#and when you consider it thats the arc *for most companions*

[devotedlystrangewizard]

hey can we talk about how astarion, despite having the least connection to the main plot of bg3, still has the most content of all the companions

[arolesbianism]

I've been passively watching an isat playthrough while twiddling my thumbs in my current oni save as I wait for my new power systems to be done and hey guys. I think one of these bitches is aromantic. Why did no one tell me one of these bitches is aromantic I would have played the game myself if I knew that

[brilliantfantasticgeronimo]

66.7512 meters episode!!!

i think i broke his heart! oh well!!!! ÑLKÑLK ruby y are u so happy about this all the time skfljdks1 (waiting for the karmic writing where someone breaks *her* heart....). tbh also very doctor-like. they are *so* unhinged

i was looking for some Spin-off foreshadowing in this war between land and sea business but best i've got is that... it will probably be set in wales ksdlfj

nuclear war is hilarious. fiften u are not all right.

That's the most bizarre "circle" ive ever seen. if anything is the orthogonal projection of a geodesic dome.

"A pee around the back"…….. dr pee foreshadowing

AESOP #1: children, when u are doing "off the road tourism", don't disturb sacred sites

susan twist's "thing" is just gonna be: "take revenge from being killed so many times". like she's just red-shirting all over the place (maybe it's gonna be a bit of meta commentary of the high body count of this show? that it's all for our sadistic pleasure but doesn't always have real significance skfldj)

I guess inflation is a recurring theme this season?

liminal spaaaace

"and then there's the blood""w-what blood?" i laughed ngl sksksk

the different color fonts in iplayer are a bit distracting tbh…...

ah yes. welsh racism...

hmmm… runy sitting in the chair... to wait in front of the tardis... "The one who waits?"

Thats' what men do skdksk love me some "Intergalactic fuck boy" subtext being voice and made text

Poor ruby ):

it's about the [metaphor for being stigmatized]!!!

Ohh the doctor was the first to disappear by the curse, maybe?

"even ur real mother didnt want u" Bro this monster is so mean wtf Kate!!!

AGAINST HIM, SOMETIMES!!!!!!!!! Antagonist kate be coming!!!

"well, that's classified"

This timeline might be suspended along ur event???

WE INVENT THE RULES AND MAKE THEM WORK!!! THEMES!! YOU HAVE TO COUNT EVERY GRAIN OF SALT!!! IT'S THE GAME THEME CONNECTING TO THE SUPERSTITION THEME!!!!!!!!

theeeemes

the more unit gets competent the more sinister they become

her going "cheers!" to her personal satan. i love u ruby

FUCK YEAH. ICON. GO KILL THE PRIME.MINISTER

...only guys in ruby's little montage ]: im heartbroken T.T rip the x5 times wlw companions streak dream it seems

"except the bed thing that was u" narrator voice: it wasnt

"Which is what?" KILL THE PM KILL THE PM DO IT ICON

Rtd connected to the universe skskdk oh beautiful synergy

[also literally how Y&Y starts... ]

"No more" feels loaded/intentional here, considering how it's been used before as an Important Phrase is War's arc.

the emo advisor guy intrigues me

Ruby having to solve this whole thing + cold war vibes.... mmm very ace coded

[lol @ soc dem / liberal writers being so scared of "populism" and "the dumbness of crowds". peak soc dem / liberal] [what is a "political allegory story" by a soc dem without the punchline being that "I think The People are really fucking Stupid actually"] [i do enjoy the side point of british politicians being so desperate for relevancy that they fire nuclear missiles for the fun of it. yeah… that tracks]

[lol becoming independent from nato being a bad thing. lol #"fucklybia!!"#signed:thisepisode]

the directing is very fun in this

Ruby get on your feets and make it happen

She's gonna say u forgot to say hi to this lady

ruby's asking to be shot again sksks

Iris u say…........ eyes emoji

[ok but also. lol not to go " ah, peak liberal again!" but lol. this resolution is peak liberal [ie. fundamentally antidemocratic, a few 1% technocrats (obvs, privileged and from the global north) with the answers "know what's best"]. this lad may have been crazy but they voted for him for a reason that "the system" wasnt providing.but in typical soc dem fashion they can't ever fight the fascists on The Real Deal ie. strength of a proposed political project + material gains resulted from those political projects + committing to real system change, so they have to scramble for antidemocratic solutions like [timey wimey prisons] to ""fight facism""" (ie not fighting it at all and by proxy, just making the fucking cockroaches stronger each "election cycle" because they can't fight them in a meaningful, political sense) bc the people are just too stupid!!! and this is why democracy was a mistake!!!!!!! ... sigh rtd. oh well good thing i didn't expect more on this front tbh sdlkjfdsd in that sense the s1-s4 rewatch prepared me well lol]

clara vibes in this ep in a lot of moments (old!ruby, sort of "mausoleum tardis", etc)

"i didnt travel with him long..." "but it felt like a lifetime" became literal…

"Everyone has abandoned me my whole life" T_T

AESOP #2: kids u are never alone <3 u always have ur inner demons :) and the unrelenting spectra of death~

There's always something a bit unsatisfying about self closing paradoxes... kinda like "oh it was all a dream so it didnt matter". but i think in this one it was crunchy enough with other things that i think it was balanced.

Very turn left-y ending! CONCLUSIONS!! people kept saying in the press this episode was gonna be "super scary" tbh i just found it.... profoundly sad sdxkljflkfj ruby's life just *screams* "missing the important bits by focusing on the unimportant" and "obsessing over things that don't matter" and "companion becomes detached from real life to the point they become super unhinged and callous" ("im sorry i couldn't help you marti")

(c+p some stuff i put on a discord): tbh i rolled my eyes at the political stuff but i don't think im even mad about it this time lol (too tired irl to get properly angry at doctor who these days ig)

anyway i dont think the political stuff is what it was really "about". i found this story very moving on what it was (imo) rlly about: ruby's fear and experience of being abandoned and also the general "fear of approaching death"

and obvs a bit of other emotional beats that are more specific to doctor who's long running stories: like the doctor "always does this" ie leaves everyone of his friends behind and there's the lingering tragedy that this will happen, as well, to ruby inevitably, then also both ruby and the doc becoming 'detached' from real life (ruby basically never investing anything in those relationships w/ those guys bc she was 'absorbed' by this mystery /clearly a parallel to her being absorbed by her parental origin) and also how tourists cant watch where they step / the doctor and co arent always respectful to the 'silly traditions' of the places they visit (tbh excellent bc to overcome my "this show has the white man's burden' engraved in its dna" meta... the show is gonna have to keep making story like and like Demons of Punjab for at least 3 more decades lol) (basically tldr i think it fumbled the politics stuff but it was rlly crunchy where it mattered. also, ....... i think this pretty much confirms that ruby isn't her own mother / the person who let herself at the door step in Christmas, right??? like rtd had said was the short story he had concocted years ago, and was the insp for this... but he kinda used up that trick here… so it must be something/someone else, right?) (another thing: ruby going "i used to be able to make it snow" made smth click....... ---> if ruby's whole focus rn seems to be about "the mystery", and this quest seems to be not only something she *needs* but also something that like... means joy and adventure, and traveling with the doctor... when she finds out the Truth,,, that probably means all the whimsy in her life will go away? (so she may come to a point where she Doesn't want to know Actually (which would be very "thirteen regretting throwing away the watch" realness mirror again)

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

i think the problem with the fam is theyre too obedient. theyre such goody two shoes the hope is that it'd rub off right? on the doctor. but it doesnt bc she hides her badness and they wont question her. okay they'll question her "what happened to never do weapons" "why dont you ever share anything with us" but they wont push back when she says nah ah we dont talk about that. and thats her problem. she wont talk about that. or that. or that. or that. or any of it

i think if you put a limit on their patience. theyre understanding but not forever (i mean theyre even understanding after her "death". "she knew she was gonna do something that might kill her" "she wanted us to live"). watch them grow more annoyed as they call out hypocrisies and less and less willing to accept bullshit answers. it would put a lot of movement in the dynamic i think

like okay, taking yaz out of the equation bc shes not a companion shes a doctor, just considering ryan and graham for now: ryan is young and like, being formed, which is part of his arc, but he also already has a lot of like really life- and worldview-shaping experiences right? black, disabled, unable to count on most of the guardians in his life. those things profoundly shape how you stand in the world, how you approach and are approached

and okay lets put yaz back in for a sec because shes really interesting to like put next to ryan and see like what happens there. because she and ryan share both being racialised and being neurodivergent, if you want to call it that (if depression counts. personally i think depression is more of a like regular human reaction to life than "divergence" from the "typical" so to say, but then i also think the secret underlying reason she was bullied and thus depressed was the autism. so it cancels out for me. but like thats sort of weaving in and out the text. and depression also is something very different from dyspraxia. BUT these are both things about them that like have been Underlined for us the audience, same as the conversation behind the bins in rosa, so i think im justified in putting these two things together as comparison. okay tangent over)

ryan and yaz both have had experiences of not being able to count on the people around them, for various reasons but all the same. it would be fairly understandable i think for ryan to be sort of like, fuck adults fuck people who have authority over me based on nothing. whereas yaz,,,,becomes the authority

RYAN: Yeah, see? It's not like Rosa Parks wipes out racism from the world forever. Otherwise, how come I get stopped way more by the police than my white mates? YASMIN: Oi, not this police.

and you could really have put them like,,not opposite per se but like clashing in some way over this. not clashing like in fighting necessarily, though yes as in conflict. clashing as in different ideals, different conclusions drawn from similar experiences

yaz says to do good in the world i must have the power of the state. which also implies the power of the state can be good and is meant to be good. ryan i can easily imagine having been someone who no authority was worth counting on so fuck them all. that wouldve been a reaaally interesting tension to see play out throughout s11 and s12 i think

and thats just two of them. we've got a team of four. imagine both of their reactions to the doctor. we dont have to imagine with yaz, but ryan couldve been more like well whos she. you know? why are we listening to her? what just because she says so? let her prove herself first.

and then theres graham who has like half a lifetime of experience of Being A Human on them, who isnt in the coming of age phase anymore, who must have a lot of his own worldview, ideas, politics. we see like, a tiny bit of that with like edison or whatever but how does that play with a Time LordTM?

like theres a lot of interesting ways to pair up and to clash them! 13 and yaz with suicidal ideation, 13 and ryan on the dad thing, 13 and graham on survivors guilt. 13 and yaz vs ryan and graham on authority and law. ryan vs graham and 13 on guardians. ryan and yaz vs 13 and graham on being racialised. 13 and yaz vs ryan and graham on sexism. this couldve been a wildly dynamic team i think. if only you'd let them fight! if only you'd let them have their own opinions and Speak Them. this would put like so much schwung in like,, every plot, every episode

because it's all there! right? it's all already there, just look at the episode list of s11, it's all there, racism, sexism, workers, colonialism, big fucking spiders i dont know! wait thats a worker one again let me revise big fucking spiders capitalism! it's all there, you just gotta make it a bit dialectical. have them argue their sides and disobey and have 13 be like herding cats

imagine the way this would have challenged the doctor and the doctor's politics, then to follow it up with s12 "gallifrey is not what we think it is. we are not what we think we are"

and then revolution of the daleks, ryan and graham gone, and in that episode the police was very obviously like sided with the daleks and the capitalist and that politician right? the police was the fascists. hi, yasmin, how are you. oh, crazy? right, good, the doctor is too.

yaz and 13, now alone, ten months between revolution and flux, time to grapple with what it means to be both victim and agent of an empire. do we accept that? do we refuse that role? how do we refuse that role? how do we be good? what does it mean to be good if police clearly isnt it? how do we take off the uniforms. what moral framework do we build and then commit to, and hold each other accountable to, as copilots of this operation. what do we want to do in the universe. what is our impact. what do we want to avoid doing. how do we do that.

had the doctor said "i was in prison for being me" to yaz, imagine how that would have shaken up her ideas about prisons and how and why people might be in them. might have started her thinking. but then we're back to where i started this post before i totally lost control of it: The Doctor Doesnt Talk About That. and if the fam had been slightly more disobedient in s11, maybe in revolution there would have been place for it

[pokkemonsideblog]

I actually think it was really neat of Anipoke to (mostly) stop chopping up and clumsily sewing together characters/arcs/plotpoints from the games in an attempt to center Ash entirely while still being able to point and yell "Look!! It's that thing that happened in the game you played!!!"

Like. For the majority of the anime, Ash would literally just replace the protagonist of the game and if they're lucky said protagonist gets a severely reduced role/importance and plays support to Ash for the rest of the generation. They might have some holdouts from their original arc and characterization but most of it's given to Ash and they get to go...Do Contests and Be A Girl and Maybe Have A Crush On Ash.

I'd say Sun/Moon is least guilty of this, but only just slightly, and it's absolutely not blameless considering how it downranked the Trial Captains to schoolmates who sometimes stumble into trials with Ash and how a large chunk of Lillie's in game role was given to Ash instead.

But guess what? This is barely an issue whatsoever in the Journeys anime?

During Journeys, Ash stays at the Cerise Institute as a research fellow. Which isn't a thing in the games. Ash's companions are Goh and sometimes Chloe. Who do not exist in the games. Ash's whole main goal is to win the World Coronation Series. Which does not exist in the games. And thats great!

