#the fandom deems her not sympathetic enough

[buttercuparry]

I just realized that Arya's wrath at Chiswyck for recounting the cruel gangrape of the innkeeper's daughter is as much about justice as it is personal. She had seen the soldiers assault girls while on the road to Harrenhal and she was terrified for herself. She had seen them cut one of the girls down when she resisted and she, herself was threatened with rape by Rorge. Before Jaqen offered her 3 boons, she felt helpless and weak, reduced to a squeaking mouse from a ravenous wolf. It was traumatizing, it was humiliating, it was a prison that she had been forced into.

So the soldiers laughing about raping Layna, brought all of it back up, it made her see how little her fear ( and Layna's fear) mattered to these men, how little the violence meant to them. It was a joke to these soldiers while Arya felt her fire die everyday. It makes sense why Chiswyck would be the first name Arya would give Jaqen and I am so fucking proud that she did.

#arya stark #the fandom needs female characters to be docile and demure before it can allow them to called victims #if a female character has an active storyline which allows her to retaliate against all the hurt caused to her #the fandom deems her not sympathetic enough #she is then put to court and her violence against the violence heaped on her is measured and judged #and she is deemed broken if her violence is not contained within acceptable bounds #these tags might not have much to do with the post in itself but fandom pretends not to see Arya's trauma #she is deemed self sufficient not needing protection not worthy of protection and for some reason physically capable to counter every harm #and therefore safe even when stuck in an active war zone #and yet people fantasize about her death #arya is strong enough to be safe from rapists but somehow she will die with needle clutched in her hands #she is at once above any trauma any harm and yet too broken to have a family

[sleepingdeath-light]

bullied college student s/o hcs ; michael myers

requested by ; megangovier20 (23/03/23)

fandom(s) ; halloween / slashers

fandom masterlist(s) ; here

character(s) ; michael myers (ambiguous)

outline ; “Hi there, could I possibly have a lil request of Michael Myers X plus size fem reader who is 21 years old and goes to college but gets bullied and runs home, after she goes home Michael hugs the reader and makes her feel better, thank you & btw love the blog!👻🖤”

warning(s) ; canon-typical references to violence, references to bullying, otherwise mostly fluff + one suggestive bullet point

note ; for non-americans like myself college=university

michael isn’t exactly well known for his ability to provide any sort of tangible comfort to his partner — arguably he’s one of the worst people for the job

so when you, the only thing in this world that he cares about, come running through the door in tears — he defaults to what he remembers his parents doing when he was young

he gathers you up into his arms with ease and just falls to the ground, positioning you so that you’re curled up into his chest and he’s able to completely surround you with his body

he’s rocking gently to-and-fro and pressing his lips against the crown of your head as you sob and gasp and weep and cling to him like you think he’ll disappear the moment you let go

he may not know exactly what caused your strife yet, but he’s going to do whatever he can to calm you down and help out

and once you’re calm enough to explain what happened to you, he’s absolutely livid — and as this is one of the rare times where he forgot to grab his mask, you can see the pure disgust in his eyes when you’re talking him through your terrible day

even if he’s non-verbal, he’s much more expressive than he gives himself credit for — and you’re more than able to decipher what he’s thinking, what he wants to say, after being together for so long

he doesn’t understand how people can be so needlessly cruel to you — the person who managed to get through to someone deemed by everyone else as a ‘monster’

how they could look upon the mind that entrances him, the heart that was open to him and the body that he adores and offer you anything but adoration

even if that is a hypocritical notion for a serial killer like himself to take, he doesn’t care

and he wants to inflict that same cruelty back onto them — but he recognises that violence isn’t what you need right now, not when you’re still so vulnerable and upset

so for now he’ll stay with you, comforting you with gentle touches and a sympathetic ear reserved only for you

he’ll keep close by your side until you fall asleep — holding you when you need him to and giving you space when you ask

warm and kind and gentle in ways only you get to see

and maybe something more than that — a tangible show of his appreciation for parts of yourself that those cruel classmates of yours scorned — if only you ask

it’s not as if he’s opposed to the more physical aspects of a relationship

but the moment you fall asleep, michael myers becomes the shape of haddonsfield once again

he’ll hunt down each of the people who hurt you and… well… i’m sure that i don’t need to describe what will follow

michael is protective by nature, so even though he can’t go out with you during the day without risking being captured, he’ll do what he can to ensure that you’re safe

he wants you to feel safe, loved and comfortable

no matter how many deaths it takes to make sure that’s the case

#sleepingdeath #female reader #plus size reader #halloween x reader #michael myers x reader #slasher x reader #slasher fluff #fluff hcs #fluff #slasher x female reader

[henrysglock]

Why do you think a lot more people, GA and more committed fans alike, are sympathetic to billy way more than henry even though it should be the opposite? is it because of S3 and the sad backstory they gave billy? because dacre is hot? something else?

It's because Billy's story didn't involve extending nuance to murder, alleged or confirmed. Billy's story also didn't involve Will or El, so...y'know. We can overlook the racism and assault of children /s.

I think the lack of sympathy is an artifact of NINA. With Henry, you're given 4.07 and then asked to sympathize. Like...that's a lot of dead kids that he allegedly killed. And the dead family members aren't helping. Plus the delivery is laced with enough danger that it counteracts a lot of the "Yeesh, poor Henry. That's horrific." I think if we'd been given this backstory before the massacre, people would be more inclined to go "...Wait. That's not right. What's going on?" because they would still be "friendly" with Henry when they get his backstory. Does that make sense?

Like... at face value, 4.07 goes MURDER -> "Yeah my mom fucking sucked, and I was put in a life or death situation where I lashed out and well. Maybe I didn't feel quite as much remorse about my mother as you'd expect me to. And also I then got kidnapped and locked in the breeding program basement." -> Fighting with our beloved El

They're asking you to overlook the murders and consider the boy Henry used to be...which is a tall order for a fandom that thinks we piss on the poor iykwim. I think Henry's reception would have been more sympathetic if it had been "Nice Henry -> 'yeah my mom ratted me out to be locked in the breeding program basement, so I wasn't exactly feeling bad about her death' -> MURDER -> Conflict with El"...simply because we'd be more open to feeling compassion towards him early on.

Then we add the whole extra layer of "Is what we saw in NINA even real/accurate? Did Henry actually do all that? Can we link the monologue to Nancy's vision? Could NINA be fabricated either partially or entirely? Did the Creel murders happen the way we're told they happened? How can we fully trust something Brenner created?"

Which...that's WAY beyond the current understanding of the larger fandom, but it puts the more dedicated fans in a position of "Oh God...we might have been blaming him for shit he didn't do? People are blaming a kid for his circumstances, and now we're blaming a guy for murders he may not have even committed???"

And that extra knowledge/understanding has us going "how do people not feel absolutely horrified when they think about Henry and what was done to him???" But the GA doesn't have that understanding, they were closed off to Henry by the murders. They don't want to pull back the curtain and have to acknowledge the shit that led up to where we are. [Murray voice] They like the curtain.

With Billy, you don't have that added debacle. He hasn't done anything the GA deems "irredeemable". He hasn't hurt Will or El without us being spoon-fed that he's flayed and not in control of it. So..."we" can excuse the racism and assault of a little black boy. We can excuse the scene where he almost runs the Party over just because Max pissed him off a little. [dead-eyed "this has to be a fucking joke" stare]

#asks

[rachelbethhines]

60 Years of Doctor Who Anniversary Marathon - C. Baker 1st Review

The Two Doctors - TV Story

I was so disappointed when this was the story that the randomizer chose.

Unlike most fans, I genuinely enjoy Colin Baker's time as the Doctor on tv. I would have gladly watched any other story, yes even The Twin Dilemma or The Mysterious Planet. Heck, I personally think Timelash is loads of fun.

But this....

Not only is The Two Doctors my least favorite C. Baker episode, it is perhaps my most disliked episode of the classic era. And quite possibly in the bottom ten stories out of the show's history.

However, fair is fair. This is what the randomizer picked and I haven't given the story an honest shot since my first viewing of it.

So is it as bad as I remember?

Yes.

It really is that bad.

Granted there are moments in the story that are entertaining, but these are few and far between and don't do enough to save the serial.

The first and foremost problem is that the story suddenly turns the Doctor into a racist!

These are Androgums. They're an enslaved race, born into servitude because they are deemed to be "less intelligent" then more "civilized" races.

The main villain has been experimented on by a mad scientist, used as a sentient lab rat, and has gained genius intellect and knowledge through her forced upon mutations.

She uses her brains to manipulate people, framing the time lords for crimes they, lets be honest, would have committed themselves anyways, and kidnaps the doctor to force him to teach her time travel so that she may free her people and conquer those that had enslaved her.

You would have thought that the Doctor would be at least sympathetic to her motives, if not her methods, but no!

The Doctor constantly repeats through out the story that Androgums are inherently evil. That it's "in their nature" to destroy everything. That they can never become better people no matter what, and constantly dismisses their plight.

Worse, the story goes on to prove this outlook as correct when the Doctor is forced to become an Androgum himself through genetic experimentation and briefly becomes "evil."

Like why the fuck would you write that into your story!?

Did you not stop to think at all that this might not be the best way to write your hero, nor the most appropriate message to put forth in your narrative?

Then again, this is the written by the same man who wrote The Talons of Weng-Chiang because he unironically loved Fu Manchu movies.

I don't place Robert Homes on any kind of pedestal unlike the rest of fandom and bullshit like this story is why.

Oh but there's more offenses to find here.

See, Homes is not only racist, he's also that smug fake leftist that pretends he's better than you because he doesn't eat meat.

His preachy, holier than thou, anti-meat arguments have popped up a couple of times on the show, but here is where it's at it's most overbearing and obnoxious.

See, there are plenty of legitimate reasons to adopt a vegetarian/vegan diet... from religious beliefs, to health and safety concerns in commercial processing, to personal dietary needs... but Homes never makes this argument.

No Homes believes that people who eat meat are no better then murdering cannibals!

Man what I wouldn't pay to see Robert Holmes in a debate with the current writers of the Poison Ivy comics.

But to add injury to insult, Holmes then decides that the Doctor and Peri must become vegans like him at the end of the story.... You know the two characters who are not his creations and have no previously established reasons to adopt his personal belief systems.

Peri has since been retconed into having always been a vegetarian in the expanded universe, and that works okay as there's nothing in previous episodes to contradict it. It also nicely ties into her being revealed as a botanist in the next story.

But the Doctor not only has never held this practice before, the story makes a point to establish that he does enjoy eating meat and has him fishing for fun at the beginning.

So this is essentially the writer forcing his personal beliefs on to the main hero of a long established running series that he himself has only been a part of for a brief amount of time.

Trying to morph a character that isn't yours into just another version of yourself, ignoring anything that came before to do so, is bad writing. Plain and simple.

It's not only disrespectful to the character and their creator, it's also just flat out boring.

If you can't write anyone but yourself and can't present anyone else's view other than your own, then why the fuck are you even writing to begin with?

This a personal pet peeve of mine in professional media, writing characters that aren't yours out of character cause of ego, and I truly think it's a waste of everyone's time.

What else...

Oh the pacing is poor, the direction is flat, and I truly despise the scene where Oscar dies with the passion of a thousand suns!!!

It is the most tone deaf, poorly directed, poorly acted, poorly written scene in the entire story with perhaps the stupidest dialogue in the entirety of the classic era.

I hate it!

At least we can only go up from here.

#doctor who #classic who #sixth doctor #colin baker #peri #jamie #second doctor #patrick troughton

[liverbiver9]

Unfridging MDZS Women Bingo Prompt 2

For the awesome Little Apple Support Group Discord channel event. (See @loosingmoreletters for invite)

Word Count: 2,149

Also on AO3

Prompt: Gender Non-Conforming

It’s pretty common in this fandom to write redemption arcs for the “villains” in MDZS. We get redemption fics for Wēn Xù, Jīn Guāngyáo, Wēn Ruòhán, hell even Wēn Cháo and Jin Guāngshàn sometimes. A "Good Person Wen Chao" tag exists. But I have never, not once, seen a fic do this with Wáng Língjiāo, which I think is bullshit. Canonically, she is much more sympathetic than the rich sniveling brat, at least in my perspective. So here we are.

