#i hate this show with a burning passion and i love to rant but i thought i had run out of material

[trophyposting]

this is an extremely unpopular opinion in the osc and like everywhere actually but i hate it when people excessively hate on "mean" characters. like especially when the characters are otherwise well-written and they just hate them because they did some bad shit. its legitimately so annoying

[beevean]

I'm so happy that I get the chance to rant again, because the subreddit just gives me so much inspiration <3

I don't really care about Carmilla. She was, at the end of the day, a villain from a kid's cartoon, who wanted to conquer the world because she was just so eeeevil, with only the barest of backstories to pretend she had good motivations. In fact, it's hilarious to me that when you think about it, the N!Isaac vs. Carmilla epic fight, one of the climaxes of this show that has touted itself on being so deep and nuanced, has all the emotional depth of an average Sonic vs. Eggman boss battle: the impossibly cool superhero wants to stop the nefarious supervillain and her world domination plans.

(no shade to Sonic and Eggman, who are far better written than those two assholes could ever hope to be. you know what I mean)

yeah yeah she became what she depised, after a whole season of sitting on her feminist ass lol and then randomly going insane at the last minute. peak writing, as per usual.

No, it's as usual Lenore who has my attention.

She's the most human of the sisters, they say. And they're right. She is a terrifyingly realistic depiction of an abuser.

She's not a cackling madwoman who only serves as a caricature, and she doesn't exist only for shallow representation like Striga and Morana who have no objectives or personalities outside of each other. Lenore may not want world domination like Carmilla, but she absolutely longs for power over other people. I went about it here, how once you read between the lines, Lenore only wants to feel powerful and important, and she's willing to steep as low as she can to get her way because she folds like a coward the moment she doesn't have the upper hand. While Carmilla would just beat people for shit and giggles because look at how Evil (but in a Cool way) she is, Lenore is genuinely convinced that everything she did, all of her physical, mental, emotional and sexual abuse, it was all for a good cause, and she did nothing wrong, and anyway you were enjoying it too so what's the issue?

So yes, in this, she's human. She's a cruel, cunning, vile human like many women in the world who know that they can use their charm and take advantage of emotionally starved men to feel powerful, all while still painting themselves as cute and lovable. Her vampiric nature doesn't come into play until the very end, where she realizes (in theory) that she's nothing but a disgusting evil creature and she's doomed to always be so; but until then, you could write her as a human and little would change in her personality and the way she played with N!Hector.

And that's what makes her scary to me. Yes, Dracula and Carmilla are more dangerous on a wider scale, but we are much, much more likely to fall into the trap of one of the many Lenores around the world.

(I usually don't like making it all about gender, but Lenore's abuse of N!Hector is absolutely gendered. Her entire character revolves around what I can only call toxic femininity.)

And that's why the takes I see about her deadass trigger me, because what the fuck do you mean, she's the less cruel of the bunch????

I don't give a shit about the Lesbians, but at least they realized that what they were doing was wrong! Sure, their motivations were mainly self-centered because they didn't want to waste their existence fighting, but they also took pity on the humans they were meant to kill!

I just fought fucking farmers. Saw the fear in their eyes. Not fear of dying. Fear of not having fought. Fear of not saving their people.

It's more empathy than Lenore ever showed for N!Hector, with her filthy "you were having fun"!

"Found her strengths" yeah, instead of physically torturing N!Hector, she used manipulation, abuse, coercion, gaslighting and rape by deception to "solve his problem". Wow, such strengths, many power. And then the second things got worse for her she immediately decided to peace out of life rather than wait a few decades until N!Isaac died, sorry N!Hector if you grew to care about me but my own bratty feelings are more important. I'm sorry, I know it's in bad taste to paint suicide as the cowardly way, but it's what the story did!

The Lenore apologism creeps me out more than anything else. I can stand the Carmilla stans who think she's so cool and badass and #grrlpower. I'm annoyed but resigned to the N!Isaac stans who believe he's the most complex character of all time and forgot about all the petty murders he commited. I'm baffled by the N!Dracula stans who genuinely believe he had the right to start a mass slaughter because some peasants didn't take him seriously enough. But this rhetoric that Lenore is the least evil of the sisters, that she was ultimately a poor broken woman who only did what she thought was the right thing, terrifies me. She's a realistic, human female abuser... and just like many female abusers, her crimes get brushed off because she's cute, because she looked sad enough, because women who sexually dominate men are inherently hot. And I know that fiction is not reality and you can enjoy villains without being a bad person, but the arguments the stans use, not to paint Lenore as cool like Carmilla but to actually downplay her very realistic crimes, just hit too close to home for me.

I just wish that "human" didn't become shorthand for "good deep down", because it's not true. Sometimes a "human" villain is far more evil than a villain so shallow they don't quite feel real.

[eddwardharrison]

MOON HAS THE BIGGEST DOUBLE STANDARDS KNOWN TO TSAMS KIND

Ugh this is for the girlies that wanna rant about the lore… (AS THEY ARE IN THE SHOW, NOT OOC.) keep in mind this is NOT hate by ANY means. This is literally the equivalent to a pop-culture obsessed girly screaming over Love Island because her bitch didn’t get with the man she wanted /SILLY /POS

feel free to debate otherwise, this is an open space and will be maintained respectfully. :3

TW: All canon events including Depression, Su!c!d3, abu$3, etc. (sometimes i switch perspectives as if I’m talking to the characters — don’t mind that…it’s not directed at the reader I promise. <3 )

I HATE MOON WITH A BURNING PASSION. And that may be Eclipse screaming in the BACK OF MY SKULL but Moon makes me want to SET OFF MY LITTLE BROTHER SO HE ELECTROCUTES ME TO DEATH. LORD!!!!!! And I’ll explain why. Currently, I am missing out on ONE singular episode involving Moon and Eclipse that is probably a key factor in all of this, but after months of searching…I do not have it. Thus, my anger may not be fully pieced together, but THIS IS WHAT I HAVE.

Old Moon, New Moon, BOTH OF THEM. THEY ARE BOTH ACCOUNTABLE FOR HOW TERRIBLE ECLIPSE TURNED OUT. Instead of working himself to be better after Sun and Moon’s separation, he just decided “ykw a little lobotmy is okay, I’m sure.” And LEAVES Eclipse who is soon to form in Sun’s head. AND IT DIDN’T EVEN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Moon was still a TERRIBLE brother (albiet, he was working on himself and things were not in his control all the time…ex: Killcode) and caused a LOT of his issues. And then when Eclipse formed he was so consumed by HATE that he took matters into his own hands.

LET’S DISCUSS ECLIPSE’S TRAUMA FOR A SECOND. (YEAH, HE HAS THAT….SHOCKER. Despite his constant denials, he very clearly has it. I’ve been studying this man since I entered this forsaken fandom. /silly) (MOON’S TRAUMA *IS* ECLIPSE’S TRAUMA.)

Imagine you’re Eclipse— before the separation. You and Moon are one person. You share the same feelings, the memories, the actions, the PAIN. You kill kids without WANTING TO, you’re shut out and you’re hated and nobody will help you so you’re SUPPRESSED in your own HEAD, forcing yourself just to BLINK. But, you still CARE about your brother, so you try your damn best not to move for HIS SAKE. You’re giving ALL YOUR ENERGY just to keep this CHILDREN’S BOOK CARDBOARD CUTOUT happy, and what does he give you?? NOTHING BUT AGONY! YOU GUESSED IT! Eventually, your labored sympathy will become hate. You act out, you lose yourself, and now suddenly you’re killing the very kids you just wanted to spend time with. OOPSIE DOOPSIE! OH WELL, THOUGH! A LITTLE BIT OF LOSS HASN’T EVER HURT ANYONE!

Separation day came, your final way out. You get to be SAFE, you get your own BODY, you get the chance to be FIXED, you’ll be ALIVE. YOU’LL BE *YOU*.

And then you wake up

and you realize

you didn’t leave.

You’re still stuck in that same body, unnoticeable, unheard, people are noticing your existence, but brush you off like a small error. You’re not supposed to be there. You knew this, but now other people were saying it too, but not in the way you meant it. You were abandoned by YOUR OWN BODY. This is where thought processes SPLIT. Eclipse is made of very limited parts of code from Sun and Moon, but is mainly depicted as “Moon’s Malice”, a string of code that caused him to be killing all those kids. Naturally, you can’t just stray away from this personality, right? You’re born to do it, it’s all you can think about, it’s all you feel, it’s all you are. Just “Moon’s Malice”. And so Eclipse rightfully played the part, but he wanted to be his own person. Adapting “Eclipse”, forced into a Sun’s body. Can we talk about how HORRIBLE it would be to wake up in your worst enemies BODY?! BODY DYSMORPHIA INSTANTLY! The whole “I’m quite comfortable in this body 🤪” quote from way back when - when Eclipse still had Sun was a LIE. He KEPT IT because he wanted an ADVANTAGE. He wanted REVENGE. He wanted to put Moon through the same amount of pain when HE LOST HIM BY MAKING HIM LOSE SOMEONE ELSE! YIPPIE! Not only that, but the bottled up trauma, anger, and hate that SUN CAUSED because of his HOGGING ASS KEEPING HIM AND MOON SUPPRESSED for so long, and he STILL isn’t free from that even as Eclipse. Eclipse at this point has spent his ENTIRE LIFE suffering under Sun and now he’s just being resourceful! So, he sends them a couple traumatic places yada yada he does his little dancy dance. He gets his own body, hunting for the star, yada yada yada.

AT ANY TIME POSSIBLE, MOON AND SUN COULD’VE GONE “hey, let’s make this work. Let’s help Eclipse. Let’s have a whole family.” Of COURSE Eclipse would DENY IT?! THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?? Let’s put that very same sentence in a way that Eclipse sees it. “Hey, Eclipse. Apologize for being a monster even though I’m the one that abused you for several years.” BRO???? I WOULD DECLINE TOO??? H-H-H-HELL NAH!!!

Let’s quickly take a look at Eclipse’s actions against Lunar — specifically, his lash out. Was he terrible for that?! Abso-fucking-lutely. BUT LET’S ALSO COMPARE AND CONTRAST TO MOON JUST REAAAL QUICK. Moon regularly did this kind of stuff REPEATEDLY, whether it was verbal or physical, direct or indirect, SHIT HAPPENED A LOT AND IS IMPLIED TO HAVE BEEN WAAY WORSE BEFORE-SHOW. Because Eclipse is a SINGULAR STRAND OF MALICE-CODE, HE’S OBVIOUSLY GOING TO RETAIN THIS TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE QUALITY. But you know what ELSE happened during that day? Eclipse walks away, goes to a pillar and considers APOLOGIZING. Did he? No. Is he bad for that? Of course. You will NEVER hear me say “Eclipse is a good person”, BECAUSE HE’S NOT. You’d have to be a MORON to consider that. HOWEVER, he can be UNDERSTOOD and RELATED TO. The path he went down is often a COMMON ONE FOR REAL FUCKING PEOPLE WITH PTSD. TO LASH OUT WHEN TRIGGERED! TO BECOME WORSE THAN BETTER. CAN YOU EVEN BLAME HIM??? As stated by MOON HIMSELF, Eclipse is INCAPABLE of growing and learning as a person. You wanna know why?! HE’S A SINGULAR STRING OF MOON’S FUCKING MALICE YOU MOLDY RAT CONGESTED WITH DISEASE. He IS incapable of it and to HELP HIM he needs help with his PROGRAMMING. YOU BUFFOON. Though not given the time to see if Eclipse would repeat these actions against Lunar again, he (as of our knowledge) hasn’t. Moon has done it over and over again and Sun is /still/ traumatized from the Old Moon’s actions when Lunar got over it ages ago. LUNAR IS CHILD CODED…LUNAR SHOULD STILL BE THE TRAUMATIZED ONE. Moon had FAR MORE of an IMPACT than ECLIPSE DID.

