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hoodievixen · 1 year

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With My Own Eyes - Part 5 - Waxing Gibbous (Dream of the Endless x OC)

Based off of this

Summary: Morpheus just wanted to keep his soulmate safe. She just wanted to make her own decisions. Doesn't help that he doesn't show her his face.

Words Count: ~ 4 K

Warnings: swearing, mentions of blood, witchcraft, bad grammar and even worse spelling, !Comic Spoilers!

A/N: It took me so long to write like the last thousand words. But I got it done. Happy Holidays!

Tag List: @intothesoul @ poemfreak306

Master List

Now being back home Sibyl didn't know what to do. She spent the afternoon yesterday doing upkeep. From laundry that had been sitting there for an extra week, cleaning out the rotten food from her fridge, and answering the total of three messages while she was gone. But after a night of sleep in her own bed, she woke to not wanting to do anything.

Sibyl could swear any day prior she had a thought of "If I was home I could..." Yet now she was home she had no idea what to do.

Sibyl spent most of the morning staring down her works in progress, a comfort show on in the background. There was no modivation to do anything. It just turned to her watching the same show for the uptenth time. All while hating herself for not being productive.

When lunch time rolled around she came to the realization that there wasn't anything to eat, as she threw it out the night before. Sibyl tried to see if her friend would go out with her. She didn't even get her friend to answer her phone.

She was gathering up her things, deciding to go out on her own. She was checking what cash she had when there came a tap on her window. On the other side of the glass sat a large black bird. She only knew of one that would come knocking on her window. She rushed to unlock it, and lift it open. "Matthew?" she questioned.

"Who else could it be?" he joked as he fluttered in and landed on her counter.

Sibyl closed her window to keep out the summer heat. "I intended it more to question why you are here," she clarified.

"I'm a free bird, I can go where I want," he told her, flapping his wings.

"You're bored, aren't you," Sibyl deadpanned.

Matthew looked away. "A bit, yeah. There's nothing going on in the Dreaming."

"Well I was going to go get lunch. I would enjoy some company," Lore offered, sticking her phone in her pants pocket.

Matthew flew over and landed on her shoulder, something he had only started to do the day before. "Sure," he agreed, "I wanna see what people do when they see me on your shoulder."

They stared. Some kids pointed. The tired worker at the cafe chose to ignore it. The most unique thing to happen was a dog barking at them. But no one said a word.

"You got any roommates I should be worried about?" Matthew asked as he took in the place.

"No," Sibyl assured him. She sat down on her couch, ready to dig into her to go food. "I live alone."

Matthew nodded his head. Sibyl smiled, such a human reaction coming from an animal. Something she thought could never be a reality. There been a lot of things that have changed for her very quickly. "Have you ever been to hell?" Sibyl asked.

"Yeah..." Matthew said sounding unenthused and far off.

Sibyl knew what was up with her. Why she couldn't bring herself to do anything, let alone have interest in doing anything. She was worrying. Normally she'd be able to sit her own mind up with logic, or plain out proving her worries were unfounded. But worry about someone you just started to get to know, and actually sorta like, going to Hell with the possibility of not coming back, wasn't something one can think themselves out of. Cause by all logic, Morpheus most likely won't come back.

"What's it like?" Sibyl almost whispered the question.

Matthew hoped down to settle on the couch next to Sibyl. "Cold," he started, "and weird. It is everything you think it is, yet not at the same time."

"Do you believe in hell?" the bird asked, remembering his conversation with Morpheus when they first arrived in hell.

Sibyl tried to laugh. "Sorta have to at this point," she joked. "But I did before. Grew up Christian, went to church every Sunday, said prayer on holiday with the extended family, and watched VeggieTales. As a teen I started not to believe. If God was real, why would so many bad things happen, why didn't people care about one another, why did my prayers go unanswered.

It upset my mother, but my belief was broken. I didn't care why the universe was. I was, and I would be what I wanted to be. But the things your told as a kid they stick with you, and it's human nature to wonder what comes next. So alway in the back of my mind I believe Hell existed, and since it did I was destined to end up in it's pits. I never feared it, I just accepted it as a fact, much like how every living thing dies."

"People only go to hell because that is where they believe they should go," Matthew confessed a secret of the universe. Something he overheard, of which he shouldn't have.

Sibyl smirked, "Sound like Christianity." She bit down, taking a too large bite.

"What about Lucifer?" she asked as she finished chewing. "Do you think Morpheus will be okay?"

Matthew looked to his feet. "I want to believe so." While it was an opinion, it also shared a truth.

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Still unable to get herself to do anything, Sibyl turned in early for the night. It was weird waking up back in the Dreaming. She knew she was dreaming. It didn't feel as real as it usually did, like all dreams. She was standing in the throne room, barefeet on cold marble floors. She scanned up the stairs to his throne, where she'd always spot him. Where better to look for him than the place you always find him.

Sibyl laughed to herself. She didn't realize how much she's grown attached to the guy in such a short amount of time. He was quite and brooding. But in a thoughtful way. He would take in every words given to him and think tirelessly for the perfect response to get what he wanted back. Even if it was no answer at all. While he had a weird way of showing it, he did care. Changing his approach just requires communication, which Sibyl has plenty of practice with.

"Lady Sibyl?" the voice of Lucienne echoed from behind.

Sibyl glanced back and gave a smile to the familiar face. "I told you Lucienne, Sibyl is just fine," she reminded her. She glanced back at the throne. "Or Lily, it's what my friend's call me."

"Alright, Sibyl." Lily rolled her eyes. Of course she'd choose the more formal one. "May I ask what you are doing here? And how you got here?"

Lily shrugged. "Sorta just dreamed myself here," she confessed.

Lucienne looked to where her gaze was. It was practically glued to the throne, a melancholy smile tugging at her lips. "You must dearly miss him."

Lily let out a laughed. "I guess I do."

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

Lily looked up from her hands when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching her. She didn't know how much time had passed, it had probably been hours. She smiled at the familiar man walking towards her.

"I hope you haven't been waiting long," Morpheus commented.

Lily smirked, "I was the one who decided to wait." He came and sat down on the stairs next to her. "I'm glad to see you are alright."

"I apologized for any worry I may have caused," Morpheus apologized.

"Nah," she refused it. "My thoughts are my own problems. If I want to worry about my friend, I will."

Morpheus turned to look at her. She still got unsettled by the sight of his helm and not a face. "I am touched that you have concern for my well being," he told her, "Thank you, Sibyl."

"Lily," she corrected him. "No one calls me Sibyl. It's a family name, so gotta a couple others in my life. You never asked, so I never told you. But I keep thinking I'm in trouble whenever I hear that name." She finished off with a laugh, not to sour the light tone between them.

"So, how was Hell?" Lily was quick to change the topic.

Morpheus pulled out an old key made of a dark metal. "Closed," he answered nonchalantly. "Lucifer had left their station. Giving me the key to Hell."

"What?" she asked in confusion.

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

Lily jumped at the sudden appearance in front of her. "Fuck," she hissed as she had knocked a mug into the ground. She let out a groan looking at the shattered pieces and spilt coffee. "I really need to put a bell on you."

"Apologies," Morpheus apologized, stepping around the counter to help Lily pick up the mess.

Lily shied him away, flicking a towel at him. "I've got it," she told him. But before she could pick up a single piece of shatter ceramic, it all disappeared into sand. "Well, that works..."

"Are you prepaired to go?" he asked her.

Lily nodded, "Just let me grab something." She walked past him into the door behind him

His gaze followed her until she disappeared through the door way. Dream's gaze shifted to the canvases propped against the wall. He lifted one of the paintings to take a look at it. Sprawled across the canvas was a forest in fall. In the middle ground, almost missable, was a figure clad in mourning clothes. The next one was a cave of blues and white with warm reflections. The one after was a pair of lovers playing on tree swing surrounded by blooming greenery.

"Oh, yeah, those," Lily sighed, stepping out her her room was a bag over her shoulder. "I had been waiting for a sunny day to photograph them."

Dream looked at the final painting. The pair of figures sat next to eachother, covered in shadows casted by the sunset. "It's a story," he commented. Quite a simple story. One of new love and the lose of it.

Sibyl shrugged, "That's sorta what I do. Every series I paint tells a story. I tried making comics before, but just dosen't feel the same."

"You clearly take insperation from impressionalism," Dream commented, remembering who her favorite artist is. The background where more strokes of color than anything realistic. By the people in her paintings look so beautifully blended that they could walk off the painting if the so desired.

Lily stood next to him, gazing at the painting Morpheus was still holding up. "My friend likes teasing me that I don't know how to paint backgrounds," she confessed with a laugh. "She's not much of an art person, so she dosen't get it."

The meaning from such a decision was very easy to figure out. Someone could put in minimal thought with basic art knowledge and come to the meaning. "The people and who they are matter more than where it happens."

"Yeah, other artist have critiqued saying it too simple of symbolism, but they're just a bunch of stuck up picks," Lily groaned, "That's why I never went to art school."

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Lily halted in her speedy walk to go eat breakfast. "Well hello there," she greeted the familiar helm. "What bring you here so early in the morning?"

"I've come to advise you to stay away from the dinning hall," he told her.

Sibyl tilted her head in confusion. "Why?" she wondered.

"Word has spread that I have the key to hell," he told her, "Many have come to ask for it to be handed over to them, and more will come. I do not wish for you to come to harm from these visitors."

"Should I just stay in my room?" Lily wondered hesitantly. Not that she'd complained, she had just planned to go to the boarded of Nightmare to sketch the hilariously drastic devide of the land.

"No," Morpheus assured her, "The guest ar to stay in the dinning hall until this evening where they will be shown to their rooms. You are welcome to go anywhere in the palace, and in the dreaming."

Lily gave an awkward thumbs up. "What about food...?" she wondered, feeling her empty stomach churn.

"Meals will be delivered to you chamber," he told her, "Someone will be up with your breakfast shortly." He found it cute how he could visibly see her relax with the assurance of food.

"Saddly, with needing to host the visitors, I will not be able to spend anytime with your today," Morpheus shared. He was glad to see a small grown appear on Lily's face. "Matthew will once again join you, if you need anything just let him know." With a bow of the head he turned to leave.

"Morpheus," Lily called after him before he could get too far. "If you want to, you can stop buy this evening," she offered, "Again, if you want to. Don't feel like you need to."

Dispite the fact Dream did not need to breath, he felt his breath hitch. Even if their relationship stayed like this for eternity, he would be happy. "We shall see," he told her. Who's to tell what event may occur with the guests.

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Dream softly knocked on the door to Lily's chambers. He was not sure if she had yet to trun in for the night. With most guests requesting to meet him personally, his evening ran longer than he had hoped. His unbeatinf heart fluttered at the should of hurried shifting from the other side of the door.

Lily opened the door, a smile on her face. "Well hello there," she repeated the greeting from this morning. "Wasn't sure if you were going to pop in." She opened to door wider, inviting him in.

"It would be quite rude to turn down an invitation from a lady," he told her with a small laugh.

Sibyl closed the door behind him. "So, how was your day?" she wondered, trying to spark conversations.

