, fate, the lengths we go to hide the darkest parts of ourselves . . . and the people who love those parts most of all.

Wyatt Westlock has one plan for the farmhouse she's just inherited -- to burn it to the ground. But she makes a shocking discovery in the basement -- Peter, the boy she once considered her best friend, strung up in chains and left for dead. Semi-immortal and bound to the farm, Peter has suffered hundreds of ritualistic deaths on the property. The only way for him to break free is to kill Wyatt. When the past turns up to haunt them in the most unexpected way, they are forced to rely on one another to survive, or else tear each other apart.

Start reading Your Blood, My Bones now!

The Kill Factor by Ben Oliver

Critically acclaimed author Ben Oliver delivers an action-packed thrill ride with deadly high stakes that presents a captivating examination of the dark truths around the criminal justice system. A brand-new game show that offers young criminals the chance at freedom has been greenlit. Little do they know, winning is their only chance at survival.

Start reading The Kill Factor now!

The Immortal Games by Annaliese Avery

The Blood Moon marks the start of the Immortal Games. The Gods of Olympus randomly select humans as their tokens and then gamble with their lives. The stakes are high and survival is unlikely.

16-year-old Ara is seeking revenge on the Gods for allowing her sister to die in the games. She's determined to be selected as a token, but when she is, she realizes that it isn’t just her life at stake, but also her heart. With the odds stacked against her, it will take an unlikely hero to twist her rage into something much more complicated. Ara is playing in the games of life and death . . . and love. What will she sacrifice?

Start reading The Immortal Games now!

I Will Follow by Eireann Corrigan

The first time Nora saw one of Shea's videos on TikTok, something just clicked. You know how you can see someone and know you're supposed to be in each other’s lives? Well, that's how Nora felt. She knows Shea is a big star, with nearly a million followers, and Nora isn't. But, really, all Nora needs is her own viral moment. And who better to help her with that than Shea

If life isn't going to give Nora entry into Shea's world, Nora's going to have to take matters into her own hands. Meeting Shea. Kidnapping her. Holding her hostage until Shea finally understands . . . They are meant to be best, best friends.

Start reading I Will Follow now!

Trajectory by Cambria Gordan

Seventeen-year-old Eleanor is nothing like her hero Eleanor Roosevelt. She is timid and all together uncertain that she has much to offer the world. And as World War II rages overseas, Eleanor is consumed with worry for her Jewish relatives in Europe. When a chance encounter proves her to be a one-in-a-generation math whiz--a fact she has worked hard all her life to hide--Eleanor gets recruited by the US Army and entrusted with the ultimate challenge: to fine-tune a top-secret weapon that will help America defeat its enemies in World War II and secure the world’s freedom. This could be her chance to help save her family in Poland. But before she can solve this complicated problem, she must learn to unlock a bigger mystery: herself.

Start reading Trajectory now!

[iamdexter123]

How did the second season of Fate The Winx Saga disappoint you?

For the record I just want to note this is my first ever unprompted ask, so thank you anon! I am super excited to answer this!

I have a few thoughts so best I put them under a cut.

SO.

First things first, I’m going to try and steer away from talking about what I wanted to see happen. If you want to know what I think should have happened, you can read the 150k+ words I have written about it via my fics on AO3 (links are in my pinned post). Instead, I’ll just focus on things that were not well explained, contradicted and/or completely ignored from one season to the next (which I may have covered in my fics). My disappointment therefore lies in loose ends. Also note, I’ve only watched it through in its entirety once and that was the day it was released. My exposure since then has been piecemeal.

Burned Ones S01E06 Rosalind said there were a “shit ton”. Then S02E01 apparently they all just disappeared and no one worried about them anymore. Where did they go?

Blood witches In S01E06 Rosalind says two things: “one of the fundamental tenets of the Otherworld is that only fairies can do magic” and “they [blood witches] were humans who drew on sacrifice and death”. And yet S02 would have us believe that blood witches had the element of blood insinuating that, like fairies, they are born with it. So I guess they’re not humans who drew on sacrifice and death?? Are they instead fairies with an image/branding problem?

Aster Dell It was a massive deal that it was being covered up in S01, and then in S02 it wasn’t. Also, did everyone forget that Luna, queen of a realm, covered up the genocide perpetrated there? Pretty sure Bloom could have whipped out that little nugget at her tribunal to blackmail the Queen.

Rosalind So much foreshadowing: “Rosalind kept many secrets.” “Even now she’s manipulating you.” “Rosalind trained us hard.” “I’ve still got the scars.” And then the secret she was keeping was for a mayor of a tiny town? And she also doesn’t care about Burned Ones anymore??

The Dragon Flame I posted about it previously but Farah had no clue about it in S01, but in S02 EVERYONE knew about the legend. So the ‘big secret’ that carried in S01 just… I don’t know, fizzled, so the story could focus on blood witches and scrapers, only to pivot back to it at the very end again.

No one cared about Andreas dying Self-explanatory.

They’re just a couple of things. I also don’t ship anyone, and I don’t really care much for the teenagers, so it’s no big deal about who got with or didn’t get with who, but I wasn’t a fan of how they treated Ben in S02.

Oh one more thing, I found the reference to Tobian rock snails disingenuous. There’s been a season and a half of the show and that’s how they decide to worldbuild beyond Alfea, by saying Kat eats weird shit from her home realm?

I better leave it there. Reading this you may wonder whether I liked the show at all, but I really did! Or perhaps, maybe I just liked where it allowed my own imagination to go 🤔 Anyway, guess my thoughts on that are for another time 😄

Thanks again anon for my first ever ask that wasn’t me asking someone to ask me! I was appropriately stunned to see it in my inbox and it made my day.

[godheadjones]

part two of riverdale info dump (part one)

the core four are over for dinner and fake thornhill then penelope sends them on some missions where archie fights a bear, bee and vee drink poison and are slowly dying and jughead fights chic (imposter brother) for role of game master. betty must shoot her father to survive and she does. after surviving the night they escape the forest and are all traumatized even more. lovely. they talk in pops and with the clashing of milkshakes, we see a flash to spring of next year. around a campfire stand archie betty and veronica in their underwear covered in blood, throwing a bloody crown beanie in a fire. jughead is dead. how? thats yet to be revealed. a few months pass, summer ends and archies dad dies due to the passing of his actor. its a very heartfelt episode and its very well done but stuff goes to shit again. but good things are going for jughead! hes at a preppy school for his writing, attending with a bret weston wallis and donna sweett, who are besties and writers. also mentionable bettys real brother comes to town and guess what, hes also jugheads brother, while bugheads parents are dating. its basically incest but no one talks about it. jugheads class has a competition for ghostwriter and surprise! he gets it and a yale scholarship! thats so good for him, his loved ones congratulate. expect for the fact that it gets him killed. killed dead. bee vee and arch are all so sad, so sad that betty and archie get together! uh oh, it ignites old flames and jugheads not actually dead hes faking his death to prove the legend of stonewall prep. jughead besting death 2/? gifset. barchie cheat on their current partners and bughead and varchie break up around graduation time, which archie is too dumb to be able to do (he didnt have enough time to study with all his running away). 7, yes 7, years later, they meet up again. veronica is married to some guy named chad gekko. betty works for the fbi. archie just got back from fighting in ww1, a 4 year war. jughead published a book but at the cost of becoming and drunk. either way its a very lowkey interaction. jughead gets a job at pops and works with the new tabitha tate and they talk about the mothmen a lot. hm. what could that be? flames are kindled, couples get back and break up and its all a mess but before the season 5a finale we have betty and archie: fucking. archie and veronica: something is there. gay kevin and fangs: having tonis baby. jughead and tabitha: pining and a little kissing and handcuffs. chic and real half brother (charles) are actually gay criminals for each other so they try and kill betty after making her wed them. we get a hiram centric episode and the fans go wild. its only an episode tho, cause cheryl is starting a church to worship her dead brother. the mothmen are actually blossoms who incest incest and um. yeah. anyway pops blows up and they drive hiram out of town as his actor sadly leaves riverdale. hiram is not hiram forever. then archies house blows up and interrupts more barchie sex. now we’re in rivervale? and who is this jughead serling fellow showing us around town? most stuff is similar except the town sacrifices archie to the gods of the forest and no beta he die like jesus on the cross. more horrors haunt the town like the hot british devil, la llrona, and a history lesson on cheryls gay ancestors who is all one ancestor: abigal blossom. now archies alive again. yippee! jughead sees a dead jughead questions rivervale as she knows it and looks up on parallel universes. when archie is revealed as a killer (evil era) betty kills him and her and jughead make out with a bomb under the bed to try and destroy vale. twist tho. remember jughead serling. hes backkkk. he stops the make out ses and tells jughead vale to lock himself in a fuck bunker and write forever or else dale and vale die. by jughead have fun! dying is so fun tho you become a comic character with endless burgers at pops in heaven!

oh my god I need to make a part three of this. for just season 6b. that should be so fun

[theshelbyclan]

Castle in the Sky

Summary: You’re the daydreaming sibling of the Shelby’s, but when the adventure spills over into real life, it’s not as great as you’d imagined

(Gif by @nofckingfighting​) A/N: A sweet anon requested: can I have request please Something like this Tommy was very protective over y/n and she gets hurt by one of the bad guys and sees blood on her face now all bruised but Tommy wants revenge Omg if you do so thank you so much for my request! ❤️ Huge fan of your works!This is set around season 1, back in the good old days when the only real enemy was Billy Kimber, remember those days? So easy… anyways, hope you like it J Words: 2933 ***

You were only nine when you started as a bookie’s runner for the Peaky Blinders. Nothing about this was special, half the kids of Small Heath worked for them, but there was just one difference: the Shelby’s were your brothers. It was a good job in many ways, because it meant not only being able to help your brothers, but people were inclined to give you a bit extra, just for being a Shelby. You imagined they thought it good luck.

