#from bad to worse : apocalypse verse

[demcnsinmymind]

@shctsfired sent : “  you do realize you don’t have to do this alone right?  ” | CONFRONTATIONS | Accepting

"Yeah. I do realize. Do you realize that maybe, I just want to do this alone?"

Maybe it's a bit too pissy a reaction. And naturally, he only realizes that the second the words have left his mouth already. Far more venomous than usual. But the thing is that this always is a touchy subject. Lance sighs, then scratches at the bridge of his nose, almost forgetting that that's pretty close to his scar there. Also too close. Kind of a pattern, isn't that? Too close and all the fireworks start going off. But not in a good way.

"Look. I appreciate the offer, but now's not a good time, Harper. Just...go back to sleep. Sorry I woke you up. You know how it is. Fucked up world. Fucked up dreams. Day to day business. Not even worth the mention. I got it."

[oscarisaacasimov]

"Why Would You Be Loved" by Hozier

Verse 1 It's only said to be kind the time that you have with love You're never told but you're loaned it It's a lie, the high that you have with love It feels like gold when you hold it And know it's sweet, to know it when it's gone, baby, So why, why, why

In Hozier’s self-titled first album, love could be a deliverance from the problems of the world (i.e., Take me to Church, Jackie & Wilson, To Be Alone, Work Song).

This latest release “from the vault” fits thematically into Wasteland Baby, where love is yet another complication in chaotic world (i.e. Shrike, Talk, Would That I, Sunlight).

Chorus Why would you be lovin' Why would you be lovin' Why would you be lovin', hey And, hey, why would you be loved Mm, hey, why would you be loved

Hozier repeats this existential question over and over – love is not permanent, or a safe haven, it ends up hurting us, so why do we keep doing it? Why bother to give and receive love?

A few years later, On Unreal Unearth, Hozier resolves his own question with All Things End. Despair and bewilderment at the inevitable end of love has turned into “nihilistic optimism.”

Just knowing That everything will end Should not change our plans When we begin again

Verse 2 Now the world falls apart it starts with their actin' up I wouldn't say it, but I blame them The bleedin' hearts, the arts & that other stuff All the same motivations will melt away Like snowflakes on a tongue, baby So why, why, why

Besides the struggle with romantic love, the other major theme of Wasteland Baby is the ominous dread of apocalypse approaching, and the need to rise up politically against the dangers of the ruling class.

“Bleeding hearts” and “snowflakes” are doing double duty here, as terms for the tenderness and fragility of romantic love but also as derogatory terms for those with leftist or progressive politics.

“The word falls apart, it starts with their actin up, I wouldn’t say it but I blame them.”

I can see several possible interpretations for this opening line of verse 2, and who is the “they” acting up:

It feels like the world falls apart when your relationship ends, and you know the end is near once “actin up” or more conflicts/annoyances begin between the two.

Hozier “blames them,” all the older musicians whose work he listened to in youth, that love is not as “the arts” promised. Now in heartbreak again, he feels unprepared or misled on the true nature of love (and maybe realizes that his work too has contributed to the cultural myth of “love conquers all.”)

Hozier may feel frustrated that artists can describe the world so well, but all their efforts and talent are just "other stuff" and cannot directly change or fix anything.

“They” are the ruling class, and the world is literally falling apart on their watch. “I blame them” for keeping the people fixated on finding perfect romantic love, instead of noticing injustices that we are all harmed by, coming together in larger communities for mutual care or political action. (This final theory may sound a bit tinfoily, but Hozier has politics side by side with love throughout so many songs in Wasteland Baby, it seems hardly a stretch. Look what’s coming in verse 3!)

Bridge Why would you play it all on somethin' as hollow as trust? What if you gave it all, to find that it wasn't enough? What if under the gaze of all, you come short when the going gets rough?

Hozier reveals a worse fear than his lover not caring enough, what if his own best isn’t good enough to keep the relationship going? The “gaze of all” may be a nod to his fame, which came from writing romantic love songs, and is sustained by fans, some of whom openly imagine that he must be the perfect boyfriend.

Bad enough for anyone to come up short in love, but for “Hozier” to fail in this way might be an extra mind-fuck or identity crisis for him.

This tension seems to be resolved in “Too Sweet” where Hozier admits that his career & lifestyle might make him incompatible with some romantic partners, but he loves his life and is content to go their separate ways.

Verse 3 They look for somethin' to be done for those that are most in pain What about me and my achin'? The scales rehung, the breakin' of yoke and chain What about me and my breakin'? And if you ain't for all, how could you try at all, baby? So why, why, why

I can hear the back and forth internal dialogue between two attitudes in the same mind, and boy do I relate to this exact exchange.

Part of Hozier wants to protest for justice and freedom, in the spirit of Nina Cried Power, Jackboot Jump, Be, and even Moment’s Silence. While another part of him is in so much pain that he wants to be cared for and not take on the burden of others pain. Heartbreak and the world hurtling toward destruction both feel like impossible struggles to solve.

[Tangent for Enneagram folks – Hozier is likely a type 4, which is described as romantic, creative, gentle, prone to sadness, high emotional intelligence. Type 4s have a “growth direction” of Type 1, which is described as hard-working, disciplined, devoted to their ideals, and concerned about justice in society. I hear this verse as some push and pull between the Enneagram 1 part that wants to save the world, and the Enneagram 4 that wants to languish in sadness until they feel healed.]

Other Wasteland Baby songs that pair the ruin & hope of love with the ruin & hope of apocalypse include:

Be Be love in its disrepute (lover, be good to me) Scorches the hillside and salts every root (lover, be good to me) And watches the slowin' and starvin' of troops And, lover, be good to me (lover be good to me) Be there and just as you stand (lover, be good to me) Or be like the rose that you hold in your hand (lover, be good to me) That grow bold in a barren and desolate land And lover be good to me

Wasteland Baby And the day that we'll watch the death of the sun That the cloud & the cold and those jeans you have on Then you'll gaze unafraid as they sob from the city roofs Wasteland, baby I'm in love I'm in love with you

NFWMB Ain't it a gentle sound, the rollin' in the graves? … Ain't it warming you, the world gone up in flames? … Ain't you my baby? ain't you my babe?

[artbyblastweave]

Had a really, reeeeallly long post, which I’m gonna try to truncate here, in which I was thinking about the differences and similarities between how The Magnus Archives and Worm deal with ethics and personal agency.

In The Magnus Archives, There’s no ethical way to exist with supernatural power, there’s no ethical way to stop or impede those with supernatural power, and the only way to not get eaten alive by the pell-mell is to wash your hands of the whole thing and do your damnedest to pretend it isn’t going on just out of sight (ala Georgie and Melanie;) the ability to do that is, in itself, a fairly clear metaphor for economic privilege, and it ultimately doesn’t really work over the long haul. Everyone is fucked, everyone is without agency.

The catch is, though, that in the grand scheme of things the complete ethical cesspit presented by the fear entities doesn’t actually matter; for most of human history the “supernatural community” was tiny and self-regulating, in the sense that they were constantly killing each other off. Even the actual apocalypse that was instigated by the avatars was mostly undone within a couple of weeks by a loose-knit team of five. (with some lubrication by The Web, but still.) It simply never becomes a problem for the vast majority of people, the vast majority of the time. It’s like that post about how Rat Britain is under the floorboards and behind the walls, totally unnoticed by normal Britian. I consider it an unsatisfying but coherent ethical stance to say, “yes, monsters eating people is bad, but any action taken to highlight the problem, counter the problem or address the problem in any way is only going to make it worse, so no one should do anything.” Personally? It’s disastrous. Societally? Ultimately it turns out kinda okay.

Over in Worm, meanwhile, you’ve got the opposite situation; powers, while generally personally ruinous, can be successfully turned towards quite a few ethical ends. Parahumans often have some of their agency eroded, and powers select for people who are very likely to make bad decisions and hurt people, but it’s rarely a total, inorexable lock, and pulling yourself up out of the pit is, on an individual level, very possible. Many such sucess stories. Despite everything, you can help people. Even if you make bad choices, it’s very rare that you’ll only be presented with bad choices (which is indeed a big part of the point of Taylor’s storyline; there’s a lot of situations where she’s genuinely up against the wall, but many other situations where she just makes bad choices and behaves as though she was up against the wall.)

Societally, however, everyone is fucked. Powers are much more visible, much more impactful, much more common, and even if it’s metaphysically possible for parahumans to decide to behave ethically and be the bigger person, in a way that literally isn’t possible for Avatars, a combination of sheer numbers and actual material circumstances ensure that a ton of them can’t, don’t or won’t. Chevalier can be a noble hero who goes toe-to-toe with Kaiju in a self-sacrificial last stand that ultimately doesn’t matter. Precipice can deprogram himself from a white-supremacist cult but there’s fifty other, more powerful capes who can’t or don’t care to. Eidolon can save millions of lives every year without fixing the overall downward trajectory. Taylor can go toe-to-toe with Mannequin to stop him murdering civillians, Lisa can revitalize Brockton Bay’s economy through the portal network, and two years later it’s all burning to ground regardless. 

This tension Worm has, where your ethical choices matter immediately but don’t necessarily matter in the long run, where things could be better if everyone with powers co-operated but instead everyone keeps defecting from the societal prisoners dilemma- It’s always made it a much more interesting sandbox to play around in for me than the TMA verse. In TMA you’re fucked, the point is that you’re fucked, it’s an emotional exploration of what it’s like to be that utterly fucked. That’s fine. That’s a worthy project. But in Worm, God, you can see the version of things where everything turns out all right. You can see the version of things where everyone is just a little kinder and a little smarter and a little better than they choose to be. You can work towards it by inches. 

You’ll never get there, because an Endbringer will show up to trash your attempt to fix Global Warming, or Mannequin will sneak in to kill you for daring to cure cancer, or Siberian will murk the only effective idealist in the halls of power. But you can try, and it feels less laughable when you do so. Feels less like the setting is intrinsically going “ha, look at this idiot, thinking they have agency.” 

People like to talk about TMA like the characters trying mattered, but Worm is the one that made me feel like it actually did.

[hriobzagelthewanderer]

[So far, I have touched upon how I have structured my blog's 'primary' AU's (not counting ships as most of them are sub-verses in each setup), and how they are based on Tarot cards thus far:

The Fool, for Hriob at his 'baseline' on his own, as well as covering the majority of his ship-verses as per multi-shipping standards.

The Emperor, for Hriob as the head of his own Fae Court, and unwittingly setting himself up to realize sudden realizations about himself with the aid of those he enlists. [Essentially a Political Fantasy AU revolving around alliances, intrigue, and preparations for a potential apocalypse, but its also the only verse to eschew multi-shipping rules as a potential polycule situation for reasons of drama and hilarity.]

The Hanged Man, for Hriob as a humble high-school teacher by day, and a masked Fae vigilante by night in a setting that ditches his ancestral home to join one city or another [Possible options include Gotham and Japan, but will be sub-divided by additional tags accordingly].

