#how great would it be if netflix brings it back cause of this

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

The Daily Mail has helpfully listed all the times Meghan’s rebrands and relaunches have failed.

Archived Link

Here, FEMAIL reveals the Duke and Duchess' projects that, for all the carefully constructed razzmatazz of their launch, have so far come to little.

ARO/Roop:

[L]ittle more has been officially revealed about the brand, with no Instagram posts on the firm's official account since March and the website simply offering fans the chance to join a waitlist. But what exactly are potential customers waiting for? Jam and dog biscuits? A source told The Daily Mail in June that the priority is instead the launch of a rosé wine. It's unclear when exactly American Riviera Orchard products will be available.

Archetypes:

The Duchess, who produced only one series of her podcast Archetypes for Spotify before parting ways with the company, had signed with Lemonada to develop and host a new series. However, a source told Eden that there is not expected to be any work broadcast this year. 'The relaunch of Meghan's Archetypes podcast got pushed back to 2025,' the California-based source says….Lemonada is said to be concerned that there would also be 'scheduling conflicts' between the launch of its podcasts and that of Meghan's lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.

40x40:

It was unclear at the time as to exactly how the project would work, or whether there would be any way to measure its success. But according to The Sun, less than 10 months on, there was no follow-up on the campaign and royal expert Angela Levin said she thought the 40x40 project had been 'cancelled'. She said: 'I think it's very quietly gone into the dustbin,' added that it was an idea of the royal's that 'didn't come off'. There also doesn't seem to be any mention of the 40x40 project on the Duke and Duchess' Archewell website.

Spotify:

Last January, [Bill Simmons, Spotify’s head head of podcast innovation and monetization] blasted Prince Harry, saying it was 'embarrassing' to be affiliated with the same company. 'Shoot this guy to the sun,' he said, according to sports website The Big Lead. 'I'm so tired of this guy. What does he bring to the table? He just whines about s*** and keeps giving interviews. Who gives a s***? Who cares about your life? You weren't even the favourite son. You live in f****** Montecito and you just sell documentaries and podcasts and nobody cares what you have to say about anything unless you talk about the royal family and you just complain about them.'

The couple produced less than 13 hours of content during the three-year partnership: 12 episodes of Meghan's Archetypes show, and a 30-minute Christmas special featuring both the Duke and Duchess.

Pearl/Netflix:

Harry and Meghan signed a five-year agreement with Netflix* in 2020 worth an estimated $100million (£80million) but earlier this year there was speculation that their contract renewal was under threat.

The couple's first launch on the streaming giant was their six-part documentary 'Harry and Meghan' which was released in 2022 and caused controversy with its series of swipes at the Royal Family. … But in May, Netflix dropped Meghan's planned animated series Pearl as part of a wave of cutbacks prompted by the streaming service's drop in subscribers. All references to her doomed animation were wiped from her Archewell website after the series was axed by the streaming giant. A prior description of the series under the Archewell Productions subsection was nowhere to be found after it was cancelled.

*There’s been a lot of speculation over the years about their Netflix deal, but this is the first official confirmation in writing (that I’ve been able to find) that it’s a 5-year deal. This supports my theory that the new push for content (Meghan’s lifestyle show, her cooking show, and Harry’s polo documentary) is a final “do or die” effort to be able to renegotiate their contract and renew their deal.

[newkatzkafe2023]

Alrighty, so... What if s/o was starting to overwork themselves and not really notice. Whether it's from going to work, doing chores or a mixture of both and the Monkey Husbands finally need to step in and intervene. How would you suppose they do so, or say?

Oh no half of them will put a stop to the bs before even gets to that point😠✋️

(Lmk Wukong) it takes a hot minute Or him to realize that he hasn't seen you too often lately. The guys were behind on some of the bills. So you've got some extra hours at your job in order to pay them. But it's been running you into the ground without you noticing.

(Lmk Wukong) Welcome home peaches🥰🥰

Monkey Queen(Y/N) Hello sun

He immediately registers the tone of your voice and how tired you sound. He decided to brush down all the snacks you guys would have for their movie nights And a heating blanket You gave them as a gift. He brought you away from your desk. As you guys started a movie marathon cuddling on the couch. Not long after you fell asleep right on top of him. He thought you were so cute

(NR Wukong) He hasn't seen you in a long time and here it doesn't like it. He stopped by your home and found you doing a mountain of paperwork. You look like he hadn't slept in the days. And the only thing you seem to be drinking with some coffee. It was had obvious bags under your eyes and was surrounded by your jobs paperwork. This will be easy. Wukong would ask if their is anything you need. What you didn't know was that he was giving you tea to make you tired even more before. Finally falling asleep on your desk. What side he takes shields in bed and talks to you when He'll take care of you from now on

(Mk Reborn Wukong) oh hell no stop that bull crap the second is shows itself. You were helping out born the village because of a recent demon attack. A lot of stuff got destroyed. So you were switching from helping people rebuild their homes to harvesting fruits and vegetables to watching the village children. You had your hands full for a while and it's causing you to neglect your Husband. That ends now. After you've got back from helping an elderly couple. You The notice that we're calling was taking a nap which was strange because it's usually up to greet you, he must have got back from something it was doing so. You are gonna be quiet and just lay next to him. What you didn't notice is that he got ahold of you. And his grip was getting tighter and tighter. You're trying to move but it wasn't working. So you just gave up and decided to take a nap with him. Not knowing that he was smirking right behind you.

(HIB Wukong) He feels you're stretching yourself way too thin hear. It's one thing to take your job seriously and to help out as much as you can. But it's not a thing to run yourself into the ground until the brink of exhaustion it is not for him. He knows you want to provide but this is too much So what he does Bring you to a village spot you remembered passing by And I still need you to give you Type of treatment They got. That was the only time you felt so relaxed and you have Him to Thank.

(Netflix Wukong) As great as you are for helping him with the demon attacks and protecting the village. You will need some time to yourself. In the fact that he's saying that you know it's serious. He loves you too much to watch You. Kill yourself over work that he can handle with the snap of his fingers. It's just not fair to him it's certainly not fair to you. So he treated you to a hot springs he knows where you felt all your problems go away you kissed him as a thank you😘😘😘

FEEL FREE TO REBLOG 😇👍

[escapetothelake]

dale & robert for the ship asks?

thanks for the ask!! i had so much fun writing this :) some of it isn't exactly canon compliant, and therefore it's kind of a happier au

who made the first move: robert was pretty aloof with dale at first, and of course, the earliest interactions they had involved dale arresting robert, which doesn't make for a good first impression. however, dale was still kind to/patient with robert, and genuinely wanted to help him figure out what happened to laura. after robert published false accusations, dale read it and decided to meet up with robert, where they got to talking, so i guess you could say it was dale.

who kissed who first: robert did, in a moment of passion.

who started the relationship: oh boy. both of these guys have intimacy issues, so this would be quite the slowburn. despite being a pretty amicable guy, dale kind of distances himself from getting too close to people due to his trauma. robert is more open to it, but still reluctant due to the rough ending of his relationship with laura. i could see robert initiating once dale's put himself out there.

who remembers things: robert keeps a calendar and notes to help him remember things. as busy as he is, dale never forgets the important things, but sometimes trivial things slip his mind. for instance, despite liking to be prepared for whatever he may encounter, he often forgets items as he leaves the house.

nicknames for each other: dale calls robert "bob" or "rob" on a casual basis, but "honey" or "sweetheart" in private. robert often calls dale "detective", "darling", or "my guy".

who is more likely to pay for dinner: dale makes bank as a detective. robert was unemployed for a while, but some time after he published false accusations, he decided to become a full-time author. therefore, dale paid most of the time in the beginning of the relationship, and it continues to be that way, especially because robert does many of the household tasks.

who normally cooks: dale's mother taught him some nice recipes, but cooking often brings back sad memories of her. robert likes to cook, so he usually does it.

who remembers anniversaries: robert, with the help of his calendar. dale also always remembers (though sometimes at the last minute).

what would they get each other for gifts: robert's more of an acts of service kind of guy, so many of his gifts are doing things that make dale's life easier. if he wants to get an easy material gift, he can spring for some good coffee, fancy cigars, or a new shaving kit. dale's more of a gift giver, and he likes to take robert out for a drink or get him a new book. sometimes he'll bring home food or flowers.

most trivial thing they fight over: robert drinking milk straight from the carton. he forgets he's not single sometimes.

how often do they fight: not very often—they're usually both pretty chill—but that doesn't mean they don't fight. most of the fights are caused by dale not caring for himself, dale's alcoholism, and their mutual anxieties over various things. due to their trauma, both feel a need for control, which can also create conflict.

who uses all the hot water: both are used to taking quick showers because they have to get up for work, but robert loves a nice long bath every once and a while.

who calls up the super/landlord when the heat’s not working: dale. detective work has made him great at talking with people on a professional basis. of course, he has to make the call before robert tries to fix it himself and gets injured.

who leaves their stuff around: dale tries to be tidy, but when he gets very invested in a case, this often goes out the window. robert used to be very messy, especially after his breakup with laura, but being at the facility taught him that a clear space is a clear head.

who remembers to buy the milk: if dale's out, he'll do it. sometimes robert drinks straight from the carton. it drives dale bonkers.

who controls the netflix queue: robert watches more tv, but dale really enjoys putting his feet up and enjoying a nice documentary after a long day. i'd say both.

who steals the covers at night: robert usually sleeps perfectly still. dale likes to hold the blankets as though they're a person, often bunching them up and hugging them in his sleep, which leaves robert bare sometimes in the middle of the night. he runs a bit hot, though, so he doesn't mind all that much.

who cusses more: i think dale would, oddly enough. mostly when he's frustrated.

who does most of the cleaning: robert.

what’s their favorite non-sexual activity: relaxing at home. sometimes they just cuddle on the couch and read together.

who’s the cuddler: robert. he's a huge romantic. dale doesn't often initiate cuddles, but i'd say he needs them a little more.

who’s the big spoon/little spoon: big - robert; little - dale. that's often how it goes, but they switch from time to time depending on who needs to be held at the moment.

who’s more dominant: they're both switches imo

who is the dirty talker: robert does it more, but dale... that voice... 😳

what do they do when they’re away from each other: robert has separation anxiety, but he copes with it by doing mundane household tasks, going for walks, or writing. dale.. also has separation anxiety.. but he deals with it by sinking himself into his work.

what would they do if the other one was hurt: dale has anxiety regarding injuries, but he knows minimal first aid due to his job, and can therefore keep a level head when he focuses on doing that. robert would also panic, but i see him as a very protective individual who would stop at nothing to ensure dale's safety.

a headcanon: dale often gets very wrapped up in his work, and therefore sometimes forgets to take care of himself in basic ways, even such as eating and drinking (beyond pot after pot of coffee). after extensive therapy, robert learned to care for himself, and he sometimes imparts this knowledge onto dale. however, telling him "you need to get some rest" doesn't always work, and can even frustrate dale sometimes ("these cases aren't going to solve themselves, robert"), so robert chooses to care for him in more subtle ways. when he left the facility, he decided to preoccupy himself with new wholesome activities such as cooking and cleaning, and he utilizes these skills to keep dale's space clean and bring him a warm sandwich when he's up late at night. these efforts certainly do not go unappreciated.