“Y/N, take this to the other side of town, will you?” Tommy requested as he sat hunched over a newspaper. You protested a little, “Why me? I’ve done all of mine for today…” “This one’s extra, alright?” “Who is it?” you could never hide your inquisitive nature. But you only showed it around your brothers; to the rest of the world you were just quiet and practically invisible. He smirked slightly, “Someone who’ll pay up big. That’s why I need you to do it. Can’t trust any of the other kids not to steal…” “I have some homework to do, Tommy.” At thirteen, you were still at school, which was a minor miracle in Birmingham. “Tell you what: if you just do this one job, I’ll get you magazine you’ve been talking about, eh?” now he looked up and met your eyes. “Book, Tommy,” you smiled, “You might have heard of the concept? It’s a little like a magazine, a little like that newspaper, but with more pages? Some find it challenging, but once you get used to it…” “Alright, little miss know-it-all,” he grumbled without malice, “Go on, take the slip, make sure he bets all. Off with you. Stop outsmarting your old brother, eh?” He winked to make sure you were comfortable and you returned it with a big grin. “Where?” “Digbeth,” Tommy’s nose was back in the newspaper, “behind the Golden Dragon.” ***

As you were walking through the streets of Small Heath on your way to Digbeth, you were daydreaming. In a way it was strange just how different you were from your brothers, because the entire Shelby clan was very realistic, trying to make their way in this hard world, where you would rather pretend all day you were the main character in some story. The books you read, it was all an escape to you. So while you were walking, the people and factories disappeared. In your head, you were walking through the woods, on a secret mission that your king gave you. With the top-priority letter in your pocket, you remembered what he’d told you before you left: “If you get caught, eat the letter. If they capture you, make sure to be brave and never divulge its contents to anyone. And if all else fails, you must make the ultimate sacrifice. But remember, you have to memorize the contents of the letter first…” Wouldn’t it just be easier to memorize it now and destroy the letter immediately? You pondered on the matter… In the distance, you could see the mountains and the towers of another kingdom, and you knew your enemies were near. Without anyone noticing, you put a hand to your pocket and could feel the reassuring rustling of paper underneath your fingers: the letter was still there. If it would come to a fight, how would you go about it? If there were just one man, the small dagger in your boots would suffice. If it were two, you’d distract one, maybe by throwing the veil you were wearing, quickly turning around to kill the other and then back to the first one before he had time to recover. If there were more than three, you’d run, because you were the fastest after all. You’d get to higher ground and attack them from there, like a deadly shadow they could never see coming. As you smiled to yourself, you left the daydream for a short moment. You looked down and saw the muddy shoes you were wearing, marching through Birmingham mud. In the distance, all you saw was smoke and factory pipes. But it was honestly all you needed: your imagination did the rest. The real world barged in when you delivered the slip in Digbeth. Everything went smoothly at first. Your big brown eyes persuaded him to indeed bet big, and you were quite satisfied with yourself, knowing Tommy would be too. But you still had to walk back with a lot of money now in your pocket.

*** Almost home, there were only a few streets to go. Your head was back in the clouds and this time you were imagining you were a spy during the war. Silently, you moved through the streets, making yourself invisible and pretending every man wearing a hat was the enemy. So each time you saw one, you changed directions or hid for a second. It was a fun game, until you realised the enemy wasn’t wearing a hat. “Now, what’s a pretty girl like you doing on the streets, all by herself?” A man with a heavy Cockney accent popped up next to you and your heart nearly jumped out of your chest. You opened your mouth to reply, but no words came out. In your dreams, you always knew what to say, but in reality it wasn’t so easy. The man approached you and you noticed he’d cut you off from your one exit out of the alley, “It’s Y/N Shelby, isn’t it,” he grinned. “No,” you managed to say, “you got the wrong girl.” He grinned again, “Nice try, sweetheart. We’ve seen you at the Garrison. They don’t allow little girls at the pub, unless they’re a Shelby.” This was all true. You felt your hands getting clammy. “Tommy sent you, didn’t he?” Again, you tried to remember what the hero in your stories would do. She’d run, climb the building and then throw a knife right between the eyes of the man. Or she’d say something clever, just to distract him, and then turn around and escape when he least expected it. He took another few steps forward and you could smell him now, a smell of strange smoke and the river, “Do you know who I am?” Nailed to the ground, you shook your head. “I work for Mr. Billy Kimber. Ever heard of him?” You turned to see if you could escape, but then realised the other side of the alley was blocked by two more men. Neither of them were wearing hats. Cold sweat of fear ran down your back. The man in front of you started laughing, “There’s no running, sweetheart. Just give it to me.” At once you realised he was referring to the money in your pocket, but for Tommy’s sake, you wanted at least to try to be brave, “I don’t have anything.” He sighed, “Don’t play with me. I’m not the kind of man to play with, and neither is Mr. Kimber,” his voice was suddenly low and menacing, “Your brother thought he could, thought he would get away with fixing a race, he did, and now he’s going to be put against the post and shot. Don’t think I won’t do the same to you.” You gulped, but still thought of Tommy’s disappointment in you when he would find out you’d been a coward. So you took a deep breath and said softly, “It’s not yours. This money is ours. You can tell Mr. Kimber to go fuck himself!” It didn’t come out as strongly as you’d hoped. Like a crack of thunder, he swiftly slapped you across the face with the back of his hand. All the air was knocked out of your lungs in a second and you stood gasping for air, as you felt some blood trickling down your chin. “Give me the money,” he demanded again. And then, like your heroes, you pretended to reach for it in your pocket. Suddenly, you turned around and started running into the other direction, hoping to slip past the two men before they could stop you. But it didn’t work. One grabbed your arm and when you tried to push him away, he punched you hard. All strength left you in an instant. The second one started fumbling in your pockets and instinctively you kicked him, which earned you another blow to the head. More punches followed and your head was spinning. As you looked up to the sky, you remembered wanting to get back home, to your castle, where all was well and safe.  In the end, they left you on the ground and the money was gone. Your last thought was: Tommy is going to be so embarrassed. 

*** “Y/N?” You opened your eyes, but couldn’t see for a moment. “Y/N,” the familiar voice repeated, “Come on, yes, let’s get you home. Polly, Polly will know what to do, yes…” Strong arms lifted you up and rocking with his familiar limp, Curly carried you back to Watery Lane. When he’d taken you into the kitchen, Aunt Polly flew to your side in seconds, asking, “What’s happened?” Uncertainly, Curly explained and as he did, he started to become upset over your state. That’s when Tommy came in and started to calm him, while keeping an eye on you all the time. “Sweetheart,” Aunt Polly had taken a cold cloth to the cut in your lip, “Wake up… Come back to us…” Again you tried opening you eyes and you finally managed this time. But all your concern was with Curly, who was still anxiously fidgeting with his cap in hand. “Don’t worry, Curly,” you croaked, “I’m alright now. You did good, carrying me here.” “Polly will know what to do…” he kept on repeating. Tommy put a hand on his shoulder and it had an immediate calming effect, “It’s alright, Curly, go back to Charlie, eh? We’ll take care of her now.” Before he left, you said to him, “Curly? I’ll stop by tomorrow, see about that beautiful horse of yours, alright?” That put an immediate smile on his face, “Yes, she’s a beauty, alright… And she needs her princess to ride her! Back to that castle in the sky…yes…” When he’d gone, you lowered your head again and sighed deeply. Carefully, you felt your face and only then realised how awful you must look. “Who did this,” Tommy demanded at once. Polly glared daggers at him, “You did, I presume?” “Me?” “I told you again and again not to use the little ones to run errands. Sending them across half of Birmingham with money in their pockets, and look what happens!” For a moment, Tommy seemed to be speechless. Then he protested, “They’re invisible, Pol. Nobody knows they’re carrying anything.” “This one did,” you interjected, “because he knew who I was.” “How?” “Said he was with Kimber,” you whispered as the memories came back to you, “said he’d put me up against a post and he’d shoot me, like he’d do with you…” In a sudden fit of rage, Tommy grabbed a chair and flung it across the room. Polly snarled at the gesture and then turned to you, “Stay here. This cloth is cold, keep it against your eye, or it’ll turn black in half an hour, and I can’t take you to church looking like that. I just need to have a word with your brother.” You took the cloth and didn’t dare to look at Tommy, who was now being taken away by his aunt like he was ten years old again and in trouble. Aunt Polly closed the door behind her, but you still tried to hear as much as you could. Most of it was lost, but when they started shouting you heard bits like “putting your little sister in danger!” and “this is Billy fucking Kimber, Thomas” and “family first”. At first Tommy protested with “I didn’t know they knew her” and “Kimber is getting weak”, but eventually he shouted out in defeat, “I fucked up, alright? I’ll fix it. I promise.” When they came back, Tommy looked like a dog that’d just been kicked. So he retreated into a corner and started smoking, still sulking a little. Aunt Polly lifted your head up by placing a finger under your chin, “You won’t look pretty for a week, but it’ll heal.” You shrugged, not caring about being pretty at all, and muttered, “I feel like an idiot…” “Why?” your aunt demanded, “because big men decided to go after a small girl?” Tears started forming in the corners of your eyes, as you admitted, “Because I wanted to be brave! In my stories I’m pretty and strong and the hero, but in reality I’m just like a mouse. No one notices me and I’m useless…” “Sweetheart,” Polly softened her voice and crouched down next to you, “Just because you can’t fight like Arthur or John can, doesn’t make you useless. We’re all stuck here, in Small Heath, and there’s nothing pretty about that. But you reading all those books? That’s what’s going to make this easier. You can pretend, and that’s worth more than you’ll ever realise.” You smiled back at your aunt, who always knew what to say to make you feel better. “I’m off to the chemist to get you some powder against the pain,” she kissed the top of your head, “I’ll be right back, love.” After she’d gone as well, you sighed again and dropped the cloth. Her words mattered, of course they did, but it didn’t change the fact that you weren’t happy with yourself at all. For starters, you still couldn’t bear looking at Tommy. “Y/N,” he grumbled, which convinced you even more he was angry and disappointed, “Tell me what they looked like.” “They didn’t wear hats…” Impatiently he waved a hand, “Apart from that. What else?” “I don’t know,” you shrugged, “it all happened fast, Tommy. They had that accent that Kimber has as well.” “Fucking Cockneys…” your brother breathed. “Tommy?” you tried carefully, “I’m so sorry, but I lost the money. I tried to keep it. When they asked I told them to fuck off and then I tried to run and even fight, but they still took it. I’m so sorry…” He held up a hand to silence you and locked eyes with you, “You told them to fuck off?” “Yes, but it didn’t help…” “You actually told them to fuck off?” he frowned, “Usually you’re too shy to even say anything to strangers…” “I was angry,” you explained, “and I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

Tommy walked over to you and much to your surprise, he was smirking, “So you told them to go fuck themselves, and then you fought them?” “Yes?” “Did you hit any of them?” You thought about it for a second, “I think I kicked one in the balls and hit the other in the face.” His grin grew even wider and he mumbled to himself, “Wait ‘till I tell Arthur about this…” “Why?” you protested, “So he can laugh at me as well?” “No, sweetheart, he’ll be the proudest brother ever. His little sister, who everyone thinks is a little mouse too scared to do anything? She fucking hit a grown man and told them to go fuck themselves. Now that’s a hero in my book!” His laugh was contagious and you had to join in. But soon you became uncertain again and asked, “Are you not upset I lost the money?” “The money’s not important,” his face grew serious again in an instant, “but you are.” “Really?” you whispered. “Yes,” he took your face in his hands, “Listen, Y/N, this is what’s going to happen: Billy Kimber threatened my little sister, so I’m going to put himup against the post, and shoot him.” “And then what?” “Well, what usually happens in your books? Maybe I could learn something from them, eh?” A warm feeling of being appreciated for who you were came over you, “You’d take his kingdom and his skull would be put up on the gates, as a warning for all future enemies.” “That’s fucking dark,” Tommy raised one eyebrow, “But I like it.” “Me too…” you smiled at your brother. “I mean it though, Y/N. Kimber touched you, so I’m going to shoot the bastard. I won’t let anyone fucking go near you again.” And just like that, you felt safe enough again to continue dreaming. *** A few weeks later, everything had turned to chaos, both in the Shelby household as in the whole of Birmingham. Tommy didn’t speak to anyone of what happened to you, he hadn’t even apologized, but he wasn’t like that. He told you he’d fix it, promised you revenge, and that was even better. When the men were counting minutes in front of the Garrison and Billy Kimber’s army arrived, you were sitting at home with a book. You couldn’t really concentrate, because you knew there were too many of them. You pretended some angel would appear to save them all. There’d have to be no bloodshed, because this angel would be on your brothers’ side. That angel came in the form of your older sister Ada. She’d always had flair. In the end, only two bullets were fired. You listened to them both. One killed Danny Whizz-bang. The other killed Billy Kimber. Nobody knew, but as Tommy fired, he didn’t have business on his mind.

