#or either she ra cast

[waterfire1848]

I'm back with my Masters of Universe brain rot so...

What sibling interactions and headcanons do you have for the twins, Adam and Adora?

Thanks for the ask!

Yay for MOTU brain rot!

Okay...hmm....

- Adam steals Adora’s jacket from time to time because he think he looks cool.

- Adora and Adam impersonated each other once (in robes and hoods) and it worked for one minute.

- Adora has ridden Battlecat into battle and Adam has ridden Swift Wind.

- Adam can’t handle Etherian food and Adora can’t handle Eternian food.

- Homosexuality is common on both Etheria and Eternia (a little more so on Eternia).

- When Adam and Adora met, everyone else stopped fighting because the two looked exactly alike. Adora and Adam didn’t notice it and continued to fight until Glimmer and Teela, respectively, pulled them apart and showed them.

- It took another week for them to realize they were related.

- Mermista joked that the Princesses should get the title of Masters of the Universe because they’ve actually been into space.

- (In more recent He Man shows they’ve been making jokes about the 80s pun names and jokes) The MOTU cast would lose their minds when they learned everyone’s name on Etheria.

- Both Adora and Adam can fall asleep anywhere.

- Adora didn’t want to meet Marlena and Randor for a while. She only joined Adam to meet them about a year after finding out he was her brother.

- (She Ra 2018) - Adora was suspicious of the Sorceress when she first met her.

- Adam and Adora have strength and endurance tests.

[raviosprovidence]

This is such a dumb fucking post because holy shit, IT DID! Y'all saying it didn't either ignored the entire first four seasons, or just straight up think gaslighting, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and forcefully mind controlling someone and fantasizing about how you'll make them kill their friends is perfectly fine (yes, the latter thing did happen within the show, check out the episode White Out)

The problem is that CATRA SAYS 2 SHITTY APOLOGIES AND THATS IT. There is barely any acknowledgement on 90% of the bad shit she did. Nothing on calling adora stupid in a derogatory way. nothing about the excessive amount of violence or the insane amount of gaslighting done within the show. Hell, they didn't even acknowledge the fact that catra nearly destroyed the world out of spite and thus, *indirectly killed someone*. Never acknowledged!

We DO like less sanitized queer stories! When they're actually given the weight they deserve and characters doing shitty things aren't constantly excused or told that they're in the right. Gen V is pretty gruesome and that's very lgbtq+ friendly and not sanitized. Arcane is leading towards a lesbian romance and it's FAR from sanitized and child friendly. Everything Everywhere All At Once (though not technically a queer focused story) casts a lesbian AS THE ANTAGONISTIC ROLE against a straight woman and no one had a problem with that! Bottoms! Exists! The fact that it exists and got as popular as it is shows that this is just wrong.

Y'all just didn't watch the She ra . I unfortunately paid attention. Having a character get brain washed, apologize twice vaguely, and then kiss the main character doesn't excuse all the prior abuse that character committed.

[kabutoden]

Is it possible that I could get either Marvus or Chahut as bugs, please? :]

Gold rule chahut!

All trolls feel anger, but trolls with cooler blood colors might be culled for losing their temper inappropriately around warmbloods and putting them in danger. As a senior, Chahut cares fiercely for her underclassman of her caste and aims to be a role model they can look up to. Surprisingly, despite their differences, she respects Marvus' laid-back personality as a different method of attaining the same thing. Chahut would've liked to be an artist, but purplebloods and art have a bad history, and she felt her responsibility to her caste came first. She takes business and politics classes. Teachers hold her opinion in high regard, and she's the first to vouch for younger trolls looking to enter tracts outside their caste assignments.

Chahut knows all the trolls in her dorm, but her adherence to being role model means she's not friends with them but more of an RA. She's also avoided getting into quadrants with the trolls in her classes because she's not looking for drama. Her closest friend is a young blueblood who she helped get into the art tract--she adores watching Amisia grow as an artist. Chahut lives a bit vicariously through Amisia's achievements, and will rarely sketch when hanging out with her closest friend.

Chahut obtained icons of the Mirthful Messiahs from her ancestor and practices the religion in secret. To be caught would mean she'd be culled, but it means too much for her to stop.

[generouskittentidalwave]

Watching the She-ra reboot after 5-6 years

Hey remember that show in 2018 that came out on Netflix during Tumblr's Twitter era and stirred up enough toxicity to turn you into Dave the Skeleton in the highschool science classroom?

Well BUCKLE IN for a RIDE cause I recently watched that show for the first time after avoiding it for YEARS, after seeing the fans and the haters be so devoted to either the fans praising it like a godsent deity or haters devoting their whole life to finding something wrong with every aspect of the show that it makes you wonder if they realized that they've become the Catra that they sought to destroy, I decided to avoid even touching the show and went about my life in other fandoms.

Well years have passed and like a Hallmark movie time abruptly went on and the drama soon faded, the tides have settled, the war has ended, and neither side remains the same. The fans have grown up, matured and enjoy the show as it is and the haters have lost all that sweet sustenance back in 2019 and have went the ways of the DoDo. With everything finally settled, I joined in on the rush of new fans recently that started rewatching the series and wanted to display my thoughts as well as a first time watcher ^^

I went in well aware of all the criticisms in mind, and having seen the original She-ra, and I just gotta say that my worrisome thoughts on watching it was completely washed away from the start of the show. I was worried of Adora being that one marysue character that is from the bad guys side but is actually a good a guy with the personality of white bread and with flaws of just being "a little bit QuiRkY" but she completely shooed away those fears. She is a well balanced character with a unique and well done backstory, her character breaking away from the steriotypical chosen ones and her having flaws that don't take away her being a good person but instead have their own charm and relatability that makes her very fun and down to earth. She is so golden retriever coded and I love it. What I like most though is that she wasn't "random main character comes in to lead everyone to victory out of nowhere" , instead of making her the unsaid leader, they made her the main character who is the muscle of the group and part of the heart and has to learn overtime and understand their ways instead of making her the leader. It makes way for her to pave and earn her way as being the main character instead of it being given by default by making her the leader and I love that break away. And that break away also helps to counter the fears I heard about the white savior trope by making Adora the way she was and making Glimmer and Glimmer's mom the queen the actual leaders of the rebellion that they helped start.

Love the best friends squad, I love Glimmer's growth and her bond with Adora, I like how she went downhill and built herself back up again as a person as it was very realistic with her being so young and having to replace her mom as queen. Bow is my spirit animal, period, but I really want to know more about his huge family. I imagine that because they are all historians they must go to the academy or similar academies that Bow was meant to go to and I can see why they wouldn't question him not being there as 12 siblings is A LOT to keep track of. Swiftwind is great but he shall always be known as Horsie and the queen's sacrifice hurts everytime I see it, I love how she owned up to her own flaws. Shadowweaver messed up being a mother figure 3 times, she needs parenting classes fr, 'nough said. I love all the princesses but Mermista is my personal favorite. Also why is aunt cast named Castaspella, I can't even say it without dying of laughter 💀🖐️

Now I know some of you are sitting at your computer with 5 monsters in hand and sweat anxiously dripping from your forehead as you dramatically hover over the keys just WAITING to write a five page essay response if I even dare to utter the name Catra and her relationship with Adora. So, I'ma give you my opinion.

