#honestly speaking i don't even think the villains are that smart it's just that the hongs are extremely stupid | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lemonhemlock · 1 month

Note

Hi! Sorry for the new ask but brainrot consumed my brain and i needed your counsel.

So i was thinking about Otto marrying Alicent to Viserys and ,as you said once how Otto doesnt understand abuse and how him and Viserys are kind of similar .But then it kinda got me that they're also very different ,with Otto being more politically smart ,decisive and empathetic in some sick way towards people (the way he generally manipulates Alicent and the page thing with Rhaenyra,altho i think it was Alicents idea ).So ,for me ,someone like Otto cant really respect Viserys ,despite the fact that he wants his daughter to marry him .BUT ,in the deleted scene of him and Alicent discussing which crown Aegon would wear ,the fact that he seems displeased by her comments and her choice of crown made me rethink a lot of things.

All of this mess of thoughts is to ask ,do you think Otto respected Viserys? .I dont wanna paint Otto as a mustache twirling villain who gives no fucks about his daughter to the point of him marrying to a someone he doesnt respect ,but i dont really know .

Have a good day/night!

Welcome back, Red Roses, hope you had a great weekend!

I think Viserys does embody traits that Otto likes and that he does enjoy being around him. We are used to him being a walking zombie, but Viserys in episode 1 was a very personable and charismatic fellow, well-read, diplomatic and, honestly, rather fun. He can tell a story, crack a joke and seems to be the kind of person you could share a beer with. However, he doesn't neglect his duties and understands that being King involves a lot of boring meetings and going through the motions, which he generally accepts good-naturedly. If you think I'm exaggerating, compare this with how Robert treated his job.

However, Viserys can also be indecisive. I don't think he's stupid at all, not even short-sighted really, he possesses political acumen in the sense that he understands what people want of him and what he is expected to do, but he is such a people pleaser and a chaser of his own desires, that he relies on non-confrontation as a modus operandi. And, in turn, that makes him also rely on his councilors a lot.

So, honestly, I think that Otto perhaps admired some of Viserys' qualities and not others - a mixed bag, like every other person, really. He probably would have felt mixed feelings about any potential son-in-law, but Viserys trumps everyone else every time just by occupying the highest office in the land and making Alicent his queen, which automatically turns him into the best candidate in Otto's eyes.

Broadly-speaking, Viserys' reign was peaceful, so for general admin stuff I think he performed pretty decently. So, on that front, coupled with his good-natured personality,* I'd say he earned Otto's approval. But he was not a true visionary or have an over-arching plan in mind like Jaehaerys, who did a lot of modernization work, and whom I suspect Otto would consider a better King. Especially since he got to serve under both. And Viserys truly made a mess with the succession, which affected Otto's family directly, so that weakness for Rhaenyra & Daemon would be what Otto might draw up as points of criticism.

*We're ultimately talking about white privileged men here -> their definition of good-nature and kindness and fairness.

#ask #otto hightower #anti viserys i targaryen #redrosesandcharmingsouls

12 notes · View notes

randomingoftherandomness · 7 months

Note

There is a thing I don't get, why Yuanzhi was so against the idea of Ziyu becoming the sword wielder?

Just because he wanted his brother to be it? Or because of the rumors about Ziyu's mother? I mean, Shangjue was always logical on the reasons why he didn't want Ziyu to be the leader while Yuanzhi seemed to just do what he was told to do.

I read an answer on Reddit where Yuanzhi was described as Shangjue's dog, with no opinions of his own, petty and oblivious. Many people regarded him as the true villain of the show because he caused pain and played tricks for no real reasons. Do you think he is like that? Only smart for poisons?

Me to the Redditor who said that:

Knuckle and buckle, kids, you're on the Gab Meta Train.

1. Gong Ziyu started out hella unqualified and everyone knows it

Don't come at me and tell me Gong Ziyu was the most worthy candidate to be the Sword Wielder because based on the first character setup, he definitely was not it. He was known to frequent the pleasure house, he stumbles home drunk in broad daylight, he has no involvement in the family's affairs, and he is most definitely more known as a dandy than anyone who is being groomed to take over the helm of the family.

Honestly, off the bat, in real life, would you want someone with a proven track record to lead you and protect you and your interests, or would you want some dude who is better known for hanging out at a brothel than he is actually handling paperwork or has a track record of maturity?

Yuanzhi, who is younger than Ziyu, but already is contributing to the day-to-day running and the development of tech and research for the family.

Which means...?

He has skin in the game about who he wants to lead him in the family. And that's a very valid stance to take. It's more than "oh Gege told me to do this, so I will" because that's such a sad 1 dimension take, and again, to that Redditor:

Of course, we as the audience know that Ziyu will shape up. He will step up and he will answer the call, so to speak. But Gong Yuanzhi and Gong Shangjue did not. And if you really think about it, they're pretty much 'employees' of the Gong company. They just didn't agree with what top management decided and vocally voiced that opinion.

If you reeeeeallly want to think about it, they were just unionising :)

(gonna put this under a read more coz it got long)

2. Gong Shangjue has instilled a mentality of "Family First"

Relating to the first point.

Shangjue is obviously Yuanzhi's North Star. He is who Yuanzhi is shaping himself to be, and for all we know of his character, of course he would. He's basically the perfect man to aspire to be in a society like theirs.

So, when Shangjue says, "Family is the Most Important", don't you think Yuanzhi is gonna listen? Gong Shangjue is Gong Yuanzhi's most important person. He's family in a way that the rest aren't. Even if he doesn't outright say "I want that position", Yuanzhi would have done anything to help support him and get him there.

And going on the point where Shangjue and Yuanzhi were on Ziyu's case coz of the rumours that his mom was possibly pregnant when she married into the Gong family; I know other users on the MJTY tag have quite possibly discussed this matter (shoutout to @kingsandbastardz @swiftletinthecloud @romchat for their lovely metas and analysis posts ❤️ I consume them with much gratitude and glee), but let me crudely try to wrangle what has been beautifully said into my my own words;

For a family that prides themselves with being very strict about their familial rules, the fact that there is some measure and level of doubt persisting about Ziyu's parentage should have and must disqualify him from the position itself. Ziyu's dad could have easily kiboshed the rumours but he didn't, why?

More than that, the implication given to Shangjue over tea was that the position of Zhiren was always meant to go to him. Rewatch that scene where he last saw his uncle. Tell me differently.

The whole paternity issue is just one facet of a very Ziyu shaped problem. Having a murky paternity will raise issues of succession. Why do you think the nobilities of Europe back then had a court of people, usually people of importance, to be present when a marriage was consummated and a child was born? This is to make sure that there was no doubt that the marriage was legitimate and the line of succession and paternity remains unbroken.

(there were always exceptions to the rule, of course, but you get my drift, right?)

Of course, we got the resolutions to all of these issues; Ziyu was always the bio son of the Zhiren, he probably didn't kibosh the rumours because he never wanted to have his son carry that burden of leading the family when he could tell that his son had always wanted to leave the Valley, and Shangjue never coveted the position in the first place, he just wanted the right person to lead.

3. Yuanzhi has no opinions

Yuanzhi's just a dog to Shangjue? Well, if he's a dog, I wanna be one too Woof Woof.

Yuanzhi has his own motivations and drive. They just so happened to be Gege-shaped. I don't see how that warrants being called someone's dog.

He doesn't have his own opinions? Bro quite literally almost died to prove a point that the porridge was poisoned and Shangguan Qian cannot be trusted. HOW IS THAT NOT HAVING AN OPINION?

WERE WE EVEN WATCHING THE SAME SHOW???

Honestly, it's Reddit so I shouldn't be this surprised about the hot takes that happen on there, but damn if some people lack two brain cells to rub together to critically consume the media in front of them.

4. Yuanzhi is a reactionary character

Think about it; how many times throughout the narrative did he cause problems for no apparent reason?

If anything, don't you think that Ziyu & co. are the ones who deliberately do things to antagonise him and Shangjue? It's almost midnight as I am typing this and the old noggin is starting to lag, but let's focus on the blood GPS incident.

Yuanzhi saw that the people in the Yu residence were being a bit suspicious so he goes to snoop (cause + reason = reaction). Jin Fan is best boy, but Yuanzhi did not instigate that fight, he did (with good reason i know i know). (offense + defense = reaction). Ziyu & co. tried to stuff him into the closet (*snerk*) and what does he do? Bites down until he bleeds because he knows Gege will find him if he sniffs him out. And he did. A successful reaction.

In my opinion, he's like gunpowder -- left alone, they'll be fine. When given a spark, will react.

And again with feeling... To the Redditor who spouted such utter shite;

Class dismissed

#if it sounds like i have taken offence and would like to challenge to a duel of honour at dawn; it is and i do #I'm filled with fight me energy #gong yuanzhi #GRRR HOW DARE THEY #their brains must be smooth #the lights must be on but no one is home #because you can't be that stupid can you?#oh wait. yeah. yeahhh you can #my journey to you meta #my journey to you #gab rambles

35 notes · View notes

crusherthedoctor · 1 month

Note

📞 a character others dislike but you don’t?

♠️ favorite protagonist?

🕷️a character you feel is underrated?

📞 - a character others dislike but you don't?

Elise has gained more appreciation over time, but you still get people who think she's to blame for everything wrong with '06. She was a decent if underdeveloped character who simply wasn't used in the story that well, and anyone who thinks turning her into a Not-Sally is the only way to fix her isn't trying.

There's also Zor and Marine, both of whom I will always defend. Isn't it wild how I can barely remember anything from The End's three minute tough guy Reddit copypasta, yet everything Zor says is solid gold... shout out to IDW for missing the point and making him an unironic tryhard like every other villain in the comic. As for Marine, people act as though her character development never happened, which isn't helped by Flynn being one of those very people, and I don't understand why they give her flak for her stereotypical accent, yet make no such complaints about Bunnie.

