#Like he used it a lot in the fight against Shadow earlier so maybe he was good enough but just never thought of it

[samethstarr]

Super Sonic, watching Shadow fall to Earth: "If only there was something I could do to help"

*Chaos Controls back onto the ARK instantly*

"wait...."

[luxaofhesperides]

Dancing in the rain ; requested by @wandixx!

He hadn’t been expecting the Signal to chase after him. It is, after all, well after midnight, and he had seen the vigilante out earlier during the day. 

Maybe the Bats are understaffed tonight, he muses as he leaps over the rooftops, a wild grin on his face. Being on the other side of a chase is a lot of fun, he’s discovering. He can see why Selina enjoys it so much.

Though, it probably has to do more with who’s chasing her than it is the chase itself.

But Danny’s become a bit of an adrenaline junkie after a few years of being a hero, fighting ghosts and governments. He’s not a hero anymore, especially not in Gotham, but being Catwoman’s partner in crime is way more fun than being responsible for everyone’s safety.

It’s like he’s doing anything bad, either. Selina can steal whatever she wants; if they couldn’t protect things against her, then should they really have it? Danny doesn’t focus on jewelry or gems. No, he takes ghost artifacts or items contaminated with ectoplasm back to the realms where they won’t cause problems to any humans. There are enough ecto-contaminated people in this world, solely from Amity Park. Best not to let that number grow.

So here he is, leaping over rain-slicked rooftops and only using a little bit of flying to keep ahead, holding a cursed pocket watch that a ghost had requested he return to them, with the Signal chasing after him, disappearing into shadows and popping up unexpectedly. 

“Stray! Get back here!” Signal yells, and Danny takes a moment to spin on his heel to face the vigilante to stick his tongue out at him, then backflips away.

“I didn’t even steal anything important!” he returns, tossing the pocketwatch in the air ahead, then jumps up to catch it and scales his way up to the roof of the next building. 

“Seriously,” Signal says, suddenly in front of him. “Stop running and we can talk this out.”

“Woah!” Danny tries to get around him, trips over his own feet, and crashes into the Signal’s chest. 

“Careful, there.” He looks up to see the Signal’s smile, and he absolutely can not be blamed for having his half dead heart skip a beat. He’s in the arms of a hero who’s smiling at him so sweetly, what’s a guy to do? “Ready to talk now?”

Danny goes intangible for a moment, smoothly sliding out of the Signa’s grip. “Nope,” he grins, starting up the chase once again.

The rain isn’t very strong, and the drops feel cool against his face as he runs, getting a little more air with each jump as he uses more of his flight to keep ahead. He can hear the Signal chasing after him again, heavy footsteps that start and stop unpredictably as he travels between shadows. 

Just to be safe, Danny stashes the pocket watch inside his chest, leaving his hands free to grab onto the rough brick of the walls and scale them up, aiming to go higher and higher. Maybe if he finds a good building, he can dramatically fall off the edge and fly away invisibly. 

“Got you!” 

The Signal pops up out of the wall and grabs Danny, who yelps and tries to pull his arms away. The Signal is too strong, and his tight grip on Danny’s wrists is warm against the chill of the rain. 

They stand there for a moment, just staring at each other as they try to catch their breath. And then, “Is that any way to treat a guy?” Danny jokes, trying one last time to pull his wrists free.

“It is when it’s you,” the Signal replies. “Man, you sure know how to run.”

“I’ll be sure to put that on my resume for my next heist.”

“Seriously, can we talk?”

Danny eyes him curiously. The other Bats mostly tried to take back whatever it is he’d stolen that night, occasionally trying to get information from him. None of them had outright asked to have a chat with him. The Signal at least has some manners, compared to the rest of him. There’s no harm in sticking around for one conversation.

It helps that the Signal is cute, especially when he had saved Danny a few weeks ago. 

Sue him, he’s a bit soft on the Signal. Wouldn’t anyone be with their favorite hero?

“Alright,” Danny says, relaxing. “Go ahead. Talk.”

“Great! Okay, um.” The Signal bites his lip and Danny should really look away, but his eyes are fixed to his mouth. He doesn’t speak for a solid minute, during which Danny really begins to feel the chill of the rain. “Can I get less comments from the peanut gallery?” he says suddenly.

“What?” Danny laughs, confused.

The Signal sighs. “My comms are on. The others are being annoying. If they wanted to ask you questions, they should have caught you first.”

“Oh, protecting me from the big bad Bats? My hero,” Danny says sweetly, pretending to swoon. Except, the Signal follows his movements, releasing his wrists to catch him by the waist, holding him steady. Danny’s breath hitches, and from how close they are, he has no doubt that the Signal heard it. They freeze for a moment, then the Signal dips him like some fainting Victorian maiden.

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t mind sweeping you up in my arms.” The smirk on his face only lasts a moment before he grimace and says, “I shouldn’t have said that on open comms. Man, they’re annoying. It’s not my fault I know how to flirt.”

Danny…

Well. Danny short circuits for a moment, running the words over his mind again, then blushes so hard he’s sure there’s steam coming off his cheeks. “You’re flirting?” he squeaks. “With me?”

“Flirting,” a new voice confirms, making them both jump, stumbling against each other as Black Bat hops down onto their rooftop. “Both shy and silly. I’m better.”

“You can’t even ask out Spoiler,” the Signal retaliates.

“She can’t even WHAT?” Spoiler yells as she also vaults herself over the alley below to join them. “You want to ask me out?”

Though she doesn’t say anything, Danny can practically feel Black Bat’s glare through her mask. The Signal winces, then says, “Oops.”

“Man, you can keep yourself busy, clearly Sig doesn’t need backup,” Spoiler says. “I need to go on a date with Black Bat. The rest of you suckers are on your own!” And then she grabs Black Bat’s hand and grapples away.

There’s a beat of silence, then Danny and the Signal share a glance and start laughing. 

“Well,” Danny says, “Good for them! Good for them.”

“They’re probably just going to Bat Burger.”

“And are you going to be treating me to a burger any time soon? I should be compensated for this conversation, you know.”

“Please, if I was taking you out on a date, it wouldn’t be to Bat Burger. I’d take you out dancing.”

It sounds like a date his dad would take his mom on. It sounds nice. Danny smiles and leans in closer to the Signal, taking hold of one of his hands. With the other, he puts Signal’s hand on his waist, then brings his own up to the Signal’s shoulder. 

“Why not dance with me now?”

Danny leads them in a few clumsy turns of a waltz, silently thanking Sam for forcing him to take a few ballroom dance lessons with her. The Signal seems a little dazed, following his lead, and when he lightly squeezes Danny’s waist, he shivers. 

Catwoman should be done with Batman soon. They had agreed to meet up at the newly opened Vintage Boutique in Diamond District, and he intends to beat her there. 

Reluctantly, Danny pulls away from the Signal with one final spin, and hops up onto the edge of the roof. “If you can find me during the day,” he says, “Then I’ll dance with you again. See you around, Signal!”

And with that, Danny hops backwards off the roof, free-falling towards the ground before he lets gravity lose hold of him and slips into invisibility, flying up just as the Signal peers over the edge, searching for him.

Unable to help himself, Danny floats closer until he can give the Signal a quick kiss on the cheek, then flies off, grinning wildly. 

He certainly can’t wait to see the Signal again. 

Maybe if he hired a few guys to pretend to rough him up while Signal’s out patrolling…

Well, either way, this cat is already half dead so he can jump straight to satisfaction bringing him back. And, hopefully, back into Signal’s arms again when they won’t be interrupted by other Bats. 

He’s already looking forward to it.

. . .

[send me a ghostlights prompt!]

[draguuula]

PLAYING WITH YOUR FOOD.

synopsis: mc is a little - just a tad bit - down bad for mychael over their impromptu dinner date. all silly fluff and crack here, maybe spoilers? for a lot of game dialogue used, and a bit of swearing. whoopsie 🤭

"mychael...? is that... yours?"

"i-i..."

the man burrows his head in his hands as he shamefully lowers his gaze while you stare at his tail, the slender limb firmly wrapped around the mug. you can feel the atmosphere in the room change, too, if the tension wasn't already thick enough to cut through with a knife.

"i'm sorry, mc, i think...

"i think it's time i was honest."

as he lifted his head and carded his hair back, you saw his eyes, yellow gleaming despite a shadow downcast over them. you froze as they stared directly at you before swiftly averting your gaze.

you were in awe. you had to fight the urge to have your giddy smile spread over your face with excitement, yet you didn't think you could stop your eyes from sparkling.

as if sensing your heartrate pick up, mychael stuttered out his next words. through your own burning gaze, you could see his throat bob up and down when he gulped.

"i-i know it's a lot to take in, but... this is the real me...

"please... please don't be scared."

he carefully picked and said his words with such utter desperation you felt your heart clench and you grit your teeth, having to stop yourself from bombarding this little forest guy with reassurance.

god, he was so cute.

he tensed even more so than he already was as he saw your jaw clench, trembling slightly while he prepared for the worst reaction from you. it was almost unfair how he waited with baited breath as you nearly passed out from trying not to bounce off the walls with excitement.

i mean, could he blame you? maybe. you were excited just first seeing his rather unusual appearance too when you awoke, but the sheer shock of being in an unfamiliar place and not finding your cat made you a bit... prickly, earlier.

you winced at the memory, and mychael grimaced at the idea of you being disgusted by him. of course, you noticed this only after sensing his gaze on you, awkwardly clenching the kitchen utensils in hand.

"mychael... i..."

you placed them down, a hand over your eyes while you lower lip trembled.

"i...

"i'm not scared.

"honestly, i think you're really fucking pretty."

...

the silence was loud.

"oh. excuse me. that was rude. are you comfortable with swearing? i sure hope so..."

he was going to sputter, but no words came out. instead, his eyes blew wide open and his pupils dilated significantly. like a cat's... you noted.

he clearly stared at you dumbfounded as his face slowly grew blue, silently waiting for an explanation behind your thought process. he couldn't believe what he was hearing. you merely chuckled at his awe. and the cute way his ears lowered and pulled back, by extension.

"o-okay, maybe i came off a little too strongly," you cleared your throat awkwardly, nervously tugging at your collar with a laugh, "aha, maybe i'm a little scared, but-"

"ah! s-sorry." he apologized.

of course he apologized... you thought, just when you were about to say you were scared by how damn alluring and attractive he was because... damn, had you never seen a guy so otherworldly.

you went to sigh at your messed up rizz, but paused midway of doing so as he grabbed a plate, hiding behind it. you blinked at his "hidden" figure with a blank face, opening your mouth to say something but deciding against it as that same mouth already made him panic just now.

"would it help if i just... hide it? i-i could fix my hair like before... if that's what you prefer."

you sat there with tears stinging your eyes mentally. or maybe a singular tear really did slip out as you watched him hunch over to make himself seem less intimidating... he was just too damn adorable.

you finally let out a sigh, a crooked yet bashful smile appearing on your face.

"hey... mychael?"

he flinched in place as your fingertip made contact with his flushed green skin, and you delighted in seeing faint hints of blue decorating his adorable, elongated ears up close. he muffled a response to you from behind his glass shield. you shook your head at his antics.

"...can... you put that down?"

he went silent with the shyest look on his face as he slowly peeked over the plate, all four eyes looking at the floor instead of you.

"...c-can you look at me...?"

he finally glanced at you. you felt that stupid, silly grin of yours take over your face against your will, warmly smiling at him as you got a proper look over his features.

"hi, there."

with just those words alone, his face was almost fully taken over by a shade of blue, much to your amusement. it only served to make you giggle at his shy cuteness while he blushed harder.

"d-don't look at me like that..."

"look at you like what? i'm not doing anything..." you tease, feeling your own face heat up and paint your cheeks a darker hue.