This is why Eclipse’s “redemption arc” only came after RUIN CREATED HIM. HEY GUYS!! I CRACKED THE CODE!!!! ECLIPSE V4 ISN’T REDEEMED BECAUSE HE SUDDENLY WANTS TO BECOME A GOOD PERSON, HE’S BECOMING MORE CALM, COLLECTED, AND RATIONAL BECAUSE HE’S NOT /THAT SINGLE STRING OF MALICE CODE ANYMORE./ He HAS other coding, he’s built from the GROUND UP BY RUIN HIMSELF. Ruin has basically GIVEN HIM the ABILITY to THINK THROUGH MORALS. HE IS /FAR/ MORE COMPLEX NOW. SOMETHING MOON COULD’VE DONE FROM DAY 1!!! BUT NOOOO…

Let’s all step back for a minute. Because Hate, is exhausting. Having an existence with nothing but anger is a very tiring thing. Eclipse becomes depressed as we see a few weeks coming into the Two Parter death of Eclipse. He gets tired, he ends up wanting to just give up and DIE and let the star literally eat him alive, and then he gets that vision of armageddon. AND THEN— SOMEHOW, FOR SOME REASON, HE GOES TO WARN THEM! EVEN WITH HIS IRRATIONAL TACTICS, HIS MALICE BASED CODE, HE /WARNS/ THEM. I cannot express to a normal human being how important that one selfless act is when it comes from someone who only knows how to be selfish. AND YOU KNOW WHAT MOON DOES?! HE KILLS HIM. HE CALLS HIM A LIAR. AND HE FUCKING KILLS HIM. /WITH/ HIS REPLACEMENT WATCHING. HE WAS REPLACED. BY SOLAR.

I love Solar ‘n all

BUT I’VE ALWAYS HATED SOLAR FOR ONE, ONE SINGULAR REASON. HE WAS PUT THERE BY MOON, SUN, AND LUNAR TO /REPLACE/ ECLIPSE. SO THEY COULD BE A HAPPY FAMILY WITHOUT THE WORK. SO THEY DIDN’T /HAVE/ TO HELP ECLIPSE AND THEY’D JUST LET HIM FUCKING DIE SOMEWHERE. I am so TICKED OFF BECAUSE OF THEM. EARTH IS /EVERYTHING/ TO ME BECAUSE OF WHAT SHE’S BEEN DOING FOR ECLIPSE.

EVEN SOLAR FLARE UNDERSTOOD ECLIPSE MORE THAN MOON. THEY’RE THE SAME FUCKING PERSON. THE SAME. PERSON. 😭😭😭😭😭😭

This is where shit gets so funny.

Throughout all of this, old moon DIES. HE DIES FOR /KILLCODE/ SO THAT /KILLCODE/ CAN HAVE A REDEMPTION. FUCKING. KILLCODE. THE MAN THAT SHOWED NO SIGNS OF BECOMING A GOOD PERSON UP UNTIL IT WAS A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION. THE MAN WHO HAS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR HIS VILLAINY OTHER THAN JUST BEING A KILLCODE. WHICH IS FAIR, BUT ITS NOT TO BE COMPARED WITH ECLIPSE. So the very thing ECLIPSE /NEEDS/ is given to someone WHO DOESN’T EVEN DESERVE IT. But, Moon is Moon. So…self righteous even though he’s horrible and terrible and I HATE HIM.

NEW MOON COMES IN! REMEMBER WHEN /EVERYONE/ IN THE FANDOM WAS LIKE “YAAAY NEW MOON. OLD MOON SUCKS. OLD MOON KINNIES DNI. IF YOU LIKE OLD MOON YOU’RE A BAD PERSON.” N YADA YADA. It wasn’t this radical, but it was everywhere. I saw it in a bunch of posts and it drove me insane. (I do love old moon, and I’ve always preferred him over new moon (nexus)) Like — EVERYONE just decided “well he’s a blank slate now, so whatever! x3” while also completely ignoring the fact Old Moon /was/ improving, and his sacrifice WAS a great deed and very selfless. Eclipse has always gone through the same thing, at times you could barely even mention him because there were Lunar fictives roaming around who’d get PTSD from it. (Which is valid. This is not to discriminate systems at all.)

BUT ECLIPSE HAS ALSO HAD THESE SAME GLIMPSES OF LIGHT AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. From “I should apologize” to Sun and Moon finding out how much pain Eclipse was in to Solar Flare’s talk to “I’m tired.” to The Warning to his numerous deaths, to the (my speculation of) Eclipse’s attempt #1 to Eclipse’s attempt #2 to Eclipse freaking out and contacting Moon that he wasn’t supposed to be alive and something was wrong, to Eclipse making amends to Eclipse helping on his own desire, to Eclipse hanging out with Earth regularly (which he used to belittle her and insult her. He has CLEARLY changed.), to Eclipse being literally beaten up in a podcast and framed for numerous unspeakable things, to Eclipse BRINGING BACK SOLAR to Eclipse just leaving. The amount of times people could have seen ANY SIGN was IMPOSSIBLY DRASTIC AND LENGTHY. AND YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DID?? CONTINUED TO BELITTLE HIM AND KILL HIM. Eclipse only actually killed ONE character of importance, which was Lunar. (Which like oh my god dude but he did stab you in the back first…i guess…still…still fucked up…i cant defend you other than saying “it was really funny”.)

TELL ME. TELL ME WHY MOON GOT HIS REDEMPTION SO FUCKING EARLY WITHOUT BATTING AN EYE AND ECLIPSE HAS JUST BEEN FUCKING NEGLECTED?! MOON GOT TO GET AWAY SCOTT FREE, OLD MOON AND NEW MOON. EVEN THE NEW MOON ENDED UP BECOMING NEXUS AND TRIED TO KILL HIS FAMILY. WOWIE! WOWIE WOWIE DIDN’T SEE THAT ONE COMING!!! AND NOW OLD MOON IS BACK AND STILL EVERYONE IS JUST /HAPPY/. Moon has arguably had a BIGGER, MORE REPETITIVE, AND DEEPER impact traumatically when he lashes out. All Eclipse truly did was to LUNAR and then sending Sun and Moon on wild goose chases and races towards the star. Eclipse WON that star too and did NOTHING with it. BECAUSE HE’S FUCKING DEPRESSED!! AND HE HAS THAT RIGHT. Moon is AWARE that EVERYTHING is HIS FAULT. He has ACKNOWLEDGED THIS, YET HAS DONE NOTHING BUT MAKE IT WORSE. Moon is a VILE, SELFISH BROTHER. Not just to Sun, but to ECLIPSE. THEY’RE THE SAME FUCKING PERSON. You can’t just say “i hate myself….:emo:” EVERYONE ON THIS SHOW HATES THEMSELF BUT YOU COULD AT LEAST HELP THE FUCKING ORANGE VERSION OF YOU FIND A FUCKING COPING MECHANISM OTHER THAN REVENGE?? He’s been TAME SO MANY TIMES, SO MANY VULNERABLE POINTS and they NEVER TOOK ADVANTAGE OF IT TO HELP HIM. You can’t just try to help a person ONCE and then DROP THEM. That’s NOT HOW HEALING FUCKING WORKS. YOU /CONTINUE/ TO PRY, YOU STOP THEM FROM DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIORS, YOU STAY WITH THEM. LEARN FROM SUN YOU DIMWIT. ECLIPSE NEEDED YOUR HELP SO MANY TIMES AND YOU JUST STOOD THERE AND CALLED HIM A MONSTER??? YOU DESERVED TO WATCH SOLAR DIE. YOU CAN’T JUST REDEEM YOURSELF AND LET THE OTHER YOU WITHER LIKE FUCKING PAPER IN WATER YOU COURT JESTER. YOUR JOKES AREN’T FUNNY, THEY MAKE ME WANT TO RIP THAT FOOL’S CAP OFF YOUR HEAD AND STUFF IT INTO YOUR ESOPHAGUS.

NOBODY WILL UNDERSTAND ECLIPSE’S ANGER THE WAY I DO.

😇

I am so unhealthy about this man.

anyways, thoughts? Sorry if this is a little messy, it just kinda happens…letting out my inner alpha and all..🐺🐺🐺

(believe it or not this is actually not all of it, this is just on one idea.)

Once again noting this is all light hearted, just being wrapped up in the acting and how much I can understand a character and feeling personally obligated to stand up for him. Eclipse has touched my heart in a way nothing else has, and I will continue screaming about him until I wither up and die. Everyone can have different perspectives and ideas, this is what I see. AND I SEE INJUSTICE!! /silly

[p0rk-guts]

YAAAAALL IT'S ANGEL DUST!!!!! bro I'm so exited to tell u about him hehehehe he might be my fav redesign of the bunch idk

Comparison & rant!⬇️ + A bug/spider cw. I put reference images in there!

Ok guys can I be honest with you. I think. Pilot and pre-pilot Angel were peak 😔 I'M SORRY I'M BREAKING MY SILENCE

Like whaaat... WHAAAT.... I'm sorry he served here he had the BEST design idc idc you can't change my mind. These were NOT bad designs. I've got a slight preference to his oldest design but even then the pilot design was great to me.

THIS however...

OooOOOH MY GODDDDD THEY NEUTERED HIM!!?! NO tits, three measly ugly stripes on an uglier coat, LONG GLOVES THAT ARE MISMATCHED??? ONE OF THEM HAS THESE WEIRD... WHITE FLAPS?? WHO— WHAT. WHY. AND THEY GO OVER HIS LONG SLEEVES 😭😭😭

I'm sorry but Angel will always be the most egregious case of character assassination in this show, design and character wise. He sucks now and I used to love him.

Okay enough crying let's get serious.

So yeah show Angel sucks. Removing his chunky gloves removed a lot of the fun shape in his silhouette so now he's just a gangly twink. Very little visual interest. Also hate hate hate how his new mismatched gloves are pulled over his long sleeve coat. So dumb. Hate it.

Also explain to me how he's gradually gotten less tits but has simultaneously become more femboy-ified..... So many people immediately mistake him for a girl.......

