#and I really do want to see two old men constantly betraying each other lol

[overlordraax]

After watching MK Legends Scorpion's Revenge I think I ship Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. Mostly cos I feel it would be like shipping two Starscream's together that are constantly trying to kill each other.

It was specifically after the scene where Quan Chi tried to poison Shang's drink and Shang can instantly tell and then turns on him. For some reason I interpret Shang's speech after that as "You know we could totally be a thing if you didn't keep being devoted to that god that no one likes".

You also have the opening cutscene of MK Deception they both team up to kill Raiden, succeed, and then do not even wait until his body is cold on the floor to start betraying each other. Amazing.

They're the Deadly Alliance. No one can match them when they combine forces. Together they can bring the realms to their knees. They will also turn on each other on a dime because neither of them can stop being treacherous for a second, and it's both their greatest strength and their greatest hindrance. They're perfect for each other.

[cherriesfineline]

savior next door

im on a writing trance so expect a lot of writings from me hehe, here's what i wrote last night, enjoy besties.

- fluff & a tiny little bit of smut (not really lol) | not proofread, sorry

Pairing: HarryxY/N

WC: 3.8k

the one where Harry is Y/N's shy and virgin neighbor.

The constant feeling of uneasiness has been haunting Harry ever since he almost got himself in a car accident almost a year ago.

It hadn’t been his fault – he was crossing a random street in a quiet area of New York when a hand grabbed his upper arm and pushed him out of the crosswalk, where a car speeded through without even slowing down. “Watch where you’re going, you’re going to get yourself killed.” The woman who’d saved his life scolded at him with a worrying look on her face. He remembers her eyes were glowing in such a splendor, something he’d never seen before – it intrigued him to know who his life savior was, but before he could even make a comment, the woman stormed off and got lost between the seas of people around the corner, leaving Harry in an unsuccessful search for her.

Harry has never been a people person. He always avoids big crowds, social events and especially, study groups. His university journey so far has been a lonely and reserved one, having movie marathons when not studying or discovering new kinds of herbal teas. His only form of social interaction is the occasional chat with his across-the-hall neighbor Niall, whom he considered -kind of- a close friend; his only one, in fact.

“Heard someone’s moving in to the flat next to yours.” Niall knows Harry isn’t exactly a social butterfly, and maybe it’s the fact that Harry is younger than him and how he seems like such a harmless human what makes him feel like he needs to help him. Harry just shrugs at his comment, not really interested in any possible intruder to their peaceful hallway (where both their apartments and the currently empty one in the corner were the only three ones on their floor). And maybe it was the fact that it has been almost a month since Niall’s comment what made him furious when he saw the cardboard boxes on their hallway, forgetting about the possibility of having a new neighbor.

The sudden sound of glass crashing and a loud yell snaps Harry out of his frustrated trance, stepping around the huge boxes scattered around the door next to his to knock on the doorway of the open door. Even if he really isn’t very fond of having a new neighbor that doesn’t mean he’s not going to check on them to see if they’ve gotten hurt. “Is everything alright?” He still can’t see whoever is inside, but he decides on waiting if no one replies to step inside. But he doesn’t need to, because as he was about to make his way inside, a head pops up from one side of the entry hallway, assuming that’s where the kitchen is, as he notices the apartment is a replica of his own, but inverted.

“Hey, sorry, just dropped my favorite cup.” His breath gets caught on his throat when her life savior’s face appears in sight, the cutest frown adorning her features and her sweet voice resonating through his brain. Her eyes, exactly like he remembers shine with an unbeatable glow, like a thousand diamonds under a microscope, but the image he had of her on his brain doesn’t make her justice – she is even more beautiful than he remembers. “I’m Y/N, nice to meet you. You live in this floor?” Harry can’t help but be disappointed at the fact that apparently she doesn’t remember him.

“Y-yes, next door. H-harry.” He stutters. Her presence just makes him so nervous, he can’t help it. She is probably one of, if not the, most beautiful woman he’s ever laid eyes on. Her eyes are hypnotizing, the softness of them which appears to be constant warms his insides and he thinks he could spend hours upon hours staring right at them.

“Do I know you? I feel like I know you.” Y/N’s thinks out loud, her expression alluding to her thoughts trying to place him somewhere in her memories.

“Uh, I- I don’t think so?” Harry feels embarrassed, so he couldn’t come up with a better answer. He is silently hoping she doesn’t remember the time they met all that time ago – this is his chance, he thinks, to redeem himself, for her to see him as a normal dude instead of this clumsy and shy boy who couldn’t even thank her when she saved him from being ran over by a car.

He wishes he could read her mind. What’s her first impression on him? Does she think he’s cute? She probably doesn’t. He thinks she’s too pretty to even spare a second glance at someone like him; a shy boy with bad posture and still breaking out in his forehead despite being 22. And she, Y/N, a woman who could make anyone her own, a woman who probably makes every head turn her way when entering a room. Harry feels his chest deflate as his thoughts start beating him up.

During the course of her first two months living next door, Y/N and Harry barely interact. He keeps stealing glances her way whenever they run into each other in the hallway, getting shy and cheeks reddening when she catches him every time. He gets jealous whenever he hears her walking down the hallway from inside his apartment, obvious guests coming in and out of her apartment – and if the person (because he recalls hearing both men and women) is good enough, he can even hear her sometimes through the thin wall that divides their bedrooms, her headboard clearly mirroring his. He feels dirty and intrusive during nights like these, so he opts on putting headphones on, music playing in his phone to help him drift off to sleep.

But Y/N is fascinated by him, maybe not as much as he is with her, but enough to wonder how it’d be like to reallyhave him in her life. She knows he’s a very reserved man, her animated chats with Niall more usual than not drift towards Harry and how she wishes he’d just keep looking at her when she catches his eye instead of running away – not because her ego is enormous or anything, but she is aware of the obvious crush Harry has on her. “He’s not going to start conversation, you should just go for it.” She remembers Niall told her one night after having a small chat in his threshold; because all Niall wants is for Harry to put himself out there, but he knows he needs a little extra push.

But it all changes one night. A night Y/N drinks more than usual – shot after shot going down her throat making her feel nothing but dizzy, the sensation of puke going up her throat forcing her to call it a night. Barely making it out of the elevator she stumbles on her way to her door, and Harry hears her. The sound her combat books make is so engraved in Harry’s brain he knows it’s her after just a couple of steps.

“Fuck.” Harry hears the unmistakable sound of her keys, and how she’s clearly struggling to fit them inside the lock. After a loud banging sound and what sounds like her sliding down the door, he starts worrying about her and how she’s probably not going to make it inside her apartment without a little help. So he steps outside after sliding his old white vans on to find her on the floor leaning against her door, legs bent and elbows resting on either knee supporting her head.

“Y/N?” He calls her in a whisper. She shoots her head up immediately making her insides turn, and with unfocused eyes, she looks up at him and smiles fondly.

“Hey, pretty boy.” She greets him with a soft smile, eyes closing and opening again slowly and Harry feels his stomach erupt in a thousand butterflies. Did she just call him pretty boy?

“You need help?”

“Please.” Harry’s red cheeks don’t go unnoticed by her the moment she lifts her hand to give him her keys and she honestly thinks he might explode. He helps her get up and guides her inside her home with such gentle movements she could melt in his hold, and that’s when she decides (drunk out of her mind) she wants him to hold her again, soon. And while sober.

He lays her down in her bed and announces he’s going to take her shoes off, giving her enough time to object. “I always catch you staring, you know?” Her thoughts slip off her lips unannounced, but she doesn’t really care. Harry, on the other hand, freezes in his spot, one of her shoes still in hand and with wide eyes he connects their gazes for the second time that night.

“I- I… I’m sorry- I don’t mean to be c-creepy or anything I j-just-“

“Shh.” She cuts him off, his stuttering making its first appearance of the night. “Didn’t say I don’t like it.” She confesses and wiggles her feet so he can resume his actions. Harry’s brain is betraying him more than usual right now. His thoughts are everywhere, not a single coherent answer coming to mind, so he doesn’t do anything but finish helping her out of her shoes in silence.

“Goodn-night, Y/N.” Harry left her apartment that night after carefully placing a soft blanket over her body and making sure she had a glass of water on her nightstand (he didn’t want to snoop around her apartment for some pills for her hangover, so he just left her with the duty of doing that herself in the morning) and laid in bed with so many thoughts running through his head he barely got an hour of sleep that night.

And that went on for a week. Knowing she was sleeping on the other side of the wall makes him more nervous than before now that he knows Y/N is aware of his constant staring – but who would blame him? She really is a sight for sore eyes. Y/N knocks on his door the following Saturday, and he opens it surprised to find her on the other side, mainly because she’s usually out with her friends by now every Saturday (not that he’s constantly waiting to hear her walk on their hallway, but he truly is always sitting on his living room and the thin walls of their apartment complex don’t provide them much privacy).

“Harry, hi.” She offers him the sweetest smile, but there’s a shy and nervous undertone to it this time. “I just wanted to thank you, for helping me the other night.” She clasps her hands together in front of her and nods with a tight lipped smile. “But I also want to apologize, I know I probably made you uncomfortable with uh, some comments I made.” She slightly scrunches her nose, waiting for his reply.

