#but I also think it's really really really interesting that Matt doesn't seem to include honesty as a non-negotiable in his relationships

[ceterisparibus116]

My thing is Matt shouldn't have to "communicate that he wants honesty" to Karen? I don't get your logic because it feels like you're constantly giving Karen an out that she can be dishonest all she wants because it's "not on the same level as Matt", or that because she stated her expectation of honesty, that she is the only one that gets to demand that from Matt and since Matt didn't say that part out loud, he shouldn't be expecting honesty from her? My thing is you give what you want to demand even without the other person needing to say it out loud. If I want someone to respect me then I respect them, me nor the other party should have to state loudly "I want you to respect me". Your actions beget what you want to receive.

The very crux of my point is you can't demand honesty without being honest yourself and avoiding the hypocrite tag. Getting bogged down in specifics with "honesty measuring contest" that you seem to be doing, "oh well Matt's dishonesty was to a higher degree than Karen's therefore she is absolved" is sort of overinjecting inordinate nuance to give Karen some type of out. The argument just feels so disproportionate in favor of Karen.

And isn't the fact that one of her secrets/omission of facts that she's the one who killed Wesley which almost bit Matt in the butt during S3 when Fisk pinned that on Matt when Nadeem was leading a hunt for him crosses into "dangerous secret-keeping" and therefore bumps up Karen's dishonesty to another degree?

Also there was a scene in Daredevil S2 where Karen shows disapproval of Daredevil right in Matt's face, where she pontificates about how men like Daredevil who takes the law into their own hands contribute to the chaos in the city so she wasn't exactly perpetually approving of Daredevil.

Anon, I'm so happy you're willing to continue this discussion. I think it's really interesting.

I'm thinking now that what may have happened is that I misunderstood you (if you're the same anon who first asked about Matt and Karen). I read that first ask to be about whether Karen causally contributed to their relationship imploding, and so my reply attempted to analyze if/how Karen contributed to the implosion of: a) their platonic relationship, and b) their romantic relationship. I concluded, based on my read of the show, that she contributed to the the implosion of their platonic relationship, but not the implosion of their romantic relationship.

But now you seem to be asking a different question: "Is Karen's dishonesty Bad?" As in...is it immoral, is it hypocritical, is it dangerous?

And my answer to all of that is: yes!

You said: "The very crux of my point is you can't demand honesty without being honest yourself and avoiding the hypocrite tag" - we're in total agreement!

But your question was: what causally contributed to the implosion of their relationship?

Please show me any point in the show with factual evidence that Karen's hypocrisy and/or dishonesty causally contributed to any issues with her relationship with Matt. Because I don't see it.

Here's the thing: in order for her hypocrisy/dishonesty to cause her relationship with Matt to implode...Matt would have to be bothered by it.

And...he isn't? He's sad in S3, I think, with his "Why didn't you tell me?" but then she gives him an answer, and he seems to understand.

And I think this is FASCINATING. Honesty is clearly a non-negotiable issue for Karen (and I think also for Foggy) in relationships, romantic or otherwise. And especially romantic, at least for Karen. She cannot be in a romantic relationship where she is being lied to.

She can, apparently, be in a relationship where she is lying. That's hypocritical, sure, but the point is: she's going to dump someone else over their dishonesty, but she's not going to dump someone else over her own dishonesty.

But what about Matt? Matt will not, apparently, dump someone else over their dishonesty. Nor will he necessarily dump someone over his own dishonesty.

What causes Matt to dump someone? As far as we can see, it's...refusing to stop killing other people, and/or enjoying killing other people. That's it.

(I mean, I'm sure there's more, but that's all we see in the show.)

What I'm getting at, Anon, is that everyone has non-negotiables in a relationship. One of Karen's non-negotiables is continued dishonesty on the part of the other person. Matt violated that non-negotiable, so she ended their relationship.

But Karen did not violate Matt's non-negotiables. Even when he found out about Wesley, she was remorseful. So he was fine with continuing to have a relationship with her (a platonic one, at least).

Again, please understand, Anon: the question that was asked, and the context in which I'm responding, was specifically about how Karen causally contributed to the relationship imploding. It was not about whether Karen's actions were good, fair, wrong, hypocritical, etc. or whether Karen should be "absolved." That's a separate issue.

And to this, you might say that I'm injecting unnecessary nuance. And maybe I am. But...I'm a lawyer? This is what I do? This is how I've been trained to think?

And yes, it can be annoying. But it can also be very, very helpful at clarifying issues. (And I could be wrong, but I think that the fact that I think like this is one reason why people like my particular blog?)

Anon, you never explained why my nuance was unnecessary. I happen to think this nuance is critical - because talking about "is this behavior bad?" vs "did this behavior cause a specific outcome?" are two different things, and conflating them can lead to problems.

Have you ever had a conflict with someone where you're like, idk, "Why did you eat my clearly-marked sandwich?" and they're like "You're a hypocrite because [whatever]." Okay, maybe I am a hypocrite, but that doesn't answer my question! Let's resolve the issue of why you ate my clearly-marked sandwich, and then we can work on the issue of my hypocrisy.

That is why I think this nuance matters, and I'd like to hear why you think my nuance is unnecessary and inordinate.

[lus-sav]

im chronically obsessed with your daredevil aus!! if you have any headcannons you want to share id love to hear them (ps. your mob au has eaten my brain)

Me with my AUs:

Ah. I wish. If only I could clone myself. 😂

Some stray thoughts on the mob au to further the brain rot ❤️:

Bruin has the most fun when he’s in court.

He’s argumentative by nature. He likes debating and solving problems. Loves it even, when the stakes aren’t human lives and his mother isn’t playing games with rules that change constantly.

The years he spent studying to be a lawyer were the closest thing he had to a happy life. So. Bruin often represents his own people whenever they get caught for this or that crime.

Sure, he has a team of excellent lawyers, Marci Stahl included, and he defers to them whenever their field of expertise crops up. But if he has the time and the means, he’ll take on the case.

(This is probably how he met Matt Murdock. Met him and decided he likes the lawyer. Perhaps far more than he should. And imposed his protection on the man when he started being recklessly heroic and pissing off people who’d happily brain him. Bruin had, at different points, tried to recruit Matt. But the man was so vehemently against it, visibly enraged at the mere thought—Well, Bruin, the charmer, was charmed.)

(Bruin often helps Murdock with any cases that involve Bruin’s opponents. Free labor, right? He’s also deeply suspicious of how Murdock doesn’t seem to doubt his words. Doesn't respect him, doesn't like him—hates him really—but doesn't think him a liar. Interesting guy. Definitely needs further observation.)

(Bruin doesn't think he's ever met someone who seemed to know him and trust him at the same time. Talks with Murdock were. They were something.)

Bruin prides himself in this. Unlike Fisk, who’d brute-force his way to the top and a pile of bodies, Bruin would find another way. A better way. Murder isn’t off the list—he’s a Sharpe—but there are a hundred other things he’d try first. And he’d never touch anyone uninvolved. That’d be just. Too easy. Bruin is above that; he had ensured it.

(This is probably how he got Brett Mahoney. Corruption would always be part of the police force; it had been designed that way. But at least Bruin ensured outcomes that Brett could live with. Better Bruin than any other devil in Hell’s Kitchen.) (Oh, this could also be how Karen got on Bruin’s radar and directed to Murdock’s arms.)

So. People loved Bruin. Or at least vastly preferred him. More people are willing to give Bruin a chance. Not the best profit but excellent job security. (Matt would like it if Bruin was hated so he could have zero charitable thoughts about the guy.) (Actually, he wouldn't. The guy just takes too much of his thoughts.)

[doomerpatrol]

2024 Comic Log with Overall Ratings

Dungeon Meshi by Ryoko Kui [5/5]: incredibly funny, charming, full of interesting worldbuilding and compelling characters, some strong themes of entropy and consumption/desire and connection/ecology

Doom Patrol by Grant Morrison [5/5]: a darkly creative challenge to the Ubermensch masculinism that dominates comics

The Flash by Mark Waid [4/5]: breezily readable exploration of a character that I think has ebbs and flows, but generally features atypically fun time-travel plots and a great cast

The Flash by Grant Morrison & Mark Millar [4/5]: a solid continuation of Waid's themes and priorities that pushes Flash to his absolute limits

Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon [2/5]: tries to be mutant assimilationist, but can't even do that fucking correctly

X-23 by Craig Kyle & Chris Yost [3/5]: perfectly fine, a little hacky in its treatment of motherhood, but a nice and heartfelt contemporary take on the Wolverine: Weapon X story

JLA by Grant Morrison [5/5]: incredible, maybe Morrison's best ongoing achievement

Seven Soldiers by Grant Morrison [3/5]: very cool idea that doesn't really stick the landing but has a lot of bright spots and fabulous art

Batman: No Man's Land by Greg Rucka (and others) [3/5]: a crossover that features some of the best Batman stories and characterization, and also some of the worst; very much carried by the strength of its premise, best realized by Greg Rucka's stories

Animal Man by Grant Morrison [4/5]: features some of the best single issues I've ever read

All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison [5/5]: needs to be read. beautiful.

