#unbalancing-act

[nature-girly]

This line is so much funnier than it should be.

It's from a Twilight Zone episode called Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. It's a fairly good episode overall.

[disastercit]

was thinking about camp camp (woah really??) and the theme song and I started wondering how many of the activities in the fast part of the song I've actually done, so naturally I had to find the answer to that question in bingo sheet format:

you'll probably notice some of them are missing (Spaceships, Bomb Defusal, No Refusal, and Keeping up with Rhyming), and that's because I needed it to fit into a 5x5 grid. so I figured I'd axe those four because spaceships and bomb defusal are pretty unlikely, no refusal is really vague, and keeping up with rhyming is so broad and universal that it wasn't even really a question worth asking. if you actually have defused a bomb or been in a spaceship before and I've robbed you of a rare opportunity to humble brag about it, that's your own fault entirely for being too cool and interesting.

anyways, here's what I got. the answer to my original question is apparently that I've done about half of the activities listed in the fast part of the camp camp theme song.

[amelikos]

It's interesting how the episode highlighted the themes of inheritance and passing on the torch through both Amethio and Liko receiving something (a Terastal Orb, meant to make Amethio stronger, and an adventure log, meant to guide Liko further) from Hamber and Diana respectively.

Roy got his Ancient Pokeball from his grandfather, Liko got her pendant (now turned Terapagos) from her grandmother, and Amethio got a Terastal Orb from Hamber (he is probably not related to him but still an elder figure in his life).

To a lesser extent, because Nanjamo isn't as old as the grandparents figures, Nanjamo is a kind of "senpai" figure to Dot in terms of video making and being a livestreamer and the episode highlighted that too (since she asks Liko and Roy to take care of Dot for her). Dot looks up to her and Nanjamo is clearly happy to see her making friends.

Either way, that's why the situation with Amethio feels different from Liko and Roy to me because his setting intentionally goes against the themes set up for them. In their cases, they are given options and gently pushed forward. Liko and Roy had Diana and Friede protecting them against Rayquaza in HZ033, Amethio was alone. Liko and Roy come out of their training against Diana feeling much more optimistic and realizing that they still have potential to grow, while Amethio comes out of his own training aware of his limits and feeling like he is not enough. Liko and Roy are encouraged to follow their own dreams, while Amethio is trying to fulfill someone else's wish. Rakua is Gibeon's wish, not Amethio's.

I really wonder what direction they'll take now, especially since Amethio is encouraged to continue on his current path (a path fueled by frustration and hastiness so far).. His scene in the opening mentions running towards his own future.

[faerune]

not really digging the woobification of solas in his relationship with mythal

[phinjeet]

* dont want 2 b needlessly mean in pnf post tagz but damn i do not care 4 the doof/perry plot in primal perry at ALL , what do u MEAN ppl dont think of it az the Army Of Baljeetz episode u guyz r so BORING

[bookinit02]

me, every day, rotting in bed: an object at rest will stay at rest😌

[es-quest]

Amane, if your God gave you free reign over your life and let you be, what would you really want?

And what's the deal with the ineffective restraints that are for show and that you could easily get out of? What was with the vines in the third loop. Getting [Es] to panic and rush up there to your aid, only to be trapped because [they] lost the knife. And the solution was to just... be there?

"...Are you still worried about me?" She crouches down right next to you. "You should know your place, Es. My god is very kind to me. And..." She trails off. "There is nothing for me outside of here. This is what's best for me."

When you ask her your questions she freezes a bit, her face stays calm but it's clear that she's holding back something. "You are not in the position to ask things like that. Especially when you have been so disappointing."

[autumnrory]

it's wild that people will be like "i don't like any of rory's love interests, team paris!" as if paris didn't treat rory atrociously a good portion of the time

[artist-issues]

That’s It.

I’m tired of seeing everyone repeat the same four points: “1) Nani gives Lilo to the state! 2) Hawaii has a better marine biology program than San Fransisco! 3) Jumba doesn’t get redeemed! 4) Pleakley’s not wearing a dress!”

Those are not the only things that were bad about this remake. You could easily tell it was going to be all that and more beforehand, but most people’s reaction to the trailer was “it’s surprisingly good!” and now they’re acting all surprised. If you didn’t see this coming, enough to purchase a ticket, you’re part of the problem and you don’t get the original movie any more than the people who made this remake did.

So I’m done being quiet, this is the Lilo & Stitch 2025 Takedown Post.

And as usual the only good thing about an attempted-remake is that it gives people a reason to think about what made the original so good.

Let’s go in order. But just scroll down to the Heading you Care About if you don’t want to read all this.

1. Cobra Bubbles

In this movie, Cobra Bubbles is a secret agent hunting for aliens and they have a new character take his place as the state social worker.

The Problem They Were Trying to Solve With this Change: “We shouldn’t have a black man or a government worker feel like an insensitive antagonist to Lilo’s family.”

That’s a stupid surface-level one-dimensional misread of the character from the original…and it wouldn’t have been hard, at all, for a child to explain to the 2025 filmmakers that Cobra is not an insensitive antagonist in the original.

Cobra Bubbles is not insensitive and he is not in any way portrayed as a bad guy in the original. Nani sees him that way, Nani sees him as antagonistic, because he’s the representation of Lilo being taken away.

But Nani is wrong about him and learns that she is wrong about him by the end of the movie.

Can we please make a list?

Cobra’s first interaction with the caretaker of the child he was being sent to protect was that she ran out into the road, yelled at a complete stranger, and dented his car.

