#oh and worst take of all. like on a moral level:

[simptasia]

being in the DS9 fandom, you'll discover there are so many ways for people to be wrong about julian bashir

[forsaken-headcanons]

Mafioso + Elliot dude clocking in, this time with Elliot and Killer match ups + their vibes

—Elliot and John Doe matches feel very nostalgic for the former. Since WAAPP was made back in 2007 (technically 2009, since the original was taken down for copyright infringement), Elliot's only 1—3 years younger than John Doe's code depending on how old you consider WAAPP. Yeah, it's been gradually replaced with revamped code since WAAPP still gets updates even in the modern era. But there's still that sickening sense of twisted nostalgia whenever Elliot comes across John Doe's corruption in the map.

...Sometimes he has nightmares about whether or not he could be corrupted like that too. He doesn't know how much old code he has left in him, after all. Never even thought about it until being forsakened.

—Elliot and Jason matches tend to either go one of two ways: Elliot gets wounded so bad he can barely walk or is dead, Elliot easily survives the round with little to no effort involved. It's typically the former since he has a nasty habit of pushing low health survivors out of the way of Jason, taking the blow himself so that the others have a chance to run away/stun.

Guest 1337 usually frets a lot over Elliot during these rounds; he also tends to fuss over the pizza boy whenever he gets badly wounded for pulling some absolutely abhorrent shenanigans. Smth smth Guest 1337 probably asked one of these matches if Elliot felt like he was an expendable part of the team, which left the man in question stuck in a mental bootloop (like when a computer tries to boot up over and over again to no avail).

—Elliot and 1x1x1x1... nothing interesting outside of Elliot getting peeved whenever the latter starts talking about his job. 1x1x1x1 is the embodiment of hate, so Elliot opts to view him like a rude customer that isn't entirely morally opposed to murdering the delivery boy.

—Elliot and C00lkidd is where the fun lies, especially since Elliot knew the latter when he was much younger. He's familiar with how c00lkidd used to act and what he used to look like. This is probably when Elliot starts getting the inkling of an idea that something's behind all of this, because c00lkidd wasn't murderous nor too naive to realize snapping necks didn't cause major injury. The possibility grows stronger when c00lkidd mentions Elliot looking "familiar" for the first time. Of course he looks familiar, you used to love exploiting at his work place!

The worst part about all of this is c00lkidd's pizza delivery attack. If you want Elliot to pinpoint a moment in time when he knew he was in hell or some kind of purgatory, seeing that attack for the first time would be it. The thing is: those aren't just flesh monsters. Those were Elliot's old coworkers, faces still intact enough to offer a level of recognition— offer a name in rare cases.

Oh God. I didn't even think about the Pizza Delivery minions like that before. Maybe I should have.

[aroaceleovaldez]

you're like the first blog i thought about ranting on this to but it drives me up the wall that some people treat any criticism aimed at tsats2 as being anti-ship or avoidable via just "not reading it". i dont think they realize that we're talking about a bigger issue of soulless commercialization and heavy quality downgrade of a franchise, not like. about an indie author publishing a fan book lmao

'i'll read it anyways haters gonna hate' crowd likely largely funding richard's mediocrity is sad.

I think part of it may have to do with a.) a lack of distinction in recent fandom culture between "Fandom" and "Audience" (alongside other recent fandom culture attitudes as well) and b.) so much of Rick's brand is built up exactly on parasocial behavior that a lot of fans get caught up in it. [under cut cause this got long:]

Re: The first, more recent fandom culture tends to treat "Fandom" and "General audience" as wholly equivocal. Because of this, the concepts tend to bleed into each other in a way we haven't quite seen before fandom became mainstream, and as a result we get a kind of Worst Of Both Worlds situation - a bunch of very passionate fans who have no community, create little to no fanworks themselves (only consume), and only engage at a surface level with the source material. Their only "fandom" community hub is the source material and official social media and they don't have a concept of how to exist outside it, unlike folks who are more used to older fandom culture and are self-sufficient. They have the passion and identity of classic fandom, but none of the depth, and so threats to the source material feel like threats to their community as a whole. They also just don't seem to understand that different subsections of the deeper fandom community are engaging with the material on an entirely different level, or they don't understand why they're doing that. They see no need to because they're never actually engaging with the community or source material beyond a surface level. Functionally they don't have a community. And mainstream media is actively encouraging this because it's profitable for them - they're reaping all of the rewards of fandom, minus the fact that because of the lack of actually community and support structures the entire "fandom" will only have a shelf life the same length of the source material. But at the same time this means they don't have to worry about quality or etc, because this extremely passionate side of their audience will just take anything thrown at them and it'll phase out almost immediately. It doesn't need to be good, it just needs to elicit some kind of reaction on social media. Any publicity is good publicity type stuff.

This lack of true community plus the parasocial emphasis the RR company has tends to make these types of fans double-down. Rick and co. are explicitly advertised as being both part of the "community" and integral to it. And when they've built Rick (and co) up as this moral paragon critical to both part of their identity they're very passionate about and what little of a community they have, any attack on him feels like an attack on themself. Particularly when so much of the publicity and marketing surrounding Rick right now is about his alleged activism when a lot of the criticism about him and the series is actively calling that into question with his unaddressed internalized bigotries. Acknowledging that what Rick is saying and promoting himself as versus his writing and actions don't always line up and pointing out the bigotry present in his work forces people to acknowledge and think about performative activism, which can make a lot of people very uncomfortable! It's forcing them to acknowledge "Oh, even if I'm saying all the right words and calling myself an ally, I am not immune to being bigoted if I don't address my internalized biases. My actual behavior matters." and that especially can feel like a personal attack. Especially in today's western landscape of media consumption being viewed as a moral act in itself.

I suspect this is why a lot of the retaliation against criticism of Rick and the franchise right now is "Why can't you just have FUN? You're just trying to hate for views. Don't take it so seriously! It's not that deep!" - they not only have no interest in engaging deeper in the material, but don't understand why others would, and doing so jeopardizes the foundations of what they consider the fandom. They can't fathom anybody legitimately having these criticisms (particularly not anybody who would ACTUALLY consider themself a "fan" - because their perception of "fan" is themself) because they're so resistant to digging deeper into the media/source material or the concept that anyone would for any legitimate reason (because as long as they keep it as "it's not that deep!!! it's just fun! just enjoy it you wet blanket!!!!" and take things at their word, they can feel secure in that performative aspect and not have to unpack it), and acknowledging that those criticisms exist and are valid means they have to acknowledge the franchise is flawed and imperfect, so they presume the claims are entirely superficial and the individual has ulterior motives rather than, yknow, doing what fandom does: diving deeper.

[duckys-extra]

Honest thoughts on DTS season 7 as someone who actually watched the whole 2024 season live and never missed a session (not even an FP1 or FP2)

Because yes I watch DTS, no it's not how I got into watching F1, but anyone who doesn't like that can stay mad 🤣

Also yes, a lot of my complaints are about stuff consistently on brand for DTS and they are things that apply to previous seasons too. I'm just an overshared with an opinion that I like to voice.

Things I liked:

Firstly getting Jenson on there was top tier best choice DTS has made in a very very very long time. At least they finally listened and got rid of Danica, wish Sky would do the same (hopefully? maybe?)

Red Bull and Mercedes both fumbled hard not taking Carlos into their teams.

George is not consistent enough and is too error prone to lead the team into greatness. There is a common running theme that whenever he has the opportunity to do something great that could prove him to be a force to be reckoned with, he fucks up. Vegas was the only exception but ngl I forgot he even won Vegas bc at that point in the season it was so difficult to see any significance in a win that wasn't McLaren, Ferrari or Max.

This isn't something that was said in the show just something I've seen people getting mad about, but I don't think we needed an episode dedicated to Lewis' Silverstone win. Anyone who watches the sport knows that the win was already overplayed and the British media kept that story running for not just weeks but months.

In connection to ^^ We did need an episode for Charles' Monaco win bc he's never won there, he's had notoriously bad races and probably some of the worst moments in his career to date in Monaco. So him winning the race there was big enough and important enough to justify it's own episode

The Singapore episode was easily the best. I hope they do something like that again. It was one of those simple but effective moves. I know certain drivers wouldn't do it but I think that group was the perfect drivers to choose.

The fact they held McLaren and their strategy accountable as that was what ultimately cost them several wins (though this also falls into the what I disagree with section for other reasons). I do like that they addressed that Oscar's Monza moment was massively costly to the team (imo Charles still had better strategy and probably would've won regardless but possibly less of a chance had Oscar not overtaken Lando).

Zak getting under Horner's skin was actually pretty hilarious. Like everyone was talking about Lando's mentality but like Horner can't even handle Zak celebrating wins without throwing out insults like a child. Funny tho.

Kamatsu is my Sheyla. Like oh my god protect that man at all costs please 😭 but also it was good seeing Haas get only one episode this season rather than half the damn episodes. Lowkey one of the best things that came from Gunther leaving.