—oOo—

The life of a servant is one filled with insecurity, living and serving the whims of whoever is deemed more important, more worthy than you. Wáng Língjiāo has watched her family get trampled over by asshole cultivators and other members of the gentry who think that, because they have no jīndān and could never afford an education, they have every right to do whatever they want to them.

Once she was old enough to work, her parents sent her away to be a servant to a gentry woman about to marry into the Qíshān Wēn Sect. Wáng Língjiāo worked hard to make her family proud and saved up every penny she could to send home. Working for a woman of the gentry exposed her to all the luxuries and comforts that she’d never had, tempting her. She couldn’t have them, but she could watch in agonizing detail as others enjoyed them in front of her and it slowly drove her to furious envy. 

To tell the truth, it wasn’t the women Wáng Língjiāo was jealous of. No, it was the men. The way they could walk into a room and everyone would turn to them, the way people listened when they spoke, the way they didn’t have to worry about drunkards waiting in dark alleys and corners, ready to take advantage. She wanted what they had, wanted to be like them. 

But Wáng Língjiāo was “gifted” an ideal woman’s body during puberty, and suddenly her entire worth became about what her body could give a man. So, she pushed down the jealousy and yearning, instead focusing her energy on utilizing her so-called gift to hopefully get her even a sliver of the power and status that she wanted. That was how she found herself charming her way into the bed of her mistress’ own husband. 

It worked, and before long her family was elevated into a minor sect and given more power and money than any of them had ever dreamed of. Her parents were proud, her sisters looked up at her with jealous desire, and Wáng Língjiāo found herself utterly and completely miserable. 

Their entire status rested on her lithe shoulders, big chest, and round hips; she hated it. She hated the dresses Wēn Cháo gifted her to wear, always revealing and hyper-feminine. She hated the makeup she adorned, the elaborate hairstyles that twisted and pulled at her scalp with every step. She hated the way women looked at her with disdain and jealousy, the way men looked at her with lewd desire. Most of all, she hated Wēn Cháo, the lecherous pig who would fawn and grope at her for six months before inevitably dumping her for another pretty young victim. 

Wáng Língjiāo planned to milk him of all she could before he tossed her aside, but then he dragged her along to indoctrination and suddenly she was forced to confront all the desires she’d locked away for so long. 

It started with the arrival of the “students,” more like ransom victims than anything else. They were mostly young teenage boys, not even men yet. Wēn Cháo threw his weight around, bullying the foreign disciples that were so much younger than him with such vigor it was embarrassing to watch. He was a pathetic man, feeling powerful when abusing teenagers who couldn’t fight back because he’d purposefully stolen their weapons. 

Her job was to sit, sometimes at Wēn Cháo’s feet, sometimes in his lap, let him grope her, and whisper false praise into his ears. It was nauseating and mind-numbingly boring, so Wáng Língjiāo turned her attention to observing the sect disciples before her. 

First, she watched the girls, observing which ones caught the Wēn soldiers and Wēn Cháo’s eyes, discerning the servants from more ranked disciples. Then she moved to the boys. She observed the three that had beaten Wēn Cháo in the archery competition, as they were always being called out and humiliated by Wēn Èrgōng​zǐ. She took note of how each boy held himself, their cadence in voice, and the expressions they used or hid. 

The way men acted had always fascinated her, but it felt less like observing and more like studying with each passing day, especially when she noticed herself accidentally mimicking the way some of the boys would walk or talk.

One night, while Wēn Cháo took the disciples on a nighthunt they would fight without weapons and he would claim glory for, Wáng Língjiāo shed her robes, stared at herself in the mirror, and asked herself what it was, exactly, that she wanted. The box of her desires, kept locked away and safely hidden, spilled out and refused to be ignored any longer. 

Wáng Líng carved part of their name away that night and found themselves finally free.

—oOo—

On the morning of the hunt for the Xuánwǔ of Slaughter, Wáng Líng dressed in less revealing clothes, opting for more neutral colors than their usual vivid pinks and purples. Wēn Cháo didn’t notice a thing, still grabbing at their body whenever he wanted and ogling whichever unfortunate female disciple happened upon his vision. 

Wáng Líng kept observing the disciples, but this time they had a purpose. They ranked each disciple by their strengths and weaknesses, categorizing them. Which disciples would be more merciful? Which would seek vengeance? Who could swim? Who would run at the first sign of danger?

By the time they reached the reeking cave, Wáng Líng had already decided which disciples would most likely help them with their plan. Wèi Wúxiàn was an obvious first answer, with his penchant for mischief and his visible, righteous drive. Jīn Zixuān was Wáng Líng’s hesitant second choice. The Jīn heir wasn’t known for his morals, but Wáng Líng had noticed his disgust and hatred of Wēn Cháo, how he’d rankled at the mention of his father’s inevitable alliance with the Wēn. Unsurprisingly, a young woman of a minor sect was their third choice. She’d unfortunately caught Wēn Cháo’s eye, and beneath the visible fear in her eyes, they recognized a familiar fiery hatred that burned bright. 

Wēn Cháo suggested using a disciple as bait, and Wáng Líng stayed quiet. Inevitably, Wēn Cháo’s eyes fell to the bane of his existence at this indoctrination, the disciple that rankled and scared him the most—Wèi Wúxiàn—and Wáng Líng watched as his plan fell perfectly in place. As Lán Wàngjī and Jiāng Wǎnyín attempted to wrestle Wèi Wúxiàn away from the Wēn soldiers, Wáng Líng quietly stepped up to Jīn Zixuān and discreetly handed him a small note. 

When the time is right, focus your efforts on Wēn Zhúliú.

The Jīn heir looked at them in suspicion before warily reading the letter. Wáng Líng walked away and put a hand near their chest where a knife was hidden in the folds of their robes. They missed the look of confusion Jīn Zixuān sent their way, instead focusing on Wēn Cháo’s blathering. 

A fight broke out, Wèi Wúxiàn took Wēn Cháo hostage, and the Xuánwǔ of Slaughter rose from the depths of the lake.

Wáng Líng dove through the chaos that followed, focused entirely on getting to Wēn Cháo. They would kill him even if it was the last thing they did. With Jīn Zixuān thankfully following their advice and focusing his attention, and therefore the disciples near him, on subduing Wēn Zhúliú, Wáng Líng ran up to Wēn Cháo and prepared to do one last show. 

“Wēn Èrgōng​zǐ!” they cried, pitching their voice as high and feeble as they could. “You have to protect me from that—from that thing!”

“Don’t worry, Jiāojiao,” he crooned to them before turning to his soldiers. “Retreat!”

“You aren’t going to kill it?” they asked, feigning ignorance. “But I thought…”

Wēn Cháo stumbled. 

“Ah, Jiāojiao, of course I’m going to kill it! Let it kill these cowards first, then I’ll come back and deal with it.”

“Oh. But what if they kill it? You’re a better cultivator than them, right? How will you prove you're better if they kill it before you? There are more of them…”

Wēn Cháo, inevitably, faltered. Time for the killing blow. 

“I haven’t seen you kill any monsters yet, and I was so excited today… I’m sure your father would give you a whole army to lead yourself if you come back with that shell.”

“You’re right, Jiāojiao. I’m much better than any of these weak little boys.” Wēn Cháo turned around, grabbed his sword, and gave his soldiers a demanding scowl. “Why are you running away? Come fight like men!”

All it took was one little knife to the knee for Wēn Cháo to go tripping right into the Xuánwǔ’s mouth, Wēn Zhúliú not far behind. They disappeared with a satisfying crunch, and Wáng Líng felt free. After scrambling out of the cave, Wáng Líng tried to decide which direction to run. They couldn’t stay with the Wēn cultivators, as that would just be suicide, nor could they go with the fleeing disciples, who no doubt want them as dead as Wēn Cháo. Just as they began walking in one direction, Wèi Wúxiàn came up to their side, Jīn Zixuān not far behind. 

“Not bad, Wáng Língjiāo,” Wèi Wúxiàn said, throwing a seemingly careless but actually threatening arm around their shoulders. 

“Wáng Líng,” they corrected. “It’s just Wáng Líng, now.”

Wèi Wúxiàn caught their eyes, and something he saw in them caused him to soften. 

“Wáng Líng,” he corrected. “That was quite a good knife throw.”

“Why did you help us?” Jīn Zixuān interrupted, the words seeming to burst from his mouth without his permission. 

Wèi Wúxiàn glared at him for the interruption, but it was more playful than serious. Wáng Líng looked at the two boys, the rest of the disciples watching them several steps away, and shrugged. 

“He was beginning to grate on my nerves,” they said simply. “You think spending all day with him was bad? Try spending your nights as well.”

Wèi Wúxiàn looked at them in shock before breaking out into a full-bellied laugh, instantly deflating the tension in their group. 

“I would’ve killed him too,” he wheezed, “having to see that ugly mug every night before bed and every morning when I wake up.”

Wáng Líng smiled, smaller and softer than the ones they’d worn for Wēn Cháo, but all the more genuine for it. 

“If you’re ever looking for a sect,” Wèi Wúxiàn said as they parted ways with a cheeky grin, “Yúnmèng Jiāng would be lucky to have you. Imagine what you could do with proper training!”

Wáng Líng waved his offer away. There would never be room for them among the gentry, but they found they didn’t actually care anymore. They had better things to do than continue living under the thumb of lecherous, greedy old men who push those beneath them around with the guise of righteousness. And just as there wasn’t room in the cultivation world, Wáng Líng no longer had a place at home to return to. 

They parted ways with the young disciples, slipping into the forest before anyone could try and lump them in with whatever revenge they wanted from the Qíshān Wēn. For the first time in many, many years, Wáng Líng decided where they would go next. 

They contented themselves with wandering without a direction in mind, heading south to avoid the imminent war and encountering people and places they never would’ve imagined. And through it all they learned, soaking up information like a dry sponge. They found other people like them, those that don’t quite fit in with the expectations society placed on them, and learned how to grow into a confident person who dressed how they wanted and knew how to protect themselves from both physical and emotional attacks. 

Wáng Língjiāo wore dresses that accentuated her curves and large breasts, all in soft pastel colors; Wáng Líng bound their chest to make it less noticeable and wore a combination of masculine and feminine cuts in bold reds and blues. Wáng Língjiāo pressed powder and rouge onto her face every morning; Wáng Líng experimented with the black kohl they bought from a traveling merchant and lined their eyes dark every morning, contrasting with their bare, clean face. Wáng Língjiāo pinned her hair into elaborate buns and braids; Wáng Líng wore theirs in a simple braid somedays, and others in a tight knot. 

Wáng Língjiāo had never been happy; Wáng Líng was learning.

When they returned to the cultivation world, not too long after the fall of Qíshān Wēn, Wáng Líng decided to give Wèi Wúxiàn a visit. First, they went to Yúnmèng, only to find he was now taking up residence in Yílíng. Standing at the base of Luànzàng Gǎng, staring at the tired man that energetic boy had become, Wáng Líng found themselves pledging their loyalty to yet another master. This time, they knew they would not regret it.