They also mistake him for. Literally anything but a spider. Once again Viv can't code or theme characters for shit. I also don't like how his face changed... I can't describe it but It's so much less appealing and charming. Something in the eyes and his little cheek bump. Idk. Really hate show Angel props to the animators for making him watchable with his bold animation ts was real nice

Okay onto my Angel! He's now a goldenrod crab spider now! Thank you @/cryptablog for this idea!! (Not tagging them bc they hate the hellaverse with a burning passion lol 💀) They can be white with pinkish markings like our og Angel but most of them are tinted yellow or completely yellow!

I decided to make him most similar to that mid ground mix of yellow and white with pink-er markings. 1 because I kept lust pink and I feel like that'd be a prominent sin of his (+ purple is in here a lot bc I feel like he'd also be pride aligned! Purple is now the pride color :3) and 2 because the yellow tone in his fur is kinda meant to connect him to Husk in a way... Cuz that's kinda his main color... Idk maybe I'm onto nothing with that one BUT his primary color is purple and Husk's primary color is yellow(ish)! Complimentary boyfriend's!!! Are you seeing my vision!!!!! (Also on a lesser note his colors look more similar to my fav version of Angel aka his design from the pre-pilot ref sheet I showed)

Another idea you can thank Cryptamen for is him being partially translucent in places just like real goldenrods!!!! The idea behind that was because he was in the mafia in life and he had to be really stealthy at times so now in certain environments he's harder to see... Maybe he can even turn fully invisible for a bit... There's also possible character reasons to consider tying in there as well... Ough very cool idea 10/10

Gave him 4 legs and 4 arms + the big abdomen to really make him scream spider bc yes spider boys can be hot and no Viv was not willing to CAPITALIZE on that 😒 Also lengthened his fangs... Also moved his eyes to his forehead to make them more prominent and hopefullyyyy seem more like eyes. Idk. And now he's got pointy little pedipalps as well!!!

Gave him his boobs back bc he deserves them and just generally gave his body more shape (though the second set of legs definitely helps lol). Slightly de-twinked... But not by much...

Once again looked up some common hairstyles at the time and people loooved their hairspray and curls, or swoops, or waves— they were gettin funky with it. Hard to emulate that on his nonhuman skull so I took some artistic liberties applying ideas from common styles onto him.

Didn't do much research at awl for his clothes... I mean... He's not wearing much to begin with... I kept the long gloves bc I thought they had potential to look cute and I have him rolled cuffs on short sleeves. Wanted to keep the style simple but otherwise I would've drawn button clasps keeping them in place. No notes on the thigh high heels so I kept them. Everything else is just kindaaaa whateverrrr EXCEPT THE NECKLACE. Though it was hella funny and fitting

And that's awl folks.... Do u like him do u fuck with him.... Let me knowwww....... Okay byeeee ✌🏾🧍🏾‍♀️

[purplink8]

Hate hate HATE what the anime did to the way Sayu's kidnapping was handled (specifically by Light). The anime just wants to show how utterly devoid of love anime!Light (coz no manga!Light would never seriously consider killing Sayu oh my god) is even towards his family at the face of his Kira goals.

Contrary to the manga (which i prefer who would've guessed) in which Light is shown very genuinely caring for his family! And you know just who wanted to save Sayu more? Or who was more active in saving her between Light & Soichiro?

It was Light (at least manga!Light coz idk what the hell was going on in anime!Light's mind during that episode). Yeah, I know. It might be surprising to those who haven't read the manga but this protective brother of Sayu's? Cares for her deeply.

And the anime just had to fuck that up, hadn't it? 🤦🏻‍♀️

I hate episode 28 (titled 'Impatience') of the anime with a burning passion. So much so that I'll compare it with how the plot ACTUALLY transpires in the Manga.

This post is...long: I've tried my hardest to not go overboard with my negative(?) rant against the anime but it was an impossible task imo /o\

If any of the points mentioned in this post are good, they are due to tumblr user casuistor's post which I read on a regular basis. (Go check it out!! It's much much better than anything I could've written in my whole life. Yes, I'm a fan :)

If there are any mistakes, it would be entirely correct to attribute them to me.

I admit I hadn't paid much attention to the manga the first time I had read it but holy shit even then I had picked up on how close the Yagami siblings were!

I couldn't make much sense of the plot of the 2nd arc (I wasn't completely over L's death so forgive me for being in a daze) and yet I was absolutely sure of the fact that Light had done everything in his power to save Sayu. Even if you were not following the plot closely, you'd still understand that fact (which the anime did much worse than deliberately ignoring it). Why?

Because Ryuk kindly summarizes the plot/points this out:

Honestly, I don't even need to go on at this point now, do I? Ryuk, who never fails to call out Light (for example, saying that Light will be the only bad guy left if he kills every 'bad' guy out there in chapter 1), has just confirmed what thoughtful manga readers already knew: Light has a soft spot for his sister.

I'm still petty at the anime so I won't stop at this point. I'll first explain how it goes in the manga, then how the anime butchered it. Let's gooo!

To understand the circumstances surrounding Sayu's kidnapping, we need to note that the NPA director Takimura is kidnapped by Mello first for the exchange of the notebook. Soichiro notifies every bureau of the NPA. And Light, of course, doesn't hesitate for a minute to kill Takimura (obviously, the priority of Death Note >>> the life of Takimura, to Light).

This is supposed to happen behind the scenes in the manga compared to the anime which makes Light killing Takimura much more obvious:

-episode 27: Abduction

Anyways, it's part of Light's plan to let the kidnappers take the fall for Takimura's death (so that Kira won't be blamed for his murder. And since only the kidnappers and the NPA know about the kidnapping: it won't be assumed that Kira has any link to the NPA).

Light seriously doubts that the kidnappers would just drop the issue due to Takimura's death and he's right. Sayu is kidnapped.

Mello is taking full responsibility for Takimura's death just like Light intended him to. However, this time, rather than any person whom Light could've easily disposed of (like Takimura) to avoid letting the notebook fall into the kidnappers' hands, Sayu- the sister for whom Light cares deeply- is kidnapped instead.

Not only that, Mello expects Soichiro to keep this a secret from the rest of the NPA personnel otherwise as he threatens, he'll kill Sayu. Now, we know that during Takimura's kidnapping, rest of the NPA were notified of the fact (Yes, the circumstances are quite different- there wasn't a threat to Takimura's life for letting the others know of his kidnapping), Ide points this out:

Ide is apparently okay with Sayu's death and appeals to (read: pressures) 'duty/justice above my family' side of Soichiro Yagami to send word to every NPA department even if that means Sayu will be killed. And you know what? Soichiro actually agrees to do so!

I would like you to see Light's reaction here, these panels come directly after the above one:

Light wastes no time to completely change his plan to have everyone assume that it was the kidnappers who killed Takimura to -> Kira did it. This was Light's previous plan before Sayu got involved:

"It's part of Light's plan to let the kidnappers take the fall for Takimura's death (so that Kira won't be blamed for his murder. And since only the kidnappers and the NPA know about the kidnapping: it won't be assumed that Kira has any link to the NPA)."

This changing of plans that Light does immediately is actively detrimental to Light's Kira's cause (in other words, disadvantageous to Kira's goals). Look at Light digging a hole for himself just to save his sister:

Light argues to not notify the other NPA departments otherwise Kira would know about the kidnapping and kill Sayu (and they wouldn't get a chance to investigate the kidnappers if Kira kills Sayu before they can negotiate with them). So their best bet is to keep quiet about it so that Kira doesn't know; meanwhile they can, as Ide says, try and catch the culprit while negotiating the exchange.

Back to how this is in no way an advantage to Light (as Kira):

Telling the task force that Kira was behind Takimura's murder whose kidnapping was known only to the NPA personnel suggests that Kira has a link to NPA info and may lead to doubt against those in NPA being Kira (the NPA that Light is now the part of) so obviously not a win for Kira/Light.

Light is in now a very bad position if he needs to kill Sayu in the future to avoid the Note falling to the kidnappers' hands. Because now he can't blame Kira for her death, can he? He is the one who stopped them from sending word to rest of the NPA so Kira has (according to Light) theoretically no way of knowing about the exchange with Sayu situation (unless if Kira were in the task force itself thus narrowing down the list of Kira suspects); ergo Kira won't kill her.

So why the hell is Light okay with these disadvantages instead of his previous, practically/pragmatically (for Kira's cause) better plan? Better yet, why not did he kill Sayu himself without a moment of hesitation like he did with Takimura when he had the chance to do so before suggesting that it was Kira who killed Takimura, the kidnappers could've been framed for Sayu's death? Or just allow notifying the NPA personnel so that they made a move and let the kidnappers do the dirty work?

Because, as Ryuk says, Light has a soft spot for his sister:

Note that: Light doesn't even try to deny it in his thoughts ("...that's not all" anyone?). We're talking about the guy who rationalizes his way out of his feelings, who views emotions as the reason 'why most idiots screw up' and he does NOT DENY THAT HE CARES FOR HIS SISTER.

Also worthy of note is how quickly he decides to tell the task force that Kira killed Takimura. Usually, we get a long wall of text of Light planning his every move. Not in this case. I believe it's because this decision was fueled by emotion rather than reason- the emotion being brotherly love ofc.

["A totally emotional decision is typically very fast. This is because it takes time (at least 0.1 seconds) for the rational cortex to get going. This is the reactive (and largely subconscious) decision-making that you encounter in heated arguments or when faced with immediate danger.

Common emotional decisions may use some logic, but the main driving force is emotion, which either overrides logic or uses a pseudo-logic to support emotional choices (this is extremely common)." (as a bonus have this research by Damasio)]

Once, Light has time to think, he goes 'well even if in the worst case scenario (the kidnappers get the note) I have Misa's eyes so I'm still at an advantage eh...?'

He is, instead of contemplating a way to kill Sayu so that the note is safe, thinking (however briefly) of how it won't be muuuuuuuch of a problem if Mello does gets his hands on the note. Idk about you guys but man that rlly gives us an idea of Light's priorities (Sayu>>>>>>Death Note).

Here's instance #2 demonstrating Light's priorities (when Soichiro asks Light to just save Sayu as the former doesn't care if he loses his life. And Light responds by saying don't be a fool etc etc):

#Sayu matters more than the Death Note

Now we come to the scene which the anime seems to have taken to heart to entirely without the context. When Soichiro goes underground for the exchange, we have Near taunting Light (as L number 2)

This is not Light seriously deciding to kill Sayu (remember when he had the time to think over his decision, killing Sayu was not even an option but handing over the note to Mello was, in the worst case (even if he has Misa's eyes, it doesn't mean the idea is any less ridiculous)).

This is him, so stressed that he's coming up with so rubbish ideas that even he goes 'wtf am i thinking??' Because at this point, killing Sayu would be announcing that Kira is among the task force as only they know of Sayu's kidnapping + her name & face, which is again bad for Kira's cause. And the one responsible for this predicament is Light himself as he was the one who told the task force not to alert the NPA personnel.