Now things I heavily disliked, it's a lot so get comfortable:

The whole McLaren Hungary issue irritated me because in truth yes, Lando made the right decision on a moral level (ngl one I think he visibly regretted really but everyone around him was saying it was right so he had to agree especially with cameras around bc people would rip him a new one otherwise) but Zak saying that Oscar was the fastest on track for that race was actually a flat out lie. I watched live timing after they both pitted the first time Oscar just lost momentum and Lando gained speed.

The whole Lando vs Max thing and actually using the uninformed and uneducated argument that Lando "doesn't have the mentality" to beat Max was...pathetic tbh especially since even the likes of Max, Lewis and other great drivers disagree with it really. It's especially ironic that they comment about it when the people trying to talk down about Lando and use that never made it to the level of racing or winning races that Lando did in 2024...and he's still not even in his prime.

Not including Bearman's Ferrari race in Jeddah was disappointing, I think it was a key moment in the year, not just from Carlos' side which they did cover but from Bearman's. But they did cover his Brazil performance which was somewhat a redemption. It just lacked to shock of Jeddah where he beat Lewis and Lando with less than 36 hours notice. But hearing Ollie's radio and the fear in his voice did make me feel a little sick. I know he was fine but like I hate hearing fear in someone's voice like that.

Horner was acting like a bitter ex who got rejected again when he said he'd take Oscar. I'm not saying Oscar isn't a driver that everyone should want, however Horner has been rejected by Lando so many times now and not only that but 2023 Horner was publicly begging for Lando the same way Toto was publicly begging for Max in 2024. Like him getting salty and saying he'd have Oscar over Lando imo just proved that he's still not over that loss after publicly praising Lando as hard as he did.

Saw some people saying DTS made Oscar a villain. That's not how I saw it, maybe slightly in addressing Monza but it was far more that McLaren was Lando's villain by basically fucking up so many times. Whereas Oscar wasn't really made to be a villain, maybe a little cocky and overconfident but I feel like they've done that to every young F1 driver who is doin well. They did it to Max, Charles (the whole Charles vs Seb narrative for DTS was too much), Lando, Oscar is just the next one. It's not so much he's being made to be a villain, he's just growing out of the shy rookie phase that everyone praised him for when he first got into McLaren and I noticed that last year before DTS and even before his win. Essentially they are kind of covering Oscar's development of confidence in F1 and if you see it as a villain it's more on you than him bc I didn't get that vibe at all but it's probably just subjective stuff.

Would've loved to see the drama behind Adrian Newey's exit, I'm sure it wasn't dramatic at all. Probably just handed in his notice then dipped but like...I'd have loved to see the conversations behind it, bc there definitely was conversations that would've taken place.

The way they actively overlooked errors being made that weren't by the drivers but made it look like the errors were on the drivers...like aside from McLaren (and it wasn't even all the time for them) it just felt like the narrative was always that it was only the driver who could control if they won and that the team and car had no role in it.

Daniel being maybe a little out of touch when it came to his salary...like...he was still paid more than Yuki and while I might be a little oversensitive about the comment, but in today's economy and financial climate...he's a millionaire who as far I'm aware in 2024 was still residing in Monaco (however I could 100% be wrong on that).

Liam, I'm sure on a personal level he's an alright guy. I don't like him that much if I'm being honest and I think he plays it up for cameras acting like a bit of a prick to try and mimic Max but it just comes across as...desperation? It's giving...pick me girl vibes and everything he says is just...it makes me cringe. I know DTS is a big Daniel fan so they were always going to make Liam the villain but like he 100% didn't help himself. I do pity him a little bc like I say I'm sure his friends and family love him, but I didn't like him before the season 7 release and I like him even less now...

Not Daniel's biggest fan but they gave him false hope at Red Bull and that was just purely a dick move. Knowing he was really blindsided is pretty nasty.

Similarly, it was sad saying bye to Checo. Like the right decision was made but it was a hard watch bc anyone who watched 2021 knows that Max never would've won the title without him and he has had moments of greatness in Red Bull and before Red Bull it was a great driver to watch.

Would've liked to see some inside sight on Hungary from Red Bull's pov because that was a very significantly bad race that Max was visibly and audible angry in. Like racing Lewis and hitting him in a way that we got Monza 21 flash backs...I know they can't cover everything but idk it was a big moment in my eyes that really spurred on the turning point for Red Bull to realise just how bad they'd got

Alpine (I'm not particularly fond of either driver so my pov on them is pretty neutral, I don't favour one driver over the other), the narrative that Esteban was the issue with the car when on several occasions we saw him actually easily outperforming Pierre and vice versa. Though I'll note that Pierre's best performances comparatively to Ocon were when they stopped upgrading Ocon's car... we can take that however we want. However best decision Alpine made was deciding to drop one of them. Whether they dropped the right driver idk. Imo I don't think either is better than the other, in fact if I were to choose a driver pairing that was most similar in skill level from 2024, it would be Alpine by a landslide. They even have similar tempers, but Ocon absolutely has more aggression and imo is willing to risk more for success but it might come at the cost of his career entirely.

Flavio needs ban from the sport. He needs cut off from any connections he has within the sport. I'd not even allow him to watch races on broadcast. They never should've given him a platform. I'd have rather seen Oakes and Otmar's part in the Alpine drama.

It wasn't Netflix's fault but I hated seeing the sadness and pain that Carlos was going through from Ferrari.

[cm-punks-bbl]

Dude (Looks Like a Lady)

characters: Drew McIntyre, CM Punk

relationship: you guessed it, punkintyre

rating: mature

tags: cross-dressing, blow jobs, choking, internalized homophobia (for 2 seconds), degrading, name calling

word count: give or take 1800

summary: after Bash in Berlin, Drew loses a bet he'd made with Punk, forcing him to cross-dress, a bet he is not very happy about losing.

I don't write smut usually, this is my second attempt

anyway, please enjoy~~~~~~~

Punk slowly opened the door to Drew’s private locker room, still in his slightly blood stained ring gear. Drew sat on a bench, lazily turning his head upward to look at the man walking in.

“Get out, Punk,” Drew demanded, staring at Punk's sly smirk. He was in a terrible mood, in denial about the results of the match. Punk couldn't win, couldn't beat him. It had to have been pure luck, there's no other possible explanation.

“Remember the bet?” Punk asked, “The loser of the strap match has to cross-dress for the winner.” He was overjoyed, seemingly excited to see Drew in women's clothes. It would be so embarrassing for him! Such a big, muscular man, in a gorgeous, delicate dress.

“I do remember. At least let me rest, I'm tired.” Drew leaned against the wall, his hands gripping the bench. He was so exhausted and beat that he didn't even care about the bet, he agreed to it, he'd go through with it.

“So I can just go ahead and get you some stuff to wear?” Punk inquired, inching closer to Drew.

“Yup.” Drew only gave a short answer, desperate for Punk to just let him rest, give him time to reflect on his mistakes. He knew Punk wouldn't go easy on him, he'd make him go all out, holding back nothing.

Punk ran his hand through Drew's sweaty, wet hair, before quietly mumbling, “You’ll be my pretty girl.” He smiled, retracting his hand from Drew's hair as the Scotsman met eyes with him. He waved goodbye to him, leaving the room with a small pep in his step, despite his slight limp from the match they just finished.

~~~

“Just stand still a little bit longer,” Punk said, sitting on the edge of the sink in his hotel room, to Drew, standing in front of him, looking unimpressed. He thought it was so stupid, the smirk Punk's face was painted with as he carefully put red lipstick all over his lips. It was humiliating, the way this far less superior man had power over his appearance.

As the final bit of deep red lipstick was put on his lips, Drew huffed, staring at Punk like he was the worst man on earth.

“Calm down, big boy.” Punk jumped off of the sink, walking out of the bathroom, and sitting on one of the beds in the main area of the hotel room.

Drew gazed at himself in the mirror, disappointed in himself for letting this happen. Letting himself lose, and letting Punk toy with him like this. It only boosted Punk's ego, maybe even to new levels.

He walked out of the bathroom, watching as Punk laid clothes on the bed for him. A blue dress, short, with a corset design. It was amongst other things, though he focused solely on the humiliating dress. He felt nauseated as he glanced at Punk’s shit-eating grin, how proud that man must’ve been, how many deranged thoughts went through his notoriously malevolent mind. His intentions were never good, his morals were never there.

“You gonna change in front of me?” Punk laughed at his own joke, Drew not even reacting. His body was still exhausted, he wanted to beat Punk up, wanted to watch him bleed, wanted to put him in that stupid dress and see how much he likes it. Yet, all he could do was come closer to him.

Punk sat there shirtless, only wearing sweatpants. He intently watched Drew come closer, before holding the clothes and accessories out to him.

“I hate you Punk, you succubus. You have the whole world under your spell, except me. I know what you are.”

“Oh really?” Punk dismissed Drew, instead gesturing for him to grab the clothes from his hands.

Drew snatched them, storming off to the bathroom. He slammed the door behind him, locking it and starting to take his shirt off.

“That shade of lipstick looks great on you!” Punk yelled as the door was slammed. He knew how irritated Drew was, and he loved it. It was the greatest feeling, teasing his worst enemy. Drew couldn’t stand it, he hated being made into a mockery, and Punk took advantage of it for his own gratification.