Ash repeating the same repetitive gym badge/championship journey cycle every season, usually with major characters from the games who have been forcefully contorted to varying degrees into a support role , and then just running off to do it all again? It got a little old.

It's honestly refreshing to actually see him in a plotline that was written for him instead of shoehorned into the writer's best imitation of what his newly demoted companions did in the game.

It's even more refreshing to see him mostly engage with character's specifically designed for this story (which also allows for other characters from the franchise to appear when/how it feels natural and have a life outside ash instead of the previous season's style of watering down the characters and waving them in your face while giving their achievements/arc to ash).

More than anything else it's refreshing for one of the character's designed for this story to be made as an equal partner to Ash with their own unique personality and arc also originally designed for the story the anime is telling!

The storyline for Journeys isn't exactly revolutionary or never seen before in the Pokemon franchise. "Win big competition" and "catch every pokemon" are both pretty standard goals. But the story being told didn't need to be completely unlike anything else in the franchise. Pokemon plotlines are usually pretty similar even from one game to another and I wouldn't expect complete originality from the anime. The story being told just needed to be a story of it's own with characters of its own. And that's what it is!

In my opinion, Anipoke actually feels like it's standing on it's own feet as an addition to the Pokemon franchise instead of a slightly out of place remix of whatever the most recent game is featuring incredibly forced protagonist, Ash "the world revolves around me" Ketchum, for once.

The change in how Anipoke has been written is genuinely a good and needed switch that mediates the issue of how stale the Anipoke plot was getting, gives it at least a little bit of identity outside of whatever the current game is, and let's a lot more breathing room exist in places where Ash once would've been forcefully crammed into the spotlight for no good reason.

Which is honestly what annoys me so much about half the Anipoke fandom being up in arms about how "Goh is given too much attention" or "We don't get to explore Galar enough". Would you people rather we go through Galar, collect the gym badges, take part in the championship, and lose horribly, featuring companion girl Gloria who has a crush on Ash for some reason and wants to become a Wooloo Herder and barely gets any character development or something completely stupid like that? Is that your ideal? Cause to be frank, I found it in poor taste the first four times they went with that idea and painfully stale the next three.

I'd honestly prefer the Journeys anime and Goh any day and I really hope Anipoke stands it's ground on this matter.

[snaxpo]

fuck it bugsnax/s4m au notes

alternate title: i’m at that point in liking something where i have to combine it with everything else i’ve liked previously and today i’m making that everyone else’s problem. 

- base premise is a lil different! instead of being a journalist who was invited personally to the island by the expedition leader, you (or FK if you consider them a separate character from the player) are tasked with investigating the habitat, a budding commune on snaktooth island that may or may not be devolving into a cult. there’s just one teeny tiny problem - the commune’s leader and also your main suspect, boris habit, has been missing for weeks by the time you arrive. 

- now it’s a matter of gaining the inhabitants’ trust/getting them to come back to the habitat while hunting and subduing the bugsnax, who seem increasingly eager to launch themselves at inhabitants at quite literally dangerous speeds, in a battle of wits to keep your newfound companions fed while documenting the strange creatures. and of course, the question of just what happened to boris habit still lingers in the air. think like... talentless nana where the protag pretends to be all cute and unassuming (complete with flower motifs!) but really they’re there on Super Secret Spy Business. but of course there’s less murder. 

- oddly the bugsnax seem to have only become more aggressive after his disappearance. i’m sure it’s nothing. 

- yes everyone is still a grumpus

- there isn’t really an interview “mechanic” so much as it is a Lot of cozying up to everybody in pursuit of whatever information you can find on habit/potential group rituals/events that led to his disappearance; you get it by bits and pieces rather than a single structured interview. there is of course a lot more interactions between characters than there is in s4m’s base game bc thats like 60% of the appeal of bugsnax and i would be a fool not to think of it.

- time for ideas for specific characters! kamal is the vice-mayor of the habitat and has been habit’s right-hand grump for as long as any of the inhabitants can remember, despite their relationship becoming increasingly strained ever since their arrival on the island, and especially before habit’s disappearance. i imagine you still find him passed out but instead of collapsing from starvation he’s like "please.... toothpaste... a breath mint.... some pepto bismol. i’ve been able to taste my own breath for weeks." has been trying to divide his time between looking after the habitat and looking for habit himself (and also his best friend wallus) but the dispersal of the habitat has left him a tad Demoralized, to say the least.

- i feel like trencil would play a wambus-adjacent role in the sense that he's the one taking care of the sauce plants and also one of the first townspeople you meet. you convince to come back with you not necessarily bc he'd be able to continue farming in town but bc he would probably have an easier time looking for his daughter if he got some sleep first (but only if you look for her in his stead)

- gillis is like. a wannabe chandlo. makes you capture a bunch of snax that he Says he's gonna use to get stronger but eventually you find out he's been releasing them or keeping them in like lil makeshift pet houses bc he always takes one look at their big googly eyes and turns to mush. but EVERYONE'S eating them so naturally if they find out he's not they're gonna think he's some kinda wuss so he just pretends. 

- dallas keeps asking for sweet n colorful bugsnax to give to mirphy to impress her (sweetieflies, instabugs, etc etc.) but by some streak of bad luck they always end up being her least favorite. he tries to see if Maybe he can use them to make some new bugsnak-exclusive pigments, but like in canon they always end up turning into mush before he can get very far. mirphy meanwhile is far more interested in preserving them for a potential display, but similar to dallas, she never gets very far.

- i imagine the kid habiticians are like. a roving band of semi-feral children bc if anyone's gonna keep them in town it's definitely not kamal.

- i wanna do something with wallus SO BAD like you find him somewhere up in frosted peak but i have no idea what he would even DO its fucking killing me

- those are all the ideas i have For Now; s4m has more characters than bugsnax so there’s a lot to be done w/ them lmao. if i think of any more i’ll probably put it in another post or if anybody wants to spitball with me.......  👀

- and now we get to The Big Guns: habit.

- he was fun to work on w/ this au mostly bc despite being the rough equivalent of lizbert he’s a way different type of flawed leader than her; where liz is responsible to the point of martyring herself without a second thought and not thinking to delegate any tasks to the other snaxburg residents, which is what ultimately causes them to fall apart once she disappears, habit's deal is that he wants the position and appearance of an authority figure because it'll keep him safe, but he kind of sucks at taking responsibility for anything he does wrong because he’s spent most of his life acting according to what other people (namely his family) expect of him and being met with a negative reception no matter what, so he doesn’t really believe he has power over anything, including his own actions, despite being such a control freak for most of his own game. so his arc would need something that’s kind of antithetical to what liz had, wouldn’t it?

- so what i got so far is that au habit was tryin to covertly start a bugsnax cult bc he sees being asborbed by the snax as a sort of ascension and was eventually planning to have everyone be absorbed; it’s important to note however that bc information on bugsnax is so obscure he doesn’t actually 100% know how absorption works so tl;dr: habit became the bugsnax monarch willingly and then 5 seconds later he was like "oh no wait this fucking sucks. what have i done. shit. fuck."

- unable to cope with the realization that he was once again forced to act in accordance to someone (or in this case something) else's desires, he shuts down emotionally, becoming an empty husk of a grumpus while the bugsnax above run rampant thanks to the extra fuel and absolutely no restrictions until the Big Climax when habit is finally moved to take back control of the snax and by proxy Take Some Fucking Responsibility for knowingly luring people to cthulhu island. however this does leave the obvious question of if he was such an empty shell for most of the game why didn’t they just. eat him.

- the answer i eventually landed on was that his self-preservation instincts were still kicking on a subconscious level and during the aforementioned climax he eventually realizes that he does not in fact want to die, he just doesn’t want to keep living the way he is now (as part of an ancient hivemind beyond his understanding) or the way he was before (you know.)

- also fun fact: i was thinking about what his monarch body would be based off of bc the snakdragon, while cool as shit, didn’t feel right for him, and then i remembered that blooming onions exist. i imagine he’s in the middle acting as the flower’s “stigma”

- as for endings i’m thinking like. in the neutral ending kamal joins habit but its left ambiguous whether or not they'll ever be able to leave the island or if this is even a permanent solution (call that the paw in unloveable paw ending). in the good ending you bust habit outta his queen body after fending off enough bugsnax together and it’s super gross bc the undersnax as a whole is super gross but hey at least everyone’s leaving alive. i don’t know what a bad ending entails except most if not all of the cast is dead and habit is left alone on the island surrounded by reminders of his spectacular failure.

- hell i can even think of a sequel hook for the good ending like in canon bugsnax; some time after the ending/credits you ask habit just Where did he get the information on bugsnax that led to him being like “you could make a religion out of this” and the screen fades to black before you hear his answer. there.

- its almost midnight.

[tfw-no-tennis]

mtmte liveblog issue 36

time travel arccccccccccccc yessssssssss

I have been waiting SO LONG to reread this arc hhhhh yessss

starting off strong with the sexy roller cover. nice

I love the disconnect of ‘orion pax: outlaw’ compared to the last time we saw him in shadowplay where he was orion pax: supercop

he’s still punching people for JUSTICE or whatever so I guess not much has changed

oh my god this is the issue with the many many two-page spreads...the first time I read this issue I didn't realize that was a thing and GOD I was SO fucking confused. there's already a lot going on in this issue/arc but this made things so much worse hvbhjkdfbsk. I powered thru and still managed to understand most of the arc despite reading half this issue out of order (essentially) bc the website I read it on split the pages up and I couldn't tell they were supposed to be doubled (and also I'm dumb so I didn't figure it out)

anyways, the actual issue...windcharger is out here using his powers to rip a dudes arms clean off. wow!

and there's skids getting punched in the face. Ls

and glitch! a totally minor character of course...

MANNNNN I SO adore the panel of all the lost lighters appearing in a cloud of purple smoke, all posing epically....SO fucking good, peak sci-fi coolness vibes, A++

as usual jro killing it w/the titles, ‘elegant chaos’ is such a great name for a time travel arc

also reading the tfwiki has shown me that many of jros titles are song or album titles, to which I say - that's epic and I love it. with jro doing it, I feel like it straddles the line between referencing music and the very fanfic-esque ‘title things after music’ vibe. I love it

oh god I forgot they use bs cybertronian time units in this sometimes lmao...I mean of course they do but still like, what the fuck is a cycle. is that a day. I feel like these words all have no meaning/the meanings change drastically depending on continuity. I cant keep up and also I'm lazy and don't care enough to try

I love rodimus did u know

poor riptide looks so confused lmao

IS....IS REWIND PIGGYBACKING TAILGATE...THATS SO FUCKING CUTE....I cant fully tell bc of the page layout but ooomg so precious. minibot buddies

whirl saying ‘chuff’ just reminded me how british jro is hvbhakjhdsfbs sometimes it just Jumps Out in mtmte and I'm like Oh God Britain Is Real

I really like the mtmte approach to time travel and paradoxes and whatnot. its just complex enough to be interesting but not too convoluted that it bogs down the story. perfect sci-fi fun!

mannnn chromedome talking abt brainstorm :( I'm sad abt those two hhhhh

and I love how at this point, nobody in the cast ACTUALLY knows brainstorm well enough to know what he’s really doing - including chromedome, who’s ostensibly his closest friend, somebody he’s known for a while - and even the readers don't really know what he’s up to...I like the mystery tbh

cant believe rewind wrote orion pax’s biography, omg. completely forgot abt that detail

cd saying ‘I love it when he talks history’ about rewind....hhhh I love cdrw so muuuuch

godddd the line rodimus says abt whirl - how they need people like whirl around who are ‘happy to get in the way’ of danger and death - that shit haunts me man like...rodimus is basically saying that he’s bringing whirl along to potentially die in place of someone like orion pax (nevermind the fact that whirl dying would ALSO fuck up the timeline)...like, how deep does it go?? is he saying that bc he knows whirl has been trying to get himself killed for a while now, or just bc whirl likes violence? mannn I cant...the character intricacies...man

anyways...I love rodimus he’s such an interesting character. you have that fucked up moment and then in the next panel he’s saying ‘if you want to call it a time phone, I wont stop you’ about the quantum walkie-talkie. he has the RANGE

oh and then rodimus casually volunteering chromedome to do mnemosurgery on anyone who might accidentally find out about them time traveling, which is again fucked up on multiple levels. the raaaaange

vjaksbhdhfusajbfdjk that panel of the lost light squad just standing there like idiots reminds me of that post where someone said abt that panel ‘these characters have a collective 3 brain cells’ or something hvbjadkfnksfdl

rodimus IMMEDIATELY breaking his own rules by trying to reassure pax that they're good guys by pointing at his autobot badge, even tho the autobots DONT EVEN EXIST YET at this point...my boy PLEASE go purchase some brain cells from the store 

and the fact that rodimus introduced himself to pax w/his real name...shouldn't he go by an alias or st??? that seems like a good time travel rule since optimus and rodimus definitely know each other later 

and like, did they not anticipate that some of the people in the past would recognize some of the lost lighters hgbajkhdjfnjksf like cd and whirl get Instantly recognized...great job guys

they are all SO bad at this hvbahskjdhfbasjkf I cantttt luckily for them the orion crew is handing them easy alibis 

‘the dugout’ is that a baseball reference????

also I love the scenery here, the bg looks like rock but there's metal piping and stuff running thru it, its so cool...really adds to the whole ‘cybertron biomes are made of metal’ thing