Honestly, their romance was the end goal since the beginning and the story made that clear and honestly I like Catra's growth as a character from her knowing she has anger issues and actively working on it to better herself, helping to save others and helping to save Adora in the end. Her realizing that pushing others away to protect herself only harms her and everyone around her in the end and her realistically taking it slow and steady to better herself as a person for herself and for Adora is something a really like. Yes their relationship was hella toxic, especially in the middle (but I do like how Adora recognized that and punched Catra when they were in the portal). The build up was great, the middle ground of her doubling down was great, and I think her growth at the end was great and that the two are happy and not in a toxic relationship with eachother anymore at the end. I think what truly makes it odd is although the redemption was great the time constraints made it so they couldn't flesh it out to help answer and address the past actions that were caused by her, they did so great with her slowly becoming better and better, and so it wouldn't have come off as bad as it did if they had just a bit more time to address everything with that instead of being forced to dive right into it which definitely left a- well- less than good impression to it's audience. But they tried their best with what they could do and honestly for a show as surprisingly dark as this I'm just glad they aren't in a toxic relationship anymore and are happy in the end and that Catra got redeemed. It definitely wasn't trying to romanize abuse, however it came off as such due to constraints and them rushing the ending which gave plenty of ammo to people who already hated the show to have a reason to hate it more. In my opinion if you don't like it that's valid, if you do like it that's valid, me personally I'm not a romance person so I couldn't care enough either way.

Now to address some things I know some people are waiting for, but in speed run fashion. Mara's She-ra design was the fault of the designers not agreeing on what they wanted her to look like, I was expecting her to have brown flowing hair not blonde, I get the stripping of individuality message they tried to go with, it just needed better designers and better execution but that's as deep as it goes. It's not that they are racist, they are more along the lines of "you need a more organized team cause her design changes every five seconds like wtf" kind of situation. I'm glad they didn't automatically forgive Hordak or accept him but I'm glad he was changed enough to not be a killer that's mass murdering people anymore and as long no one is dying by his hands anymore and people don't automatically forgive him then that's fine by me, whatever keeps others from dying a horrible unnecessary death.

Overall, in conclusion, love the show, great depth, great characters, love the humor and amazing magical girl transformations, awesome rep, stronk princess punching things, would most definitely recommend, especially now with all the wave of chaos it's initial release sucked in now evaporated. (Seriously there are full tags and blogs deticated to hating a show about glowing princesses fighting aliens, it's okay to not like a show but come on people there is more to life than that 💀) Enjoy it, have fun, and I hope you have a great day/night! ^^

[couldtransitionsaveher]

Archetype Exploration: Perfect Soldiers

(Hey, please look at this blog's pinned post before reading this post; it gives a lot of context for the lens I'm looking at these characters through, k thx. also, shoutout to @finalgirl-nihilbliss for guessing the archetype)

CW: Abuse, Projection, Surface-Level Media Analysis

If your comfort character exhibits any of the following symptoms:

constant brooding

face frozen in a perpetual scowl

possession of a "dark past" they don't like to talk about

frequent blank stares into the middle distance

constantly trains for something uncertain

You may have just found yourself in the presence of a Perfect Soldier.

Perfect soldiers are characters who were groomed, often from birth, for the sole purpose of inflicting harm on their fellow man. These characters are efficient, tactically-minded, and above all else, violent. Perfect soldiers will often excel at combat and strategy, but struggle with emotional sensitivity.

Note that just because these characters are violent and closed off now doesn't mean that this is their natural temperament. Often, perfect soldiers have some kind of natural compassion that was stomped out through years of abuse training. This can come in the form of a sole loved one who tragically died, but more often than not, it simply manifests as a soft side sanded away.

If the Perfect Soldier doesn't start that way, who is to blame for their transformation? In sci-fi and fantasy, this transformation is usually caused by a morally corrupt institution built to churn out perfect soldiers (the Jedi Academy, the Galalunan Military Academy, the Space Marine Legions, etc.). Other times, perfect soldiers are groomed raised by a cruel and abusive father figure (Endeavor, Bro Strider, Belos, etc.). Some settings even blend the two by having an institution with a twisted general (think Shadow Weaver from She-Ra).

Typically, if a perfect soldier has a character arc, it's usually one of healing and letting go of their anger. This almost always contains at least two of these three steps in the order of your choosing:

The perfect soldier leaves the institution of their torment, either by circumstance or by excommunication. Once on the outside, they'll typically find that their raw might is irrelevant to their survival, and they'll instead need to rely on their lacking social skills. This exit from the comfort zone will prompt the soldier to learn a lot of people skills, typically leading to a "softening up" of sorts. Note that this doesn't have to be a literal escape from a physical place. Rather, it could just be a character being outside their guardian's zone of influence.

The perfect soldier discovers some imperfection with their guardian/institution. Perhaps there's some kind of inconsistency in its moral values. Other times, the soldier finds a secret the guardian/institution has been covering up. Whatever it is, this will prompt the soldier to question their leaders' infallibility.

The perfect soldier meets a person who shows concern for them in spite of the soldier's outward hostility. This outside party will likely witness or hear about the perfect soldier's tumultuous upbringing and take pity on them. This will likely prompt an attempt to reach out to the soldier, something which may or may not be rejected. Whatever the case, this act compassion will likely stick with the soldier, and prompt them to think about their own worth.

An arc like this usually resolves with a direct confrontation with the abusive mentor(s) who turned them into a weapon of war. If the soldier is a member of the supporting cast, this may come in the form of some heroic self-sacrifice, usually to protect the aforementioned outside party. Alternatively, if the soldier is a protagonist, their confrontation will likely be much more active, and may even be a proper fight. The soldier tends to win this fight either with the power of friendship or compassion but this isn't a strict requirement. If the writers really want to get spicy with it, they might even spare their tormentor, really leaning into the idea of abandoning violence (note that this runs the risk of coming off as a "forgive your abusers" narrative).

Alternatively, the lack of a grand confrontation can be a form of narrative resolution in and of itself. Living well is the best revenge, after all, and showing that our former perfect soldier has moved on to a happier, more peaceful life can be a far stronger statement of growth than a glitzy fight to the death.

(This is the part where I tie this whole thing back into the gimmick of the account. If you just wanted a Trope Talk style summary of the archetype, you've seen all there is to see. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to do your daily clicks.)

Why do you keep submitting this?

So, out of all the characters that I've seen submitted, this is easily the most prolific character archetype. At the time of writing, somewhere between 40-50 characters that have been posted roughly fit this archetype, and that's not including any of the characters I haven't posted yet.

Why do submitters connect this particular trope with trans women so damn much?

Firstly, it's important to consider that in most western fiction, the soldier is an inherently masculine archetype. From the classical epics of the Odyssey and the Iliad, to the superheroes and action stars of modern-day blockbusters, there's a very real conflation between a character's manhood and a character's capacity to do violence. A lot of mainstream military propaganda does the same, suggesting that men who enlist are more "authentically masculine" than those who don't. This archetype serves as a critique of that idea; it shows us that this masculine ideal can be, and often is, a soul-crushing experience. In a sense, the idea of transitioning serves as an escape from this image.

Furthermore, it's important to consider what this character arc is actually about: a miserable character discovering that a better life is possible, and making steps to achieve personal peace. Often, these characters are fiercely loyal to the institutions that take advantage of them. These characters are often fine with it because they can't conceive of a better world. Once that's presented to them, that's when they start to leave. Frankly, given that a lot of people still don't end up knowing about trans folks until they're adults, I'm surprised more trans people don't connect to characters like this.

Finally, this arc gets back to the core question at the center of this blog: could transition have saved her? The archetype, in its construction necessitates a level of misery, ergo it implies that the character needs saving. It's no wonder these characters tend to garner a lot of Hurt/Comfort fanfic (Anakin Skywalker alone has more Hurt/Comfort fic than some of my favorite fandoms period). There's an inherent desire for these characters have better lives, and maybe some estrogen could do it.

This is my best guess, anyway. If you have thoughts, feel free to share them.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

07/01-02/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Gizmo Darby; Rhys Darby; Taika Waititi; Vico Ortiz; Kristian Nairn; Samba Schutte; Adopt Our Crew Charity Raffle Results; Teal Oranges & Garlic Soup Week ; Fan Spotlight: Cast Cards; Never Left Podcast; Our Flag Means Fanfiction; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Today's Taika

== Gizmo Darby ==

Rhys has been active posting about Gizmo on Facebook!

