Painted in a few of my Hypno sketches from earlier :)

Does Max give anyone else major twist villain vibes???

Okay I haven't talked about Max much yet, but I think it's kinda wild to see people talking about him like he's just this sweet innocent cinnamon roll when my read on his character was the COMPLETE opposite.

I mean yes, he does seem very sweet. He's very soft spoken. Naive in a way like Lucy, but not as much. Kinda vulnerable. Got a killer smile. And some of the moments with him and Lucy are super cute and adorable. But damn if he doesn't have a DARK side!

Like I've heard people say that Max is stupid or that Aaron Moten's acting is bad, but hell no. Aaron Moten sold me on his acting during the interrogation scene. Max was scared shitless and I FELT that. I think Max was meant to be played as a character who lacks understanding about certain things and seems disconnected from people due to both being brought up in basically a cult and having an inherent lack of empathy.

You think about the fact that he admitted he wanted Dane to get hurt, someone who's supposed to be his best friend. How he coldly sat there and watched Titus die. And before that stood there and watched him get mauled by a bear, almost like he was fascinated by it and wanted to see what was gonna happen. The fact that he tried to kill Thaddeus the moment he became a threat, even though the two of them had appeared to have bonded and developed a genuine friendship. And let's not forget he was willing to let all of Vault 4 get plunged into darkness just so he could keep playing with his power armor.

Max wants to be a knight, he wants to be a hero. And I think he tells himself he wants it for the right reasons, but I think what he REALLY wants is power and recognition. Which is really what every (okay maybe not every, but a lot) good villain wants, right? Because at the end of the day Max wants what Max wants. He's selfish, even though he doesn't think he is.

And sure, he's nice to Lucy. And he went balls to the wall to save her when he thought Vault 4 was gonna execute her. But she's a pretty girl who helped him and offered him a safe home. When she gave him the proposition that if she helped him bring back the head, he would have the Brotherhood lend her some knights to save her dad, he KNEW he couldn't make that promise. But he made the deal anyway. So he doesn't REALLY care about her or what she wants.

And that blank stare he gets when he gets mad? ACTUALLY terrifying. The guy's got serious psychopath vibes. Literal anti-social personality disorder, if you ask me. In fact the first thing I thought about when Max let Titus die is this kids going to end up going to the dark side lol.

And I think that would work really well thematically if they plan on giving The Ghoul a redemption arc beside it. There are so many parallels between Lucy and The Ghoul, and they have such a strong connection to the beginning when the bombs dropped. I get that Max is there to represent the Brotherhood and he's from Shady Sands, the town Hank destroyed, but it felt weird that he didn't seem to be AS important in the grand scheme of things compared to Cooper and Lucy.

But if Max turned out to be a badass twist villain to thematically contrast Cooper's redemption arc, while Lucy remains steadfast to her commitment to goodness and the golden rule I feel like that would really round it out. It would make sense if you consider a lot of people have pointed out that Lucy, Cooper and Max all seem to represent different play styles and different moral alignments. And I think it'd be pretty crazy if the writers of the show set out to make it seem like Ghoul is a bad guy and Max is a good guy, but then it ended up being the opposite.

I mean, there are definitely hints all over the show that The Ghoul isn't as bad as he may seem. And Max has already done some pretty messed up stuff, so I'd say the possibility is totally there, and I'd be here for it!

Who's with me???

I Beg To Differ.

Okay, now just because I'm about to embark on an epic rant does NOT mean I think anything bad about you as a person, OP. It's just on this one teensie-weensie most minor of points, I happen to think you're 100% wrong. Just thought I'd clarify that, so no offense intended. Anyway, on with the show...

Nah, they did us SO dirty with Chloe. I hear your above argument a lot, and it WOULD be a fair point… if it wasn't for the fact that there are SO many clear signs this wasn't what was intended from the beginning that it makes your reasoning completely null and void. Chloe's 'arc' was the most blatant case of in-show character assassination I've ever had the displeasure of witnessing, and I'm about to explain why. Read on! (If you want to, that is.... no pressure).

They strung us along for at least three seasons with various hints about her 'traumatic past', her problems with her often absent mother (which Marinette didn't help by encouraging them to bond because 'they're both such awful people'), showed her genuinely apologizing to her victims, protecting Sabrina from akumatization and having times when she treated her as a real friend, sacrificing herself to save the day occasionally, hugging Miss Bustier in a moment of genuine emotion, telling Ladybug how 'useless' she felt in a teary rooftop encounter, saving lives both as a superhero and a civilian (check back if you don't believe me), giving Adrien a moving speech on his phone about how 'she'd always be there for him', sharing a really close bond with her father, telling her butler Jean it was time she started doing things for herself, loving Mr Cuddly, adoring Pollen… I could go on. Not the best person in the world, true.... but a promising start. Green shoots, and all that. Her name literally means that.

S4 simply forgot any of this happened, and literally pushed her burgeoning development off a cliff with Sisyphu's boulder tied to it's big toe. There was NO build-up, NO foreshadowing, NO precedent for Chloe suddenly becoming a one-dimensional total-sociopath irredeemable-monster AT ALL, they simply made her that way on a whim. They had her start acting like a complete psycho for the evilz, made her the most stupid person in the show BY FAR, severed ALL of her few close relationships, wrote AN ENTIRE FLASHBACK EPISODE in incrimate her newfound nastiness even more and 'punished' her by sending her off exiled on a plane in tears with her abusive mother to… what else? Get abused, of course. GREAT MESSAGE TO ALL THE VULNERABLE TEENAGE GIRLS OUT THERE. (I won't even get into how utterly useless and blandly boring her 'replacement' of a plot device Mary S... oops, I mean Zoe is).

And we're supposed to believe the former corrupt mayor Andre, the terrorist Gabriel Agreste and Thomas Astruc (you know him) are the GOOD guys here? Well, I'd like to tell you what I'd like to do to them… but for fear of censorship, I'd better withhold that particular information for now.