"mc, p-please..." he groaned, on the borderline of hiding his face in his hands again before you apologized, not wanting him to pull himself away from your stare anymore... even if it flustered you, too.

you plucked the mug from his tail as he stared at you, bewildered once more. you stared into the mixture while moving the mug in a circular rotation to watch it swirl, about to compliment his natural affinity for his handiwork in the kitchen before he fidgeted.

"a-are you really... okay with this? with me?"

you noted how his voice seemed small as he questioned you, the blue pigment having seemingly never left his skin. the corners of your lips twitched upwards lazily while you had your own blush dusting your cheeks, now being the one to glance away.

"i said it before, and i'll say it again... you're really pretty, mychael. i think... i think you're really attractive, if i'm gonna be honest..."

he watched as you squeezed your own eyes shut and took notice of your flushed skin, his lips pressed together nervously. he twiddled his fingers together, fidgeting again. "...y-you think i'm attractive?"

your hum in response didn't help his own blush out as his head spun watching you genuinely - genuinely, of all things, get embarrassed and now be the one to bury your head in your hands.

"oh."

he could probably cook something with the heat rushing to his face. yet, he found a silly smile make its way to his lips while his eyes gleamed with happiness.

"oh...!"

what a hell of a first date.

[valaenatargaryensdragon]

an Dark!Aegon x Sister!Reader maybe she sides with team black and aegon finds her?

A/N: I hope you like it!

pairing: Dark!Aegon Targaryen xSister!Reader

summary: she sides with team black and Aegon finds her?

Word count: 1,2K

Warnings: Angst, rape, forced pregnancy, violence, SA, abuse, Fire and blood spoilers!

You tried to keep your breathing even as you ran. You had to get out of here, you need to escape him. He was going to kill you, you were sure. You did not know what had happened to your dragon, she was caught earlier today just before you were able to escape. The last you heard of her were her roars of anguish.

You wanted to turn around and run back to her but then they will catch you, your older brother Aegon will kill you surely for siding with Rhaenyra, the rightful queen.

"Come on little sister, are you not tired?" Aegon' taunting words made you want to hurl. In place of your troubled and sweet Aegon now there was a cruel King chasing you himself because in his own twisted head he viewed you as his property. Your mother and Aemond did their best shielding you from this side of Aegon, the side that drank till he dropped, the side that took milk of the poppy to escape reality and the part that went into the streets of silk to watch his own bastards fight each other to death.

"Leave me be!" You screamed shaking from fear. This was not the Aegon that comforted you when you fell and scraped your knee, this was not the Aegon who used to chase you around the Red Keep making ridicules sounds in attempt to imitate a dragon flapping his arms laughing as you squealed with joy.

"Tch tch tch, little sister, big brother misses you, how can you be so cruel and dismiss me so?" He sounded closer. Then you realised your mistake, you alerted him to your location.

You took a deep breath and resumed running praying that Rhaenyra or one of her family members heard of your fall and she sent someone to rescue you, you did not doubt she would, she gave you a vow of protection when you took the knee for her.

"Leave me alone" You begged whispering to yourself. Your vision was growing blurry from exhausting and tears. Your dress was ripped and now reached only your knees. Your slippers were ruined and starting to be worn out from the running and jumping and a lot of falling you did. The forest was thick enough to cover you during the night time but the sun was slowly rising alerting both you and Aegon of each other's shadows.

"Come on little sister, big brother only wants a hug" Aegon called. You could hear his feet padding behind you. Leaves crunched under your feet and branches snapped. You chest burned with need to breath and your sides ached, you could no longer do this. You paused beside a tree and leaned against it.

"Ah, there you are" You turned around slowly to face Aegon. He had a satisfied smile on his face. He had a flask of water by is side making you drool and your tongue to dart out licking your chapped lips, begging for a single drop.

"Please Aegon" You just wanted this war to be over. You wanted to go back to the days you were happy when he chased you, you wanted to hear the weird noises he made instead of the taunts that left his lips.

"You betrayed me, sister" His face darkened. A frown grew on his face making him look older than he was. You shook your head as tears started streaming down your face.

"The throne is rightfully Rhaenyra's" You tried to justify. Aegon stepped closer a hand on the flask. He was not heartless, you were still his little sister and he would defend you in a heart beat even if you stabbed him the back and twisted the knife a million times.

"It is mine! I am the firstborn son" He hissed angrily. You shoulders shook with the sobs leaving your lips. Aegon was quick on his feet to catch you as your knees gave up on you.

"Please Aegon" You sobbed holding on to his tonic. Aegon moved down on his knees holding you with one arm, he held you so close you face was squished against his chest. His other hand moved to undo the flask from his belt and held it out to you. One of your hands moved to undo the cap.

"Thank you" You cried before he tipped the flask letting you take two huge gulps before he moved the flask away. You whined still not content with the amount.

"Say you're mine" he begged leaning his forehead against the side of your head. He rocked you both back and forth.

"I am with Rhaenyra" You insisted. Aegon growing frustrated saw only one way to fix this. He let you go making you fall on the floor, closing the cap of the flask and hooked it to his belt.

"I see" He wasted no time undoing his breeches, the only way was to make you his. You scrambled back trying to get away but he gripped your ankle before you could. He dragged you back despite your cries and begging. Ever since you joined Rhaenyra's side all you heard was how horrible Aegon was much to your confusion but now you knew how right they have been, they all were right.

You begged and pleaded. Your nails chipped as you scratched the floor trying to crawl away from him when he flipped you on your belly. You voice grew hoarse when he forced himself inside of you over and over again. He did not stop until the sun was high in the sky almost noon. He came inside of you again and again, you lost count after four before he dressed himself, wrapped his cloak around your limp body having passed out from the pain and exhaustion.

Aegon will not let go of you, never again, you were his. When you woke up you were clean, nails cut perfectly and your body scrubbed clean that some places it was red. Your hair was damp and the sun was setting again. A whole day now since this chase began and now you found yourself caught in a cage locked away in the king's room only let out once so he could marry you instead of your sister Helaena who had taken her own life.

Aegon was ruthless rutting into you, fucking you against your will and no matter what anyone said he would not let you go or stop. Your mother begged and pleaded but all he allowed was for her to visit you once a day in your prison for luncheon when he would be busy with council matters, the only positive outcome was that he concentrated on the council now.

Aemond tried smuggling you out but you were caught, you took all the blame to save your brother, your punishment was painful that night and your bottom was red and blue littered with hits from Aegon's belt. Aegon fucked you then after from behind enjoying your screams when his thighs would hit your bruised skin.

Even when the maester announced you were with child he kept you locked in his room, now with even more guards knowing that this child will only give you motivation to escape even more, to protect your child like any mother despite the father or method of them getting in your belly. You were at the mercy of your cruel and ruthless brother.

[regallibellbright]

So, I've been thinking about Toby's knives.

Well, okay, I specifically think primarily about Toby's main knife, but there's something interesting to be said about all three of the knives she "regularly" wears (silver, iron, and the new one.) All three of them are gifts. All three of them are given to her by someone expecting Toby to be a hero.

"Ms. Daye?" "Yes, Dare?" It was like trying to leave kindergartners with a babysitter. If I was lucky, they'd run out of questions before the sun went down. Maybe. "Here." She pulled a knife out of her sleeve, offering it to me. I didn't recognize the style of the blade, but if it was street legal, I'm a Kelpie. "In case you don't scream fast enough." "Good idea," I said. She looked almost disappointed by my reaction - she was still young enough for the rules against saying thank you to seem pointless. I winked, sliding the knife into my belt with the edge facing outward to keep me from cutting myself. She brightened, reading the unspoken gratitude in my eyes. She was pretty smart when she let herself be.

(Rosemary and Rue, Chapter 21, pages 239-240)

The first and most important, of course, is Dare's knife. And yet, this is a pretty minor moment. There's no sign this particular knife is special to Dare - it's mentioned earlier she's got enough weapons on her at the moment to clank. Manuel will ask for it later, claiming it was a loan, but that's the most he can say - and May, who would know, corrects him that it was a gift.

By this point, Dare's already told Toby she wants to get away from Devin and take Manuel with her, and Dare asks because Toby's already her hero. She got out. Dare doesn't get to, in the end. And so the knife that Dare all but offhandedly gave her becomes a keepsake, and one of Toby's most valued possessions. As Toby says taking it in A Local Habitation, maybe Dare's knife would help her be someone else's hero. Eventually, it does. Dare's knife is Toby's promise to herself not to fail anyone again. It's the justification she uses when she needs to go back and confront Blind Michael. (Incidentally, May tells her they can get a new knife in response. For all that she remembers being Dare, she doesn't yet understand what the knife is to Toby.) It's so tied to Toby's identity that when she loses her way home, among all the allies she can't recognize or only knows as enemies -

[Quentin] walked toward me, pausing to bend and gingerly retrieve a silver knife from the floor. It looked sharp. It also looked well-used; there were flecks of blood dried on the hilt, and streaks of something much fresher on the blade. "I'll just, um, hold this for you, for now," he said. "I promise I'll give it back when you're ready." "You can't give it back when it's not mine," I snarled. At least I could talk.

(A Killing Frost, Chapter 19, page 266)

Toby thinks at this point that she's sworn to Sylvester and can return to him, not knowing she's banished. He's not part of her way home anymore. But the knife is. When Toby can't recognize the knife, it's because she's not herself anymore. (Incidentally, it says a lot about how thoroughly Sylvester fucked up, particularly in AKF, that Shadowed Hills isn't home anymore.) On top of that, because of its link to Dare, the knife is also Home - the shitty flophouse for changelings with nowhere else to go run by an exploitative crime lord, but also the place where Toby learned to fight and survive. Sylvester's tried to teach her, but she's not the kind of knight to use a sword.

Moving on:

Then Acacia's hand was on my shoulder, and a knife was landing in the dust beside me. "Kill him or let him go, Amandine's daughter, but don't torture him," she said. "Make your choice. You haven't got much time." I looked up. "Acacia -" She looked down at me, the short tendrils of her hair curling around her face. When I distracted Blind Michael, that must have broken his hold on her, allowing her to rip herself free. "No. You let others make your choices too often. Kill him or let him live, but do it now. No more games." "I don't know what to do." "You always know. You just don't listen to yourself." She shook her head, turning, and started to walk away. The Riders parted to let her pass, still silent, still staring at me. Choices. Oh, Oberon's blood, choices. I put the candle between my teeth, keeping my knife pressed tight against Blind Michael's throat. The flame licked at my cheek, filling the air with the hot smell of singed blood as I reached out and picked up Acacia's knife. I almost dropped it when the metal hit my hand. Iron - it was made of iron. It would have to be; did I really think I could kill one of the Firstborn with silver alone? That was never an option. Not really. ... "I'm sorry," I said. "I can't forgive you." I lifted my hand, bringing the two knives together, and slammed them together down into his throat. Iron slices through faerie flesh like it's nothing but dry leaves and air. That's what iron exists to do: it kills us. Silver can do almost as well, if you use it properly. Acacia's knife was iron, Dare's was silver, and I held them together as I thrust downward. ... It didn't really matter; he was dead, I had won, and I couldn't fight anymore. No more children would suffer because of him. In the end, I'd proved myself as a child of Oberon's line, no matter how much I tried to deny it; I was a hero...

(An Artificial Night, Chapter 31, pages 295-296)

A longer passage there because Acacia's knife is by far the one that gets the most dramatic focus when Toby receives it, for obvious reasons. But it's also more significant than the moment itself. Up to this point, the closest Toby comes to considering herself a hero in more than Dare's eyes is just before the Ride, where she thinks that all her kids are safe (except Katie, who she can't save,) and that she should run before the Ride begins, even if it kills her, because at least then she'd die a hero. There's even a moment early in the book where the Luidaeg calls her a child of Oberon (five pages after Toby reflects to herself that the children of Oberon are heroes,) and Toby thinks to herself that the Luidaeg's wrong, since she still thinks she's Daoine Sidhe.