The Tower, a.k.a. the 'Sinister AU', for Hriob in a 'Bad End' where his mother died, and he took it rather hard... to the point of shunning the outside world entirely and taking a near-flagellant approach to his own life in the ruins that he calls home. [Heavily involving the absence of @melodiadraconis's Lyth and incarceration of one of @shatteredwastes's many AUs of the Jumper, aka Gaolbird].

[Other Cards may be planned already in varying stages of preparation, However, I am considering taking advantage of one aspect of Tarot-reading to help inspire/open up even more AU's - the aspect of an 'Inverted' card, where the meaning of the card is reversed or turned on its head... though it is easy to assume this means 'worse', it not usually a case of 'normal means good and reversed is bad'. However, what that means for Hriob and the blog is interesting:

The Fool - Reversed, Unplanned, but likely a verse where Hriob as-we-know-him never came to be, and Krakonos still continues on as the Mountain King without incident.

The Emperor - Reversed, for Hriob as a member of Gaki's Court in a timeline where they never broke up [reference to @nomercyleft and one of their AU's - and ironically part of another polycule].

The Hanged Man - Reversed, Unplanned, but likely for Hriob in an Urban setting not as a teacher or vigilante, but more of a pure Celebrity, likely an actor and investor of some kind [Again unplanned but likely using the same city-setting-specific tag system].

The Tower - Reversed, for Hriob starting in the parameters of the 'Sinister AU', but leading to a confrontation with a certain grieving empress that leads to a renewal of his former relationship with her [once again heavily involving yet another AU with @nomercyleft].

[Again, the second set is mainly under-construction still, but have a lot of groundwork settled for at least a handful to get the ball rolling. I fully intend to extend things further across the Arcana. Some plans are as follows:

The Devil, A verse where Hriob loses and Owen wins in their little tug-of-war for the fate of the world, resulting in him being reincarnated into the new world with... more baggage than anyone involved would have asked for. [Technically another nomercyleft verse but actually focusing on characters in @thelittlestdemon's blog].

The Star, for a verse in the future involving the version of Amelia known as The Seeker, aka Lillium... and the newest reincarnation of Hriob's spiritual lineage, a young boy named Casimir, in her care [yet another collaborative verse with the many versions of the star of @shatteredwastes].

[I admit that some of these have been in the works for over a year without much opportunity to focus on them, and others are rather fresh ideas from recent plotting sessions with my many friends and compatriots over on Discord, but all the same I hope this little sneak peek gets me more of a foundation to get my Writing New-Year's-Resolution started, and get more of you on-board with planning and starting a lot of these verses soon!]

[ct-cactus]

General AU summary: the weather took a drastic turn (global warming or smthn) and so now there’s random weather shit happening all over the world (ranging in severity, but as the years go on it gets worse and worse). This spider goes all across America (not just NY) helping/saving/stabilizing shit. Unlike other AUs, the classic Spider-Man villains aren’t people, they’re the weather. Piper, this world’s arachnid, took it upon himself to name the bouts of weather that he encounters; Doctor Octopus is a tsunami, Electro is a thunderstorm, etc..