If Light really had been meaning to kill Sayu, he had plenty of time & opportunity to do so (without the suspicion falling on him) before suggesting that Kira killed Takimura. Light essentially ran in the opposite direction when he was faced with the perfect chance of killing Sayu (just let the others notify the departments of NPA -> kill Sayu -> Blame Kira for it, foolproof. but he did Not take this route as he Loves his sister) and now when it is absolutely NOT AN OPTION (for obvious reasons) he's thinking it since he's stressed to the point of irrationality.

Yes, he's seen thinking this:

...aaaand he can't bring himself to finish the thought because he knows that he did the opposite since he loves Sayu & Soichiro dearly and couldn't bring himself to kill them.

Also look how concerned Light is over the well-being of Sayu & Soichiro that he calls his dad to ask if they're okay:

I hope at this point you believe me when I say that manga!Light never seriously considers killing Sayu. He loves his sister too much for that.

______________________________________________________________

Now we move on to how the anime (fucked it all up) adapted this. I'm not particularly happy with it (understatement of the year) so I'm gonna rant about how inferior it is compared to the manga. Let's gooo!

The plot goes pretty similarly: Takimura is kidnapped ->Light kills him -> Sayu is kidnapped -> Mello demands them not to notify the NPA personnel lest they kill Sayu.

But the change in episode 27 is that they remove the discussion (mainly Ide pressuring Soichiro) around whether to notify the NPA personnel. Soichiro deciding to send word to all departments of NPA is cut so we don't get to see Light swooping in to protect Sayu.

Still, anime!Light does reveal that it was Kira who killed Takimura. And advises the task force to keep Sayu's kidnapping a secret. However, anime!Ryuk doesn't call anime!Light out on him having a soft spot for his sister (coz as far as the anime is concerned, they really REALLY wanna sell the idea that Light doesn't care for Sayu).

It's a lot harder, therefore, to make sense of anime!Light's motivations in changing his plan from having the kidnappers framed for Takimura's murder to admitting that Kira did it. It appears that it happens just because ???

Like there is no reason in manga!Light doing this apart from saving his sister but anime!Light cannot have any redeeming qualities like loving his family, he needs to be a 100% evil villain!! ...So we have zero explanation for anime!Light's actions.

The exchange between Light & Soichiro re: the whole 'I don't care if I die but please save Sayu' + 'You can't die in front of Sayu no matter what...You must make the right decisions so that both you and Sayu live.' occurs without change. But due to the succeeding added anime-only scenes (which I'll talk about later), this conversation sounds fake from Light's side while it is completely genuine in the manga.

Then the infamous scene (which I hate to death) of anime!Light SERIOUSLY considering to kill Sayu comes:

And Misa overhears him saying that in the bathroom coz why not?? make it worse??? :) :) :)

And anime!Light comes as close as to killing Sayu that he even has his watch opened with the piece of the notebook

...wow such an awful brother being a piece of shit >:(

Wait! Can brotherly affection save the day? Has anime!Light finally realized the error of his ways?

Nope. Anime!Light chooses not to kill Sayu not because he loves her but because it would be self-incriminating to do so. Yeah...what. an. asshole.

Light calling his dad to check up on how him & Sayu are doing is cut from the anime. Instead, take a look at how displeased anime!Light is after Sayu is rescued by sacrificing the notebook.

Damn.

...yeah, this is Not the face of someone who's happy with the way things happened (namely losing the Death Note to Mello in exchange for Sayu's life). It's clear where anime!Light's priorities actually lie (Death Note>>>>Family) He's so angry that he takes out his anger on Misa by slapping the drink she offers, out of her hands:

Oh and these scenes are nowhere in the manga, they're just in the anime to emphasize just how big of a jerk brother anime!Light is.

In conclusion! Manga!Light (who's the only Light that matters really imo) loves his sister, would never seriously consider killing her in contrast to anime!Light who is very ready to say 'Sayonara Sayu Yagami' via murder and would've done so if it wasn't self-incriminating.

As you can see manga!Light is far superior to anime!Light. If you've stuck around to read this post to the end (a) I love you & (b) I hope you have a fantabulous day!! <333

[indigoraysoflight]

Let's Talk About The Big F Word.

The word is "friend", and this is a rant. You've been warned.

If you genuinely love Caryl as a friendship or a ship, know that this rant is not meant to invalidate you. I'm merely trying to shed light on the marketing side of things and how some terms are being used to market the show.

I notice there is confusion festering about why AMC's official accounts continue to promote the "friends" narrative. Here's my theory from a marketing perspective.

If companies are worried about ROI (return on investment), they can either change the content to guarantee ROI or grow the audience to improve the chances of getting an ROI. The second part is easier this late in the game when a show is teetering at the end of post-production.

Every time the "friend" narrative is evoked or Carol is deliberately excluded or female characters are pitted against each other – engagement skyrockets. It festers toxicity in the fandom and encourages infighting. Hear me out.

Carylers usually defend themselves, and people who hate Caryl with a burning passion use the narrative to harass and bully Carylers.

That leads the Carylers to double down on their undying devotion to Caryl because they want the world to know why this ship and these characters are important to them (which is understandable considering how difficult the last few years have been).

The official accounts then mine posts and track engagement for market research, which probably leads to the conclusion, "See? Carylers are still engaging and on board with the friend narrative."

And the cycle continues.

"But Caryl are friends! Why is that bad?"

It's not bad; their friendship is what makes this ship unique. Every Caryler cherishes their friendship because it is the foundation of their relationship. Whether you love Caryl as friends or you ship them, the word "friend" is used to encourage people to invalidate Carylers and the ship itself. And it's done in the name of "engagement".

If you don't believe me, go to these posts and see the ratio of comments, QRTs, and responses. "All publicity is good publicity", I'm sure you've probably heard that before. That's the essence of the strategy that is being utilized.

There is a section of the fandom that loves it when Carylers are "put in their place," if you will. They flood to every post that

Invalidates Caryl as a ship

Erases Carol or encourages fans to "erase her" in some way

Pits Carol against another female character

Calls Caryl "friends"

Includes ambiguous pictures/footage to invalidate Caryl/Carol

Because every one of these posts gets a ton of engagement from all sides. Even if a lot of it is negative, it's still talked about. The end goal is word of mouth so more people flock to see what's happening. More eyes mean they can promote their show to a bigger pool of audience, which increases the chances of getting a higher ROI.

"Why would they do that when they started the #TWDCaryl tag?"

My best guess is that the people in charge of running the official accounts are either recycling an old marketing strategy or trying to position Caryl as "friends" to try and attract the audience that is so thrilled by the idea of it on SM. Because Caryl are best friends, Carylers can't refute that or be mad about it, right? Only they're either unaware of the fandom dynamics or don't care as long as the posts get engagement.

Unfortunately, because TBOC hasn't been marketed heavily through official channels yet and relies mainly on pictures, videos, and content shared by cast, crew, or fans, Carylers are eager for any form of promo that gives them information about the show. And any posts shared by official accounts get a lot of attention.

But most of these posts don't hold space for comments about Caryl as a ship. People who see the post as a way of suppressing Carylers or "confirmation" that the ship is invalid harass these commenters.

I don't think the SM managers realize that most people who cheered for excluding Carol from posts are the same ones engaging with the "Caryl are friends" posts.

And anyone who hates Carol with a burning passion – enough to encourage toxicity against her and her fans – will never pay them a dime to watch a show called "The Book of CAROL."

They're stepping on the back of a huge chunk of their audience to get engagement from people who want TBOC to fail. Let them realize on their own that "all engagement is good engagement" until they get a big surprise of declining followers and ROI.

Melissa returned to Carol, and to us, she deserves A LOT better than a few posts that validate people who hate Carol, and recycled footage from the flagship show.

If you choose to take it, my advice is to stop engaging with the official accounts, stop validating them if you're feeling invalidated and disrespected, and use your block button generously. Continue talking about why Carol and Caryl are important to you. Finally, protect your energy and please take care of your mental health.

Thank you for taking the time to read my rant.

Stay safe, and be well. ❤️❤️

[webslingerofthegalaxy]

RANT TIME

Okay, unpopular opinion that no one asked for but I have nowhere else to vent it so you're stuck with it time. I HATE the animated trolls shows, The Beat Goes On and Trollstopia. With a burning passion. I will admit, TBGO wasn't as bad as Trollstopia imo, but it was still bad. Why, you may ask?

Allow me to explain.

First off, let's start with TBGO. Now, since this comes after the first movie and we don't have a lot of context beyond it, I let a lot slide. But the main transgression I have is that this show brought Creek back. CREEK. Of all the MISERABLE LOUSY PATHETIC COWARDS to resurrect, they picked CREEK. WHY. Why was this necessary???? He adds nothing to the story beyond an annoying presence that makes me want to hurl my device like Captain America's shield. AND THEN, they make Branch the bad guy for not trusting him immediately. OF COURSE HE DIDN'T TRUST CREEK, THE SLIMY POS SOLD EVERYONE OUT TO SAVE HIS OWN SKIN. DID EVERYONE FORGET THAT!?!?! And then this leads to Branch having to APOLOGIZE to Creek and then eventually to them sort of becoming friends. THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN. Every episode he was in I could feel myself losing braincells.

If you thought that was alot, stick around for my rant on Trollstopia because holy shit, where do I begin?

Now, the idea behind Trollstopia is actually a good one. Like hey, everyone is so spread out, how about a group from every tribe comes to live in the middle which happens to be Pop Village? Genius! And I will admit, in the beginning it seemed promising! And then, they fucked it up.

How, you may ask?

Simple. My point can be simplified to 2 main subjects:

They put WAAAYYYY too much effort into Poppy's relationships with literally EVERYONE ELSE and nowhere near enough into her relationship with Branch, HER BOYFRIEND.

They absolutely, totally, 110,000% DESTROYED Branch's character.

I shall now explain my stance. First off, we have point #1. Now, don't get me wrong. Poppy should absolutely have relationships with other trolls! She's the queen, for hair's sake! And I really did enjoy the fact that she made new friends and got really close with them. As someone who has eternally struggled with making and maintaining friendships, I loved seeing her do what I usually cannot. HOWEVER, this is no excuse to neglect her relationship with her actual fucking BOYFRIEND. Trollstopia takes place after TWT, after Branch and Poppy confessed and entered a relationship (if you wanna argue with me, look at the official Trolls Wiki, it'll back me up). But if you watch the show, you can barely tell they LIKE each other, let alone that they're dating. The show ran for 7 seasons and, out of those seasons, can anyone tell me a single episode where they were the focus? I won't even ask about them as a couple, just them interacting together being the focus! Poppy and her friends repeatedly bulldozed over Branch, his feelings, and his boundaries, constantly mocked him, and shit on anything he wanted to do. I swear at times it was like watching Trolls 1 Branch and Poppy interact.

Finally, my second point: Branch's character. They absolutely fucking took all of Branch's hard earned character development from 2 movies and a holiday special and went:

Wanna know how I know? What does Branch actually DO in Trollstopia? About every 10th episode, he shows up to offer a crappy sarcastic remark that pales in comparison to his usual ones and does one of 3 things:

Gets hurt

Gets made fun of

Acts like a total moron, and not in a cute way.

