#also one time i had to try and save a little sparrow from killing itself by flying against glass again while there were two open doors

[schadenfreudich]

Why the fuck the is the European robin called "Rotkehlchen"? This little guy does not have red throat. That is so incredibly orange.

[deithe]

the bones (2,847 words) (1/1)

(an introspective on jason grace. kind of?)

read here on ao3 or read below the cut!

jason falls in love with the human equivalent of a forest fire

(his mother fell in love with the sky itself)

jason grace grew up being told that his destiny was very, very simple.

his first and most important mission, handed down to him from lady juno and mother lupa, was that jason was destined to save rome. that his destiny lay with new rome and camp jupiter, a new romulus to lead the pack to greatness. he would spill so much blood in new rome’s name that the little tiber would overflow and the gods would crown him with a golden laurel made from monster ichor.

he would be everything everyone else needed.

a spear for the senate, a shield for new rome, a standard to replace the one that had been lost, a sword for the gods to wield, and another pack member for lupa. he would be the perfect soldier, a demigod fashioned by two god-mothers for the simple act of being a weapon.

his second duty was that jason was to be nothing like his father.

his father, evil, unpredictable, selfish and cruel, was to be jason’s antithesis. lady juno stressed this, as did the senate, as did his praetors (though praetor saville jason eventually killed in battle, so jason doesn’t take her words to heart anymore). jason was never, ever to be like his father. all sons of jupiter before him were either driven insane or were killed, and jason’s great destiny could not afford for him to do either of those things.

‘hubris’ lady juno once told him, while going through his latin lessons in the damp cold of the den (or wolf house, as she called it), ‘is the thing that kills sons of jupiter’.

so jason was to never be prideful, but at the same time, never to believe he was inferior. he was to be subservient but never meek, he was to be a capable fighter but never violent. he was to be kind but not a pushover. open but not flirtatious.

he was to be perfect. he could not afford anything else.

then he, in the span of a few months, murdered his prateor after finding out she was a traitor, watched his friend be assaulted by a family legacy of prophetic visions which turned him into a paranoid asshole, watched his other friend assume a leadership role, one which he tried to refuse, and fought an army, killed a titan and toppled kronos’ black throne.

he also became praetor and then was promptly kidnapped by lady juno, leaving said other friend with all the responsibility.

then any and all plans the gods had for him were ruined by a daughter of aphrodite with eyes like the earth and a son of hephaestus with a smile like war.

how could jason be the perfect soldier when his loyalties no longer lay with new rome? he loved his home, he loved his siblings-in-arms, he loved the legion-

he loved leo and piper more than the breath in his lungs, than the sky and earth and more than his destiny. he loved them enough to try and find whatever scraps of himself he had. to create something they could love too.

(heracles killed himself after accidentally killing his family. love killed him in the end)

and so, jason failed in his first mission. he could no longer put new rome above them, above camp half-blood.

jason doesn’t think becoming his father is an option for him, however. his father is prideful and arrogant and his father's likeness, he will eventually learn, belongs only to his prodigal sister.

and so, jason grace finds his last name, a family he never knew, friends he could die for and an empty cabin that seemed less lonely with leo or piper in it.

then they went on a quest, leo built a ship and they all set sail to stop gaia from rising.

then jason lost leo, then jason lost everything, then jason lost himself and then lost piper-

and, in the middle of winter, leo valdez came crashing down on a metal dragon with eyes like a nuclear explosion and teeth made for tearing meat from bone, or tearing jason’s heart from his chest.

and then jason found himself again in the space between the junction between leo valdez's fourth and fifth ribs.

leo valdez is a lot of things. he’s a son of hephaestus and a complete asshole. he’s the first child of hephaestus to be born with the ability to create and control fire in over 400 years. he’s a 5’4ft guy who wears platformed boots to make himself seem taller. he’s so powerful that he obliterated gaia. he’s a genius. he thinks spraying axe bodyspray on himself is the same as a shower. he overworks himself even when he doesn’t have to. he can fight gods and go toe-to-toe with any big three kid and hold his own. he likes to survive on a diet of mango monster energy and takis. he's obnoxious. he's thoughtful. he makes mean-spirited jokes at other people's expense. he's the best person jason's ever met

he’s-

currently late for their date.

It’s not that jason minds, per se, but leo has a nasty habit of getting so completely lost in his work that he can plan a date for the next day, and jason won’t see him for at least three days. it’s one of the downsides of being the trophy boyfriend of a genius.

jason sighs and rocks back on his heels, eyes darting up to the grey, overcast sky. he can almost hear leo in his head, asking if he could pretty please make it less goddamn cold? and his pout when jason refuses to change the weather for him.

it's not that jason won't. it's just that he can't. it makes aeolus snappy.

sometimes he still does it. manipulates the air currents just enough to warm the air around them and leo smiles, a real one, small and soft. like it wasn't meant to be seen. a secret thing, just for jason.

jason doesn't see leo smile like that often.

it's mid-february in new york and jason is kicking around central park in the grey mid-day light. it's quiet, this part of the park, with barely anyone passing jason as he leans against a tree, wet dew dripping into his unstyled hair. it's cold, but not cold enough for a freeze or snow. just the right amount of cold to turn your hands numb and purple from cold

which. if you've never seen leo 'was raised in texas and has fire powers' valdez in new york snow, jason fully believes you've never lived.

he spends another 30 minutes splitting his time from staring into space and wandering around the meeting spot they've arranged. it's peaceful here. jason can even hear some birds twittering and chirping in the trees above. the cold even stops bothering him. jason likes being alone sometimes.

it reminds him of the lupercal and lupa. long days and nights in the loneliness of the redwood forest. just him and the wolves and the stars.

though now jason has sturdy boots and a wool jacket, so not exactly the same.

he's in the middle of trying to coax a timid sparrow onto the hand, crouched on the balls of his feet when he feels a presence beside him. he goes stiff when he realises and then, like all the tension has been zapped out of him, goes relaxed again.

"that," leo whispers, also crouched beside jason, "is one fat fucking bird"

jason represses a grin, "don't say that. he's probably barely eaten all winter," and leo snorts, moving closer to jason so their shoulders brush. the bird regards leo with some caution but his black, beady eyes seem to acknowledge that jason would keep him safe.

"he looks better fed than me, jace. do you care more about this bird than your own poor boyfriend?" leo says, faux-sadness in his voice, "how cruel, jason grace. how cruel".

jason turns in time to see leo shake his head, black curls wild around his face as they shudder like leaves in the wind. his eyes are dark brown, watching the bird watch leo. a staring contest.

leo says his name like no one else does. like it's a name. like it's good. like it's something familiar and warm. he does not say 'jason' and imagine a great hero or a wolf-boy with no past. he does not say 'grace' like a joke, like grasp for power, like it carries too much weight for his tongue to bare.

he says it like it belongs to jason. he says it like it's important. not too fast, but not too slow.

leo turns his head to find jason staring at him.

"jason" he calls, lips quirking up at the edge, pulling out the 'o' like toffee, "i know i'm pretty irresistible but please, keep your longing stares for the bedroom"

jason shoves up against leo's shoulder, blush bursting across his already red-cold face.

he pushes just slightly too hard and leo goes spilling across the wet grass, yelping in surprise.

"jason!" he yells, looking up at jason half shocked and half in amusement. "what the fuck, dude!"

jason can't help himself.

leo is wearing jason's hoodie, the black one mrs.blofis picked out for jason which leo claimed as his own even before they started dating. his new denim, fur-lined jacket (from the hide of the nemean lion they killed last year) is just slightly too big and he's wearing black jeans. he looks like the college freshman he is. he looks mortal.

he looks human. he has leaves in his hair and his cheeks are flushed from the cold, teeth showing through the toothy smile he's giving and-

it's uncanny, sometimes, how well they can pass for normal. you almost can't tell leo's died and come back to life. you almost can't tell he's more powerful than any living mortal.

almost.

jason falls on top of leo in the wet grass, which causes leo to yelp, again, and knee jason in the stomach.

jason groans "dude, what the hades was that for?" and he rolls of leo, onto the wet grass beside him, arms protectively covering his bruised stomach.

"you fell directly on top of me, you big lug," and leo sits up, picking a leaf out of his curls absentmindedly, "if you haven't noticed, you're like a bean-pole with muscle mass. that shit hurts!"

jason pouts up at leo, who manages to look both unimpressed and fond. he rolls his eyes and offers his hand to jason, who accepts and leo hauls him into a sitting position in front of him

"hi, leo" jason says finally, "you're late"

"i'm not late, loser, you're just a nerd and get places earlier than normal people. its super weird," leo tells him, matter-of-factly, scooting closer to him as they sit on the ground. "you should really get it checked. might be terminal nerdiness. the glasses are just the first sign"

jason raises an eyebrow, curviving over said glasses. "i didn't know it could be terminal. oh well, guess i'll just wither away and die from being punctual. what an injust life i lead. how the sorrows never end"

leo pouts, eyes sparking with enough warmth to keep out the cold for decades to come, "don't be so down about it, I hear being a nerd has perks,"

jason moves closer, so his knees are half-pulled up to his chest and he's balancing his weight on his hand. leo fits perfectly in the bracket of his arms.

"oh? do tell?" he asks, and leo is close enough that jason can see the faint freckles on his cheeks. they're fading from how far away leo has been from the sun, but jason loves them anyways.

"yup," leo says, popping the p and smiling like the cat who got the cream. "do you know that all nerds get super hot and funny and sexy boyfriends? as compensation for being such nerds, of course"

jason pulls back his head a bit, just as leo laces his arms around his shoulders, "really?" and his voice is soft, but the smile won't disappear from his lips, "wow, didn't know that. guess I'm lucky that you're such a huge nerd or-"

leo kisses him like coming home. and in a way it is.

jason has known many homes. he's known the small apartment with his mother that smelt like spilt wine and smoke and mold. he's known the lupercal and the redwood forests around it. he's known the barracks at camp jupiter and the feeling of purpose in his chest. he's known cabin 1 and cabin 9 and bunker 9 and on the back of festus and on the argo. he's known the feeling of reyna laughing as he tells her wild stories and of the fifth cohort raising him on their shields. he's known lying in leo's private room with piper and leo, listening to low music and feeling safe with just them.

but the one person who jason has felt like home since they met was leo. his high ground through the tsunami. his parachute during a plane crash. the one point of home. like the north-star.

jason smiles into the kiss, his free hand tangling itself in the rough fabric of leo's dark blue denim jacket. it's soft and chaste, more a press of warm lips than anything. it's comforting. it's familiar. it's everything he wants.

leo pulls back a bit, just far enough to speak but still close enough that his breath brushes up against jason's cold face. "hi," he says, brushing his nose against his, "missed you, bro".

jason snorts, "i missed you too, leo, how's MIT treating you?"

"like i'm it's bitch is how it's treating me," leo tells him, slumping slightly into jason, forehead against jason's. "can we not talk about college? i think if we talk about college I might start crying and then our date will be ruined"

jason pulls back a bit to look at leo. he does look more tired than usual, eye-bags darker and lips bitten from nervousness. he frowns, using his free hand to cup his face. "are you okay? we can just go back to your dorm if you're too tired-"

"ugh, no way" leo groans, "fuck that. i just wanna spend time with you, okay? i wanna be mushy and all that gay shit. i want bad food and to kiss you again and again and do more than kissing-"

jason rolls his eyes.

"-and then go back to mrs.blofis apartment and watch really bad movies you like for some reason and then i'll go to sleep beside you and it'll be gay and shit"

"gay and shit?"

"gay and shit, you better believe it grace. but first-"

and leo untangles himself from jason and stands up, brushing the dirt from his knees leaving jason frowning on the floor.

he offers out his hand, brown skin calloused from work, long, thin fingers curled slightly as the palm faced upwards.

"c'mon, super, treat your louis lane to some greasy new york food before he decides batman has better pay"

jason is so, so lucky he got leo valdez. that the fates decides to make sure that his destiny crosses leo's. that he convinced leo valdez to let down his walls, to stay, that jason wouldn't leave him like the others, or hurt him or betray him.

that jason was in it for as long as leo wanted him to be. that jason only wanted leo to say his name, wanted to give it to leo because leo's the only one who's mouth jason trusts with it. that jason wanted to give leo his past. wanted to show him and tell him where he got each scar.

he trusts leo with this. he trusts leo's hands to not burn it all to ash. because he knows that if leo wanted to, he could. he could burn jason alive with a thought. turn him to ash and glass with a flick of his hand.

jason has fallen in love with a nuclear bomb, with a supernova of a boy and jason doesn't care if it kills him, because he has spent so long pretending to be what everyone else needed, that now he was going to be who he wanted to be. even if it got him killed. even if it burned him alive.

jason grace has fallen in love with the human version of a forest fire. he should be afraid of it, of leo. he is not. he never will be.

beryl grace fell in love with the sky itself. wanted all the stars in heaven and didn't care what happened to her. as long as she knew she had the stars attention. as long as she knew the sky loved her back.

as long as he knew the fire loved him back.

he takes his hand.

[thr-333]

Mismatch- Part 25

In my defence I didn’t forget about updating here, I just didn’t want to.

First < Previous

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

“How do I look?” Marion asks as people fuss around him, not least of all Marinette herself.

“I hoped that would be obvious seeing as I designed this look,” She smirks at him eyes sparkling he can tell since the whites of the Domino mask are removed.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re the greatest and all that,” He waves her off as a stylist tries to tame his hair to fit the messy look she wanted.

“Well it is true isn’t it?” She teases, someone also trying to follow her with a brush and comb as she flies around the room in a whirl of designing.

"Perhaps," Marion hums, gaze drifting over to the door where he notices a familiar figure, Marinette follows his smile.

“Luka!” Marinette exclaims, wrapping her friend in a hug, “When did you arrive?”

“Last night," Luka smiles, she was glad she got the chance to become his friend again as MDC, not that he knew their secret identity, "This city is so majestic,”

“Gotham at night?” Marion scoffs, turning in his seat, only to get scolded by the stylist, “Are we talking about the same place?”

“CD maybe you just haven't taken the time to really hear the city’s song,” Luka strums a few cords to demonstrate, “You should its melody compliments your own,”

“I’ll have to take your word for it,” Marion shrugs, sitting forward again, “Do you think you can use it to reach out to the Gotham audience? I really want to connect with them,”

“Will do boss,” Marion sticks his tongue at him, Luka only ever called him that in jest.

Luka gives a playful wave leaving to go sort out the music. He had his own responsibilities as the opening act. Marinette feels someone watching them and dismisses the stylist, congratulating her on a great job. She looks a tad peeved as Marion's hair is largely the same as when she entered, but many employees are used to the twins randomly leaving anyway. The door to their dressing room clicks closed and the presence makes itself known.

“What can we do for you, Batman?” Marinette asks, offering him a seat, although she knows he won’t accept it.

“MDC,” he inclines his head, not showing if he was taken aback by her catching him out, “We have reason to believe the concert will be attacked tonight,”

“Yeah, we thought that might happen,” Marion gets up, stretching, “Just try to keep whoever away from the crowd and we can handle the rest,”

“You don’t seem to understand, after the last attack-”

“Sorry to cut you off,” Wow it was weird acing professional around the same guy they had been tormenting the past few weeks, “But that was an impromptu event this one has been planned out for years,"

Officially not but they had designed the building to help them catch akuma in Paris while keeping an event going, they just applied that design to Gotham.

"If you would like to call in the rest of your coworkers we can show you the defenses we have in place so you can work with them,”

Batman seems surprised. What did he think they were just air-headed celebrities? Well, that wasn’t going to be the only surprise of the day then. Sure enough, he calls everyone in and Marinette’s a little hurt to see he invited everyone but Sparrow and Songbird to join in the fun. She hides this fact leading the ragtag group through the backstage area. Spotting their manager she walks over.

“Could you please clear our schedule we want to give them a personal tour of our security measures,” She asks Kate, to her credit only looking mildly surprised to see the whole Batfam trailing after them.

“I thought you might, I’ve already worked it into your schedule, just make sure you're there in time for the costume checks,” Kate looks down tapping away at her tablet, “Also call your uncle arrived in town last night he’ll want to wish you good luck so watch out for him,”

“We couldn’t do it without you,” Marinette beams, letting her go to attend her other duties.

They must make an odd sight, two superstars guiding a pack of vigilantes like ducklings through the backstage. They go over all the security protocols. Safe rooms that the staff was instructed to go to under certain circumstances. There were carefully lain traps that only a few people could trigger to set off. On the stage itself was a secret compartment Marion could make a quick getaway to get change in, a tunnel leading backstage. The entire backstage was a maze in itself all the staff specially trained to navigate it.

To protect the audience they hadn't packed it nearly as much as they could have so it meant it easier for them to reach the exits. Indeed there were hidden emergency exits that people could escape through if villains blocked the obvious ones, they were set to reveal themselves if that was the case. There were also hidden trapdoors in rows of seats that would glow if people were forced to duck behind the seats. It leads to underground tunnels that would lead them safely away. There were even tunnels connecting to the staff safe rooms so they could come and direct the audience as needed. Marinette had made sure to make the tunnels look inviting ad pleasant so no one would panic at being underground.

Then there were the special (comfy) perches that they showed to the Batfamily, each situated to look over everything and be hidden by the lights. There were wires leading to the stage and audience in case they needed to get down quickly and quietly. They also made a web above that they could run along and run any interference with ariel attacks. They also gave them each a blueprint of the stadium so they could see all the secret tunnels that were perfect for a surprise attack. There were ones leading into the entrance subtle enough someone could be pulled in while walking into the building, for the purposes of catching criminals before they even entered. There was also a trap door that could open underneath, she gave them each a remote control to these, warning them to use them wisely. Each hidden door leads to a room suited for fighting, carefully crafted to give the bats and edge.

It had taken a long time and a lot of money but they had invested, making a safe place they could rent out to other performers so there could be more shows in Gotham conducted safely. She could tell that by the end of the tour even Batman was impressed as they headed back to the stage through the empty audience seating.

“Hey! Superstars!” Jagged's voice booms across the arena, waving from the entrance of the place.

“Uncle Jagged!” Marion jumps over seats to reach him, Marinette a step behind him as they both tackle him into a hug.

“Good to see you too,” Jagged ruffles their hair, Marinette sends a silent apology to the stylist, “This place looks Rockin!”

“You bet just wait till I take the stage,” Marion grins, as they both hug Penny and Fang as well.

“Why wait! Show me what you got,” Jagged sends Marion off, who runs to the technicians asking if they can do an early mic check, everyone scrambles to make it happen.

“So how’re you finding Gotham?” Jagged asks her, walking with a side hug back towards the Batfamily.

“Oh, you know… busy,”

“I’d say the news with Marion? That was wicked!”