Name: Piper Picolo

Gender: trans male

From: New York City, NY

Age: 17

Height: 5’1

Job: Spider-Man (duh)

~~~

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Hair: Black

Skin Color: White

—————————————————————

MY OTHER HEADCANONS ABOUT PIPER

- [ ] Pronouns: he/him

- [ ] Gay

- [ ] English-Canadian

-his family moved to the US when he was 5

- [ ] Eats whatever bro can find

- [ ] Became Spider-Man at 15

- [ ] When staff from the Bronx Zoo came for a fun little presentation one of the spiders unknowingly escaped and went to the science lab where it knocked over a concoction of the really sketchy chemistry teacher

-the spider then crawled up Piper’s leg as they passed the classroom as school let out

-Piper then got bit and boom: spider powers

-when he discovered he had powers Piper hid it from his foster family

- [ ] Piper lived with Aunt June and Uncle Brent because his parents got arrested for child neglect, endangerment, and other charges

- [ ] Aunt June and Uncle Brent gave their lives to save Piper when the first bout of weird weather made their house catch on fire

-they protected Piper with their bodies

-Piper escaped with some pretty bad burns that would eventually scar

-he then lived in foster care where he was bitten by the spider a month later

- [ ] A bit of the ‘tism

- [ ] Has a pet pigeon

-he named it Reginald Winston

- [ ] Gets all the traditional spider powers except he produces his own webs

-like Tobey Maguire’s spider-man

- [ ] Sleep deprived

- [ ] His suit is colored after June and Brent’s favorite colors

- [ ] Rarely talks because he has no one to talk to

- [ ] Touch starved

- [ ] After two years of being Spider-Man the Spot popped up out of nowhere and used him as a shield

-he was then stuck between Spot and four other spider people (Miles, Gwen, Pavitr, and Hobie)

-after staring at each other Piper elbows the Spot in the face

-he helped the crew fight off the Spot until he fled into another dimension

-he then got dragged to the spider verse

- [ ] Comments a lot in his head because he never had anyone to say them to

- [ ] Sarcastic

- [ ] Shy when he meets new people that he has to spend more than ten seconds talking to but after he warms up he’s a chatterbox

- [ ] He’s the National Neighborhood Spider-Man

- [ ] Long and messy hair because he has no hairbrush (where tf would he find one)

-if he needs to cut his hair he just uses a shard of glass

- [ ] Terrible fashion sense

- [ ] Burn marks covering the right side (his left) of the face, arms, legs, and side

—————————————————————

Incorrect Quotes

Piper: We got a free day now. What do you wanna do? Eat? Sleep? Nap? Snack?

Piper: I just wanted to say that over the years, I have come to regard you as… people I met.

Piper at the beginning of the weather apocalypse: I just learned a way to get stuff on the cheap. Steal it!

Piper: The shadow realm? No, I’m sending you to Ohio!

Piper: The last time I went to an urgent care clinic, I checked off 'excessive crying' on the symptom list, and then the nurse got really confused and said that was meant for babies.

Piper: I am very small and I have no money, so you can imagine the kind of stress that I'm under.

[presidentromana]

for the wip meme: I was giving other people a chance to ask first, but now I gotta ask — want to talk about a rp verse of your choice? 😊

:) well you explained the logistics so i'll say things I like about them!

conspiracyverse:

-i love characters interacting with alternate timeline versions of themselves. it's very character study-y. very i'm-gonna-put-this-character-in-a-jar-and-shake-it (with an identical one in a different jar for the experimental control). which events make them who they are? who would they be if this didn't happen or if that happened or if they saw their future and feared it?

-it's extra powerful because one set of them are kids, they're unformed versions of themselves, they really could be different people. are the adult versions gonna want better for them or resent them for still having all their choices left?

-i love how on one hand this theoretically has the potential for things to go better than the original timeline but on the other we are giving them so many other kinds of trauma it could easily go worse oops

-the freedom for anything to happen, no tracks of canon to follow

redemptionverse

-i appreciate how this one is high concept, not "takes ten minutes and several diagrams to explain" concept

-i love exploring how they could come back from the point of no return, from Sartia crossing a line that can never be uncrossed. and it does seem like the trauma and vulnerability Romana has post Apocalypse Element, where in canon her only friend abandons her alone on this planet where there's no one who she can be a person with, not the President (seriously, doctor, at the start of the day you thought she was dead and now you can't even stay the night to check your starved, barely standing, friend is doing okay?) is the place that has the most chance.

Romana's in such a bad place and hasn't gone through the character development of having healthier* friendships in Gallifrey, it's conceivable that she'd forgive anything just to have someone to trust and talk to at that point

*look some of those friendships may involve i-murdered-your-husband-and-confessed-and-then-we-never-talked-about-it but that still beats i-tried-to-kill-you

-how it's even messier because of the lies and manipulation involved on Sartia's end, it's all very fragile

-and of course, retelling Gallifrey and tearing our hair out trying to find in-universe solutions to canon plotholes is fun

[lila-pitts-apologist]

TUA characters as ABBA songs: Day 1

Five Hargreeves: If It Wasn’t For The Nights (Voulez-Vous Album)

ok so the actual beat is pretty chipper (as many ABBA songs are), but it came up on my shuffle and hear me out:

I got appointments, work I have to do Keeping me so busy all the day through They're the things that keep me from thinking of you (Oh) Baby, I miss you so, I know I'm never gonna make it

ok besides the fact that this man is obviously busy stopping multiple apocalypses and such, I couldn’t help but think of Dolores with the last two lines (🥲). It’s obvious he avoids his emotions, and you could say he puts himself into his work (the comisssion, the apocalypse prevention, etc.) to keep him from worrying thinking about those he cares about.

Oh, I'm so restless, I don't care what I say And I lose my temper ten times a day Still it's even worse when the night's on its way It's bad, oh, so bad

I don’t think I have to explain this, but Five isn’t exactly known for his tranquility, and I’d imagine his worries and trauma would be worse in solitude.

Somehow I'd be doing alright if it wasn't for the night (If it wasn't for the night, I think that I could make it) I'd have courage left to fight if it wasn't for the night (If it wasn't for the night, I think that I could take it)

I’d be kidding myself if I said this man gets any sleep, so you can bet it‘s when he’s trying to sleep that things are the worst for him mentally (I’d say).

How I fear the time when shadows start to fall Sitting here alone and staring at the wall Even I could see a light if it wasn't for the night (Even I could see a light, I think that I could make it) Somehow I'd be doing alright if it wasn't for the night (If it wasn't for the night, I think that I could take it)

No one to turn to, you know how it is I was not prepared for something like this Now I see them clearly, the things that I miss (Ohhh) Baby, I feel so bad, I know I'm never gonna make it

I got my business to help me through the day People I must write to, bills I must pay But everything's so different when night's on its way It's bad, oh, so bad

Ok so now that I look at the lyrics more, it’s eerie how much this applies to Five and his life; no one to turn to, not prepared, sitting here alone, need I go on? The last verse mentions being preocuppied to get yourself through the day without negative thoughts returning, and I think that perfectly explains how Five puts up with everything and just keeps himself from breaking down. Although, to add on, I predict some sort of breakdown scene for Five in season three (it’s not like it’s not warranted).

anyways, that’s my schpiel. I actually liked this more than I thought I would, so maybe I’ll continue with the rest of the Hargreeves. If youve managed to go all this time without listening to ABBA, I highly suggest you start (:

[that-shamrock-vibe]

Movie Review: Cinderella (Spoilers)

Disclaimer: I am posting this review the day after the movie airs on Amazon Prime, so if you haven't yet seen it don't read on until you do.

General Reaction:

It is slightly weird to think of another movie studio taking on one of the classic fairy-tales that isn't Disney, because, as I am sure is the case for a large portion of the mainstream audience, Disney have almost claimed fairytale adaptations as their own.

However, as identified, Cinderella, is a fairy tale and one created long before Disney came about. As such, other studios are allowed to put across their own interpretation of these classic stories that we have seen a lot of times adapted at this point.

That being said, we have seen many different adaptations of Cinderella at this point from the classis Disney Animation version and it's live-action counterpart, to modern-day reworkings like A Cinderella Story of the mid-noughties starring Hilary Duff.

It's quite an easy story to tell and adapt to a variety of different settings, and what this 2021 retelling does with the story blends the old-fashioned with the modern. Does that mean it is set apart from the others? Well in my opinion yes and no.

While this is a Sony movie, it plays a lot like a Disney Channel Original Movie. From the comedy to the settings to the costuming and the music, it plays like the best of those types of movies. I'm talking the High School Musical franchise and the Descendants franchise. It is by no means bad or corny, but it isn't even on the level of the 2016 live-action Cinderella.

While that version was pretty much a straightforward live-action version of the original animated version, the style of the movie outweighed the substance.

Here however, there is a great blend of both style and substance. The story takes the classic elements of the original Cinderella fairy tale but tries to inject a modern and feministic twist that the recent live-action Beauty and the Beast tried to do.

In terms of whether this version of Cinderella stands out in the crowd of Cinderella movies, I would say it does. Not only is the titular character race-bent and the setting she is in seemingly plays into that, but the reworking of the Fairy Godmother as the Fab G as well as giving the Stepmother a more humanised backstory allows for a more compelling take on a classic.

Cast:

Because this is just the one all-in review I'm not going to do an in-depth character analysis and instead group the characters as who were my favourites, who did a passable job, who was bad and who were for some reason just there.

Favourites:

I have a top 3/4 favourite characters in this movie. Idina Menzel's Stepmother Vivian, Billy Porter's Fab G, Minnie Driver's Queen Beatrice and additionally Beverly Knight's Queen Tatiana.

Idina Menzel was always going to be fantastic in this movie, but to see her portray what is traditionally the villain character in the movie as a sympathetic character as part of the movie's feminist agenda was an interesting twist. No cat for a start, I don't know if Lucifer was a part of the original fairy tale but of course in the Disney adaptations Lady Tremaine is always accompanied by her faithful feline, but also the fact that her backstory parallels Ella's current story and the fact Vivian was so willing to have Ella reject her passion to do what is expected of her just as was forced on her was actually great motivation.

In truth I have only ever seen Billy Porter in one other thing aside from this movie and that was American Horror Story: Apocalypse. I have never seen Pose though I have heard good things, but from what I understand, Billy Porter only really has one speed. However, as the character's name states, that speed is fabulous. I loved Fab G in this movie, the fairy godmother is usually one of my favourite characters in the movie and every interpretation I have seen has brought something different and memorable. If this version of Cinderella is remembered for anything it will be for this very modernised take on the Fairy Godmother, not only gender-bending and race-bending a traditionally white female character, but with Porter choosing to make the character non-binary and that outfit speaks for itself, Fab G was simply a fabulous character.

In both Disney adaptations, I have never heard mention or reference to Prince Charming having a living mother...or a dead one for that matter. So to not only have the Queen being in a chunk of this movie, but also having her own story branch tying into the feminist agenda running through the movie and being portrayed by Minnie Driver, I was in love with this character.

Pretty much similar to the Fab G, if you've seen Beverly Knight's one second in the trailers you've pretty much seen her in the movie. She contributes to Ella's story in the movie and only appears in the latter half of the movie in 2 maybe 3 scenes but she makes an impact because she's Beverly Knight. My only gripe with her is she does not sing in the movie, you have Beverly Knight with not even a solo in a group number?

Passable:

Unfortunately the star of the movie Camilla Cabello is just passable in this movie as Cinderella. She does have some humour about her and her singing is great despite maybe being autotuned because I know how she can sing, but she doesn't feel like Cinderella to me, it actually feels more like a version of what Emma Watson was doing with Belle in the live-action Beauty and the Beast rather than Cinderella but at least she tried.

As for Nicholas Galitzine, he's definitely more engaging as a modern-day Prince Charming, Robert is definitely more engaging a character than Ella unfortunately, which to be fair is still good as the 2015 Cinderella is the only other adaptation to really make the Prince interesting, but I can't quite put my finger on exactly which movie it is but there is another movie I have seen where the Prince Regent doesn't want to be king but the Princess does and has to fight for her right to be it...that's pretty much this story for them.

Also Pierce Brosnan as the King, despite jokingly singing towards the end, did a great job at being the archetype of old-fashioned values with his on-screen wife Minnie Driver's queen pushing him into a modern-day thinking.

Bad:

As for who's bad, I have to say it pains but the British comic relief characters really let the side down in this movie.