As he aimed, he saw his little sister’s face, all bruised and battered.

He whispered, “for Y/N,” and shot.

Bang.

***

Masterlist

[enchantestuff]

baku - pierre gasly

back to some good ol’ smut, I didn't want to be rude so here is the reader and pierre celebrating his podium in Baku the old fashioned way (yes I know I'm late but I'm still not over that podium) also I don't know what to write next to any ideas or requests are greatly appreciated x

NOT MY GIF

warnings: smut, once again semi-public, pierre gasly, language, enjoy <333

1.5k words

Baku was a great race. It was intense for everyone on the field, but it was particularly intense for Pierre Gasly who managed to scrape a podium for himself and his team.

You laughed as he crossed the line granting him P3. You high fived everyone in the garage as you bounced up and down with glee. Pierre had invited you to watch him race for the first time and you felt incredibly privileged to be sharing his first podium of the season with him.

You grinned with glee as he made his way onto the podium. The atmosphere around you was incredible as it seemed all three teams celebrated together, hugs were passed around from the different engineers and small jokes were exchanged.

It was only hours later, after several interviews and many people begging to speak with him, that you finally got to congratulate Pierre yourself. He walked into his driver's room with the same grin from earlier on still planted on his face. Once you caught sight of him you ran into his arms, Pierre laughed as he easily lifted you up and you wrapped your legs around his waist. “Well done Pierre! I’m so proud of you baby” you gushed in his ear as you tightly hugged him.

Pierre chuckled as he placed his trophy down on the table and hugged you back with just as much force. “Thank you, mon amour. I think you might be my lucky charm.” He squeezed your thighs as he spoke and you pulled your face away from his chest in order to look into his eyes. Pierre pulled his lips between his teeth as he watched your eyes dancing around his face.

You studied him in silence, noting the blush creeping up his cheeks and the small beads of sweat running down his forehead. You ran your hands over his shoulders, feeling the smooth material of his fireproof undershirt under your fingers.

Pierre didn't want to break the silence, you always had a peaceful look planted on your face whenever you studied him and he had always adored it, but his body was currently full of adrenaline and there was nothing he wanted more than to take you on the couch. The possibility of anyone entering at any time thrilled him, so he kissed you.

He pressed you up against the wall and kissed you. He rolled his hips into yours as slipped his tongue in your mouth. You could feel your heart beating in your chest as you kissed Pierre, you lost yourself in the moment, something that regularly happened whenever he kissed you. You ran your fingers through his hair, playing no mind to the sweat that coated it, you did however pay attention to the grunt that left his lips as you pulled on his wet locks.

Pierre pulled away and moved to suck the sensitive skin just under your ear. “I want to mark you all over” he whispered in your ear before moving his head to replicate the mark under your other ear. You felt your underwear dampen at his words as your eyes fluttered open to watch him. They suddenly widened as you realised where you were and what the two of you were doing. You gently pushed him off of you and planted your feet firmly on the ground.

“What's wrong?” he asked as he placed his hands on your hips, a concerned look suddenly crossing his features. If you werent so flustered you probably would have laughed at the sight of him, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips parted with his hard on showing through his drivers suit. “Did I do something wrong, ma cherie” he spoke again pulling you away from your thoughts.

“No” you denied as you shook your head, “we can't do this here” you explained, moving your arms around you, gesturing to the room you were currently in, the room that anybody could walk into.

“Sure we can” he teased as he kissed down your neck, “you just have to be really quiet, ma jolie” he smirked as you whimpered, he placed his hand down your underwear, gently stimulating your clit as he continued to whisper in your ear.

“Tell me you dont want this” he added, you let out a quiet whimper as he inserted a finger into you, “hmmm, mon amour? Tell me to stop and i’ll stop”

“F-fuck Pierre” you choked out as you held onto his bicep, digging your nails into his arm, hard enough to draw blood but Pierre didn’t seem to mind as he continued to pleasure you.

“What was that, ma cherie? I didn’t quite hear you” he teased and added another finger. “Do you want me to stop?” he asked as he halted his movement. You quickly shook your head, not willing to sacrifice the pleasure he was providing you with. “Im waiting” he continued and began to move his fingers away but you quickly grabbed his wrist.

“No” you pleaded, your eyes closed in frustration.

Pierre grinned at the desperate look on your face, he slowly brought his other hand up to your face, tucking your hair behind your ear as he whispered in your ear once more. “No to what?” he questioned

“No, don't stop”

That was all Pierre needed to get going again, he quickly continued the movement of his fingers as his thumb stimulated your clit once again. “Are you going to let go for me?” he pondered, and judging by your face, yes, yes you were. “Go ahead” he happily sighed as his forehead fell against yours.

All you could focus on was the pleasure that you felt and the hot breath that fanned over your neck, you felt goosebumps rise on your skin and you involuntarily shivered. “That's it, mon cheri” he uttered as you clenched around his fingers, “such a good girl”

All of a sudden, all you could feel was your sweet release and you gripped Pierres arms to stabilize yourself. When you were finally aware of your surroundings you opened your eyes, only to see Pierre remove his fingers from you and place them into his mouth. The sight made your knees weak.

Pierre gently pecked your lips as he hoisted you up once more and moved you to the couch. He was careful as he knew you were still sensitive, he was sure you wouldn't last long, but honestly, neither would he.

He moved your dress up your waist as you pulled his trousers down. “Still eager?” he grinned, widening his smile as he saw the blush creep up your cheeks. He finally freed his member and almost hissed at the sight of his red tip. He looked down at you with concerned eyes, “you still want to do this?” he asked and your heart fluttered, he was always tending to your needs before his own, something that you loved him deeply for.

“Yes”

Pierre nodded and grabbed hold of your waist before gently easing himself into you. An unholy moan left his lips as he bottomed out inside of you. He gave you a minute to adjust before he started moving. You almost immediately felt the pleasure begin to build in your stomach. “F-fuck, mon amour” Pierre grunted in your ear as he continued his movements, quickly sliding in and out of you and reaching all your sweet spots in the process.

A quick, brisk knock on the door caused you to hold in the moan you were about to let out and Pierre to halt his movements. The sound of the doorknob moving caused your heart to hammer in your chest. “Pierre?” Pierres PR manager called as she opened the door a fraction of an inch.

“NO! No, don't come in!” Pierre almost shouted as he brought his hand to your mouth, muffling any sounds that you might accidentally make.

“Everything ok?” the woman asked as she quickly shut the door in front of her.

“Y-yeah, sorry i'm just...naked”

Your eyes widened at Pierre's words and he nervously shrugged at you. When his PR manager didn't answer he felt the need to justify himself. “I’m just getting dressed, i'll be right out,” he clarified.

“Take your time, the team just wants to take a picture together.” she explained.

Pierre waited until he could hear her footsteps move in the opposite direction to begin his movements again. He kept his hand on your mouth, he knew people were nearby and he didn't want to risk anyone hearing the beautiful noises that you made, they were for his ears and his ears only.

Your eyes rolled back and he hit your sweet spot, muffled moans filling the room as he continued to hit it until you felt sweet release once again. The look on your face and the clenching of your walls quickly encouraged Pierres own release and he struggled to hold himself on top of you, bearing his weight on his forearms as he sighed in pleasure.

“That was-that was great” he mumbled, still in a haze of bliss. You ran your fingernails up and down his neck.

“Pierre” you heard on the other side of the door, “Are you okay in there”

“Shit” he mumbled under his breath as he eased himself out of you, throwing you a sympathetic glance as you winced. “Sorry, I was-erm meditating” he choked out and you muffled your own laugher with your hand, looking at him with a goofy smile on your face as he quickly got changed into his regular clothes.

[charlie-minion]

Could the same SPN finale make a little more sense with some additions/changes?

I’ve had the idea for this post stuck in my head for days now, but with every new conspiracy theory and every new eventuality in the fandom, it became difficult to cool down enough to write something less ship-related and more narrative-focused.

What Supernatural and non-SPN fans have to understand is that a lot of us have expressed disappointment and frustration after 15x20, not because of Destiel (that’s just one part of the whole problem), but because the finale doesn’t make sense. Everything was leading up to something beautifully crafted until the end of 15x19. Beyond that, it’s hard to understand what happened. The story rendered all the character growth irrelevant, invalidated the themes of free will and “family don’t end in blood”, regressed to the original brother codependency they spent 15 years trying to overcome, made a queer non-binary character in a male vessel and a deaf female character basically disposable, and kept the show’s reputation of queerbaiting and misogyny until its very last breath.

That’s not going out with a bang! At least not a positive one. We all were ready to mourn Supernatural, but we wanted to feel proud of its legacy, and somehow TPTB managed to tarnish that legacy in less than 45 minutes. What a way to ruin the other more than 13,600 minutes of story!

It doesn’t matter who is to blame (The CW, Robert Singer, Andrew Dabb). It doesn’t matter why it happened (homophobia, censorship, marketing for Walker, bad writing). What matters is that at the end of the day, the finale that aired is what we got and that’s going to hurt for a long time. It hurts even more when we realize that the same finale could have easily made more sense, even without being perfect.

That’s what I want to do in this post. I want to show you how things would have been less jarring (for the fandom), while still keeping the goal to please the general audience.

Before I begin rewriting 15x20, I have to mention that I talked to my conservative boomer sister about the finale. She hasn’t watched the second half of season 15 yet (she’s waiting for Netflix to have it), but she’s been watching the show for a long time (she introduced me to it 8 years ago). She’s the perfect example of a viewer from the general audience. Loves the show but doesn’t give a second thought to it and definitely isn’t paying attention to character development or themes. Doesn’t engage with fandom, actors, or any of the show’s social media. Pure GA! When I told her the series finale had aired, she asked me about it and I refused to give her spoilers. Because of that, she told me the ending SHE wanted. She said she would be happy with either of two possibilities: the boys retiring and finally living a normal life OR they going to heaven and finding peace at last. She saw Sam and Dean as a unit, which means: both retiring or both going to heaven. AND she saw Cas as part of that, too. She wasn’t so sure about Jack. And for her, we could use the “Eileen who?” and it wouldn’t be a joke. She didn’t remember her.

NOW IT’S TIME TO WRITE A NEW VERSION OF 15X20 (KEEPING 15X18 AND 15X19 EXACTLY THE SAME AS THEY AIRED). This will be a very long post:

The opening remains almost the same. No “Carry on my wayward son” to induce feels. Too soon and too predictable! (Reasoning: Everyone was expecting it to play right there, so it would bring more tears at the end)

In the opening, after the scene where Jack says “People won’t need to pray to me or sacrifice to me”, we also see the scene from 15x19 where he says “I won’t be hands on”. Then we see the rest of the opening as it was. (Reasoning: People needed to be reminded that Jack would NOT intervene and that’s why later on, he would NOT save Dean).