The upshot of it is… if Chloe had been bad from the beginning and terrible at the end, I'd have accepted it. Heck, if her so-called damnation arc was even halfway well written and gave us an accurate and compelling look at the moral descent a person who's capable of redemption could take to the light but ultimately chose to stay on the Dark Side, this would've been highly disappointing to me but fine from a storytelling perspective.

But they didn't give us anything like that, did they? It was just… 'pretend the last three seasons never happened, develop amnesia, hit yourself repeatedly on the head with a shovel… we don't care. Just accept this is the NEW Chloe without question despite past evidence, because you won't be getting any answers. Now let's go back to what we're REALLY here for… Marichat, Ladynoire, Adrinette and that other stupid ship name. SWOON!'

Thanks, but no thanks. Did I ever tell you how much I HATE this stupid show? Apologies if I didn't make that clear enough.

The funny thing is that the writers of OFMD made such reasonable decisions with Ed and Izzy in season 2, and it's pretty much exclusively fandom atmosphere that made people uncomfortable with them.

I can 100% understand why they just used the conversation with Fang as a stand-in for Ed learning how to sit with his guilt and make amends to the crew. Ed is an extremely sympathetic character here; we know that his kraken spiral was not his choice and not how he normally acts. It is extremely in-character for his behavior to shift from kraken mode to sweet Ed as soon as he feels safe and supported again. It is extremely understandable that the crew got comfortable again with him quickly because they never stopped loving him. He never needed a "redemption" arc, he needed a recovery arc, and the show knows that. The writers reasonably assumed they would not need to beat us over the head with convincing us we need to love Ed. They thought they did that work in season 1.

The thing that led to my biggest discomfort with Izzy's arc, on the other hand, is that the writers clearly felt they needed to over-correct. In a flashback-heavy show, we don't get any flashbacks of how Izzy treated Ed in s1, which is what triggered the kraken thing in the first place. He's almost immediately presented so much more sympathetically than in s2 - the catalyst for his character development, Ed reminding him he's replaceable as first mate, happens very quickly so he can be on roughly the same page as the rest of Ed's crew. He got lots of little lines that could've gone to other characters and lots of screen time, and the obvious intention was making sure the audience likes him, which is something the writers (again, reasonably, considering how Izzy acts in s1) assumed they would need to do.

Izzy is saved by the crew despite explicitly having done nothing to "deserve" it, and that's the point. And it's because of the fandom reaction to these characters that it too easily came across as validating the read that Izzy was a completely blameless victim and Ed was the mindless aggressor. Izzy's deathbed apology to Ed did a lot to make me comfortable with his s2 arc because it confirmed that I think the writers always knew what they were doing and hadn't forgotten what Izzy did in s1, but there was a subsection of the fandom who managed to have the read that Izzy was completely blameless up until 20 minutes into the finale.

It makes so much sense that the writers assumed that they wouldn't need to beat us over the head with making sure we love Ed and went hard in the opposite direction with Izzy. I dont' blame the writers for how they wrote it one bit. It really is just because of the fandom atmosphere that it can too easily come across as Izzy getting all the sympathy Ed was never afforded.

You know, considering the show only fans' reaction to the Seanchean, if they do put Mat and Tuon together, they're gonna have to give her and them a LOT and I mean A LOT of character development. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Tuon shows up already with thoughts and doubts about slavery. Cause there's simply no way people are gonna be okay with it.

yeah i really do not envy them having to figure out what to do here, because EVERYTHING about mat/tuon and about tuon as a character is a giant landmine. (even just with casting, because the Head Slaver being a black woman is 🥴 especially if we then get scenes of her having to be told by a white man that slavery is bad. but if you DON'T cast a black actor as tuon then you've whitewashed a book-canonically black character. tuon's character design is the kinda thing where rj was trying to go for a ~boundary-breaking role reversal~ but it just really isn't a good look, and i don't envy the show having to deal with his choices there.)

anyway, i'm really hoping for tuon to be introduced at least a season or two before she meets mat so that she can have some development before they even cross paths, let alone begin having romance. (similar to how elayne, aviendha, and min were all developed through non-rand characters this season, which was a great choice.) one idea i'm quite fond of* is tuon showing up in nynaeve and elayne's storyline in s3 in an egeanin-esque role (tho not exactly equivalent ofc given tuon's and egeanin's differences in status/life situation/etc), so then she unknowingly befriends and comes to respect 2 ~marath'damane~, thus she has to start rethinking some things about seanchan culture when she finds out her new buddies can channel. and in s4 maybe she can have some kind of invented plotline to keep her development moving along, and s5 might be the time for her to first meet mat, and they can spend seasons 6 AND 7 together with the romance being a very slow burn. if the show just has tuon show up in ebou dar straightaway with the initial invasion rather than in a second wave after mat's storyline's been left out of an entire book, then she can meet mat sooner and they can leave sooner and have more time to spend together.

rj could have pulled off mat/tuon if he'd introduced her way sooner and had left enough time for their relationship to develop naturally and for HER to develop naturally, rather than breaking mat's characterization to cram him into a rushed relationship it makes no sense for him to want to be part of at this point in time. in WH it really does feel like rj was planning a whole meaty character development arc for tuon, but then realized between books that he wasn't gonna have enough time for it in the main series and came up with the idea of the outriggers spinoff, and in COT suddenly we have tuon being a completely static character and mat replaced by a pod person who's obsessed with her and has completely changed his views on slavery.

but the show has the benefit of knowing the endpoint already, so hopefully they're already planning for how to make the mat/tuon romance feel more believable. i think the only 2 options are a) introduce tuon way earlier and give her a proper redemption arc, or b) make it a political marriage which mat is putting up with for the greater good but has 0 romantic interest in tuon. because yeah, mat falling in love with an unrepentant slaver would make him absolutely vile in the eyes of all viewers, especially after how hard the show went on showing the vileness of the seanchan in s2. show viewers will not have forgotten the torture egwene suffered by the time mat meets tuon as easily as so many book readers apparently did.

