#honestly the more i think about it the more i feel this season should've had more episodes -- i think another season after this one would b

[brookheimer]

i feel very mixed on shiv's ending, particularly her choice to return to tom -- i think it makes sense from a thematic/character arc perspective and is a powerful yet devastating indictment of both shiv and the world that created her as well as showing that the cycle of abuse will always continue to cycle, that shiv will become her mother etc, but i also think it does not make sense from a character/internal logic perspective. it's a choice that makes sense from the writers, but not from shiv, not yet. it could've been a brilliant ending to her character, but is tainted for me by the less-than-ideal execution of it, which felt very rushed, making shiv's final submission to tom feel forced by the show rather than forced by the situation or honest to her character. the ending is not inherently misogynistic from the writers' side as i've seen some criticisms claim (it is a dark but real portrayal of misogyny within capitalist society and how it's internalized within the white women who end up at the hips of the CEOs who run it), but i do understand how it could feel that way. the show fails at building up to (and thus convincing us) that the version of shiv we currently know would so immediately subject herself to her mother's fate, so instead of it feeling like shiv's hand was forced by patriarchy to place herself into her worst nightmare, it instead feels like the show itself was the thing that forced shiv to take that route, which does leave a sour taste in the mouth. it doesn't feel like the result of a choice shiv would make or the impact of patriarchal society bearing down, it just feels rushed and thus wrong. shiv would've benefitted immensely from a few more episodes or even just a few scenes dedicated to teasing out her newfound willingness to subject herself to immense disrespect in order to remain close to power, but given that her entire character has always been defined by her inability to do just that unless forced to (which i don't think she was in this situation as she could've easily not waited in the car for tom, not put her hand in his, but she did), her return to tom feels hard to comprehend, and her near immediate submission to him hard to stomach.

(read more under the cut because jesus christ did this get long)

in my mind, at least, i've always understood shiv as being respect-driven rather than power-driven -- she wants power, yes, but more than anything she wants to be taken seriously and respected and seen as a legitimate player, and time and time again we've seen her blow up situations that would've been very advantageous long-term because she felt disrespected and needed to speak up and force people to take her seriously (which, ironically, typically results in the opposite). shiv's overarching goal is power, but her immediate necessity is always respect. her dignity is her number one priority at any given moment, even when it shouldn't be, even when it stops her from attaining the success and power she wants. i can kind of understand shiv going against kendall because of this -- she's always had a very, very narrow lens whenever she feels like she's being disrespected, and even though it is infinitely more humiliating for your (somewhat ex) husband to betray you and boot you out of the CEO position behind your back at the behest of your supposed closest ally (and for you to still vote for them after that!!!) than it is for you to magnanimously allow your brother to be CEO (which would publicly be seen as a choice, as telly etc said - sibs need to stand united behind one chosen CEO - rather than shiv being out of the loop and fucked to infinity), the narrowness of her vision upon seeing kendall about to win makes it impossible for her to think about that legitimately. it's not just jealousy, it's indignity: shiv feels she earned CEO through her machinations with mattson and feels genuinely sick seeing the loganified kendall grinning at the head of the table, hearing his "that's fucking right" and witnessing his cocky entitlement to the job that belonged to her. so, she does what she always does when she feels disrespected, when she feels her dignity is at stake, and impulsively blows everything to fuck, including her own best interests. that makes sense for shiv, at least somewhat -- i still think that as much as she wouldn't want ken as CEO she'd feel like at least w that outcome she'd be seen as a player and a deciding factor, whereas with mattson/tom she'd be viewed as a pathetic fucked-over nothing woman pawn etc (a situation of unparalleled indignity imo), but i can rationalize her choice to go against ken anyways as being part of the narrowed field of vision she always gets upon feeling disrespected by men in her life that makes it impossible for her to think strategically (and i guess even though the disrespect was greater and more humiliating from tom/mattson than ken, ken was the most recent most present and most lifelong source so that's all she could focus on; seeing him like logan was too much to bear). it's hard to imagine shiv publicly throwing her vote behind two men who publicly fucked her as humiliatingly as mattson and tom just did, even if the other option is kendall, but i think that's part of it -- it's fundamentally illogical, even from her disrespect-lens, because there's just something about kendall specifically being in charge that she's never been able to stomach. it's visceral and impulsive. it's not meant to make "sense." it's just what she feels she has to do to preserve her own dignity, even though it works directly against those same interests realistically. it wasn't executed very well, making it hard to entirely buy it given just how publicly humiliating the alternative is, but it can still be chalked up to her historically one-track-mind when it comes to indignity by the hands of kendall in particular. it's a last-ditch attempt for shiv to at least feel like she's maintaining her dignity, her self-respect, as counterintuitive as it actually is. it makes sense. i can stomach it.

again, shiv's fatal flaw (in logan's eyes and aside from her original sin of being a woman) has always, always been her inability to shut up and make the smart move in situations where she feels she's being disrespected or not taken seriously. if shiv stayed quiet during that dinner with the pierces, maybe she would've been logan's CEO, but no, she couldn't stop herself, she needed to feel she was being taken seriously, she burst out 'cmon, dad, just tell them it's going to be me.' she is unable to play it smart, to keep quiet, to win when winning means perceived disrespect. she's allergic to it. even on a personal level, she shoots herself in the foot constantly because of this: she is unable to let herself have the things she wants because she can't put herself in positions that open her up to disrespect and perceived inferiority. she can't be vulnerable because she needs to be respected. tom asks her if he could 'try to make love to her' in episode one of this season, and even though she clearly wants to, she says 'no, i don't think so, tom.' tom tells her he 'wants her, wants this' back in episode six, and even though she clearly wants that too, she draws back and says 'well then you shouldn't have betrayed me.' shiv is fundamentally incapable of allowing herself to remain in possibly advantageous situations when she feels at risk of being seen as lesser, of being disrespected, of being perceived as weak. that is her response to patriarchy. when patriarchal forces bear down, shiv is unable to grin and bare it -- she has a short fuse, a sharp tongue, and an inability to entertain even a second of being treated like The Woman, of being looked down upon, especially when it's for her gender. it's the one thing she cannot do, cannot let herself do, and it's why she fails to "win" over and over and over again. she shoots herself in the foot the second her patriarchy disrespect sensors tingle. she makes the wrong choice, the dumb choice, the one that makes her feel like she stood up for herself in the moment but ends up leaving her powerless and helpless in the end. that's the only explanation for why she chose to vote against kendall (the clearly better option for her long-term as she'd 1) be respected as part of the decision, as someone who helped choose the CEO rather than a Woman who got fucked over and had the door slammed in her face by her husband and close ally simply because she possessed a womb, and 2) probably be head of ATN or some other area of waystar, she'd have actual power within the company and be respected as a legitimate source of power rather than the CEO-to-be made CEO's humiliated wife -- if she was capable of making the smart, selfish choice in terms of power instead of having a hair-trigger reaction to gendered disrespect and cocky male superiority, she would have voted kendall. but she is not capable of doing that. she never has been. so she voted tom and mattson.

so what i still cannot for the life of me understand is what would compel this shiv, the one who cannot stomach indignity even when power's on the line, to immediately return to tom's side the second he beckons her, which is like five minutes after he becomes CEO (the job she was promised) by mattson (who gave it to tom instead of shiv because 'why get the baby lady if i can get the man who put the baby inside her?'). it makes perfect, cruel, devastating sense from a show perspective, and that's what most people are talking about, understandably. it's a devastating yet unavoidable, inevitable outcome. she's left with no other choice once she makes the decision against kendall, and patriarchy compels her to play the good wife to stay close to power. except, like... she does still have a choice. she does not have to go back to tom's car. she does not have to sit patiently waiting for him. she does not have to quietly congratulate him on his victory. she does not have to place her hand in his. these are all choices she made very voluntary. they're choices between maintaining her dignity and self-respect at the cost of future power versus maintaining the potential for future power at the cost of her dignity and self-respect -- the classic siobhan roy conundrum. she's been faced with it time and time again (even just five minutes prior with kendall) and she has never, not once, chosen the latter of her own volition. she hasn't been able to. that's her fatal flaw. maybe i could stomach her going back to tom if she didn't congratulate him, didn't place her hand in his when he expectantly held his out -- then some dignity would be preserved, maybe. but her complete and total submission for the sake of future power does not make sense with her lifelong inability to do just that. it makes sense that this would be her eventual endpoint, but we have seen nothing that implies shiv would so willingly subject herself to this feminine submission of wife and mother before person or source of power, to the complete and utter humiliation of being the quiet wife at the side of the man who knifed her in the back (and notably handed said knife by the man she thought her closest ally) in order to steal the job she fought for her entire life and, in her opinion, had earned. maybe she would come back to him eventually, for love or (more likely) for power, but it is incredibly hard to believe that shiv 'impulsive when faced with indignity' roy would be capable of immediately and publicly playing the role of the good wife after such intense and public humiliation at the hands of her husband.