Source: Rhys Darby's Facebook Stories

== Rhys Darby ==

MORE TURAL commercials! Please don't stop Rhys, these are so much fun.

== Taika Waititi ==

Taika out cooking with Andy Hearnden!

Source: FloodyWastaken's Instagram

== David Jenkins ==

Okay so this isn't exactly a Chaos Dad Sighting, but it IS a sighting of David and Kinga's new pup SimoneLeBone.

Source: David Jenkins Instagram

== Kristian Nairn ==

Some more shots of Kristian from his trip to Yorkshire Comic Con

Source: stuwhittaker_photography Instagram

== Jes Tom ==

Some shots of Jes at their show Corporate Pride!

Source: Jes Tom's Instagram

== Vico Ortiz ==

Guess who's coming to Florida Supercon 2024? You guessed it! Vico! It'll happen in Miami Beach, FL, July 12-14, 2024. To buy tickets, visit: floridasupercon.com

Source: Vico Ortiz' Instagram

== Samba Schutte ==

Guess who else is going to be at Florida SuperCon? Samba! Once again, it'll be at Miami Beach, FL, July 12-14, 2024. To buy tickets, visit: floridasupercon.com

Source: Samba Schutte's Instagram

== Adopt Our Crew Raffle Winners ==

Adopt Our Crew's Charity Raffle Winners have been pulled! Wanna see if you've won? Visit any of @adoptourcrew's socials! Tumblr / Instagram / Twitter

Source: AdoptOurCrew Tumblr

== Teal Oranges & Garlic Soup Week ==

I ran out of image space last issue but I wanted to highlight some more fabulous work-- this time check out @watercolourcritters and their fun and adorable submissions for @garlicsoupweek! I absolutely adore the sweet tenderness in each drawing. I also can't get over the awkward family photo, it made my day <3 Feel free to check them out over on their tumblr or Instagram | Etsy | Tip Jar!

Source: @watercolourcritters Tumblr

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Cast Cards =

The darling @melvisik gave us yet another fantastic crew member tonight, Nancy Hennah! She's also an "Emmy submission (Outstanding Period or Fantasy/Sci-Fi Make Up for Calypso's Birthday) P.S. Did not know she and Ra were married!" Also, thank you to @xray-vex for mentioning, she's the fantastic crew member that brought Ed's Tattoos to life!

Source: Melvisik's Twitter

= Never Left Podcast =

Episode 24 is out! This week they're talking about Ed and Physical Touch! Check them out on Spotify or at on their https://linktr.ee/neverleftpodcast!

Source: Never Left Podcast Instagram

= Our Flag Means Fanfiction =

New mini episode of Our Flag Means Fanfiction - this time Murders at the Inn by ahopelessnecromantic! Read by Carly Heath. You can find it on your favorite listening platform on their https://linktr.ee/ofmff!

Source: Our Flag Means Fanfiction Instagram

== Loves Notes ==

Hey there lovelies. It's been a rough couple days for everyone, everyone I talk to is either not sleeping or having a bit of a rough time of it. Please remember to get some rest. Take a break, drink some water, step away from the computer, and go outside for a while. If you can, sit in the sun for a few minutes, take your shoes off and run them through some grass. Remember that the world is still turning, and it is lovely, and it is beautiful, and so are you.

Take care of yourselves lovelies <3

Some love notes from thelatestkate:

Source: The Latest Kate's Tumblr

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika ==

Just a reminder one of the reasons we love this show. Those smiles <3 Today's gif courtesy of @livelovecaliforniadreams!

[doamarierose-honoka]

Batman is back with a vengeance. Three years after HBO Max and Cartoon Network first announced Batman: Caped Crusader — the adult-oriented animated series that was eventually canceled by the since-renamed Max streaming service, only to then be picked up at Prime Video — the new Batman TV show is about to hit the small screen. Set in 1940s Gotham City, Caped Crusader is described as "a reimagining of the Batman mythology through the visionary lens" of executive producers Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond), Matt Reeves (The Batman and The Penguin), and J.J. Abrams (Alias and Lost).

"We are beyond excited to be working together to bring this character back, to tell engrossing new stories in Gotham City," Timm, Reeves, and Abrams said when announcing the series in 2021. "The series will be thrilling, cinematic and evocative of Batman's noir roots, while diving deeper into the psychology of these iconic characters. We cannot wait to share this new world."

Below, ComicBook is shining the Bat-Signal on everything we know so far about Batman: Caped Crusader, including the voice cast, release date, and the rogues who will populate the first solo Batman animated series in more than a decade.

Where Can I Watch Batman: Caped Crusader?

To watch Batman: Caped Crusader on Amazon's Prime Video, you'll need either a Prime Video subscription ($8.99 per month with ads, or $11.98/mo for ad-free) or an Amazon Prime membership ($14.99 per month with Prime Video ads, or $17.98/mo with ad-free Prime Video).

Batman: Caped Crusader Release Date

All episodes of Batman: Caped Crusader will premiere Thursday, August 1st, on Amazon Prime Video.

How Many Episodes Is Batman: Caped Crusader?

Batman: Caped Crusader season 1 consists of 10 episodes. In 2023, Prime Video announced a two-season order for the new series.

What Is Batman: Caped Crusader About?

The official description: "Welcome to Gotham City, where the corrupt outnumber the good, criminals run rampant and law-abiding citizens live in a constant state of fear. Forged in the fire of tragedy, wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne becomes something both more and less than human — the Batman. His one-man crusade attracts unexpected allies within the GCPD and City Hall, but his heroic actions spawn deadly, unforeseen ramifications."

Who Voices Batman in the Batman: Caped Crusader Cast?

The Batman: Caped Crusader voice cast includes Hamish Linklater (Midnight Mass) in the title role as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Christina Ricci (Yellowjackets) as Catwoman/Selina Kyle, Jamie Chung (Gotham) as Harley Quinn/Dr. Harleen Quinzel, and Diedrich Bader — a DC veteran whose credits include episodes of Batman Beyond, 2006's The Batman, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and the Max adult animated series Harley Quinn — as Two-Face/Harvey Dent.

Announced cast members in as-yet-unrevealed roles include Mckenna Grace (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire), Toby Stephens (Percy Jackson and the Olympians), Reid Scott (Venom), Dan Donohue (For All Mankind), Gary Anthony Williams (Hailey's on It!), Jason Watkins (The Crown), John DiMaggio (Futurama), Krystal Joy Brown (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power), Michelle C. Bonilla (9-1-1: Lone Star), Eric Morgan Stuart (Fallout 4), Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), and Minnie Driver (The Witcher: Blood Origin).

Batman: Caped Crusader Villains

A cast announcement video revealed Linklater's Batman voice and the Dark Knight's rogue's gallery: The Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face, Harley Quinn, the pyromaniac Firebug, Natalia Knight (in the comics, a reformed career criminal with photosensitive skin known as Nocturna, the mistress of the night), the phantom criminal called Gentleman Ghost, and Clayface (the Golden Age Clayface of the 1940s was Basil Karlo, a once-famous character actor and makeup expert turned costumed killer). Caped Crusader reimagines Dr. Harleen Quinzel as Asian American — and Bruce Wayne's psychologist. Here, her alter-ego as the jester-costumed Harley Quinn is independent from the Joker, who is noticeably absent from the roundup of Batman characters.

Batman: Caped Crusader Characters

Batman – A cold, remorseless avenger of evil, seemingly more machine than man. Forged in the fire of tragedy, every fiber of his being is dedicated to the eradication of crime. (The Batman suit is influenced by the character's earliest appearances in Detective Comics, by creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger, with longer, narrow ears, a collared cape, and with black gloves rather than the original purple.)