Grant Morrison's Batman Epic (includes: Batman, Final Crisis, Batman and Robin, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, Batman Incorporated) [5/5]: despite having some questionable character decisions and being dense in a way that can be tiring, I love how it redeems Bruce from one of his worst periods and pulls together his values and history cohesively while injecting some great new ideas and consistent motifs - the idea of a hole at the center of everything, the constant imagery of spirals and recurrence, really stuck with me over time.

Action Comics by Grant Morrison [2/5]: frenetic, but very obviously shows Morrison straining against The New 52 reboot, and doesn't live up to its initial promise of a young Superman of the people, and ends on a sour note that seems to reflect Morrison's justified disillusionment with the industry

Detective Comics by Greg Rucka [3/5]: carried by the lovely monochromatic artwork, sets up some interesting ideas like Bruce's bodyguard but ultimately gets cannibalized by crossovers (coincidentally when the best art disappears)

Wolverine by Greg Rucka [4/5]: features Logan in lone wanderer mode, with some awkward threads that don't really go anywhere but also don't trip up the rest of the story too badly

Catwoman by Ed Brubaker [4/5]: peters out in the last third, but the first two are holistically great noir fiction, and have amazing illustrations

Hawkeye by Matt Fraction [5/5]: beautiful artwork by David Aja and Matt Hollingsworth paired with a compelling, clinically criss-cross structure both in paneling and serialization. astonishing that this book works as well as it does considering its protagonist is 1) typically boring and 2) a huge fuck-up

Punisher / Franken-Castle by Rick Remender [2/5]: fails to live up to its premise because Brian Michael Bendis had dibs on all the important characters, so it just throws everything out the window and does some random shit for a bit

Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb [3/5]: perfectly fine blockbuster action-mystery with an eyeroll main antagonist

Detective Comics by Scott Snyder [3/5]: starts out strong, finishes super weak. I am pretty uninterested in hackneyed evil-since-childhood villains (see also: Hush), and I find the cynicism which runs through all its plots really poorly executed

Venom by Rick Remender [2/5]: fails to live up to its premise by trying to be a Peter Parker book (and also, briefly and inexplicably, a Ghost Rider book)

Black Widow by Marjorie Liu [4/5]: really gorgeous artwork from Daniel Acuna. I think the plot is a little convoluted and underbaked, but its spy-thriller antics were still quite enjoyable to read, and it has some surprisingly strong emotional beats for a character I'm not super-invested in

Birds of Prey by Gail Simone [4/5]: good cheesy fun with great character writing, though a rushed (and largely unnecessary) final act

Batman: Face the Face by James Robinson [3/5]: a "One Year Later" storyline that has some nice Bruce/Tim moments, but its main Two-Face plot is empty calories

Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four Epic (includes Dark Reign: Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four, FF [Future Foundation]) [5/5]: another series where, even though I can find it overwhelmingly dense or breakneck in pacing, its thematic payoff is so triumphant that I admire it a lot anyway; probably my second favorite FF run, full of fun sci-fi concepts, moving character beats, and creative changes to the team's structure like the Future Foundation

Superman: Up, Up, and Away by Kurt Busiek and Geoff Johns [5/5]: compared to Face to Face - the other big "One Year Later" return - it's literally no contest; incredibly charming, great art, thematic cohesion

[prismatoxic]

alright im here to say: ramble abt the "awful boys" pls! You can share any fun facts abt them or just abt matt or even just share out of context facts abt the lore! (that'd be very funny) ✨

IF YOU'RE SURE... I CAN CERTAINLY DO THAT...

despite not being "mine", arguably felix actually is mine, just as much as matt is max's. we share them so much that they haven't really developed outside of that context, so a lot of things about them are entwined... though that said i do have a more solid grasp on matt since he is the one i made and largely craft the lore for. if there's anything i don't feel comfortable speculating on for felix i can always ask max what he thinks though

i don't really remember everything i've actually posted here, although i think i've largely been vague on tumblr with the exception of the lore dump under matt's new ref. i can reshare that and maybe felix's backstory as well, but first i'll just share some facts and lore tidbits

also this got So Long so here's a cut

felix met the original matthew once. at a company party, matthew had come along at his father's insistence, and really didn't want to be there. his father introduced him to felix--probably flippantly, they're closer in age than matthew is with most other people there but also the old CEO resented felix and wasn't exactly trying to include him in anything--but the conversation went nowhere. the next time felix saw him, matthew was dead and the godking had taken his place as "matt". (we have an au where the conversation did go somewhere and they actually started "dating", which is just even more awful for poor matthew than what he canonically goes through. felix shouldn't ever date other humans, he's a toxic cesspit)

there's an underworld of demons that has direct connections to the company, both in location and in business. it's part of why matt finds it so interesting. in the canon/"just me and max" version of the story, the demons working at the company are generally pretty good at being covert and are rarely noticed. once matt shows up, suddenly none of them go to the top floor, quickly hurrying out of the way if he's on other floors. felix notices, one of the several things that brings him to the conclusion of something being weird about matt before the truth is forced out.

(there's another version of the story where we've involved several friends, most of whom made demon ocs, though some made other entities. matt remains the only entity of his kind in that version of the story, but the divide between him and other supernatural beings is less severe.)

when felix does find out about matt's true nature, it's not in any particularly descriptive way, and the best guess he can make is "angel of death". the existence of potentially-religious figures concerns him somewhat, as he was raised in a religious household and if hell is real, then brother, he's gonna have a bad time. that said, this particular assumption is what leads to one of his most common petnames for matt: "angel", which matt seems to actually enjoy, usually

on the topic of petnames--they both use them and both usually do so sarcastically or mockingly. "angel" is usually used that way, too. it's later in their relationship when any of them become fond; "angel" is one used in such a way, but matt doesn't have any that are so specific. he defaults to mushy stuff like "love," "beloved," and "darling." it's easy to assume he's still being sarcastic.

but don't be fooled by talk of gentle fondness and love. a lot of their early relationship is marked by dubcon and eroguro, along with dozens of other filthy things, and those mostly continue indefinitely (maybe not dubcon, but certainly cnc). matt can't be killed via normal means and he can always bring felix back; with no consequences, they can do such horrible things, and felix's top kinks happen to include "snuff". how lucky he is! (i told you he's a toxic cesspit)

even so... they do love each other. maybe not at the start, no, but as things progress, absolutely. and neither thinks it's worth holding onto. for felix, matt certainly will never feel the same; for matt, it's simply foolish to feel such a way about a mortal. and yet... every time he brings felix back from death, he imbues him with some of his own stardust. felix doesn't know it's happening until his own powers start manifesting and he starts feeling matt's emotions. even then, matt brushes off his involvement in those things happening.

i actually wrote a little story about one of the defining moments of their relationship, a turning point for them both (but especially felix). i meant to post it here and never did. maybe i'll do that. anyway

matt has always inherited memories and desires from those he devoured, but upon leaving a vessel he's often lost big parts of that. even so, the person he is now feels like an amalgam of all those he's eaten, and he has... surprisingly huge identity issues. he's kind of shaken when he realizes he's started thinking of this vessel as himself, not just "the body". he's never lived a life so full in any of his vessels, never had cause to tether himself to one identity. it scares him. but... he doesn't want to leave. felix is still here.

on that note, he inherited a few kinks from matthew that he's not really ready for. matthew never got to act on them, but matt can, and he does--much to felix's delight. watching matt turn into a drooling whimpering mess is such a treat.

i'm exhausted so idk how many more things i can easily rattle off. but you're welcome to ask more stuff!

here, have the malix playlist:

and below i'll put these guys' backstories, just because

Matt

The Godking is a young cosmic entity from an unknowable place somewhere out in the universe. He used to enter relationships with older beings, but as a younger being he was rarely fully respected; as a result, he became obsessed with the idea of gaining the sort of power that would force the others to acknowledge him as a peer. Crafting a divine dagger with parts of his own being, he used it to kill his partners, devouring their essences to absorb their powers. 

His last cosmic partner was an arachnid-like being who saw him for what he was before he could murder them. While they were unable to take his dagger, they still nearly killed him in the ensuing fight, and in the wake of the battle he was banished from his home dimension for his crimes. In his banishment, he lost his original form, left to wander the cosmos as a formless cluster of stardust.

He eventually ended up on Earth, drawn by the presence of supernatural beings mingling with the humans, as well as the humans themselves. He found himself enamored with the concept of human religion—of gods and deities that were worshiped for their control over the world. This was where he adopted the moniker Godking, an apt description of his influence on the humans who idolized him. For millennia he drifted from project to project, forming cults in his own name or joining human settlements to play with some of the residents, stealing the bodies of singular members to become "prophets" delivering the word of their new God. Inevitably, he always got bored, killing his favored toys so they couldn't exist without him and abandoning those who worshiped him. 