‘ancient history’ rodimus are you KIDDING ME-

cyclonus time travels to the past and IMMEDIATELY finds a window to stare broodingly out of. icon

tailgate thinking orion pax is SUPER COOL continues here from shadowplay and I love it...tailgate is so cute

and the tg saying ‘don't you think that's awesome, cyclonus?’ hhhhh so cute

one reason I love this arc so much is that this is the arc where the gay Really amps up 

TRAILBREAKER.... oh man ;_;

are you telling me that this outlaw base they're in has ONE bed for all of these people. what the hell vhbaksjhfnsal

cant believe rung sampled roller’s steroid juice box

also cant believe robot steroids exist. except yes I can and I love it

oooh roller’s a 0/1%er? I forgot abt that 

cant believe orion pax just grabs some random phone that belongs to these weird new people and answers it. WHO does that

goddddd megatron and orion’s conversation....destroy me

HHHHHH like...the HISTORY....the regret...the missed opportunities...its all so palpable....goddddddd

and of COURSE, the whole thing is steeped in tragedy...the ideological differences that will become the foundation for a 4 million year long war...megatron, who believes that you need to burn things down and start again to really make change stick, and then orion, who says ‘reform is the answer, not revolution’....AUGHHH the intricacies. mannnn

‘you sound lost’ 😭😭😭

‘its tragic.’ yeah, that about sums up their relationship, especially at this stage and in this continuity 

anyways. [cries about old man megatron talking to young naïve orion pax] goodbye

AUGHHH and then we jump to rodimus ONCE AGAIN breaking his own rules and trying to save trailbreaker...IT HURTS MAN...god I love rodimus, I feel like him being broken up about crewmembers like trailbreaker dying is one part regular sadness over people he knows dying for tragic reasons, and one part personal guilt at someone under his command dying, even if he’s not involved/at fault. I love the dichotomy of this emotional reaction that comes only partially from empathy/emotion, but also comes from a kinda self-centered need for success as measured by people under your command staying alive. and taking into account rodimus’s life it totally makes sense that he’d act like that...GAH I love it. the complexity of it all!

orion pax saying ‘you should read [megatron]. it’s powerful stuff’ I'm screaming, so many LAYERSSSSS

I fucking love time travel AHHHHHHHHH like the opportunity for interactions like these....chefs kiss

‘hey, best friend! miss you!’ rodimus is such a shit hvbdajkfksjhfd 

‘very sus’ rodimus ahead of his time w/the among us lingo

oooh and then they realize that the senate is trying to kill the sparks...gotta save the babies!

tailgate scolding cyclonus for bluntly stating that you'd wanna be subtle when killing newborns...hhhvbhsdfhhhhhh I love them sm

ooooh and rewind has an interesting suggestion - that the senate is actually trying to irradiate the sparks into being outliers...rewind is so smart I love him

and the fact that he’s using history from his database...love it

rodimus sending cyclonus and whirl out like pokemon

ROLLER NOOOO DONT GO OUT THERE

also wow this is literally the 5th (I think) double page spread in this issue...the confusion I felt the first time I read this...lmao 

and now this is literally one of my favorite issues so I'm glad I know what's going on lmao

oh man rodimus telling cd not to erase trailbreakers memory even tho that could jeopardize the entire timeline... :( 

oh man I didn't even notice but roller getting debris blasted into his face like that makes the whole ‘roller is tarn’ theory even more legit considering tarn’s face scars....

‘tighter the better’ hhh don't say that orion. but also, that’s the companion phrase to megatron saying ‘the deeper the better’ hvbhasjkhdfbaksjlf

I do love the semi-campy action hero antics that orion pax gets up to. its just so fun, even when the stakes are high and things are serious

‘this is the greatest thing I have ever seen’ tg ily

THE REVEAL THAT THE SPARKS WENT TO NYON...so rodimus just saved himself, basically...time travel is so trippy

GODDDD ND THEN TRAILBREAKER...HVHHHHHh 😭😭😭 THATS SO CRUEL MAN

oh man that last panel of trailbreaker holding up roller’s juice box...iirc the first time I read this I thought that was roller (cause of the juice box I guess? idk I'm an idiot) so I was like oh ok he must've come back or something. very much related but I didn't really think about tarn being a particular pre-established character and totally didn't read the whole ‘roller is tarn’ thing that was going on 

which in my defense ruth also didn't pick up on any of that while reading this and eventually like 2 issues before the reveal I had to prompt her like ‘you should maybe be wondering WHO tarn is’ vhbahjksdfbaksjdf

so! issue 37! this issue is a solid favorite of mine, id say definitely top 5 or even 3. I'm super biased bc I fucking LOVE time travel, it’s seriously one of my favorite tropes ever, and this issue hits all the time travel beats I love. characters traveling to the past and interacting with people they know! conversations that have multiple meanings bc of TIME TRAVEL! trying to save someone who meets a terrible fate in your future! fun time travel action! the time traveling characters being generally terrible at hiding the fact that they're time travelers! ITS SO GOOD. 

and I love the clever way everything is tied together here - where we get a nice continuation of shadowplay, with this taking place shortly after that with a lot of the same cast, and time travel classics like the good ole ‘if we hadn't travelled back in time and done what we did, the future we came from wouldn't have existed at all,’ in the flavor of ‘rodimus saving his baby self’ and ‘rodimus NOT saving trailbreaker’ and ‘everyone forgot about roller :(’ 

ok but like, did the lost lighters just go ‘oh well, guess rollers gone now.’ like they DID realize that the outlaw crew would have no idea what happened to him if they got their memories erased, right?? did the lost lighters figure that since roller never reappeared after this time period, that was how history was ‘supposed’ to go and they shouldn't mess with it? am I overthinking it? as usual: yes, probably. I love overthinking about comics, in case that wasn't obvious

basically...I love this issue soooo much. so so good and a bunch of fun tropes that I love. I mean the whole arc is like that for me since I love time travel so much. so I cant wait to (re)read more!!

[fortunatelylori]

What prophecies do you think will play out on the show? What will be the outcome and which character will the prophecy be about?

Hey, nonnie!

Hmmm … very interesting question. And a multi-layered one. 

Of course the show will have to pay-off the prophecies it included from the books. Then there are prophecies that were not mentioned in the show but by the nature of revealing the endgame and by being ahead of the books, the show will either pay them off or at least give heavy hints for what they might be in the books. And then there are foreshadowing elements that aren’t really prophecies per se but serve a similar purpose in the narrative. 

So let’s get started. Warning: this will get long. 

Prophecies mentioned in the show

Azor Ahai

Melisandre: After the long summer, the darkness will fall heavy on the world. Stars will bleed. The cold breath of winter will freeze the seas and the Dead shall rise in the North. In the ancient books it’s written that a warrior shall draw a burning sword from the fire and that sword shall be Lightbringer. 

This is very much in play, having been mentioned as recently as season 7 and I believe that by the end of season 8 we will have a definitive answer as to who and what Azor Ahai is. 

I’ve talked about this before in this post. Here is an excerpt: 

I think it’s far more likely that Azor Ahai is not a hero. He’s a villain and the elemental opposite to the Night King.  R'hllor followers herald Azor Ahai’s second coming with such encouraging words as: “ he will bring an eternal summer” which sounds great if you worship fire but in reality an eternal summer is about as bad as an eternal winter. If the WWs unbalance the world by plunging it into night and winter, Azor Ahai is supposed not to bring balance back but to unbalance it in the opposite direction.

Considering the placement of Azor Ahai in complete opposition to the WW and the obsession with fire of the followers of R’hllor, I’d say that the best candidate for this position is one D*enerys Targareyen, which doesn’t sound surprising since many people theorize the same. The twist is that AA was never meant to be a hero but rather an antagonist. @trinuviel has a fantastic series regarding this topic and I would encourage you to read it. She goes into a lot more detail than I am able to provide.

One aspect of this prophecy that is not brought up in the show is Nissa Nissa: 

To fight the darkness, Azor Ahai needed to forge a hero’s sword. He labored for thirty days and thirty nights until it was done. However, when he went to temper it in water, the sword broke. He was not one to give up easily, so he started over.

The second time he took fifty days and fifty nights to make the sword, even better than the first. To temper it this time, he captured a lion and drove the sword into its heart, but once more the steel shattered.

The third time, with a heavy heart, for he knew beforehand what he must do to finish the blade, he worked for a hundred days and nights until it was finished. This time, he called for his wife, Nissa Nissa, and asked her to bare her breast. He drove his sword into her living heart, her soul combining with the steel of the sword, creating Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes.

People have been speculating for years on who might be the Nissa Nissa in the story but because this isn’t mentioned in the show, I’m not really sure this will be paid off. However, considering Melisandre’s obsession with blood magic and human sacrifice, I think there’s a possibility that a candidate will arise. And in my opinion, that would probably be Mel herself. She foretold her own death in season 7 and because of the nature of her arc, the relation to fire, blood and magic I can see her as a willing human sacrifice for the glory of the prophesied hero. 

However, since I don’t think she is interpreting the prophecy of Azor Ahai correctly and that AA is probably not the person that will end the Long Night, I don’t think this human sacrifice in the form of Nissa Nissa 2.0 will have an effect or at least not the desired one. 

In the comments section of the post I linked above, @trinuviel brought forth the idea that the story of Nissa Nissa and Lightbringer is a metaphorical set of instructions on how to forge Valyrian steel. And I have to say that’s a very intriguing idea and one that sounds very plausible to me for several reasons: 

1. Valyrian steel swords are already magical swords and we know they are effective against the WWs. What could a burning sword do that these other swords can’t?

2. The Valyrians were known to practice blood magic and it’s theorized that’s where the source of most of their power came from, including their bond with dragons. 

3. GRRM has purposefully pointed to the mystery surrounding the forging of Valyrian steel in story several times. There must be a pretty big reason why he hasn’t revealed how these swords are forged. 

The Younger More Beautiful Queen

Maggy the Frog: Oh, yes! You’ll be queen … For a time. Then comes another. Younger. More beautiful. To cast you down and take all you hold dear. 

I believe the last time Cersei mentioned her encounter with Maggy the Frog was after Myrcella was killed. So this will be paid off in season 8.

I’ve made the argument in the past that Sansa is the younger, more beautiful queen that will cast Cersei down and take all that she holds dear: 

Sansa has been intimately involved in all of Cersei’s tragedies even though she is not directly responsible. She was the one that carried the poison that killed Jofferey, the war with her brother is the reason why Myrcella was sent to Dorne, Jofferey’s death leads to Tommen becoming king and eventually killing himself. And, by the end of this series, Sansa might end up as queen of the Seven Kingdoms effectively replacing Cersei.

It isn’t that Sansa is directly responsible for what happens to Cersei but that she ends up taking everything from her in a way that no one could have predicted unless you look back at the events. 

There is an aspect of this prophecy that isn’t mentioned but I think will be paid off as well: 

And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.

I honestly have no idea why they chose not to include this in the show since it’s part of the same conversation as the younger, more beautiful queen. They might bring it up in season 8 through another flash-back and I think that they should. Either way, I’m pretty sure we will find out who the valonqar is. 

I’ve made an argument for Jaime because I think it will be a fitting end to their story and because of what Cersei told Ned about her and Jaime back in season 1: 

Cersei: Jaime and I are more than brother and sister. We shared a womb. We came into this world together. We belong together. 

And by that logic … they will die together. Or at least one will be the end to the other. 

The Prince that was Promised

Melisandre: You should kneel before your brother. He’s the lord’s chosen. Born amidst salt and smoke. 

This is a dicey one because it’s only brought up by Mel as an interchangeable title for Azor Ahai. 

In the books, however, the PTWP is also brought up in relation to Rhaegar and his prophecy fulfilling quest. When D*ny visits the House of the Undying, she has a vision of her brother holding his infant son, Aegon, by Elia Martell and saying this: 

Rhaegar: Aegon. What better name for a king?

Elia: Will you make a song for him?

Rhaegar: He has a song. He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire.

From what we know at this time, Rhaegar never brings up the Azor Ahai prophecy and we don’t know that much about the PTWP. But I tend to think these two aren’t related. 

I believe the PTWP is Jon. His is the only story that is linked to both fire and ice. He is the literal product of the song of ice and fire (the son of a Targareyen and a Stark) and his story is connected to both ice and fire through out. He fights against Ice in the form of the White Walkers and he encounters both the false Azor Ahai (Stannis) and now D*ny, who is the person associated the most with fire in the series. If the Dance of Dragons 2.0 and dark D*ny theories become canon, his song of ice and fire would be his titular role in both these great wars that are about to visit Westeros. He also has “salt and smoke” imagery associated with his death (and subsequent resurrection). 

So I tend to see the PTWP and AA as actually being ultimate adversaries. 

What I’m doubting at the moment is whether or not the show will bother differentiating between these two. I do think that by confirming Dark D*ny and the Dance of Dragons 2.0, they will essentially pay off this prophecy but I’m not sure they’ll signal the distinction. 

That’s about it on the show-included prophecies, I think.

Prophecies not mentioned in the show

The Last Hero

Legends of the north state the last hero and his companions went in search of the children of the forest during the Long Night, thousands of years ago. The only survivor of the company after attacks from giants, wights, and Others, the last hero eventually reached the children and gained their assistance. The Night’s Watch then formed and won the Battle for the Dawn. This ended the generation-long winter and sent the Others into retreat, possibly to the Land of Always Winter. The fate of the last hero is unknown

One could make an argument that this is not a prophecy but rather a story but because the Battle for the Dawn 2.0 is fast approaching, this story/prophecy will most likely be paid off in season 8. 