[spgothkidsheadcanons]

Do you think you could write a goth reader being really close with Mike (platonically)? Maybe with some Michael romance(if not it's okay !!) btw I absolutely love your writing and am always reading your work thru the day <3

Hey friend! I have never written for Mike before, but I can picture how he would look in my headcanons! I hope I managed to get what you were asking for! I definitely have to write Mike into more stories cause he’s my favorite Vamp!

I did make it to where you were dating and living with Michael, so I hope you enjoy that!

Edit: I JUST REALIZED I READ THE ASK WRONG OMG IM SO SORRY IM GONNA WRITE A NEW ONE

~~~~~~

The sun was high in the sky by the time you and Michael had finally awoken from your slumber. Both of you had stayed up late, just spending time with the other, the time getting away from you. Normally, you’d be freaking out, upset about oversleeping. But the moment you opened your eyes and saw Michael’s peaceful face, you pushed all your cares away and enjoyed the sweet cuddling time you had with the man. It wasn’t exactly rare to have this kind of affection, but your boyfriend was a very handsy person, and it was lovely to not feel your bottom being squeezed every few seconds while you tried being nice.

Softly placing your arm around his shoulders, you pulled up closer to you, smiling as he began his morning grumbles. Humming softly, you began stroking soft circles on his back, smiling when he buried his face into your chest, his arms tighting around you. Closing your eyes, you sighed, deciding that since it was so late in the day, you didn’t mind staying a litte longer. That was, until your phone began blasting, the shrill screams from the device cutting into the silence of the room. Michael looked up at you, his eyes half lidded and falsely aggravated. You gave him a sheepish smile, kissing his forehead before reaching to grab your phone. The man laid his head on your chest once again, resuming his position. Looking at your phone screen, you smiled, swiping to answer the call.

“Hello!” you greeted warmly, fighting back a yawn. Your boyfriend’s head popped up, eyebrows furrowed questioningly. Running your fingers through his curls, you ignored his look, instead focusing on the person on the other side of the phone. “Oh shit, I completely forgot we made plans. Let me ask Michael really quick!” you chirped, pulling the phone from your ear and pressing the mute button. “Mike wants to know if we wanted to hang out today.” you asked, shooting a sweet smile at the man who had himself wrapped around you. Michael responded by rolling his eyes, letting out an overdramatized sigh. “I guess…” he muttered, reaching a hand up to brush some hair from your face. You kissed his forehead, unmuting the phone and bringing it back to your ear. “Come over in like, 2 hours. We gotta get out of bed first.” you laughed. Hanging up the phone after saying your goodbyes, you made the first move to stand up, manuevering your way out of your boyfriend’s arm. Michael stayed in the bed, a pout on his lips as he watched you walk around the room.

*+=2012 TimeSkip Woooooo=+*

Mike Makowski was the bane of Michael’s existence. He’s known him for years, his childhood years causing him to laugh cruelly as he remembered when they kidnapped the vamp wannabe to send him to Scottsdale. Although, while they’ve known each other for a while, you grew up from the sandbox with the man who used to claim he was a vampire. Thinking that leaving South Park would get rid of him, the curly haired goth was misfortunate enough to get with you. Which was great, because he loved you and would do anything for you. But was awful, because he fucking hated Mike Makowski, and with you, of course came Mike.

Michael sat on the couch in the living room, his legs crossed while he flicked through the Netflix titles on the TV. Coming to sit beside him, you tucked yourself into his side, his arm coming down to wrap around your shoulders. The tall man clicked on a random show to play in the background, the annoying theme music starting up as he turned the volume down low. “So, what exactly are we doing today?” he asked, resting his head against yours. Pulling your phone out of your hoodie pocket, you opened your messages with Mike. “I think just a lazy day. I haven’t planned on doing much else.” you chirped, setting your phone down on the arm of the couch. Michael made a noise, his disdain evident. You could only laugh, rolling your eyes as you rested your head on his shoulder.

Just as you did, there came a knock at your door. Almost flying out of your seat, you rushed over, not even looking out the peephole as you swung the door wide open. Arms wrapped tightly around your figure as you were almost thrown backwards, and your arms were quick to reciprocate. Mike pulled you into an almost too tight hug, one which you welcomed warmly with a giddy laugh. Michael watched from the couch, his expression annoyed. Standing from his spot on the couch, he stalked over to the pair. Mike finally pulled away, holding you at arm’s length to examine you.

“It’s been sooooo long!” he exclaimed, looking you up and down. “I know! Since moving out here, it’s like you don’t want anything to do with me anymore!” you teased, causing the man to chuckle. He had definitely grown up since the last time you saw him. He still had his slender frame, but he was slightly muscular. His long hair had been chopped off, and instead of only having a patch of green hair that he’s had for years, he had colored all of his hair to green. It was then that Mike noticed Michael standing to the side, and his expression almost feel. “Michael.” he said, nodding in the taller man’s direction, a smile on his face. “Mike.” your boyfriend spat, his enthusiasm, or lack thereof, evident in his tone. Mike chuckled awkwardly, stopping when he noticed Michael’s face not change. Rolling your eyes, you shot your boyfriend a dirty look, grabbing Mike’s arm and walking to the living room.

“Well, now that you’re here, you get a glorious tour of our living space.” you said, cutting the tension in the room. The limette looked to you, a smile gracing his features. “Yes, please! It looks so cozy!” he replied, and you began to lead him through your house, showing off the different rooms. Michael propped himself on the couch, his arms crossing over his chest. He listened as you and Mike walked through the halls, you opening random doors and the male making comments about everything he saw.

Walking with Mike behind you, you passed a door that had a “Do Not Disturb” sign on it. “That’s Michael’s home studio. That’s his stuff, and I don’t want to mess anything up, so we’re not gonna look in it.” you chirped, continuing back to the living room, having finished your small tour. “Well, you both did great for yourself. I’m very happy that you’re happy.” Mike replied, cautiously walking past the door, as if even breathing near it would cause your boyfriend to rip his neck out. “I am happy. And Michael is a really big help. He’s always eager to fix things or change something up. Isn’t that right, babe?” you asked the tall man, whose eyes stayed glued on the tv. He gave a curt nod, not wanting to talk to Mike anymore than he had to. Rolling your eyes, you climbed over the back of the couch, propping your legs over his. “Come and sit, Mike. Michael’s just a butthead, but you already knew that.” you offered, laughing when Michael shot you a nasty look. Kissing his cheek, you placed a hand on his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze as an apology for your quip. Mike sat on the other couch in the living room, far from arm’s length of your boyfriend.

-/-/ Oh wah Oh (Timeskip brought to you by me)\-\-

The sun had been down for a little over an hour before Mike had decided to leave. Between the time of him being there and him leaving, you forced Michael to play games with you two, made dinner and had a long conversation catching up with each other. Standing at your door, Michael behind you, you sent Mike off with another tight hug and a goodbye, begging him to come over again soon. Shutting your front door, you began waltzing around the room, cleaning up from the day’s activities. Your lover helped, and soon the living room looked exactly as it did before Mike came over. Heading upstairs to your bedroom, you both got dressed as you talked at Michael about the visit, his only replies being hums and noises of confirmation.

Finishing putting your pajamas back on, you noticed Michael had already laid down in the bed, his arms resting comfortably over his stomach. Feeling playful, you walked to his side and straddled his waist, grabbing his hands and directing them to your hips. The curly haired man smiled up at you, his eyes sleepy and thumbs beginning to rub circles on your skin. “You did so good today, butthead.” you smirked down at him, giggling to yourself as he rolled his eyes. “I don’t like him.” he shrugged, looking back into your eyes. “I know. But still, thank you for not saying anything to him. He’s my best friend.” you replied, leaning over to press a kiss to his forehead, cheeks and eventually his lips. “And good boys get rewards.” you giggled sinfully, eyes locked with his. He returned your look, the sleepiness in his eyes fading at your insinuation. You giggled as you were flipped over, his lips beginning to attack every inch of your skin.

[brionysea]

Heyy i gotta say i dont really think that possessiongate will happen bcs i think is too big for only 1 season but i REALLY hope it does bcs is great, youre great and the angst would be great (imagine the EDITS and FANFICS (and the milkvans and mike haters crying))

Big fan of you 💗💗

aww, thanks!!!

and i mean, if it's real, it's not one season. it's like half the show

season 2 -> establishes the link between mike and the concept of possession by having him next to will the whole time. gives him a suspiciously successful plan before having him be weird at the snow ball ("i mean, you can, but it would be really weird"). shows that mike can pull will out of possession so the inverse is probably true

season 3 -> brings back the concept of possession as the Whole Entire Plot for No Reason. has max be in denial about someone's possession right around the same time that mike's acting weird (<- this included max convincing el that nothing's wrong with mike in a similar way as she claimed nothing was wrong with billy). hopper knows a secret about mike that he promises to share on his date with joyce and says mike's "corrupting" el. will gets a lot of weird feelings around mike, lays them out as something he didn't want to believe, and has a breakdown in the rain about how mike isn't acting like himself anymore. mike's weirdness is directly responsible for him not being taken seriously within the context of fighting the upside down and leads to them sorta losing for the first time. mike escapes the mind flayer at the end

season 4 -> mike acts weird, causing willel Emotional Instability in the People With Emotional Instability Are Easier To Kill season. mike spends a lot of time wondering what's wrong with him, why he acted the way he did in his fight with el, why calling el a superhero (which he doesn't even believe - HELLO s3 cabin fight!) led to her leaving to get her powers back and could potentially get her killed. he's like "will what's going on????" while will keeps Not Telling Him. they all lose big time because of this. the fight eventually leads into mike's monologue, where that whole situation is essentially el's worst fear (like a vecna vision - watching max die while being powerless to stop it) and mike is being used as a distraction. it felt like it was distracting from what's happening with max for a reason