#Unfridging MDZS Women Bingo #mdzs #xuwanwu of slaughter #wei wuxian #jin zixuan #wang lingjiao #wen chao #canon divergence #mdzs fanfic #my writing

[transfemstarscream]

you know what's really confusing? people that act like wasp in tfa is an innocent baby that did nothing wrong at all. dude was a fucking asshole, treated everyone like shit, and was willing to let bumblebee rot in a violently abusive jail while mocking him the whole time. I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY! obviously he didn't deserve anything that happened to him of course just for being a jackass, but how come he gets a pass but blackarachnia is irredeemable?

it's another case of "nuance doesn't exist in fandom"; wasp is either characterized as a completely harmless, whimpering "baby" or a full on abusive jackass on par with the decepticons because apparently his canon self—a massive bully who was horrifically tortured into insanity—isn't comprehendible to fans. he's unable to be sympathetic to people unless he's watered down to be more palpable, and people are unable to recognize that bad people are still people and bad people are still capable of being emotional, weak, and sympathetic.

i will say in a bit of defense for him: i don't think him being a bully is on par enough to call him a villain like blackarachnia is. is he still pathetic for bullying bumblebee? yes. he was an asshole and one with questionable actions on that point. but his main actions of "villainy" after he gets out of prison are mainly a root of his psychosis and "broken" mindset. both him and blackarachnia are similar—traumatized as a result of the circumstances that left them to be abandoned—but in wasp's case it's more relied on implied trauma and subtext but much more graphic psychologically than blackarachnia who suffered more physically (and emotionally, though she has much more..."of a grip" than wasp?). what he does in the show as a means to get back at bumblebee are bad, but then again the whole show sort of hammers in the fact that both bumblebee and wasp are not only victims of manipulation but are also both at fault. it's not a very easy and/or black-and-white situation. and that's good.

i agree with you on blackarachnia and double standards that deem her irredeemable in the eyes of misogynists weirdos, but i don't really think wasp and blackarachnia are all that comparable. wasp is something much more personal to a lot of people—a bully—and i am not a big fan of him myself. i think he's unpleasant for most of his duration and isn't likable just because he's sympathetic. but in blackarachnia's case, it's more so how unfairly she is judged and treated as irredeemable by the fandom, especially by the same people who in the same sentence voice their opinions on why shockwave, blitzwing, or even megatron are in anyway better than her. she gets a lot of nonsensical and outright misogynistic "criticism" ("she broke grimlock's heart"? come on) that a lot of female villains endure because the idea of a woman who cannot be perceived with the madonna-whore complex lens is inherently bad to fandom.

#long post #not to mention how ridiculous people's gripes are with her. you're more mad about her ''breaking grimlock's heart'' than torturing wasp?

[ao3feed-carryon]

Cursed to Play (18051 words) by Tay Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow Characters: Simon Snow, Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch, Penelope Bunce, mentioned OC Additional Tags: watford era, Canon Divergence, Horror, Getting Together, First Kiss Summary:

“Dare,” Baz says, like it’s an annoying chore he’s being nagged to undertake.  His mouth twitches and his neck cranes, as if he was going to roll his eyes then changed his mind suddenly.  Simon grips the knees of his jeans, effectively further shredding the shreds already there.  He sees Penny give him a sympathetic (but also probably relieved) look out of the corner of his eye.

Henriette smiles.  A real smile, not the smarmy smirks she’s been wearing this whole night.  Simon suddenly wishes she’d go back to using the smirk, because her real smile looks unfathomably evil.  “I dare you to find the person in this room you think is the most beautiful, and give them a kiss.”

“Fuck me,’  Simon mutters.  He’s going to choose Agatha.  He’s going to choose Agatha, kiss her, and any chance he had of getting his girlfriend back will go up in flames like the flames Simon wishes he could set to Baz’s body.

---

During a strenuous game of truth or dare, Baz is dared to kiss the one he deems the most beautiful. If he does, everyone will know his most dire secret. If he doesn't? An eternity of bad luck enough to make him wish he were dead.

Death suddenly doesn't look so bad.

#ao3feed #carry on

[the-insomniac-emporium]

Slumbering Hearts (Alcina Dimitrescu/Reader, Soulmate AU) Pt. 1

Fandom: Resident Evil: Village Rating: T for language/brief nudity Warnings: None Summary: In a wicked twist of fate, you find out your soulmate is none other than your employer, Lady Dimitrescu. To your misery, she (at first) seems equally displeased, her heart already belonging to another. But in time, the two of you find yourselves wondering... could the universe be right, after all? Soulmate AU in which every person has a unique "soul mark", which they share with their soulmate. Notes: Reader is gender neutral, but at some points will be described as leaning towards being feminine (due to personal interpretation of Alcina's character). Additionally, Lady D will eventually be referred to by her first name, so don't worry if you feel weird about her being called by her full title all the time, it's just for this chap, when the reader isn't familiar with her. Lastly, this contains a bit of one sided Alcina/Miranda, which serves as a plot point, but is (clearly) not the primary ship.

1: In The Shadow Of Giants

Three months, two weeks, and one day. That’s how long you’ve been at this accursed castle, serving cruel mistresses, having been plucked from your peaceful life in the village. Anger stains your every thought, slowly festering inside your chest. There is no cure, at least not without a fatal price, but there are mild remedies. ‘Tis not long before the other servants learn to give you the more physically demanding chores. Nothing numbs your mind quite the same way that chopping firewood does, though you often settle for hard scrubbing age-old tile. Every day ends with your muscles crying from the effort of it all. Every day… except today. Another servant, from the night shift, has been wounded severely, and her job was deemed too important to be foregone.

And, as such, she has been replaced. By you. For once, you turn in early, long before your clothes can become stained with sweat. Yet you aren’t happy, not when you know that this change will ruin your sleep for weeks to come. Even worse, it’ll be impossible to avoid your ‘employers’, whereas working the day shift meant almost never seeing them. So far, you have only seen them on four or five occasions. Hell, you’ve only met two of them, being Cassandra and Bela. Based on what others told you, the other two weren’t much (if at all) better. As you try your best to get some rest, only a single ‘positive’ thought runs through your head: Well, worst comes to worst, I’ll get killed, then I won’t have to worry about anything anymore.

---------------------------

“Remember: No talking unless you’re asked a question. The Mistress has had a rough morning, and this is her best chance at relaxing,” Juniper explains, for what seems like the eighth time since the two of you met. There’s a nervous energy around her, which does little to ease your own anxieties. If you heard correctly, she’s only been at the castle for a couple weeks, having previously worked for Mother Miranda. You’re not sure what would have caused the transfer, considering most who were ‘fired’ ended up dead. Something told you that it had to do with antsy nature. “Oh, and don’t leave unless dismissed, even once your part is done. We all need to be ready, in case Mistress- I mean, Lady Dimitrescu needs something. Sorry, I’m still getting used to how things work here.”

“As long as you don’t slip up in front of her and get us both killed, I don’t really care,” you replied, giving Juniper a level stare. Clearly unsure how to respond, she pauses for a moment, mouth opening then closing without a sound. Once she’s seemingly composed herself, you give a short nod and push open the door to the bathroom. Two other servants are already inside, and they flinch at your arrival, briefly mistaking you for their boss. “I can hardly believe they made me change shifts for this,” you add, under your breath, rolling your eyes. What was so important about making sure a few candles stayed lit? During bathtime? Maybe it was something you had to be a giant, vampiric noblewoman to understand. Regardless of your annoyance, you quickly get to work, striking the first of a couple matches. It’s a rather dull task. To think you would have preferred heavy labor to this.

Before long, the last flame springs to life, and Juniper dims the lights, allowing the candles to become the focus. At least one is scented, though you cannot place the specific kind. Less than a minute after the last one is lit, the door once again swings open, revealing your most elusive employer. She’s… more than you anticipated. In every conceivable way, truthfully. Taller, more graceful (even as she has to duck through the entrance), and, as much as you hate to think so, far, far more beautiful. If not for the warm lighting of the room, you would have worried about someone seeing your blush. Certainly I am not the first to react this way, you think, as you bow alongside the others.

“Yes, yes, get on with it,” Lady Dimitrescu says, with a sharp frown. Then she moves closer to the tub, which you imagine could fit half a dozen ‘normal’ people, and holds out her arms to her side. For a moment you’re confused, but you instinctively mimic the motions of the other maidens. Together the four of you reach for her robe, gently taking hold of it while she steps into the bath, before hanging it onto a nearby hook. A second later your entire world is turned upside down. You’re freezing in place, eyes wide, as the bare back of Lady Dimitrescu reveals itself to you. Yet this is not an instance of poorly veiled lust. No, it is equal parts horror and repulsion, for you find yourself staring at a distinctive soul marking.

One that matches your own.

Beside you, Juniper watches you with concern, silently urging you to stay silent. Neither of the other two servants seem to react, other than by taking a small step backwards. Unable to speak, let alone form coherent thoughts, all you can do is point a trembling finger towards the soul mark. It’s right in between Lady Dimitrescu’s shoulder blades. Once upon a time, you had marveled at the design, smiling every time you saw it in the mirror. Now, it might as well be the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen. Based on her expression, Juniper seems to agree, although for different reasons. As your hand drops back to your side, you try to compose yourself enough to focus on the task before you. Instead, someone breaks the quiet, boldly, daring to think that they would be rewarded for it.

“My Lady,” a servant says, stepping forward, shooting you a waywards glance. Instantly she has your employer’s attention, though that comes with the metallic sssssslk of her claws extending. There’s an unspoken threat that demands respect. None comes, however, just the frenzied words of a panicked maiden. “I know who your soulmate is, my Lady. I thought that perhaps you’d-”

“A name. Give me… a name,” Lady Dimitrescu interjects, claws still out and impatiently tapping on the tile floor. Tense, you start to step forward, wanting desperately to silence the treacherous maiden. But her tongue is faster than your fist, and soon enough your name is echoing through the room. “Oh? The one right behind me, hmm? Dreadfully convenient, really. Step forward, dear, and let me see the proof. Assuming it exists.” All eyes other than hers are on you, now. With a deep breath, you begrudgingly step in front of Lady Dimitrescu, trying not to even briefly glance at her chest (or worse, lower). One of her hands shifts, a long claw tilting your chin up. “Well?”

“Forgive the placement,” you mutter, awkwardly grabbing your shirt collar, tugging it down to reveal your soul mark, planted neatly on the center of your chest. If Lady Dimitrescu’s gaze wanders, it does so too quickly to be noticed, though she does make a low humming noise at the sight. Feeling much like a piece of meat on display at the butcher’s, you scowl deeply. Soon enough, but not as soon as you’d like, the claw under your chin retracts, and you once more cover up your soul mark. You can’t bring yourself to look your soulmate in the eyes.

“Hmm. Not what I expected. Not at all,” she muses, more to herself than to you, softly. Behind her, Juniper is sending you a sympathetic expression. All you can do, as Lady Dimitrescu judges you, is glare at the origin of this revelation. What did she think to gain by speaking up? Hadn’t she heard the same rumors that you had? Didn’t she know that your employer already loved another, even if that affection was unrequited? There was, simply put, no chance that you were the preferable option. Not when there was no race against neither time nor death. At best, you could be a distraction. Something to keep her mind off of the person she’d rather be with. “Go clean up, get some sustenance if you must, then go to my quarters. We will discuss this further there- after I am done here.”

With that said, she waves you off, letting you relax for the first time in several minutes. After giving a short bow, you immediately move to leave. On your way, you intentionally bump shoulders with the maiden who spoke up, sending her a glare, then give Juniper a nod of acknowledgement. Nervous wreck or not, she was the only person you ‘knew’ on the night shift. Not that such a thing would even matter soon. To think that we’ve been soulmates this whole time, you think, living in the same castle for months, never seeing each other. I wish things could have stayed that way. At least you’d have some time to process your developing situation. Though you doubted you’d have enough time.

---------------------------

In an unusual change of pace, Alcina dismisses the rest of her servants, long before her bath is done. They exchange glances before scattering to the winds. A heavy sigh leaves her lips, and she sinks lower into the tub. Of course I have a soulmate, she thinks, bitterly. I knew this. Knew that it wasn’t her, and yet still, I find myself surprised. Disappointed, even. How had an already rough evening gotten even worse? More than that, what was she supposed to do about it? There was a part of her that wanted to kill her soulmate. She figured that, with them out of the way, the universe might finally understand who she was meant to be with. After all, it wasn’t uncommon for ‘widows’ to be given a new match, and those were generally other ‘widows’. Considering that Alcina knew for a fact that Mother Miranda’s soulmate had long since died, she did not think that her hopes were beyond possibility.

