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onmyyan · 1 year

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Hi I just wanted to make a request to ask if you could make a Drabble to ask if you could make a gabe x reader as you when you talked about caspians family you mentioned how gabe is compared to his brother caspian or possibly someone else I would like to know more about him in general and about what would he do with a clay maker s/o who secretly knows about the family business and is an insomniac and also likes to sleep a lot but tries to do the most that they can and won’t fall for the manipulation tactics he uses and just says “ you know if you wanted me to stay home you could’ve just said so?🤨

sorry if your burnt out also have as much fun as you can as a 22 year old !!! You don’t have an obligation to answer this but thank you.

A/N: Ello bby i am soooo happy you asked about Gabe omfg im kicking my feet rn!!! I tried to check all the boxes of the request i apologize if i missed any, Also I'm not burnt out thank you for your sweet words i wanna give u a forehead kith anyway!!!! Heres Gabe! NOT EDITED

T/W: YANDERE, MURDER, GABE IS FUCKIN CRAZY LMAO,CURSING

Gabrielllll Mi Amor omg where do I even begin?!

Standing at a proud 6'4 this mf is big. He's the strongest of his brothers physically, and has always used it to his advantage.

Early on in his life he was being compared to Caspian. They looked so alike it wasn't hard to see why people brought it up the way they did but it still bugged him.

Subconsciously he began to act anyway his brother wasn't. Be it avoiding the kitchen like the plague or gluing himself to the workshop downstairs.

Has a voice like warm butter and can sing stupidly well.

Sings/hums little tunes whenever he's working.

Love languages are acts of service and gift giving, he just wants to take care of you.

Terrified of spiders, he will call you crying to come get it.

Loves tinkering with things, surprisingly delicate hands for such a rough guy.

He laughs with his whole body, the kinda loud boisterous one that made other people start.

Snorts when he finds something especially funny.

He has a hard time reading social cues so he's constantly making dumb jokes, especially when he's not supposed to but he's so funny it's hard to stay mad at him.

Charm up the wazoo, the kinda guy where no matter where he goes, someone's coming up to say hello to him.

He's really good at pattern recognition and it makes him come off a bit psychic at times

Like how he'd clock someone's bad mood the second he seen them, notices details most people wouldn't.

Himbo.

The kinda guy where if you accidentally burn yourself he'll do it too just so you could be in equal amounts of pain, is it dumb as hell? Yeah. Is it also the sweetest thing ever? Absolutely.

Wants the kind of love Mortica and Gomez have, unfiltered raw passion.

Morbid sense of humor.

He's always warm no matter the temperature, comes in mad handy during the colder months and means he wears the smallest amount of clothing when it's hot out which is just a win for everyone.

Scorpio male I repeat Scorpio male. Do with that what you will.

Believes in love at first sight, he's such a big softie.

Had his tongue pierced in his friend's dingy kitchen when he was 18, a secret to this day his mom doesn't know about it.

His canines are a little longer than most and he absolutely had a vampire phase.

Likes to bite. A lot. It's a love language.

He confides in Caspian for everything, expect his envy of him. For that he talks to Ricky.

He can knock someone out with his right hook and has many times before.

He grew up working for his dad's approval and that meant getting his hands dirty.

At first his was a bit weary of using his strength to hurt people but that all changed when his Father put things in perspective for him.

"Everything we do- it's to keep food on our table, to keep us safe- your mother safe." And it all clicked.

Violence for the sake of violence wasn't okay. But violence for the sake of love? That shit was poetic.

He's essentially the family's guard dog. If anyone fucked with them? You told Gabe and suddenly the problem was gone.

He loves the color red, specifically the shade of red that came outta' the first guy his Father sent him after.

He was just supposed to rough him up a little but had too much fun caving in the dude's face.

Thinks killing in the name of love is the most caring thing you can do for someone.

Lil bit of a masochist streak. Likes when he gets to fight someone who can actually keep up with him cuz that little jolt he gets down his spine when he gets hit is addicting.

Animals love him, like you got a cat that hates everyone? Loves him.

Likes preening himself, takes about an hour in the shower everyday, since he dyes his hair so often he takes extra special care of it.

He has a beauty routine and he never skips it, definitely sets up self care spa days with the two of you once you're together.

Really good at videogames, like don't let him goad you into any sort of bet around gaming bec you will lose.

He's the second oldest but carries a lot of the weight of the older brother title since Cas wants nothing to do with the family business

Loves taking things apart to see how they work then putting them back together. He's done this to his PC a lot.

Really such a sweetheart but he has a dark side that feels a lot like a caged animal.

He's not afraid to show you this side because he's proud of it, it's kept him and his kin safe time and time again, why wouldn't he want you to know he'd do anything for you?

Does not like large public spaces, he needs to have a clear way in and out of any area.

Has mad anxiety, takes meds for it.

Works out every day, his favorite way to do so is jogging, he loves being able to just turn off his brain and go.

He meets you on one of those jogs!! Runs right past your art studio but stops when he sees you about to drop this heavy ass box you're attempting to move in a truck.

"Woah- I got you don't worry." He said in an attempt not to scare you as he was some random man running at you from across the street.

You'd peak your head out with the sweetest smile he's ever seen. The honest gratefulness in your eyes warmed him to his core.

"Oh thank you!- I appreciate it." Sure the words were simple but paired with that sheepish little laugh brought heat to his cheeks, he had the sudden to urge to fix his hair, make sure he looked presentable because holy shit were you gorgeous.

You're in a dust covered pair of overalls, your hair is windswept, and you still knocked the breath from his lungs.

"Whatcha' got in there?-god sorry if it's personal you don't need to, I'm sorry." He was very obviously flustered but he was so cute it only added to the charm.

"It's some clay my friend asked for- I had some extra from this project I'm working on- anyway thank you so much.." She trailed off waiting for his name. "Gabriel, you can call me Gabe." His voice was deep and warm like molasses on a hot cookie.

He asks for your number then and there and your fate is sealed.

He runs home faster than he's ever run before, like straight to his apartment, straight to the laptop, doesn't even close the front door kinda rushing.

You only gave him your first name but since he knew you most likely worked at the pottery studio he met you outside of he could find what he needed easily.

He wasn't the most technology savvy man out there but he managed to find a few of your socials and made a quick call to a friend, he has a lot of connections and it was nothing to get the info he needed.

He's a straight shooter and texts you asking for a coffee date that night.

You accept, and despite not usually entertaining men you'd only met that day, he had this captivating energy that had you accepting before you could talk yourself out of it.

The date would be dummy cute, he shows up with flowers and what was supposed to be a quick cup of coffee turns into an all day adventure where you just talked and talked about everything and nothing.

He has you laughing the entire date, blushing from the sheer intensity of his gaze. He was blunt in the way where he said whatever was on his mind.

"I'm sorry- Ima be real I didn't catch a word you just said- the sun hit your face and I had to take a second. Holy shit- you're stunning." His genuine disbelief along with the way he shyly inched his hand to interlock your fingers had your heart skipping a few beats.

He's so into love and the idea of being entirely wrapped up in it.

Before you know it it's getting dark and if he's not walking you to your door he's politely demanding you let him know when you're safe and sound.

The kinda person who makes sure your seatbelt is on or if you're walking on the sidewalk he'll always take the street side just in case.

Would jump out of his coat if you gave the slightest inclination you were cold.

He once balled up his hoodie and threw it at you from across the room like a basketball, like he jumped and dunked.

If you wear fake lashes first time you take em off he the type of dude to be terrified thinking you're just yanking out your real one's.

If he has stuff in his hands and you jump at him he will launch the items if it means catching you better.

Definitely the type to randomly come up to you and silently demand affection.

He wants you to go with him to the gym just to see him be hot. N like maybe give him a reward kiss every time he completes a set.

Surprisingly graceful for such a big dude.

He's an all or nothing type, makes that abundantly clear on the phone one night as he'd gotten in the habit of falling asleep to your voice.

"I want you. Entirely. And I've never been good at denying myself." He'd sound so sure, so certain in his words it made your brain go a bit fuzzy.

Possessive in a hot way not an icky controlling way.

Like if someone hits on you in front of him he has to physically distract himself so he doesn't commit a crime in broad daylight.

Instead whenever his jealously is triggered he becomes a koala, latches himself to your back like a demon, his massive form hovering behind you whenever you went.

"My girl can dress however she wants. I can fight."

Does not tolerate any disrespect towards you or your relationship.

Some girl tried to grind on him at the club and he threw his drink at her.

Petty as HELL when mad, he has a shit list and you do not want to be on it.

Protective as hell, if you indulge his little tendencies (putting sunblock on you if it's warm out, always bringing extra snacks incase you get hungry when you're working) he will start talking about marriage lmao

Speaking of he loves to linger around your studio whenever he can, be warned he will distract you by being adorable so working will be hard but it's totally worth it.

Nicknames for you are : Baby girl, Ma', WIFEY,(almost always followed by a kiss) Darlin', Mi Amor.

He's struggled with insomnia before so he knows a thing or two.

Once you start sleeping over more he notices your nocturnal habits and quickly adjusts.

If you ever get up because you just can't sleep and need to get some energy out he always wakes up.

He can't sleep without you so if you're gone longer than a minute sirens go off in his mind and he's wide awake.

If you wanna watch TV until you can finally rest you know he's right there with you, likes to have you resting in his lap so he can wrap himself around you entirely.

If you simply want to exist in silence he can do that to, so long as he's with you he knows peace.

It wouldn't take long for you to realize his family's secret.

Gabe can keep a secret from anyone.

Except you.

Sometimes his Father would call for him at odd hours of the night, and he'd have to shoot out of bed with little explanation.

You'd wake up to the lightest pressure on your forehead as he kissed you goodbye.

"Shit- go back to sleep Baby, somethin' going down at the shop, they need me." He'd say this cradling your still half asleep face, gently thumbing over your cheeks before stealing another kiss.

He'd come back hours later, the sky still dark and he always showered and put his clothes in the washer before he came to lay back down.

After a while these constant exits would have you a little worried, while yes he was the single most loyal man you'd met and the idea of him cheating seemed laughable, especially considering how seriously he took you, you knew he was hiding something.

Eventually our boy slips up and leaves some blood on his shirt, it was splattered on like paint and yeah at first you were a bit terrified at the concept of your boyfriend being violent then you really started to think about it.

The way he talked about people he didn't like, that look in his eye whenever you told him someone had upset you, how he seemed almost eager to fight at any time.

It made sense.

Then there's the way he talks about his family's shop.

"It's kinda' fun working down there- yeah it can get messy but that's my favorite part."

"I mean Jimmy knew what kinda' businessman pops is- no wonder he die- retired. No wonder he uh, retired. 👀"

It's embarrassing how slick he thinks he is.

It all comes to its boiling point when one day you two are out and bump into a smaller, who at the sight of your loving boyfriend, goes pale as a sheet, nearly dropping the bags in his arm.

"H-Hey Gabe! Boy it's been a minute huh? Listen tell your pops I ain't ducking him or nothing I swear!-" The man said practically vibrating in place, sweat pooling down his flustered face. He was petrified.

Gabe cut him off with a look, his eyes glancing between you and the vermin across him.

"It's Gabriel. Only my friends get to call me Gabe. Do you think we're friends Joey?" You'd never heard this tone from your boyfriend before, it was cold and dry, as if was an entirely different person speaking.

His hold on your waist would tighten when the trembling man looked to you.

"Aye don't look at her look at me, I'm the one talking to you right?." He sneered down, he didn't move and still had the stranger flinching. "Your mama never taught you manners or somethin'?"

"My apologies- really Gabriel, I didn't mean nothin' by it." And with that he'd practically run away, checking over his shoulder every few seconds as if he though Gabe would be following.

"Forgive me, Amor. Some people-" he sucked his teeth before shaking off his nasty look. His fingers began dancing against your side.

"He owe your dad some money?" You'd ask figuring the interaction far too intense to be about a late car job or something.

