#also i'm not saying that i expect ten to give a monologue about how he feels about martha

[twelvemartha]

the doctor's dynamic with his companions is like the beating hearts of the show, yet for some reason the doctor is so tightlipped about his feelings for martha in particular. it's maddening. sure, the narrative will give us tiny moments of the doctor showing his appreciation of her and acknowledging her presence. martha jones i like you. martha jones you're a star. but what does he think about her? how does he view her? what is her significance to him?

we learn a lot about what martha thinks the doctor thinks about her. he's not seeing me he's just remembering. sometimes i think he likes me but sometimes i just think he needs someone. he doesn't even look at me but i don't care. it's never outright confirmed, but so many signs point to this being the case. the doctor is constantly putting up walls between the two of them, which martha tries so hard to break through. and there are times where it seems like she manages to, where the two of them have genuine moments of connection! only for the next episode to come along and destroy that progress, as if it never happened, and the doctor goes back to being distant and overlooking her.

this wouldn't be as big a deal as it is if there was some sort of comeuppance or catharsis at the end of s3. but in the final speech martha gives to the doctor before she goes, the focus is put on her unrequited love. again. the issue, rtd wants us to believe, is that the doctor doesn't reciprocate martha's romantic feelings for him. but that's not it. the real issue is that the doctor doesn't even treat martha as a proper person, a companion in her own right, a friend who he cherishes and wants to travel with because she's martha jones. instead, he acts as if she's just someone to keep around because he gets lonely on his own.

and so instead of the doctor rightly being called out for his callous treatment of martha, we just have the show brush this under the rug and act like the matter is resolved come s4. because at the end of the day, neither martha nor her relationship to the doctor matter. they never did to the show or its writers. they were just a vehicle to tell the true story, which has nothing to do with martha at all. (this is absolutely rooted in misogynoir btw.)

[joanvisitsrome]

tombs and trolls : scene 1

HEYYYY YOU GUYS!!!! quick disclaimer before you start reading. this is a LONGGGG project, so please don't expect quick updates. I have like three scenes done, and it usually takes a few weeks to grind these out. I'll be happy to take requests for these (although, smut will not be accepted) and see any fan content on this. I can also post picrews/backstories to all the characters if you'd like.

comment to be added to the taglist! all support is appreciated.

also, credit to @beep-boop-01, my best friend, to working on this with me. this wouldn't have been possible without him so like thanks pookie <3

NARRATOR: (walks on stage) Ladies, Gentlemen, and the random bee that will torment the audience for the majority of this show, welcome to my universe. (the lights will focus on each character as they’re mentioned) Today, we follow the literal face of chaos (JAMES looks up and waves, not a single thought behind his eyes), a troubled princess (MARION does a small but humble curtsy), the “heartthrob” (QUINN winks and points finger guns at the audience)(beat) Okay, don’t ask me, I was given ten dollars to say that. Next we have your average cottagecore girlie (MYLAH twirls around, smiling), a chaotic fighter (CARRAN starts to walk forward but trips and stays where they are) , and a clueless victorian child.

OLLIE: (offended, putting her hands on her hips) Huh?

NARRATOR: Did I stutter? Now don't interrupt me, I’m in the middle of the best monologue you’ll ever hear. Anyway, before THIS one interrupted me, I was going to say… wait, what WAS I going to say?

QUINN: You were going to talk about how EVERYONE in this group thinks I’m the HOTTEST one here.

NARRATOR: I will NOT be falling for that again. Anyway, these few, uhm, very, INTERESTING individuals, are on a mission to find the coveted enchanted necklace of spotify.

MARION: I’m telling all of you peasants, THIS is the way to go!

OLLIE: (While the conversation continues, OLLIE exits the line of adventurers and starts picking flowers behind the group to make a bouquet)

CARRAN: (shaking their hands mockingly) OHHHH, of COURSE little miss princess always knows best!

MARION: YOU think you know better?

JAMES: (Raising his finder nerdily)  Um, actually 🤓

EVERYONE (excluding JAMES and NARRATOR): SHUT UP JAMES!

NARRATOR: Wow, it’s like I'm not even here. (they walk around the stage in between the people as they continue arguing [as the next lines are being said]. The narrator exits the stage after they walk around each person)

OLLIE: (completely clueless) You guys, look what I made! (she happily shows her creation)

QUINN: Oh, for me? Thanks, sugar 😉

MYLAH: (grabs the flowers) let me see those. (she examines the flowers and gasps) Ollie, this is a very rare spider lily! Not a lot of these grow! You can’t just pick them!

OLLIE: I'm sorry 👉🏼👈🏼

MYLAH: (sighs) I forgive you. I understand that not everyone has the same knowledge as me when it comes to flowers. (she gives the bouquet back to OLLIE)

NARRATOR: (off stage) What if that flower was poisonous?

OLLIE: (screams and drops the flowers)

NARRATOR: (chuckles) Wow, you guys will really fall for anything.

OLLIE: (comically furious) You’re actually so annoying. I hope you fall in a ditch somewhere in the middle of night and accidentally EAT a poisonous flower-

JAMES: Okay, okay, why don’t we calm down a wee bit? (he pulls Ollie in for a hug and pats her on the head)

MARION: (annoyed and disgusted) Okay, while you two... LOVEBIRDS do your thing, we have something much more important on our hands. We NEED to have a plan on how we’re going to look for the enchanted necklace of spotify.

CARRAN: Marion, you’re always SO desperate to get things done. Why can’t you sit back, and just… enjoy the environment around you?

MYLAH: I second that.

QUINN: (looking around) I do suppose it’s very pretty here. But not as pretty as you. (they turn around and wink at MYLAH)

MYLAH: (Trying to hide her flustration) Oh, won’t you stop. (She swats her hand playfully)

MARION: Can everybody stop flirting with each other for one minute!?

CARRAN: (Proudly) I wasn’t flirting.

MARION: We all know why, Carran. You’re not confident enough to flirt.

CARRAN: (registers the insult, but doesn’t respond verbally)

JAMES: (Now out of the hug with Ollie) Do any you have a map? Ollie and I want to know how close we are to a flower shop.

MARION: I do!

MYLAH: Can I see it?

(MARION unrolls the map and holds it out. CARRAN jumps in and cuts the map into two with their sword.)

MARION: What was that for?

CARRAN: Do we REALLY need a map? Why can’t the adventure guide us instead?

MARION: You are insufferable.

OLLIE: How are we going to navigate this without a map? What if we get lost? Or get eaten? Or poisoned? Or lost? Wait, I already said lost. (she puts her head in her hands, continuing to fret)

MAROIN: (rolling her eyes) See what you did? (she quickly pulls out her wand and the map is fixed immediately)

CARRAN: Well, you fixed it.

MYLAH: How about we try to be safer, Carran?

CARRAN: (after taking a bit to think about it) Perchance.

MARION: (rolls her eyes) Alright, here’s the map. What path are we thinking?

JAMES: (pointing to a spot on the map) We should take this one because there’s a flower shop along it.

OLLIE: YES! LET’S DO THAT ONE!

MARION: No, we can’t take that route! That’s the long way! We don’t have enough time to take it! We need to take THIS one!

CARRAN: And cross right through that troll patch? No thank you!

MARION: So what do you propose we do? Take the long way and find that someone has already taken the necklace? If people know that we’re out looking for it, they’ll start looking for it too.

CARRAN: We could just… not mention the necklace to anybody other than ourselves?