Then he found her locked out of the home and threatening the child inside with a hammer in her hand.

Then he found out the stove was on while she was out, and she’d left a 7 year-old alone.

The 7 year-old made comments about being disciplined with bricks and a pillow case.

The 7 year-old looks like she might be more than a little emotionally unbalanced because she’s figuring out how to put voodoo spells on her friends to punish them.

He still gave that pair of sisters three days to straighten the ship. When in actuality, in 2002, under HRS §587-73, (don’t play with me) the social worker would’ve been well within his rights to remove the child from the home right then. But instead he gives her three days to fix it. THEN

The 18 year-old loses her job.

The family gets a “dog” who he is implied to know is an alien, right off the bat.

The alien is violent and wreaks havoc across town.

The 7 year-old almost drowns while they surf instead of find a job.

He lets the child and caretaker have one more night together to say goodbye, but when he’s on the way to get her he gets a call that she’s being attacked by aliens, hears a chainsaw, and finds the house on fire.

Do you understand what I’m saying.

Cobra Bubbles had NO BUSINESS being as BIG A SOFTIE AS HE WAS for all of the original movie. He was not only well within his legal rights to take Lilo away from Nani immediately, but he was actually required by law, it was his DUTY, to remove her immediately. But he didn’t do that. Why?

Now listen to me very carefully.

Lilo and Stitch is a movie about how “Family chooses to love and commit to one another selflessly, no matter what the other person can do for them or how hard they make it.” The fancy way they say it is just “Ohana means family: family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.”

Did you catch that? “No matter how hard they make it.”

Cobra Bubbles was a CIA agent before this. A CIA agent who saved the planet, by doing what? Convincing an alien race to leave them alone. Oh, he didn’t fight them off? No. How? He “convinced” them? He talked it out? Sounds like a pretty compassionate guy, for all his tough exterior. How did he do that?

He could’ve picked any animal that’s actually endangered. The filmmakers chose to make him the guy who convinced aliens to value mosquitos.

MOSQUITOS. Creatures that give nothing, only take. Ugly little bloodsucking monsters. That’s the creature he convinced them to care about enough to save the planet.

NOW do you have any trouble understanding why this is the specific social worker who would give an alien-infested dumpster fire of a dangerous home a chance when two sisters are about to be torn apart?

Do you see that Cobra is just another example of the grace that the movie is always talking about? The love that transforms someone from bad to good simply because it refuses to give up even when it gets nothing out of it? I’m repeating myself because I want you to see why he was a well-done character who NEEDED NO CHANGE.

Cobra Bubbles’ character is not an insensitive monster who doesn’t care who his actions hurt as long as he gets the job done. But you know who that does sound like?

2. Gantu

Gantu is not in the remake at all.

The Problem They Were Trying to Solve With This Change: “It’s going to cost us upwards of 1.5 millions of dollars to design, sculpt, rig, animate, and render a character this big in addition to finding a suitable voice actor to play the part.”

This is a really dumb choice for several reasons. A. Without Gantu, there is no “stakes-raiser” to Lilo and Nani’s story. The movie has no climax without him. For the first and second acts of the movie, it’s about a grieving pair of girls trying to prove themselves to a social worker while the story-equivalent of Beethoven the Destructive St. Bernard wacky Jumba & Pleakley antics get in their way. But when a 40-foot tall alien stomps into their lives and abducts Lilo & Stitch in a spaceship that careens around the island during an explosive sky-chase scene, now you have a high-octane, somebody-could-die climax.

B. Without Gantu, Stitch looks weaker. The climax gave Stitch a reason to come out of the wackadoo puppy he’s been posing as and suddenly remind everybody that he’s a lethal weapon who can survive thousand-foot drops, lava, and astronomic explosions—and a giant alien’s Thanos-dwarfing fist. Take him out and who do we have as a match for Stitch to go up against, even for a moment, and prove how much he’s changed to be willing to risk his freedom and fight?

C. Without Gantu you have no villain to reflect that STITCH is no longer a villain. (So they substituted Jumba.)

But the reason this character is really worth millions is, again, the theme.

I told you Cobra Bubbles was a character who did not put “duty” or even “convenience” or “position” over the real lives of Lilo and Nani. He saw that there was love there, and in his own way, he gave it a chance. And even when he chose to take Lilo away, he did it carefully; he gave them time to say goodbye.

GANTU IS THE OPPOSITE OF COBRA BUBBLES.

Gantu is the insensitive, uncaring, unyielding Captain whose commitment to duty turns into rage and cruelty. Not Cobra.

Nani thinks Cobra is walking in a threatening to tear apart their family in a display of government judgement. But that’s what Gantu literally does.

His first reaction to Stitch is to call for his destruction. Without even waiting to see if “it can be reasoned with” like the Grand Councilwoman suggests. He’s merciless. He mocks Stitch when Stitch is captive. And he knows that he caught Lilo, a human, along with him. He doesn’t care. He even suggests that Stitch eat her as a snack.

There are only two other characters who laugh at others’ misfortune in the movie. One is Stitch, the original villain. Then love changes him. The other is Jumba, who made Stitch. Then love changes him. But Gantu never gets changed. He’s only concerned with his job, and with personally annihilating the flaws he sees in Stitch.

Gantu is unyielding, ungracious, and cruel. And he’s big and powerful enough to be a test for Stitch to prove he’s changed. For the benefits he brings to the story, he’s worth 1.5 million and more. But they cut him anyway.