Gabe would respond honestly before thinking, "Yeah, little bastard has been dodging me all week now he wants to come up to us- nevermind that, let's go were gonna miss the movie!" His flustered response would break all tension, but you'd gotten all the confirmation you needed.

All in all this big bad bastard just needs someone to hold his leash and accept his particular brand of love.

#yandere #yananswers #yandere x reader #yandere x y/n #yandere oc gabe #yandere oc x reader #gabriel delmont #gabe delmont x reader #gabe x reader

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alpaca-clouds · 5 months

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Some Vampire Headcanons

Kinda based on the exchange I had with @0nelittlebirdtoldme, I thought I might as well talk a bit about how I handle vampire biology in certain regards. This is very much rooted in what we see in Castlevania, though I am gonna hold to those rules in my other stuff too (so both for DnD stuff, as well as original vampire stories).

Vampires and normal Food

This is one of the things we know about the Castlevania vampires, but that I like in general. Vampires as I write them can eat normal human food - it just does not give them any nurishment. So, they can eat it for the pure enjoyment of food, but when they are starving it does not do anything for them.

Of course, people would say: "But shouldn't their digestive system be specialized on digesting blood?" To which I say: "A human sized being could not sustain itself on blood alone. So, it is magic. Either way it is magic. So..." *shrugs*

But... While vampires can consume alcohol, they can no longer get drunk because the food does not get properly digested - hence the alcohol never enters the bloodstream.

Speaking of which...

Vampires and their own Blood

Okay, folks. Here is the thing. I know that the general consensus is that vampires have no blood on their own. But, well... They kinda need to have that. Especially if like me you wanna write some nice hot smut. Because here is the thing: No blood. No boner. No blood. No wet pussy. Both things depend on blood being there. So, yeah, they need blood.

Also it should be noted that basically in all vampire media we still see vampires bleed. Which I find kinda funny in Baldur's Gate, where there has been so much effort in thinking through how bloodlessness would affect Astarion's look. Yet... We see Astarion and the other vampires bleed, which they cannot do if they don't have blood. (Duh.)

Vampires and Regeneration

My vampires can regenerate normal wounds by taking a moment to focus on them. To put it into TTRPG terms: They can regenerate by taking one round of concentration on them. Which makes it a bit harder to regenerate during combat, but outside of it, it is rather easy. Though obviously it takes a bit longer to regenerate bigger wounds.

There is however some limits. Magical wounds cannot be healed like this. While they will still usually heal faster than with a human, they cannot just regenerate that kind of damage within minutes. Also it takes energy to regenerate. So if a vampire is hungry and has not fed in a while they regeneration slows considerably.

Vampires and Sleep

Speaking of regeneration... Vampires physically do not need to sleep. Their body does not develop exhaustion in the way mortal beings would. As such they do not need to sleep for the kind of regeneration that normal folks need.

However... Their mind does. Sleep is something that we also need for our psyche to process things we have experiences, to process things we learned. So if a vampire does not sleep, they will not do this processing... Which is not only bad for memory, but also for their psyche. This also means that a lot of vampires (due to what I talked about in another blog) do kinda struggle with this. As sleep brings nightmares, but not sleeping lets those nightmares seep into a reality.

Vampires and Fertility

Then there is the last thing. Vampires and their fertility. Another thing I spend too much time thinking about. So, what I came to: Most vampires with the cock and balls anatomy will stay fertile, as their fertility does not take up a lot of biological effort. Meanwhile vampires with ovaries loose their fertility some point during the first ten years after being turned. Because, let's face it... I don't want to put an eternity of periods onto anyone lol

As such it is possible for fullblooded vampires to be born - but it is rare.

So yeah. That is in general the rules I use for vampires in my writing.

#vampires #vampire bite #castlevania #castlevania netflix #castlevania nocturne #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #headcanon #worldbuilding

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depression-napping · 22 days

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(Sorry this is much later than I expected to post!)

Ok everyone we did it, we went to Artnia and ate the Vincent pasta and it was beautiful

Full review of Artnia below the cut ❤️

For those curious, Artnia is an official Square Enix Cafe in the middle of Shinjuku that looks like an egg. It’s a bit quieter and smaller than the Square Enix Cafe in Akihabara.

Making a Reservation

You can make a reservation if you live in Japan and have a Square Enix account, but if you don’t, there may be a few spots available for walk ins. It’s recommended to go early, when they open at 11am, to make a walk in reservation. Also, try weekdays for better luck (we went on a Monday). We dropped in at around 12pm and there was space available at 5pm, so we took it right away. They also stop serving food after 7pm I believe, but you can still order drinks.

While it is helpful to know enough Japanese to comfortably make an order, the staff is helpful, friendly, and speak sufficient English. Lots of foreigners visit because it’s a Square Enix cafe, so Japanese isn’t necessarily required.

When you walk in, you can go to the register and tell them you do not have a reservation, but want to ask if they have any space available for that day. If they do they will give you a ticket for an available time and you can come back if it’s later in the day. You can reserve for up to 4 people but you may have better luck for 1 or 2 guests only.

Note that their primary clientele is local Japanese residents, so they do not have an English menu. If you need to, you can use Google Translate’s camera function to better understand what you’re ordering. Not all ingredients are listed, so take caution if you have special dietary needs.

The FFVII Rebirth Menu is time limited and split into 2 parts. The menu items with the yellow triangles say “prior period” and ended on 4/4, so you can’t order them anymore. The ones with the green triangles say “later period” and are available from 4/5 thru 5/10. Blue corners are available throughout the duration of the event (they’re notably Cloud/Sephiroth themed of course).

But what about the pasta

Ok so on to the important part! You already know what I ordered.

Here’s the menu item description:

ヴィンセントデュアルパスタ

二色のパスタでヴィンセントの持つ二面性を表現しました。スパイシーなアラビアータと濃厚なイカスミパスタをご堪能ください。

Vincent Dual Pasta

“A two-color pasta represents the dual faceted nature that Vincent has. Please enjoy* this spicy arrabbiata and rich** squid-ink pasta.”

(*ご堪能ください　go-tannou kudasai means “please enjoy” but it also means “please feel free to satisfy yourself/to have your fill of…” I’m just gonna let ya’ll fill in the blanks on that one 😘)

( ** 濃厚 noukou (rich in taste) can also be translated as passionate hahaha)

I need to talk about the Squid-ink pasta first. It can only be described as bougie AF. Squid ink is already kind of extra. But I think it had frickin saffron ??? And edible gold leaf on top???? And I am fairly certain that in addition to like, a tiny sprinkling of Parmesan (this is obligatory for any remotely Italian meal) there was like, tiny black caviar?????

Saffron?? Caviar??? Edible gold leaf????

If you ever wondered whether Vincent would spoil the heck out of you, the answer is yes. Yes, he would. Only the best with our man ❤️

Squid ink aside, the more standard arrabbiata was also nice. As a pescatarian, I was nervous it would have meat in it, as a lot of spaghetti dishes in Japan generally contain meat. Luckily it seemed to be vegetable-based, there was like a single zucchini or eggplant slice in there somewhere 😂 (Personally, I think a meat-free option suits him better. It’s like, slightly more compassionate than straight up bolognese or something).

Arrabbiata is made with tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and dried chili. (He pretends to be a vampire so he can get free garlic, guys) It also means “angry” in Italian (or spiciness pushed to excess). This is Square Enix basically telling you they know he is the hottest FFVII character. He’s not just hot. He’s spicy.

Ok but. Was it actually spicy? No, thankfully. Except for wasabi, Japanese cooking tends to be on the milder side anyway—but it did come with some chili peppers as a garnish, in case you want the full experience, lol.

Speaking of garnishes, what is that green thing in the middle?

It’s rosemary.

WAIT LET ME GOOGLE SOMETHING REAL QUICK

…

Oh lord did the people coming up with this concept do their research:

“Rosemary is the symbol of remembrance, friendship and love and was thus used in wedding ceremonies.” (It also has historical links to the Virgin Mary.)

That’s not just a random herb. That’s the most important part. Like?????????????? Is anyone else ok????? I’m glad I didn’t look this up in the cafe or I would have started ugly crying.

The Bottom Line

So was it good? Actually, yes! Artnia is a higher-end themed cafe than most (a lot of them get a bad rap for having barely edible food while overly relying on the fan aspects to carry the cafe). As a themed item it was close to perfect. The thought and care that went into this particular menu was apparent. I really appreciated that.

Also, this was super affordable as a meal. The yen is ¥0.66 = $1 right now, so this was under $10 😭 Caviar, saffron, squid ink and gold leaf for under $10? Seriously what the heck.

(Bonus, here is a terrible photo of the only Vincent decoration I could find in the store haha. It was kind of holographic?? And attached to the bar counter so I had to squat down to take a photo with my very old phone camera. Still made my heart go dokidoki)

The other items on the special menu were also really good! Husband ordered the “Cloud Black Omelette Rice” and he said it was some of the best omuraisu he had in Japan so far. Granted we are not the biggest consumers of omuraisu, but that has to count for something. We also tried the Cait Sith Mog Box drink (REALLY good, if you like Black Sesame) and the Gold Saucer Protein Juice (highly doubt it had any protein but it was a refreshing orange juice based drink).

Plus, for every drink you order, you get a random free character coaster. Check my next post to see who I got ❤️

The special menu is ongoing until Friday, May 10! If a trip to Tokyo is in the cards for you, as an FFVII fan, I do recommend making a trip to Artnia ❤️

EDIT: I lied there is *one* Vincent figure on display and like two tiny pieces of merch (which I will post later, tumblr doesn’t like me rn)

#artnia #vincent valentine #artnia square enix #ffvii rebirth #square enix #square enix cafe #food review #idk if Vincent eats but if he did…? lolol #post for another day #ok the rosemary literally took me out when I looked it up

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firekitten830 · 11 months

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Some thoughts about Miguel, the comics, and what it could mean for Beyond the Spiderverse

This post has spoilers in it! It also contains mentions of suicide. And it's also VERY long. Consider yourself warned.

Comic vs Movie Comparison

Going to be starting this off with comparing movie Miguel and comic Miguel. And to clarify before we get into it, I don’t think deviation from the comics is a bad thing, and I love both versions. Also worth mentioning that at the time of writing this I've only read the original series from 1992, Dark Genesis, and a couple of the temporal crossover stories (which I'm considering non-canon for the sake of this discussion). I might make another post like this once I've finished all of them.

Starting off with story deviation there's... not a lot for me to really say here, since we don’t know much about movie Miguel’s backstory aside from the part where he accidentally caused a universe to collapse, so there’s not a lot to point out in terms of story deviation yet. However his personality and behavior is a little bit different. He’s more serious in the movie. Now Miguel has always been more serious than most other versions of Spiderman, but in the comics he’s still humorous. His humor just tends to be more sarcastic and cynical (think a bit like Deadpool) rather than the quips and wisecracks you usually get with Spiderman. He’s pessimistic and actually pretty mean, especially when not in his Spiderman alter ego. I'll admit I do miss his sarcasm in retrospect, but at the same time it wouldn't really suit the role the movie has set him up to play. Plus his characterization in the movie is still super good, and I like it a lot.

Miguel in the comics does tend to be a lot less bouncy and acrobatic than most other spidermen, and that definitely shows in the movie too. But the movie did something I personally love, and pushed that aspect further, and made him almost animalistic rather than just a Spiderman that fights a bit more close quarters. He’s intimidating, he’s brutal, every move has weight and power that you can feel through the animation. They kept the inertia of his movements in mind, something they do for all of the characters but is especially noticeable and fun with characters like Miguel who have a lot of force behind their movements (This is also why I love how The Prowler is animated so much). One of my highest praises for these movies is that every character has their own unique style, and Miguel’s fits him very well and stays true to the comics.

