#villain rn: a horrible decision really

[chorusofcrows]

FOUR.

"I love you."

Villain scoffed, "No, you don't. You're drunk."

Hero steped forward, trying to take Villain's hands in their own. They were brushed off, "I do." they insisted.

Villain sighed, "You don't even know what that word means."

"I do." Hero protested.

Two 'I do's, you may kiss the bride.

Villain shook off the joke.

If they were anyone else, if their situation with Hero was anything else, perhaps it would actually work. They could be domestic, cuddles, binge-watching Modern Marvel's re-runs, dates, hand-holding.

But they weren't and it wasn't.

"Do you even know what this-" Villain gestured between the two of them, "-means? What you- your feelings mean?"

Hero frowned, "It's not wrong to feel this way."

"I didn't say that." Villain wished Hero never told them this. Villain could live with the ignorance and the dancing around the bush, the flirting, the snarky comments, "It's wrong to feel this way about me."

Hero's voice, despite being intoxicated, was certain, "Do you think yourself undeserving of love?"

Villain laughed at that. A paniced, insane, broken, hurt laugh they didn't know they had, "I don't want you." A lie.

Hero smiled softly, "That's okay. I just wanted you to know."

Well, did Hero, perfect, warm, gold, and special Hero ever wonder if Villain wanted to know? No, they were selfish and egotistical and sacrificing and perfect and pretty and put people before themselves.

Just above a whisper, Villain said, "You deserve someone better."

Hero's grin faltered, "So you do think yourself undeserving."

Villain chose to stare past Hero, instead of meeting their eyes, "I think that you shouldn't waste your time on someone who thrives on everything being the same. Someone who can't bring themself to care for you the way you deserve to be cared for."

"Well, self-awareness is a great start" the charming, beautiful smile was back. It was blinding.

"How much have you had to drink?" Villain said instead.

Hero's smile was sad, "I don't want to forget tonight."

"I rejected your advances."

"It's okay. I just wanted you to know that I love you."

Villain took a step away from Hero, avoiding their gaze, on the bridge of breaking down, "Please, stop saying that."

Hero smiled still.

Villain hated change.

[lovefrombegonia]

Just random rambling on Shen Jiu:

Shen Jiu is so great. Like he despises men but also finds the company of women embarrassing. He hates when someone has authority on him but also knowingly, intentionally makes bad, horrible, villainous decisions. His introduction was him about to smash a kid's brain out because the kid was "taking the best begging spot". He has so much ego, so much superiority complex but also dying with deep inferiority complex. What is...WTF is wrong with him?? Like, babygirl, sit down? Have a tanghulu? Drink some relaxing tea?? Stop abusing the child, and maybe get some therapy?? Stop projecting on your female disciple, you fucking weirdo?? Stop abusing your soulmate??? But no. HE KNOWS ALL OF THE WRONG HE IS DOING. He knows he is a bitch ass loser. And he will still pretend to be the master of the universe. He is like "I can tell myself I am doing wrong but YOU CAN'T DO THAT." Shen Jiu is a clown. A clown. Who won't leave my mind. He is just there, you know. Just there at the corner of my mind, glaring at me with his arrogant stare. A clown, an idiot, an insufferable gremlin. He is a ghoul with a pretty face but his prettiness is lost in the ugly scowl.

I saw this post on twt talking about SJ is NOT a misogynist. And I agree. He is not a misogynist, by definition. He doesn't hate women. He just doesn't think women are a threat to him, which gives him some sense of safety. But he also thinks women are weak. So, in that way, you could say he is one. But I don't think so, personally. He is a misandrist tho. He hates all men. He even hates himself LMAO

This is why his loyalty towards Yue Qingyuan is so confusing. Him saving Liu Qingge is confusing. He spared the women in the house when killing them all, yes, including qiu haitang, when he would have saved himself a lot of trouble, if he was able to do that. Like, what happened, babes? Did your long dead conscience wake up for a second? His long dead conscience also seems to wake up at the cost of his IQ because the dude will not even clear up any misunderstandings. I remember a great line in ATLA series said by Iroh. I am paraphrasing: pride is not an absence of shame/inferiority but source of it. This applies SO WELL to this infuriating man. This fucking joker sitting at the corner of my mind. He has so much ego. So much of "ooff they hate me anyways, why bother even clearing up" and "they are beneath me, why should I clear up". He really manifested his own fall from grace. He even realised he is manifesting all that but he won't clear it up. Why didn't he even clear up that Qiu House was abusing him when QHT blamed him? Was he too ashamed to tell others that he was so "weak", he was beaten by those men? I really find him annoying...

And he genuinely didn't think that yqy won't just give up his life for him...huh... Umm? He protected you when he genuinely thought you murdered your martial brother. How did that not click?? You thought he did that coz you thought that he thought this will stain his "honor" if this thing comes out in the open, but it was ALREADY OUT IN THE OPEN!!!

Actually, ykw I am stopping rn coz this clown is pissing me off. See, this is why, I don't like thinking too much about him coz he just sucks me in. Just SUCKS ME IN LIKE A BLACKHOLE. He is a blackhole. He is terrifying, fascinating, he cannot be defined in simple terms but also simply calling him a scum makes sense. If Shen Jiu could become a heavenly demon, he would manifest as the god of rot and vengeance. He rots everything he touches and vengeance defines his rise in and fall from power.

[skyward-floored]

Hey peg, got a non tri force heroes related ask (woah!, shocking!, unprecedented!) whats your opinion on my favorite lil guys; ravio, yuga, and hilda. since ALBW is also my second favorite zelda game. which weirdly enough is also the ONLY other zelda game I've played (to competition) weird how that works ya know? also, hows the youse? I'm pretty good rn, on my mid winter break so I'm feelin nice and practically useless.

Oooooogggghhhh albw makes me feel so many things it's one of my favorite zelda games even though I rarely talk about it (I also haven't played it in a hot minute so if I get details wrong here that's why and I'm not proofreading so hehe this might be a disaster)

(also spoiler warning if anyone hasn't played albw)

I LOVE Ravio. So much. He's goofy and silly and a has a little pet bird and has a rabbit hood and dances when he makes money but also he's more or less a refugee trying to save his doomed home in the only way he can think of. He's a buisness man and his prices are ridiculous but he has concern for Link as well, and is actually his counterpart and their dynamic and everything makes me crazy. Also he's a coward and I relate to that so much. I feel like a coward so often, and I know a lot of people feel inspired by Link's brand of courage but honestly Ravio's is just as important to me if not more. Cause yeah he's a coward. But he has enough courage to leave his home (go to another WORLD) to find somebody who isn't cowardly and who can help fix things and stop Hilda from making a huge mistake. And it pays off. Ravio is a hero in my eyes and I love him.

Yuga I don't have a huge opinion about, but he's an interesting villain. I do like how he merged himself with Ganon, that was a gutsy move I did NOT expect the first time. Plus his whole thing about being obsessed with beauty and paintings and things, it's creepy and stuff, but makes him stick out more in my mind then some other villains. Other then that I don't have a lot to say about him lol, but his whole thing with manipulating Hilda and stuff was interesting too. I'd love to see more of his and Ravio and Hilda's background/story. also his weapon is neat.

Hilda is great <3 Her turning out to be the bad guy was REALLY unexpected (like I maybe suspected her a bit but I was so busy with her encouragment and saving the world and everything I wrote it off), and her motivations were SO interesting. She's making horrible manipulative decisions, but she's trying to save her people, her home. It's the only option that's really left to her and she's desperate to do something to help them, but Ravio helps her see that destroying another world isn't the way. And like, she just seems so scared to me. She's trying to pull together a kingdom that's literally falling apart, Yuga is whispering poison in her ear, but she's so determined to save her people, at any cost. She's an awesome character, and her face at the ending after Link and Zelda restore Lorule's triforce just about makes me cry. That's the face of somebody who lost her hope and thought she deserved nothing, and got everything. She can't believe it. I love albw.

...Also you asked how I'm doing, the answer is not bad! Swimming in too many AUs at the moment, but it happens. Trying to get reasonable amounts of sleep and failing recently lol. I've just been really tired and it's very annoying. But aside from that, pretty good.

[coffee-counts-as-a-meal]

warning for tlou ep 4 spoilers (and TLOU Part 2) but:

not to be horribly meta on main but I'm mainly screaming over how this episode exemplified how well this story was adapted to a television format, ESPECIALLY regarding the themes that ND has repeatedly stated he wanted to explore in the TLOU Part 2 that maybe didn't quite land the way he meant them to

(Benioff and Weiss and their hatred for eighth grade book reports should be taking copious notes rn lol)

I remember when the second game came out and there was this big to-do about how the perspective towards "villains" had changed - not just in the fact that you spend half the game playing as Abby (Joel's killer), but that the developers had actually given names to all the NPCs that end up as cannon fodder for the player. The AI was supposed to be so advanced that for every enemy you killed as either Abby or Ellie, the NPC would beg for their life or curse you as you make the final blow or whatever, and then when their NPC friends found them you would hear their wailing and crying out for "Beck" or "Miranda" or whomever the fuck and the whole idea was that it was supposed to make you the player really think about the implications of taking a human life and the cycle of revenge yadda yadda yadda.

Which is a GREAT CONCEPT, but I just remember how...tedious it became, after a while. TLOU Part 2 got a lot of flak for a lot of reasons (some more valid than others imo) but I personally think its impossibly difficult to instill the lesson of "taking a life is something that carries real emotional weight" through the medium of a video game where you are mowing down LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE. That's just par for the course - you end up killing so many people that after a while their names mean nothing, BECAUSE THERE'S NO WAY TO CONTINUE THE GAME WITHOUT DOING SO. (I remember one reviewer talking about how fatigued they were with it - they didn't want to be killing all these people and stabbing dogs and they as a player were screaming through their fingers at the decisions Ellie was making to continue down this cycle of violence but there was no way to continue the game without going through it, even though the point had already been hammered home over and over again to the point where it was exhausting, we get it, killing should not be this easy but this is a video game for fuck's sake).

And maybe that was also the point was to make the player wonder how some characters (like Joel, maybe) eventually become so numb to the concept of taking life, but I just remember it being a point in Part 2 that ultimately just...kind of missed the mark.

And BOY OH BOY did the show hit it in this episode.

Literally, TLOU Part 2 wanted to make its point by naming hundreds upon hundreds of NPCs and TLOU Episode 4 managed to hit it with a single character named Bryan.

I think it also helps that when Joel is shooting back at the "hunters" (idk what they're calling them in the show canon but that's what they were at the game) we don't really see them die onscreen, so it makes Bryan's eventual demise even starker. But holy fuck hearing him plead with Ellie and Joel for his life hit so much harder than it ever did in the game. Hearing him try to bargain with a little girl, screaming for his mom only to go silent...I freaking love Joel and even then in that moment I felt that horror and slight...idek what to call it, not even disgust but just the moral grayness of it all made my stomach churn.