“Yes… wicked,” Penny pales at just the memory, and yeah fair enough.

“Yo Batman great to meet you!” Jagged boisterous nature meets Batman’s stoic one but the poor guy barely has a chance to adjust before Jagged’s moving on.

“Yo Red Hood right?” Hood looks a little shocked as Jagged claps a hand on his shoulder, “You saved my nephew, I really owe you one!”

“Oh-that's not- I just,” Marinette shares a smirk with Jagged which would have surely had Marion screaming.

“Yeah, he really looks up to you!” Jagged has him spluttering more, she would show him mercy but they only have so much time before Marion catches on.

“Oh Uncle Jagged I wouldn’t phrase it like that,” Marinette says in a suggestive tone, the stage is still empty of Marion.

“Of course, no I’d say it more that...” Marinette could actually laugh as Red Hood practically vibrates from anticipation, “He likes you,”

I think we just killed  him, Marinette notes as Red Hood internally combusts. Well now wasn't the time to show mercy.

“I’d say that's putting it rather lightly,” Marinette smirks as Red Hood is sent into another spluttering mess, and oh how she wishes he wasn't wearing that helmet.

“Right it’s more like-”

“Stop it both of you,” Penny’s reprimand has them both doubling over with laughter. The Batfamily looking absolutely bewildered. Minus of course, Red Hood who they may have to call an ambulance for soon if he doesn't start breathing.

“What are you two laughing at?” Marion walks to the edge of the stage, someone fusses with a microphone not too far away.

“Nooothhinggggg,” They chime simultaneously, with matching grins.

“Penny?” Marion all but whines, fidgeting nervously.

“They haven’t said anything bad,” She assures him, Marion foolishly relaxes.

“Hey is this the guy that saved your hide?” Jagged asks, having the guts to swing his arm around Red Hood’s shoulders.

“Uncle Jagged,” He hisses at the same time Penny hisses ‘Jagged’.

“You should thank him... sing endless!” Jagged exclaims, and Marinette couldn’t be sure he hasn't been planning this from the start, “You wrote it for him didn’t you?”

“Not for him its not-” Marion makes a bunch of vague gestures, “You know?”

“Not at all,” Jagged grins, dragging Red Hood closer to center stage seats, he plops down Red Hood right in the middle of the stadium. The rest of the Batfam take seats around them. “Sing Endless!”

Marion is scowling but doesn't have much other choice as a stagehand tell him he’s all set. He takes the microphone. Marinette mimes at him to breathe, he rolls his eyes but does anyway. The music starts Marion hitting his cue and with just the first few words she could see the tension drain away.

“And the world starts slowly caving it~”

It was such a gentle song. So many people had told him and still told him that it didn’t fit the violent vigilante. The producers had argued they should just fit it to someone else, someone people liked more. In the end, they had caved to Marion's arguments probably because it wasn't made to be an upbeat pop song so they weren't too attached to the money making aspect. That didn't stop the audience from arguing about it afterwards. Some claimed they just randomly selected the song, or that they shouldn't have done one for him at all.

Marion pointedly told them they were all wrong. And looking at Red Hood now, completely enthralled with Marion's singing she could tell that, yeah it had fit him perfectly all along.

"All the words you said were they true? or just selfish li-es~"

Marinette broke her gaze away from Marion to look at the rest of the Batfamily. Suffice to say they were all enthralled, hopefully they wouldn't be this distracted at the concert tonight. Although she supposed it was a good thing they were doing the mic check now so they could watch now and focus later. Then again she doubted Red Hood would be much use regardless, he was leaning forward in his seat the rest of the world dead to him. To fair Marion wasn't much better. In a crowd he would look around or at least pick a random stop to sing to no one. This time however? this time he was locked on to Red Hood sinign directly to him and he probably didn't even realise.

"Gave all I ever had try to make you laugh try to please you~"

Batman looked uncomfortable at the line. Judjing by the times she had seen them spend together there was a tension between them a past she didn't know. How Marion managed to pick up on that long before they came to Gotham she doesn't know. It was almost like he could see into his soul, a connection there despite never having met, like the pull of a miraculous.

"All I know is gone, now I'm all alone~"

Marion wasn’t testing out the mics. That much was obvious. He was straight up performing. And no he hadn’t written the song for Red Hood persay. But she had watched him every night and day agonize over the right words to use, the tune, the feeling behind it. Scraping up every bit of information he could it was probably more thorough than any police investigation done on Red Hood. It was then she realized, their room covered top to bottom in pictures of him covering the ones she had of Adrien, that Marion had completely and utterly fallen for the guy. No, it wasn't a song for him, it was a love letter for him, to him, about him. It was a picture that painted exactly how Marion saw him.

And she was willing to bet that the only people that didn’t realize it were them, both completely captivated by each other as Marion finished.

“What is it~” He holds the next note until the music fades out into nothingness, “Inside~”

The music stops, Marion opening his eyes, almost seeming startled that there were other people sitting before him. It’s only then he seemed to realize that there was more than just one other person in the arena and spirited off to check with the sound. It was as he turned to walk away Marinette could tell Hood had seen it, the robins newly stitched up the back of his jacket.

[themadauthorshatter]

It's September, witches, bitches, and litches(I'mso sorry for any offense, I was trying to be funny!)!

Let's see what mischief is in for the Skellington triplets this time!!!!

It is the next day in sunny Halloween Town and Jacob has been let off the hook for the day's meeting, so Jack and the Mayor can discuss something in private.

That leaves Jacob free to do whatever he pleases!

WITH LUNA AND DAEMON AT HIS SIDE.

He asks why they're following him and Luna states sharply that Jack told her to keep an eye of Jacob so he doesn't do anything crazy. That makes sense, but why is Daemon following?

He's BORED.

Jacob's glad to hear that, at least, because he's going to keep his brother entertained with an exploration around town, specifically what's on the outer limits of the town.

Luna warns him against it and Daemon's skeptical, but neither are able to stop Jacob as he slips through the bars of the town gate, explaining that they should stop him, then.

Daemon follows because he's bored, but Luna also follows, very reluctant.

Jacob teases her, asking if she's afraid.

She's not afraid. She doesn't want to get in trouble, lest they forget how mad their parents get when they misbehave.

Jacob corrects her: They don't get in trouble, if they don't do something they're not supposed to.

Luna, fed up, asks if he's been hanging around those bastards Lock, Shock, and Barrel, who are listening behind some tombstones and are all very offended by Luna's insult toward them.

And Jacob's response that no, he'd never go within a mile radius of those three reprobates, not with being the next Pumpkin King amd his father on his back.

Luna asks if he DOESN'T WANT to be his father's heir and Jacob kicks up a stick, asking back if SHE'D like the position instead.

She doesn't, because Jacob is the eldest, therefore making him the heir by tradition. And he's a boy, which us another strike against her.

Daemon reminds them both that tradition and gender be damned, they're ALL the same age. Imagine a Halloween with all three of them after Jack steps down.

Jacob muses that it sounds like fun while Luna sighs that she'll be the ring leader of two out of control hell hounds that are her brothers.

Daemon gawks at her, because he doesn't even take his EYES off of the line, much less set a toe outside of it, so how dare she.

Before she can correct him, Jacob dashes up a hill and stands still, staring long enough for his siblings to catch up.

Turns out they found the treehouse Lock, Shock, and Barrel reside in, and where Oogie Boogie used to be.

Luna is a little freaked out at the fact that it has now started to fall apart and Daemon, who pulled himself up to look, dips back down because he heard rumors that there have been a alot of bugs that remained and are still residing there to this day.

Jacob asks, a little nervously, where these rumors came from and who's been saying them.

Daemon shrugs, admitting he just heard it from Corpse Kid and Vampire Kid and it just stuck with him because some bugs are kind of hard to kill.

And then there's the fact that Lock, Shock, and Barrel are still hanging around, for some stupid reason.

Luna hugs herself and notes that knowing WHO lived there, under the house, and what he did, it doesn't make any easier to look at, even with the knowledge that he's gone by their father's hand.

And Santa's boot, which Daemon adds before sighing that he'd actually like to meet old Saint Nick one day, if it's okay with Jack and Chris Kringle himself.

Those words make Jacob's uneasy look turn to determination as he clenches a fist; now he doesn't just want to exceed Jack and everyone else, he wants his brother to meet Santa Clause.

He's also mentally wondering how he missed the woods with the doors, seeing as how he knows the town very well by his age, even semi-hallucinating/visualizing a map he'd drawn to find the holiday doors.

He's pulled out of his thoughts when he hears Daemon shrieking and falling down the hill.

Turns out a butterfly is flying around him and won't leave him alone no matter how hard he tries to smack it away.

He shouts for either of his siblings to kill the butterfly because it's trying to kill him.

Luna pulls him up and swats it away, givung a sound of disgust because while she likes wearing dresses and playing with her hair, she's not a fan of things like butterflies.

She calls for Jacob, asking if he's coming, because Jack's bound to be finished with his meeting by now and is probably looking for them.

Jacob nods and follows them, after one last look at the treehouse and watching the butterfly circle him before flying away.

Luna was half right, Jack IS done with the meeting and is looking for them, except he brought Sally and Zero with him.

He asks where they've been, and Daemon somewhat saves Jacob's ass by saying they were looking for something interesting and found nothing, except for a good walk.

Somewhat because when asked what they were looking for specifically, he replies by offering the encounter with a killer butterfly.

Jack asks him to repeat so he KNOWS he heard that Daemon was attacked by a BUTTERFLY.

He was, and it did not help that Luna and Jacob stood by and did not help him in the slightest.

Sally, not buying this BS and genuinely curious, asks where their walk took them, while they walk home.

Luna offers an answer, which Jacob would know.

Jacob bites that she was there, too, so she should answer.

She would, but all she did was follow him, so his call.

Jack tells them to not argue because all they want to know is where they went, not if they had some sort of competition. He and Sally are asking because good on them for exploring a little and they want to know what their kids are up to.

Jacob relents and says they were just wandering until they accidentally found the old treehouse. They didn't go inside. They just went there and saw it from the outside, that's all.

Daemon backs his brother, saying they found it on accident and turned around, because it's evil.

Sally calms him by explaining the place itself is not evil, but kudos to the teiplets for no going in to explore.

Luna asks if it's because of all the bugs and Jack explains it is not because of the bugs. It's because he doesn't want them going in and getting trapped there with no way out, and doesn't want Lock, Shock, and Barrel to be anywhere near them because those three are still living in the house.

Jacob is silent as he listens, zoning out and thinking about the rumors and the fact his brother is probably going to be in on the idea of finding the holiday doors.

While the family continues home, the butterfly we saw earlier flies over to a crouching Lock, Shock, and Barrel, whispering into Lock's ear about what it found.

Shock asks what it's saying and Lock explains that they found their way of helping out their old friend, said way being a zoned out Jacob as the family returns to town.

With a bonehead even more clueless than Jack, it'll be easy to bring Oogie back, they just need to get him to walk a little further away than he should and they've got him.

Barrel, in a moment of realization, asks if they should really ask JACOB for help.

Sure, it'd hurt Jack the most, because Jacob's the eldest, and he's really good at sewing, but that's qhen he needs to keep his hands busy, and he's walked into trees mutiple times, sat and stared at a wall for hours on end, accidentally lit himself on fire, and made a bookshelf fall on top of him. To sum it up: he puts the E in idiot, for a guy who's his father's son.

He offers they go for Luna instead, who's worked in Dr. Finklestien's office the most, is very meticulous in her sewing, and is the only girl, so they can use that to draw her to them. Shock explains why THAT is a bad idea: Luna is not stupid. She has been sharp enough to see when people lie to her, just like Sally, and is the most obedient out of all three triplets, so she's a no go.

Okay, okay, that leaves the youngest, and arguably easiest to deal with, Daemon.

HA! Fools! They have never heard the series Pirates of The Caribbean, which Daemon watched on marathon on one Halloween night, or a particular man named Captain Jack Sparrow.

Five words:

Genius diguised as a fool.

Lock laughs and states the two of them are lying, because he's only seen Daemon following his brother and sister or either if his parents. There's no way he's a genius.

Shock challenges Lock, then, asking him to try and talk to Daemon and also try to get him to do something Lock wants him to do, maybe try pranking him.

We end with the triplets with their parents, Sally braiding Luna's hair while Luna vigorously sews a horned hat for Daemon, who's writing and solving math problems, while Jacob and Jack look over Halloween plans.

Jack notices that Jacob looks confused about something and asks what's on his mind.

The question turns everyone's heads:

Who lived under the treehouse, what happened to said person, and why did it happen?

[heyitsani]

Let Down My Guard

Omega!Dick Week Day 2: Reverse!Robins

Word Count: 2926

Rating: Mature-ish

Warnings: Threats of non-con (nothing graphic) and Robincest (obviously)

Pairing: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd

Summary: Dick’s scent blockers fail him on patrol when he’s out alone and brings a predator his way.  

Notes: Day two and the one story for the week that doesn’t fit the rest of the series.  The non-con-ish scene happens in the very beginning so the entire story is under the cut to avoid triggering anyone who might stumble upon this post.  The ages/codenames of the Robins are as follows:

Damian Wayne: Sparrow 28

Tim Drake: Red Hood 25

Jason Todd: Phoenix 18

Dick Grayson: Robin 16

You can also read this on AO3 here

“Here birdie, birdie, birdie,” the voice called out, chilling Dick to his very bones.  He knew who the man was calling for.  He knew that somehow his scent blockers had stopped working and the dirty alpha had caught his scent.  He also knew he was cornered.  He had nowhere to go and unless one of the Bats answered his distress call soon, he was so very screwed.  Perhaps quite literally.  “I know you’re around here somewhere, birdie.  Can smell you.  Like,” there was a pause and Dick assumed he was taking a deep breath, “like honey and spice.  Do taste as tempting as you smell?”

And that was something the sixteen-year-old had no intention of letting this man find out.

He wished he knew if someone was on their way, but the sharp screech in his ear earlier and told him something had gone wrong with his comm unit and now he was just stuck.  Stuck hoping and praying to a god he didn’t believe in to save him from a fate he had saved so many others from over his years of being Robin.

There was no out for him.  And suddenly Dick to felt weaker than he had ever felt in his life.  Weaker than he had felt watching his parents fall to their deaths those years ago.  A glance above him told him there was no way for him to get to the roof and to safety without his grapple.  And since the snapping line was what had caught the attention of the alpha to begin with, he was stuck.  And he was scared.  And his head and his knee hurt from his fall.

“You might as well just come out from your hiding spot little birdie.  Make it easier on both of us.”  Closing his eyes, Dick tried to pull his scent back in a bit to put the man off just a little longer.  The closeness of his voice was enough to make his hands shake in terror.  “I won’t bite…too hard.”  And Dick could practically see the sneer on the man’s face.

“Is that so?”  Oh, thank god, Damian.  “Perhaps you didn’t get the memo, but that’s not how things go here in Gotham.”  Dick jumped when a shadow jumped down next to him from the roof and immediately, he fell in a defensive crouch.  He wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

“It’s just me Baby Bird,” the electronic sound of Tim’s voice modifier in his helmet was a bigger comfort than most would have thought, and Dick felt his muscles relax as he threw himself into his older brother’s chest.  There was a click, but instead of trying to find the source of the noise, Dick just buried his face in the armor-plated shirt Tim wore as part of his Red Hood suit.  “Are you hurt?  You smell hurt.”

“Nothing dangerous, just so fucking glad you guys are here,” he muttered into Tim’s chest.  He relaxed further when one of Tim’s arms wrapped around his back and held onto him.  Dick could hear scuffling in the background and a pained yelp, and he knew it was Sparrow taking down the alpha who had put them in this situation.

“Robin,” the edge of Damian’s voice caused him to pull his face away from Tim’s chest and look over at his brother.  “Are you hurt?  Did he…?”  Dick shook his head quickly and though it took a moment, Damian eventually nodded and looked back at the entrance of the alleyway where the alpha had cornered him.  “Hood and I have Robin.  We are heading back to the cave.  Tell Phoenix he’s fine.”

That caught Dick’s attention.  “Why didn’t he come with?”

“Come, Robin.  You shall ride with me.”  Looking from Damian to Tim, Dick frowned.  He was going to demand an answer but stopped when Tim shook his head.  “Robin.”  The sharpness to Damian’s tone caused Dick to flinch.  Rare was the moment when Damian was short with him.

“Fucking hell, Sparrow.  Can’t you see he’s already freaked out enough without you snapping orders at him?”  Tim tightened his arm around Dick and while it wasn’t strange for Damian and Tim to be at odds, it was strange for it to be about Dick specifically. 

He could hear the sigh slip from Damian even though he obviously tried to hide it.  “I am sorry, Robin.  Please, let us get you back to the cave.  There is a very worried and just slightly injured Phoenix desperate to look you over.”

Without saying anything, Dick nodded and pulled away from Tim to follow Damian back to his bike.  Glancing back at his other brother, he watched Tim take out one of his guns and put a bullet in the chamber. 

“Don’t kill him, Hood,” was all the warning that Damian gave Tim before taking Dick’s arm and pulling him out of view of the still whimpering alpha and into the street.  Dick put on the offered helmet and slid onto the motorcycle behind Damian, the engine revving just enough to make Dick wonder if he actually heard the gunshot and resulting shout of pain.

But he decided he didn’t care if Tim had shot the alpha.  If he had tried to do that to someone who could obviously handle themselves (if not in that exact moment), Dick didn’t want to know how many others he had managed to hurt because they couldn’t defend themselves or have someone defend them.

No, instead he focused on tightening his arms around his older brother’s waist, closing his eyes, and letting go of the fear that had caused him to freeze.  He wasn’t sure what it was that had caused him to freak out so suddenly, but there had been something about that alpha.  It hadn’t been the first time one had tried to take something from him by force, but it had been the first time he had frozen so completely.  Never had he ever felt so weak before.  Not even just in a normal fight when the opponent was obviously far superior.  He had always managed to find a way to get himself out of a situation. 

But this had been different.

He shuddered to think of what could have happened if his brothers hadn’t gotten there in time.  What would they have done if they had come even a few minutes later to find him in the clutches of that alpha?  What would Jason have done if he had been violated?  Would he withdraw his intentions?

No, that wasn’t the kind of man Jason was.  Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made his intentions clear two years before he could even act on them.  Being eighteen meant Jason could bond legally, but Dick still had two years to go before he was of age.  And though Bruce could have given them permission, he had made it clear that he wouldn’t give his blessing until they were both consenting adults.  Even though he followed that up with stating he approved of the pairing and would happily support it when the time came.

Sapphire eyes opened when he felt the terrain change under the motorcycle, and he found they had pulled into the entrance of the cave.  So, carefully, he pulled the fear scent as far in as he could.  There was nothing he could do about the scent that still clung to his suit, but he could overwhelm with relief at least. 