3. Jumba

In the new movie, Jumba is a villain through-and-through with designs on overthrowing the Galactic Council using Stitch, and instead of being redeemed, he’s sentenced to prison.

The Problem They Were Trying to Solve With This Change: “We can’t spend money on our real villain so we’ll just keep Jumba evil.”

The reason this is dumb is obvious. They created their own problem, and the ‘fix’ makes the movie weaker, not stronger. But here’s how.

In the original, Jumba is introduced as trying to self-protect. He’s on trial, and he lies. But when Stitch is revealed, he’s genuinely passionate about the thing he’s created. And he cares about image. He prefers to be called “evil genius,” and he hates the headlines labelling him “idiot scientist.”

You have to remember he’s part of “Galaxy Defense Industries.” They had him making weapons of destruction anyway. He just got too into it with his genetic Experiments, went a little insane.

I’m not downplaying the fact that Jumba is evil at the start of the movie. He is. It is evil to be outcasted from society and then respond to that with, “well, if they’re going to treat me like an idiot, I’LL SHOW THEM, I won’t care about anything except my passion for mad science!” That’s evil.

But it also explains a lot.

I said it in another post. Jumba’s whole utility as a character is that he knows who and what Stitch really is, better than anyone. He made him to be a monster who can’t belong and wreaks havoc on everybody else’s ‘place of belonging.’ Jumba is the audience’s insider’s perspective on what is going on in Stitch’s head, at first.

But when he’s redeemed, it happens fast. And why? Because that’s how plain and simple Stitch is, as a character. Jumba knows Stitch is a disgusting little monster with nothing inherently loveable about him, and no “greater purpose.” So when his disgusting monster is loved by someone? When his disgusting monster is willing to ask him, Jumba, for help? Something totally outside his programming, totally not what Jumba thought he’d ever be capable of?

That proves to Jumba, in an instant, that there’s love out there that transforms. And creates a place of belonging.

There were already germs of that, a desire to belong, a compassion, in Jumba after he reached earth.

He doesn’t try to get Nani fired, he offers an explanation for Pleakley’s swollen head.

He claims he won’t hit Lilo (why would he care about collateral damage?)

He sounds sorry for Nani when she’s upset about losing Lilo, and tries to keep Stitch from bothering her.

My point is, Jumba’s redemption isn’t important because it’s cute or because we need to set up the big happy found-family trope everybody loves.

Jumba’s redemption is important because it is just one more PROOF that what’s happened to Stitch is so incredible. The love Jumba finds transforming his monster is enough to transform Jumba, too.

But sure, fine, whatever, make him a soulless one-dimensional talking head. Whatever.

4. Stitch’s Design

In this movie, Stitch is cuter than he is ugly, and he’s half Lilo’s size.

The Problem They Were Trying to Solve With This Change: “Ugly-cute doesn’t come across as well in ‘live action’ animation. And all the Wal-Mart moms remember Stitch as ‘cute.’ Plus we’ll save about 15% in rendering the animation.”

This is crippling to the characterization of Stitch.

Stitch is supposed to be an echo of who Lilo could become now that she’s lost her parents and may be losing Nani. This scene:

Where Jumba points out that Stitch has nothing, and destruction is his only purpose, is the evidence for that. But Chris Sanders, who made this whole story, also point-blank said it. Stitch is a future Lilo, if she loses her family.

So that’s reason number 1 that he should be her same height. But also, practically, no iconic pair of best friends, yin and yang, have visuals where one is smaller than the other. Especially not if one of them is supposed to be disguised as a pet.

The point is, Stitch is not LILO’s pet. He is her best friend, her other half. But between the muzzle-muscles they worked into his upper lip and the darkened dog nose and the butt-scooting across the floor, the remake is trying to make him more pet-like in relation to Lilo.

That’s not what he is.

I said this in another post. But Stitch is supposed to throw food to the back of his head like a gator—his lips are not designed for forming words. His gums and teeth are supposed to look like a shark’s. His nose is supposed to be too big, stamped into his face. His ears are supposed to be like bat ears, not bunny ears. He hunches forward, instead of bending at the waist like a toddler. His eyes can narrow to lizard slits.

He has to look like he can believably be a disgusting monster. Yes, he can also be cute. But he has to first look like a monster. Because that’s what he really is, in the story. If he isn’t, then LILO’s love for him doesn’t look as powerful.

It is easy to love a cat even if it scratches you, because it’s cute. It’s harder to love a life-sized spider that keeps knocking you down and eating your prized possessions and laughing when you get hurt. Stitch is supposed to be closer to the second one, so that Lilo’s love shines brighter.

But also, practically:

She can’t look him in the eye for emotional shots when he’s that short. He’ll always have to awkwardly be standing on a box or a chair or a bed.

How is he going to scoop her up, hero-style, and leap off of an exploding spaceship with her in his arms, when he’s half her size? He could do it: it’ll look stupid, though. So they just don’t have that part in the movie.

She can pick him up. That alone is demeaning and again, the visuals are silly. Not what we’re going for.

5. Lilo’s Personality

In this movie, Lilo doesn’t like weird stuff, and she screams when she first meets Stitch. There’s no problem that this solves. It’s just laziness and a lack of care about the characters.

I would like to remind you that the original Lilo:

Made her own doll that looks like a shrunken head and pretended a bug laid eggs in her ears.

Makes up stories about a fish that controls the weather and actively deep-sea dives to bring it peanut butter sandwiches.

Has a knee-jerk reaction of using practical voodoo spells on friends who wrong her.