Morpheus was silent in thought. Lily settled on her sitting room couch, waiting patiently for his answer. He settled down in an arm chair just to her right. "I have much to think about," he confessed.

"I believe it," she agreed with a scoff, "Still trying to wrap my head around the whole 'key to hell' thing. I can't imagine who'd want it."

"That would not be hard, most of them are still known as myths to humans," Morpheus told her.

Sibyl raised an eyebrow, skeptical of his words. "Like who?" she quedtioned.

"There are the Asier, Odin and his son Thor have come as a delegation, even brought the trickster Loki with them." Dream was a mused by the look of shock of Lily's face, knowing it would only get more dramatic the more he shared. "Sent from their own Pantheon is Anubis, Bast, and Bes. By himself is Susano-O-No-Mikoto. To reclaim hell are the demons. Azazel, Choronzon, and Merkin. There are also the emissaries from both Choas and Order, respectively. Then there are the angels Duma and Remiel to over see it all. Finally are a pair of fae siblings Cluracan and Nuala sent by Queen Titania to see to the key not changing hands."

Lily was silent, looking tk the ground with an unreadable expression. "Dude you just broke my understanding of everything," she told him in a serious tone. "But how or who gave Matthew a balloon? Cause he let it go in my room, and it sorta phased into the ceiling, and now red latex pieces keep randomly falling out of it.... It's been a really weird couple of hours."

"I'll see to it that it stops," Morpheus assured.

"No," she laughed, "I wanna see how long it take for everything to fall back down."

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

Lily had perched herself on a stool before an easel. She had spent most of the day there, and her joint weren't enjoying the awkward angle they were forced to keep. She knew she should have at least gone out for a walk. She knew better than to stay in one position for hours on end, yet she still did.

And all she had to show for her stiffness was a see of barren trunks. Lily was practiced in giving the impressions of trees, less so on making them look real. Something had compelled her to paint the scenery of the dreaming, realistically at that.

Lily was in a lul of her attention, busy wiping paint out of her brush. A soft knock was heard from behind her. She turned to find Morpheus standing in the open doorway, knuckles lowering from the open door. "You seem distracted," he commented.

Lily awkwardly laughed, brushing back stray strands of hair lingering around her face. "Yeah," she sighed, "I can get like that when I'm in the zone. Sorry if I didn't hear you say something."

Dream stepped across the threshold into the studio. "I have only just arrived," he assured her.

She spun around in her chair, her joints screaming at her. They had not appreciated the sudden quick movement. "I take it the whole Key to Hell situation is solved," she inquired.

"Indeed," Morpheus nodded. "Some of the guest are still here, but all should leave within a days time."

"Cool-io," Lily said with a thumbs up. "Can I ask what you decided to do?"

Lily felt, even through the helm, his gaze on her was different. "There is nothing you can't ask me," he said sincerely, "I had bit been the one to make the final decision. Had it been an option since the begining, I would not have hesitated as much as I did to make a decisions. The angels have taken the key, ruling Hell under the oder of their lord."

Lily hummed, "That sorta makes sense." She looked to the floor, slipping that knowledge in her recently growing folder in her brain housing the strange truths of the universes. She had no idea what she'd ever do with the folder, but it was there.

Lily returned her attention to Morpheus, who had settled in a chair I front of a drawing desk. He even sat in a simple wooden chair like it was a throne. "Is there something you came to me for?"

Morpheus hesitated to answer. "I just wanted to hear your voice," he confessed.

Sibyl was middly stubbed by his words. She couldn't help the smile appear on her face as her cheeks heated up. "Hopefully you weren't hoping for something too beautiful," she joked, "Rarely dose anything mildly intelligent leaves my mouth."

"You could say anything, and you would hold my undevided attention."His soothing voice did little to help Lily feel lest flustered by his words.

Sibyl smirked with a devious idea, "Then do you want to hear about some of my useless knowledge? I'd be happy to bring you up to date with the Fnaf lore."

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

Lily opened up the rather simple door. Not all the doors in the palace were the same. Many were, but it all depended on where they lead. She knew this room existed, but had never been to it herself; the kitchen. She was surprised to find it void of any people.

"So why did you want to come here?" Matthew asked, settling down in the counter. He had been the one to lead her here, still her chaperone when Morpheus was busy. But she didn't mind a friend.

Sibyl started searching through the cupboards, taking note of what each one held. "I want to make cookies," she simply commented, pulling our a large mixing bowl.

Matthew hopped along the edge of the counter to follow Lily. "Couldn't you just ask for some?" the bird wondered.

"I don't want to eat them," she explained, "I want to make them." She found the cupboard that stored the sugar and flour, checking to see what was what.

"Who for?" he teased.

Lily pinched flour between her fingers, nodding at figrueing out what white substance was what. "Morpheus," she answered nonchalantly, "Might get him to take off that stupid thing."

"Yoy know he dosent eat, right?" the raven wondered.

"Yes," the woman groaned, "But this is the best idea I have. I got used to him wearing it, but now it's annoying. Like well be having a perfectly normal conversation, and turned to look at him just to see bug eyes."

"He has his reason," Matthew said sarcastically.

Sibyl sighed, looking across the ingredients she has gather on the counter. "Which I respect, if he told me what they were," she complained, "He either needs to respect me enough to tell me that reason or trust me to show me his stupid face."

"So, you're going to force him to take it off?" The bird was confused.

Sibyl shook her head, "No, I am going to force him into a situation where he should choose one or the other."

Matthew flew over to land on her shoulder. "And if he dosen't?" he wondered.

"My times almost half up," she reminded him.

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"I do not need to eat," Dream simply reminded her.

"I know," Lily hesitantly mumbled, "I just wanted to do something for you. I know I can't do much, but this is something I can do." She slightly lifted up the plate of cookies in her hands.

Sibyl had been rather bashful since she came up to him in the throne room. It was rather cute, her hesitence and embarrassment. Dream was wondering how he could get her to react like this to something he'd do.

"I very much appreciate your thought," Dream assured her, "But you need not do such things."

She slightly nodded her head. "Well incase you change your mind," she sat the plate on one of the higher steps. "I'm gonna go help Lucienne in the library." She awkwardly made her way to the exit. Lily took one glance back before exiting the throne room.

Matthew flew down from his perch, landing on the stairs. "If you aren't going to eat them, can I have one?" the bird asked. Lilt hadn't let him have any, as it wasn't in a raven's natural diet and she didn't want to get him sick.

"If you feel you must," Morpheus answered, removing his helmet.

The raven started pecking at a cookie on the edge of the plate. "You know, she just wants to see your face," Matthew confessed.

"Explain your words," Dream demanded, settling back down in the stairs.

Matthew dramatically pecked out a chocolate chip from the cookie. "I mean, you want her to trust you, right?" he pointed out, "Sorta hard for her to do that when you clearly hiding something from her."

Dream reached over grabbing a cookie from the plate. There was much he needed to think about in regards to Lily. His relationshop with her was much different than all his others. She practically hated him in the begining, but she has come to like her. Dream has also come to enjoy many qualities Lily possess. Buy the relationship wasn't yet at a place he felt comfortable. He wanted her to stay for him, not a shallow desire for his looks. Only half the cycle was coming to pass, for all he knew Sibyl may still wish to return to her life come the next new moon.

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"So you're really a witch?" Matthew questioned. He knew her to read old tomes, as well as mentions in passing from Morpheus, but never actually confirmed it.

Sibyl tucked away her notes. She was comparing her note of her family grimoire to the notes of a very similar story in a lost one. "Yup," she answered nonchalantly, "Not like the new aged witches, they have the right idea just not the proper execution. I can do magic."

Mattgew settled himself in her shoulder. "Can you show me?" he asked timidly. "Like I've seen the boss do some magical stuff, but like you're human."

Lily softly smiled, adjusting herself in the grass. "I guess I could show you something," she shrugged, before holding out her hand.

Matthew watched in anticipation as Sibyl steadied her breath. He could also hear her heart beat even out, matching her breathing. In her outstretched hand lit a flame. There dancing in her palm was a mass of fire. She let it linger for a moment before closing her hand the smother the flames.

"Woh," the raven said in awe. "I thought you'd need like a cauldron or something. Maybe some eye of newt, frog tongue, blood of a virgin."

Sibyl laughed, "Some spells reguire stuff like that. Though those are all slang terms for different things. But fire is elemental magic. It's the most simple for of magic for us witches. All know how to weild all six, but tend to be intune to one more than the rest. For me that happens to be fire."

"Five?" he questioned, "Isn't it just earth, air, fire, and water."

"Those are indeed four of them, but the others people don't think about are life and mind," Sibyl explained, "Though those two only have a couple basic spells, most spells of those elements are higher levels."

She had weaved her hands into the grass and from between her fingers sprouted a small yellow and white flower. "This is the most one can do with life before requiring a higher price." Lily removed her hand from the grass.

Matthew hoped down to examine the plant, pushing leaves away in order to see that it had roots. The bird than looked up to the witch, excitement over taking him. "What else can you do?"

Sibyl wore a smirk, "What do you have in mind?"

#dream of the endless #dream of the endless x reader #Sandman #sandman comics #morpheus #morpheus x reader #morpheus x original character #sandman x reader

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jacquelinemerritt · 1 year

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Diamond is Unbreakable: Episode 4 Review

Originally posted May 19th, 2016

Tension rises as Bad Company is revealed.

“The Nijimura Brothers, Part 2” is primarily focused on the conflict between Josuke and Keicho Nijimura, and as a result, thematic depth is for the most part abandoned in favor of building a suspense-filled battle. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that either; Bad Company is one of the most creative Stands in the series, and Josuke and Keicho’s fight unquestionably requires an entire episode to do it justice.

The fight itself deploys a significant amount of tension to keep itself interesting. Josuke is made to wander through a poorly lit house, checking all of his surroundings for a threat that could emerge from anywhere, and the full destructive power of the Stand is only revealed when he’s been trapped in a room with Koichi, surrounded by an army of what ultimately amounts to toy soldiers.

After Koichi reveals his own Stand (which is, for now, fairly useless), Josuke separates himself from his friend in order to fight off Keicho alone, and Josuke acquires victory in the most typical Jojo fashion: being two steps ahead of his enemy (as well as the audience). Even though Josuke’s method of victory comes as a bit of a twist to us, it, like most Jojo victories that happen this way, is satisfying because it doesn’t violate the rules of the established universe in the slightest; we know Crazy Diamond can repair things, so finding out Josuke was clever enough to repair the missiles fired into his arms and redirect them at Keicho is entirely gratifying, as Josuke’s victory simply came from him using his own abilities to win in a unique way.

The animation of “The Nijimura Brothers, Part 2” is fairly impressive as well, though not for the typical reasons animation is usually praised for. Like most every episode of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure to come before it, character motion is often stilted, meaning there’s little fluid motion performed by any of the characters. Now, this is likely due to budget concerns, as the characters themselves always look gorgeous, and animating such a detailed character fluidly would take a lot of time per frame, and therefore cost a lot more money than the show likely has within its budget.