Ellie's tears felt so deserved in that moment. Even Joel's moment of hesitation (fuck you Pedro Pascal I hate how good you are at EVERYTHING) even as you know this must have been a thing he's done thousands of times before and even as necessary you might consider Bryan's death to be. Even as justified it may have been to kill an enemy in that moment, "It doesn't get any easier" is something that rings true. I believe it.

tldr; another banger episode from a team that knows what the fuck a theme is and how to tie that into your story with subtlety and nuance and FUCK EVERYONE AT NAUGHTY DOG AND HBO I CAN'T KEEP GETTING MY HEART BROKEN FOR ANOTHER MONTH AND A HALF

[rozaceous]

I love too much tcba♥️ Itachi's pov leaves me with mixed feelings. I think partly because I tend to humanize Itachi too much and forgive the massacre as if it's not his fault. But analyzing everything, Itachi made his decision and that was his village.

itachi is such a loaded character to unpack, and i put the blame for, eh, most of it onto kishimoto's shoulders. the start of naruto canon sets itachi up as an unambiguous, bad guy, bogeyman type. he's mysterious, sure, but there's no doubting that he's an antagonist.

once we start to move into shippuden, tho, so much of the narrative framing of the series shifts. there's so much brilliant meta out there abt it that's better than what i'm saying rn, but essentially kishimoto takes the anti-authoritarian views from before (think wave arc) and starts backtracking. bc if he followed thru to the logical end, he'd end up having to write something that's anti-konoha and anti-state. and for whatever reason (editorial, maybe) he doesn't do that. so to set up konoha as a beacon of goodness, certain characters have to be Right and Good, and other characters have to be Wrong, and foremost among those characters is sasuke. and what's the easiest way to devalue sasuke's desire for revenge? make itachi the victim instead of the villain.

obviously there's a bit more to it than that, but personally i find itachi's narrative arc and subsequent martyrdom to be absolutely batshit. and i'm not abt to retcon the entire motive behind the massacre in my fic as i think it's really delicious, but my take is definitely less forgiving than some others that are out there.

that being said, even in my take, itachi is a victim. (he can be both victim and villain! he has the range!) he's honestly really pitiful.

one of the other things that i play w in tcba is objective truth versus perspectival truth, aka unreliable narration. is what the character is telling you is real and true actually the truth? so with that in mind, kabuto's view of things re:itachi at the end isn't necessarily wrong, but it's his view of things only. i doubt sasuke sees itachi continuing to live as nothing but a punishment...

honestly, i'm really glad that you have mixed feelings, because i don't think anything about itachi's situation is clear-cut other than that it's horrible! and thank you so much for liking tcba ˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗

[summercourtship]

Kyra, I stayed up all night reading your new chapter, i am not even joking when i say that when i saw that it ended i LITERALLY GASPED OUT LOUD!!! The smut was TOP TIER! omg so hot! so many stuff happening!!! Edward smoking was so sexy! also him being like: “You were led astray, I see.” GOT ME BLUSHING FOR NO REASON????!!! Jonathan being a sneaky little bastard as always! it was so funny seeing him try to comfort the reader but also having no clue in what he was doing, like sir you are a psychiatrist! I imagine him reading a book like: “ how to comfort women for dummies”, another thing was him letting his facade slip for a second when he said: “You’re still my assistant, aren’t you? Or are you too busy for that?” I GUESS SOMEONE IS FEELING A BIT NEGLECTED HUH?! AND TO TOP IT ALL BRUCE WAYNE KNOWS SOMETHING IS HAPPENING!!!! THE JIG IS UP PEOPLE!!!!

But being real rn, you have no reason for being nervous, this chapter was AMAZING! Also if you don’t mind me asking, I would love to know what was your inspiration for starting this fic! I saw you were thinking of doing a BTS video i I love that!!!

THANK YOU! There is so much stuff happening and it'll probably stay like that until the end because there's only four chapters left and a lot of stuff to get through!!

Edward smoking: yes. I particularly enjoyed writing the detail of him offering the reader a drag and being disappointed when she refused because he's definitely the type to romanticize his lips touching the same things hers do (little does he know at that moment that she was planning on Fucking Him in like fifteen minutes.) And with him saying "you were led astray", I love him idolizing her so much because he's gonna get so hurt when he finds out she is just a normal person (who is in way over her head)

Jonathan: I think he knows how to comfort someone, but he doesn't want to actually comfort the reader. Because, again, he's feeling neglected and he's trying ten thousand different methods of coping and none of them are working. But it will come to a head, and soon.

Since she confronted the Batman on the roof, Bruce has been aware that the reader isn't telling him everything. Like, she isn't good at lying. But the burner phone going off and her lying about it is definitely ringing more bells in his head and he is realizing he needs to keep a closer eye on her. Wonder how he's gonna do that. :)

Thank you again for your kind words- I'm always scared whenever I update that this will be the chapter you all decide it's actually horrible and I wasted your time lol.

I don't remember exactly what my inspiration for this fic was, although I remember bits and pieces. It was originally just going to be a Bruce Wayne fic and I started writing it after I saw the Batman in March 2022. The first scene in the fic is the only thing I salvaged from that first version of the fic.

And then, months later, I decided to write a fic with Jonathan as a love interest along with Bruce bc I really like love triangles in reader insert fics lol, especially between heroes and villains. It's about the DYNAMICS.

Normally when I come up with my longer fics, it's because I write the fic I want to read- I couldn't find many Jonathan Crane multi-chapter fics and I wanted to fix that.

Edward was always going to be in the fic, but he only became a love interest later when I decided that I can be as self-indulgent in my fic as I want to be lol. He was always gonna be interested in the reader tho, the reader just didn't always reciprocate.

And as a fun little fact: the title for the fic was originally going to be "Stay and Burn" which is taken from the song Deus in Absentia by Ghost (my love). Then I decided to expand on it and make it my own. I like the dichotomy between fire and water, the implication that you made one reckless decision only to be blindsided by a different danger... idk.

Finally, YES when I'm done with this I do want to make a sort of BTS video where I just ramble about writing it. I've been wanting to make videos anyway for my art/shop, so why not add my writing as a topic as well?

[seilnakyle]

I'm sorry I'm venting in your inbox but I'm so frustrated rn. Feel free to ignore.

I haven't brought a Catwoman book since the failed wedding because I didn't like how Selina was being written, I was hoping to wait it out until a good writer came in. Tini Howard will not let go of Selina and I was hoping the pause in the Catwoman run meant another writer was taking over. Well I was kinda right only to be more disappointed because it's one of my least favourite comic writers, Leah Williams, she's writing a goddamn Gotham Sirens series. The series sounds terrible, it mentions half naked cowboys, a bunch of new oc villains, and Punchline. I'm so tired of Catwoman content being so rubbish.

I think 'okay it's not all bad after all', when Batman: The Caped Crusader screen shots are released. Only to be let down again after Selina's background description says she grew up as a millionaire heiress with a silver spoon in her mouth, her father lost all the money, now she steals stuff because basically she loves money. How have they fucked it up that bad. It sounds more like Penguins origin then Selina's.

I didn't always love how Tom King wrote Selina, but I thought after the Batcat wedding they'd be a different writer to take over and we'd get something new and interesting. Only for the cluster fuck that was that entire event and it ending with Selina being written so horribly, to getting the complete nothing burger that was Joelle Jones Catwoman run which added nothing, to Tini Howard just making to worst decisions possible. Even in Batman related books it's either Selina from another dimension/timeline or she's just there as a reminder she exists (sometimes in a way that is disrespectful, like when Ram V had Bruce talk how much Selina is important and means so much to him only to then turn around and sleep with another woman- why bring up Selina then?!)

It's even worse because apparently despite the success of The Batman the next live action Batman movie isn't using Selina. Idk I'm just mad.

I know exactly how you feel anon, it's looking like it can't get much worse, and then it dose

I'm incredibly frustrated with the way catwoman comics have been for YEARS now. Her classic stories are getting big reprints along with heros like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Superman, Batman- and her modern comics are just....ugh they wouldn’t even feature her in the pride event!!!! SHE IS A CANON BISEXUAL AND A MEMBER OF THE BATFAM and she got NOTHING

I saw that news abt Caped Crusader as well :/ the copy paste of Penguins origin when Selina already has MULTIPLE origins that make so much more sense for who she is as a character!!

I so so miss having a writer that understands and respects Selina

I wasn't totally shocked that ram v couldn't resist having him sleep w T*lia, disappointing and ooc, but ultimatly it's somthing that every title that isn't tec could and probably will ignore lol, most of the time it feels like none of these writers are reading each other's comics, you can never tell if something is going to have consequences or be completely forgotten and all the bat related series really do feel like they’re in different dimensions (in a bad way) and as much as dc jerks them around, they capitalize big time on batcat. the statues, makeup collections, celebration books entierly about their relationship, jewelry- it's the bat and the cat forever even if dc is too scared to commit to anything these days. They know who their 2nd most popular couple ever is. If they could only find good writers💀

On the bright side...Selina will probably be in dkos: allwinter, and the ongoing batman dark age features a nice version of her as well!

But anyways yeah FUCK GCS all my homies hate gcs, the people yearn for Lois&Selina !!!!

[arrenlebanen777]

LIFE OBSERVATIONS ❁❁❁

I see a lot of men crying about women/female nature and how they were manipulated/cheated/ betrayed and then they go to the gym to grow from pain, but they only become colder/ narcissistic/ egotistical and this stupid villain archetype that gets you pretty empty arguing and crying about women's bodycount/ their loose s*x lives/etc... But the stupidest thing is that the highest percentage of humans who consume p*rn, onlyfans, and all that shit are men, WTF?, if you see that this is happening it is mostly because we are allowing it. if men were really picky(mature), if we learned to manage our s*xual energy better, if we became more sensitive to life and less to our egos(minds), if we find something more transcendental than our beliefs/thoughts/feelings, and we become really clear about what we want from life/relationships and know what our real needs are...well, nothing of this would be happening. This whole issue of relationships/dating is something quite psychological and energetic, women are looking for the father figure that they did not have or had but is no longer in their lives in other mens, looking for the father archetype’s in each man (someone economically stable, independent, emotionally intelligent, funny, masculine, strong, wise, attractive, adventurous) and let me tell you that this is called: Divine masculine (the same thing happens with men). Why do men only look for s*x? Because if they unconsciously/instinctively see that a woman has nothing more to contribute/offer to a relationship other than demands and s*x, then they will only look for what gives them pleasure the most, that is s*x, and then they will forget about her / this goes both ways, and this my friends is called “Hookup Culture”. The funny thing is that as long men and women don't find something more transcendental than society, Ego, their minds and themselves... they will only continue to become more perverted, stupid, with shitty mental health’s, making decisions they regret, s*xually dirty /nasty because they don't know anything more transcendental than that. Also i noticed that depressed people are mostly sensitive people who don’t fit in with the superficialities of the society/world and well, traumas, childhood issues and all that too. Another thing, therapy is a very powerful / important but delicate process, so trying to do therapy on your own is like trying to do surgery on your own, because you are treating something very important but delicate that is your mind/mental health. Also therapy can make you really attractive, not the attractiveness of the Ego or Narcissism but genuinely attractiveness, Yes you can do the route of Ego attractiveness, it’s Okay, nothing is stopping you but see how it goes on the long run, it could make you feel very empty and is a really really hard working process, and therapy is a healing process, but you have to know how to go to therapy and this is where people stagnate or do not have good “results”, because many go to therapy just because they want to heal or be treated but they do not know very well what they need/want to heal, so my recommendation is to make a list of things that you want to treat in therapy, because that will open the doors and possibilities of your deep healing. So don't do things like self-diagnose and stuff like that because it's a pretty stupid move for your evolution/process. Another thing, if someone did you wrong or did hurt you your job is take care of yourself, of course you could talk with your friends about the issue and with your therapist, but is not your job destroying the life of that person, actually that is very nasty and it leads nowhere, because starting to destroy/expose the lives of the people who hurt you so that other people practically destroy them, you are committing a horrible crime, you are practically leaving no room for error and growth, which is part of human nature, you are practically using again the tyrannical practices that the Nazis did, yes I know it is painful, but your job is to take care of yourself, heal and move on, not destroy someone else's life, and if you think they should pay, believe me they will pay, Saturn will take care of that, don't worry. 🌿If you wanna see more posts like this, tell me on the comments<3🌿

[volfoss]

sorry im basically so so silly and so so mad at comics rn so :)