Bruce Wayne - To the public at large, Bruce Wayne is a shallow dilettante, apparently wasting his parents' vast fortune on frivolous pursuits and hedonistic pleasures. In fact, he's an elaborate facade, carefully constructed to divert attention from his activities as Batman.

Selina Kyle / "Catwoman" – Selena Kyle is a blithe and pampered heiress whose family lost their fortune after her father was imprisoned for embezzlement. Despite having the silver spoon yanked from her mouth, Selina refuses to quit living in the lap of luxury and becomes Catwoman as a "fun" way to maintain her lavish lifestyle.

Dr. Harleen Quinzel / "Harley Quinn" – Despite a personable and bubbly demeanor, Dr. Harleen Quinzel is a brilliant psychiatrist who treats some of Gotham's elite. However, as Harley Quinn, she is a different person, entirely. A creepy, quiet, calculating menace who secretly dispenses her twisted justice to the truly despicable among her elite clientele.

Commissioner Jim Gordon – Former beat cop close to retirement, Gordon was hired to play along with the corrupt system and run out the clock till he can draw a pension. But they've sorely underestimated Jim Gordon. His unassailable character brings him into conflict with dirty cops and crooked politicians, alike. Not to mention, he has to reckon with a deranged vigilante beating up Gotham's criminals.

Clayface – Thanks to his "unique" facial features, screen actor Basil Karlo has been forever typecast as a B-movie heavy. Frustrated by the limitations his appearance put on both his career and personal life (he fell hopelessly in love with his co-star), Karlo turned to an experimental serum that promised to change his face. However, not only does this serum ultimately disfigure his face, but it ruptures the last of his sanity – creating the tragic, vengeance seeking villain, Clayface.

Batman: Caped Crusader Creators

Batman: Caped Crusader comes from Warner Bros. Animation (My Adventures with Superman, Bat-Family), Abrams' Bad Robot Productions (Lovecraft Country, the Star Trek films) and Reeves' 6th & Idaho (2022's The Batman, The Batman – Part II). Along with Abrams, Reeves and Timm, Batman: Caped Crusader executive producers include head writer Ed Brubaker (DC's Batman comic, Gotham Central), James Tucker (Justice League Unlimited), Daniel Pipski (The Penguin), Rachel Rusch Rich (Castle Rock), and Sam Register (Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One and Part Two).

[rainbowolfe]

Shamura's Name

When you look up a name's meaning, and can only find one source that gives it one, I take with a grain of salt. And I don't think "the Parentz dot com" is a particularly reliable source. So Shamura meaning diamond? I reject that. Wholly.

There's Shammuramat, the name of an ancient Assyrian queen, but we don't actually know its etymology. It's assumed it means something close to "high heaven", based on a similar ancient language. Based on how Tiamat is thought to mean "one who embodies the sea", Shammuramat is likely in the same vein. "One who embodies"... something.

With no real way of finding the meaning of just "Shammura" in Assyrian, I took a different route.

Anura, Darkwood, even Anchordeep to an extent, have very literal names. So let's assume Silk Cradle does too.

We have six places that we consider the "cradles of civilization": Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient India, Ancient China, Caral-Supe, and Olmec. They're considered the starting points of civilization as we know it.

And one of these cradles also happens to be the birthplace of silk. Ancient China. Silk Cradle is likely just a clever reference to that.

If we consider Silk Cradle to be Shamura's place of origin, then Shamura's name is most likely either Chinese or Japanese.

Now, I'm not as familiar with Chinese, so someone might have to correct me on this, but there is no "ra" in Chinese. The closest would be "re" but I was having trouble finding a fitting character for it.

However, I do know Japanese! "Mura" appears commonly in Japanese names as both a prefix and a suffix. It means village. Its use in names generally translates to [from the] "X" Village. For example, Nakamura means "Middle Village" and Yamamura means "Mountain Village".

"Sha" has many meanings, but the most relevant one is most likely in reference to Shinto Shrines. Specifically a type of Tudigong, the title granted to the local earth (or soil) deity. The literal translation would be "Lord of the Land" or "Lord of the Earth".

Tudigongs are at the top of the divine pyramid, save for Houtu, the overlord herself. Below them are the Sheji, the Shan Shen, the City Gods, and the Landlord Gods in the order.

So "Shamura" would translate to [from the] Earth Deity's village.

Which leaves only one question. Who was the Lord of the Earth about 3000 years ago?

Ala.

Ala is the deity of the Earth, Fertility, and Morality. She is considered to be the ground itself, so to disrespect the earth is to disrespect her. She rules over the underworld and casts judgment on humans. And she seems to play a similar role in-game based on her Relic descriptions.

Her symbol is the crescent moon. She's also represented by pythons. And not only is the crescent moon the shape on Shamura's Crown...

It's also the symbol used for the Seal of the Bishops, the relic that freezes time.

But that's just an observation.

A SERIES of observations.

[n7punk]

She-ra Cast Live Autograph Signing Stream via Streamily (August 17th, 2024)

HUGE thank you to @hauntedbycatra for capturing the stream, editing it (as you'll see later, there were technical difficulties) and suffering through the upload times to share this with those who were unable to view it live!

This stream featured Karen (Glimmer) and AJ (Catra) together with Aimee (Adora) coming in long distance via Live. Karen and AJ signed group prints, with Karen also having time for her solos, and Aimee signed her solos as well.

Aimee's signature will be added to the group prints Wednesday, August 21st, but it hasn't been announced if that will be livestreamed as well (doubtful). ND's date to add his signature and stream (if there is one) has yet to be announced either. He's out at Flamecon right now.

[selfaware-bungou-stray-dogs]

THANK YOU, EVERYONE, FOR 1000+ FOLLOWERS!

Thank you, everyone, for your comments, reblogs and likes. Thank you for your asks. Thank you for your support.

😊😊😊

And, as a little celebration, I want to start an 'event'.

Self-Aware BSD AU x SAGAU Imposter AU Crossover

"If you weren't alone"

What would happen, if Reader were transported into Teyvat with someone from BSD Cast.

I want to write a series of headcannons/short imagines.

Rules:

1. If you want some general headcannon/prompt, send me next ask: "BSD Character Name, SAGAU"

2. If you want to see some specific interaction, or characters being in specific region, send me next ask: "BSD Cast Name, SAGAU, Region, and/or, GI Character"

3. You can ask for organisations (ADA, Hunting Dogs...), smaller groups (Flags, Buraiha...) and specific characters.

One ask - one organisation

One ask - one group

One ask - up to three characters

4. Oda's kids are considered as a group and as one character at the same time. You can ask for two more characters with them.

5. Elise are Mori's 'plus one'. She won't fill a character spot. You can ask for two more characters with Mori. Same with Elise, Mori is her 'plus one' without taking a spot. However, you can ask strictly for Elise/Mori. In that case, they will take one spot.

6. You can ask for both OG! Manga and BEAST! Characters. Character list are under the cut.

7. It's short fic/imagine or pure headcannons event. While I will keep this ideas in mind for a future, I won't write full fics for now.

8. Karl and Ayatsuji's cats are viewed as 'plus one' for Poe and Ayatsuji, and won't fill free character spot, leaving two more spots. You can ask not to include them.

9. You can ask solely for Karl or Ayatsuji's cats. In that case, they will fill characters spot. Ayatsuji's cats viewed as one character.

10. Mii-chan and Natsume Soseki are fiewed as one independent character. If you choose Haruno and want Mii-chan with her, you also should ask for Natsume.

11. Buraiha is fiewed as one group. You can ask for specific Flag characters.

12. You can ask for Zenku/Soukoku/Shin either as one group, or pick characters separately and have a chance to add one more character.