But she claims it here, because she has no option not to. You can't kill one of the great monsters of Faerie and not accept that you are, ultimately, a hero. So long as she's herself, Toby won't deny that she's a hero again.

Toby carries Acacia's knife with her regularly for the period of time between the end of An Artificial Night and the events of Late Eclipses. This is all but exactly six months - she receives it on October 31, 2010, going back to confront Michael almost immediately after being freed from the Ride. She stops being able to carry it regularly once Amandine changes her blood, in early May 2011. (I’d have to reread Late Eclipses in full to get the exact point it ends, since she’s still carrying it even though she can feel it in the scabbard at the very end.) After that, she keeps it secured at home unless her blood’s changed far enough back towards mortal that it’s safe. But she always keeps the iron knife, and she always brings it with her when she IS more mortal than fae. In The Brightest Fell, she notes the hilt fits perfectly for her. She has to throw it off her when she changes back in Chimes at Midnight, but once the False Queen’s been ousted, Toby apparently makes sure to reclaim it from the treasury. It’s not a good idea to lose a gift from one of the Firstborn, after all. And you never know when you might need to kill another one, especially when one of them is your (terrible) mother. Which she considers, to some extent, at the start of The Brightest Fell, and openly threatens in its ending to get Tybalt and Jazz back.

In short, Toby thinks of the iron knife as being a part of her life for much longer than it actually was, consistently. Part of it’s definitely that it represents the balance of her blood the way she was used to for most of her life - after all, when she gets another blood choice vision in CAM, the choice is presented as iron and silver knives for human and fae. But it’s also the knife she used to kill one of the Firstborn. Dare’s knife is Toby’s promise to be a hero going forward. Acacia’s knife is Toby choosing the title, and all the danger that comes with it. She stabs them both into Michael at the same time. When she’s rebalancing her blood, in CAM, she does the same thing to herself.

"... You do make the first cut, though, and you use my knife to do it, since yours is probably covered with something unspeakable that would despoil my beautiful creation." "Or she can use mine," said a male voice, from behind me. I turned. There was Oberon, still in his mostly-unassuming buise, the antlers on his brow small enough not to attract more attention than he wanted. He was wearing red, which was a little odd, since he wasn't part of the official wedding party, but he was also Oberon, which meant absolutely no one, not even his daughters, was going to tell him "no". And he was holding a knife by the blade, offering it to me hilt-first. I blinked, first at the blade, then at him. "Sire?" I asked. This was one of those things that probably held some great meaning and import no one had ever bothered to explain to me, assuming it wouldn't be important enough to matter. ... "I would be honored," I said, and took the knife from Oberon's hand, turning to face the cake. ... Oberon was gone when I turned around, leaving me holding his knife. I tightened my grip on the handle. I wasn't putting this one down until I could return it to its owner.

(And With Reveling, the novella/epilogue to When Sorrows Come, pages 360-361)

Today would be the first day I carried two knives to Arden's Court. The first, the silver, was familiar. The second was relatively new, although it felt natural and easy in my hand, and was made of a material I still hadn't identified. In a very real way, it was the only gift I had received on my actual wedding day. ... The knife was different. I hadn't even realized it was a gift at first; I'd thought it was just something I could use to cut the cake. But when I'd tried to return it, the Luidaeg had interceded, explaining that once her father - you know, Oberon himself - handed someone a weapon, it was a grave insult to hand it back, and did I really want to insult my grandfather, the Lord of All Faerie, on my wedding day? Was I that eager to become something genuinely unpleasant and leave Tybalt functionally a widower? I was not. And so now I carried a gift from the father of us all on my left hip, sharp and deadly and ready to be used. But no pressure.

(Be The Serpent, Chapter Two, pages 9-10)

Oberon's knife is given with so little ceremony Toby doesn't realize it's truly a gift at first, at a time where - for once - Toby does not actually need a knife for standard stabbing purposes. Oberon's knife immediately has the kind of importance that Toby isn't entirely comfortable with it, in stark contrast to how quick she is to accept the iron knife and how thoroughly the silver knife has become an extension of her identity. She's gotten used to being a hero, and even a hero of the realm - she lets/asks Aethlin to re-recognize her hero status so she can help investigate, which may or may not mean she's now a hero of the entire Westlands as a realm, not just Maples. (Neither of them bothers to specify.) But when a god gives you a knife, it's understandable to be a little hesitant about it. It's given under the most gift-like circumstances of the three - Dare's was a preemptive gift for self-defense, and Acacia's came with a direct request: Kill Blind Michael, or not, but choose. Oberon's gift is more to have than to cut that cake, even if it's not laid out until later.

Dare's knife's metal isn't actually specified in Rosemary and Rue - it's specified when things are iron in that book, but Toby never actually bothers to mention what they use instead. It comes up for the first time in A Local Habitation, instead. What's important to know at the time is that it's a knife, and a pretty unexceptional one, because Dare thinks Toby might need it. Acacia's knife, of course, is immediately singled out as iron. Oberon's knife is just left as "a knife" in And With Reveling (most importantly, a CLEAN knife,) but when it first comes up in Be The Serpent its material is explicitly mentioned as unknown. We immediately know that will be important. Oberon's children are heroes. The man himself does not give weapons lightly.

The Luidaeg waited until the door was closed behind her before she spoke again. "I saw my father hand you a knife at the wedding," she said. "I know he didn't take it back. Do you have it with you?" "I do," I said, and touched the knife belted to my hip. "Show me." Pulling the knife from its sheath felt like a promise I didn't want to be making, as if by doing so, even when asked, I was committing to using it for its intended purpose. The Luidaeg held her hand out and I dropped the handle into her palm, letting her take the blade for me. She lifted it toward the light, squinting. "Hmm," she said. "I think it's antler, rather than bone, but it should still work." "Oh, go- Wait, what?" "Antler. You know what those are, don't you?" She offered the knife back. I took it. "They're the handles on the stag. Not that I'd suggest grabbing them if you don't have a damn good reason, since the best-case scenario when you do that is being stuck on the end of a pissed-off stag. Bone would be better, but I guess Daddy has a renewable source for antler. He drops them every spring, right around Moving Day, and we used to use them for all sorts of things. There's a piece in every hope chest." "You're telling me that I've been carrying around a piece of Oberon?" I demanded, staring at the knife in my hand. The Luidaeg nodded, apparently untroubled. "He isn't good at showing people he likes them, but he must like you, if he's giving you one of those. He tends to keep them close, given what they're used for." "What's that?" "Murder, mostly." She said it so lightly, like it was nothing out of the ordinary. "Silver and iron for a Firstborn, silver and bone - or antler - for our parents. Not that we know that for sure, of course. It was just what the magic seemed to indicate, and what the oracles Saw, back when there were enough of us to ask." I kept staring at the knife. I couldn't seem to take my eyes away. "So you're telling me this knife could - could -" "Could kill Titania, if you used it correctly and caught her off-guard, yes, I am," said the Luidaeg.

(Be The Serpent, Chapter Twelve, pages 161-162)

Oberon's knife is a piece of himself, and it is the ability to kill one of the Three, if Toby dares, if Toby deems it necessary. Granted, that last part was also the case with Acacia's knife - she's Firstborn too, after all. (And of course, ANY knife has the capacity to kill a changeling like Toby starts the series, or Dare.) But coming from the King of All Faerie, it feels even more tremendous, particularly because it's given when the only one of the Three active is Oberon himself. He's actually surprised when Toby discusses killing Titania or threatens him in Be The Serpent. He isn't actually expecting her to start thinking about killing gods with her god-killing knife. Oberon doesn't think about things he knows A LOT. Toby probably gets it from him.

But he's already given her his absolute trust. You don't give someone the one kind of knife that can kill your wives and yourself if you think they would use it irresponsibly.

Toby's wedding is in many ways, in- and out of universe, a recognition of her heroism. Oberon's knife is, as well. And with it comes the burden she's locked herself into: She's the one who brought Oberon home. She's the restorer of the Roane. She's the one who will go to the Heart of Faerie. She has broken the bindings on Titania, set on her by Oberon himself, and destroyed the illusions of Titania; unraveling something of Maeve's seems as inevitable as finding her and bringing her home as well. The antler knife isn't just marking her a hero, it's marking her as something all but mythic.

Even a hero would be nervous about that responsibility.

But for all the weight it carries, it still feels natural to use, just like the iron knife. The antler knife and the role it brings with it are just as much a part of Toby as the silver and iron. And by the time she receives it, she's more than earned it already.

[icee133]

This is part 5 of the Marionette Fic. Honestly I truly enjoyed writing this part probably the most so far. It made me laugh. Maybe stupidly so but still. Though there is a bit of a time skip. Some memory flashbacks fill in some of that time. Let me know what you think! Sorry for any writing errors 🤍🤍

If you would like to be added to taglist let me know!

The Marionette

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5🤍

Word count for this part: 1860. Enjoy!👻👻

Synapsis:

A new overlord has manifested in hell seemingly overnight. One that overpowered many if not all of the current overlords in all the right ways. Will this overlord use her powers for good to help the members of the hotel? Will she fall in love with a man and end up in a loving gentle relationship? Or will she get her heart broken and turn against them all, burning each bridge she meticulously made. 

The Marionette is a heart wrenching fic with many turns you won't see coming. Stay tuned for each of the episodes as they are released.

¯⁠\⁠_⁠ʘ⁠‿⁠ʘ⁠_⁠/⁠¯¯⁠\⁠_⁠ʘ⁠‿⁠ʘ⁠_⁠/⁠¯¯⁠\⁠_⁠ʘ⁠‿⁠ʘ⁠_⁠/⁠¯¯⁠\⁠_⁠ʘ⁠‿⁠ʘ⁠_⁠/⁠¯¯⁠\⁠_⁠ʘ⁠‿⁠ʘ⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Now Nette would be lying if she said the thought of speaking with the radio demon didn’t ignite some kind of fight or flight in her chest. After all this is the guy who graciously wiped a few overlords of this plain of existence. However, Nette couldn’t help but also feel intrigued by the man.

Stepping into the kitchen she saw him standing, cane in hand, leaning against the kitchen island. Looking rather annoyed yet calm, despite the unsettling smile planted on his face like a tattoo. “Was there an issue Alastor?” “Of course not my dear, just wanted to meet you formally as I feel we didn’t get to do proper introductions earlier.” He said with a bite behind his smile. “Of course, well I’m called the marionette, but just Nette is fine for the time being.” “I do believe we’ve passed that point of introductions, I mean about yourself” Nette looked at him puzzled before saying “I’m afraid I don’t understand” Alastor's smile grew wider and his eyes glowed a bit more red “I suppose I’ll skip straight to the point then my dear, well I say you seem a bit out of place down here, almost as if you are in the wrong place.” “Perhaps that’s how you may see it, but I could say the same about you. Things aren’t always what they may seem to be.” “That is true, well I do hope we get along during the time you’ll be staying at the hotel little doe.” He said then disappeared into the shadows. Nette took a deep breath before walking slowly back into the main room ready to start discussing what all would be needed to move into the hotel without issue.

🩵🩵 Time Skip 🩵🩵

It had now been a few months since Nette and her 3 boys moved into the hotel. They were given room at the end of the hallway to keep them all together. Each of the boys had decorated their rooms- very excited to have their own rooms- and had unboxed just about everything they had brought with them. Unfortunately due to the circumstances at hand some items had to be left behind, though not without careful consideration (and a lot of bribery) at that. Nette had also set up her room, having the biggest room on the floor definitely came with its pros though. Like a bigger shower in her own room allowing for her to not have to use the giant communal shower -unless she wanted to of course- and make it easier for her to store her products in there as well. 

