#ghost riders meta

[rokhal]

It's awesome that Robbie Reyes is objectively cooler and more competent than his nemesis. I love how Eli's primary narrative function is not to serve as an imposing villain that Robbie has to grow to overcome, but as human quicksand whose impulsivity and recklessness threaten to drag Robbie down to his level.

[existingtm]

Gabe and Eli as foils for each other 🤌

[greasydumbfuck]

Masterpost

My name is Story and this is one of my many sideblogs created to escape the people I already know (/hj or not), specifically dedicated to overall Marvel-related fuckery.

As a disclaimer, I play with canon characters as if they are my Barbie dolls (not in the sense that i kill spiders with their dismembered legs). What I mean by that is that whatever you find here will most likely not align with canon in any sense and I am probably well aware of that. And yes this is a self-insert/self-ship/x reader friendly blog because I believe people should be allowed to have fun.

I don't fuck with proshippers (idk what an "anti" is, i just think you shouldn't want to fuck kids) or -phobes of any kind nor with people who don't properly tag their shit (very enticing i know). Other than that I like to imagine I'm a fairly okay person to be around and talk to so if you feel like there's something we may want to talk about, be my guest.

Background image by Luckius on opengameart.org

Current Things include:

A spidersona (Meta Menardi)

A version of said spidersona that im selfshipping with frank castle because oh good lord

An........ eddiesona? a persona that takes on a similiar role to eddie brock in a friend's spiderverse au

A persona who takes on the role of the punisher in another friend's au (this persona is trans) (im not) (its complicated)

An au thats literally just my self-insert hanging out in frank castle's van (theyre best friends) (he hates her) (not really)

[spider-man-2o99]

ok 4 as much as i dunk on 2099 manifest destiny lol i will say i've always thought it was actually a pretty interesting decision on the author's part that miguel still chooses to keep his Spider Powers a secret even when he doesn't actually have to, anymore, and to such a degree that by the time this one-shot happens he's practically completely retired from Spidering entirely. shit, man. he never goes back to being Spider-Man in e928 after sm2099 v1, but this book just Does Not Directly Address It... idk. just think it is inch resting 2 observe

[washipink]

Kamen Rider Ghost and the Power of Silence

I just watched what I think might be my favorite episode of Kamen Rider Ghost thus far. The sixth episode, “Destiny! The Comeback Melody!”, uses its medium well and plays with the features of an average Kamen Rider episode in such a delightful way I felt it needed its own post.

First, here’s a brief explanation of what’s going on for those of us that haven’t seen the show. Takeru Tenkuuji is killed by a ghost on his 18th Birthday and now must become the titular Kamen Rider Ghost collect the spirits of past heroes to revive himself or risk being dead forever if he can’t do it in 99 days. It’s going pretty smoothly until Kamen Rider Specter enters the scene. Specter is also after these heroic spirits and has been beating Takeru to a pulp the past 3 episodes, causing his resolve to waver.

Anyway, this episode marks roughly the halfway point in Takeru’s time limit and Specter has been actively setting him back by stealing spirits from him. He’s pretty distraught about the whole deal.

Earlier in the series, it was established that whether or not a ghost can be seen is tied to their emotional state. With the amount of self-doubt he’s experiencing, it is literally impossible for Takeru to manifest before any of his loved ones. He spends the majority of this episode invisible to those who wish to help him most.

What does this have to do with silence, you might ask? This week’s ghost hunt involves a spirit who silences noise. There’s some really effective scenes where noisy high school courtyards are muted entirely. Conversations are silenced, replaced only with the sound of a lone piano. Stuff like that. That’s artsy enough on its own. Everyone has talked about this kind of thing before. What really matters to me are the fights in this episode.

Normally, a Kamen Rider’s transformation comes with a lot of fanfare. Music, a catchy jingle, sound effects. That’s not the case for Takeru in this episode. He attempts to stand up to the evil spirit in complete and utter silence. From a Watsonian perspective, this is simply “The power this week’s monster has” but, through a doylist lens, this is simply an extension of Takeru having lost himself and his resolve to fight. First, he could not be seen. But now? He cannot be heard. There’s not even any background music or sound effects. Only the taunting of an enemy Takeru is failing to defeat.

Sound returns to the scene when Takeru gets blasted by his enemy’s attack. One nice touch is that the bgm doesn’t start from the beginning. It plays as if it WAS playing on mute this whole time. The sound being turned up when it was leads to a bit that furthers my reading of the scene. Seconds after, Kamen Rider Specter arrives. And HIS transformation has the full fanfare, his whole jingle and everything. Specter knows who he is, knows what he’s fighting for, and is not going to half-ass his mission. He’s not like Takeru. In fact, he beats Takeru’s ass once again here. This causes Takeru to disappear again and run away.