The horrors of loving a VERY minor character and just. experience every single horror as they get completely butchered. I was curious about Duela Dent (aka Harlequin) because 1. She seems SO silly and 2. There was a decent amount of overlap issue wise with Harley (after the new 52) so i figured I'd just read the older stuff and learn about them both. Unfortunately the horrors of dc being like erm. ok silly character that is mentally ill -> time to make her mental illness THE JOKE. like in the old comics, duela is just incredibly silly. she calls Dick "legs" like shes just goofy. she fights with bubblegum and rollerskates and is just such a fun character. i havent even HIT the new 52 stuff with her yet (and that was when I expected it to get BAD bc they seemed to go kinda gritty with her character around then. which personally doesnt fit her at all but whatever) but literally as SOON as the old teen titans comics were done, they just put her through such um... horrible character decisions. so the defining trait that they took from her character in teen titans is that she claims her dad is a big important supervillain but isnt consistent about it (ie its changed from two face to joker and many many more in between). and thats just... what they ran with for her character. she shows up multiple times with appearances of haha shes sooo delusional for claiming to have ran with the teen titans who would believe her (and also um put her in a mental institute which is my first sign things are BAD). and that was unpleasant bc like... they just completely erase that Dick genuinely cares about her and they're really good friends (shes really the only one who appreciates his HORRIBLE puns) and just are like yep shes completely cast off after the teen titans ended at issue 53. and THEN. they reintroduce her as oh shes a 19 year old (which um. ignoring all the inconsistencies of them saying oh shes super old and barely recognizable to her being a TEEN in teen titans and Dick is a full adult by now but whatever </3) and shes soooo petty that they didnt invite her (which she wasnt rly petty in the original but again all that matters is she claims her dad is different villains bc thats OBVIOUSLY her only characteristic) and shes just like. personality wise like how some of the (worst) comics write harley quinn like... they definitely have connections w how their names are similar and the connection to the joker but its so frustrating to see how bad theyre butchering duelas character ALREADY.

[yellowbluemoonshine]

Noone Should Be Named As Villain for the Rest of Their Lifes

This line is so so fcking important. Not just for bnha but also other series and even such a good lesson for real life too.

Yeah people make mistakes, sometimes those mistakes are so messed up, a kind of mistakes hurted many many people, kind of mistake that crossed the line, unreturnable but even so, people's desire to change or their suffering means nothing?! Because we all can fall into despair very easiely, we all can make horrible decisions, we can be 'villain' in someone else's story but does that mean we always have to live our lifes like that?

You will see two general reactions to someone messing up. Whether they ignore the mistake and justify it or they will tell how awfull you are and justify every bad things happens to you and say "you deserve it".

Even in many so called redemption arcs, villain gets killed or to live his life as inferior to "hero" of story. People's idea of giving someone a chance is most of the time making that person as inferior. Like, villain, even after redemption can never be "good and pure" as hero because heroes never messed up, they were lucky enough to stay as "pure" so even villain try their best, even they actually feeling guilty, even they take full responsibility, they still somehow has to live their lifes as inferior. 

Yes, i am saying "luck", this is not me being ignoring people's effort to be better, this is me being empathizing people's pain and understanding that people can express their pain with destructive ways. That they act as awfull as hell because THEY ARE IN PAIN AND THEY COULDNT HAVE A CHANCE TO LEARN TO COPE THIS TRAUMA WITH HEALTHY WAY.

Yes, people might act as awfull but when they realize it, when they really geniuely want to be kind person, should their titles and awfull past  always hunt them down? That they can never actually seen as "good person"? Do they not deserves to be loved and live normal life?

Yeah, this is how Deku acts, he is not one of those "kind" main characters who shows superficial empathy to the people he reach out.

Deku understand himself, his own suffering, his own flaws, his dark sides and he accepts that that part of him is exist. He knows that he is lucky enough to not fall into "villain path" and he just looks at Aoyama and see him as person too. He doesnt looking down on him for messing up. He just reach out to him with pure empathy, noticing that Aoyama's goodness and telling him that he can still be hero.

This is what actually giving a new chance to change to be better means. Deku is starting to understand that he can be easiely in Aoyama's place and instead of ignoring the fact that he was lucky enough to not messing up like most people do, he just puts himself and Aoyama on same place, that they both can be equally good, that they both can be heroes, despite him not making the same mistakes Aoyama did.

This kind of mindset that will save villains like Shigaraki, Toga, Dabi too. Yeah, they made horrible things but if anyone who desire to be kind person, anyone who geniuely wants to change, anyone who desire to take responsibility, anyone who actually feels guilty, they deserves to be happy, have normal lifes, they shouldnt be called as villain for the Rest of Their lifes because their suffering and effort for changing matters. Because yknow what? Awfull people dont change. (Not saying that anyone who dont change is awfull cause its not that simple but anyone who actually does the things i mentioned is definitely not awfull. ). Being"kind/good" doesnt mean always stay as pure, it means doing your best to be better person, its effort for changing, thats the point.

And btw, Spinner taking care of Shiggy was cute ^^.

(I am sick and should resting rn, but get excited after seeing Deku's speech and get up to write this meta. I AM ON FIRE NOW. I know that Deku still didnt reach that point, he still has way to go but this is such an important point and people should really take a lesson from it. I especially calling out other authors for this.)

Yeah, Deku is main character so of course, he would reach out to Aoyama with this idea but i never thought it will be this important. Its amazing, This is why he is my favorite character with Shigaraki. :))). If you think that i am overreacting, you are wrong cause i am sick of hyprocy of stories. Finally a character said this. Deku is amazing.

[goosefeathercore]

maybe I’m biased because my favorite arc is DOTC but sometimes I’m just like. how did we get here??? when i look at the current warrior code. because so many problems with the clans right now wouldn’t be happening if the generations after the founders didn’t make such ass backwards decisions!! like i’m super hyped that spotfur and some of the other younger cats are calling out oppressive rules that haven’t been relevant in years, but there’s also a lot of ideas that just got thrown out somewhere along the way and the founders really need to be like hey guys wtf have you learned NOTHING?

when we get starclan back can Skystar and Gray Wing and possibly cats who died in that first battle please come and be like what is wrong with you guys. I mean the main causes of death are battles, starvation and also dying of illness when the clans refuse to work together to survive. The clans rn are literally just clear sky in the middle of DOTC when he starts being an asshole and enforcing borders and hoarding supplies and cutting off communication for no reason. and like 1/4 of the population died because Clear Sky started this messed up fight and he killed people he cared about, including almost killing Gray Wing. And all the other clans were like Clear Sky wtf is wrong with you and his freaking dead sister and mate showed up just to be like Clear Sky you’re a power hungry dumbass get over yourself /AND/ when his mom found out about everything he did she straight bitch slapped him man!! Can those cats please show up again and be like oh my god every single one of you is just Clear Sky prior to his redemption arc???

Another big issue on the same note...the horrible family tree/gene pool situation that’s gotten so bad because the clans so rarely accept an outsider into the clan so almost everyone is related now :/ 2/5 of the founding clan leaders were freaking loners who were interested in joining clan life. cats could fall in love with any cat, no matter what clan they were in. some of the most fundamental DOTC characters were rogues and loners who wanted to try out living in a group. if they ended up hating it, they could just leave, it’s not a big deal. and yes, some of the villains were rogues that joined with malicious intent, but we have the exact same thing with bad cats who are clan born now, so that’s not a rogue specific issue bad cats just exist. loners bring unique survival knowledge and ways of life that, although different, contribute a lot to a diverse society. River Ripple was seen as a weird loner, but he founded Riverclan and some of the clan born cats decided they were interested in learning to fish and swim. they could always change clans if it didn’t work out, but most of the original Riverclan members were cats who took a liking to the new ideas River Ripple presented. The introduction of Tree and Dovewing switching clans is actually starting to look promising of a reform in the future.

[belle-keys]

Incoherent thoughts about A Court of Silver Flames (2021) by SJM

Do not expect this to be a critical, unbiased review at all. Eet just ease what eet ease. Spoilers ahead laddies. 

*unwanted preface* 

Okay, so like, you know those things that are neither objectively perfect nor unproblematic yet you love them and are attached to them anyway? Yeah, this is me with SJM’s writing. See, I been with Sarah and Throne of Glass since March of 2015 and with ACOTAR since the summer of 2015 when I was 13 and honestly, ACOTAR in particular occupied a decent portion of my formative teen years. Eventually, when I was about 16 I sort of ended up getting distracted from YA books and went into my thot and kpop era. A main reason for this is that I found ACOFAS particularly disenchanting. This ain’t about that book (sigh) but let’s just say as much as I was still attached to and in love with the ACOTAR world, I was still able to get very annoyed by the decreased quality of the writing and also the evident projecting Sarah was doing onto Feyre with regards to her own life and experiences (ahem). No, the lack of developed POC in the book had nothing to do with it ironically. 

So basically, since the spring of 2018 I haven’t read any SJM yet I never fell out of love with the books either. I’ve sworn off TOG after whatever the hell EOS was, but ACOTAR was always more special and close to my heart by tenfold, honestly. See, the best day of my 2016 was the day I found out ACOTAR was getting the extra 3 novels and 2 novellas. ACOFAS was a dumpster fire but I was actually surprised to really, really enjoy A Court of Silver Flames while it obviously has a couple (multiple) sus facets to it. The susness aside, I thoroughly felt at home reading Nesta’s book despite how irrational that might sound. No, I’m not here to say the book was objectively good but I’m here to say I still enjoyed it despite my love-hate relationship with SJM and her writing. :( :( :( 

That being said imma still roast tf out of a couple aspects of it. :)

*the susness*

Aight wbk that SJM like, projects a lot onto feyrhys right. I’m not even gonna deny it. Like as horrible as it sounds, when feyrhys were, like, struggling as a couple and shit in ACOMAF, that’s when I loved them the most but then the shitstorm that was ACOWAR hit and they couldn’t go without boning every two seconds or calling each other mates and shit and basically every character in the book started kissing their asses (except Nesta) to the point where they were infallibly good and powerful and everyone’s heads were lodged up their asses... I got PISSED OFF then, right.

Now, in ACOSF (is that correct?), they were side characters and, gratefully, that romance between them was toned down. But here are some things concerning feyrhys and the Court of Dreams that irked tf out of me, and the implications that they had for Nesta (who is perhaps one of the baddest bitches ever) had me feeling homicidal towards the IC:

Every single time Nesta said shit about Rhys and then Cassian got mad I wanted to SCREAM like yooo let her roast tf out of him like yeah I get Rhys lowkey did a lot for her both directly and indirectly but cmoooooon not everyone needs to be riding his dick like the man HATED Nesta from the get-go. I loved the idea that someone in the book lowkey abhors Rhys just for the TEA it gave me. Like yeah, okay Cassian, I get that he’s your bro but he can SUCK NESTA’S DICK also like my girl is a DEATH GOD.

Here me out: the Inner Circle completely dehumanized Nesta, they completely disregarded her personal autonomy and caged her in which is ironically the very behavior that was villainized when Tamlin did it to Feyre. First of all they restricted her movement, they made decisions FOR her, they withheld from her knowledge about her own powers, they decided what’s best for her and acted like she was a rabid dog the entire time. Only Cassian and Azriel seem more blameless in this regard, but the level of scorn and abohorence and moralizing Feyre, Elain, Rhys, Amren and Mor did towards Nes made my blood boil. At the end of the day, the Inner Circle did the VERY THING they hated being done to Feyre. Whatever happened to the freedom they professed? The autonomy they decided all members of their court deserved? That was all bullshit, or was this switch-up SJM’s way of creating justifiable conflict between Nesta and the Inner Circle... either way, there was no closure about this and the way they dictated Nesta’s behavior whilst completely mistreating her imo.