Not too long ago, the CEO of a successful company used ancient texts from one of the Godking's religions to invoke his name, asking for his aid in making the company prosper beyond his wildest dreams. Amused by the request, the Godking gave his word, then used his hypnosis abilities to drive the CEO mad to get him out of the way. Needing a new vessel to "fulfill the agreement" (a conscious choice, as he isn't the sort to be bound by deals or laws), he devoured the soul of the CEO's son, Matthew, assuming ownership of his body and using it to take over the company. 

He's grown fond of the name Matt, and in truth has also grown fond of Matthew's body, though he does frequently alter it to suit his needs. It's been some time since he enjoyed a specific form so much. It helps, perhaps, that a specific high ranking member of the company—the only person to have broken through the illusion to discover the sinister truth underneath—seems to like this form too.

He needs to leave it eventually, of course, lest his essence get so tangled up in it that breaking away gets difficult. Surely that won't be hard. 

Felix

Felix was born to an incredibly average family out in the suburbs, not too far from the city where he works now. By all accounts, he was a very normal child; he was pleasant, if a bit withdrawn, and wore very normal clothes, had a very normal haircut, and kept his room very plain. His interests were few and nothing noteworthy, and his performance in school was decent. 

Of course, all of that was only what outsiders saw—his extended family, school peers who didn't share classes with him, and the many mental health professionals his parents sent him to all considered him to be a normal, plain child. Anyone who spent a little more time with him could tell there was something wrong. His immediate family, closest to him by virtue of living with him, actively considered him a threat.

Felix was prone to killing and dissecting small animals, blatantly lying to manipulate others, collecting blackmail material whenever an opportunity presented itself, and generally intimidating anyone who could be pushed around in such a way. While many of his traits could potentially be explained by sociopathy, Felix was never formally diagnosed with anything, charming anyone who may have been able to into thinking he was fine. Perhaps his parents waited too long to get him looked at. Or perhaps Felix was always a conniving sadist, something within him darker than any mental disorder could explain.

Having since moved out of the suburbs and largely distanced himself from his family, Felix lives in an apartment with two roommates and works at the company Matt took over. When the old CEO was still in charge, Felix used his skills to blackmail the man extensively, gaining a position perilously close to the C-suite with the intentions to move even higher when the chance manifested. He was blindsided, as were many others, when the old CEO was institutionalized and his son inherited his company. Yet as the other executives and employees easily took to Matt's presence, Felix was furious that his plans had been disrupted... and cautious of the ways in which something about Matt seemed off.

When attempts to learn more or get Matt under his thumb failed, Felix resorted to murder. He's resorted to murder a lot, over the years. He's never been caught, never been confronted, never been stopped—and never met someone who could shake off a bullet to the skull. 

Until now.

[variousqueerthings]

No blowing up the planet!

it's.... Nightmare In Silver!!! the second of the neil gaiman penned episodes, and I've gotta be honest, the only thing I'm really vibing with this time around is Warwick Davis, unfortunately, because I'd want to watch it again for Warwick Davis, youknow?

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 4/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 3/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 4/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 4/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 6/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 4/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 8/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 8/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 4/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 5/10

FULL RATING: 50/100 (if I can count….)

it's not so much that it's the worst episode of ever, it's more that it's spreading itself way too thin. And then of course. we get the second most infamous fucking terrible line in Eleven's run:

OBJECTIFICATION: "A mystery rapped inside of an enigma squeezed into a skirt that’s just a bit too… tight."

I am just hoping that Neilman didn't write this line, because it scans as pure M*ffat at his worst, but who knows. this is the Doctor about Clara, and look, not that it should even matter, because it's a heinous line that shouldn't exist, but it also doesn't make sense, because Clara's skirts may be relatively short, but they're cut in a sort of almost 50s flare (I don't know skirt cutting terminology)

and I hate that that's even a point I have to make in this, why do I have to think about the tightness of Clara's skirts fuck you fuck you fuck you!

this is genuinely the only thing, but it comes outta fucking nowhere slaps you in the face and then leaves you with "ah, thank you for summing up the only things that matte about your lead character in one, hypersexist sentence." which... speaking of the first half of that sentence

PLOT-POINT: I've been praising Clara's competency in most of her episodes. she's proactive, she does things even though she's scared, she knows number one rule is Not Dying.... in this episode she's got none of the depth that comes with the things she does

suddenly, she is just In Charge Of Soldiers, and she's practically a different character. gone are emotional tie-ins to what she's doing, in fact she mostly seems to be having fun and/or being very happy to be put in charge of this particular military, with the exception of a second when they're almost killed by Cybermen

I did write initially that I liked her taking charge in this one too, but as the episode went on, she felt more like she was just there to run the B-plot, than to be important. I also wrote down this line "The only reason I’m still alive is because I do what the Doctor says"

honestly I'd have to go back and see if rtd-era companions have these sorts of lines, but also my girl-guy, he's asking you to run first line of defense against Cybermen, it's not that you're not being put in danger. this is the sort of line I'd have expected from Amy, but I think Clara's been remarkably free of them up until now (I could be wrong, but from my notes!) Especially because throughout this season we've had episodes where the Doctor had no idea what to do and you saw that Clara!

this is me picking up on dialogue, because this episode... did not have good dialogue by and large, but we'll get back to that, because we're not done with "The Impossible Girl" (sigh) -- because if you didn't think she was kind of absent proper emotions before, (such as the episode breezing mostly past her reaction to seeing the kids she's taking care of being controlled by Cybermen, which, again I can sort of believe in that she hasn't met Cybermen before and so doesn't think the children are dead like previous companions might, but they're still kids she deeply cares for and apart from an initial comical anger scene, she's just moving onwards with the plot), then remember here at the end that she's not really important, she's just the mystery of the season for the Doctor to solve!

COMPLEXITY: this episode has so many setpieces. there was a war 1000 years ago vs Cybermen that people won, and now they're on this abandoned amusement park that has a bunch of old Cybermen casings, and there's a lost emperor, except he's this guy who's been calling himself Porridge, who's the secret behind an automaton chess player (a real thing that existed in the 18th-19th century and used this exact technique), but is actually the long-missing emperor that's been searched for for awhile, I cannot remember why he was undercover as an amusement park gimmick called fucking Porridge

uh and then the Cybermen start waking up, because the Doctor brought children here and they needed children and I cannot remember why, and they cannot blow up the planet, until they've saved the children, and the Doctor is infected, but plays a chessgame against his evil Cyberself (called Mr Clever, because everything in this era has to be weirdly Silly all the time), while the others fight the Cybermen in an abandoned "comical castle" because it's still a theme park and most of them die, the Doctor convinces the evil!self to release the children and then promptly fries him out of his brain, because why wouldn't he do that???

and all the survivors beam up to the emperor's big ship and blow up the planet. I have a lot of questions. why a themepark (did they explain that, I somehow must have missed it), why is the emperor missing (did they explain that, I somehow must have missed it) why is he pretending to be this guy called Porridge? (did they explain that, I somehow must have missed it) why tf is he missing if he's so easily recognisable that a child would get it?? (did they explain that, I somehow must have missed it) why did the cybermen need children? (did they explain that, I somehow must have missed it) why was the amusement park abandoned and then stationed with troops? (did they explain that, I somehow must have missed it)

so like. there maybe are explanations for all of these points, but my point is that this episode is so unwieldy that if you look away for a second you miss the potentially single piece of dialogue explaining a thing and then it's very unclear for the rest of the story. and I am Watching these episodes, taking notes, going back to read subtitles. I genuinely don't know how I missed all of that

and I like watching things that are complicated, I do. but only if it's also engaging, and this episode is not engaging enough for me to go back now and look through it (or even to possibly watch it again). it's got so much dialogue that is so out of place, tonally and structurally, there's no way I'm going in to try and focus more on it than I already did. my point isn't necessarily that the above wasn't explained, it's that it wasn't explained well, and there was a barrage of weird shit that was coming at you from all sides

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: you'd think, considering evil!Doctor is inside the Doctor's mind and they're battling it out and evil!Doctor is seeing Forbidden Knowledge and also being kinda weird about the Doctor's and Clara's relationship (framing it as explicitly romantic), that there would be more forward-motion, but not really

Clara's not massively changed from the kids having been kidnapped and taken over by Cybermen, and neither are the kids for that matter. which, I don't know where to put this, but remember how back in Rings of Akhaten I was saying that there's a looooot of kids in this era, which would be great if they could act (like the kid in Akhaten), these kids are... not good actors in this episode. and they're also given (especially the girl) thankless fucking dialogue. she's meant to be giving that tween/early teen surliness, and in order to manage this 90% of her dialogue is calling things stupid. She'll enter a scene like this:

Kid: Hello I’m bored Soldier asks her where her sister (Clara) is Kid: She’s not my sister, she’s stupid

this.... is not how tweens/early teens talk, and you can feel the director going "just act huffy in Every Single Moment you're onscreen." she calls the Tardis stupid, she calls an alien planet stupid, she calls people stupid, I swear the nr one word this character says is "stupid"

point being, the kids aren't important to any forward trajectory on the whole, Clara isn't questioning the picture of herself in the last episode that she doesn't recognise so that's a bust, and the Doctor's little duel of the mind doesn't go much of anywhere

the only bit of something that may come up again is the Cyberman bit drifting around space to set up future Cybermen (shocking)

COMPANIONS MATTER: she does. yeah, she does take control of the soldiers. I wish it had been more awkward. why is this Clara, who was having a near panic-attack in Cold War, who was admitting to being terrified in Hide, why is she just so effortlessly good at this? but yeah, she does do Plot Things so to speak

I'm also not 100% convinced the Doctor would leave his companion -- especially this companion, whom he is trying not to get killed for the third time - at the front lines battling Cybermen, that's truly a last resort kind of situation that seems very chill here

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: aaaand so we get to the A-Plot, which is an admittedly cool little setting in the Doctor's mind where the Gallifreyan cogs whirl around (I wonder if there's easter eggs in there)

and of course, really it's a way to "trick" the evil!Doctor into letting the kids go, so he can say fuck it to the chessgame and just electric him out of his mind, and that's exactly what happens

it's fine-ish, I've marked it down because it totally overshadows the plot where Clara is in charge of scared soldiers, which matters far less, and shouldn't! and also because... I'm circling around saying there's a lot of this dialogue that doesn't work for me either, and that I don't think Matt Smith is the best actor for it

I've enjoyed Matt Smith in this era, more than I thought I would. there are some things he does very well (cry-face is solid, rapid speech patterns without it getting jumbled, annoyance, lotta bodily flailing although I think directors overuse that to the point of my not taking him seriously at all quite often), where I think he often loses me is the Dramatic Time Lord Stuff. the quiet competency and rage, the shouting grand speeches, all of that... never worked for me, didn't work this time either, and the whole episode hinges on it a bit

it didn't help that evil!Doctor called himself "Mr Clever," it's one of those things that happens a lot in this era where the balance of lighthearted-for-"kids" (in the sense that you can see the screen screaming for children to think this is funny/whimsical/etc) and take-this-seriously-in-the-timetravel-show-please is see-sawing like mad. often just a lot little things, like that. it's like someone grabbing you by the face and yelling WHIMSY!!!!!! at you, rather than whimsy coming from the construction of the story

but yeah evil!Doctor is kind of sneering I guess. I think there's just more that could have been done with this concept, but like everything else it's stretched Thin

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: so apparently these Cybermen reference a bunch of Classic cybermen, along with the ones developed during RTD's era. that's cool. also a few references to other Doctor's, especially Ten, with Allonsy and

"You've had some cowboys in here, ten complete rejigs"

“SEXINESS”: we are pretty solid on this on the whole. thank goodness. I do wonder about the emperor asking Clara to marry him, but I'll save the emperor as concept for last

INTERNAL WORLD: yeah, back to complexity, nonsense from top to bottom. I guess it's built like a theme park, in that there is a theme park map. I'm just realising this is set at a theme park and we see four locations -- the bit where they land on the "fake moon," and do some fake moon jumping. the soldiers barracks. the little room kept by the con-man carnival type. and the "comical" castle. why set this at a theme park if you're not showing any... theme park?

POLITICS: this episode is devoid of politics, except we've got this platoon and we've got this emperor of several worlds, and none of it has any bearing on the episode, because we're not meant to think about these sorts of things. the platoon is kind of the dredges, and so several of them are immediately killed by Cybermen, which would be gruesome if one cared about them, but the episode has so much going on that there's not enough time to focus in properly

but also were they drafted? did they volunteer? can they quit? who's their families, their planets? what made them join up if they did join up? why do they care about the emperor, what is that loyalty made up of? propaganda? why does the emperor matter? what is the suggestion that the word "emperor" makes spring to mind?

it's sort of framed like a budget LOTR with a return of the king, except his spaceship was orbiting the planet the whole time. I still don't know what he was doing there, or why they didn't just evacuate and blow it up earlier, and I'm saying this, but also is there more at stake when "blowing up a planet" who lived there? what culture is lost? how does it tie into the idea that an emperor can just blow up a planet?

he's presented as a benevolent, brave person, who's fine with Clara turning down his hand in marriage, but truthfully we know nothing about him at all, and actually a story about that would have been more interesting to me. what are the connotations of it all???

FULL RATING: 50/100 (if I can count….)

a thin thin episode with too much happening, too many characters, highly suspect dialogue, much of which was out of character, and a setting that's cool on the surface and then totally unexplored, because it too, is just there to be Cool rather than to have any deeper bearing on things

it's got some nice callbacks to classic!who and Warwick Davis, that's... most of what it's got going for it, unfortunately

and then that fucking line!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[thenookienostradamus]

20 questions for fic writers

Okay so this one looks insanely fun; I couldn't not hop on board. Tagged by the fantastic @nocompromise-noregrets. These are some juicy questions!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 45. Oh shit I just realized I have one fic for each year of my life.

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 957,606

3. What fandoms do you write for? Many of the ones I have written for I don't anymore, but I've written for some enormous fandoms like Hannibal, Tolkien/Silmarillion, Star Wars, Sherlock, and SPN, a couple biggish ones (Detroit: Become Human , Midnight Mass, and Foundation -TV), and a shitload of tiny fandoms including The Alienist (TV), The Following, True Detective, The Exorcist (TV), and Preacher (TV).

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? Cernunnos (Hannibal) - 1,189; Misericorde (Hannibal) - 727; Exit Music (D:BH) - 716; The Detective Doth Protest Too Much (D:BH) - 638; The Stolen Prey (Hannibal) - 579.

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes! It's super important to me to take time and thank people who have commented. Also I'm not super crazy popular so I don't get a shit-ton of comments anyway. They're all gems!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Hm. Most likely Nightmare Angel, my lone Supernatural fic which nobody reads because I kill Dean and send Sam on an automobile-assisted vengeance quest. Listen, it's a book-based AU and the book isn't exactly the happiest.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Probably This Night at the Edge of the World, which is a surprisingly poignant modern AU take on a Star Wars crack ship. Matt the fucking Radar Technician. Who knew?

8. Do you get hate on fics? Rarely. I've gotten a couple of comments along the lines of "Why didn't you do x?" or "If this was my fic I would have..." and I've found that a lot of those come from people who are well intentioned but possibly neurodivergent, so I try to be kind.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yep. All but 8 of my fics are Explicit-rated. Not sure what is meant by "what kind" - but like...hopefully the sexy kind? This is a reflection of the reason why I read fanfic. If I want character development, an engrossing story, an ingenious plot, whatever, I read original fiction. If I want to read about make-believe people banging, I read fic. I don't like longfic or romance or slow burn or whatever. Reading fic, for me, is purely for horndog reasons.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I guess the closest I've come to that is the Techienician ship, AKA Matt the Radar Technician (Adam Driver's undercover Star Wars character from a Saturday Night Live sketch) x Techie from Dredd (2012) as played by Domhnall Gleeson.

11. (there doesn't seem to be a question 11) Free space! I am loving the recent proliferation of interesting, complicated female characters in media!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Uh. I think so? Not sure if it was on AO3, though.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Tons of them, actually. Which is weird because I typically like to write alone. But I've had some amazing collabs. I cowrote one of my Following fics with a friend (we've since lost touch). I wrote a crackfic called It's Hard Out There for a Balrog for a reverse bang, collaborating with @melkors-big-tits and his ridiculously amazing art and awesome ideas. My fave collab, of course, was the extraordinarily cracky Kylux holiday fic, Merry Huxmas, which I co-wrote with my sister, @gefionne.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Uh...I don't really have an all-time favorite. Just whatever is occupying my mind at the time.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I'm not entirely sure I'll ever finish The Unresisting Heart, which is a Maglor/Sauron fic. It was an experiment in style and I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I'm in the frame of mind to finish. I keep telling myself I'll finish In Eorum Nominibus, my Midnight Mass Riley/Father Paul fic. But again...not sure.

16. What are your writing strengths? Characterization, probably. I'm pretty decent at putting together a plot with a lot of moving pieces. Dialogue. Also making things not read like fanfic.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I sometimes miss opportunities for character interiority, especially with a fast-moving plot. I try not to, but my writing is vague sometimes. I don't particularly think it's a weakness, but fic readers love flowery, pretty language and I refuse to write that way.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Largely unnecessary. If you do, translate. But throwing words from another language in makes you sound like a non-native speaker trying to appear cool. If you're fluent in another language, why not just write in that language, too?