~~~

Drew walked—stumbled— out of the bathroom, in that dress that complimented him so well. His boxers underneath were practically showing, the dress that nightmarishly short. He could barely walk, the heels he was forced to wear impaired his balance. His fists were clenched, his face bearing an expression of pure anger.

Punk laid eyes on him and a smile crossed his face. He was gorgeous, but, Punk was straight. He couldn’t touch Drew, no matter how alluring he looked. “You sure I’m the succubus?”

“What do you mean by that?” Drew stumbled to the bed, sitting as far away as he could from Punk.

“Nothing, it’s nothing,” Punk responded, his gaze set on Drew, though the Scotsman couldn’t help but notice the way his eyes wandered. Punk’s eyes were practically undressing him.

“The view would be better if you were on your knees,” Drew joked, pointing at the floor. He laughed, until he noticed Punk’s expression change and his face flush. “Is that a no?”

“It- it's a.. a, you know, go fuck yourself, or something,” Punk retorted. His thoughts were racing at a thousand miles per hour, his face almost as red as Drew’s lipstick. It was amusing to Drew, the way Punk’s confidence slipped away, his ego he's so known for, vanishing on the spot.

Punk became so lost in his own thoughts, he didn't notice Drew inching closer to him.

Didn't notice until he felt himself be shoved down, his back hitting the bed with a thud.

He stared up at Drew, eyes wide, confused. He wasn't a faggot, he didn't—couldn't— like this. It wasn't him, wasn't CM Punk. But here he laid, with Drew straddling his chest. He could see right up Drew's dress, could see Drew's boxers, and his-

No, no, this wasn't right. Was it? He's not a homophobe, but this was him and Drew. Two men who have fought for ages, argued for longer, hated each other for a decade. Could he really put all that aside?

None of that mattered, none of it, when Drew wrapped his hands around Punk's neck. “I'd bet this is what you wanted, yeah? This is the whole reason you made the bet. You're a whore, it wouldn't matter to you how you ended up,” Drew spoke.

He added pressure to the sides of Punk's neck as he heard the Chicagoan choke out a quiet ‘yes’.

Punk began feeling slightly light-headed, moving his arm to hold onto Drew's. His eyes began getting watery, glossing over as he stared into Drew's crystal blue eyes. Strands of hair obscured parts of Drew's face as he leaned down, biting Punk's bottom lip until it bled.

He released Punk's neck from his grip, instead running his hands through Punk's hair. Their mouths stayed so close they were practically breathing each other's air. Red lipstick stained the skin beneath Punk's bottom lip, small drops of blood dripping down his chin from the bite.

Punk didn't care about their rivalry anymore, all he needed right now was Drew. He felt paralyzed, weak to the Scotsman's every action.

He couldn't move unless Drew said so.

Couldn't talk unless Drew said so.

Couldn't think unless Drew said so.

And when Drew got off of him, and pulled him up by the hair, he went with it, until he was standing up. He looked up at Drew, the Scotsman was so tall with those heels, almost a giant.

He felt two strong hands on his shoulders, pushing him down to his knees. He didn't say a word, didn't make a noise, didn't even hesitate. He watched Drew sit back down on the bed, beginning to spread his legs.

“Get closer,” Drew demanded. He watched Punk crawl to him, noticing the parallels to Wrestlemania 40, when the roles were reversed. When Drew was the whore, the one crawling, though he did it to taunt. He placed his hand on the side of Punk’s cheek, letting the Chicagoan’s head rest on his thigh. He could feel Punk’s warm, soft breath, as he relished this moment of peace.

Punk slightly tilted his head upward to look at Drew, lipstick still staining his upper chin, and the blood now being close to drying. He moved even closer, close enough to lift Drew’s dress up only to press his tongue against the bulge in the younger man’s boxers.

In response, Drew bucked his hips up, pulling his boxers down to expose his hard and already leaking cock.

Without hesitation, Punk lapped up the precum beading at the tip. He took Drew’s cock into his hands, lightly sucking at the tip, before pulling away and kissing it.

Drew stared into Punk’s lustful eyes, that succubus, so eager to please. He’d never seen Punk look so content with something before, not even complaining once. He had braced himself for Punk to pull away and say something awful, and completely ruin the moment, yet, that wasn’t happening. “Have you done this before?” He asked, not giving Punk even a second to answer, taking a fistful of the older man’s hair and bringing his mouth back down on his cock. “You whore. How many other men have had their dicks in your mouth? You’re not even gagging!” Drew exclaimed… as Punk gagged.

Drew groaned, pushing Punk’s head down farther, thrusting into the hot, heat of the older man’s mouth. He watched saliva drip down his chin, collecting dried blood off of his lip. It was a gorgeous sight, seeing Punk wrecked like this. Punk did an amazing job keeping eye contact as well, looking at Drew with those beautiful, hazel eyes that had started collecting tears.

Before long, Drew was pushed over the edge, time feeling as if it slowed when he came down Punk’s throat.

He swallowed every drop.

Drew leaned back, his breathing almost sporadic as he came down from his high. Maybe cross-dressing wasn’t so bad, if this was the outcome. He lazily laid Punk’s head back down on his thigh, a few drops of saliva falling onto it.

“I know you’ve done that before, you arsehole, you had to. I know it. You can’t fool me,” Drew insisted, running his hand through Punk’s hair, practically petting him.

“I mean, maybe once or twice,” Punk replied.

“With who.” Drew had to know, maybe to kill whoever had the pleasure of receiving that before he did. Whoever got to see Punk in this vulnerable state.

“So first, it was The Und-” Punk was interrupted, Drew talking over him, not letting him even finish saying who it was.

“Such a whore.”

“And the last time I did it, was in 2023. With a guy really similar to you,” Punk continued.

“So you just do it with all your rivals? Everyone gets to put their dick in your pathetic mouth? Don’t tell me more. I don’t wanna know.” He was jealous, imagining all the fucked up scenarios in his head of how it all happened. He couldn't help but assume the worst, what if someone else hurt him?

[brickmvster]

a brief ramble post about owen

I don’t know how many people are going to agree with this, but here goes.

Sometimes, I feel like one of the few people that like Owen. The way the TLOU fandom usually demonizes him really irks me because people tend to have really one-dimensional views of his character, which is sad considering the fact that all of the characters in TLOU are complex and written in such a nuanced way. I honestly think it’s a little ignorant to demonize Owen just because he cheated. And before anyone yells at me–no, I don’t stand for cheating, nor do I think cheating is a good thing to do. What I am saying, though, is that only looking at the fact that Owen cheated and not paying attention to other aspects of his character is kinda silly.

Owen, alongside a few other characters, is one of the most morally sound, level-headed, and grounded characters in the game. In the midst of all the violence, he really stands out as a character that truly just wants to do good and is sick and tired of all the blood on his hands, metaphorically and literally. Yes, he cheated, and that’s totally not cool – but this is the man that spared Ellie, deeming it unnecessary violence. This is the man that wanted to go to Santa Barbara for a better life for him and his companions, even if the chance was slim. This is the man that told Abby he spared an old Seraphite that was on the ground, defenseless, and shot one of his own to protect who was supposed to be a sworn enemy. I find the conversation that Owen has in the boat with Abby to be so insightful on the kind of guy Owen is deep down. Owen cheating on his pregnant girlfriend was a completely irrational decision – but all of the TLOU characters have made completely irrational and even immoral decisions.

These characters exist in a world where they are often pushed to make these kinds of decisions. I think the writing team did an excellent job of depicting them as complex individuals full of contradictions and impulsions just like humans in real life. Absolutely none of these characters are perfect and that’s the point. To only define Owen as a cheater and to completely disregard the good parts of him is just doing a disservice to the wonderful writing in this game.

Nobody in this fandom completely demonizes Ellie for all the acts of violence she committed, and that’s because people are able to recognize that deep down, Ellie is a compassionate individual. She went on that revenge journey not because she’s just a naturally violent, bloodthirsty person but because she was driven to commit those acts and she felt like she had to in the name of justice; she simply failed to realize (until it was too late) that the violence she was committing would not help her achieve her goal of vengeance and that it was only harming the people she loved as well as herself. Most people are able to understand this and yet when it comes to characters like Owen, that kind of nuanced thinking flies out the window. It really doesn’t make sense to me. Mel also gets weird treatment but that’s another post for another time.

At the end of the day, I am definitely not forcing anybody to like Owen. But I’ve always felt that these characters are multi-faceted and deserve to be viewed as such. Also… if the worst thing a character in this game has done is cheat on their partner, that’s pretty tame compared to, oh I don’t know, murder and stuff. Obviously in the real world cheating is one of the lowest things you can do but in the TLOU universe? In the apocalypse where people turn into monsters in the name of whatever they’re fighting for? Where some people take the lives of others just because? That’s the last thing I would care about. Genuinely. Especially when there’s cannibals and transphobic cults running amok.