If anyone is destined to be the hero to save the world from the Long Night that character is Bran Stark and his story is linked to the legend of the Last Hero, who is also identified as Bran the Builder. This connection is not fully established yet but I believe the characters of the Last Hero and Bran the Builder to be one and the same. 

Bran is the Three Eyed Raven, he’s traveled to the Lands of Always Winter and reached the children of the forest. That’s enough evidence for me to assume that his role in season 8 and the defeat of the WWs will pay off the Legend of the Last Hero. Incidentally, Bran the Builder is mentioned in relation to our Bran by Maester Luwin in season 1. 

We might also get a pay off for how the Wall and Winterfell were actually built although I do think part of this story will remain a mystery that will most likely be tackled in the Long Night prequel. 

D*ny’s prophecies in the House of the Undying

… mother of dragons, daughter of death …

… mother of dragons, slayer of lies …

… mother of dragons, bride of fire …

Essentially, I believe all of these will be paid off by the Dark D*ny reveal.

three fires must you light… one for life and one for death and one to love… three mounts must you ride… one to bed and one to dread and one to love… three treasons will you know… once for blood and once for gold and once for love… 

I think it was a huge mistake for the show not to include the 3 treasons prophecy in D*ny’s storyline, particularly since they included Cersei’s Younger More Beautiful Queen one. Because the three treasons prophecy works on D*ny’s psyche much in the same way it does on Cersei’s. 

They both become increasingly paranoid and obsessed with these ominous predictions and are actively on the look-out for potential candidates. 

However I think the pol!jon reveal will resolve the 3rd treason aspect of the prophecy as well as this: 

A blue flower growing from a chink in a wall of ice, filling the air with sweetness.

A great stone beast takes wing from a smoking tower, breathing shadows.

Between the parentage reveal and Political Jon, her lover turned nephew, Jon Snow, will turn from the flower that fills the air with sweetness into the great stone beast that will oppose her.

There’s also a case to be made that the three treasons are actually treasons D*ny commits against other people, as @thelawyerthatwaspromised has detailed on her blog. And by going to war with Jon and potentially turning her back on the fight with the WWs, D*ny would essentially become a betrayer. 

So either way, I think we’ll have a much clearer picture of these prophecies by the end of the show. 

The dragon must have three heads

This is the continuation of the Rhaegar vision D*ny sees in the House of the Undying. 

Rhaegar: He has a song. He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire. There must be one more. The dragon has three heads.

We don’t know much of anything about what this means or how Rhaegar thought it would link to the PTWP prophecy. I wouldn’t have included it, to be honest, if it wasn’t for the Crypts of Winterfell teaser and the staging of Jon/Arya/Sansa as a play on the original three heads of the dragon Aegon/Visenya/Rhaenys. In a previous post I said this: 

The “Dragon must have 3 heads” is generally considered the reason why Rhaegar started his relationship with Lyanna and the main reason why Jon was even born. Details on this prophecy are foggy but the theory goes that at some point Rhaegar became convinced that his three children would be instrumental in saving the world and because Elia Martell was unable to bare another child after her two pregnancies, he went after teenage Lyanna Stark, thus looking to fulfill yet another prophecy: that of the Prince that was Promised whose song is the song of ice and fire.

In trying to fulfill it, Rhaegar named his children after the 3 original Targs that conquered Westeros: Elia gave him an Aegon and a Rhaenys so he went in search of his Visenya. Clearly he failed, because instead of a girl, he got a boy.

However, as GRRM points out through out his story, prophecies are tricky and the more you go out of your way to fulfill them, the more blunders you’re bound to commit. That doesn’t mean there isn’t some value to it but it will most likely come to pass in a way that you did not expect.

It makes you wonder just what the “3 heads of the dragon” might actually be about. Everyone tends to think that this prophecy is linked to the war with the WWs. However, by introducing Sansa into the mix, it changes things a bit ��

What if the “Dragon must have 3 heads” prophecy isn’t related to the War of the Dawn at all but rather to the Dance of Dragons 2.0? Because in that war, Sansa would truly be instrumental: by making Jon a Stark, because of her political expertise and her strategic connections all over Westeros. So instead of creating the ultimate Targ team to face off against the apocalypse, Rhaegar not only brought down his father’s dynasty and his own in Robert’s rebellion but also created the circumstances by which, years later, his son would face off against the last scion of House Targareyen and bring about the demise of all living dragons.

While this could simply remain something that will be inferred by the way season 8 plays out, I think there’s a case to be made that we will actually get more insight here via flash-backs of Rhaegar/Lyanna. 

I think it’s also possible that through these flashbacks we will find out more about the situation surrounding the abduction of Lyanna, more insight into the year they spent in the Tower of Joy and even perhaps the name that Rhaegar whispered as he lay dying on the Trident. 

The Lannister gold prophecy

The wealth of the westerlands was matched, in ancient times, with the hunger of the Freehold of Valyria for precious metals, yet there seems no evidence that the dragonlords ever made contact with the lords of the Rock, Casterly or Lannister. Septon Barth speculated on the matter, referring to a Valyrian text that has since been lost, suggesting that the Freehold’s sorcerers foretold that the gold of Casterly Rock would destroy them.

This is a very obscure prophecy and I haven’t seen many people discuss it. The few that I have seen talk about this link it to the Lannister’s long lost Valyrian steel sword, Brightroar. The Valyrians, fearing this prophecy Septon Barth mentions, always refused to sell the Lannisters a sword but they managed to get their hands on one by other means: 

Brightroar came into the possession of the Lannister kings in the century before the Doom of Valyria, and it is said that the weight of gold they paid for it would have been enough to raise an army.

So people speculate that it was the purchasing of this sword that lead up to the Doom of Valyria. However, I don’t really see this as a possibility because GRRM never really plays prophecies this straight. 

However, one thing we do know is going to happen in season 8 is that Cersei will be acquiring the Golden Company, whose banner is simple golden cloth. She will also be paying for it with what can be described as Lannister gold. 

Also since the show didn’t include the Young Griff story line, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that the GC is leaded by Jon Connington, one of Rhaegar’s best buddies and also the guy who was in love with him. 

So if let’s say the GC would decide to join Jon’s forces against D*ny during the Dance of Dragons, a case can be made that Lannister Gold did in fact bring about the ultimate doom of Valyria, by killing off its last real member and putting an end to the dragons. 

Then there are a few prophecies that I believe have already been paid off. 

The mummer’s dragon

A cloth dragon sways on poles amidst a cheering crowd.

By essentially removing the Young Griff from the story line completely, I think the show has revealed that this young man is not Aegon Targareyen but a pretender whose lie, and life, D*ny will slay in the books. 

The girl in grey prophecy

I have seen your sister in my fires, fleeing from this marriage they have made for her. Coming here, to you. A girl in grey on a dying horse, I have seen it plain as day. It has not happened yet, but it will.

I think everyone in the Jonsa fandom can agree that the girl in grey is in effect Sansa Stark and she will flee her marriage to Harry Hardyng and join Jon at the wall. 

The show had Sansa fleeing her marriage to Ramsay and reaching the wall where she was reunited with a recently resurrected Jon. She was also wearing grey which is I think the show’s way of linking back to this prophecy in the books. 

The Ghost of High Heart prophecies

In case anyone is not familiar with who the Ghost of High Heart is, she’s a dwarfish, albino woman who was reputed to be a woods witch in the Riverlands. Arya and the brotherhood without banners camp overnight at High Heart, to meet with the ghost to hear her tell the future, and to learn the whereabouts of Beric.

She accurately predicts a few things that have happened in both books and show. In addition, there are also these: 

I dreamt of a man without a face, waiting on a bridge that swayed and swung

In the books, this is Euron hiring a Faceless Man (and potentially paying for his services with a dragon egg) to kill his brother, Balon Greyjoy, the King of the Iron Islands. In the show Euron does the deed himself, on a bridge that swayed and swung. 

I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow.

This is generally believed to be about Sansa because of the poisoned hairnet she wears in her hair that eventually kills Jofferey. I’d argue that by ordering the death of Littlefinger in Winterfell (a castle in the North where there’s a lot of snow), the show has paid off the later part of this prophecy. 

She also says this directly to Arya: 

I see you. I see you, wolf child. Blood child. I thought it was the lord who smelled of death … You are cruel to come to my hill, cruel. I gorged on grief at Summerhall, I need none of yours. Begone from here, dark heart. Begone!

This could be nothing but the woman noticing Arya’s increasing violence and tendency towards killing but because she mentions Summerhall it’s speculated that she is referring to a future and particularly bloody event Arya will participate in. Assuming that, I would say the show has already paid that off when Arya killed off all the Freys in an act of mass murder. 

This is a bit dubious, though, because of the fact that Lady Stoneheart has been cut from the show. It’s likely that it will be LS that kills off the Freys in the books and the show simply gave that particular plot point to Arya. 

That doesn’t eliminate the possibility that the Ghost of High Heart is potentially referring to a future Summerhall-like event Arya will be involved in and if that is the case I fully expect the show to include it.  

And finally we have what are essentially sayings that are mentioned frequently in the show but because of their implications they act like prophecy in the sense that they foreshadow future events but not in a clear cut way. 

The Long Night

Melisandre: For the night is dark and full of terrors. 

This is pretty self-explanatory. We’ve been told that when the WWs first came 8000 years ago, they brought a night and a winter that lasted a generation. So the WWs are back at it and are going to bring darkness and terror. 

We should start preparing ourselves for at least 3 episodes of almost exclusive night time scenes. This is also supported by the actors saying that they had about 40 days worth of night time shootings which is an incredibly long time for that sort of thing. 

When a Targeryen is born, the Gods flip a coin

This is obviously a saying that came about in reference to the Targeryens being or going mad more often than not. 

However, at this point in the story, we have only two Targeryens left so the duality of a coin flip becomes foreshadowing for Jon and D*ny as foils. 

I wish you good fortunes in the wars to come

This has only been uttered in show by adversaries, first in the Stannis/Mance conversation prior to Mance being burned alive and then in the Ned/Arthur Dane flashback. The third instance is in the Jon/D*ny good-bye scene. I don’t know about anyone else but this indicated to me … Dance of Dragons 2.0. 

Sansa’s red comet prediction

The morning of King Joffrey’s name day dawned bright and windy, with the long tail of the great comet visible through the high scuttling clouds. Sansa was watching it from her tower window when Ser Arys Oakheart arrived to escort her down to the tourney grounds. “What do you think it means?” she asked him.

“Glory to your betrothed,” Ser Arys answered at once. “See how it flames across the sky today on His Grace’s name day, as if the gods themselves had raised a banner in his honor. The smallfolk have named it King Joffrey’s Comet.”

Doubtless that was what they told Joffrey; Sansa was not so sure. “I’ve heard servants calling it the Dragon’s Tail.”

“King Joffrey sits where Aegon the Dragon once sat, in the castle built by his son,” Ser Arys said. “He is the dragon’s heir - and crimson is the color of House Lannister, another sign. This comet is sent to herald Joffrey’s ascent to the throne, I have no doubt. It means that he will triumph over his enemies.”

Yeah, Jofferey wasn’t and he didn’t. If only there was a guy in this story who was the dragon’s heir and whose birth name the show incidentally spoiled as being Aegon. Glory to that guy! And to his queen! 

Suffice it to say I think we will get the pay off from this scene in the form of Jonsa. 

Just a small addendum before I finish: A Song of Ice and Fire is littered with prophecies, prophetic dreams, cryptic messages that can be interpreted to signal future events, etc. I probably missed a lot of them. So if there’s something you want to add here please do. 

Thanks for the ask, nonnie!

[shellheadtmarc]

v; fallout 4 companion 

October 23, 2077:  The world ends.  The East and West bomb one another into annihilation, the government retreats into the safety of their oil rigs, an awol group of soldiers form their own little militant survival group, the vaults seal well below their maximum capacity, and the rest are left to loot, riot, panic, and either ghoulify or die in the leftover chaos.

Not everyone dies.  It isn’t a, “and then all was silent,” situation.  More people scrambled and panicked than tried to keep the peace, but those not caught in the immediate area of the bombs survived - at least for a time.  Tony Stark is one of those people.  Something he should have seen but hasn’t, is the buffering effect of his arc reactor, which keeps him in a stasis all its own.  It keeps his heart beating, it keeps the shrapnel out of his heart, it keeps the ambient radiation neutralized.  He survives.

And survives.

And eventually lives long enough to see settlements begin to form again in the New York wasteland, begins to establish his own, help connect them in a network of security and exchange.  Sees, on a smaller scale, his goals for things like clean energy start to come to life in making the post-war world he finds himself living in as comfortable as possible.  His own technology advances, not through his most-used fix on fail method of testing, but through simulations, calculations, long years of ruminations that are carefully weighed and considered before he acts, because resources are scarce and there are some changes he’s making the he knows he can’t take back if he goes through with them.  Errors are checked for, the math checked and rechecked a hundred times, all while the vaults open and people begin once more to strive for some semblance of life in a place that’s far removed from the one before the bombs.