19. First fandom you wrote for? Well, if you don't count Mary Sue stories written in a spiral notebook before the computer era, probably The Matrix. Revolutions, specifically. It's not posted. It will never be posted.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? Exit Music. Because its totally invented AU plot went on to inspire an original novel that may or may not be published before I die. People really do not want to read "unlikeable female characters." Sigh.

Tagging some new friends, including @mycapeisplaid and @madsmilfelsen, plus some beloved old friends: @thefangirlibrarian, @niennawept, @ruiniel, @i-did-not-mean-to, @cilil, and the obligatory @gefionne because she has the same parents as I do and also because she's awesome.

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

I watched the movie Resident Evil Degeneration today and I definitely hated the movie because of Leon and Angela. When I saw the scene of their kiss in the water, I was shocked. Many say it is cpr, but it does not seem like cpr to me. Also, throughout the movie, he holds her hand. There is even a scene similar to the scene of Ada and Leon when she fell at the end of re2. At the end of the movie, Angelia said to Leon, “Let’s dive again,” and he said, “I’d love to .” I really hate Capcom

honestly i have a lot of reasons why i write off degeneration as a movie as a whole

objectively, the writing is bad in resident evil but this one is absurdly poor

it's another movie where nothing really happens that's substantial and because it's so easily forgotten, i feel like a lot of the plot can just be ignored in the grand scheme of things

leon's essentially a cardboard cut out that spouts off random lines when things happen

he doesn't have a voice or even any thoughts that aren't things he's said before.

funnily enough i think claire was decent in this movie, too bad it's the only movie she's in that's actually a decent portrayal of her (im very anti stephanie (new's claire's characterization) and find her to be nothing other than a mary sue - self insert. and that they stripped her of all interesting aspects of her character/narrative)

(this is also NOT hate, this is a legitimate critic of her character, and i think that claire stans deserve better than how she's currently portrayed. and at this point it really seems like what claire's va wants is for claire to be fridged at some point in the future to further chris's storyline.)

although this one the only film that did not star matt mercer as leon (not including infinite darkness which was voiced by nick,) and was voiced by paul mercier- he was extremely clearly uncomfortable, or was given poor direction.

i do think he was great as leon in og re4, but something about the movie was so badly voiced

i wasn't sure if it was voiced in japanese at first and he was forced to dub it to the japanese voice flaps? but either way it's really poorly done

we also have to remember that this particular film was also directed/written by someone who was vehemently ANTI aeon, so he forced a "relationship" between leon and angela.

i think the breath of air could either be interpreted as cpr or a kiss, i don't really care tbh. if angela wasn't drowning, then a "kiss" wouldn't have happened. i just think it's a non-issue and it was written in to "enhance leon's flirt status"

i do think that it's funny though that in the damnation bloopers, matt mercer's leon makes a joke about how he forgot about diving with angela lol he said he was gonna call her after but still sdjkfbsjkdf doubtful that ever happened (also i am aware at the bloopers aren't canon lmao)

[battylite]

hi batty, i've been binge-reading "franz kafka, frank zappa" this summer and first off, its phenomenal, seriously -- and secondly, i was wondering if you listened to a particular group of albums or artists when writing it? i'm...so obsessed with the vibes of that particular fic. (im assuming nf!r was in the rotation? :))

hi, thanks so much and I'm so glad you've enjoyed it!! There should a playlist that's linked at the end of the fic (probably end of the last chapter?) but that was more of an exercise in storytelling than what I was actually listening to then. There's a few that will probably be repeats to what I'll put below.

First off, yeah, Norman fucking Rockwell. I don't think I can say anything about this album that hasn't been said elsewhere, but in brief: LDR has always been really good at writing cohesive albums and being purposeful in how she arranges her songs, but this album really elevated her as a storyteller. She's been an interesting artist to follow because her albums have always seemed to be a reflection of her personally, and in NFR! she takes her character seriously, like, as an adult, in a way that isn't true for any of her previous albums. As far as story goes, I still appreciate that whether she's still involved with the person she's writing about in the first half of the album by the end is ambiguous. You could argue either way or that it doesn't matter.

Honorable mention to the first half of Father John Misty's I Love You, Honeybear (title track through Nothing Good Ever Happens; I emphasize the title track and hesitate to include Strange Encounter, which says something). FJM is such a clever writer; this album is so nihilist and gross at times and then romantic at others, and the fact that he's both so good at juggling them and will also give you whiplash is so impressive. I think I could take pieces of my NFR! and rename them ILYH. A couple of other relevant FJM songs: Buddy's Rendezvous, Nancy From Now On, Hangout at the Gallows (the Gallows also used to be a bar in Boston, not that I think that has any relevance to FJM)

Second honorable mention to Glass Animal's Dreamland; the whole album is a really good piece of storytelling, but I would say only the first and final songs are relevant here. Mostly because the title track (Dreamland) was definitely an inspiration, and because (spoiler but not really) the final track (Helium) is connected so masterfully to the first. Both great good examples of tone and atmosphere done really well.

I might add more thoughts/explanation to this later, but those are my quick thoughts, and a few one-off songs:

Mine to Miss -- American Football

Georgia -- Vance Joy

Mariette -- Mark Kozelek

One More Second -- Matt Berninger

Doubt (demo version) -- Hippocampus

Sweetheart and The Last -- Long Beard

Demi Moore -- Phoebe Bridgers

Calgary Girls -- The Smith Street Band

I don't know if this is what you were looking for or the vibe you thought you would get but this was an interesting thing to think about for me so thanks again!

[probablygoodrpgideas]

Will you be my Hunter: Behind the Scenes: Rivals

Here are some insights into my design for the rival adventuring group for Will you be my Hunter. Hopefully there's something valuable to learn from this, I'll also make a seperate post for the most basic lesson from this (I learned from Matt Colville's mistakes)

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to include a secondary adventuring party. Two of the player characters were members of the cult of Devotion so making the other group associated with the church of Tiamat was an obvious choice.

During our christmas break, I prepared them in more detail.

At first, I decided to make 5 rival characters, each of which would be a foil to one of the player characters. While working on that, I came up with the idea of each of them being a foil to two of the player characters, one on an aesthetic level, one on a personality level.

Rachel, a woman from the feywild who will do anything in her power to kill Oberon was an aesthetic foil to Morena (from the feywild) and a personal foil to I're (vengeful, angry, will let nothing stop her)

Antonia, the Nar'adschian opera singer who joined the church of Tiamat in hopes of brining peace to the city was an aesthetic foil to Sethra (from Nar'adsch, does music) and a personal foil to Bergi (strong, quiet, lonely)

Cataris, the Infernal "spying" on the group who loves getting attention was an aesthetic foil to [SPOILERS] and a personal foil to Sethra (loud and proud)

Of the other two character, you'll get to know one of them next week probably. The other I've decided to scrap.

While I think the double foil idea was really cool, when roleplaying as Antonia I quickly realized that keeping them as a foil to Bergi was a bit restrictive and I decided to change their personality a bit.

Then when roleplaying Cataris a session later I realized the same for her.

At that point I reevaluated the personality of the others. Rachel still seemed interesting, and so did the mystery unrevealed character.

The scrapped character however was honestly not that interesting to begin with. The main reason they existed was to be a foil, and with Antonia and Cataris not being straight up foils anymore I decided that it would be fine to just scarp that character.

And honestly, even if the others had still been straight up foils, in retrospect I don't think it would have been a good idea to keep a boring character around just for the sake of "completing a cycle". I can do other things to involve the characters they were going to be a foil to in the campaign.

And that's the two big lessons I've taken from this: Just because you did something for most of the party doesn't mean you have to do it for the entire party and don't be afraid to cut stuff you've prepared if you find it might not be a perfect fit anymore.

[finitefall]

Why does it seem so hard for a lot of people to recognize that the dragon dance was only caused for a simple matter of misogyny? I've even seen people from the black team argue that everything was much more complex. That George won't just write a stupid story of mysoginia, that it has to have a deeper meaning, that in fact it means that war and the feudal system is wrong and that everyone who says that it's based on a question of mysoginia trying to simplify the real message of this story, so much more complex. That Greens can't just be antagonists (= uninteresting villainous beasts in their heads, because apparently a villain can't be interesting?), that George only writes gray characters. (yes including people who call themselves team black) That nobody is right, etc. That the Targaryens cannot be said to be the hero/anti hero/protagonist of the story because they are actually not nice and better than the Greens. (Wtf? I've really seen that from people calling themselves team Black) That everyone is on the same level. So, just no. The dance was provoked by misogynism and greed for power on the part of the Greens. It's as obvious as two and two is four, and yet it seems too complicated for a lot of people to understand. Honestly, I wonder what world these people live in? It's so frustrating to see this everywhere. Generally, this type of speech comes either from green teams, or neutral teams. Because I guess it's so much more subversive to be neutral for x reasons in this case when there's no reason to be? But the fact that I've actually seen this type of talk from people being team black baffles me. In fact, that this discourse can exist simply amazes me. Even more when you know that the writers of the series are exactly like that.