Listens exclusively to Elvis Presley.

Fills baby bottles with coffee.

Believes Nani’s manager is a vampire.

Has fishing nets and seashells in her room for decoration.

takes safari pictures of overweight bleached tourists.

meets a social worker and her first impulse is to ask if he’s killed someone.

Nails the door shut when she’s mad at her big sister.

She’s not friends with pound dogs in that original movie; when they first get there she acts like she’s never been in the kennel before, and originally wants a pet lobster.

I know that we all love that little girl they got to play Lilo, but if you were really being objective, you’d acknowledge that she’s a little girl. She’s not Lilo. She’s a cute little girl.

They did not write Lilo into the 2025 movie. They wrote any old little girl.

You should have known, from the moment she first sees Stitch and her reaction is to scream in the trailer, that THAT IS NOT LILO.

Lilo had a very specific set of characterizations. She was a character with a personality that exploded out of the screen. Every other character in the movie meets Stitch and reacts with disgust.

But not. LILO. She’s the only one to react to him like THIS:

She is literally not like anyone else. She’s doesn’t care that he’s ugly. Or weird. Or blue. Or even bat an eye when he can talk with all those shark teeth.

From Moment One, Lilo chooses Stitch. She chooses to love him. Regardless of what he can do for her. Regardless of how many times he pushes her over or rips up her house or makes her relationship with Nani harder. That is the number one thing about Lilo.

She is desperate for people to stay, but she chooses to love Stitch even though he’s a monster. And she tries to make him better. And her love succeeds in transforming him when nothing else could.

Lilo’s personality traits all mean something in the story. (I.e. she likes Elvis because she’s clinging to the past, she snaps pictures of tourists like they’re safari animals because they’re inherently people who LEAVE and she has issues with LEAVING, etc.) But the thing I think that was so obvious that the moviemakers missed for 2025 is she has to be weird. If she’s not weird, there’s no reason for her not to have friends. And if she has friends, what does she need Stitch for?

But also, Lilo’s personality in the new movie is just boring. Cute. But boring. Cute’s not that great of an accomplishment; any 7 year-old is cute.

6. Nani

I don’t think you guys need to know this. It’s not just that Nani leaves. It’s that “take care of yourself” is the exact opposite of the selfless message of the movie.

In the beginning, Lilo literally argues with Nani after being told she’s “such a pain,” and goes, “why don’t you SELL ME and buy a RABBIT INSTEAD?”

And then breaks down and cries at the thought of Nani wishing she had a rabbit instead of Lilo, later.

Because Lilo is afraid of people leaving. But Nani won’t leave her. Nani loses her job, her own life, because of Lilo. But she’s desperate to keep Lilo anyway, because she loves her. Don’t you understand? The message of the movie was about self-sacrificial love. A love that doesn't care what I get out of the relationship.

Nani starts it. But you know what, David loves her like that, too. And then Lilo transfers it to Stitch, who shows it off to Jumba. It’s a chain reaction, but Nani is spearheading it.

You realize that when their parents died, Nani already would’ve been in high school? With a whole life of her own? Her own friends, her own potential boyfriend, a job she went to, surf competitions (the trophies are in her room.) Lilo would’ve been well aware that that was the status-quo: Nani has her own life. And even a seven year-old can see that that life is being put on hold, but maybe the big sister wants to go back to it, at every turn.

The fact that Nani never does that, never expresses a desire for that, only ever expresses a desire to keep Lilo with her, is huge. It’s the core of the movie.

I don’t think that needs any more explaining.

We could talk more. Like about how Lilo needs to see that Stitch is an alien, because that’s the ultimate test: he’s one of the monsters who destroyed her house, he’s been lying to her and using her as a human shield, he’s a criminal—but she still winds up giving everything up to protect him.

Anyway. My neck hurts and I don’t want to type anymore. But we could talk about the music, the social worker, the grand councilwoman—it just doesn’t matter.

Ya’ll had more than enough details in the trailer to be able to not go see this movie because it was obviously going to ruin everything. But instead you chose to make this twisted corpse “the highest-grossing movie of any Memorial Day.” You bought tickets because they ruined a perfect movie and slapped together an uglier package for you.

Whatever. It was my favorite movie today, it’ll be your Treasure Planet or Tangled tomorrow. Keep riiiight on giving them your money, and keep letting influencers regurgitate the same four obvious facts to you over and over, because they paid Disney to make a talking-point for their content benefit. Whatever.

[suckstobesexy]

This was it, even though you never asked.

[luna-azzurra]

Ways I Show a Character Who Believes They’re the Villain in Everyone Else’s Story

╰ Behavioral Red Flags

They assume the worst intentions in themselves, even when they act out of love. They brought you coffee? Probably just guilt. They helped you move? Must be manipulating you so you "owe" them later. (They just care. But they can't believe that's true.)

They over-apologize for existing. You bump into them and somehow they’re the ones apologizing, looking like they've personally inconvenienced your entire bloodline.

They self-monitor everything. Every joke they make. Every word they say. Every look they give. Constant little glances at people's faces, desperate for signs that they’ve messed up again.

They let people treat them badly because they think they deserve it. Rudeness? Sure. Being overlooked? Of course. Public humiliation? Absolutely par for the course. Standing up for themselves feels wrong, like a thief demanding a refund.

They preemptively distance themselves when things get good. Got a close friendship brewing? Time to pull away before they find out I'm terrible. New romance? Better end it now before they hate me.