In the three mice defence, Romesh Ranganathan and James Acaster are somewhat funny but unnecessary. James Corden however is abismal in this movie. I get he produces it, but particularly after Cats I do not understand 1) Why he'd want to portray another CG animal or 2) Ever think that one shot of him changing back from human to mouse with his head on a mouse body was funny...it was terrifying.

Also this movie is supposedly a family-audience movie...so why include a crass joke of Corden's character talking about peeing out of his front tail?

Additionally to the three mice, Rob Beckett has a surprising role in this movie as a potential suitor for Vivian's daughters, but he simply portrays such a creepy, cringe-worthy character it's almost uncomfortable to watch.

New Additions:

So as well as the two queens and the British comic relief there is also the addition of Princess Gwen to the movie who is the sister of the Prince and the one who wants to be ruler. It's kind of the same story as Jasmine's in the live-action Aladdin as wanting to be Sultan but being a woman isn't taken seriously, however here it is treated more comedically as every time there is a serious moment with the King trying to force Robert to grow up and be King, she always tries to interject with "Would this be a bad time to tell you about an actual real reason why I would be a good ruler" and they make sense but she's always dismissed until the very end.

Then there's a town crier, who is also inserted as a musical number while he's reading his proclamations but as a rap. Honestly I don't know Doc Brown as an artist but I did happen to enjoy what he contributed.

Music:

Which brings us on nicely to the music of the movie as this is a musical and I usually break down the songs. Again this time I will be doing groupings of best to worse.

Honestly my favourite number is probably "Shining Star" mostly performed by Billy Porter with verses by Camilla Cabello and, unfortunately, James Corden.

I also enjoyed the two original songs of the movie, "Million to One" which is Cabello's "I Want" song of the movie and used a lot through the movie, and then also "Dream Girl" which is Idina's main other song but also sung by basically the women of the movie, it's Idina Menzel if you don't give her an original song it's an insult.

Idina's other song is a cover of "Material Girl" and honestly it is a lot of fun, Nicholas Galitzine's rendition of "Somebody to Love" was also fun and surprising as I did not think this guy could sing that well.

The group numbers were fun and well choreographed but they are also somewhat forgettable. The song at the ball of "Whatta Man/Seven Nation Army" was probably the most memorable but still just mediocre.

Recommendation:

So with all that said, would I recommend watching Sony's Cinderella? Honestly I would say it is worth at least one viewing, and I do recommend watching all the way through just to get the full experience. I do think it will do better as a streaming movie than it would have done as a theatrical release, but I cannot pinpoint a market for this movie.

I don't think this will go down as one of the great adaptations, but there are moments and aspects of the movie that sets it apart from the crowd.

Overall I rate this movie a 7/10, it's not as fantastic as I feel the trailers were making it out to be, but having seen the movie twice there are definitely elements of the movie I looked forward to watching the second time around.

So that's my review of Sony's Cinderella, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Movie Reviews as well as other posts.

[hrodvitnon]

[Me after reading Viv ‘n’ San’s “fuck you shitlords”-going-to-the-Hollow-Earth Ask and the Abraxas April Fool’s Ask:]

Honestly, what I’m really wondering wondering after GvK is how long it’s gonna be before Godzilla finally decides modern human civilisation has had enough second chances and they just aren’t going to stop, and he nukes all of humanity back to living in caves, hunting with sticks and huddling around campfires again, so humanity will start over like when the Hollow Earth civilisation perished. I mean, when the Kongs started enslaving and killing other Titans, Godzilla decimated them to just a few exiles; when the Hollow Earth civilisation tried to control and enslave all the Titans as war beasts, Godzilla blasted them back to the stone age… But modern human civilisation has gotten no more than a slap on the wrist for: letting Space-Satan out of his prison to wreak an apocalypse, and then even worse following up on that by bringing said Space-Satan back to life while ACTIVELY TRYING TO USURP GODZILLA AFTER EVERYTHING HE DID TO SAVE THE WORLD, before even HALF A DECADE had passed.

If Godzilla does eventually nuke humanity back to the stone age in Abraxas-verse in the future because modern civilisation has gone too far and just won’t calm down, maybe Viv ‘n’ San being on vacay in the Hollow Earth will mean Vivienne in particular won’t have to struggle with watching the one she worships as a god bring the proverbial Great Flood upon her former-species because Viv ‘n’ San probably won’t even know what’s happened on Earth’s surface until it’s already been done and dusted.

—

Boy is Monster X in for one hell of a bad day when they sojourn up-top to see how things are, only to find the aftermath of Godzilla unleashing the wrath of, well, god on mankind. Suffice to say, they’re furious. They don’t challenge his dominion, no point in that, but they challenge his decision to nuke humanity back to the Stone Age based on the actions of what must have been comparatively only a few humans. 

It only takes a few, Godzilla responds. Only a few to reawaken things that should have been left alone, only a few to make weapons intended to kill Titans, only a few to encourage more.

But that doesn’t justify destroying so many innocent lives, Monster X argues. My father didn’t sacrifice his life just for you to turn your back on them!

Whether it results in a fight or something else, it ends with Godzilla just looking so TIRED that he’s just like, Fine. Do as you like. Take my place above and become their new protector if it please you. See how long it takes for a few to set their wits to work and plot your death and gut their own world.

And Monster X decides, Yeah, maybe we’ll do just that! Don’t bother calling us next time you need help, BECAUSE WE WON’T BE LISTENING! It feels like a weird mix between a breakup and a bad falling out with a teacher/family figure. They try not to think about how much it hurts to think about Godzilla now. They return up-top and work to defend survivors from opportunistic hunters; it doesn’t take long for humans to make little idols of their new god (Bone God, The Thrice-Born, Executioner). 

Sometimes the Bone God hears a familiar call from the Hollow Earth, one that used to warm their heart, but pretends not to hear it. Sometimes there are nights when they expect to hear the call, maybe even yearn to hear it, but the earth is painfully silent. Eventually mankind begins telling of a Great Enemy from the sea who brought floods and death to their ancestors, and an old hurt reopens inside Monster X’s chest.

Don’t hate him, the Thrice-Born sings to those who can hear. This world is his home, too. He has been betrayed so many times. Don’t hate him. Please.

[thegeminisage]

hi, sorry for answering you both so late, i am putting your answers together since they are sort of related!

the short answer is, i can’t write a “real” sequel to broken road but the third part of the triptych would be the indirect dean/cas spiritual sequel, except with way more porn. the long answer is:

i just don't think i could write a true direct sequel to broken road set in that same continuity because i don't have anything left to say about john and how he gets along in the real with his family world now that he’s stuck there and they’re all stuck with each other. my main three points of interest that i felt were left unresolved would be the continuation of dean and cas's relationship (more on this in a sec), sam and eileen (ditto), and figuring out if john and mary ever made it work or called it quits for good. so if i wrote a sequel to broken road it would just be a bunch of john/mary stuff that i feel underqualified for because it WOULD involve their sex life and i DO NOT want to write john having sex. them fucking offscreen in broken road was as close as i'm ever getting and even that was weird. and then somehow i’d also have to work sam and eileen into that and it’s not at all related. it would take two fics and i don’t even want to write one. also, i really kind of want to leave the question of john and mary open anyway - i have my own thoughts about how things ultimately end up but i prefer to let the reader imagine what ending they like best, since people have such strong feelings about it. i know that's a little bit of a cop-out and i'm sorry! but it feels beyond the scope of that fic and also a little beyond my scope and area of interest as a writer.

if it helps you any, i imagine going forward their dynamic is a lot like it is in the epilogue, which is part of why i made the epilogue so long, was to give you a good idea of what life is like for them now. but here’s what i imagine might go down after the final curtain call (this is LONG, skip to the section labeled “dean” for the triptych answer):

john & mary: 

john continues to suffer and bite his tongue and probably do a lot of complaining and DEFINITELY do a lot of avoiding being alone with dean or cas or dean-and-cas. john was expecting to retire after yellow eyes died so he really wouldn't know what to do with a family that still hunts for "no reason" and i imagine he'd be pretty pissed that they still hunt at all. i expect he and sam would butt heads over that

mary would probably keep attempting to be supportive and keep being bad at it, and spend a lot of time trying to put a brave face on it while secretly dying inside, because she's constantly at war with herself. here she has john back, but not the john she remembers, and spending time with him is difficult because she wants to let herself have him and take comfort in him and also she doesn't want to be anywhere near him because he abused their kids

eventually mary or john or both would have to leave, though mary would come back - in canon she's in and out a lot anyway, she stays for awhile and visits regularly for game nights. i think john would miss the first game night, get one "seriously?" text from mary, and then show back up every week that he possibly could but also not visit unless it would make things worse if he didn't. i don't think he particularly enjoys spending time with his family for a long time, if ever, because much like season 12 mary he came back to a family he barely knew or recognized (and because of what he knows now spending time with dean would be particularly awkward). HIS sons would be getting married to women and retiring and having biological children. this gay adoptive whatever the fuck makes them feel like they are not his sons. 

anyway, i imagine john and mary would do much better when running into one another outside of the bunker, on their own separate hunts. they might even take one or two together. there’s probably some very guilty sex in their future at some point because mary is real fucked up. john post broken road does a lot of shutting up but i think around mary he would be the most like his old self. they do this will they/won't they dance for the next decade at least before finally making up their minds one way or the other. i do think they all still go on hunts together sometimes, maybe even with the apocalypse world hunters, and since that's sam's deal john is probably kind of quiet and falls in line and does what's needed without chatting much to anyone. i bet the first few times people don't even realize he's sam's father because he's so quiet. it's his way of trying to apologize to sam and also if he steps out of line when sam is in charge sam would <3 deck him. yes. but yeah i see it being very brisk and professional and awkward, until they all get used to each other again

sam: 

as i said earlier the only thing i didn't fix in broken road was eileen, so at some point sam would figure out a way to get her back - since in this verse jack never becomes soulless and chuck never returns and we never get season 15 it's possible she shows back up because she didn't go with her reaper, or because someone fucked up a summoning spell, or sam realized she was in hell and decided to spring her, or she just crawled out on her own like a badass. i think it would be kind of funny if john was involved with her resurrection but maybe accidentally somehow, so it's not like oh sam learns to forgive his dad because john did this really nice thing for him it's more like UGH why did it have to be YOU why are YOU involved in this important thing that has nothing to do with you slkdjfghl but also if you hadn't done it she'd still be down there or something, so, it cancels out. or idk maybe john had to work hard at it or give something up to make it happen. he has to genuinely shut up and be selfless and not fucking complain and feel sorry for himself the entire time, that might be fun too. either way sam would not thank him

(though i do think sam deserves space to explore the fact that he loves john even still, even despite the fact that he also hates him/is very angry with him and always will be. i don’t imagine sam and john ever fully reconcile but i imagine john behaving BECAUSE OF SAM SPECIFICALLY offers sam more catharsis than he thought possible.) 

anyway, john would be so relieved to see sam with a woman even if she is a deaf hunter but then it turns out she hates him like sam does so like. sucks to be him! meanwhile sam and eileen get to catch up and he finally has a willing ear (so to speak) that isn’t cas or mary to talk to about this stuff and of course SHE has someone who very much understands what it’s like to come back from hell. part of what i really love about sam and eileen is the way they sort of instantly and intrinsically recognized and understood one another, even across something that resembles a language barrier, and this hypothetical future would be no exception. there’s no way they don’t get engaged inside a year, and much like in the 15.18 fixit they’d sometimes hang at the bunker and sometimes not. i imagine with the apocalypse world hunters going in and out though it’s never exactly empty or lonely there. 