It's expected coming from Greens stans, as you say. But when Blacks stans are saying this, it means there are two kind of people in the fandom siding with the Blacks, which really doesn't surprise me. You and I understand there's a right side in the Dance and it's the Blacks because the Greens commited treason, that this treason was based on misogyny, and that the Dance simply wouldn't have happened if they hadn't been traitors.

I'm not Team Black because they're my favorites war criminals or because I love Daemon and Rhaenyra (even though I do love them). The second kind of people siding with the Blacks, however, do it because their favorite characters are on this side. They're probably drooling on Matt as Daemon, think  Daemyra is really hot, and none of this would be wrong if they actually spent less time focusing on fantasies and more time focusing on what happened... which is really obvious, as you say.

People also love to sound smarter than others (no matter if they stan the Greens or the Blacks), to look for hidden messages because "it can't be that obvious". Well, sometimes is it that obvious, and when we say it, we're basically being told that we're too stupid to understand a complex story.

[what-do-1000-swords-look-like]

I feel like Walker: Independence is like a mixed bag of so many fun treats. And I am loving every single one:

Kat and Katie have so much chemistry. I am so glad that Abby appears to have a friend in the making. I know who Kate is and I'm sure that either is playing a role in this whole thing or (and I think more likely) that may come into play later on. Especially since we've seen that she takes care of the dancers. I think if she knows that Abby is Liam's widow, she's keeping that to herself...for now. Katie has really come into this and made this character her own, and it shows. She is perfect to play this part, and damn if she doesn't seem to steal every scene she's in.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I love Kai. I am so happy to see for once a Chinese character representing the Chinese faction of the Old West in media that is not portrayed as the typical stereotype we've seen in the past. Kai is very much involved in the story as is every other character, he is essential to the story and not just there to further other characters' stories. I am excited to see how his story unfolds, including his crush on Kate and his connection now with Abby, Calian, and Hoyt. And can I just say, Lawrence is so cute!!! I love him so much.

I cannot put my love for these two characters into words. Justin and Philemon are knocking it out of the park. I love that there is a semblance of trust between these two starting out, making it evident that these two have some sort of history. It's obvious that Calian does not trust easy (understandable, especially given his treatment at Hagan's, which in itself is accurate in its portrayal), and the fact that he believes Augustus to be a good man and needs to ensure it for himself when it's called into question...there's definitely a history there that I look forward to learning more about.

I have to say that I do enjoy Hoyt's character. He's dynamic and so much fun. Typical rugged, sassy, gunslinging outlaw but obviously with a heart. I've never seen Matt Barr before but I can see why Walker fans and producers alike loved him. He's got that something. I love that he already has a relationship with Lucia when the show starts and that even though it's not in his interest to help Abby, he does it anyway. I'm curious to see what happens when Hoyt has to go into that mode that we only saw a glimpse of in that card game in the pilot.

This guy. This guy, this guy, this guy. I have never seen this actor before but holy smokes. He definitely embodies everything that one hell of a character from a time period piece like this should. I don't know quite how to explain it but it's like Greg takes the Old West and cloaks himself in it, in each scene he has. There's something about him, even in his push and pull dynamic with Abby, that just flirts with danger (besides what we already know in the story about him) though we have no idea to what level that danger would be. It feels like there's a lot simmering underneath the exterior and I am eager as hell to find out what happens when it comes to the surface.

Imo, one of the best parts of the show. I love how he is not swept to the side and just used to further the story line. I also love how staunchly Abby defends him, and it's obvious how much she trusts him. Ngl, I do love me the bit of Abby/Calian vibe I'm feeling, but as a standlone character, I am looking forward to finding out more about Calian. I am hoping we get to see more of him soon. And Justin was the perfect choice to bring this character to life. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE him.

This guy!!! Omg, I am in love with this guy. There is so much potential with this character and it's almost like in the last episode, we got to see behind the curtain a little bit, and beyond that curtain lays so much promise to his story and Philemon's portrayal. I don't know how to put it into words but I am beyond excited every time he appears on screen. I feel for him that he got passed over and now this new person comes into town and takes over in the position that should have rightfully been his. I'm hoping that at some point in the future this gets rectified but man am I going to enjoy the ride to get there along the way. I really don't know how to properly articulate it but SO. MUCH. PROMISE with his story. And Philemon is just absolutely amazing!!! I may have squee'd like a fangirl in that shot in 1x02 where we see that he was the one holding the rifle after stopping the fugitive. That whole damn sequence was phenomenal!!!! So yes, I am very, very, very excited to learn more about him.

While we don't know too much about Lucia yet, what we have seen so far is amazing. I am looking very much forward to her story unfolding especially since her family owns that ranch. That part of the story alone is very intriguing to me, and I hope we either get to see the dynamics of her family soon or a few scenes at the ranch. I also would love to find out how she and Hoyt met and get to know more of their history. Gabriela does a fantastic job and just like with many of the other actors (and characters), it feels as if there is so much more waiting behind that curtain that we only have gotten a peek of. I think Gabriela (and Lucia) is going to be a tour-de-force.

Kat, Kat, Kat, Kat, Kat. I have loved Kat for a long time (though I've never seen her in Shadowhunters, I've seen her in other projects) and to be completely honest, other than the western genre, she was also a big draw for me to this project. I admit, I was bummed when CW decided to ax The Green Arrow and The Canaries, but if this is the trade-off, I am here for it. Kat does a wonderful job, as she always does, and I am beyond impressed with her (like usual lol). She was the perfect choice to play this character and I think she proves it in every scene she has. She appears to have great chemistry with each of the ensemble cast and it's obvious Kat is giving this role her all. I really feel like the show got it right when they hired her for this project, especially now that we've begun to unfold Abby's story and we've seen Abby interacting with every other main character. I think she's amazing and we've only just scratched the surface with what Kat can do as Abby in this series.

Overall, I think this show is brilliant. Imho, they're living up to the diversity they promoted while also telling a very compelling story set in a time period that is still rife with many untold stories that are still begging to be told. This may be part of a fictional universe but the era is not and I am glad they chose to tell this particular story in this way. I've seen many CW shows over the years, but nothing like this. And this is exactly what is needed for that network's viewers right now. It feels like this is an appropriate addition to the genre while maintaining that connection to younger generations and helping to solidify a new way of telling this type of western story (right along with the other new projects on the way that are also of this genre). I've never seen an episode of Walker but I don't find that I need to. This is a standalone (that may or may not call back to the flagship series from time to time, like I said I've never watched it) that is meant to tell a completely different story while also appropriately filling in the blank pages of the Walker family history (along with some others). I think this is going to be a phenomenal ride and I am excited to take it.

[gins-potter]

I have never been a fan of any of Sylvie's relationships, including Brettsey. Still, I would honestly take having Sylvie go to Oregon over whatever they are doing to Sylvie this season. It also doesn't hurt that I am not a fan of the actress and her views, so I wouldn't mind her being written off, especially since a tweet she posted last week shows that she hasn't really changed.

I think we all understand that Sylvie needs to move on, but it's how the storyline is written. There's basically been no acknowledgement of the depth of her and Matt's relationship apart from a few weird and retconned moments, and they are having her move on so quickly. Like I wish they hadn't had Matt and Sylvie say all that in 9x16 if Andrea eventually knew this was what she would do.

Also, it feels like Sylvie hasn't actually decided to move but is being pushed by Violet (Sylvie's dating life has basically become Violet's hobby since Hawkins died, and it's weird) and her friends. Sylvie can't seem to make decisions or move forward without advice from her friends, and what's worse is that the advice is so bad. They told her to settle ??? Sylvie doesn't need to find another Matt Casey (let's face it, Matt Casey is one of a kind, and I miss him so much), but she should find someone that loved and supported her the way Matt did and with whom she has actual chemistry with.

Also, l hate that they only bring up Matt to further Sylvie moving on. Matt was the main character, and he isn't tied to just Sylvie, so if they are going to keep mentioning him then let it be something positive -he's completely settled, he's moved on and is happy because this is what he deserves etc. It feels like Andrea just uses Matt / Jesse Spencer to bait fans and bring in more interest.

I don't really agree with saying Violet is pushing Sylvie to move on, or saying she sees Sylvie's dating life as a hobby, that feels like an inaccurate characterisation of the situation. At the end of the day, Brett is an adult who can choose to follow the advice she's given or not.

[readingrobin]

February really is a hell of a month. In my corner of the Earth, everyone's getting a little tired of the cold, anxiously looking forward to the longer days that are right around the corner. It's also too short, full of too many expectations, like trying to live up to the plans you made for yourself only just last month. Thankfully, that also means it's over quickly and March comes in with the hope of spring. Can't wait for all the green to come back to the grass and the trees.