ABOUT READER:

You can ask for GN/Fem/Male Reader.

You can ask for Child/Teen/Reader.

Specify in ask, if have some preference for Reader.

If you don't specify, Reader will GN and Adult.

List of characters and their organisations:

1. Adam Frankenstein (Others)

2 Akutagawa Ryunosuke (Port Mafia, Shin Soukoku)

3. Albatross (Port Mafia, Flags)

4. Louisa May Alkott (The Guild)

5. Ango Sakaguchi (The Government, Buraiha)

6. Atsushi Nakajima (Armed Detective Agency, Shin Soukoku)

7. Aya Koda (Others)

8. Ayatsuji Yukito (The Government)

9. Bram Stoker (DOA)

10. Chuuya Nakahara (PM, Soukoku, Flags, if clarified in ask)

11. Dazai Osamu (ADA, Soukoku, Buraiha)

12. Doc (PM, Flags)

13. Fyodor Dostoevsky (Rats and DOA)

14. Elise (PM)

15. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (The Guild)

16. Fukuchi Ouchi (Hunting Dogs, DOA and Fukuzawa/Fukuchi Duo)

17. Fukuzawa Yukichi (ADA, Zenku Soukoku and Fukuzawa/Fukuchi duo)

18. André Gide (Others)

19. Gin Akutagawa (PM)

20. Nikolai Gogol (DOA)

21. Ivan Goncharov (Rats)

22. Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Guild)

23. Ichiyou Higuichi (PM)

24. Icemen (PM, Flags)

25. Saigiku Jouno (HD)

26. Tanizaki Junchirou (ADA)

27. Motojirou Kajii (PM)

28. Karma (PM)

29. Katai Tayama (ADA)

30. Kenji Miyazawa (ADA)

31. Kirako Haruno (ADA)

32. Kouyou Ozaki (PM)

33. Kunikida Doppo (ADA)

34. Kyouka Izumi (ADA)

35. Kyuusaku Yumeno (PM)

36. Lippman (PM, Flags)

37. Howard Philips Lovecraft (The Guild)

38. Lucy Maud Montgomery (The Guild)

39. Herman Melville (The Guild)

40. Margaret Mitchell (The Guild)

41. Mizuki Tsujimura (The Government)

42. Mori Ougai (PM, Zenku Soukoku)

43. Naomi Tanizaki (ADA)

44. Natsume Soseki (Others)

45. Oda Sakunosuke (PM)

46. Oda's orphans (Others)

47. Oguri Mushitarou (The Government)

48. Piano Man (PM, Flags)

49. Edgar Allan Poe (The Guild)

59. Alexander Pushkin (Rats)

60. Ranpo Edogawa (ADA)

61. Arthur Rimbaud (PM)

62. Shibusawa Tatsuhiko (Others)

63. Sigma (DOA, can be added to ADA, if clarified in ask)

64. John Steinbeck (The Guild)

65. Tachihara Michizou (PM and HD)

66. Santouka Taneda (The Government)

67. Teruko Okura (HD)

68. Tetchou Suehiro (HD)

69. Mark Twain (The Guild)

70. Paul Verlaine (PM)

71. Yosano Akiko (ADA)

_____

BEAST Characters

1. Atsushi Nakajima (PM, BEAST Shin Soukoku)

2. Akutagawa Ryunosuke (ADA, BEAST Shin Soukoku)

3. Dazai Osamu (PM, BEAST Soukoku)

4. Chuuya Nakahara (PM, BEAST Soukoku)

5. Oda Sakunosuke (ADA)

6. Gin Akutagawa (PM)

7. Mori Ougai (BEAST Others)

8. Elise (BEAST Others)

9. Kyouka Izumi (PM)

_____

Maybe, you will be interested. Tag list: @withered-blossoms , @myluckymoon @cocodrilofeliz @c4xcocoa @vvyeislazzy @whisperingwinters

[the-fictive-haven]

Our master list of sources - ALWAYS sourcemate searching!! Endo/non traumagens welcome and singlets welcome to interact :)

-The Amazing Digital Circus we have a fricking ton of fictives, we genuinely cannot keep track of them all. Theres like TWO DOZEN of these fuckers, most of em versions of the main cast. Seriously anyone from TADC interact, please.

-Sonic the hedgehog (we have Sonic, Tails, Amy, Shadow, Nine, Sage, as well as a nonverbal little Tails)

-Higurashi (we have Satoko, Rika and Rena)

-No Game No Life (we have Shiro and Izuna)

-She-ra (2018) (we have Adora, Glimmer, Bow, Entrapta, Catra, and Double Trouble)

-Madoka Magica (we have Madoka, Sayaka and Kyoko)

-Vocaloid/UTAU (we have Teto from Mesmerizer and Miku from Magical Cure Love Shot!)

-Danganronpa (only the main three games) (we have Junko, Makoto, Chihiro and probably others)

-FNAF (we have a Circus Baby)

-Soul Eater (we have a Crona/Kurona (we use either spelling))

-Maimaimaigoen (Shinta, Maria, and a few others)

-Needy Girl Overdose/Streamer Overload (Ame-chan and KAngel, they are separate people)

If you or someone in your sys is from any of these, message us please we'd love to meet you! We're happy to add you on discord ^w^ Everyone also feel free to rb (actually please do), comment and send asks!

[that-ari-blogger]

A Look In The Mirror

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power exists in cycles and spirals, that's part of why I call it an tragedy trying desperately to happen. A ton of the tension is driven by the question of whether or not the characters will break out of the cycle. In other words, the story is about agency vs fate (a bit like Romeo and Juliet, I wonder what else the two have in common).

There are many ways to get across this theme, perhaps with carefully laid parallels and nuanced storytelling, both of which She-Ra does. But Signals takes a different, far less subtle approach. The episode tells the audience overtly what the series as a whole is about, and what exactly can subvert it.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD: (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, God Of War: 2018, God Of War: Ragnarök)

Signals opens after Entrapta's loyalties become general knowledge, and I would like to start with Bow's story in this episode, because it is a microcosm of how the story works as a whole. A vacancy is opened in a hierarchy and the new appointee tries to do things the way that their predecessor did. People become caricatures of those they see as powerful in their designated area and have to learn that being themself is just as useful, if not more so.

Bow, for example, seems convinced that failure is to be avoided or hidden. He has to be perfect, and able to fix anything. But, as Entrapta herself explains:

"There’s no reason to get huffy because an experiment fails.  Failure is a vital part of scientific endeavor."

For all of her eccentricities, Entrapta is one of the wisest characters in the series, with only Razz outdoing her in that regard. (Swiftwind comes close). To that end, this is rather decent life advice, sometimes the best way to learn is to get something wrong and experience the consequences for that, instead of being either protected from consequence, or being punished for trying.

Hold on to this thought.

In essence, Bow is a relatively simple character by nature, he is necessary to balance out the entirety of the rest of the cast. But the word "relatively" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there, because Bow is nuanced, specifically in his relationship with obstacles.

Bow begins with a very simple worldview, but Entrapta single handedly complicates this time and time again. With her death, her allegiance, and her legacy. Bow realises that his worldview needs nuance when his top down perspective gets someone "killed", then he realises that his idea of binary morality is skewed when Entrapta defects, and here he learns about failure and tactics by trying to live up to her image.

Bow remains simple, in contrast with the theme park character development of Catra, Adora, and Glimmer, but he does learn and adapt.

So, Bow sets the baseline, to break from the cycle, you need to change. You need to stop trying to be someone else, and instead focus on being the best you that you can possibly be.

God Of War: 2018 and its sequel use the analogy of fate to describe this principle. Thor becomes an absent father because of his own father's abuse, which then leads to Magni and Modi being schmucks as the cycle continures. Odin explicitly gets to see what his future holds and ends up inadvertently causing it to come true in his attempts to subvert his fate.