For a couple of non-Sonic examples: King Sombra kind of went through the same arc as Elise in retrospect. As in, nowadays he has more open fans, but back when he made his debut, he received a disproportionate amount of flak for being a mostly silent villain, and the way he was used. I personally appreciated what they were going for with him, mainly cause of how they conveyed his Crazy Prepared defenses and the like, and honestly, by the time FiM concluded, I think he ended up better off than certain other villains lmao.

And of course, Moneybags. Not counting the first game (cause he didn't exist yet), I don't consider it a true Spyro experience if Winnie the Shit doesn't pop up in increasingly improbable locations to make deals in exchange for, *ahem*, a small fee. He also has some of the best lines. ("What are you going to do, sue me?")

♠️ - favourite protagonist?

Gex is unironically a better written character than everyone in Frontiers and IDW put together. This realisation makes me want to drink tap water at Jerry Garcia's.

Tails has always been my main bro out of the Sonic good guys, cause of how smart he is and how much he wants to help. :D It's also why I'm vocal about how much I despise it when fans double down on reducing the franchise to Just Furry DBZ due to super forms and whatnot, since it means Tails and other characters not named Sonic/Shadow/Silver are guaranteed to be treated even more like they're not good for anything meaningful. >:|

Then there's Spyro of course, which I know will be considered ironic to some given my complex feelings on Sonic, but truth be told, Spyro isn't really that similar to Sonic beyond some snark. He does admittedly act like a dude with tude in the first game, but it's clear that he's younger in that one. From the second game onward, where he's slightly older, he's considerably more chill... at least compared to Bubsy and many others from the 90's. And speaking of, despite his dialogue consisting entirely of WOAH, I respect Crash as well, since it was the bandicoot that got little me into the world of video games.

And many things change, but my fondness for Fluttershy will never die. Just as I have a preference for funny robot-loving villains who nonetheless remain a legit serious threat instead of being a joke, I have another preference for kindhearted quiet characters... which is why I also enjoy Trip... and Tikal... look, we all have our types, I'm sure you can sympathise. ;P

🕷️ - a character you feel is underrated?

The Hard-Boiled Heavies have mostly been pushed aside since Mania came out (aside from that one IDW story, but that's not a blessing), and it makes me madder than YouTubers who pretend they're mad because there are villains with dialogue who have less personality than these guys. They're so much fun, and despite all of them having the same Egg Robo template, their designs remain distinct from each other, even in silhouette form.

I also took to Ariem early on. Like the Heavies, "underrated" refers to general lack of fandom buzz compared to other characters, since although she appears to be quite liked, the acknowledgement given to her is somewhat limited due to her being stuck in an Android-only game for the time being. Some people also have an obsession with comparing her unfavourably to either Sage or Lanolin, for reasons I can probably guess in both cases. Me? I love her design, and her interactions with Cream and Knuckles are cute. :> I know it's not likely, but I hope she appears elsewhere so that she can be brought to more fans' attention... provided she doesn't get IDW'd.

Finally, a more complicated example: Metal Sonic. Now yes, he's very popular and beloved, and remains so to this day, but during the last couple of years, I feel I've been seeing two growing sides in the community when it pertains to him: the side who loves Neo Metal Sonic, and believe he's only a threat in that form like Flynn apparently believes (given how he often turns regular Metal into a jobber), and the side who consider him lame or essentially worthless because of his minimal characterization compared to others. He might not say much, and he might be a hedgehog-shaped tool of Eggman's ambition rather than a complete person of his own, but I believe there's a lot you can do with Metal that wouldn't require turning him into Usurper the Elf Shoes. OVA Metal ain't S-tier for nothing.

#Crusher's Asks #Opinion #Miles Tails Prower #Princess Elise #Marine the Raccoon #Ariem the Sheep #Metal Sonic #Zor #Hard-Boiled Heavies #Fluttershy #King Sombra #Crash Bandicoot #Spyro the Dragon #Moneybags

12 notes · View notes

randoimago · 7 months

Text

Day 27 - Enemies to Lovers

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Character(s): Kendo Itsuka

Type of Request: 31 Days of Oc-Trope-R

Note(s): I did my best to keep her in character with this concept. It kind of borderlines Enemies to Lovers and Rivals to Lovers.

She doesn't quite know how it started between you two. Maybe it was because she didn't really care about the rivalry that you claimed to have. Honestly, she viewed you as another Monoma to deal with (which also probably added to your hatred of her).

But it's so annoying how you try to one up her all the time. She doesn't get why you're trying so hard. And then, out of spite, she tries harder and usually succeeds, pissing you off more.

It's interesting for others to watch and see just because neither you or Kendo seem to have this temperament. It's only when you're both interacting with the other that it's a bit scary.

And then you two are assigned partners during a training exercise. It goes as well as anyone expects. You're both trying to make plans that clash with the other. And then when an olive branch is extended, it catches fire because now your compromises make another disagreement. Vlad King has enough and throws you both into detention because of how badly the training went.

Neither of you have a great time with detention. You're both stuck in the same room and having to write lines. At least there's no school counselor to put you in a "get along" jacket. But Kendo uses the silence to take a deep breath and think.

She doesn't know what it is about you that gets under her skin. She doesn't know what she did to make you hate her so much. But she knows that should you both ever need to fight an actual villain that there wouldn't be any second chances.

"Hey," Kendo speaks up and you ignore her. She should've expected that. "Your idea was good. For the practice." she states and you scoff.

"Yeah, I know." Kendo bristles at your comment but forces it down. "But you had to argue instead. Little miss perfect." It's Kendo's turn to roll her eyes.

"Yeah cause your idea was you going off alone to look cool when the other team targeted you."

"It was so I could be bait while you'd be safe and get us to win," you argue and Kendo pauses. You were thinking about her safety? Her lips purse at that idea.

"Pitting yourself against two people is stupid. If this wasn't training-"

"Why would we end up in this situation outside of training? Two heroes-in-training conveniently against two villains-in-training?" You reply and roll your eyes. "Look, it was a plan for that specific combat training. Everyone knows you're physically strong so it makes sense for me to act aggressive to throw them off."

"I still didn't want you to sacrifice yourself for me. Even if it's a stupid training session," Kendo states and sighs. She really misjudged your intentions.

"You think I can't take on two guys at once?" You ask and Kendo realizes that it does sound like she's underestimating you.

"Maybe I don't want you to be hurt either," she states and you fall silent at that. "You know, I don't know what I did. But I don't hate you. I never wanted to be your enemy," she says with a sigh and you sigh back.

"Do you think I hate you?" The look on her face says enough. "I don't hate you. I just want you to notice me. Everyone in class knows how strong and smart you are, I'm not trying to upstage that. But I want you to know that I'm strong too. That you can rely on me."

She severely misjudged you.

"I see... Maybe we should start over?" She suggests and you shrug.

"I don't really want to start over. I mean, we've both annoyed the hell out of each other. I doubt you'll be willing to forget that." She almost argues but realizes that you're right. "After detention, let's go out to eat somewhere. Vlad King said we'll get a redo of the training," you suggest and Kendo nods.

"Yeah, sounds good. We can plan then. If we end up against the same team, then they will probably underestimate us because of how we acted," she adds and you give her a smile. A smile that makes her realize that she really likes seeing it.

"Good. It's a date." She barely processes your words before she realizes how badly she misjudged your intentions towards her.

And then she puts the pieces together and realizes that you didn't hate her. You weren't fighting to take her spot. You were pushing yourself just as hard so you could prove you're strong for her. And now the ball is in her court as she feels like an idiot for not realizing all of this sooner.

"Yeah. It's a date."

#randoimago 31 days of october #my hero academia x reader #mha x reader #kendo itsuka x reader #mha kendo x reader

17 notes · View notes

dulltoned · 5 months

Note

currently brainrotting about the possible antagonists that we could get in Trolls 4 (if that does end up happening) and I need to get this shit out somehow

I’ve seen people talk about Crimp being the next antagonist, and imma be real; I don’t see it- like sure, that lil mop thing is smart, hell, even Velvet acknowledged that and ended up not trusting her as a result, but I highly doubt Crimp could be some kind of evil mastermind (also wondering how she didn’t get arrested as well since, legally speaking she could be considered a as an accomplice to the whole shit fest with Floyd?? make that make sense, but then again, law may work different in their world so what do I know)

some said something about Creek coming back, and let me just say I HATE plots like that-

Creek’s dead, end of story, and even if he is somehow still alive, he doesn’t deserve to fucking return (I hate Creek, alright- can’t stand the little shit)

now, I’ve seen someone speak about a new kind of Troll popping up and I gotta say that caught my eye a bit more; Phonk Trolls- I’d say it would be an interesting concept to play with-

I got a personally idea of mine since, throughout the movies, the subject of grey trolls in general is never truly talked about again- so far, canonically, Branch seems to be the only troll we know of that has turned grey and remained that way for a long period of time- but what if there were more, similar to him? trolls who had lost their colors and just- never gained them back

I find the idea of a whole tribe of grey trolls rather interesting, and it would be a fun concept to tweak and play around with- and how they could pose a threat to our beloved main cast- perhaps they want to rid the world of color, or they want to steal that color to have some sort of happiness back, unfortunately ripping all the others trolls of that same mirth- are they driven by anger, grief, vengeance, or a mix of all of these?

or perhaps the newest antagonist is another species entirely, or a bigger threat than anything they’ve experienced before-

anyways it’s midnight where I am and I need some sleep

-🪶

I don't really have any big hopes for the antagonists of the fourth film, were there to be one. I'd like to see some returning antagonists, to be fair, even if they've all been pretty safely written off and tucked away where they won't be a problem anymore.

I don't remember if the storyboards I saw were real or not but I honestly wouldn't mind if Creek was a returning villain. I'd honestly like to see him antagonize Branch a lot more, I enjoyed their bitter dynamic before the Snack Pack got taken in the first movie. While Chef is most certainly dead we saw Poppy save herself from a similar experience during Get Back Up Again so I don't think it would be entirely out of pocket to have Creek survive somehow.

I just don't know how the franchise could do that in a way that I wouldn't despise. I know that I absolutely loathed how Creek was written into The Beat Goes On and I would hate to have the main series ruined by some blunder like that.