[raisedbythetv89]

I genuinely don’t understand how people can watch the body swap episode and enjoy seeing Faith inhabit Buffy’s body and WORSE objectifying (Faith)Buffy being like “omg she’s so hot she slayed so hard I love Buffy in black leather”

Not only is SMG’s FRIGHTENING thinness even more apparent in Faith’s traditional wardrobe showcasing just how much she is practically skin and bone due to her being under immense stress and being so overworked which always just tears at my heart in so many ways but we are witnessing the WORST violation of Buffy’s body and autonomy!!!! I’m genuinely just sick the entire episode.

Bad enough she almost gets Buffy killed and finally gets her wish of (temporarily) stealing Buffy’s life which she has wanted to do since her arrival in season 3 (only to STILL not understand Buffy’s perspective until she does it again in a far less invasive way in season 7 after Buffy allowed her back into her home and she still never properly apologizes she’s like hehe turns our your life is actually pretty miserable and I don’t want it because I can’t handle the stress and constant pressure you’re under…. Oops!🙃) but unlike when Willow takes Buffy’s free will and autonomy away (where she at least still retains all the memories after the fact of everything that happened so she doesn’t have to wonder and can process them when she’s ready) Buffy has ZERO CLUE what all Faith allows to happen to her body while she’s not in it. And Faith isn’t unaware or passive about the power she holds and the things she can do to Buffy’s body in the position she’s in - she literally tells Riley, BEGS HIM - to do all of the nastiest things he’s ever wanted to do “to this body” she WANTS Riley to do things to Buffy’s body Buffy herself WOULD. NOT. ALLOW. it is one of THE MOST insidious lines in the entire series to me because not only is that an absolutely stomach churning, bone-chilling thing to say but then after the fact when angel asks what Faith did to upset Buffy so much she’s like “I slept with her boyfriend” like UMMMM WHAT??? EXCUSE ME???? That is literally the absolute LEAST of your crimes bitch be so fucking for real. This horrific violation is minimized down to oh well Buffy is just insecure about sex and especially sex in comparison to Faith like GROSS GROSSSSSSS. The entire thing is SO DISGUSTING and misogynistic AND it is part of why I genuinely do not give A FUCK about the events of seeing red as far as my love of spuffy goes because while that was absolutely the most traumatizing to watch not only was it so completely out of left field and out of character that it just doesn’t make sense in the narrative and is so obviously joss whedon coming over the loud speaker and going “women who enjoy sex with men I don’t approve of should and always will be punished” but it is the ONLY time someone hurts her in this way and PROPERLY APOLOGIZES AND MAKES THE PROPER AMENDS!!!!

So until EVERY. SINGLE. violation of Buffy’s body is treated with the same level of outcry seeing red is by all the anti-spuffys I genuinely DO NOT CARE. I DONT CARE because I’m just so done with spuffy girlies having that thrown in our faces by the morality police who are listening to the tiny white male puritanical cop in their head.

ALSO the fact that Riley not only doesn’t think ANYTHING is off about Buffy (when Faith is doing an absolutely HORRIFIC JOB of acting like Buffy) so he not only sleeps with her BUT TELLS HER HE LOVES HER FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!??!?!?!? WHILE SHE IS LITERALLY PINNED BENEATH HIM?!?!?!?!? AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!! RILEY FINN I WILL KILL YOU IF IT IS THE LAST THING THAT I DO.

[mischivousvoid]

This might be a weird take, but I feel like people's recent hate of Ford and ignorance of Bills crimes in the GF fandom says less about the fandom and more about how well Ford and Bill are written.

It's a well-known fact that most people online can't comprehend complex characters. It's going to happen, like, everywhere. But why is there not as many people blaming or hating the complex character who actually is a villain of the story? The one objectively more in the wrong?(Y'know, Bill)

Because Ford feels real. Bill doesn't.

Bill is a supernatural entity that nobody expects to ever meet in real life, it's easy to disconnect from his flaws because he's a walking talking triangle. And most importantly, despite being openly evil, he's charismatic in terms of personality and stupidly entertaining to watch.

Not to mention that before the book of Bill, everyone was already blatantly aware of Bill being evil, what they discovered upon reading the book is the opposite - things that would make you sympathetic towards him, his hurt and inner thoughts, something people could relate to. So, of course people would focus on those more. And exadurate it. And frankly, it's exactly what Bill wants. He's manipulated everyone into liking him by showing this, because now he wants something from you, the reader. You're no longer the passive audience, Bill has reached to you directly and is trying to make a deal. He's performing for you specifically. "See, I ain't so bad:)". Obviously he kinda fails in his usual ways due to his misunderstanding of humans and emotional instability making him vulnerable. But ultimately, he still got what he wanted from some people...

Then what about Ford? Well, frankly I think the book of Bill pushed him more "in the front" and people have started to actually analyse his character rather than overlooking it on the surface level.

And discovered that, oh wow, Ford has flaws.

He's always had them, but they're hidden in his behaviour and the framing of the show that's seen through the eyes of Dipper and Mabel just doesn't paint him in negative light. And seeing as there isn't even that much of interactions between Mabel and Ford, it's more so through Dippers eyes, who deeply admires Ford. You need to dig to see the flaws and well people haven't collectively done so until now, focusing more on the characters with more screentime.

And now that they have it's like. "Oh wow, this guy is kinda... morally gray". And more importantly, they notices that he's self-centered(not selfish, self-centered, big difference!). Ford is stuck in his own head, he's distrustful and paranoid, he has unhealthy coping mechanisms. And it shows. He's not a blatantly terrible person, but he's made terrible choices and decisions and he's hurt people. And some of it is because he was manipulated and abused by Bill, but some is just because of his core flaw. The self-centeredness. It feels like Ford doesn't see past his nose, he deeply believes that everything revolves around him and the only truth is his truth. He needs to feel important, to matter. Desperately. It doesn't just mean that he sees himself as the hero, the saviour and the genius. It also means that in the low moments he sees himself as so much lesser than and that he's absolutely convinced everyone does. That he's convinced all his paranoia is at all times justified. He fundamentally cannot put himself in other people's shoes. And yes that hurts others, and it also hurts him because he jumps to the worst conclusions (such as about Stanley and his intentions) and he becomes convinced he has to be right.

Ford is also, and I'm sorry for saying this, questionably likeable. He's socially awkward and nerdy and many people like that, but it's just objectively not as charismatic. His attempts at being cool, are, well... dorky. And it's endearing in a way, but it's not raw charisma. It doesn't captivate and capture as many people as Bill's fun personality, it doesn't distract from who Ford is. And that's on purpose, because Ford's personality is real. And Bill is performing constantly as part of the act to conceal for bad he is.

If you've had the misfortune of meeting a master manipulator like Bill, oh boy am I sorry for you. But I bet for a very long time you were convinced that person is cool before you escaped them, the experience was almost surreal, right? You can swear they were so fun to hang out with, you didn't even notice when it's gotten so bad. Or maybe, you never even got close to them and on the surface they were just so fun and then you find out how horrible they are through the grape vine, and you ask yourself "wow, really, that guy?".

And truly, most people won't even meet a person like that.

But Ford? You've met a Ford.

In a way, at least.

You've definitely met someone who's so in their head they aren't always pleasant. And that guy doesn't care about appearances - he's not lying to you. Just doesn't see things in a different way. And they're open about it, they will tell you that they're right.

And I bet that, if you got close to a person like that, they unintentionally hurt you. They're not... all that, no. But they're dismissive. They don't understand. They hold grudges because they just can't believe your perspective, not even because they do not want to. They will fluctuate between never taking accountability and defending their actions to death and apologizing and agonising so much that you have to comfort them about their own mistakes because suddenly they're the worst person in the world and everything is their fault. And you know, it hurts. It hurts because you love them, because there's so many genuinely good things about them. But it's so mentally exhausting to keep up with their emotional issues that you slowly start resenting them anyway.

And if you have never gotten close to someone like that, perhaps if you didn't find a part of them charming immediately, you've still met them - you just found them mildly annoying. It's the "Um, actually" guy. The "correct your grammar and pronounciation" guy. Even if they're right it's just so. "God, they're a stuck-up asshole." Even if that's objectively not true because they volunteer to rescue kittens every weekend and have invented the cure for cancer.

And it's so much easier to dislike the real problem. You've never met a dimension destroying monster, nor someone who could control your body in a literal way, nor, you know, a "demon". (At least I fucking hope so?). You've met someone who didn't mean to hurt you but couldn't help it. You've met an annoying kinda stuck-up smart guy. And now you see that guy in Ford and you cannot unsee it and you're projecting your feelings.