really, the way i feel about the shiv ending is similar to how i feel about the daenerys ending -- unlike most people, i really wasn't that against the daenerys outcome. i thought it made a lot of sense and was interesting, devastating, and fascinating. i thought there had been a few signs all along and that that ending for her would make sense and be far more interesting than a Hooray ! Girlboss ! ending. however, it was poorly executed -- it was rushed. it did not make sense from where daenerys was at that point in the text. it could've worked, it could've worked brilliantly, but it needed more time to build and fester in order for her ultimate turn to feel earned rather than forced for the sake of the point the writers wanted to make. that's kind of how i feel about shiv. i get the ending and i don't think it's inherently bad or misogynistic or anything, but it feels like the writers saw the possibility for a shiv 'mommed' ending and immediately took it, with little regard to what actually made sense for shiv herself to do in that moment. outcome > character. that's frustrating for me particularly for succession because my like number one reason for adoring succession as much as i do is their consistent refusal to operate the way most media does (using the characters as instruments to achieve the plot/outcome the writers want), instead prioritizing following the characters themselves in a way that feels honest and real. it's character-driven, not plot or ending driven. i think that this fell by the wayside a few times in the latter half of this season simply because there was so much that needed to happen in such a short space of time (especially during the finale), but in my opinion, at least, the most egregious case is shiv. given more time, more development, more build-up, the last shot of her hand in tom's would've struck the chord the writers wanted it to -- and for some people, it did anyways! but for me, it rang out and fell nauseatingly flat. it felt hollow and wrong and unearned. shiv could end up becoming her mother, that feels entirely possible, but not in this particular sense, not yet. in what world would siobhan roy willingly choose to be seen as nothing more than a woman hanging off her husband's arm, especially when said husband had publicly humiliated her and ruined her entire life just five minutes prior? when, just five (metaphorical) minutes prior, she was the one poised to be CEO and everyone knew it? when now everyone will see her on tom's arm and whisper and gawk? she has become her worst fear, yes, but unlike kendall, it does not feel earned. it does not feel like she has actually become her worst fear. it feels like the show forced her to. not patriarchy or the situation or her own desire for power, but the show itself. that's what feels so shitty.

i wouldn't necessarily call the writing misogynistic as a result of this, as it's less a flaw of misogyny and more a flaw of bad, rushed writing that could happen to any character. it's the same as with daenerys -- although (somewhat unlike succession) there were many, many aspects of GoT's writing that were deeply misogynistic, especially in the last season (just look at fucking brienne), the core issue with the daenerys plotline is not one of misogyny but of time. they did not give daenerys the time needed to become the version of herself seen burning down the city. that could've easily been a focus of previous episodes, but it wasn't. they simply did not develop her enough for that turn to make sense yet. it could make sense, hypothetically, at some point down the line, but at that point it felt sudden, off-putting, and wrong. shiv could easily become her mother. that's been made evident especially regarding her relationship to pregnancy/children, love, and vulnerability (or the lack thereof). but for this ending to make sense, we would have needed to see signs of shiv imitating her mother's willingness to be relegated to the sidelines, to bring out the food while the men eat and make deals, in order to remain tangential to power. that is a concession shiv roy had never been willing to make prior to the last five minutes of the entire show. other signs of shiv imitating caroline or falling prey to patriarchal norms throughout the show are not enough to undo shiv's fundamental refusal to weather gender-related indignity even when doing so would benefit her. in my opinion, that's why the final five minutes of shiv's plotline were so unsatisfying.

shiv could become her mother, and her ending could be a devastating portrayal of the inability for even rich white women to escape their original sin of being a woman in a man's world, as well as a dark, ironic criticism of both women like shiv and the patriarchal world that breeds them into existence. but because the show did not develop shiv in this particular direction and because her entire character thus far has been defined by her self-destructive insistence on being respected at all costs, shiv's ending did not land the way it could've, or should've.

#WOOF okay this was long. not even gonna read it over bc if i do i'll never stop editing to it or adding to it and god knows no one needs tht #so if it's shit well. forgive me #but yeah this is just my take. i felt really unhappy w shiv's ending but didn't quite know why because the ending itself i can imagine bein #fine with but really i just feel very frustrated by the show writing over any agency she would normally have had in order to make their #point by the time the episode ended #honestly the more i think about it the more i feel this season should've had more episodes -- i think another season after this one would b #GREAT for me personally obviously but unnecessary for the show itself and possibly too much of a good thing #but at the same time the latter half of this season could really have benefitted from a little wiggle room and space to develop #so it wasn't just Sudden Mattson Likes Tom or Wait Did Mencken Disappear or Remember Roman's Sexuality or SHIV FUCKING SHIIIIV lolllll #ok. this is too long. post #succession #succession spoilers #long post #and i mean LONG #should i do a read more? i never know what the like courtesy is lmao #well . yall asked for it so here u go #shiv roy #succession meta #i guess #edit i did a read more this is disgusting LOLOL #100 #casey shut the fuck up about shiv roy

[angelltheninth]

honestly just itto angry fucking the reader,, this is it (perhaps a sprinkle of mating season things and size difference) im begging hihihihagdjbak

That is painful to read Anon. Not the request just the way in which you wrote it.

Pairing: Itto x Fem!Reader

Tags: nsfw, smut, mating press, angry sex, biting, size difference, growling, possessive sex, breeding kink, feral!Itto

A/N: God that font and colors hurt my eyes.

Fangs, claws, growls, deep pants, the sounds of his cock sliding in and out of you angerly were all the sensations you could feel right now. Itto was usually not like this. He was always careful, mindful of his strength and size when it came making love to you.

But this wasn't making love. This was fucking. Dirty, animalistic, feral fucking.

"Ya think I don't notice those sorry bastards looking at ya like a piece of meat?" He pushed your legs over his shoulders and pressed down on your hips with his, burying his girthy, big cock into your cunt, "Makin' eyes at ya. It's my fault. I should've done this before. Mated ya properly. Claimed ya as my own the right way."

"I'm already yours Itto." You spoke the truth. You were his since the day you saw his shining smile of victory as he strolled into town after fighting off a bunch of bandits. "They may look at me but you... you're the only one who can do this." You let out a moan against his chest. It rumbled with a deep growl, then a purr as he tried to focus but all he could think about was how good your pussy felt.

"Me. I'm the only one for ya. This little cunt is for my cock only. Mine. Imma claim it too. Claim ya inside and out, for good this time. After tonight every will know you're my woman." You wrapped your arms and legs around his shoulders, adding to the red marks when you dragged your nails across his skin. A sharp pain washed over you, starting at your neck and turning into overwhelming pleasure between your legs, "Need to breed! Breed my mate! Gonna give ya a lot!"

The look in Itto's eyes was distant as he pulled away, the only thought in his head being that of emptying his balls inside of you. One thrust, then two and then half a third and your womb and pussy walls were painted with his creamy seed.

"So good, so good! That pussy's so good! Taking my cum! Here, here, have some more!" He kept thrusting until his cock had no more left to give, until you could no longer feel your legs, could no longer feel anything but the empty ache he left you with when he pulled out, a sea of white cum spilling from your newly breed hole.

This was just day one of his mating season.

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #ataraki itto #itto x reader #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact smut #genshin imagines #genshin smut #itto imagines #itto smut #itto x you #itto x fem!reader #genshin impact x female reader

[fictionalmenaremytype]

SEASON FINALE BABY LETS GOOO!!!!!

(Percy jackson ep 8 spoilers)

I'm just gonna start by saying if Disney doesn't renue this for a second season they are stupid and will have missed out on a harry Potter level phenomenon.

- LUKE MONOLOGUE HOLYSHIT ITS GIVING GOOD KID REPRISE

- HE IS KIND OF TERRIFYING IN THAT SWORD SCENE THO

- Ares' cackle. I love him .

- Ares just threw him like hulk did loki

- annabeth having to hold Grover back is so important to me because he's wanting to help percy but Annabeth knows this fight is to the death and any interruption would just get Grover killed.

- Annabeth also knowing he needs to prove himself as the son of poseidon and discover who he is.

- "let's kick the son of poseidon into a puddle right near the sea" I now understand why Athena is battle strategy and Ares is just war.

- THAT TSUNAMI JUST PARTING FOR PERCT US ICONIC AND HE JUST RUNS AND SWOOPS AND CUTS ARES

- my only critique is that Percy never does any movements to show its his power (which ik this is accurate to the books) but it comes off a little like he's just calling on Poseidon to do stuff. I wished they had some sort of indicator that it was Percy like maybe a slight movement or having the water pull back from the puddle he fell in and into the sea.

- I did think the fight was a little quick tbh but it still worked.

- the way I screamed "close your eyes close your eyes close your eyes!" When he was about to show his true form.

- woooh Hades helm

- The cabin looks fuckung terrifying rn

- I haven't seen the end of credit scene yet but I'm predicting it's going to be Sally with Gabe's statue.

- Alecto just wanted to get tho boss his hat back!

- "please" "good luck on Olympus" I thought she was going to be nice but noooo she's still a bitch.

- Annabeth trying to stop Percy from going because they're friends now and she's worried for his safety. I love Leah she is AMAZING.

- "I'm done running from monsters" THAT LINE OMG THE WRITERS ROOM ATEEEE

- THE NECKLACE?? THE MUSIC?? "You're gonna need all the luck you can get." Is so sweet and so patronising she is perfect. Leah is Annabeth Chase she has cyclops powers and just embodies her!

- "how sure are we you couldn't explain everything in an email?" So relatable Grover so relatable.