And the last point I'm going to talk about before jumping in to speculation is the powers. There's not a lot for me to say here either in regards to comparison, since we've not really gotten a chance to see how movie Miguel's powers work, but I still do want to address it because if it's the same as in the comics, then he's actually pretty unique! Makes sense, considering he didn't get them from the standard radioactive spider-bite (more on that later). I am sorry to say but he is (probably) not a vampire (I say probably because it's entirely possible he is in the movie. But assuming it's the same as the comics, he isn't actually a vampire, just looks like one, since judging by the fact that Blade is... around... vampires are real in his world). Do keep drawing him as a vampire tho its hot.

Anyway. He does have those fangs in the comics! He also has venom! As in the paralytic toxin spiders use to catch prey, not the character. Another thing that sets him apart is that he... doesn't seem to have a spider-sense? At all? He has super enhanced normal senses, but not that sort of extra sense that pretty much every other spiderman seems to have. I don't know if this is true in the movie but it would be sort of neat. He also isn't sticky! Instead he has those talons to hook onto surfaces, those are a part of him, not the suit. Unless they changed it in the movie which is the one and only change i think would be super lame. But since they gave him the fangs I doubt it. There is one noteworthy difference between his powers in the comic and the movie, and it's that in the movie his webs seem to be technology based, maybe some form of energy or hard light technology, while in the comics he has spinnerets in his arms. It could also be a mix of both, or that could just be how his natural webs look. Either way I'm curious why that change was made, even if it was as simple as just to fit the futuristic aesthetic.

Miguel's Backstory

Onto the next section! I'm going to do my best to give a brief recap of Miguel's backstory, for anyone who doesn't know it. For the sake of simplicity I'm going to assume that his backstory in the movie is more or less the same as in the original comics, up to the part where he goes to another universe.

In the year 2099, most major cities are controlled by the interests of oppressive mega-corporations. Nueva York, controlled by Alchemax and their corporate police, is literally divided between the Uptown and the Downtown, the uptown being the shining, sparkling futuristic city where all of the rich and important people live, while the downtown is the crumbling remains of New York that have been built over, where all of those deemed worthless by Alchemax are confined to.

Miguel O'Hara is the head of the genetics project in Alchemax's R&D branch, leading their efforts regarding gene splicing and genetic manipulation. Miguel is a snarky, standoffish man, who’s just generally a jerk to pretty much everyone. He has a soft spot for Dana, his fiance, Lyla, his apartment's AI companion, and Gabriel, his younger brother, and... that's about it. Despite his rather high position in the company, Miguel has a strong distaste for Alchemax and its unethical scientific practices, and is determined to delay human genetics testing until he's sure it's 100% safe. After his reservations are ignored by the higher ups, and hasty human testing leads to the death of a man under Miguel's unwilling hand, he decides to quit working for the company. However, he's a valuable asset. Tyler Stone, the head of Alchemax, laces a drink for Miguel with Rapture, a hallucinogenic drug that alters genetic structure to cause almost guaranteed addiction and withdrawal so severe it can be deadly. Coincidentally, Rapture is only legally produced and distributed by Alchemax.

Rather than let himself be manipulated, Miguel decided to use his own genetic modification equipment to attempt to reverse the alterations made by Rapture. During the procedure, Miguel's supervisor, resentful of Miguel's fast rise through the ranks and his constant disrespect for his superiors, sabotaged the process in an attempt to kill him. Instead he ended up activating the gene splicing program, and spliced Miguel and a spider together. Why was a spider present at all, you may ask? The final result of this genetic manipulation project was super-soldiers, and Miguel had decided to take inspiration from a certain hero back in the Heroic Age. Spider based enhancements seemed to work pretty well back then, why not give it another go?

After emerging from the process very much not dead, but no longer human, Miguel has to navigate new powers, and the new dangers that come with the mantle he's accidentally taken. It's around this point when Miguel starts to have thoughts of taking his own life, and pretty consistently continues to throughout the story.

I'm not giving a full recap, this story is already long and I don't remember specifics for most things. Miguel faces a myriad of villains, future versions of classic spiderman villains and new foes as well. He also takes over Alchemax after usurping Tyler Stone, which I'll touch on again later. But throughout all of it a consistent theme for him is loss. Over the course of the original comics, he loses almost everyone he has any kind of connection with, in one way or another.

He has a falling out with his fiance, Dana, and before he can try to reconnect, she gets caught in the crossfire during a fight with Venom and dies in his arms. He finally starts to repair his broken relationship with his mother, only for her to be shot during a raid on Alchemax after she started working as a secretary. Gabriel eventually becomes so overcome with resentment for Miguel that he takes up the mantle of Green Goblin, and attempts to ruin his life and also kill him. Xina, an old flame he was rekindling his relationship with, left him again without so much as a goodbye. The only one he has left to turn to for any sort of familiarity or comfort is Lyla, and even she tried to kill him once. He cuts himself off from everyone who tries to make a connection with him again, because he's convinced that being close to him leads to people hating him, dying, or both. Assuming Miguel's backstory is the same up to this point, he's already at the lowest he's ever been. And probably stays there until he and Lyla develop the technology to travel between universes. Here's where the speculation kicks in.

Miguel finds another universe like his own. Another universe with another Miguel O'hara, except this one never became Spider-man. And this one never lost all of the same people that the other did. He and Dana got married, they have a daughter. They're happy. Not only does he have proof that it isn't just being close to him that gets people hurt, he has an opportunity. Because this other Miguel is dead, and this other Miguel isn't Spider-man. He could take his place and be free of his own unhappiness, his own burdens, and save the inhabitants of this parallel world the pain of losing him. And for a brief time he's happy, he doesn't have to be Spider-man, he has a family and a life that isn't full of danger and loss. And then he loses it all again, and is left once again with nothing but the feeling that it is his fault.

Further speculation, I think that's probably why he's so caught up with "canon"; it means that the losses he faced were inevitable. It makes him feel just a little bit better, a little less guilty. Yes, he's trying to protect other universes from possibly meeting the same fate as the one he caused to collapse, but he's also trying to make himself feel better in the process, even if he doesn't realize it.

Theories

This bit is going to be mostly unstructured, since I don't have any huge theories, just certain smaller points or plot elements I think are going to happen.

Miguel’s ties to Alchemax are going to come up, and they’re going to be important.

Alchemax is a company that originated in the 2099 comics. There has to be a reason they chose it for the company in Into the Spiderverse, because there’s dozens of other evil companies they could’ve chosen. But they chose Alchemax, the company Miguel has ties to, and then they set him up as an antagonist. It's going to be brought up, and it's going to be important.

Miguel and Miles will relate to each other

I say this because they're both very much outliers. They aren't their world's original Spider-man, they both have different powers and backstories than the other Spider-men. I feel like this is going to be called out, both as a way to call out Miguel's hypocrisy, and as a way for Miles to relate to him and find common ground.

Miguel was injecting himself with a gene stabilizer, or with something Rapture related

I know I'm not the first person to suggest the first part of this point. It makes sense--we know that the mutations from the spider DNA didn't all happen immediately. I also can't imagine that having your genome that dramatically altered is very good for you. I haven't seen anyone suggest the second part, but I think that's probably because it's not seeming very likely at this point. I don't want to rule out the possibility, though.

Peter B is going to be important to resolving the storyline with Miguel/Have a heart to heart with him

During the movie I got the sense that Peter B is trying to befriend Miguel, or at least to get him to open up a bit more. I think this is because he sees himself in Miguel. Yes, they're very different, but they're similar in ways that matter. Peter B looks at Miguel and he sees someone who's given up; on his principles, on his role, on his own life. Peter B has never been openly suicidal like Miguel, but before he met Miles he was still very much in the same spot. He had still given up on his ideals, on being Spider-man, and he made the choice to stay and destroy the collider not for a noble reason, but because he didn't care if he died. I think that Peter has recognized that same mentality in Miguel, and is trying to reach out to pull him back from that edge, like Miles did for him. I think the two of them have a lot of potential for some heartfelt interaction, and I hope I'm picking up on something that's actually there and intentional.

So that's pretty much it! This post is a lot more ramble-y and unstructured than I wanted it to be, but it was really just a way for me to get my thoughts out.

#combat talks #across the spiderverse #across the spiderverse spoilers #spiderman across the spiderverse #atsv #miguel o'hara #spiderman 2099 #peter b parker #suicide mention #spiderman

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centrally-unplanned · 2 years

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Like a lot of media, anime has ideology. They tend to come up the most in the themes for shows - I have talked before about the Cult of Fun, characters struggling to do X or losing a relationship with person Y and those experiences are justified, made good, by the line “we had fun, right?”. Nothing wrong with that idea, but anime ideologies tend to play their greatest hits over and over - I can name hundreds of shows with that theme! (Dress-up Darling was last season’s obligatory Cult of Fun show). From The Power of Friendship to Shinzo Abe Says Make Babies a lot of anime can be slotted into a select few groups. Which doesn’t stop them from being great, but over time you really start to value less overplayed ideas.

Which is why I think Call of the Night is my favourite anime airing this season so far - its theme is “being an aimless nocturnal streetwalker fucking rocks” which is a very refreshing take on the vampire romance genre. Ever since the “urban fantasy” David Bowie-style vampire turn of the 80′s emerged, the vampire media ecology gained this “the Call of the Night, a life of back-alley raves and fancy parties and endless indulgence” sheen that, despite its obvious sex appeal, is almost always portrayed as fundamentally bad and also ridiculously excessive. Unending baroque orgy raves sounds fun in the abstract, but for most it would be unobtainable and also exhausting - you aren’t cool enough to pull it off, sorry!

Call of the Night is referencing this concept right in its title, but to make the genre work for its 14 year old loner protagonist it needs to scale back the ambitions: this is an anime about our high school drop main guy Kou Yamori befriending/being seduced by/being fed upon female street-hobo vampire Nazuna Nanakusa. And they spend their time literally fucking around on the streets of Tokyo together, drinking from vending machines, hanging out in parks, and just doing nothing. Every night they go back to Nazuna’s apartment for feeding and it literally looks like this:

Straight up “single men can live like this and be happy” meme level of zero fucks given.

The Call of the Night in Call of the Night has zero glitz and its entirely positive and fun, because what makes the call appealing isn’t the raves or the orgies, but the night itself, the ideology of the night:

Why do you think people stay up at night?

Because there is a show they want to watch, something they want to do?

[Nah,] It all boils down to one reason:

They aren’t satisfied with how they spent the day

The night means freedom...

Which sounds all dramatic except the inhibition released is high fiving a passing drunk guy who then throws up on your shoe:

Which is actually totally freeing! You never would high-five a drunk guy at 4:00 PM, 4:00 PM is the time of responsibilities, social pressures, the obligations of existing. But no one expects you achieve goals at 3:00 AM, everyone who could judge you is asleep! I absolutely feel this theme in real life and also don’t think I have seen it captured in anime before, or at least not very often - I didn’t know I wanted a show to reflect this part of me until I saw it.

And it leans into this aesthetically too. In CotN the night itself is gorgeous all the time in different color swatches of purples and yellows; who wouldn’t want to live here even if its all spent sitting on park swings:

But meanwhile, our main characters are not ideal seductresses. Oh sure, our vampire is a hot anime girl who wears like a leather crop top and mini skirt, its still anime, but like:

Nazuna has those tired eyes, her head is kindof flat, she spends most her time being either confused or a snickering gremlin - you aren’t shocked she is a little desperate for a blood buddy. Here is her “hey can I suck your blood” face before it goes evil:

Hell, indulge me here or skip if its cringe for you, but even her breasts are realism-first - here is her at her most seductive, moments she absolutely has, don’t get me wrong:

But notice how those aren’t the round perky bouncy anime tits of the average 2D hottie? I have had conversations with people with breasts like these about how their shape makes them insecure, which regardless of if they should be is certainly something *anime* normally agrees with.

The point is Nazuna’s grunge-flecked hotness, just like the beautiful-night-but-at-a-vending-machine aesthetic, is all calibrated to make the ordinary and stupid liberating via the socially-emancipatory potential of the night as an escape from having to worry about being stupid and ordinary. And it works, hands-down.

