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imaginationlandtrilogy · 2 years

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Ike Broflovski Analysis Project: Relationship with Sheila (2/7)

When I do these, I primarily focus on the character the analysis is about, however, in viewing Ike’s relationship with Sheila, it relies so heavily on Sheila that it’s important that I talk about her individually. This is in cause of Ike’s personality, as he’s depicted much more like a child than the other kids in South Park. Take Kyle, for example. Kyle is five years older than Ike, but he acts far more developed and less like a child as the seasons move on. Ike does as well, at times, but it’s several steps behind Kyle. If we view Kyle’s relationship with Sheila, it’s very in-depth with both of their personalities coming into play, as they’re both on that same level of emotional consciousness that it’s possible. However, for Ike, you can’t view his relationship with Sheila as you can Kyle’s relationship with Sheila… simply because there’s not enough interaction rooted in personality. Instead, there’s the relationship of a mother and child - and that is the prime takeaway of Ike’s relationship with Sheila.

Sheila has exponentially grown as a character throughout South Park’s run. In the first few seasons, she was quite demanding and strict. She was a ‘no-nonsense’ mother, even exhibiting behavior that most would view as bad parenting. The most prominent example of this are her actions in South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut. Sheila’s determination and control were heavily affecting her ability to be a good parent. Sheila is an extremely motivated individual, so when she has her sights set on something, she will aim to accomplish that. In the case of the movie, it was her determination to get rid of Terrence and Phillip - as time passed, it was no longer about her initial goal, but the adrenaline of the power she had. She was so ‘in her head’ about the situation that her desire for control overpowered and consumed her. This is primarily how Sheila was presented in the early seasons of South Park. Another example would be the episode “Cherokee Hair Tampons” (S4E6) where she denied Kyle appropriate medical care due to her own misguided beliefs, and despite Kyle’s desire to go to the hospital, Sheila continuously insisted she was right. Despite these selfish decisions, as the seasons went by and the general tone of South Park began to change, Sheila did as well. She became much more mild compared to her old self, and even what some would consider a good parent. She was much more apt to gently instill beliefs in her children (an example being when she defended and explained transgenderism to Kyle in “Mr. Garrison’s Fancy New Vagina” [S9E1]) than to put forth those beliefs with an iron fist as she did in the movie. This is likely due to the fact that South Park no longer needed her as an antagonist, which was her previous role in the show - they had other characters to fill that role, so Sheila could begin to develop as a character in other ways without relying on an antagonistic role. This is where her more casual nature as a parent began to shine through. Of course, Sheila still has that desire for control and can be quite strict, but it has died down immensely from early seasons. Rather than it lying in selfish reasons rooted in her own beliefs as it did before, it now most often lies in the genuine care for her children.

Sheila’s parenting determines the state of her relationship with Ike. When she’s upset, Ike generally has a negative view of her. When she’s neutral or happy, Ike tends to have a positive view of her. Ike is still a child and is still - at times - realistically written as one in the show, so he isn’t at that point of maturity where he can view his mother as a human being with her own personality, desires, and beliefs. That’s just his mom.

It’s difficult to pinpoint what a good mother is versus what a bad mother is, as the definition of what people consider good and bad parenting can differ dramatically. We can’t outright call Sheila a bad parent, as she’s done plenty of good. However… we also can’t call her a flawless mother, as she’s done plenty of bad. It’s a double-edged sword, so what we can do is view the situations individually and move on from there.

In order to properly organize this, I’m going to divide the following into three sections: the neutral, the positive, and the negative… all in reference to Sheila’s parental behavior throughout the series and how Ike responds to it. I’m not going to label these situations through my perspective, but rather, Ike’s, in order to further understand how he views his mother in different circumstances.

THE NEUTRAL:

Ike’s relationship with Sheila would likely be much worse if he had a greater awareness of his surroundings in the early seasons where Sheila was often used as an antagonist. There’s the obvious fact that she publicly slandered Canadians in BLU, completely forgetting the fact that her adopted son is Canadian. However, this was done more subtly, as she didn’t target Ike specifically - she had no intention to harm her son, and it was only done as a result, but not directly. Ike never recognized what she did, as he was far too young to have a strong awareness of his surroundings and recognize the reason in behavioral changes. Therefore, her public outrage of Canada and Canadian people was not recognized by her Canadian son. This has no effect on her relationship with Ike from Ike’s part, however, it’s important to note that it could’ve easily negatively affected Sheila’s emotional state. There’s no blatant evidence of this in the show or movie, but given what we know about Sheila’s personality, it’s plausible. She loves her family dearly and has been known to show remorse when she realizes she’s wrong (“The End of Serialization as We Know It” [S20E10] - when Sheila realizes she was wrong about Ike being Skankhunt42, she immediately states that she’s “got to find [her] boys” likely to apologize or make amends). While her actions of BLU may not have had an impact on Ike’s relationship with her, it could have easily had an impact on her relationship with Ike, but no prominent and visible impact has been shown from either ends.

When it comes to authority in the household, it goes back and forth between Gerald and Sheila, however, both Kyle and Ike seem to view Sheila as the bigger authority than Gerald. This could likely be rooted in fear, or the knowledge that Sheila is far stricter than her husband. Nevertheless, Sheila is the parent Ike turns to more often. In “Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy” (S10E10), Ike attempts to get Sheila’s attention in order to deter Kyle from telling her about his relationship with his kindergarten teacher. He constantly interrupts Kyle when he’s speaking, babbling about Spider-Man or telling Sheila, “Mommy, I love you, I love you!” Obviously, Ike does love his mother, but his reason for saying this was not to show affection, but to prevent his brother from getting a word in. Despite the severity of the overall situation, this scene is the epitome of a sibling relationship - one sibling attempting to tell on the other and the other desperately trying to distract the parent so they don’t get in trouble. Ike likely chose Sheila to distract over Gerald because he viewed Sheila as the bigger authority in the situation. Sheila is much more firm with serious situations, and perhaps the one her children view as more responsible, so it makes sense for the boys to focus on her instead of their father.

THE POSITIVE:

In comparison to other families in South Park, the Broflovskis are much more familial and loving. Sheila plays a large part in this, as she takes on the motherly role naturally. She shows her children affection and discipline when needed, which is likely why both of her children (primarily Kyle, as he takes after her more) are such well-rounded individuals.

In “A Very Crappy Christmas” (S4E17), Sheila and Gerald let Kyle and Ike wait for Mr. Hankey in the bathroom. Sheila speaks to her children very gently and wishes them a happy Hanukkah before looking at them fondly and leaving the room. When the boys fall asleep, Sheila and Gerald return, pick them up, and put them to bed. It’s a very cute scene that really shows how family-centered the Broflovskis can be. The scene itself is a parallel to the real world and the ‘existence’ of Santa. Gerald and Sheila - the adults - believe Mr. Hankey not to be real, so after Kyle explains that he and Ike are waiting for Mr. Hankey, Gerald winks at Sheila, and they smile at each other before Sheila allows Kyle and Ike to stay up. It’s a very small thing, but it speaks volumes about how Sheila treats and raises her children. Rather than outright telling them that Mr. Hankey ‘isn’t real’, she allows them to stay up and wait for him until they fall asleep… letting children be children to keep their wonders alive.

Another holiday-focused episode, “It’s Christmas in Canada” (S7E15), features Sheila’s love for her son. When Ike’s birth parents arrive at the Broflovski household, Sheila is visibly in distress. Although Sheila’s reactions to Ike being taken away from her are heartbreaking, it tells just how much she loves and cares about him. She’s at a loss when Ike is taken away, genuinely unknowing of what to do. Kyle even tells his friends that “[his] family is devastated. [His] mom just walks around the house like a zombie, and [his] dad can’t stop crying”. It’s clear that Ike’s absence put her into some sort of depression. The reason I list this as positive despite the clear negativity of the situation is because Ike witnesses his mother’s sadness at him being taken away, therefore it shows some sort of positivity in their relationship that she would feel this way. It’s a similar situation in “Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy” and “Fatbeard” (S13E7), although those two I would likely consider negative, given that Ike took the initiative to leave his family rather than forcefully being taken away.

Sheila and Ike’s appearances in “You’re Not Yelping” (S19E4) are very brief, but still notable, as it shows Sheila taking Ike out for various activities. The purpose of showing this is to highlight Sheila’s good parenting (as opposed to Gerald’s clear neglect). Sheila takes Ike out twice in this episode - once to the park and the second to clown school. Given these two instances occurring in the same episode, it’s safe to assume she spends time with Ike frequently and allows him to participate in activities he shows interest in.

THE NEGATIVE:

I previously mentioned two episodes in which Ike purposely leaves his family: “Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy” and “Fatbeard”. In “Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy”, Ike’s reason for leaving was of his own decision with outside factors influencing him (something similar to manipulation made possible by Ike’s desire for maturity). He didn’t leave for Milan because he wanted to be apart from his family, but there’s no denying that this had an effect on his relationship with them. The fact that he was willing to leave them so easily tells that at that moment, his ‘love’ for Miss Stephenson was stronger than his love for his family. In “Fatbeard”, it’s a similar situation, but instead of Ike leaving due to manipulation, it was his own perspective of life where he thought he had it more rough than he actually did. Nevertheless, this still had a negative effect on his relationship with his family, and in turn, his mother. He made the decision to leave her, even leaving a note that closed with, “I love you all, but I have to move on”. Of course, he did return at the end of the episode with a change of heart, but much like the events of “Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy”, he was able to leave his family that easily.

Ike played a somewhat large role in the second half of season twenty. He had more screen time than usual due to his involvement in his father’s seasonwide arc. His involvement in this arc led to Sheila showing a side of herself that had not been seen in such intensity since the early seasons of the show. The behavior shown was not an exact copy of her behavior in the early series, though, as they each had different causes. Sheila did not rise to anger due to her own beliefs this time, but rather, the build-up of emotions at the ‘knowledge’ of her son partaking in immoral hobbies and her children blatantly disobeying her.

In order to understand why Sheila acted this way, we need to view things from her perspective. We’ve already established that Sheila is a strict parent sometimes prone to extremities who cares deeply for her family. Sheila was in the dark this season, unknowing of what Gerald was doing. To her, her husband was behaving mysteriously, and she was afraid he did not love her anymore (“Wieners Out” [S20E4]), already causing her to become emotional. He lies to her, although she doesn’t know he lied, and later is forcefully taken by the government out of his home as she and her children watch. While Sheila is already emotional from these situations, she ‘finds out’ her son is Skankhunt42, something she had already expressed her distaste of at the beginning of the season. To add onto that, her other son (who is often similar to her in beliefs and morals) disobeys her as well, and she continuously finds the two of them on the computer where she likely believes them to be trolling together. Sheila likely felt that she lost complete control of her family, especially with her husband being in a different country, leaving her to deal with her ‘disobeying’ children alone. Losing control of her family ultimately led to her losing control of herself. This is why she reacted in such a way.

Of course, Kyle and Ike didn’t understand this, as they had their own side of the situation - they (particularly Ike) were much more knowledgeable on it and had access to inside information that Sheila did not. I could only imagine how terrifying it must have been for those two. They’re unable to tell the truth, so their only option is to be in the path of their mother’s wrath.

