Jumping was easy, in the end.
Pac was used to being alone, to losing everyone he loved. Standing on his own was difficult, but he had managed it. He can’t regret the hours he spent searching for his chaos bow, not when holding it serves as a necessary reminder that he can do things on his own. He’s his own person.
Just him; just Pac. He’s strong enough to stand on his own.
But losing Richas feels like a bridge too far for him to cross after everything. He’s already lost Fit and Ramón. He’ll always have Mike, but his best friend is moving on, growing up. It’s a loss of a different kind and hurts all the more for having no definitive end. He only just got Richas back and now-
And now.
His Richas-his nene-is leaving again. It’s on his own terms, but it’s still leaving, and Pac-
He’s so tired of people leaving him.
So he jumps. He’s not proud of it, exactly, but he does it anyway. And it’s not like it’s his decision alone, which almost makes it easier. Pac may be on his own, but he won’t die that way. He’s never wanted to be the last man standing.
Jumping is easy, in the end. So is falling, as long as Pac doesn’t think too hard about what comes after. It’s over quickly, at least; there’s a short, blinding streak of pain as his body hits the ground and then there’s nothing at all. He floats in a dark nothingness that’s more reminiscent of the space between dreaming and being awake than death. It turns out there’s not so much difference between the two of them.
“You dumbass.”
The voice is deep, rough, familiar. Pac turns-and that movement is dreamlike too, soft and static at the edges-and sees a face he never thought to meet again.
“Fitch,” he breathes, and the other man smiles. There’s a sadness that lingers in the corners of his eyes. “Hey, Pac. Fancy meeting you here.”
There’s no judgement in his voice, but Pac finds it anyway. “I don’t regret it,” he says, drawing himself up to meet Fit’s gaze. “I don’t, not when you’re here too.” “I know,” Fit says softly. “I just wish it didn’t have to be this way.”
“Sim… but I’m here now.” Fit nods. “You’re here now,” he echoes. “So let’s go meet the other dumbasses, yeah?” Pac nods jerkily. “Ok.” Fit reaches out to take Pac’s hand and leads them to their family.
They’re all there:
Jaiden sits in a field of flowers, making a crown for Bobby’s hair; Trumpet, Dan, and Max are chasing each other, throwing bombs that never hit; Juanaflippa is curled up next to Tilín, soft smiles on their faces.
Dapper and Pomme are playing a game of keep-away with Chayanne as Baghera laughs from the sidelines; beside her, Lullah comforts an unfamiliar girl with flowers in her hair.
And there, finally, is-
“RICHINHAS-“ Pac cries, throwing himself at his son. The boy looks up, startled, from where he’s painting next to Ramón. When he sees Pac his eyes go wide and he flings his paintbrush to the side with a wild cry. “PAI!!” The two collide in a crushing hug; for a moment, nothing else matters in the world.
“It took you long enough,” Mike’s teasing voice cuts through Pac’s whirling thoughts. “Did you get lost?” Pac glares up at his friend who only grins in return. “Shut up. I got here in the end, didn’t I?”
“Yes,” grumbles a small voice. “But more importantly-I’m going to kill Richas.” Pac looks over to see Ramón glaring at Richas. There’s a bright streak of orange paint across his face. Richas sticks his tongue out. “You can’t kill me-I’m already dead!” “I’ll figure something out,” Ramón threatens. “Dapper will help me!” His eyes slide over to Pac’s and he smiles. “Hi, pai. It’s good to see you again.” Pac’s smile wobbles a bit and he opens his arms. “It’s good to see you too, filho.”
Ramón grins and jumps into Pac’s arms. He laughs, a bright, joyful sound. His family is here again, with all the time in the world.
Finally-finally-Pac doesn’t have to be alone.
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rdj the (whitewashed) electric boogaloo
This is a reminder to everyone who's excited about RDJ's casting as Doctor Doom that this casting is whitewashing. Victor Von Doom is a Romani character and has been a Romani character since his introduction in the 1960s. (Fantastic Four Annual #2 [1964]) Not only that, but his Roma identity and the persecution he and his family faced due to it is integral to his character, it is what forms his identity. (Books of Doom by Ed Brubaker) Even if on the off chance this casting is meant to not be Victor but instead be some variant of Tony or whomever else becoming Doctor Doom, it is damaging to the character to rob him of that important cultural background. Doctor Doom does not exist without that history. Fans have been pushing hard to cast Doom as a Romani actor for years, especially since the MCU has whitewashed other Romani characters. (Wanda, Pietro, etc) This casting is not a celebration moment, it's fucking heartbreaking that the MCU repeatedly ignores the important and nuanced cultural backstories of characters.
I know I can't change anybody's mind on whether or not you want to be excited about RDJ's return to the MCU. But I do think at the very least you should be mad that the MCU is baiting us all and destroying nuanced and interesting characters for the sake of self-referential easter eggs and nostalgia bait. Because that's what it is. Feel how you'd like to feel about RDJ's return, but personally, this is soul-sucking. I had such a deep love for the MCU as a teenager, it was obviously something incredibly formative to me, especially Tony Stark. This isn't recreating what I fell in love with the MCU for. This is turning a well-planned and artistic storyline of adaptations into cheap cash grabs and fan service. Because, I think we're past the point of being able to call the MCU an adaptation of anything. They can use existing characters' names and powers, but to say they're being properly adapted is laughable.