Hopefully, Jason wouldn’t panic too much.

“Dick!”  Well, there went that hope.

“Honestly, Todd,” Damian reprimanded Jason as he came running up to where Damian brought his motorcycle to a stop.  Dick could see the bandage wrapped around Jason’s forearm and he knew there were probably stitches under it.  “I said he was fine.”

“Forgive me for wanting to check for myself,” Jason shot back, reaching out to help Dick slip out from behind Damian.  Thankfully, the helmet hid the wince of pain on his face when he was back on two feet and the pain in his knee made itself known again.  Dick let Jason remove the helmet and mask, dropping them both to the ground, before he ran his hands down the length of his arms and gripped his hands.  “What happened?  Alfred wouldn’t let me go out with Damian when you sent the beacon.  Are you okay?  Why can I smell you so strongly?”

“I don’t know what happened, but my blockers failed, and the alpha was following me before I realized it.  I was going through Crime Alley when my line snapped, and I think the crash of my fall caught his attention initially.  The blockers failing was just bad luck.” Dick said as Jason pulled him toward the med bay where Alfred was probably waiting to look him over.  He did his best to walk normal despite the sharp pain that shot through his knee with each step.  “I sent the beacon the moment I knew I was going to end up cornered.”

“The animal never got the chance to touch him,” Damian added from where he was following the pair.  “Tim arrived from wherever he was at the same time I did.  I took care of the disgrace of an alpha and Tim went to Richard.”

Jason glanced over the top of Dick’s head with a raised brow.  “Tim let you handle the alpha?”  Dick glanced back in time to see Damian sniff haughtily.  “You promised him he could take care of him if you incapacitated him in order to get Dickie out?”

“I certainly hope that wasn’t the case, Master Damian.  Your father would be greatly disappointed.”  Alfred stood next to one of the beds in the med bay, obviously waiting for Dick.

“Perhaps.  But perhaps not when he hears what that waste of space was planning for his youngest.”  And Damian was probably right.  Even if Dick was no longer a child, Bruce did have the tendency to treat Dick as though he was more precious than air.

Dick watched Alfred consider his oldest brother before the man looked back to Dick and waved him over to the bed.  “Come now, Master Richard.  Take a seat so I can look you over.”  Dick let Jason lead him over to the bed and didn’t complain like he usually would have when Jason lifted him to sit on the bed.  He could smell the distress on the young alpha and knew he needed this.  Dick could be coddled if it meant he stopped smelling so sour.  “Any injuries you wish to make us privy to?”

Thinking over his night, Dick couldn’t recall anything to worry about outside of when his line snapped.  “Maybe a light concussion from my fall?  I didn’t pass out at all, but I think I knocked it on the ground.  And my knee hit pretty hard as well.” 

“Very well.  I will need you to get out of the suit so I can check your knee.  Master Jason, will you please retrieve some more comfortable clothing for Master Richard?”  When Jason looked like he was going to protest, Dick placed a hand on his upper arm and drew Jason’s attention back to him.

“Something from your locker, maybe?”  The pleasure at the suggestion filtered into Jason’s scent and Dick was glad he could manage to get some of the sour distress scent out.  With a quick press of his lips to Dick’s temple, Jason hurried out of the room.

“That was wise,” Alfred commented as he moved closer and began concussion protocol.  Dick focused on the questions and commands as best he could, but his attention kept falling back to Damian who still stood in the doorway with is arms crossed and a dark look on his face.  “Yes, I do believe you have a minor concussion, nothing to be concerned about given your level of alertness.”  Alfred was stepping back as Jason made his way back into the room.

“Do you need help?”  Jason asked quietly when he came up to Dick’s side with a few items, all smelling strongly of Jason and home.  Dick only nodded and held a hand out so Jason would help him down from the bed. 

“Master Damian, you should get out of your own suit and contact your father.  I did not want to worry him without all the details.”  Though it sounded like a request, it was definitely an order and Dick could see the annoyance on Damian’s face without even bothering to read his scent.  But the oldest nodded and left the room.  He was followed by Alfred, to give the pair a bit of privacy Dick was certain.

Instead of letting Jason help him out of his suit, Dick turned and buried his face into the spot of his neck where his scent glands were as he wrapped his arms around Jason’s torso.  “Dickie,” Jason whispered, voice hoarse as he buried his face into Dick’s raven hair.  His arms came up and around Dick, holding on tightly.  The pair let the silence fall between them as they took the moment to comfort each other without words.  But eventually reality came back to them and Dick was pulling back so Jason could help him out of the suit and into the clothes he had brought.

He was just slipping on the t-shirt when Alfred reappeared in the doorway with a tray of food and some water.  “I would appreciate it if you would eat this while I look over your knee,” he explained, setting the tray next to Dick on the bed, giving him a pointed look.  Nodding, he picked up the sandwich and took a bite as Alfred moved to the knee he had left exposed by pushing the loose sweat pant leg up.  The touch was firm, but gentle and just enough that Dick was able to hold back the reaction to the pain that flaired up with the inspection. 

“A sprain,” Alfred told them, grabbing the items needed to wrap it to stabilize the limb.  “A few days rest and you shall be right as rain, young sir.”  Jason visibly relaxed at the diagnosis and Dick sent him a look before turning back to Alfred.

“Crutches?”

“If you would rather be carried everywhere…”  Dick balked at the idea of being treated like a damsel in distress and Jason choked out a laugh.  “Then yes, crutches for at least two days.  We shall check the condition of your knee once we check it again.”  He knew he was pouting, but Dick hated crutches and the limitations they placed on his movement.

“Don’t worry Dickie.  It’s only a couple of days,” Jason tried to comfort him, but Dick just pouted more and Jason let out another laugh.  Dick supposed if Jason took this much glee in the situation then he could suffer through it.  Especially if it made his scent go warm with amusement and joy.

“Fine,” Dick grumbled, finishing off the sandwich before grabbing the water bottle to drain.

“Before you finish that,” Alfred stopped him, getting up from his stool and grabbing a small cup Dick hadn’t noticed before.  But it was one he had seen plenty of times in the past.  Pain pills.  If he didn’t have a headache on top of the knee pain, he probably would have turned them down, but he knew there was no way he would sleep with this headache.  So he accepted the cup and tossed the two white pills back before finishing off the water.  “Now, Master Jason will you help Master Dick up to his room and place a pillow under his knee?  I am going to check in with Master Damian and then I will be up shortly.”

“Sure, Alfie.”  Jason said, holding the hoodie he had also brought in for Dick so the younger could pull it on before they headed up.  “Piggyback or…?”  Dick just rolled his eyes as his head slipped through the neck hole and he pushed his arms into the sleeves. 

“Just pick me up,” Dick said, holding out his arms to wrap around Jason’s neck.  He didn’t say anything else as Jason slipped one arm around Dick’s waist and the other under his knees, lifting him with ease.  The walk to the elevator that would take them up to the manor revealed Damian at the computer, talking to someone (probably Bruce) as Alfred soon behind him.

Nothing was said until the doors to the elevator slid shut.

“Do you think B will come home early?”  Dick asked, tucking his head under Jason’s chin.

“Maybe.”  The rumble of Jason’s deep voice beneath his ear was a comforting sound.  “Damian said the League was almost done anyway.”  So, it could go either way.  Dick wasn’t sure which way he wanted it to go.  Yes, he missed Bruce the past two weeks he had been gone, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to deal with the surge of protectiveness that would be sure to follow his homecoming. Sometimes being the only pack omega had its downsides.

“Can you stay with me tonight?”  Jason didn’t say anything in response, but the tightening of his grip on Dick was enough of an answer. As if to say there was no where else he’d be.  “Thanks, Jay,” he whispered, closing his eyes at the steady sway of Jason’s steps as they stepped off the elevator.

“Anything for you, Mate,” Jason whispered back.  And though it wasn’t technically true yet, Dick still felt a familiar warmth fill him at the title.

[playing-stories]

Why Playing Inside Made Me Hate Myself

There’s a level in Inside (Playdead, 2016) that sees the player-character, a nameless young boy, sprint from cover to cover as supersonic booms blast at timed intervals. I discovered pretty quickly that being caught out in the open during one of these blasts kills the boy in a horrifying explosion. His dismembered limbs go flying towards the camera before the game cuts and asks the player to try again and again. 

Even thinking about this level inspires a visceral horror in me. It took me so many attempts to finally get it right. Not only that, but this level was what made me understand what made Inside such a disturbing game - it made me loathe myself. But why self-loathing? Seeing a young helpless boy struggle through a brutal and hostile environment and seeing him die over and over is upsetting but why do I hate myself in particular? 

Perhaps in all these bad feelings I directed some of them towards myself. Do I hate myself for making me see these horrible things so many times? Maybe I feel betrayed in some way because I’ve exposed myself to something sickeningly sad and violent. 

No. There’s definitely more to it than that.

The level with the sonic booms is an excellent example of why Inside makes me hate myself for two reasons: 1) It’s deeply impersonal and 2) I’m really bad at it. Let’s address these both in turn.

It’s Deeply Impersonal 

The sonic boom level comes at mid-late point in the game. At this point, I have played enough of Inside to understand the situation at hand. I am playing as a young boy and my goal is to enter a mysterious facility. What I am running away from or towards is unknown. I have so far seen piles of dead pigs, security systems that kill trespassers, and limp men who can be controlled by whoever is wearing a special helmet. These men are being paraded in front of others; some stoic bourgeoisie types.

Notice that in my description of the game, I heavily focused on the environment of the game. The mindless slaves, the pigs, and the security systems were things that I, through the player-character, experienced but none of these were put there for me specifically. I didn’t cause any of this, and I will not be able to stop any of it. 

Then I come to the level with sonic booms. There is some sort of experimentation going on in this facility, that’s for sure. These booms are just a part of this. Everything is so big around me and I am so, so tiny. I am inconsequential here, dwarfed and alienated by my surroundings. The booms are procedural. They are not targeted. They do not care for young human boys. They are not malicious, they are completely apathetic. 

I must contend with the only human agency being present in this scene being my own. Now, in single-player videogames the player is always the only human agent, but in other games an illusion is built that NPCs have feelings, that can harbour ill will towards you, or that they can actively desire the player-character to save them. Taking all this away means that I am forced to reckon with my own complicity in killing this small scared child. Other levels that have the player chased by a pack of furious dogs or smothered to death by a mermaid at least had something that I could shift the blame onto when it killed me. In this level though, the sonic boom level, all I had was myself and the knowledge that I put the boy in this lethal situation

Tobi Smethurst, a games academic, also found this in Playdead’s other game, Limbo (2010), which has another young boy protagonist. Smethurst underlines how the levels in Limbo grew to also feature this alienation between player and environment more and more as the game progressed. Smethurst similarly points to how these games are so affective because they force the player into a place of complicity. Smethurst points out in their paper ‘Playing Dead in Videogames: Trauma in Limbo’ (2015) that in Limbo rag-doll physics mean that all of the young boy’s deaths are visually different. Becoming de-sensitised to the gruesome deaths therefore becomes more difficult. Failing one level may mean the boy falls in a way that bends his neck at an unnatural angle. Failing again may mean that this time he flops onto his front. The player must reckon with the reality that is their agency that caused a young boy’s death. I have not added a picture of a death in Limbo and I only advise looking one up with a hefty content warning.

While I found playing Limbo deeply upsetting, it did still give me a purpose to cling to. I knew from the very first level that I was looking for my lost sister. A little girl needs me is what I told myself. I clung to the fiction that I needed to rescue her. Without it then how was I supposed to face the fact the the person killing this little boy was me? Nothing was chasing me at the start of the game, nothing was out to get me. It was me, me who had walked the boy into a environment that was totally unsuitable and deadly. Inside takes the sister away. There is something at the end of the boys journey, but the player does not know this until late in the game. Whether or not the thing at the end is a good thing is also another question entirely. As I exposed the boy to killer explosions, attempted to make him jump between tall buildings, and led him deeper into the hostile facility I hated myself. I was doing this cruel horrible thing to him. All me.

I’m Really Bad At It

Which leads me on to my own lack of skill. I’m not a great gamer by any means. I love playing, but key tenets of game mechanics like pressing buttons or keeping to rhythms are things I struggle with as a . In Smethurst’s paper, an important point is made. It’s that even though Limbo makes it near impossible to complete every puzzle on the first try, it is not impossible. Both Limbo and Inside are trial and error games. In Limbo some puzzles purposely subvert behaviours that it just taught players moments ago. Nonetheless, even though it is very hard to achieve a no deaths run in either game the slither of possibility means that each death weighs on me even more.

I could have gotten the boy past the explosions this time. If it only weren’t for my lack of skill. If I were only more careful. Why am I so bad at this? I keep killing this kid. I’m going to see him die again and its my fault.

Inside not only highlights my agency in playing and failing at the game, but Inside has been actively made to be like the game environment itself. Brutal. Uncaring. Apathetic. Even though the game is hard, I cannot blame it for killing the boy without also blaming myself to a certain degree. And so I hate myself. The game has convinced me to hate myself while I’m playing. 

Killing Little Boys in Videogames

Before I end this piece I’d like to address one more videogame boy that I’ve killed. What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow, 2017) is about the curse of the Finch family and it shows the player through a series of vignettes details of how each Finch family member died.

Calvin is just a child when he dies. He’s ambitious. He wants to swing his tree swing all the way around the branch. He swings, ignoring calls from his mother to come in for supper and goes higher and higher. The tree branch creaks and wind whistles by his ears and he’s almost made it. Then he loses control, and the player watches from Calvin’s perspective in horror as the boy flies over his garden to his untimely death.

Pretty sad cutscene, right?

Except it isn’t a cutscene. It very well could have been a cutscene. The game creators, however, elected to have the player make Calvin swing. The player is tasked with pressing two buttons in time to make Calvin slowly pick up momentum. The player knows where this is going and that this is dangerous. Yet if they want to continue playing they must kill Calvin. Again, the player is complicit in Calvin’s death with each button push leading Calvin closer to losing control of the swing.  

For a game that is thematically interested in facing trauma in order to process it, this is a perfect encapsulation of game mechanic echoing game story. By making the player a part of this scene, making their engagement essential, Edith Finch makes its players similarly face something that is uncomfortable and upsetting. Because they are active in Calvin’s death, the players are unable to stop looking at the screen, close their eyes, glaze over, or  reject what they are seeing in any other way. Sure, the controls are easy, but they still importantly require a level of effort from the player. The player can shift blame in this scenario. Unlike Inside or Limbo, survival is not an option for Calvin and so the player can easily argue that it isn’t their fault. This time, however, Calvin’s death being anyone’s fault is not the point. The engagement with the trauma of his death is what this scene is most interested in.

I would like to discuss how all of these characters being little boys might also be a contributing factor in why these games make me hate myself. I feel it would risk being too tangential so I’ll merely include a question: How do these little boys affect me simply by being little boys? For now, I will go and wallow a little more in the self-loathing that Inside has managed to make me feel.

Sources Cited:

Tobi Smethurst, ‘Playing Dead in Videogames: Trauma in Limbo’, The Journal of Popular Culture (2015).

[cherrymagik]

How tua tv show ruined hotel oblivion

Before I say anything: THIS IS IN NO WAY AN ATTACK TOWARDS ANYONE YOU ARE 100% FREE TO ENJOY WHATEVER CONTENT YOU WANT THIS IS JUST MY OPINION AND YOU ARE FREE TO DISAGREE (just don’t be an asshole abt and we’re good) also SPOILERS!!! for both tv show and comics

(a while back I saw a post by @fivehargreeves and i have since then been putting off this post bc i want to elaborate on it but i am too lazy and i know i never really post stuff here but this is something i feel really strongly abt especially after that s2 finale)

When I first read the umbrella academy comics one of the things I loved the most about was the world building. It was so crazy and weird (in a good way) and while I still loved the story and characters, for me the most fascinating part of them was the world. It was a world so much like ours, yet completely different and the little details in the background or those offhand mentions of aliens or other "weird" stuff made the tua world feel more alive and interesting. So obviously when n*tflix announced they were adapting the comics into a show i was thrilled. But when I watched it I was... disappointed to say the least :/

Ex. 1 The Umbrella Academy's debut- In the comics, the first time the world met the umbrella academy was when "the day Eiffel Tower went berserk" (literally)

It turns out the Eiffel Tower had been a spaceship all along establishing the first villain in the comics: Zombie Robot Gustave Eiffel. But the innthe tv show we get.... a bank robbery 😐 (not as impressive as the Eiffel Tower imo) THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SUPERHEROES FOR GODS SAKE! Why are they fighting petty crime? Let them fight the Eiffel Tower you cowards!!!

Ex. 2 The Orchestra Verdammten- (@/fivehargreeves post talks specifically abt this issue and summarizes most of my thoughts so i will say very little on this point) In the comics the main antagonist for vol.1 was an orchestra made up of musicians who had gone crazy (for one reason or another) and gone missing after joining the Orchestra Verdammten. But once again the villain is replaced with something very common and might I say mediocre. This as we will see is a running thing in the show: make most of the elements that made the comics stand out and replace them with more common/normal elements.