Now that we understand Sheila’s behavior, we can begin to view the impact it had on Ike. I would consider Ike to have gotten the bigger fall between him and Kyle. Not only was he blamed for being the online troll, but he had been the one to go to his mother’s face, call her names, and have her chase him down the stairs so Kyle could lock her in the pantry. He had to put himself in that danger for the sake of his family. In the final episode of the season, “The End of Serialization As We Know It”, Sheila shows the most anger she has ever shown in the series. After she breaks free from the pantry, she slowly creeps into Ike’s room, hair frazzled and covered in dirt, and shakes in pure rage. It’s clear she’s unable to control her emotions in this scene, as she doesn’t say anything for a few seconds as Ike speaks obscenities at the computer. It isn’t until Ike is finished with his statement that Sheila yells his name out. Ike immediately screams in fear as Sheila continues to aggressively verbally reprimand him. I would assume Ike isn’t used to seeing his mother this way, and to be fair, neither is the audience. Sheila has certainly had her ups and downs, but a select few scenes in these final episodes of the season is nothing that has been shown of her before. This is a new side to Sheila, and given Ike’s behavior, it’s clear he’s terrified of this. As his mother charges toward him and breaks his computer, he backs away and fearfully says, “mommy!” before running away and screaming. His vocalization of his emotions are extremely indicative of what he’s feeling, but his facial expressions are also telling. Ike generally carries a neutral expression - he doesn’t emote often. However, in this scene, his mouth is open in shock and his eyebrows are tilted upwards in distress. Ike has been through so many wild situations throughout the series that he didn’t emote to, so the fact that he emotes so strongly and for such a long time speaks volumes here. He is genuinely terrified of his mother’s behavior and what she will do if she catches him. This becomes more evident when he immediately runs into Gerald’s office where Kyle is and hides behind his brother. He went to Kyle for safety, and from the way Kyle’s arms were out to shield Ike, it’s clear Kyle was terrified too, but he still wanted to protect his brother over everything. The scene ends with Kyle trying to explain to his mother how she doesn’t know the full story, but she quickly shuts it down with telling him to shut up. She denies listening to their explanations and only seeks to punish them. Sheila is too caught up in her own rage that she just wants to simmer in it instead of alleviate it. Perhaps this is her own way of regaining control of the situation. She continuously told her children not to use the computer and believes them to be disobeying her, so it’s as if her emotions took charge, and this pure, seething rage is her way of gaining control of the situation in an attempt to feel less powerless.

Sheila’s negative behavior toward Ike was not long-lasting, as she soon learned that her children were telling the truth and Ike was not the online troll. She immediately showed regret, stating that she had to find her sons to make things right. Given this statement, it’s extremely probable that she did make amends with her children and apologize for doubting them. Her relationship with Ike in the episodes following season twenty seems to have gone back to normal, just as their family dynamic had. Due to this, it’s safe to assume that there was no lasting bad blood between Sheila and Ike. The impact her anger had on her relationship with her children was only at that moment, so luckily, everything turned out alright between them.

To close, Ike’s relationship with Sheila relies heavily on her, as Ike is still too emulative of a traditional child to have a relationship with his mother beyond familial. Therefore, the majority of his relationship with his mother relies on her parenting. There have been ups and downs throughout the series, especially with the rise of complicated situations, but overall, Ike has a healthy relationship with his mother. She cares about him greatly, and he cares about her.

#☆#south park #ike broflovksi #sheila broflovski #this is probably the hardest thing i've had to write for this fandom. that's why it took so long to do!! 2 weeks!!! it usually takes a day!#the problem was that i had to talk about sheila waaay more than i had planned in here. i prepared very well to talk about ike #but with sheila it's like i had to do my own research that i would've already had done if this had been about her. so this is pretty much #a mini sheila analysis within a part of a big ike analysis... and i kept having to delete and rewrite so much... but i'm just happy to have #it done now #now onto the next one <3 as a little treat to myself #meta

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shortpplfedup · 7 months

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Only Friends Character Rankings Episode 10

We're in the final act now, as Jojo n'em focus on 'Redemption'. Last week y'all tapped Nick as the most honest in reckoning with himself, and now it's everybody else's turn for a reckoning.

🔺1. Boeing (2)

You're totally his type. Like an upgraded version of me.

Walk in, fuck shit up, that's the Boeing way, and I am GAGGING for it. I don't have a clue who the target is or what his game is or exactly but he is playing it EXPERTLY. Is he trying to get Top back? Is he trying to get back at Top? Where does next week's Sand diversion fit in? DID HE AND MEW REVENGE FUCK I NEED TO KNOW?! (I ALSO NEED TO SEE!).

🔻2. Nick (1)

Don't we deserve each other?

Nikolai my stalker baby, why did my heart swell three sizes when you got your man? Honesty remains the best policy, and owning your own shit is a fast track to understanding and accepting others. Nick tried, he genuinely gave Daddy Dan an honest and fair chance, and it COULD have been something, but the heart wants what it wants and Nick's heart wants Boston. The look on his face when he saw his photo as Boston's lockscreen, the way he BAWLED when Boston admitted he missed him...peak romance I tell you.

🔺3. Boston (4)

I don't usually take good care of what I own.

I'm not really meta-ing about this show, but the PRECISION with which Jojo n'em sliced and diced the audience's slut-shaming ways via this character got me. I am INCANDESCENT on Boston's behalf that his so-called friends were so willing to believe Atom's nasty little lies. Because Boston might be a slut, and he might have gone a little Top crazy, and he might stir up some drama when he's feeling some typa way, but he's not a sexual predator, and HE DOESN'T LIE. And despite it all people who call themselves friends to him SHOULD know that. He shouldn't have fucked Atom yes, but Atom straight up asked to get fucked. Boston DOES have lessons to learn about controlling his impulses and filtering the things that come out of his mouth, but these hypocrites ain't the ones to teach him. I'm glad that Nick got over himself last week just in time to be there when Boston truly needed him, and I hope that if they decide to try a relationship that Nick keeps the letting-Boston-be-Boston energy he's discovered.

⭐4. Ray's Dad

Ray's Dad in his one prior appearance seemed like a man at the end of his rope, and I'm glad my thinking was borne out. This story keeps telling us that nobody is a monster, nobody is a villain, everybody is just a person, and Ray's dad is a person like all the rest of them: he cared about his wife, he's watched helplessly and increasingly angrily as his son went down the same path, but he didn't know how to get through to him because he's limited, as we all are, so he did a lot of the wrong thing. I don't think paying Sand to get Ray into rehab was the wrong thing though, that was the act of a desperate man. Him giving Ray the straight dope about how to treat people was a long overdue fatherly lesson. Has he been neglectful? Indubitably. But I'm rooting for him.

🔻5. Sand (3)

Do you think I’m a man with no dignity?

Sand is the beneficiary of me being salty about Mew and Ray joining the 'I saw Goodie Proctor with the devil' mini-mob, but I could have TOLD him that a man who continuously and repeatedly calls you a whore is going to believe the absolute worst about you when the chips are down. I'm lowkey mad he gave back the money, because Ray is gonna call him a whore whether or not he's getting paid. I know Sand lives for the drama sparkle Ray brings to his otherwise dull life, but come ON dude.

🔺6. Mew (7)

If you blow it again this time, I'll blame myself for being dumb enough to trust you.

Mew joining in the fun with Boeing is probably gonna bite him somehow but right now I am LIVINGGGGG. Mew keeping Top up at night staring at the ceiling on a regular basis is the only way I'm gonna truly enjoy them being together, because game recognising game is my favourite brand of toxic relationship. If these two spend the next 50 years trying to get one over on each other I will be so satisfied.

🔻7. Ray (5)

I'm not addicted to alcohol. I can stop whenever I want.

Ray spending the entire episode in various stages of denial, his irritation with the idea of rehab and refusal to take it seriously, that explosion that was ALWAYS coming at Sand, and his final, quiet realisation that he has a fucking problem and he needs to fix it to stop hurting the people around him was phenomenal television, anchored by a bravura performance by Khaotung. Ray is gonna have a lot of amends to make once he starts drying out, including saying everything he said to his therapist directly to Sand. Can he truly change? Let's see.

🔻8. Top (6)

I'm sure if he stops being mad at me, we can make it long-term.

I finally figured out why no matter what I'll NEVER like Top and he doesn't pass the vibe check: his instincts and reactions are to lie, hide and cheat when he doesn't feel on top of things. He and Boeing may not be fuckin', but whatever is going on there smells like deceit and mendacity, and he is DESPERATE to hide it from Mew. The look on his face when Boeing is around is exactly how he looked around Boston after that car. Give me an honest slut over whatever this is any day of the week and twice on Sundays. I keep saying that Mew is part of Top's self-actualization, and the way he talks about him with Boeing in this ep just adds fuel to my fire. Is that enough to sustain a long-lasting and successful relationship, absolutely, so many couples are JUST like this.

🔺9. Cheum (12)

Find your own way to graduate. And we will forget we were once friends with you.

OOH this girl pisses me off. Having finally decided to mind the business that pays her, mostly because she's annoyed Atom seems to prefer talking to Boston than talking to her, she's all too willing to believe Atom's lies about Boston and run up pointing her j'accuse finger. I genuinely can't get over how UGLY that scene at Boston's was, how Cheum pulled out some of the same shit that gets levelled at queer men, promiscuous or not, and threw it all at Boston. When she said she didn't believe that Atom was the aggressor because he likes girls, that hit me in the fucking chest. Boston must have done something to Atom. He must have coerced him, blackmailed him, forced him, right? It's so grotesque.

🔻10. Atom (9)

Getting my heart broken by a girl won't kill me.

Speaking of grotesque, what a nasty bit of business this was. Hurt people hurt people, that's kind of the whole ethos of this show, and the lies Atom told were designed to ruin Boston's life like he feels Boston ruined his by GIVING HIM EXACTLY WHAT HE ASKED FOR. I very much doubt Atom is gonna stop at Cheum too, he's out to destroy, and spreading around this kind of shit about somebody who's already judged for being 1) queer and 2) promiscuous is absolutely destructive. This shit was the vilest thing anybody has done on this show by a country mile.

#only friends the series #bless this mess #only friends weekly character rankings #i support gay wrongs #only friends #only friends series #bl meta series

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chippedcupwrites · 8 months

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youtube

"There’s really a sense that the gods brought them together so he could be her most loyal retainer someday without Lady to protect her, and so he could serve someone who will treat him like an actual human being and won’t ask anything dishonorable of him." - @maidenvault

"Shrike" │ a Sandor Clegane & Sansa Stark fanvid

Note #1.

I just want to leave a little love note here for all SanSan meta writers. In the interest of transparency, I’d like to clarify that I don’t ship Sandor and Sansa romantically. I think they are kindred spirits, but I don’t interpret their love as having a romantic element.

That being said, I am obsessed with SanSan metas. Truly some of the most well-articulated, insightful pieces I have ever read. Especially when it comes to the depth of understanding of Sandor’s character, internal dialogue, and motivations. Just reading them through the lens of a ‘Sandor Clegane Character Study’ is an absolute treat.

But I also think the reason I can enjoy them so immensely (despite not viewing the relationship as romantic) is that – at its core – we’re still all on the same page here. Said page being that their dynamic is just bursting at the seams with utter devotion. That their truest happy endings are wrapped up in each other; protector and protectee.

And I thought @maidenvault little mini meta [HERE] captured my feelings on the subject so perfectly, to the extent that I very much had her above quote reverberating in my head while I worked on this video.

Note #2.

The non-show footage in this video is from the astoundingly beautiful short film “Bird Song” by @kateofthecanals. If by some sheer insane possibility you have never watched it, HERE it is for your viewing pleasure.

The non-show audio is from the ASOIAF audiobooks (read by Roy Dotrice) and from my attempt to clean-up the audio from Rory McCann’s audition tape.

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dailycass-cain · 8 months

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How I Came to Appreciate Batgirl: Redemption Road More...

Once upon a time, I wasn't really fond of this story. I hated and loathed it. Since 2020 however, I gained a greater appreciation for the mini-series. Now it isn't on the top tier of Cassandra Cain stories, but I don't see it lower tier list anymore.

Why?

Well, I'm going to tell you, and maybe you'll appreciate this story too.