Yet, despite the often stilted animation, Diamond is Unbreakable has been able to use a variety of tricks to sell its tone and keep the episodes evenly paced. Josuke’s approach up the stairs of the house early in the episode is a good example of this, as we linger on a close-up of his eyes while he scans his surroundings, which are superimposed over him, adding motion to the frame and limiting the amount of visual information we have about the area.

Now, I’ll admit here that I would unquestionably prefer to lose a little detail on the characters in order to allow for fluid movement in addition to these clever techniques David Production uses to set the mood, but the fact remains that these techniques are ultimately as effective as they need to be on their own, and DavidPro’s constant use of them keeps the show from being visually uninteresting.1

This episode also does have some thematic depth, and all of it comes from the interactions between Josuke and Okuyasu, who have a bit of an extended debate concerning why Josuke chose to save and heal Okuyasu at the beginning of the episode. Josuke tells Okuyasu that his decision to save him wasn’t complicated, as he saw the wounds he had taken from Keicho’s Stand and came to the realization that there wasn’t any reason Okuyasu had to die.

Josuke even makes a point of healing Okuyasu after he’s refused to reveal any information about Keicho’s stand, simply telling Okuyasu to stay out of his way. Okuyasu returns the favor here by following Josuke into the house and using The Hand to help him reach Koichi safely, giving Josuke the opportunity to save his friend like he saved Okuyasu. Their justifications for their heroic behavior are quite similar: Josuke acted on instinct to save the life of someone he saw no reason to let die, and Okuyasu chose to “act on what’s in [his] heart,” feeling that he is generally too “stupid” to know any better otherwise.

For both of these teenagers, there’s a recognition that goodness and virtue comes from a combination of instinct and action, and it shows us that these two former enemies aren’t nearly as different as they may have seemed just an episode ago.

Rating: 4/5

If you liked this review, consider supporting me on Patreon.

Stray Observations

1You are welcome to disagree with me here, but Phantom Blood suffered a lot from being visually uninteresting, in my opinion, and it often felt like a graphic novel with some motion added rather than an animated show. I’ll, of course, argue that DavidPro upped their game for Battle Tendency, but they also seemed to slip back occasionally during the less important episodes of Stardust Crusaders.

I can’t recall if Keicho’s name gets used in this episode, but I think it hardly matters that I’m using it in the review anyway.

“That’s a flawless plan… If you ignore the fact that it’s impossible!” C’mon Josuke, you can do so much better than this.

“Just like Moses, who parted the Red Sea and walked across its floor, I’m gonna make my way through this army and beat you down!” Now that’s the Josuke I know.

#jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo's bizarre adventure diamond is unbreakable #jjba #jjba diamond is unbreakable #jjba diu #diamond is unbreakable #diu #david production #davidpro #josuke higashikata #jotaro kujo #okuyasu nijimura #koichi hirose #DiU ep04

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comicweek · 2 years

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Why Batgirl (and Scoob) were Axed: TAXES

The death of “Batgirl” on Tuesday sent immediate shockwaves through Hollywood. The film — with a $75 million budget that grew to $90 million due to COVID-related overages — had finished shooting months ago and was in test screenings as directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (“Bad Boys for Life,” “Ms. Marvel”) worked through the post-production process. Star Leslie Grace (“In the Heights”) had given multiple interviews expressing her enthusiasm for landing the title role and working with co-stars Michael Keaton (as Batman), J.K. Simmons (as her character’s father, Commissioner Gordon) and Brendan Fraser (as the villain, Firefly).

In other words, the movie was nearly finished, and already building awareness among fans. Why would Warner Bros. Discovery throw all that away?

According to sources with knowledge of the situation, the most likely reason: taxes.

“Batgirl” found itself on the bad end of that decision, apparently neither big enough to feel worthy of a major theatrical release nor small enough to make economic sense in an increasingly cutthroat streaming landscape. Spending the money to expand the scope of “Batgirl” for theaters — plus the $30 million to $50 million needed to market it domestically and the tens of millions more needed for a global rollout — could have nearly doubled spending on the film, and insiders say that was a non-starter at a company newly focused on belt-tightening and the bottom line. (Spokespeople for Warner Bros. and Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment for this story.)

Releasing the movie on HBO Max would seem to be the most obvious solution. Instead, the company has shelved “Batgirl” — along with the “Scoob!” sequel — and several sources say it will almost certainly take a tax write-down on both films, seen internally as the most financially sound way to recoup the costs (at least, on an accountant’s ledger). It could justify that by chalking it up to a post-merger change of strategy.

Doing so, however, would mean that Warner Bros. cannot monetize either movie — no HBO Max debut, no sale to another studio.

emphasis added

The makers of the live-action Batgirl and the animated Scoob! learned today that those films were being stopped in their tracks. The timing was particularly awkward for Batgirl co-directors Adil El Arbi and Billal Fallah. Both are in Morocco for El Arbi’s wedding — some wedding present — and they expected to return to the cutting room and continue work on the film that stars Leslie Grace, J.K. Simmons, Brendan Fraser and Michael Keaton.

There were initial cries that the scrapping of Batgirl carried bad optics because the title role is played by a Latina. But there were reasons for the move. In both cases, the filmmakers were told that it came down to a “purchase accounting” maneuver available to Warner Bros Discovery because the company has changed hands, and also changed strategy from the previous regime. This opportunity expires in mid-August, said sources, and it allows WBD to not have to carry the losses on its books at a time when the studio is trying to pare down $3 billion in debt across its divisions.

There has been much speculation on why Batgirl was canceled, having to do with it being a bad movie. Sources said that the film tested once, and the result wasn’t that bad, considering that the cut had temporary visual effects that tend to temper audience enthusiasm in the scores. Already, the studio is discussing making different deals with the directors and Miss Bala star Grace, because this was not a reflection on their talent as much as the radical strategy shift. It was a hard decision for all and highly unusual to simply scrap a film that cost $60 million-$70 million, made by the hot directors who helmed Black and the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel under Kevin Feige as well as the pre-pandemic $426M-grossing hit Bad Boys for Life.

Much of the decision came down to this: Warner Bros Discovery boss David Zaslav rejecting of Kilar’s strategy to lean heavily into building streaming subscriptions for HBO Max. That was punctuated by his Project Popcorn initiative that put the entire 2021 theatrical slate — including Dune, Godzilla vs Kong, King Richard, The Matrix 4 — day-and-date in theaters and on HBO Max when theater attendance was sparse during the pandemic. Even after he was shown the door, Kilar continued to call the strategy a win. Many did not agree, particularly after Top Gun: Maverick waited and grossed north of $1.3 billion. It’s a decidedly different world from when Kilar made the move. Wall Street no longer is impressed by subscriber numbers as much as profits, as seen by the precipitous decline of Netflix’s stock value.

Back to Batgirl and Scoob! Batgirl is a gritty entry — not near the budgets of DC theatricals The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom — and wasn’t designed to compete with tentpole theatrical releases, and neither for that matter was Scoob! In addition, there were introductions of characters in that film that the studio wanted to save for those DC theatrical titles. Rather than spend vast sums pumping up the budgets of each film to compete in theatrical marketplace, and then spend $80 million in global P&A, the studio felt that scrapping both movies was a better choice, when coupled with the purchase accounting maneuver. DC will be preserved as a place that takes big swings, from Aquaman 2 to Flash, Black Adam, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, a sequel to its billion-dollar Joker and another Wonder Woman pic.

Sources don’t expect other films to get killed like this, because the accounting opportunity expires by the middle of this month. But as all of Warner Bros Discovery braces for Thursday’s quarterly earnings report and the layoffs that are sure to come, no one with a project made specifically for HBO Max or execs there can feel confident at the moment.

Warner Bros Discovery just released this statement: “The decision to not release Batgirl reflects our leadership’s strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max. Leslie Grace is an incredibly talented actor and this decision is not a reflection of her performance. We are incredibly grateful to the filmmakers of Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt and their respective casts and we hope to collaborate with everyone again in the near future.”

#Batgirl #dceu #leslie grace #adil el arbi #Billal Fallah #scoob #hbomax

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rashlin3110 · 6 months

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Data Science: Your Passport to a Smarter, Personalized, and Predictive World

In our modern, tech-savvy world, data science stands as a powerful force that shapes the way we live, work, and make choices. But why is data science so useful, and how does it affect our daily routines? Let's dive into the amazing utility of data science using straightforward language.

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One cool thing about data science is that it can predict future events. By checking out past data, data experts can guess what might happen next, helping us get ready.

Weather Predictions: Scientists use data to tell us what the weather will be like, so we can plan our outdoor activities.

Financial Markets: Investors use data to guess how the stock market will move and make clever money choices.

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Data science is the reason things like movies and ads seem to be made just for you. It makes entertainment and marketing match your tastes better.

Entertainment Suggestions: Streaming sites use data to recommend shows, movies, and music you might enjoy.

Ads: Advertisers use data to show you stuff you're actually interested in buying.

Learning: Learning apps adjust to how you're doing and give you lessons that fit your progress.

Chapter 4: Solving Tough Problems

Data science helps us tackle tricky issues by breaking them into smaller parts and finding answers with data.

Nature Conservation: Scientists use data to protect the environment by studying climate change, animal behavior, and pollution.

Energy Saving: It helps cut down on power use in buildings, which saves money and is better for the planet.

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Data science is incredibly useful because it lets us use data to make better decisions, predict the future, customize our experiences, and solve complex problems. You can see its impact in almost every part of our lives, from the stuff we buy to the services we use, and from how businesses run to how we deal with worldwide challenges.

If you're eager to expand your knowledge of data science course, I would recommend exploring ACTE Technologies. They offer certification programs and opportunities for job placement. Their team of experienced instructors can guide you through the learning process, both through online and in-person classes. Consider taking a systematic approach to your learning journey and thinking about enrolling in one of their courses if you're interested in this field. I hope this response addresses your inquiry effectively, but please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section. I'm continuously striving to enhance my knowledge. If you found this information valuable, please consider following me for more content related to data science. Thank you for investing your valuable time here, and I wish you a fantastic day."

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thickest-slimiest-malware · 1 year

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sigh the plot of owl house season 3 is objectively so so bad. its sad they had to cram like 20 episodes into 3 but they shouldve cut something. the pacing is awful, its all so meaningless they dont let any of the information simmer in your brain before it stops mattering. if youre not gonna watch it, just imagine someone explaining to you the plot of homestuck at 2x speed but with a disney budget

(seriously the backgrounds are so detailed. the budget/ammount of work is like if gravity falls had a movie special. theres a scene where raine is running up a staircase and the background shows up for like less than 5 seconds but they made it look like a painting and probably spent like 10 hours on it. every background looks like a 10 hour digital painting and for why? just so we can see someone on the team get separated and the others crying for the 15th time? just so someone can get another set of new powers that they wont have time to explore? what a fucking nightmare. its genuinely kind of a nightmare to watch knowing this is the new standard of production. i know they tried. its all in the pacing that was created by the episode layout being messed with at the last minute (by someone above the creators and writers), after the story has already been planned. ugh why invest in a show at all if ur gonna do that. why make financial decisions for an animation company at all. its like investing in a windmill but before you build the roof you decide you ran out of money, yet you still expect dry flour. this is not how you get half the flour, this is how you get nothing because you sabotaged everything you invested in prior)

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c-optimistic · 4 years

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for your happy prompts ask, perhaps kara is a documentary film maker who follows ceo lena around for a doc and ends up falling in love with her by learning a bunch of little things she finds out during filming? also p.s. i absolutely adore your writing even when it tugs at the heartstrings. thank you for writing what you do! it makes my day everytime i see an update or get an email

She wasn’t allowed to see Lena Luthor until she’d signed so many papers that, if stacked together, would be taller than she was. She wasn’t even allowed to touch her camera around Lena Luthor until the woman herself, CEO extraordinaire, had personally vetted Kara out.