But there was another part of her, quieter, that dared to be more realistic. If the universe said that this human, this tiny thing, was her soulmate… would it not make sense to at least try? What harm could it do, when her current love had been unrequited for so long? Was this not the end to several decades of loneliness? Damn it, she thinks, gripping the edge of the bathtub until her knuckles turned white. There was no denying it, now that a single drop of rational thought had corrupted her mind. Fuck it all, I hardly have a choice. Or anything to lose, for that matter. With her decision made, she rises to her feet, emotionally ready to face the unknown.

---------------------------

“Ah, so you do follow directions, after all. I half expected to learn that you had attempted to flee, or perhaps had a gruesome run in with one of my daughters,” Lady Dimitrescu chimes, as she ducks into her room. Inside, standing at attention, you await. All of your earlier nervousness returns, though this time it is tinged with your natural rage. Of all the monsters in the world, this was the one you were expected to love. It mattered not how tall she was, or how sharp her nails could be, or how fierce her loyalty to Mother Miranda. To you, it mattered that you had no choice in being here, that only a handful of servants had come to the castle willingly. It mattered that a single mistake could mean a cruel death. So you did not greet your soulmate with a smile, or excitement, rather with a forced bow and blank expression. Better to be dead than to fake true love. “Come now, do at least pretend that you are excited, for my sake. I have been waiting a century for this, after all.”

“Perhaps the universe found it difficult to find someone who could love you,” you say, the words tumbling out of your mouth, instant regret boiling up inside of you. What you expect is a swift death. What you get? A deep sigh, a scowl, a look of frustration. Still fearing your possible demise, you are quick to keep speaking. “Or maybe the universe heard me talk once, and struggled to find someone to tolerate me. Countless possibilities, a galaxy full of mysteries… and here we are. Forgive me for being crass, my Lady. I would blame it on my schedule change, but something tells me you would see right through that lie, yes?” Not like that was much better, you think, wondering how the hell you were going to survive this.

“You’re quite the character, aren’t you?... Do try not to make me regret this, I’d rather not kill my soulmate. Now, sit down, it’s about time for a proper introduction,” Lady Dimitrescu commands. Then she’s sitting on the edge of her bed, gently patting the spot next to her. Joining her is just about the last thing you want to do right now… but you obey nonetheless. Still, you angle yourself away from her ever so slightly, hoping the subtle body language would help you distance yourself from her. There’s something in her expression that tells you she knows exactly what you’re trying to do. “I am Lady Dimitrescu, though you already know that. You may call me Alcina… for now. Behave, or that is one of many privileges I will not hesitate to take from you. Understood?”

It takes all of your willpower to avoid rolling your eyes, but you manage, instead giving a short nod. This’ll be interesting, for sure.

#lady dimitrescu x reader #alcina dimitrescu x reader #alcina dimitrescu #lady dimitrescu #resident evil: village #re8 village #love this lady<3

[scrawnytreedemon]

Victor Frankenstein and Frustration: a Not-Essay, because I can’t structure for shit.

Alright, I’ll try to keep it as clean and concise as I can, but at the end of the day this is a sorta-heat-in-the-moment thing I’m writing while all the ideas and motivation are in me yet. I will be jumping around alot of topics, as this covers alot of ground, but I can’t say I’ll do it with grace: for this, I apologise.

I’ve noticed a trend in online lit fandom, not just on Tumblr, to condense Victor’s character to something roughly following “arrogant, ineffectual and selfish weenie who failed horribly at parenting, who ought not to be taken seriously in any significant way, largely in-due to his constant whining“ --In other words, a right twat.

And here’s the thing: largely, I agree.

However, what I take issue with, I suppose, is largely how this is all framed.

See, fandom has a tendency to sort characters into boxes, and then pick favourites or bête noires from that selection; this is helpful for the largely memetic(as in, shareable,) nature of online spaces; but where I think this thinking falls short is that it tends to divide casts into More Good or More Evil, with little room for nuance.

I think you can see where I’m going with this.

Victor Frankenstein, by all accounts, is an incredibly frustrating character to witness; he gets way in over his head, isolates himself from his loved ones, leaving them worried, deems those ambitions failed, hides from them, then when shit starts hitting the fan, he takes initial actions to try and mitigate the consequence, hits a roadblock, either stops their or chooses an even worse option, someone else gets hurt, he whines, rinse and repeat until the final act of the book, as the stakes get higher and higher and his mental state deteriorates more, and more, and more. If you look at this entirely from an outsiders’ perspective, as you, the audience, being subjected to his moaning time and time again, it can wear on you and your sympathies-- Needless to say, I Get It™.

I think, however, it needs be remarked that Victor is also just some guy. 

What I feel is often missed, is that even before Victor goes to university, he has just suffered the loss of his mother, with little time to recover, and that all of this is being told in hindsight, on his deathbed.

When Victor took on, all by himself, at twenty-two years old, not even letting anyone else know what he was up to, the monumental task of creating life, and then finding that life horribly botched, he did not have the perspective that what he created was equivalent to a newborn child-- For all he knew, he might have animated an actual demon. It isn’t until two years later, after the death of his little brother at the hands of said demon, the he’s even remotely made aware of this.

Victor had worn himself out over the course of several months, physically and mentally, to this one task. He was not equipped to deal witht he consequences. I do not say this to downplay the weight of his actions, or the horrible mess of events that come afterwards, but to state perspective. Victor does not have the hindsight we have at the time of this act. I cannot stress this enough. As much as I enjoy Deadbeat Dad Vick jokes, I get the feeling many people actually view the story from this lens, and hold Victor up to that standard.

Then there’s the trial of Justine: a horrible, useless, unneeded and avoidable affair that ends in even more senseless death. This is where alot of people’s sympathy for Victor runs out-- For more than understandable reasons. He failed to act accordingly, to share the information he had, deeming it to be either dismissed instantly or for himself to be put under scrutiny; it’s clear he’s passionate about Justine’s innocence, but he cannot push himself past his fear and doubt, and ultimately, it ends in her death.

It is a horrible, horrible moment, and one that cements the tone of the story from there on out.

These are two key events that largely colour this image of Victor so prevelant online; and it certainly doesn’t help, what with fandom being almost aggressively left-leaning at times, that Victor comes from a place of privilege; he is almost tailor-made to push all the buttons of fandom sensitivities.

Let me elaborate.

A key feature of Victor’s character is his complete and utter inability to ask for help; no matter how dire the situation. Victor feels, that, despite and even because of his incompetence, that it is his cross and his cross alone to bear. Any inolvement from others, such as Clerval when he heads to England, is hesitant and highly discouraged, even when he wants nothing more than to partake in the company of his loved ones, after all he’s been through. While it is also heavily coloured by the anguished sentiment that borders on self-absorption so much of the time, I think it is also worthy to examine this too.

Victor’s tendency to indulge in self-pity and self-loathing is nigh, if not entirely, all-consuming; it pervades the narrative to a painful degree, particularly as it comes from his recollections; it is often exhausting to read through, and nigh unbearable if you already hold a disdane from his previous actions; but here’s the thing I think most people miss,

Victor is depressed.

I don’t mean “ooh, he’s so sad, leave him alone 🥺,“ I mean the guy is fucking depressed, stuck in a constant cycle of attempting to make do but failing, hating himself even more, letting it consume him because he at once feels like he deserves to be consumed and it’s the only thing he can do then and there to soothe to pain as shit gets worse and worse.

Victor Frankenstein’s internal monolgue is a prime example of deep-seated, far-gone depression, and I say this because I myself have experienced and do experience this. Depression is fucking soul-sucking, man; it turns you in on yourself, makes you feel entirely undeserving of love and compassion, leaves you feeling like you must, have to, deal with this entirely by yourself because it is your cross to bear.

Depression is so often self-flagellating and pointless, leaving the subject drained and often largely unable to experience the world outside their own miserable little bubble.

Victor is so wrapped up in this soul-sucking guilt, attempting to fight his own ineffectuality and in doing so only furthering his own ineffectuality, refusing to ask for help, that he ends up putting the ones he’s trying to protect in further danger as he tries to scramble a hodge-podge solution to the problem he created and couldn’t have even begun to forsee its consequences at twenty-two years old. It is a painful, painful example of how if only he reached out, if only he told someone, was honest, all of this could have been avoided, or at least mitigated.

And I think that’s the thing with Victor.

He’s a kind of banal evil-- If such continuous stumbling can even be considered so --He is an example of every day self-isolation and refusal to let anyone else in ballooning to such a degree it ends in distaster.

People are far, far more willing to forgive Adam for his transgressions-- And I say this as someone far more sympathetic to his plight, what with the absolute abandonment he faced at the hands of humanity --Despite their far more horrific consequences; in many ways, they’re attributed to Victor’s failing; which isn’t entirely untrue,

But I have to wonder, if alot of this also comes down to the fact that Victor’s wrongdoings are so human; leaving someone in your care behind; not speaking up in cases of injustice; being self-involved; again, the constant whining. In a way, it’s the sentiment that in stories a horrible person is often far more bearable than an annoying one.

That doesn’t even begin to touch on how much of the bemoaning might largely be and often is directly post-hoc regret colouring all his previous actions. This, above all else, is a cautionary tale to a fellow idealist in the hopes that Robert Walton doesn’t Fuck Up the way he did. Victor stresses his regret and his failings and his misery time and time again because he wants to protect Robert from a similar fate; a fate that ultimately ends in his death.

Victor Frankenstein is a study in frustration; in audience frustration, self-frustration, narrative frustration; it seeps into every corner of the story.

I am not trying to defend Victor Frankenstein as a person; he is flawed; and he’s meant to be flawed. Victor, at the end of the day, is a deconstruction of the Byronic hero-- Of Great and Powerful Men on the Fronteers of History™-- And most importantly, I think, a deconstruction he himself undergoes. Victor eventually alerts someone, a Genevan magistrate, is doubted just as he feared, and then runs off to take revenge into his own hands.

It takes the death of Elizabeth Lavenza to do so.

Victor is a flawed, miserable man, but not an evil one. That doesn’t mean he deserved to have his life crumble around him.

He could have done better. Should have done better.

And he knows this.

His entire arc is about how he knows this.

Victor dies knowing this.

Him being unlikable doesn’t make him a bad character. Him being unlikable is part of the character; and in a meaningful way.

God, I don’t know how to end this. I’ll probably come back and edit this many, many times.

I guess I’m just tired of people flattening characters just because they’re not particularly endearing.

#frankenstein #scrawny speaks #scrawny rambles #analysis #victor frankenstein #there's probably even more i want to say and will regret failing to touch on #and believe me i do see the irony in a thinkpiece about victor frankenstein so laser-focusing on him #i really do #but it's kinda all the energy i have for #point is i don't think victor is a particularly good person #or admirable in any way shape or form #but that doesn't mean his character doesn't have worth #and i guess i'm tired about all of this just getting... tossed out the window #fandom is fun but also exhausting #he's a weenie yes but he isn't j us t a weenie can we please acknowledge that? #he's a guy. some fucking guy who fucked up. like alot of fucking guys who fucked up. #i wonder how much of this is also The Protagonist Complex #wherein we insert ourselves and go 'i would have done this better!' #because BELIEVE ME i hope i'd be far more empathetic and far more... Less That #but i don't know and i won't pretend to know #and i do wonder if some of this comes down to people not wanting to sympathise with a Bad Person because then it means they could be Bad #spoiler alert: yes. all of us have the potential to be miserable weenies. #none of us are safe. #i want to stress *potential* #please don't leap down my throat #ughghjg i'll stop. hopefully this was... Okay. i guess. #long post

[tsarisfanfiction]

Sicktember - Virgil and 30. Food poisoning :D Sorry Virg :D

Good Intentions

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Gen Genre: Family/Hurt/Comfort Characters: Scott, Virgil

No Grandma meant no charred food. That was supposed to be a good thing. @sicktember prompt 30: Food Poisoning/Allergy.

A triple whammy here - as well as @janetm74's dealer's choice, I also received a request for this prompt with Scott on FFN from islandsandstars, so here we are! Warning for non-explicit mention of throwing up.