Throughout the episode, Takeru is spending a lot of time on his own, hiding, being downright scared of Specter and of the fact that his time is almost up.

Eventually, through some very meaningful words from his childhood friend, Takeru realizes that even if he’s going to be gone for good one day, he’s here NOW and that’s what matters. He’s gained the confidence to make himself visible again and he STAYS that way until the end of the episode. Not only is he never silenced again, but in the following scene he makes an ally of Beethoven’s spirit and uses sound to his advantage in battle. The silence of the first act is gone now that he’s found himself.

Come to think of it, there’s something special about how, in Ghost, the Fear of Death makes someone harder to reach than the actual Death itself. Takeru HAS already died once this season and that didn’t stop him. But being afraid of losing what time he has left caused him to vanish, completely unheard...

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Okay, I just had a thought. What if “Deadpool & Wolverine” is the start of this arc that’s going to address the state of the non-MCU Marvel properties? From how I’m seeing things, it looks like the universes of the non-MCU Marvel properties are breaking down for some reason (maybe related to the incursion in Multiverse of Madness) and the TVA are scrambling to save them.

So, what’s the plan? Take the remnants of the destroyed universes and “merge” them into a stable universe. On a meta level, it’s taking the non-MCU Marvel properties and merging them into the MCU. That’s how the mutants end up getting introduced into the MCU, as well as other concepts like Inhumans, Ghost Rider, and so on.

From a creative perspective, this allows Marvel Studios to bring in characters and concepts from these non-MCU properties without needing to address the previous storylines. You like James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as Charles and Erik? Well, we can bring them back now without having to address the bullshit that was the late stages of the Fox X-Men universe. That’s basically what’s happening with this version of Wolverine; it seems like this Logan is separate from all the other Logans we’ve seen, which I think is a good move since it allows Hugh Jackman to come back and audiences don’t have to question his existence.

[blackhholes]

Teen Wolf's Canaan

Lenore by Gottfried August Bürger (trans. by Dante Gabriel Rossetti) / The Fate of the Canaanites and the Despoliation of the Egyptians by Menahem Kister / Who’s Afraid of Canaan’s Curse? by Jennifer Knust / The Faith of the Canaanite Woman (Mt. 15.21-28): Narrative, Theology, Ministry by Dorothy A. Lee

Written for @teenwolf-meta‘s Meta May Monday theme: place.

in the sixth episode of the sixth season scott, lydia and malia go to canaan, a place which has become a ghost town after the wild hunt came through in the 80s with only one inhabitant still there. there are two major references being made in this episode, the first being that to the both biblical and real bronze age location of canaan and the second being to the ballad lenore by bürger.

in genesis 9:25 noah curses canaan, the son of ham, that he and all of his descendants, the canaanites, will be servants for the rest of time. the conquest of canaan in the book of joshua as well as the curse of canaan are mirrored in the episode with the ghost riders' attack on the town and is further expanded on when, at the end of the episode lydia explains that the people taken by the wild hunt become ghost riders themselves, effectively making them servants of the hunt.

the only person left behind by the riders is a woman named lenore. her name draws the viewer back to the 1774 ballad of the same name, in which a ghostly rider comes to a woman in the disguise of her dead lover and takes her on a ride. the poem culminates when lenore realizes that the rider is indeed death himself come for her. teen wolf's lenore as all other banshees has a close connection to death and the dead, for her the spectral entity shown to her is not her deceased lover but instead it is her son who drowned as a child. bürger's lenore dies at the end of the poem, where teen wolf's lenore decided to stay in canaan with the apparition of her dead son, a kind of death in itself.

[pinkestmenace]

Sometimes when I'm pondering the orbs/trying to scrape up what little characterisation there is of Galacta Knight so I can figure out how to write his character, the little quippy shotgun rider in the back of my mind chips in:

He's a 10, but he laughs like a demented seagull. "AAHAhahaha!"

He has the appetite and hubris of a seagull trying to swallow an entire hotdog.

He and Meta Knight are studying each other in a petri dish.

No fear -> Meets Bandee's Nana -> One fear

The elegance of a swan, the indomitable spirit of a territorial mother goose, the tenacity of a pigeon with a clubfoot. And the aggression of a swan.

Teeth teeth teeth goose tomia teeth 😬

Me, thinking: "Even after he chooses to better himself he's still not exactly a sweet person." Me-not-me: "That's-a spicy meatball!"

Have you ever looked a chicken in the eye? They remember when they were dinosaurs.

You can lead a Galacta Knight to healthy conflict resolution, but you can't make him drink.

He's a homing pigeon. Homing in on your location.

Instead of hitting him with the scary hands beam like Starflungwaddledee, you hit him with the scary teeth beam. And then the scary hands beam.

When all you have is a lance, everything starts looking like a target.