I'd just like to see one of the Trolls movies expand a bit more on what we already know, like how World Tour really went into detail about the Trolls and their different cultures and subspecies. I don't want a whole new species like the Mount Rageons even though I adore them, I think it'd be fun to dig a little deeper into the world we already have and then continue to expand it later down the line maybe.

I like what I've seen a few people say here and there, though. I'd like to see a scenario where Branch is the one that needs help for once, instead of being the one to offer it and pull off the rescue. I love seeing how competent and aware he is but I'd like to see what would happen if the rest of the trolls didn't have Branch to rely on for once. He's always a really big piece of the solution so what would happen if they didn't have him to put things together?

Regardless, if/when a fourth film comes out I hope I love it just as much as the other three. That's all I can really ask for.

#| world tour |#| branch answers |#| branch rambles |#( 🪶 )

12 notes · View notes

foxybananaaaz · 9 months

Text

Let's talk about my FIRST theory for House of Flame and Shadow that I just thought about this morning while talking with my friend.

Also also, I have not seen this theory out there. I haven't seen many theories at all(on purpose). SO THIS MEANS, if this theory is already out there, I did NOT steal it. It would be nice to know, though, so I can make an edit, stating that I was not the first to come up with it.

⚠️ Spoilers for Entire SJM!Verse ⚠️

Continue reading below the cut

《 The Hind knelt before her undying masters and contemplated how it would feel to tear out their throats. 》

- House of Flame and Shadow, first sentence(officially released)

Lidia is a new POV this book! Which got me thinking... who else might be new POVs?

Sadly, I feel it's unlikely our ACOTAR gang will get POVs... But who knows? We might be surprised with just one of them getting it.

If so, if we are graced with a POV from one of our ACOTAR characters, I feel it might be Amren, though. This is because she was the one to understand Bryce's language first. She was also the one to recognize the Star Sword. So, if we are lucky enough where we do get an ACOTAR POV, it will probably be Amren.

Which, okay? I'm not sure how I personally feel about that. She really annoyed me in Silver Flames. After the scene where she was telling Rhys about using Nesta and her swords to become High King, that's when Amren started annoying me. It seemed she cared more about power than politics.

Politically speaking, it's better for Rhys to stay High Lord. He knows this. Of course, he knows this. He's great at politics. But for power? High King is better.

And with this in mind, where it seems Amren cares more about power? Think about how powerful Bryce is. Also, remember the fact that there IS a war brewing amongst the courts of Prythian. The scene mentioned above takes place because Amren and Rhys know about it, AFTER Eris tells them how his father is itching for it. I kind of feel how the war was shoved to the side, though.

This is because we have Koschei. He was there helping Briallyn in Silver Flames. All signs are pointing to Elucien being endgame, and it's also obvious that the next book will be Azriel, given his bonus chapter, and that he will end up with Gwyn. So that leaves the last book being Eluciens' book.

Now, Lucien lives in the Human Lands, with Jurien, and who else? Oh yeah! Vassa!! Who is currently cursed, and on borrowed time with her freedom from Koschei, because the deal Papa Archeron made with him.

Given that Koschei was tied to Briallyn, it's safe to assume he will have something to do with the villain of Azriels' book. And with Lucien being friends with Vassa, and it being the last book, this would be where we face down with him.

But I've made a few posts about that already. This post isn't about that, though.

So, what about the war, that's been foreshadowed, you know, the one Eris mentioned, and the one that led Amren to her idea that Rhys should be High King before it's too late?

When's that plot going to happen?

I honestly feel that it might just happen with Bryce in Prythian?

"Oh, but you can't have one series plot happen in another series! The readers who don't read Crescent City will wonder where that plot went!" To which I respond with... Illyrian Uprising, from Frost and Starlight. Where did it go in Silver Flames?

I know it didn't go to another series, but this wouldn't be the first time someone wondered where a plot from her books went. It even happened in the same series.

Also, sidenote, I've made a few posts mentioning this war and gotten replies saying, "Oh yeah! I completely forgot about the war being foreshadowed!"

Would it be at all a smart move? No. But when you think about it, it would make sense.

Think of how pushy Amren was with the High King business, after learning just how powerful Nesta truly was, if she could feel the power coming off simple weapons she made. Again, this is coming after the information Eris gave them about his father's itching for a war amongst the courts.

Now, enter Bryce Quinlan, or I guess, legally, it's Bryce Danaan(Nope! Nooo DO NOT LIKE THAT!) now? Either way, she's always going to be Bryce Adelaide Quinlan to the family that loves her, and to us.

Anyway, now that Bryce is with us in Prythian, and I've already mentioned that it feels that Amren cares more about power than politics, just remember how powerful Bryce is. How far down she went when making the drop. She even passed her father's depth.

So, of course, when Amren learns this, she will be on Rhys' ear, telling him to make a deal. Help her if she helps them stop the war amongst courts before it happens(not yet knowing how to do that). She will also want to help Bryce learn how to use her powers without someone like Hunt activating her. Just like she wanted to help Nesta.

Also, the fact that it's confirmed by Sarah, that Amren was an Angel(potentially an ArchAngel?), could she be from the world of Crescent City before it became more modernized, with all the technology.

Is being from the same world how she can understand Bryce? If so, she would know how terrifying the Asteri are, and hearing Bryces story, she would want to come up with a way to serve their purpose gaining more power, but ALSO keep Bryce safe from the Asteri for as long as possible.

Once Bryces end of this deal is completed, then Nesta will use the Harp to help get Bryce to wherever it is she needs to go.

Thus ending the hypothetical Amren POV chapters. Though, obviously, we would have Prythian in both Bryce and Amren, so.. yeah.

ALSO ALSO,

I'd like to think Nesta would tag along with Bryce, after learning that she needs to go to Hel, then back to Lunathian. This way, Bryce wouldn't be stranded again, in case she couldn't activate the horn.

Bonus points if, by using the Harp, they drop into Terresen, literally right in front of the royal family, and Aelins just there like

But we know she will, because she's Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius, the Fire Breathing Bitch Queen. And if her kingdom or friends are in danger, then I almost feel sorry for the ones putting them in danger.

14 notes · View notes

madrone33 · 2 months

Text

Just found this in my docs! Apparently I wrote down my reaction when I first listened to Ulysses Dies At Dawn last november, soooo :D

Started listening to Ulysses Dies at Dawn by The Mechanists. First song is The City, let's gooo (19:44).

Just finished listening to Ulysses Dies at Dawn. Oh, shit, I just realised why the album is called that, fuck. My heart. His death was simultaneously heartbreaking, peaceful, and triumphant. I had no idea it was going to end like that. Amazing (22:24).

Ok, some rambling about it before I re-listen with lyrics:

The whole idea of trials, and each character's backstory getting introduced with them is cool. It lets the mystery soak for a bit, giving breadcrumbs out, and letting each character have time to breathe.

I like how the blind guy is almost exclusively referred to as "that motherfucker" XD. Ironic.

Ok, but the sphinx disease is legitimately horrifying. Wow, the Olympians are just straight up villains in this huh.

I think Daedalus has the coolest vibes (apart from Ulysses) 'cause he's just so smooth all the time. Calm and collected and unconcerned... until the end when Ulysses switches it up on him lol.

The line "Currently beaten, battered, bloody... Unbowed. Spits out a mouthful of teeth and disdain" perfectly encapsulates Ulysses' character. I love it.

Ulysses being this super smart inventor tactician dude is awesome. I was stunned by the Trojan Horse twist. Broken Horses was amazing, I had literal chills. Interestingly, it almost reminds me of Hell’s Comin’ with Me by Poor Man’s Poison? Also, the signal Ulysses designed for the Trojan Horse sounds a lot like the V-Day signal in Kingsman. Brutal.

The beat to My Name is No-One sounds like an alarm, like how False Peace by Precious Jewel Amor utilises the prison alarm as percussion, which is very cool. And the song is hilarious. Just waltz in, it'll be fine :D Love the way it fades out after he gives his name away, ending on an unresolved note a lot like in Remember Them from EpicTM. Yo, speaking of Epic, I kinda love how the electric guitar in this song unintentionally mirrors the way Odysseus in Epic has the electric guitar as his instrument when he’s doing badass shit.

And then Ulysses going from idealistic to traumatised, and you don't even see the extent of his hope for the world until right at the end, when it's already gone. Like, shit bro.

Love how even though he spends like- almost the whole thing being drunk and getting beaten up, he still always seems in control somehow. The only time he isn't is in Underworld Blues when he's begging to Hades. I'll have to relisten to that to figure out what he wanted, actually. It was a bit unclear. Did he just... want Hades to kill him or smth? Make sure his brain wasn't on the network? Yeah, I'll need the lyrics.

The twists on all the lore are honestly so great. From mythical and magical, to futuristic and mechanical. You can clearly see the real world myths all their backstories come from.

That simple, blunt "No" from Ariadne was great.

I love how in Torn Suits all of the mercs are singing about why they can't die, and how they're going to use the money to escape the City's hold on them. By running, or paying off debts, or taking a loved one back, or ruling it. But then Ulysses kills them and willingly dies himself, giving his body to the earth and escaping the City more fully than they ever could. Hell yeah, fuck them.

As soon as I heard the password was 'Elysian', I knew it was something about death. His death. And something about it will be peaceful. I was right.

And ARGOS!! The doggo reunites with his human, and yeah he still dies, but Ulysses practically goes with him! Also, are dogs extinct in this world, like horses? Did Ulysses manage to find the last tree and the last dog?? Damn, dude. Mad skillz.

Bro, I was wondering where Penelope was going to fit into all this, 'cause in The Odyssey, practically his entire life purpose is to get back to her, but here there was... nothing stopping him I thought? I thought either he was in huge debt to someone and was stuck in a completely different sector than Penelope, or he was staying away out of guilt and shame over his actions in the war. But then it's revealed that he is trying to get back to her... in death. Like, fuck bro, that's really fucking sad. Dude's been passively or actively suicidal for the past few decades, and then he finally gets to rest with her... Fuck, man. Hits hard.