The actual plot mechanic, since I haven’t mentioned it, is that Kou wants to became a vampire to join the nightlife permanently, and you do that by being bitten by vampire while in love with them, while Nazuna is happy to indulge his attempt if she gets to feed on him in the meantime (which isn’t deadly). The sex metaphor is hilariously on-the-nose:

Which is a sign of the show understanding what level the audience is at when it comes to cultural awareness: it doesn’t need to play coy, you've seen vampire shit before so why not laugh at it? The plot is all normal them-getting-closer stuff, this isn’t a visionary show, instead its just a good version of a typical show. It does however have a grand time playing with the gender roles of this relationship: Kou is absolutely the girl of the two during bite time:

But it isn’t just jokes, like this scene of some now-consensual biteplay after Kou, delightfully, was insecure that Nazuna was just using him for sex blood and he isn’t special and Nazuna assured him no baby, it’s more than that:

I mean its still A: hilarious, and B: hot, and its great how Nazuna carries him around the city because she can fly and always climbs on top of him and initiates everything and all of that. If its your kink this show is absolutely here for you, Kou just needs some thigh highs, cat ears, and an Intro to Haskell and she will be Tumblr-ready in no time.

But the strength of this show is in how tight it is, how all the elements stack up. What are those themes again? The night frees you, not to be a brazen orgy-raving vampire lord, but to not have to deal the day-to-day stresses? Responsibilities, obligations, social expectations, you don’t have to put on a face and live up to all those under the forgiving light of the stars?

Including the onerous, demanding, constricting ones that come with Being a Man, maybe?

#essay #call of the night #Ash Seasonal Anime Impressions #night owl gang rise up

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billyharringson · 8 months

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🌟Writer Appreciation🌟

When you get this show off five of your favorite fics and five fics you like from other writers then send this to at least one other person (if you want).

Oh yay I'm gonna talk about a different 5 fics again this time (plus side of being obsessed enough to have written nearly 80 fics). I'm gonna go in no particular order again and this time in going to do a different pairing for each one.

1. Harringrove - my OG pairing and the thing that got me into this fandom. I've written a lot of Harringrove so this is hard but I'm going to go with 'Rules for survival' because I love me some mean Dom Steve and desperate Billy.

2. Mungrove - one of my favourite Mungrove fics and one I'm definitely planning on writing more of is 'it means 'to lie beneath' because adding a little fantasy/supernatural flair is always fun

3. Byergrove - whilst I've written a good deal of Byergrove I feel like I've got to go with 'take a picture, it'll last longer' because I get to emotionally destroy myself and everyone else with each new chapter

4. Harringroveson - okay so anything in the 'babygirlification of Billy Hargrove' series is something that I love but I'm really enjoying writing 'a blue eyed cat and a brown eyed boy' so we're going with that one here

5. Argilly - I've actually only written one straight up Argilly fic and that is 'a list of firsts' but I want to write more of them because they're cute

Now for the bit I'm really excited about because I get to shout out my faves by other. Also again in no particular order here we go:

1. If I swallow anything evil by sure sure on AO3. You have no idea how feral I am for this fic. Sub/Dom universe with secret sub Billy? Mutual pining? Good Dom Steve and poor self deprecating Billy? Yes please to all of this

2. 'a taste of the sun' by deathinasmalltown on AO3. Post starcourt Harringrove in the middle of summer where the boys get too hot and finally give into their desires.

3. 'King of Diamonds' by @shieldofiron was my first introduction into mean Dom Steve and I love, love, love it! The little check-ins, Billy being so desperate and also so scared of how much he wants it. So much yum

4. 'like magnets' by @pondermoniums is like the cutest, softest, sweetest thing ever and also @wrecked-fuse art that goes with it is like *screams*

5. 'To Rich for my Blood' by neveractuallyseenit is like THE Mungrove vampire fic for me. God I can't wait for the next chapter, I am chewing on drywall this thing is so good.

As you can see I'm totally normal about these fics.

#billy hargrove #stranger things #fanfic #steve harrington #harringrove #eddie munson #mungrove

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msmargaretmurry · 6 months

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Matthew curls/slutty collarbone-appreciating anon again - BOSTON!!! Home of another rat king! My home! (Not living there at the moment, but I miss it so, if you’ve seen Letterkenny/that one episode with the two dudes from Newfoundland getting all melancholy and homesick when Newfoundland is mentioned, that is me rn. No hard feelings re: Ratthew et al. knocking out Boston, though, I was still cheering for my slutty rat boy in the final.) I hope you and all of the other scholars are having an excellent time! Are you attending/watching any games? Don’t know if the Bruins are home or away tho, I haven’t been to the Garden in years, it’s such a fun venue. Bummed the PWHL team won't be able to play there, but I get it, schedule's packed. (Much as I love Boston, I will readily admit that the fans are… eh. Basketball is probs the best of the bunch.)

Matthew is only escalating his slut phase and I am living for it, that French girl lounging, Matthew is not beating those submissive and breedable accusations (or at least the breedable ones, he’s down for a fight first, if someone wants to wrestle him down and sink their teeth into the back of his neck and hold him there he/I will not be opposed, you know.) And you know, in a post-trade Matthew/Leon scenario, what’s a rat boy to do when he’s surrounded by men who want to fuck him up/probably also fuck him, when his former ?? hookup/fuckbuddy/fuckenemy/boyfriend/baby daddy (????) is all the way in Edmonton, not flirt with them? And of course when you’re a bitchy tank who only gets to play his… whatever Ratthew is to him, best not to think about that, twice a year, you’re not gonna not seize the opportunity/nearest storage closet to chew him up a little. It’s just not done.

I am very here for this vampire AU and neck/throat appreciation/biting. I am also generally here for Matthew the problem child and/or Matthew the generally good and together child whose one moment of rebellion is bringing home a nightmare boyfriend and/or Matthew with daddy problems or at least an adrenaline/danger kink whose constitution is incapable of not goading hot vampire into trying to bite him. And hot vampires cannot be blamed, he is flashing an irresponsible amount of collarbone as is.

hello again anon! yay boston!! absolutely one of my favorite cities. i am home now and even though i love home i am missing it already. just a lovely place to spend a lovely long weekend with lovely friends (whom i also miss already 😭😭😭). i am, i'm sorry to tell you, anti-boston sports (me being an east coaster NOT from boston, i feel like this shouldn't be a surprise), but y'all do always seem have a handful of players i love anyway, and even i must admit fenway is one of the most fun ballparks i've ever been to. the bruins sadly were not in town, but we went to the bc vs. denver game on saturday, and on sunday we schlepped out to worcester for a railers game, and both of those were very fun 💞

but onto the more important topic: our beloved rat boy. a concept related to your original ask i am currently mulling over is one where they are Totally Just Frenemies Who Occasionally Sleep Together (they used to be rivals who occasionally slept together but leon is not going to call anyone who plays in florida a "rival") which means that matthew can fuck whoever he wants. and does. and tells leon all about it while they hook up, and for some reason comes out of these hookups looking like leon tried to eat him alive. perhaps he will need to invest in a tshirt that he hasn't mutilated so that he can talk to the media in the days afterward without showing off all the teeth-shaped bruises he seems to have acquired. surely this all means nothing. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

i have a couple of other asks about the vampire leon extended universe so i am going to save my thoughts about THAT for answering those so i can stick them all in their own tag 😅 thank yoooouuuu for the ask though!! 💖

#ask #matthew and leon #hockey for ts

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shugokairifatewin · 2 years

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I was going to wait until Chapter 116 released to give a full length rant, but it's been eating at me the last few days and we really need to talk about Chapter 114 and 115 of Seraph of the End. As always, spoilers ahead, be aware! Unpopular opinions also ahead; I'm pretty heated about this one, just a warning!

*~*~*~*~*

Let me start by saying I am hurt. I am offended. And I am betrayed. Because Kagami really over here hyping up this whole family-always-sticks-together BS with Guren and Yuu and the rest of Squad and even Mika jumping in there like yeah this is my family, and it's great and it's wholesome and we're making progress-

Only to turn around one (or two? I can't recall) chapters later and plunge a sword through Yuu's heart - and mine as well.

Mika has always always always been my favorite character. He has suffered. He has died, he's come back. He finally freaken started finding peace of mind as Yuu's demon. And I would fight wars and burn worlds for this man to have some damn peace and happiness with his boyfriend best friend and family. And Kagami TEASED US with that glimpse of happiness and acceptance and then CRUSHED IT.

And frankly it makes me sick. I'm so done with the greedy ass manipulative people who have been twisting knives in the backs of my favorite characters for YEARS of this story now.

This whole damn time, Guren KNEW that Mikaela was going to have to die AND HE HAS MANIPULATED THE EVER LIVING SHIT OUT OF YUU KNOWING THIS. This whole fucking time, he's been saving this kid, keeping him alive, feeding him false hope and bullshit about family this and keep living because some day you'll find a reason again that - ONLY FOR THIS INGRATE TO KILL THAT VERY REASON OF EXISTENCE FOR HIS OWN ENDS! I am hot mad about it.

Guren has always been a rollercoaster character for me, love and hate and despise and love again and pity, but this shit is unacceptable. Sure, he wants to save all of humanity and that's a noble goal but the means to an end he's used is absolutely unforgivable.

I'm going to feel terrible for saying it but I hope Yuu razes them all to the ground. He has been used and manipulated, treated like crap left and right and frankly I don't blame him for going off the deep end. In fact, I'm cheering you on my guy.

Moving on from my intense, undiluted fury at Guren and the crappy way he's treated Yuu and Mika, who literally just want to live their best lives in peace, I am broken and in pieces over Chapter 116. I haven't cried this much since Mika died and turned Demon.

To see this expression on Mika's face while Yuu is crying is literally enough to rend my heart in two.

And then when Mika started crying too, I LOST IT. I almost threw my phone I was so emotional. KAGAMI WHY

I FEEL PHYSICALLY UNWELL. My boys are crying 🥺 they are hurting and I cannot handle it.

And can we talk about how we got to see Mika grow from suspicious, angry Vampire who only cares about Yuu and making sure he's okay to caring, compassionate Demon who would give up his life for all of humanity? Only for Guren to not even bar an eyelash at killing him? I just can't.

AND WHEN MIKA TELLS HIM THEY'LL BE TOGETHER FOREVER -

MIKA DESERVES HAPPINESS. YUU DESERVES HAPPINESS. SHIKAMA DOJI AND ANYONE ELSE BE DAMNED THESE TWO DESERVE A FREAKEN A CHANCE TO LIVE THEIR LIVES.

IF GUREN SURVIVES THIS SERIES AND MIKA DOESNT I'M GOING TO RIOT IN THE STREETS.

THEY HAVE BEEN HURT ENOUGH. LEAVE MY BABIES ALONE.

This has been weighing on me for weeks now. I needed to get it off my chest.

That is all.

#ons chapter 115 #ons chapter 116 #i will riot in the streets if Mika becomes a sacrificial lamb #save mika 2022 campaign #Mika and Yuu deserve better #I'm still furious at Guren and his manipulative ass BS #family my ass get out #owari no seraph #seraph of the end #mikaela hyakuya #mikayuu #ons #sote #yuuichirou hyakuya #furious #a rant i needed to get off my chest #seraph of the end rant #be right back I'm selling my soul to save Mika's because he deserves it #the next chapter bettywr fix some crap.

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thebibliomancer · 6 months

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Essential Avengers: Avengers #303: RECKONING!

May, 1989

Featuring... Quasar! Firelord! The Fantastic Four! And the West Coast Avengers!

When is so many guest stars too many guest stars? If not here then near here.

So, last times in Avengers: due to editorial meddling, the writer of Avengers went from Roger Stern to Walter Simonson. Simonson wanted to shake the book up with a hot new roster, including Mr Fantastic and Invisible Woman. He got editorial permission to use these Fantastic Four characters in Avengers but then the permission got withdrawn right after he'd already committed to it in the book. So he quit.