More on Nesta’s treatment - okay listen the way the narrative had every character acting like Nesta was fricking scum and for WHAT??? Okay, she didn’t hunt when Feyre and they were poor, she was bitchy, she hates the Fae... okay, why is Nesta still being punished for her mistakes like this by the Court? Does their forgiveness only apply to those in their clique? They’re acting like her drinking and sleeping around and her general bitchy behavior is sooooo toxic when they ALL coped with their respective trauma in questionable ways in their centuries of living. And the narrative never condemned them for this behavior either... like cmon they had an “intervention” about Nesta like if she needed to reach a certain moral standing to be lovable or something. Seems to me that only Cassian was willing to love her, bruises and all... “There’s nothing broken to be fixed. You are helping yourself. Healing the parts of you that hurt too much - and perhaps hurt others too”. But as beautiful as that it, it seems the IC see Nesta’s healing as her “redemption arc” when I never saw her as a villain or monster to begin with. They acted like she had to become deserving of their acceptance. Bullshit.

No cus more on this... Cassian is the only person who defended Nesta, the only person that wanted to help her heal and grow when everyone else wanted to fix her. He was the only person who was kind to her from the original trilogy (i.e. not counting Emerie and Gwyn). He stood up for her and I’ll gush about them in the next section, but the dynamic between Nesta and the IC was the least enjoyable aspect of the book for me. It was clear SJM wanted to spur Nesta towards the path to healing yet only figured out how to do so whilst only keeping feyrhys as the nucleus of this arc, and so she had them force Nesta into her “special journey” (because she loves them so much, cus they’re sooooo perfect right *rolls eye*), yet, the narrative didn’t quite condemn them for their toxicity towards Nesta at ALL, even towards the end. The good thing is that Nesta did not become an ass-kisser throughout the story and laud them for “helping her” every waking second. Only Cassian didn’t shun her for her inner negativity but embraced her. And Az was pretty cool too, can’t hate him.

Ahem, the ending: okay, I’m not even capping, but I hated that Nesta lost her power for feyrhys. I get that she genuinely did it out of love and shit and I’m not even gonna lie, the thought of feyrhys dying had me on the verge of tears cus as much as I hate them, I also love those bitches. Yet, the culmination of Nesta’s power was, what?, to save feyrhys. This way, the narrative put Feyre at the center of Nesta’s narrative towards the end. And Nesta lost that Death God power that she basically EARNED in that Cauldron. This is the biggest flaw of the story. She fought against her own power to give it up... for Feyre. Like??? What??? Why was that baby arc even necessary????? Why was Nesta giving up her power necessary to fulfil her healing arc which was the POINT of the book??? Like what?????? It left a sour taste in my mouth. No- an abhorrent acidic bitter taste in my mouth. 

Elain. I CANNOT STAND THIS GIRL. She completely abandoned Nesta and for WHAT??? For Feyre??? This only served to reiterate from the narrative’s POV that Nesta was scum and again, idk WHY. And also, why tf does this girl mistreat Lucien like this??? LUCIEN AKA MY FAVORITE CHARACTER???

I just don’t get how the narrative reiterated that Tamlin is the worst of the worst when you got Rhys hiding shit from Feyre, hiding knowledge of Nesta’s power from Nesta, all of that. Like, was the entire point of ACOMAF not for Feyre to embrace her power and become her best self? Rhys never for one second tolerated withholding Feyre’s power from her. So why tf does this apply to Nesta? Cus she’s unhealthy? Okay... so what??? Why villainize her like this and imply she’s undeserving of her power and a waste of life??? I’M LAUGHING SO HARD RN LIKE WHERE DID THIS EVEN COME FROM??? What did my girl do that was sooooo bad that yall needed to treat her like this. Tell me why feyre and amren and varian and rhys all acted like Tamlin in this book. Cardi voice WHAT WAS THE REASON. I AM SO MAD ABOUT THIS CUS THEY ACTED LIKE THE FRICKING MORALISING SYCHOPHANTS THEY CLAIM TO HATE.

Like bitch??? They’re like those youth pastors that reiterate how broken and messed up people with mental illness are? Acted like Nesta screwing guys was the worst thing ever when they should have embraced her? Like I get she would push them away but really??? “Waste of life”??? 

So we gon gloss over how Amren was insisting Nesta shut up about the baby business to Feyre (aka hiding shit from her)? How she was implying that Rhys should conquer all of Prythian? Hear me out, even as someone from a Caribbean country that was colonized by the whites, it actually doesn’t bother me when the theme of conquest comes up, like, this is a fantasy novel and colonization does not exist within the same context for me. That being said, like, it felt as if the narrative telling me lil Rhysie is just sooooo perfect that he needs to be High King. Like, I respect the fact that Rhys has no wish to do so. Homeboy never seemed to care for conquest beyond ensuring his Court’s prowess and safety so WHAT WAS THE REASON AMREN??? Like? What kinda crack was Amren on this entire book???

The worldbuilding... listen, the politics and history felt all over the place, felt incoherent and flat honestly. Didn’t bother me as much as it did in ACOWAR but it was just *meh*, not good. Not horrible, but not great. I preferred the world when it was directly the result of Beauty and the Beat and East of the Sun, West of the Moon.

The Fae have lost their *magic*: no cus what I loved about the first book was that the Fae were one with the Courts and felt very fleshed out in terms of their powers and shit, but now only Eric and Lucien and Tamlin and sometimes Rhys have that same magic for me. Like... the sensuality of the Fae in terms of their actual Celtic roots, that which felt whimsical and immersive in the first book, feels lost to me. I can’t explain it but I feel less nuance and orthodoxy in their portrayal. However, I DID love this one line featuring none other than the loml : “Amid the pink and white blossoms, the cold-faced Autumn Court heir looked truly faerie - as if he’d stepped out of the tree, and his one and only master was the earth itself”. LIKE I SALIVATED THAT IS MY MAN.

*good stuffs*

Okay let’s talk about the smut like I didn’t like the word choice as usual like quit with the euphemisms and say cock and goooooo. That being said like, okay, I like how she set up the physical dynamic between Nesta and Cassian cus the sex wasn’t some big romantic climactic build-up like how it was in acomaf like they were being NASTY from the get-go and I respect that drip. Like she did not cap on how porny the smut was and thank God it wasn’t some cliche romantic honeymoon type shit, like it was almost on the ao3 level of smutty goodness. All it was was missing was coarse language and hard kinks but in general, I liked the Nessian smut in this book more than the feyrhys smut in particularly ACOWAR and ACOFAS, like Nessian just do not cap.

Listen... you see that whole part when Nesta was like imagining how awesome it would be to dance Lucifer’s Bachata with Az and Cassian? Yeah, my girl just let her thoughts run wild. Like Nesta makes Feyre look naïve. Like you know how Tumblr porn in 2016 used to be with the aesthetic type shit? That’s Feyre, but Nesta is like on Pornhub level and it’s so fitting I was YELLIN lowkey. I feel like less importance was placed on how meaningful the sex and shit should be in the book and I respect that.

YOU SEE WHEN NESTA TOLD FEYRE ABOUT THE BABY!!! I WAS CHEERING HER ON. No cause they were being so nasty to Nesta especially Amren and then Feyre entered with all of her moralising shit like honey you KNOW damn well what you’re doing to Nesta is what you hate being done to you. Like damn right tell her, cus I could not STAND the double standard.

The whole training the women thing was a nice touch. It was kinda corny but also sweet. That being said, I laughed so hard when I realized how this entire book was Nesta’s quarter-life hippie rebirth where she learns to meditate and work out and read romance books and face her inner demons like this is some real New York college shit. All that was missing was a Starbucks.

Cassian. Man I love this man so much. No like he displayed peak dilf behavior. I think his attractiveness isn’t based on his bravery or his hotness but his humility man. Like he’s not a thot, he’s respectful, yet tough, yet contemplative. He’s contented with his life station yet wants to always be a better person yet is such a strong rock who really loves Nesta not despite her flaws but because they are part of her. I love the way he stood up to Rhys a lot, he didn’t shame her when she was awful to him, and he is protective (annoyingly so sometimes) but he really wanted her to empower herself. Their relationship isn’t perfect (I’m not in the mood to dissect the problematic aspects rn) but they were so sweet together and I didn’t expect to like them as much as I did back when they were lowkey a thing in ACOMAF.

The mates thing didn’t bother me cus I saw this shit coming since 2016. Yes, it’s cliche and annoying but the mates status also, like, has no meaning to me so it is what it is. Didn’t think they NEEDED to be mates but I was happy that them being mates wasn’t the core of the novel and it was secondary to Nesta’s individual healing journey.

Prepare for me to get sappy but another reason why I loved this novel was because it was a story of healing. :( :( :( The road to healing and growth in the emotional sense is always beautiful to me despite how flawed it often is when SJM writes it. I just felt really immersed in the emotional woes and eventual growth of Nesta despite my issues with the book and this is perhaps one of the main reasons that I found it beautiful, because healing as a theme is always beautiful and raw.

More of Nessian but like their relationship feels so real and raw too. No, cus like, it wasn’t tinged in as much fictitious idealism as feyrhys’ relationship was. They weren’t all stupidly in love and seeing each other in the universe and shit, like they just made each other happy and weren’t portrayed as the perfect soulmates who were each other’s yin and yang and whatever thank the LORD. Them having each other’s back was enough and ughhhh Cassian was just so sweet and such a good trainer and so aloof yet passionate like I been waiting to see more of him since ACOMAF so yayyy.

Okay... that scene where Rhys kneels to Nesta and she embraces him. yes. YES YES YES YES YES that shit was the shit that made my year like I want this man to be in her debt for the end of time like this hoe saved yall like big strong high lord better bow to the “witch” like I could hear angelic choirs at that scene like Rhys doesn’t just yield to people so easily so like, it was just kinda epic okay. Little bitchass Rhys with his perfect little river house and emo boi clothes stfu hoe.

No cus I love how Nesta told Cassian she didn’t wanna hear about Feyre’s special journey or Rhys’s special journey or Mor’s like I got fed up of people acting like they epitomized “good” and the “good path” to self-discovery when they can choke on a baguette as far as I am concerned.

*shit no one except me probs cares about*

Eris. So here is the thing. Since 2015 in ACOTAR when Eris was Under the Mountain being all red-headed and cunning and sexy and evil I have been obsessed with him... well, the idea of him I had in my head and how delectably abhorrent he seems (I like villains and side-characters okay). Maybe it was just his name (Eris is a hot name shut up) or the idea of a rich, cunning fox-faced prince in the same universe appealed to me. Either way, I actually never expected by favorite cameo-character to become... important. I’ll die on the hill of loving him. Here is the thing... I don’t want him to be good, in the same way I did not want Rhys to be a good guy in ACOTAR either. I don’t need him to be a secret angel, I don’t need him to be sweet and good like Rhys always was apparently. Honestly, I want him corrupt but likeable and pertinent to the story. That being said, I really want him as the main character for one of the upcoming novels sooo bad like please PLEASE let me see the autumn court and it’s two-facedness please like if not Eris then Lucien as the main character please.

Lucien... aka my fave character since the first book man. Mannn, SJM does homeboy so dirty like I have always loved Russian fables and hence, I am so ready for Lucien x Vassa x Jurian in the Vasilisa retelling with the firebird trope and Koshei. NO CUS in 2018 I was finna write a 100k word fic about this but then I forgot about it no cap, I still have the story plan in my Onenote actually but let us not reminisce. See, my ao3-loving ass wants an angsty poly relationship and also a hot Koshei I have been waiting YEARS for this you hoes, ever since Elain got the premonition of Vassa as a firebird in ACOWAR like God please please please give it to me and make it feyrhys-less as well yasss.