*i'm also very fond of the idea of tuon being introduced in seanchan proper because i spent the whole series expecting us to see seanchan proper and the court of the 9 moons etc and felt SO robbed that we never did, so i'd loooooove if the show took us there and had tuon leading a plotline there before she leaves for the westlands. but purely in terms of getting her to start rethinking the damane system early on, this scenario wouldn't be as useful as the one of her meeting nynaeve and elayne in the westlands.

and finally, it's very interesting that they killed off every single notable seanchan character from s2. this could mean that they didn't want to leave any loose ends because the seanchan will be entirely absent for the next season or two, ooooooooooooor it could mean that they wanted to clear the stage for tuon to step up as our major seanchan character in the next season or two.

"riot at xavier's" isn't really my favorite arc but it gave me one of my favorite x-characters: quentin quire

Started liking this guy mostly at Jason Aaron's "Wolverine And The X-Men" which gave us a new perspective on his character and also a nice character development along with new relationships both with teachers and students. Went from asshole to actually wanting and liking to be a good guy, well done!

One of my favorite aspects about WATXM is how Quentin's change happens with the help of Wolverine and the development of a teacher-student bond. Logan sees that Quentin is still young and an idiot and that he can change and maybe just needs some assistance. Quentin gets there with a little help from his friends and also by working himself to be better because he starts liking to be a good guy. It's a redemption arc that feels natural.

From here, Quentin Quire had a lot of potential. Newly-redeemed, wanting to do good, having a really interesting friend group, cool powers, being an omega telepath and even a potential in romance stories. I'm sure he could do well in the newest X-Men group or as a new member in an already-existing one/new lineup

Strain's "Generation X" really had me hopeful because there were characters I liked set in a scenario that give a similar vibe to Aaron's WATXM at the same time introducing us some new stories and developing these characters to new places. I was kinda sad to see Quentin's arc was basically rebooted.

His development is sort-of-reversed for the sake of having this redemption arc again in a much similar way: a teacher (now Jubilee), some friends (this Generation X) and Quentin himself works towards a redemption to his character. While I would say this one is kinda excusable, because maybe he just wasn't coping well with Logan's death combined with being around a new mentor figure and (some) new friends, I can't really excuse Thompson's "West Coast Avengers"

Quentin is once again put in a new setting and in a new team and is an asshole who has to grow through another redemption arc that feels the same as Generation X's. At some point, it really feels like Thompson didn't really bother to read some of Quentin's past books or at least WATXM. Besides, I really dislike this redemption arc.

"Generation X" and WATXM focused on a redemption through a mentor figured which is a lot better (to me, at least) than what it felt as a "changed by love". Basically what I got was "Quentin has a romantic relationship with Gwen and that motivated him to change" and really that is so ???

Sorry, Gwentin shippers, but I really dislike this couple. It really feels like a changed-by-love story and completely ignores the way Logan and Jubilee took care of him. It's the most important relationship Quentin has in the book and that love-hate thing was so based on a mischaracterization of Quentin that it Did Not Feel Right.

Quentin was being constantly sidelined by the team and mostly of them either blatantly ignored him or had fights with him. They only have like a single scene that indicates they are heading towards a better friendship. That's it. Don't get me wrong, I like West Coast Avengers and I understand people who like, but it mischaracterizes Quentin and reverts his development a lot.

Which is sad, because WCA Quentin is my favorite Quentin art

If I were in charge of Marvel Studios, I would either continue the Generation X storyline with them doing good ol' superhero missions and developing as teen heroes or would have made Quentin and his Jean Grey School friends start their own superhero team and develop as teen heroes and trying to handle it all without adults around. Probably with a lot of goofy missions like WCA's land-sharks.

I would start talking about the new X-Force book by Benjamin Percy but it has taken such a weird story with Quentin and Phoebe and Quentin dying then coming back as an old man that it deserves its own post.

OFMD S2E8 SPOILERS

Right so. Izzy is my favourite character. And I don’t mind when characters die. I think if it adds to the story and is a good end for their personal story arc then it can be the best choice. But. I didn’t really like how they chose to go about it.

the story gave him a redemption. he protected the crew and suffered and tried to kill himself. he apologised and was apologised to. he changed and grew and found love and family. he had the respect of his friends and crew, the pirate nation as a whole, and even his enemies. He had the chance to give a speech about the purpose of piracy and a chance to say goodbye to Ed.

Logically this should have meant that his death should have been. Idk like not fine but gratifying.

But for some reason it didn’t feel like that? Usually if a character I like dies I’m some mix of “this is devastating, shouting at the screen, how could this happen” and “holy shit my fav guy is getting so much attention and is narratively important and will get so much fix it fic about them”. But with this i was kinda just like “wait what”.

And I think the reasons for this is because

1. I didn’t think the show would go that far. I personally wasn’t expecting any of the main characters to die. Like ACTUALLY die. This is the show that had Lucius miraculously survive being thrown over board, had stede find his marooned crew on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean, Izzy survived his leg being cut off and was walking on a new prosthetic immediately after, Ed had a canon ball bashed on his head and came away with literally no bruises despite apparently dying… For the muppet cartoon rules to suddenly not apply was jarring. But I suppose Izzy has always operated more in the real world than the rest of the cast.

2. the whole episode was rushed. The pacing was very quick and a lot of stuff happened without much time to process. Having a character die in the last episode means we didn’t get to see much of the other characters responding to it. This isn’t the shows fault cause it was originally meant to have 10 eps but still. i don’t feel it was given the appropriate amount of weight that it should have.

3. Izzy didn’t go down fighting in an epic battle. He didn’t die protecting those he cared about. He was hit by an idiots lucky shot and bled out. Izzy is the first main character to die. He was someone that by the end carried the same narrative importance as Stede and Ed. This is just a personal pet peeve but I think his cause of death should have been hard earned.

4. giving an angry miserable character a redemption and letting them find community and happiness only to then. die. is just very sad. Especially coming from a show that before this has been mostly very kind to its characters and audience.