They assume jokes about "bad people" are secretly about them. "You know those selfish jerks who never change?" someone says. Their inner monologue: That’s me. They mean me.

They play up their flaws. Self-deprecating humor, but not cute self-roasting, deep, almost aggressive, like they’re trying to hand you the knife before you even think about stabbing.

They struggle to accept forgiveness. Apologizing feels natural. Being forgiven feels alien. Like wearing shoes on the wrong feet.

╰ Thought Patterns That Wreck Them

"Even when I try to do the right thing, I mess it up." Trying doesn't absolve them. Trying just delays the inevitable hurt they’ll cause someone else."People are nice to me because they don't know who I really am." Kindness isn't acceptance to them — it's a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode when the "truth" comes out.

"If someone is angry at me, they must be right." They don't even question it. Anger directed at them must be justified. They deserve it.

"If I succeed, it's by accident. If I fail, it's because I suck." Zero credit for wins. Full credit for losses. The math of their self-esteem is so rigged it should be illegal.

"If I ask for help, I'm manipulating people." Needing something feels like emotional blackmail in their mind. Better to suffer in silence than risk "forcing" someone to care.

╰ The Tiny Physical Tells

Laughing after their own serious statements, as if to soften the blow of speaking honestly.

Keeping their hands visible when talking (subconscious "I'm not a threat" behavior).

Flinching when someone raises their voice, even if it’s not directed at them.

Making themselves physically smaller—shoulders hunched, arms crossed, shrinking into themselves like they can disappear if they just try hard enough.

Dropping eye contact when complimented.

Holding their breath without realizing it when waiting for someone's reaction.

╰The Relationships They Gravitate Toward (And Why):

Fixer-Upper Friendships: They think they have to earn affection by being useful, by helping, by being "the strong one."

Unbalanced Dynamics: They let people use them because "at least I'm being helpful, even if they don't actually care about me."

Romantic Partners Who Validate Their Worst Fears: They often fall for people who treat them like they’re a burden—because it matches the script in their head.

Or... Relationships That Terrify Them: Because if someone genuinely loves them, they’re always waiting for the moment that person "wakes up" and sees the "monster" they believe themselves to be.

╰ How They Might Heal (If They’re Lucky)

(And if the author isn’t an emotional sadist. 👀)

A relationship where mistakes are allowed, not punished.

Someone calling them out, not for being bad, but for being unkind to themselves.

Tiny acts of trust that stick over time, slowly poisoning the idea that they’re inherently toxic.

Learning that being flawed and being villainous are not the same damn thing.

Being told, over and over, "You don't have to earn love by being perfect."

[mariocki]

New Scotland Yard: Fire in a Honey Pot (1.8, LWT, 1972)

"You make it sound very convincing."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your Mr. Logan was seen at the club on the afternoon before it burnt."

"Oh, now, don't ask me what could have taken him there, to a place like that."

"You mean you've never heard of the protection business?"

"Isn't that what you're in?"

[shewhowillrise]

DC x DP Prompt

“So as the reasons stated, Anti ECTO Acts are not only harmful as a back door into the security of the Meta Protection Acts, it’s bordering on species destruction. I’m appalled this has passed right under our noses.”

Batman’s spirited (eh) speech from earlier kept digging at a nerve in Constantine’s mind.

“You seem pensive, are you alright?” Think of the devil, and he appears with his dorky pointing ears in tow.

“What? Yeah,” Constantine started, “I’m just surprised is all. What with your son being an ecto being, thought this sorta stuff would be on your radar.”

He shrugged as he went to leave, but was stopped by a winged gauntlet, “my son?”

“Yeah,” Constantine said, “the bloke with the red mask. I mean, it’s obvious, what with the fact he needs to kill and consume souls just to stay whole and sane.”

Batman’s mouth turned thin, “explain.”

Constantine snorted before sobering, “oh you’re serious.” He got the patented hng in response.

“You’re son’s a revenant, at least without a proper magical check up to make sure. That’s the typical prognosis when a person comes back from the dead after mur-”

“What,” Batman interrupted, “is a revenant?”

“An ecto being that needs to feed on souls to stay alive, or their demise avenged. Basically, their soul is unbalanced, due to the fact that when they came back, only their rage does. To get all the other emotions, they must,” he makes a slashing motion across his neck, “others to get those emotions from. Or, who ever killed them is offed by the person of their choosing. Well,” he thinks for a second, “it’s not a conscious choice but someone their soul chooses. Once the original perp is dead, the rage will rest, which lets in all the other emotions to stay.”

Batman huffed.

“Honestly surprised that the clown’s still alive. The amount of theatrics your son contains, I bet whoever his soul chose, got quite the show.”

[yuukirita]

*taps shoulder gently* I know your busy and already have a lot on your plate… but listen.

How about a sparkling deceptibee au? I… don’t really have a reason I just wanna see a baby bee in your art style… if that’s ok?

Ah- of course! Let me just- *trows away responsabilities*

Lil guy has big shoes to fill! Makes it hard to walk though!

Let me propose this: Bee is a sparkling but he acts exactly the same as movie Bee... Like exact same. Not change of tones or anything- wouldn't that be funny? Like being that young but acting like that is like seeing a toddler act like a unbalanced young adult and that is just hillarious to me...

Also- In the sparkling Deceptibee au???? OPTIMUS AIN'T LETTING THIS CHILD FOLLOW MEGATRON. Different story line entirealy. Elita DID keep Bee from going with Megatron (because that is a freaking baby) but Megs/the high guard sees that baby try to follow them but Megs tells them not to bother.