And he’s content that way.  He’s busy.  He’s occupied and making a difference somewhere, until a group of power armored soldiers pass New York a little too slow in their cosplay of the Hindenburg and he decides that, with New York as stable as he can personally make it, it’s time to branch out and see what else is out there, following them into the Commonwealth just in time to hear their “do not interfere” speech.  He doesn’t have an intention to stay, but plans have a way of going awry, at the worst of times.

technical info ;;

Tony comes as his own free agent to the Commonwealth to investigate the Brotherhood of Steel.  From his position in New York, he’s heard rumors from passing caravans both coming from DC and leaving Boston, but rumors are rumors, and he wants solid, verifiable facts, because their crawl past New York was too slow for his own liking.  He’s been alive long enough in the wasteland that he, like everyone else that lives there, is much less trusting than he originally would have been.  He’s suspicious, can be cagey, paranoid, and above all, take an us vs. them mentality when it comes to anyone that displays violent tendencies, such as raiders.

He doesn’t go by Iron Man - if you put that one together it’s probably because it’s been a dire situation, and he’s used the suit.  He doesn’t do that often anymore.  Instead, he picks up the moniker Handyman from various settlements, or the Mechanic.  Or he’s just plain old Tony.  He’s learned the value of keeping certain things close to the vest, and doesn’t hand out personal details like candy to just anyone anymore, and he’s not exactly a public figure.

His primary goals in the Commonwealth are gaining info about the Brotherhood of Steel, and will grow to finding out more about the Institute, Railroad, and Minutemen, as he starts to put together pieces to see there’s a bigger picture in front of him.  It’s because he’s insatiably curious, nosy, and likes to put his thumb in pies it probably doesn’t belong in, because he’s a busybody.  The Minutemen gain him as an ally, as, outside of a SoSu, he’ll put together settlements (eventually) of his own, because he can’t help himself.  The Railroad does good work, but he’s not interested in joining, and they don’t want him.  He’s too loud, too direct, and even if he did get Black Ops training from SHIELD, he doesn’t use it in a way that would be conductive to the Railroad’s goals. 

His main bases are: Fort Hagen:  This he cleans up after the SoSu has their Kellogg-killing rampage and turns it into a lab.  The town around he spruces up and makes ready for settlement...Further down the line.  He’ll start with the ones in Fort Hagen at first, but he’ll also rebuild and reprogram Gen 1 and 2 synths in Commonwealth, building a ground force of the Iron Legion.  Waste not, want not, you know how it goes.  The same goes for unclaimed power armor, he’ll snag that, as well, and any assaultrons, protectrons, and other robots he can get his hands on.  He’ll gripe about the wiring and coding of General Atomics and RobCo, but he’ll strip them clean and use them as a case to do his own work. Cambridge Polymer Labs:  If anyone’s going to get this place workable in seriousness again, it’s definitely him.  Will wander along and find it either with or without the SoSu (depending on if a SoSu is in play and if they mess with the quest there or not).  This will be Lab #2, with no settlement outside.  This is the one he keeps quiet and private.

He also has various boltholes he’ll establish throughout the Commonwealth, but you gotta be a VIP to know where they are.

He mostly hangs around Goodneighbor, out of the larger settlements.  He’s got a good rapport with Daisy and KLEO and prefers to trade with them over Myrna in Diamond City, and he barely glances Bunker Hill’s way because of how the raiders are paid off.  Otherwise, the best place to run into him are prewar industrial ruins.  He’s always picking them over for resources.

He favors energy weapons over ballistic weapons, but he can use either.  Wouldn’t say no to a power fist, either.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE:  If RJ MacCready has NOT been romanced or picked up as a companion by a SoSu, Tony directly defaults to the romantic relationship he has with @gwinnetts‘s MacCready, especially if there’s no expectation of shipping with the other character in play.  This is not a thing that’s set in complete stone, but Mala and her Mac have been instrumental in helping me hammer this whole verse out, so extracting Mac out of it isn’t impossible, but will require some plotting.  Note:  I don’t mind doing that plotting.  It also means that Tony isn’t unwooable - he is.  Just if nothing is initially discussed with this verse, that’s where he directly defaults to.

(The short version is Tony runs into Mac fairly early on in his time in the Commonwealth for information on the Gunners.  MacCready sees Tony is a possible cash cow because if you don’t think Tony uses his math brain to hustle at pool in the Third Rail, you’re wrong.  Shit happens.  Feelings happen.  Whoops, there’s attachment.  He helps Mac get Duncan to the Commonwealth.  They’re a ridiculous family with a grumpy merc, a reckless superhero, and a cute af kid.  The end.  Also thus why I say if he hasn’t been taken as a companion and max affinity reached, because there’s a rewriting of Mac’s whole questline in play there.)

Obviously the above does not count if threads are with a different MacCready.  I mean.  /props on elbow  /leans closer  Unless you wanna do a thing.  /waggles eyebrows  Especially since Mac is a good foil for Tony, but hey.  Just throwing that option out there.

Some Links! About The Suit Some Info On The Fandom Mashup Tony & Settlements Tony As A Companion About M.O.E. Tony And Other Factions Concerning Institute Sole Survivors More Tony In The Wasteland Notes The Original Take On This Verse Using Tony As An Endgame Faction About Traveling At Night Should You Loot His Body Appearance Headcanons & Wasteland Vocabulary Quirks And Habits #1 Things Game Mechanics Left Out But Probably Exist #1 New York Wasteland Misc Notes The Playlist

[kuro-shit-posts]

A, F, J, P for sebastian, UT, ciel and vincent?

Hello! im so so sorry but im not super familiar with Vincent’s character and i didnt want to write something bad and disappoint you so i decided not to write for him, i hope thats ok! But i dohope you still enjoy the other characters!!———–Sebastian: A-Affection: completed in a previous post

F-Fun Times: Sebastian’s true self is still a bit enigmatic, however I feel that the real, demon, Sebastian doesnt really find many activities to be fun except for things like the manipulation of others or killing things (specifically killing sprees). Regarding his affinity for cats, i feel that playing with kitties would be the closest, if not the only, human “activity” he finds entertaining. As to whether Sebastian prefers to be in a group or alone, Sebastian doesnt really care for other demons, and clearly he isnt fond of angels or reapers either. Though Sebastian finds humans interesting, i think he finds them enjoyable in the way we enjoy looking at lobsters in a tank before we eat them. Its fun to watch them move around and interact with eachother, hell even after you take one home you might name it or think its cute, but ultimately its still food and you intend to eat it, not take it to the park and have a picnic because you enjoy its company. So needless to say Sebastian prefers to be alone.

J-Jokes: Clearly Sebastian is very talented in telling jokes but i think thats simply a product of being alive for so long and the fact that humans’ sense of humor hasnt really change through the centuries. Sebastian enjoys possessing the ability to make humans laugh as he enjoys being the center of attention and earning praise from humans. Though I dont believe he finds much humor in what humans find funny, i do believe he has his own sense of humor and for a demon he’s pretty giggly. For the most part, Sebastian makes himself laugh (especially in the form of puns), though he oftens finds humor in the foolishness of other (particularly Ciel). Sebastian is pretty quick to get a joke that would be considered funny to humans of any century, however, jokes that pertain to current or recent events tend to take him a bit longer, especially if he hasnt been amongst humans in a few decades. I think as the centuries went on, i.e. entering the 20th and 21st centuries, Sebastian would be even slower to get jokes as things move incredibly fast during the modern era. He’d finish a contract in the 80s and come back in 2010’s and be completely lost even though it had only been 30 years. What on earth was a Vine? Why did humans find plants so funny all of a sudden. Wait…when they say vine they aren’t referring to the botanical organism? He’d be one of those people that catches on right as a trend is ending or even way after it has ended because modern era trends, especially in humor, tend to last for months at the very most; which would be like miliseconds to a demon who experiences 10 years like 10 minutes.

P-Personality: First and foremost, I think that an intelligent partner would suit him best. As it is, Sebastian is alot smarter than the majority of humans, reapers, and quite possibly other demons, so regardless of who he chooses as a partner, they need to be able to keep up with his mental abilities. Next on the list of importance, I’d say maturity is something Sebastian values. Sebastian finds immature people destestable and someone’s level maturity makes or breaks his perception of them. After those two traits I think things tend to get a bit more flexible, I feel like Sebastian would prefer someome who had a sense of adventure, he doesnt care for boredom or laziness so someone who would want to get up and do things, or go with him to obscure places would be right up his alley. Someone with a unique perspective on the world would be desirable as well, Sebastian finds humans incredibly perplexing, so a human that even other humans have difficulty deciphering would be attractive to him as he likes a challenge. Speaking of challenges, he wouldnt want someone who’d come to him too easily, though he wouldnt want to work terribly hard either, he likes the chase but only when he knows there’s a reward waiting for him at the end. Sebastian would also find perseverance attractive, especially if it was facing something they feared or a task that proved to be incredibly challenging. I feel like he’d prefer a thrill-seeker as well. Most importantly though, he’d want someone to be able to completely accept and cherish his true form. Sebastian loves being a demon so someone who loved him like he loved himself would be absolutely necessary.

Ciel:A-Affection: Ciel would definitely be the type of s/o to buy you a diamond necklace before he’d think to give you a hug. Ciel hates physical contact, period. But i do think that he would tolerate it if his s/o really wanted physical affection and they were the one to initial it. Ciel’s not too good with words of romance either, so the majority of his love would be shown through the purchasing of items or perhaps the rememberance of a favorite meal or song and providing his s/o with such on frequent occasions. Ultimately he is still pretty distant and any type of affection would be rare. Though I think Ciel would prefer a distant partner who wouldnt demand alot of his attention, i feel like a clingy partner would complement his personality better. The reason being that Ciel acts distant and cold to protect himself, deep down he stills craves affection like any other human, especially one that has been broken. He’d need a partner that is able to understand this and is able to compensate for his lack of means to show affection by being clingy or affection enough for the both of them.

F-Fun Times: Ciel primarily enjoys activities that challenge him mentally, chess(obviously), reading, etc. On the other hand, Ciel is definitely not fond of any type of physical activity. To be even mediocre at anything that involves physical exertion, he has to put in his all. Ciel isnt the most social person, he’ll be social if he has too and he’s pretty damn good at acting but if he has the choice he prefers to do things he finds entertaining by himself. Ciel is pretty introverted and finds the company of others incredibly draining even if he enjoys the person or people themselves.

J-Jokes: Oh no no no, Ciel is t e r r i b l e when it comes to telling jokes. Ciel tends to be very left brained and unfortunately for him, that leaves him pretty empty handed in the comedy department, as we obviously saw during the Circus Arc when it took him hours to make Undertaker (a man who is notoriously giggly) produce even a miniscule chuckle. Ciel enjoys puns on occasion and only when theyre tasteful. Ciel is more so a fan of witty comments but an intelligent pun tickles his fancy every once in a while. However he hates Sebastian’s constant puns (mostly because he is the subject of them). Ciel is actually pretty slow to get most jokes. He doesnt really understand many types of common humor unless its witty or sarcastic. He really doesnt care for humor in general, to be honest, he hates smiling and being happy, it reminds him of the dwindling time he has left, and how he is technically on borrowed time. Ciel hates humor because he almost feels guilty for laughing or enjoying himself. He feels as if he doesnt deserve happiness after what he has sacrificed and for the selfish reasons he did so. In short, humor is not a friend of Ciel.

P-Personality: Ciel would best be suited by someone who has a personality opposite to his. Ciel isnt cold by nature, Ciel is cold because of a traumatic experience. Ciel’s aloof demeanor is more so a shield rather than a legitimate personality trait. Underneath that shield, Ciel’s a sweet person, he craves love and happiness just like anyone else, perhaps more than most people because he has been so fiercely denied it. Because Ciel is no longer able to access those feelings of love and happiness he would best be complimented by someone who could do that for him. Someone who could provide him with positivity and allow him to view things more optimistically would be ideal. Though, he would best be suited by someone with a calmer persona, they would have to be down to earth as he would most likely view them as his stability. Someone with a motherly aura who could take care of him instead of him having to take care of them. That type of person would attract him and be an incredibly good fit for his personality. Other personality traits wouldnt hold as much merit with him, except for maybe intelligence, Ciel wouldnt be fond of a partner who couldnt keep up with him mentally.

Undertaker:A-Affection: Completed in a previous post

F-Fun Times: Undertaker enjoys activities that have to do with the strange and unconventional. Undertaker enjoys things he doesn’t understand, I feel like that’s why he’s so fascinated wih death. Death is quite the anomaly and he very much enjoys the feeling of curiosity. Honestly Undertaker is pretty fond of gore as well, he likes cutting things open in his free time and seeing whats inside, not only because he is fascinated with how the insides of the creature work but because he enjoys the look of bloodied flesh, as gross as it sounds. Aside from things that pertain to death, Undertaker enjoys other unconventional activities as long as they dont bore him. He doesnt much care whether or not theyre productive activities, however he cant stand idle activities that completely waste his time. He’s pretty lazy but he doesnt take pleasure in wasting his immortality on things that serve no ultimate purpose. Discovering new, completely bizarre things is his favorite activity. He doesnt much care whether or not he has any company to do this with, he does what he wants regardless of anyone else. Though if he had to chose he would probably prefer the company of a companion to assist him in his activities.