We get the same montage, but when Sam takes a break from his morning run, we see him reading a message on his phone. A simple: “Hey Sam, what’s new?” from Eileen. Sam smiles fondly and begins to type a response we don’t get to see. The next scene continues the same, Sam making breakfast. (Reasoning: A text was a very simple way to show that Eileen was alive and still in communication with Sam).

The montage slowly ends as Sam enters the library (not after he sits down). He seems to be talking on the phone but we only hear an “I’ll tell him. Bye”. As he walks towards the table, he tells Dean: “Charlie says hi. Mentioned something about Stevie’s perfect scrambled eggs we have to try.” Dean’s answer is “Awesome!” (Reasoning: Just ONE line was needed to unbury Charlie and her girlfriend. ONE LINE).

Sam sits down, opens his laptop and everything continues the same. The title card shows for the last time.

YOU SEE? In the first 4 minutes they could have acknowledged that THREE WOMEN were alive and safe: Eileen, Charlie and Stevie. It wasn’t hard! Don’t blame bad writing on Covid! Now let’s continue.

Sam and Dean arrive at the Pie Fest just the same. Dean goes to get some “damn pie” and Sam takes out his phone. He dials and when someone picks up, he says “Hey, Jody, how are ya?” We don’t hear the rest of the conversation. The scene moves to Dean coming with his 6 portions of pie. Dean sits down and Sam tells him, “Talked to Jody. The other hunters haven’t had much work lately.” “That’s good, isn’t it?”, Dean says. All we get from Sam is “Yeah.” So, Dean looks at him and asks “what’s wrong?” like it happened in the episode. (Reasoning: Again, a couple of lines to make sure the people that were killed in 15x18 are safe and remembered by the boys in 15x20. Why is this important? Because they’re family!)

The conversation about Sam’s sad face happens the same. Sam is the one that mentions Cas and Jack. (Reasoning: Because this episode was so Sam-centered, it’s obvious he was the protagonist in the finale. If we see him communicating with Eileen, Charlie, and Jody, then it’s NORMAL, even expected of him to be the one to bring up Cas and Jack). Without these additions, it’s harder for people to understand that most of the finale was NOT from Dean’s POV but from Sam’s.

Dean’s “if we don’t keep living, then all that sacrifice is gonna be for nothing” stays the same. (Reasoning: I believe it’s necessary that the show sticks to the importance of “letting go” and “what is dead should stay dead” for the first time ever because the message is “even when you lose someone you love, you can still find some form of happiness and keep living, for you and for them, because that’s what they would have wanted”. Bringing someone back means “I can’t live without you”, and that’s just more codependency. It’s how the demon deals began in the Winchester family –Mary being the first one to do it. This would explain why Dean didn’t ask Jack to bring Cas back, as he asked Chuck. He understood Jack was NOT going to interfere anymore and accepted it. Besides, when Cas saved Dean from hell, Dean thought he didn’t deserve to be saved. This time that Cas saved him, Dean finally feels worthy enough to accept that YES, HE DESERVED TO BE SAVED ALL ALONG, just as much as he deserved to be loved by that angel of the Lord. In this scene, Dean also says that the pain is not gonna go away, which means that from HIS PERPECTIVE, it still hurts that Cas is not there. The problem is that the finale is not showing his POV but Sam’s.  

Sam pies Dean on the face just the same. (Reasoning: That part was just to avoid ending the scene on a sad note).

Everything related to the case happens exactly the same. (Reasoning: At this point, people don’t really care about the MoTW, they care about Sam and Dean).

NOTE 1: The case is important to show that even when the Winchesters are finally free of Chuck’s influence, they CHOOSE to keep hunting. It isn’t something they do out of revenge or because it is their destiny anymore. Maybe they were forced into the life at first, but they’ve learned to find joy in saving people. Being hunters is who they are. However, the fact that a job application was shown on Dean’s desk is also important because it means he was willing to explore what else was there for him besides hunting. Maybe he could find a balance? Maybe he was thinking it was time to quit? We will never know! The thing is that Sam only finds out about it when he goes into Dean’s room after his brother is dead, so maybe that’s when it hits him that Dean wanted to explore his options, and Sam starts to think it’s time for him to do the same.  

NOTE 2: I believe the masks the vampires are wearing is something we can blame on covid. If they had their faces covered, it was easier to use people from the SPN crew for some scenes, instead of using more actors unnecessarily.

NOTE 3: When Sam and Dean arrive at the barn, we get 3 visuals to remember Cas in the same scene (those are for the fandom, not for the general audience): a) the barn, obviously; b) the bag that resembles Cas’ trenchcoat so much that many people thought that’s what it was; and c) two feathers hanging on Dean’s right when he opens the trunk.

The scene with the throwing star happens the same. (Reasoning: The episode is still told from Sam’s point of view, so it makes sense that he fondly sees his brother as a man child).

Jenny the vampire? Uhhh… I mean, it’s not the best piece of writing I’ve ever seen, but it’s not the worst, so okay. That stays the same. (Reasoning: There is none, but she’s not what really ruined the finale, so whatever!)

Dean still dies impaled on a rebar. (Reasoning: OK. HERE ME OUT!!! I hate as much as everyone else that Dean is killed. I think it’s lazy writing, but that’s what we got and I can’t change that in this re-write, so if killing Dean is what we have to work around, then, memes aside, death by rebar is better and here’s why. There’s no one to blame for Dean’s death: no Chuck (the boys were willingly hunting even after Chuck was defeated), no vampires (they were all killed and were no real threat, so it was impossible for Sam to begin a quest for revenge against all vampires. What was Sam going to blame? A rebar? Can you kill it? Hunt it? NO. It was an ordinary death, a stupid accident. Just like any person can die at any moment by slipping on a banana peel. Is it a good death? No, but it’s good to know he doesn’t die trying to save Sam or Cas, because Dean Winchester is NOT willing to give up his life in exchange for anyone else’s anymore.

Sam takes out his phone and says he’ll call for help, but his phone is more visible to the audience. He dials and it’s almost to his ear when Dean stops him and Sam hesitantly hangs up. (Reasoning: People have complained that Sam didn’t call an ambulance, but actually he tried to. It’s just that people missed that part, maybe?)

After Sam puts his phone back in his pocket and says “OK” to Dean, he adds, “I’ll pray to Jack”. Dean’s immediate answer is: “No hands on, remember?” “But Dean”, Sam says, and Dean interrupts him with “OK listen to me” and tells Sam what to do with the kids they rescued. (Reasoning: Jack is God now and how come Sam didn’t remember? The viewers remembered, so it was necessary to include a line that ruled the option out and that showed Dean didn’t want Jack to intervene. The rest was fine).

The lines “You knew it was always gonna end like this for me. It was supposed to end like this, right?” disappear completely from Dean’s monologue. (Reasoning: This is the most problematic part of Dean’s dying speech. He fought God and earned free will, he is no longer controlled by fate or destiny. Accepting that he is supposed to die on a hunt regresses his character development and denies his desire to keep living. This was a total mistake and should be removed).

Instead, if going to heaven is the ending TPTB wanted to give Dean, at least he should say something more empowering. Sam tells him that both of them are going to take the kids somewhere safe. Dean answers and the scene follows like this: “No. Sammy, we made our choice, didn’t we?”, he smiles with difficulty. “We were free to write our own story and we did. We decided to keep saving people, hunting things. Because it’s what we love despite the risks.” (Reasoning: If Dean’s going to die it doesn’t have to feel like it was always meant to be that way. He should die knowing that he exerted his free will until his last breath).

The rest of the dialogue between Sam and Dean happens almost the same. Except that instead of Dean saying “‘cause when it all came down to it, it was always you and me. It’s always been you and me”, he says “’cause when it all came down to it, we’ve always had each other’s backs. Always.” And instead of Sam saying “Don’t leave me”, he says “I still can try to save you.” (Reasoning: It sounds way less codependent without diminishing the importance of their love and support for each other).

Besides, let’s change Dean’s “I’m not leaving you” for “You don’t have to be alone. You’ve still got family.” The rest stays the same word by word. (Reasoning: Dean reminds Sam that “family don’t end in blood” and there are still lots of people out there who love Sam and will be with him).

“I love you so much, my baby brother” stays exactly the same. (Reasoning: Dean always had trouble to express the big L word. I always believed and said many times that before Dean could say “I love you” to Cas or any other character, he had to say it to Sam. So, this is important as part of Dean speaking his truth).

The last part when Dean insists Sam tell him that it’s okay stays the same. (Reasoning: It’s the final moment when the codependency cycle breaks. No more running in circles).

The forehead touch between them stays the same. (Reasoning: I think I would do something similar if my sister were dying. I know there are w*ncest shippers out there, but it shouldn’t matter because the moment feels appropriate for that kind of goodbye). 

See? There are changes but not too many. That’s why I’ve been saying that it was easier to get it right, yet they still managed to screw it up.

The second montage stays the same. (Reasoning: Life goes on, but of course Sam has to mourn).

The call about a case in Austin remains the same. (Reasoning: It’s the only part of the episode where someone from the found family is mentioned, so I think that Donna’s name is perfect in that moment. However, without the other additions I’ve made in this re-write, that off-hand mention feels too little. Its purpose was to tell the viewers that if Donna was alive, so were the others, but the way the episode was executed gave us an isolated Sam, incapable of having friends and a family without Dean).  

After 30 minutes of Sam’s POV, let’s finally see the last bit of Dean’s POV that we’ll ever get.

Dean arrives in Heaven and Bobby receives him. All their conversation stays almost the same, except that after mentioning Rufus and before saying “and your mom and dad…”, Bobby adds an “Ellen and Jo let me borrow their place”. (Reasoning: If you’re gonna put the man outside the Harvelle’s place, at least mention them for Jack’s sake!).

Besides, after Bobby tells Dean that Sam will be along and that time in heaven is different, Dean gives a small smile and says, “Well, there’s no rush. I want him to have a long, happy life.” Bobby answers with: “I would expect nothing less from you, boy” and tells him he got everything he could ever want, etc., just like it happened in the episode, and finishes by asking “What are you gonna do now, Dean?” (Reasoning: It’s important we know for sure that Dean is NOT codependent anymore and that he doesn’t expect to have a miserable afterlife just because his brother is not there yet).

Instead of saying “I think I’ll go for a drive” Dean says, “I think I know what I want” and walks towards baby. Bobby still tells him to have fun. (Reasoning: “Know what I want” is ambiguous enough to help us introduce the last piece of the puzzle, the one thing Dean’s wanted for many seasons and has never been able to express).