[companion-showdown]

Who is your favourite companion?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

propaganda under the cut

Ace McShane

She's brilliant. One of the best written and developed companions of the classic series, such a template for the modern era. So many different fates and stories across the different media. If you don't love her in one you're bound to in another. And then she got her return in the new era to boot. Oh yeah; and beating the crap out of a Dalek with a Gallifreyan enhanced baseball bat. What a legend. she's... ACE! (@seven-times-champion /@elden-12 )

Ace is the natural predecessor to modern female companions. She's a fighter, smart, caring, an explosives "expert", a match for the Doctor despite being so young. She follows her own morality, will smash a dalek with a baseball bat no problem, and has a banging wardrobe! (anonymous)

Donna Noble

you already know who she is bc she's the most iconic companion of all time. imagine teleporting into the tardis on the worst day of the doctor's life (so far) and not clocking any of his angst and SCREAMING at him to take you back to your wedding not only is this THE funniest introduction it's symbolizing how she saw the doctor at their worst, underneath the front that they put up, and due to this she understands them on a level like nothing else and changes their life forever. "you don't just need someone to stop you, you need someone to keep you going". AHHHHHH. she isn't in love with the doctor she calls them out whenever they're being awful and need to be whacked on the back of the head. she is filled with so much compassion for the smallest person she reminds ten of the kindness that was beaten out of him and she is so so loving to everyone except for herself. she loves her trans daughter so much. she changed the narrative of the doctor back from the tragedy it was into something hopeful. healing is real and possible through the power of queerplatonic relationships actually. donna sweep or i blow up the website (@aq2003 )

[lakesparkles]

(I was originally gonna post this in the replies of the last ask but I got shy ;-;)

YES. YESSSSS oh my god. you and I. we're like the same. ramona's guilt was what drew me to her in the first place. it's so rare to find a character that truly struggles with feeling like a bad person, and bryan wrote it so perfectly. it's such a shame that this part of ramona never made it into any of the adaptations. he represented how domestic abuse affects victims so well, SO WELL. anyone who argues that being interested in gideon/ramona is bad has never experienced d/a. long-term abuse destroys you. it rewires your brain. it makes you obsessive and vulnerable and lonely but afraid of people. I was attached to my ex for years after we broke up. years after we stopped talking I still fantasized about earning his approval and love and affection. I think it's quite natural to obsess over similar situations, in a way. healthier than thinking about your own lol

bryan wrote gideon and ramona. so. well. I do wish he would have explained more about them, but what we did get (in the comics) was really personal and important to me. ramona's self-hatred, her misplaced guilt, her feelings of being an evil person who can't be saved... yeah. any time someone says "ramona was the real villain!" I do the biggest eye-roll ever. no, she's not. being a victim makes you do some terrible, terrible things to yourself and others but I don't think even that makes her evil. she's just a person

and yes. I love villains, and gideon is nowhere near the worst. the way that he's presented, especially with the tone of scott pilgrim, is very comedic. he's hardly evil in the anime/movie at all

I love. characters who struggle with morality and feeling evil so much. if I had replied on the last post from my main you could've seen my fave for the past year😭😭

-🦊

(oh don't worry at all, I know how it feels 😔)

You understand me so much, reading your asks even comfort me in a way, thank you for this <3 EXACTLY!! And when I find a character who feels this way... They're usually written in a way that I can't relate to. But Ramona is very different, it was like she was translating my own feelings into words and I could finally understand what I felt, in the first place.

And you're surely not wrong or alone for being this way, with me it was basically the same. I don't see my ex for seven years (?) and I still think about her all the time. I wonder how different things could've been. I wonder if I was the one who acted wrong (not surprises, this is what happens after you have a relationship with someone who manipulates you to believe it).

This is exactly the reason Ramona is so important to me and why Gideon and her are the best representation of an abusive relationship. Many people are afraid to show that, when you're a victim of it, you don't feel good about yourself. In fact, it's like you feel guilty and ashamed for the longest time. And, even worse, that this kind of relationship has good moments too and this is the hardest part. When my ex was nice, she was VERY nice.

I love villains, however, Ramona is NOT EVEN CLOSE to being one. I haaate when people say this about her... But let's be real, a big part of the Scott Pilgrim fandom hates women :( and yeees, Gideon is just "normal villain" level to me. He's bad, he's showed as bad but many of his scenes are funny. Bryan himself doesn't take his seriously and, most of all, he's a loser. I love him for this.

Now I'm so curious about your fave haha but like I said, don't worry at all!! You're always free to reply with your main or DM me, but only if you feel comfortable doing so ^^

[le-panda-chocovore]

ShiuToji Lovers I have a new gift for you

The thing with Toji is that the man is a bastard. He is a pure asshole with no shame or morals. He loves violence and gore, he kills people for fun and doesn't make an exception for women and children. He's a freeloader too, he chooses carefully his victims and uses his charms to crash at their place for a night or a week. When he leaves, there's always some money and food lacking from their place. He feels no remorse about that. Let him in your home for five minutes and he'd find something to take. He can't be trusted with anything, except for the work he's so good at.

Shiu knows that. He knew that since the moment he met the man. Toji wasn't a respectable person, he wasn't someone he wanted to be associated with on a personal level. He was the best man when Shiu had a job to give, but the worst for almost anything else.

That doesn't stop Shiu from sleeping with him occasionally. Because if there's one thing Toji can do better than killing, it's fucking.

But the other thing with Toji, which kinda is Shiu's main problem right now, is that this asshole becomes the most adorable person once his desires are fully satisfied. He's extremely lovely after an orgasm, he gives the best aftercare Shiu has ever experienced. And he's super soft and sweet when he just wakes up and is still half asleep.

So now the sorcerer killer was cuddling against him, his head hidden in Shiu's shoulder but it didn't stop Shiu from feeling the soft lips caressing his naked skin. Toji leaves kisses on him like a bee flies from flower to flower to collect pollen, with care and airiness. He makes his path to Shiu's jaw, kissing it dearly, and the man can only melt under that attention.

"You're making it very hard for me, you know ?" Shiu whispers before his brain can stop the words. He used to be able to control himself, but now every touch weakens him. Makes him want to pour his heart open for the man he calls to kill people.

Toji's hand gently strokes Shiu's hip and brings him closer, as if their bodies weren't already glued together. Toji's lips end on the corner of Shiu's mouth and both of them let out a pleasant sigh.

"What am I making hard ?" Toji asks with the low voice of a man who just woke up. Shiu felt his heart aching.

Trying to not fall in love with you, he almost says, but he manages to keep the thought to himself. He can't let him know. He can't let himself fall for a man whose only use of romance and attraction is to have a place to sleep.

"My dick," he says instead, because it's easier to pretend that all of this is just for sex. That their relationship doesn't actually exist outside of the silent deal they have.

Despite Toji's lovely kisses and soft caresses and tight hugs, despite his sweet smile and his calm voice when they're alone in that apartment, they aren't a couple. And they are not going to be one.

"Oh yeah ?" Toji laughs, and the sound is so precious to Shiu's ear that he has to hold his breath. "Wanna go again ?"

Another kiss, on Shiu's lips this time, makes his heart stop. Maybe Toji is planning to kill him. Maybe that was his plan all along. If so, it is working. And honestly, Shiu won't complain about that way of dying.

"Sure, if you're in the mood."

It's not hard to pretend he just wants to fuck. Toji is incredibly sexy and attractive so it's not really a lie. Shiu already wants him.

"Get me in the mood and I'll make it good for you then~"

And the asshole bites Shiu's lips like a hungry whore. With a moan, Shiu reached down to grab the bastard's cock and choke it without too much strength. Toji let his lip go and went for the tongue, making the other man moan louder. He knows exactly how to make Shiu react and is fully playing with that. Not that Shiu is complaining.

It's easy to change the mood, to go from a softy morning to a horny one. It's easy to distract himself from the panic of his heart by choking on his secret crush's massive cock. It's easy to shut the romantic thoughts with lewd noises.

It's less easy to let the man go after. When the sun has fully risen and both of them are clothed and up, the magic is gone. Shiu knows Toji doesn't like him back, so he lights up his cigarette and closes his eyes when the man leaves. He tells himself that he should stop playing that game because he's really falling and the contact with the ground will be brutal. He won't recover from that hurt.

But when Toji finds his way on him again a few weeks later, two hands on his ass and a range of teeth planted in his shoulder, Shiu can't resist.

What a bastard, really.

[calicomccoy]

I can't be only one, right...?

I wanted to finish the game and then write this post but I gave up. I put in 100 plus hours and just could not go on once I got into act three. Maybe no one will hear my pitiful cry from the void, but I must scream for the sake of my sanity.

I was completely and utterly disappointed by Baldur's Gate 3. 

It had huge maps like an open world game yet I had no desire to explore the settings despite their beauty. It had hours of dialogue as an RPG would and yet I found myself skipping characters' responses. The game mechanic structure was inspired by DnD, a story-telling game dictated by some rules, lucky rolls and the extent of players' imagination, yet I was strong-armed into fighting impossibly stacked battles. A story-telling game dependent on the players’ attachment to their and their teammates' characters and yet this game lacked any kind of narrative consistency or depth of feeling. 

Larian wanted to make an open world RPG, based off of DND mechanics and somehow did the worst version of all three. The studio touts that Baldur’s Gate 3 has 17,000 possible endings and 2 million words, but to what end? What did this game have to say about what happens when people rise to the challenge and become heroes despite their circumstances or fall into the dark and become the monsters they were supposed to fight? What did it suggest might happen when fate deals you a bad hand but in doing so also helps you find true friends or love with the other? Ultimately, nothing. 