- "I'm here to see Zeus." Lightning bolt on the table " I don't have an appointment"

- THIS SHOWS ART DEPARTMENT HOLY SHITT OLYMPUS IS STUNNING WTF

- it is so so obvious when you know abt Luke that yes trying to recruit Percy to his side.

- LUKE REALLY JUST SET ANNABETH UP TO BE THE TRAITOR THERE WHAT!

- can someone build this olympus on minecraft please I want to exploreee.

- zeus (rip Lance Reddick we miss you) just waiting on his throne is terrifying.

- The thrown room being in a thunder cloud has so much messaging behind it! It is pathetic fallacy at its finest.

- Zeus is scary. I don't like it. Literal goosebumps rn.

- "your family is a mess" you tell him Percy. Be his therapist

- WHEN HE TRIED TO STRIKE PERCY OH MY GOD POSEIDON SURRENDERING

- "your forbidden son who should've never been born" "the same as your thalia" Poseidon learnt some sass I see.

- THE GREEK IS INGENIOUS.

- "make sure I never see this one again." Well I hate to break it to you sir but you will...a lot

- "obedience doesn't come naturally to you does it?" "No...sir." "the sea does not like to be retrained." CAUSE THE SEA DOESNT LIKE TO BE RESTRAINEDDDDD

- Percy not immediately knowing Greek is such a slept upon lart of the books because they have lessons in it.

- Poseidons smile about Sally.

- "Ares is a moron." The only thing Poseidon and Athena agree on.

- Aww they finally had father son time. Its so emotional and beautiful and its made me emotional.

- the line of applause and I'm just looking for Travis and Connor.

- The hugging is a thing.

- "an accusation against clarisse." "Without proof" annabeth has a feeling!

- honestly adding Clarisse as a traitor and using that to get Percy and Luke alone makes more sense to me given that they know someone at camp stole the bolt.

- I think now is the time to say how Charlie is amazing for Luke he's so sinister when he wants to be l.

- luke making him go through the Prophecy before he reveals and percy slowly realising why Omg chills.

- the red lighting on Luke highlighting his scar.

- luke looking like he's about to cry

- "I didn't think you'd give them to Grover." "I'm here to recruit" AH

- BACKBITER CAN OPEN PORTALS NOW THIS IS A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF OVER POWERED !!!!!

- LUKE AND PERCY FIGHT LUKE AND OERCY FIGHT.

- Is that a silhouette in the background???

- " I met your dad" THE ANGER OMG

- the fight with Ares being short is made up for by this fight. Under the fireworks? In the woods? It's stunning!!!!

- PERCYS APOLOGY OMG I FELT SO BAD FOR HIM HES SCARED AND CONFUSED AND STILL TRYING TO SEE THE BEST IN LUKE.

- YES ANNABETH. THROWING HER DAGGER AT LUKE?!? I HOPE THAT KNIFE BECAUSE PART OF ANNABETHS CHARACTER BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE SO COOL. I KNEW I SAW A SILHOUTTE

- " Annabeth?" " I heard everything" I KNEW SHE HAD HER SUSPICIONS

- " He can be very very persuasive" "I'm very very stubborn"

- MR D LOVE HIM

- "Percy? That's your name?"

- I was half expecting Dionysus to do an Oprah and say " you get out and you get out"

- Annabeth saying goodbye to Thalia is so sweet

- " and then sone place called Disney World?" She's never seen a movie she's going to be so confused. "Which kind of sounds like water land but with less trying to kill you" Yeah.

- the way he smiles at her is so cute.

- "wait did I read that wrong. What am I walking into. Is there something you're supposed to do there?" "Just be a kid"

- aww Grovers searcher licence is a flower

- "but no ones ever thought to check the seas!" Nice set up Disney I see you.

- "we meet back here next year." Well you will eventually.

- THE GROUP HUG (if we get up to season 5 I expect editors to make edits of them hugging at 16 to them hugging at 12)

- The cabin and Sally <3

- "what happened?" "It's a long story."

- WHAT JUST HAPPNED OMG ANOTHET DREAM OMG KRONOS I DONT LIKE THIS HES TOO CLOSE OMG GO AWAY DONT INVITE HIM IN HES LIKE A VAMPIRE. HES SCARY SCARY SCARY.

- "no kidding kiddo it's time to wake up." So cute.

- "grandpa." "Don't call him that."

- "Don't forget to tell your mom how much you love her today." "Kronos Lord of the titans said that?" The lying and secrets has begun

- NO GABE WOOH

- THE ENDING MONOLOGUE

- HOW MUCH DID WALKER SCOVELL GROW OVER FILMING HES SO TALL NEXT TO SALLY AND THE DOOR FRAME.

- Sally divorcing gabe is much much better than her just turning him to stone because it gives the message that she now recognises her son can look after himself and now she doesn't have to protect him anymore.

- GABE ASKING THE LAWYER HOW TO PICK A LOCK IS SO FUNNY

- I really like how it's his own hate for percy and everything percy has that gets him killed rather than straight up homicide. It really sets the idea that people like that will find their own downfall (which is ironic bc this trope is commonly used in ancient Greek tragedies)

season one of percy jackson is stunning. It's a masterpiece even with the changes and whilst there was definitely some timing issues and the cut to black became annoying, it was very, very good. If it is renewed for another season, it has a lot of potential, and I will be very excited to see how they adapt The Sea of Monsters for screen.

#percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #annabeth chase #pjo tv show #pjo series #walker scobell #grover underwood #percy jackson season 1 finale

[defectivefanboy]

Howl J. Pendragon x Gn!Reader

this is pure self indulgence. No I am not apologizing. No I am not sorry and yes I am a glutton for punishment.

Overall Notes: Stories written on this blog are GN until specified. While this story uses they/them pronouns, and I don't mind female readers on my blog, I do not write for y'all, and if you are a fetishizer fuck off????????????????? ew.

C/W: Angst no comfort. Howl being a low-key asshole, and a man whore. Self deprecation.

Notes: I have been rewatching this movie like a psychopath

Steps to loving a fool...

People will tell you all the ways they fell for a fool and how they loved a fool.

How they whisked them away off their feet with such carefree nature.

But they also recall how it hurt to let them go at the end.

They always say a bird does not belong in a cage

Because there are many steps to loving a fool, but there are only a few key steps you need to keep in mind.

While the enjoyment and wonder of it is exciting at first a person can only take so much before they finally collapse in on themselves like a star.

Step 1: A fool is as free as the wind.

For as long as you could remember he's always moved as if he was the wind himself.

Maybe it was because he could fly and walk? on air

Being with him was like you were floating

God, to be above the clouds with him once again

To feel as free as he does every day of his life

But you've never seen him settle down, even within his own home.

Always adding a new room, or waking up in a new place with new doors.

That amazement you feel when you hear the click of the door and then the new location or sight before you

Oh is that a new book? What does that trinket do?

The fascinated look on his face always captured your attention more then the trinket did most days

His magic never failed to excite you, only brought you more wonder in what he was capable off

Every time he came through the door he always brought something new

Always something new, something that brought change within the castle

Something was always changing.

Step 2: A fool changes like the seasons

Never get too comfortable and never get used to anything.

As cozy as the house was, he was changing it to how he liked at that moment.

It would become a maze of new rooms and halls.

All the more room for him to make a mess.

Sometimes even a new explosion, opening a new window in the castle.

Yet, you can never develop a habit. Can never maintain a routine

Never able to get a schedule down

Never able to understand what he was doing

Never able to even assume what he's doing

Never able to assume you know what he's thinking.

It's only a matter of time before he changes his interest.

Last month it was simple Science

Today? making a plant into a horse

Tomorrow? Only he knows.

Markl, while a good kid, was on the back burner of the wizards mind sometimes

maybe even a lot of the times, but he always made it up to him with long lessons and studies with the boy.

Guess you weren't even on his mind now a days

You can't blame him though

it's not like you had an altitude for magic or anything.

You didn't have any knowledge from a great beyond

You honestly should've known

The first few months were bliss was him

then it became every few days, every few weeks... every few months... every few y-

Step 3: A fool is never shackled down

When was the last time you made a proper friend?

Calcifer and Markl were both a lovely chat.

But, you could only talk about so much within an ever moving home.

Sure, you've made a few acquaintanceships, but never more than that.

You didn't have enough time to make friends anyways

Didn't stay long ever to keep them either

You would leave town as fast as you came in.

Appearing one night then disappearing the next.

And the excitement of it disappeared just as quick.

Realization only hit quicker.

Watching fling after fling after fling after fling after-

What was it that made them different?

Maybe thats why he's always running away

Being around too long would make too much of an attachment

That means commitment

It means it's no longer just him

A fool carries their own burdens, they don't need the burdens of other as well

He already has his own worries

what made you think he would care for yours?

At first he was attentive, the soft grazing touches he gave felt as if he was treating you as fragile glass

Any force and you would shatter

When did you shatter?

Do you remember when you did?

Did he even realize that you did?

Step 4: A fool won't listen to anyone, but themselves

The house was a mess

Covered in waste from failed potions and experiments.

Molded food and trash everywhere, no matter how much it got cleaned

You had told him that witch wasn't good news

You said she was hiding something from him. From everyone.

Everyone could see he was gonna end up hurt

Yet, you were the wrong one

He's was in love couldn't you see

You wanted this to happen, didn't you?

For him to settle down?

You always said to slow down

Why was it an issue now?