whether or not their family unit ever retires and/or moves out of the bunker in this verse is sort of beyond me because my feelings on it change daily but you can imagine whatever you like! however i am adamant that the furthest away from each other sam and dean will ever get permanent-living-situation-wise is next door/across-the-street neighbors. their weird little codependency is part of what i like about them and i have a Whole Thing about not “gentrifying” dean. but for the most part sam would be very much doing his own thing which involves john very little, and healing from his own damage with people OUTSIDE of his blood relatives which he very much deserves. and he has moved so completely past the need to care about john that like john is a backdrop in his life, albeit one with baggage. but mostly he becomes someone to keep an eye on in case he makes trouble, no different than a hundred other surly hunters sam’s known. and he can still be there for dean without his life revolving around dean because now dean has other people there for him too. (i ALSO have a whole thing about sam being in the life for dean specifically, that he’s giving up some or all of adulthood for dean because dean gave up childhood for him - kind of the way someone takes care of their kickass single mom in old age. it’s a guilt/love/debt/devotion sort of thing.) 

and speaking of the Eventual future, if babies ever come into this picture (sam and eileen’s, to be clear, dean and cas are probably satisfied with jack, NOT THAT JACK ISN’T ALSO SAM’S CHILD) john is allowed to see them but never unsupervised. i’m picturing like sam and eileen both on their third day of no sleep and sam lets john change a diaper because he’s exhausted and john considers that the best their relationship has been since sam was 6. mary always wanted to raise babies and sam likes her better so she’d get to pitch in with much more enthusiasm (and aw they’d finally get to bond a little more), and dean has raised a baby already so he’d probably try to like help and get waved away a lot like no no raising other peoples babies is no longer your job it’s ok. there is eventually a fight about this

cas & jack: 

castiel lives a great life caring for his newly re-graced son and staring at john when he enters or leaves rooms, and i imagine eventually jack gives him his wings back, since he can do whatever the fuck he wants (i'm not giving jack his own section but he also probably keeps acknowledging dean and cas are a couple like out loud which would be fine except for dean is still half in the closet like a skittish traumatized cat so eventually cas would have to explain very gently that nobody was supposed to know that yet and jack should cool it to give dean time to adjust)

anyway i DON’T believe in human cas, i believe he likes being an angel, so he just gets to stay an angel forever and now he has wings too <3 and he can teleport which spooks john in the exact same manner it used to spook dean in s4 <3 except this time cas is being <3 malicious on purpose <3

cas fully won here because like john does NOT want to speak to or acknowledge him much less be in the same room as him so they tend to have a dynamic where like all 6 of them are in the room and cas dean sam mary and jack all talk to each other and john dean sam mary and jack all talk to each other but cas and john do not talk to each other. cas doesn’t have to threaten him or glare at him constantly anymore like all he has to do is look at him. and john is like. man what’s he gonna do. that guy is having sex with your son and there’s nothing you can do about it! so dean doesnt have to be like ok cool it cas anymore because cas has literally won in every possible way. i think at most it’s very much cas being like “if i were trying to kill you, you’d know it <3″ and john can’t return those vibes to sender because then dean would be like ok cool it at his DAD instead. it used to be cas don’t piss off dad and now it’s dad don’t piss off cas. anyway i think that since cas has let dean lean on him so much it would be nice if he could lean on dean a little. again more on that in a minute

dean: 

and finally, as for dean...i think he needs a year minimum to dean with people acknowledging he and cas are a couple and another 3 for it not to be weird to say cas’s name in front of his dad. absolutely zero pda in front of john ever but he might like eventually get to the place where he and cas can lounge around together on the couch while they watch movies with the rest of fam and it’s not a big deal. sneak an arm around him at a movie theater. kind of the same vibes as the 15.18 fixit but with less anxiety. because like the worst possible thing (getting outed to everyone) has already happened and aside from the outing itself being completely horrible nothing that terrible even came to pass as a result, so he’s just Adjusting. i think he sort of has to unlearn and relearn his habits - his mediator thing, his defending dad thing. i think there’s a lot of times where he just walks out of a room when shit is too much for him to deal with because he has let go of some of the need to constantly micromanage his family’s interactions to make sure they don’t boil over. michael already took that scenario to the max and mary already dumped john so there’s really not much left to be afraid of. i think he gets told “that’s not your job” a lot and maybe listens more than he used to. and to bring us around to the second question...

i also think dean would get weirdly hung up on the fact that he and cas’s sex life is Not Normal - as in, they fooled around a little and that was it. i think dean would have a huge problem with that. like, obviously he has A Few Hangups About Gay Sex given his history but if you’re a couple you’re supposed to bang on the regular and it’s totally homophobic if he doesn’t bang cas as much as he’d bang a lady he was committed to, right? he’s not gonna give cas less than he gave cassie or lisa, that’s not fair to his best buddy and number one pal! 

meanwhile castiel, known asexual, is utterly and wildly neutral to the whole idea except that it’s a way to be close to dean. cas would be just as happy fucking like champions for a six-hour marathon or spending that same six hours curled up in bed together while he plays with dean’s hair. like, same diff. you know that thing about like “cas thinks everything is important he gives the same gravitas to the apocalypse and a nine year old’s birthday party”? like it’s exactly like that with sex and cuddling and sharing a meal together and driving together and watching dumb movies like it’s all time spent With Dean so it all matters just as much.

so we have this conflict where dean is tearing himself apart over the fact that he’s taking a normal human amount of time to “work up” to the whole thing and cas is like. but it’s fine. it’s literally fine. and dean’s reaction to this would be something very offended like hello excuse me i am super hot and fuckable and you don’t WANT me?

if this all sounds familiar that’s because i’ve written similar stuff to it before! if you go to the fic page for broken road, you'll see it's part of a series now (the "triptych"), with my dumb little 15.18 fixit as the prequel. even though continuity-wise these are two totally separate fics i feel very strongly that that fic is the spiritual prequel to broken road, and eventually, a long time from now, after the next @cambionverse​ fic is done or at the very least well underway, i'd like to write a spiritual sequel. a triptych is three works that stand on their own but also make a more complete whole, so even though these three stories would not be related at all in continuity of where they take place in canon, they each set the stage at a different part of the dean/cas relationship. so fic #1, the get-together, had no sex at all, and it was very short. fic #2, pre-established but just barely, had a little sex in it and it was very long. fic #3 then would be pre-established but like VERY pre-established and have a fuckton of sex in it, and be medium length. i’m ha ha basically writing my own nc-17 porn coda since SOMEBODY won’t do it for me (if you got that joke you’re entitled to financial compensation). 

except i actually really do want to tackle this subject myself, it’s stuff i only got to touch on in the other fics because it felt off topic, so in this fic it WOULD be the topic! i really found a groove i like with cas who has almost no trauma around sex but doesn’t care whether or not he has it vs dean who really really wants to have sex but has a minefield of past bad experiences he has to watch out for. and i like writing porn anyway and i didn’t get to write very much these past two fics. i’ve always said that i think dean would snowball (not like that, gross) - it’d take him FOREVER (literally a decade plus) to work up to kissing cas but a fraction of that time to start fooling around with him and a fraction of THAT time to blow him etc etc. the more he does the easier it gets. i feel like it’d be a lot of fun to write. 

so, this third fic would not be an official broken road sequel, because there’s almost no plot outside of the porn to speak of anyway, but if what you wanted was to see how the dean/cas went from where it left off, hopefully that will be satisfying in that regard.

i should say, while the third fic would be almost exclusively porn there is one plot element involving ********** that i am not going to talk about on tumblr because it would ruin the surprise. i have told a few people privately and i will tell you if we know each other pretty well but if you know (or guess) don’t tell anyone! 

see, the other thing i would want to tackle in that fic is how cas has his own traumas and baggage, even if they’re a little different from dean’s, and i think dean sometimes gets so deep in his own stuff he kind of...not forgets that exactly but forgets how profoundly it still affects cas, because by and large cas deals with that sort of thing a lot more quietly and in much healthier ways than dean does. not that his self-sacrificing ass is the poster child for mental health, but for example cas recognized suicidal ideation in himself and actively worked to keep himself away from situations that would make it worse. he translates his bad feelings into meaningful action (well, he attempts to, even if it usually goes wrong). so he hurts kind of quietly and in late season especially most of the worst moments of his life are behind him (barring jack’s death, which doesn’t happen in this verse). so he’s also further along in his healing process which mean dean kind of forgets how fucked in the head he can be. and in the uh...unusual situation...they find themselves in because of this minor plot, it becomes something that he can’t not notice, that they can’t just not talk about, and cas gets to lean on dean a little, they sort of get to know each other better. so that’s part of the point of that one little plot element. but the rest of it really is porn.

i haven’t started work on the third fic yet - i don’t have a title and my outline is just a bunch of choppy ideas and i have about 2000 words of the middle of the fic jotted down out of context. (it was originally going to be a shorter unrelated thing before i realized how well it tied to what i already had.) i have another obligation to see to before i can get started on it (again, @cambionverse​, you should read it if you havent, the concept might sound unappealing but almost everyone who tries it likes it and it’s way better than broken road). so it’ll probably happen a very VERY long time from now! but it IS happening. >:) i just hope after the first two fics in the triptych were so well received that it doesn’t disappoint 🥺

[demcnsinmymind]

@shctsfired sent : “i'm not stopping until this is done.”. | PROMPTS FOR WORKAHOLIC CHARACTERS WHO PUSH THEMSELVES TOO HARD | Always Open!

"More like until you are done. This is nuts, Harper. And you know it."

He regards her for a moment, anger obvious in the expression on his face. The way he's moving in place, back and forth, back and forth, as if unable to decide which direction he wants to take. Because no, he doesn't want to lose the only living and real person he's learned to more or less trust. Certainly not after losing every o...

No.

He finally decides on a direction, taking a step back instead of towards her, because then he remembers the thing he swore to himself back in there. Never again. Can't keep hurting if he doesn't care about anyone anymore, right? Shouldn't ever have let it get that far the previous time in the first place. And more then anything - no. He knows her well enough by now. Tough as hell, perfectly capable of surviving this hellhole on her own, probably more so than he ever will be. She doesn't need his opinion because really. Who even are they to each other that he has any right to tell her anything?? Shouldn't bother to do so, so he doesn't.

He falls silent for a moment, lips pressed together to a tight thin line. Inner battle raging even now. Because no matter how determined he is to stick to his new/old principle, it is a shitty thing to do. Knowing how fucking lonely it really is when he's more than tired of it after everything from before.

"You know what, forget it. You're right. You're not stopping, and I'm not stopping you either. Go get yourself killed or don't, it's none of my business. All I know is that I won't get myself killed in your little crusade. So this is it then, I guess."

He's pretty quick to turn his back on her, starts walking by the time he's halfway around. "I hope whatever it is that you're after is worth it" Lance says, keeps walking until he reaches the door, places his hand on the knob. Just one little push and he's out, doing what he always does best. Looking after himself. Taking care of himself. Being by himself.

...

With fucking nothing left but himself. After a short while of standing there, hesitating, hand on the knob tightening with each second, teeth grinding at each other in frustration, he finally caves. Lets go. Turns back around to face her with a furious look on his face.

"Seriously. What fucking for? What in this shitty world is possibly worth risking your life like that for? This isn't just nuts, it's pretty fucking stupid I say. Explain it to me. Or it's gonna drive me up the wall for the rest of the week."

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Spider-Man Movie Villains

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, he does whatever a spider can. And what do spiders seem really good at? Amassing huge quantities of hatred and animosity! True to the wily arachnids that inspired him, Spider-Man has quite the impressive gallery of foes, one that I might say rivals Batman as the greatest in comic book history with how colorful, crazy, and creative they are. Even villains derivative of one another, like Hobgoblin and Green Goblin or Carnage and Venom, manage to carve out unique niches that help make them fun and memorable.

And thankfully, these qualities usually translated pretty well to film! I’ve talked about how good Mysterio, Vulture, Kingpin, and Prowler are before, so now it’s time to cover the others all in one fell swoop! From the Raimi trilogy, we have Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Harry Osborn, Sandman, and Eddie Brock/Venom; from the Andrew Garfield duology, we have Lizard, Electro, Rhino, and Harry Osborn again; and leftover from Into the Spider-Verse we have Olivia Octavius, Tombstone, Scorpion, and that film’s brief take on Green Goblin! Oh, and why not throw in Riot from Venom while we’re at it, because he sucks way too much to get his own Psycho Analysis.