Ulysses sounds a lot like Joel from The Last of Us games when he sings softly. It helps that Elysian Fields is literally just Wayfaring Stranger lol. Also gives the same feeling as the endish part of AC: Valhalla, after he talks to the king and rides away and Twilight of the Gods starts playing.

The cover art is so cool, as well. And the last ones? The plain wooden table, bare of any media or research or advertisement. So good. No more secrets. No more lies. The truth, laid out in the open, plain as can be. Nothing more, nothing less. And then the vault, blood splattered enemies dying, grasping for artificial life in the cold grey, while Ulysses lies under the living tree, surrounded by sunlight and green with his loved ones, at peace with his death. Amazing imagery.

The drums at the end of Elysian Fields are like a funeral march or the drums that play on Anzac Day. So good.

Okay, I think I've written all I wanted to say, so imma go read the lyrics now (22:56).

Finished listening with the lyrics! Love it even more now (01:44).

#udad #ulysses dies at dawn #immediate reaction #rambles #essay #my posts #long post

3 notes · View notes

elliemyrah · 1 year

Text

My GF's thoughts on SRMTHFG S1

So my girlfriend has been watching Srmthfg with me whenever we have time and its just a fun time. Especially since I'm not a person who will defend this show with every fiber of my being, anymore. So I can enjoy the bad writing and moments with her.

She was very sweet to even watch this with me and has been going on a trippy roller coaster. At times she'll lose track of the setting or get too lost in the music forget about the plot entirely. Sometimes it's just my fault cause I talk to much and I tend to talk to the fictional characters like I just showed my girlfriend extended family lol. Anyways let's just start.

Uhh actually disclaimer: This is for fun and Im just sharing this cause this was interesting to see what someone being introduced to this show reacts. She's also someone who has read and studied animals almost all her life. She's very critical when animals are involve, like me with television. But uhh yeah the monkey sounds really get to her. Like she is put off guard everytime.

-First off the bat Antuari, Oh boy! lol The moment he came on screen she just had questions. "Why does the black monkey have yellow eyes? Why is he voiced by a black voice actor?" (My gf is African American btw)

I laughed at this and took note to this. I already warned her lot about this show before watching so this was just added info that I could use. But I believe Antuari is her least favorite in the team. Not because of what I stated before but that she doesn't care for his personality.

-Otto though is her favorite, who's surprised though hehe. She loves his nature and his energy. Basically he's a lot like me so she loves him lol. But yeah we just laugh at this sweet green bean and want to pat his head

-Nova Though she doesn't say much about her whenever I do bring her up she just says she's too cool for this team. So i think I can say she likes her

btw I wanna address I didnt ask her questions for this review. I wanted to just enjoy this show with her without her feeling like she had an interview afterwards. So this is off memory and yes she gave me permission to write this.

My gf likes Gibson but she's never been a fan of shows having the brainiac characters say very stereotypical smart guy language. She also agrees that he is very gay and his weapon is super useful.

Sprx-77 now is an interesting one. She started out disliking him cause of his "asshole" personality. However starting after ep 4 she changed her mood immediately. Which was cool to see.

We also are already 3 eps into S2 and her favorite episode of the whole show so far has been 'World of Giants' which I knew she would like. That episode was funny ok, cringe isn't a word I use to critic work yal just don't like to have fun.

Anyways when we discussed his character, she simply just liked how he treats Chiro like a kid. He lets Chiro skip patrol to watch shows, asks if he needs help, and is normally on his side.

Honestly i feel like when Chiro joined the team Sprx was against it cause he was in fact a child but didn't have much of a say in the matter or Chiro was too stubborn to take no. So Sprx just tries to relate and understand him the most. Sprx is Chiro's dad not Antauri, I will die on this hill!!

Chiro is constantly being made fun of by my girl. She just can't stop mentioning about his head being so wide it's funny! lmao

Jinmay - She knew she was a robot right away but jumped when Soko started to speak lol. She doesnt care for Chiro/Jinmay's relationship which I fight her about lol.

Mandarin - Another monkey she felt was racist right away but she thinks he's threating. She was really interested in his villain role and wasn't disappointed til the season finale. We also both agree that him and Antuari are exes lol.

So the finale uhhh we were watching it and most through all of the 2 episodes she just said, " Yep this was just an old transformers movie but like mediocre." I facepalmed so hard. Dammit Ciro!

So yeah she likes the show. It's nothing she'll talk about for hours but I never excepted her to be into it in the first place. In fact I never intended to show this show anytime soon but she wanted to watch it with me. And I simply couldn't be happier. So I'll watch whatever anime she puts in front of me despite disliking 90% of animes.

That was it, thanks for reading.

#my gf is the best #srmthfg #season review #for fun

3 notes · View notes

herd-of-ponies · 2 years

Text

Ok see here's the thing. I haven't watched the series itself yet bc quite frankly the movie was just. Horrendous in ways I still go into a blind rage over. So full disclaimer all my complaints stem from there alone.

But like. Firstly you have a ""Good"" Cop character. Then you have a Bad Cop who receives literally zero repercussions for his actions. His fascist overbearing mother likewise is unpunished in any way, shape or form - save minor embarrassment over her son who she raised this way herself. As a funny little joke.

The one character who Consistently has the solutions to get the group places, Izzy, who In Fact is the entire reason the movie got anywhere in the first place (because Sunny never left town herself fsr??), is treated as a joke character, Pinkie but incredibly dumb or nonsensical and who needs "looked after" by the main character (see everyone's favorite 'iconic wlw song', it's never Sunny being looked out for). Wild part is a) she's Obviously smart and clever and creative and self-capable enough to wander the continent Alone with Nothing to help her, and b) she's also voiced by a non-white va which uh. Makes the narrative's treating her like a joke idiot look really dicey!! So got some ableist AND racially charged takes going on here!

Speaking of, Sunny gets to take all the credit when she has Izzy to thank for a lot of what happened. Yes, it's because of 'her' (her dad's) message in a balloon Izzy ever even looked for other ponies but. Sunny never reached out again or tried setting out herself, despite having that sureness and tenacity to do so? Izzy didn't even KNOW that other ponies were safe, she didn't have anyone in her village to tell her anything else, but she STILL took that chance to go looking, risks herself and meets Sunny. So Sunny can then take the credit and get alicorn'd or whatever.

You could say it's that alicorns need to inspire others or whatever but Sunny clearly wasn't doing that to anyone else, because her speech flopped Every Time, including when she was put at risk of bodily harm in the beginning. Inspiring One pony does not a princess make.

(And yes, somehow that same canned speech inspired everyone once her house was destroyed but. Given how people didn't care in the beginning of the movie when she was put in direct danger, I really don't think her house being destroyed should have made an impact)

I could honestly keep going, about how everyone was so bland bc they acted so 'staged', never moving or speaking independently if it wasn't Their Turn; or how there were attempts at characterization that had Zero Payoff and thus seemed weirdly shoved into the writing for no reason (Hitch's dancing didn't have any impact to the story, Izzy makes comments on auras seemingly just to paint her as weird and laughable) ; or primarily how no one has any Flaws, and you can argue they technically do, but none that they get narratively held responsible for!

Actually I will keep going on that last point - in the g4 movie, characters mess up, and get narratively 'punished' for! Either drawing attention of the villains or getting offers of help rescinded (thanks specifically to Twilight! The protagonist!) Their actions and shortsightedness lead to direct consequences, and others around them also recognize this and typically disapprove if only for a moment.

The g5 movie... really does not do this. There's no 'punishment', the rejection and loss the characters experience aren't because they messed up. It's only to show how Tragic they are or to move the plot along (like the house). In fact, there's one instance of genuine criticism - Hitch being upset that Sunny is purposefully endangering his job because his livelihood isn't as important as her ideals - and tbh, given he's a cop, that really doesn't need to be a concern - but that's retracted and used to paint him as wrong for ever doubting her, despite the fact that realistically? She was prioritizing poorly!

No one listened to her and everyone rejected her tired speeches, and that's common knowledge by that point. Her choosing One More Tired Speech over her friend's job and reputation, when she's only ever seen failure, isn't her making some 'for the greater good' choice. That's stubbornness and pride speaking, no matter how well-intended, and she put herself and her friend at risk for a pointless gesture. And she gets ultimately rewarded for this via the rest of the movie proving her right, and awarding her the role of princess.

Anyways. The movie was awful and if anything felt like pro-cop propoganda cleverly disguised as pro-activist sentiment, and while it's been a bit I watched this movie three times to break a lot of this down and I can keep going if needed.

Idk about the series, but the g5 movie sucks and honestly is horrifying to see as accepted by the fandom, because in terms of writing and in terms of meaning it is literal shit.

#long post #ramblingonandon #hmmmm #im gonna tag this #g5 movie hate #firstly. but also?#mlp g5 movie #mlp a new generation #feel free to block the hate tag or just me if your complaint is me putting this in tage #but the movie itself is a moral trainwreck so i feel like that needs to be put into the public eye more #if that upsets you then again Just Block me or the tag. this post aint for you if that's your issue

5 notes · View notes

thestarswithinthesewalls · 5 months

Text

Lost_Scarecrow commented on my fic with engaging statements about how the Mk gang and Redson’s family have more experience and overall power qhen it comes to the Umbrellas and it got me thinking if we were to flat out think about the Umbrella characters how would things pan out.

Considering the everyday op villains of the week that Mk's gang face, I totally get you. The Umbrella would look at them like they're crazy hearing all this cartoon sh*t. Just the thought of their faces makes me laugh honestly.

At first I thought the same thing you did, but the more I mulled over it and kinda skimmed though the comics, I realised that the Umbrella (some of them) would actually stand a chance if they used the powers to their full extent and with proper practice.

Some that stood out to me is that, so far, most of the Monkey gang have displayed, or rather, prefer using physical powers. (I don't know how else to put it.) Things like strength, transformations, beams, speed, etc. From their lore that I know of most do use magic that's not physical, but rarely. Ancient artifacts, lady bone demon's mind control, the scrolls, etc.