Each of the boys had formed good relations with the members of the hotel. Despite continuing to bump heads with a certain red-haired overlord they seemed to fit in quite well, and they also started helping Charlie with ideas in the redeeming department. Though asking them might not always have been the best choice as their ideas were sometimes…well a bit over the top. Not to mention sometimes dangerous as well. Nette had settled in as well. Getting closer to Charlie and Vaggie, and going out with Angel and Cherri on occasion (Though it took quite a bit of time, and maybe a few drunken nights of karaoke she’d rather forget) To make any of it happen. Charlie had asked her for help with recruiting new sinners for the hotel and they had managed to drag in a few intricate ones (horny dumbass idiot ones as Kai would call them) who didn’t seem to really know what the hotel was about and thought it was a hookup bar and dropped their pants when they saw Angel. That went over swell (sarcasm) as Charlie covered her eyes and reminded them what the hotel was and had a few of them quickly pull their pants up and run out. On a separate occasion the hotel had thrown a welcome party for new sinners (surprisingly Vaggie’s idea) but that ended on a rather terrible note with some sinners thinking it was an ‘all you can fuck” kind of party once they saw Angel (seriously what was it with these people). Yeah that didn’t go well at all, they thought Nette was a new one of Val’s toys. Haha they almost died. Literally. She was not happy as one of the dumbasses tore her dress. Cue an embarrassing moment as Lucifer himself gave her his coat to cover the tear as Alastor’s weird shadow tentacle things threw the guy out. Ha what a great night. (sarcasm again -_- Though her boys thought it was hilarious as they hadn’t seen her face that red before). Of course Angel wouldn’t let her live that night down at all. She was so flustered at not only Lucifer jumping in to cover her, but also how easily that asshole tore her dress. With her standing there, looking right at him. The fucking nerve. She definitely slapped the shit out of him before Alastor threw him out though. Good memory- well that part at least. Lucifer also took her dress to a tailor for her - I know what a gentleman- and had them fix it as though it never happened. Anyway it’s been an eventful few months - good and bad, but hey it’s a part of life… well afterlife anyway. She felt that she had grown closer to them and truly felt that she could trust them. Each of their relationships taking on new territory. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Nette was snapped out of her day dreaming of memories while scrolling through her phone by Angel shouting and snapping in front of her “damn toots been callin ya for awhile now what’s got ya all mushy headed?” “Nothing much just thinking what’s up?” “Charlie wants us to do another trust exercise but I don’t know bout this one” Angel seemed a little weary about what was asked of them. “Why? What is the exercise about?” The look on his face had Nette a bit worried about what he was going to say. “Dirty secrets apparently, admitting things we did to ‘relieve some held up regret’ as Charlie put it” “ah yeah no I’m gonna sit this one out” “nope if I gotta do it you gotta do it too toots so cmon we don’t have all day get in ere” “fine alright geez”. Nette and Angel walked into the parlor area where a small stage had been set up. Looking around Nette saw only her, Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, Cherri, husk, and Lucifer. Wait…Lucifer. Why was he here? Well it was his daughter's hotel. Think rationally Nette duh obviously. Nette snapped her head back to the stage as she heard Charlie begin talking “thank you all for coming today. I wanted to do this exercise with you guys as I feel it’s a good way for us to get a bit closer with one another. I want us to talk about something we've been holding a lot of guilt over, so that maybe speaking it out loud can help us let go of it even if just a little.” “Alright, who wants to go first?” Vaggie said expectantly. Yeah no not me. I’m not saying shit. Negative uh uh. No ma’am. Nette thought to herself. Dirty secrets my ass this is straight up admitting something we did that we thought was bad, is this a roundabout way of asking us what our sin was that caused us to end up down here? “Nette how about you go first” Cherri said snickering. “Haha Cherri no thanks” she quickly declined. “I think that’s a great idea!” Charlie seemed overjoyed at the idea of the overlord participating. Nette couldn’t help but feel pressured. Something she regrets. Well there was a lot she didn’t want to tell them. A lot they shouldn’t know. Things that would possibly ruin the way they saw her. She didn't know what to think. It had been awhile before she had tried to remember anything that brought her guilt. The memories of such things she pushed down as deep as they could go. Placing large walls and barricades around it to hide it from not only those around her but also herself. But the look on Charlie's face, one of hope and happiness drove her to want to free this guilt even if only for a moment. “FINE” she said before walking toward the stage. “Don’t expect any mushy shit” she said walking up the stairs.”Of course not, just something you regret” Charlie was smiling at the overlord. “Something I regret…” she paused thinking to herself. “I regret… honestly I don’t know" “it’s okay to think about it for a bit” Angel said.

 Nette paused thinking to herself, slowly she looked up, unironically making eye contact with Lucifer who held a look on his face she couldn't read, then she quickly looked back down before deciding it’s better to be honest then hold onto it. She felt that she could trust them, and that if anyone was going to be judgemental about this kind of thing she most likely wouldn’t find that person in this group. “maybe…” she paused, taking a deep breath before continuing “thinking so little of a person I cared about, watching them wander aimlessly trying to be what they were told to. Trying to prove themselves to… him. The whole time knowing I had the power to move everything in the right direction. Knowing that I could have helped them if I had only cared- or hell… even tried. If I had only been there when they needed me most I could have done something. But instead I turned away from them. Told them to worry about themselves and not me, that they had no right to even worry about me considering who they were. What they were. Them telling me I was headed in the wrong direction, and me yelling back… telling them I couldn’t do that. Then dying in their arms with their last words being ‘I was right’ definitely sealed the deal. Or I guess sealed my fate is a better way to put it. I think my deepest regret lies in me letting so many…people down. Letting them see me fail at the only thing I was supposed to do. Failing at the one thing I was made for. I don’t think that regret will ever leave me and I’d even go as far as to say I deserve it.” Nette hadn’t realized she closed her eyes completely, or that she had let a few tears fall. In saying it all she hadn’t realized the group moved towards her. Or that Angel and Cherri were hugging her. She tried to take a breath but found it getting caught in her throat. This was something she had held onto for far longer than anyone could imagine. Letting it out felt nice but she knew it wouldn’t make the pain of this regret go away. The heavy feeling that weighed on her heart knowing, remembering, seeing the pain in their faces. The hurt in their voices when all was said and done. Was something she would never forget. Never.

Taglist:

@popamolly @preciousbabypeter

[frostbite-the-bat]

no but genuinely. i love shadow filbo dearly. he means a lot to me.

he marks a time for me where i began embracing what i like just... for the sake of it!

he embodies the things that inspired me to draw online in the first place. hell, sparklecat characters with bangs have made me stop cutting my hair. i haven't cut my hair properly since. just because i wanted the same bangs, not knowing how hair works. now i have what is best described as messy fluttershy hair. to many people just how long my hair is, is what defines me when they see me and my hair is in a way special to me.

and again - he was what inspired me to draw. in class i'd be drawing my own sparklecats at the age of like 8, with bangs and wings and little companions that sit on clouds that rain hearts. (and bolts and skulls when ANGRY!)

i put rainbows on everything. i thought nyan cat was the embodiment of everything good in the world. i listened to nightcore versions of songs only. i say, as i am listening to nightcore, right now.

because of all these old classic animation memes and sparklefurs and silly scene and emo song flash animations i'd find... i'd pick up ms paint and draw. i imagined just how i'd animate, finding even the simplest methods absolutely mesmerising. there is something to be said about me being this young with internet access - because it very much so had it's negative effects. not me watching fetish videos at the age of 8 just because it had pokemon in it. yea that did not have any lasting effects.

but despite all this shit - it raised me! and even just a few years later... like.. 2015 when i began posting online on deviantart for the first time, not being just a lurker... learning how The Computer works better - not only drawing on paper anymore and gaining more and more interest towards digital art... i was already nostalgic towards these earlier days. but still living IN it, y'know?

just having fun, doing my own thing! isn't that what art is all about?

well. then the cringe culture nation attacked. severe bullying at school. and in general, just shame - which i am still fighting in certain aspects. but it's a bit more complicated than just "shame". (more so fear of Things.)

i'd look back at things with either genuine "cringe" or a distaste. how DARE these people have fun? because deep down, i was simply jealous.

if i was going to reference anything old like this, like classic animation memes, it was framed as "JOKE" "NOT SERIOUS" because i feared i would be harassed, made fun of, or people would thing THAT is the best of my artistic abilities. but... it's not like that.

and now, more and more people are embracing this. and it makes me so happy. and shadow filbo helped me fight off these fears a lot and just let me love what i love and be myself.

maybe it's not an ""aesthetic"" that completely defines me, maybe it IS a tik tok trend to do nowadays - but i don't care. without any of this i wouldn't be here. those were my first inspirations. silly colorful cats animated to crunchy mp3s of songs using movie maker and 3 (three!) frames drawn in ms paint. it had so much charm. it had so much genuinity. and i could feel it even back then.

without it i might've not been here as i am now. there are so many things that go into this, of course. but i simply would not be the exact way i am. and i dunno. that's something to think about.

thank you so much, shadow filbo. one "mistake" with you i've had was thinking i should be a good creator of something and respond to every fan and fanart, which only stressed me out. i have... opinions! about being recognized in various places and, as some dub, a "NICHE INTERNET MICROCELEBRITY" (nothing against you fox </3).... yeah! not a fan.

another mistake was dubbing him as a "joke" always. and... he is! he is humorous! i am a jokey person! i like crunchy shitposts! i like being the reason people laugh! i will go to certain levels to even ridicule myself just for the bit, and i don't mind it. i'm hyper(active) and i am just a jokey person, that's that. but... him being called a joke was honestly just a shield from people taking him too seriously.

if people were to mock me for being nostalgic for nightcore, and rainbows, and edgy amvs, sparkledogs, scene culture and clothes, rave songs... all this!

but... no! people loved it! people loved it so much, it moved THEM to create art!

me, referencing things that made ME inspired to draw all those years ago - then inspired OTHERS to draw other things. to embrace themselves. to have fun. to connect.

it means so much to me. it's a bit odd to comprehend, too.

but it means the world to me. sorry if i am ever annoying about shadow filbo, and is often the first thing i bring up when bugsnax is brought up - but he is the highlight of my experience with bugsnax.

thank you so much, shadow filbo. and me and my wretched little claws, of course. for making them. and those that inspired me. those old friends i lost along the way, too. and those, that inspired those that inspired me. and so forth.

thank you.

[msviolacea]

So yeah, I watched this week's Critical Role. And wow, I have a lot of thoughts and feelings.

To start with, I've also been watching a series on YouTube by supergeekmike where he's gone through the Vox Machina episodes one at at time and talks about what we can learn about GMing and playing TTRPGs from how the CR cast does it. Which is very interesting overall, but the most recent episode has a surprising amount of synergy with this week's CR. He reached the Umbrasyl fight, and talks about how some of the awkward tension in this fight stems from the fact that the players, at this point, tended to keep Matt in the dark about big battle plans they wanted to implement, presumably because they didn't want him to plan a counter for them. This is partly seeing it at least a little as an us vs them, players vs GM sort of game, which can be a valid way of playing if everyone's on board, but doesn't super work for something like CR. But it's also a way players try to exert what little control they have over the situation, especially in very tense situations in which their characters are in serious danger.

Anyway, that sense of control is something I thought about again while watching this most recent episode. Spoilers ahoy!