But Harry is, in simple words, speechless. He can’t believe there’s a sober Y/N who just knocked on his door willingly talking to him. Her voice sounds so melodic and Harry just wants to cuddle her and the giant, soft looking green sweater she’s wearing isn’t helping him ease his thoughts. He wants Y/N to hold him while she talks to him with that sweet voice of hers, he wants to hold her small hands and fill her cheeks and mouth with kisses along with every inch of her body -not that she’d ever let him, Harry thought, but a boy can dream-, but most importantly, he wants to learn every single detail about her. How she likes her coffee in the mornings, or if she prefers tea. In which position she sleeps the most comfortable in and if there’s any TV shows she re-watches just because it brings her comfort. He has so many questions he wants to ask her he completely forgets they’d been standing in his threshold for long minutes, with him just staring at her.

“It’s ok, don’t worry.” He says barely above a whisper, and they stay in their positions for a while, again with no words spoken between them, until he finally gains enough courage to ask, “Do you want to come in?” He opens his door a bit wider with a wary look on his face. Y/N nods, her smile widens and makes her eyes sparkle with that glow Harry is still fascinated by.

They sit in the couch with a long distance between them; farther away from the other than any of them like. Y/N does most of the talking, but she truly doesn’t mind – she talks animatedly about this new show Bridgerton she binge watched last night, Harry making mental notes about most things she says. He wants to remember everything, from the way her voice slightly sharpens when she mentions something she suddenly remembers to the way she moves her hands to accompany her speech; he already loves how expressive she is with her face features, and only confirms how he’d listen to her speak for the rest of his life.

Y/N manages to get more words out of him than she expected, and asks for his opinion or thoughts on most things she mentions. She hates making conversation purely about herself, she wants to know about Harry as much as she can. She wishes he would initiate conversation or switch topics with no shame, but she knows she’s asking for too much. This night alone they interacted more than the last three months combined, and Y/N is grateful for it.

Three chapters of FRIENDS had passed when she finds herself scooting a bit closer to him, carefully trying to read his body language. When he stiffens in his position, she turns her head to look at him. His cheeks are tinted a cute shade of pink, and he’s blinking a lot more than he usually does. He places both hands on his thighs and runs them up and down to get rid of the sweat accumulating on them, and he can’t help but gasp when their thighs touch, meaning she scooted even closer. As if that isn’t enough to kill him, she softly rests her head on his shoulder.

“Is this ok?” Y/N whispers, and he forces himself to turn his head to find her eyes, which are already looking up at him. He slowly nods and makes the dumb mistake of looking down at her lips. He feels the hot embarrassment run up his neck and quickly turns to face his TV again, planning on pretending nothing ever happened.

That is, until he feels the soft skin of her palm and gentle fingers grab his jaw, forcing his gaze back on her. That touch alone makes him feel more than any other human has made him feel in his entire life – but it doesn’t compare to the eruption of jitteriness washing through him when her eyes look down at his lips.

“Can I kiss you?” Harry freezes in his spot. He wonders if he heard her correctly, not believing his senses when around her, the possibility of her wanting to kiss him are too low, he thinks, and when he doesn’t respond, she slowly begins to remove her hand from his face, taking a guess on his unspoken rejection. He, for once, reacts quickly enough; he grabs her by her wrist, placing her hand back again in its spot on his jaw, and works enough courage to just go for it. Harry lowers his face to gently envelope her top lip between his own. It’s quick but sweet (just like she had expected their first kiss to be, if she’d ever got lucky enough to experience it) and when he moves away just enough to separate her lips, she wastes no time in connecting them again. This time, the kiss is longer and with more determination than before, and when Harry feels Y/N melt into him, he gains enough confidence to grab her face with both of his hands, deepening the kiss.

They stay enveloped in each other for a while, mouths molding and moving in sync with so many unspoken emotions it feels overwhelming for both – they barely know each other, they’re very aware of it, but the undeniable infatuation they both feel is stronger than they’d ever admit. Y/N feels on her face the long exhale that leaves through Harry’s nose when she softly traces his bottom lip with the tip of her tongue, and when he meets her tongue with his, the mood that was settled between them switches drastically – from sweet and innocent to needy and passionate.

Harry isn’t very experienced with kissing, let alone with anything past first base. He’d only made out with a girl all the way back in high school during his senior prom, and the girl was so harsh and desperate Harry knew that moment he wouldn’t ever share an intimate moment with anyone again unless he truly felt something for them. Now, he knows it might seem like he’s rushing things in his heart, but he’d do anything with and for Y/N – but he knows he’s not ready just yet.

His nervousness consumes him again when she moves to straddle his lap, making him whimper at the new position. He shakily places his hands next to her legs on the couch, not sure what is too much and what is ok to do. She runs her hands from his jaw down to his shoulders, and moves them all the way down his arms to his hands, giving them a soft squeeze before placing them on her waist and sliding her own back up again towards his neck, never breaking the kiss.

He unintentionally lets a second whimper leave his mouth when she sits herself down on his lap, creating some friction between their groins. He knows he’s hard – he felt his dick grow in his pants the second she touched his jaw, but knowing Y/N could feel it now put him a tad on edge. He separates their lips; their agitated breathing mixing in between them.

“I- I’ve never…” Harry begins, but he’s having a hard time finding the correct words. Y/N understands almost immediately – she’s not proud to admit she had figured he was unexperienced, feeding the stereotype of shy-ergo-virgin, even though she was correct this time.

“We won’t do anything you don’t want to,” Y/N gives him a soft peck and continues, “you can say no, but I’d love to make you feel good, if you’d let me. We can keep our clothes on.” Y/N suggests. If she has to be honest, she hasn’t dry-humped anyone since high school, but the thought of doing it with Harry lights her insides in animalistic flames.

When Harry timidly nods, she shakes her head with her eyebrows raised in a disapproving look, “Use your words, H.”

“I- I want you to- to do it. I- I trust you.” His stuttering makes Y/N’s insides warm, the fact that she makes him nervous amuses her – she’s certain she’s never made anyone this nervous before, but it is the fact that Harry admitted he trusts her what sends shivers down her spine. All she does in response is roll her hips against his – and when he closes his eyes with a pleasured groan leaving his lips, she does it again. Harry’s grip on her waist lowers to her hips, squeezing the flesh that was subtly beginning to get exposed from all the movement, and when he throws his head back Y/N takes advantage of his exposed neck to finally attach her lips to it. Her hold on one side of his face moves to grip his jaw, turning his head slightly to the side so she can suck on the sweet spot behind his ear still rolling her hips on his, and when she pokes the spot with her tongue to soothe the pleasuring sting, he unconsciously thrusts his hips up to meet hers; Y/N can’t help but smile and leave a trail of sweet, wet kisses from his new deepening bruise to the place where his neck meets his shoulders, repeating her actions there to leave a second bruise.

Harry feels his cock twitch in his pants when Y/N rolls her hips with more pressure, and they both know he’s close - his inexperience making him not last longer than a couple of minutes. “Are you going to cum for me?” Y/N asks him, holding his jaw tightly to keep his gaze on hers, and when he shyly nods she adds, “I want you to look at me when you do it.”

Harry can’t believe what’s going on – he has the most beautiful woman in the word on top of him about to make him cum, and he’s sure he’s going to come so hard he’ll probably have to throw his briefs into the trash. Her gaze staring so intensely into his eyes is what makes his insides finally explode, his eyes seeing white for a moment – with his mouth open ajar and glossy eyes he feels the large amount of cum spurting from his cock, making a mess inside his pants. The pleasure and fullness he feels during this moment is something he has never experienced before, never thinking he would surrender this fast over someone else’s actions. Y/N slows her movements but doesn’t stop for a while, allowing him to empty his insides until he hisses at the friction. Harry hugs her lower back to pull her closer to him, and Y/N lets her head drop to his shoulder so they can both catch their breaths.

They stay like that for a while, hugging each other with Y/N running her hand softly through his chocolate curls and Harry tracing small circles on the small of her back.

“You saved me from a car accident, a year or so ago.” Harry confesses – the pure bliss he’s feeling makes him dizzy and unaware of his words.

“I know. I remember.” Y/N confesses herself, and when Harry’s soft caresses stop at her back, she removes her head from the warm spot on his neck to look at him in the eyes, finding a confused frown in his eyebrows and lips in a small pout – she kisses him soft and quickly, not being able to contain herself. “I figured you either didn’t remember or didn’t bring it up for a reason, so I chose to not mention it.” She shudders and gives him a soft smile.

“Was embarrassed, still am.” Harry whispers with red cheeks, and Y/N’s laugh resonates through his living room, and if he wasn’t already obsessed with her, her laugh completes his way there.

“So cute.” She pecks his lips. “Can’t believe it took us this long to… talk.” Another peck. A knowing look on her face knowing damn well they did more than talking.

“You are too pretty. And intimidating. Can’t even walk in front of you without tripping over my own feet.” Y/N giggles at his confession, finding him even more amusing.

“Do you want to go on a date tomorrow?” Y/N asked, not being able to wait another day to ask. Harry feels his cheeks hurting from all the smiling, but he is too content in this moment.

“I’d love to.”

x

As always, feedback is truly appreciated,

love, Joey.

[spike-and-faye]

Hello, I require your infinite wisdom please!! :O So I just finished cowboy bebop and I am so confused like who the fuck was Julia. WHAT was Faye's past. I literally never process tv shows and the bebop was not immune to my stupidity LMAO like... I guess the ending just really confused me, from what I gathered Spike and Vicious were friends? But then they weren't? And Julia dated Vicious but also Spike? And he? Went after Vicious even after Julia had died? I am Confusion. Please help. Thank u...