MARION: (facepalms) Carran, how STUPID can you be to think that we’re the only people that actually know about the necklace? Also, what kind of fighter are you that you’re afraid of trolls?

CARRAN: What kind of sorcerer are YOU that you don’t cast a spell on all of us to just do whatever you say?

MARION: My magic teachers didn’t exactly teach me how to do that.

MYLAH: Okay, may I interject this? Why don’t we break up into teams of two? We could cover more ground that way. I’ll go with Quinn.

OLLIE: And I’ll go with James!

JAMES: Yeah!

CARRAN: I am NOT pairing up with Marion!

MARION: And there’s NO WAY I’m pairing with Carran!

MYLAH: Well that’s just too bad. Everybody else is paired with. You’ll have to deal with it 😗

MARION: Ugh!

CARRAN: (mumbling) I can’t believe I’m teamed with Marion, out of all people 🙄

QUINN: Well, I’M just SO flattered that Mylah chose me. No offense to you guys. You guys just don’t get me the way Mylah does.

MYLAH: All I did was compliment your hair and you then haven’t left my side.

QUINN: Well, I’m not seeing you complaining. (They put their arm around MYLAH’S shoulder.)

MARION: So now that all of you guys are just GUSHING about how much you love your partners while I’m left with this one, (she points at CARRAN, who mouths “bite me” to MARION,) can we PLEASE figure out which way we’re all going to go?

OLLIE: (Raising her hand immediately and jumping) I want to go the flower way!

JAMES: (Looks at her and smiles, nodding along with her.)

QUINN: Mylah, what are your thoughts on going down the path with the river? 

MYLAH: (surprised) How did you know that rivers are my favorite type of nature to walk by?

QUINN: (looking at MYLAH straight in the eyes) Just a hunch.

MYLAH: Are you always like this?

QUINN: I can be HOWEVER you want me to be 😉

Mylah: (Squirms out of flustration)

MARION: Well, it looks like we’re left with the forest.

CARRAN: Can’t we just go to the tomb?

MARION: And how are we going to get to the tomb? Magic?

CARRAN: You’re a horrible sorceress.

MARION: Are you going to keep complaining or are you going to listen and follow my plan?

CARRAN: Well, will you shut up if I do what you say?

MARION: Fine!

CARRAN: Fine!

(Both exit the stage annoyedly)

QUINN: (Their arm still around MYLAH’s shoulder) Why don’t we go to the rivers now?

MYLAH: Sure!

(QUINN and MYLAH exit the stage)

JAMES: To the flower shop?

OLLIE: To the flower shop!

(They hold hands and skip, exiting the stage. The curtain closes)

hey! you're still reading!

did you like it?

and out of curiosity, who was your favorite character? favorite part so far?

[spiteless-xo]

Seeing all these reactions and peeking into the comment section and seeing how it's all about Eren made my resolve crumble, so I gave in and read this chapter.

I can't believe I'm lying in my bed rn on the verge of tears. I wish I was exaggerating. It's like that feeling that I had at the end of chapter 16, only it's ten times worse here. I'm devastated. Eren, baby, c'mere, let me give you a hug, it's going to be okaaay! 🥺🥺🥺 Tbaw Eren just makes me so weak emotionally. Maybe because the way he feels is so raw and he can't really hide it so he just pours it all out, and I can relate to that so so much.

And, I'm sorry but what the hell, remember how I told you about Say Something by A Great Big World? It's the theme song of this chapter, it's literally what's going on with Eren here. He is giving up and she doesn't say anything! 😭

On a side note, as a huge Levi fan, I want to tell you - I liked him in this chapter. I was expecting him to be just a "mean boss" trope in this fic or smth like that, but he felt very in-character. He had this "tough love" attitude that I like so much in canon 🥰 I also adored that Levi prompt you made before so despite you not being his huge fan - you write him well in my opinion. Very authentic.

Anyway... I'm a complete heartbroken mess rn, but I'm glad I read this chapter. I loved it. Thank you ❤️

omg what a devastating chapter for you to come back to!!

hehe and i actually love that you bring that song back up because when i answered your ask from before i said that it was helping get into the headspace for some other stuff i was working on............

i was doing edits on this chapter 🙊 i was listening to the most devastating music i could think of as i worked on eren's little monologue and that included the song you recommended!!

i'm glad you like levi!! i get so nervous every time i write him because i really dunno if i'm doing him justice, so i'm really happy to hear that you think he's good 🥰

i'm also happy you enjoyed it and that you came back to read an absolutely heartbreaking chapter 💗💗 November is coming soon and then you can see if it's worth it to read through all the other chapters leading up to the heartbreak or not

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony's Stupid Daily Blog (853): Thu 18th Jul 2024

My first day of mandatory overtime at work. It’s absolute bullshit that were forced to do this it should be voluntary like joining the army or wiping your arse. Every year they give us the same shit about how we need to pull together to exceed customer expectations but I'm not sure how that would even work. In order to MEET customer expectations we would need to get their order delivered on time which is what every buisness aims to do anyway so EXCEEDING customer expectations would be getting their items delivered on time and giving them a complimentary handjob…which I have to say i would do instead of having to walk up and down the factory all day on my fucking day off. Before first break I had sweat more than the England team did during the entire Euros and by the end of the day I could barely walk. As tough as this was it was just a preview of the Hell I will have to go through at Christmas again when I have to do an extra day for six cunting weeks but we'll cross that bridge when I jump off it. As shitty as today was for my feet, £184 for ten hours work. Not too bad, that will pay for another tattoo or perhaps some spending money for Greece. As soon as I got in I stuck on last night's Dynamite and was treated to a near hour long battle between MJF and Will Ospreay over the International Championship. As usual these two had their working boots on and kicked the living shit out of each other for almost sixty minutes (They almost looked as exhausted as me after finishing my shift) with MJF coming out victorious after whacking Ospreay with the Dynamite Diamond Ring. Sometimes it's necassary to force something in wrestling and MJF going back to being a heel was definitely a must after the wet fart ending to his angle with Adam Cole Bay Bay. In an ideal world the reveal of Adam Cole as The Devil would've led to a six month feud between the two but tragically both men were injured and The Elite were already doing their evil powerhouse faction at the time so The Undisputed Kingdom just got lost in the shuffle. Who knows what that rivalry would've been but regardless I'm glad that they've hit the reset button on MJF because babyface MJF without a Cole feud would've been completely hollow and pointless. I was sad to learn that legendary comedian Bob Newhart had died. His album Button Down Mind is still one of the all time great comedy albums and I think Newhart is one of the few, along with Woody Allen, Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce, who can lay claim to having invented a new method of doing stand up. Bruce was unapologetically offfensive, Sahl showed that you could use comedy to mock key political figures, Allen introduced the idea of monologue stand up instead of joke after joke and Newhart basically invented character stand-up i.e acting out situations during a stand up routine in sketch almost in the form of a sketch. I'm sure at the time none of these fine comics thought that they were doing anything revolutionary but rather they were just delivering their jokes in ways that were most comfortable to them but you can certainly see how their choice of delivery / subject matter has influenced everything that has come since them. Newhart also seemed like a really lovely guy who didn't care that much about his place in the comedy food chain but rather just seemed happy that he was part of it. I would have liked to have seen him live but sadly I would've had to have been born fifty years earlier than I was and gotten myself a ticket for the Royal Variety Performance 1964 because that was genuinely Newhart's only UK gig so he clearly held a grudge against the Brits because of what we did to the Americans during World War 3. Either way he was a funny fucker and he will be missed.