99% of the time, I'm on team Marisha does nothing wrong fuck you Reddit, but in this one I think that, in her panic and desire to control the situation, she overstepped a couple of times. First with the scryball thing - yes, she mentioned it earlier in the episode, but if you want to assume you have it up and are staring at it 100% of the time you have to say so. Also, knowing Otohan was that close wasn't going to give them any kind of real advantage - there wasn't time or space to create an ambush or do much of anything that would improve their position when she arrived. Looking at the scryball earlier told them that Otohan was there and getting closer - realistically, that was about as much warning as they needed or were going to get. I think the thing to take away here is that sometimes, you can't make plans for everything as a player. Sometimes, the best you're going to do is "big shit's coming, at least you're aware." If you want more than that, especially in a very high-stress situation, you have be specific. "I have the scryball in my hand and will look at it every minute or so." "I am keeping very, very aware as we run so can we just use my passive perception against anything in the area as we move forward?" "I have specifically taken X weapon out of the bag so I don't have to spend an action when we inevitably get ambushed." The more info you can give your GM, the more control you can have, however little it may be. But at the same time, sometimes you're just going to be surprised or get caught in a suboptimal situation, and sometimes that's what the story needs.

As an aside, it did feel like Otohan was a little overtuned - 4 attacks PLUS two action surges PLUS legendary actions? And that's without her crazy shadow backpack? But there's also the fact that the party had used so many of their spells for the infiltration. But still. I wonder if Otohan was meant to be an even later boss fight, and they were meant to flee again, maybe with the teleport back to Exandria. But that wasn't clear, so maybe this really was just supposed to be a brutal deadly fight. It just didn't feel like fun for the players for a good chunk of time.

(I struggle a lot figuring out how to make a fight hard for a large group of fairly overpowered players myself. I haven't figured out how to make it work. But it's a little comforting to realize that Matt might not even quite know how to do it all the time even after all these years.)

But anyway. The second time I started to get irritated with Marisha was when she started trying to bargain/beg after they all realized what Sam/FCG was doing. Thankfully Travis brought out the dad voice to shut her down - I get it, I understand the impulse to want to find something, anything that will change this inevitable outcome, but at the same time, this show is as much a piece of improv theater as it is a D&D game, and there comes a time when you have to just let your fellow actor have their moment. And while Sam will make ridiculous snap decisions to commit to the bit, when it comes to the serious, important stuff, he's clearly a player who knows exactly what he's doing and why he wants to do it.

Ultimately, I think this is why I continue to appreciate CR's no-editing approach to their episodes, even though finding 5 hours to watch one episode can be a pain sometimes. I like seeing these awkward moments, these missteps, the times when it becomes clear that even veteran players and GMs, even professional improv actors don't get it right all the time. It's validating, as a GM and player who feels like she sucks at both things, even after playing for like 7-ish years.

[teruki-inoue21]

What S2E12 might mean for the “future” of Link Click

It’s been a long 10 weeks, and we’ve been thru 11episodes. Now that we’ve been blessed (or rather cursed?) with the PV of the last episode of Link Click II, I want to clarify a few things regarding what could happen later on in the plot, like in Link Click III or whatnot. So, let’s go!

• Qiao Ling’s (MORE improved) role

=>So, abt our ladyboss, Qiao Ling. In the first season, she didn’t have much of a role. The only notable thing I remember her doing is introducing new ppl to the series. Like, Xu Shanshan, Master Si Wen, etc etc. But this time in season 2, she has a bigger and more important role. She’s fighting side-by-side with CXS, helping in the investigations, being a great elder sister for Xixi, AND formulating plans too. However, the PV for the last episode gave us an even bigger reveal as to what will or might happen to her going on with Link Click III.

Now that Xixi is dead (f**k Qian Jin), it seems that she has transferred her powers to Qiao Ling. Welp, people with these powers have always been the prime focus of the show, and now that Qiao Ling ALSO seems to have powers, there’s no doubt that her importance in the story will be much more from now on. I personally believe that in the event CXS actually ends up dying, she’ll be a key role to get LG to try again to save him. More on that later.

• Qian Jin

=> What can I even say about this guy? I’ve hardly seen anyone so loathe worthy and despicable in anime history. But I’m not here to hate on this guy RN. What I’m here to talk about is his connection to the main characters, some hidden characters, and his motives.

Now, Episode 11 has clearly shown us his motive. He wants to use CXS to go to the past and stop his wife from her supposed betrayal. (I swear, dude’s just TOO hung up on his wife who he murdered HIMSELF!) . But what’s odd is that his motive is just too personal. What I mean by that is that, when the poster for Qian Jin dropped, his shadow was the supposedly infamous Hat Guy aka Liu Xiao. This tidbit made all of us think that he HAD to working with/for Liu Xiao, and thus, his motives shouldn’t be personal. But here we are, with his motive having NO connection to Hattie. So why was his poster designed like this anyway? Maybe Hattie was the guy who told him about CXS? But even so, that makes Hattie’s role too meh for the plot..

• Liu Xiao aka the Hat Guy (and more new characters?)

=> Even though it’s been 11 out of 12 episodes, we still know almost nothing about Liu Xiao except for the fact that he’s abroad. But despite being so ambiguous, all of us know the amount of significance this guy has over the events of Link Click. Or do we?

Let’s talk about that.

Ever since the very first episode of Link Click, we know that the client who gave our main trio the Emma job wasn’t Emma herself, but rather someone anonymous. Thanks to @mimicha-arts ‘s post, we know that someone was keeping tabs on CXS, LG, and QL. Now, let’s say that it was Hattie. That would make a lot of sense, since he seems to be some kind of overseer of the events unfolding or some grandmaster himself (I’m saying that due to the fact that he’s being likened to be similar to Lu Guang).

But even if that’s the case, what could be his motive? Well, even I know shit about that. However, as I said in an earlier post, I believe that the big bad of the series isn’t Qian Jin, but Liu Xiao; and that he would have a showdown against Lu Guang. Maybe Liu Xiao was shown as the shadow to Qian Jin to show us how evil he could be? Cuz think of it like this: shadows are dark, right? So, if Qian Jin’s evil, doesn’t it make PERFECT sense if his shadow, LIU FRIKING XIAO, is MORE twisted and/or evil? Yeah…

So, we’re wrapped up with Hattie now. BUT, what if I told u there were MORE characters to be introduced?

Take a look..

Now, there’s someone on the roof of that one building. I may be wrong in thinking that it’s a new character and could simply be Chen Bin, but part of me still wants to believe that it’s a new guy, probably with special powers too, (as for whether they’d be an ally or enemy, I’ll leave that part to you guys).

• The Contents of Liu Min’s phone

=> This topic has been a major question since the first episode of Link Click II, and hasn’t been answered still. Liu Min’s phone. What’s even in there that Qian Jin had to literally kill his own mentee to get that thing? What’s so important in that phone that even this far in ep11, it’s a major item for the villains? Is it related to Liu Xiao? Quede Games? Does LTch need it to go back in time?

As for the answers, all I can do is speculate. I think that, as Liu Xiao IS Liu Min’s brother, there has to be some info on him there. Then again, it might also be related to Emma and Quede? But whatever it is, it’s a very important material. If not explored in II, I believe it will be important for III.

• Lu Guang and alternate timelines

=> And now, to the infamous “Lu Guang is a time traveler” theory. Well, we all have the general go-thru for This theory. In a given timeline, CXS dies, and to save him, LG keeps jumping thru time over and over again …

I believe I’ve already talked about how the alternate timelines theory is important for the plot of Link Click III. Here’s the post

• The meaning of “Can’t Live Without A Good Brother”?

=> Episode 12’s title says the most ominous yet very emotional line: “Can’t Live Without A Good Brother.” Such a thought-provoking title, don’t y’all think?

Funnily (or ironically, I don’t even know at this point) enough, this sentence can be thought of by two perspectives. Y’all guessed it - Qiao Ling AND Tianxi’s. So let’s go over those and deduce whatever plot points we can find for Link Click III.

Li Tianxi’s POV: So, the photo that started it all, for our pink-haired twins features a line written in crayon by Xixi, which says, “I can’t live without my good brother.” Odd, no? How she calls her brother good despite knowing that he’s actively involved in killing a multitude of people? Well, this is Link Click we’re talking about; and this, there’s always a reason for everything. Let’s say that Tianchen really IS a good person, or at least he wants to be (from Xixi’s perspective ofc). Why wouldn’t he be? He cares about Xixi a lot, prioritizes her safety first, even his deal with Qian Jin exists so that he can ensure safety for his sister. He even said in episode 11 that doing all this killing business for Qian Jin was truly hell for him and he wanted to escape. Hmm.. know what this sounds like to me? A pinch of sister complex! Yup! Tianchen is a really good brother. And all he’s done and has Been doing is so that he can have a better life with his sister. The fact that Xixi wrote “I Can’t live Without My Good Brother” means that she doesn’t want to lose her brother to the forces of evil that include Qian Jin… and maybe, that one childhood friend of Tianchen’s? (Of course I’m talking about Liu Xiao, and there u go, I mapped out the possible Link Click III content from here and how , even tho dead, Xixi will be crucial to the plot of what I predict will be Lu Guang V Liu Xiao). In that case, we can conclude by saying that Li Tianchen actually is a quite tragic character (more on that on a separate post).

Qiao Ling’s POV: Now, I’m most excited to talk about her POV, since I believe her insight on “Can’t Live Without A Good Brother” stems from CXS’s death in S2 (which I think is guaranteed to happen). Over the course of these two seasons, we’ve seen and have come to love the dynamic between Qiao Ling & Cheng Xiaoshi. S2E8 even shows how much QL cares about CXS, as she always looks out for him not just as a friend, but as a sister as well. So, let’s all assume that CXS and LG lose the fight against Qian Jin, and at the end, CXS dies. Remember what I said about Qiao Ling inheriting Xixi’s power and how that can help play a role in Lu Guang’s attempt to change/reverse CXS’s death? Well, here we are. Given that CXS dies, we can all imagine how distraught QL and LG will be. It is then QL decides to use Xixi’s power to transfer CXS’s power to Lu Guang (that’s the most reasonable thing to do, as Lu Guang knows better about diving in the past than Qiao Ling), but in a worse case scenario, she uses it herself? Whichever the case, I believe this is the way the staff will answer how Lu Guang has been time traveling despite not having the power to do so, and also kick start the events of Link Click III.

The Overseas Trip

=> Another thing that has technically been confirmed by the director, Li Haoling himself? All of us know that the director has said that the overseas trip that CXS and LG went on during their university days will definitely come into play later on. So far, whatever hint of that we have is the ED, THE TIDES, where the duo go on and investigate (?) a house that looks identical to the house of the main character of the 2002 movie, The Time Machine; and a rough animation draft of CXS and LG in holiday clothing riding a car. I say that, the overseas trip is not just limited to the ED. Sure, the ED is definitely showing us something related to that, but considering that trip is how both CXS and LG (or just CXS since according to the alternate timelines theory, LG should already have his power) unlock their powers, it DEFINITELY will come into play in Link Click III.

• Emma?

=> Very few characters in anime (or should I say donghua) always haunt the narrative of the story even after they’re dead. Such is really the case with Emma. Even though we see her die (yet again) in S1E11, she still appears on the S2 OP, VORTEX. BUT, she is literally NOWHERE in the main events of S2. Well, it would definitely make more sense to include characters who have more roles in S2 in the OP (Like Milady Wang Juan, Capt. Xiao Li, prolly also Xiao Ma?) rather than a character who seemingly has no role in the season, right? That is PRECISELY why the fact that Xiao Li doesn’t appear in the OP despite being so important but EMMA does, alludes to the fact that we’re not done with her arc yet. This means that, yep, Liu Xiao is linked here…

CONCLUSION:

Welp, there ain’t not conclusion, not yet. Not until there’s a confirmation AND a trailer for S3 and we get to see Liu Xiao face reveal.