Oh BABEY I am so glad you asked! :) Be prepared for a long answer and I apologize in advance for how incoherent it will probably be.

ALSO Please note: this show is fucking complicated. I have watched it all the way through several times a year, every single year, for over a decade now, and I am *STILL* finding new shit every time I watch it. It's packed with symbols, motifs, allusions and underlying themes that are just so rich. It is so extraordinarily well-written that it could give a lot of classic literature a run for its money. I'm literally working on an in depth literary/film analysis my husband lovingly calls my Manifesto on the series right now. SO PLEASE don't beat yourself up about not catching everything on the first go round.

HEY BTW for anyone who hasn't finished the show, please know there will be MANY spoilers ahead!

Anyways ~

1.     Spike / Julia / Vicious:

The information we get on Spike's past, including Vicious and Julia, is pretty limited considering how big of an impact they have on the story. We get our first glimpse in Session 1: Asteroid Blues, then again in Session 5: Ballad of Fallen Angels, Sessions 12 + 13: Jupiter Jazz, and Sessions 25 + 26: Real Folk Blues. I recommend reviewing these episodes for you Julia and Vicious fix.

What we know:

Spike and Vicious were both members of an organized crime syndicate called the Red Dragons, which is roughly analogous to the Yakuza or the Mafia. Their positions in the organization are not clear, but there are some images alluding to them being hitmen, and they likely rose up in the ranks as they were close acquaintances of Mao Yenrai, a Capo of the Red Dragon.

Spike and Vicious were close comrades. Spike taught Vicious everything he knew about fighting, and the two had a deep trust in each other. Which Spike fucked up ….

^^Vicious looks hot asf here

Julia was Vicious' lover/girlfriend. One night in 2068 (three years prior to the time we watch in the Bebop) Spike is injured, presumably from a syndicate-related fight and he passes out in front of her door. She takes him in and nurses him back to health and he SIMPS HARD for her. We’re all but told he's in LOVE love with her. They start an affair, and Spike tells her he's ready to abandon the whole life - the syndicate, Vicious, Mao, all of it - and they could run away together.

WELL Vicious finds out about this whole affair, and is DOUBLY betrayed because his literal best friend and girlfriend have been having an affair, and tbh I think he was just as jealous of Spike's attentions as he was of Julia's. (Whether or not it’s a sexual thing for Spike … well … I have my own headcanons about that). SO when he finds out they're going to run away together, he gives Julia an ultimatum: you can either kill him, or I'll just kill you both. Spike had written her a letter about meeting him in the graveyard to start their new life together, which she tears up to hide his location from Vicious. (This is the falling ripped up pieces of paper we see in Spike's flash back in Session 5).

^^ r/gifsyoucanhear

**NOTE: There are those who disagree with this view, (looking at you Cowboy Bebop wiki) instead suggesting Vicious and Spike were buds in the past, but then hated each other once they were both considered as potential successors to Mao. That's why Vicious wanted him dead, and he was enlisting Julia (who he didn't necessarily have a romantic connection to) to help kill Spike since he knew Spike loved her. Personally, I think there is plenty of evidence that Vicious also wanted Julia, and in fact was already with her, when Spike started seeing her. If you want me to cite my sources please send an me an ask about it :)

Spike gets the idea, whether by her just not showing up or word around the syndicate being like YO Vicious wants you dead. Despite Vicious' ultimatum to Julia, he was gunna kill Spike either way. SO he sets up an ambush, and SadBoy™ Spike walks intentionally into their trap. Somehow, he doesn't die, though the entire syndicate thinks he did. (Note Annie's reaction to seeing him alive in Session 5). It’s also implied that this is where he lost his eye.

HIS EYE - possibly the most important symbol in the show so I do have to mention it. In episode 26, he explicitly explains to Faye that one of his eyes only sees the past. (PS this isn't dissimilar to Jet's arm… we can get into that another time). Basically, he's constantly living halfway in the past and halfway in the present, and describes the past like a dream he can never wake up from. Because dysfunctional or not - the syndicate WAS his family. (Again - see his relationship with Annie, Mao, and Vicious (prior to Spike's betrayal)). It's his reminder that Julia didn't run away with him, and that he'd left behind that life for her. (He didn’t know she was being threatened until the final episode). Basically Spike is hyper-fixated on what he had and what could've been.

Not long after this, Spike starts bounty hunting because like? What else is he going to do. He doesn't care if he lives or dies but if he has to be alive, he may as well be able to eat. He joins up with Jet Black on the Bebop.

TL; DR: Spike stole Vicious' lover, Julia, so Vicious made Julia choose between her killing Spike or Vicious killing them both. She instead went into hiding and Spike thought he'd been stood up. He fake died and got the hell outta dodge.

2.     What was Faye's past?

Ok let me start by saying Faye is my wife and my life. HOWEVER I hated her the first time I watched this show circa age 13 because I thought she was annoying/vain/shallow (also because #internalizedmisogyny lol am I right fam). Good news! She is all those things! But she's also very lonely and scared and an amnesiac and secretly a sweetie and she realizes she loves the crew of the Bebop like family.

SO my wife's backstory:

she was born in the 1990s (#only90skidsremember). There's some debate over her race/nationality, but due to the images of her hanging out in Merlion Park in Singapore, my bet is that she's Singaporean. She comes from a wealthy family with a big house, and we see some utterly *adorable* film of her as a child/young adolescent in Session 18: Speak Like a Child. I cry everytime </3

^^ Holla for the representation

In 2014, circa age 20, she and her parents were going into space when the shuttle they were on had some kind of malfunction/accident and it killed an unknown number of people, including her parents. At the time, the technology didn’t exist to be able to save her, so she was put into a cryogenic sleep state. Meanwhile, the Lunar Gate accident occurs, breaking up the moon and causing rock showers on Earth's surface. Most people died, moved to Mars, or settled underground.

She wakes up from her cryogenic sleep in 2068. (Also the year Spike leaves the syndicate.) She's 'woken' by the corrupt Dr. Bacchus who plans on charging her for the years and years of medical debt she's accrued. (See Session 15: My Funny Valentine.) Luckily a lawyer takes interest in her case (Whitney Haggus Matsumoto) and tries to help get rid of her debt. The two fall in love, but turns out Whitney is a Scumbag. He's actually Dr. Bacchus's nephew, and faked his death, writing Faye as the sole inheritor to his will. This means she'll take on all his debts. So baby girl has LOTS of debt at this point.

In the intervening years prior to her joining the Bebop, she gambles, cheats, gains a lot of street smarts, and adopts a very seductive character to get her way. She joins the crew on the Bebop in Session 3: Honky Tonk Women.

TL;DR: Faye is Austin powers

YIKES this is so long I am so sorry. Bitches are obsessed with this show. (I am bitches)

3.     The Ending

Okay I'm going to present this in the way, in my scholarly opinion, would be correct, though there are SO many interpretations other than simply 'Spike died :/".

To understand the plot of the last couple episodes we actually have to go back to Session 5: Mao is instructed* to sign a treaty with a rival syndicate called the White Tigers. (*He's instructed by The Van (Council of identical creepy old men) who are the actual head of the dragon. I think we only see them in Session 26.) Well - Vicious is a Bastard Man and he and his fellow mutineers blow up the White Tiger guys' ship and slit Mao's throat. Before he dies, Mao is like "Gotdamnit if Spike was still here this shit wouldn't have happened." Later in the Cathedral battle, Vicious explains to Spike he killed Mao because Mao 'lost his fangs'. He planned on killing Spike for good her, IMO, so there'd be no rival to take over as Capo for the Dragons.

^^These guys are The Van btw

THEN in Session 25, the Van basically catches Vicious and is like “you killed Mao and now you have to go to Time Out.” The Van also decides to just kill everyone associated with Vicious, just 2 B safe. That's why there's a big ass shootout at the Loser Bar where Jet and Spike are chilling, drinking, (missing Faye and Ed and Ein lol) and Shin (younger brother to Lin, who's helping Vicious overthrow the Dragon) explains all this to Spike. OH and PS JULIA IS ALIVE AND HERE IS HER LOCATION :). (**Notice Spike's reaction at this point is different than his reaction in Jupiter Jazz when he hears there's a Julia on Calisto. Much less excited… hmm…).

SO THEN you know we get some flashbacks of the past as previously explained *and* Julia just happens to run into Faye. She recognizes that Faye is one of Spike's friends from the Bebop (she was keeping tabs on him it seems) and picks her up. Faye doesn't know who Julia is but is like damn bitch I'm a little gay for you. (I mean … that may just be my bi ass projecting, but Faye is REALLY struck with her. Look at how she describes her to Jet, I mean come on.)

 Faye's like, 'we should team up' and Julia says 'no thanks but also tell Spike to meet me at *the place*'. Meanwhile back on the Bebop Spike and Jet are talking and Spike goes on about some dream woman who was his other half. (We assume he means Julia … I have my reasons to doubt this … I have a lot of angry DMs about my opinion here lol but I just do not give a fuck (: I can expand on this in another post or you can refer to the title of my fucking blog haha) Personally, I think Watanabe personally left this specific scene open ended, the same way he does with the ending and various other things.

more like SIMP Spiegel

ANYWAY Faye comes back to the Bebop to tell Spike about Julia, and Jet gets intel from a former cop buddy that there's some shit going down with the Dragons. (Again, the Van is hunting down everyone ever associated with Vicious, including your pal Spike). Bebop is attacked, Faye tells Spike what's up with Julia, and he heads out.