Fatbrett on YouTube has a video titled Odin - A Deconstruction of Villainy that delves into the character as a whole, but I would like to zero in on Odin's core flaw and the message of the game as a whole. To change your fate is to change your nature. Odin is incapable of change, so the prophecy comes true.

But Kratos and Atreus do change, but their journey is towards learning to not avoid being themselves. Kratos' journey in God of War: 2018 is directly caused by not telling his son about his past, and Atreus spends the entirety of God of War: Ragnarök trying to be either his father, or Odin. The message of the story is this:

"Don't be sorry, be better"

Learn from your mistakes.

Adora takes this in an interesting direction, because it's genuinely difficult to see her as having much meaningful character development in series one at all, and I actually think this is a good thing. Because on a surface level, Adora goes from bad guy to good guy and escapes from an abusive relationship. But does she? The only thing that happens to the parental relationship is a pallet swap.

All Adora does in season one is change her surroundings, but the key part of that is her foundation. Adora spends season one surrounding herself with people who will enable that character development to flourish and not be broken down... and Light Hope. In season two, Adora starts making strides towards actual agency, and that is all because of the setup she has been doing.

I have gone into Depth as to how Light Hope is a bad influence in other posts, but this episode hammers home just how easily Adora internalises things. She keeps Shadow Weaver's tales of the Weeping, Headless, and Undead Princesses in her mind, for example, absorbed uncritically.

But Adora also keeps the obsessive blaming. She sees a problem and immediately attributes the cause of it to the Horde, a holdover from her time there, where she had the same attitude towards Princesses. In this instance, she's wrong, and the problem is more nuanced, and her assumptions get the better of her.

Speaking of assumptions, the first ones make an appearance in this episode, kind of. The messages that they leave behind give a glimpse into their lives that we haven't come close to getting before.

"I’ve been thinking of them as these big epic figures. But they’re regular people, sending messages to their loved ones."

The theme of cycles and living up to legacies continues with the worldbuilding of this story. Modern Etheria tends to visualise the First Ones as great and powerful and perfect, but they were just as human as the rest of the characters. Once again, those trying to mimic their predecessors exactly come up short.

Over on the Horde side, Catra is going through a similar situation, she is trying to become Shadow Weaver, but coming up short because there was more the story than she realised. Shadow Weaver had to do paperwork, for example.

There's also the fact that she is still in the abusive environment. She still regularly visits Shadow Weaver, so the psychological bullying still happens, but she's also around Hordak, now. I said that Adora has just pallet swapped her situation, and I think Catra has done the same.

When Hordak takes the atmosphere out of the room, it is awful, and it's the moment in which Catra should realise that it doesn't matter how high up in the chain of command she goes, she will still be suffering. She should realise that she needs to get out of there for her own safety and sanity.

But she doesn't realise that. Instead, she applies what she has learned in her upbringing. She is convinced that all she has to do is succeed, and she will get that attention and fairness. Conditional acceptance is what she is used to, so she doesn't see anything out of the ordinary here.

"Failure is when something ceases to serve a purpose. When that happens, it becomes worthless to me."

This is Hordak's worldview, and I hate to argue with a villain, but I think he's wrong there. If success is usefulness, and everything will eventually stop being useful to you, then you have a pretty sad life. If you judge everything by utility and don't care for relationships or things that just look and feel nice, then you are alone.

But on a broader, purely utilitarian perspective, this idea is bunk by that standard too. Failure as worthlessness is an objectively false idea, because mistakes are things to learn from. If something doesn't work, try again differently.

In other words:

"Failure is a vital part of scientific endeavor."

Entrapta is back, and this episode actually gives a glimpse into how to subvert the cycles, specifically through Entrapta and Hordak.

Firstly, Hordak has evidently been trying the experiment over and over again without learning anything. So Entrapta, by nature of her ability to adapt, makes the experiment work. It's a tiny metaphor for what I've been saying so far.

But Entrapta breaks through Hordak's barriers because of her sense of freedom. The best way to break free of a downward spiral is to start moving in a different direction, and Entrapta does that easily. The reason she so easily switches sides is because she isn't tied down by anything (not even morality). She can't even be imprisoned because she is impossible to contain. Entrapta is a free spirit, and I think that that is what the series is about, personal agency.

Catra and Adora are repeating the same story over and over again because they think they have no choice, that's what the tragedy of the series is, the two main characters are on a road to destruction and can't change direction. But the story isn't a tragedy, it avoids being one at the last possible moment when the characters finally realise that they have agency, and that thematic is foreshadowed right here, in Signals.

Final Thoughts

In my plan for this post, I wanted to bring up the Darksouls series, of all things, but I think I will save that idea for a later episode.

In any case, this episode manages to discuss some overarching philosophy, as well as explicitly state that this has happened before, this is a story about repetition, learn from your mistakes.

Also, the cinematography in this episode is really cool. It flies under the radar a lot, but the camera placement and movement really heighten the tension and vibe of this episode.

Next week, I will be talking about Roll With It, an episode that is near and dear to my heart for completely unbiased reasons. Definitely unbiased. Not bias there at all. So, stick around if that interests you.

Previous - Next

[peithopathos]

Mildly hot takes on what the RA cast would be like in a relationship

Mostly ignoring cannon (and from an AroAce) also very slight NSFW warning

Pauline - Pauline will rarely be satisfied with a partner. She has this innate desire to be in a relationship with someone who she perceives as an equal but also someone she has nearly complete control over and/or is better than. If either of these things aren't true, which they cannot be, then she will have trouble being content. She will absolutely go through the extra effort with a partner, just to feel vindicated that they need her but if they need her too much then she will feel trapped and restless. (I absolutely believe that if Halt were to go through a major depressive episode, permanent/long-term illness (like cancer or severe injury), or any other situation that would require her to take care of Halt for any extended period and/or have him no longer be "equal" to her: then she would leave him by the end of the decade. )

Gilan - Lowkey, Gilan just isn't very mature. As a result, he has the tendency to pick partners who are more on his maturity level (so much younger) but doesn't understand why they aren't in the same place in life. As a result, Gilan is almost endlessly stuck in a loop of casual relationships that he tries to push into more serious long-term things-- but his partners are just not in the right place to be considering that, and frankly, he isn't emotionally or mentally mature enough to be considering it either. The real red flag is that he'll continue perusing people from that same age range, for the same reasons, long after it is appropriate and that weird power dynamic will only get worse and worse. Will - On paper, I think Will would be great in a relationship, he has all of the skills, willingness, and attitude to make a relationship work- but I also feel like Will is the type of person who would do things based on what he feels he "should be" doing at any given stage in his life. Don't get me wrong, he loves and appreciates his partner, but he also would probably jump into being in a long-term serious relationship based on what other people think is best/right/expected for him rather than what he was ready for at the time.

Seriously, I think in the long-term, Will would be seriously unhappy in just about any relationship he could have. Not because anything was wrong, but because he didn't follow what was best for him.

Jenny- I cannot imagine Jenny being anything less than completely suffocating to any partner she might have. She works far, far to much to do any significant amount of household tasks (which is fair) but also demands that everything in the house be done exactly how she wants it to or she will redo it in frustration. She doesn't see her partner as incompetent or anything, but she wants things done as she wants them done and won't accept anything else.

Halt - Dead bedroom. I simply cannot see Halt making any sexual or emotional advances at all. He might be willing to share emotional real estate/have sex, but I feel like the partner would have to continually prod him all the way through the entire relationship to actually take initiative. This can do a NUMBER on a partner's mental health and the long-term effects would probably cause the relationship to suffer. I can't really see him changing this either, even if his partner were to be open about the issue. It might get better for a bit, then teeter off again.