“You know,” Kara said as casually as she could, finding herself nervously adjusting her glasses when Lena’s cold gaze fell on her, “I usually have a whole team with me when I do this.”

“And I agreed to this on the condition that only one nosy filmmaker follows me around, not a whole team.” Lena’s reply was like everything else Kara had learned about the CEO thus far: she was blunt, a little harsh, tone and eyes cold and emotionless. She gave nothing away, not in her walk, in her mannerisms, in the ridiculously healthy food she ate, in the way she spoke to her employees or board members. She was cool, detached, wickedly smart, and utterly composed. “And I must approve the final result,” she added, gesturing to the mountain of paperwork Kara signed.

(Kara sighed internally, a tiny part of her sure Lena was a robot.)

“But it’s everything, right?” Kara clarified. “A total look into your life, no holding back?”

“You may follow me around to your heart’s content,” Lena said, leaning back in her desk chair, studying Kara intently.

“May I ask, Ms. Luthor, what made you agree to this, when you’re usually so distrustful of the media?”

Lena gave Kara a smile that didn’t touch her eyes. “What made you ask to do this when you know I distrust the media?”

Lena hadn’t answered, so Kara knew she didn’t have to either, but she felt it was important to establish some kind of rapport with the woman she’d be following around for the next few weeks. “I’m of the opinion that things are rarely as simple as they seem from the outside, that’s all.”

“Well,” Lena said, looking pleasantly surprised and offering Kara a grin (a real one, one that touched her eyes and transformed her face), “perhaps that’s why I agreed to you doing this.”

“You’re one of Ms. Luthor’s closest friends, is that right?”

“Yes.”

“Since before your daughter was born?”

“Yup.”

“So would you say you know her quite well?”

“Sure.”

“Do you plan on answering any of my questions with more than one word?”

“Nope.”

“Okay. So, in one word I suppose, how would you describe Ms. Luthor to a stranger?”

“Flawless.”

The rules of her arrangement with Lena were rather simple. For the next several weeks, Lena consented to having Kara around from the moment she woke up to the moment she went to sleep. In return, Kara was not allowed in certain meetings at L-Corp, was not allowed to bring her camera with her at all when Lena went down to R&D, and if Lena asked for her to stop filming at any point, Kara was bound to immediately do so and erase any footage she may have inadvertently captured.

For the first two days of the arrangement, it was actually rather boring. Lena was awake before the crack of dawn, she didn’t acknowledge Kara’s presence as she made coffee and toast (though she did push a cup and a plate towards Kara), and then spent the next fifteen or so hours in her office, sifting through papers, answering phone calls and responding to emails, and forgetting meals. It wasn’t until the third day that Lena’s routine changed slightly.

She received a phone call at breakfast, and whoever it was caused a bright red blush to bloom on her cheeks. Kara zoomed in slightly on Lena’s face as she answered the call. “Now’s not really a good time, Sam,” she began, falling silent at whatever this Sam was saying on the other end. Lena’s eyes flitted over towards Kara, but to her surprise, she didn’t ask for Kara to shut off the camera. “That sounds terrible,” she said, sounding truly apologetic, something about her countenance changing. She seemed softer, more open, calmer than Kara had seen her yet. “And Ruby was so excited too.” Lena fell silent once more, nodding almost as if unaware of it. “I agree with her,” Lena suddenly laughed, still nodding, “it’s not fair at all. But there’s no way I’m not going to visit. Do you want me to bring anything?” Lena laughed again, and Kara wondered if her camera was capturing the change she was witnessing with her own eyes. “As if I could forget Ruby’s chocolate.” A pause. “Give her all my love.” Another pause, a tiny smile on Lena’s lips. “All right, I will. Bye.” As she hung up, she looked over at Kara, as if daring her to comment, everything about her shuttering at once.

“Who was that?” Kara asked, not really expecting an answer. To her surprise, however, Lena’s eyes flitted to the camera and she let out a soft, resigned sigh.

“That was my CFO, Sam Arias,” she answered, her tone a complete 180 from what she was using on the phone. She studied Kara for a moment and must have read something on her face, because her shoulders deflated and she motioned towards her phone. “Sam is my best friend. Her daughter, Ruby, is my goddaughter. We were supposed to go to the animal shelter today.” Lena smiled softly, almost as if unaware of it. “She’s finally convinced Sam she’s responsible enough for a pet. It’s actually—” Lena stopped suddenly, her eyes shifting to the camera once more, any warmth that had managed to leak out dissipating at once. “In any case, she’s sick. So we’ll have to reschedule.” She waved her hand towards the camera. “Can you turn that off, please?”

“Uh, yeah, of course,” Kara said quickly, making a show of turning the Camcorder off and setting it aside. “Is something wrong?”

Lena shook her head, leaning against her kitchen counter as she eyed Kara with something like curiosity. “You know, I’ve seen all of your other work,” she said after a moment, frowning at Kara like she was a puzzle she couldn’t figure out.

(Had she? Seen all of Kara’s work? A part of Kara was curious as to how, after all, most of her stuff was tucked away in a closet back in Midvale, waiting to be opened up and viewed during Christmas, when Alex would laugh at the films she’d made in high school about how the boys’ sports teams were unfairly given more attention than the girls’. The others were projects for her degree and one or two failed attempts to get a real production company to take the risk on her.

In fact, if not for Cat Grant’s decision as ‘The Queen of All Media’ to get involved in filmmaking, funding a project from a no-name creator, Kara wasn’t even sure she’d have the film she was making now.)

“Oh,” she said inarticulately, not quite sure how to word what she was really thinking. How rich did you have to be to be able to bribe anyone into giving you anything?

Lena nodded carefully, her face a perfect mask. If not for the way her eyes followed Kara’s every movement, Kara would’ve even thought that Lena was bored. “You’re very fond of certain themes. Hope. Love. Endless optimism in the best of humanity.” She said it like it was a bad thing. And it was suddenly Kara’s turn to lean forward on the opposite end of the counter, feeling her head tilt to the side questioningly.

“Is that what you got from my films?” she asked, genuinely curious.

Lena seemed wary of the question, standing up straight and crossing her arms over her chest defensively. “Isn’t that what you intended?”

“You know,” Kara said slowly, “I don’t actually believe in all that creator’s intent nonsense. I think we search for parts of ourselves when we consume art. So if that’s what you got from my films, that says more about you than it does about me.”

If anything, this seemed to offend Lena. “So you’d deny having any sort of intent with your work? What about making something with meaning?”

Kara laughed, shaking her head. “That’s not what I mean, and besides, who says art has to mean anything?”

“Of course art means something,” Lena argued, narrowing her eyes at Kara. “What’s the point of doing it if it doesn’t mean anything?”

Kara shrugged easily, giving Lena a small smile. “I disagree. I think art says something. But meaning is up to the people who consume it.” She picked up her camera and pointed it at Lena without turning it on. “Doesn’t matter what I intended to say with my films, you got meaning from it. So I’d say there was a point in making it, don’t you think?”

Lena eyed her for a moment, apparently not liking that Kara wasn’t giving her an answer, wasn’t telling her what she was trying to say with her work. But then, after several long seconds, she relented, letting out a chuckle and shaking her head. “Well, fine,” she said, her smile touching her eyes. “As long as you don’t try to say anything silly like hope, love, or endless optimism in the best of humanity with this film.”

“I’m afraid I can’t change who you are, Ms. Luthor,” Kara said softly, turning her camera on and effectively cutting off any response Lena may have had.

(And when she looks at the footage weeks later, she’ll freeze that frame, breath catching at the look on Lena’s face: the softness of her eyes, the curve of her lips, and the pleasantly confused crinkle between her brows.)

“Do you spend a lot of time with your godmother?”

“Oh yeah, loads! She’s great.”

“What sort of things do you do with her?”

“I mean, normal stuff? She takes me to get ice cream all the time. The other day, she rented that new horror movie that came out and watched it with me when I stayed over. My mom went nuts when she found out.”

“So you like her?”

“No, of course not. I love Lena. She’s my aunt, you know? She’s family.”

“And if you had the chance, what would you want the world to know about her?”

“That she cares, so much. And that she’s funny and super smart and helps me with homework and after my mom she’s the very best person I know.”

The visit to Luthor Children’s Hospital was, as far as Kara was aware, unplanned and in fact gave Jess a great deal of anxiety. For her part, Kara was mostly frustrated and annoyed, wondering if this film was worth it at all. Because Lena Luthor seemed to be asking Kara to turn off the camera more and more, especially when her day deviated at all and she was forced to leave her office.

(Walks in the park, lunches with her goddaughter, a touching moment with the child of one of her employees...all locked away somewhere in Kara’s memory, but destined to remain there instead of on film, where it should be.)

She huffed a little bit as she leaned against the wall, watching Lena walk quickly towards the group of nurses and doctors. She didn’t say anything when Jess joined her, a contemplative look on her face. “She always does this,” Jess told Kara after a long silence, rolling her eyes fondly. “She’ll cancel meetings last minute because she heard one of the kids in the hemoc ward has finished treatment or that they’re out of toys to give to the new patients.”

“Why isn’t there any press if she does this often?” Kara asked, turning to Jess but watching Lena out of the corner of her eye. She was talking to one of the doctors now, looking comically out of place with her designer clothes while surrounded by colorful artwork by kids that littered the walls of the Children’s Hospital.

Jess fixed Kara with an unimpressed look. “You’ve met her, right?” she asked rhetorically. “She goes out of her way to hide these visits. She says that she has to keep it under wraps because she wants to keep it about the kids and not her. But I think the truth is she’s just worried people would mistreat the kids and their families for allowing a ‘Luthor’ within ten feet of them.”

“Oh,” Kara said dumbly, a little stunned by the new information, and feeling guilty for her thoughts earlier. “That’s...awful.”

“I’m not telling you this for nothing, you know,” Jess continued, frowning at Kara. “She’s been avoiding lots of her usual charitable work since you’ve been around. The whole point of this was to get everyone else to see the real Lena Luthor, but she’s ruining it by being humble and noble.”

(Kara wanted to groan, roll her eyes, or better yet go over to Lena herself and shake her until she understood what Kara’s job was.

How was she supposed to make a documentary about Lena Luthor if Lena Luthor was so determined to hide herself away from the world?)

“What would you have me do?” she asked, not voicing her frustration, though it seeped into her tone anyway. “We have a deal, and she doesn’t want me to film these things.”