 PAN TO VICIOUS chained up - about to be executed - but what's that!? It's a bird!? It's a pla- no it's just a bird. (With one glowing red eye … hm … reminds me of Spike, also the drug Red Eye. Pls let me know if you have any thoughts on this). Just a bird with a BOMB! Explosion (RIP bird c. 2065 - too soon), Vicious kills the elders, his buddies show up and are ready to go fuck shit up.

this show could not be more of an aesthetic

MMMPhhh okay RAINY CEMETERY. Spike and Julia. She draws a gun, explains why she didn't meet him that day, and then hugs him. Now Spike is not *great* at showing his emotions but he literally just stands there. Maybe it's a stoic expression of how sad he is that he never knew she still cared, when it seemed like she dumped him. Maybe he's finally getting some closure on his past. Maybe the past doesn't mean the same thing it used to. (I'll elaborate later on this).

They go to Annie's to get stocked up on stuff, she lets them know she denied knowing Spike was still alive and hey also the Van was assassinated by Vicious and his guys so. Watch out for that. Then her shop is surrounded by Vicious' guys and she dies :(. Spike and Julia escape to the roof, but she's shot and dies in Spike's arms, and says 'it's all just a dream' :(. (Refer to: Spike living in a dream of the past).

Anyway Jet SAID he wasn't gunna go after Spike but. Jet's parental instincts kick in (oh yeah he was shot in the leg earlier btw) and he goes to Sitting Bull to see if he knows where Spike is. He basically says yeah Spike's about to die somewhere. (I want to do a further analysis on all the Sitting Bull scenes.) Well conveniently Spike returns to the Bebop, eats, tells his story about a tiger-striped cat. (At one point Jet asks if he's going there for her, and Spike is like well she's dead now so whatever). THEN we get to the scene where Faye is like HEY YOU CAN'T GO OFF AND DIE ASSHOLE and he's like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I 've been living in the past so I might as well see if I'm living now. (**This will play heavily into my interpretation of the ending). Faye is pissed, shoots the ceiling and he goes off to the syndicate headquarters to fuck shit up.

He basically John Wicks his way through the building, Shin dies, he and Vicious have the big boss battle and whatnot. He kills Vicious and stumbles back out down the stairs and says "Bang!" and collapses. We pan to the sky and see a star fade away.

Well that explains the plot … now here's what I think happened!!! ALSO may I mention, anon - you picked up on something I feel like a lot of people miss out on. Why *did* Spike go back to kill Vicious if Julia was already dead??

Basically, once it became clear that anyone associated with Vicious was being killed, Spike knew they'd hunt him down, and they weren't beneath Kill-Billing their way to him, (i.e. systematically destroying this companions to get to him). And for all his apparent indifference - he really loves his new found family. Jet is literally like an older brother to him. Ed is a little sister. Ein is well … a very good boy. And Faye? Well the relationship is complicated, and I'm not going to get into the 69,420 reasons I ship them here, but I think it is beyond argument that he really does care for her, even if that just in a filial way. He didn't want the syndicates to kill them for their association to him, or in order to get to him. So he did what he had to do to protect them. *AND NO* I am not saying that he didn't love Julia. But it was clear that his desire was no longer to run away with her. I think he genuinely loved and cared about her, but at some point between Jupiter Jazz Pt 2 and now, he accepted that their time together was over. Now he had a new raison d'etre, which is the Bebop.

I think at this point Spike has 'woken up' to reality (as he implied to Faye in their final conversation in episode 26: "Look at these eyes. One of them is a fake, because I lost it in an accident. Since then, I have been seeing the past in one eye, and the present in the other. I had believed that what I saw was not all of reality...I thought I was watching a dream that I would never awaken from. Before I knew it, the dream was all over." (This is from the sub btw I'm too lazy to look up the dub transcript.) He wasn't going there to die, he's going to find out if he's really alive. This line is fucking cool and everything - but it's implications are multitude. I won't go into them all here but basically : what makes him alive now is that he's free from his past. He's alive because he has this new family and protecting them is all he really wants now. Spike was protecting Jet, Faye, Ed, (and Ein) by going and facing the entire syndicate, knowing that their lives would all be in danger.

SO - did Spike die? Well again - Watanabe has purposely and artfully left this open ended. Well, if we're following the symbolism from Sitting Bull, then yeah, the man is as dead as disco, and wouldn't that be a fitting ending? BUT at the same time, Spike always refers to having 'died' before (meaning when he was ambushed by the syndicate, and they all thought he died, and he pretty much did). Don't forget that in  movie (takes places roughly between episodes 22 + 23, and yes, was made AFTER the series but whatever) he like .. DIES dies. He goes to the afterlife and everything. He wakes up to find he's chilling with Sitting Bull, who's like nah it wasn't your time to die yet. So the fact Sitting Bull confirms Spike will die in the final episode, means yeah, Spike is pretty much dead.

BUT -- okay now hear me out -- could this death in the final episode be a death to his previous life? The person he was in the syndicate? Now that he's extinguished the Red Dragons for good, is it not possible that its merely *that* life which has ended? That's the optimist in me saying that, but if it keeps me from staying up all night crying, I guess it'll have to do. Watanabe definitely wants to leave it up to the viewer, so whatever you think, I feel like there's validity to it.

WELL any anon, sorry for the fucking lecture - and believe me, I could've said MUCH, MUCH more - but I enjoyed this question. I always love talking about this show so please all you fuckers feel free to message me or send an ask about anything any time. I am really slow at replying because #life'sAbitch.

Love you all.

SY,SCB <3

[su-univeralai]

GOOODDDD MORRNNNNIINNNGGGGG SUU 💛

I am here for your essay. Or yknow, just any dunebaby facts that you can spare.

*heavy breathing* oh no, she's come for my OCs exactly like she said she would.

lolol Ok, I've got bios on 9 out of 10 of my kids so far, but I wrote a quick blurb about them so hopefully you can't figure out who I didn't start until now lol. The older 4 (which 3/4 are legit characters in LOK, but tweaked to my liking) are grown-ass adults while the other 6 are probably between 14-21. So, our beloved Taang parents have been popping kids out from when they were 18 or 19 to 39 or 40 years old.

At some point I'll make a family tree for you, since most of the older dunebabies have their own families and that can be confusing. Some have more information than others, but more will be added on each of them as time goes on. I just haven't figured them out yet.

Also, gonna put a cut here, because it's a long post and I know not everyone wants to see my OCs lol.

Ok Onto the Dunebabies from oldest to youngest:

Gyatso (M) Airbender, 35: Named after Aang’s father figure, Gyatso is Toph and Aang’s first born and first of several airbending children. He has a knack for the art and excelled quickly with mastering it, narrowly falling short of beating Aang’s record of mastering airbending at 13. As he got older and his parents continued having children, he became like a father figure to the younger ones. That’s the best part about having tons of kids, right? At some point the older ones raise the younger ones and the parents can just have fun. Once Tiao Wu turned 13, Gyatso and his own wife, boyfriend, and kids moved away from home and resided in the Western Air Temple with some Air Acolytes.

Lin (F) Earthbender, 32: Lin is a straight arrow, always following the rules. Sometimes Toph’s jokes that her first born daughter is actually Katara’s because wasn’t as goofy as Gyatso and Tenzin. As kids, Lin and Tenzin butted heads like no other. They may have had a year or two when they got along, but that was when Lin was training to be a police officer and Tenzin was always out because he was dating Pema. They constantly bicker at family gatherings, but make a mean team when they spar against the other next gen kids. Their twin telepathy (yes, they are twins in my universe) comes into play and they are undefeatable. That is until the triplets becomes masters in their own right. While Lin is a talented earthbender and metalbender, she struggled with picking it up (perhaps because of Toph’s hardcore teaching style). She responded to a “more gentle approach” as Katara would say, and Aang helped her learn the basics until she was ready to take on Toph’s more intense lessons. Lin is definitely closer with Aang than she is with Toph, but goes to mom if something needs to be done quickly and under wraps. Lin works long hours as chief of the police force in republic city, so she doesn’t have much time for romance. When she finds a spare moment for intimacy, she frequents a bar that accepts everyone. She brought Songa with her before her little sis fell in love with (insert steambaby daughter name here).

Tenzin (M) Airbender, 32: Tbh Tenzin still marries Pema and has his four kids, like in LOK. Lol. Unlike the show, with the weight of the whole air nation not on his shoulders, Tenzin was not a serious kid. He played pai sho with the white lotus members and roughed it up with Lin. Tenzin had a difficult time mastering airbending, though. He lacked the spiritual connection that his father and brother easily had. He blamed being stuck with an earthbender in the womb for 9 months at his lack of skill with airbending. His masters airbending at 21 and is pumped to finally get his tattoos. Since Pema is an air acolyte, I'm saying that her parents were also acolytes, and she and Tenzin met as kids and got along really well. They started dating at 16. Tenzin wanted to wait to get his arrows before proposing to her, so they date for 5 long years as Pema cheered him on in the grueling training. Tenzin and Pema eventually move to the Northern Air Temple and kept Teo company.