If you don't like it why do you care about it?

You shouldn't be here anymore then

"Why do you always incise on being a nuisance?!"

You have over stayed your welcome.

Silence lingered in the room

The ever so witty fire demon was at a lost for words even

All he could do was watch as you turned away from him and walked to your room.

He watched the ground as you walked away and slammed the door.

He was about to let out a sigh before a second slam followed again.

This time a few steps away

"porthaven door..."

He watched the door in surprise, the dial clicking into place.

sighing finally he turned to the stairs

"Calcifer, warm up a bath"

Step 5: A fool only learns after they have lost themselves

He was sure you would be back the next morning

You always came back, even when he was clearly in the wrong

Even when he would spew hateful words at you for the littlest of thing

You always came back

But when morning came, the castle was as still as it was left the night before.

He realized it’s gone too far

The soft cracks in the glass finally broke

that prideful wizard finally began to break

ode to the boy who shallowed a star in exchange for his heart…

who had lost the only thing that filled the space…

#foolish writing #howls moving castle #howl jenkins pendragon #howl pendragon #howl x reader #howl x male reader #howl x gn reader #howl jenkins x reader #howell jenkins

[misc-obeyme]

So uh... Lesson 18 huh??

I'd just like to say that the juxtaposition of Lesson 18 being all sad and serious with the new event being all ridiculous was both weird and kinda nice? Like I needed that event to cheer me up after Lesson 18 almost made me cry.

Anyway, let's talk about it! Lesson 18 spoilers below!

Okay. I've seen some speculation that perhaps Lesson 20 won't be the end of season one. However, I don't think that's going to happen.

I think they're gonna pull some time travel shenanigans on us again. Or Nightbringer is gonna show up and deus ex machina this mess. Or the solution to everything is for MC to just make a pact with all seven brothers at the same time. Solomon did say that he thought they could do that in a past lesson. And if they do it all at once, it wouldn't take that long? Hmmm.

Anyway, I could speculate all day, but there were some really interesting things that happened in this lesson that I'd rather talk about.

First of all, Diavolo pulling out the Prince Voice on Raphael had me going OHHHHH lol.

I honestly love Diavolo's different sides. It makes him feel so real, you know?

SPOILERS FOR HARD LESSON 18 (just skip this paragraph in case you haven't gotten to it yet!)

And I feel like that really is even more evident in the hard lesson where he talks to Barbatos about the difference between his head and his heart. And how all he really wants is for the brothers to be happy. Which was so dang sweet. And Barbatos just gives him that whole speech about what a great king he's gonna be. I was like I can't with these two.

HARD LESSON SPOILERS OVER

Anyway, the fact that Diavolo can just step into this Prince persona and be a leader when he needs to, but then he's just a silly guy when he's not needing to do that is very realistic to me. A lot of people have different versions of themselves that they only show at certain times or to certain people. Gives his character a lot of dimension, in my opinion!

And oh... can we talk about Mammon?

My precious baby. I wanted to hug him so bad. I wanted him to continue to chew out Raphael. I mean, I know Raph is kinda just the messenger here, but I felt like Mammon was actually saying what everyone was feeling, but was too restrained to say. For some reason, everyone was just kind of letting Diavolo take the lead (and I guess that makes sense, he is the Prince after all and Raphael is basically saying they'll go to war over this). But Mammon was like oh hell no.

I agreed with him entirely. The Celestial Realm can go fuck off. I was NOT expecting this to be about the fact that the brothers have power in the Devildom now. Like are you kidding me? THAT is your big concern? Should've thought about that before you threw them out, GOD.

And when Raphael was like are you questioning Father's word to Lucifer and Luci just kinda got sad looking, I was like YES QUESTION HIM because Lucifer and his brothers deserve better than this bullshit.

It really feels like the Celestial Realm booted them out because the bros did something they didn't like, but now they've realized they made a mistake. So to get them back, they're gonna go down to the Devildom and threaten them.

Are they trying to get us to hate the Celestial Realm? Is that the goal here? I don't, obviously, but I think this was a pretty shitty move considering all that these guys have been through.

BUT THEN THE BROTHERS COMIN THROUGH WITH THE WE WON'T LEAVE SATAN

when I tell you I was crying... it was Belphie's fault.

Pretty sure this was the line that made me tear up, but then we get the same sentiment from Beel and Asmo about not leaving Satan behind and I was just like that was MY HEART you guys just shattered.

Now let's talk about Solomon and Barbatos in 18-A, shall we?

Please refer to this collection of screenshots featuring my true love dishing out some real insults.

WOW. Let him have it, Barb.

I don't know what Solomon did, but I do find this exchange incredibly interesting. Note that Solomon is wearing his human world outfit here. I kind of think human-world-outfit-wearing-Solomon is the imposter. He's the one who talked about the pact with Asmo first, where it didn't fit with his later version of the story. He was also the one who pushed all the brothers into Asmo's tub and therefore also the one who then made a pact with Asmo. He was also the one who commanded Barb to make a portal when he didn't want to and who had the discussion with Nightbringer.

I'm just sayin... maybe he doesn't know why Barb is mad at him 'cause we got more than one Solomon running around...

Buuut I could be completely off base here. We'll see, I guess!

This could all be resolved by the end of Lesson 20, you never know with this game lol.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me nightbringer #obey me nightbringer lesson 18 #obey me nightbringer spoilers #obey me nightbringer lesson 18 spoilers #obey me diavolo #obey me solomon #obey me belphegor #obey me barbatos #obey me mammon #obey me raphael #misc talks about characters #misc rambles

[eddo-tensei]

"YOU JUST WANT HER TO STAY THE SAME!" - A short essay on the misconception of why people wanted Chloe to be redeemed.

Interpretations are important when it comes to understanding media and despite what some people may say, there's never "one true interpretation" of a piece of media. At this point, it's been at least a couple months since the fifth season of Miraculous had ended and it's been at least a month less than that since the movie had premiered. In both cases, even though she just barely qualifies as being a main character in the franchise, Chloe had become a hot topic in both iterations. In the show, she started out as your stock mean girl archetype, started to gain some depth in Seasons 2 and 3, and then suddenly nose-dived into being the resident Hate Sink come Season 4 and onwards while any bit of depth she had was stripped away from her. In the movie, she started out as relatively the same as she did in the show, but what's interesting is how her progression in the movie was handled in that there barely was any progression for her in either path. There wasn't a path of redemption written for her, but she wasn't thrown into the Hate Sink like what the latter half of the show did with her. In fact, even though the movie gave her an extremely petty motivation to bully Marinette, she's somehow better than how the show depicted her because she actually has a motivation, albeit a petty one, and yet she's somehow shown to be less of a monstrous psychopath that the show tried desperately to make her out to be. Granted, I do feel like something is lost with Zag retconning out most of Chloe and Adrien's past friendship, but the rest of the writing for Movie Adrien more than made up for that because Adrien actually feels like his own character instead of someone morphed into an accessory for Marinette. Same goes for Movie Marinette for that matter because even though they don't have a backstory together, Chloe's bullying of Marinette actually holds weight and Marinette felt more like a genuine introvert than the neurotically creepy mess she was in the show and to whom the writers spent the last season desperately attempting to justify the questionable actions of. All that said, the movie did a lot of right in terms of characterization and while Chloe, Nino, and Alya had reduced roles, they were still written pretty nicely and I hope to see this version of these characters again should Zag pen another sequel.

Even so, it led me to think about something that's been bothering me concerning Chloe and the discourse surrounding her. Even now, especially after how the fifth season's finale played out, the debate for whether or not Chloe should've been redeemed is still ongoing and it's very clear that the show had only served to strengthen those who said she never deserved to be redeemed to begin with. While there's a lot to debate over this, I do feel like there's one particular idea among those who are against a redemption for Chloe that's just completely wrong and deserves to be called out. Namely, a lot of people who argue against Chloe being redeemed seem to have this assumption that those who do want that are defending all of Chloe's actions or worse, that those who are pro-redemption actually just want Chloe to remain the same character-wise while she gets to be a hero again. Honestly, it's baffling that people would believe that Chloe fans who wish for a redemption just want Chloe to remain the same bully she always was even though that is literally the opposite of what most Chloe fans want and completely goes against the point of her having a redemption arc to begin with.

Now the reason I said this is the opposite of what MOST Chloe fans want is because there are indeed some fans of Chloe who do think she did nothing wrong and that she should be given the hero spot because Marinette is just being stupid. These fans usually come from people who get most of their ideas for Miraculous from watching goons like CyrusLovesOwlCity and to put it simply, these people are wrong and should not be taken seriously. Frankly, they're no different from any Marinette stan or Adrien stan who argue until they're blue in the face about how their respective characters did nothing wrong while violently salting any other character, including each other, that did something even slightly negative to their favorites. Those people do not deserve to be allowed in any polite conversation involving Miraculous regardless of which character they do it for.