He's basically turned into Jay from the later seasons of Ninjago (my apologies Jay, I love you but you know it's true). I mean, in one episode he got his ass absolutely HANDED to him when he tried the rodeo! COME ON. The dude who caught a stick fired at him without looking and jumped in front of a death bolt to save Poppy got served by a fucking bull thing? Bullshit (no pun intended). To add onto this, when he's not being trampled and beaten for no fucking reason, he's being used for the most CRINGEWORTHY comedic relief. I mean really, there was a whole episode about how he wanted to be called a "cool nickname" by Lownote. Really? We really think that's in character? And to top it off, he gets stuck with "Skippy Two-Shoes". WHAT. THE. FUCK??? I almost had an aneurysm when I heard that. And everyone was fine with it!!!! Which leads into my last point, NO ONE GIVES A SHIT ABOUT HIM DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE SAVED POPPY AND IS HER FUCKING BOYFRIEND. There was a whole fucking episode about him getting all pissed off at the Techno Trolls for taking over his lagoon in his bunker (which I have to say I'm jealous he has) to have "raves" at like 4am. WHO WOULDN'T BE PISSED OFF??? My upstairs neighbors bang around at all fucking hours of the day and it drives me insane so I get why Branch is mad! BUT WHY DOES NO ONE ELSE? Why is it when he complains he gets told that he's being "unfair" and has to "share"? Fuck that, he was there first! It's not like Trollstopia isn't huge, they can find somewhere else to infest at 4am!

In conclusion, I hate the animated shows because they destroy the relationship between Branch and Poppy and demolish all of Branch's character development, reducing him to the annoying sidekick that always gets cheered at when they get hurt or die tragically.

End of rant. Thank you for sticking with me, I needed to get that off my shoulders. Branch is my favorite character and it infuriates me that he gets the short end of the stick all the time. Enjoy this as a reward:

[r4bidcherry]

SCIKE

ship it

1. what made you ship it?

tbh ive always liked toxic ships i just never embraced it due to all of the fandoms i was a part of before td had no media literacy or nuance so if you ever shipped anything that didnt fit peoples impossible standards of cutsey uwu smol beans who have zero problems youd be compared to people who shipped literal illegal and disgusting shit which i very much do not appreciate due to some prior experiences with those type of people that im not gonna get into just know it traumatized me so yeah maybe dont compare me to those type of people that i hate with a burning passion lol

ik that wasnt much of a why i do but the answer is simple besides me saying the obvious stuff that goes for basically all ships and i really just wanted to finally rant about that lol 💀

2. what are your favorite things about the ship?

this could be argued that this has nothing to do with the ship buttttt the fellow shippers ive met multiple people who are pretty cool and nice and who became my mooties all because we loved our little toxic boys 🫶

and the fact the ship has really brought out the worst in mike and really leaves no room for woobification like let that man go ham!!!

most of the things i could list are less about the ship canonically and more about what people have done with it and man people are so creative and aaaaa its so nice but tbf thats also the case for most queer ships cause yknow the show doesnt care about us stop pretending it does lol

3. is there an unpopular opinion you have with this ship?

shipping it is the unpopular opinion lol just cause i said this fandom has more media literacy and nuance doesnt mean EVERYONE has it lol theres still people who are pulling the shit i explained in the first answer lol (proof being that one ask i got that one time)

other than that dont really have any

anyways scike takeover 2024 RISE WHERES YOUR ANGER WHERES YOUR RAGE RAHHHHH

[andorerso]

sissi hello!! in regards to the post about ocs, i would LOVE to hear more about dani and elijah 💜 (partly bc i love both of those names so so much, always have, and that intrigues me instantly).

hope you're having a wonderful day!

rolling up almost two months later like hiiiiii <3 sorry it took me so long to answer ahfgdchg

but first of all, thank you for asking because I love talking about them, second of all, I'm so happy you like the names because I do too 🥰 well obviously, I wouldn't have chosen them otherwise, but I'm very particular about names and they have to feel right, and this was one of those instances when I almost instantly knew their names, like it was just fate. meant to be. and I think they sound nice together!! anyway, I'll stop ranting about names now

so, the story is urban fantasy, and their tropes are slowburn, mutual pining, idiots to lovers, battle couple, codependency, angstttttt, two sides of the same coin, flirty & awkward, snarky & serious, impulsive & rational, short-tempered & calm

Dani (full name Danielle Preston but she hates being called Danielle) is our leading lady, she's in her mid-20s, and she's the flirty, snarky, impulsive, short-tempered side of the two. she's always cracking a joke, which is mostly a self-defense mechanism, and tends to cover up real feelings with humor, sex and booze. I have such a soft spot for characters who'd rather cut open a vein than show weakness or vulnerability in front of someone, but still deeply care about people and are intensely loyal if you earn it, so she's kinda that archetype. she'd literally burn down a whole city for someone she loves but will never actually say the words. also she's bisexual like almost all my MCs

here's kind of how I imagine her (made with this picrew)

and Elijah is the more level-headed, serious, all business no fun counterpart to Dani's generally chaotic behavior. he's a couple hundred years old, and not human, but he looks to be in his early 30s. he's very matter-of-fact, goal-oriented, and pragmatic, but he's also very kind to those who deserve it, and can be surprisingly intense and passionate when he actually lets himself feel it (which is not very often, at least not at first). he has a very strong sense of justice, but he kind of follows his own moral code, so he definitely falls into the morally grey category (Dani kind of does too, but Elijah even more so)

here's a picrew for him too

as for their relationship, it starts as kind of an unwilling partnership and they clash a lot at the beginning because of their different approaches and worldviews, but they eventually form a friendship. Elijah's kind of drawn to her/fascinated by her from the start, because she's so different from him but has a lot of the qualities he admires/wishes he had too. Dani takes a bit longer mostly because she's better at lying to herself lmao. but there's an attraction of sort from the beginning. it's a difficult ride, mostly because they're both stubborn idiots who tend to repress their emotions, just in different ways. she's lost people and is afraid to lose more, and he's just not sure he knows how to allow himself to want things and be a functioning human person, so neither wants a relationship and they're both violently trying to deny any feelings. but the feelings are definitely there. like they're not together but they're deeply devoted but they will never admit it but there's no one else who could possibly compare. those kinda vibes, you know?

some other tidbits/details that I love about them: she loves to antagonize him (mostly in a teasing way) and he's so offended/annoyed at first until he realizes it's her love language. then the annoyance turns into fond exasperation. she's pretty much the only one who can make him genuinely smile and laugh, in fact sometimes he's the only one who actually finds her funny at all lmao (she definitely overdoes it sometimes but he finds it charming). she's a bit of a romantic deep down, and he's very intensely devoted once he commits, so it's the kind of relationship she always secretly wanted but never thought could have. and he's the only person she will tolerate calling her Danielle (it's kind of a turn-on from him).

anyway, I could go on but it's gonna get long very quickly, so this is just the basics. but I love talking about them and I'm always open to more specific questions from anyone <3

also here's a moodboard too because why not

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

Hey! I love what your doing here. I was wondering if you know any Sterek fics where stiles and/or derek are “dark” or morally grey”, maybe some criminal ones. Ive read “Pretty Little Wolf” by ItsMe_Basil on ao3 and it was really good, so kinda like that.

Sure!

He'll bleed you 'til you're just bone and skin by ElisAttack

(1/1 I 2,236 I Explicit)

It's moments when Stiles feels the dull pull of the bruises on his hips, moments when he can't sleep on his stomach because the throbbing ache does nothing for a good night's sleep, it's those moments that make him feel worthless.

Makes him hate Derek with a passion that burns brighter than anything else he feels.

Or the one where Derek doesn't know his strength, but Stiles knows he deserves it.

Alpha by Nival_Vixen

(1/1 I 3,257 I Explicit)

Stiles has been kidnapped by a serial killer known only as Alpha. Stiles finds himself far too attracted to the man that's probably going to kill him.

No one called, until someone did. by queen_of_OTPs

(1/1 I 4,419 I Mature)

Stiles found that he hadn’t spoken more than necessary since August. Gone were the rambling rants, extravagant gestures, and range of vocal tones. Monotone sentences that were cut with sharp edges, words like knives and tone like venom.

No one had called.

The Killer AU by cloudsarefluffy

(2/2 I 5,789 I Explicit)

Based on this Tumblr Post: "Imagine your OTP meeting each other for the first time, at night, in the woods, while both trying to dispose of their freshly killed corpses.

@midnightwinterhawk suggested these.

Nieważny by Zethsaire 

(1/1 I 2,037 I Explicit)

The pack is gone, everything they've ever cared for destroyed. Now Stiles and Derek hunt the hunters, taking revenge in the only way they know how; blood.

Kill For You by bloodwrites

(1/1 I 2,053 I Mature)

Kate Takes Derek. Stiles snaps.

Or, the one where Stiles embraces his inner sociopath, and Kate doesn't stand a chance.

Love's Violent Delights by Dexterous_Sinistrous

(1/1 I 10,685 I Explicit)

Derek caught the way the man’s eyes looked over Stiles before lingering on his ass. He waited for the clerk to place the key on the counter before he reacted.

Stiles startled at the loud noise, turning away from the pamphlets in the display box to see Derek pinning the clerk’s head against the counter. He drew in an even breath, looking between the struggling man and Derek.

Derek briefly looked at Stiles, hesitating before he saw the gleam of excitement in Stiles’ eyes and the hint of lust in his scent. “Ever look at him, or any other Omega, like that again, and I’ll slice your eyes out with my claws.” He shoved the man back, not caring of the commotion that was made as he snatched up the key from the counter.

adore to see your eyes fly by 1001cranes

(1/1 I 11,309 I Explicit)

stiles is a pyromaniac, derek is a sociopath. a match made in some kind of heaven. teen wolf kink meme fill.

let slip the dogs of war by creationmyth

(12/12 I 86,920 I Explicit)

He stares at himself in the mirror. His cheeks are faintly blotchy, flush sparsely coloring down his neck. His eyes look glassy and half-crazed. “Get it the fuck together,” he growls lowly to his reflection. “You lose everything. Get fucking used to it.”

He can’t stop thinking about it. How Derek looked at him, said his name reverently rather than disdainfully.

Stiles sits on the shower floor, shivering even though the spray is far too hot. He keeps replaying the words over and over - sometimes the person someone shows us and the person we choose to see are two different people.

For the first time, Stiles takes a moment to seriously consider that perhaps he has never known Derek Hale at all.  

[separatist-apologist]

I once went to one of their inbox to tell them to please stop tagging elucien if their posts is just about bashing elriel and they basically told me to f*ck off and they can "do what they want" or whatever. I swear, these are the same little sh*ts that would complain about Elriels tagging elucien.