That said, I think a lot of this can be resolved in s3. I think it is very likely that Izzy will remain in spirit in s3, through flashbacks or hallucinations or dreams etc as we have seen utilised for other characters, and we will see more of Stede and Ed and the crews grief (akin to how the goth crew reacted to Ed shooting Izzy at the start of the season). Izzy’s death isn’t meant to be a punishment for either himself or the audience. And I think the main issue was just a lack of time to flesh it out.

tl;dr: The show usually operates on muppet world rules so to have a main character actually die was unexpected. Since the final episode was rushed the appropriate weight could not be given to such a narratively significant characters death. the fact that izzy did not get to go down fighting or protecting others meant it felt kind of random and unnecessary. And having a show that is usually very kind to it’s characters and audience kill off a character right when they’d finally changed and found community kind of feels like a betrayal. BUT having both first mates (buttons and izzy) “leave” is likely symbolically significant to Ed and Stedes development. And the show will likely give due attention to Izzy’s death in s3.

Honestly, I’m really torn about Barriss returning to Ahsoka’s orbit in canon.

On the one hand, it could be so, so brilliant if written properly. It is abundantly clear that Barriss STILL occupies real estate in Ahsoka’s head even into her New Republic era days. And, in canon, Barriss was a straight up Ahsoka simp, so we know Barriss probably thinks about Ahsoka too.

A well-written Ahsoka would have to deal with a whole-ass wellspring of emotions and tension if it happened. And, a well-written Barriss would be more like her legends counterpart (with the canon trauma added in for flavor). She would have felt a deep remorse for everything that happened, and would have compensated by spending decades traveling the galaxy and becoming a master healer. Ahsoka and Barriss would probably run into one another after Ahsoka did something stupid that required her to seek healing. Ahsoka would feel a wave of anger upon seeing Barriss for the first time, but it would quell quickly after she saw the way that Barriss looked at her; one part utter penance, sorrow and grief, and one part total yearning. There would be a quiet moment where neither of them were able to speak. Barriss would break at some point, and Ahsoka would hug and forgive her because that’s just what Ahsoka does.

But, truthfully, and let’s face it… That’s not what we’d get at all. I’m not going to call Filoni a bad storyteller. I think a lot of his stories are great (and I’ve been on board with most of what he’s done with Ahsoka specifically, especially now that he’s no longer under Lucas’s thumb). I do think that he likes action, and not a lot of outright emotional drama specifically in dialogue (and it’s tougher to write those thing alone, especially if you’re a man trying to portray a woman’s emotion which is where a writer’s room would make sense even if he was the sole proprietor of the story itself). And, I think he often relies too heavily on subtext that would likely be completely missed by over half of fandom, so… anything he did like what I described wouldn’t hit, and would likely piss folks off more than anything else.

So, what would we get? Most likely another person for Ahsoka to fight with her lightsaber. There would be a sect within fandom that would eat this up, but I’m not one of those people… Mainly because I think that the Barriss character doesn’t deserve it. Barriss’s character was done hella dirty. Even in canon, Barriss doesn’t strike me as one to snap and blow up the Jedi temple, but that is what we got. She became a plot device (not wholly unlike Padme) for another character’s development and that sucks. Making Barriss cannon fodder would be utter bullshit, especially this far removed from the events of the Wrong Jedi arc. And, granted, he could possibly write Barriss a redemption arc, but it feels like, at least in the New Republic era, that that ship would have sailed.

At best, Barriss would end up being a Baylan Skoll -like character. A dark Jedi with questionable motives that may or may not be doing things for selfish reasons. At worst, Barriss would end up being a comically hokey bad villain that would get slaughtered on the second or third duel with Ahsoka…depending on how many times he wanted them to go at it. It would be completely out of character for both Barriss and Ahsoka, and it would be super lame for those of us that like both characters especially together as friends or otherwise.

Regardless, I’m probably glad he opted not to get into it.

If neo gets a redemption arc it will be way worst than emeralds as there was practically no build up beforehand for it at least emerald had some hints she doesn't want to be evil

So to be honest, Neo was one of the characters I singled out in the first few seasons of rwby as the most likely to be able to be redeemed along with Torchwick, Emerald, and Mercury (and Adam, but I'm not touching that conversation atm.)

Because villain redemption arcs don't always look like "I no longer want to be evil anymore" to "I no longer am evil." They often look like "The thing I'm doing no longer benefits me" to "Now I have friends I want to look out for" to "Now I no longer want to be evil."

The "We're making a new world" people are Watts, Hazel, Cinder. The "We want to destroy the world" people are Salem and Tyrian. Meanwhile, Roman is a vicious thief, but one who is out to survive and has a 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em' mentality. That's easily turned towards a 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' thing where if he'd realized that Salem was the true threat to him and Neo, he could've aligned himself with the heroes for the sake of convenience, and then eventually developed relationships and eventually wound up starting to naturally change for the better (in my own fanfics, I add onto this possibility by giving him a tragic backstory that includes an ex-friendship with some of the adults and a passive semblance that fucked with his head.) Neo would go with Roman in a redemption arc, but prior to this 'gets possessed by the Cat' thing, post-Roman's-death, Neo has been entirely hellbent on revenge against the wrong person, meaning that if people had managed to talk sense into her (made more possible by Cinder's betrayal) she could've shifted into 'still bad but now a wildcard that the group might feel like they have to work together with,' and for my part with how Ruby sometimes seems a little Torchwick-ish, I always felt like Neo could develop a messed up devotion based on seeing Torchwick in her and therefore projecting Torchwick onto her, and then eventually that could lead to an actual slow burning redemption.

Meanwhile, Mercury is explicitly going wherever the wind takes him more or less and I also think that since he was raised to be an assassin by an abusive horrible father and then immediately got brought into Cinder's team and therefore Salem's (when we know both Cinder and Salem are abusive to their underlings) I always figured that Mercury didn't know much outside of violence, and if he was given a chance, he'd be able to slowly come around. And Emerald is obvious, she's the one who actually almost felt sad about Beacon and then doubted their actions later in Volume six. Her motivations were tied to Cinder, so imo the obstacle for her starting in on her redemption was just removing Cinder either by death or by having Emerald realize Cinder didn't care about her. This is actually one reason why I think her redemption was badly handled, Emerald's devotion to Cinder was really built up and even included in the very volume Em switched sides in, but didn't play any real part in her choice to leave and instead Emerald pretty much just left entirely out of self-preservation. But, her redemption was really likely from jump.