season 5 -> everyone not taking mike's feelings seriously or telling him anything comes to fruition because that needs to be a big supernatural allegory SOMEHOW. it's too consistent of a habit to not have a big, fantastical, emotional payoff, and big emotional things are always allegorical on this show. the tables are turned (i'd get him to swap our places) with mike, the one who's always saving people, being saved for once and revealed as the guy who hasn't really done anything but good, and will, the one who's always the victim, finally becoming the hero and being revealed as the guy who's made a lot of mistakes that hurt people

plus, y'know, this would be a foolproof way for queer mike and byler to happen. mike is literally too headstrong for his relationship with el to have happened naturally and potentially ruin their friendship if he had any say in it, so it makes no sense otherwise. "the annoying straight couple CAN'T be endgame because it was a fabrication by the villain this whole time! it was a trick!!! queer love saves the day!!!!!!" that's really reminiscent of how she-ra convinced netflix to let them end the show with canon queerness by locking it in as the only ending where the good guys can possibly win and the world doesn't end

[idonatedallofmyinternalorgans]

Candle’s whole exit interview but I wrote it while moving

You’re very welcome

Indigo: Welcome dear listeners my name is [idfk what they said] and I could not be more eager for today’s guest. No one carries a more powerful presence, she’s a voice in the wind that I long to capture even the slightest murmur of. In the darkest of times, she offers all the guiding light. Prepare yourself, mortals, for Inanimate Insanity’s own.. Candle!

Candle: Thank you for the hyper aesthetic introduction, Indigo. You truly set the scene in a manner that could not possibly be broken by any manner of interruption.

Indigo: Thanks? Hmm, that’s awfully specific.

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Candle: And there it is, the return to your carefully crafted atmosphere. Despite the pause, your enthusiasm is already healing the deep wound in my soul.

Indigo: I’m glad to hear it. So, Did you actually feel hurt by this elimination? Cause if-so, it seems like you must’ve held back emotions when you got voted out, even Mephone said you were oddly calm.

Candle: To be honest, I always had sensed my time was drawing near. In fact, I felt as though I was dodging the thralls of time ever since I avoided the elimination in Episode 11. Perhaps I have been running on borrowed time ever since. It was only a matter of time.

Indigo: Oh, so in that case, Do you feel it’s worth staying on Indefinite Island for another chance?

Candle: Oh yes, I will be staying on Indefinite Island. I still feel that I have a purpose here in the game.

Indigo: Fantastic, I’m sure there’s still lots you can do here on the island while you wait, like your aura stand. How do you read auras?

Candle: It’s definitely an art. To put it as simply as I can, I use my third eye chakra to see into the depths of an individual soul. An aura is emitted during this process and the rest flows out naturally. In a sense, it’s communicating with someone as they bear their soul.

Indigo: Ohh! Speaking of which, you’ve had so many great connections out in the game. Do you think you may have made it any farther is Silver Spoon wasn’t a contestant? Or do you think he was helpful in how far you got?

Candle: Who can say? The strings of fate are ever unwinding and intertwining in new ways. I guess it would have just depended upon what type of game I wish to play. I will say this; there was a time I was sure he’d move on like everyone else, but had not. It was.. fascinating.

Indigo: Absolutely. I just want to say that you played a great game! But what is your biggest regret?

Candle: Thank you so much. That really means the world. I suppose it may be how I dealt with Yin-Yang when moving away from the Thinkers or rather, lack thereof, meeting Yin and Yang was definitely a highlight of my journey and I’m so proud of their personal growth. On a separate thought, I wish I would have started to play for myself a little sooner. I was so enthralled with aiding in my teammates’ victories and personal growth, that I may have forgotten about myself for too long. I’ve learned that it’s okay to take time to take care of oneself as well. Healthy body, happy mind, healthy aura, happy life.

Indigo: This question came from a viewer in the middle of an emergency, which is why I saved it until now. Let’s just see here.. Candle? I forgot how to breathe.

Candle: Oh my! Quick, call Dr Fizz!

Indigo: Great idea, I’ll message this listener with your advice long after this interview.

Candle: Praise the Earth Mother

Indigo: Next question. Candle, do you think Silver has any chance of winning the game?

Candle: Yes indeed. He’ll have a one in six chance; who’d have thought?

Indigo: Not me, it’s a steep competition. Did you ever feel threatened by anyone in the game, both strategy-wise and challenge-wise?

Candle: Oh, absolutely! Nickel and Balloon’s baneful friendship made for a formidable alliance, even if Balloon may have been wearing some rose tinted glasses. I’d also say Clover, as her lucky abilities defy the laws of fate and nature altogether. Although, how is one truly to compete with that? She is sweet though.

Indigo: Very sweet indeed. What is your favourite thing to do in your free time?

Candle: This may surprise you, but I do enjoy playing tabletop RPGs. I love creating stories with my friends. My favourite class is warlock.

Indigo: Hm, feels fitting, well with you and your magical abilities. Why is it that when you had swapped bodies with Silver, he couldn’t fly when he put out your flame?

Candle: Oh, Indigo, one cannot learn to fly by pouring water onto oneself.

Indigo: Ahh, of course. Will you teach me how to fly?

Candle: Step one, remove water out of the equation.

Indigo: ..remove water.. also noted. But any insight in general into how your Inner-Flame works?

Candle: Well, ‘works’ implies a sense of ability. As though I’m tapping into some whimsical superpower. However, while the Inner-Flame shares my soul, it carries a mind of its own. That’s why when someone connects to it, they best be wary, lest it consume you. But we’re on pretty nice terms, so we’re fine.

Indigo: Oh.. wow. I’m not quite sure if the flying is quite worth a hassle. Nextly, why is it that you decide to split up Balloon and Nickel? They were fun!

Candle: You mean at the glacier challenge? Well, Silver and I had established ourselves as key players of the Loony-Balloony alliance, as the two who ensured their survival against the Thinkers, the next step was to ensure that we weren’t the lowest on the pecking order. Therefore, poking at the inherently unstable relationship between Balloon and Nickel was our surest bet disrupting their trio with Bot. However, witnessing the aftermath, even I was surprised at how quick their bond was to snap. I sense that if they cannot work this out soon, it will be their downfall.

Indigo: Ooh, spooky. Following all of the craziness in that last vote, do you respect Balloon’s decision for voting for you?

Candle: Yes and no. Yes because he made a strategic choice. Can’t hold it against him if you’re participating in a game like Inanimate Insanity. And no because part of me feels like he may have been swayed into it by a certain someone who is just as strategic.

Indigo: You made plenty of bold strategic decisions as well. How do you feel about the whole villain arc you went through? Did it feel good?

Candle: Goodness! Me, a villain? Was it really that bad of me to want to try and focus on my own needs for once? My teammates had all started to find their own paths, and I felt like I was soon to be left behind. Such as the nature of the game. If being there for myself when I felt lost makes me a villain, then I guess it was an arc for me.

Indigo: I hear you. Speaking of villains, to wrap this up, I’d love to know how it feels to have left Silver Spoon behind. He was very sad to see you were eliminated, not sure if he’s the same.

Candle: Was he now? Interesting. Perhaps we will need to reconnect regarding that.

Indigo: Wonderfully vague as always! Thank you, Candle! Best of luck whenever the rejoin challenge comes along. And to our Inanimate audience, a very special thank you for all of your questions. Curiosity is a powerful thing! Be sure to subscribe to catch the next opportunity to have your question read. This has been Indigo Zircon Rose with IPR, signing off!

[littlekatleaf]

A Thing In Me Still Dreams of Trees

@sicktember prompt day 2: homesick Fandom: The Sandman (Netflix 'verse, because I love Lucienne)

Meanwhile I bend my heart toward lamentation Where, as the times implore our true involvement, The blades of every crisis point the way. I would it were not so, but so it is. ~ Mary Oliver, A Dream of Trees

Time does not pass for the Endless as it does for humans. One would be forgiven, then, for supposing a century would pass as days, a mere ripple in the flow of ages. Sometimes it is so, but in the prison of quartz sphere and runes of power time dwindles, slows to a drip. The pause between breaths stretches like elastic. In this space of interminable waiting, Morpheus sits alone, severed from tools, power, self. He cannot touch the Dreaming no matter how he stretches. He is empty, bones hollow. Were there wind it would pass through him. He has pushed too far, given too much.  

I have a castle waiting for me... I have a HOME, he had thought as the spell wrapped him, bound him tight and tight, pulled until he fell off course, drew him here instead of there. The words still float through his mind, though at times he wonders. Does he? Is there castle? Home? Anything beyond the sphere? The binding circle? The basement? There must be, because shades of memory speak of it… gates of ivory and horn, halls of marble, stained glass windows…  but he cannot reach anything, not with body, mind, nor soul. Alone, he waits.

Every so often, never with pattern or clear cause, a man – Roderick Burgess – appears before him, sometimes cajoling, sometimes demanding, words buzzing against his ears, his skin, like insects. Insects that have trapped him, him, in the glass. Burgess names himself Magus, but he is no great sorcerer, merely hedge-witch, his power merely lies in what he has stolen. It rankles, to be snared by one such as this. If he hadn’t been so damnably drained.

Only a single time does sound penetrate the fog enveloping him.  A rush of wings; he glances up, the whir echoing in his soul - hope. Sister… But no – the wings are smaller and from the darkness a raven’s form solidifies. Jessamy. Of course Jessamy. He unfolds limbs grown stiff and aching with a decade of immobility as his heart unfurls, not alone, he manages to stand. Stretches one hand to her as she beats against the globe with wings and beak. Tap-tap-tap-tap…  it rings in his ears; his heart matches time. Freedom… He reaches within himself for any remnant of power to add to hers.

The gunshot is a thunder clap that cracks the world. A spray of ruby; a drift of feathers. Fractures shiver through him. Scalding tears slide down his cheeks unheeded. Gone she is gone, gone beyond, gone where he cannot reach, even had he all his power, his ruby his helm his sand he could not fix her bring her back she is gone, after all these years, all this time, and he can do nothing.