Considering their fighting styles, I immediately ruled out Luther and Diego. The Mk gang would easily be able to deflect and reflect 2x as hard. Then I came to Allison. Her power kinda functions in the same as LBD if she managed to get close enough to one of them. As we have seen previously, they are not able to deflect mind control so they wouldn't be able the deflect her rumors (we've even seen that now she may not even need to say "I heard a rumor")

Next Viktor. Truthfully, I haven't done a real deep dive on him, so yeah. From what I know now Viktor could start off with bursting some eardrums and destroying people's sense of balance. You can't exactly defend yourself from that. For people who can heal quickly like Monkey King it's not a problem, but for others...

Viktor also has powers like force-field generation and matter manipulation. He has been shown have some sort of telekinesis. If he wanted he could like blow up a liver or lung or something. Heart for a fatality and that's only some of what he can do.

Lila can copy. That goes a long way and that's all I need to say.

Klaus, firstly, is immortal. Next, Klaus can literally utilize the undead to do his biding as we saw in the beginning of season 2 when he conjoined up the dead soldiers to fight for him and catch him when he fell. He could literally make his own army to fight for him and they would never die as long as Klaus never died. That would be an issue for the Mk gang.

Lastly, Five. Five is literally called the most dangerous temporal assassin in the field and the most powerful man in time. There is a lot he hasn't done in the show with his powers (which I hope we will see later on) I feel like there is a lot he could do with his time travel, but right now he's afraid of f***ing everything up again, so he's kind of holding off on it. Speaking about his teleportation, Five is able to teleport other people and objects. He could just teleport his enemies to different parts of the world if he wanted to make time. Or in front of a bus or something... If things didn't go they way he wanted he could just go back to the start of the day or a couple years prior if he wanted to prepare to the highest degree. Five's also a quick study and smart as hell which has benefited him multiple time and I bet would benefit him in his fight with the Mk gang as well. He has genuis-level intellect and an expert tactician.

Sorry for the long breakdown. I've been meaning to spew these overflowing thoughts.

#umbrella academy au #umbrella acedmy #the umbrella academy #lego monkie kid #fanfic #writer #lmk #ua #fanfiction #typing this in the car #road trip

0 notes

ghostchasersmagazine · 2 years

Note

Have you ever wondered why a.) Mumbly wasn't put on the Scooby-Doobies, b.) Mildew Wolf wasn't put on the Really Rottens, c.) Snagglepuss wasn't put on the Yogi Yahooeys, or d.) the Really Rottens contained original characters rather than villains from previous shows?

Honestly no, I’ve never really questioned any of those things (though I have considered the Scooby Doobies line-up more generally). But, here are my brief thoughts on them now:

A.) - I think this is two-fold. The main reason in my opinion is rights issues with the Really Rottens. Hanna Barbera needed a Muttley stand-in and Mumbly visually and name-wise fit the bill, so an evil villain he became.

There is also the fact that the original Scooby Doobies line up, before Hanna Barbera lost the rights to Jeannie and the Josie and the Pussycat characters, were all characters that Scooby had canonically met before in his shows. He met Jeannie and Babu in the “Mystery in Persia” episode of The New Scooby Doo Movies, Alexander, Alexandria, Melody, and Sebastian in the “The Haunted Showboat” episode of The New Scooby Doo Movies, Speed Buggy and Tinker in the “The Weird Winds of Winona” episode of The New Scooby Doo Movies, Scooby Dum appeared in multiple episodes of The Scooby Doo Show, and Blue Falcon and Dynomutt met him in multiple episodes during the Scooby Doo/Dynomutt Hour. Naturally, since Mumbly did not crossover with Scooby before Laff-a-Lympics, he would not fit this pattern.

(On a side note, I do think the last-minute changes to the Scooby Doobies roster that had to be made were actually pretty good thematically speaking. Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels was the current Mystery Teens show at the time, so they made a good replacement for the Josie and the Pussycats characters, and while Hong Kong Phooey wasn’t a one-to-one replacement of Jeannie like that was, I still think he fits well given that he’s an anthropomorphic dog from the 70s that does some manner of crime-busting.)

I personally like team roster the show ended up going with for the Scooby Doobies and don’t think replacing a character with Mumbly would have improved it. Arguably he could take the place of Hong Kong Phooey, but I think Hong Kong Phooey adds a fun layer to the team that I frankly don't think Mumbly could have really replaced. However, I do see why the original version of Mumbly would have thematically fit well with the Scooby Doobies - he’s an anthropomorphic dog, a detective, and even voiced by Don Messick. An interesting consideration for sure, but not something that necessarily should have happened in my opinion.

B.) + C.) - I feel like these two weren’t put on teams because Hanna Barbera had to choose two characters to be announcers, and the two of them ended up being it.

Personally I think it was smart of them to have Snagglepuss be an announcer instead of being on the Yogi Yahooeys proper. His personality works well for that role and off the top of my head I can’t think of anything he would be able to do for the team games-wise that couldn’t be done by a character already on there.

I also don’t think Mildew Wolf would really fit in with the Really Rottens. Like, he is the antagonist/villain of his show so I get the logic behind why he could be with them, but at least in Laff-a-Lympics he’s written to be more of the weaselly/pathetic sort of villain, the kind that would rather save his own skin than complete his evil tasks. The Really Rottens, on the other hand, are the mustache-twirling kinds of villains, the ones who are evil for fun and will always try to complete their scheme even if it makes them look ridiculous. I just don’t think Mildew would blend in well with the group, so ultimately it probably was the better decision to have him be an announcer instead.

D.) - Ignoring the three Dalton brothers since they were Quick Draw McGraw villains and not original characters like the rest of them, I think a major, and likely the main, reason is due to rights issues in some form or another. The most obvious example is Dread Baron and Mumbly, as they are stand-ins for Dick Dastardly and Muttley from Wacky Races, who Hanna Barbera didn’t have the right to use. There’s also Daisy Mayhem and her pet pig Sooey, who may or may not have been created due to Hanna Barbera possibly not having the rights to use a character or two from the Li’l Abner comic strip, as far I know this has not been confirmed either way.

Why the rest of the characters were created to be entirely original is less obvious to me though, since there don’t seem to be any clear rights issues with them. According to Wikipedia the Creepleys were based on the both the Gruesomes from The Flintstones and Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist from a handful of other Hanna Barbera shows, so you would think they would have the rights to use either sets of characters in Laff-a-Lympics. Perhaps they were planning to use the Gruesomes, but whatever caused them to scrap the fourth Flintstones-themed team made them scrap the Gruesomes as well?

Outside of rights issues, the only other reason I can think of for why the Really Rottens were comprised mainly of original characters was because of the type of villain they were going for. Like I mentioned earlier, the Really Rottens are the evil-for-the-sake-of-being-evil type of villains, and as far as I know (my knowledge of 50s and 60s Hanna Barbera isn’t very strong), a lot of the other Hanna Barbera antagonists simply didn’t fit that mold. Since the point of the Really Rottens was to show that cheaters never win and all that, a lot of other Hanna Barbera antagonists, who are mainly antagonists simply because they get in the protagonists way as opposed to genuinely being evil, would not match that.

Of course, this is all just speculation on my part, so take it with a grain of salt if you want.

#anonymous #textpost #this got wordier than expected. whoops

1 note · View note

gh0stchoir · 2 years

Text

"Happy Valentine's Day, my love"

Dabi/ Touya Todoroki x Male reader

Warnings?: spoilers abt his childhood if you squint, not proofread

A/n: happy Valentine's Day to all my people who don't have someone to celebrate with, now you have Dabi🎉

Masterlist

⚠️Female aligned= DNI or you will be blocked. (She/her, she/they, etc.)⚠️

"Darling, I love you and all, but where the hell are we going?" Dabi asks in a raspy voice, watching as you keep up your pace but turn around your head to look at him. Your eyes acted like mirrors, reflecting the light of nearby lit up buildings. He could even see himself in your bright eyes, despite the fact you two were in a seemingly pitch black stairwell. You giggle and point out of the broken window next to the two of you at one of the tall buildings, just another office building. "You know that building? Right? Then you should know where we are." You grin, squeezing his hand before continuing up the dark stairwell. Dabi let out a huff. He definitely knew that building, having past it multiple times and even once infiltrating it to get security footage. Yet he never seemed to notice this run down building you brought him to, especially after taking unknown routes through the alleyways. Usually if you knew of a dope run down place, such as the one you two were in right now, you would immediately tell him. Yet he'd never been here. You must've kept it a secret from him. 'Sneaky little brat..' He thought.

"I know you don't know this place..no one from the league knows of it. That's why I brought you here." You explain after a few minutes of silence. He let out a hum in response, bringing up your intertwined hand and placing a small kiss on the back of your palm. A small gesture he normally did, one he used to be afraid of doing until you told him one of your favorite thing about him was his kisses. He'd never understand how you could love him or anything he did. He looked like a monster honestly, one in folklore used to scare children and make them have nightmares about. Though you explained to him you didn't care if he had his scars or not, that they made him the beautiful man he was. He also had a shit personality, one that only a villain or psychopath could have. Yet you said, with a comforting smile, that he was the sweetest and most caring person you'd ever met. That he put himself infront of all his friends first. You didn't care that the main thing in life he wanted was to get revenge for his fathers wrong doings, in your eyes that didn't make him a villain. He was just a scared and alone broken man, unable to find his place in life with the only goal to hurt his father like he hurt him. And now? He had you. Warmth that he lost when he was a child, back when he had a mother that held him as he cried. Brothers and a sister that were near him. A brother he cried to and asked why he was even born. When everyone thought he died, he lost that warmth. The warmth of love and comfort. The warmth he never got from his father. The warmth that he never felt from the fire he produce in his hands. He finally found it in you. The one thing he couldn't ever lose, was you. His whole world shifted from hatred, to you. You were his world. And he was yours.