BG3 is so large that it ends up being incoherent. No writing or game structure decisions were made to keep the narrative tight and on theme. It urges players to choose a moral alignment, but most decisions, good or bad, seem to end up having little effect in the end. To play the game at all you have to resort to save scumming and that in turn deflates the possible impact of so many plot points of the narrative overall. 

Forcing players to save scum in order to progress through the game is terrible design in general. Statistically speaking the bosses make impossible critical hits again and again. I was playing in the game’s “casual mode” and found myself struggling to get through confrontations with bosses that were at a lower level than my own. If you are reading and thinking oh well you are probably not using tactics or spells well, etc., let’s do a little experiment…

Take your d20 (https://rolladie.net/roll-a-d20-die if you don’t have one in person). In the third act of BG3 I had an AC of 13 as a sorcerer with 100 plus HP. Roll your d20 ten times or more. How many times out of ten would your character have gotten to hit mine successfully? Unless an enemy is extremely lucky it should be unlikely that an enemy could hit my character every turn they get. And even if they do they would have to roll for damage which is only a single d6, d8, d10 or d12 plus a modifier at lower levels depending on your class. Again an enemy would have to have an extremely lucky roll to hit me every turn AND deal significant damage. During an in person DnD session that is just a bad night for my character. In a video game on casual mode that is significantly suspicious. 

So what you might say. You've made and enjoyed the fanart, memes and etc. You got your $61 worth of playtime. So many other people were fine with the game, what is your problem? 

I love video games. They blend so many artforms and tell stories in ways never done before. It is a medium unique to our current century and when historians look back they will view video games as an insight to our culture. 

It frustrates me to no end that Baldur’s Gate 3 is considered the next gold standard. Too many games have done open world and RPGs in a fantasy setting far better for Larian (Swen Vincke) to have made the design and writing choices they did with BG3. There are so many podcasts and shows that have written better stories through the DnD format. I am embarrassed for the medium as an artist and frustrated as a player. Players and the industry deserve better than to have artists, actors, engineers etc. burn themselves out creating maximalist behemoths like this game. A game that is beautiful but basically unplayable, narratively, nihilistic and incoherent. 

[linkspooky]

Tossing Yubel at you like they're a football for the Yugioh character ask meme C:<

Why I like them

I procrastinated this for days because I knew it was going to be long. Well, here we go.

So my favorite thing about Yubel is how unique they are? Literally any series that wasn't Yu-Gi-Oh would have just killed Yubel as another bad victim. Welp, it's too late to save them. If only we got to them earlier. Now I'm going to kill them while shedding a single tear of regret and then I'll go back to my happy life with all my friends.

I literally wrote an entire meta about this topic.

But no, Judai literally cannot progress as a character unless he saves Yubel. To begin with Judai is Yubel. They reflect each other in the worst way possible. Take Judai's friends away and he turns into the supreme king, so Judai has no moral highground to condemn Yubel for becoming what they became after they were forced to endure torture all alone in space for years.

Yubel isn't really written like an antagonist. I mean, they're literally Judai's spirit partner. Even if when they show up in the anime, they are a spirit partner who has been abandoned and now acts like a jilted lover.

Just the way they interact with the story too. A lot of mastermind characters rely on plot convenience, or they are plot devices to set the story into motions. Yubel is at all times a fully three dimmensional character.

Yubel's not a master manipulator controlling everything behind the scenes like an unseen puppeteer, but they are manipulative. We see them prey on several character's weaknesses several times with characters like Cobra and Amon. They're just good at reading people and take full advantage of that ability. This is also like, not something we're told, but shown. We see Yubel pick apart Amon entirely in the two times they duel.

Things go according to plan because Yubel is smart and adaptable, not because the plot needs these things to happen. Yubel doesn't always succeed either. They get defeated by Johan at first, and they need to retreat, and recoup their losses. At which point Yubel switches to plan B. They're not smart because they always succeed or saw everything coming to begin with, but because they have multiple contingencies to their plan. They knew they might be weakened by having to duel so many times in a row, so they set up Amon to succumb to the darkness in his heart so they can feed on said darkness later.

Yubel certainly does put Judai into situations, but in the end Judai's bad choices are all his own. Yubel just, knows Judai really well, better than anyone else in this whole world and they take full advantage of that fact. Yubel is fully aware of the flaws that Judai is blind too (because Yubel loves them wholeheartedly in spite of those flaws).

Yubel also just demonstrates like, a protagonist level of determination. You just cannot beat Yubel down. They burn up in space and then manage to survive even as a literal hand crawling on the ground. They get their body destroyed again and just take Johan's body. Their entire deck is built around the fact that you can't deal damage to their monsters. If you try you take damage instead. if you destroy their monsters, another, more powerful form comes out.

Which is just a metaphor for the fact that Judai cannot solve this situation by killing the victim. Yubel won't conveniently go away, because they are the symbol of Judai's flaws, and you don't make your flaws go away by ignoring them. In fact, Judai ignoring Yubel and failing to take responsibility makes HIM LOOK BAD because he's failing to be a hero or a good friend.

Everything in the whole series is set up that Judai is supposed to save Yubel. His deck is literally themed after heroes. Judai has the power of the gentle darkness, his whole theme is "Darkness can be used as a force for good, while light is corruption" flipping traditional light and dark themes on their head, and Yubel is like, also darkness.

Judai gives a speech to Cyrus on how even if his friend made all the wrong choices, he would stay by them until the end. When Judai becomes the supreme king, he's saved by O'Brien and Jim not because they wanted to be heroes but because they wanted to help their friend. Even Sho ends up watching Judai to the end because he remembers his advice.

The climax to the second season of the show was Edo despreately dueling to save his friend who was also completely corrupted by the light, and then begging judai to do so in his place when he failed. Edo and Saiou even temporarily combine into the same person when Saiou's good half helps Edo duel the light possessed Saiou.

It's just like wow look at hos with antagonist is weaved into every aspect of the story, and even goes back and makes the first two seasons seem like they were building up to this. Way to make everything that happens in season 3 one long journey to the moment where Judai will save Yubel.

The utlimate bad victim and as I said this is the Bad Victim Supporters blog.

I think also the way that Yubel is never painted as "Too far gone" and the way they are also right in several ways. Like Yubel's view of love is twisted but they also kind of show a deep understanding of it. You do in fact hurt the people you love from time to time. Yubel's love is actually just a twisted definition of empathy. They believe that the definition of love is suffering the same exact pain, and that's what empathy is, understanding someone else's suffering even though you're not them.

Yubel seems off their rocker, but like they are more mature in their understanding of love than Judai who's never had a healthy friendship until Johan came along and even then became too fixated on him.

Also just, the fusion scene at the end is the most beautiful act of true love I've ever seen in fiction. People can call it codependent and messy all they want but like... this is fiction. The whole point of Yubel is that they are a bad victim, but at the end of their story, Judai and Yubel are two bad victims who can go on a journey of self improvement together after they've been saved at their lowest points.

Yubel is to Judai a reflection of all of his worst qualities and everything he hates about himself, which is why Judai rejects them for so long but even though Yubel is so flawed they love Judai for all of his flaws and they accept all of him. You can be loved at your absolute worst and I think that's just. So gay.

What I like about their appearance

Yubel is a rebis which is a half man half woman alchemy symbol, and that's what I like the most about their appearance the symbolism associated with it. Literally the people who wrote GX did their research on alchemy and they wove it into almost every aspect of the story.

Also, Yubel looks like a devilman character, specifically Ryo Asuka which is really fucking cool.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?

Same name. Though, I hate the dub version of Yubel. Completley different character.

OTP

Soulshipping.

NOTP

Don't have one.

OT3

This is probably an unpopular opinion but I don't actually ship any of the OT3s that are like, Judai / Yubel / Someone else. I don't Notp them or anything, I just like Judai and Yubel being the embodiment of "Hand in unlovable hand."

Favourite card they use

Yubel.

Their entire deck is symbolic of the fact that you can't put them down with physical violence, you can't make them go away, you have to accept them.

However, I also like the fact that Yubel runs like 3 diffeerent decks. Advanced Crstyal Beasts, Sacred Beasts, and Yubel. How often do we see Yu-Gi-Oh characters actually run different archetypes?

Favourite moment they were in

This entirescene and the super polymerization right after. it's probably my favorite scene in all of fiction tied with Spike hugging the cross in Buffy, I love it in in so many ways.

The way that Judai had been resolved to just kill Yubel to save the world before this. The way that this scene demonstrates what I've been saying above all along that while Yubel's love was twisted, it's genuine, and it's what humanizes them. The way that Yubel represents the best and worst aspects of love. The way that Judai like, instantly changes his mind after seeing this scene and decides to keep the promise he made in his past life.

I have various opinions on why he did that, but I think in the end he realized that Yubel's love was indeed genuine and unconditional. That love humanized Yubel in Judai's eyes finally, because love is what makes us all human.

Judai is also like giving Yubel what they wanted all along, which is a relationship between equals. Yubel gave up his personhood in order to protect Judai, and now Judai gives up part of his personhood in order to fuse with Yubel and spend the rest of his life watching over them just like he promised. Sometimes fairy tale endings and gestures of true love conquering all are good things, actually.