Rage suffuses him. With no outlet it doubles back on itself, a feedback loop that sets flames along his synapses. A scream rises in his throat like bile but he clenches his jaw and keeps it trapped behind his teeth. His muscles tense with the need to lash out, to beat his fists against unyielding crystal until it breaks or his bones do. He refuses to give Burgess satisfaction. He swallows frenzy until his blood, skin, soul blaze with it, a hard bright coal in the center of him. The air in the sphere burns with fury unspent.

He sinks back down, back into himself. Deep, and deeper still. Even as he withdraws, at the edges of his thoughts all of humanity’s voices clamor. To dream or be released from dreaming. Morpheus tries. Consumes his essence to spin what is needed. Though he gives all he can, leaving his body barely more than bone and sinew, his creations are vague, insubstantial. They warp and tear like cobwebs. He can do nothing. It is all out of balance. Out of his hands. The voices, so many voices, continue their pleas and he can neither aid nor silence them. They rise, a wave, a tsunami of sound and need and his thoughts wash out on their tide.

A bang vibrates the cage - pale ghost of gunshot - snapping him back to his body with a shudder. Ruby bursts against his eyelids as he blinks. No feathers, he tells himself. That was then, not now. He holds himself tight against shivering.

Burgess stands before him, wild eyed and shouting, “Speak to me! Speak! To! Me!” punctuating the words with blows of his cane. 

Shatter, he thinks, wishes, tries to push. The crystal holds strong against the onslaught.

Alex touches his father’s shoulder. They exchange harsh words, grapple, and the elder Burgess, stricken, falls. As blood pools around his head, he speaks one last time. “You’re never getting out of there. Never.” 

The word echoes through Morpheus, ringing his body like a bell. Never… never… never…

Alex reels from his father’s body; his gaze snags against Morpheus’s. Catches. Holds. Loss shocks Alex into a nebulous threshold space - not quite the waking world, nor yet the Dreaming. But enough, enough to spark a connection between them, tenuous though it is.

Alex, Morpheus beckons. Alex, who once offered freedom. Alex, who understands, maybe, what it is to be trapped. Alex, who can never speak his dreams aloud. Dreams of strong, calloused hands on his body, dreams of Paul. 

Burgess studies him, not with hunger as his father had, but with awe-tinged curiosity. The bit of reverence affords Morpheus just enough energy to drag himself to his feet, to hold out a hand, ignoring the pain. For one moment, one elastic stretch of time Alex reaches back. The world tilts. 

“What would your father say?” The guard’s demand slices between them. Connection breaks with an icicle snap. … never… never… Shards pierce Morpheus, freezing where before he burned. 

Burgess blinks, turns. “I need to think.” He doesn’t look back.

Morpheus exhales and the air in the sphere grows cold, colder, until he feels his skin rimed with frost. Everything frozen. He slips away, into cold, into dark. Into nothing. Relief.

Time passes. It must, because that is the nature of time, but Morpheus cannot tell how it moves. Fast? Slow? There is no difference. Perhaps it slides sideways. Diagonal. In this place there is no day, no night, no season. No sleep. No dreams. No Dreaming. He blinks and his eyelids sting. When he remembers to breathe, his lungs ache. Sometimes he burns; sometimes he freezes.

Doubt whispers. Perhaps there is no castle, no home. No raven. No - he knows the sound of wings, the feel of quicksilver heartbeat against his palm, the warmth of fire, dark eyes behind glasses.

Perhaps this cage is all there is. No - he calls to mind the gnarled branches of oak, susurrus of breeze through golden aspen leaves, scent of sage and lavender and wild roses, tickle of grass, dewdamp on bare feet as he walks Fiddler’s Green. 

Perhaps he will never get out. Never be free. Never walk the Dreaming, but instead linger, encased until the end of time, alone but never unwatched. They all stare –  Burgess, his servants, even Paul on his rare forays to the basement. They want what he cannot give - dead sons, father’s love, weath, power, magics. But some, some want with a gaping voraciousness. Their gazes slide over Morpheus’s body like cold, damp fingers, reaching places only lovers dare touch, until his skin crawls and his stomach roils. He cannot cover his body, cannot hide.

Perhaps this shade of himself is all he is, all he will be, all he has ever been. He can find no argument for these doubts. So he waits and years and decades pass and maybe loop back and pass again and time laps the edges of the globe and he longs for dark-soft-warmth- home, home, home… and he wishes ceaselessly for the sound of wings.

Instead a blur of words through the barrier. “All I ever wanted was to be free of you… Surely you want that too. … I won't be coming down again.” 

Then. O then. Such a small thing. One wheel scuffs across a rune. Blurs it. Breath catches in Morpheus’s lungs. The circle is broken. Paul nods, slightly, but raises no warning. The cell door clangs, but Morpheus barely notices, turning his entire focus to Fred. 

Power returns at a trickle but sufficient to bring a yawn and nudge daydream to dream. Not Dreaming, not yet. Still, he can slide between worlds and sand is warm beneath his feet, hot in his palm like the fury no longer banked. He twists dream and gunshots crack, crystal globe cracks, Morpheus’s control cracks and he is Free. He weaves shadow and darkness into garb more befitting and strides Fred and Ernie’s sleeping thoughts like a path.

Roderick Burgess may be beyond his purview, but he barely has to stir his mind to reach Alex’s dreaming. He might not have known full damage he wrought with his inaction, still he made his choices and would suffer his consequences - dream without waking, a gift and a curse in equal measure. 

As Morpheus, King of Dream and Nightmare, metes judgment, fury spills forth, releases a shockwave of his power returning and it tumbles him, tosses him, spits him onto the shores of the Dreaming, where he lays for some time in a tangle of limbs as his thoughts stray out of form and out of time and he feels himself scatter like stars across the sky.

A voice draws him back to form, to self. “Sir. Sir! Oh my goodness.”

Sand beneath him. Rushwash of waves just beyond. He gasps, his first deep breath in a century and has to swallow a cough as his lungs spasm. The air is cool, redolent of sea and salt, far preferable to the anodyne of the prison. He takes stock. Helm, sand, ruby all beyond his sight. Body aching with an exhaustion deeper than any he’s known. Skin hot, tight. Illness on the horizon and power at its lowest ebb.

Someone rolls him over, slowly. Carefully. It still hurts. “Sir. It’s me. It’s Lucienne.” He manages to open his eyes. Her smile is a balm. She touches his hand, and he grasps her fingers, an anchor in waves of vertigo. “Lucienne.” 

“You’re home, my lord,” she says, so gently.

The welcome in her voice brings a prickle of tears. “I am.” And she helps him to his feet.

His return is not one of ease. The damage done to the Dreaming is worse than he had imagined. Subjects gone, lands parched and cracking, castle crumbling. Is there nothing untouched by his imprisonment? He stands in the ruins of his hall and a laugh bubbles up in his throat and spills out suspiciously like a sob. 

“Lucienne, what is the word for yearning for home when you are already there?” Echo of Delirium’s voice in his head. His lips curve and he almost longs for his little sister.

“Sir?”

He sneezes once, twice, thrice, with a sound like leaves rustling. “Hiraeth,” he says, when he can.

“Indeed,” Lucienne says after a moment. “Are you-”

“Fine,” Morpheus bites off the word. Even so he can read the questions in her eyes as easily as if she spoke. Are you all right? Will you be able to fix all that has broken? Will you be able to right all that has gone wrong in your absence? Where have you been? How could you?

He has answers to none so he plants his feet, opening himself to the Dreaming and pulls. The Dreaming struggles to answer the need of its King - and the shards of glass and stone that surround him begin to rise. He pulls but it is attempting to draw water from a failing well. He refuses weakness, sets his mind on his desire - he will take what he needs to fix this one place, the heart of the Dreaming - he opens wider and pulls more insistently. To his consternation, the Dreaming pulls back; it is his duty as King to give himself for his realm, not the other way around. It is the order of things and he must bow to the rule of order and he does, of course he does, because he is Dream, the Dreaming is him and they are one and even together it is not enough. He trembles, the room quakes, and all fall down, glass, stone and body.

“You need rest, my lord. And food. And perhaps a bit more rest. Then you’ll be at full strength.”

“No.” He feels that horrible grating laugh rip from his throat. There is nowhere to rest, nothing to eat. Not until he fixes what he has torn asunder. He must have his tools. And for that, he must summon the Fates, though it take all he has and somewhat more beside. He will heal the Dreaming. He must.

[basslinegrave]

should i buy a ticket to the local anime con tomorrow or nah... i will be close to the store where they got tickets..... rant->

cuz idk if i wanna go? i mean i do but hhhhh its always too much... like the shitty moments outweigh the fun ones, and its never a given there will be any good moments...but i have a cosplay idea, kinda in the making, i have no idea if i will be able to make it cause im having trouble with one part but it could be quite comfortable... more or less... id just wear some regular ahh clothes and a mask (which is always the best, i get to hide my face and be comfy at the same time!) but i also want some recognition and idk how many ppl will know this. i never know cause if i expect that nobody will know it, i get a ton of people chatting me up (like wwx) and if i expect people will know the character nobody even takes one photo (like tokoyami. i got one pic taken? two? was so weird, the other bnha cosplayers were giving me weird looks and didnt even say hi back 😶)

obvs the cosplays i put the most work into appeal to more people, like wukong which id love to wear again now (with slight alterations like making the tail just hang down instead of standing up cuz that was hell to fix every 2 minutes.. looked great while walking tho) but its 2 outcomes: everyone that asked me to wear it again wont give two fucks and nobody will care. or after the new netflix move comes out, people actually watch it and more will recognize wuk... also, some people dont go in march but go in september so i can meet new ppl?

i go for 2 days so the second is best to have something simpler (so i get to move around more freely and fit into places like artist alley and can play games etc..) aand im trying to make a mxes mask which would be cool to wear even though people are either scared of me or im just weird idk and when it comes to fnaf cosplays ppl only loved my sun cos but other fnaf cosplayers avoided me like the plague i dont know what did i do

that said id actually love to wear sun again too 🥴 but i need to find all pieces and see if i can make the top work... its too stuffy and hot so i didnt wear it last time but like, nobody cares. nobody cares aboit accuracy here