[gay-otlc]

Flashback Recap

In case you've forgotten everything other than Sophitz, fear not, I am a reliable source of information

Sophie's trich is getting better! It took her four whole pages to pull out an eyelash, which might be a record.

Biana tackle hugs Sophie and they aggressively compliment one another's appearance. No homo

Speaking of homo, Fallon Vacker definitely dated Bronte at some point.

People always bring up Alina/Alden drama at the least convenient time and it embarrasses them both so much. This is fantastic.

Della can beat people up with ease and she is so hot (-livvy sonden, probably)

To avoid living with Alvar, Fitz considered moving in with Keefe. We were robbed, I tell you.

I SWEAR I'LL WRITE A FIC FOR THIS SOMEDAY

Fitz also considers moving in with Tiergan. The Keefitz option is undoubtedly better but I'd never say no to the "Tiergan adopts everyone" agenda

Sophie roasting the Neverseen is fantastic and something we all need more of.

A murderer wearing spandex called me out on my daddy issues. This is probably a low point in my life.

Umber probably has a personal connection to the Vacker family. No one else contributed a theory, so mine is that she was/is in love with Della.

Wylie attacked the Neverseen with rainbows. He is straightn't and probably cisn't.

SOPHIE CONSIDERS ELWIN FAMILY BRB HAVE TO GO CRY

"Tiergan and Prentice happily raised a child together. As bros do. No homo." -Shannon, 2018

Sandor made me feel emotions? Him blaming himself for Sophie getting hurt got to me okay-

Bronte has been in regular contact with Fintan and working with him for weeks... what are they "working" on... making out?

Grady needs a hug.

Keefe needs a hug, and also therapy, and KOTLC needs to not be for eight year olds.

POCKETS. That is all. Shannon definitely wrote the pockets monologue after getting pissed at the "pockets" in women's clothing.

Biana Vacker saying "I’m sick of being treated like I’m some broken doll because of what Vespera did- and you know that’s what you’ve been doing" supremacy.

Biana's stuffed yeti named Lady Sassyfur supremacy, also.

The Keefe and Elwin dynamic! Let's be real, they've been acting like father and son this whole series.

It's canonically a definite possibility that Keefe lets Fitz win at splotching. Their earlier book friendship is so sweet and I'm still not over losing that.

When Sophie expects Elwin to be the responsible adult and he just shrugs and grabs popcorn... they are a family... they deserve to be happy okay

The Ballad of Bo and Ro.

More Dadwin!

It may not be canon that Elwin and Livvy are besties but it's canon to me.

Livvy keeps a list of the top ten grossest things she’s done. Marrying Quinlin is on that list. Alden thinks Livvy has terrible taste and will marry Quinlin if ce doesn't want to. Quinlin is thrilled.

Keefe pretending he wasn't that worried about Fitz while nearly crying with relief... beloved...

After Cassius tore up Keefe's sketchbook, there was some Keefitz hurt/comfort, and I need to see this for science.

Forkle stop using gendered titles for the collective and kotlcrew, all of whom are clearly nonbinary, challenge. However he got nailed in the face with a pillow (Keefe saw) and that is punishment enough.

Elwin absolutely despises Cassius. We all need protective Dadwin in our lives.

Tiergan not giving a shit about the heterosexual drama part ???

Keefe is such a bi idiot, panicking when Fitz touches his head.

Gisela gave him the PERFECT opportunity to propose to Fitz, bi the way, and he didn't take it!!

All elves are nonbinary, confirmed once again

Tiergan is the epitome of the "how many kids do you have" "biologically, legally, or emotionally" meme. He has so many children emotionally it's hilarious.

Within like 2 seconds of meeting a traumatized queer child he's adopted them.

Forkle knows how to braid hair

FORKLE BRAIDED FINTAN'S HAIR

Tinker is Not Cis.

Sophie saying "They didn’t break me. They’ll never break me" supremacy. Same vibes as the Biana line.

Biana kicked Fitz in the shins.

Good for her!

(Not Fitz hate, we'd just all like to kick our siblings sometimes)

Considering how jealous Keefe is of Fitz being closer with Sophie than with him, I'm not sure Fitz is the one he's jealous of.

Villain Sophie foreshadowing? Villain Sophie foreshadowing.

✨fitz getting caught in the chandelier✨

The normalization of relying on one romantic partner for all of your emotional needs features a bit too prominently in this book for my liking. Kill amatonormativity please.

Protective older brother Wylie!

Biana telling Sophie "You look… really good," with those ellipsis. That is so loaded with suppressed lesbianism wtf-

Alvar doesn't remember Ruy :((((

Someone get Sophie some self esteem. Like. Now.

The day with the alicorns being born must have been so wild for Stina.

Also, the alicorn birth scene is pretty batshit.

It's Sophie’s right as a bisexual to insult the council whenever possible, particularly Alina

Keefe middle name angst!

Don’t think about the conversation where Fitz told Keefe he was dating Sophie :) :) :)

By which I mean think about it! Think about the Keefitz angst!

Vespera and Luzia are exes.

Fintan and Forkle are also exes.

I want more Fintan backstory tbh. Which definitely involves dating Forkle. Also dating literally everyone else the man gets around-

According to him, Fintan has no flaws other than being a fucking drama queen.

He also knows Caprise? Apparently? And I would like details.

Someone who is not Fintan was the one to start the Neverseen.

Fintan is very funny someone calls him out for murder and he just shrugs.

Vespera was, and I quote, “fixated on Luzia Vacker.”

FINTAN AND MARELLA RELATIONSHIP it lives rent free in my head

I will shut up about Fintan now.

In my defense his scene is pretty interesting.

Somehow, Sophie is unaware of Luzia and Vespera's past relationship. Luzia is not at all subtle, so I don't know how she hasn't connected the dots.

Marelliana 🧡

Marella struggling with her power is the best concept ever 10/10 I need more content for this despite having already written two fics about it.

I need Wylie as an older brother. We all need Wylie as an older brother. That is all.

Fitz is jealous of Keefe's relationship to Sophie... and Keefe isn't the one he's jealous of...

Fitz yeeting the alvar-tracker-device is both hilarious and a terrible decision, really.

OH SHIT (keefitz argument)

Queen shit from Biana Vacker (going off at Vespera. as she should)

Fuck Alvar (-ruy ignis, probably)

"Yes, Luzia says many things, does she not? It gets very hard to determine when she is fooling you and when she is fooling herself" okay Vespera we know you're in love and she broke your heart you can stop villain monologuing

Tam being stunned by succeeding at shadow shit but immediately pretending he knew what he was doing all along is so funny.

Fitz and Alvar is a realistic sibling depiction. Who among us hasn't attempted to murder their sibling honestly?

Hehe this is the last time Tam and Linh see each other for a while- they hug and she tells him to be careful- and then there he goes!

We were robbed of getting to see the rest of Tam's family react to this. It's on the list of fics you might see sometime in the vague future.

Sophiana angst

Thinking about dating Fitz makes Sophie pull at her eyelashes... that's... not great honestly.

[eqt-95]

s'mores

"You're doing it again."

"Hm?"

"You're on fire."

"I'm on-? Oh shit," Kate muttered with a slew of other curses, swinging the flaming ball of sugar from the end of her found branch. She shot Melvin and James a threatening look through the wave of snickers hidden behind their boyish grins.