I lowkey wanna suspect Eris is gay and Mor, also gay, knows and that’s why she lowkey kinda tolerates him now. Yet, I cannot be sure and yeah I just wanna say that I kinda want that arc lmfaooo (my ao3-self is showing shut up).

No cus I was TEASED by only seeing a glimpse of Vassa and Jurian but THEY SHALL HAVE THEIR TIME I KNOW IT.

Tamlin living as a beast is so interesting to me. He’s a side-character now but ughhhh he was so mystical and interesting as our good ole Beauty and the Beast beastie like it’s sooooo mysterious and alluring how he’s becoming his own villainous legend like I still care about Tamlin’s blond ass self despite everything. 

Give us the snowball fight scene you coward.

I just gotta say Nessian could outsmut Feyrhys any day and that makes me proud.

FRICKING AZRIEL like first of all Mor doesn’t NEED to come out until she’s ready but she gotta let the man down nicely some other way so he can move on. I do not like Elain. Never did. I still do not. I do not, frankly, want a whole novel where she and Azriel fall in love and she rejects Lucien like... okay, I DO want her to reject Lucien so he can be with Vassa at the very least but also I am not interested in Elain’s POV rn. BUT I WANT AZ’S POV AND LIKE WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO I WANT MY EMO BOI TO BE HAPPY. This is so frustrating cus Az is a walking DILF right and so, what am I supposed to do now.

I kinda miss the Spring Court just a little. It’s pretty shut up. It got that Zuhair Murad fashion too. 

Umm like, what the hell is up with that business with Helion being Lucien’s dad? We need more on this which is why I want a Lucien POV book goddammit.

Yoooooooo yall remember that bitch from ACOWAR who hybern was finna kill and she had a name and everything and then there was some foreshadowing and shit? What’s up with her? Like I can’t even remember her name lowkey but yeah what’s up with that. Was it something like Briar or Briannon or somthing???

Is Mor getting a book? Like deadass I need the Lucien and Vassa book, I need the Eris book, I need the Mor book and I need the Azriel book. Damn. Been waiting 6 years for some of this shit.

Okay that is all for now. Yes, this book has problematic elements at every level but I still loved it yet also hated some things about it. I won’t read House of Blood and Earth nor will I finish the TOG series but I guess I’ll stick with this series which remains near and dear to my soul despite what people gotta say about it. It made me happy and that’s what matters. Nesta is a huge ass inspiration to me as a character and I still wanna see her make the Inner Circle’s life a living hell uwu. I admittedly got HELLA emotional reading this story because it’s nonetheless super meaningful to me even at age 19 and it’s really powerful for me as a comfort book, and I look forward (a little) to what this woman put out next... sort of.

Signing off! Don’t @ me (okay you CAN @ me but idc).

[darkpoisonouslove]

Winx Club Season 5 Thoughts Part 2

Part 1 is here.

5x14:

- I thought there was a musical performance coming up but nope. I can do with cleaning up a beach instead. I like it. And they’re sorting the trash as they pick it up? That’s actually super thoughtful. They have their moments.

- Icy and Tritannus are disgusting. And not because they’re cute and I hate cute like Stormy does. It’s because they’re cringy.

- So is Tritannus just gonna have Daphne floating around after him until the end of the season?

- Sooooo... there’s a throne that can give you ultimate power over the whole dimension and it’s just chilling there in the middle of the Infinite Ocean? That seems incredibly illogical and stupid to me. Who has access to the Infinite Ocean again? I know Sirenix got cursed but that was about 20 years ago. What was going on before that? Surely, Daphne couldn’t have been the only Sirenix fairy. And what if one of the fairies with Sirenix decided to just sit on the throne and take the power? This is just... an incredibly stupid and undeveloped concept even by Winx’ standards.

- Again, I have no idea why Daphne warned him at all. Just let the curse make everyone’s jobs easier and get rid of him. (I thought only the Trix had Sirenix, though, because he doesn’t look different after he got it and him being drained by the throne seems to support the idea that his powers are all coming from the pollution he consumes.) Also, how very convenient for him that there is a singular cell right there next to the Emperor’s Throne. ‘Cause any part of this makes any sense.

- Okay, they just vanished matter again. And yeah, we’ve established there is no logic to that but maybe it would have been a better idea to have all that trash recycled? So that it could have been used again? That would have been more eco friendly as it saves resources.

- Aww, poor Stella! Yes, the dress of carrots was definitely too impractical to be worn on a daily basis and also a potential hazard if it draws animals to you but I still feel bad for her. At least she was trying to do something good. And if she adapts her strategy a little and uses some magic she could really succeed in her mission and make clothing more ecological. I have a feeling that they are only writing her making horrible designs on purpose to give the appearance of some arc for her character. We all know season 1-3 Stella would have done so much better with her designs.

- Okay, Brandon did not handle that talk at all but I appreciate the fact that he was honest at the very least instead of just saying what Stella wants to hear from him. It was certainly hard for both of them but that is how relationships should be - honest.

- Yes, they just rationalized that all the garbage might draw in Tritannus but the moment they see a purple tornado it doesn’t click that that is Stormy. Because purple tornadoes are totally natural on Earth.

- The Trix look even worse in the 2D style while Winx look somewhat better than they do in 3D.

- Seriously, tell me how Winx are gonna defeat that tornado. Stormy could probably tear apart the whole planet with the power she’s packing here. And Tritannus, Icy and Darcy haven’t even lifted a finger yet.

- Yeah, it took all six of Winx to handle only Stormy’s powers so the evil group will just leave. It’s not like they appear stronger and probably have chances to win this.

- Love how everyone’s observation skills are going through a meltdown.

- Tritannus is ruthless and I have to say that I love that. I’m sick of the villains just leaving Winx alone without doing all the damage they possibly could just because the plot needs it to be so. Even here he could have made the mutants attack them and he didn’t but at least he used them as leverage so it’s better.

- Layla’s reaction was a little over the top in the Infinite Ocean but I am glad that they are showing her to be so upset about her relatives even though it’s extended family. We don’t see enough familial relationships on Winx.

- Please, tell me Tritannus will get the power of the Throne. Otherwise, they shoved all the nonsense surrounding it in here for nothing. And that will be a bigger challenge for Winx.

5x15:

- Love how in season 3 every Winx girl had a different swimming technique but now they are all swimming in the same way.

- Where is this problem coming out of all of a sudden? Stella had no issue firing at Tritannus in the previous episode. They’re just doing it to manufacture drama because otherwise, she would have the power to save her father from the beginning of the episode and they wouldn’t have an episode.

- They gave Layla a sword. Good. Best decision they’ve made all season.

- Love that Darcy and Stormy are thinking about what their role is here.

- Who thought the selkies could protect anything? They can’t even protect themselves.

- I love that they showed a couple of worlds but we only really saw the effect of the eclipse on Andros and Solaria.

- Radius has never been that much of an asshole (not that we’ve seen that much of him). He seems totally out of character here and I hate to admit that there is some logic to him being ruled by pride since he is legit standing in for the sun. I love the fact that both Stella and Luna were super worried about him, though, and instantly came to help.

- Omg, their hair changing colors is so not necessary or relevant rn. Wish they would just leave it alone.

- Layla roasting Tritannus that he’s letting Icy do all his fighting was absolute peak! I’m here for it!

- Okay, so there was literally no reason why Stella’s light didn’t work at the beginning of the episode but did at the end and it only made her seem more self-centered if anything because she only really put her will into fighting once she was directly affected. Not @ the way this season is not pulling off the emotional arcs at all.

- Wow, okay. Icy sacrificing herself for Tritannus was just... unexpected. Winx weren’t prepared either. I am glad that at least he had the decency to be mad that she’s hurt and appreciate what she did for him.

- Aww, Luna is absolutely precious and I love her already!

- Couldn’t have Bloom used her fire to the same effect that Stella used her light? And Layla could have totally used her morphix to cover them and make sure they won’t be hit. They didn’t just have to stand there and be useless.

5x16:

- Why did I hear Layla say pillow instead of pillar? I think I might need to go to bed (it’s like 5am).

- Nature kick? Nature KICK???????? They gave Flora an attack that’s inherently violent? What the hell were they thinking? That has never been her style so why start now?

- “I’d do anything for you, Tritannus.” Yes, including abandoning your sisters. Nice one, Icy!

- I knew it that the two mutants Layla freed would be Nereus and Tressa. No way can we have any adults here.

- It’s interesting that convergence didn’t work. There’s an intriguing implication in that somewhere but it’s too late to unpack it now.... Okay, now that I am awake (and have watched the rest of the episodes), let’s see what I get out of this. The Pillar needed light which is something tangible and physical unlike the other two Pillars so the convergence didn’t work because Stella is the only one whose powers are about light. I like the implication here and they could have done something interesting with it, not to mention implement some rules when it comes to convergence at the very least.

- Stella just singlehandedly powered all the suns in the Magic Dimension. That is the most powerful thing we have seen anyone do on this show. I love her so much!

- Aww, I feel so bad for Stella! I am crying over here. And seriously, why is Radius being so prickly here? He wasn’t like that in season 3. Stella was even ready to let them ignore her if it would mean that they could also ignore the budding argument. This is hurting her so much and it’s hurting me as well!

- Aww, Kiko really wanted to cheer Stella up so badly! He’s adorable.

- Was Erendor the one suggesting that they unite their powers? Wow, I am just shocked. Also, kinda amused that Faragonda managed to make them all shut up even though they are all more “important” than she is.

- So why is Diaspro on Eraklyon? She was supposed to be banished. But no, we need more stupid drama. I see that Erendor at least is back to his prickliness. And yes, I totally have to agree with Samara that he just made an awful mistake. Giving Diaspro the authority to speak in his name is a rash and reckless decision in general. After she mind controlled Sky? Absolute madness,

- Wizgiz looks so weird without his hat.

- What is so hard to figure out about the “fight fire with fire” expression? But they did a pretty good job regardless.

- Of course, there is Diaspro drama even when she and Sky don’t have any kind of personal relations anymore. But still, I don’t think Bloom should be so affected by it because she was told it was for his royal duties. (and since the meeting is held on Domino, she could totally be there as well) It is frustrating but it’s still better than what has happened with Diaspro before.

5x17:

- Omg, Daphne is pushing herself to her limits in the name of saving everyone. Meanwhile, what does she get in return? Tortured by both Stormy and Tritannus, vaguely ignored by her sister and the show won’t even let her parents show concern for her (not that they can save her now that she is in the Infinite Ocean but they could have tried in 5x13).

- Why is Kiko sleeping so far off the ground? That is dangerous. He could roll off the pillow in his sleep and fall... Or Bloom could send him flying through the room when she tosses in her sleep. Poor bunny.

- Eye of Inspiration? Wow, okay.

- Weren’t there four pillars? Why only three seals? And Pillar of Control and Pillar of Balance? What the hell? Light is at least tangible. But control and balance? What the hell?

- I can’t believe that Icy would turn on Darcy and Stormy because of a guy. This is so stupid and I hate it.

- When are the selkies going to learn that they are useless and the best idea would be to hide and go look for someone who actually stands a chance against Tritannus?

- The moon thing was some serious level of bullshit. Like, I get that it looks all fairytale-y and magic-y and shit but when you look at it from a logical point of view, it’s just a fucking mess. You’re telling me that just looking down at the well releases some magic? What the hell? Even if you take their Sirenix into account, this is still weird. (The room made of water was cool, though). Oh, and a map of the Infinite Ocean. How convenient. Because Alfea has all the answers.

- Wow, Mike and Vanessa are actually gonna clean that whole trash island up? I am in awe of their determination.