i dunno man its also the local fandoms somehow they feel like nobody is caught up on the last media except the few that know it too much. but if you bring out an oldie Nobody knows it

oh also friend wants to cosplay shadow i think but he didnt say if at this con or what ans if hes buying a full ticket or what but like if i were to cosplay sonic and he would just leave after 10 mins i would be just there like uhhhhh now what and i wanna cosplay him again now really... its just a good backup i guess :/

[angelwritess]

Writing Revenge...

Revenge is Complicated

Revenge as a motivation appears so often in fiction and is represented in a number of different ways. Sometimes it's the catalyst that starts the hero's journey but is swapped out for a 'greater good' sort of motive (think Spider-man or Batman), othertimes it's their whole motivation and the story ends with revenge being enacted. Sometimes justice and revenge are one in the same, other times they're contradictory ideals. Sometimes it involves murder (like in a sci-fi or fantasy setting) or it's bringing down an organisation who wronged the MC.

Revenge is Oddly Subjective

Ultimately, the way a writer portrays revenge tends to be grounded in the story's 'sense of morality'. Within the story itself, it's important to illustrate whether or not revenge is what our MC/MCs need. For example, let's take Punisher and Daredevil from Marvel's Netflix TV shows. In both shows, Punisher kills his enemies. But whether or not this is presented as wrong differs in each show because in one show, the MC is presented as someone who shouldn't kill whilst in the other, the MC can kill if need be. Each story carries it's own established moral rules and codes - if the MC in Daredevil killed someone, it would break those rules and the audience expects some sort of major development because of it. Your revenge plot and the way it ends and is presented should stay consistent with the moral rules established. Of course, the rules can change as the story progresses - a character's revenge may start as righteous, but develop into an unhealthy, destructive obsession they need to pull themselves out of.

Revenge as a Bad Thing

This seems to be the common route I see a lot. "This isn't you," "Would your [insert dead loved one] really want this?" "You're destroying yourself!" Some say its patronising, but I'll argue it can be great if done well. I'd recommend focusing on the following:

Revenge as an unhealthy obsession

Destruction of existing personal relationships that were previously healthy

Self-Destructive, Reckless behaviour

Negligence of one's own health

Doing things that would have been previously OOC / previous personality traits taken to the negative extreme

I.e. skeptical and cautious -> not trusting anyone and doubting everyone's intentions

There will be no satisfaction in taking revenge (more bad done than good)

Emphasise the fact that revenge has caused a negative change in the character's mental, physical or emotional state.

Revenge as a Good Thing

This one is less common but honestly I find it far more fun. Why forgive the person who killed your family or your pet or your town? Why just put them in prison? It can be absolutely satisfying if done right. I'd recommend focusing on:

Satisfactory elements of taking revenge

The bad deeds of the one who deserves it and a suitable punishment (maybe don't kill the guy who tripped you up one time)

Showcase how the character is not suffering as a consequence of seeking revenge or how they manage themselves through potential struggles

Revenge may be the only way for the MC to move on or is the only option left at this point in the story

Allow other characters to sympathise with the character and motive for revenge

Avoid presenting revenge as morally dubious or wrong, focus not on the specific morality of the revenge but the path to accomplishing it

REMEMBER that revenge is not causing an overall negative change in the character

Revenge is Bad: Roy Mustang from FMA:B

SPOILERS

Interestingly, saying the show presents Mustang's desire for revenge as bad is misleading. Mustang's motivation for four seasons has been avenging his best friend by killing their killer (Envy, a homunculus). When he finally finds Envy, there's a huge amount of emphasis put on how Mustang KNOWS killing Envy won't bring his friend back but he doesn't care. The show has a theme of hatred and its corrupting effects, and although the characters acknowledge that Envy has to die, Mustang can't be the one to kill them, unless he wants to become the very thing he hates - an embodiment of hate. It takes the MC, a former villain and his right-hand to convince him to stop. Mustang calms down and doesn't deliver the final blow, and Envy subsequently kills themselves.

Revenge is Good: Vincenzo Cassano from Vincenzo

SPOILERS

At the start of the show, the company known as Babel is responsible for the death of a close friend of Vincenzo's and he (and the daughter of that friend) plan to bring the company down, but he promises the daughter to not kill anyone. However, things change once Babel kills Vincenzo's sick mother, at which point the former Mafia Consigliere goes out of his way to plan and execute the most painful and humiliating death for those in charge of Babel. Vincenzo isn't condemned for his actions and both the characters and audience find Vincenzo's actions justified as the show highlights the bad deeds of Babel and how the law will never be enough to stop them. Killing them feels like both the only real and satisfactory way to stop them.

Revenge can change: Yoon Jiwoo from My Name

SPOILERS

Jiwoo's father, a gangster, is killed at her doorstep and she seeks out her father's killer by joining his old gang and infiltrating the police. She is determined to kill her father's killer, and whilst the show does present her initial conflicts after killing someone who got in her way, she eventually steels herself. It's revealed that it was actually the gang's leader, her mentor, that killed her father and then she's out for blood. But her love interest, Pildo, convinces her to instead confess everything to the police and allow them to take him in. But then the leader kills Pildo, and Jiwoo decides enough is enough and finally kills him, triumphantly honoring her father and Pildo at a cemetery as the show ends. The show goes from showing revenge as grey, to condemning revenge via murder, to seemingly portraying revenge as the only thing that can bring satisfaction and happiness to Jiwoo.

Ending Thoughts

Your audience will still normally want to see justice be served - just because your MC may give up on killing the target of their revenge or exposing their deep dark secret to the world doesn't mean justice still can't be achieved. Maybe the target ends up in prison, maybe the MC focuses on building themselves up rather than tearing someone down. Regardless of whether or not the conclusion in your story is "revenge good/bad", it's still worth giving your characters and the audience some form of satisfying conclusion.

[kuwdora]

My 3x07 The Witcher Netflix Ciri Reactions. I love Ciri. I love ALL versions of Ciri across the canons. For TWN I’m in love with how much Freya got to bring her best to these Korath desert scenes.

Under a cut cause I'm rambling for another 1k cause it's Ciri. my brain might be soggy right now but goddamnit I have CIRI FEELINGS.

This was like 36 minutes of Ciri all at once! God. those scenes in the book were so much and overall I’m very happy with how they translated it to the screen. I mean… there’s still plenty of WTF moments. Why were there unicorn balls?? Why were they in the background of so many shots??? They were so big. And obvious. I couldn’t look away. Unicorn balls.

Throughout the episode I appreciated hearing Ciri’s thoughts spoken as dialogue. Talking to herself as she is thinking about what Geralt would say about her dislocated shoulder. About what Vesemir said about the Korath desert being the frying pan of the Continent. She makes a reference to some advice Coen gave her about morning dew on rocks. This is her family she thinks of, that she’s holding onto amidst her isolation. It's great.

When she’s trudging through the desert at night singing A Little Sacrifice I got worked up. It was a nice touch to have her sing the song that Jaskier’d been singing to her back in the cottage. But then they had to do the memory-flashback sequence of Happy Family Times from earlier in the season while she was singing?? I love this pain so much.

She starts to lose it after she realizes she spent the whole day and night going in a fucking circle. Ciri becoming increasingly feral!! Mad with dehydration and desperation!! I have been waiting for these moments for years!!

I fucking adored the way they shot Falka appearing in the background throughout the episode. Observing silently until Ciri was desperate enough for her to show up (but not reveal herself yet). Ciri bends down to suck up those lizard eggs and bam, Falka’s dark cloak in the distance. Ominous. I fucking love this shit.

Then begins the Ghosts of Ciri’s Past. The main thing I took away from this episode is how only the dead ghosts have speaking lines. Ciri’s memory about her current family is always conveyed through dialogue or flashbacks, or the in that vision of a possible future for them in pain.

Pavetta shows up. It’s a joy and relief to Ciri until Pavetta starts telling Ciri how her family’s abandoned her. Just gaslighting the shit out of her. Stoking Ciri’s rage. Ciri just beating the shit out of a snake and eating it even though it makes her sick. Hard too have a healthy outlet in the middle of a desert. Illusions are not great therapists. I. love. this. so muuuuch.

I really love the sequence where Ciri wakes up in the tavern with Falka. The whole discussion about future possibilities and women’s rage and breaking the system is delicious. I really want the show to go hard and follow through with this explicit examination of women embracing their rage and having catharsis with it. And still come back to the core of Ciri's love for her family after all the bullshit she’s gonna be going through.

On my first and second viewing of this episode I’m still so excited... but I know the way the books go and I know how the showrunners and producers have flattened so many other things. For reasons that I understand and reasons that make me want to stab things. So I don’t want to hope so much. Cause I know I'mma get disappointed when they simplify or change other things that will make me go “what the ever living fuck?” again and again. I know better than to hope.

But anyway. FALKA. I love the actress they’ve cast for her, and this dialogue I’m just really impressed with this:

Falka: Honestly, it was the system that failed me the most.

What a killer line. And then I also really love this exchange, too:

Ciri: I think I have the power to change things. Falka: You’re not the first person to feel that way….not the first… But you, my friend… you could be the last.

Delicious possibilities. Ciri's a little distracted with the whole surviving a desert thing to be able to think through the meaning of that.

Ciri and Little Horse wandering through the desert. Unicorn balls. That’s all I got. No, that’s not fair. I did like all the monster encounters. Ciri stabbing the shit out of the giant arachna thing with it’s own carapace. The rage. The fucking rage. She’s so feral and I’m HERE FOR IT.