"You sure you've done this before, City Slicker?" Melvin continued teasing.

"Yes," Kate growled, secretly grateful the tinge of afternoon sun could hide the burn from her cheeks. The glow of fire from the pit sitting in the middle of the group also added a distorted hue to everything. Plus nightfall cast a reasonable amount of ambiguity over the group. Honestly, Kate was looking for any excuse she could to deflect from embarrassment.

A fluffy white pillow appeared in Melvin's outstretched hand as an olive branch, and Kate begrudgingly took it, piercing it over the burnt crisp that remained from her last two failures.

"Maybe if you spent a little more attention on the marshmallow and a little less on-"

Whatever Melvin was going to say was drowned out by a sea of laughter coming from the other side of the fire. The side where Kate's attention wandered to. The side where she sat, her back poised up against a dead log, her long legs shifting between scrunched up, bound by her arms and stretched out and soaking in the heat radiated off the burning driftwood onto her bare skin. Her warm, soft-

"I'll take that," came Melvin's voice and with it the tug of the stick from Kate's hand.

She was hopelessly distracted; had been all day. It wasn't her fault. No living person should carry the laugh of two dozen angels or smile with the glow of the damn sun. How could anyone expect to carry on a conversation when the alternative was to stumble over words in lieu of hearing her voice instead. Or better yet, why would anyone remember how to swim when that was simply a distraction from watching the controlled, focused way she slid through the water. And certainly why would Kate Kane give a fuck about the bubbling skin of a marshmallow when she could watch the orange light flicker and glow off her skin.

"You could go talk to her."

"You say that like I'm a six year-old with a crush."

"Aren't you?" James asked.

It annoyed her when James chimed in. It wasn't because she didn't like James. It was that if James was clued in, it meant something incredibly obvious was being said.

Kate opened her mouth to argue but was rendered speechless when she looked up to see the spot opposite her sat empty. Her eyes darted around, squinting into the darkness beyond in search of her. She couldn't have just disappeared. Maybe she'd-

"Hey, what does a girl need to get a toasted marshmallow around here?"

Kate choked. On what, she had no idea. It was probably her spit, but that was more mortifying to admit than pretending it was a fly or the wind or something invisible.

"Wh-I-uh…"

To a third-party observer, the comical timing of Melvin's arm thrusting the marshmallowed skewer back into Kate's personal space would have triggered a laugh track. Fortunately for Kate, she was the only witness, but even then she still nearly dropped the gift horse onto the sand as he handed off the sugary baton.

"Uh, yea, I… er, I've been known to, you know… er, roast a good marshmallow."

Kate Kane was not normally an idiot, but somehow Sophie Moore had a knack for jamming the signal between Kate's brain and her mouth. Saying she regressed to a cavewoman was an insult to cavewomen. She was practically a potato. And honestly, even potatoes might object.

"Oh yea? You write your admissions essay on your unparalleled roasting abilities? That slow, rotisserie-style turning technique to ensure only the most consistent, caramelly, bubbly skin encapsulating the decadent, soft, gooshing center of the… uh, Kate?"

"Yea?"

"You're on fire."

Kate wished she was on fire. She wanted to roll right into the fire and face the same charred fate as her third failed marshmallow. Melvin and James didn't have the heart to laugh this time. Instead they flinched away, finding an adjacent log to occupy while the meltdown that was Kate's pride spilled onto the log and then the sand and then the fire and finally into the water beyond. Minnows were feasting on the remnants of Kate Kane. Her tombstone would surely read 'couldn't even roast a fucking marshmallow.'

"Here," Sophie smirked, slipping her fingers around the stick and tugging it away from Kate's unresponsive hand.

Kate relied on silence to guide the next few minutes. Silence and Sophie monologuing about the nuanced ways of properly toasting a marshmallow. The stick rolled seamlessly between Sophie's fingers, setting the pale pillow just within reach of the flickering flames. It was mesmerizing. If all Kate did for the rest of her life was watch Sophie Moore toast marshmallows, she'd be content.

At least, that was until Sophie proceeded to sandwich her perfectly roasted marshmallow between two graham crackers and a slice of Hershey's. Then Kate could have spent the rest of her life watching Sophie Moore bite into the s'more; bite into it and make an absolute mess of everything.

It was everywhere. Kate could have cared less about marshmallows ten minutes ago, but now she was so unbelievably jealous of the strings of melted sugar stretching and catching on Sophie chin, her cheek, her chest, her-

"You'd think I'd never eaten a s'more before. Is it kosher to just lick it off of everywhere?"

"I could help."

"What?"

Idiot.

"Uh, with the, uh… I can… here," Kate choked, swiping up a napkin and waving it a conservative distance from anywhere remotely close to Sophie's skin.

"That's not gonna cut it."

"The.. with the, I can… soap?"

"Soap?" Sophie chuckled. "On the beach."

"Sand?" Kate offered instead.

What a miserable existence. The only silver lining was that Kate had said two real words consecutively without stumbling over her tongue.

"Definitely more accessible but far from practical."

"Right."

"I have an idea."

Then Sophie stood up. Sophie stood up and stripped. Not completely, of course. That would have sent Kate into epileptic shock. No, Sophie did nothing that graphic, but the way she shimmied out of her shirt and cut-off shorts to reveal her bikini from earlier that afternoon set Kate's skin ablaze in a way that had nothing to do with the fire. Or the sun. Or the graveyard of burnt marshmallows.

"What are you doing?"

Four words. A new record.

"Well I'm not about to roll around in the sand."

Kate blinked. Processing. Whirring. Her brain flickered with understanding. "You're going into the water?"

"You coming?"

"Am I… w-with you?"

"Is there anyone else?"

"In the water."

Sophie's head turned in confusion, her eyes narrowing humorously back at Kate.

"You scared?"

"Scared? Me?" Kate repeated, and that's when she felt it: the flare of a challenge. Through months of skittishly toeing the edge, unable to articulate anything beyond a mound of farm animal noises, she had passively watched. She was an awkward observer around Sophie Moore. Nowhere else in her life did she occur this way, but Sophie was different. Kate wanted to impress her. She wanted to be smart and clever for her. She wanted to go toe-to-toe not because she wanted to beat her, but because Kate saw how Sophie could bring out the best in her. The only problem was Kate didn't know how to tap into that… until now.

She climbed to her feet faster than Sophie could register what was happening, and in the blink of an eye Kate had burst past her. "Last one in takes mess hall duty for a month!"

"Oh, you are on, Kane!"

[makeste]

Who is the bitch in the first year hero courses most down for murder, do you think? Surprisingly, despite being the only one to actually MAKE death threats, I'm mot sure Bakugou is all that high up there? When you've got Todo freezing people from the inside out, Mushroom Girl choking people, Honenuki drowning people and dropping industrial chimneys on them etc etc... What would your rankings be?

what better way to spend a Sunday evening than by ranking all of U.A.’s first-year students by murder.

disclaimer: I am doing this for fun and this entire post is ridiculous so please do not take it too seriously. also just a heads up, this post contains some recent manga spoilers as well as a couple of spoilers for Heroes Rising. now then, let’s quantify these bloodthirsty little savages.

okay so despite being entirely too plus ultra for their own good, approximately 99% of these kids would never dream of doing any kind of permanent harm to another living being. so I’m just listing the first thirty in no particular order, and then we’ll get to ranking the top ten.