Cassandra - I can lowkey see Cassie cheating on her partner. One time, 'in the moment' cheating with no emotional backing, but cheating nonetheless. Especially if her partner is away frequently for long periods. Even if she isn't a cheater, I can imagine Cassie not being very considerate of her partner's feelings at all. It's nothing personal, it's just that she doesn't think of what they would want when making decisions.

Crowley - I can imagine Crowley would carry the worst college student habits into adulthood and wouldn't understand that his partner is having to pick up the slack. You cannot look me in the eye and tell me that Crowley changes his bedsheets, checks the shower drain, or cleans up his dishes immediately after he uses them. He wouldn't have great emotional intelligence either, not in the Halt way, but in the 'changes the subject every time an emotionally taxing subject comes up' so nothing ever gets addressed with him. In essence, I can see Crowley doing very well in a casual or long-distance relationship-- but a long-term relationship would be difficult because he doesn't have the emotional or household skills needed to equally contribute.

Maddie - Been in a "situationship" for 11 years.

[rorywritesalot]

Batfamily Fanfic

Hello Y'all! Happy Pride Month.

To start this, I want to let everyone know that I have started the Batfamily fanfic and it should either get posted on Wednesday this week or Wednesday next week. Regardless, you will be fed and I will post a chapter of something.

Anyways, here's what the Batfamily fanfic is gonna happen as of now. Daphne Abbott is going to be kind of a scarlet witch/black widow variant in this story. Her parents are scientist and during an experiment gone wrong, she was "gifted" with telekinesis powers. Daphne's parents couldn't handle the fact that she had powers and basically cast her out and she's homeless.

The way I see this story working is we'll see a bit of Daphne's background and then the first half of this story will be sort of based off of the TV show Gotham. Daphne's story in my head at this point is messy. I see her going from an anti-hero to a villain and then a hero? I don't know. we'll see lol. She'll get taken in by Oswald Cobblepott and work for him. In her time as a villain, she becomes good friends with Selina Kyle and meets Bruce Wayne. Bruce kind of likes her, she can't stand him. So yea, Daphne will go through all of her teen years as a villain but also she was secretly going to school undercover (how ever that is going to work). She's always known that she didn't want to be in the slums or whatever her entire life and she wanted to clean up her act and go to school. Her dream is to be an interior designer.

While Bruce is away doing his stuff with Ra's al Ghul, Daphne quickly works her way through the interior designer world and becomes one of the top designers in the city.

Note: This is all I have brain stormed so far but it should all come together in the end. The batkids will all be involved in the story at one time or another. Bruce and Daphne will be together and get married, Daphne is gonna be the greatest batmom ever and the story is gonna be fluffy, smutty, and angsty because these are my favorite trio.

That's all!

[baggebythesea]

She-Ra cast as drinking buddies

Adora - She's great. Friendly and eager and up for anything. Hope you like to talk about horses, though. Try to keep her away from arm wrestling or that's what you're doing the rest of the evening.

Glimmer - She's an angry drunk. Or a happy drunk. Or a crying drunk. Or she challenges everyone in the bar on dart. Whatever she does, she'll do it with a hundred percent intensity. If someone picks a fight with you, you'll have to hold her back before she smashes a bottle and cuts a bitch.

Bow - He's everyones bestest buddie. He will pay for the drinks, listen to your rants, hold up your head over the toilet and help rain in Glimmer.

Catra - She's really guarded at first, but when the inhibitions drops either the claws or the tears come out. Step very carefully around her. Also, if she wants to have your jacket, it's her jacket now.

Scorpia - She's a delight. Friendly and considerate and a good listener. Although there is this feeling that she has some stuff of her own she's just dying to talk to someone about… if you open the floodgates, be prepared for a lot of tears and to listen for the next few hours.

Entrapta - Let's be honest - she won't listen to a word you say and she'll most likely have dismantled the beer pump and invented a new kind of drink before the evening is over, but you won't be bored.

Mermista - Surprisingly good company, once you get past the attitude. Keeps the drinks coming and have some good stories between all the 'Uuuuuughs'.

Sea Hawk - Life of the party. Shanties and drinks and arm wrestling. It's fun to have fun with frieeeeeends. Will probably have set something on fire and got you kicked out (unrelated incidents) before the evening is over, and never shuts up about Mermiiiiiiiista.

Swift Wind (did someone say Swift Wind?) - Pair him with Adora or Sea Hawk and no net amount of brain cells will have been added to the party. Up for anything and a good sport, though. Expect singing.

Perfuma - Friendly and considerate and works really hard to be a good listener, but if you just want a drink and some chit-chats rather than a group therapy session she's a bit too much. Try to appeal to her inner theatre kid to channel her energies into something more entertaining.

Netossa - PUT THE JÄGERMEISTER AWAY! EVERYTHING DOESN'T NEED TO BE A COMPETITION!

Spinnerella - The team mom makes sure everyone has a good time and stays hydrated.

Frosta - Thinks it's super unfair that she isn't allowed to drink. Still, if you get her to settle down in the juice bar she can be tons of fun.

Castaspella - Fruit drinks and party hats for everyone! Better step up your game, because everyone's friendly wine aunt won't let anyone be bored.

Shadow Weaver - The drinks are bad and the atmosphere is worse and you are beneath her notice. If you can get through her barrage of insults and appeal to her pride, she has the best stories though. Don't expect to come out of it unscarred.

Hordak - He will sit stiff, uncomfortable and completely silent for three drinks, and then he will speak in monotone voice with increasing amount of rage about the injustices he has suffered. Someone might die before the night is over, but it will sure be memorable

Horde Prime - Wonderful company - if your idea of a good time is hearing a narcisist yap on about himself and demand your constant attention. Otherwise, prepare to have a lousy time. Don't leave your drinks alone with him at any time.

Wrong Hordak - LOOK BROTHER, I'M PARTAKING! chugs beer LOOK, BROTHER! DO YOU SEE ME PARTAKE?

Imp - WHO LET THAT LITTLE SHIT INTO THE BAR? Good luck catching him when he zooms around the ceiling.

Emily - I'll be honest, I didn't know robots could drink. Neither did I know they can DISCO, but Emily proves me wrong on both counts.

Angella - Good luck getting her to settle down and relax. No, Angella, the fact that you heard a siren doesn't mean Glimmer has set something on fire (we hope, at least). Has no idea how the social codes are supposed to work, but likes to feel included.

Micah - At home in any company and a great listener. If you're lucky you'll get some stories out of him that will start with "Oh, it's nothing special. We all have that evil teacher that tricked you into helping her kill the entire senior faculty, right?" and spirals from there.

Juliet - The royal guard is never off duty. She might haul you off to cool down if you get too rowdy, but that's it.

Rogelio - Great listener, but not that good a conversationalist.

Kyle - Goddamit, Kyle!

Lonnie - Yes, Lonnie, you can drink more than me. Yes, Lonnie, you can arm wrestle me. No, Lonnie, I wasn't trying to start any shit with Kyle. Sorry, Lonnie, I'll stay out of your way.

Double Trouble - "Hey, you know what would be REALLY funny. If you distract the bartender, I'll… do a thing. No, don't worry about it. Just a thing. It will be funny."

Huntara - Two rules in the Crimson Waste, where one is not to disturb her as she drinks. If you're on her in-list, prepare to have a good time. If you're not, step carefully around her.

Tung Lashor - Sometimes all you want is someone to chug beer and shout the refrains to some stupid songs with. Just keep him away from cats.

Octavia - You know what, better keep her away from cats as well.

[piggledy-higgledy]

As anyone who’s been looking at my page semi-frequently will have noticed, I am a big Richard Armitage fan. Mostly in love with his portrayal of Gisborne in BBC’s Robin Hood, but I also enjoy most of his other work and consider him a very talented actor (and a very sweet person from what we can tell.)