Total Books Read: 6

Total Pages Read: 2, 144 pages

Total DNFs: 2

Books Read:

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh - (Review) (4/5)

A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland - (Review) (3/5)

Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs - I've been a longtime fan of the Mercy Thompson series and, despite having it for almost a good decade now, I finally picked up the first book in this spinoff series. I will say, I think introducing the main characters in a short story separate from this book wasn't exactly the best decision, as there's a lot of confusion around who these characters are and what the basis of their story is. I'm not a fan of authors introducing important plot or character developments in short stories apart from the main series, as it's a pain to track them down in these obscure anthologies and makes the full length book seem incomplete.

Coming into this new series, I couldn't help but do some comparing to Mercy's. A little unfair, I know, but sometimes it can't be helped. Anna doesn't really come off as an interesting, strong protagonist and, to an extent, neither does Charles, far cries from Mercy, who always gives a good range of personality. From the first page, Anna and Charles are in instalove, so their relationship doesn't go through any worthwhile developments other than "Hey, we're in wolfy love now, guess we don't need to do any more emotional work on our behalf." It's just….how do you make a relationship interesting when they're automatically together? What hurdles do they face? What doubts? What hesitation? Hell, Anna has gone through trauma from sexual assault and being passed around her previous pack like a broodmare and that's not even expanded upon or how it may effect her relationship with Charles. It just ends up feeling so hollow. (3/5)

Young Men in Love edited by Joe Glass and Matt Miner - This is such a cute collection of queer romance comics made by queer creators for a queer audience. It focuses on male/masc couples through a variety of genres, ranging from more domestic stories to those featuring demon hunters, pirates, ghosts, and so much more. While not every story was a hit, it's rare for an anthology to be completely perfect, there is such an honesty to each one of them that you can't help but give them all a slight bit of admiration. Some standout stories include "Second Star to the Right," "Another Name," "Act of Grace," "The Way Home," and "Love Yourself." (4/5)

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers - (Review) (4/5)

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke - Though I've been a Cornelia Funke fan since I was in middle school, this was one of her books I didn't grow up reading, which may have lessened the impact of it somewhat. The fantastical elements are pushed more to the background compared to her other books, and the magic comes more from the transportive descriptions of Venice. There was an interview in the back of my copy with Funke where she said that she wanted to create a book where children could actually go see the setting for themselves, which is a great way to introduce them to the wonders of their own world. And yet, somehow it felt like it overshadowed the characters a bit, who didn't really grab my attention.

Ultimately, the story didn't do much for me and I had the thought that I had read better versions of these themes in other books, most notably Something Wicked this Way Comes. Personally, I just think I started this book a tad too late. Though points to Funke for giving it a sort of odd, unconventional ending. (3/5)

DNFs:

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - This book was given to me by a friend about 10 years ago and I only got around to reading it since I wanted to declutter my shelves a bit. I'm not real big on stories where romance is the main element, but I wanted to give it a fair shot.

Ultimately, I decided to put it down because I'm a little tired of the straight white male with thinly veiled misogyny representation of autism, especially when the understanding and conversation around neurodivergence has changed so much since this was written. Autism is a very wide spectrum, but apparently media is focused on only showcasing this particular manifestation, coming from writers that are not autistic, nor do they cite any research done in the autistic community to make their characters more authentic. And, judging from reviews I've seen of later installments of this series, it only gets worse.

Also, very much not interested in male writers that cannot write women to save their life. Got no time for that.

And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness - Beautiful illustrations aside, there's not much that interested me in this book which I could have finished if I gave it another half hour, but didn't really see the point. I haven't read Moby Dick, nor do I think I ever will, so the appeal of seeing that story from the whale's perspective wasn't an incentive. That and there are so many confusing elements that make the story too absurd to take seriously: why do the whales swim upside down, how do they have harpoons tied to their bodies when they're incapable of tying them themselves, how do these whales even know how to speak to humans? I think it's a story where you're not meant to think too hard about the logistics, but I couldn't help questioning it on nearly every page.

Average Rating: (3.5/5)

[devilisln-moved]

MattEl F K L T

Honestly darling, I love that this looks like a key smash.

🍎 ｡:*•─SEXYABC.› // accepting

E ─ Experimenting. Are they willing to experiment new things ?  Is there something they’d like to try with their partner, but haven’t had the chance yet ?Any experiments gone wrong?

Matt is willing to experiment, to a certain degree. His disposition and sensory sensitivities limits some of things, however. He's not big into sadomasochism, and bondage (on himself, the other person is another story) holds little interest for him. I feel like anything else is open for negotiation. I don't think he dwells much on the sex he could be having and is more focused on the sex he is having. It's weird, Matt is absolutely a very sexual person, but I don't think he has a broad fantasy life aside from thinking about things he's experienced or being with certain past or current lovers. I feel like any experiments gone wrong could also be related to having sex in unfamiliar places which are very important to him for a number of reasons, especially when a simple thing like cotton bed sheets could ruin a vanilla scene.

I ─ Infidelity. Have they ever cheated on their partner ?  Whom have they cheated with ?  If not, is it something they could do ?  If yes, have they told them or has the other found out ?  Could they forgive and forget ? 

Boy this is hard because the examples I can bring up off the top of my head are really difficult to put a pin in. Like okay, I don't really know the full context of the relationship but there was that whole thing with the sad Irish girl Matt was dating but you know. She didn't know the full cope of him, so he came off as a neglectful and flaky boyfriend because he was getting too absorbed in his vigilante lifestyle blah blah blah (honestly, I hate this trope so much). Anyway, she started cozying up to Foggy not long before breaking up with Matt (over an answering machine, not less), but Matt never seemed to process any of that. Frankly, regarding the Born Again storyline, he had other matters taking up his attention. In the Daredevil TV show, it could be argued that there was borderline shit going on with Elektra in season 2 despite the fact that Matt had started to date Karen. Like, even if it wasn't directly addressed as incident of cheating, it was implied as part of the "Matt being shitty" theme of the second season (which is have a lot of feelings about but whatever). Then in the latest comic series, Matt has a lot of casual sex and like, I think the issue I have is there's never any discussed about the status of the relationships. Not to say I thought that anything was truly serious in that "don't cheat on me" way, like he was the other man to a married mob wife for fuck's sake, which wow. Okay. I have a lot of feelings about that too, but I'm so off topic and rambling and I think when it comes to Matt, there have been way too many cooks in the kitchen, and a whole lot of male fantasy as well, so let me just lay out my opinion. I think Matt is a thoroughly modern man that dates casually, including engaging in casual sex, so I'm sure it not unusual for him to date several women at the same time, or be dating someone and have a one night stand with another person. I think for him it might not be serious until it's mutually agreed upon. Then he'll be more concerned about infidelity, either way. I think there have probably been miscommunications, especially when he was younger, about where a relationship stood. Like, I can imagine him getting in trouble running into someone he's been seeing with someone new (or a rekindled old flame) on his arm and it turning into a whole big scene, all because sometimes Matt internalizes something but doesn't always frankly make it clear. Whew, all of this is word salad. tl;dr: Infidelity seems to be a real nebulous concept among DD writers, and I'm a degenerate flailing in this muck.

F ─ First time. How was their first time together ?  Was any of them nervous ?Did it live up to their expectations ?

Honestly? It's not really something I think about much for any character. i think there's a lot put on the concept of losing one's virginity that's a little ridiculous. Like, I'm sure it was awkward, I'm sure it was kind of bad, no matter who it was with. I'm sure doubly so given the fact of his blindness and experiencing it with his hypersenses. That being said, I'm sure it was enjoyable. Somehow if he didn't at least get something out of it, he wouldn't have become....the sensualist that he became later in life. I'm torn on if he lost it to a peer when he was a teen or a more experienced partner a little later. For the sake of it being a less awkward experience, I'd like to think he lost it to someone who knew their bodies and desires to ease him into the situation.

K ─ Kissing. How important are kisses in their relationship ?  Any favourite kind of kisses ?  Do they have any rituals involving kissing ( never leaving for work without kissing the other, always sharing a kiss goodnight, etc… ) ?

Kissing good, all kissing is good, very important, no notes. I'm sorry, I know I've been a prattling mess on everything else, but it really doesn't go any deeper than that.

L ─ Lingerie. Do they enjoy wearing it and/or seeing their partner in lingerie ?What kind of lingerie do they find the sexiest ? Any other clothing they love seeing their partner in  ( like grey sweater pants, wearing nothing but an apron, really short shorts, etc… ) ?Do they often wear what the other likes, just to please them?

Um, well, we'll take this as a tactile consideration, and I think that's a fun thing for him. The contrast between fabric and skin. He's a bit picky with fabrics on a partner though. He doesn't like lace, it's too rough, he prefers natural fabrics, as opposed to rayon, nylon, or any kind of microfibre. It's too staticy and just feels bad to him. Now I'm going to make it very clear that he rarely voices his preferences as any kind of demand. Partially due to the fact that not every partner knows the extent of his senses. I do think he would have to eventually mention it to a frequent sexual partner simply due to the fact that he has extreme skin sensitivity and I think a person could really hurt him by accident if they didn't know.