Jess shook her head, looking terribly unimpressed by the answer. “Don’t you have artistic integrity? Would you allow anyone else to boss you around and tell you what you could and couldn’t film?”

Kara looked over at Lena, who was now smiling at a young boy who had ambled up to her with his mother and infusion pump stand in tow. She watched as Lena actually dropped to her knees to talk to the boy, nodding vigorously at whatever he was saying. After a long moment, she turned back to Jess and shook her head. “No,” she said finally. “I guess I wouldn’t.”

And after Jess had given her another significant look before walking off, Kara raised her camera and began to film.

“Mr. Spheer, you’re an ex of Lena Luthor’s, right?”

“Ah, I see this documentary is quite personal. Are you sure that Lena is okay with this sort of thing going into her movie?”

“Well, it’s my movie. But she’s free to ask me to take things out.”

“Fascinating. Yes, I am Lena’s ex. I was quite brokenhearted when she broke it off to move to National City.”

“Oh, she broke it off?”

“So curious, Ms. Danvers. Perhaps you’re interested in something beyond a mere film?”

“W-what? No, that’s—please be serious, Mr. Spheer—”

“It’s Jack to you, my dear. What else do you need to know about Lena? Her favorite flowers are plumerias, her favorite food is—”

“—oh that’s really not necessary. If we could just focus on who Lena is as a person. A friend. A former girlfriend?”

“Hmm, yes. Well, just imagine your perfect woman, Ms. Danvers.”

“Oh, um, I—”

“—exactly, you see Lena. That’s an universal experience, I’m afraid. Lena is simply...too good for this world.”

“So you’d say the treatment she gets by the public is unfair?”

“It’s unfair how much people attack pineapple on pizza, Ms. Danvers. The way they speak of Lena without knowing her? That’s a pure travesty.”

They were about ten days into filming when Kara saw Lena relax for the first time.

She was using the word ‘relax’ rather loosely, of course. Lena didn’t do what Kara did after a long week—put on a pair of sweatpants, order loads of junk food, and watch so much Netflix that it eventually felt the need to ask her if she was still watching. In fact, Lena’s idea of relaxing was more work. Just, fun work.

She was dressed in jeans and a blue shirt, knees pulled up to her chest as she sat at her desk, mumbling under her breath as she did whatever she was doing. (She hadn’t bothered to explain to Kara, had just sighed and acquiesced to the presence of the camera in her home office.) Perched precariously at the tip of her nose were a thick black pair of glasses, her hair falling to her shoulders in gentle waves.

She looked different. Softer, somehow. Gone was all the trappings of a badass CEO, and all that was left was a clever (and beautiful) young woman, working on the things she loved in her spare time.

Kara zoomed in slightly, focusing on Lena’s face, on the furrow between her brows, her lips twisted in concentration. There was something there, something different, and Kara just wanted to—

“Is that camera heavy?” Lena asked, looking up suddenly, a curious expression on her face. She was good at that, the polite looks, gently asking for more information. Tiny eyebrow raises, nearly imperceptible softening of her eyes, lips quirked the slightest bit, all intended to disarm her quarry, making them drop their guard long enough that they give everything held close to their chest away.

“Not really,” Kara answered, grinning at Lena. This made the other woman blink in surprise, clearly not the response she was looking for, that expression on her face shifting suddenly, becoming more calculating. “I work out,” Kara went on to explain, shrugging easily, careful not to jostle the camera. “Besides, it’s not that heavy, I think about five pounds.”

“What kind of camera do you use?”

“Oh, it’s a Panasonic AG-HVX—” she cut herself off. “It’s not that interesting.” Kara adjusted her glasses and made sure Lena’s face was still in focus. Somehow, this made Lena’s tiny smile reappear. She stood up and circled her desk, and Kara was forced to back away to maintain focus.

“You love filming, don’t you?” Lena asked, and Kara blinked, not quite sure where she was going with this.

“Ms. Luthor, as I’m sure you’re aware, this film is about you.”

If she thought this would in any way cow Lena, she was wrong. Lena just grinned, looking like she’d somehow won something.

“Do you know what I don’t understand?” she said with faux casualness, crossing her arms and tapping a finger against her elbow. “Why would you, someone Cat Grant speaks so highly of, be willing to agree to this assignment? Something most people wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole.”

Kara frowned, not thinking as she responded. “It wasn’t assigned, Ms. Luthor. I pitched the idea. I wanted to do this.” Lena’s words sank in a moment later. “Wait. Cat Grant spoke highly of me?”

“Why?” Lena asked, no longer smiling.

Kara blinked at the change in tone. “Why what?” she asked, genuinely confused. This was, apparently, the wrong answer, because Lena chose that moment to begin pacing in front of her desk, looking more than a little bothered.

“I don’t get it,” she said as she paced. “I tried to figure it out, looked into you, into your work. I thought maybe you were doing this to build fame, but I’ve seen your work and even without a movie about the last Luthor, I have no doubt you’ll be very popular—”

“Oh, that’s nice of you, thank y—”

“—then I thought maybe you have a vendetta against my family and just want me to look bad,” Lena continued, barreling over Kara’s words and ignoring her entirely, “but the only connection between you and my family is your cousin, Clark Kent, and he’s the journalist who broke the story on my brother, so if anything I should dislike you—”

“That’s not exactly...Clark and I aren’t—”

“—so I really need you to explain it to me. Why did you want to make this film?” She paused her brisk pacing as she asked the question, meeting Kara’s eyes with a fierce look, one Kara was infinitely glad she was capturing on film. Because this, this glint in Lena’s eyes, was why Kara wanted to do this.

“Do you remember the speech you gave when you came to National City?” Kara asked, and judging from the way Lena’s eyebrows rose in response, she was rather thrown by the question. “Because I do. I watched it maybe a few dozen times. All those horrible questions, all the absolute certainty that you were like your brother, and you kept your head up and you promised to prove them all wrong, to make up for what he did.” Kara sighed, shutting off the camera and setting it aside gently. “I’ve never seen anything quite like it. I was...interested. I wanted to see more.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“Did I meet your expectations? Disappoint you? What?”

Kara smiled, unable to help it. “Does my opinion on you really matter?”

“Do you always answer a question with another question?” Lena shot back, eyes narrowing.

Kara’s smile just widened and she began to gather her things, preparing to leave for the night. Impressively, Lena didn’t question her further, just watched her then followed her to the door, looking rather cross. Pausing briefly to adjust her glasses and the strap of her bag, Kara turned suddenly and met Lena’s eyes. “You exceeded them. My expectations, that is,” Kara added when Lena offered only a quizzical look in response.

For a moment, Lena didn’t react, then that same look from her office—the softness of her eyes, the curve of her lips, and the pleasantly confused crinkle between her brows—overtook her expression, and she let out a laugh.

“Well, good then.”

“You went to boarding school with Ms. Luthor?”

“I don’t think that’s public knowledge, how do you know that?”

“Um, Ms. Arias told me about you. She mentioned your relationship with Ms. Luthor is unique.”

“Well, Sam would know, wouldn’t she?”

“Ms. Rojas, if you don’t want to speak to me, you don’t have to.”

“It’s fine. Look, Lena and I have been estranged for a while now. I...I did something to break her trust.”

“So would you say that Ms. Luthor is difficult to get along with?”

“No, I’d say that Lena values things like honesty and trust, and—you know that Austen novel? With the man who says that once you lose his good opinion, it’s gone forever?”

“Pride and Prejudice?”

“Exactly. Lena is like that.”

“Ms. Luthor is like Mr. Darcy?”

“No, she’s classic. No matter what’s going on, she’ll endure.”

“So...you were the one difficult to get along with?”

“Have you ever thought about taking your work to a whole new level, Kara? How do you feel about virtual reality?”

“Oh, um, I don’t have particular thoughts? But I’d love to know yours about Ms. Luthor. For the film.”

“She won’t believe this, or that I’m saying it coercion free, but Lena is...a visionary. More than that, she’s just a decent person. Which is more than most of us can say, don’t you think?”

After their conversation, Lena opened up dramatically.

(Well, dramatically was a stretch, but considering how closed off she’d been before, the difference was rather drastic.)

Kara filmed Lena’s visit to an animal shelter, capturing the way her fingers gently ran over the fur of the dog that immediately trotted over to her, placing its head in her lap. Lena had then explained that she went to shelters often, just to volunteer, as she was unable to adopt for fear of not having time to give the dog the attention it deserved.

Later that week, Lena let Kara stay later than usual, putting on some music as she got to cooking, going as far as to teach Kara the basics of the dish, laughing when Kara admitted that her skill in the kitchen was limited to making sandwiches. At one point she grabbed the camera and set it aside, dragging Kara into the kitchen, giving instructions and lessons as she swayed her hips to the music.

(It was silly, it was lighthearted, it was fun, and Kara couldn’t help it.

She forgot she was there to make a film.)

And as the days and weeks dragged on, when Lena showed off her skills at the piano—apologetically explaining she hadn’t had time to really play in months—or when she told Kara about her very ‘nerdy’ stamp collection or even when Lena seemed to ignore there was a camera between them and she began to talk about her day and her hopes for the weekend, Kara forgot that it was a job. She forgot that she was supposed to be making something, paying attention to more than Lena’s smile or the way her eyes lit up whenever she mentioned work she was particularly passionate about.

Somewhere along the way, Kara cared more about the opportunity to spend time with Lena than she did the film itself.

More worryingly, that realization didn’t even bother her.

“Why filmmaking?” Lena asked one morning, pushing coffee and toast towards Kara with a tiny smile. The camera was still in its bag, untouched since Kara had arrived nearly an hour earlier. “Why not journalism like your cousin?”

“My cousin and I,” Kara began awkwardly, adjusting her glasses, “well, our relationship is a little strained, I guess.” She didn’t need the slight tilt of Lena’s head to know that Lena wanted her to keep going, to explain further. She let out a soft chuckle and rubbed her forehead with the tips of her fingers. “Um, so my parents died when I was twelve. And Clark sort of...left me? I went to live with the Danvers instead, and they bought me a camera for my birthday.” Kara grinned at the very memory, still able to feel its weight in her hand, the eyepiece against her eye. “It was one of those old camcorders, do you remember? The ones with the tapes? I drove them nuts, filming literally everything. I don’t think they ever saw my face for the first few months I was with them, it was constantly behind the camera.” She didn’t explain why she wanted to document every moment with her new family, but judging from the way Lena’s eyes softened, she understood anyway. “From there it became serious. I started making films. School projects, etc. Now I’m here.”

“Why documentaries? Why not something like...oh, I don’t know, action movies?” Lena prodded, looking curious, looking interested, looking like the answer mattered.

Kara just shrugged, suddenly not able to look Lena in the eye. “I guess there’s a part of me that wanted to take after Clark.”

“How long have you been working for Ms. Luthor?”

“Um, this December will make seven years.”

“As her assistant, you have remarkable access to her. What’s she like?”

“Driven, ambitious, works way too hard. I don’t think she’s ever taken a holiday or even a break...but um, maybe don’t say that in the film.”