Calanthe shows up as another illusion/ghost. I’m still sad at the changes they made to Calanthe for the show. I feel like it was just a strange choice to make her character a racist for whatever narrative reason. So Ciri has something she can rail against and deride her grandmother’s reign, so she could eventually be the one to do things Differently? This is just all my book feelings here, I know. Calanthe was good and just and….not a racist?? Just another example of the show doing strange things to change certain things and ignore the other socio-political things that are morally complex that are actually in the books.

But anyway I do like that this is still another piece of Ciri’s past. The dead continues to gaslight the shit out of her. I love the actress that plays Calanthe. Freya’s despair and anger and the way the helplessness is just coiled hot around her!! Punching rocks and eating snakes. It’s so good! The emotional build of this episode! I fucking love it.

Ciri’s other conversation with Falka is also getting to me and I'm still kind of 👀 about it, but in a good way, I think? Except I'm still trying to hedge my feelings.

Falka: You know you’re powerful. Is that another thing we have in common? I always had a talent for attracting friends. I should have been queen. But when my father denied me my royal destiny, I decided to rally the common folk. And with their help, I took back what was rightfully mine in the only way I knew would send an unforgettable message. Blood and fire. Ciri: I’ve heard that story. Falka: Fitting, since in the end they tied me to a stake and burned me alive. Ciri: You’re Falka. The stories say you were a demon. A cursed elven monster. Falka: Stories created to convince naughty children to do their chores. In the end, it was much easier to cut my ears into points and let myself be what they accused me of being.

Mmm, yeah I find that delicious. Wonderful delivery by the actress playing Falka. Freya’s shock and indignation was excellent.

Little Horse’s injury and Ciri drawing upon fire magic to help seal the unicorn’s wound. Falka telling Ciri to embrace her power. Yesss!!

The horrific vision time!! Geralt and Yen and Jaskier in pain and agony! I’ve been excited for this sequence, too! Actually I wasn’t that impressed. Not that it’s bad CGI or anything. But I thought it could have been more gory. But I love Freya’s acting here so I’m just grooving with her pain anyway.

Ciri making that choice to relinquish her powers because she doesn’t want to give them up. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. I love Ciri. SO MUCH.

previously on kuwdora watches twn season 3: 3x06 - Ciri reactions 3x01 - 3x05 reactions

[baited-beth]

Okay. Thoughts on the Luther movie. I don’t know how to do the ‘under the cut’ thing so…

Spoilers ahead

I remember Luther once being described as a dark fantasy. This was a brilliant dark fantasy, they really pulled it off. It was way better than the last series.

It was a great idea having his bad policing finally leading him to prison because frankly he evaded that for too long. I think it would have been good to hear evidence of the messages Robey left for the investigation team to make clear that Luther really does have a bit of a “centre of attention” issue, but it was still good to bring him down a peg.

As brilliant as the final act was (and it truly was), I’m don’t know how I feel about it being set in Norway. Luther is London. London is an intrinsic part of his identity. But then given the ending I think maybe that was part of the point? The helicopter is in sight of London then swings away, and then he appears to be recruited by the secret service in a country estate. So the move away from London is signalling a move away from his previous life.

Something I missed in series 5 was that the final scene in all the previous series had the line ‘so now what’, whereas series 5 had him walking away moodily. The film brought the line back and it made me stupidly happy - like it was being made by people who actually understood what Luther is as a show. Which makes me hopeful they might actually pull off this whole secret agent thing.

On the down side, there was no Alice. Who always makes Luther 100 times better even if she only appears for a minute. And there was no scene on a bridge, which would have been a nice call back.

Also, minor points but Luther refers to a ‘cell phone’ and Odette says ‘gotten’. We are not Americans thank you Netflix.

Yes I described it as a fantasy, but i am going to dive into the reality of that radio broadcast. First, fm radio starts at around 80fm? So it’s unlikely that his radio would have reached the 60s. Second, the airwaves are tightly regulated and pretty packed - it’s a scarce resource. That recording had to be transmitted on a pirate channel. Pirate stations work by taking advantage of the ‘free’ bit of spectrum between stations that is there to stop them interfering with each other. As a pirate station it would have been interfering with other users and reported. And as the signal was coming from a cupboard in Soho (very unlikely, you want a tall building) and reaching a prison in what, Dorset?, the power needed would be pretty high making it even more likely to cause interference. In this case, the band being used is assigned to weather radar and trust me when I say it would have picked up and reported it quickly. They want to be able to actually tell you if it’s going to rain or not. Final point - him being able to track the signal to a specific address with that software in his car? Hilarious. Interference is tracked with these big plastic things that look kinda like guns and you track to an approximate area, then knock on doors to go inside and scan so you can narrow down which property it is coming from. The only way you can track to an actual address is if someone has a licence which they most certainly did not here.

[bookswithsyd]

Was the Live Action ATLA Good Or Bad?

Fans of the original Avatar: The Last Airbender cower in fear when hearing the words Live Action. After the disaster that was the live action movie back in the 2010s, hearing that Netflix was going to try again with an eight episode series, I know I wasn’t the only one who was worried. The only hope that fans held onto was the fact that the original creators were involved in the Netflix adaptation. Then, the fear started to crawl back in more and more as the release date crept closer. The original creators left the project after disagreements happened, news about major changes to the characters were announced, and worry about a new mess welled back up in the back of everyone’s mind.

And then, the show was released.

Taking a step back, the only way I was able to enjoy this show was to view this as what it is. It’s an adaption of a cartoon. Things will be changed, it was never marketed as a one-to-one remake of our childhood classic. Viewing this as a different retelling of events was the best way to get the most out of the live action.

The characters are different. That is obvious from the start. Aang is more mature, he doesn’t feel like that free-spirited child that fled his responsibilities in the cartoon. Katara lacks the rage that drove her to action, she has this air of constant calm. This alone makes everything feel off if you are trying to find that chemistry that was in the original.

Removing things like Sokka’s sexism when landing on Kyoshi Island had me worried that he wouldn’t learn those valuable lessons that women can also fight, you don’t have to be a bender to be valuable, and teamwork is crucial in a battle. And this is a prime example of how the show twists and turns the story. Sokka still gets all those lessons. He learns through his awe that the Kyoshi warriors are strong and are the protectors of the island. The teamwork demonstrated during the invasion showed how much he respects her as a fighter, he respects all the warriors.

The only big issue that I had with the storytelling was the fact that it had to be rushed. Due to it being limited to eight, one-hour long episodes, the major events took place in Omashu. It felt super odd to see so many characters that never really meet and are from different regions, different arcs, it almost felt wrong.

Since I am looking at this series as its own entity in a way, the compression of events is the main problem I had. Other than that, this series did a lot of things well.

One of the best add-ins was the backstories. Including a better look at the past traumas that shaped who they are for both Katara and Sokka gave more depth. Now knowing that Katara’s actions caused her mother’s death makes me understand why she was so attached to her memory and why she would constantly bring her up in the original. Sokka letting down his father is a perfect event that would push him to be the best warrior that he could, he felt the need to prove himself for his dad.

Even more impactful was the bigger role that Gyasto had for Aang. Being able to feel the connection that the two had drove home how upset Aang was to be deemed the Avatar and how he didn’t want to be sent away from his friends. Seeing the added scenes of Gyasto talking to Aang in the spirit realm and knowing that when Aang returned, he would not be there drew out so much raw emotion.

One of my favorite add-in scenes was the ones between Zuko and Iroh. The relationship between the two was one of my favorite even back in the original, and seeing it more fleshed out in the live action made it even better. In the original, we never knew the name of Iroh’s son, in the live action, we got a while funeral scene plus the sorrow Iroh and Zuko shared after losing someone close. Being able to see the interactions between the family (especially the early addition of Azula) gave a great overarching look at the family dynamics.

All this added information gave so much more substance to characters that I already though were three-dimensional with flaws and goals of their own.

This is not something that I would recommend to someone who has not watched the original cartoon if they want to get the full story. The live action is rush, it changes personalities, and mixes somethings from the original. But, I think this is something great for fans of the show that want more. Yes, you will get annoyed that Aang can just fly using air bending, but getting the extra look into the past of each character was worth it. The acting was good, the cinematics and effects were great (I was worried about the bending but was pleasantly surprised), and the martial arts for the bending was one of my favorite things.

The show was good. I think the people who say otherwise are stuck in the nostalgia they had with the original show. The live action was a solid take of the series, yes, it changed things, but I don’t think I ever wanted them to try and do an exact copy of the original.

[fishnapple]

CRYSTAL READING : Shine the light on your hidden fears and give them a hug.

This is a general reading meant for multiple people. Take only what resonates and leave out the rest.

Feedback is much appreciated ❤️

About me | Masterpost

Buy me a drink or book a reading with me - KO-FI (Read this post : personal reading)

1. Strawberry quartz

I keep seeing the troupe in movies and books about the pairing of an innocent child with a jaded, big grown-up who ended up travelling together through some fateful encounter, like the series Sweet tooth in Netflix (recommended)

Your outer appearance and the image that everyone sees may not fully reflects who you really are inside. This is a subconscious fear that you yourself not really aware of.