Suyin (F) Earthbender, 26: Suyin was a troublemaker when she was a kid, always pranking her siblings. She spent way too much time with Sokka. At least that’s what Toph says. Her teenage years, that’s when things became dicey. With Lin on the streets as a cop and Su committing petty crimes, the two were bound to cross paths. After Lin brought her in for whay must have been the thousandth time and Toph had to bail her out, Toph sent her to the her old stomping ground: the Earth Rumble 6. Toph still had her ear in the stadium and stayed in touch with The Boulder, and she thought it’d do her some good to get beat up by other earthbenders. Su stayed with her grandparents and got the structure she needed and got her act together. She got pounded by her opponents the first few years, but she slowly moved her way up the food chain and eventually held her mother’s old title as champion. Once she turned 18, she left to travel the world, meeting up with Kya (can't decide if Kya will be a steambaby or a Sukka baby. Is there a cut name for Sukka babies?). Along the way she met Bataar and fell in love with him and together build zaofu and have all their kids from LOK.

Songa (F) Airbender, 21: The oldest of the triplets to be born. Songa is a calm spirit, she reminds Aang of Yangchen with her way of keeping the peace in their large family. She’s a true romantic like her father and catches the attention of a lot of men, but alas, her heart is won over by one of Katara and Zuko’s daughters, (insert steambaby name here lol). She sees the best in everyone and trusts a little too easily. Watch out though, if you get on her bad side or betray her trust one too many times, her mother’s sass and tongue come out and no one wants to be hit by her earthbending styled airbending. Songa is a talented bender and has a tendency to use her airbending like an earthbender, facing things head on. She can seemlessly switch between styles, but she'd prefer to take her opponents on directly.

Kera (F) Nonbender, 21: Kera is the heart of the triplets. She’s passionate like a firebender and meets conflict head-on like her mom. Being the first non-bender didn’t feel great coming from the lineage of the Avatar and Toph Beifond, strongest earthbender in the world and metalbender originator, but she found peace in being a non-bender when hearing all the stories of Sokka, Suki, Mai, Ty Lee, Teo, and their many other friends taking down bender and non-benders alike. Kera begged her parents to live in the Fire Nation to study under Mai and Ty Lee. Aang and Toph didn’t have any problems with her going, but Zuko and Katara did, fearing she (being a dunebaby) would cause mayhem in the palace. Only after swearing to Zuko that she wouldn’t make a mess did the Fire Lord allow her stay with them. During her time there, she mastered Mai and Ty Lee’s techniques and trained under the Yuyan archers. When she came home, she could beat the other two thirds of her triplets easily. Only when she teams up with the other two, can they take down Lin and Tenzin.

Choekyi (M) Airbender, 21: The last of the triplets to come be birthed. Choekyi is a free spirit, much like his father. He enjoys traveling and meeting new people. As a child (and an adult) he is easily excited and is a very charismatic guy, which gets him far with the ladies in his teens and early twenties. He’s never scared of trying new things, sometimes to his detriment, as he gets hurt a lot for someone light on his toes. His preferred method of transportation is air scooter. Choekyi gets along with Uncle Sokka the most, with his never ending jokes and letting him learn how to throw a boomerang even though he’s a bender. Choekyi spends some time in the swamp with the swamp benders just because he finds them to be hilarious and interesting. This is where he connects with his spirituality and returns to excel in airbending, and earns his tattoos.

Songa and Kera are idenitcal twins, so no one (beside Toph and Choekyi) can tell them apart until Songa earns her arrows. Choekyi looks similar to them, as he is their triplet, but since he came from a different egg, he turns out to be much taller than his sisters. Just imagine Toph's face when she feels three freakin' heartbeats along with hers. Idk if that's scientifically sound, but it's my universe, so I can say what I want lol.

Gyun (M) Nonbender, 18: He's a very musical guy. Gyun means music, but it can also mean germ or bacteria. So his older siblings make fun of him when he’s young. While his bending siblings practice and spar, he masters most musical instruments and even becomes a skilled singer. He’s a favorite of Uncle Iroh’s and spends time with him playing music and perfecting his tea making when he’s not training with Master Piandao and mastering different types of sword fighting styles. Gyun is a lover, not a fighter, and is recruited as the youngest member of the national opera company. He rises in fame, without having to reveal his high ranking connections to his family members. Gyun is a true renaissance man (you know if the renaissance existed back then). He looks up to all of his siblings and soaks in all the stories and advice his can get to perfect the art of storytelling and acting.

MeiLin (F) Nonbender, 17: MeiLin may be one of the youngest, but she’s definitely the sassiest of the bunch. With the personality like her mother, it’s no wonder she’s a bosslady even from a young age. She doesn’t take shit from anyone. While she’s the beauty of the dunebabies (but who really isn’t attractive in this family?) and can hold her poise better than any royal, from the tender age of three, she’s wanted to become the fiercest fighter in the world. After a lot of convincing, Toph and Aang let her train with Aunt Suki and learn how to fight like a Kyoshi Warrior. After she masters that, She begs her parents to send her to the Fire Nation to study under Mai and Ty Lee. By the time she’s 14, she’s already mastered the art of dagger throwing, chi blocking, and the Kyoshi warriors fighting style. Aang isn’t too pleased that she fights in tournaments like Toph did, but Toph watches every match she can get! MeiLin asks her to bet on her and they split the wealth at the end. Lin wants her youngest sister to join the police force when she turns 18, but MeiLin isn't sure she wants to enforce the law like Lin.

Tiao Wu (M) Earthbender, 14: The baby of the family, and loves it. Unlike MeiLin, Tiao Wu is a homebody and a huge mama’s boy, though really isn’t a mama’s boy in the Beifong Family? Like his name suggests, he’s a great dancer and for an earthbender, he sure is light on his toes. While Gyatso is called Twinkletoes Jr, Tiao Wu is known as the Fancy Dancer. Literally. That’s the stage name he chose for his bending dance competitions. When he’s not dancing or hanging out with Toph, he’s studying his cousin’s bending forms, wanting to incorporate it into his repertoire. Tiao Wu is also close to Aang, as he showed an early talent to be one with the spirits. As a six year old, he would meditate next to Aang and beat the freakin’ Avatar, master of all four elements and bridge between the physical and spiritual world, to the Spirit World. He’s also known to be the only human who is allowed to visit Wong Si Tong’s library there.

ALRIGHT Joy, here are some basic facts about my dunebabies universe. If you or anyone else wants to send me asks so I can more deeply construct their personalities, feel free!

[vecna]

For fandom meme-swtor?

Send me a fandom!

This one isn’t as spicy as the Dragon Age one, but I still got Wordy.

Also there’s lots of KOTFE/KOTET/etc spoilers in here, so don’t read if you don’t want to see em. (Looking at you, Chignon.)

The character(s) I first fell in love with:

My own OCs haha.

But more seriously: It was actually Darth Malgus! I was always going to play a Star Wars MMO, let’s be real. But when they started posting promo videos and cinematics for the game, my Sith-loving ass immediately gravitated to that guy haha. And then, it turned out he had the same VA as The Architect from Dragon Age, and that was it for me.

If we’re talking about companions, then it was probably Malavai Quinn. Sith Warrior was the first class I got to 50, and Quinn was the first companion that I really got overly attached to haha.

The character(s) I never expected to love as much as I do now:

Most (not all, but most) of the “new” companions that came in with KOTFE and beyond. I was initially really sour when I realized we were losing all our class storyline companions, and they were being replaced with a new crew of Lana, Theron, Koth, my mother-in-law Senya, etc. Especially when they – at the time – said we’d eventually get our class companions back, but it would be a while. So I started KOTFE sure that I would hate the new crew because I would rather have the old one…. and ended up liking them quite a lot! Mostly, lol.

The character(s) everyone else loves that I don’t:

Doc is the main one, jesus christ. If you didn’t read my last post, I just really really really do not mesh well with overly sexual and Adult Humor-y characters who scold you with a “You’re no fun.” if your OC isn’t into it. Doc is the worst example of it that I’ve ever encountered. I always play a male JK, and the fact nearly all of his convos amount to, “Boy, you and me are going to be up to our eyeballs in vagina when this war ends, amirite?” “You don’t want that? Come on, the Jedi Code doesn’t say you can’t FUCK, live a little.” “You’re no fun. Well, more for me.” drives me NUTS. This combined with how he interacts with Kira just does me in. Shoves him out an airlock.

Dark Side Jaesa is another big one, albeit mainly for OOC reasons. I just hate the fact that she even exists, really. I get the appeal of a story where a Sith corrupts a Jedi to the Dark Side, but the way she does a total 180 into gross hedonism while Serving You always just makes me cringe. Plus there’s the fact that straight dudebro gamers are really nasty with her, and she’s the main companion I always see men put into the slave bikini outfit, and just yikes.

Also just a lot of one-off NPCs that everyone goes crazy for and ships their OCs with, but I  constantly forget who they even are lol. Attros Finn comes to mind. I don’t hate them! Just don’t get the appeal I guess.