It's the fact that it's always the same 5 people that have literally no hobbies but complain about Elriels. They're lurking in the gwynriel tag too. They're covering the sweet content we're looking for with their bullshit posts.

"Look what these Elriels say-" NO I DON'T WANNA LOOK CAUSE I DON'T CARE! WHY ARE YOU STALKING THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE???

I don't want to see the hurtful stuff they say about Lucien and Elucien, nor do I care about their theories and Interpretation. I blocked the elriel tag and some elriels so that I won't have to see their posts. Heck, I'm avoiding acotar content on Tik tok and Twitter just so I won't see anything elriel and anti elucien related. If I wanted to see anti elriel content, I'd go to the anti elriel tag. It's that simple.

The thing is, I also tried to be more open to the Elriel ship. I'm very confident in Elucien, but should Elriel be endgame then I want to be okay with it. However, these little shits that constantly shove statements from toxic elriels to my face make it very difficult for me. It brings me back to "Elriels are so toxic" thoughts.

Sry for the long rant. It just angers me.

Babe, I once told people to stop taking the bait and they told me to get off my high horse so I feel you on that. Is it getting on a high horse to say that not everything on the internet is made in good faith and by answering obvious trolls...you give them the fight they want? Wow you sure showed them.

But at its core, LB said it best. It's not a bipartisan system and you actually can't tell anything about a person based on the ship they like. If some folks had any self awareness they'd realize they are literally no better than the people they claim to hate and for every one person hyping them up, 8 others feel discouraged and burned out from all the negativity. A fandom can't sustain itself on pure spite- you need people who passionately love the series enough to draw art, write fic, create headcanons etc etc, and to that end you have to let go of the utter boring obsession with what is and is not canon.

I took screenshots of that post, and one person said "the author wrote it that way for a reason???" and to that I'd say, she wrote enough to make elriel a very popular ship, too. Are we picking and choosing? Are we saying you're not allowed to ship something if it isn't canon? No more Neris, no Rhysta, no Casslain, no Azris? And who gets to decide what is and is not canon? Someone on that post was discussing what "true" eluciens are, which excludes me along with a vast swath of other people.

I didn't elect any of these people to decide what I was allowed to write about or commission art for- Like the cherry picking so people can be faux outraged and then take screenshots of one of the most popular artists in the fandom, with a VERY distinct style to create a victim narrative that allows them to feel good about bullying is just overdone and boring at this point.

Anyway, I'll always advocate for blocking people and creating spaces that feel good. And I'll continue saying that if you hate something that much, you should stop engaging with it. No one is ever going to change my mind about elucien, I'm confident in my choices and even if SJM doesn't go that direction, I'll still be writing elucien like idgaf. The constant looking each other up to talk shit reeks of insecurity and boredom. Couldn't be me.

[pisoprano]

This is an ML salt post, particularly about Lila Rossi. If you are actually excited about Lila being the main villain in future season(s), this post isn't for you, I just need to rant. A lot.

I hate Lila Rossi. I hate her with a burning passion. Literally every episode where she shows up, my hatred for this character will manifest in me saying "I hate her" the moment she opens her mouth, followed by seething throughout every moment she spends onscreen.

In prior seasons, this wasn't much of an issue--she'd show up for a couple episodes and then she'd disappear 90% of the time, so I could usually just focus on literally anything else in the show. With season 5, however, she started showing up much more. I knew it was coming, of course--the foreshadowing that she would be the successor to Hawkmoth has been visible since season 3, and it was announced that he'd be gone after this season. But if the show had ended at season 5 as originally intended, butterfly!Lila could have been a theoretical problem for adult!Ladybug and adult!Chat Noir in 10 years. But since the powers that be have decided to have the show continue past Gabriel Agreste, Lila is a problem now and will be a problem at least until Chris Lahiffe is a teenage boy, if "Timetagger" is any indication. And we, the audience, will be forced to suffer through all of it.

Why, though, do I hate the idea of Lila being the main villain? I was fine with having Gabriel in the villain seat for five seasons despite him being a terrible father and manipulative git, after all. With Gabriel, there was a particular humanity to him that made him interesting--this entire show is about love and Gabe's love was so overwhelming and myopic and self-serving that he resorted to villainy while convincing himself that he was secretly the hero all along, sacrificing everything (even his morality) for the woman he loved. He used his love as an excuse to justify the harm he caused Paris and his very own son. As he continually reached for forbidden means to get what he wanted, his dreams ballooned in scope--he'd defied the odds when he'd married above his station, he'd defied the odds when he'd become a world-renowned designer, he'd defied the odds when he found the miraculous and created the perfect son--and so it became all too natural for him to fight the impossible fight as Hawkmoth because he deserved to win this too. And the whole time, unbeknownst to either of them, he's fighting against the son who he's been neglecting and controlling in his fight to save someone who never wanted to be saved? That stuff is fascinating.

Lila, though? She's got none of that complexity. She's a consummate liar who hates the protagonists and literally nothing else. In other shows, she'd be the transfer student who shows up for an episode, gets exposed as a fraud by the end of that episode, and then literally never be seen again. This show, however, has Lila overstay the welcome that her character archetype is built for and instead be a recurring problem. And, because a liar can only get away with lying if the surrounding characters don't know she's lying, Lila is made untouchable by the plot. Other villainous characters have some plot immunity to their evilness--Chloe, obviously, has the automatic win condition of demanding her father to get her out of trouble whenever she wants. But Lila's plot immunity comes from an inexplicable ability to manipulate everyone around her (besides our main protagonists, who are forced to only cry wolf). She makes all the supporting cast love her without help, she does so even to characters we'd expect to know better. When she first showed up, her lies weren't even good and still she gets away with her reputation in tact basically every time. The one time where she does get exposed to everyone, she gets to have an easy redo by making up a completely new identity to try again. She's a Villain Sue. And her very presence weakens the story she's in.

Lila only exists because the writers decided to make an absolute hate sink. They absolutely succeeded in doing so. And frankly, that's a problem. Most of the time, if you're going to have a character in a show for any length of time, they should be likeable on some level. They could be sympathetic or competent or proactive or even just have a personality that's fun to watch, but the audience shouldn't feel like the character is a waste of viewing time. Lila isn't someone the audience can identify with, her competence is largely in name only (I will allow that her manipulative skills during season 5 are stronger, but her ludicrously bad prior lying and the unexplained nature of her sudden hypercompetence now aren't nearly enough to make me forgive her here). Lila's sometimes doing things behind the scenes, sure, but she has the laughably petty objectives of "be famous" and "ruin classmate's life" and I cannot take her actions towards achieving these goals seriously as a bit villain, let alone a primary antagonist. And--worst of all--her voice is extremely annoying. I will suffer through a myriad of things, but I can only listen to nails on a chalkboard so long before need to leave the room.

And this might be a bit of a hot take, but honestly? I don't think Lila was even necessary in the first place. In episodes like "Volpina" or "Oni-Chan," she could have been replaced with Chloe (our original mean girl who's clingy with Adrien--she might not be my favorite character either, but at least she's funny). I'm positive that the plot of "Catalyst" and "Miraculer" could have been reworked to happen without Lila's involvement without much effort. The entire subplot of Lila being Adrien's modelling partner was more about Gabriel controlling his son--it could have been easily about forcing Adrien to be alone instead of forcing him to be with someone he didn't like. The fact that Lila shows up so little in the first four seasons just goes to prove how unnecessary she is. She only becomes important in season 5 because the writers now know that they need to prepare for a new supervillain to fill Gabriel's shoes after he leaves--and she's the only one who comes anywhere close to fitting. So, suddenly, she's being far more active than she ever was (almost half of her total appearances are in season 5 alone), but her motivations are less clear than ever, so I'm left assuming that this hollow character must still have the hollowest of motivations--popularity, power, getting back at the kids who rebuffed her... after having 5 seasons of truly delicious drama, why on earth would I want to turn the worst thing about those 5 seasons into main course?

I know I am far from being alone in hating Lila Rossi's character. There are literally thousands of fics tagged with "Lila's Lies Are Exposed" because so many readers want to see her be punished for her actions. I'm actually not really a fan of these--I don't take joy in seeing Lila being taken down. I want her to disappear from the narrative entirely. If the current state of United States politics has taught me anything, it's that that watching a terrible person get their comeuppance is never as satisfying as you think it will be because that terrible person will keep popping up and keep being terrible and keep forcing you to think about them. The best possible punishment I can think of for Lila is to act like she's just an OC made from some background character that never mattered in the first place--and then never have to think about her existence in the show again.

I was happy to watch the first 5 seasons of Miraculous Ladybug. I wish it had only been those 5 seasons (side note: Chat deserved to go up against his father in the final battle. I get that he couldn't since the mandate for more seasons requires the identities to be intact, but this was the point in the narrative when the reveal was meant to happen and it has weakened the story to move it elsewhere). I haven't decided to not watch season 6 at this point, but knowing who I will have to deal with in every episode? It's making it very difficult for me to want to continue any further.

[0vergrowngraveyard]

why is it that, in sonic x, anytime one of sonic’s longtime friends gets hurts he does his normal song and dance. but when chris, a kid he’s known for a whole few months, gets hurt, then it’s a problem and he turns into dark sonic???

like wtf bro, tails almost gets crushed to death in one episode and that’s not releasing a feral response??? you’re little brother is in danger is you’re not showing much interest???

am i just too used to the idw comics and prime to accept any other interpretation of brothers?? probably-

i could go on an entire rant about that show because it’s so bull how every character other than sonic and chris are reduced to “i love sonic!” in one way or another. ALSO WHY DOESNT TAILS FLY OR DO ANYTHING-??? his entire existence is tornado x pilot and giving sonic a ring

y’all have no idea how peeved i was when, in the metarex arc, chris was revealed to now be a genius scientist and engineer LIKE WTF BRO THAT WAS TAILS’ JOB?? there can only be one child prodigy and it sure as hell isn’t chris (ik chris was technically an adult but still. he was a kid again during that arc). let tails be the smartest guy in the room please

if you couldn’t tell i hate chris with a burning passion and they weren’t nearly mad enough at him during the season 1 finale and for stopping sonic from getting home in season 2. any time chris says “it’s all my fault” or something like that i enthusiastically agree with him

amy’s character is bs too. reduced to having a crush on sonic and girly girl with hammer. LET HER BE BADASS! LET ANY OF THE OTHER CHARACTERS BE BADASS!

this is very jumbled and ik the show has been over for years but i’m still mad about it. why am i rewatching it??? do i hate myself that much??

[fanfic-inator795]

I've talked a lot on here about my favorite characters, but what about some of my LEAST favorite characters?

Honestly, I don't have too many characters that I just hate with a burning passion or anything like that... but there are def characters that truly get under my skin. So let's have some fun and rant for a bit, shall we? Starting with least hated to most:

Sadie Miller (Steven Universe): Gonna be honest, a big reason why I dislike this character is because of her voice. No disrespect to Kate Micucci, but MAN her voice is just so grating to me personally (tbf, I feel the same way about Greg Cipes). As for the character herself, she's just incredibly whiny and annoying imo. I couldn't really relate to her frustrations with her mother, and that whole mess with her and Lars was just... yeah. Still can't really overlook the whole Stranded Island incident. Say what you will about how terrible Lars can be, but at least Lars can be funny and interesting sometimes. I just don't care for Sadie at all.