J-Jokes: This man L O V E S jokes. I mean, he straight up values them in the same way normal people value currency. Undertaker isn’t particularly good at telling jokes himself but he certainly appreciates the art of comedy. He enjoys puns, he enjoys anything that might make him laugh. However, his favorite type of comedy is either slapstick or simply watching someone unknowingly make a fool of themselves. Undertaker is most fond of the comedy that is unexpected and happens naturally. He is always the first to get a joke. Jokes to him are a fine art, and honestly even if he doesnt get a joke, the fact that he couldnt understand makes him laugh anyway. The only jokes Undertaker doesnt enjoy are corny jokes. If unexpected/slapstick comedy is caviar to him, dad jokes are dollar store spray cheese. He hates dad/corny jokes, he finds them terribly overused and believes the only people who find them funny have a horribly underdeveloped sense of humor.

P-Personality: Undertaker would best fit with someone who is somewhat similar to him. Undertaker enjoys happy-go-lucky people whom see the beauty in laughter and pursue happiness. Despite being consistently cast off in the dark shadows of death and the grimness of grim reapers, Undertaker values optimism and positivity. Undertaker also values uniqueness and is drawn to those that possess strange qualities or quirks. He likes strange things and would prefer a partner who could satiate his hungry for unconventionality. Undertaker would also want someone who could make him laugh and value humor in the same way he did. He would clash with someone who was too serious, Undertaker has seen a lifetime of seriousness and gloom, he couldnt stand a partner who took their time in the world for granted and spent it focusing on the bad instead of trying to achieve happiness.

[dorothyliker420]

huuhhoOh my GOD slrprfrsrfl(more lip licking noises)ooooh my GOd whoaoaohah. *huffing* a completeed chorus 2! HOLY SHIT oh my gohd

(silky made me this image as per request ily silky)

WELL HERE WE GO!!!!!!! A COMPLETED CHORUS CHAPTER 2!!!!!!!! CLOCKING IN AT 20,588 FUCKING WORDS AND 45 PAGES IN GOOGLE DOCS! lets see how many bs words I can add to that count am I right ladies

because of, I dont know, any italicization or bolding in the text itself was lost when I copy/pasted it to here so I guess the Experience isnt as Deep BUT ITS ALL GOOD ANYWAY because only I get to type in bold. thats how you know its me and not a rabble, but I also italicized lines that I really wanted to talk about

ill put all the Canon Real Text in an indent tho happy reading,

A Long Awaited Duet ---------------------------------***********************---------------------------------

The new canon is that in between those dashes is a really terrible swear word that the author censored with asterisks. only he knows it and he’ll unleash it when you criticize his fic

Pacing quickly around her room in a long, frustrated circle, Lisette’s worries were quickly drawing to a boiling point.

lisette’s circles make me long and frustrated am I right fellow dudes

Typically, she was a very easy-going person, the kind of girl who’d shrug off most concerns and instead focus on keeping a positive outlook. However, after spending her entire morning going through the motions, feeling trapped in a listless, uneasy funk, even she couldn’t help but be affected. It was almost noon already and still she couldn’t move her thoughts past yesterday’s tea party, to the look she’d seen weathered across Alto’s face.

Lisette is right to be threatened and uneasy. this is like the scene in the opening where the village is getting crystallized and its too late for rosa and shes like SAVE YOURSELF except instead its sexification

She hadn’t had the courage to say anything at the time, but it had haunted her thoughts ever since. Making it worse, when she’d attempted to find her mother to ask her for her advice, she hadn’t been able to find her anywhere, so she’d wound up simply spending the previous night with Marie.

the ghosts of the last chapter vaguely implying alto is too horney to sleep in the same bed as marie have returned and im frightened

“He’s… he’s still on edge, isn’t he?”

It wasn’t right. The fighting was over and peace had been won, but even when he should have been relaxing with his friends, Alto was still wearing the same guarded, strained expression. It was the same heart-breaking look she’d seen from her friend all throughout their battles, at all the times she’d stood at his die, watching him make the most difficult decisions of his life.

STOOD AT HIS DIE

She didn’t think any of the others had noticed. Perhaps she was the only one that would even be able to recognise the difference, after all, she was the only one who’d known him before all this. Back in Mithra he hadn’t been anything like that, he’d smiled freely and his gaze had was always carefree, to the point of being cheeky. Their entire lives had changed ever since she became a Witch and he followed to become her Knight… but she’d always hoped all this time that it could still return to how it was when everything was finally over.

“No,” she corrected herself, her body sagging with a deep sigh. There wasn’t any point lying to herself about this, “I’m not that naïve, I always knew it wouldn’t be that easy…”

“gee” said lisette out loud to herself with no one else around, “I am lisette from the video game stella glow. I am five foot four and my blood type is

Because, she knew Alto. And she knew, for him, that it had never been about the battles. He didn’t fear fighting, he would recklessly throw himself into danger without even a second’s thought if it meant he could help someone. As she’d told him so many times, his overwhelming compassion was both his best and worst trait. He was courageous to the point of stupidity, all he cared about was protecting the people important to him, keeping the people he loved safe and happy, as best he could. That was all the fighting had ever meant to him. And that was why she’d always known it couldn’t possibly be that easy for him.

im giving this alto analysis a 2 alto is a liberal degenerate who really loves hunting and also u dont know anything about him jl “AWOOOGAA” davenport if u tell me about him again ill kill you

Crying out in annoyance, Lisette slumped across the room and threw herself onto her bed, sinking deep into the large, soft mattress as if to try let it absorb a fraction of her worries.

I cannot shake the feeling he was thinkin bout her tiddies when he wrote this

‘Alto’s still fighting, even now,’ she knew that. It was a truth she’d struggled to deal with for days now, ‘The war isn’t over for him yet, because he’s still pushing himself to try find a way to keep every one of us happy.’

fuckin dumb ass horny ass bitch. mediocre ass, pathetic ass, money grubbing, fucking stupid bitch ass you dont put apostrophes around thoughts its ugly as shit

It was a painful thought, the elephant in the room and something she hated thinking about. But somehow, not thinking about it, pretending to simply ignore had become even worse.

does lisette know what an elephant is. does that expression exist. this is third person limited so its kind of weird to use that kind of anachronism

After all, if Alto was still fighting, then she wanted to fight alongside him! She was his family, his comrade, his first Witch and even his (prospective) girlfriend,

I had to cut this off because it was next level dumbshit literally anyone is his prospective girlfriend with that state of their relationship. im his prospective girlfriend 

there wasn’t a single part of her that wanted to do anything less than to support him with all her might. He was a part of her soul. He was the man she loved and someone who she would never allow herself to be separated from, she’d known those feelings for absolute certainty ever since the moment she’d woken up from death’s door and travelled around the world to stand at his side. Just thinking about him wracking himself with worries and her not helping him was terrifying!

1. 

2. that last sentence is the worst written thing in, if not human existence, then the century

And, she spared a glance over at the mirror she’d been avoiding looking at all day, even aside from that, could she really say she was any different? Was she truly able to smile like before, only because their fighting was over?

hackles raised at the prospect of mirror kink

Lisette gave a dry laugh, reaching out and squeezing the small stuffed pig Popo had given her, pressing it against her considerable chest. 

1. the pig is kinda cute like maybe but who tf is vending these smutfic items. who is crawling around in the back alleys selling cursed objects that make people horny as fuck. did ewan make a deal with the devil to sell all his twilight-zone-monkey-paw shit from his brief sponsorship with baddragon

2. die

3. lisette’s chest is CONSIDERABLE all right. it makes me CONSIDER ending it all

For all their outward appearances, in this, at least, she doubted it was any different from any of the others, no doubt that was why everything had seemed so off lately, “We’re all just stuck in limbo, aren’t we?”

this is the longest string of indirect pronouns ever like whomst??? and what an eerie sentence to end a section on. though u kno what stay in limbo

---------------------------------***********************---------------------------------

those dashes are containing the massive power of the cuss word. if even one of them falters or breaks formation the sheer obscenity would vaporize us all

Unfortunately for Lisette, her self-examination came with no easy answers or steps forward. Even though she’d accepted that being stuck in place as they were was only making things worse for all of them and particularly for Alto, there was no obvious solution she could latch onto, to change things.

this literally picks up? exactly where the previous section ended? like. with information that flows from the previous paragraph. if youre going to make that fucking big then why is it functionally useless

However, now more than ever, she was a determined woman and slowly -as the time passed and the morning faded away into early afternoon- slowly, her resolve held out and she was able to fearlessly consider even the truths she’d previously tried so hard to avoid.

why is this the ugliest formatting ive ever seen have you ever heard of an em dash or, a comma. also im losing shit at Determination Resolve Holding Out Shes Never Done This wasnt this like the sole bad point of her tunings

She knew she loved Alto, that he was the only man who’d ever made her feel complete 

But, she also knew that the other Witches felt just the same, she forced herself to accept the fact that he was just as important to them as he was to her.

ok nvm im not done being pissed at The Only Man like yeah lisette its called comphet im rewriting this so that lisette realizes shes a lesbian and also that whole Complete Her thing is all of whats wrong with lisettes arc like all of it this is what men do

It was something they’d all consciously avoided discussing, something that none of them seemed to know how to deal with. Her companions, the other Witches, were all as close as family to her, she loved them all dearly… And yet, they were all competing, in their own way, for the same man.

alto is three years old

She was sure they must feel just as awkward about that as her, there was a reason why even the ever impulsive Popo or the harsh-blunt Sakuya 

tell u whats harshing my blunt........this fic ((takes a weed puff

had never said anything and why, no matter how much they talked and how much they shared, this single topic was never once addressed directly, they’d all been working on the same process as her- that it was too strange a situation and too difficult a conversation to deal with, that the best thing to do was simply wait till after the war when Alto would be able to reciprocate their feelings, and then there the problem would solve itself. Well… The war was over. And they were all still tiptoeing around each other’s hearts, all waiting for the same response from the same man. “We must all seem so silly.”

tf were they supposed to do to address it? like lets just accept the gross situation but was they supposed to so call everyone to a room lisette spins around in a big chair and says We’re Here To Discuss The Het or maybe this happens

She could just imagine how ridiculous this situation must appear from the outside; five best friends all in love with the same man, all waiting for him to respond to their feelings and all marooned in the same silent stand-off, walking on eggshells while pretending everything was fine. No doubt her mother found it hilarious.

thats the worst line ive ever seen in my life. oedipus rex has nothing on this bitch

that aside like accepting them all as comphets for the moment. literally never interacted on a regular basis with another boy their age. except hilda I guess but it doesnt matter this is so dumb! yall is a bunch of trauma victims you cant just jump directly into the boinking

“Grrr! This is all your fault Alto! Stupid! Since when did you get so popular anyway!? You weren’t like that in Mithra! You’re just… you’re just too dependable… You mean so much to all of us, we can’t help but love you…”

deadass u told me this was dialogue from the anime where the tiddies bounced when the girl blinked? id believe it

He was their conductor. They all loved him. They all wanted to be with him. They were all waiting for him to favour only them…

dont like how its treated that its an absolute that witches will just fall for their conductor thats like sayin no one is safe around bi ppl. reach perhaps but its the same dumbass ideas

Perhaps that was the worst part of all. The more she thought about it, the more she was starting to realise just what an impossible situation their feelings and expectations had put Alto into. She knew better than anyone just how much he cared for each of them, she’d healed the scars on his body time and again that showed just how far he’d go to protect any of them… And yet, without ever really thinking how, they were all still asking him to then choose between them, to decide which of his Witches he loved the most.

but also I just had the revelation that author does not know what romantic love is like, at all, and the smoke cleared I am enlightened and theres nothing I dont understand

And, she couldn’t help him at all, could barely even support him in what must be an incredibly painful choice for him. All she could do was leave it to him, and trust that when he did choose, that he felt the same way about her as she did about him and they would finally be together. As for the rest… She didn’t know… The thought of him choosing one of the others over her was almost too painful, to terrifying to consider, but the knowledge that her friends would have to go through that was no less terrible…

tired of u demonizing r*mantic love. fuck its th most exhilarating experience of my life. that and having a baby shark sit in my hands. dont give all these Oh No People Get Hurt to justify just fuckin whoever u want

That was the mire they were all stuck in. That was why Alto was still looking so stressed and why none of them had been able to move forwards. There wasn’t anything any of them could do and there was no way to make everyone happy. She frowned bitterly. ‘…Would… Would it even make us happy?’

me, who had never been as happy as I am prior to being in love: hell yeah bitch dis go hard as hell flocka

It was a strange thing to consider, something she’d never once thought before this very moment- she’d thought for so long she was waiting for Alto to return her feelings, she’d wanted so long to be with him and to be together forever. But, would she really be happy like that? Could she truly be happy being with the man she loved at the expense of watching the companions she held dear, the friends she’d bled and cried together with, becoming heartbroken? Mordi, Popo, Sakuya, and especially Hilda, after all they’d been through, after how important she knew Alto was to each of them… Her heart clenched in her chest just imagining it!

if this is a question then ur not in romantic love idiot! shut up

But… That was how it had to be, wasn’t it? They’d all been foolish enough to fall for the same man, there was only one Alto. No.

dumps the big ass mess of gl***ng pr**e poly edits here but im not saving it to my computer so u gotta imagine it

Lisette propped herself up on the bed, a previously unfathomable conclusion quickly becoming clear to her. No. She couldn’t accept that. And Alto surely wouldn’t accept that. He’d never accepted that they couldn’t stop the Eclipse. He hadn’t accepted that they couldn’t fight against God. And, at the end of everything, he’d refused to accept that Mother Qualia had to be their enemy. A solution that put the entire burden on Alto and led to all her friends being heartbroken? How could she ever accept that!? How could she ever have thought something like that would make her happy!? That wasn’t how they worked! They were the Tuning Knights, humans that had defeated God and saved Marie! They would never accept such a lukewarm compromise.

fucking................mormons..................................