He's the Hero Circling the Origin. Circling it like a drain.

Uses 'fowl' language.

"Bah!" GK is Scrooge being tormented by the ghosts of his victims past, present and yet to come (and the grim reaper) to change his ways before it's too late.

GK is not really a man, because while he's bipedal he's not featherless.

Stabbing children isn't his favourite pastime. Teaching children how to stab, on the other hand...

This is less of a 'We can fix him if we hug him enough!'-fic and more of a 'We're showing him the tools to improve, but he has to pick them up himself. Which he won't do until he thinks he's worth it.'-fic.

His breakdown is like the emotional equivalent of draining pus from a festering wound.

The inherent homoeroticism of stabbing a man with a stubby pink lance...and then having to pull it out by the shaft.

He's not entirely unhinged, but his hinges are rusty and failing.

Galacta Knight *gets hit with several deadly weapons*. "'Tis but a scratch."

Kirby stopping him: "I defeated him with the power of friendship! And this sharp stick I inhaled."

He has the petty meanness of a parrot.

He explodes recreationally.

Worse: he flies into the air, displays the colours of the pansexual flag and THEN explodes. Extremely straight behaviour.

Instead of the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone he contains the holy trinity of thwarted theater kid, world-weary butch and the Faggiest Grandfather in the Galaxy.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

He could absolutely kill you and might even laugh while doing so, but it's not so much him being gleefully murderous as:

Fighting is one of the few reprieves from his unfathomable boredom and frustration.

He thinks he's irredeemable so he might as well play the villain. He's not completely heartless, but why try being kind anymore when his role is fixed anyway? Phah! Nobody spares him, so why should he show mercy?

If people summon him they're asking for it + if he just stood there and let them kill him that would be unsatisfying for both parties.

He never learned how to deal with big complicated feelings except by lashing out.

By now the pattern of 'being summoned -> fight -> win or lose' is so deeply engraved into him he'd have to climb out of the groove, so he responds to any slight by competing.

He's so used to bloodshed he doesn't know how to have a normal conversation anymore.

I'm getting a better feel for him, but guess what: if characters live rent-free in your head you can put them in a terrarium of your choosing, but they will decide how to interact with it afterwards.

For example:

At this point I can't put Galacta Knight and King Dedede in a room together unsupervised because their massive egos make them bicker and posture at each other. (They're establishing pecking order/jealously trying to impress Meta Knight, who pretends not to notice. Bird rivalry go!) It would soon have them at each other's throats. They're surprisingly similar, but that also makes them absolutely allergic to each other. If you thought Dedede and Kirby had a rivalry, well, theirs is much worse. Kirby's perfectly happy to have a competition, but he's not (usually) interested in mocking his opponent, so that defuses the situation. But Galacta Knight's a sore loser and a smug winner. If DDD and GK ever do become friends it will grow out of a begrudging respect for each other's strength and the discovery they both like: a) Shitty puns, b) Sick Burns™ and c) Teasing Meta Knight.

On the other hand, after a rough start Galacta Knight and Kirby get along like a house on fire. Kirby's just not intimidated by him, so no matter what threats GK tries, he eventually has to accept he's being befriended. He has no choice. They beat each other up, make up, bake pancakes and have a sleepover. Yay! This does not stop him from being a bit of an untitled goose bastard. It just means Kirby's exempt from the worst.

He and Meta Knight are orbiting each other like binary stars trying to figure out why the other is definitely so much weirder and more unhinged.

MK: He tried to kill me on sight. I'm going to spare him to figure out why. Huh? He's so strong and beautiful! *Notices the serrated teeth and the unhinged seagull laugh.* Never mind.

GK: I am loath to gaze upon thy dim countenance, thou stupid anomalous manlet! Thou art short and ugly! I hate thee! ...I need to know more. Kiss me I mean I'll kill thee if thou touchest me!

He and Bandee are, uh, yeah. Strained is what I would call it. GK feels disdain for people weaker than him, but admiration for the dedicated. Bandee is both of those things. So he settles for giving him a lesson in stabbing more effectively. Bandee is just ??? the entire time.

They all help him fix different aspects of himself. Kirby offered him a non-judgmental outlet for his emotions. Meta Knight made sure he was physically healthy. Dedede, reluctant as they both were about it, helped ground him in reality and showed him change is possible. Bandee helped him re-evaluate his priorities and values.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

It's less that he's suddenly developed a conscience and more that he's finally getting the chance to see them as people. Normally he gets summoned and has to fight immediately. There's no time to chat, or sit down, or think about anything but battle. With every clash with a familiar face his opponents feel more like advanced training dummies than people. It's just another iteration, they don't matter. But this time he crashed in the jungle, then had to survive on his own for six days. Once the adrenaline wore off he started feeling things like pain, hunger and loneliness. He had to find food, he had to find shelter, he had to deal with (well, avoid) noncombatants. He started using his voice again, he had time to think and see things beyond the battlefield. He didn't know what to do with himself.