 The biggest change is coming:

Dean gets on the Impala and has a moment of silence while he contemplates the wheel. He begins to pray: “Hey, Cas, you got your ears on? I hear you’ve been busy working on this updated Heaven with Jack. You were right about him, Cas. You had faith in him and he saved us all. You could always see the best in everyone, even when they couldn’t see it themselves. Even when I couldn’t see it myself. There’s so much I want to tell you. Maybe you can visit sometime. I hope prayer’s still a thing up here.” (Reasoning: Dean’s side of the confession was unaddressed and that was terrible writing. If there was no way to get him to speak his truth textually, at least take him as close to it as possible).

We listen to a flutter of wings and a “Hello, Dean” from the back seat. We don’t see Cas, but the camera shows us Dean’s cocky smile and he says “Took you long enough.” He turns around slowly. End of scene. (Reasoning: The flutter of wings confirms that angels have their wings back and ties that loose end. The final “hello, Dean” was highly anticipated and it made sense. If Misha couldn’t be there to film, for whatever reason, or if the problem was the kind of conversation Dean and Cas would have, then don’t show it, but leave the door open. Let us know that the two characters were reunited and will talk, but whatever Dean has to say is so private that it’s not for us to hear, only for Cas.  

We finally hear “Carry on my wayward son” and get a montage that begins with Sam playing with his kid. Then we see Dean driving, super happy, and Sam living his life to the fullest. We still get Sam’s Blurry Wife, BUT… we see pictures of Eileen in the living room (not just of John, Mary, Sam, and Dean). We also see photos of Jody, Donna, Charlie, and AU!Bobby. (Reasoning: FAMILY DON’T END IN BLOOD).

The scene where Sam is wearing the party wig and looks miserable inside the Impala is cut and nobody talks about it ever again because it never existed. We get a scene of Sam teaching his son how to fix the car instead. (Reasoning: First of all, don’t give Sam a life where years later he’s still in pain. Second of all, the fucking wig was a crime).

Sam’s dying scene stays the same. The only thing is that his son signs a couple of phrases to him before actually speaking. (Reasoning: More confirmation that Dean Jr. is Eileen’s son).

We hear the final “Evanescence-like Carry on my wayward son”. Again we see the photos and there’s family other than the Winchesters there. (Reasoning: Obvious at this point).

The rest is exactly the same. The show began with two brothers and it’s okay if the last scene is with the two brothers reunited in Heaven. At this point, the other parts of the story are acceptable enough for us to feel happy that they get to see each other again after years of a happy (after)life.

Now look me in the eye and tell me this was too hard to execute. I still think that bad writing is a thing we can’t deny here, adding to the possible meddling of the Network. Maybe Dabb wanted us to hate the finale because he couldn’t get away with what he truly wanted. If that was his intention, then kudos to him. He and The CW really gave us a finale that only 30% of the fandom liked.

I hope you guys have enjoyed this and it helps to give you some peace of mind. In my heart, this was the finale we got. It wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t drop the ball either.

[trainsinanime]

Okay, forget all about that sentimonster crap, and let’s address a real question in the Miraculous Ladybug fandom, one that will actually matter in the show moving forward:

Will Marinette lose her memory? If yes, how, why and what happens next? Let’s speculate.

What speaks against it? Well, it would be considerably sadder than the show has been to date. But that’s not much of an argument. I also used to think that Fu losing his memories was just a result of this being a sudden emergency guardianship transfer, but I think "Furious Fu" proved that theory wrong. In that episode Chat Noir, Ladybug and Su Han (who is an official guardian) all agreed that Marinette would indeed lose her memories if the box was transferred.

In fiction, "loosing all your memories" is the kind of plot consequence that sounds terrible, but doesn’t actually result in anything you can’t show on screen. It’s not torture, there’s no blood or violence. And, of course, the character in question is still around. So we have a lot of cases where characters did end up losing all their memories. Star Trek did it, and it happens to Carol Danvers in the Marvel comics with some surprising regularity.

I would argue that it is such a nice sweet spot that if it is brought up, then it's almost guaranteed to happen. If you threaten a character with death, on some level the audience will know that it won't actually happen. So if you want a threat that you want to follow through with, something like "losing your memories" is ideal.

So my gut feeling is that yes, it will happen to Marinette. If that wasn't the goal, they could have easily phrased things differently (e.g. Fu explicitly deciding to lose his memories), but they made sure to show it in a way that would apply to Marinette as well, and then, in the first episode of season four that we saw (even if it wasn't meant that way), they confirmed this and reminded us of it.

How would this happen? One way that seems to come up a lot is as a form of heroic sacrifice. It's what Carol Danvers did in the Kelly Sue DeConnick run, and it was also framed that way for Master Fu. I have no idea what the specific circumstances would be, but I could easily imagine Marinette doing something similar.

I also think it would fit well into (part of) her arc this season. At least some part of the season has been about her learning that she doesn't need to do everything only by herself, and in fact shouldn't. Giving up the box and taking herself out of the equation like that seems like it might fit here. I'm a bit uncertain, though, because it also sounds a lot like what Fu did, and just repeating that would be boring.

Another option would be enemy action. Maybe Hawkmoth manages to force her to give it up physically? Maybe he blackmails her? Also not something I'm sure about.

The biggest question for me is consequences. What happens next? Is Marinette's memory loss permanent? Personally, I doubt it.

First of all, the show has clearly established that somehow, relationships persevere despite the amnesia. Fu still remembered on some level his love for Marianne and his friendship with Marinette, and both still staid important in his life. I am certain that Marinette losing her memories would be painful, but it would not mean losing all of her friends. And as Oblivio established, Marinette losing her memories might actually help her get closer to Adrien.

But more generally, memory loss is reversible, at least in fiction. Personally, I am not a big fan of the trope where a character just literally relearned all their memories in the time between seasons (or even episodes), But it is definitely an option.

But beyond that, the show has also established that Marinette has the power to rewrite the rules of the show if she really wants to, and that everything in the Grimoire is just guidelines, not absolute rules. It would definitely be possible for Marinette to regain her memories through magic; and I could imagine this happening through magic that Marinette herself triggers. Could Marinette, in a moment of crisis, just chose to be Ladybug again, thus triggering her memories back? (I'm thinking of the episode Anne of Buffy the Vampire Slayer here)

Anyway, this is mostly just idle speculation. The TL;DR is: I think Marinette will definitely lose her memories, I think it will be dramatic, and I also think it will be undone again, probably through magic, in the next episode (probably next season), and it will make her stronger. What do you think?

[jodibodie]

I Have Some Feelings

To start let me just emphasize how much I love and adore this show and always will. This was my covid show. Both of my kids loved “Lucifer” and always said I should watch so at the start of covid I binged it and when I say binged, I mean all 4 seasons in a few days and have rewatched so many times I’ve lost count. I think it is timeless, engrossing, original and all around amazing. The writing and the cast were all excellent. The writing was smart and consistently strong and that is so rare.  Funny, sad, poignant, it hit all the notes with very few plot holes or missteps. There is not one episode in the entire series that was not engaging. Even if I didn’t like an episode, it was still well done. What a rarity.

The cast is scary good. Completely underrated. Just all phenomenally talented.  I don’t remember the last time a cast was this strong.  From the core group to both reoccurring and guest stars, the cast was just fantastic.  

Tom Ellis, no words.  The man deserves to choose whatever he wants to do acting wise. He should have people breaking down his door. He can truly do it all and do it all well. He took a character that if portrayed by a lesser actor could have come off as a complete asshole and made him one of the most sympathetic and loveable characters in recent history. Ellis made a crime solving devil, a promiscuous man-child that occasionally breaks into song and the evidence room into a beloved character that has become an icon.  

Lauren German, WOW.  She is just so damn good. She can break your heart one second and have you laughing the next. She makes Chloe real, and people don’t realize how hard that is. Chloe is smart, kind, tough and gorgeous but she’s also an insecure dork.  She’s us and German just brings it.  

DB Woodside I’ve loved since “Buffy”.  He is a phenomenal actor and who knew he could bring the laughs so well? His expressions were classic. Clueless angel indeed. Amenadiel could have been very one-dimensional but because of Woodside’s talent he became fully fleshed out and full bodied.  

I have no doubt Lesley-Ann Brandt has a huge career in front of her.  She took a character that very well could have been hated, a demon and made her into one of the most human characters on the show. Kudos to her for taking a tough role and making it her own.  

Kevin Alejandro is another actor I’ve loved for a long time.  He also took a character who if we’re going to be honest here did so many unlikeable things that he should have been truly despised but because of Kevin’s portrayal he was beloved. Great actor and a terrific director.

Rachael Harris IMO is the downlow MVP.  She was literally the rock and again, with a lesser actress the role could have been a throwaway. The normal human, the sounding board but Harris imbued her with so much more.  Her spit takes, sarcasm and her obvious compassion was what made Dr. Linda an unforgettable character. Once again just perfect casting.  

Aimee Garcia was a great addition. She made Ella a fan fav and put so much heart, joy and sincerity into Ella never once did you doubt that she would prevail no matter what was thrown at her.  Garcia was just fantastic, and I want her skin care regime.  

Scarlett Estevez pulled off the one thing I thought almost impossible.  She took the role of a young child and made it so I didn’t want to cringe. She portrayed Trixie so beautifully from day one that she was a true pleasure to watch.  Even though Trixie was super precocious Estevez never made her obnoxious. I loved Trixie and I have never said that about any child character in an adult show.  She was wonderful and has an amazing career in front of her.

That said, I’ve got some feelings now that I’ve seen the finale and have had some time to digest it all.  I love that Chloe and Lucifer had eternity and I agree that they had to be separated for Chloe’s lifetime. Didn’t like it but it’s the logical path. She’s human, he’s not. The ageing thing alone necessitated them not being together long term on earth and that’s just to start the list. They had to had to be apart for the short term to get their eternity but the duality of Lucifer's ending and Amenadiel's didn't sit right. Amenadiel as God got to have it all. His calling, his family etc. while Lucifer had to give up everything.  I also don’t buy the “If he came up from hell, he could never leave them again” defense.  I call bullshit.  Amenadiel managed, plus, missing out on the day to day is a huge sacrifice and by Lucifer missing out on the day-to-day Rory could still have had the hatred she needed to drive the story.  Popping in for birthdays, graduations, weddings, etc., the big stuff does not a father make.  Not being there for skinned knees, first heartbreaks, and all the little things a daughter needs her dad for can build up tons of resentment.  Boom, absentee father, just like his dad was. That provides all the millennial angel angst you could ask for. I have a daughter; it doesn’t take much.

The Trixie issue was huge for me. Can Chloe see her in Heaven? Will she be able to travel to Heaven and visit Trixie, Penelope, Dan, her father?  Chloe hesitated leaving Heaven in 5x16 because she couldn’t bear saying good-bye to her dad again. It seems as if Chloe sacrificed everything for Rory including Trixie. I want to preface this by saying. I liked Rory and loved the actress. I didn’t however like how it was as if she were their only child.  When Lucifer spoke of family Trixie was not mentioned. Their family day, the same thing. She didn’t need to be there, I get that the explanation regarding Rory would have been way too much to get into but just a mention of her, how awesome it would have been to share this day with her would have worked. It seemed as if Lucifer went from, “I would do anything to protect that little Urchin” to “Trixie who”. Trixie was a character that we watched grow up and she meant something to us. I hate to say this, but the writers did Trixie and the viewers dirty in this regard.