I fully confess this story more as a "Schrödinger's Cassandra Cain" story. There is a lot of bad in it, and yet there is a lot of good in it. First off, the one element I do enjoy is the art by Jim Calafiore.

There's a grit Calafiore brings to this story. It helps balance the good and the bad. The good is that he draws a very scary Cass. That and I do enjoy the opening homage to a certain two-clawed Wolverine in the opening spread:

Now for the very title of the series, you can interpret "redemption road" as two-fold: in writer Adam Beechen redeeming not only Cassandra in the eyes of the Bat-Family but redeeming himself with readers for well turning her heel back in Robin #150 and "Titans East" (Teen Titans #42-47). Cause let's face it-- it was not a good story by any means and did neither Cass or Beechen any further favors (but I digress, Geoff Johns, plotted that all out and there are "reasons" for Slade getting away free).

You have those factors and this little tale. So at Wizardworld Chicago 2008 I attended a panel where the infamous Dan DiDio revealed that Beechen bugged him for pitches and the one of approved was this mini.

He also revealed Beechen was the only one pitching stories on Cass (which was a half-lie, if you've seen my "Lost Tales of Cass" post, you know Chuck Dixon had a fill-in issue of Detective Comics ready to go telling how Cass/Bruce mended).

Course, by this time period Dixon was exiting Robin and Batman & the Outsiders so, yeah it was a "half-truth".

That made me angry back then, but now I see the why, and I'm okay with it. In his original ways of writing Cass, Beechen's attempts were-- not good. This was his chance to show readers he had really looked into the character's history and fix these issues that he himself put in.

Think about it we came from this in Robin #152:

To this. Beechen calling out the grand problem within the Bat-books (even now it seems). Cass is important in the Bat-Family, SO TREAT HER AS SUCH. Which he does by having Alfred (of course) pointing these things out.

But Alfred isn't the only one being meta in this story. I didn't even realize it, until 2020, but there is one other character playing a meta part in this comic, Nightwing.

If there's one HUGE gripe with this particular volume it is the relationship of Cass/Dick in it. We went to them being brother/sister.. to well. We have Dick literally acting like a dick to her.

Then it hit me.

Who was writing Nightwing at the time period? Peter Tomasi. Who treated the character of Cassandra like what Alfred says? Then suddenly Dick's characterization here began making sense much more sense (when you have this going right after this series as if that writer was flipping off Beechen) in Tomasi's final page of Nightwing:

Cass was supposedly living in the Manor at this time (per this story). Funny how she was "forgotten" in Nightwing. I guess Tomasi was REALLY spiteful because he revisited this subplot during the New 52 Batman & Robin too with Bruce even twisting the knife further:

Though for Beechen's purposes he revisits on WHY Cassandra should be a key member of the Bat-Family. Not only that, but Cass goes thru a journey that explores the limits of the Bat-Family's underlying culture of vengeance. And she reaches a natural conclusion to this (more on that later).

So let's get to the real bad. No not the 90s designed goons of David Cain or Deathstroke. No not the David Cain characterization. I'm talking about #1's wall of text that would make even Brian Michael Bendis blush.

This is only one page of it in the issue. We got TWO.

Until this issue, we never really got a "defined" timeline of Cass's EVIL period. We just figured OYL, Supergirl #14, Robin #161-162, and Titans East was how it happened. Turns out we were WRONG. Did we really need to see these pages of text? Not really.

In all honesty, I think a simpler solution would have been just tiny panels of Cass seeing the various people she killed when drugged up. At the very least, it would put faces on those Cass was forced to do. You could feel her rage on why she's hunting Slade/David Cain then.

Plus it feels like we're missing something as Tim was basically like Dick in Titans East. But now he's changed. Why? There could have been panels of Tim showing care for Cass in this. Instead, he just feels muted throughout this mini.

The first issue ends with Cass confronting another mystery lady murdering some of Slade/David Cain's assassins. And again, a problem I have with this mini.

These "children of Cain" feel so nameless save for Marque, who is the opposite of Cass. She embraces the violence that she was taught and is David Cain's own Frankenstein Monster. Throughout the mini she just comes off as superfluous and edgy. Really edgy...

I really think Beechen missed a prime chance here in having Cass trying to save someone like herself. Someone unlike Cass, didn't realize life as much as she did. That finally, Cain cracked the code (with help from the Slade juice). And Cass could try to redeem her.

So this whole theme of redemption could be all over the place then. Marque throughout this just feels, meh. Speaking of meh say hello to meaningless male love interest #3 for Cass.

This subplot just feels pretty meh. I get the why Beechen tried it. The writer from Batman: City of Light attempted this. Dylan Horrocks with Black Wind during his run on Vol. 1, and Andersen Gabrych attempted this in his run with Zero (and let's face it we only remember his name because he died).

The whole love subplot just feels so unnecessary here. Again we could have more stuff with Tim helping her. Something. Instead, we get someone we care little about. Because A.) we've seen it before and are so over it.

B.) Compare it with Shadow of the Batgirl which did this right. It balanced everything by showing Cass being the focus here (you know the actual main character), and less on the intended male love interest (until later when she gets to know him, Erik, more as the reader does too)

Which leads to this positive in #2. In one page we are given Babs realizing what Cass has been up too and is all for her going on this quest (probably knowing where this will end). Which is again, a good contrast to where Babs and Cass are here. Babs knows Cass needs this.

Bruce doesn't. Dick SOOOOO doesn't. But Babs fully understands. And I do love me some Babs being a good mentor.

Another positive in this issue does is laying the groundwork on how David Cain/Deathstroke forged this partnership when Cass/Marque visit a former colleague of both men.

That these two knowing one another was hinted at in Batgirl Vol. 1 by Kelley Puckett himself when Cain told Bruce in #5 of a job that was beneath him, Slade, and Lawton's talents. So in that regard, that's a nice callback.

Speaking of callbacks, you can't have Cass hunting Slade and not have run into Ravager (who was also actively hunting her father too during this time period of DC). And here the two's interaction is hit or miss.

Rose equally has a grudge against Slade for pulling the same stuff that he did to Cass. So they can easily relate to the other. Also, you have a built-in Rose going to more extremes than Cass (thanks to Sean McKeever's underrated Teen Titans run character arc involving her).

This is why Marque again comes off as the third wheel in all of this. If you're reading DC Comics at the time (or even now). You want the Cass/Rose interactions here. You don't care about the gritty edgy third person who's ruining the antics between the other two.

Like literally, the tension between Cass/Rose should be all that you need. There's history between them both. There are similar goals each wants. But it comes off as meh throughout this due to Marque. I mean look at this panel below and tell me who sticks out as the sore thumb?

Cause then you have panel later on in the book that makes you want to fist pump with these two now that are Marqueless. Who doesn't want to read THAT?!

Look, the idea of Marque is intriguing but there should have been a clear subject spawned from Deathstroke/David Cain's alliance. An assassin. A roadblock. A hurdle. Not nameless ninja assassins with badly designed outfits.

If this was just Marque fighting Rose/Cass then at least the fight could have meant more meaning. A face to go along with someone who's being down there as Rose/Cass got away from their murderdads.

Because there's no weight to any of these fights which should have more impact. Instead, they come off as weightless. And more blood spilled by Marque because the EDGE MUST FLOW!

But if #3 has another problem is Dick really being a bastard. Seriously, WHAT THE HELL DICK?! But then again, I get it now on why Dick is acting as such. Just that this bad characterization does come at the expense of Nightwing. Like WOW.

So here I am bashing the heck out of this third issue, with very little good finding in it. Well, there is one other additional good. That's the opening page/panel when Cass is out (due to Rose from last issue).

Where does this love of Cass/Shiva together come from? This comic! Beechen of all writers laid the seed that Bryan Edward Hill in Batman & the Outsiders and Michael Conrad & Becky Cloonan on Batgirls would use. The hidden desire Cass has: she wants Shiva to be a mother to her. Yes, Barbara is a good mother too (and dammit where is she in this panel above?!)

Regardless, Beechen does understand a want Cass has that James Tynion opened (and failed at) while Hill fleshed out WAAAAAAY more. So much more that now this has to be the standard of their relationship now. Literally, this is just gold between the two of them now.

But if you want to know where this hunger for Cass/Shiva to have an actual daughter/mother relationship came? You can thank Adam Beechen for that!

#4 finally has the long-awaited fight between Cass and Slade with it well being quite lackluster thanks in due part to Marque and the nameless daughters of Cain.

But I do confess there are a few dialogue pieces in #4 I do enjoy. Like Slade twisting the mental knife to get the better of Cass here.

We get no cathartic scenes for either Rose or Cass here (everyone seems to get robbed of having them with Slade at this time period in DC). Just a rushed end to a rushed subplot.

Again, this could have been the point where Cass was reaching to Marque and that could have been the point for Slade to decide, "WHELP TIME TO EXPLODE AND RUN!" Setting up the next issue. Instead, these nameless kids all die and we the reader feel nothing for them.

When in fact we should feel more. But so it is comics and we get the abrupt ending of the Cass/Rose union. Because this is all we get of Slade and her after this issue. Which is a pity.

Again given how both have similarities with horrible fathers. There should be much pathos here between Cass/Rose. How Cass sees going down this path of vengeance can poison you still (as it is doing to Rose). With Marque being.. ugh.

If that wasn't enough we get again nameless male love interest and ugh. Yeah, I'm just not gonna post more of that. Other than Cass realizes just who Slade and her pop would target to announce their alliance but also hurt the heroes: Oracle.

Which makes complete sense. I just wish the comic did a better job with it like Bruce Wayne: Murderer did only now David Cain this time going after Barbara (as he went after Bruce in that event story). There's a lot of things this comic could have done better at.

#5 opens with Dick, Bruce, and Tim fighting Cass due to the former ratting out her plans to kill David Cain to the latter two. Still, it is kind of cathartic Dick getting punted.

...

I hate myself for enjoying that.

If you're expecting any sort of closure between Dick/Cass here you aren't going to get any in this series. Dick continues to be a dick to Cassandra in Frank Tieri's fill-in arc of Batman & the Outsiders #13-14. After that, Dick FINALLY stops acting so OOC.

Here we go back into the positives of this series. I do enjoy Cass scoping the eventual scene of the crime out. She looks at the evidence she's got and with her skills predicts how and where her father will try to take the shot at Babs.

These pages come to show that Cass indeed can be a fine detective on her own right (thanks to Babs, Bruce, and Tim teaching her). Knowing how and when the crime could occur before it even does with what she knows.

And so we get probably the second-best part of this series. These next two pages.

I mean it's not Damion Scott, but Calafiore does have the nice little details here and there. Also nice of Beechen to use TWO homages of Cass here. From this set-up shot from Vol. 1 from above too…

To Cain about to strike a Gordon down and once again, his daughter stops him from taking the killshot. There's a bit of poetry there.

So in some callbacks, the creative team does nail them. I have to confess other than Marque, #5 is probably the portion of the story where it actually gets good. Even if it does come at the small price of David Cain's characterization.

Look, yes David Cain is a monster, but there's a difference between monsters who aren't portrayed as human and the ones who are. Cain had a perfect balance of this in Vol. 1 The stuff in this volume (and until again Shadow of the Batgirl) David just is a complete monster.

In that regard, the pathos of the villain just feels more hollow. If save Slade talked to him while in prison. Told him he could perfect and deliver that perfect child soldier. Bring a reason for his life again. I'd buy that more than what we got here in Vol. 2.

Why going into the final issue why I go into that mindset. It helps the reasons flow better for the character then what we actually got. And the ultimate fight between the two is handled well.

I also love that both Babs/Bruce are doing crowd control here (both at this point knowing this is something Cass NEEDS). I love that Charlie sees what is going on and her first instinct is to help Cass.