Now Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio are writing the book until the new permanent writer comes on, trying to smoothly write out the Richardses. So we get this three-parter about Super-Nova, coming to Earth to look for Nebula who blew up his home planet Xandar off-panel in an earlier story.

The Avengers flew up to Super-Nova's ship, at which point he blew it up and just flew to Earth on his own. The Avengers survived the explosion, thanks to Invisible Woman, and have made their way back to Earth. In the meantime, the West Coast Avengers and Quasar have tried - very high emphasis on tried - to stop Super-Nova.

Hawkeye tried to buy time by talking to the guy. But one page of talking to Hawkeye is enough for Super-Nova to want to squish the archer.

Which is a valid reaction to Clint Barton.

Super-Nova recaps why he's here and gives Hawkeye one more chance to tell him what he wants to know.

Super-Nova: "My homeworld, Xandar, was destroyed by a she-pirate named Nebula! She fled to Earth and has taken refuge as a member of the Avengers. I am the sole survivor of Xandar -- Super-Nova... And I have come here seeking her in the name of vengeance. You are the self-proclaimed leader of this group. You will reveal her whereabouts now -- or I will crush you and this puny world as well.

Meanwhile, at ground level, Tigra casually chats how she wants to slit Super-Nova's throat to get at his blood.

ARE YOU A VAMPIRE NOW?

Hank Pym tells her not to try anything foolish while Hawkeye is in Super-Nova's grasp.

Some police nearby decide now is a good time to start shooting at the giant man. Hank tells them to not start shit.

Hawkeye has apparently just hemmed and hawed and not said anything and Super-Nova runs out of patience.

He bemoans that a planet full of dumbos like Earth survives while Xandar had to die.

Hawkeye accuses that of being Super-Nova's real motive. He doesn't really care about Nebula, he just wants to take out his grief and frustration by destroying an innocent world.

In response, Super-Nova disintegrates Hawkeye.

Can't tell if that means Hawkeye's motive read was right or whether Super-Nova is just sick of his shit.

Super-Nova is also sick of Nebula not being brought to him and he blows up a building about it.

As it happens, Hawkeye did not die. It may surprise you to learn that he did not die while guest starring in another book and while his own book is in the middle of a story. But its true.

When he stops flinching from being about to die, he realizes he's being carried away by pink energy.

Yup, Quasar reappeared in the story.

After he failed to restrain Super-Nova, he shrugged and decided to focus on evacuating people instead of fighting the big, angry dude. In fairness, Super-Nova has been remarkably chill so far so Quasar probably saw no reason to rile him up further.

Despite being a rookie hero, Quasar is very not impressed with professional hero Hawkeye.

Quasar: "Exactly what strategy were you employing back there?" Hawkeye "Oh, that. Ahh -- special Avengers emergency tactic #1108 for dealing with giant aliens. Say, how about a lift back to the street?" Quasar: "Fine. I've more folks to rescue anyway."

You can just about feel the disillusionment wafting off Quasar.

And its not like he's full of himself. Half of what I've read of his solo so far is him kicking himself over what an incompetent goober he feels he is.

So for him to look at Hawkeye and go 'wow, you make me feel competent.'

Oof.

At ground level, Hank is having a breakdown that they just stood by while Hawkeye was killed and Tigra is trying to comfort him.

Hawkeye: "Save those tears, people! Your unflappable leader-man's back on the job!"

Tigra runs over to hug Hawkeye out of relief. And Hank shows his relief by berating his leader.

Dr Pym: "Well, I suppose you expect us to be grateful you're in one piece! What exactly was that little stunt you pulled that gave me fifty new gray hairs? And who was that guy who brought you down?" Hawkeye: "Gimme a break, Hank. Y'know, it seemed like such a good idea at the time -- teleporting, that is. I've been learning the technique in my yoga class. Heh, heh."

Okay. That's pretty funny. And halfway plausible in a comic universe.

(Is Hawkeye a Street Fighter fan? And a Dhalsim main?)

Tigra interrupts the Hank and Hawk Laff Zone to point out that the Fantastic Four have arrived. Yup, all three of them.

They never actually replaced Crystal when she left during Evolutionary War. It's almost been a year, guys. You can't have a gap on the roster for that long when the team name has a specific number in it.

Anyway, Thing and She-Thing jump out of the Fantasti-Car to pummel Super-Nova!

Annnnnnnnnnnnd.

Immediately get grabbed in his big, strong hands and bonked together like cymbals.

Super-Nova: "Thus are two more inconveniences dispensed with."

Good contribution, Fantastic Three.

Johnny Storm flames on and flies out of the Fantasti-Car (does that have auto-pilot?) and threatens to do Super-Nova a fire.

Super-Nova points out that he can survive the extreme temperatures of space pretty easily so some little flame blasts aren't going to do a lot.

And they don't. Human Torch splashes some flame off Super-Nova's shoulder and the guy doesn't even turn to look.

Johnny wants to hit him with nova flame, see how he holds up to that heat, but that would burn down Chicago and Chicago doesn't need that again. So he'll have to think of something else.

Quasar finds Thing and She-Thing in the crater they made of the street and goes to say hi.

He knows Ben from his Project Pegasus days! From Quasar's Project Pegasus days.

But he was only saying hi and making sure Ben and friend were okay. Because he then flies off to go help the Human Torch.

Human Torch also recognizes Quasar. From an issue that hasn't been printed yet. But I've read it so teal deer, Quasar is renting an office in the Baxter Building and he saw someone break into the Fantastic Four's floors. He went to stop the guy, had a little altercation with the Human Torch, and then teamed up with him.

Your standard Marvel meet-cute.

Anyway, Torch and Quasar pool their powers to blast at Super-Nova, who ineffectually swats at them like annoying flies.

The Avengers shortly arrive, in the extra Quinjet they borrowed from the West Coast Avengers Compound. But Cap decides not to jump right into things.

He knows that the West Coast Avengers are on the scene and wants to touch base with them, find out why they're not doing anything. So he calls him on the radio.

Captain America: "This is Captain America, Hawkeye! What in blazes is going on down there, mister?" Hawkeye: "Blazes is the word for it, Winghead! Welcome to the weenie roast! I hear you gents already ran into tall and gruesome in space. Glad to see you're still among the living. This dude's already downed Wonder Man and the Thing -- and the Torch and this Quasar guy don't seem to be having much luck!"

So Cap calls General Akord and tells him to absolutely evacuate the city. Super-Nova can explode with nuclear level force if he gets agitated and he's probably getting agitated, what with all the people trying to set him on fire.

General Akord tells Captain America that evacuating an entire city on short notice is basically impossible. So if the superheroes can't stop Super-Nova, the military is going to do what the military do and shoot guns at him.

So that puts a time-crunch on things. Save the city from the military being dumb.

Cap asks Thor, Firelord, and Gilgamesh to go into the fray and talk the Human Torch and Quasar into disengaging. He needs Invisible Woman to take up a good vantage point and be ready to put an invisible force field around Super-Nova should he go supernova again.

Invisible Sue says she doesn't know if she's up to it. After all the strain of surviving the explosion in space and having to keep a bubble up until they could get back to Earth... she might be tapped.

Mr Fantastic offers to go with her... to provide moral support I guess? Tell her when to use her powers, like he tends to do? I don't know but he wants to be by her side which is probably sweet.

But Cap tells Reed he needs his help talking with the authorities.

Mr Fantastic: "Couldn't you handle that yourself, Cap?" Captain America: "No! Reed, you're an Avenger now -- and I give the orders! Clear?" Mr Fantastic: "Yes. Clear."

I don't want to accuse Cap of being petty but I sorta wonder if he really does need Reed to talk to the authorities. Or if he's just trying to reign in Reed and chose this moment.

I don't want to tell Cap how to run a team but if you have a Mr Fantastic on call, his role in a fight should be 'hey smart guy, think of a smart guy solution!'

Invisible Woman jumps out of the Quinjet and makes an invisible slide to slide safely down to a rooftop.

God, Sue's cool.

But just in case Thor pops in and is like hey do you need a hand or? She tells him she's good so he goes righto, drops Gilgamesh to the ground, and goes to talk to Team Beat-Up Super-Nova.

Firelord asks Human Torch to stop attacking the big guy that could explode and Johnny says hey fuck you, you're just a copy of me.

Stay classy, Johnny.

Cap and Reed land by General Akord. While Cap explains the situation vis a vis Super-Nova looking for Nebula on Earth but actually she fell into a time hole, Reed gets that far-away genius plot resolving epiphany face and fucks off.

Just jump stretches away.

Right when Cap is asking him to explain the situation fully to the general.

Captain America: "Reed, where the --" Hawkeye: "Sure you're still in charge, ol' buddy?" Captain America: "Of the number one Avengers team? You bet! Reed -- blast it! Will you come down?" Hawkeye: "Heh, heh. How's that class on leadership lessons comin', Cap?" Captain America: "What's he doing? I didn't authorize him getting involved in this battle!"

Stay classy, Clint.

Mr Fantastic stretches over to the battle where Firelord is still trying to stop Human Torch from attacking Super-Nova. And where Thor seemingly forgot his mission briefing because he's taunting the big guy by saying he's fought bigger.

Reed forms himself into the shape of a Q or kind of a Q practically almost a Q to get Quasar's attention.

Mr Fantastic asks Quasar to fly him to the Baxter Building in New York as fast as possible.

This clearly needed to be done by Quasar and Reed couldn't just use the Quinjet he flew here in, clearly.

Captain America watches Reed and Quasar take off and is like '???'

Meanwhile, Thor forgot his mission assignment so hard that he's aggroed Super-Nova into blowing up.

One job, Thor.

You had one job.

But when Super-Nova builds his firey power up to explode, Firelord and Human Torch just absorb it all away before it does explode.

Human Torch talks a big game when Firelord asks him if he can handle half the energy burst but is secretly worried that he's never had to absorb this much before.

And just when Johnny feels like he's going to explode, the two firey heroes succeed in taking all of the energy from Super-Nova.

It's a LOT of energy though so they immediately have to fly off into the upper atmosphere to vent it where it won't do any harm.

The strain of containing so much energy makes Human Torch go all woozy so Firelord grabs him to carry him back to Earth.

Johnny apologizes for being such an argumentative dick to him and Firelord says hey its cool, we're fire bros.

Sometimes I'm being tongue in cheek when I paraphrase but not this time.

Firelord: "No apologies necessary, for we are one with the flame that transcends worlds."

They're fire bros.

With all of his built-up energy dissipating in space now, Super-Nova is just a really big dude.

Now even Gilgamesh is getting in on the 'I've fought bigger' boasting.

Thing and She-Thing have recovered from being bonked together and they start trying to trip up Super-Nova by lifting his foot.

She-Thing (Sharon Ventura, btw) tries to make this story arc seem big and epic by talking about all these different heroes coming together to face a threat none could challenge alone.

But Ben Thing Grimm tells her hey, c'mon, time and place and when we're trying to knock this guy over before he notices is not the time.

Wonder Man wanders up, finally recovered from the smack down he received. Sure took his time.

(Apparently his belt jets broke and that's why he took so long.)

He asks what Ben is up to and Ben jokes he's sizing Super-Nova up for a new pair of shoes. Then Ben asks where Wonder Man has been.

Wonder Man: "Oh, I was part of the underground effort here for a while."

HAH.

Cause he was knocked underground.

You're funny, Simon.

Thing: "I don't know whut yer talkin' about -- but grab a handful here, willya?"

Simon is funny but its really 'you had to be there' humor.

So Thing 1 and Thing 2 grab one foot, Wonder Man pushes the other, and Thor shoves the back of his knee and timberrrrrrr.

Super-Nova falls flat on his face.

Thor: "At last you see that e'en one such as thee may be toppled -- may fall before the righteous wrath of those you belittled!"

Super-Nova really does just stand around and let things happen to him, huh?