In any case, despite what people might think, a lot of Chloe fans do want to see her change and stop being a bully. They want to actually watch her learn that what she's doing is wrong and thus improve herself. Of course, the showrunners seem to vehemently disagree with the concept of her ever becoming better and actively shoot down any possible hint of that happening. People will argue that there were never any hints to begin with and that Chloe fans are just being delusional, but that's where interpretations come in. While one could easily just say that Chloe is just impossible to redeem and one can even dive deep to even find reasons as to why that is, people can also look deep enough to find reasons as to why Chloe CAN be redeemed. While there's no true evidence that Chloe had a hidden heart of gold, there is evidence to show that she's much more sensitive and insecure than she lets on, primarily seen in any episode where Audrey is a primary character. Moreover, while Chloe is more of an overt bully in the movies, the scene of the ball towards the end of the movie does indicate that while Chloe still has a front, she does respect Marinette to an extent to the point of allowing her to dance with Adrien. This latter scene does seem to lean more into what Chloe fans actually want in that even though she is a bully, she's also starting to grow and it does seem like there's hope that she could get out of that role instead of just getting worse and being treated as a worse person than someone who attempted genocide and someone who wanted to erase reality.

With all that said, I feel like one more thing that needs to be addressed is that some people seem to believe that Chloe fans only complain about the show's writing when Chloe looks bad. While it may seem like cope, when people are complaining about it for multiple characters that arguably span the entire show, I don't think they're just complaining because one character is written in a bad light. Kagami, Nino, and Alya are just some of the other characters that come to mind when talking about how bad the writing is and of course, when Marinette and Adrien get their awful moments, a lot of their fans seem quick to jump to bringing up "bad writing" as a complaint as well with them often rewriting these characters to fit how they themselves view them. Frankly, if those fans are allowed to just create their own versions of these characters, I don't see why Chloe fans shouldn't be granted that same luxury for Chloe herself.

Overall, while the future of the show is uncertain, it's clear that Chloe's fandom is never going to truly disappear no matter how much people try to make that happen. All that said, you shouldn't just assume that a Chloe fan just wants her to get away with everything and be treated as a hero without having to change. Ultimately, you shouldn't just accuse a fan of Chloe of defending all of her bad actions just because they want her to be better. Save that negative energy for the people who unironically say that she did nothing wrong and then actively salt other characters for her. This is a lot to write, but I really wanted to get my thoughts out there and hopefully clear some things up.

Also, people who say that Marinette is somehow the true bully do not belong in the Miraculous fandom. Simple as.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #mlb #ml writers salt #ml salt #chloe bourgeois #mlb chloe #chloe bourgeois sugar #chloe bourgeois salt #miraculous awakening #ladybug and chat noir #ladybug and chat noir the movie

[monkiesimp]

OH SHIT U SAID ANGST TOO

Alright, didn't get to watch season 4, only saw clips, so there's a huge chance I'm wrong

MK feels lesser than now that he's going in and out of his monkey form, and sorta tries to avoid s/o (any gender you want honestly). Avoiding them doesn't work, and now he has to spill why he's avoiding them, and face the kisses and comfort from his lovely s/o.

This is more comfort than angst honestly, and you don't have to do it at ALL, but I just found it rlly cute 🥺

oh wait these aren't headcanons hngggggggggg

I gotchu

- You did notice that Mk was acting a bit weirder than normal, anytime you'd get close to him he'd make some excuse to leave.

- You could see how freaking nervous he was while speaking, it wasn't hard to spot at all.

- So he started seeing you less and less until he finally stopped seeing you altogether.

- That's when you began to worry, when you came at Pigsy's noodles, he wasn't even there too ...

- Which became incredibly concerning at that point, wherever Mk was Sandy took over his job only temporarily. Someone needed to deliver the noodles, obviously

- Even worse, everyone said they haven't seen Mk around, even Mei and Wukong who were very close to Mk!

- You began to panic thinking someone must've kidnapped him and taken him hostage so you immediately go to Macaque's dojo, knock down his door and prepare yourself to beat his ass

- ... He's not here. Should've guessed so, he could be anywhere.

- Then he appeared behind you and pinned you down so you couldn't move

- He was honestly confused and a bit annoyed at first by your arrival, mostly because you fucking drop kicked his door and completely broke it.

- But when you begin to yell at him to let you go and tell you where he hid Mk he relaxes a little, also he took great offense that you think he'd hurt Mk

- After a few moments both of you calmed down and you had to apologize, of course you don't really... Think all that much that he would hurt Mk, you were just in a state of panic and he understood

- He listened to you carefully, then he helped you find Mk by going through a shadow portal

- Surprise surprise, he was at the flower fruit mountain staring at the sunset, which meant Wukong lied that he had no idea where Mk was

- Mk got really startled by seeing you two but quickly relaxed

- Macaque left almost immediately to give you two some space to talk

- You approach Mk and try to have a small talk with him but it feels a bit unnatural so you just get to the point and ask why he had been avoiding everyone

- Mk hesitated, he tried to make some excuses again but you could see right through his lies.

- Then, his smile began to falter as he made even more and more excuses, he ended up sobbing, unable to stop himself from crying

- He (finally) told you everything that happened and why he was avoiding you and everyone else, how awful he felt and how everything is his fault

- You sat beside him and held him in your arms while he continued venting to you about everything that had happened, your hands started touching him softly to soothe him

- Honestly it made him cry even more and he snuggled closer to you to feel a bit better and feel your warmth :(

- You held him for a long time, letting him cry before you began to explain why everything he did wasn't his fault and that he did great, and you were so proud of him.

- He felt a whole lot better now with you by his side, he's glad that he talked to you about his problems. You definitely have a way of soothing him and it made him love you even more

- He began to feel a bit guilty now, that he's been avoiding everyone and how he will have to explain why he's been avoiding them... He was a bit nervous but you assured him you'll be by his side

- He fell asleep in your arms as you ran your hands through his hair and that was when Wukong popped in

- He saw you and noticed you glared at him, he just laughed awkwardly now that you know he lied to you, then he turned around and walked back where he came from so he didn't have to confront you about it.

- Mf thought he could escape this, he can't, you'll have a talk with him later

- The next day you and Mk go back to pigsys noodles, everyone is very relieved to see Mk and they began asking where he's been

- He was very nervous to tell why but with you holding his hand the entire time and giving him reassuring smiles, it was enough for him to explain where he's been and why

- All in all, everything went well in the end! You'll be sure to even give him more love after everything he went through, he deserves it 😤

#lmk x reader #monkie kid x reader #lmk mk x reader #mk x reader #lego monkie kid x reader

[lily-orchard]

I'm not even a Belos enjoyer but finale was pretty dissapointing. It felt like Dana just saw that fans hate Belos and decided to not even show a proper flashback for him and kill him in a lame way. Sure fandom loved that he got stomped by Eda King and Raine (for some reason), but I feel like it should've been more like Luz tells Belos that he lost everything because of his inability to change and now he turned into a monster that nobody will remember after he dies or sth and Belos dies while seeing visions of Caleb Evelyn and everyone he's ever killed that don't even look at him so he dies scared with realization that Luz was right. Cuz that "huehue look we are not like the other cartoons our villain is lame and underdeveloped and died by being stomped by Luz's friends huehue AREN'T WE QUIRKY AND NOT LIKE THE OTHER GIRLS CARTOONS" felt lame and cringe like make defeat of a fashist actually worth it bruh

I mean I don't like the Not Like Other Girls'ing of the writing, but I'll be honest I think you're just mad that the Caleb and Evelyn red herrings didn't amount to anything. Those are things that were always afterthoughts and should have been scrapped. Phillip didn't need a secret Cain and Abel backstory to explain his genocide against witches. He was already from a deeply racist and fundamentalist time period.

There's a lot of people who wanted to Caleb to matter and for Evelyn to be a Clawthorne, and the truth is... they don't matter... at all.

I think it would have been worse if they harped on that shit. The time spent particle effect-ing and anime-framerating should have been spent on the main characters, not on the fan theories.

I mean, not to put too fine a point on it, but if you really wanted to just drive the spike through Phillip as a last word, what they would have done would have been for Camilla to take Luz by the shoulder and guide her away from him as he rots in the boiling rain, Phillip starts ranting about how the witches aren't people and will doom humanity with their filth, and then Camilla turns her head back and says "Yeah, I've heard that one before."

Because the thing about Belos is that he is fundamentally an invader. He's an invader of the Demon Realm, but he's also a white Christian British man living in America in the 1600's. He's an invader back in the Human Realm too. He came to the Demon Realm at the HEIGHT of his own previous invasion.

His profession is Witch Hunter. His job was never to hunt witches. It was to hunt women and native people and escaped slaves.

Belos' genocide of the witches on the Boiling Isles directly mirror the Salem witch trials, which were little more than a thin veil to persecute women who didn't conform to Christian morals. And they knew this. They knew magic wasn't real. They all of this.

Let's be honest here. Let's be brutally honest here. Why does Belos want to genocide everyone on the Boiling Isles?

He's mad about his brother's hot new gf

They do magic and therefore it is sinful

It is an integrated society that knows neither colorism, sexism, homophobia or transphobia?

It's the third one. Because to a white christian man 1600's US Colonies, that very notion is profane to him.

Hell when he tries to play the whole "I only care about humanity!" spiel to Luz, Luz looks at him like

Luz knows that were they in the Human realm, she would have been the target of Belos' ire in the place of the witches.

Honestly with that kind of background behind Belos that you can easily extrapolate just by knowing what he is and where he comes from, it was always fucking sad that they backpedaled like fucking crazy and pulled this stupid Cain and Abel bullshit in the first place. Like, you had the best foundation for a villain, you didn't have to add all this fandom bullshit.