“Artistic integrity, remember? She works hard, that’s clear. But what about personally? Her relationship with you and the other employees? What kind of boss is she?”

“She cares a lot. A few years ago, before Lex Luthor, well. You know. Before all that, LuthorCorp was facing serious losses. Mr. Luthor wanted to just get rid of entire departments, but Ms. Luthor said the research was vital, and more than that, the researchers were important. She convinced her brother to keep them on—she won’t admit it, but it was more than being persuasive. She paid for it out of her own pocket.”

“So you’d say she’s charitable?”

“No, she’s passionate. And she fights for the things she believes in. Ms. Luthor likes to say that charity implies pity, and she doesn’t do anything out of pity. She just does what’s right by people.”

“Some would disagree, they’d argue that LuthorCorp, and by extension its new iteration, L-Corp, don’t care about people, but about profits. Do you think that’s a fair assessment of the company you’ve devoted seven years to?”

“Look. I get it, people are suspicious of L-Corp because it used to be LuthorCorp. But it’s not just a name change. When Lena took over, she gutted her company. There’s not a single program left from Mr. Luthor’s time as CEO. L-Corp is all Ms. Luthor.”

“So if L-Corp is Ms. Luthor, who is Ms. Luthor?”

“She’s a woman who’s been hurt all her life, Kara Danvers, and whose only goal is to keep as many people as she can from hurting too. Sometimes I just wish she realized she doesn’t deserve to be hurt anymore either.”

“Oh.”

“Also, I don’t care about your artistic integrity, that last bit does not go in the film.”

One afternoon, when Kara was dangerously close to dozing off on the couch in Lena’s office—camera turned off and set aside, not really needing more footage of Lena working at her desk—Lena suddenly jumped to her feet, an excited gleam in her eyes.

“They’ve done it,” she said, the smile forming on her lips so wide that Kara found herself smiling back.

“Done what?” Kara asked, fairly sure this would lead to Lena’s refrain of ‘that’s company business and I’m afraid you’re not privy to that information’ but instead, Lena looked at her appraisingly, then rolled her eyes.

“If I allow you to bring your camera in R&D, do you swear not to film my ongoing projects?”

“You’re going to let me film in R&D?” Kara said excitedly, jumping to her feet and grabbing her camera.

“Kara, do you swear?”

“Yes, yes, of course, Ms. Luthor. I absolutely swear.”

And the next thing Kara knew, she was filming in the one place she’d been told was off-limits, capturing the lab and Lena talking to her researchers animatedly about the advancement they’d made in gene therapy, not entirely surprised when Lena shoved the scientists towards Kara and urged them to brag about their achievement—while also warning them to be as vague as possible—and then sank into the background, clearly thrilled to have her scientists as the center of attention.

And later, when Lena decided to actually take a lunch hour as a ‘reward’ for the great strides L-Corp had made, she took Kara along, bought three different appetizers, and smiled her wide smile before she said, “It’s Lena, by the way. Just Lena.”

Mouth still bulging with the three potstickers she’d practically inhaled, Kara couldn’t manage much more than a nod, but later—when she was alone—she tried saying the name aloud, and it sent a shiver down her spine.

“Mrs. Luthor—”

“It’s doctor, actually.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Dr. Luthor. You adopted Ms. Luthor when she was four, is that correct?”

“I’m afraid I don’t have time for this nonsense. I consented to this interview only to say one thing: Lena was always the more clever of my children, but she’s foolish and soft, and this silly film is yet another example of that.”

“You agreed to meet with me to just say...that. Okay. That’s um. Fine.”

As the weeks dragged on, Kara had little reason to continue filming. Her deadline with Cat Grant was fast approaching, and she had more than enough footage. All that really remained was editing, of putting the final pieces together. But she found herself filming anyway.

Every day, she’d make her way to Lena’s apartment, making flimsy excuses about how certain footage was no good, or had been corrupted, and that she needed retakes of Lena doing ordinary things (like reading the paper, cooking dinner, or talking about her day). She knew that Lena could tell her excuses were just that, but mercifully, Lena didn’t seem to want to call her out on it, merely gave soft reminders not to stay up so late every night to edit (the ‘you could just as easily stop wasting your time here and be editing during normal hours’ going unsaid).

(Jess had rolled her eyes when Kara came by L-Corp and Lena mentioned offhandedly that Kara somehow hadn’t gotten a shot of Lena entering her building in all the time she’d shadowed the CEO, and wasn’t that odd?)

But what Kara knew, what made her stretch out these moments as long as she possibly could, was that once the final product popped into existence, once she showed Lena and got her okay to send off to Cat Grant, that was it.

No more Lena.

And that terrified her.

(So she gathered more footage, fruitlessly hoping that the final product would never be ready, dragging her feet at every step.

She edited, studying Lena’s every expression, tried to pinpoint the exact moment she’d started to fall for the not-so-detached CEO extraordinaire, and wished it didn’t all have to come to an end.)

Two days after Kara had sent Lena the finished film, she got a curt email from the CEO herself with only three words: come see me.

Jess gave no indication about how her boss was feeling when Kara arrived, merely stared evenly at Kara and gestured with her head for her to just go on in. When Kara tried to ask her, Jess shook her head, pointed at the door to Lena’s office, and made a shooing gesture.

“It’s odd to see you without a camera,” Lena said when Kara sat down across from her, trying to keep her hands from fidgeting.

“It’s odd to be in here without a camera.” Kara took a deep breath. “Did you watch it?” she blurted, unable to keep it in. “What did you think?”

“You’re really fond of certain themes,” Lena said, then she raised her eyebrow. “You also filmed quite a bit when I had asked you not to.”

“Artistic integrity?” Kara tried, and Lena...laughed.

“I don’t know if I agree with the way you portrayed me,” she said slowly as her amusement faded. “You took a lot of liberties.”

“I was very faithful to the subject of the film, Lena.”

“What do you think you were trying to say?” Lena asked, waving off Kara’s comment.

“What meaning did you get from it?”

Lena studied her for a moment, as if she was trying to read Kara’s mind. “I’m not some selfless genius, Kara.”

“Is that what you think the film is saying?” Kara asked her, not rising to the obvious bait. “Like I said, Lena. I was very faithful to the subject of the film.” For a long moment, Lena didn’t respond, and Kara felt the worry she’d managed to push away since sending the film to Lena creep back in. “Does this mean you don’t approve of the film?”

“Hmm?” Lena said, distracted. “No, I’ve already sent it along to Cat Grant, giving my okay. Even though you broke our agreement, I can’t deny the final result was very favorable to me.”

“I wouldn’t have made something that wasn’t completely true,” Kara said, somewhat hotly, most of her irritation bleeding away with the knowledge that Cat Grant was in possession of the final product, that the rest was up to her.

Lena smiled, eyes soft, and she nodded her head almost incredulously. “No, you wouldn’t. I know that.” She cleared her throat, seeming a bit nervous. “But I was thinking. I’ve been missing our talks about your work, and I know you don’t like talking about what you’ve made, but perhaps you’d make an exception for me. Would you be willing to give me a private showing of your film? Give me all the insider secrets? I know your subject quite well, it would be a fun exercise.”

Kara’s heart slammed to a stop, the jump-started at the sight of Lena’s amused eyes, that tiny curve of her lips. “A private showing, huh?” Kara mumbled, feeling a little dazed. “I still won’t tell you what I was trying to say.”

“That’s completely fair.”

“But I suppose I could give you some insight on my thoughts.”

“Only if you wanted.”

“It may have to be more than one session,” Kara said, trying and failing to stop the spread of her smile. “There’s a lot of footage you know.”

“So it’s a date?” Lena asked, and Kara couldn’t help her eager nod.

“It’s definitely a date.”

#thank you so much!#supercorp #fanfic

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yan-twst · 3 years

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hi! could i please request yan azul, kalim, leona and malleus with their darling figuring out abt them,, yknow being yanderes and trys to flat out look and act unappealing and/or just basically be the opposite of what theyd want in a s/o, as an attempt to try and get them off their back??

warnings: general yandere themes, mentions of physical violence

azul ashengrotto

the problem with azul’s attraction is that it comes from his own insecurities rather than him attaching to some aspect of his darling

perhaps they somehow reassured him when he was feeling low, perhaps they accidentally said something that soothed his insecurities- maybe it was something as simple as them always being nice to him without him ever having done anything for them; once he first gets an inkling of interest, it snowballs into an obsession and a desire to have them reassure him and keep him company

his darling starts to notice something is off when azul suddenly seems to be almost always pestering them to form a contract with him, when they can feel the tweel’s eyes on them throughout the day. it- it feels wrong to say he’s stalking them, but fuck, it sure feels like it

every day it seems to increase a little- the stalking, the pressuring, the way he’s trying to force himself closer to them, and it feels like a ticking time bomb. it’s as if every day they put off a contract or avoid him, the pressure’s building up, but they don’t know to what. but they can tell that if this goes on for longer, something is going to happen

azul notices when they stop taking as much care of themselves. they’re disheveled, hair messy and uniform wrinkled; not something bad enough that they’d get in trouble, but just so enough that it seems they’re actively trying to appear “unappealing”. too bad for them, though; in his love-addled mind, he dreams of them holding him, caressing him and telling him he’s loved, he’s good- the fact they’re not put together doesn’t affect him that much

of course, if they realize that what azul is fixated on is how they treated him and try to do the opposite of that- being rude to him, then that’s just making things go worse. azul was obsessed with them before, yes, but once they start acting rudely to him it just makes him snap

no more waiting. he was trying to get them tied up in a contract, lure them in until they were too far in and couldn’t leave him; but once they burst his little bubble by being rude to him, once they snap the fantasy version of them in his head (the fantasy version of them that’s always at his beck and call, always reassuring them and telling him how great he is, that adores all he does with no questions)- he’s suddenly craving their kindness again, and he doesn’t care how he has to get it

that really might be a fast route to getting dragged by floyd into a dorm room- azul’s room- and be confronted with a desperate azul

suddenly bombarded with questions- why did they do this? is he not enough? did they find someone else? it’s that bastard who sits next to them, isn’t it? what does he have that azul doesn’t? he can take it from him- he can be better than that guy, he promises! why isn’t he enough? why don’t they love him? why why why why-

it’s dizzying, and they realize just a bit too late the door is locked- and it’s going to stay that way. azul might regain his composure, but going back to his usual self from his little crybaby side doesn’t mean he’s suddenly letting them go; no matter in what state he’s in, making them his is all he has on his mind

kalim al-asim

the problem with kalim is that it’s so hard to tell his love is something far worse, far more dangerous, bordering into obsession until it’s too late

he’s just so naturally loving and affectionate; it’s not weird for him to always invite the same person over, not weird for him to be hugging them, it just doesn’t raise any alarms for him to shower them in expensive gifts that they didn’t ask for, it’s just not unusual for him to compliment them so sweetly every time he sees them

after all, he’s just known for being adorable and sweet and nice. if anything, onlookers might think he has a puppy crush and find the whole thing adorable

hell, outside of the discomfort of receiving so many expensive gifts, the target of his obsession probably also thinks it’s just some passing fancy, just another demonstration of his big heart and his boundless kindness

but it’s just a little too much. the hugs last a second too long, it’s just too many gifts- where the hell do they safely put all this gold? it’s too much time spent in scarabia’s common room being hugged and pet and coddled by kalim

perhaps the kindest way to make him back off is to just not appeal to him, right? to be just a little bit cold, to look a bit worse for wear than the average student- surely that’ll be enough to dissuade him, to make him lose interest and maybe focus his attention on something else

but it doesn’t really work. trying to even give a cold shoulder to his affections makes kalim so visibly sad it hurts them (even though they’re the ones trying to make distance between him and them), their disheveled appearance makes him fuss and worry and pay even more attention to them

if the plan was to get kalim off their back, then it backfires completely. he’s suddenly just that much more attached to them; he doesn’t seem to take their cold treatment as a dissuasion, and he gifts care products and clothes and jewelry saying that perhaps they need a little pick-me-up

it just culminates in him “worrying too much” and “taking the decision to care for them, since they’re clearly unwell!”- which translates to being put in a private room in the scarabia dorm for kalim to pamper

he seems to chalk up their distress and their absolute anger at his actions as them “being unwell”. is it the school stress, or something else...? well, it’s ok! he’s taking care of them now; they’re not gonna have to work a day in their life or stress over anything at all, because he’s going to stay with them forever. that’s what love is, after all!