Sicktember 2021 Prompts - I only plan on writing prompts if I get a request for them, so request away :D Doesn’t have to be TAG - characters from any fandom can be requested (although I can only guarantee I’ll work with ones I know)

It was an unfortunate fact in the Tracy household that none of them had escaped the experience of food poisoning. Grandma tried – and they loved her for it – and it was true that what with the uncertain schedule of International Rescue, not having someone cooking for them would have made their lives even harder, but while burnt food could be choked down safely enough (provided there was no actual choking involved), there were some memorable occasions where the food hadn’t been charred enough.

That was probably why she erred on the side of charcoal, actually.

Scott was abjectly miserable. The chills that wouldn’t stop wracking through his body no matter how many blankets he bundled up in didn’t help matters, and nor did the stomach cramps lancing through him at inopportune moments, but the greatest cause of it was guilt.

It was true that he didn’t often cook any more, what with rescues and paperwork and Grandma’s unfortunate monopoly on the kitchen whenever she was around, but he was passable at it. Mom had encouraged all of them, with the possible exception of Alan due to the youngest only being a toddler at the time, to learn as kids, and while cooking had never caught his attention as such, he’d spent enough time in the kitchen with her to know what he was doing.

Those lessons had served him and John painfully well after they’d lost her.

Grandma was out visiting friends, and for once he’d had no pressingly urgent paperwork to field, so he’d decided to treat his brother to a home-cooked meal that was a colour other than black.

What was that saying about good intentions? Ah yes, the road to hell was paved with good intentions.

In hindsight, it was a blessing that Gordon had been on one of his research trips while Alan and Kayo were on a mission in Thunderbird Three which required John’s supervision. Brains had been off at another of his conferences, leaving just Scott and Virgil on the island. At the time, that had been a source of private disappointment. Now, it was a relief. Scott just wished Virgil had been elsewhere, too.

Despite Scott’s supposed aptitude in the kitchen, with Grandma in charge of the shopping he’d had to work with what was currently in stock. The next shopping trip was due as soon as she got back, and both absent Thunderbirds had raided enough food to keep themselves fed while they were away from civilisation, meaning there was very little left to work with – and at least some of it, neither he nor Virgil had recognised.

It had only taken a quick internet search to identify the items in question, and then another one to determine how they should be cooked, so Scott had deemed that as a problem solved and moved on.

Problem solved, it had not been. Scott had yet to work out what, exactly, had gone wrong, but within hours of clearing up he’d found Virgil, pale and miserable, trying desperately hard not to throw up. Much like the cooking, that had not been a success, and Scott was glad that at least his own stomach was strong enough not to react sympathetically.

His own symptoms hit an hour or so later, right as he’d been chivvying a disgruntled Virgil into bed, and it was with no small amount of embarrassment that he’d been forced to contact John and let him know that Thunderbirds One and Two were, for the short term, grounded. John, supportive and caring little brother that he was, rolled his eyes, called him an idiot, and then had gone on to be a far more reassuring big brother to the bundled-up Virgil. Promises were made to come home once Alan and Kayo no longer needed monitoring, and then said younger siblings had interrupted with need for data, abruptly ending the call.

So here Scott was, wrapped up in blankets and trying to ignore his cramping stomach as he perched on a chair by Virgil’s bed. His younger brother had undeniably caught the worst of it, evidenced by the emesis basin Scott was having to empty more frequently than he was happy with, and as it was entirely Scott’s own fault, he couldn’t leave Virgil to suffer alone.

Not that Virgil shared the sentiment. He’d fallen asleep for the moment, rumbling away reassuringly even though his face was pinched in clear discomfort, but when awake made repeated demands for Scott to go to bed himself.

Like Scott was going to do that. The cocoon of blankets did its job well enough – at least to offer physical comfort, if not the warmth his body was craving – and with Virgil so much worse, leaving him was not an option. What if he threw up in his sleep? He’d been laying on his side like a sensible person while still awake, but the first thing he’d done after slipping into the land of nod had been to roll onto his back. Rolling him back would likely mean waking him, which in turn would mean an even grumpier brother.

It was only some chills and irritating cramps. Nothing he couldn’t power through. Maintaining a bedside vigil didn’t require much energy, after all, and the whole thing was his fault in the first place.

He didn’t notice when the tall, slender shadow slipped into the room several hours later.

#sicktember #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds are go fanfiction #tsari writes fanfiction #scott tracy #virgil tracy #john tracy #thunderwhump #thunderfluff #gumnut-logic #janetm74 #islandsandstars

[kitkatopinions]

You know, it’s an interesting thing to see RWBY fans act like it’s a bad faith criticism when people don’t automatically assume that everything Ruby does is one hundred percent good and justified. In fact, ever since season six, it seems like people consider the only proper way of thinking to be A) assuming that anything bad that’s happening is entirely not Ruby’s fault. B) assuming that anything Ruby does in these situations is justified, needed, and good. And C) assuming that Ruby is going to fix anything bad that’s happening shortly.

I’m becoming more and more convinced that much of the so called ‘bad faith criticisms’ that mega fans and simps are concerned about are frequently just people not assuming that those three things are always true. Many fans have taken to filling in the blanks for CRWBY, which is something that’s generally expected in all media with a strong fan presence, but is taken to the extreme in RWBY where many fans are now deciding things and deeming them canon all in the name of making Ruby look as blameless and good as possible. That’s why there are fans insisting that Ironwood invaded Vale and has no combat experience, it’s completely untrue with no canon to support it, and yet is seen as the only definitive reading allowed by many fans, and that’s because it makes Ironwood look like he’s always been a horrible incompetent fool, so Ruby no longer looks bad by lying to him and then casting him aside. That’s why there are fans insisting that Ruby and co had to get across the border to Atlas quickly and couldn’t waste any time waiting, that’s why fans insist that Cordovin forced Ruby’s hand by not giving her a peaceful option despite the peaceful option she literally offered on screen. That’s why there are fans insisting that Ruby only stayed in the mansion in volume eight because she couldn’t leave Nora or because Ironwood would’ve arrested her and she was forced to prioritize her safety because she knows she’s imperative to the war. That’s why there are fans saying that no reading where any single person was left behind in the evacuation from Atlas to Vacuo is acceptable despite Qrow, Maria, and Pietro all being left behind, and the concept of ‘Ruby saved everyone’ being unequivocally false due to the soldiers that died facing Salem, the on-screen deaths of named characters including Penny, and anyone who Cinder knocked off the bridge.

These fans are ignoring canon things like that, canon things like there being a clear and peaceful solution to getting over the Atlas border, and Ruby spending episodes and I think around an in-show day despairing that she doesn’t know what to do and wants someone to come save her where characters are literally telling her she needs to leave the mansion and Ruby gives no solid reason why she shouldn’t except that they shouldn’t pick sides. They ignore any indication in canon that Ruby is just wrong or just faulty and construct a narrative where Ruby is one hundred percent right and sympathetic, and then they consider anything that didn’t automatically adhere to that rule to be ‘bad faith.’

“Why didn’t you just assume that Ruby was going to apologize to Ozpin next season? That’s a bad faith criticism, this is a story, so not everything is gonna be resolved super fast.” “Why didn’t you realize that Ruby was right to be upset with Ozpin and was justified because Ozpin lied to her about important things? Oz should be the one apologizing to her, that’s a bad faith criticism.” “Why didn’t you realize that Ruby only lied to Ironwood because she wasn’t sure she could trust him? Her situation with Oz is completely different, he isn’t learning his lesson and hasn’t apologized. Ruby is going to trust James later and prove she’s better than Oz.” “Why didn’t you realize that Ruby never would have trusted James because he’s always been shady and she knew that and she only worked with him in the first place because she had to in order to use his resources?” “Why didn’t you realize that James was the one not trusting Ruby and she was the one trusting and he broke that trust and Ruby was willing to work with him only he wasn’t willing to work with her?” “Why didn’t you realize that Ozpin was always bad and incompetent and Ruby is being gracious to allow him back in her group now that he apologized for not trusting her?”

What we have is a bunch of people deciding what’s going to happen (and quickly forgetting they said that if it doesn’t happen,) re-writing what did happen, ignoring the canon as it’s happening, and filling in any blank they get with whatever makes Ruby look as good as possible, and then they consider anything that doesn’t comply with that to be bad faith.

Ruby is a flawed protagonist. In fact, she’s way more flawed than what the show expects us to think. She’s naïve, she lacks foresight, she’s reckless, she overestimates her own abilities and her friend group, she’s stubborn and only listens when she wants to, she’s arrogant at times, she’s become unforgiving, she’s at least somewhat controlling with her friends, she only sees in black and white and alienates anyone who doesn’t fit her exact moral code, and she’s recently taken to mood swings, shutting down, and bouts of indecisiveness that freeze her up and prevent her from taking possible life saving actions, she’s more ‘ends justify the means’ than she admits, and she’s hypocritical.

Now, if you don’t read Ruby with all of that and think I’m being a bit too harsh, that’s fine. There are good things about Ruby too (though admittedly I’m seeing her amazing traits from the early seasons way less in the recent seasons,) and she does some good things. But she does have flaws and she does make mistakes, and what I’d really like to see is less people constantly making excuses for literally everything she does or says, and more people admitting when she makes mistakes. Maybe a “she really should’ve asked Penny before turning her into a human” instead of a “of course she asked her it was just off screen you loser!” Maybe a “she shouldn’t have decided to lie to Ironwood without talking to her team about it at least,” instead of a “the team trusts Ruby and she would’ve asked them if she’d been given a chance you stupid freak!” Maybe a “Ruby really froze up for a good portion of season eight, she made quite a few mistakes, I wonder how she’ll come back from it,” instead of “Ruby was forced away from the fight because Ironwood would’ve had her executed and she’s smart enough to know that!”

Main characters in stories are supposed to make mistakes and have flaws, it gives a personal growth that’s relatable to their victories and gives opportunity for growth in character dynamics, and goes towards making them feel more realistic and likable. Of course not everyone is going to like, say, a main character who is arrogant and over steps boundaries, but that character also can therefore grow and change and adjust, and that is very likable to most audiences. The best protagonists in media are deeply flawed characters that try hard to overcome not only the big problems they face, but the small conflicts that come from their own actions and the reactions they have to what other people do. Ruby should have flaws, she should make mistakes, and she does! One of the biggest problems with the show RWBY is their refusal to treat Ruby’s flaws as flaws and their inability to let her grow. And one of the biggest problems with the fandom is people’s inability to treat Ruby’s flaws as flaws and their insistence that everyone adhere to the rules of ‘Ruby is always justified, always right, and will always fix everything.’

#rwde #rwby hate #anti rwby #rwby bashing #rwby criticism #anti ruby rose #canoncrit ruby rose #pro ironwood #pro iw #ironwood defense #pro ozpin #anti fndm

[laufire]

(CW for mentions of csa)

A lot of Commonly Accepted (Often Through Uncritical Repetition) Wisdom in fandom leaves me baffled, when not straight up ticked off, but one that's been on my mind lately, that never fails to bring a scrunched up expression to my face, is the idea that Bela Talbot's backstory was some last minute add-on to her character.

You might argue that the reveal was rushed since the writers caved in and killed her off against their original plan (or at the very least, earlier than). Or that using abuse is a trite way to raise sympathy for an antagonistic character. You could even say that some of the finer details might’ve not been set in stone until they sat down to write her exist, although that one is dubious. But I’m never really going to buy that Bela’s backstory hadn’t been already planned, likely in big part.

The reason why is Season Three Episode Six, “Red Sky At Morning”, Bela’s second episode, co-written by Eric Kripke himself. As all episodes with Bela were, may I add; which means he had a hand in crafting her story from the beginning, as creator, director, and writer.

There Dean, a character that has been shown as sharp and intuitive (although his success rate ain’t that great when it comes to Bela, admittedly xD), immediately pegs her as someone with Issues TM, asking “how did she get like this”. He even taunts her by referencing her father, showing off his talent to hit where it hurts by asking if he “didn’t give her enough hugs”, ‘cause he’s classy like that. This visibly affects Bela, changing her demeanor in their conversation, from more playful to defensive. Hell, I remember during my first watch in real time this moment, especially paired with the rest of the episode, was when I first thought it was possible she came from an abusive family.