But that's the Adventure Fantasy death spiral, isn't it? They start with something actually very biting and edgy, the genius of The Owl House in it's early seasons was that it didn't pull it's punches, and then walks most of it back to replace it with safe, santizied fandom mysteries about secret families and hidden identities and conspiracy mongering. Because you can't really pack hidden mysteries in like a pretentious weeby jackass if your bad guy is just a racist white guy.

Because racist white guys are just pretty straightforward.

Honestly, I think Luz just fucking standing there watching him burn away in the boiling rain, lacking any sympathy for him or his bullshit, silently gloating at the fact that she has completely and utterly destroyed his 400 years of work to undo the Boiling Isles and is content to watch him die like the cowardly, snivelling rat he is to be a and extremely powerful and poignant image

A far more meaningful moment than... whatever the fuck you were talking about.

You want the defeat of a fascist to be worth it, making him practically beg for the mercy of a woman who (were they not currently in a place with magic in it) would have been on his hit list and who he only tried to appeal to because she was the closest thing to a kindred spirit for parsecs, and having her look down at him like he is literally muck on her shoe IS WORTH IT.

What you're suggesting just puts the stupid red herring fandom shit at the forefront. Nobody cares about reading Belos a "reason you suck speech." Nobody cares about Caleb. Nobody cares about Evelyn. Nobody cares about any of that shit.

This is the closest thing we get to payoff for all that dragged out angst in the last 7 episodes, Luz getting to watch this man who fucked with her head and manipulated her good nature die begging at her feet, and you want to center the stupid Roundtable fan theories?

That's ultimately my problem with this entire genre. Because even when we get a really good moment like this, there's people like you saying that it should have been different and presenting ideas that all follow the same templates, and are written by TVTropes, and suck, and position white background characters as more important, and suck, and primarily exist for theory youtubers, and suck, and mimic your favourite anime, and suck, and suck, and SUCK SO FUCKING HARD!

What you said should have been done instead... would be shit. It would just be shit. It would be garbage.

I have complaints about Season 3, but this?

This is beautiful.

#the owl house #the owl house discourse #fandom rot #fandom racism #tw - racism #tw - religious violence

[professorhayforbreath]

so episode 5. all my thoughts

we picked up where the last one left off, good start

annabeth saying she knows percy isn't dead... how. to annabeth and grover there should have been no way percy was alive and finding out he was should've been so emotional but instead she was like dw i know he's not dead lol. it's kind of... lazy writing? like how are you gonna write a scene as gut wrenching as percy trapping himself with a monster and telling his friends to complete the quest without him because he's actively dying and has no reason to believe he'll survive, and then make the fallout of that so... nonchalant? idk if it's a time limit thing but that was so underwhelming to me

annabeth being the one to see the fates... no

fugitive percy enjoyers at least we won!!!!

the trio peeking over the road barrier at ares was cute goofy silly i liked that :)

gabe on the news shit talking percy i'm hooting and hollering!! "i really-- WE really loved that car" and "i'm gonna kill him". excellent. now put percy on the news fake crying about his "loving" stepfather i believe in you

i did want them to acknowledge annabeth's lack of experience with the world outside camp but having her say "i've never seen any kind of movie" has gotta be one of the weirdest ways they could've done that

the turnstile scene was cool i guess but as we go on i'm more and more conscious of how many episodes are left and how much plot there is to get through and idk i feel like this scene could've hit the cutting room floor and we wouldn't have lost anything

i do love the ambience of the park though. maybe i'm easy to impress because the aesthetic of an abandoned amusement park is just fantastic on its own but the set was very cool. wish it wasn't so dark so i could've actually seen it ❤️

percy and annabeth having a serious conversation with 'what is love' blaring in the background is sending me

first ever seaweed brain dropped! i liked the way they did it, it felt natural

actually back to the "i've never seen a movie" thing. you're telling me that in this version of the story, in which frederick chase was apparently a great dad who treated annabeth like a gift, he never took her to the movies? or she never watched one on tv? she had a whole seven years of life in the real world before going to camp and she's never seen a movie

annabeth isn't allowed to have fears she's too smart for that apparently

i think the scene with the chair was overall well executed with some great lines and fantastic acting but... idk. they really scrapped the original scene just to do what they already did last episode. i miss the spiders i miss hephaestus tv. it felt redundant to have percy sacrifice himself again. percy this is the second time today you've been like "no dw i'll just die" do you need to talk to someone

annabeth disillusionment arc complete already? calm down guys this is season one

ZOO TRUCK ZOO TRUCK ZOO TR

so it's confirmed the reason they go into the lotus casino is BECAUSE hermes is there :/ they said these literal children cannot fall for tricks and traps it's too unrealistic

not much to say about the grover and ares scenes bc i don't know what to make of them. i didn't mind them. ares had some funny lines. i guess my only complaint is that the grover i know would not have been so calm talking to the god of war. i'm curious to see where that cliffhanger leads

is it just me or did the pacing improve a little bit this episode?

despite how negative i sound i enjoyed episode 5 a lot more than episode 4. there are still so many weird changes, additions, and omissions though. honestly i think a big part of the reason i enjoyed this one is because i'm not expecting anything anymore. i'm not getting my hopes up about them adapting the book normally i'm just intrigued by this thing like a scientist observing an experiment. like hmm what are they doing now? fascinating *takes notes*

#sorry this is so long lol #pjo #percy jackson #pjo series #pjo tv show #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo tv spoilers #pjo spoilers #percy jackson show #pjo tv crit #pjo adaptation #pjo tv series #pjo show

[antianakin]

Ok I’ve got to ask: what’s your perspective on ventress? Bc I feel like I’ve seen you talk about pretty much every other major character from tcw but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you talk about her. Is she just one of those characters that you’re neutral/have no opinion on?

Yeah I'm generally fairly neutral about her because I don't think they DID much with her. My strongest feeling about her is that I kinda hate her with Quinlan Vos. I haven't even read Dark Disciple because I heard it sucks, but what I do know about their relationship in that novel just doesn't appeal to me.

I think Ventress kind-of got the short straw in a lot of ways in TCW. She's primarily a pretty basic second or third tier villain in earlier seasons and her whole "redemption arc" is primarily utilized to bring back Maul and then she kinda just disappears mostly and her character never ends up really going anywhere interesting after she leaves Dooku and the Nightsisters are killed. I wish they had done something MORE with her after they started to "redeem" her, but they just... don't. So she ends up a kind-of basic villain and a kind-of mediocre... anti-hero? Sort-of? And then she dies in a novel or something apparently, so. Whatever.

She's not a character I see a lot of people trying to really woobify either, which is usually what turns me off of the "evil" characters. I think she generally does the job she's supposed to do as a villain and then she just kind-of fades into the background afterwards, and I don't tend to have strong feelings about the background lol.

I think if anybody tried to argue that she was ever a GOOD PERSON, I'd probably have strong feelings about that. She's not. She has a relatively interesting tragic backstory that absolutely doesn't get touched on as much as it should've (her relationship to the Jedi REALLY could've been a great way to expand upon her as she developed further away from selfishness), but she's very much a villain who does really awful shit to people for a long time. And even after she leaves the Sith behind, she's primarily still just doing things for selfish reasons rather than because it's the right thing to do or whatever. And that's not a BAD thing necessarily as a character choice, it makes her more interesting to be so self-serving and struggling with not being totally evil anymore and what that means. Honestly, I would've found a quick switch into goodness pretty unbelievable anyway.

Ventress is one of Star Wars's relatively few female villains, so it's definitely kind-of sad that the writers really just never cared about her all that much and the one place she gets a little bit more focus couldn't think of anything better to do with her than to give her a romance. Boo. So yeah, I don't think about her too often, I don't have super strong feelings about her because I don't think she's quite enough of a fan favorite to have a bunch of stans insisting she was actually right the whole time etc etc, so I can appreciate her for what she is even if it doesn't amount to much.

#star wars #asajj ventress #she lands solidly in the category of 'not my FAVORITE but i don't hate her either'

[angelshizuka]

The way canon-defenders are constantly crying about how the reveal can't happen because it would "kill the show", but at the same time they're being awfully quiet about Adrienette becoming canon, even though it literally killed the love square, aka the biggest appeal of the secret identities plot line.

Finding out the reveal was originally supposed to happen in s5, but got removed when more seasons were ordered, speaks volumes on why pre-reveal Adrientte feels so basic. There was originally supposed to be more to it, but they had to scramble last minute to replace it with anything that wasn't about the love square, but failed to find any interesting substance.

It did was time for a change, since the pre-reveal dynamic has been dried out for a long time already, but they really should've dived deeper into the love square switch (and not unreversing it only episodes later) instead of the canon Adrienette route. Though I will die on the hill s5 was about time to do a permenant reveal. There is SO MUCH plot and relationship potential post-reveal and people who unironically think there isn't are either weak or have been brainwashed by the show.

If your argument is how the creators said a reveal can't happen until the very end, then that's literally part of the problem. The "a reveal would mean the end of it all" mindset is such a harmful message to put in a kids show. because it adds to the toxic idea that your life is over once you're done with your "adventurous childhood" and enter your "boring adulthood".

And honestly, knowing why the writing is bad somehow making the writing worse, really says a lot.