‘Well now,’ she laughed, ‘If I really think about it, the solution is pretty obvious, isn’t it?’ It was reckless and crazy, nothing at all like anything she’d ever imagined herself doing… But then, didn’t that just make it the same as everything else they’d done?

this isnt even how polyamory works!!!!!!!! sorry im not being funny I just really value r*mant*c love and listen NO ONE would just sit down and think “yes clearly the healthiest thing for the person my heart is devoted to is to juggle 6 relationships”

“Yup! I’m not gonna accept anything like that!” ultimately, all that mattered was the same conclusion she’d come to, ever since she’d returned to life. She already knew what she wanted, she just had to make it happen, “Alto, I’m by your side. Always. I’ll support you!”

hi im lisette and this is my boyfriend alto! we’re queering heterosexuality by having him fuck a ton of girls at once! swipe right if you want to hop on that dick. no gays allowed

---------------------------------***********************---------------------------------

me: this is bad content

jldavenport: h*mg*n*n*l*b*ng*s*gl*m

me: vaporized in silhouette against the wall from the sheer power

Finishing off a long day of meetings, reports and training, clad in his usual attire (sans the armour,

oh shit its sans thearmour!!!! gonna have a bad time that being said makes sense that hes european the gross fuck

thankfully for him) and returning from the dormitory baths with a relieved sigh, Alto scarcely had time to close the door to his room behind him before he was suddenly jolted from his thoughts by an excited knocking. “Eh? Lisette?”

the phrase “dormitory baths” pisses me the fuck off where do you get off jldavenport. probably all over your keyboard but stop saying shit like that this isnt your canon bitch

A late-night visit from his orange haired friend wasn’t especially unusual, but to see her standing around in her Witches outfit 

epithets, especially those that refer to hair color, are awful and amateurish but because he still doesnt know this apparently: Redhead. Is. A. Fucking. Word. 

in her Witches outfit

that wasnt good enough to warrant that large of an image but like that movie fucked me up so bad lets see what scars me worse the mouse scene or this fic

at this time of night certainly was. And even stranger than that, she was wearing the original outfit, the one she’d worn since the first time she’d awakened to her powers in Mithra, rather than the more dazzling Goddess robes she’d gained after he’d finally tuned her heart, ‘I suppose it’s probably easier to sit around in this one?’ If he had to wear something as flashy as any of the dresses the girls wore, he was sure he’d spent half his time worrying about ripping it.

honestly content notwithstanding this reads like an instructional on what NOT to do when writing. you write like this? dont. its very entry level like I cant say that I necessarily write better but do what I say not what I do

throwing the goddess thing out there is like him saying LOOK!!!! A FACT i KNOW ABOUT THE ACTUAL CANON!!!!!! HAHA

Despite standing staring at him from the hallway, with her face flushed and eyes not quite meeting his, she still hadn’t said anything, “Er, Lisette? Is something wrong?”

knocking on someones door and forgetting why ur there is a neurodivergent feel lisette has adhd now and theres nothing you can do about it

“Ah!” she jumped before finally shaking herself off and responding with a slight anxiousness, anxiety. see me after class “No, no not really. I just… I’ve had a lot of mind and I thought it’d be better if we could talk a bit? Do… Do you mind if we spend the night together, again?”

lisette u were literally talking to urself five minutes ago abt havin him fuck everyone and now ur all anime blushus. bitch

He swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. She wanted to share his bed again? Spend the night holding hands like back then? Stopping himself short of giving her an answer, Alto suddenly realised just how imploringly she was looking up at him.

they literally used this exact Mouth Suddenly Dry thing last chapter do ppl who enjoy this fic actually like that r smthn. they get wet 4 the dry

“Huh, it’s not like you to actually ask…” He teased softly. Usually Lisette was far more insistent about this sort of thing, he’d normally expect her to simply march into his room and seat herself on his bed. He only realised as she spoke that for her to act like this, for whatever reason she was acting like this, it must be important to her that he did accept her request 

ugly sentence. ugly, ugly sentence. ew. im actually so bored by this sentence im ceasing work on this for the night good bye

She didn’t want to force it on him. Still… He couldn’t help but hesitate. It was stupid, he knew, but he’d felt awkward spending time alone with any of the girls since after the war, lest any of them get the wrong idea.

“get the wrong idea” DONT FUCKING WRITE ALTO LIKE THIS I AM IMMORTAL MY SKIN IS ADAMANTINE YOU SHALL FALL BEFORE ME

A moment passed and still Lisette didn’t say anything; clenching her hands nervously below her wait -and unintentionally pushing her impressive bust out even further towards him- 

the commissioner, apparently upon seeing stella glow:

she silently awaited his response. Blushing a little under her low gaze, Alto realised it was getting harder and harder to remember the days when he’d seen her just like a sister.

this proves its inhuman and disgusting because it gave me visceral flashbacks to fire emblem fates so lemme post some of my fave incest quotes from that, starting with the ones it made me astral project into

2.

did that last one haunt u because for a split second you imagined a world where lisette said them? good bc that shit keeps me up at night. im tired of cropping these quotes out so like we’re done my point has been made

In the end though, he couldn’t possibly deny her. Not for no reason, and not when she looked at him like that, “Yeah, of course Lisette. That sounds fun.”

the begging thing from the last chapter hit me full force in memory and I honestly hope it comes back bc ive got a dynamite joke locked and loaded

Breaking out into a bright smile, the Water Witch sagged in relief, taking him by surprise as she reached out to take his hand in hers, letting her body fall soft and warm against him as she did so. Her breath tickled hot across his collar and Alto’s heart jumped in shock!

DONT EVER USE EXCLAMATION POINTS LIKE THIS im serious. it is about as ugly, 2007-fanfic-net-core you can get. 

Her hands felt smooth and gentle, wrapped warm around his… 

HIS WHAT

he’d felt that before, it was pleasant, although not anything new. But feeling her head falling lovingly to his shoulder like this and having her entire body now laying against his… His mouth went dry, 

Wet 4 The Dry Confirmed

he could even feel her breasts pushing large and heavy against his own chest! ‘Woah… S-So soft… They’re even bigger than Rosa’s, aren’t they?’

can you believe this was written completely unironically? like, people find this hot? if it didnt deplete the experience of reading this fic id replace every line referencing boobs with a comment from nicki minaj’s instagram

For just a split second, no matter how much of a gentleman he was, standing there like that, it was impossible for him not to compare the mother and daughter.

WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SON

“Li-Lisette?” he choked out, desperately reigning in his thoughts before they rampaged down a dangerous direction. “Mmm, Alto, hehe, I’m glad,” she giggled happily, skipping back and beaming up at him as she tugged on his hands, leading him off, “Even just being like this with you, I feel better already!”

ok I have NO idea what movement theyre doing. shes like, skipping and then she comes back and takes his hands and idk probably his dick or something

Absolutely caught up in her rhythm, they were halfway down the hall before Alto finally realised she’d pulled him completely out of his room!

heres a coded message just for katt: e*****t w** d****** **m!the narration means he was aware she was pulling him so like where the fuck did he think he was going if not outside his room

“Uh, h-hey, Lisette? We’re going somewhere? I thought you wanted to go to sleep?” “That’s right,” she nodded simply, giving up and tugging him and instead falling into step beside him, “But your bed’s too small for it to be comfortable, so we’re gonna use my room instead!” Alto almost dug his heels in from sheer indignation! 

im sorry. im sorry I had to cut this up but come on. come the fuck on. indignation. like she made a point and alto is all “insolent female requesting things of me” have you not met alto. authot is from r/incels

She’d come all this way to see him, just to drag him back to her room!? How self-indulgent could she be!? And, it wasn’t as if his bed back in Mithra had been any larger and she’d never complained before. Eventually, he just sighed and followed her lead, it wasn’t worth getting worked up over. If it would make her happier, then that was fine. It might be nice to spend a night in someone else’s room for a change too.

Walking hand in hand through the halls like this was fairly embarrassing, thankfully it seemed that it was late enough that no-one else was around. He really, really didn’t want to suddenly run into Rusty like this, let alone Giselle, or Sakuya… Supressing a shudder, Alto hurried on.

“let alone giselle” wh???? I am so baffled by this. obviously rusty or sakuya would give him shit but whats giselle gonna do??? is alto being bullied by a robot?????? I want giselle to appear and smash alto’s frosting into the ground

“I won’t hesitate, bitch,” said Giselle, pointing her laser at altos dick and shattering it into one million individual pieces

Unlike the tiny spare room he’d been assigned so long ago now, Lisette, as a Witch, had been housed in the premium quarters on the other side of their dormitory. 

stop. stop saying dormitory. this is not a college

Luckily in this case, unlike the Palace, the building wasn’t overly large so it was only a short trip to her room. They arrived a few minutes later, just as his heart was beginning to settle down.

…

what happened to the long ass aterisks break. oh god the swear word is coming isnt it

Unfortunately, the moment Lisette opened the door and they stepped inside, Alto’s breath was one again caught violently in his throat, “H-Hilda!?” And indeed, kneeling serenely atop a small cushion in the middle of the large room, the Time Witch was sipping calmly from her usual green ceramic tea-cup, as if there was nothing strange about her presence here at all.

I dont like how shes sitting on a pillow in the center of the room that sounds ritualisitic

(bangs pink cup on the ground) She Sits On The Sacrificial Fuck Pillow ((group of hooded figures behind me start chanting “Fuck Pillow! Fuck Pillow!”

Watching as she settled the drink aside, perfectly in synch with the sound of Lisette locking the door behind her, Alto’s mouth went dry.

theres so much wrong with the syntax and shit but im pushing that all aside to say how fucking difficult it is to sync sound like that even on purpose so yeah theyre def doing a cult sacrifice to the original sex god, elcrest

A moment of silence reigned and somewhere in the back of his currently panicking mind, the bewildered Conductor couldn’t help but notice that Hilda too was wearing her standard Witches’ outfit, the same form fitting black dress 

“dress” very generous for mr boob grower

and wide sweeping hat she’d become associated with for so many years. However, in her case, this wasn’t much of a surprise. As far as he’d seen from the White-Haired woman, she didn’t seem to actually own any normal, casual attire and, while he knew she deeply adored he beautiful white dress she’d unlocked when he’d purified her lonely heart, he also knew that even she couldn’t help but feel rather self-conscious, wearing something that was practically a wedding dress as an everyday outfit, he hadn’t seen Hilda’s Goddess Robes since the end of the final battle.

I literally cannot read any part of this paragraph except the capitalization of White-Haired and Goddess Robes this was either written in the 1700s or modern day by me dissociating in a target bathroom this is so funny if the fic gets any funnier ill die

“Alto? I’m surprised. Isn’t it a bit late for you to be visiting a woman’s bedroom?”

horny dont got business hours babe

“Ah, H-Hilda! It’s, it’s not what you’re thinking, I, Lisette!? Wha-” “Relax Alto,” the Water Witch giggled softly as she stepped forward, taking his hand again, but this time wrapping herself around his arm, “She’s just teasing you.” “Wha… Abuh?”

this is harem anime/fire emblem dialogue right down to the “Abuh?” actually thats the defining thing you hear someone say that youre in a straight anime and you need to run for your fucking life

“My apologies,” Hilda nodded, offering him a small smile in recompense as she matched Lisette’s movements, taking hold of his other hand, her pale face burning bright red as her soft fingers entwined with his, “I just, got a little flustered seeing you so suddenly… I… I wasn’t sure what to say.”

ok first of all you cannot write hilda in any realm of possibility but also like this is yet another thing to not trust men for: emphasizing the whiteness of a womans skin. he is a racist, plain and simple

Her hand squeezed nervously around his and Alto realised just how easily he could feel her racing heart through the light fabric of her dress when she pulled his arm against herself. Not that Lisette was any different, he couldn’t possibly believe in the confidant front she was showing after knowing her as long as he had, not when he could feel her entire body trembling against him.

hilda is like two ft tall howd she even reach his arm. also like there isnt even any fabric boy u raw touchin her 

His mouth opened and closed, but he couldn’t think what to say, he wasn’t mentally prepared for any of this! He’d gone from expecting to go to sleep, to being visited by Lisette, to being dragged through the halls, and now he was being sprung with some surprise meeting!? And both of them were clinging to him like never before! 

this is in character alto not wanting to have a threesome so he can go nap

He couldn’t possibly keep up. Before he even realised it, he’d been pulled all the way over to Lisette’s bed and was sitting with a girl wrapped around either of his arms.

what a problem! what a terrible day for him! what are the odds of this happening!