Aoyama

despite having that brief moment in chapter 167 where virtually everyone thought he was a serial killer, Aoyama is actually a good boy. a bit stalkerish, maybe.

Mina

Mina did dream up that one attack where Ochako floats her up in the air so that she can rain acid down on people, which is slightly homicidal. but she’s not a killer. honestly if she was we’d all be dead already. see: thicc Girl Noumu.

Tsuyu

if Tsuyu had ever killed someone she would have already told everyone all about it because she is open about these things so safe to say she is not a killer.

Ochako

all Ochako wants to do is help and support people. she can be pretty hardcore from time to time but my baby girl would never. not to say that villain wouldn’t be a good look on her. I still get a shiver up my spine remembering that one time Toga turned into her and demonstrated exactly how deadly her quirk could be.

Ojiro

nah. the worst thing Ojiro has ever done was throwing his empty plain yogurt cup into the wrong recycling bin by accident, and he felt terrible about it afterward.

Kaminari

real talk, Kaminari could very easily kill a ton of people with his quirk if he actually tried. but he hasn’t, because he is only two and is too busy learning his shapes and colors and leaving his lego duplo blocks all over the carpet for other people to trip on.

Kirishima

do I even have to justify this at all. duh Kirishima doesn’t murder people sorry to anyone who came into this post all excited to read a big paragraph going off about Kiri’s raw bloodlust. I don’t know what you expected.

Kouda

Kouda is probably deadlier than everyone thinks. imagine him commanding, say, a mob of giant hornets to swarm and kill someone. it’s a good thing he wouldn’t actually hurt a fly.

Satou

I sat here for a while thinking about what I could say about Satou. but just. can you picture him killing a guy? nah, me neither.

Shouji

one of the things I like about Shouji is that he looks older than he is, and kind of creepy, what with the masked face and the freaky tentacle arms and all the like. and so he very likely experienced some of that good old fashioned quirk racism growing up, and people were afraid of him and/or thought he would become a villain. but instead he decided to become a hero. and I think that says so much about Shouji’s character. it reminds me a lot of Shinsou; his desire to become a hero was so strong that he overcame prejudice and circumstances which could just have easily have led to him becoming a villain (and in fact, it’s not all that different from some of the actual villain backstories). anyway so yeah no murder for him.

Jirou

I think she would consider killing anyone who ever hurt Momo or Kami, but aside from that NO because she is a good pure girl who loves music and rocking out and putting smiles on people’s faces.

Sero

poor Sero is so not-murdery that when he does get pitted against someone with more murdery energy such as Todoroki, he basically gets immediately overwhelmed and everyone is just kind of wincing and then timidly applauding him and saying “good try.” that’s Sero’s life. he would just sit there and get murdered rather than going in for the kill. he’s a good bro.

Mineta

needs several restraining orders filed against him, but wouldn’t actually kill someone.

Momo

well one time she did explode a grenade in Aizawa’s face. but no.

Awase

now we have come to the 1-B kids. I will give brief descriptions in case you, like me, sometimes have trouble remembering their names. so, Awase! the welding, Momo-rescuing one. he is not murdery.

Sen

the rotating limbs one. one of the least murdery kids in the fairly murderous 1-B on account of his quirk is just too ridiculous. sorry Sen.

Kuroiro

the Tokoyami one. more likely to bore you to tears talking about death than actually kill someone. which is too bad because he honestly would make a pretty bitching assassin.

Kendou

would say she’s probably in the top fifteen. god I love her quirk so much. just want her to slap some bitches to death. but she probably wouldn’t.

Shishida

the growly monster one. he does get some bonus points for tending to lose control once he goes full beastmode and werewolfs out. and he is fairly deadly.

Shouda

the roly poly double smashy one. it’s actually only a matter of time before Shouda kills someone, most likely. his quirk is way too dangerous, and the thing is, it’s probably hard for him to tell how dangerous a particular impact is going to be beforehand. one of these days it’s gonna be way stronger than he intends and somebody’s neck is gonna get snapped.

Pony

never forget that time Pony stabbed Ojiro and Shouji like a dozen times and everybody was just cool with it.

Tsuburaba

the air platform one. he did try to suffocate Kouda that one time.

Tetsutetsu

only if he’s fighting Shouto. or teamed up with Shouto. then all bets are off as to whether or not he’s going to drill his superheated steel fist right through somebody’s face.

Tokage

the severed limbs one. she just has kind of a murdery vibe to her. stalking everyone with her various body parts. yuuugh. I bet if she did kill someone nobody would ever be able to prove it was her.

Manga

the speech bubble head one. is going to destroy so much public and private property once he’s set loose on the streets. but no deaths.

Bondo

the glue one. and nah, Bondo is cool.

Koudai

the Ant-Man one. doesn’t strike me as particularly murderous, I even went and reread her part of the joint training arc to confirm it. she’s fine.

Rin

the kung fu dragon one. not especially murdery. overall probably one of the least bloodthirsty in class 1-B in fact.

Shiozaki

the vines one. she’s extremely murdery. I can’t be the only one who thinks that, can I? Shiozaki scares the shit out of me. if I were Kaminari I would have nightmares about her.

Monoma

would murder every single member of class 1-A if he could. would be the criminal in a Detective Conan two-parter. would give a long monologue about always being the side character and never in the starring role until one day he finally couldn’t take it anymore and snapped. why does his hero costume make it look as though he’s going to steal a bunch of famous jewels out from under everyone’s noses. nah but I’m just kidding and Monoma would never actually kill someone. but one day he’s probably going to be framed for murder by a villain and Kendou and Shinsou will have to team up to defend him and catch the real culprit.

10. Yanagi

the creepy pale ghost-girl-looking one. contrary to what you are probably all thinking, her high ranking isn’t just because of her general horror film vibe, but also because she attempted to bludgeon Mina to death during the joint battle arc. but also yes it is because of her general horror film vibe.

9. Kamakiri

the stabby one. he’s up here because I’m pretty sure he tried to kill Jirou that one time. like what was he even gonna do if Bakugou hadn’t stepped in. though to be fair I don’t think he actually had his knives out at the time so maybe he was just gonna elbow her in the face or something idk.

8. Bakugou

I agree with you that Bakugou is much more bark than bite, anon. and not only is he remarkably careful and precise with his quirk and good at avoiding any collateral damage (and even better IMO ever since his supplementary training), I think that due to his various struggles with being perceived as a villain and also trying to find his own understanding of what being a hero means, he’s probably more self-aware than most of the other kids at this point when it comes to matters of “is this morally okay.” so in spite of his generally violent demeanor, I very much doubt he ever would or could actually kill someone. but he’s in the top ten because his high shounen protagonist levels do place him in the “would potentially go apeshit if and when something happened to someone he cares about” category, though. and also because he and Deku did basically attempt to disintegrate Nine, and then when Nine just dropped off the face of the earth afterwards, no one even bothered to wonder what had happened to him. which leads me to wonder if Deku and Katsuki straight up assume they did in fact kill him and just dgaf.

7. Deku

see above re: Nine. and also he may have to kill AFO one day. so while he probably wouldn’t be happy about it, I think he could still potentially do it. and also because he absolutely does lose his gotdamn mind every time someone hurts one of his friends, and especially Kacchan, and I could picture him just snapping if something really awful ever actually did happen. I don’t think it would in canon because it’s just way too dark, but I don’t think it’d be out of character if he did.