This show was built around a few premises.  Free will, honesty, redemption, sacrifice and family, both blood and made. The ending completely negated almost all of these.  Chloe and their entire family were made into the one thing Lucifer abhorred the most which are liars. Their daughter was brought up surrounded by lies. What did they tell Trixie?  The poor kid just lost her dad, and she was pissed at Lucifer when he went back to hell the first time. Did she grow up hating him because as far as she knew Lucifer left her mom again without saying good-bye and this time it was even worse because Chloe was pregnant.  I get that the actress who plays Trixie had limited availability but seriously. A quick good-bye.

“Hey Urchin, you won’t understand why for a long time, but I have to leave. You know I never lie so I can’t explain why but know that I love you and your mom and one day I hope you can forgive me.”  

A 30 second scene would have worked.

As all the characters learned throughout the series, omission of the truth is just a form of lying and there are always repercussions i.e., Chloe and Father Kinley, Dan shooting Lucifer, Maze finding out about Lilith and even Ella not being told. As far as free will, both Chloe and Lucifer had their free will taken from them in the end. By Rory forcing them to abide by her wishes, their free will was forfeited. It was a huge manipulation on Rory’s part and considering how much Lucifer hated manipulations it just didn’t sit right.

Parents making huge sacrifices I get. Chloe and Lucifer sacrificed everything for their child. Unfortunately for me this sacrifice, the way it was written seemed contrived to pull out maximum and IMO unjustified angst. I love angst.  Hell, this is my favorite show.  I thrive on the angst. But as I wrote earlier, all the anger, angst and hatred towards Lucifer could have been achieved without having Lucifer completely out of the picture. I have two kids and my husband, and I have made huge life altering sacrifices for them as many parents do but being there for the day-to-day little things was what made the difference in their lives and cemented the close relationships we have with them.

“Yeah, dad you were great. Showing up for the fun stuff, always swooping in for the big finish to play the hero then ditching us when things got tough. When Grandma was dying where were you?  Nice that you showed up for the funeral but the six months leading up to it…we needed you and once again you weren’t there. When T got sick, when Jen broke my heart, blah, blah, blah…”

Even the whole Chloe dying scenario. They could have written it that rage Rory traveled minutes before Lucifer got there. Have him pop in right after Rory comes back. There were so many ways to achieve the end game they wanted other than the way they went. It seemed contrived and as if they took the easy way out to get where they needed to go. The Rory rage that was the catalyst for her traveling back in time and Lucifer finding his calling could still have been accomplished without the whole Lucifer disappearing storyline.

Now that I’ve finished my diatribe there’s a couple of additional things I would like to say.  Lucifer is and always will be one of my favorite shows of all time. There are not enough words to describe the comfort and enjoyment this show has brought me. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the producers, cast and crew. You truly created something special.

To the fandom. Please do not let a polarizing conclusion rip apart the fandom. The only other fandom I was a part of tore itself apart so badly that the FBI got involved.  Hence why I waited for 15 years to dip my toe in again. Everyone invested in this show has the right to their feelings.  Debate is fine, baiting and bullying are not. The Lucifer fandom like the show is very special. Without the fandom we wouldn’t have gotten any conclusion so don’t let opposing viewpoints tarnish what has been a magical journey.  

[remnantoforario]

Remnant’s Top Ten Anime of 2020

2020 Was certainly a ride wasn’t it? To those that managed to make to make it through in one piece, or any piece, good job. Hopefully 2021 is better to us all. 

Despite the world mostly being on fire, I’d hazard to say that a lot of good shows came out in 2020 (despite a number of them being delayed to either later in the year or this year altogether). I meant to release this list much earlier, but I kept changing it around. 

Anyway, here are the ones I thought were the best. 

Honorable Mentions:

Dorohedoro

Synopsis: The plot centers on a man named Caiman and his search for his real identity after a transformation by a sorcerer left him with a reptile's head and no memory of his former life. 

Along with his friend Nikaido, he violently assaults sorcerers in the Hole, with the aim of taking their heads into his mouth, where a strange face will appear and confirm whether the sorcerer he has bitten onto was the one responsible for his transformation or not.

As the residents of the Hole, the En family and the Cross-Eyes gang, along with many others, collide with one another, the mystery of Caiman's identity begins to unravel, reigniting ancient grudges and threatening to forever change both the Hole and the sorcerers' world.

Thoughts: This is the only Netflix anime I watched this year (I missed out on Great Pretender before the year ended), and I can honestly say I had fun with this one. It’s animation was good, the story was engaging enough, and the characters were all unique (Noi best girl). The one problem I would say with the show is that it can come off as unfocused at times, meandering from one plaot point to another with no real connective tissue. 

Still a fun series though. 

ID: Invaded

Synopsis: The anime follows the investigations of Narihisago, a renowned detective now in prison, who is tasked with diving into the id wells of various serial killers. 

Two years prior to the current events, Narihisago's daughter Muku was brutally murdered by a serial killer, leading Narihisago's wife to commit suicide. These deaths prompted him to hunt down and murder the killer, earning him his prison sentence. He is still depressed and haunted by his wife and daughter's deaths, but also uses this as motivation to take his work seriously and help stop serial killers. 

Thoughts: One of a handful of original series that came out this year. This show gave me heavy Inception/Minority Report vibes from both its premise and presentation. It wobbles under the weight of its own concepts towards the end, but it still a fun ride nonetheless. 

Gleipnir 

Synopsis: The story centers on Shuichi Kagaya, a high school student with an unusual secret. He has the ability to transform into a monster resembling a giant dog mascot costume with a zipper down his back and a large cartoonish smile. After rescuing a strange girl, Claire Aoki, from a warehouse fire, they join each other to search for Claire's older sister, who is assumed to be responsible for the death of their parents.

Thoughts: When the initial rollout for this show began I admit I wasn’t really a fan. I thought it was just going to be a hyper violent, fanservice show. Now in some ways it is that, but if you really look Gleipnir tells a very interesting tale of identity and what it truly means to have a wish granted. The music was pretty good as well, and that’s really something from me as a person who doesn’t pay attention to soundtracks. 

Hope this show gets a season 2, but if not I’ll more than likely start the manga. 

Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina

Synopsis:  Fascinated by the stories of Niké, a witch who traveled around the world, Elaina aspires to take the same course. Her determination of studying books and magic leads to her becoming the youngest apprentice witch to pass the sorcery exam. 

However, when Elaina attempts to receive training in order to become a full-fledged witch, she is rejected due to her extraordinary talents until she finds Fran, the "Stardust Witch," whom accepts her. After earning her title, the "Ashen Witch," Elaina begins her exploration around the world, visiting and facing all kinds of people and places.

Thoughts: As a fan of the Light Novels, I was pretty excited when it was announced it was getting an anime. For the most part it didn’t disappoint. Though it skipped most of the stories in the novels, the show still told a few good stories that made for some amazingly animated tv. 

Talentless Nana

Synposis: In the near future, mysterious monsters known as the "Enemies of Humanity" begin to appear, and with it so do children with supernatural powers called the "Talented". To prepare them for the upcoming battle against these Enemies, all the Talented are sent to a school located on a deserted island, where they have all their daily needs provided for until they graduate and communication with the outside world is forbidden. 

One day, a new student named Nana Hiiragi arrives at the school. Her friendly and cheerful personality lets her quickly make friends with the class. However, with Nana comes a whole litany of mysterious occurrences on the island. 

Thoughts: I can’t say too much about Nana without spoiling it’s first episode twist, but I will say that its a pretty interesting show with a fairly compelling game of cat and mouse being played. 

Now on the the actual list:

10. The Misfit of Demon King Academy 

Synopsis: After 2,000 years of countless wars and strife, the demon king Anos Voldigoad made a deal with the human hero, Kanon, to sacrifice his own life to ensure peace could flourish. Reincarnating 2,000 years later, Anos finds that royal demons now harshly rule over lower class hybrid demons in a society that values Anos's pureblood descendants over the demons who interbred with other species, such as humans and spirits. 

Finding that magic as a whole has begun to decline and his descendants weaker as a result of the peace he created, Anos, now technically a hybrid himself, decides to reclaim his former title of Demon King, but first, he must graduate from the Demon King Academy where he is labeled a total misfit.

Thoughts: Originally I was going to put Nana in this spot, but its lack of a real ending pushed it out of the list. If only slightly. Misft at Demon Academy is just a fun ride from start to finish. There’s always something about shows with ridiculous OP protagonists (Overlord, One Punch Man, etc.) that gets the blood pumping. 

It’s like junk food. Great for the right moment, but not needed all the time. 

9. Ikebukuro West Gate Park

Synopsis:  A charismatic troubleshooter tries to keep the peace between warring factions while protecting his loved ones in Ikebukuro West Gate Park.

Thoughts: I honestly had no idea what to make of this show when I first saw the synopsis, but I gave it a try on a whim. I’m glad I did because this was easily the dark horse of the Fall season. I really liked the mostly self contained story format the series had, and there were a few very good episodes here. Check it out. 

8.  My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

Synopsis: Catarina Claes, the young daughter of a noble family, one day bumps her head and regains memories of her past life as an otaku. It is then that she realizes she has been reborn into the world of the otome game Fortune Lover, reincarnated as the game's villainess who, regardless of what route the player took in the original game, is doomed to be either killed or exiled. 

In order to avoid these routes that lead to doom, Catarina begins taking countermeasures to try and avoid things going the same way as the game. This, however, ends up having unexpected consequences on her relations with the other characters of the game's world.

Thoughts: Normally I’m not a fan of Reverse/Otome harem series, but somehow Bakarina managed to pull me in, to a good result. This show was easily one of the best comedies I watched this year with a good cast and a likable protagonist. 

7.  Deca-Dence 

Synopsis: In the fortress city of Deca-dence, the lowly Tanker girl, Natsume, dreams of becoming a Gear warrior following her father's death during a Gadoll attack. She is assigned to a maintenance team led by Kaburagi whom she discovers is more than he appears. Kaburagi has a secret role in eliminating "bugs", humans who threaten Solid Quake's operations. 

When Kaburagi discovers that Natsume is listed as dead in the company database, he decides to keep her under observation and offers to train her to fight.

Thoughts: Giant monsters and giant robots. What more do you need? Watch it. 

6. A Certain Scientific Railgun T

Synposis: The Daihasei Festival has begun, and that of course means that Tokiwadai Middle School—a prestigious all-girls' middle school—is competing too. Despite the participation of the "Ace of Tokiwadai," Mikoto Misaka, the other students who are participating are still putting their utmost effort into winning, no matter how impossible the feat may seem against her might. However, not all is fun and games. Due to the the festival, Academy City opens to the outside world, and various factions have begun plotting ways to infiltrate the city. Misaka appears to be on their radar, and as the festival proceeds, people lurking from the shadows begin to emerge...

Thoughts: Not really much to say here. It’s the third season of Railgun, but good thing here is that each season of Railgun is better than the last. Truly the best of the To Aru universe. 

5. BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense.

Synposis: Urged on by her friend, Kaede Honjō begins playing the VRMMORPG NewWorld Online under the name Maple. Not wanting to get hurt, Maple opts to be a shield user with maxed out defense stats, and continues putting every status point she earns in the game into increasing only her defense level. 

As a result, she is left with slow foot speed and no magic, but her high defense allows her to endure most hits without taking any damage. This, along with her basic-level creative thinking, allows for her to make unexpected accomplishments in the game, its quests and events. By doing this, she ends up earning all kinds of equally unexpected skills and becomes one of the strongest players in the game. Thoughts: Bofuri is another OP power fantasy like Demon King Academy, but with the twist of being fused with CGDCT. The cast is extremely likable (especially Maple) and when Silver Link wants to they can make the battles REALLY dynamic. A nice comfortable watch, which was sorely needed in 2020. 

4. Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle

Synposis: The story follows Princess Syalis, a young princess who was kidnapped by the demon king, and her quest to sleep well while imprisoned.

Thoughts: A simple premise for a not so simple story. Sleepy Princess for me was easily the best comedy of the year, with plenty of heart and action thrown in as well. I was wary of the series at first, thinking that the premise wouldnt be entertaining for more than a few episodes, but boy was I wrong. Each episode was funnier than the last and Doga Kobo pulled out all the stops to make it look as gorgeous as possible.  

3. Jujutsu Kaisen

Synopsis: Idly indulging in baseless paranormal activities with the Occult Club, high schooler Yuuji Itadori spends his days at either the clubroom or the hospital, where he visits his bedridden grandfather. However, this leisurely lifestyle soon takes a turn for the strange when he unknowingly encounters a cursed item. Triggering a chain of supernatural occurrences, Yuuji finds himself suddenly thrust into the world of Curses—dreadful beings formed from human malice and negativity—after swallowing the said item, revealed to be a finger belonging to the demon Sukuna Ryoumen, the "King of Curses." Yuuji experiences first-hand the threat these Curses pose to society as he discovers his own newfound powers. Introduced to the Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School, he begins to walk down a path from which he cannot return—the path of a Jujutsu sorcerer.

Thoughts: Originally I wasn’t going to put this on the list, because the season doesnt conclude this year, but I decided to make an exception since the show started so strong. Many people were hyping this up as the next big shonen, and they were right. Mappa really went balls to the wall with this show and I’m pretty hype for what happens this cour. 

2. Akudama Drive

Synopsis: The bustling metropolis of Kansai, where cybernetic screens litter the neon landscape, may seem like a technological utopia at first glance. But in the dark alleys around the brightly-lit buildings, an unforgiving criminal underbelly still exists in the form of fugitives known as "Akudama." No stranger to these individuals, Kansai police begin the countdown to the public execution of an infamous Akudama "Cutthroat," guilty of killing 999 people. However, a mysterious message is sent to several elite Akudama, enlisting them to free Cutthroat for a substantial amount of money. An invisible hand seeks to gather these dangerous personas in one place, ensuring that the execution is well underway to becoming a full-blown bloodbath.  

Thoughts: Want to know what it would be like if Quentin Tarantino made an anime? Well here you go. An adrenaline filled rollercoaster ride from start to finish with a crazy cast of characters and even crazier visuals. There’s even a bit of social commentary in there if you squint. 

1. Oregairu Climax

Synopsis: Resolved to become a more independent person, Yukino Yukinoshita decides to smoothen things out with her parents, and the first step toward achieving that goal is to prove herself. As graduation draws closer for the third-year students, Iroha Isshiki—the president of the student council—requests a graduation prom in collaboration with the Volunteer Service Club. Yukino accepts this request of her own volition, hoping to use it as a chance to demonstrate her self-reliance, but what lies ahead of her may prove to be a hard hurdle to cross.

At the same time, a chance for the Volunteer Service Club members to better understand each other presents itself. And thus, Hachiman Hikigaya's hectic and bittersweet high school life begins to draw to a close.

Thoughts: The gif says it all really. I could just leave that there and end this list on a somewhat high note, but I’ll explain it. 

Now objectively, there were better shows than this one (off the top of my head JJK comes to mind) but when you combine all three seasons there is no contest in my mind that Oregairu had one of the most perfect endings to a series I have ever seen. 

It was an ending 7 years in the making. The first season in 2013 was good, the second season two years later was even better, but Climax was Oregairu at is absolute best and that goes beyond the story and characters. A lot of praise also has to go to Studio feel., who took over animation duties from Brain’s Base in season 2. While BB’s animation was much more accurate to the LN, feel’s more realistic designs fit the more mature direction the story was starting to go, giving the anime some of its best moments. 

Watching Hachiman, Yukino, and Yui grow and change from naive teenagers to somewhat understood young adults was amazing and sometimes heartbreaking to watch. Hachiman’s search to find something “genuine”, Yukino’s desire to be independent, and Yui struggling with her feelings of love and friendship all clash and compliment in very interesting ways that makes these three characters even more relatable than they were before. 

Lots of long running series don’t stick to landing, but in my eyes Oregairu stuck it perfectly. That’s why its my favorite anime of 2020.

Here’s to 2021. 

[number5theboy]

I wanna hear your material on why five should’ve been the one to pull the trigger!! I kinda agree but I haven’t read the comics-

Anonymous asked: Whats the rant on five pulling the trigger? I havent read the comics but i know he hes the gunman and says 'i never really liked you" or something similar 

A piece of writing that is part rant, part analysis, and part creative writing for the two of you so kind as to drop into my inbox, as well as @mysticmoondustt, @maren-emilie, @waywardd1 and @millartiste, and @poisonpam, whose marriage proposal started all this.

User @sunriseseance brought to my attention that the way I framed this sidelines Allison completely and takes away from her character arc, which was not my intention in writing it, but is something this text communicates anyway. Giving over Allison’s (aka the only black woman in the cast) important story beat over to Five (aka one of the several white boys) without making the effort of keeping Allison just as important to the story was poorly thought-out. I have thus edited and rewritten the following with that in mind.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Five’s Storyline Deserved To Be Properly Tragic or: Why Five Ultimately Causing The Apocalypse in The White Violin Would Have Rounded Out His Arc

     In this mini-essay, I go into detail as to why I think, from a story-telling perspective, Five should have been the one to ultimately cause the apocalypse by intervening with Vanya rather than Allison. The apocalypse is Five’s storyline. It’s his trauma, his pain, and what he has worked towards preventing for forty-five years, and yet, he is almost completely written out of the pivotal events in The White Violin, the Season 1 finale, and has little to no impact on why the apocalypse does happen, in the end. Making Five the one who triggers the apocalypse would make his entire storyline become the proper tragedy it is supposed to be, with him being the last domino to fall into place, his action of disrupting Vanya being what makes her fall, makes her destroy the moon, and makes Five the man who causes what he so desperately wanted to stop. The easiest way to do that would be to give Five Allison’s role of being the one to point that gun at Vanya, but as explained above, that was the original argument of this text, and one that was insensitive and should have had more effort put into. The following rewrite still sees Five firing the gun, but in a different context and with a different lead-up, one where Allison’s moment of mercy and kindness to Vanya comes before Five’s decision to fire the gun, so that Allison’s moment with Vanya and the moment that inadvertently causes the apocalypse are two separate ones rather than a single one. I just really would have loved to see Five and the apocalypse be a self-fulfilling prophecy. One still should keep in mind that this does appropriate a moment that was solely Allison’s in canon and should thus still be taken with a grain of salt. That being said, I do think that it would have made sense for Five to fire the gun that causes the apocalypse. There are so many established points in Five’s storyline that build up to him being the character most relevant and most appropriate to point that gun at the back of Vanya’s head: his ruthlessness in eliminating anyone who stands between him and preventing the apocalypse, the fact that he is the only sibling we’ve seen kill methodically in cold blood, how Five is pragmatic by nature and was ready to sacrifice a single life in exchange for saving billions, his awareness of space and how to use it to his advantage, his tendency to use other people’s weapons to his own advantage, the fact that he is the only sibling Vanya doesn’t resent for their childhood, the fact that he trusts and likes Vanya, that when faced by Luther with the choice between violence and love before, Five chose love… But Five was not the triggerman, and the following, under the cut, explores the ending of an arc that could have been.

     I’m going to start with Vanya’s demise and how the apocalypse happens in the source material. Full disclosure, I still have not read the comics, but I have seen the last few pages of the Apocalypse Suite, and even though my argument as to why Five should have been the triggerman for Vanya in the show is not based on ‘because it was him in the comics’, I still think it’s relevant for the point I’m trying to make. In the Apocalypse Suite, Klaus distracts Vanya as she is playing her violin, and Five takes that moment to go and shoot her in the head. Despite the concert coming to a bad close, it was a little too late, the moon still comes crashing toward Earth, and Five says: “You know something, Vanya…? I never liked you.”. It doesn’t quite stop there, but for the purposes of this mini-essay, that’s enough. What does matter is that the TUA showrunners have this nasty habit of taking bits of the comic and putting them into the show, but usually warped to the point of disrespect, where they simply never looked deep enough into why comic fans liked a moment, and instead just want to ~subvert their expectations~. Here, I think the subversion is not necessarily about the actions, as they are still similar (gun is fired in the vicinity of Vanya’s head, it takes her out, but not enough to prevent the apocalypse) and is instead about the identity of the triggerman. Or rather, triggerwoman.

     In the show, Allison holds that gun to the back of an oblivious Vanya’s head before shifting it to next to her ear, and then pulling the trigger. The sound of the gun going off disrupts Vanya, who faints, but the energy she had been pulling from the soundwaves had to release to somewhere, and it bundles into a beam that shoots up and destroys the moon, giant pieces of which barrel to Earth.

     And it’s a good ending for their arc. It’s the ultimate proof that even at Vanya’s lowest, in a moral sense, literally suspending their brothers in midair and hurting them, Allison still loves her, enough to not hurt her. Allison wants to do right by her, and it shows in its most extreme in this moment. The only thing that bothers me personally about this moment is that the second it showed that it was Allison holding the gun, I knew Vanya would not be harmed, I knew that Allison loved her too much, that Allison had flat-out refused to even consider Luther’s proposal that they should be prepared to stop Vanya by any means necessary. And so I started thinking about which character could make this moment more tense. Who was “with Luther on that one”? Who knows that they “can’t give her a chance to fight back”? Who have we seen to be merciless and cutthroat, who has ruthlessly killed people in cold blood because they stood between him and preventing the apocalypse? Which sibling pointing a gun at the back of Vanya’s head would have actually given the viewer pause and make them consider the possibility that one of the Hargreeves would be hard enough to shoot his own sister in the head?

     It could have gone like this, with several references to Five’s fighting skills that were established beforehand but mysteriously absent during the actual climax. It starts as it does in the show, Luther rallying his brothers to attack and Allison refusing to be part of it. But instead of trying to convince us that Five would be stupid enough to run straight on at Vanya, Five blinks away and disappears. The other three still get caught in Vanya’s energy tentacles, but Allison is not. We see Five appear next to the Commission soldiers he killed when protecting Klaus, swiping one of their guns, showcasing both his spatial awareness and his tendency to use enemy weapon to his advantage, which we saw in both the Istanbul Not Constantinople scene and in him getting the upper hand on the Handler. He blinks away again.