And the story is Bee that keeps trying to run away/get in contact with Megs cuz that his friend and he's freaking stubborn and he wants to be with him dammit!

And Optimus has to deal with that child who acts older than he is because he had to grow so fast mentally and he's trying to be a mentor but Bee is like '... eh?' And stuff- And Elita probably saves the day as usual- OMG THAT MEANS CLIFFJUMPER IS ALSO A SPARKLING HFIDKJLSADGDSJ (will draw that later)

ALSO- Em... In SecondBee au... Bee starts as a sparkling. I've drawn him... I'll show him when the story is posted (he's very cute and small)

[lovelyzzzz777]

AstroRevelations Vol. XIV – “You feel like home, or maybe you don’t…” 🌙✨

(Moon in the Houses – Synastry Edition)

🌙 Moon in the 1st House – "I can read your heart like a mirror." There’s an instant emotional familiarity. The Moon person feels safe showing vulnerability, while the house person might feel seen—sometimes too seen. Comforting if mutual, but overwhelming if one’s not ready for that closeness.

🌙 Moon in the 2nd House – "You feel like emotional stability… or like a storm shaking my ground." The Moon person supports or challenges the house person’s sense of security. They might nurture them materially or emotionally—or trigger money/anxiety issues if unresolved wounds surface.

🌙 Moon in the 3rd House – "We talk like we’ve known each other forever." There’s emotional ease in communication. The Moon person brings softness or moodiness to the house person’s thinking and speaking. Could be a shoulder to lean on—or create misunderstandings if emotional vs rational styles clash.

🌙 Moon in the 4th House – "You’ve touched the parts of me I usually hide." One of the deepest placements. The Moon person stirs up childhood memories and raw emotional patterns. Healing and intimate if both are self-aware—painful if it triggers unresolved family baggage.

🌙 Moon in the 5th House – "You make my heart feel young again." Emotional joy, creativity, and affection. The Moon person brings emotional color to the house person’s self-expression. But if it’s not reciprocated, the Moon might feel like a toy instead of a muse.

🌙 Moon in the 6th House – "You take care of me in ways I didn’t know I needed." Supportive in practical ways. The Moon person may nurture through daily acts or routines. But if unbalanced, the dynamic can become emotionally draining or feel like emotional servitude.

🌙 Moon in the 7th House – "You reflect back my emotional needs." There’s a magnetic pull toward partnership. The Moon person feels like an ideal companion, but also triggers deep relational needs. If there’s insecurity, it can turn clingy or co-dependent.

🌙 Moon in the 8th House – "You touch my soul—and my fears." Intense emotional intimacy. The Moon person stirs deep psychological reactions. Can feel karmic, healing, or obsessive. Vulnerability is the price of this kind of emotional merging.

🌙 Moon in the 9th House – "You expand my emotional horizons." The Moon person inspires the house person to feel more hopeful, adventurous, or spiritually connected. But if values clash, emotional disconnection or judgment can form.

🌙 Moon in the 10th House – "You make me feel seen—or exposed." The Moon person affects how the house person is perceived in public or career. Can provide nurturing support—or feel like an emotional weight if expectations are too high or performative.

🌙 Moon in the 11th House – "You feel like a best friend or a dream I never dared to feel." There’s emotional understanding through shared ideals or community. The Moon person might nurture the house person’s social life—but could also feel lost in a sea of people if intimacy lacks depth.

🌙 Moon in the 12th House – "You awaken my shadows and soothe my soul." This is a psychic, intuitive bond. The Moon person triggers unconscious emotional patterns in the house person. Soulful or confusing—sometimes both. There may be emotional sacrifice or hidden feelings.

[xichilie]

Flame reaver/Phanion x (fem)reader

The ember in every cycle

Next

"How many times can you lose the one thing worth saving before the fire turns into ash?"

Long ago, Phainon, a Hero of light and reason, managed to gather the power of the Titans and the Chrysos Heirs. But he misjudged the outcome-his actions unbalanced the world, leading to the annihilation of everything, including the one he loved: Y/N.

Desperate to fix it, he tore through time and reality, becoming the Flame Reaver, a being cursed to wander shattered timelines, trying to undo the end. But with each reset, Y/N dies again, in a different way-killed, consumed by the Black Tide, taken by fate. Her death becomes the anchor of every collapse.

Phainon eventually forgets himself, becoming the very doom he was trying to prevent.

“The First Cycle”

The sky over Amphoreus split like a cracked mirror, golden lightning tearing through clouds as the final Coreflame hovered above Phainon’s open palm. He stood at the summit of the world, flames coiling around his armor like threads of destiny.

He had done it.

The Flame-Chase was over. Every Coreflame, every sacrifice—it all led here.

“It’s done,” he said, breathless. “We can start again.”

Behind him, Y/N approached slowly, eyes filled with something deeper than awe. Dread.

“What have you done, Phainon?”

He turned to her, radiant with belief. “I’ve gathered the world’s truth. I can rewrite everything—the wars, the Black Tide, your death—none of it has to happen.”

“But none of it has happened yet.” Her voice trembled. “You're trying to fix a future that doesn’t exist.”

He stepped toward her. “I saw it, Y/N. I saw you die.”

“Then let it be a warning—not a reason to set the world on fire.”

But it was too late. The Coreflames reacted—violently. The world shuddered. Time unraveled at the edges.

Phainon reached for her, but the flames between them lashed out. They weren’t meant to be merged. Not like this.