I guess it's hard to choreograph a fight involving a giant guy but he does just kind of stand around.

The Thing advises everyone should pile on him while before he can get back up and nearly everybody does rush in to kick the guy while he's down.

TEAMWORK!

Over at Manhattan, Quasar and Mr Fantastic have arrived at the Baxter Building. Which is technically called Four Freedoms Plaza at this point.

Reed runs into one of the small labs he used when he was with the Fantastic Four. He hasn't been back in months, since he and Sue quit the team, but what luck! The very specific non-descript thing he's looking for is in a crate, right where he left it! And also, an oversized adapter unit that he needs, right nearby!

Thank goodness for convenience, the comic is nearly out of pages!

On the topic, you may be wondering why Reed even needs to hurry back and save the day with his leftover scientific marvels when the other heroes have Super-Nova on his ass and kicking his face?

Well, he gets back up.

A big punch scatters the heroes and Super-Nova's power starts building up again. His body starts heating up too hot for even the rock-skinnned Thing and She-Thing to hold on.

Uh oh, he might be building up to an explosion again!

Well, can Firelord and Human Torch absorb the blast like last time?

No, Johnny is still woozy from last time.

Okay but Cap prepared for this by putting Invisible Woman in a good vantage point, ready to encase Super-Nova in a bubble, right?

Lol. Sue abandoned her post to go fret over Johnny.

One job.

You had one job, Sue.

He's not even hurt! Head in the game!

Firelord finally tries appealing to Super-Nova as a fellow Xandarian. I mean, doesn't it make him feel better that he's not the last of his kind?

But Super-Nova isn't in a listening mood.

Super-Nova: "No more talk -- DEATH!"

Captain America, strategic genius of the Avengers, comes up with an 11th hour strategy!

Hit him again! Just keep hitting him until the problem stops being a problem!

Good plan, Cap!

Thankfully, Reed arrives with a b- well, with a plan.

Hee has Quasar drop him right in front of Super-Nova.

Mr Fantastic: "Super-Nova -- this is Reed Richards! I have been known to your homeworld! I have met those in the Nova Corps and knew them to be honorable men! You are of them -- listen to me! Listen! Nebula is outside this timestream... She is not on Earth! But she can be sought with this time machine I have brought from New York!"

Super-Nova asks why he should trust Reed isn't just trying to get rid of him, Reed says Super-Nova has his word.

Super-Nova: "Reed Richards -- you were known on Xandar. I have heard you are a man of your word. Proceed."

Well, okay.

Its funny that this whole story could have been prevented if Super-Nova had trusted Reed to tell him what happened back on the spaceship.

I mean, this whole story has happened because people kept telling Super-Nova what happened to Nebula and every time he went 'nuh uh!'

Also, I guess it disproves Hawkeye's read that Super-Nova was just lashing out at Earth.

Anyway.

Mr Fantastic sets the (really big) time platform up and Super-Nova gets on it. The platform sends Super-Nova into the timestream, to be the timestream's problem if he gets mad again.

Thanks, Reed!

Super-Nova: "Your planet owes you a vast debt, Richards. For in my anger, I surely would have destroyed it. But in the end... reason has prevailed." Mr Fantastic: "May your search bear fruit. Farewell.

Yup, Reed Richards sure is cool. Too cool for the Avengers, probably.

Definitely too cool for the Fantastic Three, who seem to have shown up just to get shown up.

Zing.

But while everyone congratulates Reed on how cool he is, Captain America is grim in the corner of the panel.

Captain America: And you did it without clearing the plan with me. That's not how we play ball on the Avengers, mister. Not at all.

'Hmph hmph hmph most unorthodox!'

Anyway, this is the end of Mr Fantastic and Invisible Woman with the Avengers.

It's not made explicit in this issue. Next issue, Reed and Sue are gone and the team is just Captain America, Thor, and Gilgamesh.

In order to know why Reed and Sue quit, you'd have to read Fantastic Four #326.

At the beginning of that issue, the two are still with the Avengers. And start the issue hanging out on Avengers Island.

Reed suddenly announces that he's bored of being with the Avengers. Sue says she can tell he wants to go back to the Fantastic Four again and makes him promise not to take the team back when he goes to visit just to see how Manhattan is recovering from Inferno.

When Reed visits the Baxter building, he finds that his entry card doesn't open the rooftop door. And when he opens the door by turning his finger into a key, he finds the automatic defenses have activated and targeted him.

Because Ben hasn't been maintaining the security systems with the procedures that Reed left behind.

Reed swears up and down that he's definitely not here to take over.

Then the Wizard attacks with a new Frightful Four.

In the confusion, Ben gets tossed into a new cosmic ray gadget Reed whipped up to cure Johnny of being too hot. And the device turned Ben back into a squishy human.

Reed decides, well, Ben can't lead the Fantastic Four like this! It's not like he has some kind of robotic Thing suit he can wear. That'd be silly. So Reed needs to come back and take over.

It's not like Johnny or Sharon could do it!

Sue says she just wants to live as normal parents with Franklin but Reed asks her if she's really going to leave the FF in their hour of need? And she says no.

HA HA EVERYTHING BACK TO NORMAL. This will make the book start to sell, surely.

Fun fact, Steve Englehart was so disgruntled about editorial forcing Mr Fantastic and Invisible Woman back into the book that he used a pseudonym for his writing credit.

He Alan Smithee'd it.

Its funny that to shuffle Reed and Sue off the Avengers and back over to the Fantastic Four, everybody needs to look like incompetent idiots.

The West Coast and East Coast Avengers and Fantastic Three all try to stop Super-Nova and just wind up looking like chumps.

It's only Reed's enormous brain and reputation that saves the day.

And then when he goes to check on the Fantastic Four, Reed finds everything is falling apart because Ben doesn't have what it takes.

Englehart had enough respect for the characters that instead of undermining Ben further than that, he had him turn into a human again again again. Making the matter moot and having Ben give his blessing for Reed to be the leader again again again.

Having gotten through this little three issue filler, I again see why it's called the Worst Roster.

The first issue had great interactions between everyone. I could see how this team would work and different directions it could go, character wise.

And then issues 2 and 3, the team is pretty sidelined. Everything basically becomes an issue of Fantastic Four with tons of guest stars.

Reed brains up a solution from the scientific void while everyone else keeps the baddie busy.

The so-called Worst Roster can work. But in parts 2 and 3 of the story, there's not a focus on making it work. There's focus on demonstrating that Reed could warp the Avengers in his own image as an excuse for him to leave.

It's not entirely convincing. And I'm not convinced that Reed going off against orders to fix everything in his own Reedy way is final proof that he couldn't work on the Avengers.

It's still a good character dynamic between him and Cap.

Anyway.

Convincing or not, Gruenwald and Macchio did the mission brief. Transition Reed and Sue back to the Fantastic Four.

I can't say I give it a high score just in that regard because they don't even leave the team by the end. I'd have to read another book for that.

Next issue is another fill-in by a different creative team. And then Byrne takes over.

Both Avengers books under his pen! Wow. I know how that goes for the West Coast Avengers but I haven't heard a lot about his East Coast Avengers run.

Cautious optimism?

Follow @essential-avengers for all these same posts but without anything else in-between. Like, comment, and reblog maybe. I can't make you.

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minalblood · 8 months

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Been a looong while but I'm back with a new episode commentary. 1x09 here we go!

The instant recall to finale of spn s 1 is just as delicious and jarring this time around. Find it very very interesting that it's the vampires that mimic the Winchesters here and do so in order to learn their fate and fulfil it. I'd definitely call this a dark mirror to begin with.

I also adore these vamps, they're sooo fun looking.

John and Mary really came out of that near death experience losing no time in getting together.

The appreciation of Dean being paralleled to the appreciation of Baby is just... sooo funny considering the sheer amount of connections there.

Soo Kyle is instantly suspish here. Not even hiding it, damn. You can tell the shift in personality just based off his demeanor. I also think the little hand gesture he does as he walk away is interesting, it's almost like he's saying "im washing my hands off this bullshit". It subble enough that you could think it's jealousy.

The little hints at Lata and John friendship! My beloved!. Also Lata is suuuch a gossip I love her!

I once more am asking John Winchester to stop trying to be subtle, it aint his strong suit. But alternatively, I sorta get it? Like I can understand why it would be confusing if u don't get where Mary is coming from, since she has no problem letting strangers (and exs) on the street see them together, but not their close friends? But I also completely get Mary as well, she's actually lived as a hunter her whole life which means bagage already, then the fact that their relationship is new and fragile. Plus both her parents and his haven't had the easiest time with relationships. Cautious makes sense.

Ah yes, "fate is what u make it". Dean hearing it from John who heard it from Millie. All of them have their very personal reasons for that saying to apply, but also... Dean saying he didn't expect where things got when he "pushed that first domino" reminds me of Cas and him talking after the 1st Apocalypse that wasn't and about how free will sometimes means things aren't really gonna go the way you like them.to or expect them to (peace or freedom?). It's sorta funny then (read:ironic) that in both John's life (SPN!John) and Dean and Cas after Swan Song the outcome was actually quite tragic over all, John's life literally going out in flames with the rest of it being a living nightmare and in Dean and Cas' case Sam is dead and Heaven is starting a Civil War. This episode then does something really nice in subverting that expectation by setting up the tragedy (John is to die, can't change that) and allowing him to survive and not just that but ending it with him getting exactly what he'd wanted here in the beginning of the episode, getting to freely be with Mary.

I adore how Carlos calms down the driver, showing once again the full range of their skill as hunter and empathy as person. Love them so so much!

Couldn't get a hold of John, says Mary, being more suspicious then if she and John had shown up together... I find that hilarious!

Also also, love that this clarified that fangs are still teeth aka u can identify people (vampires here) based on them. I love love love that!

Uuuù Betty is suspish about Mary.

God! Dean had to have loved the vampire robbers. Vobbers? Rompires? Vambbers?

Oh noooo John! Don't be ur children! Don't just pick up random amulets like a moron! (At least we know who they got it from?)

Carlos is almost just as bad, my God! You see ur friend drop it like it hot and you just bend to.pick it urself?! Ah, Carlos, the range you got babe.

John dying by vamps begins my headache of the night because it is 1000% a callback to Dean's death in 15x20. And I wish that wasnt the case.

Ok let's talk Ursitoare (Uhr- see-too-ah-reh) a sec. So this is Romanian myth. To give an overview of it, the myth largely relates to the Ursitoare (or Fates you could say) blessing or cursing a new born after they've been born. Usually the legend states that the mother or midwife would have to leave out gifts (generally food like bread or water or salt etc) to basically appease them and make sure the baby gets a good destiny foretold. It's also states that those who eavesdrop on them as they tell the childs destiny shall die. They are also said to be quick to anger if spurned. Another interesting think tho about the myth is that (while there can sometimes be 7 or 9) the 3 ursitoare are generally known as Ursitoarea, Soarta si Moartea (aka the One who Wishes your fortune, Fate and Death) again the Greak Fates work very well and there's def overlap between the myths here. But importantly, Ursitoarea is the oldest and Death the Youngest (or othewise simply stated as the 3rd).

Now based on this we have a few things to keep in mind, mainly our vampires. They esentially eavesdrop on John's fate here and get exactly what the legend states - killed. In other news, the Ursitoare are very much neutral beings generally. They can be plied with offerings sure, but overall they just spin the thread as it goes. Its only ever an active role when wishing the newborns destiny. Now John's our newborn here, new to hunting at least, reborn once already after the war and a second time after confrunting everything he has since hunting became his life. More importantly, in some versions of the myth, the ursitoare give either the mother or the midwife dreams the night after the baby is born that need to be carefully interpreted afterwards - exactly what the Gem does here.