Because, c’mon. This whole episode is about parricide. The monster of the week is a ghost who haunts those that “spilled their own family’s blood”. We get two other examples: a woman whose accidental car crash killed her cousin, and two brothers who killed their father for the inheritance. Clearly, the ghost doesn’t have a narrow criteria when it comes to means or culpability -which makes sense given his particular story: he was tried for treason and his brother, the captain of the ship, issued the sentence.

And just as we find out this information... Bela sees the ghost ship that foretells her death. This, paired with the insinuations about an unsavvory past and her discomfort at the mention of her father, aren’t a wealth of information, but they start to paint a picture. We now know for a fact that Bela caused the death of at least one relative (mom and dad); that she wouldn’t have needed to do it directly (she made a crossroads deal); and that she might’ve had a sympathetic motive (her father sexually abused her and her mother turned a blind eye).

That scene offers some more tidbits of information about her past that seem too in tune with 3x15 to be coincidental, and that absolutely break my heart: Bela’s “You wouldn’t understand. No one did.“ and “I’ll just do what I’ve always done. I’ll deal with it myself”. See, I always thought Bela must’ve told people, when she was a kid. That she reached out for help not just to her mother, but to everyone around her that she thought could’ve help: teachers, maybe even law enforcement; adults that should’ve being worthy of that trust and protected her. Except no one did (and the fact that her family seemed to be not only very rich but influential paints a very bleak picture that surely contributed to her cynic view of the world). So she took matters in her own hands, and sold her soul for ten years of relative safety and freedom from her abusers.

To tie it all up, her final scene in that episode offers some more moments that again, are very in line with her backstory. We see how she treats relationships as transactionals: she pays ten grand to the Winchesters for saving her life, like she paid with her soul. Dean, again, draws attention to her likely messed up past by calling her damaged, and she replies that “takes one to know one”. Terrible childhood, ammirite. The show wasn’t been subtle here: it’s telling us Bela has a terrible past, like the Winchesters do, but of a different kind that has resulted in a different kind of person. So yeah, I think all the facts were hinted at back in 3x06.

We could go even futher back and point out 3x03, Bela’s introduction. One of the very first things she says in the show, during her first face to face with Dean (a character that just condemned his soul to Hell), is “We’re all going to Hell, Dean. Might as well enjoy the ride”. Sure, it could be an incredibly fortuitous coincidence; as a writer, I’ve had those and they’re damn great. But it seems VERY lucky, and more likely to be a case of the kind premeditated, well-placed foreshadowing that Kripke excels at.

So, okay. I’ve established why I think Bela’s backstory wasn’t a spur of the moment decision. But why is there a notable narrative in fandom that it IS?

First thing first, I want to get something out of the way: you don’t have to like it even if it was planned ahead. I understand it’s a very thorny subject, and to make matters worse, it’s inherently tied to her death. You might even be fine with the what, but not with how it was dealt with (although personally, I appreciate that neither the abuse nor her death were shown onscreen. In fact, the worse violence we see Bela on the receiving end of in her run is Dean’s threats and manhandling, which seems like a very purposeful choice ngl. Even Gordon freaking Walker was gentler lmao).

But I do disagree with some extended fandom opinions on the topic, and I guess that’s what the post is about. For one, I don’t see how the show “condemned” or morally judged Bela in this scenario. If anything, they clearly wanted to make her sympathetic, AND they showed Dean as being in the wrong by robbing him of information. Dean’s opinion on Bela couldn’t count for shit, for once, because he didn’t have the full picture; because Bela had deemed him UNWORTHY of the full picture, and thus anything he had to say on her couldn’t be taken at face value (except this is Supernatural, so I guess this was a little too much to ask of some people?). I think saying that just because Bela died and went to Hell as a consequence of her deal, IN THE SAME SEASON the same happened to our co-lead, because the writers deemed her evil and irredeemable is simplistic at best, and the audience projecting their own feelings (or being unable to see past Dean’s) onto the writing.

All that said, to go back to the initial point of all of this xD: WHY does fandom seem to insist on viewing this narrative choice as some cheap last minute addition?

There might not be one explanation that fits all, but I have a few ideas. One is that, if this wasn’t planned for and hinted at from early on, some people might feel as if this “absolves” them of their previous (and disgustingly hateful and misoginistic) reactions to Bela. Others will see this as absolving Dean, and maybe even Sam to a lesser extent, for not helping her and for being callous towards her; if her tragic backstory was this artificial, rushed choice made by Those Writers, then Dean wasn’t responsible for reprehensible attitudes towards someone who deserved his compassion (and it can’t be denied that this fandom loves absolving Dean of responsibility lmao). And a lot people are probably only repeating what they've heard from others as the accepted narrative, especially those that didn't even watch all of s3 if at all (Castiel is my fave too, but seriously, s1-3 are worth it).

It’s like they’re creating this imaginary separation between Bela pre-reveal, and Bela post-reveal, to make the situation easier to themselves. See, Bela pre-reveal was this annoying bitch who inconvenienced and embarrassed our leads (not to mention dared have chemistry with them), and thus deserved to be punished for it; or, if we’re going with more modern fandom sensibilities, she can be made to fit into the shallow #GirlBoss mold, with a side of “Secretly A Lesbian And Therefore Not A Romantic Threat” flavour -the current preferred method to make controversial female characters more palatable.

The reveal throws a wrench into this narrative. “Bitch who deserves her comeuppance” is a hard sell when you’re talking about a character who survived csa. And a shallow #GirlBoss reading doesn’t work if you have to acknowledge that Bela was one of, if not the most tragic characters in the entire run of Supernatural.

She spent over half her life at the mercy of her abuser(s), hurt by those who should’ve loved her and protected her most. The rest of her life was extremely lonely, with seemingly only a cat as company, and a surface-level freedom that hid under the sentence that loomed over her head. She died without a single friend, or a simple show of kindness and compassion, without anyone bothering to fight for her. And then she ended up tortured for who knows how long until she became one of her torturers.

All of that is extremely difficult to digest. And when things are hard to swallow, people do as people do, and they try to simplify them. So, sure. Bela’s reveal wasn’t ever hinted at, it’s completely removed from her character and the person we met, and is not even worth trying to fit into the narrative. Sounds easy.

#talking to the void #my thoughts #spn thoughts #supernatural #bela talbot #bitter lau tag #fandom nonsense #spn 3x15 #spn 3x06 #spn s3

[nitrateglow]

Favorite films discovered in 2020

Well, this year sucked. I did see some good movies though. Some even made after I was born!

Perfect Blue (dir. Satoshi Kon, 1997)

I watch a lot of thrillers and horror movies, but precious few actually unsettle me in any lasting way. This cannot be said of Perfect Blue, which gave me one of the most visceral cinematic experiences of my life. Beyond the brief flashes of bloodletting (you will never look at a screwdriver the same way again), the scariest thing about Perfect Blue might be how the protagonist has both her life and her sense of self threatened by the villains. The movie’s prescience regarding public persona is also incredibly eerie, especially in our age of social media. While anime is seen as a very niche interest (albeit one that has become more mainstream in recent years), I would highly recommend this movie to thriller fans, whether they typically watch anime or not. It’s right up there with the best of Hitchcock or De Palma.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (dir. Sergio Leone, 1966)

Nothing is better than when an iconic movie lives up to the hype. Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef play off of one another perfectly. I was impressed by Wallach as Tuco in particular: his character initially seems like a one-dimensional greedy criminal, but the performance is packed with wonderful moments of humanity. Do I really need to say anything about the direction? Or about the wonderful storyline, which takes on an almost mythic feel in its grandeur? Or that soundtrack?

Die Niebelungen (both movies) (dir. Fritz Lang, 1924)

I did NOT expect to love these movies as much as I did. That they would be dazzlingly gorgeous I never doubted: the medieval world of the story is brought to vivid life through the geometrical mise en scene and detailed costuming. However, the plot itself is so, so riveting, never losing steam over the course of the four hours it takes to watch both movies. The first half is heroic fantasy; the second half involves a revenge plot of almost Shakespearean proportions. This might actually be my favorite silent Fritz Lang movie now.

Muppet Treasure Island (dir. Brian Henson, 1996)

I understand that people have different tastes and all, but how does this movie have such a mixed reception? It’s absolutely hilarious. How could anybody get through the scene with “THA BLACK SPOT AGGHHHHHHH” and not declare this a masterpiece of comedy? And I risk being excommunicated from the Muppet fandom for saying it, but I like this one more than The Great Muppet Caper. It’s probably now my second favorite Muppet movie.

Belle de Jour (dir. Luis Bunuel, 1967)

I confess I’m not terribly fond of “but was it real???” movies. They tend to feel gimmicky more often than not. Belle de Jour is an exception. This is about more than a repressed housewife getting her kicks working as a daytime prostitute. The film delves into victim blaming, trauma, class, and identity-- sure, this sounds academic and dry when I put it that way, but what I’m trying to say is that these are very complicated characters and the blurring of fantasy and reality becomes thought-provoking rather than trite due to that complexity.

Secondhand Lions (dir. Tim McCanlies, 2003)

The term “family movie” is often used as a synonym for “children’s movie.” However, there is an important distinction: children’s movies only appeal to kids, while family movies retain their appeal as one grows up. Secondhand Lions is perhaps a perfect family movie, with a great deal more nuance than one might expect regarding the need for storytelling and its purpose in creating meaning for one’s life. It’s also amazingly cast: Haley Joel Osment is excellent as the juvenile lead, and Michael Caine and Robert Duvall steal the show as Osment’s eccentric uncles.

The Pawnbroker (dir. Sidney Lumet, 1964)

Controversial in its day for depicting frontal nudity, The Pawnbroker shocks today for different reasons. As the top review of the film on IMDB says, we’re used to victims of great atrocities being presented as sympathetic, good people in fiction. Here, Rod Steiger’s Sol Nazerman subverts such a trope: his suffering at the hands of the Nazis has made him a hard, closed-off person, dismissive of his second wife (herself also a survivor of the Holocaust), cold to his friendly assistant, and bitter towards himself. The movie follows Nazerman’s postwar life, vividly presenting his inner pain in a way that is almost too much to bear. Gotta say, Steiger gives one of the best performances I have ever seen in a movie here: he’s so three-dimensional and complex. The emotions on his face are registered with Falconetti-level brilliance.

The Apartment (dir. Billy Wilder, 1960)

While not the most depressing Christmas movie ever, The Apartment certainly puts a good injection of cynicism into the season. I have rarely seen a movie so adept at blending comedy, romance, and satire without feeling tone-deaf. There are a lot of things to praise about The Apartment, but I want to give a special shoutout to the dialogue. “Witty” dialogue that sounds natural is hard to come by-- so often, it just feels smart-assy and strained. Not here.

Anatomy of a Murder (dir. Otto Preminger, 1959)

I’m not big into courtroom dramas, but Anatomy of a Murder is a big exception. Its morally ambiguous characters elevate it from being a mere “whodunit” (or I guess in the case of this movie, “whydunit”), because if there’s something you’re not going to get with this movie, it’s a clear answer as to what happened on the night of the crime. Jimmy Stewart gives one of his least characteristic performances as the cynical lawyer, and is absolutely brilliant. 

Oldboy (dir. Park Chan-Wook, 2003)

Oldboy reminded me a great deal of John Webster’s 17th century tragedy The Duchess of Malfi. Both are gruesome, frightening, and heartbreaking works of art, straddling the line between sensationalism and intelligence, proving the two are not mutually exclusive. It’s both entertaining and difficult to watch. The thought of revisiting it terrifies me but I feel there is so much more to appreciate about the sheer craft on display.

Family Plot (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1976)

Family Plot is an enjoyable comedy; you guys are just mean. I know in an ideal world, Hitchcock’s swan song would be a great thriller masterpiece in the vein of Vertigo or Psycho. Family Plot is instead a silly send-up of Hitchcock’s favorite tropes, lampooning everything from the dangerous blonde archetype (with not one but two characters) to complicated MacGuffin plots. You’ll probably demand my film buff card be revoked for my opinion, but to hell with it-- this is my favorite of Hitchcock’s post-Psycho movies.