T ─ Turn ons & offs. What do they do to turn each other on ?  Is there something the other does that turns them off ?Have they told them about it ?

I don't know, I tend to think Matt is pretty easy when it comes to being turned on. Between his erogenous zones being massive and super charged when it comes to sensitivity, I think there's a problem in that department. As for non sexual attractants, I think it boils a lot down to smell and hearing. Namely, he likes someone with good voice game that smells nice, and he seems to like pains in the ass when it comes to personality. Someone with a good sense of humour, playful, and not above giving him shit from time to time. Like, never forget that he described Kirsten McDuffie relentlessly teasing and bantering with him over whether or not he was Daredevil as "really hot". I think it a lot ways, you have to stand out in some way to Matt, which can be a little bit difficult without his initial interest relying on vision.

[skydigiblogs]

okay i'm gonna try really hard not to keep pausing every five to ten minutes (i just continued loss) but some little chewy thoughts:

i think the amnesia plot could have been a lot more interesting not just if they hadn't undone it by killing a cat, but also if there was more diversity to the way the digimon acted. i do actually like that yokomon acts very different--- as a system, we like seeing amnesia plots that acknowledge that our memories are a large part of how we act

will also note that i think the amnesia plot could have been interesting if we saw a bit more to it along the lines of what we know about partner bonds from kizuna and 02TB. like, are those unnatural bonds that ukkomon helped found still in existence? if so or if not, how are the partner digimon even alive? kizuna and 02TB both imply that the partnership is what sustains a partner, and 02TB even takes it a step further by elaborating that the mutuality of it is key to its health. i know they probably weren't thinking about kizuna and 02TB when they were working on tri, and the adventure canon is kind of an all around mess, but i do think it would be interesting to consider what the ramifications of the digimon partner completely forgetting their human partner would be on such a bond, if it could even be maintained. by kizuna we see tai and matt growing further from their partners, and that alienation being a huge part of what severs their bond; but is that mechanic part of rui's wish in 02TB? again, i still gotta read some meta on 02TB to see what other folks got from it and what might have been lost in translation, but. idk.

izzy's characterization is phenomenal in this movie so far, but either izzy doesn't know as much about tea as he lets on, or he really likes mint teas (he mentioned mint, spearmint, peppermint, and mint again in his infodump). izzy could have talked about the different categories of tea, including green, black, tisane, roobois, etc.. missed opportunity (this is me being silly about tea, but i genuinely do like his characterization in this movie, because you can tell that he's had a little bit of growth regarding his people skills. he's using his knowledge to be friendly in a way that's charismatic and nonthreatening to the digimon that see him as a stranger.)

i also have things to say about the characterization in these movies in general. i'm trying to save it for the most part but i do like that sora is showing really good emotional intelligence (in the last movie, she's the one that went out of her way to visit meiko instead of just texting her endlessly, for example). in this movie, i think her reaction (alongside izzy's) to the amnesia is the most realistic, especially since the connection between her and yokomon isn't instantly rekindled in some way. unlike mimi she isn't smothering yokomon, and you can see that she's visibly hurt by giving yokomon that distance. but like, sora is also a character with pre-established issues with being smothered! so her being keen enough to know that pushing yokomon isn't going to help is just!!! god!!! rare tri w here (/hj) but i think the portrayal of sora in tri really helps bridge the gap between 02 and kizuna where her bond breaks with biyomon. it implies something i don't think kizuna stated, where her distance seems to be part of her internalized fear of being overbearing with how she cares for other people. like, yes, part of it is not spending time with and considering your partner digimon a wholly-realized person, but also in this case sora's own crest is what does her bond in! and i didn't realize tri set that up!! sora fans idk how you feel about this but i would love to see some analysis on this if any of y'all have opinions on how your blorbo was handled.

and of course, as always, i am turning meicoomon into a purrito and removing her from these movies that want nothing but her suffering. i continue to stand by the statement that meiko and meicoomon deserved way better than they got. meiko not being in the digital world (while it does make sense narratively) being used only to hurt her and meicoomon is. really fucking frustrating. it's cheap that we're given so many moments of pure fluff with meicoomon and meiko in the first few movies just because the writers want us to feel bad about them suffering. it's especially cheap because i don't think the writers really thought about how either of them would be effected by their experiences in the past. meicoomon a little more than meiko--- meiko's behavior still makes sense knowing all that's happened, but you're telling me meicoomon doesn't have any behavioral hints towards the trauma she's gone through? she doesn't recoil from anything until she's entered corruption mode?

(actually saying it like that makes me realize that meicoomon's whole writing arc really is 90% just "superpowered evil side" trope which explains why i, a member of a system, fucking hate how dirty she was done. i do actually think that an interrogation of meicoomon's behavior that made her more explicitly plural-coded, like gammamon in ghost game, might have made her "switching" between childish and violent a bit more interesting, but i also. do not trust tri to have handled that with any kind of nuance it would deserve. i might have to make a whole post just about meicoomon/meicrackmon, but like. ough. again, scooping meicoomon and meiko out of tri. come with me girls, let's get you another spa day and some better writing.)

[starship-imzadi]

S6 E7 Rascals

I think this is one of the key episodes in Picard learning to appreciate children

I have such mixed feelings about Ro. (If anything I hate the characterization of her relationship with Riker.) She seems like she is such a strong character but she's just not....realized enough or consistent enough.

By contrast I don't dislike Guinan per se but I I'm not a fan of Whoopi Goldberg and that effects my perception.

It's crazy that O'Brien's wife is on board but he doesn't seem unusually perturbed by the fact that he "may have lost one of them" with a 25% chance of losing his wife. He's a professional and all but a little bit of panic would have been reasonable. (Riker seems to have a greater sense of urgency.)

If their minds are unaltered why is Crusher talking to Troi and Riker instead of Picard? Or is she just unnerved?

I realize the practical necessity but there's no real reason their clothes should have shrunk in the transporter.

Captain Pea-card

If Data had been in the shuttle what would have happened to him? Nothing, presumably.

Of cource Star Trek isn't real and none if this has to make sense, but in storylines like this it's interesting the ideas about ourselves (largely from a wesrern perspective) that are maintained. The idea that the body and mind are separate so that the body could regress in age but the mind would be unaltered. Like Ro: she's surely suffered PTSD or CPTSD from her childhood. Is the large majority of physical trauma to her nervous system undone by thie regression?

Ooo, check that out. Riker is in charge of the Enterprise again. (I've lost track of the count but he does this an awful lot.)

I really like this young version of Guinan. (Her only other IMDB credit is from "Sister Act" where she also played a younger version of Whoopi Goldberg.)

O'Brien really gets the weirdest end of the stick for this one. It's awkward that Keiko isn't more understanding of Miles' discomfort. Obviously she's going through a lot too but what a lack of empathy. It seems very selfish.

On a side note those mugs look really impractical with thin glass and tiny handles.

(their kid is so cute!)

I wonder if going through puberty a second time with your mind fully developed would make it easier or harder.

It just occurred to me that I don't know exactly what "causality" means. I know it can refer to death. But getting a report of casualties so quickly made me curious, so I googled it and it seems to be a term, within a military context, for anyone who is incapacitated and unavailable to fill their post/duty whether that is injury or death.

That was a very effective attack. Damage always seems kind of arbitrary.

Riker's dive is so unnecessary 🤣 he's still out in the middle of the floor.

I hate the Ferengi. Among many reasons (including their blatant, caricatures of misogy that overshadows and distract from more real and subtle forms of it), they put in so much obviously effort to try to talk clearly around their prosthetic teeth.

I like this kid plqying Picard. He does a really good job. (I've just realized he, David Birkin, was in "All the Queen's Men". [A film set in WWII with Matt LeBlanc and Eddie Izzard.]) I love that he does the uniform tug.

"I can't do that..." Dave. Why is the kids computer a man's voice?

Those Jeffries Tubes look so uncomfortable to crawl on. They look like restaurant kitchen mats but in universe seem to be metal (goodbye knees).

One of my favorite moments from TNG. "Dad!" And what's interesting about it is I can't imagine Pocard has ever hugged Riker, but it looks like a very earnest hug from Picard. To the best of my knowledge they don't hug again (on screen) until Nepenthe.

Riker referring to himself as "daddy" makes me laugh and cringe at the same time. It is cute that Riker calls him "Jean-Luc". He didn't need to do that; but first name use on TNG (between Crusher, Picard, Troi, and Riker) always seem to be used when they're showing a familiarity or a personal understanding.

Number one dad suggests a number two dad (who would you ship as Riker's husband if Jean Luc was their son?)

Picard pulls a phaser but Riker has to do the Kirk-clasped-hand strike?

If Beverly has their medical records like this what are the chances you could just clone someone with a transporter? (Second Chances kind of touches on the idea but not in a way that explains the limitations.)

The end between Ro and Guinan is cute.