6. Iida

literally tracked down the villain who attacked his brother with the full intent of personally killing said villain once he got his hands on him. true, Shouto and Deku talked him out of it in the end, but still. that was some real motherfucking killing intent. also I will never forget the image of this kid sitting his ass down in middle of the woods and mutilating his own goddamn body without any anesthesia. listen, everyone. just please, for your own safety, do not fuck with Iida.

5. Shouto

and now we reach the top five. listen, feel free to disagree, but I stand firm in my belief that out of all the non-traitor and non-demon-possessed children in class 1-A, Todoroki Shouto is absolutely the most likely to straight up just kill a bitch one day. this boy froze a man from the inside out until a tower of fucking ice was jutting out of his fucking throat, and was all “go ahead and hibernate for a while” like excuse me, THE FUCK. and the thing is, this wasn’t just a one-time occurrence either; he literally pulls this kind of shit ALL THE TIME. froze an entire fucking building with his classmates in it and was all “feel free to bring it on but fighting without the soles of your feet will be painful.” heh. what the fuck. and do you all remember when he fought Sero and was in a bad mood so he iced half the fucking stadium. nearly killed a few people right then and there. “I got carried away.” whaaaaaaat. and I could go on and on; he nearly burned poor Shindou alive, and basically the entirety of chapter 205 could have been submitted as evidence in a court of law had that training battle against Tetsutetsu gone only slightly differently. basically Shouto is an entirely too realistic portrayal of a very sweet but marginally unstable boy with a completely broken power and a shitload of unresolved personal trauma which he is still working through.

4. Honenuki

somehow more murdery than Todoroki “HIBERNATE!!” Shouto. this is entirely because of chapter 205, formerly the most murdery chapter of the entire series, and dethroned only by the recent chapter 266 for obvious reasons. anyway so during the joint training battle, Honenuki bludgeoned Todoroki in the back of the head and would probably have let his unconscious body slump into the softened ground to drown had Iida not saved him. he then proceeded to drop a water tower on top of the both of them. a whole-ass water tower. this was a fucking training exercise. and Honenuki was the only one who kept his calm throughout the entirely of said exercise. and he was praised for his calm murdering skills afterward. because he was fucking awesome tbh. anyway but the point is this is supposed to be a hero school not an assassin school but I’m not really sure anymore you guys.

3. Tokoyami

my man would have straight up killed Moonfish in that forest and sure did try his best. he’s got the same issue as Todoroki in that his quirk is as powerful as it is unstable. and while he himself is not murdery, when Dark Shadow loses control, though… hooooh boy. I was gonna add something about him also interning under Takami “literally stabbed my friend in the neck for the greater good” Keigo, but I think that makes them both come off as more sinister than they actually are. I do think a big part of Tokoyami’s story is him overcoming his inner darkness and wresting control of it and mastering it, so I don’t think it’s very likely that he actually will kill someone in the story. but he’s got a murdery side, no two ways about it.

2. Toadette

straight up filled Tokoyami’s windpipe with mushrooms during a training exercise. he uses that to breathe, fyi. she then offered him a lozenge afterward. do not fuck with Toadette. do not. just don’t.

1. Hagakure

last but not least! Hagakure “hasn’t killed anyone officially but is also definitely the traitor” Tooru! y’all know how it is! I’m committed to this theory! I’d even be willing to put money on a reveal scene where she does just straight up kill someone, and that’s our cliffhanger establishing that the traitor is none other than! and this is coming up sooner than you might think too, guys. Horikoshi brought up the traitor again relatively recently during the Christmas Eve chapter, and that kind of foreshadowing isn’t for nothing. anyways I’m here for it though so bring on that body count you funky little turncoat.

so there you have it. my not-that-definitive definitive ranking of classes 1-A and 1-B by murderous inclination. there’s really not that much rhyme or reason to it tbh but this was fun, thank you anon!

[iturbide]

The more I look at it, it's like... Grima doesn't do anything. Like they prattle off some villainy sounding lines but. It makes Lucina's future seem weird? Like, Grima actually did something? Lucina, I'm not doubting you, but are you sure? And considering all we see them do is nothing but sound ominous, it makes it even more odd that they and the grimleal keep referring to everything as if it's a play.

( ✧ ∇ ✧)

Welcome to the secret clubhouse friend I think our membership is still less than 10.

Fun story: when I first finished Awakening, I was really, deeply touched by the storyline.  I did end up going with the route of Robin’s sacrifice (and post-credits return), and that whole wrap-up was just...really moving to me.  It stuck with me really, really hard, and I kept thinking about it in the days and weeks that followed.

...and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that a lot of things didn’t make sense.

Grima grandstands at the Dragon’s Table.  Grima talks this big game about being there to ensure that destiny came to pass and all of their actions were meaningless in the grand scheme of things blah blah blah...but the deeper I dug into the logic, the more it all started to fall apart.  In no particular order, here’s a short list of things that I dug up (some of which I’ve covered before, some of which I haven’t touched on so much):

Based on the fact that Lucina has clear memories of her father and states in several supports that she learned her swordplay from him, it’s fairly reasonable to assume that Chrom didn’t die until years after she was born (perhaps as few as ten or as many as sixteen -- I personally tend to err on the higher side and put it between fourteen and sixteen).  If their purpose really was to ensure that destiny came to pass again, why wait at all?  They made direct contact with Validar following the failed assassination attempt on Emmeryn, they had all of Robin’s memories, and they knew what Chrom would be doing and therefore when he would be weakest during the two years of post-war restoration; why not attack early and kick things off while the Shepherds’ kids were hopelessly scattered and unable to mount a defense?

In her own timeline, Lucina clearly had a run-in with the apocalypse dragon -- and yet, she very clearly survived it.  We never see how in the game, but the fact that Grima had her very nearly in their jaws and didn’t destroy her is incredibly strange.

On top of that, Grima not only helps her in her fight against the Risen by blowing them away when she’s wildly outnumbered, but also gives her the biggest hint about what to do: ”the future is built upon the past,” they tell her -- aka “go find Naga and change things so that this never comes to pass.”  Why in the world would they tell her that at all?

Grima claims that they had to step in to keep the future “secured” -- and yet, despite having a perfect opportunity to do just that, using the newly resurrected apocalypse dragon to wipe out not only the Shepherds in the revised timeline but the children who came back to prevent the dire future...they don’t.  They fly off beyond Origin Peak instead, out over the ocean, where their power and size are less likely to affect anyone.

Grima says that they revived Validar after the failed assassination attempt, supposedly because he was necessary to ensuring that the doomed future came about.  Why let him die before the ritual was completed, then?  If he was so necessary, why did Grima do nothing when Robin and Chrom revealed their bluff and then took Validar down, especially if reviving the sorcerer really was within their power in the first place?

And on the topic of the assassination: given that Grima was there at the time, why did it fail?  Couldn’t they have just impersonated Robin to get into Ylisstol castle and eliminate Emmeryn themselves?  I’ve seen some speculation that Grima didn’t have a corporeal form at the time, but this makes no sense to me personally since Robin was a physical entity and that’s the vessel Grima’s presently inhabiting -- plus, Grima sure as heck has a physical body when they meet Robin after the two year timeskip.

Speaking of Validar: why did he even need the revised timeline’s Robin to become Grima if he already had Grima right there with him?  Grima claims that the journey through time diminished their power, but wouldn’t it have made more sense for them to focus the ritual on the Grima in their ranks rather than trying to raise a second one?