#ml salt #ml writers salt #ml fandom salt #personal

[jaskierx]

I feel like you might agree with this;

It bothers me a bit when people refer to Izzy as a main character. It's usually said in statements from people angry about his death/ arc. He is important but he is not a main character! The main characters are Stede and Ed. Izzy is a secondary character and an antagonist.

If people watch the show because of Izzy, to them he may seem like their main character. Yet, he does not fit any literary definition of a main character. Of course the show will seem unsatisfying if you expect Izzy to be treated like a main character when he isn't.

'It's bad that Izzy's death partly happened to further Ed's character development'. Yes! That's the point! Secondary characters can exist to aide the development of main characters. This isn't a new thing or a flaw!

'A main character deserves a more in depth ending than what Izzy got'. Correct... if Izzy was a main character. The show has a big ensemble of other characters, if all the focus went to Izzy there'd be less time for the main story (Ed and Stede's romance) and other important characters.

'OFMD shouldn't have killed off a main character, it's a comedy show'. OFMD didn't kill of a main character. Ed and Stede finished the season thriving, so did all the other characters. One character dying does not cancel out all the joy at the end of S2. Also death in comedies is not new.

yeah i agree wholeheartedly

the people who are super angry about izzy dying have contorted the entire show to fit their view that izzy is the only protagonist

the funny thing is that in their version of the show they're very happy to let other characters die for the protagonist's development. shit like 'ofmd should've killed ed instead so izzy and stede could get together and realise how much better off they both are without him'. like okay 1. you're racist 2. so you agree? characters can die to further the development of other characters? interesting!

honestly i've said over and over that izzy has been treated with nothing but kindness. him being able to have an arc that let izzy have lots of screentime and let con o'neill show off (e.g. the singing) is one of the pillars that s2 itself is structured around. for better or for worse he underwent a transformational change and then got a death scene that was treated seriously and had a significant emotional impact

one character dying does not cancel out all the joy - unless that character is the only one you gave half a shit about in the entire show

ed and stede's joy literally doesn't count in the canyon's minds bc they don't want ed and stede to experience joy. when they say they want kindness and joy, they mean they want kindness and joy for izzy and suffering for ed

they were never going to be happy with how the show went in s2 bc it's entirely different from the show they think they've been watching. they never liked ofmd in the first place. they liked rotating fanon izzy in their brains all day every day and ignoring canon entirely

#asks #anon #the izcourse #ofmd

[dragon-cookies]

Gonna finish off this series with episode 8 and then go binge watch Bluey while I paint my walls today

Alastor distorting video feeds like a cryptid that can't be captured on camera is one of the most interesting things about him tbh

I still really, realllly feel like an all-out war with Heaven should be like, a giant show finale and not the end to the first season. Where do we go from here?? We already know God doesn't exist in this universe, so what other lore is even left to be explored?

Once again Charlie giving some big heartfelt speech really doesn't feel earned when we've barely spent any time with these characters

Hate to keep beating a dead horse here but Alastor when did you start caring about the hotel and its residents

He's a good dad to Nifty though, 10/10

"You have always been a worthy opponent" Pentious we didn't see you fight Cherri Bomb once in the show

Oh fuck off this More Than Anything reprise is really good

THEY FINALLY KISSED FUCKING HELL

And ofc they had to immediately follow it up with Adam lmao. Not even Alex Brightman can save this character

"That's how they can kill us? With our OWN weapons?" HOW DID YOU NOT KNOW THIS. WHY WAS THIS TREATED LIKE SOME BIG MYSTERY.

It's so fucking wild to me that we're seeing angels get slaughtered by the dozens and yet we're expected to believe no other demons have ever fought back against them until now??

FUCK HIM UP ALASTOR- WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY VOX???

Al's voice in this part??? Hello????????

Charlie why are you apologizing to the angels who are literally trying to slaughter your friends and family

jfc why did those two kiss, how does this show have zero idea how to write romance

oh he's fucking dead lmao

DAMN RAZZLE AND DAZZLE BEING BIG DRAGON BOYS, I'm GAME though Charlie why didn't you do this at the start on the battle

SHIT NO DON'T HURT THE DREG BOYS

FUCK HIM UP CHARLIE.

Vaggie should've taken Lute's eye tbh

Oh yeah you'd think Lucifer would've been here sooner considering the angels are attacking his kingdom but here we are

Honestly I think Charlie should've been the one to defeat Adam. He was fucking awful to her from the start.

NIFTY GOT HIM LMAOOOOOO

Lute why do you care about Adam?? He was awful to you too???

Also what happened to Alastor?? Is he good??

Also kind of wild we're dedicating an entire song to Pentious but his actual death was played off like a joke

Ohh fuck we're gonna demonize Lilith for being a less-than-perfect parent but completely ignore Lucifer doing the same thing aren't we. This happened in Helluva Boss and I can see it happening again

I love how literally no one gives a shit that Alastor's gone lmao

Oh wait there he is

Ooh so he definitely made a deal with someone, very interesting

HE'S AN ANGEL OH MY GOD

Also Lilith??? Is in Heaven???? What??????

Honestly nothing I can say hasn't already been said about this show and finale. Kinda stupid Al literally got hit once and then just fucking dipped until the end, like good job man way to show you cared. BUT ITS OVER AND I'M FREE. I'm gonna go paint my walls and sew some stuff

#hazbin hotel critical #dc talks #dc watches hazbin hotel

[mdhwrites]

Honestly It's quite disrespectful and insulting, how Dana cared more about her beef with Disney than making a good show for the fans who supported her, some even financially. I've had it with her extreme fans raging to people when she's criticized for her obvious lack of care on S3 (the story in general), spamming and blaming on Disney and the shortening. Now that's revealed it wasn't Disney's fault for "ruining S3" since there was no S3 to begin with, that just puts more salt on the wound.

And lying about having plans for S3, what was that about? Stirring more hate on Disney? I find that pitiful and pathetic. If fans are gonna get mad at her from this revelation they have the right to do so. Toh should've stayed in the drafts or be written as a freelanche comic

Edit: I do think this person is too harsh on Dana as a person. I'm curious even what they mean by financial support from her fans (her charity livestreams? Unless she does those more often for personal gain but those people would likely donate anyways as just fans of the show) but as I go into below, I do agree that her unprofessionalism is a real problem and that with the fandom she somewhat helped rile up, it makes it frustrating to learn that a lot of this was on vapor. Not lies, but just... Not nearly as much solid foundation as we were led to believe. There is a lot to be said about how Dana, from my understanding, has been one of the most available leads on a show... Period? At bare minimum, for modern cartoons. Like others will talk but Dana was extremely candid. In fact, it feels like she probably learned some lessons from it because the blaming Disney stuff actually went DOWN as the show progressed. Like at least now it's "I wish I could have done more things," rather than, I dunno, just straight up trying to say they're why episodes you're not proud/ of aren't as well regarded didn't turn out.

Which she did.

With S1A.

Before SEASON TWO was out.

Like... You just shit talked literally half of the content that is out for your show and threw your publisher under the process. Why do I think that might not have been received well?

And when I was biggest in the fandom, around the time the news of the shortening happened, you heard a LOT of different explanations from Dana, like it was one executive who made the call or how TOH wasn't a 'part of Disney's brand' or the like. When the Florida stuff came out with Disney, she pretty explicitly called Disney out for it (which is fine and I approve) but then went on to insinuate that it was hard for her to believe that the show had been cancelled for any reason besides representation, a move I DON'T approve of and makes ZERO sense with how they got to do so much more gay shit in S2B and even add new elements like confirming Masha was they/them or confirming Luz being Bi on screen in Thanks to Them. It's not a great look for a director, especially during the times these statements were coming out.

Being unprofessional admittedly doesn't make her a bad person but like... Yeah, I get upset thinking about the contradictions here too. That even in the same post Hoot that she has to admit that the shortening pushed them creatively and they had no real plans, she's still talking like she had plans. Like there was something to be missed when... No. Not for the STORY. Just your bucket of ideas for a perpetual series.

It leans into the idea that saying you were going to do X means you would have done it perfectly. That Dana doesn't understand that the only perfect work is the one never done. She's fine with being remembered for what wasn't there if it means being remembered better. As a creator myself who struggles with putting things to the page... I don't know. It hurts to some extent.

Which just a small update: I've been having real trouble focusing the past couple days. My head is not on well right now. It's why these are being a bit more emotional and late night rather than my normal posts in the morning because that's just how I've felt like doing it. Hope you're all taking care of yourselves and see you next tale.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house

[meenawrites]

So.. I finished Alchemy of Souls

Guys, the amount of tears I just shed in front of my entire family in the last episode of part 2 is crazy.

They were just sitting there like, you good? It's fiction as I'm sobbing my eyes out.

Anyway.

I have many thoughts. So many. And I lowkey want to make a separate post for each of them.

But for now I do want to leave some of my impressions about the finale: (spoilers ahead obviously)

I thought it was pretty well done. I expected to be a bit more shocked about the whole Jin Buyeon is Jin Seol-ran plotline but it honestly made sense to me and I feel like it was actually foreshadowed pretty well for the most part, even in season 1.