Ex. 3 Watering down/changing most characters' powers- Would you believe me if I told you it was Klaus that stopped the moon from colliding with earth? No you wouldn’t because in the tv show his powers are so... useless. And he was not the only one who’s powers got watered down (even though he is one of the most notable examples)

Luther/Spaceboy: his powers remain the same (as far as we have seen) however I am detaching points bc i don’t like how his character arc was handled in the show

Diego/The Kraken: first of all WHY THE FUCK DO YOU THINK HES CALLED THE KRAKEN -A MARINE MONSTER- YOU IDIOTS???!!! but seriously, why did they ever think it was a good idea to ever change his powers? It takes away so much from his character! Diego’s power is breathing underwater not whatever object manipulation bullshit they gave him in the show. His powers have NOTHING to do with knife throwing yet he is still as good at it in the comics as in the show; he got that good just from practice. He obsessive with his goals and we don’t get to see that in the show bc they completely changed his powers!!! They just took part of The Séance's and gave them to him! (@/fivehargreeves also has another post on this so go check it out bc it’s better worded than mine)

Allison/The Rumor: Oh my god I could talk about her all day and how dirty they did her in the tv show!!! In the comics Allison has the power to alter REALITY ITSELF

see: (click images to view)

she manifested a whole ass statue to life! And in vol.2 (the Kennedy assassination one) she was the one that killed Kennedy! She made his head explode just by rumoring him. But noooooo they had to sideline her in s2 so they could pursue a side plot for 'wokeness points' (i am happy that they dealt with the racism she would most likely have faced in the 1960's BUT they took away ALL her protagonism in the comics and had her be a minor character) if it hadn’t been for Allison the world would have ended -> murdering Kennedy was the only way to save the world

Klaus/The Séance: ugh where do i start? Klaus is extremely powerful in the comics, like I said he was able to stop the moon from colliding with earth. Not only did they have his powers watered down, they also took away all his telekinetic abilities in the show. Also, the only way his powers can be blocked is when he’s wearing shoes not drugs (i also want to point out that the way his addiction is treated in the show is weird and sometimes even uncomfortable to me but that is another topic for another time). His ability to summon the dead are almost nothing like in the show as compared to the comics he is called The Séance you know but whatever where he not only does he speak TO the dead he can also MANIFEST them through him which was probably the most important factor in stopping Vanya/The White Violin in Apocalypse Suite + not giving him his EXTREMELY WELL DESERVED FAME!!! 😤 THE AUDACITY!!! (I have talked abt Klaus before on another post)

Number Five: I don’t have much to say about him except that he is a lot darker in the comics and not as loving about his family as they make him in the show *cough* shooting vanya in the head *cough* but for the most part.... he’s fine ig (my main problem is they make him idk? too playful(?) in s1 when he actually he is all dry humor and dark jokes)

Ben/The Horror: doesn’t really appear in the comics so nothing to say here

Vanya/The White Violin: not including her transformation in the show was cowardly and having her be manipulated by a man was uh kinda problematic if I may say so. We only ever see her use her powers in vol.1 since she was crippled by getting shot in the head at the end of it and hasn’t been able to do much since then. Her story has been completely changed in the show and i am still not completely sure i like it. Her dealing with trauma and coming to terms with her childhood are quickly brushed away and not really delved into as opposed to the comics where she is still trying to process it

Ex. 4 Technology- The World in the comics is a lot more sci-fi than in the show where it almost an exact copy of ours. For one: the chimpanzees. In the comics Pogo isn’t the only one, we can see a lot of others in the background

Also stuff like the televator or the hotel oblivion are never mentioned or alluded to in the show

Now to get to the main point of this post: IT IS IMPOSSIBLE AT THIS POINT THAT THE TV SHOW WILL BE ABLE TO FOLLOW HOTEL OBLIVION'S PLOT BECAUSE IT DEPENDS ON THERE BEING VILLAINS!!!

This are superhero comics! Maybe we don’t see them fighting all the villains that appear in hotel oblivion, but the fact is that they are there! They are part of the world and part of what makes it breathe and come alive on the pages. To paraphrase (albeit a VERY simplified paraphrase) Watchmen (don’t tell me it didn’t influence tua bc IT DID and i can prove it) 'if there are superheroes then there are villains' especially in a world where superpowers exist and technology is a lot more advanced than in watchmen where they were all normal people (with the exception of dr. manhattan). But by dumbing down the world in the show we are left with a flavorless setting that has no effect whatsoever on the plot (compared to the comics). Maybe some aspects like the Sparrow Academy will be included (I am kinda scared to think where they will go with it) but it won’t be Hotel Oblivion. In s1 I could point out where the comics had influenced the show, hell even in s2 you could see the comic's influence but... Hotel Oblivion? I don’t see any possibility of it getting to tv and that’s the truth

[eriisaam]

Something something Tarot Card Project something.

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Context under the cut, in order of appearance:

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Kyo - The Fool (  Hear me out.)

Symbolizing new beginning, adventure, opportunities, pleasure, etc. It reflects how when Lifonse and Kamui first met him (from his perspective), he suddenly took a drastic turn in his life with opening new opportunities (becoming a summoner, stabilizing his power to go from a ditto to a ditto-mew, getting his first legendary in Zacian and encountering others, finding his ex and making amends to be on surprisingly good terms with him, having lovers who immediately love him, etc), of which his stinkiness nearly self-sabotaged in his apprehension, his guardedness, and (more sympathetically) him managing his past experiences and traumas, of which had Lifonse and Kamui not been so patient, supportive and loving as they had, there were so many opportunities he could've ruined for himself. This incarnation of him even gained more lovers than his past self (in Eclair and then Kaze), and in a moment of humbling himself and realizing in full of the weight of his failings and foolishness, it had a profound effect in Zacian for her to knight him, proclaiming herself as his to officially train.

For the reverse, this also winds up heavily symbolizing his past-self, who became present-Kyo's fallen alt, who did wind up self-sabotaging things by causing a lot of trauma that lingered in Kamui and Lifonse, who went a completely different direction in life from the present Kyo, and was woefully apathetic and uncaring to Lifonse and Kamui as a whole compared to present-Kyo not only opening up and genuinely loving them more, but making strides to change himself for the better for their sake, too. There were many scars he left behind in Lifonse and Kamui that negatively impacted even present-Kyo’s relationship with them, and the only moment he had a saving grace was just before his death, and ruined just as quickly when Hel claimed him as one of her new cohorts. Worth also noting that unlike the present Kyo, whose power stabilized his ditto genes to be mew-like, past-Kyo didn’t develop nearly as pronounced a bond to do the same, and thus, lacked their connection to a mew.

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Ephrel - The Chariot

In reverse, the feeling of defeat, being vanquished, lost, etc. Were all feelings that reflected how Ephrel was in the eyes of Sparrow's Order of Heroes prior to Sparrow's official status as summoner (of which Chrom's was unofficial before her). They were completely forgotten to the point they didn't even have a name attached other than "former summoner/previous summoner", the circumstances of why they were gone were almost entirely unheard of or guesswork, and there seemed far too much haste to try to forget them as much as possible in favor of moving on with Sparrow, satisfied to keep their fate unknown with very few to give a fuck otherwise (like Chrom, then Sparrow based on Chrom's own unwavering hope to find out what happened once learning Ephrel had a life after their robinsona).

The process of finding Spectabilis, then deciding to redeem them rather than kill them (which would be far easier and inconsequential), was what flips The Chariot upright: Reflecting the long, rocky road Chrom persevered to press forward to, and meet up to free Ephrel from a fate of stagnancy, rather than just leave it at accepting his replacement Robins and moving on without them like everyone else. This action was what allowed Ephrel's live to continue forward, and to reveal more of themself they didn't flesh out even in their robinsona days.

Initially, I debated on whether or not Chrom and Ephrel fit to be literally riding something, but I find it even more fitting that Chrom himself served as “the chariot”, having carried the toils and burdens from the point he lost Ephrel, to the long, exhausting journey to retrieve them again. 

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Erin - The Hanged Man

As her supports (but especially Lif, Ryoma, and to some degree Camilla from the start) knew too well (and Hrid eventually caught up on and was rightfully horrified of and clingy afterwards about), Erin came from a very harsh life prior to being a summoner, where she was suffocated, controlled, manipulated, and worked to the ground, to the point she nearly made a very costly, risky mistake of her own self prior to her Breidablik summoning her (of which I'll remain brief and vague here as it's not the biggest point this time). The damage was still done, as she still was left a broken shell, fully welcoming anyone to pull her strings as she was heavily conditioned to expect, all with a weak will, self-worth and agency. All of which line up with the reversed Hang Man's meaning of useless sacrifice, unwillingness to change, and knowingly heading on to bad decision after bad outcome. The arms of her past try greedily to drag her back to the life she had once escaped from.

The upright version of this reflected readjustment, improvement, and rebirth: All of which carried the same elements to how her supports could see she was a completely different person underneath the broken mess she was initially left as, and needed support, love, and gentle coaxing to come out in her own accord. This then led to a very massive shift to what she later turned into presently from where she started off before: As someone bold, brash, more willing to show herself, and more engaged as her own self with her own decisions. Even in free-fall, she gained her freedom, and more, thanks to her supports, gained her wings figuratively and literally (as a manakete) to take flight by her own will.

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Teru - Death

In reverse, Teru had indeed followed a lot of relationships that couldn't fully serve him or be as realized as he needed them to be at the time he needed it most (Kyo, before The Incident nearly ruined even their friendship, and definitely ruined their relationship. Then Ryoma, before Garon took that away from him as well.). His Order of Heroes failed him, his initial Askr was doomed, and he had to be a pillar of strength and protection to his pokemon and them in a time he himself desperately needed someone to rely on and protect him instead in his ailing strength and health. In the form he took prior to decimating his former connected World of Fates, one prominent feature in the missingno form he took at the time was carrying the fragmented headgear of his fallen past lover.

Upright, even in the point where Teru changed his life for the better, it took massive sacrifices and struggles on his part to get there. He has a chronic illness that can make him incredibly godly in power in the best of times, but also worryingly and critically frail and weak in most other times, all through his missingno powers he's still not able to entirely control. He had done the impossible in cheating death so many times from being a missingno, to surviving Conquest, to taking the Heart's Rite head on and living to tell the tale, but such bragging rights rang hallow for the sacrifices he made and the unspeakable levels of agony and pain he endured while subjected to them. He cheated death, yet at what cost? But even when he reached his lowest, his life did start anew as he grew past his traumas just enough to learn to grow and feel again, and for the better. After all, "third time's the charm".

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Sparrow - The Star

Where she started, she was homeless, abandoned by the world, and left to die. Forgotten. Uncared for. Unconcerned. Just another number and another sad life wasted. Like the reverse, she started in a point she was made acutely aware how little her skills mattered (it certainly didn't spare her the life of poverty), how bad her luck was (despite her best efforts, she still failed), and her only future was one that was coming to an end (crushed dreams unrealized in favor of being left to starve to death to the harsh elements outdoors). In her hands were the concept of a Crest of Fate bestowed to her, marking her as a digidestined. But even this “blessing” was in actuality a fake crest of the Grimeal, and what led to long-term damage to her and her digimon when the ruse was up.

It was Chrom who summoned her, and it was because of his patience to help save her and get her on her feet again did her hopes turn around, and her card meaning with it. Upright, she had a second chance in a new life, a new environment, and with opportunities she only barely touched the surface of that were fully realized in looking to it again in Askr (her digimon, who she didn't physically interact with until Chrom upset her digimon partners upon realizing why Sparrow didn't check up on them (of which she downplayed her life cuz, well, she thought it was a game), revealing themselves in full). She found love, she found insight, and she found a new power she learned to harness to make a better use of her skills when she thought a more direct approach was lacking (a healer, when she wasn't physically strong enough to take up another weapon yet). She stayed calm, positive, hopeful, and tried to extend the same hope Chrom shared to her to others she found along the way, which led to Robin, Lyon, and then Ephrel finding their own hopes as well. In her hands was a digi-egg of Destiny (sometimes alternatively known as the digimental of fate), which manifested itself when Breidablik resonated with both Sparrow and Ephrel. As a united force, they finally gained the hard-earned role of digidestined as a duo legendary-mythic unit.

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Eclair - Judgement

A lot of Eclair's point of major growth in power and character all fell back on Thorr's most powerful ability: Judgement. This power was the power that could completely and utterly decimate entire countries with the single swing of her hammer, and she isn't afraid to flex, and in ways Eclair saw for himself are fickle and self-righteous (particularly as she and Teru declared war on one another for the sake of protecting Nohr or wiping it off the face of Fates, but did nothing to interfere with the Nohr Teru himself destroyed in his own world). This fickle nature, this self-serving attitude and logic path Thorr decides when to enact her judgement or not, struck the biggest fear in Eclair and caused untold amounts of stress, worries, and panic attacks of being his greatest failure of seeing everyone wiped away from his life (like the fate he himself escaped as a forma) if he couldn't successfully stop his own mother. All of which are fears of the reverse Judgement. Even when she left her mark in other timelines and what-could’ve-beens, she struck fear in Eclair’s supports making such outcomes prominently known for them to stew on. Including an alternative outcome of her taking hold of some manner of Alfonse and overloading him into a temporal threat.

But upright, it also reflects awakening, renewal, a better health and mind fully realized. The point Eclair began fearing his mother and aunt most was also the point his powers started manifesting the most when his family, friends and supports made their own will clear of wanting to protect him. It was also the point he fully realized that form of will that comes from love and the power it held that heavily contrasted the will Thorr took interest in that comes from despair. This eventually was fully realized in his fully powered form, Magni, and his power as the Divine Shield to completely cancel out Thorr's Judgement attack, and thus, force her to bring herself down to the same even footing as the mortals when she can't simply delete them off the earth with a swing anymore. This resolve is also what resonated with why Zamazenta similarly trusts him, and thus, fully established Eclair's mythic alt.

[imaginepirates]

Reasons James is a Slytherin

In my response to @itsdumbbitchhours for their ship request, I mentioned James being a Slytherin. In this essay I will…

Alright, so I’m going to reference the fanwiki quite a bit here.

Slytherins have the attributes of “resourcefulness, cunning, ambition, leadership, determination, and self-preservation”. I’ll expand on these as I go.

I’m going to start with ambition. James, as we know, has achieved a high rank in the navy at a shockingly young age. Part of this is due to the fact that James’ father, Admiral Lawrence Norrington, was such a huge figure in the navy, I’m sure. Still, James wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without a little ambition. He had to work hard for his position, and he gave up a lot of his social life to climb the ranks. If he didn’t have an ambitious streak, it never would have happened. Also, in DMC he trades the heart for his job back, plus a promotion. Jack calls it “the dark side of ambition”, and he’s right. James could’ve stayed with Elizabeth on the Pearl, but he didn’t. The obvious argument is that James took the heart to protect Elizabeth, but he also took it to get his position back. Even in the state he was in, he couldn’t give up his ambition to become more than what he was.

The man is a leader. He’s been in the military for most of his life, so he’s been around officers, and he knows what leadership looks like. When he became an officer himself, he knew how to act. He can deftly give orders, as seen throughout the movies, and he’s respected by his subordinates. He’s looked up to, as well. Under his leadership, his men are often victorious against adversaries. James climbs the ranks, assuming a new, different position of leadership each time. He finds himself leading quite a few people by the end. Even when he’s not giving direct orders, he takes the leadership role in things. James managed to lead Elizabeth and her new crew of the Empress to a better fate. Unfortunately, it’s the last act of leadership we see from him. *cries*.

Determination. Where do I even start? To do well in anything, you have to push yourself, and god knows James did well. He exemplified the trait, being so determined to rid the Caribbean of piracy. In his younger years, he desperately wanted to prove himself to his father, too. His determination began at a young age, and probably stemmed from some anxiety. He also pushes himself to protect Elizabeth; he literally leads an entire military expedition to find her. In all seriousness, the chances that he was going to find her were slim, but he did it anyway. He literally fought people who couldn’t die because he wanted to keep his promise to Elizabeth about finding Will. He hunted Jack Sparrow straight through a hurricane to try catching him. (Stupid, but we still love him). I mean, he seriously thought he could beat a hurricane if he tried hard enough. Sheesh. Plus, when he saw a chance to regain his old life after the events of DMC, he got there. Again, he resolved to save Elizabeth in the end, knowing he would die in the effort.

Self-preservation only partially applies. The actual Slytherin fanwiki says it’s due to the fact that “…Slytherins tend to hesitate before acting, so as to weigh all possible outcomes before deciding exactly what should be done”. As an officer in the military, James is constantly doing this, but it’s to ensure the safety of his crew, not just himself. That being said, he wouldn’t throw himself into situations that could blatantly kill him. However, the most humorous display of self-preservation we see is when he throws the chest from DMC at the feet of Davy Jones’ crew and runs off. Still, his entire plan to take the letters of marque was a form of preservation. He was preserving the life he once had, refusing to let it go.

As for resourcefulness, I have no doubt Norrington was. Every military officer has to be resourceful, otherwise they won’t last long. He was resourceful enough to figure out how to survive on his own in Tortuga, which was a completely different lifestyle than the one he was used to. He figured out that returning the heart to Beckett would get him somewhere, too. I think he had a lot of resources in the navy, but there had to be times when quick-thinking saved him. Everyone has those moments, after all.

As I read through the fanwiki, I stumbled across this gem, too. “Another characteristic some Slytherins share is a tendency towards deep, unrequited love.” Oof. We all know James loved Elizabeth more than life itself, so this fits perfectly. Slytherins are associated with the element of water, which is an element of emotions. As much as James represses his own, he definitely feels them at a deep level. His love for Elizabeth shaped a lot of his life, much like Snape’s love for Lily, although James was much less bitter. He knows that Elizabeth doesn’t love him, but he continues to be there when she needs him most and he tries to protect her and her family as best as he can. His love was tragic, but he used it in a positive way to help her out. (Seriously, the fact that he never placed any blame for his pain on her makes me so happy). RIP our heartbroken boi. Looks like Slytherins can’t manage to get girls. Damn.

Sharing a Hogwarts house is important because people tend to bond with people who are similar to them. Therefore, James would bond well with people who share some of his attributes. I think ambition and determination would be important to him, and he would like to see them in a partner. Also, he’d be attracted to leadership. I mean, he loved Elizabeth, and she was Pirate King, so. He’d be better suited to people who are quieter and more introverted like he is, and who don’t pressure him to attend social events. He would want to be around somebody like him, someone who understands him. He wants someone who gets why he feels so pressured to do well, a feeling a lot of Slytherins experience. I know that it’s certainly easier for me to bond with people I share a house with, just because we get each other. Our quirks aren’t weird because some of us have the same ones. It’s just easier to maintain a friendship/relationship with someone who understands you on that level. I know the whole “opposites attract” thing, but I personally think it would be really important for James to be with somebody who completely gets him and is a lot like him.

[youremyonlyhope]

Spyfall Part 2

Yay part 2! I’m so ready. Give me more.

While on my lunch break at work today, I nearly opened tumblr on my phone. Then I realized it was after 2pm so the episode was currently airing in Britain. I could have been spoiled if I hadn’t stopped myself. 