"Why do you love me?" Touya asks, voice quiet yet filling the silent stairwell the two of you ascended. You raise a brow at the odd question, bringing your free hand up and tapping your chin as to think about the question. You let out a hum. "Well, you're the first person to actually peak my interest. Most determined, smart, caring person I've ever met. Oh! And don't forget extremely handsome!" You say with a familiar smile. You begin to ramble on different reasons why you love him, no hesitation in your voice, speaking the truth. He still didn't understand. You deserved so much more than him. He was one of the scum of the earth, born to be tormented and thrown aside by society. He wasn't meant to be loved, to have his cold scarred hand held by your warm one. You deserved everything you wished for and more. Not him, which the only thing he couch provide was himself and stolen shit. Which to him felt like he gave nothing to you, when you gave him the entire world.

"Honestly though Touya, I don't know why you doubt yourself." You start, tone going slightly serious, "I know you're insecure, but you're the best thing to ever happen to me. After being deemed not fit for society and taking the role of a villain, no one cared about me until you came along. You gave me purpose in life when I was at my lowest low." You stop in place, turning back to Dabi with a small smile. He could tell it was one you used when trying not to cry. The sight pained him, it hurt to see. Whether happy tears or sad tears he never enjoyed seeing you cry. He cried too many times in the past, back when he could, to not like it. "I-I don't know what I'd do without you Touya.." You managed to stutter out, gripping onto his hand tighter. A frown grew on his face, pulling you into his chest and gently rubbing circles onto your back. He never meant to make you cry, god why did he always do this. To him it felt like all he could do was make people cry, scream in fear, or feel any negative feeling. Why was he like this?

If Dabi's tear ducts were able to work, he himself would be crying as well, probably crumbled to his knees and hiccuping, trying to say something, anything. All he was able to do was stand and hold you like if he let go, you'd leave. He shook like a leaf in the wind. Dabi wasn't a man, he was a scared little boy that got put out into the world too early. He'd faced so many hardships the little 24 years he'd been alive. Ranging from not feeling loved by his family, to physically torturing himself to prove to his father he was strong like Shoto, to figuring out he wasn't meant to be a hero. He often thought about if he was born with a stronger body that wouldn't burn when he used his work, maybe then his father would've loved him and trained with him rather than Shoto. Maybe then he would've had a better life. But that meant he wouldn't of found you and saved you from your pits of hell. Maybe it was a good thing everything happened to him to make him end up the way he was, because he was able to have you.

"Enough moping around, yeah?" You smile, drying your tears again. Touya waited for you to grab onto his hand again, never the one to grab yours first unless he wasn't thinking. He felt the tension in his shoulders drop when your hand intertwined with his own, your thumb gently caressing the unburnt part of his hand. Slowly, you opened the metal door infront of you, keeping it open as you guide him out of the stairwell and onto the roof of the building. Toua felt his eyes widen, staring at the large lit up buildings that surrounded you two. The building the two of you were on top of was about 30 stories high. It was by far one of the tallest buildings in the area, making the view that much better. As the two of you walked to the edge of the roof, you watched as cars honked and drove by down below. The stars above looked like specs of flicked paint, complimented by the bright moon that shone down a spotlight on the rooftop. A smile graced your features as you sat on the ledge, legs dangling off the side of the rooftop. Dabi was still in awe, staring at the bright lights of the city below him. It felt like he was on top of the world, with you at his side. The cold harsh wind tousled his unkept white hair, making it all feel so much more powerful. His eyes were as bright as his flames, his legs begging him to move out of pure excitement. He looked like an excited little boy. Deep down he still was that little boy, the little boy he was forced to not be so long ago. Yet with you, you let him be that young boy again, able to be free from the chains that latched on his wrists and ankles.

"Like it up here Touya?" You asked with a tilted head. He hadn't spoken a word yet, too amazed by the view and the affects it gave him. His eyes traveled from down below at passing cars to you, feeling his heart suddenly skip a beat. The way the yellow lights from buildings, cars, and street lamps shone on your face lit up all your features, lighting up your already bright smile. God he was addicted to that smile. It was a drug to him, one he wished to never lose. "It's, it's beautiful.." He said, resting both hands on the ledge. You let out a held in breath, glad he didn't find the place boring. You also picked up on the word he used to describe it. Beautiful. Dabi rarely used the word, only ever using it to describe you or anything that reminded him of you. In his eyes, nothing in the world was beautiful but you. You were the blue in a world of red, the only ever good thing to come out of the disgusting world he was brung into.

"I'm glad you like it up here..thought you'd like it..gave me a tingly feeling first time I saw it so I knew it had to be good." You grin, proud that you didn't disappoint him. Though you never have and never would, it was an often thought in your mind. A sudden, unexpected beep came from your jacket pocket, causing both you and Dabi to curiously look at your phone. You quickly caught on to what it was for, grinning You jumped down from the ledge and grabbed both of Dabi's cold hands, giving each a small kiss. You looked at him with content smile, close to laughing at his confused face. "What's going on?" He asks, curious. You let out a small snicker, pulling him for a long awaited kiss.

"Happy Valentine's Day, my love."

#mha x male reader #bnha x male reader #my hero academia x male reader #dabi x male reader #touya x male reader #touya todoroki x male reader #women dni #female aligned dni

189 notes · View notes

coonhoundcat · 2 years

Text

Rain Check | Villain x Hero Snippet

Villain stretched their shoulders out with a groan, taking just enough care not to brush Hero's own tabled arms. The faux wood surface felt cool to their chest-- it was nice, with the warm diner glow and rain spattering the window. The wind had died down a good bit, but the panes still rattled every few minutes. At least their hair had dried out mostly-- though the remains of half-washed hair gel made the ends stiffen and clump, tickling their forehead. A proper shower was due. But not yet. Not now. This was a good moment to be in, slumped over a booth with Hero right across from them. Well worth the black and blue starting to color their skin.

"I just think that you'd have a lot more fun with us."

Hero raised a brow, fingers inching a potato wedge from the basket. "How so?"

Villain shook their head lightly, sliding the container over.

There was a grunt-- some kind of thanks, or maybe a protest. Either way, the pink in their ears was delightful.

Villain let their chin fall back onto the table, watching Hero just pick a wedge like a normal person. It was a good question. Villain chewed their lip. They usually had good answers.

"Well.... we let people smoke whatever they want?"

Hero fixed them a blank stare, chewing steadily.

"... When have you ever seen me smoke?"

"Hey-" They offered a palm- "I only see you on the job, I don't know what you're into."

They huffed. "Even if I wanted to, it's not like the Organization's kept anyone else from getting high on missions."

Villain squinted, "... Isn't that... against your contract though?"

"Yes, but it's not like they can meaningfully punish anyone, even if they were reported. And we're heavily discouraged from reporting. Hell, Calendar's nickname has been 'The Snitch' since before I even joined. And that was one time. I'm not getting involved in that. Frankly, I'm not interested in pissing off the people I might need to rely on to save my life."

Villain raised themselves to their elbows. "Hero... that's a form of harassment."

"It's honestly not that bad." They shrugged, nabbing another spud. "I just wish they wouldn't do it in the work vehicles."

"They what."

"I don't enjoy being trapped in a cockpit with three other folk's second-hand pot or crack-- I've already got lung cancer in the family, I do not need to speed that process up, no sir."

".... That has to be a Health and Safety violation."

"Kind of. Definitely against Headquarters policy, but what can you do?"

"You can get a better job? With people that aren't assholes?"

"I like my job, thank you. Mostly. And they're good people-- I like working with them, they just- they've got different ideals. Which is fine. It's a different culture. A rough job with rough people, y'know? I just try to roll with it."

"But that's not okay-"

"What? You just said that your guys smoke too-"

"Not in the car- and that's not the point! If you're a team, you can't go pinning targets on people's backs like that! How are you supposed to function as a unit?!"

"We just stay in smaller squads-"

"That's how you end up with cliques and a factioned fighting force, Hero. Good Lord, the Organization is going to crumble from within."

Hero gazed at them, unamused. Villain stared right back, tight lipped and wide-eyed.

"It's really not that-"

"-You deserve so much better. You're a good fighter, you're smart-- clever, really--you're fast, you take orders, you can improvise, I see how hard you work-- and you're nice."

Hero raised a hand to speak-

Villain slammed their fist into the table, nearly upending their own half-filled mug. "No, LOOK. You're one of the kindest, most forgiving, idiotic, funniest bastards I've ever had the fucking pleasure to beat the shit out of on a friggin' Tuesday night in a GOD DAMN thunderstorm. You deserve to be treated right."

Hero tapped a finger against the polywood, patiently waiting for Villain to finish.

"... Are you trying to date me or recruit me?"

"I- what?" Villain stiffened.

"Because I assure you that I am quite satisfied with my current employment. I'm not looking to change job titles right now, but thank you. I'll keep the offer in mind."

"Uh, you're wel- I mean, th-thank you? Wait."

Hero patted their arm firmly, inadvertently forcing Villain into a hiss when they hit a heavily bruised spot. They didn't address it.

"We should do this more often."

Villain coughed, sweat prickling at their back. "Uh, y-yeah. Yep. Beats fisticuffs in a dark alley, for sure."

Hero withdrew.

Villain fidgeted.

Rain pinged against the window, and the central heating kicked on again with a hum.

Hero took a sip of their own drink.

Villain was about to start whistling.

Hero set their cup down with a clink. "These chips really don't go with black coffee-"

"Well you didn't complain when I ordered, now did you?"

"Hnn."

Hero flicked an unused salt packet at Villain's face, then frowned.

"Shit. I'm going to have to explain to 'Mum' why I'm using a company card to eat out-"

"Don't worry about it. I'll pay."

Hero tipped their head. "Are... you sure?"

Villain ripped open the delicate paper pouch, casually dumping the contents into Hero's mug. "Of course. I like to treat my dates."

108 notes · View notes

sunderedandundone · 2 years

Text

Possibly unpopular HC (Dark Crystal, Chamberlain)

SkekSil actually *does*...*mostly* want what's best for Skeksis.

[Because it apparently can never be posted enough: #allHCsarevalid. I don't invest any but the most minimal ego in my HCs and even your strong disagreement with them does not hurt me. Long as you're not an asshole about it and can distinguish reality from fiction. ^^]

[And because it tends to come up in discussions of antagonists: mentally walking in a character's POV shoes is not endorsement of that character's actions. It is in fact...writing. Convincing characterization of villains/terrible peoples absolutely requires the ability to reframe the story from their perspective, regardless of whether you ever actually write in their narrative voice or show a visible authorial attitude toward them, or not.]