Motivation/Goals: A lot of villains are motivated by the classic motivation: revenge. All of the Green Goblins manage to have this as a main part of their actions, making them remarkably consistent and very easy to discuss. The Norman of the Raimi films wants to take out his anger at being frozen out of his own company, and his son wants revenge for his death, while the Harry of the Garfield films wants his vengeance because Spider-Man wouldn’t help cure him of his otherwise incurable disaease that would kill him (a fact made worse because Spider-Man is his actual best friend, Peter Parker, who is coldly condemning his pal to death). The only one who doesn’t really fit is the Spider-Verse take on Green Goblin, and that’s more because he has extremely limited screentime and spends all of it fighting Peter and being scary as hell.

Eddie Brock/Venom is a very interesting case as both halves of the character are motivated by different reasons. The symbiote half is, of course, motivated by the fact that Peter has tried to rid himself of it via using a church bell to kill it. Eddie, on the other hand, has the most absolutely hilarious motivation ever: He wants Peter Parker to die because Peter exposed him for submitting fraudulent pictures to J. Jonah Jameson. Eddie literally breached journalistic ethics but apparently Peter’s to blame for exposing his literal, actual crime! And he prays to God for Peter to die! This version of Eddie is cartoonishly hilarious.Finally, we have Max Dillon, AKA Electro, who is lashing out at a world that did nothing but belittle and demean him, giving him a far more sympathetic motive for revenge.

Kurt Connors is an interesting halfway point between the Doc Ocks and the villains above, because he is not really evil and his whole transformation came about for altruistic scientific reasons, as he tested his serum on himself because they were going to test it out on the public without consent. While the serum drives him mad, he initially only goes after those who were going to use his formula with people as guinea pigs.

Interestingly, the two Doc Ocks contrast each other. While both of them are doing evil deeds for scientific reasons, Otto Octavius is being forced by his tentacles and genuinely wishes to make the world a better place otherwise. Olivia, on the other hand, is a gleeful sadist who doesn’t care who she hurts as long as she can get some sort of scientific knowledge from it.

Sandman is interesting case because his motivations are entirely sympathetic and despite being the man who killed Uncle Ben, it was entirely accidental and he always regretted it. He only ever wanted to get money to save his daughter. It’s really hard not to sympathize with a guy who turned to desperate measures because the American health care system sucks even in a universe where a dude dressed in a bright red suit swings around New York.

Then there are all the rest. Aleksei Systevich, AKA Rhino, is just a criminal, and has barely any screentime to establish a motivation beyond that. This is especially hilarious because the ads really hyped this guy up, only for him to get maybe five minutes of screentime, with most of it at the very end of the movie before the credits (we don’t even get to see his final battle). Tombstone and Scorpion are basically just lackeys for Kingpin, with little established beyond that. Scorpion almost shows up entirely out of nowhere, just popping in for the fight at Aunt May’s house and then the final battle. And then there’s Riot, who just wants to start a symbiote apocalypse on Earth.

Performance: Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, and Thomas Haden Church as Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and Sandman in the Raimi trilogy are, in a word, iconic. Dafoe brings a gleeful, cackling hamminess to the Goblin that perfectly suits him and manages to steal every single with how delightfully, cartoonishly evil he is combined with some hilariously chummy moments with Spider-Man. Molina as Ock goes in the opposite direction of hamminess, where instead of making Octavius cartoonishly evil, he gives him this air of gravitas to the point where he somehow manages to make this villain with giant metal tentacles that are controlling his mind come off as sophisticated and serious as Hannibal Lecter. Church meanwhile just looks eerily perfect as Sandman, as if he were ripped straight from the comics and put onscreen, and then of course there’s how well he manages to sell the emotional moments of the character.

The Harrys are a rather mixed bag, sad to say. James Franco and Dennis DeHaan aren’t really bad actors, but they unfortunately have the problem of living in the shadow of the actor who played their dad (Franco) or being in a really awful movie with a terrible script (DeHaan). Franco at least makes up for this by being hilariously, cartoonishly evil to the extent of his dad in the third Raimi film, but DeHaan unfortunately falls rather flat. Topher Grace as Venom is a choice that seems baffling until you realize Raimi cast an actor like this on purpose because he hates Venom so much he didn’t want to give him any dignity.

Jamie Foxx as Electro seems odd at first, but I feel it’s actually a great casting choice, and despite how unbelievably stupid the script is, he’s actually able to do a fairly good job. If his character was in a better movie, he’d probably get a lot less flak (and he’ll be getting his chance soon enough, apparently). Overall, he’s the best part of the Garfield films. Rhys Ifans and Paul Giamatti as Lizard and Rhino are serviceable, but neither film they’re in really gives them much to work with. Giamatti at least gets to steal the show with his brief scenes by being an absolute ham, but Ifans is sadly a bit forgettable in his role (though not for lack of trying on his part).

Now onto the Spider-Verse ensemble! Considering how I gushed over her delightful performance as the Wicked Witch of Westview in WandaVision as well as the fact she is solely responsible for me resurrecting this series from its long hiatus, it should come as no shock at all that Kathryn Hahn as Olivia Octavius is just perfect. Controversial opinion, I know, might get some flak for this hot take. Jorma Taccone as Green Goblin, Joaquin Cosio as Scorpion, and Marvin Jones III as Tombstone all do well for what they’re given, but it’s clear most of the love among Kingpin’s henchmen was given to her (and Prowler, but he got his own review where I talked about how great he is).

Oh, right, Riot. I forgot about him. Riz Ahmed, who plays the human villain Carlton Drake I forgot to mention because he’s incredibly boring, is a really good (and sexy) actor. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get to be quite as good and sexy as an actor like him should be in his dual role. In an interesting subversion of how things usually go, he ends up being rather bland compared to the hammy, bonkers hero. This was Tom Hardy’s show, and no one was stealing it from him.

Final Fate: The Raimi films were all made during a time when, if your name wasn’t Magneto and you were a superhero movie villain, you were dying, a trend I’m certainly glad is finally starting to die off. Thankfully, Green Goblin manages to stick around and posthumously influence Harry, so in his case it’s not so bad. Harry and Doc Ock both manage to overcome the darkness in their hearts at the end and sacrifice their lives to help save the day, while Eddie dies after becoming such a simp for the symbiote he leaps into it while Peter is blowing it up. With Sandman, Peter actually has a touching reconciliation with Sandman at the end, forgiving him for the death of Uncle Ben before Sandman dissolves into dust and floats away on the breeze. And no, this is his power, not Thanos’ snap reaching across time, space, and dimensions; Sandman actually gets out of these films alive.

The other villains actually get off easier, as most of them go to jail. From the Amazing Spider-Man films, DeHaan’s Goblin and Rhys Ifan’s Lizard both end up in prison, and it’s safe to assume that the villains of Spider-Verse are going to jail alongside Kingpin. Octavius was hit by a bus, sure, but considering how popular she ended up being it would be really dumb to have that actually kill her. With Electro and Rhino though, it’s really ambiguous, the former because he’s made of electricity and the way he was defeated means it is possible he survived, and the latter because we never actually see the outcome of his battle with Spider-Man. If the film they were in was actually good and warranted sequels, we may have found out what their true fates were, but at the very least Electro is moving over to the MCU alongside Molina’s Doc Ock.

Oh, right, forgot Riot again. He dies.

Best Scene/Best Quote: I’m combining these this time just to make it easier on me, because in at least in a couple cases the two are the same.

Green Goblin has a lot to choose from, to the point where it’s easy to cop out and just say every scene he’s in is amazing. I’ve always been fond of his chummy chat with Spider-Man on the rooftop, or the scene where he terrifies Aunt May, or the scene where he attacks the parade and vaporizes the board of directors with pumpkin bombs.

Dock Ock is easy: the train battle. This might be one of the best action scenes in any superhero movie ever, and since he’s the villain in it, it almost goes without saying..There’s a reason this scene is singled out so often.

Eddie Brock and DeHaan Goblin actually have their best scenes also be their best lines. Eddie praying for God to kill Peter Parker and DeHaan!Harry screaming “YOU’RE A FRAUD, SPIDER-MAN!” after Spidey refuses to give him a life-saving blood transfusion are just so absolutely hilarious and memorable that you can’t hate them.

Aside from the powerful forgiveness moment at the film’s end, I think it’s really indisputable that the best scene from Sandman, and perhaps the Raimi trilogy as a whole, is the scene of Sandman’s creation. Words really can’t do it justice, so just watch:

Electro’s best moment isn’t even actually part of the movie, unless you want to count his rendition of “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider.” No, his is from a Tumblr post, proving definitively that Electro’s power can not be contained.

For Olivia, I’d say either of the reveals for her are great. You can go with the twist that she’s the Doc Ock of Miles’ universe, or the twist that she might have fucked Aunt May. Either way, you can’t really go wrong.

The rest of the villains… yeah, I’ve got nothing. At least with Rhino you can say his entire time on screen was fun, but the rest? Nope. They’re kind of just there.

Final Thoughts & Score:

Green Goblin

Where to begin with this guy? He is everything I look for in a great villain: he’s hammy and cartoonish, he can be terrifying and threatening when he wants to be, he has a ridiculous yet memorable costume, every word out of his mouth is hilarious and memorable, and he’s played by an amazing actor. It’s hard to dispute that Doc Ock is the best villain in Raimi’s trilogy, but Goblin is definitely the most fun. If you thought he’d get less than a 10/10, you thought wrong.

Doctor Octopus

Aside from Green Goblin, Doc Ock is Spidey’s most iconic and memorable foe, nd this adaptation of him does not disappoint. By making him a more tragic and somewhat anti-villainous figure and putting him in the hands of someone as awesome and talented as Alfred Molina, they managed to make such a cartoonish villain retain that comic book silliness while still being a legitimately imposing antagonist. I suppose it helps that a director who knows how to balance silly and serous like Raimi helps. It’s absolutely not a shock that the MCU wants to bring Molina back, because really, I can’t see anyone making the dubious doctor nearly as cool as the 10/10 performance Molina gave.

Harry Osborn

Franco’s Harry has an interesting arc, but one that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense under scrutiny. Frankly, his descent into villain is handled well but when he actually gets to be a villain in the third film, things fall apart.. But at any rate, he gets to be cartoonishly hilarious while he pettily ruins Peter’s life, so I think a 3/10 is warranted just for how goofy he is.

Eddie Brock/Venom

For the longest time, I hated Eddie Brock, but loved the Venom symbiote for its fantastic design… A design hampered by the fact Topher Grace keeps sticking his face through the symbiote and talking in his normal voice. But then one day I remembered Eddie literally prays to God for Peter Parker to die, and I realize that as crappy as this version of Venom is, he’s undoubtedly hilarious. A 3/10 mainly because of how hilariously bad he is, though the design of the symbiote is unironically great. Shame Grace kept sticking his face through and that Raimi hates the character.

Sandman

Sandman is a villain who deserved a better movie. Sure, Spider-Man 3 is fun and funny, but a character with this much depth and emotional weight deserved a film of the caliber of Spider-Man 2. At any rate, he adds a bit of class and dignity to the proceedings, and Thomas Haden Church really nails it. He’s a 9/10 for sure.

Lizard

Lizard is just a very boring villain, which is a shame because Lizard is not a boring villain in the comics and other media like the cartoons. I don’t really know if he was the best choice for Spider-Man’s first outing; I’ll at least give him that he’s a more inspired choice than doing the Green Goblin again, but that doesn’t score him higher than a 4/10. As boring as he ends up being, that library fight was pretty cool and had a great Stan Lee cameo, so I can’t say he’s the bottom of the barrel.

Electro

Electro is a villain who desperately deserved a better movie. While his backstory as a nerdy fanboy who got kicked around by the world is nothing new, or fresh, or original, Jamie Foxx manages to make the character work fairly well even though almost everything around him is unbelievably stupid. The fact he managed to make “Don’t you know? I’m Electro” sound cool and badass is a testament to his skill, and thankfully he’s coming back in the MCU in some way, so I guess Electro’s power can not be contained to a single movie. Still, this iteration only manages to get to a 6/10, because while all the elements of greatness are there, he’s hampered by the abysmal writing.

Rhino

Paul Giamatti certainly looks like he’s having a blast here. His attitude is almost infectious, but alas, his time is too brief to bring any great joy, and his jarring appearance out of nowhere at the end of the film certainly do him no favors. Still, Giamatti keeps Rhino from sinking any lower than a 5/10.

Harry Osborn