I see the Doctor is still talking to herself. Old habits die hard. “Don’t panic.” Love Hitchhiker’s Guide. “RYAN.” HUH “RYAN SINCLAIR?” WHAT? This is reminding me of something... what am I being reminded of... BLINK MAYBE??? YES THIS IS JUST LIKE “SALLY SPARROW DUCK NOW.” THIS IS BLINK. IS THIS BLINK? BECAUSE THIS IS BLINK. ...Who in the world is this lady... “Obviously I’m a recording and can’t hear you.” THIS IS BLINK. Also this is throwing shade at Blink with the “Obviously” part...  It is his TARDIS!!!! IT’S A TARDIS. THE HOUSE IS A TARDIS. THE FANS WERE RIGHT. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was a TARDIS or just the Master making a joke by having the house fly by them. But nope, IT’S A TARDIS. I literally screamed “IT’S A TARDIS” out loud. “Magic Apparrating Man! Lady. Apparrating Lady! Every time...” That made my dad laugh. But I mean, 1100 years at least of being a man, not counting the 4 billion years in the confession dial. It takes getting used to. Marooned in the past. Chibnall, I really hate to say this, but this is becoming a little too similar to Blink. Just because of the being trapped in the past and leaving messages for the present thing. The lace bonnet had looked super.... weird in the other realm. In a cool way. A way that made me wonder what material it was made of and if she was really from the mid 1800s or if she was just an alien with clothing that imitated the style. Because the way the lace glowed was cool. Also. Why does Ada seem familiar to me? OH NO. Lol. “O no.” I didn’t even do that on purpose. That face she made as she realized the Master’s not in control was such a Doctor face. “Ada, I really do not approve.” Aww Doctor. Never change. I like the old lady taking a picture with an iPad. Yaz calling her mom is a very Martha move and I approve. The Silver Lady was in the Master’s TARDIS.... “From his master” oh ok. “Multiple time periods” OOoohhhhh. Not multiple Earth dimensions then. I was gonna say that I was thinking of Weeping Angels earlier in the day today... I’m not saying these are Weeping Angels... but getting the vibes from the time travel and pulling people in and out and stuff. Oh and I was right that they can transport people purposefully. Did I say that in the last post? I can’t remember. But when Yaz was transported last episode I was like “So they can transport people places?” and the answer is a definite yes, and also in time. Also. Ada Lovelace. I know that name... I know I know that name... “Deep breath” ok now I miss Twelve. Of course it’s WWII. This music reminds me of like... Star Wars... Something from the sequel trilogy sounds like this... or at least has this vibe... Also. I don’t know how I feel about an Indian man in a Nazi uniform. That just... they wouldn’t have let him do that, first of all. Second of all, can we not? These are all women so far that the Doctor is bumping into... And I feel like it’s meaningful... Why would he do that to his mom? Noor Khan, I feel like I DEFINITELY have heard of her. Important women in science? I’m guessing Ada was a mathematician I think, but I can’t really remember. “They promised us that a war on this scale would never happen again.” “This is not the first time?” Ugh. WWI and pre-WWI people finding out about WWII always hurts. IT’S THE DOCTOR DOING THE SOUND OF THE DRUMS. Just the sound of the drums gives me chills. Is this a Old Who thing? The mind reading? She said it was classic. “Not exactly the Aryan archetype.” THAT’S WHAT I WAS SAYING. OOoooooh a perception filter. So they think he’s white. Ok. Ok that’s better.

Also, I’m sorta glad they’re actually addressing race affecting time travel to different time periods. They didn’t do it with Martha enough/at all. They tried to do it with Bill, and I did appreciate the “History is a whitewash” and London being blacker than Bill thought it was, but because London was diverse it wasn’t really an issue (besides the racist the Doctor punched). But I’m glad this is an actual situation where being another race is genuinely DANGEROUS since that’s how it was.

“Look after my mum” So is she not dead? Or is he mocking them? They can’t have destroyed Gallifrey again. He’s lying It was probably the Master himself that killed everyone if he’s not lying. “How else would I get your attention?” Awwww. That’s almost sweet. It’s sweet by Master standards ok. Ok... letting Nazis attack the Master... for being a spy... while he’s a person of color... is pretty harsh... Of course the Nazis can’t do much damage... And the Master did willing side with them to find the Doctor... But still... Very harsh... I guess after everything the Master has done... Maybe he deserves to be on the receiving end of racism since he hates humans so much... But still. “Forget you heard that word.... Otherwise I’ve just disrupted the whole of history. Again.” Doctor. Babe. Control yourself. Ok so it was people who were important in the development of computers in general. Cool cool cool. I appreciate that Ada and Noor were the ones the Doctor specifically bumped into. “You kept clicking agree” Yeah... yeah... he got us there. “This is like the Matrix” - My Dad. OH wow the Master came the long way round. 77 years. I’d almost say poor dude. Conversion!?!? NO. NOT CYBERMAN! IF THERE’S CYBERMEN THEN IS THIS A 3-PARTER?! “Oh.” “That’s your name.” HA. HA, good one Doctor. “I forgot the plane!” No you didn’t, Doctor. Don’t worry. You can do it anytime, as long as you do it at some point. “Are we being replaced?” Oh Graham. But also, I want the next companions to be from the past. See in Blink we didn’t get to see the Doctor setting everything up like we’re seeing it now. So that’s cool. Imagine if we had seen Martha standing behind the camera annoyed, then running around to say “I gotta support him!” That could have been fun. I think I just want more Martha in Blink. “The Fascists. Do they win?” “Never” Yeah I really hope not, but time is repeating itself. I guess it will also repeat them not winning. That’s sweet that the Doctor still wants her to know that computers are a thing because of Ada. And I appreciate that the show didn’t try to be like “She helped make computers because of the Doctor.” because no, she made them because she was always going to. Oh wow we’re going back to Gallifrey?? We haven’t been in a while. Been wondering if we would.

I didn’t write anything for the last few minutes because I’m just like... HUH.

First of all, I knew the Master did it. Called it.

Second of all. I was like “Oh no. The Doctor just got Gallifrey back, do we HAVE to take it away again? To make her angsty?” Then we heard the Master’s reason for destroying it and I was like ok maybe there’s justification.

Third of all. The Time Lords have always sucked. We’ve known this forever.  The Doctor has said that the Time Lords went wrong at the end of the Time War and that they choose to remember them in a good way and forget the ugly side. So we know the Time Lords suck. That’s not a surprise. What is it that they did that was so bad, the MASTER of all people felt the need to put an end to it? The Master. As in the little boy who was driven crazy because the Time Lords chose to put the Sound of the Drums in his head and use him as a weapon. He didn’t destroy Gallifrey then, so what could be worse than that? Do I even want to know? They’ll tell us, but I don’t know if I want to hear it. We might be going very dark this season...

Fourth of all, yay! They’re asking the Doctor questions and she’s answering! Yay! And Yaz asking “Can we go to your planet?” was the second Martha thing she did.

And fifth, yay! We’re probably getting an overarching theme this season! And maybe the Master isn’t completely evil, since everyone’s so worried about Missy’s redemption! He’s just hurt by what he found, felt he had to destroy Gallifrey, and is still upset about it. When he said the Timeless Child I literally said out loud “OH. OH ok so we’re really doing this then.” because I felt like all the predictions of the Timeless Child being involved were probably right... but not like this.

EPIPHANY. What if he really was just doing all this to get the Doctor’s attention? He wants the Doctor share the burden of the truth, but doesn’t know any other way to get her to listen besides do horrible things. What if he didn’t kill, plot, and plan just for the hell of it and maybe rub Gallifrey in the Doctor’s face, but the ultimate goal was to get that message to the Doctor so the Doctor could find out about Gallifrey.

Honestly I’m concerned about what it is that the Time Lords lied about. What did the Master mean by “who we are as a species” like... I’m scared.

Also halfway through the episode my mom came in (she’s super behind, as in she hasn’t even watched Capaldi’s seasons yet) and she said “You have to stop screaming ‘IT’S A TARDIS IT’S A TARDIS’ of course it’s a TARDIS that’s what she drives.” So apparently my mom heard my freak out over the Master’s TARDIS. She heard me screaming last episode too when I was jumping at the Master reveal.

Anyway. Sorta Blink-esque in that Ryan, Yaz, and Graham being saved is an endless loop if causing itself because of previously planted messages from the Doctor. But also, we got a mini history lesson, which was the point of Doctor Who in the first place. Gallifrey’s gone and apparently Time Lords suck, but what else is new. And we got the Master finding out the effect that race has in certain (or all) time periods. Hopefully the Master’s back soon. We really were spoiled rotten by Season 10 when they gave us Missy in like half of the episodes. I need more Master. Give me more Master.

[shions-songbirds]

I saw your tag about you okami and bnha au and would you mind telling the details? I saw the post and my heart skipped a beat, I just love them both so much!!

Oh!!!! You’re interested?? I can totally talk about it!! I don’t have to many details flushed out for it but I had two different ideas for it, so I’ll run through them both! 

This is going to be pretty long so strap in

Idea #1: They’re different brush gods, all forced to work together to try and stop the world from being consumed by darkness (that sounds like kingdom hearts), or, as I lovingly described it to my friend, “1 person learning all the brush techniques? No. It’s a conglomerate of brush bastards working together to save the world“ 

None of them are capable of learning any of the other brush techniques, they’ve been apart for far too long, and so instead, they have to band together. It’s a lot of team building and learning how they can make their powers work together to solve puzzles and make it through the dangerous terrains they’re traversing. Certain ones are more combat oriented, and thus, are usually the ones to take on whatever demons might approach them. 

Brush god assignments and idea number two under the cut

For all of them, their divine markings are present on their bodies exactly where they would be on their animal forms, and in similar fashion to the Oina, they all have a mask of their respective animal. All of them have a calligraphy brush they can materialize to use their respective brush technique should it be necessary. 

Amaterasu - Izuku - He only has sunrise, however he’s also set up with a reflector, Divine Retribution, just like Ammy is. Flowers follow him when he walks, and though sunrise isn’t good in combat on its own, he does know how to use it to his advantage. 

Yomigami - Momo - If anyone is going to be rejuvenation, it’s Momo. She can fix anything that has been broken, repair anything. Four orbs circle around her at all times, purple, green, red, and yellow in color, and a thick scroll is rolled up and tucked away at her side. 

Tachigami - Tenya - While he’d also be a good fit for Kazegami, bc horses and fast and all that, I kind of just wanted to give him a giant sword. There’s not much in depth reasoning for this other than the guy who wanted to commit a murder for revenge deserves a giant sword. He keeps a sheath at his side for seemingly a normal sized sword, and upon pulling the blade out, it becomes more buster sword sized. The tip of the blade is inked like the calligraphy brushes, allowing him to perform proper power slashes alongside utilizing the strength and sharpness of the blade itself.

Hanagami - ???, Tsuyu, Hanta - I am genuinely at a loss about who should represent bloom, however I do have lily pad and vine down. Now, I know Shiozaki would be an incredible match for vine for obvious reasons, instead I went with Hanta, as his tape translates nicely into vines, and he deserves more love. Tsu should be fairly obvious, frogs and lilypads, so it just made sense to make her the lilypad brush god. Each of the three, whoever their missing link is, has an instrument on them at all times. Tsu has a shinobue, and Hanta a pair of cymbals. 

Bakugami (this one should be obvious) - Katsuki - Again, this should be obvious. The god with cherry bombs? Only fitting for this explosive boy. He can roll around on a giant cherry bomb, should he so choose, and his mask has a pair of proper tusks sticking out of it, although it’s usually not on his face, rather settled in his hair. 

Yumigami - Fumikage - Considering Dark Shadow, it only made sense to make him the god of the moon. Carried with him is a giant mochi mallet, and though he’s not the best equipped for combat, he’s resourceful, and his ability to control the night is vital. 

Nuregami - ??? - I was at a complete loss for this one. If anyone has any suggestions for her, a snake and goddess of water, please tell me!

Kazegami - Inasa - This one was a perfect match, considering Inasa’s quirk being wind. He keeps a battle fan with him, and can control the winds to his every whim. A gentle gust follows him wherever he goes.

Moegami/Itegami - Shouto - No one knows how this boy got two brush techniques, least of all him, but he bears the power of the ox and the power of the phoenix. He wears the ox mask out of personal preference, but he does have the phoenix mask with him. Though a split design would be optimal, I struggle to think of how this would work. Unlike the others, he does get an animal asset, in the form of massive, flaming, red and white wings. However they’re not always around, only manifesting in a blaze when he needs them, or is utilizing inferno. He has a smoking pipe he doesn’t often use and conch horn on him, attached to his waist by a light blue and white belt. His ice is at it’s full power upon him joining up with the others, but his fire is weakened, requiring him to have another source to derive it from, until Izuku gives him the push he needs to get it back. 

Kasugami - ??? - Midnight’s quirk would be perfect for this, but on account of me trying to limit it to the children, I have no other ideas. 

Kabegami - Ochako - The ability to defy gravity and walk up walls? A perfect fit for her. While most useful for navigating around, it would be impossible for the others to get to where they need to go without her catwalk ability. Like Shouto, she has a cat feature, a long fluffy tail, which serves as her brush and as a means of helping her to balance. 

Gekigami - Denki - With a set of lighting arrows in a quiver at his back and a bow always on hand, he can strike that which he sees fit. One of the most dangerous and combat oriented abilities, he has infinite electrical energy for as much as he has ink, which allows for dangerous lightning storms. His lightning arrows are as infinite as his ink, and when equipped with his tiger mask, he’s rather intimidating. He has the most celestial markings of any of them, running in stripes along his skin. 

That’s all I’ve got right now, mostly just ideas and character designs, but I think for the most part this would follow the canon plot, just with them travelling in a group rather than all together as Ammy. 

Idea #2 is a bit different, and a bit more true to Okami form. Or, rather, Okamiden, as Izuku fills in as Chibiterasu. 

All I really have is everyone’s species and like, general backstory, if I know it.

Inko - Sun goddess. Amaterasu equivalent. Origin of all that is good. She’s done her time, she’s served the people, and she’s fixed the celestial plane. She. Is. Tired. All she wants is a break, and she decides the best way to get that is to head to earth once things are fixed and settle down by Kamiki, where she has her son. She sells her artwork, often with help from Izuku.

Izuku - Baby god. Chibi equivalent. He grew up in a small house in Shinshu field near but not close to Kamiki village. He found Katsuki when he was younger and the two have stuck near each other since. He has no idea what his godly status actually means, but his mom has worked with him since he was little on practicing his brush strokes, even if he can’t use them yet. Unlike his mother’s ink, he’s uses charcoal, still a child in terms of powers, though a teen in body.

Shouto - Oina, lost to Yoshpet when he was a child. He survived the treacherous cold and winding paths of the forest, and though he could ask the citizens of Ponc’Tan to escort him out, he isn’t inclined to leave. He spends much of his time in the clearing Ponc’Tan is in, though, and often hangs out with Hanta and Denki. His dog form is a red husky, and his mask is a phoenix.

Katsuki - Oina, however much like Shouto, he doesn’t live with the tribe. He left fairly young, escaping through the path to Shinshu field, where he found Izuku. He attached himself to him, convinced that Izuku would get himself killed if he wasn’t around. He is unaware of Izuku’s godly status. He’s always in dog form, so Izuku isn’t aware that his dog isn’t merely a dog. He and Shouto were close when they were kids.He wears no mask, having thrown it aside upon leaving the tribe. 

Ochako- Sparrow clan. Used to only meeting those of the purest hearts but also all too familiar with financial hardships as a result, as her family hardly makes enough to even keep the inn open with their limited visitors. She recently left the inn in search of something to help keep her family better off.

Tsuyu - Dragonian.

Mina - Dragonian.

Hanta - Poncle. One of Shouto’s closest friends, and the one that initially found him in Yoshpet. He wanted to bring him back to the tribe when he recovered, but he refused, and so instead, he often spends any time he’s not within Ponc’tan busy with lessons with Shouto. 

Denki - Poncle. Another of Shouto’s closest friends. He takes his art training very seriously, but when it’s him, Hanta, and Shouto, the three of them tend to get up to quite a bit of mischief. They often tag along on Shouto through the forest, knowing that he can get them back to Ponc’tan with minimal effort with how well he knows the forest. 

Eijirou - Human.

Hitoshi - Moon Tribe.

Tenya - Human.

Fumikage - Sparrow clan.

Mashirao - Oina.

Yuuga - Moon Tribe.

Kyouka - Human.

Momo - Human.

Neito - Oina.

Getting things all figured out for this idea takes a fair bit more work and since I haven’t talked it through much, it never got very far. So that’s about everything I have. I adore this au, both parts of it, so if anyone has any ideas feel free to send in asks or ideas! I’d love to hear your thoughts.

And I hope this is kind of what you wanted anon! If not, well, please tell me!!

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Author’s Note: The first thing I wrote after I beat KHIII, that I’m uploading again. Sora in Shinjuku with Yozora, some Invi and Ava stuff, and Sora missing Kairi/SoKai.

Sora didn't really know what to make of Yozora… and there was a part of him that didn't even care about that.

…Which was horrible of him, he knew, because he was supposed to be this happy-go-lucky kid who solved everyone's problems.

And Sora knew he should have been thankful he'd gotten a second chance at all... but there was a part of him bitter that he still couldn't be home with Kairi, and instead now had to help Yozora, his friends, and this Stella girl out.

And in some ways, from what he'd seen, the way Yozora treated Stella was frustrating to Sora:

The Keyblade wielder would have said Yozora and Stella reminded him of Kairi and himself a bit (before they'd finally found their way to each other as more than just friends)—with how the two of them seemed to get separated a lot—but Yozora was too aloof: acting like he didn't care about Stella at all. And Sora never would have treated Kairi like that, if his life depended on it.

Yozora's mismatched eyes watched Sora warily now, he could tell—as the two of them tried to figure out how they were going to scale down the roof of Yozora's old home, since Sora had lost his power of Flowmotion—when he finally asked the inevitable: "What's your problem with me, Sora?!"

Despite himself, Sora blanched at this.

To Yozora's credit, he actually hadn't said the words unkindly at all. But since Sora was used to being loved by everyone, having someone with less than pleasant feelings about him took him aback.

Sighing, as he scratched the back of his head, Sora decided that honesty was the best policy here. "...I just want to go home. You might not believe it, because I'm all scrawny now, but I've fought some great wars… I thought I'd earned a chance to finally be at peace with the one- the ones I love. But here I am.

"Though I swear it's not all bad, Yozora," Sora smiled, looking down at the car-lined streets beneath him, and the yellow street lights that reminded him so much of San Fransokyo. "I'm used to this kind of thing. And I'm sure helping you out is my way out of here, so let me aid you. I want to."

"Sora… You were originally going to say 'loved one' instead of 'loved ones', weren't you? You're really thinking about a girl ...I understand."

Without thinking it over, Sora was about to tell Yozora that that was the closest he'd ever heard him come to admitting his feelings for Stella—which the older guy probably would have murdered him for—but before the words could come out, Yozora was already interrupting him.

"You get an intense look in your eyes like I do when I use my powers… or when my emotions are a wreck. Do you have power there? Ya think you could do that to get down?"

Sora put his hands behind his head, trying to make sense of this question that he really couldn't understand at all.

Since when did anyone have magic in their eyes?! And even if he did have that, how was it going to help him descend the stories of floors beneath them safely?

But then it clicked.

Sora doubted it was what Yozora was going for, but he recalled his power to focus on ledges in the air and make a path to them in his mind and actually traverse it.

The brunet still didn't know how he did this—the power of the Keyblade, he assumed. One of the few he'd retained after he'd sacrificed himself for Kairi—but he was sure it would work. Air-stepping it was, then!

Smiling widely, Sora summoned his Keyblade to hand—so he'd have its power flowing through him when he attempted this—and first jumped to the roof on the tower of the castle... and fell through it, the way he had the tree house in the Deep Jungle so long ago (and dang, did it hurt). But then Sora was landing on a rafter, grabbing a chandelier in his hands, and landing on the ground in a tuck-roll.