[spoilers; CW for canon-depicted violence and general awfulness, etc]

Okay, so hear me out. Obviously Chamberlain's also an arrogant little shit who was driven to murderous rage when another Skeksis claimed their official spot at court as royal vizier, so I'm certainly not saying there's no individual ambition there.

But a Skeksis who *only* cared about *personal* glory would've taken credit for coming up with the essence-draining idea. (Chamberlain IS smart like Scientist!) Whereas SkekSil let not only SkekSo but Beloved Scientist think that Beloved Scientist had come up with it. The only selfish motive I can think of is if they were seriously worried the experiment would fail? But that seems unlikely. Seems much more probable that the C. wanted SkekTek to get credit, so that the Scientist never got SO high on the Emperor's shitlist as to end up actually incapacitated -- imprisoned, replaced with some numbskull, extreme maiming, exile, who TF knows. Which IS a valid worry, given that as calm and confident as 'So pretended to be at the Ceremony, SkekSil witnessed the Emperor completely and violently freaking out all over SkekTek about it just a few moments later (when they thought they were unobserved).

I mean, if SkekSil had told *SkekSo* their idea instead, so that it then had to be given to SkekTek as an imperial order, that'd be some shine on the Chamberlain's escutcheon sure -- but it would've made the Scientist look pretty darn bad at Sciencing, wouldn't it? ("The freaking court toady came up with our species-saving idea instead of you, Tek? Really?")

SkekSil's the only court Skeksis who ever acts in the whole group's interests (even counting the Emperor, who you could argue makes attempts to do so, but also completely, repeatedly sabotages their own agenda). Whereas all the others either just loaf about the Castle being deadweight, or wander into a situation specifically to make it worse (...*General* -_- ).

SkekSil spins on a freaking dime to come up with the whole anti-Rian propaganda campaign, thus saving SkekVar and possibly SkekSo from almost destroying the Lords' good-guy image right there in front of Ordon. -_-

And instead of letting SkekTek suffer whatever someone else might come up with to inflict on them after the vial incident, the C. suggests a punishment that...while it's sadistic and violent and absolutely sends the message of "*Don't narc* on SkekSil, man. It ain't worth it!"...once again preserves the Scientist's ability to work. And again, I consider this a legit worry, because again, all the other Skeksis including SkekSo have more than demonstrated that Schadenfreude UTTERLY trumps common sense anytime they're in the mood for bloodsport. In the heat of that frenzy, it honestly might NOT occur to anybody else that "hey, if we take off a major limb or put SkekTek in a coma, that miiiiight cause a problem with our lifesaving essence supply lines!"

Again, someone only concerned about their personal prestige would've either kept silent and not risked speaking up in the scapegoat-of-the-moment's defense, OR spoken up to propose something *extra* diabolical -- just to teach foolish Scientist a real lesson. As opposed to reminding everyone that while suitable chastisement is needed, oh yes, Scientist is still Lord of Crystal, hmmm? So we arrive at balanced solution for all. ;-P [ETA as a side note: seriously, Tek, what *were* you thinking with that narc? You're supposed to be smart FFS! You could've kept your beak shut and *none of the others would ever have known* how Rian got out, or even that you lost your small experimental vial! So when you run straight to the Emp to report it, what the hell is SkekSil supposed to think but that you *actively* *wanted* to get *them* in the headcage with a Peeper beetle, or whatever? So of course they flip the script on you. I mean -- DUH. Any Skeksis with the brains to do so would've! You would've! -- Well, except that you legit seem to be the one Skeksis to whom it seemingly never occurs to just...LIE. Which IS remarkable.]

SkekSil *also* brings SkekTek the Gruenak. A crucial part of their own cunning plot to get their seat back? Why yes. But why Gruenak? It must have been a fair bit of trouble, getting down to whichever port it was to trade with the Sifa to buy an *extremely* rare type of slave. If all 'Sil had needed was spies in the lab disguised as 'help,' Podlings or Gelflings would've been MUCH easier. But no, they wanted these slaves to have technical ability. Which means they actually wanted the repair to go as well and swiftly as possible, and no hard feelings for friend Scientist. Who says you can't serve the Empire while also serving yourself (and by golly, you'll have earned it won't you, you debonair bell-voiced murderbird ;-) )...?

SkekSil is the one who Dares Summon the Hunter. Another part of the cunning personal plan, yes? -- well. Sort of. It's more like the backup plan. But SkekMal *is* by far the likeliest option for retrieving Rian IF you can't get any deluded Gelfling to turn him in first. And everybody else at the Castle did literally fuckall about that whole situation, btw. (Hell, SkekVar never offered any actual *plans* as SkekSo's new 'adviser.' SkekSo themselves had the one good strategy idea of raising the Arathim as mercenary troops.)

On that note: SkekSil was the only one still seeking an (::ahem:: ::scare quotes::) 'nonviolent' solution to things at that relatively late point in the story. Which, leaving all moral issues aside, 100% *would* have been the objectively safest, most comfortable and least self-sabotaging course for the Skeksis. (...Short of, you know, not doing the evil essence thing at all and seeking some other path, but.)

The C. saw that a hot war between the two species had genocidal potential, not just for Gelfling, but for Skeksis as well. ("War is END." They're.....not wrong.) At minimum, it'd certainly put paid to the Skeksis' longstanding, luxurious lifstyle!

That's why I've little doubt that if 'Sil had been Emperor, they'd have been more than happy to work out some kind of 'Faerie's yearly tithe to Hell' arrangement with Seladon. Which would still have been a parade of horrors, of course -- but wouldn't have, like, wiped out an entire species...who also happened to be the Skeksis' only real allies...and massively accelerated the Darkening and thus destroying the planet everybody had to live on, *including* the Skeksis.

Chamberlain is also the only one who tries to point out the existence of, y'know, *mathematics* to Skeksis. I.e. "Hey guys, if we eat ALL the Gelfling at max speed...then there...won't be any more Gelfling? To...make more Gelfling...? And then we're kinda...up shit creek on this whole 'Gelfling essence as our main survival plan' thing?"

In fact, SkekSil is pretty much the only one who dares even try to restrain SkekSo. ...Until it becomes obvious that that's getting exponentially less possible by the second, because SkekSo's truly off the chain now and not entertaining any more non-genocide options.

At which point, having now done the 180 because it's their only option for staying in a position of power -- and they are after all the *only* Skeksis with half a BRAIN left, so they *need* to be in a power position! -- SkekSil goes balls-out for it and comes up with the inordinately evil Garthim idea.

BUT which I will once more note, *is* the best survival strategy for Skeksis *AFTER* everyone else has gone and fucked up the situation to the point where war is unavoidable. Again, Chamberlain IS smart like Scientist; indeed, while I'm sure SkekTek's better with the mechanical ins and outs, SkekSil is arguably a better scientist on the innovation/creativity front. O_o Really, 'Sil's a creative little fucker for all the things they set their mind to, too bad those things are just so often terrible. (At least in this era.)

Long story short -- IMHO, SkekSil just doesn't act like someone only interested in themselves and their slice of office politics. They always have their eye to species survival, and also the question of "um but really no joke, what do we want the future to look like?" And they're willing to take an unusual (for Skeksis) amount of time/risk/labor to personally see to it, even as others sit inert. They even pass up visible opportunities to one-up when something more important to preserving Skeksis and their rule is happening. (Though of course, when it IS possible to help both Skeksis and Chamberlain, as it so often is, Chamberlain *will* devise the way!)

That's why my personal thesis of the character is a little bit off-gauge from the usual take: my take is that their ego/ambition shows up *not* just in their zillionty court intrigues, but in an actual vision (however fucked up I'm sure it is X_X ) of a Glorious Civilization and Eternal Empire they see themselves as building. This is the project that takes up what's left of their once-astounding creative powers: a Civilization to outshine all others *evar* -- which Chamberlain will have the personal satisfaction of knowing could never have happened without aaaallllllllll Chamberlain's trine of quiet THANKLESS work behind the scenes. :-)

And what's left of the *performer* in SkekSil even after the music is totally gone rests in this idea as well, that once they get all the cats herded and every last bit of furniture in place just so, all Thra will stand and cheer in primeval awe of what the Skeksis have achieved (that is, what *SkekSil* has achieved) on this miserable dirtball. While some direct personal credit will of course be sought...and while if the Imperial throne ever WERE somehow to end up empty O:-) , well obviously Chamberlain is the only non-idiot Skeksis to occupy it...what's most important to them is that what they've created, what they see as their very own Magnum Opus, be hailed with universal ecstasies. Heck, it might even become one of the most revered regimes in the realms of the Crystal! That'd be a nice tack-on for sure, hmmmm? (Hahahaha suck it, Homeworld.) :-)

#dark crystal #tdcaor #writing #worldbuilding #characterization #skeksil #chamberlain #skeksis #HC #allHCarevalid #villainry #intrigue #motivation #gelfling #podlings #gruenak #thra

31 notes · View notes

darlington-v · 3 years

Note

I know different interpretations of a work are generally enriching and cool... but c!dream villan interpretations is like how to tell me you only watch Tommy without saying you only watch tommy.... which would be fine but its not a great place to be making statements about the whole nature of the dsmp lol

Wild speculation, but sometimes I wonder if like, because the dsmp didn't really start as a narrative, and a lot of fans don't nessecarily enter it expecting a narrative, but then there is one and the fandom is really discourse heavy and everyone is sort of excpeted to have an opinion while maybe not expecting to form one from the begining or not having a ton of experience with narrative in a way that would "expect" them to have an opinion or not take things at face value??, I don't know if I explained that well at all... and I don't really even think thats right nessecarily... but like wow sometimes some of the takes about power and government and villany...

Honestly, it makes sense!!!