To wrap this part up a bit, I am.endlessly happy about the way they tackled this myth. SPN had sadly a bad bad record with Romanian mythology and lore - 1st with the witches in s7 which I'd argue was ... 'inspired' by rromani mythology rather than Romanian which is its own culture and as such its own racist connotation to that whole mess. And 2nd with the Imaginary Friends in s 11 aka Zanna .... which has absolutely nothing to do with Romanian mythology beyond slapping a horrendous mispronunciation of Zână onto a piece of lore that doesnt exist in Romanian mythos - we don't have any imaginary friend stuff, its literally all imported from the US. So this lore here? This is fucking aces! It actually makes sense, is actually a Romanian myth that is still being invoked nowadays - especially in the countryside as tradition of baptising/birth and it works very well in the context of the episode. Now, it would've been perfect if they didnt add that shh sound in Ursitoare making ir Urshitoare... Like its funny a bit cuz I constantly think of bears (urşi - ursh is plural for bear in Romanian) but its ok since its just that. I can live with a minor mispronunciation. I will say the Gem itself is fully made up tho for TW.

To answer Carlos tho, the Ursitoare themselves tell u 2 things: the future and also a future they are willing to bless or curse you with. It's essentially both. They show u the future, ur life as it's meant to be exactly, no deviation, but only in pieces or really a piece as a dream and, importantly the sorta end result of ur life which they wish upon u as newborn. How u get to that wish is up to you. The Gem.appears to have merged these two.

I also love love love the show of community that hunters have, that a hunters network is important to getting the job done. It makes me strangle SPN!John worse because he actively isolated himself aaand his kids. Ffs!

Awwwweee I like Betty! I mean shes a cop soo... not great but shes nice and cares so much and is worried :((

Millie does a good job here I think. She's not dismissive of Bettys concerns, but shes also careful to dispel them if possible. She shows once more how good she is at manipulating people, tho admitedly this time it isnt anything malicious or even generally negative.

I also gotta say that Betty (and id say John by extension) is very naive to think that war could in any way shape or form help with the issues John had had. Like he had trauma from his fathers abandonment and his mothers general treatment afterwards, had trauma from the disfunctional relationship the two had before Henry died/left, which all was underscored by deep-seated guilt that he let out as rage. Like all war would do is make it far far worse. It shows just how young Betty is truly and how she really hasn't lived through too much yet. And i said John too because Im fairly sure he also thought going to war would help in a similar manner.

I also headcanon that Betty was very inspired by Millie... but thats just me.

Carlos continues to be a dumb dumb about Anton... unsurprising, but omg.

I forgot the stone was carved from the Ursitoare's ribs... is it just me who though of the birth of Eve here??? Also yes, Il Soarta is def Italian I realize now. Do i question why an Italian cult was obsessed with Romanian myth.. absolutely not.

Im think that the 'most times not'part of what destiny the Gem shows u is due to essentially the stone acting as ... well... an eavesdropper. Literally. It was given to specific people to use by the Ursitoare as recompense for their worship - so good fate; but then as time went on it became a useful artifact for the benefit of Il Soarta so it became a way to eavesdrop on destiny so said destiny changed in them because that worship became.in name only. As mentioned, the Ursitoare arent patient and dont take well to being spurned or used in this case.

God the drip on the vamps, love them so much!

I would also argue that fate ultimately doesn't care about anyone if the whole universe is in jeopardy and uve a bigger destiny like John Winchester does.

I agree with Mary calling Millie here. Especially since she actually.knows what it's like to just ... lose someone like that. John does too, but he's also the one in the middle of it.

Ironic that Mary says "even if i have to kill every vampire in the tri-state area " ... a version of her actually does do that... for her kids. And simultaneously, its ironic also that another version of John will tell their kids that vampires are extinct (which could get them killed fyi).

Millie and Dean would be horrible together... all theyd do is work in the garage and shittalk research... and I kind love that for them.

I also like that Millie does in fact tell John bout Betty and also basically tells him.to not bullshit a bullshitter. This convo between Millie and John might be the 1st truly empathetic one we've had for them. Like yes, John's defenses go up instantly and he immediately assumes that Millie agrees with Betty and is judging him, but Millie, this time, doesnt do that. She just wants to check-in on how he's doing. And does so softly. And believes him more importantly.

And of course, back to the tried and true Winchester feelings avoidance after we've just had a helluva emotionally vulnerable talk.

I live for Carlos being disappointed in the vamps housing choices. I too would judge that. (So would Dean tbh)

Aaaaand Carlos once more gives us the biggest puzzle piece to where the vamps are.

While Lata is once more absolutely delighted by the magic lockpick like the wonderful nerd she is.

Millie to John "Dont do what u always do, not today" --> leads him directly to the room hes gonna die in. Irony at its finest.

A lot of irony in this episode, i realize now...

God I adore Carlos v vampires fight scene, its soo good. And its followed by the equally as fantastic Mary v vampires. Ahhh, I love them all so much.

Ppl really shouldn't fuck with Mary Campbell when shes pissed and worried.

I will miss the vamps tho... i really liked them :(

Ah yes, Winchester ingenuity at its finest... 🙈

I like what this ep says about how dead mans blood works? It implies that vampires literally drain the life force through the blood because the dead mans blood only came into effect once John did actually die - a few moments after he got bit thus implying a certain supernatural link between the blood just ingested and John's lifeforce. I vibe with that.

Ah yes... the full context - still drives me.mad. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN ROBBIE?! Especially with all the parallels TW has to SPN.

I appreciate the CPR not stopping until only after they think he really did die for good. U DONT stop CRP for dramatic pause ( advice to othee shows/movies or in ro aviz amatorilor)

Antoooooonnnnnn!

Anton and Carlos!!! 💓💓💓 yay!

And they're using their words! They're communicating guys 😭 im so proud

Damn... Mary and John are being cute too 🥲

Dun dun dun!

Betty and Kyle and Kyle is Akrida! 😱

Sorry, i dont got anything revealing or deep to say about the ending here 🤣🤣🤣 its all plot and relationships.

Aand so we reach the end of another episode, 4 more to go!

I will say time and distance made this episode easier to watch for me. 15x20 had fucked me up before and made it very hard to watch without refering back to it. It has several parallels to Dean and dying specifically. The main one ofc being death adjacent to vampires. But it also has John killing himself for the sake of the hunt which sadly doesn't bode well either because it reminds me of a really bad couple of weeks back in 2017 when i had the realization that Dean has literally been shown as suicidal every single season (and i can name the ep, its so clear) and then Advanced Thanatology hit the Tv screens on nov 9th 2017... not a fun realization and def not a fun series of events afterwards. Sorry to bring this up here, but well... its relevant sadly.

Thankfully tho, this episode works well to deconstruct that and to subvert the spn finale by allowing John to live and to fully embrace his realtionship with Mary.

In other news, next ep will anger me a bit... for.multiple reason, some having already been discussed by people better equiped to talk about it then me. But rest assured, ive shit to say outside of that too, so see y'all for ep 10. Im aiming to have that up by the end of the week.

And thanks to @noybusiness and @shallowseeker for encouranging me to continue this.

#spn #spnwin #spnwin rewatch #john winchester #mary campbell #lata dar #carlos cervantez #the winchesters #dean winchester #spnwin 1x09

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faerywhimsy · 1 year

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Hello, I would like to linger on the topic of Armand and love in (primarily) the setting of TVL.

"What do we have now! Answer me! Nothing but the love of each other and what can that mean to creatures like us!"

Working backwards for a hot minute, this is the last appearance we have from Armand in The Vampire Lestat. It comes immediately before Armand tosses Lestat out of the very tower Lestat so graciously gifted to him.

Symbolism? Oh my heart, I lived for this sort of stuff during my English degree.

Anyone who's read a single page of TVC knows that love is pretty much prized above all things in the world of these vampires. It's... pretty much the only thing all of them by some unspoken agreement seem to hold dear. Even Rhoshamandes (one of many scions of Akasha) from the Prince Lestat at least appears to gain something from the affection between him and his fledgling Benedict. But I'm definitely getting ahead of myself.

Sorry guys, strap in if you wanna. This is gonna be another long meta post.

To go from the end right back to the beginning, something about Lestat does seem to bring Armand back to 'life'. And, in response, just the sight of him makes Lestat gasp. Armand is "perfect", "dazzling", "incarnate beauty". His voice is "teasing", his eyes are "fathomless". I've read bodice rippers with prose less purple than this.

Okay, fine, it turns out a lot of this is all a mind fuck from Armand to Lestat but I've already written a longer interpretation of that over here (and thank god because it just wouldn't have fit here). Just because we're seeing Armand's use of the mind gift does not necessarily invalidate some feelings behind it. Armand is one tightly wound, fucked up ball of crazy at this point in the eighteen century, and everything of him this early kinda has to be read through that lens.

All night you've been searching for me, he said, and here I am, waiting for you. I have been waiting for you all along. Dear God, this is love. This is desire. And all my past amours have been but the shadow of this.

Ultimately, Lestat's rejection of Armand after this is pretty brutal. He (correctly) manages to ascertain how much of a threat Armand poses to him, despite their both being of the blood. Later he even marvels at how he was able to overcome Armand in the brutal beating that followed. (My personal head canon is simple: Armand let him).

Yet still, Armand asks to be loved by Lestat and, thereafter, begs Lestat to be allowed to travel with he and Gabrielle. So when you read the disavow of love Armand makes—after Lestat has left him and returned to him, only to promise to leave him once more—it feels pretty clear Lestat went and fucked Armand all up and down. (I also wanna mention that meta post I think about often and is basically my head canon, on Armand's PoV in The Vampire Armand that shows him again rebounding hard in the wake of being rejected yet again. Let's face it, this is realistically an immutable part of Armand's character.)

How much of an impact did Lestat's rejection of Armand have? Allow me to put it this way: It takes him almost two hundred years for Armand to find his heart again after Lestat, but no more than forty years after Daniel before he finds some solace and makes house with Louis in Trinity Gate (kinda important to me to make this point given the consensus in fanon is Daniel is Armand's great love story).

Finally, there's a part of me that can't help but wonder how things might have gone differently, had Lestat not brashly come back with impossible demands of Armand. Would Armand have been capable of forgiving Lestat if he hadn't come talking about how little he actually needed Armand after he used Armand for a draught of his healing blood?

When Lestat first sees him again, he uses such words as "brilliant light burning in him", "thinly veiled excitement", "caressingly", "soft and compassionately" to describe Armand's attention. This is moments before Lestat goes off at the mouth.

And... just... damn, man. Maybe it would have been best to face Marius and his measly "condemnation" is all I'm saying. At least Marius wasn't in love and the worst he (probably??) would have done was turn his back on Lestat. No wonder, honestly. These are all immortal blood drinkers we're talking about, not a high end wine tasting.

#yikes this might be my most galaxy post of them all #nik re-reads TVC #the vampire lestat #lestat de lioncourt #armand #vc shitpost #the vampire armand #prince lestat #rhoshamandes

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lilies-and-forget-me-nots · 1 year

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👀 , 🍓 ,💧 <33

muse talking about the mun!

👀 Do the mun and you get along?

“Of course we do!”

“I think she’s sweet, but she has a very… strange obsession with Vampires. Scratch that, any kind of demon as long as they have fangs and a taste for human blood.”

admin: bitey sexy

“Hah… I wonder if you’ll change your mind if something actually bites you one day. I hope nothing does.”

admin: i like vampires

“Of course you do, Yna. Of course you do.”

“She certainly likes drawing me. I can’t say we get along personality-wise, however.”

admin: you’re sexy but you’re a freak good thing i’m into that tho

“Right. How about you show them the mountains upon mountains of ‘doodles’ you made of me and let them judge who’s the real freak between us?”

admin: okay listen

🍓 What is something you and the mun disagree on?