This is not an adaptation of Doctor Doom. This is RDJ the Electric Boogaloo because Marvel's fear of losing the interest of dedicated MCU fans overrides their willingness to tell stories that are genuine to the characters. I don't know what there is to be excited about that. The MCU has lost its authenticity and aside from a few projects, feels heartless. Every movie is a copy of a copy. This announcement isn't something celebratory, it feels like a death knell of a cinematic universe that's so desperate to cling to relevancy it's resorting to nostalgia for a character/actor who hasn't even been dead for a decade. We're not getting anything new, we're just rinsing and repeating the same song and dance.
I get it. I love Tony Stark, his death destroyed me and I to this day, rue the ending he got in Endgame. It misunderstood his arc and it robbed him of a satisfying conclusion. But the solution to that isn't dragging the corpse out of the grave five years later to whitewash an existing character with rich and interesting nuance, just to forcibly tie his existence in the MCU to Tony. Whether he is a variant or not. Why would you want someone else's fave's legacy to be destroyed simply so your fave's legacy can go on? Hell, if we were really all so hellbent on the return of RDJ and/or Tony to the MCU, we have the multiverse for a reason. There were other ways to do it that didn't whitewash and ruin someone else. This just. Isn't something to be happy about.
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I LPVE BODY TYPES THAT MAKE SENSE FOR THE CHARACTER!!!!!
It’s one thing to have different body types for different characters it’s a whole nother level of “AODJDKCJJEJWKWJFBDEH(positive)” when the body types make sense!
I love tf2 because they all MAKE SENSE! Heavy and scout are obvious examples. But Sniper has a diet of coffee and cigarettes and spends most of his time sitting still, engie also has a similar circumstance with him being still most of the match, whereas Soldire or demo would be more active and I like tk headcanon fhat Slldire holds himself to an army-ish schedule and exercise routine but that’s just a hc
Another example is the walking dead!
There are probably more but I can’t think of them off the top of my head!!!
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i feel like the implications of how magic works in adventure time are kind of messy, and could probably use some more exploration, but i do appreciate how there really is varying levels of magic, madness, and sadness that go into it. it's extremely interesting if it's all very personal, in that way.
so, i also appreciate that, even in losing his magic and madness, we get to see a simon who's still clearly very, very deeply sad in fionna & cake
as with the other paralells in their characters, and despite him noting that his sadness seems to be gone, i feel like in adventure time this is... still the case for magic man, as well? there's some things that he does that are also very reminiscent of simon after he also becomes "normal", or maybe more accurately, that simon does that are like an extension of all of this, and of course a reflection of how he's now in a similar position that betty, and therefore, magic man, has been in
for instance, as normal man, he very clearly feels a lot of guilt over what he's done as magic man (even if, with the differences in their circumstances, simon is a lot more hesistant to really call ice king's actions his own), to the point of...
...self sacrificial suicidality.
because, shout out to magic man for uh, renaming himself to "normal man" and then getting finn and jake to help rescue his brother, only to immediately be like "actually, maybe i should just go get thrown off of a cliff, i kind of deserve it anyway" when they get there (peak normal behavior, of course) (was this not extremely concerning to anyone else. for the love of god please help me)
and, as with simon, i feel like it's pretty obvious he's not over margles
he definitely acts like he is, and as wonderfully put and analyzed in this post, he seems to be projecting onto betty in trying to help her, instead
up to this point, things have definitely been looking up for him, maybe compared to simon at the start of fionna & cake. it's interesting they've also almost swapped their position as a "king". but, i still think he wasn't doing the best, underneath the demeanor that just seems to be how he is, he's still not really being open about what he actually feels now that he can, well, feel it all again
magic man doesn't nearly get as much exploration, with the limited amount of screentime that he has compared to simon, but, outside of the circumstances they're in, i think there are a lot of paralells between all of these characters that aren't as discussed as much others (he's even implied to have been a science guy himself!)
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hi so i heard that you have a tragic oc ending. Wellllll im listening :D
it's not really a tragic ending. everything (most everything) turns out ok despite some tragic stuff happening on the way there
(warning for gore/body horror)
Paradox always thought there was so much untapped potential to shapeshifting. sure, anyone with the right magic can change into whatever temporary form they want, but is there any way to make it permanent? to grow back parts of yourself you've lost? to achieve total control over your own body? to become functionally immortal?
he could never try it. not with this weak, flimsy magic afforded to him from his hometown. but now the magic of a god has bonded itself to his heart, and the possibilities open up.
the first trial was a success. all the venom from a snakebite that could kill in a matter of hours, cleansed from his body in a matter of minutes.
the second took some doing. the nasty gash over his face healed easy enough, but repairing the eye was a slow, agonizing process. all that matters is that it worked, in the end, despite the strain.
the third... well it's not really a trial anymore, is it?
it was the magic of a god that finally let him hone his craft. but anything divine is a commodity, and sooner or later someone would come for it. no matter how entangled it was inside him, no matter what collateral would have to be wrought, they would have what they came for. and they took it.
did he ever need divinity? could he become immortal with only the magic he had the whole time? he must somehow be already, he thinks, because his blood keeps running despite the gaping cavity of his chest.
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