Til then, I’ma go feral sitting on my toilet seat and thinking about S3….

[shadouge01]

I’m back.

My discombobulated thoughts now that I have finished Sonic Prime SPOLIERS!!!!!!!

********

Okay so I watched season 1 in parts and season 2 when it came out and just watched season 3 today. I binged everything, so if I don’t remember something 100% correctly, that’s why.

Sonic prime is good.

I know, shocker.

Okay, I haven’t watched any of the other shows so I can’t compare it to X or Boom or whatever. But this seemed to have a darker tone than most other sonic media and I enjoyed that a lot. (I know I need to watch SATAM, don’t yell at me.)I’ve dipped in and out of this fandom a lot. And my participation is all over the place (I won’t be posting about Ken spenders anymore, I took my Kenspiracies too far when I had that stupid twitter account yeah, that was me) but ANYWAY

This show was great. Not perfect, the main flaw I found was the pacing is very fact paced and action heavy which is good for a Sonic show and good for a person with ADHD like me. However I found the first season took awhile to get going and was more episodic. I know it was to introduce the characters but I got bored a bit. I’ll say again I liked the episode in Season 1 with Thorn Rose but the Boscage Maze and especially No Place never felt that fleshed out to me. I still wanted them to be saved because I cared about Sonic and his friends, but the worlds weren’t very interesting.

I. Love. New. Yoke. The aesthetic of this place is perfect and VERY Sonic CD bad future-seque which is PERFECT. I only wish we spent more time there. Especially in season 3 which takes place entirely in the Grim after the first two episodes, which I get, I do, but the pacing again, I felt was too fast and too much action and not enough character moments. The he ending felt rushed, because I really wanted to see the rebels rebuild New Yoke after the Egg Council was gone (assuming the other shatterspaces didn’t freeze in time like Green Hill did, but I got the implication that was a unique case.) and I wanted to see the others return home as well. I guess this leaves it open to a sequel or expansion of some kind, comics, some kind of spin off media, I’d even love an animated movie if they fixed the pacing issues, but yeah, that was my only gripe. I guess I wanted more time with Sonic and Nine reconciled too before everything happened but that’s the painful thing in life, sometimes you don’t get that. We know the prism still exists so then interacting again some way in the future might be possible, if they know how to control portals and such, hell with the chaos emerald they might be able to go to other worlds anyway. I wonder where Shadow is keeping the prism. I wonder if Nine stays on the Grim by himself or if he goes back to New Yoke. He deserves friends, and I’m sure some of the others would come around to him given time. renegade Knucks was up there fighting with Sonic after all. It could work. I just want him to be happy :((

I guess those are small nitpicks in the grand scheme of things because I want to say that the tone and storytelling was GREAT, the music was epic and cinematic and fit the tone of the show very well, the contrasting color palettes of different worlds really helped make it pop. The 3D animation was fantastic and felt perfect for a show like this. Characters were VERY expressive. (Hey Sega, can you update your in game models please thanks, you know it’s bad when the SA2 models have more dynamic facial expressions). Anyway, I thought the voice acting was great. Shadow’s voice felt a little wrong but I’m probably just used to Humphrey and Griffith, I don’t like his voice in forces either but I digress. It worked for this. Sonic’s VA was amazing and really able to convey a wide range of emotions and I thought the other characters had good VAs. Nine was great. I do wish maybe he’d had a redemption earlier against a greater threat a la Zuko style but one can dream. Nine is still easily the best version of Tails, ever. I was lukewarm on Tails as a character before and Nine made me appreciate everything about all versions of Tails. Incredible. What I love about Nine is he takes things too far because he has serious trust issues and him and Sonic fail to communicate which as a neurodivergent person is very relatable. I think Tails in general and especially Nine, is very autistic coded, and I love that. I just wish season 3 Nine had more development before the end because his arc was perfect until the end of season 2 but I’m at least glad he did realize and did the right thing. He’s really just a scared kid who wants a safe place, don’t we all? Again I REALLY want to see more material with him in the future and what becomes of him with Sonic gone.

My other favorite side characters were Thorn Rose, Rusty Rose, and Dread, but I thought they were all great. I loved that the roses had a great character moment, as did Dread when he finally realized that saving his friends was more important than treasure. The Egg council was awesome, taking different traits of Eggman and turning them into a squabbling family was PERFECT. The fact that they met their demise because they were arguing over the prism was so real. Great stuff.

I want to talk about Sonic himself because this is one of the best Sonics I’ve seen. I haven’t decided if this is better than Movie Sonic, but I love both a ton along with Adventure. This Sonic is one of the most expressive Sonics with the most emotional range. Yeah, he’s still overly cocky and hilarious, and mostly always optimistic, but I love that he actually learns from his mistakes and comes up with new ideas. The fact he even took inspiration from the Egg Council to never give up was great. I loved the robots of all the main characters as well. Sonic was well written, VERY in character but still serious when he needs to be (unlike Archie Sonic (sometimes) and 06, which is bad).

Speaking of 06, this is the best written Shadow we have gotten since 06. I mentioned very early on in this blog how I love his arc through Shadow 05 and Sonic 06. Sonic is way out of character and the Elise thing is stupid, BUT, Team Dark was perfect in 06. It’s sad we don’t have Team Dark anymore, but Rouge on team sonic was cool, I just like Rouge in general and if they’re gonna make her part of the main cast, good. Okay, back to Shadow. His development in game is that he goes from being angry at the world and wanting revenge, to being emotionally numb and trying to figure out the truth, to finally realizing his purpose and knowing not to give up and kicking the bad guys when it hurts. He’s hard to crack, but he DOES care about his friends, as you can see through subtle actions, rather it be Team Dark, Sonic, whatever. He’d never ADMIT to Sonic that they’re friends, but I do genuinely think he cares for Sonic.

Anyway, Shadow has been stagnant as a character since then, the best writing was in Forces with him vs. Infinite but it didn’t do much to further his character. He hasn’t been in a lot of media lately like Frontiers (although maybe they knew they couldn’t write him well for games and wanted to see how he went over in prime and the upcoming movie). Prime Shadow made me more excited for Movie Shadow, because if we got one of, if not THE best Sonics ever in Prime as well as the movie, I’m expecting good things from Shadow in the movie, considering they really nailed Tails and Knuckles in Sonic 2, imo, and now knowing that Shadow is allowed to have feelings again is so good. He’s very in character, overly serious, and cold, but he is incredibly dedicated to the cause and unquestionably a hero, like 06 Shadow. Prime Shadow reminds me a LOT of 06 Shadow and that’s GOOD. He’s also just great with his subtle nod to Sonic when Sonic talks about his friends, their excellent back and forthing with Sonic cracking jokes “I didn’t know you were a hugger” and Shadow responding with his straight man persona “do you want me to save you or not?” It was great stuff all the way through. I thought he was decent in Season 2, but Season 3 was AWESOME. I guess I had to trade Nine for Shadow, sigh. Nine did come back around in the end which GOOD, if they kept him as a villain the whole time I would’ve been pissed, but I digress. This might be the best Shadow since SA2, he’s SO GOOD YALL and I could keep raving about Prime Shadow all day. I loved when Dr. Deep called him an edge lord, it’s great meta humor, and in character for Deep who actually is an edge lord. Really hope SEGA takes the positive feedback from this and makes Shadow better in upcoming games/comics. LET FLYNN WRITE A GOOD SHADOW FOR GOD’S SAKE!

Ahem.

Anyway, I’m glad I watched Prime, it gave us the best Sonic Shadow and Tails maybe ever and it took the darker tone that Forces tried and really fleshed it out. Good job guys.

[ninhaoma-ya]

Chapter 1078 — Escape limit

I really enjoy the cover story! Good for Judge and Caesar; sad for Reiju and Ichiji, sighing in defeat. Maybe there is hope for the next generation of Vinsmokes after all?

Confirmation about the Void Century research conducted on Egghead! As well as a nice little nod to the difference between government-sponsored weapons research (Egghead) and ancient institutionalised academia (Ohara) — one you can just bomb, the other will bomb you back.

Cool use of the silhouette-against-explosion-trope here.

She is one cold-blooded snake, stomping Pythagoras like that, tho’ :(

I wonder if Boa and S-Snake’s powers are reversible through haki? If Law’s earlier negation of Doc Q’s sick-sick fruit is anything to go by, I’d say yes; her mero-mero power just has the unfortunate side effect of paralyzation, making your haki useless… power-up for Franky in the pipeline?

Backup! Backup! Backup!

The flying thing is cool as well.

And Atlas is one big girl.

We knew that. But still.

All rights, it’s nice that Sanji’s embracing his human-exoskeleton-thing. And his eyebrow has reversed, so it’s proper Germa Science! going on. But does he have to look so pleased with himself?

Ooo, also a lot of ideas about how his mum sacrificed herself so he could be normal and all the love she had and how that could be seen as the power of love too and how he continues the love and—

—and Luffy and Zoro are being absolute morons again.

On the other hand, Kaku’ snot showing his critical thinking skills either right now, reacting way too late to being called Usopp.

And Luffy, really? You’ve fought Pigeon Guy earlier, why are you surprised he’d happily eliminate the weaker links to rattle the stronger ones? He’s done it before. You threatened/tricked him into not doing that once this fight is finished!

On one hand, it’s the exact same tactic Luffy had against Kaido: bash your head against the wall until you think of something else.

On the other hand, I miss his earlier adaptation and quick battle-thinking. After the time-skip it feels like he’s just… hitting things again and again. Which, don’t read me wrong, is a pleasure at times (see: pummelling Caesar, pummelling Doflamingo, pummelling Cracker, pummelling Kaido…). But I do miss the wacky pre-timeskip fights: Luffy having to figure out how to fight with a ton of gold hanging of his arm. Luffy with a Door through his face. Luffy breaking Kuro’s swords. Water Luffy.

But we move on, to what will be known as the Egghead Incident, apparently.

What do Bonney see? What secrets do Kuma’s memories hold? O_o

Traitor speaking, how may I help you?

Love Angry Lilith in the background.

Although art quality has gone down, Oda really can tell a story. This is the last panels on the spread and we still don’t know who it is. But it is someone huge: they have to bend to fit through the door and their shadow is massive on Vegapunk.

But who can it be?

York is huge.

She was petrified by S-Snake; did she manage to unpetrify her as well in the chaos? Does she have an antidote? Do S-Snakes powers, unlike Boa’s, only last for a certain amount of time before unraveling?

I wonder if killing of the satellites destroys that part of Vegapunk’s personality or if they.. return, somehow?

And it’s a really nice comment on the need for balance in people. You are not only your feelings or desires: you are the combination of those, keeping each other in check and balance. People who lose their feelings make worse decisions that people with a healthy blend of rationality and emotion, for example, and no human can be completely rational. Vegapunk let his desires lose on the world, and where did that leave him? Prisoner in his own cellar.

And York: they don’t let you become a Celestial Dragon just like that, you know that, right Guessing the Elder Star on their ways has a special mission with regards to her…

Interesting chapter, nice plot drop. I give it a treasonous heart and a desire for the extravagant things in life (and total ignorance of the suffering producing those things).

[breithenua]

I don't think this is anything groundbreaking, but the argument that Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't find a suitable replacement for himself after Minato's death was absolute bullshit. Fugaku Uchiha was right there. The only reason that didn't happen was the discrimination against the Uchiha that the other 3 village elders (and presumably Hiruzen himself since he went along with their prejudice) held. He was called "Wicked Eye Fugaku" and had his own run on sight order against him from other villages, just like Minato. He had the power, and the experience from being head of the Uchiha clan and head of the Konoha Police Force.