So by the time this Kirby and Meta Knight show up he's in a completely different mindset. Especially when they try to reason with him. When they heal him and feed him and even invite him over. You can't really sit down with someone over a nice cup of tea without starting to see them as a person. Someone with opinions, needs and desires and insecurities. Not so different from you. And the more you see them as a person, the more you care about them and the more difficult it becomes to want to kill them.

Too bad that doesn't mean his unresolved grief and anger issues are completely gone. It just means that if he lashes out and kills them now he will regret it. Forever.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Post Hatoful Dreams GK cooking like Gordon Ramsey.

GK: *Slaps bread on MK/DMK's face* "What art thou?"

MK/DMK: "An idiot sandwich."

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

There's a war going on in his head between the touch-starved wet beast screaming "TOUCH ME! LOVE ME! HOLD ME! PLEEEASE!" and the vengeful side ready to kill and maim screaming "TRY ME. I DESPISE EVERYTHING ABOUT THEE, THOU FILTHY ITERATION OF MY NEMESIS!"

Now he finds himself in the middle, fickle and wishy-washy, craving affection, desperate to be accepted, but lashing out at any slight.

[dragonridernoobie]

How would Clark Kent meeting Ghost Rider! reader who is at him city as a leader singer as she is that very famous and didn't hide that she is a meta human

Liked she is a very confident individual and very out going with a Kenu Reva's level of kindness and generosity

Ngl, I don't really know Ghost Rider. I've heard of him but never really know about him. But I tried my best! Also, sorry if this is a tad short. I have a lot of reqest atm and it's hard getting to them all woth one working hand.

Superman x MetaHumanReader

Clark kent was walking to work when he noticed a large number of people in front of a shop. It wasn't a popular shop either, just a normal coffee shop. So he decided to go take a look.

When he got closer, he heard people saying that someone named (Y/N) was so cool and that they were so strong. When he got close enough to look inside, he saw a person inside drinking some coffee while holding a table with small kids on top who where laughing and smiling.

He was surprised by this since he had never seen this person before. He decided to ask somome nearby which caused alot of people look at him surpised.

They asked if he was joking, and when he said he wasn't, they told him that the person inside there was (Y/N). A meta human singer who is always giving kids a chance to have fun with her by whatever they ask. Like now.

Clark was surprised and looked back at (Y/N) inside. He never met a meta human, so opened about them being a meta human. Well, non that arnt evil.

He decided to talk to (Y/N) personally. So he walked away and went into an alley so he could change into his Superman outfit. Once he did, he "acted" like he just arrived at the Cafe shop and everyone steps back amazed that the great superman was here.

They watch Superman enter and go up to (Y/N). (Y/N) looked at Superman and smiled. They lower the table where the kids were on and gently pushed them toward their parents who were waiting.

They turn to Superman, and Superman wished to speak to them privately, and (Y/N) agrees. Superman grabs (Y/N) and flies off with them. Landing ontop of a random building.

There, Superman starts to ask questions. Superman asked why they were doing this, and (Y/N) respawns with a simple "because I can and I can bring smiles to those kids who need it."

This made Superman surpised since he was expecting more of "because I can because IL get famous."

Superman warns them about their powerful strength, and (Y/N) said they know and never use their full strength. They were just at the coffee shop since they needed coffee, but some kids wanted to meet them, and they were wild.

Superman talks to them more and even started to get information about where they came from. (Y/N) happily explained where they were made since they had nothing to hide.

In the end, Superman brings (Y/N) back to the Cafe and bid goodbye. Before he could leave, (Y/N) wrote down their personal number and gave it to Superman. They told him to give them a call if they ever wanted to come to one of her shows.

Superman nods, smiles, and bids goodbye before flying away.

Soon, he looked up more about (Y/N) and saw they had done over 400 make a wish request and always made those kids happy. It seemed he might just have a friend.

[princeescaluswords]

Josh Diaz is a Werewolf-Raiju Hybrid

My personal headcanon is that Josh Diaz is a werewolf-raiju hybrid. According to Japanese mythology, raiju were spirits composed completely of lightning. In the flashback sequence that Lydia experiences in Required Reading (5x06), we see the Dread Doctors opening Josh up, displayed above.

Raiju were animals composed entirely of lightning, and they were often in the shapes of weasels, cats or wolves. The signs and scars of lightning strikes on trees and woods were said to be the tracks of their claws.

They also, strangely enough, said to enjoy sleeping in human navels, which led to the reputed folklore practice of sleeping on your stomach during storms. While the exact source of this folklore has vanished, leaving it sort of harmlessly sinister. I feel it must be connected to their patron, the thunder god Raiden, who was said to have an insatiable appetite for navels, as they were considered where life began in a body.