I think something interesting is like.... looking at how animatics have shaped the like tone and culture of the fandom essentially. Like, an interesting fact that I didn't really fully grasp until SUPER recently is like...

c!Wilbur out the gate admits he is manipulating c!Tommy. Like his first youtube video on the Dream SMP he admits his goal is to manipulate c!Tommy and people like c!Tommy into helping him achieve a potion ("drug") empire to monopolize on potions because there were a lot of people on the server who like to min-max, which is to put all of your effort into this one specific skill essentially. so like... i know minecraft doesnt have a skill tree but if it did, it would be putting all your points into that one specific branch of a skill tree. So he wanted to exploit the labor of all the TommyInnits to.... maintain a Potion Empire.

THIS IS A LONG POST BC I GOT CARRIED AWAY SO BUCKLE UP

And I don't think a lot of the fandom who joined later on knows this. I certainly didn't until like a week or so ago? Like... I knew c!Wilbur had been manipulative from the start because I'm a mod of (shameless self promo incoming) @dsmpanalysis and we have a lot of different POVs in that mod team and discord and we talk about it really frequently. I joined the fandom as someone who was really big on L'manburg ESPECIALLY crimeboys, and have turned into.... *gestures vaguely to my blog*

And ngl I owe a lot of it to @1-michibiki-1 in terms of c!Dream "Apologism" but all of the mods there have expanded my thoughts and views on the storylines of this narrative.

My application consisted of like largely essays about like... how I think Dream was the villain but he was meant to be the villain because you don't get any insight into his character WHICH.... IS A FAIR ASSUMPTION AT FIRST GLANCE. People are easily villainized when you cannot get a glimpse into their thought process. It's easy to dwindle someone down into this flat character and starting out I knew Dream didn't stream the SMP on purpose.

And I personally came to the conclusion of "Oh! So Dream is supposed to be the villain." However as the story continued and I learned more about what Dream went through I began to realize that... it's more than likely a form of a red herring. My opinions on this were immediately solidified when I watched Ranboo's 2 MIL stream because both Ranboo AND Dream agree on enjoying red herrings.

There have been MANY times were Dream has said that c!Dream is a complex character and he's not a wholly evil guy and there have been times where the narrative has honestly just proved that.

Anyways, what's important though was that... I learned most of this from other people who were more focused on c!Dream rather than myself. Eventually I shifted from c!Tommy to c!Ranboo and c!Techno after c!Tommy betrayed c!Techno and I began to realize.... everything I learned before hopping in wasn't exactly what it seemed.

Part of this is because I'm older, I heavily identify with c!Techno's sense of loyalty and philosophies on government, but I especially identify with the anguish c!Techno voiced in... a lot of lore but especially the lore around Doomsday.

I'm not 16 anymore. I don't always feel wronged by adults, or older people in my case, whenever they absolutely have done something wrong by me, but I do feel wronged by my close friends. I also felt like c!Tommy's sense of loyalty didn't line up with mine after what felt like him constantly flip-flopping and refusing to understand c!Techno's morals on government didn't line up with his.

In short, it was easier to identify with Tommy in these animatics versus in the actual stream content because c!Tommy is played by a 16 year old. I'm not a teenager and my line of thinking doesn't entirely line up with people that age anymore. It's harder to place myself in the same shoes of someone's OC who is played closer to their actual age, because I'm not that age.

Regardless, I was still on the c!Dream is a villain train. I wasn't ever like... c!Dream is repulsive I hate him, but I was like omg hot villain lad go brrr.

Even when the first like... mellohi, panic room, Ranboo lore stream popped up I thought "Oh! c!Ranboo corruption arc?"

And I was excited because I really wanted this shy, nervous character to turn into villain buddies with his good pal c!Dream. I'm a total sucker for villains and corruption arcs and all that good shit.

SO I STARTED GETTING REALLY INTERESTED IN ENDERSMILE. I'VE BEEN ON ENDERSMILE SQUAD OUT THE GATE. NOT THE SAME WAY I AM NOW, BUT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED THEM TO TEAM UP.

So... upon not really keeping up with c!Dream and being relatively??? indifferent? I don't think I started arguments on c!Dream back then, but I might have. But I remember like... starting to participate more whenever c!Dream came up and looking more into Dream's character BUT ESPECIALLY TALKING WITH OUR SERVER'S C!DREAM SPECIALIST MICHI ABOUT DREAM A LOT MORE.

And because Michi has been a watcher since day one and was a DTeam fan rather than a SBI fan, she was able to provide me with more information on how the server worked pre-Tommy but especially pre-Wilbur.

Now, you could definitely argue well Michi probably has clear bias but it made sense to me when I looked back on how the storyline had been constructed and was going along, and everyone in the server talks a lot about our own biases and how we want people to maybe not lean so hard on them. Michi would also provide like anecdotes on what had happened and I'm sure links were probably provided at one point but the point was I felt like Michi had no reason to lie or manipulate how the story was told and if she did, eventually someone would have pointed it out because... Group of like... right now it's around 20 or more analysts but I don't remember how many at the time there were. POINT BEING, WE'VE ALL GOT POINTS TO PROVE AND IN MY EXPERIENCE NOT MANY OF US HAVE BEEN SHY TO PROVE THEM.

So if anyone ever had any differing opinions they would be talked about and we literally had and still have discussions.

REGARDLESS.... I DIDN'T FACT CHECK IN DEPTH BECAUSE I THOUGHT PEER REVIEW WAS ENOUGH WHEN YOU HAVE LIKE HOURS UPON HOURS OF STREAMS TO WATCH.

Anyways. Eventually I started paying closer attention and looking more into c!Dream lore but only recently have I started to triple check before speaking about c!Wilbur lore because I know everyone has biases and while I did trust everyone's thoughts and analysis in the discord, whenever I make essays I typically like it to be largely air tight and if theres a mistake, I want it to be because I forgot not because I just trusted what was said. Plus, I wanted to get down to the specifics of how Wilbur had always started with manipulation on the mind.

SO I WATCHED HIS FIRST VIDEO ON THE DREAM SMP.

AND WHAT I WAS NOT BY ANY MEANS EXPECTING WAS WILBUR TO SAY WORD FOR WORD, VERBATIM,

"SO WHY DON'T I START AN INDUSTRY WHERE I USE THE TOMMYINNITS OF THE WORLD TO WORK FOR ME, TO CREATE THINGS THAT THE MIN-MAXERS OF THE WORLD WILL WANT."

Like... this is in no way an attempt to like hardcore villainize c!Wilbur like everyone does Dream, it's just more so to like REALLY outline how far off a lot of fandom interpretation of c!Wilbur is....

Because of SBI focused animatics.

Now, when I joined I watched A LOT of animatics that really highlighted like... Wilbur being this self-loathing JD-esque, "I destroyed it because I had to because the world was against me because no one loved us, Tommy" type of character. At least... that's what it came across as.

And it definitely highlighted the fact that Tommy was a victim, which he is. He is undoubtedly a victim and no not even any dream apologist can change my mind otherwise. Tommy, despite being an instigator sometimes, didn't deserve the abuse he received.

But these animatics never shown the fact that c!Wilbur started L'manburg as a shady ploy to exploit people like c!Tommy and vilify c!Dream so he could have power.

And that was easy because Dream and Tommy had wars before. They had spars and pranks and here's the plan to take back my disks and here's the plan to out smart the thieving little child etc etc.

And all of the animatics I watched never mentioned this. Neither did the recaps though. The recaps gave the events flat out, there didn't sound like there was bias, and honestly I don't really know if there was rather than like... a lack of nuance. And it's hard to provide a recap with that much nuance in a short period of time for a youtube video, to be perfectly fair.

However, this creates a perfect formula for entirely rewriting the history of a server. c!Wilbur quite literally fucking succeeded TO A META LEVEL. He slandered and ran smear campaigns against Dream and like he even does that with Sapnap in the beginning. But what's crazy is that it transferred over into the meta! Most of this fandom understands Wilbur as a victim of mental illness, and yeah maybe? He definitely wasn't mentally well by the end of pogtopia, but he never started out with honorable intentions. L'manburg was never a victim, only its citizens. The TommyInnits of the world.

I just think it's like... such an interesting case study. Because this is like... an opinion like shared by at least half of the fandom, but the vilifying of c!Dream is shared by MOST of the fandom I would argue. Which is like even more crazy for me because that was c!Wilbur's goal!!!

LIKE I GO INSANE WHEN I THINK OF THIS BECAUSE HIS REACH IS JUST TOO POWERFUL. HE'S NOT EVEN ENTIRELY REAL, JUST A MANIPULATIVE PERSONA OF SOME BRITISH GUY.

And I mean... maybe people who have watched Wilbur's video on the SMP still maintain this idea that Wilbur wasn't always the bad guy, but honestly... I wouldn't be surprised if their introduction was still an animatic. Like bias is hard to check and I'm not going to lie I could have sworn I watched both Wilbur's AND Tommy's video on the SMP in the beginning and yet I STILL was a ride or die for tragic yet on some level still honorable Wilbur and a resilient Tommy.

Like... upon watching Wilbur's first video... possibly again I was surprised because I thought I did watch it like right before I even started watching the streams and yet I was still so invested in c!Wilbur as this tortured anti-hero.

It took 6 months of... not being in an echo chamber, full of multiple different people of different ages, different stream POVS, and people who joined the fandom at different points in time.

IDK IF THIS WAS EVEN ENTIRELY RELEVANT IT JUST FELT TANGENTIALLY RELEVANT AND THIS WAS SOMETHING I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT FOR A HOT MINUTE AFTER LIKE WATCHING WILBUR'S FIRST VIDEO AGAIN.

TLDR;

SBI CENTRIC ANIMATICS HAD A LASTING AFFECT ON THIS FANDOM AS IT'S HARD TO GO BACK AND ACTUALLY CHECK THE NARRATIVE FOR SOLID FACTS FOR YOUR OWN INTERPRETATION BASED ON THE FACT THAT THIS NARRATIVE SPANS OVER HUNDREDS OF HOURS WORTH OF TWITCH STREAMS.

#asks #anon #dream smp #dsmp #dsmp analysis #dream smp analysis #dsmp meta #dream smp meta #my analysis #long post

80 notes · View notes