It's a pity we never got more interactions between Charlie/Cass. If only there were some subplots that could have been dropped so we could have got that.

While we don't get the cathartic stuff with Slade we do get it with Cass going up against her father. Just unloading the life he never gave her with a fury.

It's an almost Return of the Jedi moment of Vader/Luke's final duel with Cass just unleashing it all on her own father who cannot defend himself against the rage of his child. And much like Vader/Luke there's that moment when the later realized what will happen if he continues.

Like Luke, Cass has that realization too. That if she has her vengeance what will it solve? All this pain. All this suffering that's she has dealt with these last few months. Will killing him solve it? Of course, we know the answer cause it's Cass.

No. Being a killer is not who she is. She is a hero. So she attempts to save her father, but well as we find out this is where Bruce and Tim were hiding. Waiting and watching to see if Cass would come to this realization.

And we come to the best moment of this comic where Bruce puts his batdad side full-on. I love that the focus is on Cass here. Hearing what Bruce is saying and you just see the raw emotion of her just cracking up wanting this so bad until...

The hug from her true dad with a proud brother looking on. If only you know a stupid tie-in didn't have to ruin the good moment making any readers go, "What the hell is R.I.P.?!"

Like seriously, I'm surprised no one has photoshopped that R.I.P. out of the panel. If you take it out. Damn does this work more. But by putting it in there. "Oh yeah, Bruce is about to die. ...." And that emotion just leaves you to do this.

So if any of you great Photoshoppers out there can take that R.I.P. out? That'd be just great.

So Batgirl vol. 2 looking under this lens isn't the worst Cass story, nor does have enough good to be amazing to recommend. It's just there with both good and bad. It's average.

Hence it is Schrödinger's Cass. It is exactly this. But it was worth talking about. Because it is a period of Cass that should be talked of more. Because it does redeem Adam Beechen with the character.

Along with redeeming Cass with the Bat-Family. It's just a pity only Frank Tieri decided to follow on this and NO OTHER WRITER. Sadly not soon after we'd be getting the teases that Babs would be back as Batgirl from the Blackest Night mini caps at the end of BoP and Nightwing.

For certain folk at DC already made up their mind with the character, and she wouldn't be Batgirl or apart of the Bat-Family that much longer. I guess they assumed this Volume would be considered a "gift". That Cass got closure... Ugh.

If you want to know more about DC meddling. Then see here when I go more into detail on that.

That said, Batgirl Vol. 2 gets a lot of bad rap, but it isn't all bad. It's highly flawed, but there is some good in it. … And here's me going all RoTJ fully with it. 😋

With that, I'm gonna call it a night. Because tomorrow there are things I hope for tomorrow. REALLY AMAZING THINGS for us Cass fans tomorrow at long last.

But not freaking Batman/Catwoman: Gotham War. That can go to hell...

#cassandra cain #dc comics #my thoughts

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stagefoureddiediaz · 1 year

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Ok lets try this again - Buck bts mini meta!

So we have the above jumper which I've already written a little bit about how its similar in chunkiness to a couple of others, this one from season 3 - adaptive skateboarding with Chris

and this one from season 4 - games night at the Diaz house

but there is something else I remembered. the colour and waffly-ness actually ties into this jumper from 3x06

and the very same jumper from 4x04/5 when Buck finds out about Daniel.

I've never really connected these two scenes before, but actually it makes totally sense when you think about it - a woman driving around completely oblivious to this person stuck in her windshield - just like Buck - completely oblivious to this massive secret in his life - until the baby box reveals it.

Then there is this new bts

which has me all kinds of 👀👀👀 because this is so not a Buck costume - trust me as someone who has spent far far to long staring at the clothes worn on this show, I can assure you we've never ever seen Buck in anything thats even close to this outfit and thats why I'm fairly convinced that this is for an AU scene(s) of some kind because there is a very specific reason that you’d change Bucks style in this way.

there's been the arguement floating around that this is just Buck dressing up because his parents are in town, but he didn't dress as preppy Buck the last time they were in town

We had this dark grey shirt - very in keeping with Bucks costumes

and this dark purple (almost black) sweater - again in keeping with his other costumes

and then the only other interaction we have is when he's in uniform. Even flashback Buck's outfits are in keeping with present Buck outfits, so this preppy Buck outfit is standing out because it is so different from his usual choices.

I wouldn't normally comment on trousers - its hit and miss as to whether they'll be seen on screen, so while a costume designer will make sure they're in keeping with a character, its not the part of the outfit you generally choose to relay information to the audience - that isn't to say it doesn't happen (we've seen it with Hen a few times) but its less common.

Unless you go very out of character with them - then it becomes intentional and that is what we have going on here. Buck tends to wear either navy, black or grey trousers, but we've only seen him in a colour outside of those 3 colours a handful of times - some olive khaki ones (1x05, 1x07 2x06 2x07 2x17) and then some tan ones in season 2 (2x08). we saw him in some teal green shorts in 5x09 but thats it and all of those trousers are muted in tone. So these bright yellow ochre trousers (which I think are corduroy) are very very loud!

The striped shirt is fitting in to to theory I have about when we see Buck in vertical stripes and it representing Buck being emotionally compromised in some way - if this outfit does sit within an AU of some description, it still maintains that theory - because who is to say how Buck would’ve been treated if Daniel did live - because although it would have meant he was a different person - it doesn’t necessarily follow that that alternate version of Buck wouldn’t still have parental issues!

The green jumper is very interesting as well- its tonally in the same range as the mint green shirt from 6x07 and these two greens sit separate from all the other greens we’ve seen Buck in - those have either been jewel toned or olive toned. What I’m going to be interested in seeing between now and when this outfit appears is if we get a steady darkening of the greens Buck wears. The mint green is very very light - its almost white, while this one is much brighter and subsequently darker and my feeling is that we’ll get to see Bucks growth manifest in a darkening of the green he wears - the concept of which makes my colour theory loving heart sing - because green means growth and watching a character grow as the greens darken - chefs kiss 😎

Then there is the preppy nature of this outfit - which I have to say - really doesn’t fit Buck at all - the shirt and jumper combo - again not something we’ve seen on Buck before - shirt and jacket, yes, jumper and jacket, yes, but shirt and jumper - well this will be the first time (Unless we see one between now and this one being on our screens. I also want to add a little aside about the fact that Buck is wearing his watch - in the past when we’ve seen Buck in long sleeves outside of work, he hasn’t tended to be wearing his watch - I’ve said before how his watch wearing outside of work is sporadic and doesn’t seem to fit into a specific pattern - unlike Eddie’s watch wearing. Well this season Buck has worn his watch ALL. THE. TIME!! and it appears this is carrying on into 6b and its clearly intentional - almost like the Eddie and time metaphor has been transfered onto Buck - which is a whole other post!!!

Ok I’d typed up all of the above before 6x08 aired - I just hadn’t posted it because I finished writing it just before the episode went out and I didn’t want this to get lost in the tsunami of live blogging etc! I’m adding this in because my little thing above about the green shirts getting darker - we actually saw it start to happen last night!!!! that shirt in the return to the ren faire scene with Hen - same tone but a darker shade!! I love you Kenni Wallace you are making this costume and colour nerd very very happy right now!

#kym costume meta #911 costume meta #mini meta #911 bts costumes #911 costumes #911 colour theory #kym colour theory #bucks clothes #so interesting #I love the wardrobe department #mvp in my book!#costume theory #key your eyes on the green!#911 spoilers #911 on fox #911 fox #911onfox #evan 'buck' buckley #Buck

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datshq · 16 days

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DATS mini meta: Sasuke’s family

Okay, so the last time I made a most picking apart family dynamics, some people really didn’t want to see it so content disclaimer:

This analysis reads into Sasuke’s family dynamic as toxic with Sasuke as decidedly the victim of mistreatment from his family members

Okay, now let’s start. Man, Sasuke’s entire family wronged him in some way, didn’t they?

Itachi:

kept Sasuke hanging with empty platitudes of “we’ll spend time together later” with no intention of ever following through

encouraged Sasuke feeling resentful and jealous towards himself instead of actually being supportive towards his little brother

genjutsu-traumatized Sasuke twice

made him witness the murder of his clan repeatedly

manipulated him for “his own good”

Fugaku:

blantantly favored Itachi to the degree of not even noticing Sasuke until he thought he could use him

gave him a small bit of attention when Itachi became too much trouble but then refused to teach Sasuke when he wasn’t an instant expert in Fire Style

manipulated him by giving him only small bits of acknowledgement only when Sasuke did something that pleased him

Mikoto:

claimed that Fugaku totally says a bunch of good stuff about Sasuke behind Sasuke’s back when Sasuke was being critical of his father’s clear and obvious favoritism with nothing concrete to help Sasuke’s insecurities

seems to honestly believe that Fugaku secretly thinking good things about Sasuke could even make up for him treating Sasuke like he doesn’t exist to his face

Frankly, my reading of Sasuke’s family dynamics is that Sasuke was never going to grow up into a happy, well-adjusted teen with the way his entire family manipulated him, regardless of whether or not they saw their reasons for doing so as selfish or helpful.

#naruto #sasuke uchiha #fugaku uchiha #mikoto uchiha #itachi uchiha #naruto meta

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chaoticgeminate · 2 years

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Kinktober 2022 - Chapter Thirty One

Pairing: Javi Gutierrez x f!Reader

Rating: Explicit (If that was not entirely clear)

Series Summary: You’re a fanfiction writer turned novelist, which was great since it was the path you wanted your writing to take you down in life. What you never thought would happen was meeting the Javier Gutierrez, who you actively write smutty fanfiction about from his film with Nic Cage, and you especially didn’t expect him to have a crush on you.

Fast forward several months of dating, with a good chunk of your relationship being distance due to his constant traveling and having to go home to Mallorca, when he surprises you with a prompt list and a vacation planned around exploring it.

You haven’t even worked up the nerve to tell him about what you write and post to Tumblr about him as a character yet.

Notes: Going to be using prompts from @the-purity-pen for my meta as hell indulgence! There are feelings in this (I have no idea how they got there) and I may end up removing some possible chapters here and there depending on how I’m feeling, I apologize in advance if that happens because my brain is super mean sometimes.

Possible Warnings: Squirting, toys (butt plug), fooling around between trick or treaters (not advised EVER under any real circumstances this is FICTION for a reason), unprotected PiV

Free Choice - Toys (1.5k)

Underestimating Javi’s ability to source things was something you still found yourself dressed as Sally while Javi adjusted his bat bowtie, you’d chosen to forgo the full make-up and instead used eye pencil to draw the stitch lines on your skin and put on the shockingly bright red wig that looked like it was made from thread rather than synthetic hair. Red lipstick completed your look and you turned to see study your fiancé again; he’d gone full white make-up with dark black rings around his eyes with the extended lines at his lips, and since so much of his blazer was open, he’d made sure to bring the white all the way down.

Javi left his hair alone, the shape of his facial hair standing out under the white make-up, but otherwise he’d done a good job with the coverage of it. Your apartment had been decked out in a last-minute explosion of decorations, red shiny garland with fake cobwebs strung between candy canes lined your entryway where the door was left open to allow people inside.

Using command hooks to attach them to the wall you had Christmas lights fixed in place but in the shape of spider webs, it had taken ages to get them to not only work but stay where you wanted them to, and everything of value was already stashed away while the television had a horror ambiance soundtrack playing and Javi finished putting up the last of the fake cobwebs.

With the lights off and the only lighting coming from the Christmas lights your apartment looked like a void zone of Halloween and Christmas, the mini projectors with the ghosts from Nightmare Before Christmas on the walls added to the last-minute décor and you loved all of it.

All night you got compliments from parents, awed remarks from kids, and between groups you and Javi teased each other or talked depending on what door In the building the next group of kids were at.