The writers of Teen Wolf liked to play around with mythology. When we met Josh, he's at Sinema, dancing, and he tries to scam Hayden out of a new glowstick. At first, it seems like he's being dim, but his smile after Hayden gives him a new one seems to me to be the one of someone who performed a harmless con.

This is important to me, as I have another headcanon that the Doctors used sympathy (i.e. "the shape you take reflects the person that you are") when choosing which teenagers to turn into what type of chimera. For example, Corey was chosen to be turned into a Ghost Rider (see my meta here), because like the rider people seemed not to see him "[My parents] hardly noticed the first time I died." or Mason was chosen to be the Beast "From [Theo] we learned true evil only comes by corrupting something truly good." In this case, Josh's appearances -- dancing, conning, drug use, his bargaining with Malia -- on the show seemed to indicate a certain disregard for the rules of society without being particularly malicious about it -- sort of like sleeping in someone's navel.

I feel it makes a certain sort of sense.

[kindlingkeen]

You gave me permission to pester and so now I’ll be that stray cat that won’t stop showing up at your door w random junk (in this case, questions & things)

So! Meta abilities / powers / whatever you wanna call em. 👏

I know none of what Jason’s got going on is meta stuff, all his magic and things are earned through different means (Lazarus, All-Cast, etc) but I have seen people sometimes scrap the whole superboy prime/lazarus pit thing and instead make it that Jason has some sort of immortality type ability.

I love it, immortality is inherently tragic for so many people ESPECIALLY the one that’s actually forced to live on. And something about Jason being the one fated to die first (voted) yet unable to actually really do so hurts. Plus powers in general is neat.

But! That is not the only meta ability I’ve seen people give Jason. I’ve seen some where he can travel through shadows, where he can influence the terrain of Gotham, understand animals, unnatural tracking abilities, acid spit, doesn’t breathe, ghost rider type stuff, smth that links him to others, etc.

I love me some flashy abilities but I’m always partial to the subtle ones that don’t look like bunch but are badass when used right.

So w that in mind, if you could give him any meta abilities or powers, what would you choose? what do you think would be the most fun? The ones that could have the best impact on plot n why, etc. doesn’t have to tie into current canon at all ofc, go wild. I’m very curious on what you come up w because there is, quite literally, infinite possibilities. :)

Hey, friend!

Okay, I let this one percolate for a couple of days, and I have to admit, I’m a little stuck. I can’t say I’ve ever really thought about Jason as a meta. One of the things I love about Jay is that he’s just a normal dude (aside from the soul swords thing, but actually that gets at some of my issues with rhato). Like, beat him with a crowbar, blow him up, slice his throat open with a batarang, have his dad beat him senseless, send his buddies through a wormhole, kill off his best friend—it doesn’t fucking matter, Jason doesn’t stay down, he keeps getting back up. He doesn’t have a stable support system, he’s not a billionaire, he isn’t friends with half the superheroes on the planet, he doesn’t have an assassin cult waiting in the wings—he’s just a guy from Gotham who doesn’t know how to quit, even if it quite literally kills him. To me, the meta thing takes away from that. It softens the tenacity and grit that makes Jason’s story so visceral and compelling.

This is not meant to take away from your (or anyone’s) enjoyment of Jason with meta powers. It’s just not for me, I guess.

A meta-adjacent idea that I do really go for, though, is the idea of a sentient Gotham with a deep connection to Jason. She speaks to him, she breathes life back into him to, she calls him home. She’s not going to relinquish her claim on her chosen avatar until she’s good and ready. Now that sends shivers down my spine.

[rokhal]

Eli Morrow is a dumbass

Can’t remember if I already did a meta on this, but while Eli is a serious intellectual threat in All-New Ghost Rider, his opponents are two teenaged boys, one of whom is intellectually disabled. It’s like that tiktok where the guy brags about sueing a nine-year-old and winning.

Here is Robbie’s first fight against an opponent who is an equal threat to the Ghost Rider. Eli encourages Robbie to charge at Grumpy head-on, and Grumpy promptly kicks them ass-over-teakettle.

Robbie asks Eli for help as he grapples with Grumpy, but all Eli gives him are platitudes (”Don’t play his games, Robbie!”) and unhelpful analysis (”Sonofabitch is too strong”). When Robbie summons the car to slam Grumpy away, Eli cheers him on, distracting Robbie from how useless Eli’s contributions so far have been.