A fear of letting your vulnerable side, your childlike, innermost pure part of yourself out into the open. Some part deep within you yearns to let go, to be able to just exist without fear, worries and restrictions, to feel as one with people, to be soft and be taken care of. Somehow you find it’s hard to accept it, to act in that way would be considered as ‘weak’ by you. So you try to drown out that inner voice by speaking in a louder voice to the world.

In the eyes of the world, you show no trace of fear and insecurity. A confident, secured, friendly image. Your words hold weight, people listen to you but sometimes your communicating style would be perceived as rough and forceful. The repressed part in you would somehow find some ways to sneak out, to be expressed. If you ever have had some sudden emotional outbursts, some hurtful words blurted out unconsciously, take a deep breath and think carefully about what is the cause of it. Anything that is perceived as restriction coming from others would trigger a lash out, like a challenge to your unshakable confidence. Your inner-self has been already under so much restrictions by yourself, any outside force would just put more oil into the fire.

Just your acknowledgement of this part about yourself would help tremendously. Instead of always trying to be strong and powerful, being more open to the tender part of yourself would bring a wave of awareness to other people also. You have the potential to be a great teacher that can bring changes. You can show to others that sometimes it’s okay to be weak, it’s okay to just float, to feel lost sometimes. Let the child walks with you side by side, not fearfully hiding behind.

2. Flourite

The stone that represents you landed right on the center of the chart. Somehow whatever fear you are having, there is this part of you that is just immovable. The lesson is to always find the way back to that center place.

You have a very open aura that is warm like sunshine. Others could see your optimism clearly. You express what you believe in without reservation and judgment, the same is applied for other’s belief and opinions also. But then later on, you would sometimes have doubts about how would your way of living your life and your beliefs are perceived by other people.

You stay true to yourself. Your authenticity is shining, because it’s so visible, there are bound to be some clashes with others. Not everyone can agree with your way readily.

Your fear would be about saying something that is considered outlandish and then be judged harshly for it. Would your closed ones and people around you accept your authenticity with open arms? Would their affection decrease when they are not agreeing with you? Would you be considered weird if you speak the truth? Those would be some doubts that you have.

But there is something that you need to consider. Would a clash in opinions or the way you live really would bring estrangement? Of course, you will always be judged by someone. You can’t control other’s judgment, but not everyone is like that. Some will embrace your quirks lovingly. Maybe you can’t charm the mass, but there will be some crowds that will appreciate what you have to offer, your insights, your compassion, your generosity, your authenticity.

If you seek a sense of belonging in people, just find the right people for you. Know that differences don’t have to mean solitude.

3. Amethyst

So scattered and distant. I sense a fear of hopelessness, that life would one day becomes bleak and empty without meaning.

Loneliness and solitude.

Fear of having the loved ones going away, of having the love in your hands to offer but don't know whom to offer that love.

Fear of losing control of one's life, being pushed around by outside forces. That would be some twists of fate, sudden change and lost that make you feel helpless and can't act against them.

I get so many fears in this group, it feels so heavy, I wish you peace and love. I don't know your age but the energy feels young, a young heart having to pass a mission from the early days, have to endure so much and carry a burden on the mind so that the a resilient spirit can be forged. Imagine a story about a young one going on a quest to gather lost treasures and making friends along the journey, there would be both loss and joy. I think that the treasures that the main character, you, seeks and need to bring back home is your inner child, the guiding light within you. By having that light back, even when you travel alone in the dark, you won't feel lost and powerless.

In the face of confusion and loss, keeping a light and tender heart, talking with friends, making something, cook your favourite dish would help you feel more connected with life. Keep your faith in the joy of life, there is always something worth living for.

If you feel that life is moving too slowly for you and crave some changes, think very hard about what you really need from that change, maybe you have been holding that treasure all along.

4. Citrine

I'm seeing a Torii gate of Japan (image below) with the sun rising behind.

Venus stone is standing in front of it, small and distant. I feel a certain fear concerning learning, self-worth and life enjoyment.

There is a gate being open in front of you but you are afraid to cross over, the light of the sun is calling you but you are hesitant.

Is there anything you long to say or to learn but couldn't find the right time or opportunity for it ? Something you enjoy learning but fear that it would take so much time and works, that it would take you away from your safe and familiar environment.

This is the hurdle that you need to pass. Always keep the inspiration steady, follow it and don't look around, you will find you self passed the gate already.

You may have a fear of facing changes, big one, both with relationship with people and in your career, people's perception of you would change if you make some big changes.

This is a call to focus on finding more about what you want to learn, what you are taking in to form your own life's philosophy, finding the "meaning of life". It needn't be something grand, the meaning lies in each step you take.

You may find yourself becoming more interested in spirituality, being fascinated by other cultures. There would be some hidden force at play here, nudging you toward the gate.

Take one step at a time, you may find help and abundance along the way, with so much opportunities to connect and trading thoughts with new people.

*The Torii gate*

5. Obsidian

A kite is flying. There is some kind of fear concerning relationships. Once a relationship has taken off, you fear that it will be scrutinized and judged by everyone around you, maybe you even fear that it goes against the moral code of your society.

There is a desire to be free of restrictive rule and the fear of being overshadowed by some authority figure deep within you.

I sense a lot of overbearing and harsh energy around you. Maybe they come from your teacher, some kind of mentor, someone you look up to, a feminine figure close to you or someone in the role of a nurturer but their nurturing style is quite dominant and smothering. They may mean well but their words are sharp and cold that could deal a heavy blow to your sense of self worth and shaking your confidence. Making you stay behind them under the name of protection.

The message for you would be about finding your voice, be the authoritative voice for yourself, step out of the shadow. Especially in relationships. Whether it is romantic or platonic, relationships with families and authority, be aware of any imbalance in the power dynamic at play. Be mindful of the role as "helper", who is serving whom, who is getting served.

Maybe you would develop some kind of obsessive routines or perfectionism in how to carry out your job to counter-balance the feeling of passivity and the lack of freedom.

Having control of your daily life to strengthen your sense of autonomy, from the small decisions such as what to eat, when to sleep to big decisions like how to do your job, what habit and routine to practice and adopt.

Love.

[voidedparts]

As penance for my crimes, which include reblogging spoilers that you cannot click and stealing your socks, I offer this:

[You are handed a small card. It reads: Free Ramble Coupon.]

You are now permitted to infodump about something- right here, right now :)

Alright you heard him. Buckle up because I'm about to nerd out regarding the first episode of the Sandman on netflix. (Also, spoiler warning, if that's needed <3)

This episode is beautiful. I'm gonna start with that. There are so many shots that are just so beautiful. Shout out to the cinematographer because they did a great job. Not only is it beautiful visually (and it follows the comic!) the monologue by Dream at the beginning is so so so good. His voice is exactly correct. It's got that deep, sort of rumble-y buzz. It's otherworldly, it communicates he's not human, and establishes the world very nicely. THE SHOT WITH JESSAMY AS THE LANDSCAPE SHIFTS TO THE DREAMING! ITS SO COOL! ITS SO PRETTY! ITS SO PERFECT! Its subtle too, so at first you don't notice it, but then you're like "Wait a second!"

Skipping ahead a bit because I can, basically there's this gentleman who goes to this big house to see "The Magus", who is an occultist trying capture Death.

This guy brings a book which the magus needs to perform the spell.

Meanwhile we see Dream in the waking world in pursuit of the rogue nightmare the Corinthian, who is killing people! When Dream shows up there's a nice dialogue between the two bathed in the yellow headlights of a car, and just as the Corinthian is disintegrating into sand, Dream is summoned by the occultist!

This shot is super pretty with the blues and golds. It also looks like sand or dust!

This is nearly a direct recreation of an image from the comics, which is so striking and beautiful. It's one of my favorite shots from this episode!

So they steal all his stuff, straight up robs him, takes his clothes and everything. Also up to this point, we haven't seen Dream's face yet! which is very interesting.

Anyway with Dream captured, some sleeping people won't wake up, which does a lot of damage to the Dreaming and the waking world.

Corinthian shows up, the opportunist he is, to tell tell the magus how to make sure Dream doesn't escape by building a glass sphere around him to contain his physical form. This is such an interesting sort of prison, and it makes for some very pretty visuals.

(I'm going to talk about shots with the sphere a lot, it's so pretty. I mean look at them!)

Anyway when the magus comes to ask Dream for things, when he says "I know who you are, Dream of the Endless," Dream opens an eye. This is another of my favorite shots

He looks very not human here, the glow in the eye in think contributes to that. (Its hard to see in the gif but its there) All through the one sided conversation as the magus talks at Dream, they cut back to this shot, unmoving, unspeaking, unblinking. There's a cold, sharp anger in his gaze.

Only when the magus leaves and his young son is still standing there does Dream lift his head to look at the boy.

Like come on, this is one of those shots.

Here's another, when the magus' son (older now, time has passed) goes down to "watch Dream" while they wait for the real guards to show up.

So Alex (the magus' son) is feeling bad that they have had Dream trapped all this time, and is apologizing for his father's actions, and Dream is just sort of regarding him with this expression that reads (to me) as "foolish human, you have no idea what damage your father has caused humanity and my realm. If you were actually sorry you would free me and return my tools."