“Solecita it is hardly 4 are you sure the kids will be showing up?” “Yes, Javi, they’ve been starting the Trick or Treating earlier and earlier.”

“Did you see the Transformer costume? He was such a cool little Bumblebee!” “Perhaps next year we should aspire to go grandiose, mi amor, I could have fun planning a large event at the olive grove.”

“Fuck- Javi they’re next door.” “You were so close, Solecita, lo siento.” “Gloves on, Skeleton King.”

“Is someone upset?” “You are a wicked tease, when you said you wanted to see how good the lipstick looked on me I thought you meant-“ “Well you’re wearing white make up Javi, only choice to indulge would be to shade check in other places and there are children coming in and out.”

“I want one.” “Solecita-“ “She was so cute, Javi!” “I am allergic, but we could get a dog?” “Okay, that’s fair.”

When the last of the candy was gone -your custom modified Christmas chocolate mixed with Halloween treats proving to be a big hit- you and Javi put the sign up on the door saying you were out before deciding clean up would happen tomorrow. Heading right for your too small bathroom together, though Javi went to the sink first to get as much of the white makeup off as he could before he got under the water stream.

You were nearly done and getting out, since the shower was barely able to fit him comfortably on his own, and Javi caught your hand to pull you in for a searing kiss first.

Focusing more on drying than dressing, since there was little point, you felt a little tremor of excitement shoot through you at wondering how Javi would react to your surprise. It had been fun to slip away during set-up to get a plug in, how he hadn’t noticed when he’d slipped his hand up your dress between groups you would never know, but it meant more fun for you when he find it.

A rather fun idea made you giggle and lay back on the so you were propped on the pillows, moaning softly when you began to let one hand glide down your body. The soft touch made you shiver as you imagined him hearing you and rushing through the rest of his shower, wondering if he would surrender control it take it.

Your next breathy sound was louder, loud enough that he definitely heard you since the water cut off.

“Solecita, what do you think you are you doing?”

His tone was sharp and deep, you looked up at him through hooded eyes as he stood in the doorway. You met his stare with a look of defiance and whimpered as you slipped your fingers down through your folds, earning a small sound not unlike a growl from him as he watched you part your lips for him. Letting him see how wet you were, see the shine of your arousal as it leaked down your slit.

His nostrils flared when your hips rolled up, as you circled your clit, and Javi crossed the room in maybe three strides to snatch your hand away from your body and roll you over onto your stomach. You felt him discover the plug, the way he gasped out a soft “bebita” before he was picking your hips up and pressing your upper body into the mattress, and since the last time you were in this position he had been driving into you with the intent to breed you… you clenched around nothing with a whine.

“Javi-“

“Look at you. So wet already, but you seemed happy to take care of yourself. You even have something to fill you here.” He pressed against the base of the plug, making you try to rock back for more of the sensation.

“Wanted t’ surprise you-“

“Oh, I am surprised, bebita. But I don’t want to interrupt your fun, I just wanted a better view. Go ahead, make yourself cum.”

He grabbed your hand, the one he’d pulled away, and lifted it to cup your pussy, urging you to continue what you were doing; your desperate little whine and the way your hand slipped through your folds with a wet sound had your knees widening as you rocked down against the press of your fingers.

Javi watched you touch yourself, and you could feel how close he was to you by his breath on your skin, the soft kisses to the backs of your thighs and the breathy little curses he was breathing against your skin when you would dip your fingers into your body to make sure you showed him just how wet and ready you were for him.

It was only when you were so close to that peak, when your breathing was erratic and you could feel it right there, that he slid his cock home; the fullness you felt of him and the plug was so much and you felt the hot rush of your orgasm soak him and your legs and definitely the sheets below. Javi didn’t even last two full thrusts before he was filling you, just as overwhelmed as you were feeling, and the two of you were left panting hard as your body trembled from the sensations.

“Fuck, you were so tight and wet- I couldn’t stop myself if I tried. Bebita, can you handle more?”

“Always, mi prometido.”

He grinned when you looked over your shoulder at him and when he moved again, he did it in a way that let him close his left hand over yours, allowing you to see your rings beside each other and catching the low lighting of your bedside lamp, and Javi pressed a kiss to the corner of your mouth.

“Be careful, mi prometida, I am a greedy man.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

He chuckled in your ear and ground himself inside of you, making you whimper.

“You can believe that I will keep all of my promises, Solecita, starting with the most important one of all. I promise to love you and be by your side from now until the end of eternity.”

He was such a fucking romantic, even buried in you like this, and you loved him so much for it.

“I promise to support you and love you and do anything in my power to make sure you have a reason to smile by my side, from now until eternity.”

Javi whimpered, a broken sound, and the tender way he rocked into you as he draped himself more onto your body was so all encompassing and perfect and you made sure he knew it.

“So good to me, Javi.” “Feels so amazing, the way you love me is always what I need.”

“You’re a good man cariño, I love you with all that I am.”

Javi’s choked off whimper in your shoulder, the feeling of his body going rigid and his balls drawing up, made you sure that for the rest of your lives and the rest of your eternity you would make sure he knew just how much you loved him and how glad you were that he had found you.

All Fics Taglist: @hardc0rehaylz @wordsnwhiskey @pagannightwitch @radiowallet @musings-of-a-rose @amneris21 @trickstersp8 @practicalghost @rominaszh @alwaysdjarin @alexxavicry @all-the-way-down-here

Just Pedro Taglist: @maievdenoir @beecastle @littlemisspascal @writeforfandoms @AynsleyWalker @lovesbiggerthanpride @mswarriorbabe80

Alt Taglist: @imtryingmybeskar @fan-of-encouragement @grogusmum @sizzlingcloudmentality @deadhumourist @prostitute-robot-from-the-future

Kinktober Only: @nicolethered @katareyoudrilling

#kinktober 2022 #javi g x reader #javi g x f!reader #javi gutierrez x f!reader #cw smut #cw toys #cw butt plug #cw piv #cw semi public #chaoticwrites

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desultory-novice · 2 years

Note

post forgotten land, do you think hal will retire waddle dees as enemies from future mainline games? also, when do you think the next mainline game will release?

It used to be, we got a new Kirby game around once a year.

Those weren't all mainline titles, but mainline entries weren't infrequent then by any means. In a way, we're extremely lucky to get a mainline game, an expanded mini-game (how I treat Dream Buffet) and a remake of a mainline game all in one year! Not all companies treat their properties as well as HAL has for their 30th anniversary.

However, the further along the console generations get, the longer development on new titles tends to be, just as a general rule. That can lessen some if you're able to reuse assets and whatnot. It also depends what you're developing for. A system your programmers already know inside and out? Or something entirely new to your staff?

It's safe to say, 5 games in, HAL Labs knows Switch development extremely well. There's no particular rule about this, but a Kirby game is usually one of the last "big" titles to come out for any given Nintendo platform. (I believe that's because HAL would prefer to work on hardware they are familiar with, rather than rush to the newest, shiniest thing.) So I'd say we probably still have one more Kirby Switch game ahead of us after Return to Dream Land DX. Which would be nice, because when a new console inevitably launches, we probably won't be seeing a Kirby game for a few years, while the team acclimates to the new platform.

Director Kumazaki mentioned somewhere something about Star Allies and Forgotten Land are akin to two parts of a single story. Before a new mainline title can be developed, they must decide what Kirby's next adventure will be. Going back through the interviews, I read that Star Allies was designed with the thought of "What might the LAST Kirby game be like?" Of course, it wasn't the last. It was just designed so that it could fulfill that role if necessary. This puts Kumazaki et al in an interesting position, because where do you go from here? Anyway, that's a question for a different ask! Moving on to Waddle Dees...

Hot Take: I don't necessarily think they need to retire Waddle Dees as enemies just because we've rescued and made friends with them. For one thing, being friends with them hasn't stopped us from knocking them around before! Waddle Dee was a companion back in 64. We’ve fought plenty of Waddle Dee since then!

Something I try to remind myself too is that while Popstar is a world of food, naps, and playtime, "playtime" in Popstar is probably a little more wild than we expect it to be in our world.

As an example, look at the number of people who see Meta Knight as Kirby's caring, attentive father figure who would make anyone who picked on Kirby regret it with their life.

...This is knowing that very same Meta Knight challenges Kirby to an intense sword duel to the (not) death every time they meet!! That’s not exactly throwing the baseball around the in backyard, is it? But heck, maybe it IS on Popstar...?

I mean, they're bringing back that one mini game where you hit BOMBS at each other with a frying pan in RtDL DX!! I think.... I really think the residents of Popstar are generally less concerned about fighting (and blowing up) than maybe we are...?

(Probably why forgiveness is given out so easily on Popstar. "Oh, you blew up my castle? Yeah, Kirby did that last week too when we were fighting over who got the last slice of pie. No big deal.")

You can attack the residents of Waddle Dee Town too and they just angry Wanya! at you and go back to what they're doing.

I think it's fine to keep them as enemies because they help make the world less lonely. Sure, they could keep the concept of Waddle Dee Town going, but probably only for a game or two. Kirby games always like to mix up the formula every few entries. Even the most diehard fans of Forgotten Land would probably get tired of that same gameplay loop by "Kirby and the Forgotten Land 4: I Can't Believe They Forgot Again!"

As enemies, they get a chance to interact with the world in fun and interesting ways too. Do you recall the various swinging Waddle Dees? (I ADORE those ones so much. Sooo cute!) Driving Waddle Dees? Napping Waddle Dees? Waddle Dees who happen to be standing above a pit trap and OH NO WADDLE DEE! I DIDN'T MEAN TO HIT THAT SWITCH!

I typed that last one out because I've had that "Ahhhh! Nooo! Poor little guy!" reaction to Waddle Dees even before Forgotten Land came out. And I imagine I will continue to have that reaction to them.

You can also avoid them, too! Outside of the mini bosses, you're rarely (never...?) forced into attacking one. (Has someone made a "no Waddle Dees harmed" series of challenge videos akin to that "Can you beat <X> without Jumping?" one?) Kirby is a platforming series at heart. You don’t even need to hurt anyone to progress. Well, not most.

That's a long way of saying, I think they can still be enemies because I think it's fine with the Dees themselves if they are! At least, going by the general worldview of Kirby. I believe that when the Dees are really, truly in danger (being kidnapped by the Beast Pack is clearly something they don't want) Kirby and the rest will go out of their way to save them. But I don't think being inhaled or spit out by Kirby counts as "real danger." It's rarely been portrayed that way!

#Kirby #Kirby series #Waddle Dee #KatFL spoilers #Meta Knight #(Been answering a lot of new asks...#...but I haven't forgotten the backlog either!)#long post

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thotsforvillainrights · 2 years

Note

hope youre ready for more Re-Destro asks now that the ask box is back open LMAO i adore your writing so much 💕

could i get headcanons/a senario for Re-Destro who hires (eventual) S/O into Deternat after moving to Japan for the position, but they have a young daughter with them? shes behaved and all, just too new to Japan for a babysitter, and they slowly warm up to Re-Dad-stro and the MLA?

(personally i think skeptic acts annoyed but secretly loves to play like, hide n seek with her around the office 🥺)

(My fingers are fired up at the sheer mention of writing for that man!!! I hope I go this right. I wanted to include the no babysitter aspect but it just kept flowing when I was writing so this is what I came up with haha. Hey wait a minute! Would that make him a...)