Least favourite moment

That Yubel is only in four episodes of Season four. We should have gotten so much of Yubel and Judai acting like partners and talking to each other the same way that Yugi and Yami do, but that's what fanfiction is for I guess.

[nnightskiess]

❀˖° willa ༘⋆✿

"when your disaster is everyone's disaster, how do you grieve?"

ོ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ོ

⋆* full name: willow grace rodgerson

⋆* animal: blackbird

⋆* traits: sensitive, attentive, just, moody, (extremely) optimistic, level-headed, resourceful, smart, creative, sneaky.

⋆* football position: winger or attacking midfielder (but mostly a bench player)

⋆* love interest: mari. though shauna definitely had suppressed feelings for willa.

⋆* friendships: mari, akilah, nat & van, shauna, misty.

⋆* face claims

⋆* teen willa: violet brinson (undecided)

⋆* adult willa: alexandra breckenridge (or rachelle lefevre)

⋆* willa's wife, toni (antonia): maria-elena laas (undecided)

ོ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ོ

some tidbits from her wilderness storyline:

⋆* Has the worst case of homesickness, and this does not bode well for her in the wilderness. This turns her into one of the 'babies' of the group, even if she's basically the same age as the others.

⋆* ⋆* Willa takes photos for the school yearbook committee. So she takes her camera and lots of film with her on the nationals trip to Seattle to capture the journey to victory of the Yellowjackets. Willa's camera survives the crash, and she occasionally takes pictures of nature, wildlife, the team and their survival. The pictures get more eerie and delirious as time passes. Shauna is quick to snatch her camera off her one day when she sees her constantly walking around with that thing, and is paranoid about what's on there. However, the team take it up for Willa, since her camera is her last thread of sanity and normalcy keeping her from completely losing herself. Tai tells Van she's contemplating making the camera disappear when she's worrying about loose ends. The film never gets seen again and thus never gets developed after their rescue. Or...?

⋆* She has a lasting scar going from her chin to her lips from debris that flew through the cabin during the crash. One of her lower teeth on the side got chipped, too.

⋆* She's not afraid to get her hands dirty and spends her days foraging or crafting helpful things, anything to get her mind to stop spiralling.

⋆* Willa doesn't eat Jackie, initially. Just like she refused to eat any of the animals at first. But she had to put her morals aside when she kept fainting. During the night of Snackie, she sticks close to Ben, wary and scared of her friends for a while. It isn't until she passes out from hunger again that she takes some food handed to her on a promise that it's a small rabbit Nat and Travis happened to find. She realises later that she was lied to, even if it was for her own sake. She reaches a dark place and loses her sense of self, barely able to live with the knowledge of what happened (oh bbg get ready, the worst is yet to come). She loses hope for rescue and the light in her eyes simmers after each setback that follows. It all chips away at her, taking something from her every time. Ben's death and how he was treated already sends her close to the edge, especially since he was such an older brother figure to her and she feels partially guilty for his demise, but her true breaking point isn't until Mari's death.

⋆* Having said that, Willa remains very hopeful for their rescue for months. So much so, that it infuriates the others. Because let's face it, it's not happening anymore. No one's still looking for them or they would've found them already, and Willa talking about going home, seeing her parents and sleeping in her own bed again, only brings down morale at this point.

⋆* Willa is beside herself when Mari doesn't show up for the longest time after her fight with Shauna. She searches the woods for hours on end. She finds Mari the next day, when the girl's hopping back towards camp on her painful knee. As her best friend clings to her, crying from relief and pain, Willa listens to her spill everything about Ben. Together, they come up with a believable story. Once at camp, they try to stick to the story they fabricated to keep Ben safe, but fail. Badly. We know the rest.

⋆* The wilderness fucked her up. Like, truly, badly, deeply, horribly, needed-years-to-normally-function-again fucked up. Willa goes completely mute after her best friend Mari dies during the hunt and she cries and panics the entire time the hunt lasts. She tries to help Mari by stalling the others, but Shauna catches onto that quickly and singles Willa out. Willa doesn't let her do so without a fight. When she sees Mari's corpse being dragged through the snow, bloodied, impaled and stripped from her clothes, she gets sick. After the hunt, she becomes a ghost. Especially since she isn’t allowed any time to mourn Mari or pay her respects when she immediately gets cut open and dehumanised. Willa changes into empty eyes, rigid posture, head down and a curtain of hair shielding her face. There's zero energy left to talk, or think, so she just... exists. She doesn't come out of her hut anymore and never looks anyone in the eye. She's basically just as dead as Mari, the only difference being that Willa still has a beating heart. Some of the others try to look after her but get zero reaction to their pleas to eat something, leftover Mari, wash up or get warm by the fire. Van avoids her like the plague and feels guilty and worried watching Willa's decline. Lottie tries to coax her out of her stupor too, but only makes it worse by saying it was what It wanted, that it was an honourable sacrifice and that It is pleased. If Willa only lets It in, she can find peace and comfort in her grieving. Shauna can't handle Willa's silence and gets restless because of it, taking it as a sign of defiance and hatred. Willa is then further pushed to the edge by Shauna when she can't find Willa's film rolls or camera during a hut sweep and Willa finally snaps. She goes so crazy that even Shauna backs off.

⋆* Talking about Lottie... since Willa is seen as one of the more 'innocent' among them at first, Lottie feels as though the Wilderness wants Willa to let It in, and that because of her innocence, it will be easier for It to speak through her too. She constantly tries to gently start up a conversation, comforting her when she's crying about missing her parents or trying to get her to eat meat, because It wants her to be strong, not starve to death. Mari even encourages Willa to let Lottie help, telling her Lottie's being genuine, because she is. The seance, the bear and all the other things making Lottie stand out are intriguing, but something doesn't feel right. Willa's afraid and hesitant that if she fully gives in to It, she'll have to shed who she was before the crash, stop wishing to go home, and truly accept she'll never leave the wilderness. She can't do that. She won't be tethered to that place.

ོ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ོ

some tiny pre-crash snippets

⋆* Willa was a very sensitive girl, definitely not ready to take on what was in store for her.

⋆* She was coddled a lot by her parents because they had trouble getting pregnant, lost their first baby and almost lost Willa too. So, she grew up very shy and sheltered and didn't get out of her comfort zone. This became a problem when she started middle school, so they signed her up for the soccer team tryouts. Willa was not scholarship-great at soccer, but good enough to make the team. She didn't mind being a bench player and actually quite enjoyed bringing the support and the orange slices to each match. She had a better strategic view anyway, which Ben tried to nudge coach Martinez to incorporate into their play from time to time. Jackie made it her job to welcome and accept Willa like they'd all been friends for years. It worked. Through her bond with the team and her new friendships, Willa started to finally stop being a wallflower and grow into herself.

⋆* Having said that, Willa was bullied a lot in school before joining the team and was a bit of a loner until she was part of the Yellowjackets. The bullying didn't stop entirely, not until Mari happened.

⋆* She was closest to Mari in school, which seemed like an odd match at first (wallflower and popular girl), but it made so much sense. One day, Mari witnessed Willa being bullied and she felt a strong urge to step in, and completely obliterated her bullies. Willa doesn't fully start to trust and commit to her friendship with Mari until that moment. Mari made sure Willa didn't miss out on any teenage experience: having sleepovers, going to parties and playing spin the bottle with classmates, drinking from her parents's liquor cabinet and at least skipping school once. In return, Willa showed Mari what true friendship and loyalty felt like, finally making Mari feel like she had one best friend she trusted, could rely on and knew through and through, instead of having friends who hung out with her simply because she was popular. Lots of late-night milkshake drives, shopping at the mall, making friendship bracelets or watching cheesy chick flicks after school. Their cubbies in the locker room were also next to each other.

⋆* Initially, Willa is also on pretty good terms with Shauna, but this connection severs when Shauna starts hating Mari more and more and thus, by association, you, as you and Mari grow even closer. There were also definitely… feelings there, on Shauna’s part, at least.

⋆* Willa is the only one who gives Misty the light of day. Willa felt bad and asked her to get slushies and cheeseburgers once after training when Misty tried and failed to invite herself to another one of Jeff's parties. She also lets Misty sit beside her on the bench during matches. From then on, Misty considers Willa her best friend (unbeknownst to Willa), even during adulthood.

things i'm still debating on:

⋆* Was Willa the one to place the phone playing 'Queen of Hearts' in the restaurant restroom and is she secretly fucking with Shauna, because she still holds a grudge against her?

⋆* Is Willa rumoured to be alive in the adult timeline when some of her wilderness photos turn up in a new book or documentary or on someone's doorstep, just like the tape? Which, at first, Melissa is also blamed for?

⋆* Do other photos she took show up too? Maybe some that Willa took while secretly following adult Shauna? Photos that can incriminate Shauna and still tie her to Adam's murder?

⋆* Adult Willa reveal when she's in the same diner booth with Tai and Misty at the end of 3x10, ready to stop Shauna's destructive streak?