Also they definitely got me good with the deaths of Park Jin, Maidservant Kim, and Jin Hogyeong (if that's how you spell her name). Like that's when I started crying tbh. (I could care less about Mama Jin tbh, she sucks, but that deserves its own post). And I'm glad that them actually being alive didn't feel like a cop out to me. They established early on that Jin Seol-ran knew what would happen and used that to their advantage so it was believable and didn't feel like a Deus Ex Machina move for them to be saved. Well, maybe one of them should have died (cough–Mama Jin–cough). But it's fine.

I do feel like the last two episodes were kind of rushed though. I don't know if they had budgeting constraints or if Netflix didn't give them more than ten episodes, but I think that they should have had at least 12. Two more episodes would have allowed for more expansion on the climax and allowed them to up the drama more, which I think would have done well for the series over all, and would have been a better payoff.

I think the time could have been used well to flesh out some of the side characters arcs more. I feel like Danggu and Jin Choyeon were kind of pushed off to the side this season, and especially in the latter half, but I would have liked to see more of them and their relationships not only with each other but with Jang Uk and Naksu/Jin Buyeon.

For all intents and purposes, Naksu/Jin Buyeon lived as Jin Choyeon's sister for three years, and we can see that despite everything that happened three years prior, Choyeon did treat her as her sister even knowing the soul was Naksu's and cared about her. I think that could've and should've been expanded upon, her choosing to care about Naksu/Jin Buyeon or how that came to be. Also, after Naksu regained her memory AND found out Jin Mu had been for sure controlling her at the end of Part 1, I would have loved to see the conversation between her and Choyeon about what she did, an apology and an explanation that she would never have done that if she were sane of mind. What I said about Choyeon applies to Naksu as well because she lived three years as Choyeon's sister, and we can tell she cares about her, so I would have loved to see more of her feelings towards her, especially upon remembering all that had transpired in part 1.

When it comes to Danggu, I mean, he's one of Uk's best friends, and he was left out of the loop a lot when it came to anything Naksu-related. I would have liked him to find out or for Uk to tell him at some point and see how he makes peace with that. Because Danggu and Mudeok were friends in part 1 and he supported her (erroneously) in her supposed romance with Seo Yul. But then she killed his fiance's father and tried to attack him. I can't imagine the sense of betrayal he felt, but also finding out that it wasn't her fault and how he could come to terms with that would have been great to see. I also think his whole experience/trauma from part 1 was kind of glossed over. Like his main thing this season was his broken heart after Choyeon didn't end up marrying him, and I think that was making his feelings a bit too one-dimensional there. They do talk about how he feels slightly uncomfortable/doesn't know what to do with Jang Uk at the beginning of the show, but once Seo Yul comes back, that's kind of forgotten about and the three of them just start hanging out again no problem. I would've like to see a bit more about him struggling with becoming Leader of Songrim as well and how he adapted to that amidst his heartbreak for both his love and his friend who he doesn't even know how to act around anymore, and even towards Naksu/Mudeok who kind of ruined his future and that of his best friend but also being intuitive enough (because he is and he has one of the best hearts we've seen in the show) to realize that there's more to the story than her just going on a murder spree.

I've seen some talk about people saying they didn't like the actress for season 2 as much as season 1 (forgive me, I forgot their names), but I think both brought something good to the table.

Season 1 actress for Mudeok was really good. Her facial expressions were spot on and her chemistry with Lee Jaewook and the other cast members was really good. I think she definitely had great stage presence and made the show popular in the first place. I just don't agree that season 2 actress was worse.

I think season 2 actress definitely put in the work and embodied who Naksu/Jin Buyeon was for the majority of the series. There were times where she made expressions that perfectly resembled/echoed Naksu/Mudeok's that really got me like yes they are the same person even if she doesn't remember. She may have been cuter than we were used to with out sharp-tongued and emotion-resistant Mudeok, but I think Naksu needed that. As Mudeok and before then she didn't have the luxury to be more emotional and girly, it's only now in this body that she does, and I'm glad she had the opportunity to express that side of herself that had never seen the light of day.

We did get a glimpse of that side of her at the end of part 1 where she's playing around with makeup and what might make her look pretty, and it really spoke to all that she had missed out on and had to give up in order to survive. So yeah despite all the angst, I'm glad Naksu/Jin Buyeon had that opportunity through season 2 actress who played it really well while keeping in line with the essence of Naksu/Mudeok.

This whole thing about Naksu being the shadow to Jang Uk's light and if light exists then it needs a shadow broke my heart you guys, it was so perfect. And the fact that they were each other's light and shadow at different points but were also wholly necessary to each other in that was beautiful. I want to talk more about this in a separate post, so I'll table this metaphor for now.

Shout out to Crown Prince Go Won, a great character this whole season in terms of both comedic relief and massive character growth. So good.

Uk's arc was fantastic too but again want to save that for a full post.

Those are my out of order first thoughts about part 2, but I have SO MUCH MORE to discuss, so I will come back for sure. I just needed to scream to the world for a bit (virtually of course).

Question though for all of you more knowledgeable in the k-drama world: is there going to be a season 3?

#alchemy of souls #alchemy of souls part 2 #alchemy of souls light and shadow #Jang Uk #Naksu #Mudeok #Cho Yeong #Jin Buyeon #park dang gu #Seo Yul #jin cho yeon #kdrama #Finale thoughts #Meena's posts

[anthruser]

SHAMELESS OPINIONS: S6 (cause Mickey's write off hurt and after s5, I watched again from s1 and forced myself to keep watching + no one around me likes Shameless so I need a place to vent)

overall: it's a meh season with strong plotlines

The F Word is SUCH a bop, my boy Gus ate. Sorry Fi, I really like you, but boo, you had it coming.

I get the whole controversy with Sean, trust me I do, but I enjoyed the dramatics of the relationship. He was way too hypocritical tho, the scene with the gun, as scary as it was, rubbed me the wrong way. I wouldn't blame Fiona or Carl for that. As someone raised in a house full of guns, I was taught to never ever go near one. Curiosity killed the cat with Will and he was obviously scared, but Sean my boy, no. I felt Sean sort of blended well with the family, understood dysfunction all too well so that's probably why, but at the end of the day, it was a scabbing wound.

The wedding scene, Fuck Frank, ik he helped Fiona dodge a bullet, but at the end of the day, it was never really about Fiona, it was about his damn ego as always. The whole situation was shitty for everyone and I felt for her, really. The bridge scene was dope as hell. Bravo. Cinematic.

With the Debbie v Fiona, I was honestly on Fiona's side most of the time. A decision like this, in their way of living, oof, and Fiona made it clear she wasn't gonna be in charge of another kid. Harsh, but... I wouldn't do it either. But the reality is, Debbie has always been around kids, and very clearly wanted to be a mother, as early as s1. It's just... timing wasn't right. But to tackle a teen to the ground??? Wtf. A grown ass woman. Girl. No.

Oh Lip... his lip ain't doing good. As fucked as the whole Helene thing was, no relationship has ever made more sense to me than that one (for all the wrong reasons) Mommy issues as bright as day right there. And the fact that he couldn't recognize that and saw it as a normal college Tuesday makes me pity him. People don't agree with the relationship, and they're right, they shouldn't, but not because it's a bad storyline. It should make you feel uncomfortable because it is, but that's something that sooner or later, was bound to happen with him. That scene where he walks to the bar and yaps like Frank does with a beer in his hand, and everyone in disbelief... oof...

EMT IAN. NEED I SPEAK??? My baby... Those first episodes were so hard for him... Fucking Lip being insensitive at times... FUCK Ian makes me cry. Him standing his ground to get the job back, oh lord. There's a deleted scene that should've stayed but oh well. Anyway. I love him.

Don't even get me started on Gallavich. The scene with Lana on patsies cuts me. That prison scene breaks me without fail every time. I can't. I just couldn't envision, if things really went without having to call back Noel for ratings and views in s7, that the prison scene would be -it- for them... His leave was horribly handled too... but alas...

Caleb??? I have much to say about him in s7, but he... isn't half bad here... Don't love him, but he's alright. Motivated our ginger boy to get a job that gave him purpose, gave him soft smooches and little lunches, and taught him to receive softness. I love those things but not because it comes from him, more so because Ian deserves those gestures. The HIV conversation was handled well I think??? Don't have any particular complains... yet

Frank's storyline at the start of the season interested me, with the cancer lady and whatnot, not a fan of indulging Debbie into grooming, but it's Frank, and Frank is a fucking pos, but as soon as Queenie comes along I got so fucking BORED. Just not my cup of tea, the whole organic storyline put me to sleep. Kind of wish Debbie wasn't involved cause I think her pregnancy journey had more potential than ending up with Queenie. Idk that whole thing was just boring for me.

White boy Carl... eh, it is what it is, seemed in character enough ig, everyone expected part of this future to head that way so, yeah. Nick... so many mixed feelings like everyone else. I just feel for him man, that situation was horrendous. That, along with 3x666 are the only two scenes where I can't like... they're hard to stomach, for obvious reasons ik, but yeah. That was tough. I feel like it was fun to see Carl with his shenanigans, somewhat cringe but I can't pinpoint if it's because of E's performance or shitty writing.

Mandy and Ian's moment, holy fuck. That made me tear up. Mandy my beloved... I hope you're doing well.

SVETLANA RISE.

#shameless us #shameless #season 6 #gallavich #debbie gallagher #fiona gallagher #the f word #white boy carl #emt ian #ian Gallagher