     Cut to Vanya on stage, holding her brothers, fixing them with a merciless and empty gaze. Then there is a small noise on the side of the stage, and Vanya looks over. It’s Allison, one hand behind her back, similar to the Luther and Vanya scene from Season 2, and we see the gun gleaming there, showing that both Allison and Five had the same tactical idea. But Allison is not pointing the gun, because she saw a glimpse of good in this violinist just moment before, when she smiled at her. I’m turn about whether or not Allison should be holding a sign in this. If she would, it’d be interesting for it to read ‘I love you’, even though that’s terribly cliché, it’s also the sentence that made Vanya lash out at Allison in the first place. I like the idea of Vanya seeing it again and the memory of her regret at her action, at the pain she caused someone who only tried to be there for her, to make amends, to support her, to love her, break the façade of the White Violin as she recognises her sister, looks at her, truly sees her. The energy tentacles release her brothers in one swoop, them falling to the floor, exhausted, as the tentacles retreat back into Vanya, but she underestimated her powers.

     There’s too much, the energy slamming back into her, and for a moment, you see Vanya through the mask of the White Violin, scared of the power she holds and doesn’t know how to control. It’s an overload, like it was when she was little, and because nobody ever took the time to teach her how to control it, she doesn’t know how. Allison’s fingers twitch around her gun behind her back, and then her gaze shifts. Five steps behind Vanya and points the gun at the back of her head. And the viewer remembers everything Five has gone through because of the Apocalypse, what he had to become to survive, how he sacrificed everything to come back and stop the end of the world. How ready he was to end the life of an innocent gardener to change the course of history. And here is where a more interesting subversion of the source material would come in. Remember comic!Five saying “You know something, Vanya…? I never liked you.”?

     Because show!Five is established to like Vanya, love her even. She was the first one he told about the apocalypse and that he wants to stop it (Five having that gun would also have made the first season come full circle in an incredibly satisfying way) , the first one he trusted, the sibling he treats with gentleness and kindness even though he is not gentle or kind. Her words brought him comfort for decades in the barren wasteland, and he is the only sibling that she canonically doesn’t resent for how she was treated in their childhood. She had bandaged up his wounds, probably the first time since he left the Academy on that fateful day without saying goodbye that someone touched him carefully, lovingly, and she told him that she hadn’t seen him in a long time and that she didn’t want to lose him again. And now he is faced with the prospect of shooting her in the head to achieve what he worked forty-five years towards.

     And here is the kicker if this would have been the version we got to see in the show: there would have been foreshadowing to this very moment, because it would not have been the first time in the show that Five pointed a gun at a sibling. As Five set to go kill the previously mentioned innocent gardener with his father’s rifle, Luther grabs Delores and dangles her out of the window, giving Five the choice between the literal embodiment of the better half of his mind, the one who thinks beyond, the one created out of love, or the bloodshed he had been trained to solve every problem with. Bluntly put, Luther put him on the spot and made him choose between love and violence.

     Five chose love.

     Over Vanya’s shoulder, Five meets Allison’s eye. And even though she’s terrified of this side of Vanya that makes her pulsate with energy, on the brink of world extinction, she still looks him in the eye, and almost imperceptibly shakes her head, a silent plea to spare Vanya. Because Allison knows what Five has done, she has easily called him a mass murderer before, she knows that he could do it. And so he grips the gun he’s pointing at Vanya just a little tighter, to keep himself from trembling. He moves his arm just a little, bringing the barrel of the gun next to Vanya’s ear, and he pulls the trigger. The gunshot goes off, Vanya’s crumbles to the floor, Allison rushes to her side to catch her. The energy bundles and shoots out, straight into the core of the moon. On stage, Five looks in disbelief at the gun in his hand. He did it. It’s over. And Vanya is still alive.

     And then Klaus’ voice pipes up. “Guys? Do you see that big moonrock coming towards us?”

     And Five looks up. And Five understands, in a second, in a moment. He pulled that trigger, and the world is doomed. His singular act of mercy brought about exactly what he had given up everything to prevent happening.

     As the song that played over Five’s arrival in the apocalypse says: this race is a prophecy. It’s just that nobody told Five that it is a self-fulfilling one.

     I just think it would have been good to give some kind of pay-off to Five’s apocalypse storyline that isn’t him running away from it at the end of the season. I think having him be the one who ultimately brings the apocalypse about through the act of shooting that gun would have rounded out his arc. As I said in the beginning, this is the revised and re-edited version of this, which involves Allison in more of the plot. Her inadvertently causing the apocalypse in the show has no real bearing on her mind or her character past the act of firing the shot, while the same action would have deeply shaken Five to the core, and so I personally think it should have been Five to actually carry out that last action. In this new and improved version, I tried my best to keep Allison’s connection to Vanya, her act of love, and just have Five be the executioner rather than the only one in the scene. It’s not perfect, but it’s an improvement on the very narrow view I had before. I just think Five being a self-fulfilling prophecy would shift the dynamics between him and the Hargreeves in Season 2 interestingly. It would be more justified how harsh and dismissive the Hargreeves are towards Five. It would make his decision to take Vanya back to do right by her even more interesting, as it would be him choosing love over violence again immediately after it failed spectacularly for him, and his and Vanya’s dynamic in Season 2 so much more tense and high-stakes. It was wrong of me to completely strip Allison of any agency in this scenario, and I hope I have done better this time around, while still keeping my conviction that Five inadvertently causing the apocalypse would have been a better culmination of his arc.

[kim-lexie]

sweet home.

so i must preface that these types of dramas or shows or films for that matter are not my cup of tea. that being said i am easily swayed when it comes to my talented hard working men. lee dohyun and song kang being a part of that list, here i am now eagerly awaiting a season two. so how did this drama series full of thrill and gore, change sweet little ole me into a fan?...let's dive in and find out.

we follow hyun-su a high school student whose whole family tragically dies in a car accident that he survives. he moves into an apartment complex full of new people to him. his move coincides with a mysterious phenomenon of humans becoming monsters, which takes over the world. this pandemic of sorts leads him and those others in the apartment building to try and survive. but the twist, you don't know who will turn into a monster next...

*spoiler alert*

from the initial intro i knew it was going to be an odd one. the way in which this drama was filmed, i cannot stress enough how perfect the filming was to express the level of thrill. i loved it and was on the edge of my seat. also i must add that i was and still am not a huge fan of the gore, but i can see why they added it. literally whenever there was a monster it was gorey. like insanely full of gore. definitely one could catch me not watching those parts.

the characters.

cha hyun-su. this dude was complex as heck. as soon as you think you figured him out, the whole picture flips. we start off seeing a depressed student wanting to commit suicide. then as he progresses into becoming a monster we see a side of him that he had hidden that wants to desperately live. and that is how he is able to protect his true self from being taken over by the monster inside. it was so sad to see how tortured he was in school; because prior to him crumbling he was a soft-sweet student wanting to help a fellow peer. and that peer turned out to be an awful human being, who in turn despised hyun-su for his kindness. and then his family became torn apart because of his bully's horrible intentions and pull on his father and in turn leading hyun-su's family to neglect him.

eun-hyeok. this dude was twisted and wanted to survive under the disguise of initially wanting to protect everybody. his methods were wack, because he was literally willing to sacrifice hyun-su as a semi monster leading him to battle every day. dude was wack, but as time continued on we saw that he wanted everyone to survive. and he was able to ensure that they could ration and survive long enough to make a move. and we saw him sacrifice himself to protect his sister eun-yu, who wanted to go back for hyun-su. now y'all, what do we think? i think this kid is still alive and is starting to be taken over by the monster because of all the blood we saw at the end, like wouldn't that be perfect if he is alive for the next season. yes, please.

i wish we could have had more development between hyun-su and eun-yu, but i understand that hyun-su was busy being a sacrifice for everyone and protecting and collecting everything they needed to survive and fighting monsters and all. but still i would have loved to have a little something something from them. ya know.

sang-wook our ambiguous mafia-gang member-mercenary dude. i loved how we discovered his origin story near the end. my goodness gracious. he was hunting down the creeps and taking them out. we stan, maybe not the best methods, but he comes through and protects everybody. and then he goes to save our girl yu-ri, the nurse, who has an asthma attack. on the way out they get shot by the wacko dude and my heart just got ripped out of my chest. like whyyyyyyyy?

i am throughly upset that ji-su, our guitar girl, and jae-heon, our pastor, didn't have their chance to shine. i love how they fit each other and both wanted so desperately to protect those around them even though they did not know all of them personally. like he sacrificed himself to protect everyone. i am thankful that he got to confess and i am glad he did not turn into a monster himself because they would have went against all his principles, but still sooooooo sad.

du-sik. our dude who takes the children in and takes hold of our hyun-su when he is at his most volatile state and brings him back to center. just let me weep once again because his character was incredible and i love him. we stan.

yi-kyung, our firefighter queen, who happens to be pregnant and still slaying monsters. like oh my goodness gracious this girl had so many layers. i love how the story just kept unfolding. her back story, like who is her husband? and how does he know so much about the monsters? what monster did he turn into? like i need to know more! then she ends up back with the government. like what?

ui-myeong, the wack dude that is also a monster like hyun-su but increasing more wack and troubled than hyun-su ever was. honestly, kind of intrigued to know his trauma that made him this way. he is so crazy and i still wish eun-yu and eun-hyeon had talked some sense into hyun-su before letting him get buddy-buddy with this creep. and just me thinking that is who sang-wook was at the end, because he most definitely died and we know this creep can shape-shift. right?! (side note: i love his man as an actor, like seriously who can pull off this character?!?)

moments that stuck with me.

the pinky promise to survive no matter what, between eun-yu and hyun-su.

sang-wook comforting yu-ri when she was caught up in the thought of killing some one. she had to protect herself. and sang-wook kept repeating he was not human.

all the moments that our girl yik-kyung escaped from the monsters. queen.

jae-heon's confession to ji-su.

all the moments that hyun-su did not give into the monster and came back. the desperation worn on his face. like my gosh.

du-sik embracing hyun-su's monster saying 'it's okay' 'it's not your fault'

the deeper meaning.

it was interesting to see the different dynamics between everybody as the world was crumbling, how everyone reacted. the fellow apartment complex residents, some were so concerned with themselves they neglected the community. like the supermarket owner, where his wife wanted to help everyone he wanted to make a profit. 

interesting to see how some of the monsters they turned into were their greatest desire. this was clearly painted in myung-sook's case of not being able to protect her daughter and turning into a monster that was a giant baby. and when they stumbled upon one of the monsters, who wasn't able to protect his children because he could not reach out, and then his monster self was a monster with incredibly long arms.

now i don't know how far of a reach this is and i did not further investigate other than watching the season, and seeing clips of my faves online but is there a deeper meaning to the whole show of the monster inside all of us. what do you think?

overall, i would rate this drama an 8.5 out of 10. it was stellar considering how i am not inclined to watch this genre, but it was great from the character development and intense storyline.