- Okay, so where the hell are the fairies of Earth? It would make sense for them to take action against Tritannus. He is hurting the planet directly and is also a major threat that needs to be dealt with. They should have been involved now that their kingdom was reinstated.

- Well, Stella is still feisty even when she’s sleep deprived. Also, I see they have no problem using their Sirenix powers now. I am so sick of them using convergence, though. Wish they’d do something more creative.

- I honestly wish Tritannus will get rid of the selkies permanently because they are that annoying.

- Seriously? Tritannus knows that they can follow him in the Infinite Ocean but he just... thought they wouldn’t find him? He should know better by now. And Layla was weird too because they know where he will be going. They can find him. Also, another convergence? Come. On!

5x18:

- What took Tritannus so long to show up? He was right there with the Trix. I do like the critique on Icy’s long hair that this was. Like, girl is aesthetic as hell but long hair could def be very dangerous.

- I am actually on Icy and Tritannus’ side here because the selkies are boring me to tears.

- Here’s an idea for you - instead of Daphne sacrificing every last bit of strength and vitality she has, maybe the Winx could figure something out on their own for a change.

- Ugh, the ugly dresses again. Classic, my ass. Ungodly hideous suits it better.

- Really not @ the way Marion’s throne is smaller than Oritel’s. Like, Erendor and Samara’s thrones were the same size but you’re telling me that Marion and Oritel’s are different implying that he has more power? Yeah, no. Fuck that idea. I like the third throne, though. What a shame Daphne isn’t there to fill her rightful place.

- I am so sick of the Diaspro drama that they are shoving in this even now.

- Oh, look! Roy is also there. How else are we gonna know that he is a Big DealTM? You know? Obviously someone that Layla should date.

- See, Marion is even the one leading this whole assembly. Though, my guess is that that would be because the union is her idea and Oritel agreed (probably a little begrudgingly). Of course, everyone else has to be a royal and prideful idiot about this. (I guess it was Theredor in 5x16 that suggested that they unite and not Erendor which would definitely make more sense). But yes, Winx are facing the consequences of what happens when everyone has a vote and you need consensus. Nothing gets fucking done. For once it actually looks plausible that Winx are more effective than any of the adults because they make up their minds quickly. Usually to a common stupid idea but they are certainly doing better than all the royals at this assembly.

- If the dragon is totally untamed, how is Codatorta riding it? This does not make sense to me. And I thought they would be learning strategy.

- Not @ the way Radius was being condescending to Stella. But I like the fact that she got through to him. She is gonna be a precious queen!

- I have to side with Diaspro because Bloom and Sky literally thought it to be a good idea to just leave the assembly and go deal with their teenage romance bullshit. Fucking responsible adults you are. Oh, yeah, sure. When she’s actually needed, she can’t leave all of a sudden and she’ll let the others do everything.

- Well, Winx are recklessly courageous, I will give them that. I hate how instantly they need their lessons, though. They learn something and it comes in handy the same day. What if something had happened, and they hadn’t had the lesson? They would be toast. Honestly, the levels of convenience because they don’t trust the audience to remember what happened in the episodes before that is just insane. It would have been better to have a couple of episodes between learning a skill and having to use it.

- Oh, wow! They noticed the pollution? I can’t believe it! Finally! This episode is actually treating me better. If they’d let the selkies become snacks and let Bloom take some responsibility, it would have been good. Now it isn’t half bad.

- This makes zero sense because Erendor and Oritel aka Eraklyon and Domino did have an alliance against the Ancestral Witches. And considering Erendor feeling guilty for betraying that alliance, it would make sense for him to join this one to fix his mistake back then or at least not repeat it. Only possible explanation for his behavior that I can think of is that Eraklyon is actually in a crisis and their defenses are in pretty bad shape so he doesn’t want the others to know that. But that still leaves them defenseless against a potential attack. This is stupid. I mean, his pride is obviously an explanation in and of itself but it is also the definition of stupid.

5x19:

- Why is Erendor so dense? If they defend the Pillars, Tritannus will be easier to beat without the power he will get if he destroys the Pillars. It is a simple deduction.

- Aww! This scene with Riven and Musa is so adorable! He was actually enjoying the music so much and Musa opened up about her mother. That was actually precious.

- Wow, they really tried hard to tie the balance thing to the sea and to music.

- Oh, man! Please, tell me Riven didn’t just run away like that because he got uncomfortable with emotions... Oh, wait! I get it now. He is planning a surprise for her and needs the help of this other girl, I believe it is the same one whose guitar playing skills he was admiring when Musa got all jealous for no fucking reason whatsoever. And they are making stupid drama again.

- Oh, come on! I have to stand Bloom and Sky stupid drama as well on top of the other one?!?!?! I hate this. Also, when will Bloom understand that she can’t be the center of Sky’s universe. She may not care about her royal duties but he was at least raised with some sense of responsibility towards his title. And what does Bloom do? Use her title to rub Diaspro’s nose in her victory on the Sky matter and then she just starts weeping over Sky wanting to talk to his father instead of dealing with the more important shit!

- You’d think that those Pillars would be better protected considering how fucking important they are. Also, aren’t the writers tired of making innocent mermaids on Andros suffer?

- They’re actually making a plan? And it’s a decent one? I can’t believe it!

- At least Tritannus goes back for Icy every time. Not that that’s gonna last but if she’s gonna ditch Darcy and Stormy, it’d better be worth it at least a little.

- Loved Bloom’s magical punch but the slow mo of Layla’s kick really does it a big disservice.

- Why did he throw his trident? That was idiotic. Layla going up in his face so that he could grab it back was also idiotic as hell so I guess they are equally stupid to balance each other out. Could have just blasted him with the trident and get it over with but noooooo. They have to make dumb choices.

- O. M. G! Darcy and Stormy got the whales? That was... so fucking AWESOME!!!! I was worried that them disappearing would actually fuck them over because Tritannus would get mad at them but they actually come back with the whales? Epic. Also, this makes me think that they are at least partially responsible for the chaos going on because Musa said it is the whales that keep the balance and Darcy just hypnotized them. I am so proud of my girl! *happy sob* Her powers really are just so badass in this season.

5x20:

- Seriously? This episode is titled “The Problems of Love” because of all the Sky and Bloom bullshit that will be in it (possibly Riven and Musa and even Tritannus and Icy as well)? Because THAT is the most important thing going on now.

- Okay, so Icy isn’t impressed by what Stormy and Darcy did for her? Girl, you need to wake the fuck up. I do love the energy of Darcy and Stormy just being evil sisters together and fucking shit up, though.

- So why did the rest of Winx not go to the Pillar while Musa was dealing with the whales? Also, didn’t they try the convergence on the Pillar of Light? It didn’t work. Why do they think it will work now? Oh, it actually did. Of course. Because balance. THE SYMBOLISM IS STRONG.

- Really not a fan of the way they have chopped the episodes in favor of suspense instead of in favor of every episode having a completed mini arc.

- Okay, so Musa is mature enough to know that bringing her mother back from the dead will mess with the natural flow of things but she can’t trust Riven just a tad bit more.

- So did Stella and Brandon make up? Last time we saw anything about them Stella said she hated them which she obviously didn’t mean but still. That was just left hanging there.

- Can they all leave Tecna alone? She and Timmy are happy with the way things are. If it works for them, then that’s the only thing that matters. And Musa projecting her relationship drama onto Tecna was just the worst. Glad at least Tecna trusts Timmy implicitly.

- Okay, so did Diaspro think this through? Of course, she didn’t. Once Sky learns what she’s done, she will probably get in trouble. I say probably because Erendor is kinda on her side here so it’s not all that certain. But in any case, she will make Sky resent her more. So still not a good idea.

- Bloom doesn’t have patience to wait for a minute. She knows Sky is busy and has a lot of things to do. She could just calm down a little and not expect him to respond to her every summons.

- Oh, my god! She really thinks that she is more important than a royal meeting. You are fucking yourself over and I wouldn’t give a damn if your stupid relationship drama wasn’t 50% of this godforsaken show.

- Sky should turn his phone off and Bloom should just get some fucking perspective. I know she’s used to being the center of the world but she needs to get her priorities straight as well. She should be looking for Daphne instead of being a fucking idiot over there. They know about the Emperor’s Throne. And if they have a map of the Infinite Ocean, they should know where it is. Just go there and confront Tritannus instead of waiting for him to keep stealing seals! How hard can it be? But of course, you need to have your head in the game, not in your bullshit relationship.

- My god, even ethereal beings like the guardians of Sirenix were dragged into this shit. At least that gave effect. And Bloom admitted she is the problem. I can’t believe it! Actual character development. Of course, I don’t expect it to stick until the next episode so it won’t matter but still.

- Umm... the wind should be carrying the pollen away from the flowers. It can’t carry pollen to them if the pollen comes from them. The wind can only carry it away. That is basically the idea of pollen. To get carried away.

- Omg, I am so tired of Stella’s interest in fashion fucking everything up. They’re making her incompetent and ignorant of everything else on purpose. Also, why can’t they fly? That was just out of nowhere.

5x21:

- They each have a special Sirenix spell? Was that concept introduced before or did it just show up now? I don’t think they’d said anything about that, though it would have been nice in the episode where Stella was having issues but later found the way to fix the Pillar of Light.

- I just wish they would leave Tecna and Timmy alone. Besides, they don’t have to go on a “real” and “romantic” date in order to be face to face. They can just chill on the couch and talk about what THEY want.

- Did Helia just tell Timmy to “man up”? You know what would be “manning up”? Getting over your egoistical impulses to meddle in everyone’s lives because you think you know best. At least Riven is being honest.

- What happened to just being yourself? Tecna and Timmy are already into each other for who they are. They don’t need all of this not so good dating advice.

- Wow, Daphne is going for desperate measures here but she is making sense at the very least.

- I am getting second hand embarrassment over Tecna and Timmy’s date. Poor guys. They just need to be themselves.

- Well, they succeeded with the destruction of the seal. I would love to see Tritannus’ reaction as well.

- Aww, at least Tecna and Timmy got to have a good end to their disastrous date.

5x22:

- I am so sick of Tritannus and Icy always repeating that they’ll be the emperor and empress once the Throne is complete. We get it, okay? No need to say it over and over again. I have a feeling they’re only doing that because they don’t actually have anything else to talk about.

- Omg, I thought this shit with Crystal and Helia was over. How much longer? Why is this even happening? I am so exasperated rn. At least Crystal is not like Diaspro. Even though the show tried to strongly suggest the similarity between them.

- Can they stop jumping to conclusions? Like, Flora legit saw Helia interact with Crystal for three seconds and it wasn’t him that threw himself at her. Flora is always trying to be polite so she should think that it’s possible that Helia is doing the same. Also, love how her insecurity stems from doubts in herself but that will never be resolved ever because no one gets proper arcs anymore.

- How is the king’s decision rational? It’s bullshit.

- Why the hell would droids function better in cold weather. How does that make sense?

- It would have been more interesting if Tritannus had destroyed the whole Pillar and they had to rebuild it from scratch. That might have needed more than convergence to fix and would have been a better challenge.

- Really? They have to fight the droids? That is the most predictable, most boring scenario that they could have come up with. Also, why isn’t there secondary defense against the droids? Like, just in case. No technology is infallible.

- I am confused. Is Tecna the princess of Zenith or not? Why does the king know her specifically if she’s not? Is it because she’s the guardian fairy of the planet? That could have been so much more interesting to see than any of this. A political discussion between him and the fairy that guards the whole planet. More worldbuilding.

- At least he changed his mind. I was hoping that would be the result of the mess with the droids.

- Aww, Tecna wished for Zenithians to feel empathy and connection! That is so precious. She has grown so much. Actually, this season hasn’t treated Tecna half bad. There were some golden opportunities that were missed but I actually like most of what they did do.