See, it wasn’t that he had no idea what to do or what their actual powers and limits were, it’s that he was just waiting for Robbie to figure the answer out himself! Just like Master Reigen does for Mob

Eli doesn’t really know how much trouble he and Robbie are in, but he doesn’t want Robbie to back away from the fight. The practical reason for them to fight Grumpy is to eliminate the Charger’s legal owner by getting Robbie to kill him in self-defense, which doesn’t work because they lose. The encounter is also an opportunity for Eli to test-drive their powers and get a feel for how to subvert Robbie’s control. Eli doesn’t know how strong they are, and he doesn’t know everything they can do. He throws Robbie unprepared into a fight that he doesn’t know they can win, giving Grumpy a good look and feel for them, and potentially putting them at a disadvantage in a future rematch (which luckily for them, never happens).

tl;dr Eli doesn’t know exactly how his and Robbie’s powers work and he prefers to push Robbie into fights so he can see what happens and avoid  admitting his own ignorance.

So, Eli is new to this whole possessing-a-human-revenant-car-fire-demon-guy thing. Understandable. We haven’t even gotten to the real dumbassery: hunting down Yegor Ivanov.

If you want to know who someone is, look at their friends. Not just who their friends are, but how their friends treat them. Yegor Ivanov treats Eli like a stooge.

Eli’s initial attack on Yegor’s club was...impulsive, but in his defense, he didn’t know how much or how little time he had in control of Robbie’s body, since Robbie passed out in gym class. Could be a year, could be a couple hours. He bet on it being all night, and if it weren’t for Johnny Blaze’s intervention, it would have been all night, and Yegor Ivanov would be dead. But Johnny Blaze did intervene. The next time he and Robbie switched, Robbie started off conscious, and quickly began to surface again. Robbie proved able to grab control of their hand at inconvenient moments.

OK, this is a bad setup for Eli. Yegor did not know this. Eli did and carried on anyway. Whatever. Yegor’s super sophisticated crime-kingpin plan to lure Eli into a trap was to call him on his phone and invite him.

Does. Does Eli think he’s going to get the jump on Yegor here?

Heehee! My buddy Yegor who ratted me out to the cops thinks he’s gonna hire me for a job like old times! Even though I already announced myself by name and told him I was going to kill him and demonstrated all my demonic powers!

Surely, Yegor is calling me because he has a job, not because he has prepared countermeasures for my supernatural nature. He will be so surprised when I shank him!

Or, alternatively, he might know this is a trap and figure that he’ll just improvise his way out of it. Which would be excusable, except for the fact that Robbie is awake and fighting him for control by the time he actually leaves the house.

Yeah, that looks just like what you want to have happen when you’re riding a concussed teenager to a mob meet and you don’t even have a gun. To suddenly lose control of your weapon arm just when you’re about to get revenge on your hated enemy.

Eli shows up at the agreed-upon meeting-place, without negotiating for a more favorable spot or a two-hour delay to knock over a gun store or anything. You could hide an entire army of super-powered teenagers in that warehouse.

He shows up alone to a one-on-one with his “old friend,” who is by now a very important person in the local crime scene. Yegor probably never shows up alone anywhere. This should be incredibly suspicious. Eli’s confident enough in his own powers to believe he’ll just fireball his way out of a few armed goons, but by this time, he knows that Yegor knows what he can do!

And Eli’s not at his best right now. Remember, Robbie is also awake!

WHAT DID HE THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN??????

Anyway. Yegor Ivanov, the guy who knew Eli best while he’d been alive, asked Calvin Zabo to help spring the most obvious, low-effort trap possible to eliminate him. And Eli walked right into it. (See: army of super-powered teenagers.)

Did. Did Eli think they were actually friends or something? Did he think Yegor had a soft spot for him for old time’s sake that Eli could exploit???? I mean???

In conclusion: this is no criminal mastermind.

[spikeface]

heart full

Written for @teenwolf-meta‘s Meta May Monday theme: Transformation.

I’ve talked before about how the conversation between Scott and Liam at the beginning of Heartless shows how much their dynamic has changed since season 5, but I also love how the plan to catch the Ghost Rider in Heartless (6x07) is a reversal of the one to catch the Dread Doctor in Strange Frequencies (5x07).

In both episodes, they’re trying to catch a supernatural enemy with a very risky plan, and eventually, in both, the hellhound will show up and completely throw things off.

But in 6x07, instead of crumbling under the pressure of trying to solve everything on his own, Scott has Liam, Hayden, Mason, and Corey to help him figure it out.

In 5x07, Liam angrily demands that Scott do everything he can to save Hayden--including coming up with a plan. Later, in 6x07, Liam is the one to come up with the plan. I think it’s significant too that he then goes on to doubt the plan (of bringing Theo back), specifically because he’s so worried and stressed about making the wrong choice re: Theo and Scott, as he ultimately did in 5a.