leona kingscholar

what a ridiculous little herbivore

do they truly think he can’t tell what they’re doing? leona knows he isn’t subtle about his little crush, as ruggie calls it- he isn’t stupid enough to deny the obsession that swirls in his heart and raises all his animalistic instincts when he’s in the presence of his darling. he knows they’re worried about how he’s monopolizing their time, that they’re keenly aware he’s trying to keep them for himself

but do they really think that they can somehow drive him away by switching up the way they act? that if they try to put on a brave stance, try to act as if though they aren’t a little weak herbivore for the big mean lion to hunt down for dinner, that he’s just going to shrug and move on?

if his obsession was something so minor, he wouldn’t be putting in the effort to secure his prey. really, how dumb do they have to be to think it’d be that easy? they know him- they know he wouldn’t be putting energy into this whole thing if he didn’t truly want to

leona isn’t stupid. he can see right through them; he’s had his eye on them for a while now, and all of a sudden they’re trying to change up the way they are? he can easily figure out what they’re trying to do

in fact, he might bring it up to their face- looking down at them with a smirk arms crossed

just because the prey tries to act brave doesn’t make it any less of a prey animal. he can sniff them out without trying.

really, it’s about then leona just says ‘fuck it’ and pounces. it’s as easy as saying that if they don’t nicely follow him back to savanaclaw he’ll gladly turn them to sand, with his hand pressed against their back- and that’s all it takes for the brave act to crumble and for the lion to force the rabbit into his den

even if once held captive they keep trying to act unappealing, leona sees it as amusing and perhaps as a bother he can quickly get rid of with a bit of force or punishment. cats like to play with their food, after all: he might let them try to keep up the act for a while, just for his amusement, but once he says they’re done and to drop it, they better drop it, because he isn’t above letting them learn through pain that they aren’t in charge of themselves here

malleus draconia

catching on that malleus draconia might be a bit too interested in them is a bit of an unnerving discovery- because what does one do when the most powerful student in nrc and the heir to the throne of the valley of thorns is a bit too into one?

it doesn’t help that malleus is just not very socially adept, and it feels... cruel to tell him off. maybe it’s just the way he makes friends- perhaps showing up to their dorm unannounced is just him being friendly, perhaps him just staring at them is how he thinks friendship goes, maybe the extended physical contact is just him being touch starved

it’s just tricky, because what can they do? malleus is powerful and he’s very, very much attached to them. perhaps it’s their fault for letting it get to this level, but they just thought the guy needed a friend; they were trying to be nice, to offer him companionship, and now they’ve got a fae watching them sleep, talking about how they’d be a perfect co-ruler for the valley of thorns, glaring at their friends when they spend time together; it’s a problem

and yet what to do? trying to make malleus “not attracted to them” is easier said than done. after all, what seems to have gotten him so attached is the fact they treat him nicely, that they weren’t scared of him- and they’ve seen malleus spit fire and use magic so powerful they can only dream of it. they don’t want to just go ahead and upset him by suddenly being mean.

and trying to put him off with their appearance just doesn’t seem to work either. if anything, it just makes him that more overbearing; as if he’s worried about their behaviour

there’s no way to win, really. they can try to keep going this way, as his obsession grows more and more each day and he starts to take more and more from them, eventually declaring his “love”, eventually placing them in a tower, trapped with him- no amount of messy hair and poorly ironed clothes can make the lovesick obsession leave malleus; and the alternative is to potentially anger him, to make the move from their dorm to a cold, stone room somewhere in the dorm for malleus to unleash his anger and the worse parts of his obsession onto them

#yandere twst #yandere twisted wonderland #azul ashengrotto #leona kingscholar #kalim al-asim #malleus draconia #Anonymous

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tg-headcanons · 3 years

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You ever think about that whole argument (from the narrator/Ishida) that humans are just like ghouls because they eat animals to survive? So, so flawed. A LOT of people are vegetarian or vegan these days. It would have been better to make the argument that any animal's survival is dependent on the death of others, whether those 'others' are slaughtered or not. Circle of life and all that.

THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS

This is one of the ways in which tokyo ghoul gets close to a nuanced philosophy, but instead falls short into a tired old cliche. It’s just inches away from getting the point, but is held back by a major issue with Ishida’s writing style: Full focus on individual responsibility

We see it with how he portrays Kaneki alone with very little focus on countless other people who contributed as the catalyst for Change. We see it with how he portrays a handful of CCG members and Ghouls as “the bad ones who are making it worse for everyone else” rather than predictable products of their world’s system. And we see it with how he frames the world in a philosophical sense. There’s far too much focus on single people and simple goals. What will Kaneki do to save the world? What will Touka do to protect kaneki? What will Hinami do to decide if she’s a good person or not? It fails to take into account the sheer immensity of outside forces. It shouldn’t be “will X character choose to do Y?” it should be “how does Z effect X character’s ability or reason to do Y?”

Think about how Hinami had to kill Kureo because otherwise she and Touka would die horrifically. Was that even a choice? Could anyone blame her for fighting for her life when it was the only way to live? Or how Nishiki ate a piece of Kimi. Was he ever in a position to turn her offer of herself down? Was there any other way for him to survive then? Or how countless ghouls hunt down innocent people to eat. How else are they supposed to get food for themselves and their families? What other way can they survive starvation when every other Avenue is purposely blocked?

But I’m every single case, the situation these characters are in are set aside in favor of framing it as decisions they made with no other factors than their own desires

Now let’s compare that to how humans interact with meat. We’ve evolved for it, we sweat, see, and even support complex brains because we eat meat. Whether we like it or not we are predators, and that has been the case since the first hominids took down prey with sticks and rocks. We’ve been doing this for ages and it’s ingrained in our biology, cultures, and day to day life. Of course throughout history people have chosen not to. Whether it be for religious reasons, not liking it, or just being uncomfortable with the thought of eating animals some people have always been vegetarian, but in recent years there’s been way more. Sometimes it’s about diets, but other times people claim that to eat meat is unethical. “How could you eat a poor animal? How can you support factory farms? That’s disgusting I’m gonna email you a link to a poorly researched paper focused solely on Eurocentric ideas of consumption and terrible comparisons to actual human suffering that will guilt you into veganism”

The thing is, eating meat isn’t inherently evil. Not to sound like a cannibal or anything but I don’t think there’s anything morally wrong with eating both humans and animals given that it’s done respectfully. The problem comes when we focus on what farming is like now, that animals are mistreated, that farm workers are mistreated, that it can harm the environment, but does that make people who eat meat evil? Are they supporting this when they get dinner?

No, of course not, and to understand why we need to look at the reasons. First and foremost, it’s just good for a lot of people. Many people can’t survive on vegan/vegetarian diets, many people struggle with food and animal products are what they can eat, and often animal products are the easiest and most affordable food out there. Even in urban areas it’s hard to find food without animal products that are affordable in the long term for everyone, and that’s in the best case scenario. Look at places like Alaska, food most take for granted costs so much that no one can reasonably live only off that, and people there have lived off of animals they’ve caught for millennia before diet crazes existed. And yes, there are so many ways in which the methods of farming are unethical and harmful and those should absolutely be called out, but the responsibility lies with those profiting from it. How much evil is someone tight on cash trying to make it last until their next paycheck doing by taking their family to McDonald’s rather than getting food so much less filling for the same amount of money or more?

There’s so much complication added by factoring in society and capitalism and colonization’s effect on the local environment and what kind of life our meat animals live, but in the end, predation is natural. Animals eat animals, and humans who have benefited so much from our rise on the food change as early hominids are the only ones who take issue with it. Some people believe it really is evil and unnatural to eat animals, and they are free to believe that for themselves, but it speaks volumes about their own privilege when they turn that judgement on the people just trying to eat enough to survive. It isn’t a massive personal stake, it’s trying to survive in a world that has so many roadblocks to something as simple as a full meal

So compare that to ghouls. They steal bodies and hunt and kill because they have to. The rich may be able to outsource the carnage and keep the blood off their hands so they seem ethical, but they contribute to the deaths of humans the same way people touting that the animal farming industry is killing the world will buy animal product substitutes that harm people and the ecosystem just as much. After all, is the agave syrup that some company tore up a shitload of land in a more exploitable country to farm any less harmful because you can pretend that no people or animals were hurt? They can feel bloodless, but that doesn’t make what they do more ethical. It just lets them feel like it

As for the poor ghouls? They have to hunt. They get to play the part of ravenous monster because they don’t have the time or money to have someone else get bodies for them. Even anteiku ghouls have a little privilege by finding bodies that are already dead. Not every ghoul has a car to pick up corpses, or bodies that can walk that distance, or the knowledge to find good spots. Most hunt since the people that have died naturally are locked away because humans think of themselves as too evolved to take part in the circle of life, and would rather ghouls keep killing than let their loved ones be eaten like most animals are

In the end you’re completely right. Any animal’s survival is dependent on the deaths of others. All we as people can control is how kindly that is done. Humans with the means to can choose not to eat meat, but humans who don’t and ghouls can’t, and that does not make them evil. If humans in the TG world were willing to give the dead to the ghouls, it’s entirely possible that they wouldn’t need to hunt anymore. Meat will always be necessary, but the way they get it can be better, and that change relies solely on the system preventing them from having ethically sourced food. The fault does not lie with the individuals who need to eat

Ishida fell just short of the point in favor of the boring and nihilistic “oOoOh HuMaNs ArE tHe REAL mOnStErS” thing because it’s edgy and easy, but not correct. There’s nothing evil about having a biological need to eat meat, there’s nothing evil even for humans who don’t need to to eat meat, it’s just the circle of life. Nature is gruesome sometimes, but claiming that people are inherently evil is just edgelord bullshit. We can make the ways we get meat better if the people profiting off of it are held accountable, and ghouls can too if the people profiting off of their slaughter are held accountable.