There has been a lot of furore lately about his latest project, “Obsession” (a series unfortunately promoted as an erotic thriller by Netflix), which is a remake of 1992 film “Damage” (with Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche) and based on the book by Josephine Hart. He portrays William Farrow, a married, middle aged, successful surgeon, who has an affair with his son’s fiancé, Anna (Charlie Murphy) -an affair so obsessive that it costs him everything: his career, his family, his son’s life, even his own self (more on that later.) The series features a lot of sex scenes, very light BDSM elements, and a LOT of nudity from RA on a level most fans never thought we’d see (RA being famously private and modest.) The fandom has been divided over this, with some looking forward to it and some being sure it’s not for them at all. From what I can tell (and I might be wrong) most people were put off by either the copious amounts of sex (and the trailer leaned very heavily on that) or the unsavoury morals of the main characters. Which is fair, if it’s not your cup of tea, don’t watch it.

I *did* watch it, and because opinions have been so strong, I wanted to share my thoughts. No disrespect if you prefer to pass. I hope it might be helpful for anyone on the fence and still making up their mind whether to watch or not. Happy to chat more about it if anyone likes! There WILL be spoilers.

Before watching it

I have personally felt very intrigued about this series and I was excited about watching it. Not so much because of the nudity or explicit scenes -or, rather, because of them, but not in the way you might think. Richard Armitage has played very, very few roles where he was primarily the romantic lead, and none later in his career. He tends to be cast in active roles, a lot of dark, violent characters, tense action. When there is romance it’s not the main aspect being explored. And he has NEVER (with the notable exception of Between the Sheets, which was so early in his career I doubt he necessarily had much choice to turn down work) done anything close to this level of sexual screen time. Why now? What made this different? I really wanted to know.

There was another reason I really wanted to watch Obsession. What Richard Armitage does best, in my opinion, is give characters depth (even characters that were clearly not written that way *cough* *Guy* *cough*). He is an incredibly detailed actor and uses his face and eyes to a stunning degree to convey things that go far beyond the dialogue. He has spoken about how he creates complete backstories for all his characters. This project is literally made for his type of acting. There is hardly any action, and leagues of unspoken material. RA called it “one of the most fulfilling pieces of work he’s ever done”. I needed to see why.

After watching it

I binged all 4 episodes in one night. And then again the next morning. And again today. I finished the first episode and thought “Yes, I understand why he wanted to do this.” (He also said in an interview that there was a moment in one scene that he’d never achieved before on film. Having watched this, I believe him.) Is this the kind of series I’d normally gravitate to? No. But I’m glad I watched it. Every single actor was incredible. The filming was beautiful. I just… don’t know where to start.

The story:

In my opinion “Obsession” is not about infidelity or sexual exploration -it’s about William and Anna’s experience with obsession and addiction. Anna isn’t just having an affair. She is addicted to being in control and to using sex as a means of asserting that control. (We learn that she had a brother who sexually abused her for years and committed suicide when she finally put a stop to it. And throughout the series, she reacts to strong emotions by initiating sex. Charlie Murphy described the character as a “dominant submissive” and that’s spot on, not just in the way that she sets the rules and boundaries of their sexual relationship, but in the way that, having been abused, asserts her control on the situation she had to submit to as a young girl by controlling when and how she submitted). William is not just having an affair. He is obsessed and addicted to Anna to the point that it completely deconstructs him as a person. He is the counterpoint to Anna’s character, in that he has no control. He doesn’t initiate, he doesn’t resist, he can’t or won’t control his reactions or his impulses and he completely loses control of his life as a result of his actions. In the final episode Jay, the son, discovers the affair and in shock, falls off a railing to his death. There is a scene where William faces his wife after everything is revealed and watching Richard Armitage convey all those emotions without saying a word is some of the best acting I’ve seen in my life. I don’t know what part of himself RA drew from to act the guilt and grief and absolute devastation in that scene but it was… amazing and heartbreaking. Even then, the obsession wins. When Jay dies, we see Anna walking away while William cradles the body of his son, paying her very little attention. I completely believe that he is broken in the scenes that follow. But after a few days the addiction takes over and he still seeks out Anna, convinced they can now be together (“there’s no version of this with just you,” she’d told him earlier on, but he clearly thinks otherwise). And we get the following:

W: … I let uncertainty in. (NB: What is uncertainty but lack of control?)

A: And look what happened. I don’t think… we can ever separate who we are from what we’ve done.

W: But… we can’t let it all be for nothing either (NB: William’s voice breaks here. He’s lost everything he ever cared about, she’s the only thing left. Does this phrase mean he thinks there was depth in their affair? Or does it mean that he is looking for meaning and depth so that he can cope with the fact that he sacrificed everything for an obsession and an addiction?)

A: Jay died because of us.

W: Still I wouldn’t change it (TNB: THIS! This phrase upset so many viewers! And of course it did, it was supposed to. The acting is, again, amazing. This isn’t said to Anna, this is introspection. William is looking inside himself, realises he wouldn’t change it, realises how much of himself he’s lost.)

A: You don’t regret it?

W: How can I?

A: We caused so much pain

W: But it’s done now.

A: I am so sorry for what happened. But I wish we’d never met. (She walks away, leaving William sobbing. Because there. is. nothing. left.)

The sex:

I hate that this was marketed as a sexy series because it created all sorts of hype and expectations that were misplaced imo. The story was never about the sex. Morgan Lloyd Malcolm said a couple of days ago on Twitter that it’s about “sitting in the discomfort of human behaviours” and that is spot on. Like I said above, this is a story of addiction. Anna is not addicted to the sex -she is addicted to using sex for control. That’s why Anna and William never kiss (she is the one controlling their physical interactions. William leans in to kiss her in many scenes, she never lets him.) That’s why the music is so jarring in all the sex scenes. That’s why there’s no foreplay, that’s why William never lasts long. That’s why they only ever have sex on the floor or in public, never in a safe, comfortable place like a bed. They are not comfortable. This is not a comfortable situation. We, as viewers, are supposed to be uncomfortable. The infamous hotel pillow scene was meant to demonstrate the turning point in William’s addiction, the complete loss of control, I think. It was never supposed to be funny or sexy -it was meant to disturb us because this intelligent, cultured, previously collected man becomes completely animalistic. Which is why he sobs afterwards -I think this is the point when William realises that (as Ingrid puts it later) “he is lost to her”. William’s face after their first sexual encounter is the face of a man under the influence. When she gets up to leave he makes this movement with his fingers like he is trying to hold on to her, but only grabs air. It’s just a twitch -but it’s Richard Armitage and we know how detailed he is in his acting, and I am sure it was a gesture with meaning.

The intimate scenes in Obsession are sometimes sensual, sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes genuinely hard to watch but never gratuitous.

Why a fan of Richard Armitage or anyone writing for his characters should watch it:

Again, you do you, but hear me out: This series is a veritable treasure trove of body language, voice/cadence, facial expressions that you can then apply to your favourite RA character. The longing. The conflict. The loss of control. The vulnerability. The eye contact. The fact that the lover’s name is Anna, which is also my name. Also, I’m being completely serious when I say that this is some of the best acting I’ve seen him do *ever*. If you can only bring yourself to watch parts of it, do that. There were some scenes that genuinely made me tear up. Look after yourself, respect your boundaries, but sample what you can because it’s a veritable banquet.

PS: I am focusing on Richard Armitage for this review because I came to Obsession from that fandom. But every single actor gives an amazing performance. I especially adored Charlie Murphy as Anna, Indira Varma being astounding as Ingrid and the criminally underrated Marion Bailey as Anna’s mother, Elizabeth, who packs SO MUCH into so few scenes.