~Stepdad?~

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

-It was that time again for the Detnerat company. The time when they opened up their doors for potential employees/new-hires. As the CEO he never really needed to take the part of interviewing someone. Therefore, he let the HR department handle their job. Besides, the real interview would be the possibility of recruiting any new blood into the Meta Liberation Army ranks (but that was another story). It came, it passed and so it was done. He personally took the time to walk around the building and get familiar with all the new hires during orientation. The only one that stood out to him in particular was you. There was something about you that he just couldn't shake. The man was no fool and he knew just when his heart was doing backflips that he wanted a possibility of being with you. From that moment on, he seemed to favor you more than your coworkers. You hadn't caught onto it as easily as some of the others did. Your new boss had the hots for you. He'd often stop by even when it didn't make sense for him to be on your floor/department. He'd chat with you, offer you some valuable information and lessons with work, ask if you had time to eat lunch together and evaluate your performance.

-It all really came together when you started to develop feelings for him as well. A big part of you was screaming not to go through with it. An office romance can get messy. Not only was this you boss, but he was also the CEO of the entire company. Your face would likely make tabloids even. Not only that but if things didn't work out then you could lose your job at Detnerat. You needed this good paying job because mainly you needed to support your baby girl (either born or adopted depending on the reader). In the end, when he finally confessed to you officially, you couldn't turn him away. It was a good decision on your part. Rikiya was from the beginning a top notch lover...husband material if you want it. You told him from the start about your daughter. If he (or any person you were to date) couldn't accept her then they would never have a part in your life. Lucky for you he was all in. In fact he was eager to meet her from the beginning but you held off on that for MANY dates until you got a clear idea of the type of man Rikiya was. The first time he came to meet her, he was so gentle and patient with the child. She was very shy at first but eventually opened up fully to him. Watching them interact for that first time warmed your heart. For the longest time its just been you and her but now it didn't feel as lonely with him around. By the way he treated her, you suspected he always longed for a child of his own.

-Everything fell into place when you developed a little bit of a family with the rest of the MLA members. Curious was DETERMINED to take on the role of the rich auntie by all means possible. No need for a babysitter because she was going to fight Trumpet tooth and nail for it every single time. She'd taken to kidnapping your daughter and taking her on mini shopping trips when you were busy. You'd often return home to the babysitter gone, replaced by Curious yet again. Your daughter has a matching dress with her in nearly every single color. Curious took it upon herself to buy a shirt with the words "best aunt" on it. Trumpet was almost as worse as she was. That man was a wonderful uncle to your child. Now if only you could get him to stop fighting with Curious over hang-out time. Geten was more mellow with your daughter. Because he was around 19-20 he felt more like an older brother than anything else. He wasn't always around and he never really volunteered to babysit (not that you needed him to since Curious and Trumpet would do it), but he still cared for the kid whenever she was around. He hovered around in a protective but quiet kind of way. Your daughter calls him Getty.

-The one person who you least expected to love kids was Skeptic. Compared to everyone else, he was more elusive when it came to her. He actively avoided her touch and really only tried to keep distance between him and her. You understood fully. Not everyone is a child person and that's rightfully so. However, your little girl didn't feel the same. If anything she loved her *ahem* "Unkey Skep" the most out of the entire group. You tried everything to get her to respect his personal space but it wasn't as easy as you thought. One day she ended up pulling his hair rather roughly because she'd fallen and was trying to catch herself. He was silently fuming at her, grinding his teeth and trying not to lash out at a literal toddler. What saved her from crying (and you from apologizing) was he blurting out in her precious little voice "Unkey Skep uh-oh! Big big fall down!" He just froze for a moment and stared...Unkey Skep??? He's become that meme where it's like 'I've only known *blank* for a day but if anything happened to them I'd kill everyone in this room and then myself (or something like that). Suddenly he's all about her. He wants her to learn everything he knows but that'll be hard to teach at this age lol.

-And yes if you're wondering, he takes part in hide n seek sometimes even getting his puppets involved for extra players. It's rather heartwarming to see.

-So in summary, you've not only found a good life for yourself here but also for your daughter as well. Nothing beats falling in love with a man willing to fill whatever size shoes he needed to be a good father to a child that was not even his by blood. On top of that, who could beat the uncles and aunts (and big brother) that the MLA provided for her? The answer is no one.

#im such a sucker for stuff like this #re destro x reader #yotsubashi rikiya #rikiya yotsubashi #mla #meta liberation army #headcanons

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hekateinhell · 1 year

Note

“I can't believe my alternate Devil's Minion posting brought you into my inbox and not my 'Marius/Armand/Lestat + Lestat & Armand being brothers' smut posting” that’s because I MISSED IT. For some reason Tumblr has been doing me dirty lately and usually shows me either old posts or posts that I’ve already seen at the top of my feed and there’s so much incredible stuff I miss unless I take the time to check ppl’s blogs individually (which in your case I’ll gladly do ofc 🥰). ANYHOW. I’m caught up now, back to business. In my head Lestat and Armand are always competing for Marius’ attention/approval (the Succession anon was REALLY onto something here omg), and things tend to get frisky when Marius ultimately ends up favoring Lestat/lets him get away with shit he’d never let Armand get away with. A major Lestat fuck up that ends with Marius laughing it off and calling him a brat prince/damned creature is equivalent to 2 daily whipping sessions for 5 consecutive days for Armand. So the thought of Marius bending them both to his will while outrageously favoring Lestat and saving the worst for Armand while Lestat initially has the time of his life but then his competitive streak starts to kick in once he notices how much Armand’s genuine desperation to please Marius actually GETS to Marius and starts rewarding him… it does things to me, I won’t lie 🥹 “But it leads me back to my thought of Armand baby-trapping Lestat with one of his own nieces or nephews during the French Revolution.” WITH ONE OF HIS OWN WHAT??WHEN??? Imagine Armand holding two mini Lestat clones on both arms while all three of them look at him like 🥺🥺🥺 “provide? 👉👈” and Lestat now has a whole ass family to take care of. I NEED IT. Missed you too! xoxo DA

DA here again, brain won’t stop conjuring up images🫣 what if Marius started getting a little too rough with Armand (even for his standards, which as we know are pretty damn rough already) which made Lestat feel extremely protective of him but unsure about what to do next WHICH would of course be noticed by Marius so he’d end up getting some of Armand’s blows as punishment but he’d take them like a champ for his ahem, brother. And then Armand would lick his wounds clean while they both hold each other and cry 🫠

Work melted my brain and I forgot to check my ask box for a few days, but oh what a lovely Friday treat! 🤧♥️

Where do I even begin? 🥹

Tbh the most scandalous aspect of all of this is the visual of Armand looking all barefoot and pregnant, holding two blond babies while making his canonical Puss in Boots eyes at Lestat (like he isn't an entire deranged Satanic cult leader).

And you know what? You and I and everyone else knows it would work as long as Gabrielle wasn't around to shut that shit down. Shame, because Lestat deserved to be trapped with two kids and a husband that's incurably psychosexually obsessed with him by the ripe old age of twenty-two (this is my hill to die on today). Armand rocking those babies and going, "Would you really refuse me now after I have saved your own flesh and blood from the guillotines? 🥺"

Instead of being disgusted like Louis was, Lestat would be simultaneously terrified and enamored (it's his Armand default, he can't help it). The debate of whether Armand truly does have more morals than Lestat when it comes to turning children can be sorted out once and for all.

NOW LET'S TALK MARIUS.

Not to get too meta when we're talking smut lmao but I feel that in general, Marius is one of those people that the more he loves you, the more you suffer (Lestat is too, and also Armand pre-his 'healed at Trinity Gate' era).

So on the surface, it appears that Lestat is the favorite but in the end Armand gets more of Marius's attention and frustrations. Lestat's way too competitive to take that lying down (so to speak), and maybe it reminds him too much of his childhood and it's upsetting!

But you're right, Lestat is actually extremely gentle and tender when it comes to Armand! At least compared to how he treats Louis, David, etc. Remembering how he lets Armand cling to him in BC while he cries and then Lestat kisses him. 🥹 And Armand is also protective/possessive of him! Nobody gets to hurt Lestat (except Armand).

The only thing better than Lestat crying is both of them crying together and licking up each other's tears. 🥵 But it's a good crying, like 70% of their present-day issues stem from Marius directly or indirectly, so it's sort of poetic that him hurting both of them would give them something to bond over.

Maybe Daddy does know best sometimes. 🙏🏼

#thank you for these little love (kinky) letters DA sorry it took me a minute have a good friday <333 #dungeon anon #you ask and hekate answers #armand/lestat #lestat/armand/marius

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raayllum · 2 years

Note

Hi! (It's me again. Sorry.) So I was thinking about the parallels between callum&ezran//viren&harrow (and I don't mean the characters. I mean their relationship to each other - as advisor, "brother", etc.) and I think we already talked about this but do you have anything on it? Thank you!!

I don't think I have a meta specifically comparing them, as Ezran tends to parallel Sarai more often thematically (if we're doing a Viren-Harrow-Sarai Callum-Rayla-Ezran generational thing) even if he generationally / narratively holds Harrow's spot as king. That said...

I am expecting Ezran to foil Harrow further going into Arc 2 just as Callum will foil Viren even further going into Arc 2 (and Rayla will possibly have Aaravos). Mini post about how I think the foils might change season to season here (although some of is outdated / I would expand on certain ones now, etc).

So thematically, Ezran and Sarai hold similar views: trust, compassion, real justice. Harrow holds Rayla's similar martyrdom and immense guilt, and Viren is Callum's power and skepticism, even if he always makes the right choices.

Generationally / narratively, though, Ezran is Harrow, Callum is still Viren (high mage), and Sarai is Rayla (although you could probably also make an argument for switching Callum and Rayla there, but that's a post for another day).

Basically: Callum has always been very close to and contrasted with Viren. Adjacent to political power they don't actually wield, brothers to their kings -- one Callum would die for without hesitation, one Viren hesitated to. They're both mages, the planners, presenting perspectives for the king to hear and possibly listen to. Post compilation of parallels here

Likewise, Ezran and Harrow both want to help people, ultimately seeing the throne as a tool to do so and treating themselves as a servant king.

It's a little harder to compare on Harrow-Ezran's side, though, because where Viren and Harrow's dynamic was lopsided mostly in Harrow's favour (he had final say in all things as king and ultimately broke away from Viren first, showed more of his temper first, etc.) Callum and Ezran's is lopsided in Callum's favour. We have only one occasion of Ezran getting mad directly at Callum to his face; Callum as the older brother sometimes steam rolls Ezran, or Ezran doesn't assert himself to the same degree. Meta on the Broyals' dynamic in more detail here, which basically boils down to: Callum doesn't necessarily mean to, but he absolutely does infantilize Ezran, and they're both gonna chafe harder against that pattern as they get even older

I fully expect (or at least hope, haha!) to see a scene someday where Ezran pulls rank against Callum when his brother is really being a jerk face. After all, if Callum and Ezran are like how Viren and Harrow fell apart on the royal-brotherly basis (whereas Ezran and Claudia have king & high mage dynamic covered), they're going to have to learn to repair and grow beyond the issues that destroyed Harrow and Viren from the inside out

#thanks for asking #broyals #it was just red #the royal family of katolis #unavailable001 #analysis series #analysis #requests #ezran #king harrow #viren #parallels #and feel free to send in as many asks as you'd like!! no worries <3

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britesparc · 2 years

Text

Weekend Top Ten #553

Top Ten Music Videos

So, music, yeah? Alright, innit? I’ve never been a big muso-type person. I’ve never been one to read the NME or Q particularly, to follow a band religiously and find out all about them. But music videos? They’re like little films. Them I can get behind.

Back in my CITV days I liked using commercial tracks in my promos (I mean, I always like using commercial tracks in my promos, but I find other companies are a bit more proscriptive either for financial reasons or for reasons of tone and content). The best way for someone without an in-depth and far-reaching knowledge of the music industry to find good tunes? YouTube. Or at least that’s what I find.