The character(s) I love that everyone else hates:

Lord Scourge, although I’m not sure he’s really hated as much anymore. I just remember at launch, when all of the overly invested Revan stans absolutely HATED him because of what he did in the Revan novel, and then flooded the tags with vitriol over being “stuck” with him as a Knight, and having to hear about Revan in his companion convos. It was really, really tiresome! Maybe it’s because I never really cared that deeply about Revan as my personal character, but I could not understand the backlash.

Anyway, Lord Scourge is my favorite companion in the game by a long shot. I love the conversations you can have with him about the Jedi vs Sith, and I love the mutually respectful tone those conversations take. (Where other Bioware companions who disagree with you have a tendency to just go, “You’re wrong.” and shut you down.) The fact that he’s so tied in with the plot just makes me love him more, really.

The character(s) I used to love but don’t any longer:

Cytharat, Koth and Theron mostly. Although this takes a bit of explaining, and is a bit Discourse-y – because I really appreciate them as characters, but their role and Bioware’s decisions with them is what made me no longer love them.Here’s the thing: Bioware has a bad habit of introducing male characters that are bisexual, and then having them betray you, leading to situations where they either get murdered or vanish from the narrative entirely. Meanwhile, bisexual women like Lana are untouched and around forever.

I was overjoyed when I first saw Cytharat. Y'all know I’m a ho for purebloods, and the fact that he was Malgus’ apprentice was fascinating to me – and then he turned out to be a bi romance. I got very hyped for him, only to find out he dies like 5 minutes later – or if you save him, he’s never seen again. Huge letdown.

Koth was the first character I fell in love with of the new KOTFE crew – I even initiated a romance with him! – but it quickly became obvious there’s no way to play the expansion without him turning on you judgementally at some point or another. And then, hey big surprise, you can kill him or else he’s never seen again.

Theron I’ve loved since we first got to know him in the Forged Alliances content, but that whole storyline where he seemingly betrays you out of nowhere, only to later reveal he didn’t actually, idk. And then, once again, you either kill him or he disappears from the story. It felt like a weirdly shoehorned in plot for shock value, and robbed us of a second bi MOC character.

You see the trend here? I want to love these characters, but Bioware continually electing to do this shit with bi dudes is tiresome and makes me unwilling to invest any interest in the characters anymore.

The character(s) I would totally smooch:

None.

The character(s) I’d want to be like:

None really come to mind? I just want to be a Jedi, come on.

The character(s) I’d slap:

Hunter all day every day.

The pairing(s) that I love:

Haha, this question is hard, because most of the SWTOR ships I’m invested in are between my OCs and my friends’ OCs.

However.

SCOURGE / KNIGHT IS THE BIG ONE, THE ULTIMATE, THE ALL-TIME FAVORITE. It’s really hard to describe just how much I love this ship, and just how much time and energy I’ve invested into it over the past… 8 years wow……….. To the point of being almost territorial. And it’s also near impossible for me to talk about why I love it, because the version I ship is so personalized with my specific Jedi Knight, especially since it had to live exclusively in headcanon land for so long. Scourge is, more or less, my Knight’s support pillar and the thing that grounds him and keeps him humble, in a world where my Knight is surrounded by people who expect him to be a pure flawless messiah. But, I mean. How can you have a man look at your character and say, “I’ve waited 300 years to see your face.” and not immediately ship it. And then I finally got vindicated after all these years when it was made canon!

I really love Arcann / Knight for a lot of the same reasons as the above, but I just really adore his one (1) romance convo haha. Granted, yes he did a lot of fucked up things, but I was so grateful when he had like… a Zuko-esque redemption. Where he comes to your character and firmly believes he doesn’t deserve forgiveness, and especially doesn’t deserve affection, and is instead met with acceptance and a chance to grow and heal. That’s the good shit.

Others:

Lana / Warrior and Lana / Inquisitor are my particular jam. I endlessly enjoy the mutual respect between Lana and those particular PCs.

Malavai Quinn / Sith Warrior is a longtime fave, and although I DO love him with a female Warrior, I really do with he’d been an option for dudes as well. And I feel the same in reverse about Vette / Warrior – I do like her with a male Warrior, and it’s so sweet and wholesome and endearing, but man I wish she’d been an option for female Warriors.

I ship Risha with every woman – especially Vette and Sumalee – and will be salty until my grave that Risha / f!Smuggler isn’t possible, because I love Risha with the Smuggler but she gives me powerful WLW vibes.

Agent / Watcher Two is also a lowkey favorite, but I ALSO wish it could be done with a female Agent instead. Same with Agent / Raina Temple.

Agent / Vector is very sweet, but again, I will be salty until my grave that it couldn’t be done with a male Agent.

Can you guys sense a running theme here?

Finally: NGL I love Valkorion / Senya, even though that ended in pure disaster.

And people around here used to ship Keeper / Lokin, and tbh, I still kinda love it lol.

The pairing(s) that I despise:

In general terms, I fucking hate every single romance that involves the male PC romancing his padawan or underling, especially since most of them seem like very young girls. I don’t know why this is so pervasive in the game, but yikes Bioware. Consular/Nadia is the worst offender, but they’re all just cringe central for me.

But the big one is Agent / Hunter. This would have gotten me run off Tumblr back in the day, but god I hate this pairing. I mentioned in the last post that I just will never enjoy ships where the two characters actively want to murder each other, but. This just gets magnified for me with Agent/Hunter, where all the mind control and blatant abuse comes into play – and people have a tendency to write noncon rape fic of the two and present it as ~sexy rivalmance~, which is awful. Add to this the “no homo” reveal where Hunter turns out to be a woman, after getting everyone hyped about a dude flirting with their male character the whole game, and it’s just a huge No Thanks from me all around.

And for largely personal reasons I just don’t like seeing female Knights with Scourge. Listen, for YEARS  I was treated like a pariah for shipping Scourge with my male Knight, while being unable to find Scourge content that didn’t have a female Knight plastered all over him. Even though he wasn’t even a romance option one way or another, the way the fandom treated m!Knight/Scourge with disdain while ardently shipping f!Knight/Scourge was offputting as shit. And then, after years, he was made a romance option for women AND men, and all these awful people acted like they were robbed, the way people reacted when Kaidan and Jaal were made bi in Mass Effect. I’m so tired. I never want to see Scourge with a female Knight again.

[keeloves]

From Paws to Thumbs Review

 As a belated valentine’s present to my boyfriend @disneyfanforever3 I am going to be writing a lengthy review of his fanfiction that he wrote on another website called deviant art. I will leave links if you are interested in checking it out. I have also decided I will be reviewing this chapter by chapter and then summarizing it up at the end. This way I can details correct that I didn’t in my video and so it will be nice and long and thorough. Also sorry if there are spoilers.

Chapter One kind of starts out slowly but that’s okay because we are having Scamp and Angel established as characters. Chapter one takes place after the ending Lady and the Tramp Scamp’s Adventure after Angel gets adopted. These two love to explore every possible chance they get. However Lady and Tramp don’t approve of them exploring. Scamp relationship with his parents more specifically Tramp reminds me of Triton and Ariel/Ariel and Melody. Both Tramp and Ariel lied to their children about their background and they have similar personalities but with slight differences. Both Angel and Scamp are feel like outsiders to their families but it is made even worse because of Scamp’s three annoying Bitch Sisters (See what what I did there?) Annette, Nicolette and Danielle because of how they always bully both Scamp and Angel. Lady isn’t so bad but she can be annoying but Tramp irritates the hell out of me in this chapter and that is mainly due to him making promises he never keeps, his hypocrisy and him of all people should understand Angel the best. Worst of all after Scamp and Angel bust curfew really badly and trying to reason with their parents Scamp over hears his parents talking about how they think about getting rid of Scamp and Angel simply because they can’t handle them. This really tragic especially for Angel because of how she bounced around from five families and doesn’t want to lose what she has and this is terrible for Scamp because this might mean he will be separated from Angel and thanks to his sisters bullying him he all ready feels unloved.

Chapter 2 also starts off somewhat slow but that is okay because in this chapter we are introduced to the third main character from this story Patch. Patch like Angel and Scamp loves to explore and go places. He loves his family dearly and his parents love him dearly but he also feels like he is treated unfairly because of how his parents treat his brother Lucky. Lucky like Scamp’s three annoying ass sisters loves to antagonize Patch. He bullies Patch, calls him mean names and constantly excludes from adventures that he goes on with his other two siblings Rolly and Penny. Rolly and Penny don’t bully Patch but they also just stand by while Lucky is bullying Patch and say nothing. Well one night after Lucky got home late during roll call for bed time Pongo pulls Lucky a side to talk to him about his behavior and why Patch shouldn’t go to dangerous places. This reminds me of Ariel and how Triton is always scolding her about going up to the surface. Long story short Patch and Pongo argue and Patch feels defeated. To make matters worse his brother Lucky convinces Patch that their parents will give Patch away. Now we have three dogs who love to explore and they feel lost alone and a little betrayed by their families. The Dalmatians move to America for a few reasons. One Anita and Darling are sisters in this story and they want to be closer to family and two to be safe from Cruella and her two idiot Hench men.