And Though Sora doubted he could really hear this, since Yozora was too far away for him, he thought the man might have scoffed at his display.

But just as Sora thoughthe had, Yozora portaled right beside him and was quick to read him the Riot Act. "Sora, you ended up in the wrong room! And you- you're already in here with the enemy."

Sora groaned, running a hand down his face as he did so.

There was a good chance the one clad in a blue robe and mask had seen them—and as time seemed to slow down, Sora thought he did see her eyes narrowing in their direction—but it was also possible she wouldn't have noticed them at all, if Yozora hadn't spoken up.

But it was really too late to wonder now.

"You!" their enemy's somewhat raspy voice bellowed, as they summoned their Keyblade and sent shards of ice in Sora and Yozora's direction.

Sora leapt over them, and closer to the assailant like it was nothing. And Yozora teleported onto a wall the moment he'd seen the icicles.

Sora hissed, when he took in the sight of the Keyblade before him and prepared to send a fire spell back the way the blizzard spell had come from.

There had been a few people that Sora had caught glimpses of in this world who looked like they could have had Keyblades, when he saw their weapons in his peripheral vision...

But to for sure see a new person with a Keyblade now, who wasn't a friend Sora knew he could trust, put a sour taste in his mouth.

Sora had hoped that after the Keyblade War, that the number of new wielders would dwindle and Kingdom Hearts would be safer that way.

But yet here this person was, who was clearly a threat as they'd attacked them... and had even taken over Yozora's home.

"Fire!" Sora exclaimed, moving his arm in a wide arc around the flames—as they escaped from his Keyblade—so that the magic coming out of his hand could solidify the pyre in a new trick that he'd learned: It was much like he was using the bombs that Captain Jack Sparrow did: If the fire itself somehow wouldn't hurt one, then this shrapnel for sure would.

Yozora smirked Sora's way-the first bit of approval he'd ever gotten from his rival, that he couldn't help scratching his cheek awkwardly for—and closed the distance between himself and his adversary and placed his crossbows against their neck, as he pinned them to the bookshelf in this makeshift library.

"Name!" Yozora growled. "Name, and I might spare you."

'He's asking her name to see if she's a woman', Sora realized then-looking at Yozora with wonder, and banishing his Keyblade at the thought. 'Yozora's... intense. So I have no doubt he'd kill a guy who stole his kingdom, no problem. But it seems he'd hesitate if it's a girl that did it.'

"What?!" the woman—and she was exactly that—demanded, using a thunder spell so powerful that it destroyed the ends of Yozora's crossbows.

Yozora then pulled out a potion to smash against her face in retaliation if need be, Sora saw.

"Just because my outfit got cut in a fight—so it's less form fitting, and makes me seem a bit more masculine that way—means that this big boy wants to kill a little girl?!"

"I should!" Yozora roared, slamming the mystery girl into the novels, whilst she then attempted to kick out at his head.

Sora was horrified by all of this—since murder was still wrong in his book, and he wanted to find a way to resolve this peacefully, if at all possible.

They duo sort of missed out on doing the damage they had meant to do to each other.

And as Yozora was weapon-less, and was keeping the female from using her Keyblade arm, they both were about to claw at the other's face... until Sora begged them to stop:

Because even though Sora was miffed at Yozora, because his feelings were a jumbled mess after coming back to life (and he was jealous he couldn't return to Kairi the way Yozora could Stella, if he manned up), Yozora was still his friend.

And this person... something about her blue—almost purple, in the right lighting—dress reminded Sora of his beloved so much that it hurt. So he just had to save her.

"Stop!" And to Sora's relief and amazement, the villains did.

Encouraged by this—and clearing his throat to get ready for a speech—Sora gave his thoughts on the subject. "Yozora, I may not know you very well yet. But I know this really isn't you. It just can't be."

And Sora may have been imagining it, but he thought Yozora might have looked a bit ashamed by his own actions as those words sank in.

"And, you!" Sora continued on—unintentionally quoting her own word from before—as he began talking with rapid hand movements. "Your tone acted like there was no way Yozora could defeat you, despite you claiming you're 'just a girl', so I get the feelin' you must be an ancient and gifted wielder like Master Xehanort was. But you're lookin' at everything here as if you've never seen it before-like a kid at Christmas-which tells me you must be new coming back to the world like Ven was… and not really onboard with whatever this plan is. So, please: Can't the three of us talk and figure this all out?"

Sora knew that Yozora was about to tell him where he could stick it for even suggesting that, but thankfully the more talented one of the three had a bit more grace.

"The original plan was to give the Master... a seat. A seat of power, because he deserves it and probably needs to be the master of this- of this world after everything he's figured out. But lately, I don't care so much about that as I do finding my sister-who's been missing for ages. Following my Master's plan is the only way I know to do that."

Yozora was the first to react to this, as he let the woman go and even attempted to straighten out where he'd messed up her clothes some.

At first, Sora was baffled by this change of events. But then he remembered that Yozora had friends that he saw as brothers. So anyone who had such a bond would probably look a bit better in his eyes.

Sora couldn't help smiling some himself here, at the thought of his best friend and brother Riku:

How he missed him and the rest of his friends so much…

And Kairi... he missed her most of all. How he prayed that she was okay, and that Riku was taking care of her.

"What's her name? What's she like?" Yozora asked questioningly, with his head tilted to the side. And it pulled Sora back from his reverie, of where he'd been holding a hand out to Kairi—the Kairi in his heart—and trying to find a way to connect with her at all.

At first? It seemed like the woman wasn't going to answer.

And pleadingly, as books fell around him, Sora found himself ready to lay all his cards on the table. "Please tell us! We can help you find her, so you can leave Yozora's kingdom alone and this blood bath can stop."

But just as Sora said this, with his hand under her chin, the woman answered—so they both ended up speaking at the same time. "My surrogate sister's name... is Ava. And she's far too sweet for her own good. But she's also made out of steel, I tell you. I've often thought the blonde and red in her hair was reprehensive of those two traits of hers battling it out... And my name… it's Invi."

Invi... like the word "envy".

Now that Sora knew her a bit better, she reminded him of Naminé—for the time that she had been controlled by the Organization—and for the strength she'd displayed in doing the right thing.

Sora was then certain-that this beautiful lady, with a square shaped chin and button nose that she was now letting them see for the first time—would be the same as Naminé in that way.

"So will you listen to Sora?" Yozora asked the ultimate question as he stared Invi down-his hands on his hips, in a gesture that was somewhere between aggressive and kind. "And will you step down, and help me reclaim my throne?"

Invi shook her head, but Sora could tell she was only slightly hesitating here.

Clenching her fists, she uttered these words: "I won't challenge the Master of Masters directly. He's too strong... he knows too much—and in the end, he may be right about all of this—but at the same time... I don't trust him right now. So I will... stop opposing you, Prince Yozora. And if you need information on his coup, I guess I could give you some. But only if you come through with information about Ava."

"He will!" Sora decided for Yozora, before he could for himself. And Sora saw Yozora about to try and strangle him for it, but without much effort. "And I will, too! I think I may know how to find her. Yozora, I'll come back and see this all to the end later. I promise!"

This talk of Ava... it reminded Sora of someone else he'd met recently: Oerba Dia Vanille.

Sora wasn't sure if Vanille was Ava, but he did think Cocoon—that he'd visited after beating the Reapers' Game recently—might be the key to fixing everything here.

Sora had been given one of Chocolina's feathers—who had saved him and his new friends a couple of times lately—and as it reminded Sora of what Jiminy had done for him in his hour of need, Sora thought she might even have another miracle up her sleeve.

Because as Vanille had taught Sora: "When prayers turned to promises, not even fate could stand in their way."

So summoning his Keyblade to hand, Sora opened the gate to Cocoon and was awash in light.

He would fix this—fix the world again—and then he'd find Kairi. He knew he would.

Because she was his light in the metaphorical and literal sense, the way that Stella was Yozora's and Ava was Invi's… they were all connected this way.

Sora felt a hand in his—simply felt it—then closed his eyes and woke up to New Bodhum.

[ck-the-overanalyzer]

I Overanalyze: Can A Good Pirate Be A Good Man?

**Please note: this post contains spoilers for all the first 3 Pirates of the Caribbean films: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, and At World’s End. If you don’t want spoilers, don’t read.**

**A second note: this post is very long, as is my love for Pirates.**

I grew up watching Pirates of the Caribbean. When I was very little my dad and I would have movie nights while my mom went out with friends. We’d pull out the TV trays and watch movies while eating dinner (something my family doesn’t normally do). Then after dinner my dad would lay across the couch and my little four or five year old self would lay on top of him while we watched. You can see why I associate Pirates with fond memories.

As I got older and began to better appreciate films from a creative standpoint, my love for these movies grew. They feature a fun story line, a well built world, and multifaceted, strong characters. But I think that perhaps having grown up with these movies has made it so that I don’t recognize the novelty of them.

The concept behind the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie is certainly a novel one. I think this can be demonstrated by a line Captain Jack Sparrow says in The Curse of the Black Pearl. The line is given just after Will and Jack set off together and Will asks Jack about his father. Jack admits to having known “Bootstrap” Bill Turner and then adds “good man - good pirate.”

I don’t even remember the first time I saw this scene. Whenever I watch it and see Will get upset, insisting his father was not a pirate, I know he will end up discovering that his father was both a good pirate and a good man. But I wonder how people in the theaters must have felt the first time they heard it. How could a pirate possibly be a good man? By definition, a pirate plunders, steals, and kills. These traits are the opposite of those of a good person. I wonder if there were overprotective parents wondering if they should have let their kids watch this. Or maybe there were many that didn’t allow their kids to see it. What was Disney doing making a movie where pirates were the good guys anyways?

“Good man - good pirate.”

I’d like to take a moment to further break down and analyze this phrase. Let’s start with what it means to be a good pirate.

One potential meaning of the label “good pirate” is that they are good at pirating. They are good at plundering, stealing, and killing. This definition seems to directly contrast the “good man” label. And, given what we know about ol’ Bootstrap, isn’t what I think Jack intended by this statement.

Another possible definition is that maybe one is a good pirate when they keep to the pirating rules - The Pirate Code. This seems to fit what we know of Bootstrap. It didn’t sit right with him that they mutaneed against Jack and left him on an island to die. He seemed to have better respect for the captain and for the code. This is contrasted by Barbossa, who states “the code is more what you’d call guidelines than actual rules.”

Alright, so if this is what Jack intended by “good pirate,” let’s move on to “good man.” A good man is generally considered to follow the rules. As we’ve discussed, the Pirate Code is the rules that the pirates are to follow, and Bootstrap seems to adhere to this. He also seems to have a sense of right and wrong (he feels that betraying and abandoning Jack was wrong) and justice (he claims that they deserve to be cursed to pay for their crimes). So perhaps by general, law-abiding standards, one could not fully consider him a good man. But by these standards, he definitely seems to fit the bill. Furthermore, he does seem to know that pirating is bad, as it was why he left Will and his mother and stated that it wasn’t a life he wanted for Will.

Now, we don’t really get to see Bootstrap until Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End, but The Curse of the Black Pearl had to adequately support the theme of a good pirate being a good man in order for it to be successful and for more movies to follow. While Bootstrap is the one Jack was talking about when he gave the statement and theme of the movie, the story follows Jack himself, using him to show the example of a good pirate and a good man.

Our good old favorite Captain Jack Sparrow also fits the bill of a good pirate, good man, though perhaps not as well as Bootstrap Bill. He, like Bootstrap, follows and respects the Pirate Code. (Perhaps he gets this from his father, Captain Teague, being the keeper of the code.) He keeps to the code, following the pirate rules, but more than that, he has a basic respect and care for human life. These traits are what make it so that we can consider him a good man.

Captain Jack is contrasted against Captain Barbossa, who I argue fits the bill of a good pirate but bad man. He is a good pirate in the sense that Bootstrap and Jack were not; he is good at pirating; good at plundering, stealing, and killing. He has no respect for the code and, more importantly, no respect for basic human life. He is more than willing to take life when the opportunity arises.

Let’s walk through some scenes in the The Curse of the Black Pearl in order to explore the contrast between these two characters and better establish a good pirate, good man vs a good pirate, bad man.

The scene that allows our dear main characters, Captain Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann, to first meet begins to define Jack as a good man. He is in the midst of attempting to commandeer a ship when Elizabeth passes out and falls over the edge of a high wall, sinking into the depths. Now, Jack is a criminal. He does not belong in this town. He is currently in the process of committing a crime, trying to steal from right under the guards’ noses. And yet, he hands off his beloved items and dives into the water to go after some sinking woman that he doesn’t even know. He didn’t even get a good look at her, so his motivation couldn’t possibly be related to her being attractive or of high standing. It is just simply: someone is in trouble and he is able to help. He saves her life, but wounds up being caught and chained because of it. Elizabeth, recognizing the selfless act of a good man as what it is, protests his arrest. Commodore Norrington’s statement may at this point reflect the thoughts of the audience: “One good deed is not enough to rid a man of a lifetime of wickedness.”

As we know, Jack ends up escaping from his captors, hiding out in the blacksmith’s shop. Which brings us to the meeting of our next dear main character, as well as our next scene that shows Jack’s character as a good man.

When Will Turner returns to the blacksmith’s shop, he notices that some things are the way he left them but others are not, and then meets the infamous Captain Jack. Armed with what he knows of pirates - that they are vile, evil people, and that this one in particular threatened his secret crush - he is ready for a fight. Jack, however, does everything he can to not fight (and more importantly: not kill) Will. He has a short sword fight with Will, treating it as a lesson, and then turns to leave. But Will blocks him. A longer and very cinematically pleasing sword fight breaks out, but it ends with Will having sand blown in his face. Jack then pleads for Will to move out of the way: “Move. Please move.” It is only when Will refuses that he draws his pistol, though he doesn’t want to shoot it. (We know he intends this shot to be for Barbossa, but everything about his mannerisms suggest that he also doesn’t want to kill Will.)

Well, Jack indeed ends up getting captured. Our next character showing scene comes at the introduction of the movie’s antagonist and Jack’s foil character: Captain Barbossa.

The Black Pearl responds to the call of the cursed Aztec gold and appears at Port Royal with cannons blazing. This alone shows Barbossa’s character; he is going to get that gold, and he doesn’t care who dies in the process. His men raid the beach, attacking and killing many of the port’s inhabitants, not to mention the vast property damage. Their arrival is loud and unmissable. Elizabeth ends up going to the ship with Pintel and Ragetti under the protection of parlay, and this is when we first see the dread pirate “so evil that hell itself spat him back out.” Barbossa follows the code this time and negotiates with Elizabeth, ultimately kidnapping her and delivering the line about the code being more like guidelines and not applying to her anyways.

We will now jump forward to Will and Jack’s escape from Port Royal. They board The Dauntless and force the crew off of it, and it should be noted that they do so without harming or killing any of the crew. Perhaps the crew is willing to disembark because, as Lieutenant Gillette states, “two men cannot man The Dauntless.” When Norrington comes on The Interceptor to catch them, Will and Jack pull the ol’ switcheroo and steal The Interceptor instead, leaving The Dauntless in such shape that it can’t pursue. Thus they stole a ship and escaped without killing a single person, all thanks to Captain Jack’s ingenious.

While they begin sailing in pursuit, Barbossa blackmails Elizabeth into having dinner with him and then shows her the nightmares of their curse before ultimately locking her up for the rest of the trip. You know, a real gentleman.

Eventually they arrive at the Isla de Muerta and they take Elizabeth to try and break the curse. Now, to his credit, Barbossa does choose to cut Elizabeth’s palm rather than kill her, saying “waste not.” However, I posit that his intentions here were not pure. He wasn’t done with Elizabeth. He had mentioned that, as part of the curse, they couldn’t “feel the warmth of a woman’s skin” and that they had an “insatiable lust.” His demeanor towards Elizabeth up to this point doesn’t suggest gentlemanly intentions. The lack of gentlemanly intentions are added to after he catches up to and sinks The Interceptor, throwing Elizabeth to his crew in order to repay her “taking advantage of his hospitality.” When making Elizabeth walk the plank, he asks for the dress back, his crew hooting and hollering as she undresses into her dressing gown. He sends Jack off with just the one shot in the pistol even though he is banishing both of them, encouraging him to “be the gentleman and shoot the lady, then starve yourself.”

Taking a step back to before he sinks The Interceptor, Jack tries to negotiate going over and getting Barbossa what he needs, to which Barbossa replies “That’s exactly the thinking that lost you the Pearl. People are easy to search when they’re dead.” Jack had such a reputation for not wanting to unnecessarily spill blood that it had upset Barbossa, and apparently other crew members, enough that they wanted to overthrow him. 

This time when Barbossa and his crew take Will, the true Turner child, to Isla de Muerta, they say they will kill him and spill all of his blood. It could just be as the second mate says: they are just doing it to be sure. But as far as Barbossa is concerned, there is no real reason to keep this kid alive after using his blood. He serves no purpose and his life is meaningless to him.

Now, it is often difficult to follow dear Captain Jack Sparrow’s plans. In the original plan, he spoke of leverage, and it seemed that he was going to use Will in order to regain The Black Pearl, perhaps throwing Will away and letting him die. However, in his adjusted plan following he and Elizabeth being saved by Norrington, it seems he has accounted for saving both Elizabeth and Will. We cannot know for sure, but I would be willing to bet that Jack had planned on finding a way to ultimately save them both in his original plan, as well.

Whatever the case, his second plan ends up succeeding, at least on his end. He warned Norrington that he may want to defend The Dauntless, but Norrington ignored him, which ultimately lead to some loss of life on the ship. (It would have perhaps been less had he listened, showing Jack again seems to be thinking about how to preserve life.) Will and Elizabeth both end up surviving, Jack kills Barbossa with the single shot he’s been holding onto to repay his backstabbing old friend, and the curse is broken, allowing the rest of the crew to be killed or taken into custody. After selecting a fair bit of his enemies’ treasure, he requests that Will and Elizabeth drop him off at The Black Pearl.

However, when they leave the cave, they find that The Pearl is gone, as Gibbs and the others escaped on it. Elizabeth tells him that she’s sorry, to which Jack only replies “They’ve done what’s right by them.” Afterall, when leaving the first time, he had told them to keep to the code: “anyone who falls behind is left behind.”

Later, after Will frees Jack from the gallows and The Black Pearl rounds the bend, coming to retrieve her captain, Jack tells Gibbs “You were supposed to keep to the code.” Gibbs replies “We figured they were more actual guidelines,” echoing what Barbossa had told Elizabeth and what she, in turn, had told Gibbs and the rest of the crew. Jack then gives a very quiet, very sincere “thank you.”