- Seriously? Sky sent a request for Bloom and she was still bitching about it? Honestly, that invitation for a diplomatic meeting could have been a cute thing where they get to both solve the issue with Eraklyon not wanting to join the alliance and their relationship drama. But no.

- I love Darcy and Stormy as a dynamic duo even if it pains me that Icy is treating them like that. But there is always place for her once she gets her mind back because she’s currently lost it.

5x23:

- I thought Politea was gonna be the plot of the third movie. But they’re bringing her in now? I am not sure I like this.

- Tritannus getting beaten down is a sight for sore eyes.

- Okay, I love this cute Bloom and Stella moment. Even if I am still not a fan of how they are giving Stella trouble with her designs because we all know that she is super good at what she does.

- Orrrrr... they could just use their Believix transformations and the Tracix wings to see the past. Though, those did seem to work only for the current location you’re at. And no past transformation is ever brought back.

- Why does Politea look like a brunette Bloom? Can they stop trying to make more of her? One is more than enough. Also, if Politea is a nymph as well, why does she look so plain compared to Daphne? We get it that Bloom and her whole family (and her whole planet) are all oh so special but this is ridiculous.

- Why the fuck did Politea refuse to help? If the Witches stole the power of the Infinite Ocean, she couldn’t get it for herself. Also, this is a blatant contradiction to everything we’ve been shown in the previous seasons. The witches grabbed Daphne and cursed her right after she opened the portal that sent Bloom to Earth, not in some battle for the Infinite Ocean.

- Didn’t Daphne say that Politea’s Sirenix turned evil because she turned evil? What the hell? And why would she turn into a monster when Daphne lost her body?????? I hate this.

- Oh, so Bloom’s going it alone now? Nice way to say she doesn’t think her friends can handle it because they aren’t as powerful as her. Wasn’t it exactly the fact that Politea refused to help Daphne that allegedly fucked them both over? Bloom should know better.

- Really? Icy didn’t dodge that? There’s a shitton of space in that underwater cave. She could have escaped in any direction. But no, she has to be dumb and get kicked. Lemme guess, Bloom went alone so that it could be a one on one against Icy and the writers could pretend there was any tension because that obviously wouldn’t have been the case if the rest of Winx were also there.

- So Politea just disappeared because that makes sense. Not like she’s a separate human being that was not formed by her Sirenix powers. And Darcy and Stormy are completely fine even though they absorbed an allegedly cursed Sirenix. And no one bothered finishing off Bloom just to make sure she would actually get finished off. How very convenient.

- Both Radius and Luna were at the assembly at Domino. Now they’re acting like 3-year-olds. I hate this so much. I can see why Stella is so done with their fighting. But I am so proud of her for talking to them and actually telling them how their behavior makes her feel. That was pretty mature of her. If only they could take her example and do the same and actually talk instead of just snapping at each other.

- Oh, and the teachers are at the fashion show as well? That’s cool.

- It’s actually cool that Stella didn’t wish her parents to get back together. She could have but that wouldn’t have been right since they don’t want that. Her wish is still a little questionable because their understanding of each other is not entirely their doing but, on the other hand, she wished that they would just listen to each other. Not necessarily agree. So I think it is actually okay.

- Awwww! It’s so cute from the rest of Winx to model Stella’s clothes!

- Lmaooo, Wizgiz is killing me in this episode. It’s cute how excited he is, though.

- I am so proud of Stella for what she said to (and about) Brandon. Now THAT was really mature of her. I loved it!

- Omg, Riven wrote a whole song for Musa! I knew that he would have a really cool surprise for her. Honestly, she doesn’t appreciate him as much as she should (when he’s not a jerk and he hasn’t been this season).

- But why is Roy with the Specialists? He’s not a part of their team. Please, stop acting like he has any place in this friend group. He’s an outsider and he’s never made any meaningful connections with any of them.

5x24:

- Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Dolphins are so precious!

- So Erendor did join the alliance at last? Not that they can agree on much still but at least they took the first step. Not @ the way the show keeps implying that Earth is the only planet that has pollution. And why did Flora decide to be dramatic before speaking?

- Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! The dolphins! Someone needs to stop him! He’s gonna destroy the precious dolphins!

- They actually made a joint decision? And Erendor fired Diaspro? Wow. WOW! I stan this episode. I just hope it won’t disappoint by the end. Oh, and here’s a prediction - Flora will earn her Sirenix wish this ep. Or Layla. But I think it will be Flora. (Bloom’s obv gonna be last.)

- Uggggh... Did a giant praying mantis just appear behind Stella and Layla? Why? Please no. (But that only makes me lean more in favor of Flora being the one to earn her wish this ep.)

- Oh, there’s more of them. I feel like all the “kick” spells of Sirenix were made specifically for the purpose of this episode.

- These shields couldn’t be any smaller. Sirenix spells are kinda lame, not gonna lie. Harmonix was much better in that regard (and more aesthetic even if impractical).

- Oh, yes. Don’t hurt the enormous bugs. The spell that is supposed to restore damaged environments will erase them out of existence instead. How is that better and why is Flora okay with it if she didn’t want the animals hurt?

- Is there anyone else in that task force besides the Specialists and the droids? You’re telling me that those are the only resources that the Magic Dimension can spare on the fight with what is currently the biggest threat to their existence? This is ridiculous.

- Luna can control the second sun of Solaria? I love that. I love her!

- So... Roy wasn’t even in danger. That’s so lame. I could have been on board with Layla saving him. And it would have been a nice parallel to their first meeting. Also, we have never seen them interact in order to care about any potential feelings between them. This is not how you make a relationship.

- Of course, Flora wouldn’t wish anything that tells us something new about her character. At this point nature and caring about it is the only personality trait she has (oh, and her doubts about her relationship with Helia). We can’t have anything else about her. Here’s something she could have wished for - that her sister can only ever die of natural death which could a) bring up the fact that she has a sister again and b) imply that she is still not over the fact that Miele almost died on her watch.

5x25:

- Omg, where is this sudden uncertainty about Helia coming from? Even though Crystal is not trying to take him from her. I wish this had been better set up at the very least. It could have been a great arc but we can’t have that, of course.

- Alfea has to be at least three times as big to host all the facilities we’ve seen it have in this season alone. I mean, come on!

- So now the mirror is a magical shoe designer? At least Stella’s wish to be with her parents was cute. But you’re telling me that all Layla wants right now is to dance with Roy? I call bullshit on that. She had zero time to recover from losing Nabu and I am so mad over this new “romance” being shoved at her out of the blue.

- Flora and Helia aren’t even gonna talk about this? Because the magical mirror solved the problem by showing what’s in her heart? I should have known this was going to happen.

- And why did Icy offer Layla instead of any of the other Winx? Because Layla has to be the strongest considering the nature of her powers aka she will be the hardest to capture. Though, it makes sense that the strongest will be the best fit to activate the Throne.

- So how did Nereus and Tressa go into the Infinite Ocean? Tritannus couldn’t before he stole Daphne’s Sirenix powers. So how did they manage without Sirenix?

- Why is Stella the one asking how to get rid of the mutants without hurting them when she was the one who managed to do exactly that in a previous episode? But, of course, they have forgotten all about previous episodes. Continuity? Don’t know her.

- How is the Breath of the Ocean summoning all the selkies? It was supposed to restore damaged environments. Now it suddenly has more functions because, of course, it does. It would be too much to want of them to figure out something else.

- Yes, I can see how they aren’t hurting the mutants. Not like knocking them out and possibly giving them concussions is hurting them. How could you think that?

- Oh, so Flora also has a “nature punch”? Are you kidding me?

- I see. They gave them all “punches” to compliment the “kicks” they already had. How very creative.

- You’d think that a prince would have been taught basic battle strategy and wouldn’t just turn his back on the enemy. But... obvious plot device to make Layla blow up and defeat Tritannus is obvious.

- Wow, they had to threaten Layla with losing someone else she cares about so that she couldn’t bring Nabu back to life and they could keep going with their stupid new romantic interest bullshit.

- AND Tritannus stole her power? Can Layla catch a break here? Also, why aren’t the rest of Winx following Bloom to go help Layla as well?

5x26:

- Wait, wait, wait! Are you telling me that the selkies knew where the Throne was this whole time?!?!?!?! AND they didn’t lead Winx there even though it was obvious that was where Tritannus was? Because “we’re almost there” implies that Bloom’s selkie knows the way to the Throne. So why, pray tell, are they only going there now and didn’t use that to fight him before?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! You know, when he still didn’t have everything he needed to activate the Throne?

- Did Tritannus get possessed by the power or something? This change in attitude is completely weird and really pissing me off because they could have actually done something decent with Icy and Tritannus’ relationship and the way it ended but they did not put a single thought in it. Anyway, I am glad Icy is back to her senses.

- Well, Musa looked like she was aiming at Roy which I wouldn’t mind all that much if it hadn’t been the middle of an important battle for which they needed him. But her magic waves didn’t affect him even though he was directly in their way so whatever.

- Now the whole palace is submerged. RIP to all the servants in there that didn’t have a tower to hide in and the Winx to save them.

- I actually love the idea of Winx interacting with the parents of the other Winx. It’s cute.

- Okay, but why is destroying the trident gonna render him powerless? He literally grew in size when he received the power of the Throne which means that it has to be in his body so taking away the trident shouldn’t work. Smh.

- Man, what a lame way to get rid of all the villains and their minions. Very anti climatic. And they didn’t even need the rest of Winx there. So what was this bullshit that they needed Sirenix to defeat him when that barely played any part in his downfall? If anything, it was what let him get the power to activate the Throne. (We all know they could have fixed the pillars even with Harmonix.)

- The gate of Oblivion? Hey, why did no one toss Valtor in there? Or the Trix for that matter?

- So Bloom didn’t actually wish to get Daphne back but to remove the Sirenix curse? Not that there’s much difference since the curse only ever seemed to have worked on Daphne (and Politea that just vanished in thin air).

- I’ll take Daphne’s comment about Bloom being the best little sister in the whole universe as her being emotional over the fact that she was brought back to life. It took Bloom so long to figure out that there was something wrong with her and then even longer to save her. In fact, she didn’t even look as concerned with Daphne’s situation as she was with her own romantic drama so I am not buying that she is so good at being a little sister. Besides, we all know that Miele is the best little sister.

- Aww, I really love that shot of Bloom and her whole family group hugging. And I especially love the fact that Mike and Vanessa are also there!

Oh, I have to write some sort of conclusion now? I was pretty clear on my feelings about this season so I don’t think there’s much to say. Only a few final words to the season itself - I dub thee The Season of Missed Opportunities. Also, love how Musa didn’t even get to use her Sirenix wish. Guess she didn’t please fate enough... even though she was mature enough to know that wishing her dead mother back was not the way she should use her wish. I call bullshit on that (and yes, this is my closing statement).

[dholwrites]

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Spicy Tangential Opinion

Name

The Dhol in dholwrites is actually my last character's name in FFXIV. I will admit I didn't think too much into it and followed the same theme as some of the other writing blogs I see since it's a trend that people are familiar with.

Most popular Oneshot

That is a little difficult to tell since my works on Ao3 are compiled together. I sort of regret that decision now. Based on the notes on tumblr, the most popular one seems to be the cuddling headcanon which is the second post I've ever made on the blog. It likely wins by seniority and being one of the fluffiest things I've ever written in my existence (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

Most popular multichapter

It would definitely be the 'Guilty Pleasure' series, where I pretty much wrote p*rn of our usual lineup of guys. (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) It seems that all my followers are very lewd.