In 6x07, Hayden volunteers to be bait, rather than unknowingly acting as bait as she did in 5x07. She makes eye contact with Scott as she justifies it with “I’m faster,” and I’ve always interpreted this look as a significant one--that she’s forgiven him, and genuinely wants to help. You can see how much it means to Scott as he looks back at her.

Even though Douglas and hellhound-Parrish ultimately throw things off, the chaos at the end of 6x07 only underlines how different things are from 5x07. The plan in 6x07 works, far more than the one in 5x07 did. Theo is there to help for real this time! The whole pack is working together, foregrounding the friendships and relationships that will ultimately tear apart the entire Wild Hunt.

[agentravensong]

three observations / thoughts from reading the editorial notes in my new physical copy of Hamlet (the pelican edition, edited by a. r. braunmuller):

1. There's this bit from Act 2 Scene 2 where Hamlet is telling Ros and Guil about how he's depressed, how all the beautiful things in the world mean nothing to him. The thing that stuck out to me on this flip-through was the highlighted line and associated footnote below:

If we go with what is "traditionally supposed" as canon, then, it makes this line one of the most direct fourth-wall breaks in the whole show (that isn't a narrative device i.e. the soliloquies), because it implies that Hamlet sees the literal ceiling of the theater the play is being performed in.

You could just say that the golden fire refers to the real stars and such, making the "roof" metaphorical... but that's less fun.

2. There are a lot of bird allusions and metaphors in this play. Not just the “special providence in the fall of a sparrow” line that seems to haunt me specifically, but a lot of times that people are compared to birds.

marcellus calling for hamlet like how a falconer would apparently call a hawk in act 1 scene 5 when he's left on the battlements after the ghost disappears ("Illo ho ho, my lord!")

woodcocks (foolish birds) caught in springs (traps) (see polonius in act 1 scene 3 (talking about hamlet or ophelia, i think?), and laertes once he starts dying)

knowing a hawk from a handsaw, a spy from a true friend (act 2 scene 2) (according to the book "handsaw" is also supposed to sound like "hernshaw", a type of heron)

"it cannot be but i am pigeon-livered" (also act 2 scene 2)

cladius' limed soul (act 3 scene 4), "limed" apparently referencing birdlime, a gluey material used to snare birds

osric, the "lapwing" who "runs away with the shell on his head", comparing him to a freshly hatched baby bird

and at least one or two more that are currently slipping my mind.

Now, I’m relatively new to analyzing Shakespeare's works in this depth, so maybe this is a trademark in all his stuff, or maybe it was just common at the time; maybe it isn’t meant to be a pattern.

But amongst all those lines, I read this (part of Hamlet talking to Horatio after the play-within-a-play, leading up to him bragging to Horatio that he could definitely get a whole share in an actors' company):

And, given how meta Hamlet is as a play (see section 1/3 of this post)… perhaps this line, as unemphasized as it is, is meant to re-contextualize the rest of those bird references as pointing out / reminding us that all the characters are actors? Both in the literal meta sense and also the thematic “every character is playing a role for others and engaging in varying levels of deceit” sense?

Again, it’s possible I’m giving this more weight than it’s due because of my lack of context, but. It’s an interesting possibility, at least.

3. Okay, this last one is just funny. Remember when Laertes and Claudius are just beginning to brainstorm how they’ll eliminate Hamlet in the last scene of Act 4, and Claudius alludes to some skill of Laertes’ (fencing) that someone else has been spreading the word about? Do you remember who that someone was?

Well, the thing about this noted excellent horse-rider is…

Obviously, the only conclusion to draw from this is that the guy talking up Laertes’ fencing prowess is the literal Grim Reaper, setting things in motion for the fated fatal duel, and neither Claudius nor Laertes had the thought that taking such inspiration from a guy named as such might lead to an unfavorable end. Good job, you two.

[inquisitorius-sin-bin]

So, I've been thinking:

We know how the Plainsmen are named. But what about the dactillion? Is Kaisarion the only one named after a song?

Ah! Thank you for asking! This question has a pretty good answer both in and out of meta.

So Kaisarion's name is a reference to the Ghost song, which parallels the theme and events of the work. Honestly, it was one of the first things I KNEW I wanted about the Ride or Die series, because I kept dreaming of a dactillion named Kaisarion, and it stuck.

Now, I've mentioned before that I take a LOT of roman/latin influence in building Plainsman culture because 1) the clothing aesthetics and culture of Pau'an in canon remind me of roman culture 2) if you are going to pull details for your alien race from existing cultures, the romans are a pretty non-offensive one to pick. Even the way Pau'an are named- derivatives of their father's names- IS a roman custom, and fits with the canon lore of Tion Medon being a descendant of Timon Medon.