“There’s not a lot we disagree on… but recently she’s been having this, well, quote-on-quote ‘Rukimania’. I don’t get it. We used to mutually dislike the guy, but you’re suddenly kicking your feet every time you think of him!”

admin: hear me out,

“No, I’d rather not. That guy is nuts! I don’t want to say it’s something wrong with your own taste in men, but… there's definitely something wrong with your taste in men."

admin: hear me out,

“I think I’m very straightforward to write.”

admin: no u are not

“Is it because our personalities are vastly different? Relatability shouldn’t factor into good writing… you must be an ineffectual writer, then. Why give yourself the mountainous task of writing me when you don’t have the ability to do so? In fact, the fact that you think I'm hard to write compared to miss goody-two-shoes coward over there says a lot about you."

("Why am I getting dragged into this??")

admin: wfkjfhshdfdf

“Wha— are you really enjoying this? You really are a huge weirdo."

💧 How often do you annoy the mun? And with what?

“I can’t say it ‘annoys’ her, but apparently she always gets secondhand embarrassment when she’s writing me. I don’t get it, what’s so embarrassing about me?”

admin: would you like to read about your first day at the sakamaki manor again

“You wouldn’t fare much better. I was panicking!”

admin: i would simply throw myself into shuu’s arms and call it a day.

“I— you would not get the reaction you’re hoping for if you did that.”

admin: i can fix them

“You know what? I think she annoys me more than I annoy her at times.”

admin: :(

“Wait, are you really getting dejected over that? Um... I don’t really mean it. You’re like my favorite annoying fly!”

admin: ok ill take it

“I would say that my favorite hobby is annoying her—it is, but it’s always a coin toss whether she’d actually get annoyed or find it hot. I’m a little concerned if that’s really her taste.”

admin: i wud not be writing u if i wasn’t enjoying it at least a little

“I can say the worst things about her and she’d just giggle about it. Look: you’re way too plain and unhealthy for vampires to enjoy drinking your blood. Do you really think someone who inhales milk tea like it’s air and rots in bed every time she has free time would be appetizing to vampires? You'd give that little purple freak a run for his money in terms of blood sugar levels. Let’s not get started on your personality. Do you think you’d survive a day with those kinds of men? I bet you’d either lose your mind in less than 24 hours or get yourself killed driving them crazy.”

admin: tell me something new babygrill

“Hm... I think I'm beginning to figure something out. Also, Shuu is the most boring one out of all of them and you’re delusional for thinking that he’s anything more than a good-for-nothing who only gets by because he’s the pretty tortured boy archetype.”

admin: bitch get back here

“Oh, finally. I was beginning to think you actually lost it.”

#ask #ask game #kindan-no-kanojo #bullying simulator | mun and muse interaction #is it obvious that i like getting bullied by these two #its only been a month since i made those sprites and i already hate them get ready for a revamp in t-minus 2 hours

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anquenin · 4 months

Text

IMPORTANT TO NOTE. i am not affiliated with the larger baldur's gate 3 rp community, i am open to connecting with others and exploring dynamics with canon and oc characters alike, however i will not hesitate to soft block and unfollow people as i see fit. please read my rules, i want to have a good time here.

I AM SELECTIVE AND PRIVATE that means that i will be selective of who i roleplay with, and will only thread with mutuals.

I AM A PLOT CENTERED BLOG i have too many blogs and there are specific things i want to explore with astarion, therefore there is a big focus on plotting, once we have digured out a dynamic or a timeline or have discussed our portrayals can we move on to wing some aspects of interactions.

PLEASE DO NOT ASSUME THINGS ABOUT MY PORTRAYAL i am taking into consideration many things said and shown in the game but at the end of the day this is MY portrayal and talking with me is the best way to get to know it.

I SHIP CHEMISTRY and CHEMISTRY ONLY. meaning that after a couple of interactions or even in after discussing in depth i see the possibility of a romantic tone to the relationship we can discuss that with more detail

IN LINE WITH THE RULE ABOVE. i am extremely selective when it comes to developing a romantic dynamic with astarion, as we've seen his personality is very seductive and flirty but that does not equate to him having genuine feelings towards others. this is heavily related to his trauma, hence why it is important to me that we plot before we write.

THIS BLOG WILL FEATURE A HEAVY TRIGGERING CONTENT since this blog is baldur's gate 3 based, any trigger warnings on that material may occasionally apply ( triggers will be tagged as tw blood and cw blood ). not to mention that astarion has trauma, he's been enslaved, he's got sexual trauma that results in various trauma responses that although not always present it is something that he constantly struggles with. i do not take kindly to dismissing this aspect or him and i do not take kindly to infantilizing because of his trauma.

MUN IS 18+ and in line with the above rules, astarion at a point in his character arc has a very low libido and is restructuring his relationship with sex and his body, therefore UNLESS PLOTTED there won't be any sexual encounters with people he does not consider close or even people he doesn't consider his partner.

PLEASE DO NOT FOLLOW ME IF YOU ARE A MINOR.

ALSO DO NOT FOLLOW ME IF you have no intention of engaging with my portrayal and ideas, i am not here to suplement you interacting with astarion via the game.

REGARDING ASCENDED ASTARION. i will write him i will explore dynamics with him, but i will not be doing so with the only purpose of it being that it satisfies someone's weird hot sexy ideal of him. that is the BAD ENDING for astarion, he doesn't make anyone into a vampire bride or groom, he turns his partner into a spawn with the sole purpose of having power over them. that's the dynamic. there may be some nuance but again. things will need to be plotted and discussed.

IF YOUR CHARACTER HAS COMMITTED R*PE do not follow me this is a big trigger of mine, i will hardblock you.

I WON’T TOLERATE untagged drama and callout posts, please tag them i don’t care about you reblogging or making them i just hate seeing them on my dash so any posts you do, please make sure it’s tagged so my blacklist catches it.

REGARDING CHARACTERS THAT MAY BE CONSIDER PROBLEMATIC. safe to say i do not condone their actions, but i do not mind interacting with them. if that is a problem for you this is not the blog for you.

SPECIFICALLY REGARDING CAZADOR, i have very specific ideas and themes that i might potentially want to explore, but safe to say i will be extremely selective of who i would write the dynamic with. and regardless of verse, or AU...cazador is astarion's abuser. that's it. that's the core of the dynamic for me.

FOR ANY OPINION I MIGHT HAVE ON A CHARACTER DYNAMIC you can just ask, i will headcanon and talk more about dynamics as i continue the development in this blog.

I CREATED THE GRAPHICS i use here and the psd is by supersources.

#rules.#dnr.

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borathae · 11 months

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IM REALLY SORRY FOR THE LONG ASS ASK JDKDKDKDKKSJSJSKSKDKDKDKKS I normally write them in my notes app because tumblr hates me and the app closes randomly sometimes so I didn’t even notice it was THAT long jskskskkskls AND I had so much to catch up with! Again I’m sorry jskskskksks

But now I come to scream about the new chapter! Oh Sibi I knew that I would come back here to eat my words regarding Tae and Jimin at some point but I didn’t know it would be so soon for Tae, he went from being past the red line to being on the yellow one with me cause I’m still a little wary about the fact that he can still fuck up again, but I really hope it doesn’t happen, for real all I want for him is to be happy with the people he loves and care about, he deserves happiness after everything 😔 and I love seeing him interact with Yoongi in a non violent? or cold way 😭 like yes please talk about things, like Tae said, they are in love with the same woman they should at least try to get along for her now that he’s trying to be better 🥺 I get Yoongi too tho he almost killed the love of his life so I would be wary too, BUT we are going in the right direction now at least with Tae 🥳 I do have a question, will Jimin get a redemption arc too to the point that we get to like his annoying ass? Or he will only get to be tolerable? Hope it’s the first one tho 😂

Also I cried when they were talking about Yoongi wanting to be mortal again, (please wrap this tiny man in lots of warm blankets and give him kisses he deserves all the love in the world 😭😭😭😭) I kid you not I was as affected by it as Tae, I’m on his side, I understand our prince but please not, I can’t bare the though of him dying from grief or the though of him dying of old age with OC because what about the others? What about Kookie? Maybe it’s selfish on my part but I truly want them all to be happy together for eternity 🥺 but I guess that choice will fall on our OC when the time comes…

Oh and I think that using the blade to turn Namjoon mortal would be the biggest fuck you to him and the biggest punishment considering how lowly he thinks of humans, what better punishment than turn him into what he despises and thinks is the lowest form of life 😎

And I had an idea, maybe it’s very dumb but here it goes… the gang can grab the “Magnus Vasistas” book, change the cover (without opening the book of course, maybe even with magic?) for one that relates to something that Namjoon would find interesting, since he loves reading, somehow leave it were he could find it, so he opens the book, gets sucked into the void and problem solved! jskskkskskhsjs

And the lore??!!!!! What do you mean Yoongi Boongi was a warlock?! Sibi that’s so hot of him jsjajajksksk I had the same reaction to that piece of lore that I had to you hinting that Jin was Jack the Ripper in SA sjakksksksksksksksksk can you tell us something regarding vampire lore that you really want us to know but it’s not in the story please? I would love to know more but don’t know what to ask!

Anyways I LOVED this chapter and how wholesome it was for our both boys I’m glad they are getting on better terms with each other, and that there’s hope for a much better relationship and understanding between them 🥺 and I hope our oc is ok, I’m worried about her 🥺

That’s for now Sibi, I can’t wait for the next chapter!

-Shy anon

Don't apologise for long asks! I love every asks you guys send me no matter how long or short it is heheheh 😔💜

for real all I want for him is to be happy with the people he loves and care about, he deserves happiness after everything 😔 and I love seeing him interact with Yoongi in a non violent? or cold way 😭

YES GOSH me too :( istfg he deserves all the happiness and friendship heheeh

I do have a question, will Jimin get a redemption arc too to the point that we get to like his annoying ass? Or he will only get to be tolerable? Hope it’s the first one tho 😂

Yes Jimin will get a redemption arc fajdsjf I am attempting to make you guys like him with it afjasdjf like I do want this lil bitch to be liked at the end HAHHAHAH

I kid you not I was as affected by it as Tae, I’m on his side, I understand our prince but please not, I can’t bare the though of him dying from grief or the though of him dying of old age with OC because what about the others? What about Kookie? Maybe it’s selfish on my part but I truly want them all to be happy together for eternity 🥺

same same same :( istfg just thinking that Yoongus Boongus could die one day rips me apart 😭😭😭

RIGHT?? I think so too fadjfaj that would honestly be such a fuck you to him fandfda

Right??? That's what I was thinking too 👀 the problem with this book though is that the spell is reversible. You just gotta know the right spell and then you can drag whoever is captured in it back out again. So if Joon has some evil witches on his side, all they have to do is do their lil magic and he is free again 😩 Time does pass differently in it though. One second in the real world feels like one month of agony in the book. So yeah honestly? It would still be a punishment in the end fajdfj

THANK YOU OMFMGMG I LOVE THAT YOU LOVE IT SO MUCH EHHEHEH I honestly love working on lore mgmgmmgmg there will also be more regarding Jinnie coming very soon *cough* today *cough* ohoohoho

As far as lore is concerned mhhm I don't really know because I tried to include everything that was lore related mhhm 🤔 maybe the fact that Namjoon was the best in anything that had to do with thinking whilst Yoongi was best in manual classes. Joon was always found copying spells out of books in the most beautiful handwriting and sometimes you even found him trying to think of new spells. While Yoongi was always best in putting the magic into action. Imagine it like this, Joon is going all like "I thought of something. What if you tried to mix this herb with this herb and then chant these words?" while Yoongi was all like "yes, I will try" and together they tried out the new spell. Many times it ended up with them failing and getting dirtied by a failed spell, but sometimes they were succesfull which resulted in them reporting to their teacher and getting praise.

Ah yes and then magic education would have taken ten years to finish. They started it when Yoongi was seventeen and Joon was still sixteen, but ended it just a few months after Yoongi hit his twenty fifth year. By that I mean that is when they went too far and their teacher cursed them rip to them ahfadhf

OMGMG THAT LORE JUST MADE ME SO EXCITED OMGMGM I hope lots of people read it because it's really important hehehehhe

#asks: magnus venatio #asks #shy anon #hcs: sanguis duology

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