But yeah, I think that as far as redemption goes, I don't just look at 'who seems like they might not actually want to be evil,' I tend to look at things like 'who has a lot to lose,' 'who has motivations that might be easily swayed,' 'who seems like they might not be happy with their life as is,' 'is this person committed to a nefarious goal or is their involvement more by chance?' That kind of thing.

It's like, some redemptions are Zuko in ATLA, by the time he left his father for the last time to join the heroes group, he had completely seen the error of his ways and wanted nothing more than to help others and save the world. Then there are other redemptions that are like Michael in the Good Place, when he joined the group he was still a massive jerk doing bad things for fun, he just also wanted to fry a bigger fish and allied himself with the humans to do it, and it took time to get him from there to 'these guys are my friends and I want them to be safe' to him talking ethics and giving speeches about how humans can always get better while he tried to save the world.

In the longest running (non-published) AU rwby fic I have that my sis and I did after being disappointed in volume 6, Torchwick, Emerald, Mercury, and Neo all more or less got redeemed together - Roman survived the Beacon attack and was trying to seek out Cinder to find out what happened to Neo, who had been captured by Salem, and he ran into Mercury and Emerald who had just run away after the Haven attack (where Cinder actually did die and Emerald became the Fall Maiden) and they joined up with Roman in his quest to join up with Ruby's group because Emerald wanted revenge on Salem for Cinder's sake. And then while they had joined the good side, they consistently got into hateful arguments and Mercury kept talking about ditching, and eventually they managed to free Neo, who stayed 'on the good side' for Roman's sake while continuously trying to convince him to ditch but at this point the semblance I'd given Roman (which is survival) had made it so he felt like he had to stay with Ruby's group because it was the best way to survive. And only after a grueling year-long adventure filled with turmoil, trauma, spending tons of time with the good guys, some of them getting captured by Salem again, temporarily losing their semblances, encountering a Grimm similar to Apathy only it made everyone angry rather than apathetic so they all got into a huge fight where stuff got addressed... Only after all of that did they actually fully really change, and even then, Neo specifically took longer than the others to really change because she took awhile to stop being jealous that Torchwick cared about people other than her and was prioritizing saving the world over just taking care of her. It was a lot of fun! But yeah, I think this post was way way way too long just to say 'actually I think Neo could've been redeemed before getting possessed by the Cat.' XD

What are your OTPs from other shows besides kindall? (especially love/hate ones)

(Forgive me im so slow)

Oh my here u go >:D

Love/hate ones:

Jimmy and Cindy (The adventures of Jimmy Neutron: boy genius)

This one kinda started it all. Their rivalry was funny and I kinda felt bad for Cindy because she is genuinely smart but what is it if your opponent is a genius  Also hey, blonde and bitchy, my type :) Won't say a lot about this one tho because with all my love for them - there's nothing much I can tell you if you watched the show

Manny and Zoe (El tigre: the adventures of Manny Rivera)

Ok, this one is weird because as a kid I just loved Zoe so much (Her Black Cuervo design, like c'mON LOOK SHES PURPLE) but also liked Manny and Frida together Idk, fandom skewed me later to Manny and Frida but hey, hero-boy/villain-girl dynamic is fun too and I still remember fondly how Manny was immediately smitten by her in "Enter the Cuervo" (Apparently Zoe would end up with Django and honestly? That pair is pure aesthetic, good for them good for them) (Also I'm so mad that I watched this show dubbed because I didn't know english at the time like THEY TOOK ALL CHARM. NO ACCENT, NO SPANISH WORDS IN CHARACTERS SPEECH AND SOME NAMES WERE TRANSLATED IN THE LAMEST WAY POSSIBLE)

Helga and Arnold (Hey Arnold) (can you tell I am a nickelodeon kid yet?)

Ok, this one is more of the one sided love/hate on Helga's side but if you watched the show then you know that she went all in with both love and hate.  Seriously, Helga is such an interesting character. She is amazing and I love her (another bitchy blonde to love yay) Can't say much from Arnold's side. He was oblivious to her crush for the most of the show. He is a kind and understanding boy so jgkkdjgkh I just really wanted Helga to be happy 🥺

Anya and Damian (Spy x Family)

New one and also kinda one sided on Damian's side  Listen These two?

Just plain funny

Anya punching him in the face and Damian falling for her for that? Hilarious Anya being oblivious to his crush despite being an esper because Damian is in denial? Amazing. Good stuff.  They are just so cute and funny, look at them!!!

Catra and Adora (She-ra and the princesses of power)

Ok, I wouldn't consider myself a catradora shipper anymore but God, their dynamic in the first seasons is everything. Like darn, they had drama. Actual enemies to lovers and THE TENSION

Aaaaand season 5 destroyed it all. (Spoilers for she ra ahead)

Some people dropped the ship after season 4 finale because Catra would rather destroy the world than let Adora win, but for me it was THE THING I LOVED LIKE YES, MORE DRAMA, MORE CONFLICT, NOW CATRA MUST TRY REAL HARD TO GET ON ADORAS GOOD SIDE AND THAT MEANS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, I WONDER HOW IT WILL GO and they just??? Kinda forgive her??? I'm sorry, yes, Catra purring on Adora's lap? Sweet. The kiss was also dramatic. But it all felt so undeserved I guess it's because of the limited time the writers had. But damn, introducing a bigger threat in Hordak Prime and kinda handwaving her crimes isn't a redemption for Catra.  But again. First seasons? Good ass dynamic. 10/10

Knuckles and Rouge (Sonic the hedgehog franchise)

THIS ONE IS  AH NICE If you followed my kbsd art then you probably know that I also love Sonic (lil guy doing cool stuff - my weakness) Wouldn't call knuxouge love/hate ship at this point that much tho. They started as this but now they are more of a flirts-a-lot/flusters-a-lot type of pair. Also, we don't talk about "dumb" arc SEGA was putting Knux in 2010's Anyway funni echidna and funni bat my beloveds

Non love/hate

Sanford and Deimos (Madness Combat)

Ok, so the series is about violence, fighting, and bloodshed, right? And then I saw these two in 0.5 episodes and my brain went "OK, but what if they kiss?" And I spend 2021 rotating these two in my head. Violently. (The way Deimos doesn't attack Sanford in "dedmos adventure" still makes me sad from time to time)

Dr. Fox and Hawkodile (Unikitty!)