Humans and ghouls are alike. Neither are bad for feeding themselves, and both can benefit a whole lot by not fighting over who is worse and instead demanding that the people in charge of their world make it better

#tokyo ghoul #tokyo ghoul headcanon #tokyo ghoul meta #tokyo ghoul criticism #mention of animal mistreatment

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zesar423990722 · 3 years

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Hi, I'm Zesar, owner and executive of the Tumblr and Twitter blogs. Unfortunately news! In 2018 I published that I was going to have different blogs with different content: Zesarbondage (this blog was going to these with content of women who are tied, enslaved as much as real women as cartoons or in 3D, the ones that are real that are photos of sessions of videos of adult film production companies are over 18 years old, that is, legally, they are already adults for most countries, as well as the caricatures that some of the artists who make these types of drawings, their models that create or take them from some models or actresses who represent the movies for example: Scarlett Johanson (I don't know if it's written like that) well more or less explain that), Zesarmodels: in this blog I was going to present you with a content of the models that for me are the most beautiful, sexy and like Whoever wants to call him this was going to have different models who work or worked in those model companies such as: victoria secret's, RomaCustom, rich cutrone, among others and others who work that ot There are unknown companies or models that already have their model company and they represent it, names that we all know: victoria secret's (Candice swanepoel, Adriana lima, alessandra Ambrosio, Frida aseen, Josephine Skriver, among others) other models or actresses who have modeled (emily ratajkowski) other models (abby dowse, Lina posada, killer tits, nessa orlova, lika andreeva), zesarfantasystories: this had to have sexual fantasy stories most Bondage, kidnappings, damsel rescues, nerdy boy wins the pretty girl of his dreams, monsters with beautiful girls, animals (snakes and spiders) being wrapped in cobwebs or being rolled up and eaten by snakes, ogres having sex with sexy girls, animals devouring beautiful girls (slugs, snakes among others) tentacles raping gorgeous girls. Well, since I told you the content that the different blogs would have, the news is bad, my team and I, your server, we have made a difficult decision is that we are going to suspend the creation of the blogs, for the reason that Tumblr has been in constant changes in their content policies due to this with the new generations that are making different changes in the world such as the general crystal, feminazis (it reads and sounds bad but it is the reality) veganism, people who defend rights of all animals (in fact in all), women who seek women's rights, among other things (well these people or groups such as feminazis, crystal generation people, women who defend human rights, They have been, they see that this is wrong, that the right to freedom and everything else, "hey they are raping a girl", "hey they kidnapped this girl", "hey that the girl in the story is deprived of your freedom ”, “Hey the girl in this movie is …… ..”. Yes, yes and yes, as I said all the women who appear in photos in scenes or in movies, drawings are already of legal age. The phrases that I put are not real but it can happen and we do not want them to report us as what they did to the pornhub page that they had to delete 3 million videos as the category that I was going to upload since these groups of people have reported abuse and that most are minors. That is why we decided that they are temporarily suspended until further notice. Let's hope they are well and that they take care of themselves. I say goodbye and send you cordial greetings. Zesar

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luki-fanfic · 3 years

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Helluva Boss 5: The Harvest Moon Festival

Huh, Helluva Boss usually drops by mid month. Wonder why this episode is taking so long to put toget-

*Episode airs*

0_0

Oh. That’s why.

I’ll admit it, my interest in HB was waning. Episode 3 and 4 honestly didn’t do much to keep me interested. Spring Broken had a lot of plot and writing issues, and I felt the concept could have been better executed. C.H.E.R.U.B was more solid, but did have some issues, and just wasn’t that fun to watch.

Harvest Moon on the other hand? Oh boy, now there’s an episode. I am, if you’ll pardon the pun, back on this horse. World building, the action scenes, incredible animation, relationship development of the bad kind, more worlds, interesting characters! It gives us so much to work with.

Spoilers abound, so read carefully.

That said, I will start this with my biggest complaint – and it’s one I’ve had for several episodes, but this one really rammed it home due to the ‘sneak peak’ clip we had of the opening. In the black and white boards, the swearing was limited, and honestly the writing was pretty witty. Then we got the finished product – certain lines were missing, and several words had been replaced with random swearing. Considering what the scene was, it felt like the finished product was a step down – I really wish the scriptwriters would realise random swearing isn’t always funny, and they’ve given proof that their writing is snappy as is.

Anyway...onto the actual episode. We learn that I.M.P seems to be building up their business as Blitzø has 15 clients looking for a kill. Considering he had to do a sale to get a multiple kill, and the other episodes show him basically going out straight after getting the job, they’re clearly building up a name for themselves.

This is further shown with the arrival of Striker, who compliments his decision to go into business for himself, since most Imps don’t. This is new information, since we’ve seen Wally attempt to start his own business – although clearly it wasn’t going well – but if Striker is to be believed, most companies in Hell, even Imp City, don’t have Imps as the owners. Maybe it’s a financial capital thing, maybe it’s partially Hell’s racism, or maybe Imps just generally prefer to follow, which Striker seems to allude later. It’s hard to say with the information we’ve got at this point, but it does put I.M.P in a slightly different light – and probably explains why Blitzø is fairly incompetent when it comes to running the whole thing. He has literally no one to ask or use as an example, and the society he lives in generally assumes he’s going to fail by the nature of him being an Imp.

In fact, even though Blitzø owns I.M.P, he is still completely dependent on Stolas and his Grimoire. Without it, I.M.P is screwed – the reason they’re even at the Harvest Festival is because they can’t work. And that’s what Striker tells him in the final act. Their society has made sure that he can never truly be successful on his own merit, no matter how hard he tries.

I’ve seen some debate on whether what Striker told Blitzø was true or just an attempt to let his guard down. It’s hard to say, because Striker says and does some very conflicting things, but I’m going to believe it was genuine. Why?

He lets Millie and Moxxie live to have leverage over him. He does insult Blitzø to their faces, but why would he need leverage once his job was done?

When Moxxie learns the truth, he doesn’t even try to talk him round, just kill him. Millie is also tossed to the side – possibly because neither of them are ‘superior.' Blitzø gets a full on speech about their superiority and how much he respects him, even if he’s hiding a knife in his tail for if he can’t talk him round.

When he has Blitzø on the ground at his mercy, he doesn’t mock him. Instead, he tells him he genuinely thought they’d be a good team. He had the advantage, but doesn’t take the chance to continue the insult.

Like most Imps, Striker seems to dislike the demon royalty, but at the end of the day, is also working for one (and can I say that twist was brilliantly well done? It made SO much sense but I honestly didn’t see it coming). What is his end goal? Is he envious that Blitzø has some kind of power of Stolas while he has to be obedient? Is he aiming to kill Stella once Stolas is down? Maybe opening an assassination business to take out anything Overlord and above? We just don’t know.

And with that, we’ll step off this train of thought to speak about something else very important in this episode. Stolas. Specifically his relationship with Blitzø, and precisely how wrong it is.

I admit it, I future-shipped them, especially thanks to the Instagram (which become a bit of a bait and switch when the insta-accounts were declared ‘non-canon’). I acknowledged that the relationship was problematic and needed some serious work on both sides before it could really be a functioning relationship, but this episode hammered home exactly how much needs to happen in a way the other episodes didn’t. The pilot and Murder Family treated Stolas as a gag, and then Loo Loo Land made us all care about him and his actions. But Harvest Moon showed the other side of it, and I'm not sure the ship can realistically recover.

Stolas considers Imps as inferior, to a ridiculous degree, and Blitzø is no exception. He has absolutely no respect for Blitzø, and holds all the power in the relationship. We saw this a little in the previous episodes, but they were either alone, or Blitzø was working for him, and surrounded by people aware of the relationship. His actions could be somewhat explained away.

In Harvest Moon, Stolas proves he treats Blitzø this way even in public. Blitzø has very obvious issues regarding his name, so Stolas persistently using a nickname and treating him the way he does around people who aren’t aware, says a lot about how much Stolas doesn’t care about Blitzø’s opinions. Even if Blitzø does have some feelings for him – which I do suspect due to his panicked attempt to explain it as transactional. If he didn’t care, he would probably find it easier to explain. At the same time though, he’d be happier if he could get the book without the monthly visits, because what he has with Stolas isn’t a relationship, no matter what Stolas tries to pretend. Any feelings Blitzø develops puts him even further under his control.

Part of me wonders if the relationship evolved between the pilot and the first episode in planning, and that’s why we have such a disconnect between the Insta relationship and the canon one. I’m really hoping the series addresses it in the future.

Finally, lets talk about that final reveal. Stella has hired a hitman to kill Stolas – even armed him with two angel-tech guns.

(Which, also finally gives us confirmation that Imps/Hellhounds/Succubi can die from conventional weapons, but the higher ranked native demons need angel weaponry to off them).

Stella is also confident enough to scream it over the dinner table. Stolas either doesn’t care, or isn’t paying attention – if he doesn’t care, if definitely puts his motives regarding the original invite up in the air, but if he isn’t paying attention? Then it’s another point in the anti-Stolas tab.

That said, this scenario does ask a question. Why don’t these two divorce? Stolas is clearly not in love any more, and living together clearly isn’t doing Octavia’s mental health any favours if she’s literally hiding behind her music rather than interact with her parents. He should be the first to offer a divorce, but he hasn’t brought it up. And if he hasn’t, maybe the reason Stella hasn’t is because they can’t?

It’s generally assumed that the two of them have an arranged marriage, and that Stella’s anger at his relationship with Blitzø is due to his status more than the cheating. But then wouldn’t it make more sense to hire a hitman to kill Blitzø rather than Stolas? Choosing to kill Stolas, even if it would hurt Octavia, suggests it’s the only option left to her.

I’m guessing we’ll (finally) get some Stella development next time Striker appears, and get an idea of what makes her tick. But for now, I suspect the two of them regularly had lovers on the side, but kept it discreet until this point. Stolas refusing to keep his relationship with Blitzø quiet is causing untold damage to their name and status. Stella wants rid of a man who not only doesn’t love her (if he ever did), but is constantly humiliating her for not hiding his much lower class lover (which we know by this episode he doesn’t even attempt), and since the rules of Hell for demons of their status doesn’t allow divorce (or perhaps their arrangement doesn’t), assassination it is.

Hell, maybe the plan was to kill Stolas, and frame Blitzø for it. Striker clearly knew about their relationship before they met (which should have been a red flag now that I thing about it), so Stella probably mentioned him. It would also put the recruiting on another level, if Striker actually did get Blitzø involved at the final moment and teamed up.

Oh, and as a final amendment? If that angel-gun that Striker left behind is not now in the hands of I.M.P and becomes a key piece when Asmodeus, Mammon and the real Fizzarolli show up? I will be very disappointed.

#spoilers #Helluva Boss #not fanfiction #helluva boss spoilers #Also adored the 'freelance' jokes Millie had to field #But can we maybe tone down the Moxxie torture?#It's only funny if he gets a win every now and then #Also #First episode starring Stolas where Blitz doesn't break a phone

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