My Best Girl (dir. Sam Taylor, 1927)

Mary Pickford’s farewell to silent film also happens to be among her best movies. It’s a simple, charming romantic comedy starring her future husband, Charles “Buddy” Rogers. Pickford also gets to play an adult character here, rather than the little girl parts her public demanded she essay even well into her thirties. She and Rogers are sweet together without being diabetes-inducing, and the comedy is often laugh out loud funny. It even mocks a few tropes that anyone who watches enough old movies will recognize and probably dislike-- such as “break his heart to save him!!” (my personal most loathed 1920s/1930s trope).

Parasite (dir. Bong Joon-ho, 2019)

This feels like such a zeitgeist movie. It’s about the gap between the rich and the poor, it’s ironic,  it’s depressing, it’s unpredictable as hell. I don’t like terms like “modern classic,” because by its very definition, a classic can only be deemed as such after a long passage of time, but I have a good feeling Parasite will be considered one of the definitive films of the 2010s in the years to come.

Indiscreet (dir. Stanley Donen, 1958)

Indiscreet often gets criticized for not being Notorious more or less, which is a shame. It’s not SUPPOSED to be-- it’s cinematic souffle and both Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant elevate that light material with their perfect chemistry and comedic timing. It’s also refreshing to see a rom-com with characters over 40 as the leads-- and the movie does not try to make them seem younger or less mature, making the zany moments all the more hilarious. It’s worth seeing for Cary Grant’s jig (picture above) alone.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (dir. Joseph Sargent, 1974)

This movie embodies so much of what I love about 70s cinema: it’s gritty, irreverent, and hard-hitting. It’s both hilarious and suspenseful-- I was tense all throughout the run time. I heard there was a remake and it just seems... so, so pointless when you already have this gem perfect as it is.

They All Laughed (dir. Peter Bogdonavich, 1981)

Bogdonavich’s lesser known homage to 1930s screwball comedy is also a weirdly autumnal movie. Among the last gasps of the New Hollywood movement, it is also marks the final time Audrey Hepburn would star in a theatrical release. The gentle comedy, excellent ensemble cast (John Ritter is the standout), and the mature but short-lived romance between Hepburn and Ben Gazarra’s characters make this a memorably bittersweet gem.

The Palm Beach Story (dir. Preston Sturges, 1942)

Absolutely hilarious. I was watching this with my parents in the room. My mom tends to like old movies while my dad doesn’t, but both of them were laughing aloud at this one. Not much else to say about it, other than I love Joel McCrea the more movies I see him in-- though it’s weird seeing him in comedies since I’m so used to him as a back-breaking man on the edge in The Most Dangerous Game!

Nothing Sacred (dir. William Wellman, 1937)

I tend to associate William Wellman with the pre-code era, so I’ve tried delving more into his post-code work. Nothing Sacred is easily my favorite of those films thus far, mainly for Carole Lombard but also because the story still feels pretty fresh due to the jabs it takes at celebrity worship and moral hypocrisy. For a satire, it’s still very warm towards its characters, even when they’re misbehaving or deluding themselves, so it’s oddly a feel-good film too.

Applause (dir. Rouben Mamoulian, 1929)

I love watching early sound movies, but my inner history nerd tends to enjoy them more than the part of me that, well, craves good, well-made movies. Most early sound films are pure awkward, but there’s always an exception and Applause is one of them. While the plot’s backstage melodrama is nothing special, the way the story is told is super sophisticated and expressive for this period of cinema history, and Helen Morgan makes the figure of the discarded burlesque queen seem truly human and tragic rather than merely sentimental.

Topaz (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1969)

Another late Hitchcock everyone but me seems to hate. After suffering through Torn Curtain, I expected Hitchcock’s other cold war thriller was going to be dull as dishwater, but instead I found an understated espionage movie standing in stark contrast to the more popular spy movies of the period. It’ll never be top Hitchcock, of course-- still it was stylish and enjoyable, with some truly haunting moments. I think it deserves more appreciation than it’s been given.

What were your favorite cinematic discoveries in 2020?

#thoughts #belle de jour #topaz #family plot #the taking of pelham 123 #the pawnbroker #nothing sacred #my best girl #applause #muppet treasure island #perfect blue #die niebelungen #parasite #the good the bad and the ugly #the palm beach story #they all laughed #indiscreet #oldboy #anatomy of a murder #the apartment #secondhand lions

[itsclydebitches]

I always find it strange how often I see people criticising James Ironwood for bringing the Atlas Military into Vale for the Vytal Tournament. Forgetting that one, the Vytal Tournament is an international event that houses who knows how many people from across Remnant that are in need of proper official protection and not what are essentially the equivalent of hired mercenaries. And that two, Blake Belladonna, did pretty much the exact same thing. She, along with Ghira and Kali Belladonna brought hundreds of barely trained civilians into Mistral, the supposedly second most racist nation mind you, to fight against what is basically a terrorist attack on Haven. Honestly, most people who hate James probably hated him from the very beginning, ignoring any good he did. Simply cause he’s military.

The argument  — and I see these exact words a great deal  — is, “Ironwood brought an army to a peace festival. He’s always been a bad guy in the making.” This, like so many other interpretations of RWBY, is technically a truthful statement, making it easy to miss that the spirit of the statement isn’t truthful. They’re missing the second half of our context: “Ironwood brought an army to a peace festival because he’s knows they’re not actually at peace.” That’s the difference between a guy who brings an army to a peaceful celebration because he’s paranoid and wants to exert unnecessary control over the event, and a guy who brings an army to a peaceful celebration because he’s one of a handful of people who know they’re secretly at war. A war he has just learned it picking up again. You can make anyone’s action look simplistically evil if you withhold enough information. “They punched me!” with an implied “For no reason other than that they’re awful” is very different from “They punched me!” followed by an admission of, “Because I attacked them first.” 

This is the heart of Ozpin and Ironwood’s disagreement in Volume 3. You can’t convince the world that a war doesn’t exist and do everything necessary to prepare for an attack. Either you play at peace and risk everyone’s safety, or you prepare and you risk their panic. What’s particularly interesting to me though is that the fans who argue that Ironwood has always been a dictator in the making simultaneously seem to dislike Ozpin, yet both of their actions are intimately tied up in one another’s. I’ve personally never thought that telling the world about Salem was a smart move, just given how many people have reacted negatively to that information, but we nevertheless have to acknowledge that Ironwood is only “bringing an army to a peaceful event” because of Ozpin’s secrets. So if fans hate Ozpin for his secrets, why aren’t they sympathetic towards what those secrets have encourage Ironwood to do? If the world knew about Salem, they’d also know there was only peace between the kingdoms, not the kingdoms and Salem, and they’d likely understand why an armed force was necessary. They’d arguably have wanted one. See: the cheering over the paladins, Ozpin jumping on using the army since they have one now, hiring people to guard the train, Blake’s solution being to lead a quickly formed army into Haven, etc. The fandom ignores that armed forces were, for the vast majority of our story, presented as both necessary and wanted. Hell, I’d argue that’s still the case. If we erased Ironwood’s military from the story under the argument that it’s intrinsically bad, then Atlas is gone. Salem would have overrun the city and decimated the civilians with no opposition. The argument is that the military is unnecessary because we have good hearted individuals to defend the people instead, but where are they now? Most are dead thanks to Lionheart’s actions, those remaining are far away, and those here hung out in a mansion trying to decide if they would fight. The dialogue says, “Soldiers who follow orders are bad, be more like the huntsmen who decide to help out of the goodness of their hearts” but the plots says, “Those soldiers kept a kingdom alive when our supposed heroes decided not to help.”  

To be frank, at this point the concept of our group being the “simple souls” to contrast the evil military man is absurd. They went to an institution to train as soldiers  — in everything but name  — so that they could impose safety and law on the world through the use of dangerous weaponry, many of which are a type of gun. They accepted official licenses for this career, gifted to them by a military general. They became a part of that military for a significant length of time. They achieved their goal prior to this by stealing and utilizing military property. And despite what some in the fandom may say, the group is no more of a democracy than the Ace Ops are: everyone follows Ruby’s orders. Again, a general in all but name. 

Ironwood is a bad guy now. He has been since he shot Oscar with (I think) a clear intent to kill. I’m not disputing that and, to be frank, I have a great deal of criticism for militaries in the real world and in many other forms of media. However, I’m constantly surprised by the fandom’s simplistic “Of course he’s bad, he’s military” take when the show was not critical of the military until Volume 7 and our heroes have far more in common with that evil military than they do differences. Whenever I hear, “Ironwood brought an army to a peace festival” my brain immediately goes, “And Ruby stole from, then attacked, someone she was at peace with. Then attacked others rather than accept accountability for her actions. Blake raised an army because she deemed it necessary. Everyone is using upgraded military tech to win their fights. Everyone carries licenses given to them by a commander.” Ironwood is evil because of the actions he’s taken now  — murdering people, threatening to bomb Mantle, etc. Ironwood is not evil because he made use of organized forces with deadly weaponry to protect the people. If that’s our standards for evil here (in the show, crucially, about fighting monsters that are a constant threat) than our whole cast is “evil” too. The image of Ruby pointing her gun at Cordovin to get what she wants and the image of Ironwood pointing his guns at the Ace Ops to get what he wants is not nearly as far removed from one another as they should be. The fandom is just very good at coming up with excuses for the cute girl threatening people. 

Honestly, there’s a whole other essay there about the importance of character design and the influence that has on how forgiving we are of their actions. Ironwood is a white passing man with a serious personality and half a metal body. Ruby’s design emphasizes that little girl look, is the second youngest of our group, and frequently has moments where she’s made out to be adorable. It’s no coincidence that the fandom has an easier time shrugging of her  — and her friends’ — displays of violence. All of which is a great example of why you should plan out your story themes ahead of time! There is a fundamental problem with, eight years in, pushing an anti-military message when you’ve already designed your world around military necessity, made your heroes a part of those institutions twice over, and began all this with the idea, “What if a 15 year old had a high powered sniper rifle and was given free reign to decide how she’ll use it to protect the public? Would that be cool or what?” RWBY began as “Teenagers are given fantasy guns to shoot monsters, how epic” and has now tried to become, “Teenagers are given fantasy guns to shoot monsters attacking their home, how horrific. This is an institutional problem that, if we kill this one guy, will instantly be solved.” That really doesn’t work. 

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #Anonymous

[ganymedesclock]

Why do you think Ghost willing to kill the Maggots and the Menderbug? It really doesn't align with how I see them and it kind of bothers me.

When Ghost encounters the Hunter, he asks if they are like him, and feel the urge “to kill, to stalk, to understand.” Similarly, Nailmaster Sheo, when he teaches Ghost his technique, comments that swordsmanship and art are not so different. “We cut into the world to peer deeper inside.”

Ghost can attack harmless maskflies and aluba, the maggots, and the menderbug. The menderbug is not required for the completion of the hunter’s journal, but the others are, so the game expects you to try killing most things around you at least once.

Both the maggots and menderbug also call you to think about your actions. I think, anon, the reason why these actions bother you is it’s clear the game both expects you to do it, and expects you to have an unclear conscience afterwards. We kill the maggots before accessing the Failed Champion, who is failed precisely because Ghost killed his brethren. 

But as there’s no one else who names him ‘Failed Champion’ this more sympathetic shift from the accusatory ‘False Knight’ suggests that Ghost, when they realize what they’ve done, has changed their opinion. After all, they understand what it means to feel the strongest, but also, left alone, of your siblings- the one who has to carry forwards for the others. This literally haunts them in the Abyss to the tune of two masks of damage.

So, why, you say, do they kill the maggots in the first place? Why does canon imply this is the choice they take, as it’s the one tied to an achievement (the Hunter’s Mark) while sparing the maggots is not?