And don't give me the argument that he didn't have the temperament. The other frontrunner besides Minato was *Orochimaru*. Fugaku may have planned a coup d'etat against the Leaf, but that was after decades of political isolation, discrimination and outward distrust/hatred of the Uchiha, even more so after the Nine Tails' attack on the night of Naruto's birth. He was loyal to the leaf and would have gone to fight the Nine Tails himself if orders didn't come on down from Hiruzen and the elders to "patrol the borders", an obvious indicator that they distrusted the Uchiha and thought them responsible.

The clan was not only forbidden from helping with their Sharingan, but made to move entirely to the outskirts of the village after the attack, and then spied on. As well as being blamed for the Nine Tails attack thanks to Danzo (the eternal ruiner of everything good in the Naruto universe, fuck him to death forever) spreading rumors that they had. Most people would question their loyalty to their village if they were treated like that.

Fugaku absolutely would have been a better choice than having Hiruzen stay hokage into his late 60s. Hiruzen was a man that tried his best, but he made a lot of mistakes. For example, earlier in his reign, he was too militaristic. Later on, he tried too hard to compensate for that by being too lenient and letting Danzo do way too much in the shadows. And I don't think Fugaku would have tolerated Danzo's actions nearly as much as Hiruzen did. Do I think Fugaku would have been a saint? No. Fugaku was the head of the military police, so it's pretty easy to assume his way of ruling would be a bit more strict and involve some darkness of it's own. But I don't think he would have tolerated Danzo doing the shit he did with no oversight, especially when Danzo did things that ultimately didn't benefit the Leaf, no matter how much he thought they would.

So what am I talking about in regards to Danzo? So there's a few things that Danzo did that Hiruzen absolutely should have imprisoned him for, if not executed him for.

1. Danzo leaked the fact that Naruto was the jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails *against orders from Hiruzen himself* just to create a rallying point of hate for the rest of the villagers. And conveniently left out the part that Naruto was Minato's son and that Minato wished for him to be seen as a hero for the burden he was taking on. He should have faced consequences for that, like at the very least losing his position of power and having Root dissolved. Yes, I know Hiruzen didn't have proof, but that's what investigations are for. And there's really no excuse for not finding out when you can just have a particularly talented Yamanaka clan member, even the clan head, read Danzo's damn mind. Or at the least publicly dare Danzo to submit to such a method. Danzo would look very suspicious to all of Konoha if he refused.

How would Fugaku have handled that? Probably using the Sharingan to force Danzo to tell the truth himself. And would probably have been able to find proof as well considering *he was literally a goddamned ninja cop*.

2. Danzo literally tried to have Hiruzen assassinated. And how did Hiruzen respond? Let him off with a warning. A fucking warning. And Danzo responded by telling him his softness would be his downfall. Like gee maybe rescind the warning and just go straight to having him killed, considering he had basically just made clear he felt no real remorse for his actions? Or at the very least imprison him right then and there?

Now do I really need to say how Fugaku likely would have responded? Dude was a ninja cop. Safe to say he knew where the lines had to be drawn. He'd at the very least have had Danzo exposed and imprisoned for his crimes. Execution would probably be the better option in Danzo's case... but I digress.

I won't bother going into how Fugaku would've handled Danzo's greatest crime, that being pushing and manipulating Itachi into massacreing his entire clan, considering that would by default require Fugaku to be dead. But obviously it never would have even happened if Fugaku had become 5th Hokage after Minato. The reason for the planned coup would never have even existed at that point. The Uchiha would've felt much more validated by the rest of Konoha had Fugaku become the 5th, and it's safe to say he wouldn't have allowed his own clan to be mistreated.

Now onto some other reasons:

1. Fugaku certainly had earned the fear of other villages, what with having his own run-on-sight order, his nickname "Wicked Eye Fugaku", and his own Mangekyo Sharingan. Much like Minato, no one wanted to face him on the battlefield. No one was going to try to attack the village while he would have been in power.

2. He had the power to control the Nine Tails, thanks to his Mangekyo Sharingan. Hell, he might not have necessarily needed his Mangekyo considering Sasuke suppressed the Nine Tails chakra in Naruto after the time skip with BASE Sharingan. If Naruto ever started losing control, Fugaku could run in and suppress the Nine Tails then and there (provided they were inside the village at the time).

3. He almost certainly would have been able to fight off Orochimaru during the Konoha Crush, as well as being really valuable in the fight against Pain. Even if he couldn't have fought Orochimaru alone (I doubt that though considering how easily Itachi humiliated him), it's not like Hiruzen wouldn't have still been around and able to aid him. Reminder that Hiruzen, even at 69, was able to defeat Edo Tensei versions of the 1st and 2nd Hokage and almost kill Orochimaru as well. He was called "The Professor" for a reason. And Hiruzen certainly wouldn't have died to Orochimaru in that case, since Fugaku would have been the one to fight him.

4. If Fugaku had become the 5th after Minato's death, Hiruzen could've done a much better job honoring Minato's dying wish for him to take care of Naruto. You know, by directly raising Naruto himself, or at the very least being able to be much more of a mentor for him, seeing as he didn't also have to continue the duties of being Hokage. Or hell, Fugaku could have made the decision to adopt Naruto himself considering he literally has the kyuubi sealed inside him and Fugaku has the power to control it. Kind of a no-brainer solution there, frankly.

Now to address some potential issues that might come up if he had become the 5th Hokage:

1. Some people might assume that if he had, he'd be overly partial to the Uchiha and treat them better than everyone else. While this is a possibility considering he was literally the head of the clan, I'm not so sure that would be the case. First, it's a common fear of those in power that if the oppressed come into power, they'll then do the same thing to the former oppressors that the former oppressors did to them. It's generally not true either. Sure, there's individual exceptions *cough Netanyahu cough* but most people who have faced oppression generally don't want to visit that oppression on others.

And while it's possible Fugaku might be that type, I don't believe so. Remember, when Kakashi received a Sharingan from Obito as Obito's (at the time) dying wish, a lot of Uchiha were furious and didn't think he deserved it. Fugaku however, as head of the clan, decided that it was better to honor Obito's dying wish. That at least gives an indicator that he's more reasonable than the most extreme members of his clan. It indicates to me that at worst, he would have *mild* favoritism towards his clan, but would try to be as reasonable as he could. Again, remember that it was only after years of discrimination and isolation from the rest of Konoha that he formulated plans for a coup d'etat. This is also a man that was willing to die instead of fighting his own son, despite said son literally betraying the clan. Itachi himself had doubts about whether he could face his own father in battle, had Fugaku chosen to fight, but Fugaku refused to fight him at all despite Itachi literally massacreing the rest of the clan and being there to kill him and his wife. He is not ruled purely by clan mentality.

2. There is the possibility that he would have been too strict as hokage, using too much of an iron fist style of ruling as opposed to trying to negotiate with others. I admittedly have less justification for denying this possibility. I don't think we have a lot of evidence either way for this.

We know that he made some questionable choices as a father (bringing Itachi to a battlefield at fucking FOUR YEARS OLD, having to be guilted by Itachi into attending Sasuke's induction ceremony into the Ninja academy, using his own son as a spy against Konoha without even telling him it was for the purposes of an impending coup, etc), but I don't know how much we can attribute this to him personally versus just being a product of his time as a ninja of his generation. He just fought in the 3rd ninja war, and presumably was at least alive when the 2nd war was happening. He wasn't that much younger than the Sannin afterall. We also don't know that much how he handled his job as a ninja cop, or how he disciplined members of the clan.

However we also have the aforementioned cases of him being fairly reasonable in his dealings with others. We also have the distinct possibility that Hiruzen would stay on as an advisor, with Hiruzen in his more benevolent later years being more likely to preach compassion. While I have my issues with Hiruzen as Hokage, I think he would have been a pretty good advisor. Fugaku would also have the counsel of his wife, who we know from Itachi Shinden was the softer and kinder of the two. She was the one that often reminded him that Itachi, though already a genin by age 7 and extremely talented, *was still only 7 years old*. He would have been more likely to listen to her on such things without having been hardened by the aftermath of the Nine Tails attack in canon. And well.. he'd also have those 2 useless old fuck elders Koharu and Homura, I guess, though I don't know how much help THEY would be. Granted though, I think they'd at least keep him from being overly partial to his own clan.

3. There's the possibility that he wouldn't have allowed Naruto as much freedom as Hiruzen did. And I mean, maybe. While I don't think he'd be full authoritarian, he probably wouldn't be as lax as Hiruzen was.

But that being said, I think he wouldn't have had a lot of reason to keep Naruto on a short leash when he could personally make sure that Naruto was always teamed up with a strong Uchiha on missions. Afterall, in this presumed timeline of events the clan wouldn't literally be massacred. I could see Naruto's jonin squad leader being Itachi or Shisui, or some other strong Uchiha capable of suppressing the Nine Tails. Or hell, maybe even if he did still team Naruto up with Kakashi, he could personally train Kakashi (or have some other Uchiha train him) to use his own Sharingan better. He already honored Obito's dying wish afterall. And I don't doubt he'd consider his own son Sasuke trustworthy enough to be Naruto's teammate, too. I also don't believe Fugaku would be the type to disregard Minato's dying wishes regarding Naruto either, as he already respected Obito's dying wishes regarding the Sharingan he gave Kakashi. Naruto might have been able to master Kurama's power a little quicker too, having all those Uchiha to suppress Kurama whenever Naruto did start to lose control.

Alright though, I'm theoried out at this point lol. I've been writing this for literally hours. Hopefully I got my point across without getting too fanfiction-y lol.

[simiansmoke]

@citizensofeggton cont.

"Pft, that's what you 'know' huh? Well, I guess it makes sense-since, y'know, you clearly know nothing!" Except that it was becoming increasingly more clear with each of the prince's sweeping exclamations that he expressed himself like a broken radio knob that never seemed to drift to one end of extreme-which unfortunately for her was the 'quiet' one. "I've had to pick a fight with literally everyone my whole life and it sure isn't slowing down now. But hey, maybe you're of the kingdom that annoying crocs and mutineers avoid?" A shrug punctuates his claim. "Also, don't even try to brag about beating a 'body guard'. You know their job is to guard your body, so why would they even try to win? Isn't someone letting you win obvious by now?" Said like he wanted to and definitely would assert the claim that he'd just been going easy on her earlier to the reason why she wasn't five foot under the dock with her head in the sand right now.

Though he didn't quite mind talks on fights and violence around the youth considering the acts of violence they had already likely committed on this day alone against their peers and their hen-pecked teacher, DK curtails his war discussion. There were times he thought about the kind of adventures he would have gotten up to without that storm on the horizon waiting to burst once the sky decided he was done early with an adolescence packed with etiquette and history lessons. Kong kids certainly scuffled a lot amongst their ranks, but it didn't quite compare to dealing with the characters in the Kong army.

"You'd be surprised. These guys can get pretty big and powerful quick. The ice cream helps ~ " Of course. Kong kids bulked up so fast that DK was jealous to be honest. He had to make a concerted effort to keep size on while their smaller frames expanded ten times the base with every measly meal. "Seriously, monsters in the making here. I'm a real powerhouse and all, undefeated arena champ, but I was also a runt with no litter." But hey, born a bit smaller just meant he was scrappier.

By the time the kid took a tumble, thoughts of power ups turned into the need to power up through the heavier load on his back and gallop over to collect the wayward walker back onto the DK bus. Thankfully he doesn't have to speed over and risk slinging the lot of them over the side when he cuts the brakes on the momentum he would have expelled - an internalized force dwelling within that could gift him the strength to rip up the whole dock just to let the kid slide back down it to the safe end. But since the pesterer seems to have the kid now, the dock is safe...for now.