Anyway, there’s always something cool about music videos. As a cultural artifact, their popularity really ties into the rise of MTV in the eighties; yeah, people made videos before that, but I’d say what we consider a video now – the artform – is effectively a product of the eighties. Nowadays, with TV broadcasts of videos essentially rendered an afterthought, YouTube is the place to debut them; they become mini-events, more cinematic in presentation sometimes, free of concerns of censorship or audience. And, of course, a music video is a great playground for artists – not just the musicians but the directors, the designers, the animators. Loads of A-list Hollywood director started out making music videos.

But what makes a good music video? I think, like all art, the answer is “it depends”. It’s cool when there’s a visual and stylistic resonance with the song. Also if it’s just visually compelling; well-directed, exciting, beautiful to look at. Cool, experimental techniques – styles of animation, for example – are another thing. Or if the musician behind it all is also the one directing, overseeing the whole thing, carrying through an artistic vision as if it’s basically just a short film with a song in it.

But a great video doesn’t have to do any of that, really. It just needs to be a really cool music video. Just like a movie or a book might be deep and heartfelt and thought-provoking and artistically adventurous, but then you decide to watch Jackass instead. Anything counts.

And so we have my list; my ten favourite music videos. Now, it’s true, if I were more objective I might have been able to venture further into genres beyond my comfort zone to find other examples of truly excellent videos; but no, this list is pretty much comprised of songs that I like that also have terrific videos. Make of it what you will. Now go and play the guitar on the MTV.

This is America (Childish Gambino, 2018): a terrifying tour-de-force performance by Donald Glover and director Hiro Murai, presented as one continuous, astounding shot. We’re treated – if that’s the right word – to a tableau of images representing various factors of modern American culture, all of it filtered through the lens of the 21st century Black experience. Full of incredible references and pastiches tying police brutality and gun fetishism to slavery and Jim Crow, it’s the sort of meta-textual piece that’s begging to be hyper-analysed. But beyond all that it’s just a phenomenal, haunting, compelling, entertaining, tragic piece of work.

Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel, 1986): I’ve always been fascinated by animation (this won’t be the last animated video on the list), and this one hooked me even as a tiny child. An intricate and beautiful piece of work from Aardman and the Brother Quay, directed by Stephen R. Johnson, a cavalcade of impossible activities fly around Gabriel’s head as he sings, the stop-motion effects of his face giving the whole thing a stilted, distorted, unique presentation, making it decidedly, delightfully off-kilter.

Nobody Speak (DJ Shadow feat. Run the Jewels, 2016): juxtaposing the coarse, vulgar, and exquisite lyrics of a rap battle (with imagery stretching from Snoopy to Trump) with a conference room of middle-aged white guys debating is just a genius, hilarious idea right from the get-go, but this is executed to perfection. Sublime performances of the actors miming to the song conveys a genuine emotion and, well, depth to it all, as matters escalate to a full-on brawl of powersuited business-types, throttling each other and braining people with flagpoles. Bonus points for the random piglet.

Hurt (Johnny Cash, 2002): reinterpreting a very personal Trent Reznor song into something identifiably Cash is one thing, but this video – directed by Mark Romanek – elevates it into something else. A haunting elegy to a life of pain, mistakes, and love, it’s one of the most beautiful videos of all time; footage of an aged Cash playing guitar is interspersed with shots of a deserted Cash museum, old performances and home movies, and increasingly disturbing religious imagery. It’s intensely sad and heroic and triumphant and melancholy.

Thriller (Michael Jackson, 1983): this one would be even higher – probably the highest, truth be told – if it weren’t for the problematic nature of some of the key artists involved, including director John Landis. Talk about music videos as short films, this one is over ten minutes long, homaging and pastiching multiple tropes of classic monster movies. It’s delightfully macabre and creepy, with some incredible prosthetics and makeup work, with – it must be said – a fantastic performance from Jackson, perfectly skirting the line between the inherent creepiness and sexiness of his persona. And, yes, Landis directs the arse out of it, with a barnstorming dance sequence that has to be seen to be believed.

I’d Lie for You (And That’s the Truth) (Meat Loaf, 1995): coming after I’d Do Anything for Love and Objects in the Rear View Mirror – both directed by Michael Bay – this video was an event. I remember there was even a making-of broadcast on TV! And whilst it might not be as beautiful as the others, it’s a production, a full-on Indiana Jones-style stunt spectacular, with vehicle chases and explosions and Xander flippin’ Berkeley. It’s just big dumb fun and I love it; ironically, more Michael Bay-ish than the videos he did direct (Howard Greenhalgh made this one).

Money for Nothing (Dire Straits, 1985): another exceptional piece of ground-breaking animation that captivated me as a child, this was a rather revolutionary use of computer graphics. Looking like something from an N64 game, two workmen complain about musicians on MTV whilst footage of the band plays in the background – delightfully, they even have rotoscoped headbands and guitars, as if the video wasn’t already eighties enough. Despite some rather dodgy-in-retrospect lyrics, this remains an excellent, landmark video.

Weapon of Choice (Fatboy Slim, 2001): beautifully directed by Spike Jonze, with a great central performance by Christopher Walken. The deserted hotel foyer is artfully shot, and Walken appears suitably weatherbeaten and dejected. But then the music starts, and he dances – exquisitely – around the empty space, his moves simultaneously elegant, elaborate, and amusing. It builds and builds on this amusing concept until eventually he leaps off the mezzanine and flies round in the air, in what is an impressive piece of airborne choreography. Perfectly marries the unabashed joy of dancing to your favourite music with the contradictory aesthetic of a sad, abandoned hotel and a sad, abandoned man.

Take On Me (A-Ha, 1984): another one that’s here due its gorgeous animation. We all know the story: in beautifully rotoscoped line-art, we’re taken inside a comic book, where the interplay of live-action footage and animation is staggering for its time (as the camera pans around characters who alternate between live and animated). it’s really something, and is also excellently directed (by Steve Bannon), brilliantly timed, and even though it’s a bit of a cliché nowadays it remains a really compelling video.

Like a Prayer (Madonna, 1989): just edging out the playground hilarity of Sabotage or the kinky robot escapades of All is Full of Love is this, a pean to bonkers religious imagery, white guilt, and just how sexy Madonna is with dark hair. Madge herself plays a kind of fallen woman (she literally falls over right at the start) who hides in a church and whose remonstrations awaken a Black Christ. She speaks to God, receives stigmata, dances in front of burning crosses, and rescues a falsely imprisoned Black man, thereby – presumably – resetting the clock on police brutality and race relations. It’s utter batshit. It’s bananas. She makes out with Jesus, for Christ’s sake. I adore it, and not just because it’s her best song. The sheer bloody hubris of it, combined with its sincere attempt to make a valid comment on racism in society, is something to behold. It’s also a really beautiful video, directed by Mary Lambert, and it’s worth pointing out it was hella controversial.

#top ten #music #music videos #mtv #childish gambino #animation

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snickerdoodlles · 2 years

Text

Bad Buddy Masterpost

This is primarily a masterlist for all my Bad Buddy fics, posted WIP previews, plot sketches, and a few noted meta & headcanon posts.

Hope this helps with blog navigation and the general tumblr fuckery! ^^

Last Updated: 1 Mar 2022

):) (:(

Fics

All the Little Things [ao3 | tumblr]

PatPran, Post Ep5, Introspection

Pran imagines the future with Pat.

Rating: T | Word Count: 449w | Status: Complete

):)

come here. [ao3 | tumblr tag]

PatPran, Secret Relationship, 5+1, a lil Spicy

5 times Pat says “come here” plus the one time Pran says it first

Rating: M | Word Count: 9323w | Status: Posted 5/6

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my open sky [ao3]

PatPran, Kiss Prompts, Ficlet Series

Mini series of PatPran kisses as inspired by tumblr prompts. Currently posted: kisses on cheek/dimples; soft morning kisses; kisses in the rain; kisses on scars

Rating: NR | Word Count: 2939w | Status: Posted 4/?

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our soft shells [ao3 | tumblr promo]

PatPran, Anxiety, Hugs & Comfort, Intimacy, Secret Relationship

Pat & Pran, navigating anxieties over a relationship neither particularly wants to keep secret.

Rating: T | Word Count: 1623w | Status: Complete

):)

untitled no.14 [ao3 | tumblr]

PatPran, Shameless Makeouts, Ep8 [4/4] Speculation, Relationship Reveal

If Pat doesn’t put on a t-shirt soon, Pran’s going to do something spectacularly stupid.

Rating: T | Word Count: 827w | Status: Complete

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Things That Stay The Same [ao3 | tumblr promo]

PatPran, Pran & Toto, Pat & Toto, Ep9 Speculation

Some things change, some things stay the same. Or: the friends that stand beside you during bad weather times and the reclaiming of your safe spaces.

Rating: T | Word Count: 2490w | Status: Complete

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break a leg [ao3 | tumblr]

Pran & Pa, Pran & Wai, Alternate Ep8 [1/4] scene

Wai finds out Pa's identity through her other big brother.

Rating: T | Word Count: 2791w | Status: Complete

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Sucker [ao3 | tumblr promo]

PatPran, Korn & Everyone, Architecture & Engineering, Outsider POV

Korn spots a suspicious mark on Pat's neck.

Rating: T | Word Count: 1418w | Status: Complete

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of sweaters and gingerbread [ao3 | tumblr promo]

Background PatPran, Architecture gang & Engineering gang

Engineering inaugurates Pran into one of their silly traditions. Maybe someone should’ve warned them not to do this by challenging him, because he’s about to one up them all.

Rating: T | Word Count: 1494w | Status: Posted 1/2

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roadside assistance [ao3 | tumblr promo]

InkPa, Mutual Pining, UST

In which Pa gets a flat tire, but luckily Ink’s there to help. Now if the universe could either make Pa less gay, or women less hot, or just her brother less of a cock block, that’d be grand.

Rating: T | Word Count: 1723w | Status: Complete

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come what may [ao3 | tumblr promo]

PatPran, Korn & Pran, Korn & Pat, Engineering Gang, Mischievous Friends, Developing Friendship, Ep9 Missing Scene

According to the transitive property of equality, if Pran is dating Korn's best friend, that makes him Korn's best friend too.

Rating: T | Word Count: 1886w | Status: Complete

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all the tie and bind [ao3 | tumblr promo]

Pran & Wai, Pat & Wai, PatPran (Background), Missing Scene (Set between ep9 & 10), Episode 9 Coda, Apologies & Reconciliations

Wai apologizes and Pat gives him a shovel talk. ft some Pran & Wai backstory ideas and smug!PatPran boyfriends as a treat

Rating: T | Word Count: 1840w | Status: Complete

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more indelible than ink [ao3 | tumblr promo]

Pran & Korn, Pat & Korn, PatPran, Friendship, Crack, University Shenanigans

Korn's professor only allows cheat sheets on the finals that are permanent tattoos. Pran has a solution.

Rating: T | Word Count: 2007w | Status: Complete

):)

dimples can always lie (series) [ao3 | series tag]

PatPran, Assassin AU, Soft Boyfriends/Husbands, Genre Typical Content

Pt.1 (1035w) written for the dialogue prompt: “And why exactly is there a dead body in my bathroom?”

Pt.2 (329w) written for the dialogue prompt: “Small fire! I said SMALL fire! That is not small!”

Pt.3 (1300w) written for the dialogue prompt: “We just stopped a homicide. Congratulations?”

Pt.4 (700w) written for the dialogue prompt: “I’m not totally useless. I can be used as a bad example.”

Rating: M | Word Count: N/A | Status: On-Going

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nine lives lucky (series) [ao3 | series tag]

Pat & Pran & Junior, Pat/Pran, Magic AU *very loosely based on Diana Wynne Jones’s Chronicles of Chrestomanci series. no prior knowledge of the series required

no stranger to the wind (1275w | Posted: 1/3) In a universe where magic is as common as science and faith, Junior's goal in life is to grow up to be a leader to the beach village just like Uncle Tong. But when he meets two strangers on the beach that are far more magical than the common eye would see, Junior learns he might have a stronger gift than anything he could ever imagine.