This Harry is just a joke. His arc makes no sense, his actions are unbelievable, and he ends up looking like a really poor Warwick Davis Leprechaun cosplayer. The only thing of note about him is that he’s a Harry who becomes the Green Goblin before his father, something that doesn’t happen very often, and that’s not enough to score this loser higher than a 2/10. Not even killing Gwen Stacy makes him any more impressive, and that’s a real shame.

Olivia Octavius

Olivia Octavius is widely beloved by just about everyone who sees the film.. myself included. This is just a really fun, clever twist on Doctor Octopus, and it’s the sort of character you really hope gets a Harley Quinn-level break into becoming an iconic character across multiple forms of media. Kathryn Hahn’s fun performance and the wonderful design and fight sequences really make Olivia a 9/10.

Tombstone

Tombstone is a villain you might actually forget is in the movie, which is a damn shame. He’s an albino black man, a badass bodyguard, and has a striking design, but he gets a single line of dialogue and is tasked with bodyguarding a man who not only has cyborgs under his employ, but who murdered Spider-Man with his bare hands. Tombstone ultimately feels really superfluous, which is a shame because around the same time Into the Spider-Verse came out he had a very memorable and well-liked appearance in the Spider-Man video game. It’s a real shame but I gotta give this version of Tombstone a 2/10.

Scorpion

Scorpion has a lot of problems of Tombstone above, but he makes up for a lot of his flaws by having a really cool and striking design. Does it really make him a great villain? No. He’s not particularly well-characterized and he’s really just there to look cool and give Olivia backup. He’s a 4/10 at best, saved from being lower only by his awesome look. Looking cool really can get you far in some cases.

Green Goblin

Out of all the really minor villains in Spider-Verse, this version of Norman might be the best. His role is tiny, only appearing during the scene where the Peter Parker of Miles’ universe gets killed, but his battle with Spider-Man is what sets the entire plot in motion. His cool and terrifying design definitely help make him stand out enough to earn at least a 6/10.

Riot & Carlton Drake

Look, there’s a reason I kept forgetting these guys. They’re not memorable in the slightest. Venom may be a fantastic work of art, but that’s because Tom Hardy kills it in his dual role as Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote. Drake is just a boring corporate villain, the kind I hate talking about and the kind I’d only ever even bother mentioning in a review like this. And Riot is just a generic Big Gray CGI Monster for the hero to have a final battle with. Neither of these two are particularly interesting, and neither deserves more than a 2/10.

That’s it, right? There can’t be any more villains, I must have covered them all. Well, not quite. There’s one more character who is most certainly an antagonist and who I really, really want to talk about. And you’re absolutely not going to believe who it is.

You ready?

Psycho Analysis: Emo Peter

“Now wait,” you may be asking, “Emo Peter? Really? How does he count as a villain?” Well, as Schafrillas pointed out in his video on Spider-Man 3, Emo Peter is actually the antagonist for much of the second act. Peter, influenced by the symbiote, becomes a raging jackass and hurts and alienates everyone around him by being a colossal douchebag, not to mention how violent he gets as Spider-Man. This is very much an extreme case of the hero’s greatest enemy being themselves, because literally, Peter’s enemy in the chunk of the movie with Emo Peter is his own overinflated ego

Motivation/Goals: I mean, at the end of the day, it’s still Peter. He still wants to do the typical Peter Parker stuff, he’s just a jackass while he does it.

Performance: It’s Tobey Maguire busting loose and getting to act like an absolute doofus. There is literally nothing about this that isn’t amazing and I’m sorry if you can’t see it.

Final Fate: Peter eventually comes to realize that maybe the symbiote making him act like an egomaniacal tool is not a good thing, and so rebels against it, ultimately leading him to the roof of a church where Eddie Brock is praying for him to die and, well, the rest is history.

Best Scene:

Best Dance Move:

Final Thoughts & Score: Emo Peter has gotten a bad reputation over the years, but Schafrillas’ video really made me rethink why. As he puts it, Emo Peter comes off not as someone cool, but as what a loser thinks a cool person would be (which makes him still a loser). It seems fairly likely that the audience isn’t supposed to be rooting for Emo Peter or finding him cool, but instead finding him insufferable, ridiculous, and funny. We’re supposed to be laughing at Peter’s egomania, at his absurd and hammy showboating, not cheering him on and desiring to emulate him.

And that ultimately makes it more satisfying when Peter overcomes his ego and decides to rid himself of the symbiote. It might seem like I’m giving Spider-Man 3 a lot of credit here, but even Sam Raimi half-assing a movie wouldn’t leave things completely devoid of underlying brilliance. Emo Peter isn’t a villain in the sense that he’s some superpowered antagonist, he’s a physical representation of the negative impacts of fame and ego on Peter. This is Peter letting go of what makes him a hero and just reveling in being an absolute jerkwad to everyone around him.

I love the memes as much as everyone else of course, but Emo Peter is also a pretty clever symbolic foe. But even though I’m giving him an 8/10, we all know the real reason why he’s scoring so high:

Ok, but that’s it now, right? No more Spider-Man villains? Well, maybe for now. But don’t forget:

There’s gonna be Carnage.

[wakkowraith]

Aight aight here’s what I got:

(I’ve not watched season 15 cause I was queerbaited by the gay Angel confession, but from what I’ve gathered there wasn’t a lot to work with in the first place)

First off, keep the final villain ig, this plan works with any (altho it would be a lot more satisfying if it was built up but this is what we have) vampire clowns or whatever. Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Dean doesn’t die. He gets injured, severely injured, and ends up permanently disabled.

This prompts Sam to suggest retirement, which Dean is resistant to. They put it off for a while, go on hunts, during one of which Sam reconnects with Eileen. They get serious and Sam brings up retirement again, and Dean finally relents.

They buy separate houses right next to each other. Sam and Eileen get married, have a daughter named Mary Maura Winchester. Dean is the fun uncle, always teaching Mary tricks and things her father doesn’t allow. Like shooting a gun, which Dean considers essential, but Sam is firm that she doesn’t need to learn that yet. This actually causes a conflict for a while until they inevitably make up.

They both have some form of PTSD after all their fucking trauma. Sam’s manifests as night terrors. Constantly waking up in the night, hallucinating his father or his brother or Lucifer or Jack or the hundred other people that have died because of him, have hurt him. Eileen has grown used to this - she’s not without her own traumas after all - and they learn to navigate this together.

Dean’s manifests as paranoia. He keeps a police scanner in his house and constantly listens to the chatter. He keeps a log of unusual sightings that never result in anything. Once, he got drunk at a bar and became convinced the bouncer was a shapeshifter - “laser-eyes,” he told Sam, who dragged him out before a fight could start. Never mind Sam shook his hand with his silver wedding band, which prompted no reaction (a handy thing really - Eileen’s idea).

Dean really tries. He tries to pick up hobbies - he became briefly infatuated with wood carving, which Mary kept a few of his early pieces on a shelf above her bed - then after that coaching Mary’s Little League team, but he resigned after one year for being too rough on the kids - and he finally settled for bartending, and kept that for far longer than anyone thought he would, including his boss.

Dean really tried, but even after years of forcing domesticity, he still kept track of the color of the sky or natural disasters, still keeping a log of murders and missing persons, still on guard for the next apocalypse, the next big-bad that will try to kill them or kill the world or both. Even after all these years, he has to do something.

After Mary manages to recite the Latin exorcism verse back to him and successfully shoot a bottle from a stone’s throw away, Sam gives him an earful that reminds them both awfully of their father. I dont want Mary to worry about that, Sam said. I don’t want Mary to be like us.

How is she going to protect herself when you’re not there, then? In this world?

We made this world safe, Sam had said. We did it for a reason. For her.

And later, Dean nurses a glass of something cheap that smells of gasoline while thumbing the well-loved photo from an unused FBI ID, one that’s printed with a false name and a familiar face, and he wonders how this is supposed to be their happy ending when something is so desperately missing.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise then, when Sam goes to check on Dean a few quiet days later and finds his brother’s very few precious possessions gone, impala included. He tells Mary some excuse that her uncle’s gone traveling and, secretly, privately, quizzes her on the exorcism verses and their matching signs.

(He didn’t go after Dean because - well, it should be obvious. They’re older. Sam found out a month prior he could keel over from a heart attack any day now. Eileen is eight weeks pregnant. He can’t be responsible for his brother anymore, not when he has his girls, his family, to look out for now.)

They have a boy. They name him Dean, out of remembrance, since Sam is sure the next time he’ll see his brother is a John Doe in the newspaper, and give him the middle name Edward-John out of obligation.

Dean is approaching his first birthday when their neighbors are murdered.

Nice people, the Ashleys, if overbearing in their unwaveringly friendly personalities. They seemed to try very hard to get everyone in the neighborhood to like them, which made it even more shocking to discover Adam Ashley’s body strung like a kabob on the power lines between their houses.

Sam didn’t jump the gun, which was reasonable in a small town where, for the last fifteen years, nothing at all insinuous has happened, but it was the protective father and skilled hunter in him that double checked the locked doors at night, poured salt beneath the windows, and kept a loaded shotgun beside the bed.

Only days later, the Bishop’s girl, Vanessa, was subjected to the same fate. That hit Mary the hardest; Vanessa was on her Little League team, and it’s not a great thing to deal with for a pre-teen just entering high school.

For the first time in over a decade, Sam took inventory of his arsenal while Mary was at school and Dean was asleep. He cleaned and reloaded his guns, sharpened his daggers, restocked the salt bags. Carved stakes, shined silver, and flipped through his old log book to hopefully find whatever the fuck is tormenting the kids in his domain.

Eileen walks in and watches him from the doorway for a while. Then she claims the spot beside him and starts reloading the pistols, her fingers still deft and quick. Quicker than he is, and she gives him a smug smirk as she takes the next one, and Sam huffs a laugh and carry on like they aren’t preparing for the worst to hit their picturesque homescape.

You know we can’t take it on alone, she says.

We have before, he tells her.

We were younger then. Less kids. She says this with a smile, but he knows the second birth took its toll on her and they’re still struggling with that loss.

We might be the only ones who can help, he says instead.

Your heart can’t take it.

I’ve survived worse.

She isn’t happy with his answer, especially when he looks away and she can’t read his lips.

Before this can lead to an argument, a series of heavy knocks come to their door. They glance at each other, and only in the way of a long marriage they communicate through couple’s telepathy. Sam tucks a glock in his pants as he approaches the front door while Eileen takes care of the mess of unregistered guns hidden beneath their family room’s floor.

Crafting a smile, Sam answers the door. He means to open with a friendly, Hey, how are ya? Followed by a fatherly pat on the back at whichever neighbor decided to drop by with condolences or gossip. Instead, he finds himself reeling at the visitors.

Two young woman stand just outside their front door, chests puffed, suits that are too wide on the shoulders and hang too low on their fingertips, hands holding out FBI badges, they spew a rehearsed speech about investigating the local murders.

Sam waits for them to finish before giving them a lopsided, more familiar grin, as he asks for their boss’ number.

The girls give each other a quick glance, one of internal panic and the other of external. The prior one digs out a business card with a number professionally printed on it, and Sam digs his cell phone out of his pocket and dials the number.

It rings, and rings, and Sam wonders if maybe he miscalculated, maybe he was wrong - and then a click.

Director Harris speaking.

Sam stifles a laugh. The gruff voice on the other end asks who’s calling and threatens to hang up. Sam pulls himself together long enough to speak.

Hey, Dean.

A long pause. Sam waits. The girls’ eyes are wide and they seem to be trying to communicate to each other through eyes only. Then,

Hi, Sammy.

Now I would end it there except I want more Castiel content and I know you do too, so, after this, the screen fades to black and we think the credits are gonna roll. But then, in the Empty, there’s a muffled voice saying something we can’t make out yet. There’s some static in the background that quiets and quiets and continues until, very clearly, we hear:

“Cas. Hey, Cas! Wake up!”

Cut to black, credits roll.

[wrathfulmercy]

“ What do you feel like doing to me?” (Twd verse)

Sexual Sentences from here

“What a question.” Rick mumbled in his sleep drunken voice and reached out with his hand to grab Natalie’s wrist, to pull her on the bed with him.

There had been a discussion between the Saviors and Ricks group in the Sanctuary and Rick had agreed with Jesus and Michonne to stay the night after Negan had stayed so many times in Alexandria. He didn’t know if it was a good sign for Negan to invite them for discussions and offering them a place to sleep, but it was definitely obvious that any kind of intimacy with Natalie would be even worse in the castle of their biggest enemy. Her husband.

Rick promised himself to keep his distance, which he did during the day, but now she came into his small room, standing there with an innocent glare as if it was a good idea. It wasn’t, but Rick couldn’t help the desire to feel her whenever she was this close.