“What… What’s going on?” “Something good.” Hilda answered in her own cryptic fashion, her voice almost breathless and her blazing red cheeks half hidden behind his cloak as she shyly slid in right next to him.

it is most certainly not good ma’am

“That’s right,” Lisette agreed, happily snuggling up against him as she squeezed herself around his other arm, “We’re gonna help you come to a decision!”

we’re gonna make u C*M...............to a decision ;)

Alto blinked, “Eh?”

petition for this to turn out like the friends episode where ross got kicked out of a threesome with his wife and another woman bc they were lesbians so he left and made a sandwich

conveniently the fic decides to break here anyway so thats all you get for now. I’ll finish the other parts later (im expecting like maybe five because of the gargantuan size of this travesty) and link them direct from here 

Part 2 here! (coming soon)

[poisonbat]

How Clothes Inform Character (AKA something i think most people miss about the Twelfth Doctor)

Hey look another big post about one of the Doctor’s incarnations dress styles, who knew I’d do another one? :P So I mentioned before I really dislike the twelfth doctor’s series 8 Outfit style as well as the (in my opinion overrated) red velvet, but it comes from more than my taste in fashion as i don’t really have any, but more stpry things that his outfits kind present visually in subtle ways i think most miss.

SO lets take ourselves back to Series 8, and Deep Breath for a moment. Particularly the veil scene and phone call that set up The Doctor’s entire arc for the series. The Doctor is trying to be more honest, having taken on an older looking form again (as telegraphed to us via the veil) but at the same time is deeply worried about doing that (per the phone call). Why do I bring this up? The Original Magician Look is something of a visual representation of The Doctor’s insecurities and worry thats present throughout the entire season. Its too neat, too clean and really comes off as an unconscious way of saying “The Doctor acts like he doesn’t care what other people think, but he obviously does given how organized and put together it all is so people don’t judge him by appearance”. Long gone are the days of not caring how a giant scarf, celery or rainbow coats look to people, the only thing peaking through is a little bit of red.

You might think I’m reading too much into this, but consider that once The Doctor reaffirms and is sure of who he is in Death in Heaven (the “I am an idiot” Speech), after that point in the very next episode he adopts wardrobe that signifies his own comfortability with himself, wearing the holey jumper with the hoodie and his jacket and not being so tight with his dress. This only continues throughout Series 9 with the addition of the checkered pants and more t-shirt hoodie combos. The Doctor in Series 9 is usually confident, happy not worried about how he comes off and isn’t afraid to be silly. When does the super insecure dress style return? Once he’s been worried enough about his decisions regarding Ashildir which leads to Clara’s death. The Red Velvet outfit did not signify good things for the Doctor.  This still follows suit with his outfit at the diner which might be the most closest off twelve’s ever worn. This theme continues throughout the next few episodes he appears in while mourning Clara and having to move on from River with Husbands/Mysterio/His Class appearance.

The Doctor has become more okay in handling River and Clara’s passing and returns to his comfortable “this is me” dress style this series, although with a hybrid of the hoodie and shirts and the more dressy insecurity wardrobe. The only time he gets back into the insecure dress style is when The Monks have rewritten Earth’s history/Going to his best friend’s execution feeling uncomfortable and saving her and losing his companion and possibly his best friend too in the finale. But even then...He still has his cuffs messily laid outside his jacket and the jacket for that outfit is beaten up, nowhere near as clean as his previous outfits during the worst of times, which, i think partially shows his bravery in a small way. He’s holding it together but still letting some of his true self through again

Aaaand that’s why I dislike seeing twelve in those outfits unless its in the proper context, I hope you found my meta analysis interesting

[g0dtier]

Is previous anon. Thank you for your thoughts! I certainly hadn't considered that simply letting it be neutral was that destructive. I certainly don't want people to be abused or hurt, but perhaps my way of accepting people isn't as universal a fix I'd hoped it might be... Thank you again for your thoughts!

its not your fault rlly, because it DOES seem like the best option, right?

its just that the thing is, its a cultural thing in the west to be like “omg be quiet ur being extra” about stuff that isnt the norm. this is kinda harmful to “not making a big deal about it”, because people are WAY quicker to say “youre shoving it in our faces” or “youre putting too much emphasis on it” with lgbt things than with cishet things, because theyre not used to it

for example, with Bill, the latest doctor who companion, she was established as gay in the first episode. she was shown having a big crush on a girl named heather, she was flirty with her, she muttered “boys arent where i have my eyes, actually” under her breath when her homophobe mother kept going on about her needing to stay away from men. 

this situation with her mother kept being an ongoing thing throughout the entire season, with her mom being all “BOYS BOYS BOYS” and Bill just kind of quietly being “uh, no, actually” and i need you to guess for me what the audience said about it

“Wow, stop putting so much emphasis on Bill being gay, jesus. You need to stop making it into a big deal, you’re way too pushy about it”

Bill’s mom, who kept hammering on and on and on about Bill needing to stay away from guys, who kept being the most Heterosexual(TM) hetero ever, was totally ok, but Bill quietly muttering “um, actually no” was seen as way too in your face and making a big deal out of her sexuality. see where im going with this? 

if bill had been hetero and acted the exact same way, NO one wouldve been like “omfg shes way too hetero, shes so obsessed with boys all the time, knock it off”. hell, the 2 former companions in the show had a HUGE emphasis put on their relationship arc, yet they got no complaints about them being “too hetero”. what you have here is a gay character being portrayed even LESS interested in romance than the former 2 companions, and still being painted as too “in your face” and “shes making it a big deal” about it.

THATS why the mindset is harmful to have if you dont realize how cultured we are to see anything as other from the norm as “pushing it”.  if youre aware of it, its way less harmful, and it isnt always out of malice, but you SHOULD be aware of it nonetheless.

society constantly pushes heterosexuality on everyone. All the ads, tv shows, romances, etc are 99% hetero. And anything lgbt, even the tiniest sign of “yeah its somewhat regularly a thing in the show”, is shown as pushing it. so really, what most people mean with “dont make a big deal about it” is really “i dont want to see it regularly because it makes me uncomfortable and i feel like you need to stay quiet”, which isnt helping with acceptance

but again, it usually isnt out of malice. its hard to see things from the other side, especially when it comes to these huge cultural things we’re all so used to.

[nevospitanniy]

Rambly Teen Wolf/Big Wolf On Campus meta

Preface this by saying I didn’t expect to actually get into TW. This show kicked me in the teeth, balls and every organ I do and do not possess. If I’m going to be any degree of helpful, I need some structure up in here. Fair warning, it’s just like my opinion man.

1. Characters

Tommy is Scott. A werewolf with a heart of gold that cares deeply about people around him. It’s explored much more in depth with TW, duh - they had more seasons, more money and a higher age rating, using more drama and angst. But the outline is definitely there: they are both introduced to the fantastic world of lycanthropy by their extremely knowledgeable and helpful buddies (Merton/Stiles respectively), can be shitty to their best friends (Tommy throwing Merton under the bus to save his popularity/Scott abandoning Stiles for Allison multiple times), take on the role of the designated savior of the town from supernatural threats, prefer non-lethal methods, are Alphas (Tommy’s status could be contested, I guess, but the show never put an actual emphasis on pack dynamics, probably they thought it was too odd of a concept to start explaining because then you have to get to the whole omega part and that is c o m p l i c a t e d), fight organized evil!werewolves, had two main love interests, none of which held up (yeah, weaksauce, but I thought I’d still put it out there), kinda subpar in academics but good athletes. Scott gets so much more actual character development it’s not even funny, while Tommy just sort of meanders in what he has and gets dumbed down a lot for seasons 2/3.

Merton is Stiles, no shit. A nerd best friend, a friend in need more importantly, a loyal (mostly) spastic (very) companion. Dynamic between sciles and tommerton (platonically) is quite different because of how their backstories differ - after all, Scott and Stiles have known each other since forever, while Tommy pays attention to Merton only after being bitten, when they become friends almost out of necessity. But there is no denying that all four of them, in their respective duos, are joined at the hip, oftentimes with an inclusion of a girl to break up their awesome bromance (Allison/Lori and Stacy). Merton/Stiles go unappreciated for their efforts a lot, especially if you consider they are human and yet get into the same exact shit as fast and durable werewolves, surviving by wits, last ditch effort loyalty change (Merton) or a fear override (Stiles) and saving the day half of the time because they actually do research. Both seem to have a penchant for magic (unsubtly implied but never expanded upon for Stiles), both are comedic reliefs, even if in slightly different ways as commanded by the genre, both are excellent students, both are mostly unsuccessful with women and ambiguously bi/pan/omni, if you consider the technically non-human options. Complicated family relationships. Both have abandonment/commitment issues, both room (jury is still out there for sciles because of 6b) with their best friends in college. As for notable differences, Stiles undergoes a massive character transformation, a monumental shift, I’d say - not exactly doing a 180, but inching closer than any other character to actual plot relevant growth, and not for better, which is a rarity. Merton’s personality also changes for the worse, but it’s a result of clumsy writing and forced female presence in the shows plot as a romantic crutch. It would be interesting if fan meta on Merton’s less ehh flattering moments was expanded upon and explained in the series; what I wouldn’t give for an actual quality heart to heart between Tommy and Merton Ike every show nowadays seems to have in abundance, where they call each other out on their issues.

Women are more complicated. There are no exact parallels, barring the very basic archetypes, which would do no justice to any of the four, namely Allison and Lydia for TW and Lori and Stacy for BWOC. But yes, Allison is close to Lori - a fighter, someone who can take it and dish it out. Problem with Lydia/Stacy comparison is that it breaks down as soon as Lydia gets a sliver of character development, because at first, her queen bee status definitely resonated with Stacy, but while she was put on a bus without any real involvement in the show’s plot, Lydia becomes downright plot essential.

2. Writing

BWOC had an incredible season 1, with select episodes of season 2 being very good and, well, we don’t talk about season 3. Point being, even with the constraints of a cheap Canadian show for kids it managed some genuine brilliance, I’m sure in a big way thanks to the chemistry between cast members (specifically the two of consequence). Monster Of The Week format certainly seemed to work well for them, and I will forever mourn the loss of all the potential arcs and plot twists that never saw the light of day. TW had the privilege of, despite a mediocre display in season 1, becoming popular enough to spawn 5 more seasons, and I think they definitely had very strong moments, most of them carried on the back of Dylan O'Brien, like void!Stiles, relationship between him and his dad, and yes, his relationship with Derek, which turned out to be largely inconsequential to the plot (writers queerbaited the f u c k out of its audience and then just did nothing of worth with the pairing, BUT THATS HARDLY RELEVANT). I don’t know whether Peter Knight is just that good or the innocent nature of BWOC lends itself to less complicated plots and finished stories, but most BW episodes were microcosms, closed systems that had little bearing on any overarching storylines. They provided closure, well-defined villains and good guys, which is a very appealing quality, if a touch simplistic. I admit, I would’ve liked to see something with more “depth” and conflict, but the restrictions of the channel/network/rating are nothing to sneeze at. TW on the other hand ties almost every episode into another, weaving a continuous storyline. Personally, I think they should’ve done more one off episodes to break up the monotony of waiting for action set pieces. You need some hella witty dialogue to keep people watching while fuck all is happening and they sort of failed at that (again, Stiles carried most of the comedy). Almost everyone in BWOC is uniquely likable; TW has a much bigger cast so they definitely had ups and down as far as character writing was concerned.

Main problem with this whole disjointed comparison is how you can’t compare things that aren’t on the same level. It’s not a dig at quality or anything, but TW had 6 seasons and a huge budget, while BW barely got 3. TW and BWOC kinda started in a similar vein, but boy do they differ. That being said, I have an inkling that BW may have ended up looking a lot like TW in different circumstances - if it was made at a later date, on another channel, with a different rating/audience in mind. But then again, a lot of good things BW is liked for are a direct result of these aforementioned “hurdles” - all the double entendres would never fly for a tv-14 rated show, its generally cheerful and uplifting tone was probably required by the network and being a child of the 90s it carried a lot of charm that would be borderline impossible to fabricate now if they wanted to keep the ~aesthetic. So I can only compare real TW with hypothetical BWOC that got a bigger budget and more screentime. But doing that makes NO SENSE, so imma just finish with some general thoughts about the direction show might’ve gone.

I genuinely think that in different circumstances, Merton could’ve had a wonderfully dark character development. He’s a non-violent character, but does have this morbid curiosity that could’ve put him eventually in a position to cause grievous bodily harm to someone. He seems to get off on power play (both having power over someone and surrendering it), and that’s a slippery slope for an emotionally tender and damaged character. Tommy is his rock in a number of ways, his human connection outlet, a more teen oriented show would, of course, use his ‘scars’ to carry the narrative of overcoming tragedy. Merton does the same for Tommy, being his emotional support, because how liberating it must be to not hide his werewolf side and he could do it literally with 1 (one) person before Lori came into focus. Queerbait aside, their relationship was great, a deep involved friendship, and with Tommy being so resistant to evilness and Merton being so easily corruptible, they could’ve played off this contrast in a way more interesting than what we saw in s3.  

I also would’ve loved to see some female characters that aren’t barely two-dimensional; Stacy was, in one word, confused - we know very little of her actual personality, aside from her feminism rhetoric and an allergy to committed relationships. Lori was ‘the action girl’, and she got a slightly bigger piece of pie, but still not nearly enough. Fuck, I don’t even know if the show passes a Bechdel test. TW showed us actual fleshed out female friendships that weren’t toxic or competitive, would’ve been nice to see something of the sort in BWOC.