Grima insists that the course of fate might change but not its destination.  Why bother following Lucina into the past at all if they’re so confident?

This isn’t even all of them.  This is just the stuff that comes quickly to mind.

The more I started putting this together, trying to puzzle through what must have happened in Lucina’s doomed past and how it compared to the revised future, the more I noticed how incongruous Grima’s actions were with the words they said.  And that’s about when it hit me:

The whole thing is an act.

Validar, Aversa, the rest of the Grimleal cult, they think this is real, but Grima?  The one they’re supposedly following and serving?  Grima’s specifically trying to avoid walking the same path of ruin.  Grima came back to help Lucina, and unlike the children, they decided to do it by infiltrating Validar’s operation and trying to dismantle it from the inside out, since they knew from their own timeline exactly how things played out.  They ensured that Chrom wasn’t attacked during the two year gap, accelerated the timeline in hopes that Validar wouldn’t be able to amass the necessary resources on an abbreviated timescale (or reduce the loss of life should that fail), and gave the Shepherds every possible chance to take them down before the ritual could be completed by grandstanding and monologuing rather than attacking them at any point during the confrontation at the Dragon’s Table.  They were purposefully playing off of the Ylisseans’ belief in Grima as an evil entity in hopes of goading them into attacking and therefore preventing disaster before it could take place.

At some point during the two years between the end of the Ylisse-Plegia war and the beginning of the war with Valm, Validar realized that something wasn’t quite right with the situation.  Despite having Grima in the fold, they weren’t making anywhere near as much progress as he would have expected toward his goals of raising the fell dragon.  The issue, for him, was that he didn’t have control of Grima the way he wanted, and even his mind control seemed ineffective -- so he set his sights on Robin, instead, intending to harness all of Grima’s powers into the vessel born into the revised timeline while keeping Grima’s will locked out, granting him power enough to destroy and conquer whatever he set his sights on.  Thankfully, he didn’t pull it off, since his mind control was significantly weaker due to how accelerated the timeline was thanks to Grima’s interference, and Grima relished that death before trying to orchestrate their own -- though Aversa’s interference in completing the ritual Validar had prepared was unexpected and also unwelcome, and contributed to their flight away from the Dragon’s Table and Plegia on the whole rather than striking down the Shepherds.

As for Lucina’s future, sadly I do think that it was destroyed -- not by Grima’s design, but by Validar’s.  As we know from the game itself, Validar sacrificed a substantial number of Plegians in order to fulfill the ritual of raising the apocalypse dragon; in Lucina’s future, the death toll was likely higher still, since Validar had longer to prepare and strengthen the mind control magic he eventually used on Robin.  All of those dead bodies ended up turned into Risen -- and while the they are physically strong, mentally Risen aren’t all that bright, making them difficult to control.  With so many of them, it proved impossible, and so they eventually overran everything.  In a bid to change a course of events they never wanted to play out in the first place, Grima pointed Lucina toward Naga, then followed her into the past to help her prevent that terrible future from coming to pass again.

[araminakilla]

Faris D'jinn (long) appreciation post

Warning: If you don't like very long posts or deep analysis of a character or situations, maybe you want to skip this. But you are always welcome.

I will always say this: Treasure of the found lamp! is one of my favorites episodes of the Ducktales bomb (the other is Nothing can stop Della Duck!) I like the jokes, the journeys of the two groups, the cameos of different characters that appeared in Season One. But most of all... Him.

Faris D'jinn. Middle Eastern adventurer. Seeker of the lamp. Descendant of an actual genie and the amazing woman who freed him. Here are ten reasons (not counting the facts that he is a great swordman and a cool biker because everyone knows that) of why this warrior is one my favourite characters in the Ducktales universe:

1. He is not what he seems

The first time I saw this guy in the SDCC 2018, and the person presenting the characters said he was Dijon from the Ducktales movie, there were two different reactions from my part:

"OMG! They acknowledged the movie. That means Merlock is going to return!" And...

"This Dijon looks so COOL! But...he looks like a terrorist"

And before you sue and attack me, there are some comments in YouTube that reflected my thoughts. One of them said he looks like an ISIS member.

But I have investigated and I found out that in fact, there are some people that wear traditional black clothes in the Middle East and are NOT asociated with violence or radical groups. So, my bad people. I'm really ashamed for making this statement. I try to not be an ignorant of different cultures for reasons like this.

Anyway, those months I tried to stay positive that, if he was a bad guy, he could get a redemption arc. Because there's no way that this awesome Ducktales crew, that handles the Latino community very well, is going to portray arabs in a bad light, just like every old Hollywood productions (I'm looking at you, Aladdin)

And when the promo of Ducktales and Big Hero 6 appeared, with this warrior using his sword in front of a very scared Scrooge... well... I put my thoughts on another post, but I was a little concerned for the Middle Eastern representation.

Great was my surprise when I saw the episode for the first time. Let say that the power of the lamp wasn't the only plot twist of that episode.

2. He's so serious that it's funny

His single-minded quest for the lamp before the Ifrit's dawn (a fact that he monologued for 10 minutes without blinking) leaves him with no time to joke around, except everyone around him is a goof, and that makes him hilarous in a sense. Best demostrated when he answered ALL the riddles from a literal JOKE BOOK. He's so smart... yet so gullible that it's amazing. It's like he can't tell when someone is lying or making a joke... I don't know if that's possible. There's also his reaction at the "got your nose" prank which, honestly to me, was one of the best reactions EVER. Maybe it's how he screamed "monster!" and how he seems to really believe the creature got his nose. Truth to be to told, I was very surprised the first time I saw him laugh, that was something unexpected. And how the premise of the episode was him getting a family of adventuring Ducks, a greek Godness, a sea monster and a bunch of Beagles involved in a quest...to give himself a birthday present, like... Who gives himself a birthday present? (Really, I don't know someone who does that)

3. He is grateful even with enemies

He defeated Charybdis and the poor monster was whipped and given the beat of his life because he wanted to help Scrooge and Webby with the phony quest, and the first thing the warrior does is thanking him and saying that he will be remembered in the story of the lamp. That impressed me... And somehow made worth all the pain that Charybdis had. The same happened with the "Minotaur" and Ma Beagle (the little bow that he made is priceless). Many people would mock their defeated enemies and give them zero respect... but not him. That was so honorable, it reminded me of how Medieval Knights act, which would be discussed in the seventh point of this post.

4. He forgave the Ducks easily

"Djinn, I'm sorry I tricked you. If I'd known what was at stake..."

"Another chapter in the legend. A final trial before we find the lamp! It's all part of the journey!"

Like wow... That was something I was NOT expecting, because I wouldn't expect a guy who was shouting and slicing things all day to be that... nice. And maybe that could be because there was no time in the episode for the liar revealed drama. But the points D'jinn made about why he forgave Scrooge make total sense. He loves adventures and journeys, he likes to write in a scroll about the trials he had, so he instead took the positives aspects that the phony quest had and continue with his life. Now that's something you don't see very often. Instead of swearing revenge and dedicate his time ruining someone's life (I'm looking at you Glomgold, Magica, Negaduck and other villains) he forgave the Ducks, focused on the present and keep only the most important facts. I like that way of thinking.