The ritual collapsed.

And in the chaos, as the Coreflames imploded, Y/N was caught in the surge.

He screamed her name, but she was gone before he reached her. Burned away in a flicker of white light—leaving only her pendant, charred and still warm, in his hand.

Silence fell.

The world had not been reborn.

It had simply broken.

Phainon stood in the ruins of hope, the flames that once meant salvation now crawling up his arm like a curse. He dropped to his knees, eyes wide, empty.

That was the first time.

The first time he lost her.

The first time the world ended.

The first step toward becoming the Flame Reaver.

“The Second Cycle”

He woke up screaming.

Not from pain—but memory.

The fire, the ritual, her voice—Y/N—all of it branded into his soul. And yet, the world had turned again. The cycle reset. He was back—before it all ended.

Amphoreus still stood.

Y/N was still alive.

And this time… he would save her.

Phainon found her in the gardens, humming softly while tending to the flame orchids. Just like before.

She turned to him, surprised.

“You’re early. You always come after sunset.”

“I—couldn’t wait.”

She tilted her head, puzzled. "You look like you haven't slept in years."

You died in my arms, he wanted to say. I watched you burn and couldn’t stop it.

But he only smiled.

“Just… wanted to see you. While I still can.”

Over the next weeks, Phainon changed everything. He refused the final Coreflame. Abandoned the Flame-Chase. Sabotaged the rites. Warned the Council of the collapse.

"The world doesn't need to be rewritten," he told them. "It needs to be remembered."

Y/N saw the change in him. In his eyes—how he clung to every moment with her. She didn’t understand, but she felt the weight in his hands whenever he held hers.

“You keep acting like I’m going to disappear,” she whispered once, under the starlight.

“I won’t let you,” he replied.

But the world had rules.

And it was meant to break.

The Coreflames stirred. The Black Tide surged earlier this time. Events twisted, mutated—correcting his interference.

The collapse happened anyway.

And at the heart of it—again—was Y/N.

He reached her seconds too late. The ground was fracturing, the flames spiraling. She’d run back to save someone else—a child—caught in the fallout. Selfless, as always.

“Y/N, no—don’t—!”

The surge hit.

He caught her in the aftermath, her body broken but still breathing.

“You changed something,” she whispered, blood on her lips. “Didn’t you?”

He nodded, trembling. “I tried to save you. I tried to stop it.”

“Then… this isn’t your fault.”

She touched his face, smile weak.

“Some things are meant to die beautifully.”

And then she was gone.

Phainon fell silent.

The second cycle ended not with flame, but frost—his heart frozen in a grief he could no longer rationalize. Even with all his power, fate laughed in his face.

That was the second time.

The second time he watched her die.

And somewhere deep inside him, something cracked further.

Maybe next time.

Maybe next time he would get it right.

“The Third Cycle”

Phainon awoke beneath a sky that felt wrong. Familiar constellations — out of place. The winds carried whispers. Time had twisted tighter this time.

“Third time’s the curse,” he muttered to himself.

His thoughts were singular: Find Y/N. Protect her. Don’t let it happen again.

But when he reached the garden, she wasn’t alone.

She was laughing.

With him.

Phainon froze in the shadows—watching himself, the version from this cycle, younger, lighter, unscarred. That Phainon didn’t carry the burden of memory. He was still whole. He still believed this world could be saved.

And Y/N looked at him like she always had.

Like he was hers.

He shouldn’t have approached. Every instinct screamed at him to stay hidden. To wait. To guide the future from behind the curtain.

But he couldn’t bear it.

“Y/N,” he called, voice ragged.

She turned. Confused. Unsettled.

The other Phainon stepped in front of her.

“Who—are you?”

The moment fractured.

The sky cracked. Threads of gold unraveled from the air itself.

Phainon saw it: Time recognized the anomaly.

“I’m—” he hesitated. “You. From before. From… after.”

The other him stepped forward, Coreflame flickering defensively. “What have you done?”

“I came to warn you. It doesn’t work. You lose her. No matter what you try—she dies.”

Y/N looked between them, eyes wide with horror.

“You’re me,” the current Phainon said. “But wrong. Twisted.”

“I remember,” the broken one said softly. “I remember her last breath. Twice.”

The instability intensified—gravity warping, light bending around their clash. The World-Root groaned. Something ancient stirred.

“You being here is tearing reality apart!” the current Phainon shouted.

“I don’t care,” the older whispered. “If it gives me one more chance to save her—”

The tear widened.

And Y/N screamed.

The shockwave threw them all apart. As time surged and collapsed in the same breath, Phainon saw her flicker—Y/N being pulled in two directions: the past she belonged to, the future she was fated to die in.

He reached for her.

So did the other Phainon.

“Y/N!” they both cried.

But she vanished—ripped from the cycle.

Not dead.

Not alive.

Just… gone.

When the world settled, only the broken Phainon remained.

Alone.

Again.

And now, even worse—he didn’t know where she was anymore.

“I should never have come,” he whispered to the empty wind.

That was the third time.

But this time, he hadn’t lost her to death.

He had lost her to himself.

“The Fourth Cycle"

He buried his other self beneath the ashwood tree at dawn.

“I'm sorry,” the Phainon whispered to the lifeless body. “But you wouldn't have saved her either.”

The Fourth Cycle had begun. And this time, he would finish it.

He slipped into the role like it was his own skin — because it once had been.

He answered to Phainon. Wore the robes. Recalled the allies. Feigned ignorance of the future.