Chapter 3 is about how the Ratcliff’s move to New England to be safe from Cruella. They travel there by boat. In this chapter things start to pick up and move along at a faster. This is where Scamp and Angel meet Patch. The three of them instantly form a bond. Well after the three pups  argued with their parents mainly Pongo and Tramp and not feeling like their parents are listening. They go and explore this house. This house belongs to a magical Wizard named Chris (Yes the author/my boyfriend inserted himself into this story all though he shows up in the next chapter) Anyways Scamp, Angel and Patch explore this beautiful house. One room catches their attention it is the magic room. This room contains a crystal ball, and a bunch of magical potions. Well they accidentally knock a magic potion over not knowing it is a magic potion. The three dogs drink it because they are thirsty and believe it to be milk. After drinking this they feel weird and fall into a deep deep sleep and end up transforming into humans.

Chapter 4 This is the Chapter where we meet the narrator/Wizard Chris. He is is in early 20s. Like any other morning Wizard Chris went down to make himself some breakfast that is until he gets side tracked by some snoring coming from his magic room. There he finds three naked children. He was not to pleased to see three naked children so he quickly covered them in robes the color of their collars. Wizard Chris has his house located far on the country side and is very much a hermit. He only leaves his house for essential items like groceries and he only talks to people when he absolutely has too. Yeah he ain’t real social is he. Well from this chapter on little did Wizard Chris know his life would be changed forever by three very special friends Scamp, Angel and Patch. Also the three children freak out for a bit because they changed from dogs to humans. over night. (BTW yes Wizard Chris gives them clothes in fact I believe he posted those pics on Tumblr if not I will give you a link once I am done with this review.)

Chapter 5.

The parents Tramp, Lady, Peridita and Pongo all try and make up with the three pups. However they are super nervous of what they are going to say. Only problem with them trying to make up with the children is that the children are gone and the parents have no clue where they are. All four parents are worried about the kids. Pongo tries to go an makes amends with Patch. In this chapter Pongo and Peridita remind me of King Triton and Sebastian  from the episode of Little Mermaid episode called Charmed. In that episode Ariel discovers a magnifying glass which she calls a  “Bigger Mcjigger” but when her father sees it he gets angry and destroys it. Later on in the episode he is practicing his apology to Ariel which is what Pongo is doing when he is preparing to talk for Patch. Both Sebastian and Peridita remind Pongo and Triton that an apology that needs to come from the heart. This chapter is probably is one of the more fun chapters because we have worried parents, three run away children and best of all Cruella is plotting her escape from insane asylum. Cruella is one of the smartest villains ever. Her escape plan involves her stealing a news paper, faking injuries and knocking out one of the guards with the rolled up news paper and then stealing his uniform. She has to wear a hat to hide her skunk colored hair because well that would blow her cover if she didn’t. She also locks the guard in her cell. “Cruella Devil Cruella Devil” if she doesn’t scare you no evil thing will.

Chapter 6

In this chapter the three puppies now turned into human children thanks to the potion learn how to act like humans. Which meaning to walk like humans, eat like humans and refraining from their dog instincts like chasing squirrel  up trees. If you guys were wonder if there were any negative side affects to this potion I am afraid there is. All three children fall ill in this chapter but luckily these are common sicknesses in children. Scamp has measles, Angel has the flu and Patch has the Chicken Pox. All though for a moment Patch thinks he caught something from a chicken lol which I thought was cute. I also learned in this chapter you don’t give sick children belles because then they become annoying but still enduring. However before they got sick the four parents were looking for them. Perdita and Lady could sense that Scamp Angel and Patch were their children while Pongo and Tramp laughed. This chapter also shows that mothers tend to be more in tune with their children. Also Wizard Chris feels like an older brother taking care of his three younger siblings and plus his “Hard shell” begins to crack when the three children become ill. (Chasing Squirrels up trees happens in the next chapter.

Chapter 7

The children have recovered from their illnesses and they along with Wizard Chris had a fun day at the park and he of course has to teach them how to act like normal children as in un teaching them from their dogie instinct. However this chapter is where things start to get more interesting because “Wizard Chris” meets this “frail old woman” who some located the big mansion that the Wizard Chris lives at. She was tired because she walked in red stilettos yeah she ain’t real smart. Well it turns out that frail old woman was Cruella. She went and stole the magic book from that Wizard Chris owns. In this chapter she puts together her own team of Villains. She steals a potion that makes animals talk. This chapter she meets Buster an old friend turned enemy of Tramp. Cruella and Buster end up making a deal to help each other get revenge. Cruella mainly wants revenge on Patch since Patch is the one defeated her and Buster wants revenge on Tramp for stealing his “Girl” (Not Lady) and running off and getting married and he wants revenge on Scamp for abandoning him. If this happens Buster will be given the chance to be a human forever and he will have money and power. She also meets the Siamese cats as in the cats that belong to Aunt Sara. She also makes a deal with the cats by promising them a life supply of Fish food and milk. They are kind of group thinkers.

Chapter 8

This chapter is probably one of my favorites because it digs into Angel’s background and how she became a street dog and why she changed home five times before getting permanently adopted by the Darlings. In case anyone is wondering what Angel’s parents look like this them and Angel of course. Her mom is the golden retriever and her dad is the Pomeranian.  https://www.deviantart.com/azulalover1/art/Angel-and-her-Parents-764104159. Anyways a brief summery of Angel’s background and how she ended up a junk yard dog for years. Once Angel was a happy little puppy with two parents just playing in a junk yard well one day this dog catcher came for the dogs. The dogs tried to run away as fast as they can but Angel’s dad accidentally got ran over by the dog catcher vehicle and her mom ended up getting her paw caught in a rail road track and got hit by a train. The poor thing seeing her parents die no wonder she keeps having nightmares. The best part about this chapter for me though is that when she wishes she would have died and Wizard Chris, Patch and Scamp but mainly Scamp reassure that she is loved and that her new family (The Darlings) won’t put her out on the street again.

Chapter 9.

Okay I am not going to lie I am going to boost my own ego here a bit. See my boyfriend wrote Paws to Thumbs long before we ever met and in this chapter he was originally going to have Scamp being chased through out the woods. I was wondering if he would consider having a dynamic between the two boys Patch and Scamp because I haven’t seen them interact that much and he also wish he could find a way to include Patch more. Well thanks to my suggestion this chapter was posted later than expected and went through a major rewrite to include Patch more and incorporate him more into the story. I really love this chapter not just because I helped inspire it but because the two boys get a chance to bond and because they have a lot in common such as being well off in families and being born into luxuries that Angel did not have until she got adopted, they both feel like their parents don’t listen to them and they both have siblings that give them a hard time because they are jealous of Patch and Scamp and they love to explore. Anyways, the three Children and Wizard Chris are the park on a beautiful day just playing until Scamp hears a strange noise. Well it turned out to be a “bear” growling at him. It soon started to chase Scamp. Patch tries to help Scamp by jumping on the “bear’s” back but ends up getting thrown off towards Scamp and the boys are chased through the woods. Scamp is almost kidnapped by Buster (which he doesn’t recognize Buster because is in his human form not dog form) and if you are wondering why I put air quotes around bear its because the bear is “Reggie” another dog that is so scary even Buster is afraid of him and even before Reggie got transformed into an actual bear he looked like a dog bear hybrid. Luckily Patch knocks out Scamp (No pun intended since Patch has a brother named Lucky) I love this chapter because the two boys bond and open up to each other about their families and how they feel their parents don’t understand them. A side from being almost killed and kidnapped in this chapter this chapter was awesome. (There are more details but as I said I will be leaving a link below so you can go check out the fanfiction and I promised Chris I wouldn’t give too many spoilers lol)

Chapter 10

This chapter isn’t quite as exciting but this chapter warms my heart because I ship Scamp and Angel so much they are such an adorable couple and in this chapter I am reminded of Cory and Topanga because both couples confess they are in love with each other at age 14. Angel tells Scamp she is in love with him but while he is sleeping. Another reason this chapter warms my heart is because this shows how much these children have come to love and care about each other. First Angel has nightmares but those stop because Wizard Chris put a spell on her to stop the nightmares. Now Scamp keeps has nightmares one about being eaten by that strange bear and the one where he over hears his parents talking about sending him away (The second one did happen as discussed in the first chapter) however before he can tell Angel about the second dream because they over heard Patch having a bad dream and that dream was about Cruella. Angel and Scamp help Patch feel better by staying up with him and talking about the nightmares and Scamp then tells Angel about his second nightmares. I adore this chapter because the kids grow closer together and share a deeper bond and that is beautiful. Well shortly the nice moments are ruined between the children when a grumpy Wizard Chris gets out of bed and disguises himself as an ugly old hag as sweet revenge for waking him from his “beauty sleep”. However another reason I love this chapter very much is that we get a bit of back ground on the narrator (Wizard Chris’s background) about how he ran away from home when he was 10 years old and he claimed he was bullied and that his dad didn’t understand him. This shows that these four ar kindred spirits. This also shows that not only did these kids need Wizard Chris but it shows that Wizard Chris needed these kids too. In this chapter it is also revealed a magic mirror that Scamp sees in the magic room. The only problem is that the magic mirror shows Scamp’s reflection half and half. As in half human half dog. Oh and the last thing about this chapter is that Scamp finally confesses he is in love with Angel all though he doesn’t say it to Angel and  Wizard Chris has to tell him. I love this chapter so much.