Mo Morrison (Lightyear): Laying out my biases here, I really don't like Lightyear in general, it's a very frustrating and agitating film to me personally, I could honestly rant about that movie for hours. But beyond the story/plot issues, Mo is just a very annoying character to me. They try SO hard to push him to be the comedy relief, and it just does not work. Then, when they try to push him as the team screw-up, they push too hard and just make him frustrating to watch since he literally can't do anything right and doesn't get a win until the payoff with the stupid spacesuit pen. Literally every scene with him just ends up making me go "goddamn it, Mo, why are you even here??"

Mr. Herriman (Foster's Home): As a kid who was a big fan of Frankie growing up, it shouldn't be surprising just how much I hate this rabbit. I think what really gets me is how callous and unfair he can be, with stuff like "Imposters Home for uh Make-em-up Pals", "Crime After Crime" and "Setting a President" showing him at his absolute worst. An all-around VERY frustrating and unsympathetic character to me, worse so than Bloo or any of the show's actual villains. Honestly, it makes me sad that we don't get to see more of his softer side - i.e. the life-long friendship he has with Madame Foster/the stuff that makes Madame Foster love him - as that easily could have saved his character. But for the most part, he just comes off as a huge jerk.

Stickler (The Cuphead Show): Similarly to Herriman, I think I just get incredibly annoyed with characters who put rules and procedure above everything else. What makes Stickler worse though is the voice they gave him, as while it's kinda funny in his first couple appearances, by season 3 I'm cringing just as much as Devil does whenever he pops up. They also amp up his jerkiness and pushiness in the later episodes - and while I get WHY they need to, given how distracted Devil gets, it's still a tad annoying imo.

Dr. Owen Hunt (Grey's Anatomy): Literally my least favorite character EVER. This guy... he really is just the WORST. And yes, I know there are in-universe reasons for how he acts, but when he continues being a shitty person to his wives and others, I stop caring about those reasons. He's a huge hypocrite on most things, has a 'my way is always right'/'My way or the highway' mentality, and he's just such a baby whenever he doesn't get his way or when he has to face consequences. YES, I KNOW, on Grey's pretty much everyone is a shitty person in some way because it's a dramatic medical soap opera and they need drama, but Owen really does just get under my skin the most with how stubborn and 'holier than thou' he acts a lot of the time.

...That being said, if any of my followers actually like these characters, no disrespect to you. In fact, I'd love to know WHY you like these characters, as perhaps I can get a new perspective on them.

[silver-wield]

Just finished the game.. wow I already hated Aerith but holy shit this game made me despise her with a burning passion… what the fuck were the devs thinking? Hey Cloud I know you are having a mental breakdown but I’m gonna force you on this shit date that my ex took me on so I can see if my feelings are real for you. She’s awful in every way. There’s nothing redeemable about her. The LTD is pure garbage. There’s no debate. She’s dead and that ship never left the port. Wasting almost 30 years on that awful character is just sad. Wow. I’m shocked they approved this crap.

From now angle is any of that okay. Like even if you ignore all the cloti content and pretend Cloud is the garbage those idiots say he is, this is what you end up with

That's their super romantic storyline. Throw in her calling everything a date, to which he literally has enough and tells her to stop it, and then at the very end she dies and he can't handle failing someone yet again and imagines he did save her and she's just decided to go home instead of carrying on with them.

Idky they refuse to accept the narrative doesn't support anything they ever say. They hate Tifa so much they treat her like she's worse than Hojo. And yet they want Cloud to be this lying two timing pos all so their two faced back stabbing bitch of a fave can win some imaginary competition.

Cloud literally says he's not dating her. He says he's not interested. He shows he's not interested. He literally tries to kiss Tifa in Gongaga. They scream about "non optional date ftw!!!" well Cloud non optionally tried to kiss Tifa. He never tries to kiss the walking dead.

Ever.

If they're winning and he loves that bitch, then why doesn't he say so? Why doesn't he show it? Why do they have to rant about a fucking hand hold being "superior" to a literal kiss?

They should just stfu.

[phantomdoofer]

Everybody Loves a Clown

Trigger warning for blood, dismemberment, death, and abuse.

Paolo hunched in his room, fiddling with a small radio he'd snuck from the trash. After cooking, it was his favorite thing to do. He rubbed his cheek where his father had backhanded him. The imprint of his ring was visible on his cheek. He hated that ring. He'd been hit with it enough. His father Giorgio fiddled with it constantly, and never took it off.

Mama never liked it, either. His missed his mother dearly, but she'd passed away last year. His father had been very tight-lipped about what happened - one day she'd simply fallen over, shaking and convulsing, and he'd rushed her to the hospital. A few hours later, she was gone.

He dropped the tiny screwdriver, his mind drifting to her face. He missed her so much. It was one of the only things he and his father agreed on. Unfortunately, ever since she'd passed, he'd been pushing him even harder.

You're not gonna be some damned cook! You're gonna get a real job!

Paolo picked the screwdriver back up. Even though he enjoyed working on mechanical stuff, the thought that it pleased his father had started to make him hate it, too. But he knew, so long as the man lived, he had no hope of being a cook, his true passion. So he tinkered, and read, and refined his knowledge.

Maybe once I'm free of him, I can do what I really want.

He clipped the last wire into place, and carefully put the faceplate back on. He twisted the power knob, and scratchy noise came out. Well, it's got power at least. Let's see if I can get anything. Carefully he twisted the tuner, searching for a station. After several seconds, a scratchy tune squeaked out of the speaker.

Paolo smiled. Success! He twisted the knob, looking for other stations. Then he caught a new one:

"*Squark* ...reports are... Demons have turned their sup...eapon on ... Ninda... at least five cities, including the capitol, destroyed... casualties... millions..."

The radio gave a last screech and burst into flame. Paolo quickly threw a cloth over it, smothering the flames. Then the meaning of the broadcast hit him.

They destroyed our home.

Though they lived in an Allied nation, his father had been very vocal about supporting their old homeland. "'Bout time they did somethin' right," Giorgio had said, "that's right, take it all back! We deserve it!"

Paolo ran to the living room. He might hit me again, but he better hear this. As he turned the corner, he started to speak. "Dad, did you hear what-"

He stopped. The TV was on, and the news showed images of the capitol city, a melted, burning pile of slag. Giorgio sat staring at the screen, his mouth slack, completely stunned.

"D-Dad?" Paolo approached cautiously. His father could be explosive, but he'd never seen him like this. Paolo waved a hand in front of his face, but there was no reaction, not even a blink.

Paolo quietly backed away. If it meant he could just exist unmolested for a while, he'd take it. As he moved through the doorway, though, he heard Giorgio spoke. "They... that can't be right... why would... we were winning... they... they're all..."

Paolo quickly darted back to his room. He closed the door just in time to hear his father roar in rage followed by a crash that sounded suspiciously like the TV going through a window.

Paolo looked down from his bedroom just in time to see Giorgio storm out into the front yard, waving his hands and ranting at the top of his lungs. He turned, and Paolo ducked back, hoping he hadn't been seen. He'd caught just a glimpse of tears on his father's face, and he knew if Giorgio knew he'd seen it, he'd beat him red and yellow out of his own embarrassment of being seen to be "weak."

The ranting continued for several minutes, until he heard a police siren out front. Guess the neighbors called the police again. He peeped out in time to see Giorgio being loaded into a squad car, still ranting. As the car began to roll away, Giorgio looked up, and Paolo was shocked. For once, on his father's face wasn't rage, but sadness, fear, and grief.

Paolo sat against the wall, considering what he'd seen, and what he'd heard. After several minutes of turning it over in his head, he came to a conclusion. Dad thought we'd take over the world, but those Demons just wiped most of us out. How much family did we just lose? We might be an endangered species now.

While he hadn't thought he'd care, the thought chilled him. His vivid imagination, so long suppressed, provided him with gruesome images of what the Demon's weapon probanly did to the people in those cities. His thoughts filled with the smell of burnt bread and the sound of screams.

Paolo gripped his head and cried. "Stop. Please stop." He looked over at the TV, the small video player still loaded with his favorite show. He quickly went and turned it on - shortly wacky images of cartoons and clowns danced across the screen. He laughed, his fears forgotten, the images fading as he dove headfirst into the world of the cartoon.

He climbed into his bed put the video on repeat.

~~~~

"And now, please welcome to the stage, this year's valedictorian, Paolo Totino!"

The audience politely applauded as Paolo took the podium. He looked into the audience - Giorgio had actually shown up for once, but he looked at the ground, refusing to look at Paolo. Paolo had long since learned to hide his true feelings - while he seethed inside at Giorgio's indifference, outwardly he was all smiles and charm. Just play to the crowd, Paolo. Give them the show they want.

Paolo cleared his throat. "Thank you, sir. I'll try not to keep you guys waiting, it's too hot out here." The audience laughed. Paolo smiled. "It's been an experience being here at this school, and I've felt so welcomed since I moved here. I can honestly say this is the best place I've ever been." The audience cheered. Paolo smiled once again. It's just so easy! He took on a stern demeanor. "We lost so many people in the war. You can still see the scars on the land today." He gestured at the land around them - while trees and grass had grown, the craters and burned remains of trees were still visible. The audience grumbled. "But we've pressed on, and persevered! Now it's up to us to bring the world back - not just to the way it was, but even better!" They cheered again. "Thank you."

As he stepped away and the audience cheered and clapped, he waved and pretended to stumble down the stairs. Everyone laughed. Yes, yuk it up, you plebes. Don't mind ol' Paolo, he's a big clumsy clown!He sat down and waited for the principal to start handing out the diplomas. He glanced over at Giorgio. He caught the old man looking at him, and Giorgio quickly turned away. Paolo grinned. All the fire had gone out of the old bread when the Demons had committed genocide on the Ninda. Even now, there were less than a million of their kind left in the world. Which suited Paolo just fine. He'd never met another Ninda he liked. But because of Giorgio's lethargy, Paolo had had to get an after-school job to get them by. Paolo had hardly slept the last few years, between school and work. But I did it, you old crust. I'm done. I'm at the top.

Paolo heard his name called, and he walked across the podium, smiling his shiny smile for the audience, waving cheekily for the cameras as he accepted. He did a little dance on the spot to look like he was excited. The audience laughed. He made a point to ham it up whenever he could. Everybody loves a clown, after all.

He wished sometimes he felt it in his heart.

~~~~

Paolo got out of the cab at the hospital. He'd barely had time to get his day started when someone called him: your father is in the hospital. He's not expected to survive.

Paolo felt... strange about the whole thing. If anyone had asked him how he'd feel about Giorgio dying, he'd have said good riddance to the abusive old coot. But now that it looked like it was about to happen, he felt... nothing, really. He was just here for the look of it. He'd rather be in class.