Now Captain Jack Sparrow, the good pirate and good man, sails off with his crew after having reclaimed his beloved ship. The movie does a wonderful job of showing its theme and bringing across its point. Besides seeing it in the contrast between Jack and Barbossa, you can also see it in the changes in opinion of Elizabeth and Will throughout the movie.

When Will first meets Jack in the blacksmith’s shop, he tells of his distaste for pirates with lines like “I make a point not to get acquainted with pirates” and “I practice so that when I meet a pirate, I can kill it.” He refers to the pirate as “it,” showing that he doesn’t even truly consider a pirate to be fully human.

As mentioned at the top of this post, when Will and Jack are sailing away on The Interceptor, Will becomes offended at the possibility that his father could have been a pirate, though Jack states that he was a good pirate and a good man. (Here too, it should be noted, Jack is not eager to fight Will, finding it unnecessary to do so. Also, I guess, he needs another man to help him man the ship and bring it into Tortuga.)

After Will rescues Elizabeth and leaves Jack behind, the two are below deck in The Black Pearl and Elizabeth returns Will’s medallion. When he asks why she took it, she replies “Because I was afraid you were a pirate - that would have been awful.” This shows that, despite her obsession with pirates, she considers them to be awful people. This is perhaps fueled by her recent interaction with said pirates, but even as a young girl she considered them to be awful, thus taking the medallion from young, unconscious Will.

You can see Will’s expression change when she says “that would have been awful.” You can see him look at the medallion and think it through before he says “It wasn’t your blood they needed. It was mine. The blood of a pirate.” He slams the medallion down on the table, the realization hitting him: the filthy blood of the foul creatures he so despised flowed through his veins. You can just imagine what he’s questioning. Does that make him filthy like them? Does Elizabeth, the woman he loves, view him as awful, given his heritage?

These scenes are greatly contrasted with those that accompany Jack’s hanging at the end of the movie. As Jack’s crimes are being read out, Elizabeth states “This is wrong.” The man up there, though a pirate, had saved her life multiple times over the past few days. While not the most upright of gentlemen, she knows him to be a good man.

Her father’s response is interesting. “Commander Norrington is bound by the law, as are we all.” He doesn’t deny that this is wrong. He doesn’t point out the wrongdoings and foul deeds Captain Jack has committed. He just states that this is what they must do. Their hands are tied. (Norrington, it should be noted, looks somewhat displeased with this exchange.)

Will then saves Jack from the gallows, but the two are surrounded by guards. Norrington, Elizabeth, and Governor Swann come over. Governor Swann expresses his disbelief at Will’s attempt, stating “He’s a pirate.” Will’s reply shows how truly full circle he has come.

“And a good man.”

He then adds “If all that I have achieved today is that the hangman will claim two pairs of boots instead of one, so be it. At least my conscious will be clear.”

Will has found that Captain Jack Sparrow, a good pirate, is also a good man, and he is willing to die to stand by that. Elizabeth joins him, showing that so is she (though it is doubtful that the Governor would allow his daughter to be killed here, and she didn’t directly participate in the rescue attempt other than feigning passing out, so she’s at less risk).

After Jack falls into the water and is rescued by the crew of The Black Pearl, the Governor states “Perhaps, on the rare occasion, pursuing the right course requires and act of piracy. Piracy itself can be the right course.” This statement seems to follow a sort of “Robin Hood,” vigilante mentality. Maybe you must occasionally bend, or even break, the rules to do the right thing. Governor Swann also thinks that Jack is a good man, even if a foul one he’d rather his daughter not associate with.

After Norrington leaves, the Governor turns to his daughter and Will, asking if this is truly the man she wishes to marry. While he will acknowledge that a man of filth such as a pirate can be a good man and do the right thing, he is still a man of high standing and wishes that for his daughter. He states “After all, he is a blacksmith.” I propose that Elizabeth’s reply, “No. He’s a pirate,” has a deeper meaning. Given the theme of the movie, and how the two’s view as changed over the course of it, I posit that it could be replaced with:

“He’s a good man.”

Evidence of Jack being a good man while Barbossa is a bad man can be found throughout the rest of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, as well. Will and Elizabeth’s perspectives of pirates continue to evolve. While the theme becomes less of a major focus in the later movies, The Curse of the Black Pearl’s defining theme: “Good pirate, good man” is still a key part of the series.

If you’d like to see more evidence through out the following movies, here’s part 2.

[tespuco]

PotC Liveblog: Curse of the Black Pearl

CotBP is one of my ‘forever films’ for sure - every time I rewatch it I not only feel the same sense of wonder and delight as the first time but invariably discover new things to love and squee over as well. 

I would love to learn more about Elizabeth as a child: this lonely, solemn girl who feels something perverse in her thrill at pirate stories and gallows humor, yet who gravely takes on the duty of looking after young William Turner because she wants to be good, too. (@dollsome-does-tumblr‘s Elizabeth-centric, post-CotBP fic Shrouded Heart explores this ambivalence in her self-concept with heart-wrenching emotional realism)

Wow, Will was doomed from the start, wasn’t he? I would be too if I were a 12-year old piece of half-drowned human driftwood waking up to a miniature guardian angel who softly murmurs, “I’m watching over you” before I drift back into unconsciousness

Framing Elizabeth’s memory of seeing the Black Pearl and meeting Will as a dream, one that impels her to put on the medallion, suggests fate or some other supernatural influence at work - a nifty way for writers to sidestep accusations of Contrived Coincidences and call it Destiny instead!

Keira Knightley is so beautiful hELP

Awww, Will is so proud of his handiwork! It’s interesting because the film puts a fair amount of emphasis on it early on, his skill and pride in not just wielding swords but forging them - only to tell us later that he’s really a pirate by blood and at heart. I like it when fics like fried_flamingo & salr323′s At World’s End: Redux lean into Will’s identity as a blacksmith and extrapolate from it an affinity for land/earth/balance/creation as opposed to the sea’s wild potential for destruction. (He lost his father to the sea and to piracy; he never learned to love either.)

My god everyone’s layered in buttoned-up and corseted finery in the fucking TROPICS no wonder Elizabeth passed out (ngl despite the ‘Caribbean’ in the title and visiting the Disney ride in New Orleans Square, I remember stupidly assuming Port Royal was part of England, not Jamaica; at 9 yrs old my geography was shit and I had yet to learn what imperialism was ok)

“A ship with black sails that’s crewed by the damned and captained by a man so evil that hell itself spat him back out.”  shiver me timbers now that’s how you tell a ghost story

“If he were telling the truth, he wouldn’t have told us” has the same antimonious energy as Winnie-the-Pooh going, “Well, it’s a good thing I noticed it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have seen it”

This is definitely tmi but in retrospect the rescue scene played a formative part in my (bi)sexual awakening: for a long time my go-to pubescent fantasies involved near-drownings followed by hypersexualized resuscitation attempts and frantic uncomfortable sex on wet rocks in damp subterranean caves

Omg I just realized Elizabeth’s scene with Jack on the docks mirrors the one she had on deck Will in the flashback: a (wo)man overboard recovered, rescuer hovering over a supine body and fingering the pirate medallion around his/her neck, love at first sight

“One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness.” “Though it seems enough to condemn him.” Basically “no good deed goes unpunished” but with style

16 years later and the swordfight between Jack and Will holds up as an iconic example of swashbuckling fight choreo. I also love how the exchange establishes the Jack/Will dynamic: the former as a kind of ironic mentor (“Excellent form. But how’s your footwork?”), the latter as an unwilling pupil who nevertheless mostly plays along

“I practice with them three hours a day.” “You need to find yourself a girl, mate.” Raunchy Shakespearean-grade comedy at its finest (along with  “This sweet, proliferous bouquet that is Tortuga…What do you think?” “It’ll linger.”)

“This shot is not meant for you.” I love the hints we get of Jack’s darker side: he keeps his bitterness close and his grudges closer; for 10 years he saved that bullet for one man, refusing to expend it in any number of life-threatening situations in the interim; he drawls, “Worry about your own fortunes, gentlemen. The deepest circle of Hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers,” like a witch uttering a curse. A dishonest man, methinks, would not feel the stab of betrayal so deeply.

The running joke of Will not getting recognized for his skills and earnest efforts is what makes Norrington’s parting words to him at the end so satisfying: “This is a beautiful sword. I would expect the man who made it to show the same care and devotion in every aspect of his life.” (NORRINGTON KNEW IT WAS HIM ALONG BUT WAS TOO JEALOUS TO EVER PRAISE HIM TO HIS FACE that petty little shit lmao)

I remember looking up the definition of ‘acquiesce’ after watching CotBP as a kid, so Barbossa had a direct hand in expanding my 9-year old vocabulary.

Competent, hyper-focused!Jack at the wheel with an unholy gleam in his eye as he gets drenched in a torrential downpour is my kind of Byronic hero

I prefer Jack Sparrow’s backstory to remain a loose collection of rumors and half-truths jumbled together even in his own memory, but I DO want to know how Jack and Gibbs met, how the former earned the latter’s (mostly) steadfast loyalty. I want to eavesdrop on all the inebriated conversational musings they’ve shared over a bottle of rum, whether topside on the decks of a ship not the Pearl or shouted above/muttered below the ruckus of a Tortuga tavern.

I’d also read/watch a prequel about the mutiny. “He plays things closer to the vest now. And a hard-learned lesson it was.” WHO HURT YOU JACK

Well obviously Barbossa did, but I still have so many questions! How did a younger, more trusting Jack earn the ire of his first mate and crew, to the point where they’d stage a mutiny? Then again, to hear Gibbs tell it, Barbossa simply appealed to Jack’s sense of fairness; perhaps in their unadulterated greed they saw Jack’s honest streak as a vulnerability to exploit? Or was it something in Jack’s manner of captaincy that fomented discontent? Idk, I can’t tell based on the way the crew jeers at “Gents, you all remember Captain Jack Sparrow?” whether their antipathy smacks more of derision or vitriol.

“Mr. Gibbs? …Jack? Jack Sparrow?” Elizabeth must be SO confused by these blasts from her distant and more recent past: who knows when Gibbs left Norrington’s employ, but the last time she saw Jack he had her in chains and at gunpoint, and now apparently he’s conspiring with Will??

I’ve always been kind of baffled by the cabin scene between Elizabeth and Will. What is she apologizing for? Taking the medallion and not telling him? Or for telling him and making him realize his father was a pirate?

Also her tearful, “Because I was afraid that you were a pirate. That would have been awful” is the biggest, bald-faced lie if I’ve ever heard one. She took an interest in him BECAUSE she thought he was a pirate (although I do think young Elizabeth had been afraid FOR him, after Gibbs’ pantomime of the hangman’s noose)

“daft like Jack” should be my Jack/Elizabeth/Will OT3 tag

Ah, back when PotC incorporated visual gags to spice up their action sequences instead of building the equivalent of a Rube-Goldberg machine around a single, unfunny gag. Compare: Gibbs’ canteen making its unlikely way from the Interceptor to the Pearl and back as an accompaniment to the battle and Jack’s breakout from his cell VS the overextended Tortuga sequence in DMC where Jack weaves in and out of a brawl to no apparent purpose except to try on different hats and then exit the tavern.

“Though it does seem a shame to lose something so fine, don’t it? …So I’ll be having that dress back before you go.” Barbossa is despicable and Geoffrey Rush delivers his lines with such RELISH

I will squee over the island scene & its deleted segments at length in a separate post so for now I’ll just say: Elizabeth is obviously a huge Jack Sparrow stan and she’s doing a piss-poor job of hiding it

Listen it’s easy to overlook Norrington’s sense of duty and decency in the face of the stick up his butt and his bouts of extreme pettiness. But the fact is that Jack’s attempt to manipulate and appeal to his ambition fails. Because the Commodore is no Barbossa - he’s a fine man who serves others, not only himself; who cares whether a woman’s acceptance of his proposal is less than sincere; who wouldn’t have risked his men ambushing the Pearl’s crew had he known about the curse (last two courtesy of the deleted scenes on the Dauntless).

Now that I’m paying closer attention I’m just blown away by the careful consideration in Jack’s plans. He’s playing both sides to further his own goal of enacting revenge at minimal risk to himself, but he looks after the unwitting parties he involves in the process, too: while the Royal Navy occupies the undead pirates from the safety of their long range cannons, Jack can intervene to save Will, use him to break the curse, and kill Barbossa. All the good guys win! (He couldn’t have foreseen the Trojan Horse or the en masse submarine attack; nor Norrington’s pettiness in defying Jack’s instructions to man cannons that would’ve blown the undead into smithereens.)

Exhibit B: “Now, to be quite honest with you, there’s still a slight risk for those aboard the Dauntless, which includes the future Mrs. Commodore.” Disregard his insouciant delivery here, and you get Jack telling the whole, unvarnished truth!!! “What do you have to lose?” he asks Norrington, who brushes him off: “Nothing I’d lament being rid of.” It’s JACK who reminds him that for all their precautions, the ambush might put Elizabeth in danger. Jack knows about the curse, and after being marooned on an island with her, he knows Elizabeth will do whatever’s necessary to save Will. So he finds a way to ensure not only that she won’t interfere, but that she’ll be kept safe from harm!! I’ll never be over it

And Murtogg’s “You think he wasn’t telling the truth?” line is such a great callback to their early sketch as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on the docks of Port Royal. These dimwits happen to know Jack does tell the truth, expecting no one to believe him. His own exhortations on the subject notwithstanding, Jack’s real trickery lies in rarely telling the whole truth, letting people make their own assumptions, and giving them enough rope by which to hang themselves.

Governor Swann is such a darling, the ultimate doting father. It’s easy to assume he doesn’t get Elizabeth at all, but he’s no idiot. He rightly suspects she only agreed to marry Norrington to save Will, and while he’s not above nudging her in that direction (“I believe you made a very good decision today. Couldn’t be more proud of you.”), he’s also not about to let his only daughter bargain away her happiness for the sake of his OTP. (And his face of exasperated affection at Jack’s hanging, when he realizes she only pretended to faint as a diversion! Notice the lack of surprise in his expression: that’s the face of a father who is all too used to her Pulling This Kind of Shit)

Jack keeps popping up like a bad penny and both Norrington and Barbossa are so appalled every time lol

The sequence where Will breaks the curse and Jack shoots Barbossa and Elizabeth jerks like she’s the one who was shot is just - *chef’s kiss* the CHOREOGRAPHY! the CAMERAWORK! the EDITING! 

“I feel…cold.” *a single apple rolls out of Barbossa’s dead hands* Can you believe a summer blockbuster movie invented poetic justice tell your English professors

“If all I have achieved here is that the hangman will earn two pairs of boots instead of one, so be it.” Ugh Will is sooo not my type but he’s so DASHING and GOOD no wonder Elizabeth covets him. What a hero

“My place is between you and Jack.” Ohhh you know what I would love to track the main characters’ alignment arcs throughout the series. Here Will’s situating himself as the Chaotic Good between Jack’s Chaotic Neutral and Norrington’s Lawful Good. But I would argue he’s still pretty Lawful and, even under Jack’s tutelage, only resorts to Chaos in extremis; meanwhile Jack flits between Chaotic Good and Chaotic Neutral; Elizabeth’s arc is similar except it’s unidirectional; and without the Law at his back Norrington spirals into Neutral Evil. 

It’s the Sparrabeth shipper in me but the last line of the movie is Jack singing a song that Elizabeth taught him. (*Cutler Beckett voice* “We’ve had dealings in the past. And we’ve each left our mark on the other.”) For a fic about what Jack leaves her, may I redirect you to Shrouded Heart by dollsome, linked above - and this brain dump comes full circle!

[agent-7-at-your-service]

The Hamartia Arc Recap (Incomplete)

Characters mentioned (special thanks to)  to @inklingleesquidly @myzzy @son-of-joy @teamuntyblue / @ryan-sign-guy @ask-hybrid-havoc @alphadeathsquad @alpinesquid​

This is still a rough draft, place wait for official release.

The Document (Brief Recap of the Trinity Arc and the Odysseus Arc)

The Sealant Rebellion

Prologue

“Breaking News: Return of the Amemasu Federation of Hokkaido

It appears after years of the island’s silence since the Great Turf War, a federation thought to have fallen has risen from its ashes. Rumors spread that they’ve been rebuilding since the end of the war, and records about the nation are long gone.

The people behind the return of this forgotten nation go by the name The Brethrens of the Brine. There is still no insight to their leader, their beliefs, or their activities.

We are being informed to instruct the Citizens of Inkopolis to remain calm and stay tuned for more information.”

BrineFire

Agent 7 and Marie meet once again in an abandoned park. It is the same park where they’ve danced during the Fancy Party vs Costume party, where Agent 7 proposed to Marie, and where they’ve spent most of their honeymoon. But now things are different: it is where Agent 7 and Marie go their separate ways and see other people – their divorce is official.

“So… I managed to be the Agent I want to be, I got the girl, had her leave my life, almost lost her to some ammonite, and things are changing in Inkopolis – what next?” --Agent 7, BrineFire

Agent 7 would find an Octoling named Ampth who was present in the part, having overheard what has just happened between Agent 7 and Marie. He was only there to collect his thoughts. Ampth saves Agent 7 from an attempted murder from a propelling drone. It left a dart containing an icy brine solution. Agent 7 decides to meet Ampth some other day in some other place so that Ampth can continue dealing with his thoughts.

They would meet in Port Mackerel where they ended up discovering a trade between Leviathan and the Great Amemasu Federation of Hokkaido. Calypso, leader of Leviathan, traded an inkling clone named Cassandra in exchange for information from a ghost sharkling named Hector Norman, and his soldiers from the Federation.

Ampth is shocked to hear that Calypso is a genetic clone of Marie, and his exclamation left him and Agent 7 detected by her. Calypso reveals Hector Norman, his organization The Brethrens of the Brine, and the Great Amemasu Federation of Hokkaido to Agent 7. She also reveals the newest clone, Cassandra who is a clone of Callie with foresight on an event of the next day.

Mercury arrived on time to make sure Calypso doesn’t harm Ampth, and Mercury is still a bit miffed by their last cooperation.

Calypso mentioned Agent 7’s father, Jason Gatzling Cassius Sr., who was a veteran of the Great Turf War. She is willing to give Agent 7 the information she received, and it was revealed Hector’s revenge on Agent  7’s father.

Transistion: Reignite the Great Turf War

The Speech

Sins of the Father?

Three days later, Agent 7 and his little sister Pammy (Agent 7.5) make a trip to Calamari County via train. He was going to drop off Pammy at his mother’s manor to stay for a while. At the train station, they meet two inkling twins named who asked Agent 7 to pick a card from either the red deck or the blue deck.  Agent 7 picks the blue deck and gets a 7 of Diamonds. When the twins leave them be, Agent 7 feels they’ll meet again.