Rating: T | Word Count: N/A | Status: On-Going

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Only Real is Real [ao3 | tumblr tag]

PatPran, bad boy!Pran, good boy!Pat, Canon Divergence

The boy Pat remembers as wearing soft linens with knitted sweaters knotted around his neck returns wearing leather and a shit-kicker attitude. (Or, bad boy!Pran meet golden boy!Pat. The only thing that hasn't changed is the way Pran still holds Pat's attention completely.)

Rating: T | Word Count: 3031w | Status: Posted 1/?

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Previews

*Posted to tumblr in parts atm, full upload to AO3 TBD

Grasshoppers and Elephants [ao3 | tumblr tag]

Background PatPran, Engineering & Architecture, Enemies to Friends, Hijinks and Shenanigans, Korn POV

Pat’s friends discover Pat’s dating Pran early on their sophomore year. Upset that Pat felt the need to hide his relationship and determined to make his comfortable enough to come out to them on his own, Korn, Chang, and Mo realize they’re going to have to make the ultimate sacrifice: they’re going to have to befriend the architecture gang. Pat better appreciate them for this.

Pt.1 | Future Scene Cut Scene (1)

Rating: T | Word Count: N/A | Status: WIP

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nothing new [ao3 | preview | tumblr tag]

PatPran, InkPa, Post-Canon, Season 2 Speculation, Bets and Proposals, Reconciliations and Forgiveness, Found Family

What I could see happening in a season 2 for Bad Buddy: the Series. It begins with Dissaya inviting Pat to dinner. A bet is made, proposals are had, and eventually we stumble our way to a happily ever after.

Rating: T | Word Count: N/A | Status: WIP

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listen with your heart [ao3 | preview | tumblr tag]

PatPran, High School Era, Magic AU *loosely based on Diana Wynne Jones’s Howl’s Moving Castle trilogy. no prior knowledge of the novel or movie required

Pran accidentally attaches his door of many places to Pat’s bedroom door instead of his own. If Pran had thought Pat was bad about barging through his window, imagine how bad he’s about to get with a door that doesn’t want to lock him out.

Rating: T | Word Count: N/A | Status: WIP

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Noted Posts

*Just a few noted plot sketch posts, convos with @/jemmo, headcanon & meta posts, etc. that people requested easy access too, let me know if there are any posts you’d like to see added o7

Plot Sketch: PatPran Luca AU

Plot Sketch: Pat, Pran, Ink, Paa, Korn, and Wai go bowling

Plot Sketch: Pat and Wai and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad realization that You’re Friends With That Asshole

Plot Sketch: PatPran pirate AU

Plot Sketch: Paa goes to the hospital instead (ep9 reimagining)

Jemmo Chats: Pat crushes melons with his thighs

Jemmo Chats: PranKorn friendship shenanigans

Jemmo Chats: “come here” (check replies)

Jemmo Chats: Pran and hard drives meta (check replies)

Jemmo Chats: ep7 confession meta

Meta & Headcanons: engineering & architecture dynamics

Meta & Headcanons: WaiKorn headcanons

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#bad buddy #housekeeping #if ppl are interested???? i can also link a few of my fave bbs meta/headcanon posts and/or include some notes about upcoming fics #???#idk ive never made one of these before lol #hope it helps tho!!#cookie's writing

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shihalyfie · 2 years

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Hi! I've been devouring your Digimon meta lately, and I was hoping I could ask you a (hopefully simple) question. I think there's a general fandom perception of Mimi as boy-crazy, but I can't actually come up with any canon that states she's romantically interested in boys. The closest I have is the Mini Drama 2 CD, where she just fantasizes about boys being interested in *her*. However, there are definitely gaps in my Digimon knowledge, so I put this one to you. Does Mimi canonically like boys?

Hello! First of all, thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you're enjoying the meta!

So for clarity's sake, I'm going to be assuming we're talking about the Japanese version of Mimi and not the American English dub version, because although I still have general familiarity with it and its major changes enough to be able to roughly describe the changes, I can't remember things to the level of detail I do with the Japanese version, and to be honest, if said dub did have a line like that, I wouldn't be surprised. But as far as the Japanese version goes, you are correct: Mimi does not express romantic interest in boys, or in fact anyone, at any point, and in fact you have a better case for her not being particularly on the hard lookout for a partner at any time we saw her. Elaboration under the cut!

There are a few reasons why I think that fandom perception might have happened, but the first one is simply cultural. Mimi’s archetype in the Japanese version is recognizable as one you’d call the “parents’ spoiled little princess” kind, where the emphasis is more on her being sheltered and pampered and generally growing up in comfort (especially since her parents were upper middle class). So in other words, while it’s easy to see her as “shallow” based on her actions of complaining often in the beginning parts of the series, it’s more in the sense that she wasn’t used to dealing with hardships or having to physically get around everywhere, and she was otherwise a very insightful, polite, and empathetic person. She’s also one of the most adherent to proper honorifics among the entire cast, so, again, you see her a bit like a “proper princess”. In fact, it’s probably because of this slight sense of distance and formal respect she treats everyone with that it often becomes difficult to interpret her actions towards others as romantically loaded, and it’s presumably why Koushirou/Mimi became such a dominant ship on the Japanese side to the point of nearly every other Mimi ship being rarepair there (because Koushirou is just about the only person you can really make that argument for when they had no less than three major interactions -- Adventure episode 10, Mini Drama 2, and Diablomon Strikes Back -- that entailed Mimi getting a bit petulant about the idea of not getting Koushirou-kun’s attention).

However, I think a lot of people on our end of the fanbase have a tendency to want to pigeonhole Mimi into a very textbook “cliquey materialistic girly girl” framework, which of course was helped along by said American English dub definitely assigning many of those associated tropes to her character. Things like “lacking in common sense”, “looking down on others”, “judging everything by appearances”, “constantly making everything about shopping”, you know the package -- whereas Japanese version Mimi always erred more on the side of polite, any concept of being fixated on appearances only showed up very rarely, even her variety of clothes in 02 was portrayed more as her being open-minded to experimentation rather than materialism filling her head, and she was borderline incapable of being particularly condescending, being rather empathetic and insightful instead.

This, incidentally, is why I find that you really need to be careful when buying into fandom rhetoric about just about anything, and not necessarily listen to everything the fanbase treats as truth just because it’s been circulating for 20 years or so, because while the series itself of course has some aspects that haven’t aged well, there are many ways it was ahead of its time and intent on not forcing its characters into certain boxes, but -- to be blunt about it -- the fandom that formed 20 years ago was far more guilty of internalized misogyny, heteronormativity, and stereotype/trope forcing in regards to its characters than the actual series was, with said takes based on those still circulating even now just because so many people have treated it like longtime fact. (You have no idea how much it irritates me that I still have to hear discourse accusing Sora of “friendzoning” Taichi in this year 2021.) Again, not really helped by the heavy impact of the American English dub even on non-dub discourse and the fact it was rather guilty of forcing the characters into the trope boxes itself, but even then, the longtime fanbase has a penchant for absolutely taking things way farther than even said dub did. So while I wouldn’t put it past said dub to have inserted a line or something about wanting to chase after cute guys, I think it’s more likely to simply be a byproduct of the general stereotype that the sort of “cliquey materialistic girly girl” must also completely lose her mind over cute boys, resulting in a lot of people in the fanbase attempting to cram Mimi into that stereotype.

So in regards to how Mimi herself is portrayed in regards to relationships and romance: well, in general, Adventure and 02 were the kind of series that wanted to portray its children with an extra touch of realism from how media tropes would usually do it (case in point, it’s meant as an archetype subversion that Mimi is of the sheltered princess archetype but is also genuinely empathetic and insightful). In the end, the kids were only in elementary and middle school, and it is kind of prominent that things like Daisuke and Miyako’s crushes on others are very much treated as the sort of somewhat shallow, didn’t-seriously-think-through-this kind of mild attraction (no commitment to anything) you’d get out of eleven- or twelve-year-old kids, and the one “prominent” relationship of Yamato and Sora involved two fourteen-year-olds who treated it as a hookup (no dramatic romance plot, just one person asking the other to try out dating) and kept their relationship as a footnote in public. In the case of Mimi, she was certainly depicted as being somewhat of a social butterfly by the time of 02, but there’s no indication she was interested in anyone in her periphery as anyone but friends -- in fact, in Armor Evolution to the Unknown, she very casually refers to getting chocolate for everyone around her in the form of “social courtesy chocolate for friends”, which is explicitly drawn as a contrast to Sora getting the more romantically-loaded kind for Yamato (her boyfriend). In fact, I would say that Mimi’s attitude in that entire scene arguably says a lot about her -- she brings up the comparative gender egalitarianism of Valentine’s Day in the US compared to Japan without making a big deal about it, and she’s also the one who takes a minute to analyze Sora’s relationship prospects with Yamato, so I would say it’s actually more likely Mimi’s own potential pursuit of a partner would involve being thoughtful about whether she’d want to spend a long-term relationship with them rather than just casually clinging to anyone she finds attractive.

Now, there is one character you could call “boy-crazy”, and that’s Miyako, although even then Miyako also plays with the trope by being less so “boy-crazy” and more “a twelve-year-old girl who has absolutely no filter whenever she finds someone to be attractive” (especially since Miyako’s own self-esteem is utterly shot, and so she’s not the type to feel up to trying anything besides just being a bit too blunt about complimenting and gushing about the other party). It’s understandable that Miyako and Mimi sharing a Crest might make one inclined to compare them, but in fact, 02 episode 14 has Miyako explicitly compare her own tendency to judge by appearances and shallowness negatively and in contrast to Mimi, meaning that Miyako acknowledges that Mimi, whom she admires, does not have those traits of shallowness and handles everything much more maturely. So Mimi really can’t be described as that kind of archetype at all, and Miyako spends the episode constantly recognizing that Mimi is much more thoughtful and capable of getting to the heart of things than she is.

Moreover, while the stage play came after 02 and may not be considered applicable Adventure universe canon to many people, I find it to be an interesting case study of an example of a writer studying the series very closely (there is some very good attention to detail with the original series, and Tani “showed his work” very well with it) without preconceived notions from the fandom. The stage play has Mimi admit explicitly that she’s not interested in anyone at the moment, having only momentarily lied about it in the hopes Sora could open up about her own love life -- which Mimi explicitly contrasts with having lied about not being interested in her future, when in fact she wants to do so many things she can’t commit to one. So it reinforces the idea that something like a relationship would be something Mimi would treat with gravity and as something she’d want to have proper commitment to, but she won’t when it’s a time in her life she’s having a hard time figuring out commitment to anything.

And, finally, as you mentioned, there’s Mini Drama 2, but as you say, it’s Mimi joking that all the boys must be into her (because she’s attractive) and that “all of the boys in the world will be kneeling before me before long” -- and the reason she throws a fit is that Hikari indirectly implies that the love letter Koushirou’s writing could not possibly be for Mimi, which Mimi interprets as Hikari indirectly trying to pick a fight with her or insult her by acting like it’s such an impossibility. Knowing that Hikari is well-known for being capable of passive-aggressively trolling, and in fact is very heavily implied to be doing so in this scene, it’s not like Mimi’s entirely wrong, either. (Also, the Adventure mini dramas are infamously full of fourth wall-breaking and characterization-irreverent crack -- it wasn’t until the 2003 drama CDs when actual “serious” drama CDs would become more of a thing -- so it should be taken with a grain of salt.)

#digimon #digimon adventure #digimon adventure 02 #tachikawa mimi #mimi tachikawa #shiha's ask box #vethica

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