I was in a weird place of mind when I was obsessed with this show. Looking back at it - its really silly.  I'm gonna be honest, the biggest reason I loved this ship is because it's a big warrior type of guy having a huge crush on a nerd girl and being really silly about it. After a few episodes with this topic I got kinda tired of it tho. 

Still, they are cute.

I might be forgetting some but honestly, if I was to list every ship I enjoy - we'll be here forever This also kinda made me realize that I haven't seen any proper love\hate pairs in recent media. Might be just me tho.

If Ted lasso characters had superpowers, what would they be? I’ve been thinking and this is what I’ve come up with so far: Jamie - super speed (because he has a tendency to run from his problems), Phoebe - force fields a la Violet from the Incredibles (because we have to protect him at all costs), Dani - empath (because he’s such an emotion driven character), Henry - teleportation (so he can visit his dad more often)

Seeing this prompt, after the last episode, all I can really see is

Isaac and the ability to chop things in half with his hand.

For me, I picture Jamie: Has Gambit/Remy Lebeau (X-Men) style powers: Kinetic Energy, the ability to charge objects into explosive energy. Jamie has repressed this most of his life, just like his childhood trauma, which might explain why he seems so 'charged' and energetic on the field. This version of Jamie's powers also takes inspiration from an epic fanfic I read back in the day, that also had Remy accidentally revealing he had suppressed empath skills. In Jamie's case, he's prickish behaviour, and his ability to wind up his opponent's (and Roy/his own teammates back in S1) was actually Jamie subconsciously (and times deliberately - Jamie knows he has this ability, just not enough control) so that they end up fouling him was Jamie pushing anger, hate and self-hatred onto others. In S2 Jamie has a psychic blast in the Man City episode and if no one knew about Jamie's abilities before, they did after this (a combination of built up kinetic energy and suppressed emotions and trauma) forcing Roy to help Jamie control this and also develop the Signal for when to use it appropriately.

It explains one thing, though: Anytime Jamie ever played, the atmosphere was always felt or described as 'charged' and electric'.

Marvel.com also describe Remy as 'he seeks redemption for sins past by playing an unlikely role – hero' which also kind of describes Jamie's journey and potential S3 arc.

(also can you imagine this  👇 👇 👇 👇 in Spandex)

Roy is basically SuperBob. This needs to be declared before signing for any team.

Phoebe: Strength, she is the niece of Roy after, all. Also has ability to form force fields.

Dani is also an empath, but he has control over it most of the time, and helps Roy in helping Jamie. Also explains his instant affinity for Jamie when he first arrived, and has some unresolved guilt over the fact that he had not picked up on Jamie's ability.

Banned powers (basically anyone who has these abilities need to declare and register said ability and take suppressants if they are members of football teams, or in affinity of said football match (fans are required to take suppressants for at least one month prior to a match or for the entire season if they hold a season pass);

Telekinesis -the act of mentally controlling/moving the ball (or making someone fall head over arse)

Cerebrokinesis - the ability to manipulate the mind and mental processes of others (or making someone fall head over arse)

Pyroknesis - ability to create and control fire with the mind. (No accidental fire or burning of the field or an opponent in the heat of the moment or burning the arsecheeks of your opponent's shorts off)

Psychic - No ability where you can read someone's next move or use any suddenly acquired information to your advantage (or know who's sleeping with who)

Teleportation - the ability to have instantaneous travel between two locations without crossing the intervening space . Unfortunately Henry is only allowed to use this on the off season as it's banned during matches.

Bonus:

Ted doesn't know what to call his ability - he as the ability to cook his feelings into his baking (a la Sarah Michelle Gellar in Simply Irresistible ). He soon learns not to stress bake or bake when he's angry. Working Title: Food Empathy (Ted: Not to self, do not add tears to baking mixture).

SuperVillains:

Rupert Mannion: Machiavellian - manipulative, callous, and indifference to morality (no hope for redemption)

Zava Egomanic - an excessive importance of themselves and their own life experiences, tends to talk excessively about themselves and have an insatiable desire to be above others (no hope for redemption)

Nate Shelley The Wonder Kid (possibly can still be redeemed).

My Thoughts On Scream (2022)

Mild Spoilers.

Also, full disclosure: I wrote this (originally) back when the film first came out. So that's with no hindsight into scream 6.

Scream (2022) was good. Better than I expected it to be, honestly.

I was worried about the killers' motive this time around, as they got muddier and muddier as the films went on. I actually dig this one. It's the logical thing to do in a 2021/2022 world. The landscape of horror has changed, so should the satire on it. And I really enjoyed the mocking of toxic fandoms! Killer two was somewhat of a swerve and It caught me off guard. It's not particularly shocking or original, but because of how the character was developed, it was the person I least expected it to be. Just moments before, I was trying to narrow down the possibilities in my head and I thought, "Nah, it couldn't possibly be that person!" Again, it isn’t new to the franchise, but it got me there for a minute. If killer two was a fun twist (kind of), killer one was too predictable. I felt like I knew who it was pretty much right away and I was right.

One legacy character doesn’t make it to the end. As much as I personally would have liked a different character to be the one to die, giving the other one more motive to fight on, I get it. I understand that killing off the one that they did had more weight to it. Of course, it’s always great to see familiar faces! Having Sidney, Dewey and Gale back was perfect! And how could I not love seeing cameos from James and Chelsea from Dead Meat, where they pretty much just do their show within the movie!