On the train, Agent 7 and Pammy meet two agents who recognize Agent 7. The two agents are named Roxanne Lannister (Agent 27) and Marcellus Valentine (Agent 36) from the United Kingdom and United States respectively. They were drafted to come to Japan for diplomatic reasons. They decided to join Agent 7 and Pammy on their trip to Calamari County to kill time.

Once in Calamari County, they were escorted to Cassius Manor where Agent 7’s mother, Darla Gatz-Ling Cassius, was waiting for them. Darla welcomes her son and Pammy back, and she helps them inside.  Agent 7 introduced his mother as a former field medic of Conesnail Splatoon during the Great Turf War.

Later, Agent 7 privately talks with his mother about Hector Norman which shocks her. Darla explains that she was supposed to take part in a mission with his father, but had to be discharged due to pregnancy. It was called Operation Sea-Bream which was a mission Agent 7’s father took in before his heroic sacrifice.

During the Great Turf War, a private military company called the Amemasu Bayline promised to support the Squid forces in exchange for sovereignty over the island of Hokkaido as it’s own nation. The agreement was fragile to the point where the Amemasu Bayline broke it by seizing the island for itself. That’s where Hector Norman comes in. He along with two factions, The Sealine of Uchiura Bay and The Lakeline of Lake Tōya, formed a triumvirate, forming the nation–”

“– The Amemasu Federation of Hokkaido.” Agent 7 recalls the news mentioning it.

“Exactly, and the broken oath outraged some of the Splatoons. Your father was given permission to lead a liberation campaign and apprehend Hector in Operation Sea-Bream. Hector tested him somehow….. I heard Hector got killed in the end. And he made haste later to help in the final battle against the Octarians. The federation was supposed to dissolve after the Great Turf War….” She then covers her mouth. -- Darla’s conversation with Agent 7.

Darla remind Agent 7 about his father’s will and suggests he finds whatever his father left in Inkopolis.

As Agent 7 leaves to return to Inkopolis, Agent 7 is saved by another drone who tried to shoot a dart at him.

Transition: Raps and Beats

Agent 7 meets Callie and Marie again with Pearl and Marina. Agent 7 meets an ally of his, Fang from the Alpha Death Squad. After Callie, Marie, Pearl, and Marina go off on their own errands, Agent 7 takes Fang to Bigfin Grotto to help with something.

Agent 7 tried to locate whatever his father left in Inkopolis according to his will. Fang helps by marking an unexplored area in the ancient subway systems built by the human race. Agent 7 thanks her, and she adds in keys to an ATV to help him along the way.

The marker was on an area underneath the Tohoku Shinkansen train route.

The Sparrow Finally Calls

Agent 7 meets Blueshift at the entrance to an abandoned subway. They talk for a moment about Marie and later about a few friends in Inkopolis. A runaway cargo truck force Agent 7 and Blueshift into the subways. They had to explore the subway system together. Agent 7 explains his situation to Blueshift.

Eventually, Agent 7 finds the ATV that Alpha Death Squad supplied him. Both he and Blueshift get on and started driving their way to their destination. The ride wasn’t that long as Hector’s infantry ambushed them, making them escape the subway system and crash into their destination.

Robin and her friend, Mint, both find the two in the area, and they end up in the mess. They’re forced to cooperate with Agent 7 and Blueshift to fight off Hector’s infantry and unknown Brine Unit. Robin was able to defeat the Brine unit.

Afterward, Agent 7 finally finds what his father left him: A bullet train and a final note:

“Son,

I didn’t realize that the consequences that Hector made were promised. All of Hokkaido was after me and only me after leaving the island. And I was able to escape it at a cost. Afterward, they remained on that island, giving up the chase. And what happened after you knew from your mother as my sacrifice for the Inklings to win against the Octarians.

I am sorry for not being there. I’m sorry for not being there to see you grow up. Whatever you are now, I am proud of it. And what I told you to do earlier – to promise to never befriend the Octarians – I take it back. That’s shouldn’t be you.

If you found this letter, I ask you to prepare Inkopolis for the worse to come from Hector’s nation. This situation I am sorry to put you in.

Your father,

Jason Gatz-Ling Cassius Sr.”

It was a mission Agent 7’s father started, and now he has to finish it.

Revenge of the Railgunning Octo-Train

Bigfin Splatoon prepare Agent 7 to a trip to Hokkaido. Agent 27 and 36 meet Agent 7 again with a familiar face: Vladimir Shepherd. They join Agent 7 on the trip.

When the bullet train departs, they encounter an old enemy of Bigfin Splatoon. It was an octoweapon called The Railgunning Octo-Train. They manage to defeat it.

Afterward, Agent 7’s rival, Sarah Phenotyne arrives on a hovercraft to drop off another ally for Agent 7,  an Octoling soldier from Sarkhalin named Laguna “Garza” Rayne.

They make their way to Aomori Bay.

Side Story: Tenkai & Fate of Mistuhide Revealed

Erikka returns to Earth once more to meet Indo and to find her brother, Mitsuhide. They track him all the way to a monk’s monastery before tying up loose ends with refugees in Inkopolis. Mitushide was alive and has remained in the monastery as an exile, trying to reflect and start a new life.

Transition: The Sea Fleet / Sail to Hokkaido

Agent 0 turned out to have snuck his way into the bullet train and join Agent 7. Agent 7 and Laguna make their way into the bay to commandeer one of the ships in a mercenary fleet paid by Hector. Agent 7 meets the twins from the Inkopolis train station who are offering either a red keycard or a blue keycard. Agent 7 picks the red keycard.

Agent 7 and Laguna steal the fleet’s fastest ship and they sail their way to Hokkaido after killing the fleet’s commodore and disabling most of the battleships.

Urchinball

Agent 7 gets to meet his father’s enemy, Hector Norman, and they have a conversation over the Great Turf War. Hector justifies his actions, saying that the Inkling broke a promise with his nation and that Agent 7’s father was a thorn in Hector’s side.

Hector then started getting under Agent 7’s skin, mentioning his relation with Inkopolis residents, his family, and his allies. He begins a “social experiment” on Agent 7 once he leaves Hokkaido.

Returning to Hokkaido, Agent 7 brings The Great Barrier Reef Treaty Organization back and announces concern about The Great Amemasu Federation of Hokkaido. But during the speech, he becomes poisoned with a cocktail of hallucinogens which caused a scene in the meeting. Agent 7 ends up in an induced coma.

And it turns out Agent 0 was behind this for he was forced to poison Agent 7.

Transition: The First Move

Blueshift interrogates Agent 0. Agent 0 confesses that he was forced into poisoning Agent 7 with the hallucinogen. Captain Cuttlefish arrives on time to clear Agent 0 o any wrong doing. Agnet 8 was with him at the time.

Lee and Robin check on Agent 7, and they meet Darla who explain what happened.

Dr. Julia Noh, an ally of Agent 7, was also there to try and help cure Agent 7.

Blueshift and Agent 0 arrive to ask Darla everything she knew about Hector Norman and Agent 7’s father.

--Splat from the Past

Darla was having trouble sleeping when she heard about the poisoning of Agent 7. She couldn’t leave his side or the hospital. An acquaintance of Agent 7 named Damien Zendall came by, meeting Darla at the hospital. Darla considered getting a therapist in to help her son and figure out what’s been troubling him.

Darla and Damien soon end up part of a game in Hector’s Social Experiement on Agent 7. They were forced to fight off Shadow Marshalls (they were armed with a unique ink-based skatter shoes) and keep them away from Agent 7, testing if there will be anyone to defend Agent 7. They were able to fight the marshals off with the arrival of Agents 27 and 36 as reinforcements.

The next day after the social experiment, Agent 7 is relocated to another room in the hospital. A therapist help reveal what’s been going on with Agent 7.

Therapy Part 1

Therapy Part 2

Agent 7 ends up in another coma; Darla is convinced by Damien to help fight this. Darla allows doctors to follow a procedure to treat Agent 7 of his condition.

That night, Agent 7 spiraled down in madness as the poison was withdrawn from his body. He was, however, able to recover at the cost of ending up in a catatonic state.

--No Idol Plays It Better

Bigfin Splatoon was ordered by Darla to find a way to snap Agent 7 out of his catatonic state. Grace (Agent 8) joined them along with Laguna to travel to Iwo Jima, where Calypso resides.Hector plays another game in his Social Experiment, sending his mercenary fleet to stop them. With the help of Grace and the relief army of Calypso, Bigfin Splatoon was able to negotiate with Calypso.

Calypso disguises herself as Marie, and she was able to snap Agent 7 out of his catatonic state. Soon, Marie arrived late after hearing Agent 7 was recovering.

--Transition: Inevitable Pain, Optional Suffering

Agent 7 and Marie make up after Agent 7 confesses what he said during therapy. Marie forgives him and offers him another chance in their relationship.

[aurimeanswind]

I’m More of a Winter—Sunday Chats—1/28/18

Oddly enough, I find myself more “happy” or more at home and comfortable through the winter. It’s my favorite season, yet this one seems to not provide the same boons to excitement as the previous have. There is far less joy to be found, and that kind of sucks.

But we move on with the show.

Talking About The Week I Had

I’ve come to both hate and somewhat enjoy talking about having terrible weeks and rough times. I always, in my heart, feel I am begging for attention. And there must be some honesty in that, right? But I also feel this sense of responsibility and obligation to my internet presence that I need to keep sending those thoughts and feelings out there, and that maybe I’ll feel better when I do. And I usually do. There is always a warm and loving outcry of support when I do, and it always warms my heart, without fail.

But I dunno. It’s hard. I have really bad days and I put myself in a dark place, and while I love the honesty, I don’t want to share that because it’s both personal and it looks like I am begging for good vibes to be sent. Obviously this is all counteracted by me openly expressing my frustrations here (or so my brain hopes) but it’s a difficult side to every coin. The one that’s aware of the more selfish-seeming repercussions of crying out for help, and that just so wishes to be like, not bad on your own. 

I think with my depression and fits of morbid thoughts and feelings of wanting to hurt myself, that’s always the fall back. I just want to be good without having to ask for help. The idea of, “well why can’t I just be alright on my own? Why does this have to be a thing where I have to have me picked up off the ground by my wonderful companions who’d graciously do so, but I can’t just “be” on my own?” When i say I express frustration in sharing my feelings of being depressed, I think it helps to empathize from that angle:

I’m not frustrated because I don’t want to ask for help, I’m frustrated because I was never given the opportunity to not need it.

Does that make sense?

God I hope so. In short I had a bad spell of self-hatred style depression this week, and this is me just airing it out those feelings. If it doesn’t make sense, ah don’t worry about it, but if you saw me struggling this week, that’s your bit of context.

What’s On Tap

Predominantly I’ve been playing one thing this week, and that’s been going back through The Witcher 3. That’s a great goddamn video game.

The Witcher 3

There is just something about Yennefer that... goddamn. She is just like a magnet for me. I definitely feel to her what Geralt does. It’s an attraction that goes beyond appearance. She isn’t like, the best person? either? But I just adore her. She fits the mold of a partner in so many respects, and peeling back the layers of her character are excellent.

I got to Skellige and boy that is just the best part of that game hands down.

The snow, the wintery peaks, the people of Skellige, it’s just so much better than anything you see in Velen or Novigrad I think. Not to say either of those chapters are bad, they’re excellent, but I think it just shows that Skellige is that much more interesting of an area. I think that, to some extent, derives from the fact that Velen and Novigrad are neighboring areas, and so their culture is very similar. It gets me even more excited to see Touissant, the place added in Blood and Wine, because that is also a totally separate part of that world.

Celeste

I’ve managed to put a few hours into Celeste now, where when we recorded the podcast I had only put about a half hour into it.

I worry that maybe my expectations for this game were set too high, especially with folks continually telling me how impactful it’s emotional aspects are. I’m trying to keep my expectations in check, but I will say so far the game has done some pretty interesting things.

On the gameplay level, it has the tightness of something like Towerfall, applied to very Super Meat Boy reminiscent platforming levels that are short, consumable, and challenging. It kind of reminds me that I’m not really in the mood for something that is just outwardly so challenging right now though. Like, it makes you frustrated and you’re supposed to derive enjoyment from the victory, but the levels are very long and frustrating at times, and I’m not getting the same satisfaction I got from something like Cuphead. 

That, mixed with the really interesting story bits makes me kind of just want to get to the next story beat above everything else. The constant dying and repeating of the same challenges impedes that.

Maybe most of my frustration is that each “chapter” bases itself around a different mechanic, and a lot of those have been more just annoying than anything else. One was these platforms that you can move by pressing against them while holding them, which worked, but another was ground or wall that you can’t retread once you’ve touched it once or you die, and that was just zero fun.

There is a very interesting scene where you have to calm yourself from a panic attack, and it’s very evocative, so maybe there is something too Celeste, but right now I’m more mixed than I’d like to be. Overall it definitely plays well, I’m just unsure of if I am buying everything there.

Questions

Like always, look for my tweets on Sundays with the hashtag #SundayChats in it, respond with your question, and be in the chats! Let’s do this!

I like that Ubisoft essentially did this by putting Mario in XCOM last year.

But like, what if Princess Peach was a leader in Civilization 6?

How good would that be?!

Have Mushroom Kingdom units?! Build Peach’s Castle as a World Wonder?! Having to import mushrooms from other city states to appease our great lord and savior Princess Peach?! PEACH getting NUKED by GHANDI?!

Anyway.

I feel like I can’t think of any mind bending ones, or ones that haven’t been done before, save for the Princess Peach one. Like, I’d love to see an strategy game with the Tales characters, and that already exists. I’d love to see a third person action game with Final Fantasy characters, and that kind of exists, and that’s also kind of happening with the FF7 Remake. I’d love to see Vincent from Catherine as a character in a Persona game with all adults, but that feels like a cop out. 

Link playing Baseball? in MLB the show? 

I’ll think on it and if I come up with anything good I’ll tweet it at you.

I don’t know that series sounds like its for weebs.

Nah I’m kidding, I’m glad everyone seems to be having fun with Monster Hunter World. I definitely have a bit of FOMO, but after that beta I really doubt I’d have fun with it.

Nabeshin would go Insect Glaive. Scott would get the biggest and weightiest sword. Tony you’d get whatever you’d get. You said you were trying the Bow on the latest show, so maybe that? And I’d be the cat and I’d be chilling on an inflatable tube.

Hands for feet. Duh.

I’d get like, those toe-shoes, which would basically be gloves, and then go on my merry, tree-swinging way. Like, I’d finally have my dream of being able to have four hands. Ugh. Feet for hand sounds awful because you’d still have “arms” so its not like you’d be able to four-footed run. 

Garbage.

I have no clue what this is.

*Does a quick google*

So Like, I am only loosely familiar with Big Brother, and I hate reality TV (I know Jazz, I’m sorry) but this seems like, totally boring! No big names at all. The entertainment weekly article I read showing the contestants for this upcoming one were recognized by their recent “Dancing with the Stars” placements, and that’s just fucking depressing.

But yeah, I like the idea of celebrities that don’t know they hate each other slowly learning that they do, in fact, hate each other all for your viewing pleasure, sure, if you’re into that sort of thing. But at least throw like, Liam Neeson in there to choke somebody or something.

Oh man there is so much I’d love to see Rocksteady do. They’ve definitely become a favorite developer of mine, even if i have a tenuous love-hate relationship with Batman Arkham Knight. 

I mean they are almost definitely working on something Batman. I feel like we don’t end this year without knowing exactly what they are making, or without it releasing. I think Justice League/Batman Beyond would be cool, but I just worry that they aren’t going that route.

I want them to break away from Batman. I think they’ve earned enough clout to do their own thing, and that’d be the thing I’m most excited about, but it may ultimately just be another Arkham game.

I’d probably kill myself right away tbh.

I know that’s a little morbid haha, but I’m definitely not making it. I have really bad asthma, so assuming we are getting “infected” “running” zombies I am boned. I’ve also never fired a gun before, nor do I really have any interest in doing so. I’m also a pacifist and hate the idea of hurting other living things, dead or not. I’d also not want to be a hindrance to me loved ones who are stronger than me and can live on. And boy it’d be a fucking bummer to just watch humans kill humans over food and water and guns and stuff. I just don’t want to been that world (which is kind of our world, I know, yes).

And knowing my luck I’d be patient zero, so there’s also that.

First, I want to say:

fuck Captain Jack Sparrow.

That being said.

I want Sly Cooper’s ancestor who was also a Pirate, Henriette Cooper.

Hell, I’d probably just want Sly Cooper too.

And maybe Captain Kidd, but like, cool Lady Captain Kidd from AC Black Flag.

And Nato Johnston, who is real.

Jurge Cruz is into some deep web shit with his crypto-mining operation.

It’s messed up.

And very impressive.

That’s a really good question. I want to say yes, because I think that’d be cool, but I don’t know of any Arc System Works game that’s made it big there. There probably (definitely) is one? But I just don’t know it. Maybe Guilty Gear. 

I’d say no because I think the way the controls work in FighterZ is just too simplified. I don’t know what the skill threshold for that game is, but who knows, maybe it’s possible. God wouldn’t that be rad?

This is a tough question. I saw this and I think, at least partially, thats what my opening thoughts bit was about. I don’t really think there is, and I don’t think that is such a bad thing, right?

Like that doesn’t make you any less of a friend, and this goes for everyone to anyone they know with mental illness. If you’re there, supportive, and send the good vibes and are understanding of their issues, you're doing it right. I think it’s people that just lack empathy or say “why aren’t you just happy?” that are the ones super fucking up.

I’d say just empathize with the fact that sometimes all you can do is send support, and that’s totally enough. So don’t sweat it.

Christ.

Joel’s Ears from The Last of Us because apparently that mother fucker can just hear through walls. 

And maybe.... uhhh... The lady from The Sexy Brutale who can hear codes being typed in on keypads from the room over? That’s lit.

Goddamn my arms would just be horrifying tendrils though. Imagine if this combined with my feet that are hands and I’m just a four-eared two-handed monster crawling around listening with my big stalk-ears?!

God help us for this image will never leave my brain.

Ah so you play the Wraith eh?? Well that’s good to know. Time to get my STRATS ready. Of course you’d play the most broken monster though.

And probably never but I’m keeping the dream going.

Evolve was good you guys.

9.0/10, Irrational Passions.

I REVIEWED IT.

http://irrationalpassions.com/evolve-review/

That’s it! That’s the show and the whole kitten-caboodle. 

It’s been a long week but keep things on the up and up. We’re about to move into February and I’m about to launch a cool new show and IP is working on some cool stuff to look forward to. So get hype!

oh and please keep it on the real.

(this gif of Danny laughing on Table Flip just miraculously popped up on my gif search and it’s a gift to you, me, and the GG gods, so enjoy)