Chapter 11

At this point the Scamp, Angel and Patch have been humans for a little over two months and Wizard Chris has found away to change them back into dogs but there are a few problems none of the children want to go back to being dogs. Wizard Chris is trying to convince them to turn back to dogs and make them go back to their families but the only problem with that is he is being hypocritical in this chapter since he refuses to work out his issues with his family and thankfully the kids call him out on this. While the four argue about whether or not they should go back to their families. The villians in this story finally make a reappearance. Buster, Cruella and the two Siamese Cats (Si and Am) that are now humans and the three are being reprimanded by Cruella for not being able to kidnap the children. Buster’s plan of revenge is to have Tramp’s family work for him for all eternity (Okay so I added that in for dramatic affect) and Cruella has plans to still make a coat out of them (I think that is still the plan) or she plans to enslave all the puppies. (I am sure my lovely boyfriend will correct me if I got stuff wrong lol)

Chapter 12

The kids ran away into the woods just until they were out of Wizard Chris’s sight and this where Scamp reveals the information about the magic mirror to Patch and Angel and how about the they see their reflections. When the Patch and Angel look into the mirrors themselves they like Scamp also see their reflection split in half as in half dog half human and this makes them more confused then ever. The mirror reminds me of the mirror in Harry Potter the magic mirrors reflect the individual's heart’s desire. Oh and Angel almost tells Scamp that she is in love with him but of course that nice moment had to be ruined by the bear “Reggie”, Buster Cruella and Si and Am. The children were so scared they ran for their lives they got separated and didn’t even realize where they were running to until it was too late. Patch ran into Cruella his worst nightmare. She put a spell on him to make him tell her where the other Dalmatians were. Patch tried to resist telling his family wearabouts but couldn’t because the magic was too strong and he gave in. Angel were being harassed by the two Siamese Cats the two ladies chased Angel and captured her and tied her up with a rope and Angel tried to escape but couldn’t. Scamp is captured by Buster. Scamp runs from and he thinks he is free from Buster only for Buster to capture him again. Buster tries to manipulate Scamp into going with him but luckily Scamp isn’t going in so easily. Well now to review Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Finally we get to see The Darlings, Rodger and Anita in this chapter because it feels like forever since we we have seen them this also means we see Pongo, Perdita, Lady and Tramp. This chapter is about to get real interesting because Wizard Chris meets the families of the three children officially. He goes and explains everything and after he is done he has to do a bit of convincing to prove he is telling the truth. Jim is the one who needs convincing the most. Well in his defense if a random man showed up to my house claiming he was a wizard with three dogs that had turned into human children I would be skeptical as hell too. Finally Jim believes him after Chris makes the animals talk. If the four humans as in the Darlings and Anita and Rodger didn’t believe in real magic before well they are about to believe now. Anita and Rodger become extra terrified when they find out that Cruella not only escaped the insane asylum and discovered where they were now living. Wizard Chris tries to stop her but he gets trapped in a bubble and he can only get out if someone from the outside knows the spell. Buster threatens revenge on Tramp by taking Scamp and because Tramp steals his girl.  Oh and the main characters. Oh and some other dogs get turned into humans and those dogs are Tramp, Lady, Perdita, Pongo, Tramp’s sisters Rolly, Penny and Lucky. (I am getting slightly lazy with this review lol)

Chapter 14

In this Chapter the children’s parents get turned into human by Cruella and luckily they were wearing clothes since they didn’t drink a potion. Angel frees Wizard Chris from this green bubble thing. It didn’t take long for Angel to escape since she grew up a street dog and knew how to get herself out of any tricky situation so growing up a street dog in this case worked to her advantage so her and Wizard Chris to try and go and find the others. Patch and Scamp were trying to negotiate with their stuborn siblings to help them. With Patch Penny was willing to help Rolly had to be convinced to help because he wanted food like usual and Lucky was annoyed with Patch because Lucky taunts Patch all the time. Tramp’s sister were being their usually bitchy selves. I love this chapter because it has one of my favorite moments! Patch and Scamp finally stand up to their bratty siblings. Scamp shoves his three sisters and Patch punched Lucky in the eye so yay! Finally Lucky admits his jealously to Patch and Lucky is jealous because he feels Patch is the favorite. Annette, Collette and Danielle finally confess their jealously to Scamp. They are jealous of Scamp and Angel because the two aren’t afraid to be themselves and for a long time the girls though they only had their looks to rely on. I find this chapter to be one of the more exciting chapters. Buster and Tramp full on fist fight the the bratty siblings are put in their place and it is awesome. (If Reviews beome a little skimpy I am trying not to give too much away as I said there will be a link after I am done reviewing this fanficition) Oh and Cruella destroys Wizard Chris’s magic carpet but before that he turns Reggie into a mouse. Plus as a mouse he probably won’t eat any humans or at least try and he was hella scary as a dog.

Chapter 15.

Buster tries to manipulate Scamp one more time. He tells Scamp that they could be human forever and that Scamp wouldn’t have to deal with Tramp’s lies. Scamp considers this for a split second and he comes to his senses. Scamp made that mistake once and wasn’t going to do it again. He loved his family and his father very much. Cruella Dev Vil tries to manipulate Angels by offering her what she wants and that is to bring her parents back to life. Magic can do several things but it can’t bring the dead back to life. Cruella tries to kill Angel but fortunately fails well fortunately to Scamp and Angel while unfortunately to Cruella. Scamp almost dies by falling out of a tree but luckily Wizard Chris has just enough magic to keep the tree but unfortunately due to the spell on his hands he wasn’t able to hold it long. Anyways Angel declines Cruella’s offer and realizes that she has a family that truly loves her. Once again Scamp was this close to telling Angel he is madly in love with her but that doesn’t happen for two reasons the villains interrupt them and because Angel isn’t sure they will make it out of their situation alive. Buster tries to kill Scamp and Angel but misses because he gets hit in the back of the head. Cruella tries to kill them but thankfully she misses because Patch jumps on her back. He tries to steal the book back but can’t he rips out a page he chants a spell hoping to harm Cruella but all he does is grow a dinky little flower. Cruella ties the three kids up and tries to kill the once more but fails. WIzard Chris wakes up frees the children and Buster and Cruella start to fight.

Chapter 16

This is the second to last chapter and it is kind of sad but I have enjoyed writing this review just like I have reading the fanfiction. I love this chapter because the main four characters bond and the kids learn how to do magic. They use a magic spell to defeat Buster and Cruella. However this spell requires four wizards because it has to have the four elements which are water, fire, earth and air. While the four Wizard Chris, Scamp Angel, and Patch have come up with a plan to defeat Buster and Cruella the two are arguing on who gets to kill who. This chapter reminded me of Halloween Town 2 when Marni wants to reopen the portal and her family and her one Goblin friend Luke who is not a warlock helps her anyway because he is her friend and he believes. The three children are not Wizards but they believe in magic they love each other. Oh and I forgot to mention that Cruella had split the ground earlier and turned into lava. Scamp tries to Angel he is in love but she wants him to hold off because at that moment life felt too short. The four defeated the two villains once and for all. However I would argue their own vanity and greed killed them. They fell in the lava. Scamp tried to save Buster but failed. When Cruella died her dark magic wore off and didn’t last forever. Si and Am turned back into cats and all of the magic Cruella performed was undone and the magic carptet was restored. If this chapter taught me anything revenge is never the answer and your own greed could litterally end up killing you. Also everyone makes up with their families and Lady and Angel have a beautiful moment together. Another one of my favorite moments is that Wizard Chris realizes how much he loves the children and the parents come to and understanding with their children. Oh and Scamp’s three sisters and Patch’s brother Lucky all get grounded for a month for bullying.

Chapter 17. 

Well people we have arrived at the final chapter. Wizard Chris heads back to go make up with his family. He is very sad because he has grown to love the children and he was going to miss them so finally he heads back to his family and at first they don’t recognize him because he is now a grown adult in his early 20s and not the 10 year old little boy that ran away. I also forgot to mention that Wizard Chris lied to the children about his family not looking for him because they did he just used magic to hide himself. The one reason his parents recognize and know that it is him is because of a scar he has on his right eyebrow. This chapter really warms my heart because Wizard Chris gets to make amends with his family gets them back in his life while also gaining a new family with the three children and their families. The three children decide to stay human so they can have a life of freedom and joy. They might have been born dogs but will live out the rest of their lives as humans. Also Wizard Chris moves his house along with the Darling’s house to be next the plantations where Anita and Rodger live along with the Dalmatians. Angel decides to live with Wizard  Chris, Jr is happy he gets a big brother and Patch is happy too! The three dogs now turned humans can live their life of freedom and still keep their family.

Well this review was going up later than I intended but none the less this was a belated Valentine’s day present for awesome boyfriend @disneyfanforever3. I really loved this fan-fiction because it shows that no matter what trouble you are having with family they will always love you and care for you. I also liked how Tramp developed in this series and I am happy he got a nice moment with Angel. He realizes that he should have understood her the most just because how similar their back grounds were. Also Scamp and Angel finally pronounce their love for each other and it makes me so happy! I hope I got some details right because for some chapters I skimmed and tried to give you the gist. Anyways here is a link to his fanfiction if you want to go check it out. https://www.deviantart.com/azulalover1/gallery/62089614/From-Paws-To-Thumbs 

Also I want state we have officially been dating for a month but we both think one month anniversaries are stupid but I just felt like sharing that. Anyways I hope enjoy this review. Oh and I should mention that Patch always felt like Lucky got special treatment. Well the reason Pongo and Perdita were easy on Lucky was because for Lucky was dead for a few moments when he was born hence why he was named Lucky.