The more horror films you watch, particularly Slashers, the easier it is to pick up on the troupes. Because of that, I knew that something from early on would play a key role later on in the film. A certain item that one of the main characters had. And it did, The characters ended up where they were at the end because of it. And that’s fine. I could just easily tell it would happen.

Let's talk about how Randy’s niece is kind of a little psycho in the making! How are you going to enjoy watching the movie about your uncle’s almost murder, and laugh about it? Especially knowing he later did meet that fate? His niece and nephew are kind of annoying characters to me, honestly. But then again, most of them are in this film. I found so many of the new characters hard to care about or connect with. The niece does at least take up the mantle of horror expert, though. It’s a nice nod to her uncle.

The last thing that bugged me about this film is really just a nitpicky thing. I think one of the returning characters needed to be de-aged. Or at least done so better, if they did in fact try to. The story with that character was kind of wonky, but I didn't mind it. I just wish I could see that character and believe that they were as they were when we last saw them. The age of the actor/actress showed so bad. The sort of “redemption” arc was nice, though!

Most of my gripes are really just personal preferences. Otherwise, I think all in all it is a fun slasher film. And a good entry in the Scream franchise. I have seen everything the franchise has to offer, even the tv show. There's not one Scream property that I hate. Even part 3, Which I still think is the weakest movie. This included everything you come to expect from Scream, and put in modern technology. I’d even go out on a limb and say this probably had the most horror references and nods in the franchise. I can never get enough of that! Being the first of the franchise to not be directed by Wes, I think they did him justice. It isn't perfect, and it isn’t bad. If you can look past its flaws and not be too bothered by them, you should have fun with this film.

Overall, I give Scream (2022) 3 out of 5 Stars.

Ive been putting off writing anything because I'm currently very busy and swamped with so many things im ignoring because I can't deal with them it's to much pressure so I feel anything won't do justice to your absolute brilliance of the ending of sugar and vice but I feel like I have to just say something even If is intelligible

The way that peter parker puts on the mob boss persona is very reminiscent of him donning on the suit and I loved and loathed ever bit of it the way honey mentions that he is the perfect paradox is so accurate of how i have felt about him I've loved him and wanted to punch him all at once and it's been such a Rollercoaster since ...November? That's a long time ago damn honey has been my girl since day one im so happy the most with her character development and Peter's redemption arc are my favourite parts of the series im going to miss it so dearly the writing was your best in pt 23 period nothing better ive read in recent from anyone except you of course there is so much more i want to delve in about the sheer complexity of the frank castle confrontation scene and how it presents the moral deilmas of both sides of the arguments because at the end of the peter is not a good person who I would not root for if he was written by anyone else he is a bad person but is that really a fault of his own ? The altering the Frank's story was a move of genius 👏 🙌 the contrarian delema we have perspective of as readers because we know what happens to him if peter hadn't saved his family we know the animal he becomes and it answers the question of is peter parker a bad person of his accord or just a product of a shitty fucked up system like he claims and the answer is he is a bit of both he takes the system in his hands because he has to because no one else has the balls to go after Fisk himself but he also enjoys the violence that comes with it he thrives in the darkness he revles in his fame as a vicious mob boss leader ruthless and unforgiving it's what everyone is supposed to believe about him I think to an extent he did too because I think he just mostly hated himself for it alot until honey she's his persephone that's it that's the best example that fits them needs no more explanation she's the queen of hell she makes his darkness bearable she is the constellation that guids him true north I believe they call it and that's so perfect

🌌

I love you for writing this! And I'm so so so glad you liked the ending of this volume.

Part 23 I could see so vividly in my head, I think I've been thinking about it since the beginning of this story. I think it was a fitting final piece of this arc, getting back to the crux of who S&V Peter is and his fatal flaw.

Hi! I just wanted to tell you how amazing the Isolation fic is, I know it was from awhile ago but I still go back to read it fairly often. The feeling of not being seen is something that really resonated with me and to have Billy be the one to notice meant a lot, I know he’s not everyone’s favorite but I really have a soft spot for him. Anyway, this is my long winded way of saying thank you for writing it and it’s still on my mind often!

hello, camper!

thank you for the kind words <3

i also really struggle with not feeling seen or heard. the summer after graduating college was wrapping up and i didn't have a job in my industry, my friends are spread out across the country, and i feel like my parents don't hear what i actually need sometimes. so turned to writing and i wanted to start getting used to sharing my work with others, because it has always terrified me. but then it felt isolating because my writing style, as i continue to develop it, isn't what the typical reader insert style has been.

so messages like these always make my day, and i am so glad you found a work that you felt like was written for you.

isolation + its sequel and the coffee shop series (both billy focused) pop into my head frequently, and i hope to come back to them if i feel the spark to write for ST again.

i have the hugest soft spot for billy as well. i think he could have had such an interesting and complex character arc if he was given the opportunity for a redemption arc. to me, he is an example of what's happens to people if they don't have the support group needed to encourage them and love them as they are. billy falls into this role of the aggressor and playboy, because that's what's expected of him and all he has known in his home life.

with isolation, i wanted to explore what the beginning of that redemption arc would look like and how he would struggle to live with the consequences/guilt of his past actions. because of that understanding of feeling like the odd one out of the friend group, only billy recognizes it within reader. reader looks at him with the same expression he looks at himself in the mirror with.

phew- bet you weren't expecting such a long response huh? i was just happy to share part of my thought process. if you ever want to chat more, about billy or about everyday life, feel free to claim an emoji! i'd love to talk to more cool duderinos.

Counselor Mythos, out!

With the final arc rapidly approaching, I thought it would be fun to share some of my hopes for the story going forward. To preface this, I usually don't like to predict what happens in a story. I find that doing such things often leads to disappointment, setting up expectations that the story may not meet and souring the experience. So consider this more of a wish list or ideas I think would be interesting. In that case, I had a lot of ideas and had to narrow them down. So if you want to hear those or have some of your own ideas, feel free to let me know. And since I’ve already discussed some of my ideas with Tomura and Izuku, I won’t cover them here.