5. He has a deep love for his family's history (and his heritage and bloodline)

He comes from a family that, as far as I'm concerned, keeps the stories of their past alive, passing them to the next generations. It's been ten generations since the genie was freed. What the ex-magical creature got was more valuable that having phenomenal cosmic powers: A loving wife and many descendants who remember them with such passion, and now one of said descendants, fascinated by their love story has adquired the "totem that started it all". I heard that arabs in particular are family oriented people, they would do ANYTHING for their loved ones, and that's the first time I saw that in a cartoon (at least in a Disney cartoon, the other example that is Non-Disney is the Oscar nominated "The Breadwinner", which I recommend you guys have to see it, it's so good)

D'jinn made a long journey from the Middle East to America (at least I think Duckburg is in America) for a powerless lamp because of it's sentimental value, which leads us to the next point...

6. He is a sentimental guy

You wouldn't expect a tough, serious and to some extent dangerous guy to have powerful feelings like love? Right? Think again. There's a reason of why the call D'jinn (and his VA, Omid Abtahi) a cinnamon roll. He has strong emotions, that is (I think) one of the reasons of why he's so dramatic. It's part of his personality. In fact, his volatile personality (using many times his sword, cutting things, flipping a table) has a solid base of why it is the way it is. I'm not saying that destroying the couch and threatening the Duck family is not wrong, I'm saying this because this is NOT a matter of the "He's an arab and all arabs are volatile/barbaric/will scream and attack you 'cause that is their nature" thing that all the Hollywood movies I saw (at least the examples I saw in the documentary "Reel Bad Arabs") have. No sir, this is different.

And talking about Arab stereotypes...

7. He's a HUGE improvement from the Ducktales movie and series

Back in 1990, he was Dijon, a thief and mook to Merlock, the Big Bad Wolf of the Movie. He was funny and the interactions he had with Scrooge in the movie and the series are funnier (Also, did you know that the last words Scrooge said in the series was "Dijon!" because the duck was running towards him 'cause he stole his watch?)

But, as the Nostalgia Critic put it in his review of the Ducktales Movie

"I don't know... Is this considered racist now? Yes, he has an accent and is a thief..."

He's fine as a comic relief, but nothing makes him different from the Crows of Dumbo, or the Indians of Peter Pan, or the Siamese cats of Lady and the Tramp, or...

Honest Trailer's guy: Stop it!

OK ok. The point it's... The Ducktales reboot did it again. They took a not so well liked character from the '87 series and made him/her a lovable character, like Mamá Cabrera (I swear, she's also mi mamá now)

Now he's honorable, charming, etc (and yes, those words are from a YouTuber reviewer) But specialy, they changed his name to Faris D'jinn which not only sounds more arabic, but also foreshadows his relationship with a genie. Plus, Faris means "Knight" in arabic, which describes what he is and how he acts perfectly.

8. He's different but at the same time just like everyone else

Gif belongs to @i-mostly-reblog-things

Yeah, he looks different, speaks with an accent that's not American, has a different mindset about things in life and maybe that could come from the country he's been raised, or his family or maybe he decide to be the way he is on his own accord. But, as an lesson learned in the episode "The Depths of cousin Fethry!"

Just because something or someone is different doesn't mean is bad.

True, D'jinn didn't make a first good impresion with the Duck family, except from Webby (You go girl! It seems that she has a talent to see edgy but misunderstood people and give them a chance) but at the end everyone was celebrating his birthday with him. They give him a cake! This small but powefull gesture made me 100% convinced that, even with flaws and conflicts, they are the perfect family. It still surprises me that the crew of Ducktales and Disney would make a scene like that. If someone told me a year ago that they would make a scene with: An arab. Dressed with traditional clothes (turban and all). Wearing all black. Celebrating his/her birthday with an American (Scotish in Scrooge's case) Family, I would have laugh and say: Yeah, sure, like they would actualy show that.

But they did it and I couldn't be more happy.

Just a pause from this Ducktales' post

Some of you could be thinking as you read this: "Nice that your people are shown in a positive way"

The thing is... I'm not arab. I'm a latinoamerican who just happens to love Middle Eastern cultures. My country isn't very prejuiced towards Middle Eastern people (maybe because there's a few of them) but I have come from a long way. To being sure that everything there was just sand and violence to wanting to visit some of the many wonders that the East has to give, meet people and learn their point of view. I think everyone should do that at some point, instead of, you know, getting all your arab information from Hollywood movies and concluding that everything would be better if the Middle Easterns were dead. As this quote from the YouTube Documentary "Reel bad Arabs" states:

"We feel that Arabs are not like us, are not like everyone else, then let's kill them off, then they deserve to die, right?"

The thing is, they are more similar that we think, it's just that the international media doesn't show that... until now.

And going back with Ducktales

Yeah, this dude looks different, but he laughs, feels, and enjoys having a great time just like everyone else.

It's the same that is happening with Fenton and the latino representation. D'jinn is a hero who happens to be arab. A dramatic warrior. A family values man. A great allie, friend and who knows what many things more. He, and other Ducktales characters, have so many layers that it's incredible. Just like people, you can't define someone only from their personality or their race. There are so many things that make a person unique. D'jinn broke the expectations I had for him (or he sliced them with his sword) for the better.

9. He's better than Aladdin in many ways

By starters, the voice actors. Aladdin's VA is American and has an American accent in the movie. D'jinn's VA is Omid Abtahi, born in Iran, a Middle Eastern actor. And I'm not saying arab because Irani people are not Arabs (correct me if I'm wrong). Omid doesn't have an accent, as far as I know, but I think it's a nice detail to have the warrior being voiced by someone who comes from the same place. Then, we have the fact that Aladdin lied to almost everyone and D'jinn was a victim of a lie. True, the Ducks assumed he was going to kill them all (and for a good reason) but a lie is still a lie. I don't know many things about Middle Eastern clothes and fashion in the past and the present, but I can tell you will find (maybe traditional) people who wears something more close to D'jinn than Aladdin, and I'm pretty sure the warrior would free a genie if he has the chance because he's a descendant of one. But apart from their differences, both are really good people with a big heart and a kind soul, it's just that we find out Aladdin is good in the beggining of the movie with the bread and orphans scene and with D'jinn almost in the end of the episode, because to be honest, I was expecting him to be lying about wanting to protect the lamp and instead working for the new Merlock, since that was his role in the original movie. Many of us expected a lying thief, but instead we got another Diamond in the Rough.

10. He is a key for one of Scrooge's character developments

Gif belongs to @everythingducktales

The richest duck in the World was SO impressed by the warrior's story that he opened a museum of valuable artifacts so he can share his stories with his family and the world. Let's repeat that. Scrooge McDuck, a very famous, very important and proud adventurer took the advice of a stranger (he also was 100% sure this stranger would kill him and his family if he doesn't get what he wants) because he saw his "human" side, a family side that made the duck realize "maybe we are not so different after all".

Not even the Buzzards (people who worked with Scrooge for who knows what many years) were capable of convincing Scrooge to do some of their plans (but lets be honest, their plans are awful)

That made him be more open about his adventures, his past experiences and his treasures, each one with a unique story. Maybe that would prevent unfortunate yard sales in the future.

Bonus:

11. He is going to return

It is confirmed in one of Frank Angones' posts that he is going to appear in the future, maybe as an allie of the Duck family in an adventure. Or who knows? Maybe they can recruit him as a member of a superheroes team along with Gizmoduck, Darkwing Duck and others. Plus, I want to see him interact with Launchpad and Donald.

That would be all... for now.