⋆* Willa is still plagued by Mari’s death and there has never been a day she hasn’t thought of her best friend.

ོ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ོ playlist

hunter (the cacophony) - paris paloma

pier 4 - clairo

blackbird - the beatles

wings (acoustic) - birdy

no return (lottie's dream sequence) - alanis morissette

Very nervous about this because I haven't really shared an OC like this before, and it's always scary to share something that you love and worked hard on. But I've loved diving into Willa and expanding her character. Willa has lived in my mind and notebook ever since watching the first season, and after the season finale and the loss of Mari, I finally felt like putting it all together on here. And seeing as we'll likely have to wait another 1-2 years for season 4, this will be the perfect thing to keep me occupied.

I'll add to her story/character or tweak things as I go.

I'll probably make a post one day about her ties to every teen character and more about her adult storyline 🖤

𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐢 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 🤍

[south-sea]

i've been promising it for ages, so here are finally some notes on the two iterations of black arms/doom i write for. in this house we ignore the "black doom is an evil space tyrant for the sake of being an evil space tyrant" thing and have fun exploring his motives from different angles

(it's because i had no idea that was even a thing until like a week ago. i've always thought the motivator was Just Food, and i like that significantly more.)

i like to think of eclipse's paternal qualities as something telling to black doom/the species as a whole, at least outside of canon instances. so that's an intentional trend across both.

it's also intentionally implied the alt arms are more or less what aruna's hive could/would have turned out like if he were less traditionally stubborn and foolhardy.

as for their plans and how things ended up:

alt doom started out as generally interested in how humanity might progress. once in contact with gerald, his plan was to trade his DNA for the chaos emeralds as a source of energy for the black comet, as its at-the-time power would have been mostly depleted by the time it circled back around in 50 years. this agreement was doomed to fail; both he and gerald almost immediately realized how badly it could backfire, got paranoid, and mutually planned to destroy each other. the fact humans are good sustenance for the black arms was just a convenient bonus at that point.

given shadow didn't make it past SA2 on this timeline, it left sonic to defeat the black arms. and in sonic fashion, this meant putting them in their place and sending them packing without properly destroying them.

alt doom is not so much one to accept he's been beaten, and more one to re-approach something from a different angle once he realizes his methods were flawed. this leads to him picking up and just going Somewhere Else. he's a scientist too, on some level. he can figure it out. and he does. rather than being all traditional and stubborn, he learns to work with other species, which in turn leads to securing better/more diverse materials, more ethical/convenient food sources, etc. the arms' population booms and advances at breakneck pace from then on. they diversify and spread out. without having to fight for survival, things are chill. it's considered the good end.

aruna's is the bad end. shadow is present on this timeline, and summarily wrecks his entire shit (for good reason).

the trouble with aruna's hive is it was in a constant state of nutritional deficit. they were the multiverse's scavengers, tending to pick planets clean whose populations were already critically low. not for any moral or ethical reason, just that the hive itself was so comparatively small in numbers, they didn't much have a choice.

this led to desperation. he got Tired of it. his last ditch effort to secure some means of easier travel/means to acquire food was to obtain the chaos emeralds. so he struck a deal with gerald, as these things always go.

he comes back 50 years later, finds his son has sided with the humans, and just snaps. just goes absolutely nuclear. if the deal isn't going to be upheld, and shadow sees the black arms as The Enemy, then he's just going to take the emeralds (and by extension the whole planet itself) by force. he's done playing nice. he and his people are starving. have been starving for enough years he's lost count.

this ends with the entire comet being blown up, and that's the last thing he sees as he's falling back to earth.

what all goes on after that point is between nobody but him, the multiverse's worst and, somehow, eventually, a familiar fallen god. (it's going in another aruna-centric post, some day, maybe, i hope.)

there's even still more i could say about how their respective hives operated and how they interacted with them personally, but that also needs to go in another post because this one's already long enough. but oh man is there more to say.

(and a shoutout/direct link to @motobug as always for the mobian design)

[shelteringyourdna]

so I was just Thinking some Thoughts, as one does when one cannot sleep, and i was wondering about the saddest book I’ve ever read (either The Raven King [Sakavic, not Stiefvater] or The Sunshine Court) and the book that I was told was super super sad (A Little Life) and now I have to rant. for those of you who have read A Little Life, the book was probably advertised to you in a similar way that it was advertised to me: “this is America’s saddest book”.

and while it is true that ALL is very sad, i have some thoughts on it that I’d like to share. if you haven’t read it but you want to, this is your time to back out and avoid spoilers. also: tw for SA and abuse, and whatever else is in AFTG and ALL.

as I read ALL, I kept wondering about the amount of foreshadowing around Jude’s trauma. when I was finished, I was floored by the writing (impeccable) and the plot itself (???). i constantly felt like Jude’s trauma would vary from place to place, but it seemed like the only form of trauma that the author even considered including was that of sexual assault and abuse. and while these are topics that should totally be discussed and written about in the literature world, it seemed so unrealistic that as Jude went from state to state and place to place that his trauma would only relate to sexual assault and abuse.

and while I do realize that thousands of people across the world have suffered immense amounts of trauma from SA and abuse, when I read Jude’s past I couldn’t see his trauma as anything but exploitative and used for shock value. it also seemed like the author did surface level research on PTSD from SA. before anyone in the notes says that they thought it was accurate, I myself am a victim and it only ever felt like a Hollywood-type piece of media wherein everything is written to gain revenue. there was also very little trauma related to anything BUT sexual assault and abuse. none of it was tied together in any way (I.e., brother Luke didn’t know/wasn’t related to Dr. Traylor in any way).

one thing I truly despised was how Jude responded to all of his trauma. no im not talking about his SH. i’m talking about his half-assed thoughts of, “oh woe is me I’m the worst example of a person ever.” i say these thoughts were half-assed because it seemed like they were never really taken anywhere other than to the people around him, who responded, “no you’re not!! stop hurting yourself!! we’re trying to help you get better!!”

and Jude never got better. there were honeymoon periods, but the author always threw in something new to make his trauma resurface. he also never truly threw himself into getting better, he only ever seemed to make empty promises and then continued to wallow. and in other characters’ povs, it never seems like Jude does anything wrong EXCEPT FOR WHEN HE’S NOT ACTIVELY DOING SOMETHING TO BETTER HIMSELF. it’s only when he is not taking care of himself that others get mad at him in any way, other moments of anger are fleeting and eventually just lead to absolutely nothing.

to sum that all up: there was no moral related to trauma responses or PTSD or healing. there was no true resolution for Jude’s trauma. and the feelings that Jude seemed to have around his trauma always came back to, “I deserved it, I’m the worst person ever, I hate myself,” even when the things that he experienced were so egregious that I had to put the book down. everything was so cliche to me, to the point where I didn’t ever notice if Jude even had a personalized response to his trauma, if there was anything that wouldn’t be found in some clout-fishing TikTok about battling depression where you can practically see the person reading lines off of a poster behind the camera.

of course, take what I say with a grain of salt and don’t let my opinions of the book influence whether or not you read it and enjoy it. many people loved it and I admire the author’s use of words and her writing style, I just think her use of sensitive material for plot value was mediocre at its best.

now: The Sunshine Court.

made me cry. i have only praise for this book and so many thoughts surrounding it, but I’ll try to only talk about Jean’s trauma because that’s what my rant on ALL was about.

in TSC, Jean also experiences some very extreme trauma, and he also resorts to SH, and he also thinks that he deserved it. in my opinion, the difference between him and Jude is the authenticity.

Jean’s trauma mostly stems from his time at the nest, and I say this because his backstory has not been discussed in detail yet. but his trauma is brilliantly discussed and here’s how:

one: he is a person outside of his trauma. he makes fun of people to himself! he does the dishes and cooks!! he’s honest and brutally so!!! not much else to say on this, but I loved that every pov with Jean didn’t always talk about his trauma.

two: the two biggest triggers for him (biting and water) don’t relate!! they are two separate points of concern. biting comes from getting assaulted comes from Grayson. water comes from water boarding comes from extreme punishment comes from Riko.

three: his SH isn’t cutting himself. i realize that cutting is the most common form of SH, but there are other ways that people choose to hurt themselves that aren’t talked about at all. Jean claws at his throat, he tries to scratch the feeling of getting bitten off of his skin. he doesn’t go for the knives in the kitchen.

four: last but most certainly not least, he starts getting better!! he doesn’t just make empty promises, he actually tries to be better! and his line of recovery is. not. linear!!!!! recovery is never linear, and I thought that Nora showed that wonderfully in TSC. he goes back and forth between thinking of the Ravens and being at peace in the present, his past and present aren’t one big flashback.

overall, TSC can be summed up like this: it has a moral about healing. it doesn’t exploit trauma for shock value or revenue, it utilizes one person’s specific response to his own trauma to show how healing and recovery can happen sometimes. and the character actually tries!! he doesn’t wallow, he tries to get better!

anyway. if you made it all the way through, I appreciate you. and if you haven’t read one of these books, I strongly suggest both of them so you can form your own opinions and come to your own conclusions.