Ghost is curious. That is perhaps a delicate way to put it- Ghost is driven to understand. It is several times implied that there is a thread of anger that runs through Ghost- that they grapple with rage and a desire to prove themselves. To the Mantis Lords, to the Hunter, to the Colosseum. If they are challenged by someone in a way they deem serious they tend to answer that challenge, brandishing the nail, the one thing that is ‘truly theirs’ at the beginning of the game and the thing they refuse to discard or separate from at any moment, even when it is broken and better weapons are available. 

And this is my read- why should they not, as an individual who faced formative trauma at a very young age? As someone who felt their survival was senseless- their sibling being taken, other siblings perishing all around them- why did they survive? They have no good answer. They were explicitly not chosen. Discarded. 

I think that Ghost is someone who is in fact prone to tearing at the world, sometimes calmly, but other times with intense aggression- WHY AM I HERE? Why is anything what it is? They need answers! They need others to heed their presence! It’s tempered by the fact that they are an experienced explorer, they are used to being alone. They are not quite like Zote, who is needy in such a way that leaks into every single interaction- when Ghost is so illegible, and so self-determined, they can kind of ignore most people who don’t meaningfully stop them, or choose to listen in the hopes of answers.

The other thing is that it takes time and patience and effort to understand and process not wanting to hurt others. This isn’t a problem a lot of people run into because in general, the period while we’re learning how to not hurt other people, is also a period where we are kind of impotent. As someone whose day job is working with kids, I’ll say this: babies rip each other’s hair out and pinch and claw at each other. They are horrifyingly cruel to each other purely because they don’t understand.

There is no inherent understanding of kindness and gentleness. There are few situations you can be effectively merciful in a context where it is never modeled to you, where you struggle to understand.

For Ghost, being kind- instead of simply being patient or tolerant- is a skill they are learning, slowly. Comparatively, striking an enemy down is something they are extremely good at. Being lethal is something they understand. Keenly. Efficiently. It is a point their disability is of no consequence.

As a result I think in many situations- the maggots, the menderbug, the nailsmith- there are points in which it is very easy for Ghost to strike something down, it seems easy and intuitive and they put up very little fight- and it is only after the body stops moving that we, as the player, are led to what Ghost feels- approaching on quiet feet, thinking, that’s dead. I did that.

.....Should I have done that?

I think a lot of the fandom wants Ghost to be in a better situation than they were. We can pick up that Ghost was unloved, was isolated, has spent an uncertain but quite possibly long time wandering through the twilit and forlorn wastelands beyond Hallownest. If they found other places, and other people, those other people noticeably did not leave much of a mark on Ghost, so that suggests they spent most of this time alone. 

The reality is, while I think it is a noble goal to want Ghost to be able to be happy with others, that has to be tempered with the pragmatic awareness that who Ghost is now, is shaped by those things, for better and for worse, and not just in ways that mean they are sad. They are also confident, and self-sufficient, a warrior who sometimes lacks remorse and sometimes experiences it but too late.

In particular, with the menderbug, it’s an exciting insight into a mystery of the kingdom- why do the signposts repair themselves? and we see a new entity we haven’t before. We WANT TO INTERACT WITH THAT. So we run after, but we’re not fast enough, they fly away too quickly. What can we use to slow them down? We can stop them. We can stop them very well.

And, then we did. And we break them, and open their house, and read their diary, and it’s like...... oh. oh no. We just killed someone. We wanted to talk to them. We wanted them to stop. They didn’t stop and talk to us. 

Ghost wanted to understand. They grabbed a familiar tool, and then afterwards wondered if there was some other, more esoteric to them thing they should have tried to wield instead. But they for the most part don’t have those tools. Why is the delicate flower so important to them? Because Ze’mer, in her own grief, taught them how to express grief and love/pity(?) to other people. They struggle with the ability to do that. Most of their social skills requires other people to stop and initiate. Several times, it’s ‘canon’ or clearly asserted cinematically that we see someone running ahead of us (Hornet, Nosk) and Ghost chases after them desperately trying to reach a point that other entity will talk. 

Ghost’s tragedy is very overt to the audience, but, also, it’s left some complex facets running through their personality that are not just, sad. They’re a complicated person and being a silent protagonist doesn’t make them uncomplicated. 

#Hollow Knight #readmore #Ghost is like... hypercompetent wayfarer battle tweenager #and ethics are complicated #and sometimes they do something and are like 'oh! that was a moral bad' #'hmm' #and there's nothing to do but stand there and stare at the body a little #Anonymous

[hvproductions]

SUMMARY: The Knights of Saint Christopher learn of your involvement with The Order, prompting you and Hamish to break up. When Edward Coventry takes you as a hostage Hamish realizes that despite everything, he doesn’t want to lose you | Requested by: @elleclairez​  FANDOM: The Order PAIRING: Reader x Hamish Duke WORD COUNT: 1604

WARNINGS: Swearing, violence, mention of death

||| ||| ||| ||| |||

When you entered the building belonging to the Knights of Saint Christopher, you instantly knew something was wrong. The four members sitting on the couch in silence was an indicator on its own, yet what worried you the most was their glances and the easily readable expressions on their faces. Lilith seethed with anger, Randall and Jack both with sympathy in their eyes. The look that Hamish, your boyfriend, gave you screamed of anger, hurt, and disappointment all together. Every emotion of theirs was directed towards you, and there was no denying of the reason behind this: the secret of you being in The Order had come out, and now you would have to face the consequences that would surely by dire. 

“I can explain.” You quickly walked closer to them, stopping in surprise when Lilith jumped up with the intention of attacking you; she would have succeeded if Randall hadn’t held her back as the girl struggled against his grip.

“You’re a fucking traitor! We were your friends, we told you everything, and you thank us by stabbing us in the back! Did you tell your precious little Order everything about us?” Lilith yelled with so much anger in her voice that for a second you thought she’d kill you is she’d have the chance.

“I swear to you, I never said anything about you to anything. I would never do-”

“Bullshit!”

“Enough!” Silence befell the whole room due to Hamish’s loud outburst; during your months of dating it was the first time you heard him yell with so much authority in his voice that made no one question why he was the leader of the Knights.

“I want to talk to Y/N, alone.” When no one moved, he added: “Now.”

You stayed put, not daring to move an inch. Forcing herself away from Randall’s grasp, Lilith passed you by deliberately bumping into your shoulder; Randall passed you with a small sympathetic smile on his face while Jack guiltily walked away, leaving you with Hamish who had already managed to fix himself a drink which he downed rapidly fast.

“Were you going to tell me? That you are in The Order?” He silently asked, his eyes desperately searching for an honest answer. You had never seen him looking as broken as he did now; the sadness in his eyes made a tear roll down your cheek. It took everything in you not to walk over to him in order to hug him, even though you knew he would most definitely reject your attempt to do so.

“It’s the only way I can have my scholarship.” You explained, though the look in his eyes said that he did not care much for your excuse. “I promise you Hamish, I did not betray you.”

“You did so by joining The Order and not telling me about it.”

||| ||| ||| ||| |||

The next couple of days proved out to be hellish: Lilith and Hamish didn’t want anything to do with you. Randall and Alyssa provided their company after your heartbreak. It was impossible to avoid Jack - the boy apologized for being the person responsible for your breakup, and although you wanted to blame him you knew you couldn’t. The guilt was solemnly on you - you had months to tell Hamish and the other Knights, but didn’t do so only because of fear.

You were such a walking mess that you had managed to ruin a couple of incantations. To make matters worse, they had been for the Grand Magus, and to say he wasn’t happy was an understatement. Luckily, the only punishment you received was that you couldn’t attend the said incantations; you weren’t too sad about it. It was evident you did more bad that good, and perhaps some time away from The Order would provide useful in order to get yourself together.

While The Order waited, your classes didn’t. It didn’t help that you had to see Hamish in a class he taught you - if only people knew you were together with a teacher of yours. It was Alyssa who made the suggestion to skip the class, yet assuring her that you were fine - even though you were not - you still decided to attend his class. After all, you needed every possible credit in order to graduate.

Walking into the class, your eyes briefly met with Hamish’s before he averted his glance away from you. With a small sigh you passed him silently, taking your usual seat in the middle of the classroom. Not a lot of students were present, and you weren’t sure what to make of it. Hamish always liked to engage his students in a conversation, and it wasn’t unusual for you and him to argue passionately about a topic that he was teaching. Arguing with him didn’t seem like a good idea now as you made a promise to yourself not to provoke him the following classes you had to share with him.

About ten minutes into your class, your phone silently vibrated in your pocket. You instantly took it out, reading a message from Alyssa who wondered how the class was going. Just as you were about to reply your best friend, Hamish spoke out loudly: “Miss Y/L/N, no phones in class. You have attended plenty enough to know this rule.”

Responding with a glare, you slammed your phone onto your desk, gaining your fellow students’ attention. To them it seemed as if you were only angry because of getting caught, yet you and Hamish knew the truth. If he wanted to act like a douchebag - one who didn’t even bother to listen to you - so could you.

||| ||| ||| ||| |||

You knew the Vade Maecum shouldn’t belong to no one, especially to a Grand Magus such as Edward Coventry. That man only thought of no one but himself, and with such a powerful book in his possession, you knew that no one would be safe. When Alyssa came to you for your help, of course you said yes. Even though your magic was not as strong as Alyssa’s, you knew that you had to try to stop him, especially when she revealed to you that Jack was Edward’s firstborn son; you cared too much for him to let him be sacrificed.

For a reason unknown to you, Edward decided not to kill you and Alyssa on the spot like he had done to Jack’s grandfather. Instead, he deemed it wise to bring you along with your best friend to the temple with him, Jack following close behind. For a brief moment you saw Hamish, Randall and Lilith about to attack the Grand Magus. When Hamish saw you being dragged inside, he instantly tried to attack Edward without thinking; he didn’t succeed, as the Magus used a blast on all of the Knights, knocking them out instantly. 

Jack had proved to be smarter that anyone else, making it seem as if the golem Clay was him instead. Therefore, the sacrifice Edward wanted to do so badly didn’t succeed; when he saw the Knights along with Vera Stone raid into the temple, he grabbed you as a hostage, a knife finding its way onto your neck.

You were scared, you really were. When you looked at Hamish you saw that he was too. Yet you forced yourself to give him a small smile before you dropped onto the ground, blood flowing down from your neck. You didn’t see anything else but Hamish desperately trying to do anything to help you; you placed your hand onto his cheek as he looked at you with tears in his eyes. Before you closed your eyes you tried your best to tell him that you loved him, but failed to do so. You waited for the pain to arrive, but instead, peacefulness came.

||| ||| ||| ||| |||

You didn’t think you’d open your eyes ever again, yet surprisingly, you did. You found yourself lying in Hamish’s room; as soon as he saw you waking up, he grabbed your hands and gave them a tight squeeze. His eyes were red, as if he had been crying for hours straight, and you noticed that his knuckles were covered in blood like he had hit something or someone many times. 

“What happened? Did you get Edward?” You questioned, trying to sit up in the bed as if you wanted to go after him. Hamish couldn’t help but to let out a small chuckle at that, forcing you to lay down and not make any sudden movements. 

“Why am I not surprised that even after dying you want to go after the bad guy?” He asked with amusement that quickly turned into seriousness. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

“I thought so too.” You replied, not quite realizing how you were yet alive. Hamish provided an answer by telling you that Vera had used magic to save your life, and that Edward Coventry was now gone.

“I’m sorry for not listening to you. I was blinded by the fact that you are in The Order and how they are our enemies. I know that you would never use bad magic, but I-”

“Don’t forget the time you acted like a douchebag in class.” You added to which he replied with a chuckle.

“Yeah, that too. But seeing you like that, I realized that I don’t even care that you are in The Order. I had someone I loved once, and I lost her.” He stopped, letting out a small breath as he continued: “But I don’t want to ever lose you, because I love you.”

“Hamish, I love you too, with all my heart.”

#HVProductions #HopeVainProductions #Hamish Duke #Hamish Duke Imagine #Hamish Duke Imagines #The Order #The Order Netflix #The Order Imagine #The Order Imagines #The Order Netflix Imagine #The Order Netflix Imagines #Imagine #Imagines #Theorder #Hamish Duke x Reader