-A return of the Shikuetsu students in some fashion. I always felt these characters were underutilized. They were set up with this whole rivalry with UA and all the characters were fleshed out for their brief spotlight, but nothing was really done with them. And it's been setup that UA and Shiketsu are connected to one another now via the system Nezu made. Maybe there is an attack at UA and they come to defend all of the civilians. Maybe that could take part in the battle. It would be neat to see Inasa and Endeavor interact, possibly with Endeavor acknowledging him or Inasa realizing Enji doesn’t have that hateful glare anymore.

-Spinner leaving. I'm not saying that I want redemption for him, I just think that it'd make sense for him to try and get out of everything in the chaos. Because I still think Spinner is a person way in over his head who does not want to do this. Even when he says he's in too deep, I feel like he doesn't really mean it. It came across more as an excuse rather than a justification. And if at all possible, I would like to have him interact with Stain. Considering how much Spinner has been influenced by and has walked a similar path to Stain, I would be interesting to see how the two see each other and if Spinner would be changed by the experience.

-I would want Dabi to die, but in a specific way. I think it would be a fitting end for him to die by burning himself to death by using his Quirk in a fight against Shoto. He'd be so consumed by his hatred that he'd keep trying to burn his flames brighter and brighter, utterly consumed by his anger against Endeavor and Shoto.That being said, I’m not sure what to do with Endeavor. While I do think that him dying as an act of penance would make sense, preferably defending Shoto, I would be fine with him living as well. Not every redemption arc has to end with the character dying. If anything, it may be more poignant if he lived, forced to forever bear the weight of his actions and trying to atone through his actions.

-Izuku keeps "One For All". One idea I've heard going around is that Izuku will defeat Tomura or All For One by giving up "One For All", causing either one of them to be destroyed from the inside out from the power overload of the two Quirks being in a single body. I do think that could be a neat way to end it, getting rid of two Quirks that were far too powerful for this world and prime symbols of either side. However, I think that Izuku ending the series as a Quirkless would be a bit of a slap in the face. We've seen him grow and develop all the time, just to see him back where he was before. If the story does go in that direction, I'd like him to still have some power. Maybe a he gets a new copy of "One For All", maybe he gets a new power entirely, just something.

-An epilogue taking place in the future. While I do think that the series could end with a few wrap up chapters and an ambiguous promise of things working out, I do think that we need to skip ahead to see where everything ends up. Not only because I'd like to see these characters become real heroes, especially Izuku becoming the proper number one, but just the broader implications of their actions on the hero world. The series keeps playing up that this would be the generation that changes the world for the better. I believe that could be best shown by skipping ahead to see that future play out. That way, we could really get an impact on what these characters did. All of their struggles and sacrifices were not in vein and the world got to live in a better tomorrow because of it.

Fic Rec: Nor All That Glisters by @sweet-s0rr0w

Drarry | Explicit | 110k

Tags: EWE, Post-Hogwarts, Auror Harry Potter, Potioneer Draco Malfoy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together, Felix Felicis (Liquid Luck Potion), Squib Rights, Original Squib Character, Quidditch, Draco & Neville Friendship, Draco & Pansy Friendship, Explicit Sexual Content

Content Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, Felix Felicis Abuse and Addiction, Dreamless Sleep Abuse and Addiction, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Mildly Dubious Consent (involving Felix Felicis), Withdrawal & Recovery, Hallucinations, Panic Attacks, Blood & Injury, Vague & Fleeting Suicidal Thoughts

(additional tags on AO3)

Summary:

Lonely and frustrated on house arrest, with no prospects for the future, Draco begins brewing Felix Felicis in an attempt to improve his lot. Just in the short term, of course. He isn’t a total idiot.

But before long he finds himself with a thriving business, a nice flat, some actual (albeit irritatingly Gryffindor) friends, and a very satisfying sex life. What’s more, no-one is hexing him in the street. And Harry Potter is single, and gorgeous, and giving Draco decidedly interested looks.

Stop taking the Felix? You must be joking…

My own wild rambling to convince you to read this fic: You know those fics that are just going to rattle around in your head for weeks and weeks and weeks? This is one of those fics.

I'm having trouble deciding where to start so as not to sound utterly incoherent. Ah, how about the Felix? The creativity injected into the use of Felix Felicis throughout the fic is no short of brilliant. The intricacies and complexities of addiction are challenging enough to handle, but throw in a magical substance that has infinitely more complicated consequences and effects -- that's a huge undertaking. But @sweet-s0rr0w managed it masterfully and without sugar-coating or shying away from the realities of addiction, which showed how much care and effort were taken to portray the topic with justice.

That careful consideration overflowed into @sweet-s0rr0w's portrayal of these characters. This Draco is probably my favorite version of him that I've ever read. Full stop. His emotional range and motivations are so well-developed, so complex, and they felt real. Not to mention the beautiful unfolding of his and Harry's relationship, the realities of working through some very difficult issues, and the slow building of trust and love. Extremely well-paced and believable. A stunning evolution of a really intricate and complicated relationship.

I cannot write a rec for this fic without bragging about the lovely OC and Draco's friendships with her, Neville, and Pansy. I absolutely adored this added layer, and the side characters supplemented the story well, bringing their own fun and unique quirks and storylines without serving as a distraction.

And the ART. Absolutely gorgeous art from @deancebra-art and @fantalf that complimented the fic beautifully. Every piece was just stunning, from the larger art pieces, down to the adorable little chapter titles.

Everything in this world felt so well-fleshed-out, carefully thought through, and intentional, written with surgical precision, with not a word out of place. But @sweet-s0rr0w's writing still manages to feel like a warm hug, despite the difficult topics covered. Please take the warnings seriously, but know they are handled with the utmost care and not included for mere shock value. This fic had me crying, laughing, and finding spare seconds between tasks to read a few more paragraphs, and the rollercoaster of this 110k journey made the ending that much more satisfying. When you're craving the redemption arc that Draco actually deserved, Give Nor All That Glisters a read on AO3.