Only one person ever made him hesitate.

Y/N.

She smiled when she saw him, but it faltered — the faintest twitch of unease in her brow.

“You’re early,” she said. “You always sleep in on free Mornings.”

“New dreams,” he replied smoothly. “Less restful.”

But her eyes lingered.

It got worse in the days that followed.

“You always call me ‘hummingbird.’ You haven’t once since you woke up.”

“You said you hated that nickname.”

“No, I said it was embarrassing. That’s not the same.”

She laughed to hide her nerves, but he felt it — the distance growing.

She watched him now. Closely. Searching his face for something.

And each time she touched him, it was more like checking for a pulse than affection.

Then she asked the question.

“Do you remember the lantern pond?”

His silence lasted a beat too long.

“Of course,” he lied. “Where you wished for—”

“I never told you what I wished for.”

He blinked.

Y/N stepped back.

“Who are you?”

“Y/N—”

“No. You look like him. You sound like him. But something in you is... Like you’ve already mourned me.”

“I have.”

He told her everything. The loops. The deaths. Her erasure. His failure.

“I thought if I could just become him, you might survive.”

She was silent for a long time. Then:

“So you killed him?”

“He would’ve let you die again. I couldn’t let that happen.”

“You already did.”

He looked up.

“You already let me die. And now… I don’t even know if I’m the same Y/N you keep trying to save.”

She left him that night. Not with hate — but with sorrow. The kind that says: I don’t know who you are anymore, and I don’t know if I can love you for who you’ve become.

And though the Flame Reaver had conquered fate to reach her again…

For the fourth time,

he had already lost her.

Cycle after cycle, it never changed — Y/N always died.

He tried everything.

In one life, he surrendered the Flame-Chase entirely, refusing power, hoping peace would preserve her.

It didn’t.

In another, he severed ties with everyone, even her — trying to keep fate from reaching her through him.

She still vanished.

He bound gods. Made pacts. Burned entire cities. In one cycle, he even tried to kill her first, thinking a controlled death would break fate’s grip.

It didn’t.

She died anyway — in worse ways. Ways she didn't deserve.

He began to question if she was the cost of his existence — the balancing weight for every miracle he tried to steal.

Eventually, Phainon stopped trying to save her specifically, and instead tried to save the moment of her death — rewinding it, delaying it, replacing her with illusions, fragment-duplicates, Coreflame mirrors.

Nothing held.

The timeline always found its way back to the same event:

Her last breath.

His failure.

So he broke the Cycle itself.

He ripped through time.

Used forbidden Titansight, stared directly into causal threads.

He began stitching timelines together, rewriting pasts and futures until they blurred.

Reality screamed.

And he kept going.

Until the Cradle of Aeons shattered, and he fell into a space between timelines — a labyrinth of collapsed cycles and discarded versions of himself.

There, he was burned clean of meaning.

His name?

Lost.

His face?

Flickering.

His purpose?

Corrupted.

He wasn't Phainon anymore.

Not fully.

He became a fractured echo, a vessel of fury, memory, and grief.

The Flame Reaver.

A being cursed to wander broken realities, always chasing a version of her that would live, only to find her dying again — each time in a different form:

• Crushed beneath falling ruins.

• Erased by the Black Tide.

• Consumed by Coreflame backlash.

• Killed by him — or someone wearing his face.

And in every version, the moment she died, the world followed.

Her death wasn’t just tragedy — it was anchor.

Her soul, unknowingly intertwined with the stability of the Flame-Chase itself.

The universe had made her the keystone.

Phainon had become the hammer.

And as he chased a future that could never hold,

as he clawed deeper into time,

he became what he hated most:

The end of everything.

"The Current Cycle"

By now, the one who was once Phainon is long gone.

The Flame Reaver walks with only fragments of who he used to be — the rest, burned away by centuries of shattered timelines and recursive failure.

He has one goal left.

Seize the Coreflames.

End the Cycles.

Reset everything.

Nothing else remains.

His mind is broken, but not completely gone — only enough to still move, still hunt, still destroy.

What’s left of his voice is static and ember, a glitch in reality’s script.

He no longer speaks to others — he mutters at the universe.

"Core...flames... must... stop..."

"Time... lies... lies... lies..."

"Reset... reset... reset..."

The Trailblazer, Castorice, Trianne — they tried to reason with him, tried to understand.

But there is no reasoning with a ghost that no longer recognizes itself.

Each cycle has eaten away at his sanity, like rot beneath steel. He doesn't see people anymore — he sees only threats to the end. Guardians of a loop he can no longer escape.

In the fight at the Grove of Epiphany, his movements were erratic, unpredictable — as though his very existence was unstable, phasing in and out of parallel possibilities.

He doesn’t choose to kill anymore.

He eliminates variables.

Y/N, even in this cycle, seems to register only faintly in his flickering memory — like a word half-remembered or a song hummed in a dream.

If he sees her, he hesitates, but the effect is momentary, and then gone.

She’s died so many times now, her face is blurred by trauma, overwritten by grief. Even when she stands in front of him, breathing, alive, he’s not sure if it’s really her… or just another illusion time has weaponized to stop him.

"She... always... dies..."

"No more... pain... end it... end it..."

He moves from ruin to ruin, chasing the final Coreflames — not to use them for power, but to burn everything down and unmake the loop.

To him, this is mercy.

To everyone else, he is cataclysm.

The Flame Reaver isn't the villain.

He's what's left when a hero is allowed to grieve for too long,

with no rest,

no peace,

and no end.