The actual worst part of writing

I have an easy time writing short scenes, but connecting those scenes together is a fucking pain in the ass. For some reason trying to actually connect 2 related scenes is really difficult for me because I feel like I'm dragging a really thin line between 2 points instead of all of it flowing together as a complete cohesive work. ～(　TロT)σ

How you choose your titles

Most of the titles are based on the request or commission. I do like to play around with it and make it a little cheeky like 'Mommy?' for the request where the WoL is mistaken as a child's mom or 'Kissing *chu chu*' for the kissing headcanon. (づ￣ 3￣)づ

Do you outline

Yes, how big and detailed the outline becomes is dependent a bit on what I am working on. For commissions, I have an outline made of all the points I would be hitting. For headcanons, it's more notes of what I think would happen and the scene I want to see play out.

Ideas I probably won’t get around to, but wouldn’t it be nice?

I have Villain AU is never going to see the light of day, it was going to be so packed with porn that it would have become ridiculous. Taking the project on would be pretty much me becoming Icarus and I would most likely die if I actually write everything I have planned out.

Callouts @ Me

For the love of all things in this world, please just type up the prompts. The ideas are written down, the prompts are ready and neatly set up. All you need to do is just type it out and make it make sense. All the other work is done, you just need to write. (╬▔皿▔)╯

Best writing traits

I have no idea what my best writing trait would be. Personally, I think that I am good at showing my ideas but things like word choice and sentence structure are horrible. Ask anyone who reads my unedited writing. I can blame it on the fact that English is my second language, but I feel like I use that excuse too often.

Spicy Tangential Opinion

I don't think it's spicy but.

It cost nothing to stay in your lane.

Part of this stems from the fact that I got Anon hate a few years back regarding the fact that I was really slow with responding to requests and whatnot. I will admit that yes, I slowed down quite a lot and I appreciate the outpour of love that I got from my friends and followers. But the thought of it sometimes still bothers me to this day that I'm taking too long and I'm not doing enough. I don't want to think about what would happen if I didn't have my community's support. Just.

It cost nothing to stay in your lane and leave people be. If you don't like how someone spends their hobbies then leave and let them enjoy it in their own space and pace.

[ca-3]

I’m not sure if this is a popular opinion or not, but I don’t like Mikado Alicein and don’t feel he was properly punished by the narrative. The entire Alicein Fam doesn’t feel properly punished. This is a man who intimidated two young teenagers and had a 14 judo flipped. Yamane tried to skewer Mahiru. He cheated on his wife and then when his mistress was murdered helped cover up the death. Then he spills out all his sins to a 16. I stand by my thoughts that he’s a villain of a more benign sort.

Well, you have some valid points here, I get where you are coming from. But I probably have one thing I’m willing to dispute.

I’m not sure what peoples overall opinion on Mikado is. I just know a lot of fans enjoyed the Lust Pair arc, even though it’s very sad and dealt with some heavy topics. It adds a lot of character to Misono and Snow Lily, but you can’t really say the rest of the Alicein household remains completely one-dimensional throughout the whole arc.

This is only arc most of them appear in anyways and yet, we learn so much.

I wasn’t even sure what my real thoughts on Mikado was until I thought about this message, but YES MIKADO FUCKED UP. HE FUCKED UP BIG. DON’T GET ME WRONG, THE WHOLE THING WAS INDEED HIS FAULT BECAUSE HE GAVE INTO LUST. He really does make a bad impression at first and seems more like a villain at the beginning of the arc, that much I can agree with.

How secretive he was being and not letting anyone see Misono. Mikado probably believed he was only protecting his child, when in reality he was being selfish and more so protecting himself in a way. He didn’t want to lose Misono too.   One of his sons already hated him, you know.

“Yes, I only got what I deserved.”

I can’t say he wasn’t “properly punished”??? I’m not even sure what you mean by that exactly?? Or what you think should have happened to him but… he knew everything was his fault and deeply regrets all the horrible mistakes and selfish decisions he made, “regret” probably isn’t even a strong enough word to express all that he feels about his sins.

But like… my point now is, saying Mikado and the ENTIRE Alicein household wasn’t “properly punished” is like saying Lawless wasn’t properly punished.  This is like saying Sakuya wasn’t properly punished. Characters like Shamrock, characters like Hugh, characters like Tsubaki.

For example, MANY LOVE TSUBAKI. But he’s technically the “big bad” of the series and yet a lot of fans like Tsubaki as a character and he’s literally trying to kill off all the eves and Servamps? heLLO???? Even I like Tsubaki lol

Are we also forgetting that Lawless was basically A SERIAL KILLER FOR GOD KNOWS HOW LONG? He murdered so many of his eves because he thought nothing mattered anymore and claimed it was because he was “bored” of them.

Sakuya manipulated Mahiru’s memories, making Mahiru believe they have been friends for years, when really it had been only one year together.

Snow Lily also manipulated Misono’s memories FOR MANY YEARS because he was so scared Misono would hate him and he thought the truth about his past would be too much for him. A part of it was under orders, but Lily could hardly bear the thought of Misono hating him and yet he continued to lie to him and shelter him.

But you know what characters like Mikado, Lawless, Sakuya, and Lily all have in common? That despite the deep sins they have committed, they are all trying and willing to change for the better.

Almost all the characters in Servamp have flaws or have done things they have regretted in the past. None of them are perfect.

I’m tired of this silly little game that some people in this fandom try to play. This game of “Which character is the worst and doesn’t deserve to be forgiven and if you like this character you’re bad too” game.

It’s exhausting, while yes, I GET IT. Some characters have more severe levels of sin than others and not all of them are trying to change. But a reoccurring theme in Servamp seems to be forgiveness and change? The fact that we all want someone to call out our name and need us?

But I ain’t about to unpack all of that rn, dsadkhask, BUT MY POINT IS– 

Mikado knows he can’t fix what has already been done, I think he really wants to be a better father and listen more too. While you might think he wasn’t punished enough, I think the pain he’s lived with for years was enough. 

Maybe that’s all just my opinion, but that just seems to be the thing about Servamp. It’s literally about the Seven Deadly Sins, of course the characters are going do some bad things here and there. Servamp character or human character… they are all flawed. Just all differently.

[dokabee]

Warning! Contains the recent WF empyrean spoilers about the crystal destroying thing too, which I just watch off youtube because I’m too arsed to get it myself. 

Also, rant is mostly lore based. And heavily biased.

and also angry.

Warframe is... getting a bit too cluttered for me to have any interest in. But I won’t be getting into the gameplay because I admit, I was lazy and is unwilling to grind as diligently like I used to. 

But the LORE.

Oh GOD what happened to the lore. 

Now, any of you WF lore enthusiasts can correct me, please. I just don’t understand what is up with the lore choices and am too pissed to care about research anymore. I had a friend of mine recently explain stuff to me, but it’s nOT going to stop me getting quite pissed at some of these lore points that are making no sense and cluttered. I might have missed many things during my hiatus. Maybe key points! But I’m still bitter nonetheless. Please prove to me it’s not as bad as I think.

Let’s start.

1. What have they done to Ballas.  What happened?? Why is this happening?? Ballas had a HUGE presence and had been teased for forever. I thought HE was the final boss.The Baddest Bad. The Charming Psychopath. He’s gonna lead the Sentients and the Army to a battle with the Tenno! He’s gonna manipulate Lotus against us!! 

...and then he’s Erra’s slave and is weak and meek and spineless. 

Gee, thanks for screwing over a character I GENUINELY had major interest in until that point. I LOVED him. I tease him a lot, but I enjoyed how he was portrayed. He looked horrible, but I genuinely and utterly adore him during the Umbra arc. He was just... really cool and calculating! He was very well presented!

And, yeah. Then that whole... half sentient thing happened. Yea.

Which leads me to...

2. Fuck the existence of Erra. Listen, if anyone tried to convince me that ERRA is basically more fitting as the ‘true’ evil and the sociopath that will manipulate Lotus/Natah and lead the sentient army to destroy everything is a good decision... I will flip my shit. 

Really? Really. Ballas was butchered for THIS DUDE who we never seen teased or talked about before. Shut up about him being Natah’s ‘brother’, I don’t care. I’d rather Grandpa Hunhow come back than this dude, who actually had FAILED to impress me a single bit (also because I can’t understand the hell he’s saying due to the gargled weird voice). Not even his design. Battaclysts and Conculysts, hell, even VOMVALYSTS have a more unique design than this dude. Hunhow was also intimidating as all hell and had a fantastic entrance. Erra is way, way lacking compared to them.

I am VERY bitter about this dude.

(Look, I ain’t saying he is a bad character forever. Obviously, we don’t know how cool he is from the 7 or so minutes we got of him... but come on. His first impression holding Ballas like a slave is already like a spit to my face. I know I’m really bitter about him rn, but for me he’s just really bland. just ‘I am eeevviilll’ and that’s it. Boring. I hope he improves. He BETTER improve if you had to sacrifice Ballas for him.)

And then, this.

3. Please reuse existing NPCs in a more interesting way. Fuck’s sake, they’RE A GOLD MINE. The moments I see Kela being the big baddy during the beach event. The times Alad show up to talk about Ropalolyst or whatever it’s called. We have NEF ANYO, MY FAVORITE BASTARD! We have Baro, we have Darvo. They had really interesting stories and moments, all of them! 

USE THEM!

Why make Erra when you can just use these people to make VERY interesting dynamics? Hell, how did the news of the Lotus turning her back against the Tenno not reach them? If it does, why do they do legit NOTHING? Really? Nobody’s gonna try side with the Tenno? Or maybe take advantage and go AGAINST them? Nobody’s gonna also spy on this Sentient progress at all? Anyone? 

Like... these characters already have a huge following. Artist renditions and community memes have made them really, REALLY strong assets. I REALLY hope they had this in mind and just waiting to release the content. If not, and INSTEAD, they make more new characters like fuckin ERRA, I’m boutta lose my shit.

And my last and maybe something that irked me the most...

4. The game’s focus has shifted from Warframes to Operators, and THEN treat Operators quite poorly.  Okay, this is biased. This is probably just me. And this one’s gonna be the longest. But I prefer silent protagonists who show off how awesome and cool they are INSTEAD of having whiny baby tweenagers who has cheesy edgy dialogues. I honestly liked them more when they were Warframes. They don’t talk much and get shit done. The Villains that talk more also shines through during those past cutscenes, giving them more of a presence. I even really, REALLY liked that prt where the enemies kept pointing out how Warframes are eyeless and voiceless. It’s just so cool. Now with the Operators talking back at times... it just ruined the scene for me. Please let villains shine more and shit talk me. Kicking their ass after felt way better. 

And don’t get me started on how much they keep showing up in recent cutscenes... it made me miss those old cutscenes where they don’t talk back and just stood and act awesome, in cool silence. Yes, I know kids and tweenagers are supposed to be ‘immature’, but I don’t think Warframe is the type of game where that sort of personality fit very well. I want them to have the same presence they have when they are in Warframes. I just think cutscenes these days don’t hit me the same way anymore. 

Please, please use assets like Umbra. Please stop showcasing the Operators more than Warframes. Please, I love my Warframes more. When is that Umbra mod coming up?? WHEN ARE MY BABIES GOING TO BE SENTIENT??

I think Operators are not a bad idea... but I think they need to be treated better than what they are treated like now. They’re so annoying for a main character. Can I go back to Warframes? 

tl;dr. my favorite villain I was highly interested in was butchered, some rando replaced him acting all important. Please just reuse old, interesting NPCs and please make my operators cooler and maybe give them better dialogues while not forgetting about Warframes being cool. Suffice to say I’m done seeing the lore churn down this direction. Thanks. 

(Again, these are all my personal thoughts. If you wanna convince me otherwise, please don’t start a discourse and instead discuss me. I just wanna rant. If you have no problems, kudos to you! I just miss the times WF is simpler than now.)