His flared fur begins to lie flat as he pads over to the pair slowly, a frown pursed on his lips as the kid stares at their fluffy tailed hero, seemingly perplexed on the size of her shrinking giant hand. It's only after hearing the question that the Kong kid glances down and decides that yes, a scuffed knee is definitely something to snivel about, and they grind their arms into their face with sharp, wavery inhales that lead to a hiccup or two. "Sssssssorrrrry misssss-"

Before the waterworks get too bad though, DK's made it overhead, casting a large shadow around the kid as the tip of his tie drapes over the other briefly. Briefly before DK takes the end and uses it to roughly grind the fabric around the snotty sputter fest. "All right, all right- don't you even think about filling the ocean up any more, kid. If it's too deep, I'm not jumpin' in with any of ya after the ice cream!"

An audible gasp and whispers of excitement erupt from the back of the DK bus upon the revelation that they'd also be getting some time to wade and splash around before going back to school. DK couldn't hype them up on sugar without running them to the ground so their teacher could enjoy nap time after all.

"...well. Thanks-" He addresses the fox directly, his arm still scrubbing away at tears and snot all the while. "-for actually doing something useful."

That's about as nice of a thank you as she's getting from him.

[tiredassmage]

Do they care more about getting their way, or more about how others feel?

For whoever strikes your fancy ^_^

I want to preface this with I wrote all of these out in a Google Doc before my class between my scheduling meeting and I STILL wrote you a small essay, so, honestly??? My endless kudos to you for continuing to find the things that make me just go off. xD

To be fair, I did choose to write about Savosta, my latest Chiss Sith Warrior, and college has contained me from speedrunning turning all of the related thoughts into fic already SO. Without further ado-

Earlier in the story, it's a real easy what gets the job done, so what he wants and what meets his goals. Exiled from the Ascendancy for his Force-sensitivity, spending a while on the run unsure of who or what to trust, and then getting raised into early adulthood under Sith teachings, Savosta did choose to embrace those teachings and ideologies that encouraged digging into his feelings and then using them against others. This is fine, for the most part - so he convinces himself. What I don’t think he realizes is his true desire is to just belong somewhere.

His exile shatters his relationship with being Chiss. He still is because its hard to forget that even in the Empire, he’s different. He, truly, just traded one essence of different for another. It’s never that Tremel and Baras aren’t using him to meet their own ends with little to no regard for what that means for Savosta as the pawn. Savosta doesn’t actively consider this though - not long enough to linger on it. Whether that’s out of some repressed understanding of being used or fear of confronting that truth and what it might mean..? That he definitely still hasn’t answered.

This doesn’t present too many problems until the betrayal on Quesh and, even then, I really don’t think it’s until Quinn tries to kill him that Savosta first confronts the absolute gravity of it all. Savosta hasn’t forged himself to be forgiving. He isn’t particularly close to anyone on the crew by that point, but he did have some odd modicum of trust - or at least respect - for the Captain. And it’s as he’s staring down the consequences of their fight with Quinn unconscious in his arms that Savosta first realizes, noticeably, that he is exactly what they wanted of him, everything that was feared, and he chose that path. The blame is not entirely with his masters. It’s just as much about his acceptance of that fate.

That all said, it’s hard to let that go. He doesn’t have anywhere else to go or anyone else to really turn to. Proving Baras wrong is not about revenge for him so much as just… maintaining the status quo at that point because he doesn’t know what else to do - he can't even really be mad that Baras tried to have him killed because it just sort of... hollows him out. No, it doesn't kill him, but it isolates him. Again. He admittedly blinded himself to Baras’s inevitable betrayal because they’d been doing so well and it’d felt good - he convinced himself that serving his prescribed purpose to the letter of his orders was 'belonging,' would, in fact, prove that he had a justifiable place in his ranks. Losing that and realizing he’s in the center of all that devastation to the few people he could possibly, maybe trust and be close to is… a lot to process. That I don’t think he really digs into until at least Shadow of Revan, when his partnership with Rhystyl, the Hero of Tython, has had some time to grow and, really, I think that’s just when he finally starts to consider change a possibility. It’s very likely not until the Alliance that Savosta really finds a way to come into his own and recover from his past decisions - finally growing into something more than a mask and making an active effort to consider not only the feelings of others, but letting go of his past and exploring more honestly what he wants for his future. In the end, he's certainly not Chiss, and he questions the validity of his place as Sith, but it's going to take him a long, long time to determine whether or not he has the will to overcome that label and make some kind of peace with what he's been through and what he's done.

[emo-floof-child-writes]

Day 020: Unlucky.

Featuring Steve Harrington.

Robin Buckley and Nancy Wheeler mentioned.

672 words. This may be my shortest one. I am not happy with it, tbh. If you hate one, know I do too.

Last night Steve dreamt he was fighting monsters again. You would think that by now he would be used to it, or unphased by it, but even after four years, he still wakes up in a cold sweat anyway. He pants as he runs a hand through his hair. This has to die down sometime right? He asks himself, with a groan. Surely when I'm forty I'm not gonna wake up and reach for my nail bat because I heard a screech in my dreams. Steve scoffs, as he sits up in his bed. Who am I kidding? I'm never making it to forty so why even worry about whether I get nightmares about these monsters then? He scoffs, looking at his shadow in the light of his lamp he keeps on his nightstand. It shines against the far wall, shining against the bare minimum of a room.

He shakes his head, climbing out of bed. I need to clear my head. He looks at his clock, and groans. 3:07 am. Guess I am doing a very early start today. To be honest, he had a lot of early starts recently. And they keep getting earlier. He walks down the stairs, opting to get a glass of water and maybe some food if he was actually gonna wake up this early. What am I gonna do this early? I don't even have a job anymore thanks to that “earthquake” that wizard freak Vecna pulled. He rubs his eyes, trying to wash away the past four years knowing that it will never leave him. Why am I even complaining anyways? Max is in a coma, that is way worse than nightmares! At least I can wake up from them, she is stuck in the deepest sleep a human could be in.

Not to mention how the kids feel about it, especially Lucas... He opens a cupboard to find a glass. He pulls it out, only to have it slip out of his hand, and shatter on the floor. “SH!T!” He exclaims, as he runs to grab the broom and dustpan. As if my morning could get any worse. He thinks, as he starts to sweep the floor with the broom. He looks down at the mess, and collapses onto the floor, with a sigh that could shatter anyone's spirits. How did we end up being this unlucky? Why here, in Hawkins Indiana, did all of this sh!t happen? Couldn't this have happened anywhere else? Why must the kids here in Hawkins be the guinea pigs to this demon-like dimension? He looks at the mess surrounding him, and runs a hand through his hair. This needs to stop pronto.

He stands up, going back to cleaning this mess up. “I'm gonna be the one to fix this. I'm done fighting this war against creatures humans can't fathom. And losing people to it.” He nods, as he takes the dustpan full of glass to the trash can. ”No one else will have to suffer as long as I can destroy that fu¢king place.” He sets the now empty dustpan onto the counter, before running a hand through his hair. The only problem is how do you defeat a psychic wizard guy with a dimension of horrors on his side? He wonders, before setting his jaw. No. We're figuring this out on the off chance it can save Max and the kids. Maybe I should bring Rob and Nance in on this, see if they have any ideas, since they are better at this planning thing than me. He nods, and weird confidence flows through him that wasn't there before. 

We're beating that son of a b!tch's @ss into next year. He'll never harm another fu¢king kid on my dutiful watch. Hawkins will be a normal, tiny town where nothing happens again. With this new found confidence, he puts away the broom and dustpan, and runs to find some paper to maybe write down ideas. We'll figure this out. We have to.

[jinxiethescribe]

Lyre - Wood Elf (she/her). Dark Urge Assassin (Rogue).

Campfires – Lyre's First Night 

Lyre had not been born yesterday. She knew in her bones that she’d had a relatively long span on this plane, but she couldn’t remember a damned moment before waking up on that ship. 

Well, that wasn’t strictly true. She remembered her name, and those flashes of red. Bodies. But nothing tangible, and to be frank, she’d seen more than one body in the past day so it could all be some kind of strange response to the situation she’d landed in. There was a mind flayer parasite in her brain, that was bound to cause some issues, right?  

She shifted, feeling the hard-packed ground under the bedroll. After the fighting, she would have preferred something softer, but it was surprisingly comfortable by the low campfire. Further off, her new allies had retreated into their own tents. They had not had a lot of time to get used to each other. It was an eclectic collection of individuals.  

There was Gale, the human wizard that they’d pulled out of a stone. He was certainly friendly enough, though maybe too fond of his own voice. He was a good cook though, making a lovely meal for the whole group out of their basic supplies. She’d not seen him in action, but a wizard would certainly be helpful in whatever was lying in their future. 

The Blade of Frontiers, Wyll was with them too. He was a good fighter, a warlock judging from his magic when the goblins had attacked. He was proud too, but amicable enough. Lyre wasn’t too sure about him, but he certainly was known amongst the people in Emerald Grove. They had a good opinion of him, so she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, despite the fact that he’d obviously grown up in wealth.  

Lae’zel, however, harboured similar doubts about Wyll and had called him a ‘benevolent burden’ earlier that evening. Privately, Lyre agreed with the young gith warrior. She liked Lae’zel and they had met on the nautiloid ship. She was a good fighter and seemed more...flexible than some of their other companions when it came to the morally grey areas of their adventure. Lyre certainly appreciated that, especially with the question of who she was under some considerable scrutiny. She liked the gith’s straightforward nature, even when it amusingly rubbed others the wrong way. Lyre found that she didn’t take any of Lae’zel’s barbs personally. 

Shadowheart was not a fan of Lae’zel though. Lyre thought it was a shame, since she liked them both. They’d both fought with her to get off the mind flayers ship and the cleric’s healing abilities had already proven exceptional. The half-elf was keeping secrets, but Lyre didn’t hold that against her, especially since Lyre was apparently keeping secrets even from herself. Shadowheart was more guarded than Lyre – which was an impressive feat – but she’d seen flashes of a good sense of humour and a formidable will to survive. The odd relic that Shadowheart carried was a curiosity, but there was more to worry about than what her companions had in their packs.  

Finally, there was Astarion. She gritted her teeth at the thought of pale elf. They had not started on good terms. He’d held her at knifepoint, she’d headbutted him in response. Grudgingly, she admitted that he was good at killing. His style was the same as hers- twin blades, swift attacks from the shadows and a tendency to make things a bit bloodier than strictly necessary. He had an easy charm and an annoyingly handsome face that Lyre badly wanted to hit. Again. His scarlet eyes seemed to see right through her as well. Where she felt that she could evade scrutiny with the others, Lyre got the nasty sense that she was completely transparent where Astarion was concerned. It did not endear him to her in any way. She wasn’t sure why he bothered her quite so much, but if he’d not been carrying the same kind of parasite as the rest of them, Lyre would have killed him on the spot.  

They were a dysfunctional group to say the least. The thin connection of the parasite nestled in each one of their skulls was all that held them together for the moment. Lyre also had the secondary concern of where in the hells her past had gone. From what she had learned of the others, they didn’t have the same kind of memory loss she did. Shadowheart had reminded her that there were more reasons to lose your memories than a parasite, but Lyre had the nagging sense that it was connected, somehow.  

She touched the long scar on her face. It felt out of place, like it was new. It certainly looked recent, still with traces of pink showing healing in the surrounding skin. It was a vicious mark and it bothered her deeply. She was grateful for the hair that she could hide it under.  

She sighed, shifting again. Being a wood elf, she was no stranger to long nights in forested areas, but her mind was slow to settle into the meditative state she needed to rest. Too much had happened, and her fragmented mind struggled to sort through it all. Mind flayers, tieflings, fiends all seemed to be involved in whatever was going on. All Lyre wanted was this blasted worm out of her head so she could get back to-  

Whatever it was that the mind flayers had taken her from.