Alex even confesses that he would let him out if he could, which causes this almost imperceptible change in Dream's expression, almost like hope? But then the magus catches Alex. :(

Rararra, the magus is all irate at Alex, Jessamy shows up at the window (having evaded death since Dream's capture), and the magus is like "alright, Alex, you shoot the bird."

Now it's a rescue mission. Jessamy manages to sneak into the house and starts a fire using one of the magus' matches. All this time I'm so sure Dream can sense what Jessamy is trying to do and for the first time I think he has hope that he can escape.

The fire causes the guards to go upstairs, so Jessamy can fly down into the cellar to where Dream is.

And now for the most awful scene I've ever witnessed (in a good way). I'm not including a gif because its a little gorey.

Basically Jessamy is pecking at the glass, Dream is looking at her, there is hope, the music is swelling...

and bang. Blood. Everywhere. Jessamy is dead. There is silence. Dream looks like he's in shock. It's sort of the first time we see him display such a strong emotion. There's blood all over the sphere.

And when Alex goes to pick up the bird carcass, we see Dream's expression.

There are tears in his eyes, but there is also an anger, below the surface, a disgust almost. I don't think he really hated his captors prior to this, I think it was more like an annoyance, and inconvenience, and irritation, but not hatred.

After this though, he is so upset. We can tell, but it is a cold, pointed, razor sharp anger, frigid and deadly.

There is actually something to be said about the sphere being the cause of so much death, because later on Alex accidentally kills his father because he hit his head on the glass too hard. Very interesting point.

in the same scene as when the magus dies, there's this cool shot of Alex reaching out to Dream, as if to be like "enough is enough". Faintly, muffled, you can hear the guards go "don't do it! He'll kill us!" And then breaking through the muffled sound "what would your father say?" And that snaps Alex out of it.

(I've run out of gif slots on mobile at this point noooo, it'll have to be images only.)

So Alex doesn't let him go. He says "I need to think" but he doesn't do anything about it.

(Also the magus' mistress steals Dreams tools from the safe they were kept in, and runs away.)

Alex takes his new lover Paul to see Dream and beg that if they let him out that he will not kill them. Very cool shot. I love the layering.

Dream tells us via monologue that he could not forgive them for murdering his raven, which is why he could not promise not to harm them. :(

Time passes and now Alex and Paul are much, much older.

Alex is like, "All I wanted was to be rid of you rararara." And Paul is like, "Come dear, lets get you to bed." and has a wheelchair for him. This is important because it is Paul who actually allows Dream his freedom, via scuffing the binding circle that was keeping Dream prisoner with the wheel of the wheelchair.

He even sort of stops and looks back at Dream with this resigned, knowing look.

Dream leaks into the dream of one of the security guards, tricks him into shooting the glass and shattering it.

This is such a good shot by the way.

All part of the plan baby.

He blows sand into the faces of the guards, making them fall asleep, and then escapes through a glowing blue and white portal back into the world of dreams in a shot that is a mirror of an image from the comic.

Before he can go home though, he goes into the dream of Alex, and gives him a little heart attack.

I love all the blue hues associated with Dream. It's hard to see in some of the gifs but a lot of the scenes in the sphere have a blue and gold hue.

Dream gives Alex the gift of eternal slumber, and then returns to the Dreaming, but he doesn't have his tools (the helm, the sand, and the ruby), which leads into the arcs of future episodes.

So yeah! That's me talking about how much I love the visuals of the first episode of the Sandman. This is a great show, though it is rated MA for good reason (looks at episode five in horror).

Thanks to Taiga for sponsoring my ramble. I'd love to do more ramblings like this in the future!

[khaleesiofalicante]

I was really fucking bored today and I looked at Andrew and went "so, hypothetical question... Let's say you have a wife, and another version of your wife comes from the future..."

And I basically told him the entire plot of lbaf LMAO. I know his attention is harder to mantain with stories, so rather than telling him the story like with Sarah, I involved him in it, and my god it was so fun!!!

It was like a little game with those options that lead you to others. It went from "would you want to be with that future version of your wife?" "your oldest son has always been in danger, and you thought your youngest was gonna be fine..." "your realize your son is in love with that person destined to kill your oldest.." "knowing this would save your child in every universe, would you..."

And it went for like two hours lol. From one question we went to so many others. It was like giving two versions. The one he was "living", and the story itself. Like, him saying he wouldn't have gotten angry at his youngest son (Arthur) for falling in love with the person destined to kill his oldest, rather than dissapointed, so he wouldn't have pushed him away, therefor he wouldn't have had the guilt of that when his youngest died. And he also said he wouldn't ask his wife (Other Max here hehe) to bring his son back knowing it could cause so much destruction (he was playing David here lmao)

And after he answered, I told him the "real" version, but still making it sound like he was living in it. Ngl, it was kinda confusing😂😂. idk how I can explain the whole plot of lbaf so easyly but I can't understand a simple ecuation for shit lmao. He was so fucking stressed at some point because he said it was so complicated and sad. But omg, he's so smart, if he was in lbaf, there would be no plot, because actually thinks!!!

He also stood on Sarah's side, saying David was a little crazy and a lot manipulative, and that Arthur was dumb in not telling them anything (don't worry, I protect my babies with my life 😤)

So yeah, add him to the list of people waiting for the story eagerly. He also said you were really smart and amazing for creating this plot and making it make sense and have such complicated emotions. He said something like "I don't even know everything about this story, and you just gave me a general synopsis, still and I am shocked and thrilled! Tell her she's awesome!! And read the next chapter faster because I want to know too what happens!!"

Your writing IS THAT FUCKING COOL!

First of all, this is a GREAT game to play with your friend (not this story per se hehe).

Maybe we put Andrew into LBAF and see what he actually does. Shit is easier said than done 😎

Also, minus points for both Sarah and Andrew for David slander!!

Thank you for the kind words and for sharing this crazy story with your friends 😘

PS - If you liked playing this game with Andrew, I'd recommend you watch Bandersnatch (you gotta watch it on Netflix) with Andrew. It's a black mirror episode where you get to decide what happens next in the story and it's so fucking stressful.

[irritatedbookshrew]

Sandman: Calliope

This episode. THIS EPISODE.

I wanted to see how this episode would be handled, expecting it to come in Season 2 (assuming we get it). Imagine my surprise when Netflix gave us a bonus episode that included this story. Like the rest of the series, it did not disappoint.

AVAST, YE SCURVY KNAVES! SPOILERS AHOY!

Be warned, discussion of the comic’s run, the end of Sandman (comic) and possible end of Sandman (series).

Calliope—the episode title—does a great deal of heavy lifting, even more in the Netflix version than in the comics. Not only is Calliope a mirror for Dream’s own captivity by Burgess, it demonstrates how much that captivity has changed Dream. As Muse Calliope states, pre-captive Dream would have let her rot. He has a history of not behaving well when he is thwarted and gets his heart broken (see: Nada). Calliope is a goddess, so Dream can’t sentence her to Hell for 10,000 years but he could (and previously would have) left her in Maddoc’s possession.

But after Burgess, he knows just what it means to be kept prisoner. He gains EMPATHY. When Morpheus and Muse Calliope have their first conversation about what has been done to him, he acknowledges that what she has gone through is worse than what he experienced. This—to me—is a huge admission because Morpheus is a self-absorbed character; in a very real way, no one’s suffering can come close to his own. Seeing him acknowledge that someone had it worse than him is an organic growth I hadn’t expected to see this early.

Which brings us to forgiveness. Muse Calliope asks for Morpheus to stop tormenting Maddoc once she’s been freed. Morpheus doesn’t understand how or why she would want to forgive Maddoc, in part because HE can’t forgive Nada for the pain she caused him. Muse Calliope explains the difference in forgiving the person so that she can move past what was done to her while never forgiving the actions. This right here is the set up for Season of Mists and the whole reason he’ll go to Hell in that comic. The dinner with his siblings (again, assuming we get a season 2) will simply be the inciting incident but the groundwork is already being laid out like railroad tracks.

Dream is changing. Or trying to. How far he can go down this path still needs to be determined.

Which brings us to Orpheus. And more train tracks.

If Dream’s captivity by Burgess is the long fuse that eventually blows up into Morpheus’ death, and dinner with Dream’s siblings is the flash paper igniting the tale told in Season of Mists, then Orpheus is the ignition switch that powers The Kindly Ones. And in Calliope, we get the first hints of the deep hurt that exists in Dream’s core.

I’m glad that we got the conversation with Muse Calliope and Morpheus specifically about their son because we get to see a hint of Morpheus’ grief. And as we’ve seen, Dream doesn’t do well with grief—if he’s hurt, he turns to cold anger (my man needs some coping mechanisms, stat). With Orpheus, he’s angry that his son didn’t listen to him, goes behind his back to make a deal with Death, and ends up an immortal head. But Morpheus is also a father, bereaved and powerless to help his son. He can’t even grieve with Calliope because she lashes out at him in her pain, blaming Dream for what happened to their son. The loss of Orpheus is too fresh. So rather than deal with it, Morpheus puts his son’s head somewhere safe and refuses to acknowledge what has happened.

Until Calliope (the episode). Morpheus is still raw from his own captivity, reminded again of it when he sees Calliope. They have both been damaged by trauma and they reach out to each other. Calliope wants to heal from the loss of their son, two parents finally able to talk about their grief now that the storm of their anger has passed. Morpheus is still not ready, likely because he’s feeling emotions that he’s blocked away for (possibly) centuries.

Train tracks. All of it leading to the outcome of the story in the Kindly Ones. All because Morpheus is FINALLY dealing with the traumas of his past choices and his own view of himself. He never expected to change this much, this quickly. He’s defined himself by his function, by the fact that even though he is the master of a shifting, ever-moving realm, he is inviolable. And he’s been proven incorrect on this.

Change or die.

Sweet saints, I adore this show.