Kaisarion is actually latin as well, the -ion suffix being a diminutive like "wife of" "son of" or "little". Kaisar is pretty straightforward for Caesar or "Emperor/Ruler". Thus, Kaisarion can mean a range of translations, as straightforward as "son/daughter of ruler" or in a funnier sense.... "Heir to the Empire"... BUT in this work, Theo actually gives our preferred interpretation:

In context of the work, dactillion's have their own, self-determined name, and it is revealed to the rider when they bond with them through the Force in the taming process. When I was naming them early on, I hadn't really thought about using latin-derived names, so some of them, such as Bolen's mount, Glastiel (our first named dactillion in the work I believe), just have names that were made on the spot because they sounded cool. Here's a breakdown:

Tsino/Nulee's Victerrus- Portmanteau of "victorious" and "terrible", also latin for "victorious"

Talia's Dilectan (her original female dactillion, whose shed teeth she wears around her neck. The necklace was made for her by Theo as a gift, and he passes it to Tsino, not knowing the moment of her traumatic death imprinted her spirit on the object)- latin for "beloved"

Talia's Perdithe (the male dactillion she tamed to join Theo's clan, who she would later die with)- latin for "perish" OR alternatively, derived from latin for "perdition" (perdith) meaning a state of eternal damnation

Talion's Unguillan- latin for "talon/claw"

Theo's Sultran- not strictly latin-based, but derivative of "sultan"

Drago's Halver- latin for "halve" (more of a half in this case)

Feerstan's Maddis- I wanted a soft, anxious sounding name to represent Feerstan's anxiety.

Lamast's Rhystar- Literally "rye star". Referring to the importance of rye seeds to her character

...And I think that's at least MOST of the named dactilloids. The most important thing is how they reflect their riders, especially when you see dynamics of their interactions (like how Sultran, Victerrus, and Kaisarion act with each other in Fly or Fall, or the same for Maddis, Kaisarion, and Rhystar in the early Ride or Die chapters.

Again, thanks for asking!

[agl03]

Fandom Mama! Long time no ask. I am seeing stuff on Twitter about Chloe/Daisy being in Secret Invasion that I thought you would be best to ask you. Is she in it?

Hi Anon,

To my knowledge, NO, Chloe/Daisy will not be in Secret Invasion, she said as much in a recently interview. And before anyone yells at me, yes I know very well Marvel has NDA's, actors have lied, and and hides things all the time. But I still don't think we will see here, there is just no indication that the story or the MCU is going into Inhumans/Secret Warriors right now. And usually there is something, somewhere, that has leaked from set, just a little to hint of that surprise. I have heard none of those rumblings.

I wholly own I could be wrong on this one. I know there are people out there that are very confident she will show up. I've been on that I will die on this hill confident about a theory over the years too. I've hit and missed over the years, but like my overall track record on the whole theorizing and predicting things. For me the fun was in the predicting, research, discussions, asks, and metas.

I am not on the die on this hill with Daisy being in Secret Invasion.

Will I enjoy it if she doesn't show up, you bet! I'm so excited for this one.

Will I enjoy it if she does show up, you bet! I'm so excited for this one.

It will be really nice to watch a who can you trust kind of show and not be petrified about it and its fallout like I was during AOS.

If IF, Daisy does appear in Secret Invasion I can not emphasize enough that IT WILL NOT BE THE SAME DAISY WE KNOW AND LOVE FROM AOS.

I've well established in many asks that thanks to the time loop AOS is off in a whole other branch of the timeline about a forest away from where the MCU is now. And the show was running years behind where Endgame would up. So our, Deke's and whatever many time streams they spun off via the loops and making waves in the Season 7 timeline is off in their own happy little worlds. Fitzsimmons have HEA in Perthshire (they will pry that from my cold dead hands), Robo Coulson is off seeing the world, May is running the Academy, Mack is the Director, Elena is the top Agent with Piper and Robo Davis, and Daisy is an Astro Ambassador with Sousa and Kora (again you will take that from my cold dead hands).

If Daisy shows up she will have a completely new backstory that will fit with what the writers of Secret Invasion needed. No team family, different origin story, no Sousa, different attitude and personality, heck a different take on her powers could happen. We saw in Season 7 how changes to the timeline, big and small, could impact things down the line. Then there was the fresh take we got on Ghost Rider on the show, completely different than the one we'd seen on screen years ago. Robbie's story was adjusted to fit the AOS 4a storyline.

Robbie is also proof AOS is way off in its own timeline thanks to the Darkhold.

At this point I think its best for everyone to just settle in for the ride. Unless we get an ABC intern level of finale photo leak, rip rando intern we love you, we are likely not to get any confirmation either way until the show actually airs.

Its totally cool to hope for it if you want it. While its totally cool to be against it if you don't. And its fine to be in the middle and just be along for the ride like I am. As usual have fun with the theorizing and Manage Expectations. Please...don't make me dig through my blog for that post again.