“I want you. I want you so bad. I want to do every fucking naughty thing to you. But Nat, not here. Not now. He will kill the both of us if he finds out and we just managed to finally talk instead of just shooting at each other. We can’t risk that.” His voice was low, too scared of being caught while his hands ran along her face to admire her beauty. “You shouldn’t be here.” he whispered, his eyes shifting to the door which she closed but still could be easily opened anytime. “You... should go back. You can’t sleep here.” With a gentle smile he gestured at the small bed, reminding him of the old prison beds. And even if he knew she should leave as fast as she could, he wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her on his lap under the blanket.

“I just dreamt of you.” he admitted, tugging on the blanket to make her sit on his covered bulge, that now pressed against her crotch. “I wanted to touch you, the whole day.” Dizziness was making him weak, the arousal between his legs driving him insane and not allowing him to let go of her. He hated the moments when she stood next to Negan as he showed them around. Rick wanted to reach out for her, pull her away from him and run away to the next shelter. But his own needs could never be more important than his family and this was the only reason why he fought against himself the whole day.

“Did he touch you? Tell me he didn’t touch you while I wasn’t here.” He moved up to reach her face, nudging against her to inhale the sweet scent radiating from her warm skin. “You smell so good.” She always did, as if the apocalypse never took its tole on her when in fact it was probably just from the privileges she had as a wife of Negan and he hated nothing more than that. She was safe by Negans side, safe when it came to casual needs like food, health and showers and still he wanted nothing more than to take her away from him, even if he couldn’t provide her the same luxury she had here.

“Why did you have to come? Why are you doing this to me?”

@shefoundpeace

[lynyrdwrites]

kc + all the good girls go to hell // billie eilish

I’m not entirely happy with this, but it’s what I could put into words.  Takes place in the “Life After Rapture” ‘verse.

---

 Caroline hadn't been raised particularly religious.  It was part of the reason she hadn't been all that surprised that she had been left behind on Earth during the Rapture.  And really, it had ended up not so bad for her, all things considered.  

But she had been raised with a certain set of morals.  

Yet somewhere, between being hired by the Anti-Christ and falling in love with him... she worried those morals had been lost.  Not that she went around killing people randomly, of course.  That was messy, and involved paperwork... and the whining.  God, the whining.

And that was where the problem was - these days, she found herself being anti-murder, not because it was wrong, but because it meant extra work, and wasn't there something pretty wrong about that.

"You've been distracted, Love."

Klaus' voice was warm in a way it only ever was for her.  For the rest of the world, he was cruel and careless.  He only showed mercy if Caroline requested it, and she found herself doing that less and less out of the goodness of her heart, in a way that was kind of worrying.  

And Klaus clearly wasn't happy with the way she kept letting her thoughts distract her from his presence, because he nipped her neck hard enough to make her yelp and glare at him out of the corner of her eye as he pressed a soothing kiss to the poor, abused spot.

"Pay attention, Caroline.  You'll miss the best part."

"You know, we both have work to do," she muttered, even as she reached back to run a hand through his curls, and tilted her head a bit, so he could have better access to her neck.  She loved the way he kissed her there, and the damn Devil knew it. 

"I know the boss.  I'll excuse us."

She smiled, but it felt a little strained.  Because half her mind was still on the thoughts that had been troubling her dreams lately - thoughts of how her morality was becoming twisted, and did that mean she was twisted too?

"You're distracted." Klaus sighed, and pressed a kiss to her shoulder.  "This isn't fun if you're not fully involved.  What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Caroline replied, pasting a bright and incredibly fake smile onto her lips.  "Just thinking about a problem Finn handed over to me."

That seemed viable.  Finn was always finding new problems to hand over to Caroline.  She was pretty sure he took a twisted sort of glee in it.  He might not be the Anti-Christ, but Caroline was pretty sure 'Evil' was a trait that really came from their shared mother more than the Devil.

Klaus just looked at her, and raised a brow.  Her excuse was valid, but he wasn't buying it.  So rather than try to lie again, she just shrugged, her thoughts a discomfort she wasn't ready to share, and climbed out of bed.  

"Should I guess?" Klaus asked her back as she walked to the ridiculous walk-in closet that she had all but monopolized.  

"No reading my mind," Caroline shot back, still not looking at him.

"I don't need to read your mind, Love.  I can simply read you.  In fact, it's really the only talent I've ever truly dedicated myself to perfecting.  Even my art hasn't taken up so much of my time." Caroline rolled her eyes at his dramatics, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little bit charmed.  Mostly because, dramatic or not, she knew that Klaus meant it.  "You're not evil, Love."

"Sometimes, dating the Anti-Christ sucks," Caroline muttered, but she dropped the blouse she'd been holding to turn around and glare at him.  "Finn really did toss me a problem the other day, you know.  There's a group of idiots that have taken to carrying around flags with crosses and claiming that the reason they were left behind was to be God's warriors on Earth to take you out.  And don't look at me like that - I took care of it Klaus.  They won't be doing anything like that again.  But I knew if I involved you, they'd be dead."

"They still could be," Klaus murmured, his eyes narrowing slightly in thought.

"No, they won't.  Because you won't find them.  Trust me."

"Fine" - Klaus waved that away, though Caroline suspected that they'd come back to it at some point.  Klaus never let anything go that easily - "Please, tell me how saving some fools' lives makes you evil.  I'm sure your logic will be fascinated."

"Because, when I was doing it, all I could think about was how much of a pain in my ass they were.  And I had to keep reminding myself that the resulting paperwork if I did let you have them would be even worse." Caroline turned away from him again, but she didn't really see the closet.  Instead, she remembered her dreams of her disappointed father.  "It had nothing to do with the fact they were people and killing them would be wrong."

She didn't realize Klaus had joined her until he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.  It was comforting, the weight and warmth of his arms.  

"Elijah informs me that the group homes you created are up and running," he said after a moment.  "It was a good idea to put Kol in charge of them.  Annoying as he is, he's quite good with the equally annoying brats."

Caroline's brow furrowed at his words, trying to figure out the logic in the topic change.  She had put Kol in charge of creating group homes for the minors left behind in the Rapture because the rest of his family treated him as the reckless daredevil who had nothing to offer.  She had known he would be good for the lost souls that had been left behind by their parents in favor of the Heavens, and some solid responsibility had calmed Kol's habit of annoying Klaus near constantly.  Win all around.

"I'm glad, but I think I'm missing the point."

"You created those homes because you saw lost souls that needed them.  And you gave the responsibility to Kol, because you recognized that he was a lost soul too, when the rest of us simply wrote him off." Klaus pressed a kiss to her cheek.  "Don't judge yourself based off your reaction to a bunch of self-righteous evangelicals who can't accept that their way of doing things went against what their precious God stood for.  Judge yourself based off of that. Besides, you conscience will never be rotten as mine."

Caroline snorted, because there weren't many people worse than Klaus.  But his words gave her some comfort, and she turned in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him.  

"You're not as awful as you claim.  That was almost sweet.  You softie."

"Only for you, Caroline." He kissed her again and grinned.  "Now... back to bed?"

She pulled away and retrieved her blouse with a laugh, tugging it on.

"Sorry, my attack of conscience stole our time together.  Three... two..."

And right on schedule, Finn gave three sharp knocks on the door, because you could always set your clock by Finn Mikaelson.  Klaus groaned and flopped back onto the bed, and Caroline finished getting dressed, and listened to Finn's latest litany of problems through the door.

Maybe her morals had become a bit burnished... but this was a time after the Apocalypse.  And she had better things to worry about than self-righteous hypocrites.  

Unless they were named Finn Mikaelson. 

[kaijumydude]

51, 57, 62, 75, 86, 97 of the oc ask thing for uhh Reed and/or Everett?

HHH TYSM! I’ll do both because I love them both slkdhsd

Reed Sarabhai:

51) Have they ever been seriously injured?

Many times. He has various scars though the most notable ones being a long, jagged one across his chest and a burn scar around his right eye.

57) Do they brush off injuries or seek help?

Reed usually seeks help, but if someone is hurt more than him he’ll hold off to make sure they’re treated first.

62) Fav type of music? Why?

He likes any genre, so his playlists are a mix of whatever is catchy to him. He does love Clair de Lune though, and plays it on the piano often. However, in his Far Cry 5 verse, he has a strong disliking of (Christian)choir music due to his role of Choir Leader for the Eden’s Gate cult. 

75) What is the state of their world like?

This depends on the verse. (Sorry if these are worded weird I’m not entirely sure how to answer this coherently without spoilers lkdfhkd)

Destiny 2: Sorta post-apocalyptic but hopeful. Even with threats appearing all around them quite often, the remnants of humanity in the Last City persist. And while these tensions are strong between humanity and the alien factions they find themselves battling against, there is a strong opportunity for alliances with a major threat rising all around them. Hope for the Future.

Far Cry 5: Tense. Eden’s Gate has a strong hold on Hope County. Even with the Resistance’s efforts to take down the cult going well, an apocalypse is on the horizon. 

Far Cry New Dawn: Trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world becomes harder with a new threat. Surviving groups must band together in order to thrive and take down this new band of enemies before they destroy everything in their path.

Red Dead Redemption 2: Things are changing. The west is no longer what it used to be and while some welcome the change others are fighting against it. Some are just trying to stay afloat.

Alien: Shitty. It’s a capitalist hellscape where the common people are pushed to their limits by companies fighting for the top spot. Plus Weyland-Yutani’s shady practices in trying to get a hold of the Xenomorph makes things worse as they disregard any and all human life just for a way to gain more power and control. 

Plus the fear and hatred towards their synthetics who are at the whims of their creators. But there is hope with a rise of resistance groups and non-company aligned caravans fighting against the company’s hold on space. Plus an increase in synthetics escaping from the Company and working against it to bring peace between them and humans.

86) Can they speak more than one language?

Reed predominately speaks English but can speak quite a bit of Gujarati due to his mother.

97) Can they dance?

Yes but he’s a bit shy. You’re more likely to catch his dancing around while cooking. He just gets into a groove dhsdjgskd

Everett Samuels:

51) Have they ever been seriously injured?

A few times yes. He was severely injured when escaping the company, but he doesn’t go into detail about that. The more notable one is from an encounter with a Xenomorph that damaged him pretty bad by severing his spine and narrowly missing his core. It took a few weeks to get him back to 100% and now has a pretty interesting scar along his back. 

57) Do they brush off injuries or seek help?

Everett isn’t a hypocrite (sometimes) when it comes to injuries. He knows his importance as the crew Medic so he has to be in tip-top shape in order to tend to his crewmates. If an injury can prevent him from properly tending to a patient or causes him to further hurt a patient, he’ll make sure to get fixed. Though sometimes Everett will put his crewmates over himself when it comes to severe injuries. Other crewmates having basic medical training incase Everett is too injured. 

62) Fav type of music? Why?

Everett has a generic taste of classical music and plays it while working. He’s sort of an ass who holds his head high so people sorta expect him to be into the pretentious stuff. Though in truth he hates that prestigious nobility-esque classical and enjoys stuff along the lines of Clair de Lune, Moonlight Sonata, and etc.

EXCEPT he has a very secret love of cheesy pop songs and disco. Everett is a secret ABBA fan but would never let anyone know about it. He just has been portraying himself a certain way for so long he doesn’t want others to really see beyond what he lets them. The Takyon-4 crew is exempt from this though because he’s learned he can trust them and let his guard down. Plus how could they judge him for ABBA? They slap.

75) What is the state of their world like?

(just copied this from Reed’s since it’s the same s;dljsl) Shitty. It’s a capitalist hellscape where the common people are pushed to their limits by companies fighting for the top spot. Plus Weyland-Yutani’s shady practices in trying to get a hold of the Xenomorph makes things worse as they disregard any and all human life just for a way to gain more power and control.

Plus the fear and hatred towards their synthetics who are at the whims of their creators. But there is hope with a rise of resistance groups and non-company aligned caravans fighting against the company’s hold on space. Plus an increase in synthetics escaping from the Company and working against it to bring peace between them and humans.

86) Can they speak more than one language?

Due to being a synthetic he is programmed to understand any language.

97) Can they dance?

When it comes to step by step dances or anything with some sort of pattern (like Ballroom dancing or something) yes he can. When it just comes to groovin’, god no he’s a disaster.