He took the elevator up to the ICU, and was met by a nurse almost immediately. "Oh, Mr. Totino. Your father is in 19. He's asking about you."

Oh, is he now? He thought. Probably wants to make some deathbed confession. He thanked her, and walked to the room.

The shriveled old crust barely lifted the covers up now. The oxygen mask barely fit around his rounded face, and his features were shriveled and dry-looking. Fell far in a year, haven't you? Paolo sat next to him. "Giorgio? I'm here. The nurse said you asked for me?"

Giorgio weakly turned his head. "You actually showed up, you little bastard. Figured you'd leave me here to die alone."

It wouldn't have broke my heart. "Well, I'm here now. What did you want?"

Giorgio coughed. "Wanted to make sure you got this before I was gone. One of these nurses would probably steal it while they moved me." He held out a hand, and Paolo held his own out. Into it Giorgio dropped... a ring. That damned ring! Paolo looked at it - the perfectly round garnet stone reminded him of a pepperoni. Paolo loathed it with all of his being. Unconsciously he rubbed his cheek.

Giorgio was too far gone to notice. "Take... care of that, Paolo. It's... the symbol of our family. It's old... no one knows how old. Don't let it... out of your sight." He reached up and grabbed Paolo's collar. Paolo was surprised the old man still had the strength. "I... mean it, boy! If... you listen to... one thing... I've ever...said... don't let it... go..."

Suddenly the hand slackened and dropped. The heart monitor flatlined, and the nurses and doctors rushed in to try and save him.

Paolo stepped back. There's no point, he doesn't want to be saved. But it made them feel better to try. He walked out of the room, feeling strange. He was finally free, but he almost felt... sad. Having someone to hate had, in a strange way, been an anchor for him. Now it was gone.

He looked down at the ring. I know exactly what to do with you.

~~~~

Paolo stood before the building, his smile glossy as the sun. He held a comically large set of scissors, and he cut the ribbon blocking the doors. "Pizzaboy's Pizz-Pizza is now officially... OPEN!" He threw his hands up as confetti launchers blasted around him. "Come on in, folks!" He honked the tomato nose on his face. Everyone laughed and went through the doors, where the staff waited to help them. The animatronics were already working, singing a jaunty tune.

Paolo thought about what it had taken to get to this point. He'd pawned the ring immediately, and he'd used that to make a series of smart investments. Finally he'd decided to live his dream - he'd opened a pizzeria. Sure, he'd had to cut some corners - animatronics weren't cheap, after all - but he was happy.

Paolo bounced from table to table, acting like the clown he was dressed as. He'd studied his childhood cartoons obsessively, and could imitate them perfectly now. The kids loved it. The parents acted a bit nervous - a seven-foot-tall clown could have that effect - but they finally got into the spirit of it. Paolo was having the time of his life.

~~~~

"Boss, you can't just keep cutting corners like this. People are starting to complain about the pizza being..."

Paolo looked up angrily. "Being WHAT?" He was testy. For some reason he couldn't get that damn ring out of his head. Maybe it's guilt? But when he'd gone to get it back, it had been sold to a collector, some Italian multimillionaire, and he wanted a king's ransom for it. He was trying to save money, but the pizzeria was so expensive...

The man flinched. "One of them said it tasted like..." he gulped, "...cardboard."

"Cardboard? CARDBOARD?" Paolo stood up, knocking things off his desk. The clown outfit made his rage even more terrifying. "I've tested and tested that recipe! It's scientifically perfect! Balanced to be the ultimate combination of taste and nutrition!"

The man flinched back even more. "The recipe's not the problem, boss! It's the ingredients! The budget just don't allow for the stuff we need to make it work!"

Paolo slammed his hands down on the desk! "No excuses! You're just not trying hard enough! MAKE IT WORK!" He shoved the man out of his office and slammed the door. He flopped down in the chair, which creaked alarmingly. He brooded. I've got to get it back. Somehow.

~~~~

Outside, the manager was met by the few employees still working. Most of them had walked out by now. "So what'd he say, boss?"

The boss shook his head. "He said "make it work." Like we're not stretched to the limit as it is."

Another worker spoke up. "Make it work? We're losing customers fast! We can't keep up! If we can't improve the quality, we'll lose what few customers we got left!"

"At least the animatronics still work," a third said. "But I swear I saw the boss put something weird in them the last time he worked on 'em..."

The boss shook his head. "No, we can't do this anymore." He clapped his hands. "I'm out. Anyone staying?"

They all looked at each other, and shook their heads.

"Figured that'd be your answers. Come on, let's get out of here."

~~~~

Paolo worked furiously on a small device he thought would improve the animatronics. If they can make their own decisions, they'll be even better! I could sell the tech and make a fortune! He'd found the parts in an abandoned building, near the edge of the city. The only problem was, it looked like Old Tech. Even I can't replicate that. He held it to the light critically. I'll try it tomorrow.

He put it in a desk drawer, stood up, and tweaked his bowtie. Time to go play to the crowd! He stepped out... to an empty dining room. He looked around. No customers, no staff. He ran to the kitchen. No one. A note sat on the counter. He read it...

Boss, we can't do this anymore. We're all quitting. We all got offers from other pizza places around the city. We loved this place at first, but you're running it into the ground. If you ever decide to be your old self again - somebody who cared about quality over money - let us know. Sorry.

Paolo crumpled the note. Ungrateful bastards. He yelled at the ceiling in frustration. "Fine! I'll just do it myself! I don't need them!" He ran outside into the street, desperately playing the clown. "Come on in! Best pizza in town! You'll have a great time!" The person he'd approached cringed away, shaking their head. He ran up to a family. "Come on! Lots of fun at Pizzaboy's Pizz-Pizza!" The little girl started crying, and the father pushed Paolo away. "Back off, you freak!" He hustled them away.

Paolo went from group to group, getting more desperate with each one. Everyone was scared or disgusted. Finally, a police officer approached him. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to stop harassing people, we're getting complaints."

Paolo turned and grabbed his shoulders. "I'm just trying to get customers, YOU IDIOT!"

Everyone around gasped. One woman spoke up. "Well, with an attitude like that, I'll never eat there!" Cries of "For shame!" and "what a jerk!" echoed around Paolo. He looked around. His dream was falling apart. He wanted to cry.

The officer brushed him off. "Lay hands on me again and I'll arrest you. Now get inside before I have the place closed down!"

Paolo's shoulders slumped as everyone walked away.

~~~~

All he knew was he had to get it back. Nothing else mattered.

Paolo looked out the window of the plane. What am I doing? He was flying to the city where the man who'd bought the ring lived. But why? I'm broke, I can't buy it back...

As he left the airport, he walked towards the address he'd found. The man's mansion was luxuriant, covered in stonework and vines. Classical Tuscan architecture, he remembered. He pushed a button at the gate.

A stuffy voice came though. "May I help you?"

Paolo cleared his throat. "Yes, sir, I've come to see your Master. My name is Mr. Totino, I believe I had an appointment?"

"Very good, signore," the stuffy voice said. The gate opened. "Come in. The Master waits for you upstairs."

Paolo passed through the huge front doors and walked up a grand stairway. At the top, a butler bowed and opened a door. "In here, signore," the same stuffy voice said.

Paolo entered, and was greeted by a corpulent man sitting behind a deep red desk. Balding, fanning himself, he waved Paolo forward. "Come in ragazzo, come in." Paolo sat. "You said you had something to ask me? About your ring?"

"Yes, sir," Paolo said. "You know I've made several overtures to you about repurchasing that ring." He shifted uneasily in the chair. "I'm afraid I'm... no longer liquid enough to try to buy it from you. But I've come to plead. Sir, that is a family heirloom, one I'm sorry I ever let go. Would you ever consider just... letting me have it?"

The man laughed raucously. "GIVE it to you! Don't be absurd, boy! If you wanted it, you never should have sold it!"

Paolo blushed, repressing his fury at the casual dismissal. "I was desperate, sir, and young and foolish. I know better now. I'll ask again sir - will you return what's mine?"

The man's face grew red. "The cheek on you! Even if was willing to just hand such a thing over-" he twirled it in a maddeningly similar way to how Giorgio had - "I've grown attached to it. So no. I'll never part with it. Now get out of here before I have you thrown out!"

Paolo stood and bowed stiffly. He was absolutely furious. As the gate crashed shut behind him, a plan started to form. It's mine. It's MINE.

~~~~

The man grunted as he settled into his bed. His back ached. I should see if my doctor can give me anything for that. He shuffled his awkward weight around. He was always hot now. Air conditioners are crap these days!

He heard a faint noise. He whipped around and turned the light on. "Chi è là?"

No one. He was alone.

The man snorted and turned the light back off. Jumping at shadows. He closed his eyes.

Another noise. Before he could reach the light, a hand clamped down on his face with unbelievable strength. He could just see a pair of red points hovering above... a clown suit?? A glossy grin hovered between those hellish lights and a bowtie.

Then he noticed the glint of a knife.

Before he could react, the knife plunged into his belly. He screamed, the sound muffled by the glove-covered hand on his face. It plunged down, again and again, into his gut, his arms, his legs, his chest. He tasted blood. He screamed, but it couldn't get past the damned glove.

As his mind swam with pain and blood loss, he felt the figure fiddling with his hand. He shrieked as he felt his ring finger being sawed off. He trembled as they held up their prize, the round red ring glinting as his severed finger slid out of it. As his mind faded, he heard a familiar voice.

"It's mine... It's MINE..."

~~~~

Paolo slid the ring onto his finger. At last, I've got it back! He smiled happily. Now that he had it back, the world felt right again. He glanced down at the corpse. Good riddance. He stalked past the body of the butler and the gate guard. Should have hired better people!

As he stood in the dark street, he felt a strange urge to go west. He started walking, a manic grin on his face.

~~~~

He didn't know how long he'd been walking. Days, definitely. Maybe weeks. But now he was sure he was where he needed to be.

He dug through the rubble of the ruins, not entirely sure what he was searching for. You'll know it when you find it.

He wasn't sure why he was so confident. But he knew beyond a doubt he was right.

He saw a depression in a stone wall that looked no different than the hundreds of others. He pressed it, and the wall vanished. He walked inside, and the wall reappeared. He was inside some sort of structure, descending downwards. He walked down a spiral staircase, the purple stone dusty and piled with debris. As he looked around, he saw faint lights imbedded in the stone.

He walked downwards for what seemed like forever, until he found a room full of... monitors? He walked over to a control panel, and somehow knew which button to press. The screens flickered, and the lights brightened. Welcome back, the words flashed on the screen in front of him.

He sat in a stone chair, fascinated. It was more advanced than anything he'd ever seen. At first the words were incomprehensible, but suddenly they had switched to his own language. He read a list. Cloning tanks, tesseract controls, cloaking systems, weapon controls, teleportation systems, reconstruction protocols... what is this place?

Then, somehow he knew - he was home.

Pizzahead sat back and grinned. He twirled the ring on his finger.