#and also announced it as like a demonstration and a fight when it's gonna be a chill lil event with music and poetry and art

[doppelnatur]

happy fight day women <3

[paper-gold-theories]

Say, what do you think Goldheart and Flug's relationship is like if Flug didn't become a villain and worked as a scientist for P.E.A.C.E instead? It is like that Goldheart is a bit older by maybe three years or so and was already a hero by the time Miss Heed saw him on television. Would that mean him and Flug would have never met? Considering that Flug didn't really continue becoming super villain. How would they even meet? What do you think is gonna happen in that scenario?

P.E.A.C.E. Scientist Flug AU (featuring some PaperGold)

I theorized that since there is a villain school there would also be a hero school, my headcanon it's called P.E.A.C.E. Academy School of Heroes.

In the hero school the heroes like GoldHeart would be assigned heroic missions under the watchful eyes of their teachers and mentors and can go on solo missions or fight villains on their own as long as they hit a certain criteria or get a certificate after a stage of their training in school.

The villain school should be the same for Flug.

---

If Flug ended up working as a P.E.A.C.E. scientist, in the begining he would definitely do work such as invent/manufacture/improve weapons, serums to give powers, ect.

Meanwhile, GoldHeart would still be looking for a hero with super powers and/or anything that can be used to mind-control villains in order to end Villainy forever and made an announcement to give the P.E.A.C.E. heroes, scientist an opportunity to pitch their ideas and in return give a position to be a member or employed under The Golden Rule.

Flug sees this as a good opportunity to advance his career so he submits his proposal to The Golden Rule about using his thesis on altering human emotions (that he created while he was in middle school) to create a formula to end villany forever.

Shortly he was shortlisted and was scheduled to give The Golden Rule his pitch and show them a demonstration of a prototype formula for The Golden Rule.

----

GoldHeart has never met Flug before this, but has heard many positive things about Flug's work from the higher-ups and other heroes despite only just started working as a scientist a few months ago. As well as negative things from some heroes such as him being weirdo nerd.

When first met Flug during the day he gives his pitch to him and his team, he was absolutely smitten at the sight of the cutie.

He thought that even if Flug's pitch and formula ends up completely garbage he will de initely hit him up afterwards for a date.

----

Flug starts his pitch on how his formula works and afwerwards demonstration of a prototype of the formula he created with a volunteer test subject.

GoldHeart was absolutely impressed and so was The Golden Rule and decided right then and then that Flug's pitch is the the best and awards him the position as The Golden Rule scientist.

____

Afterwards Flug got a lab in The Golden Rule and continues to work to perfect the formula to GoldHeart's specifications. And eventually ends up dating GoldHeart not to long afterwards.

When he was asked by GoldHeart he was caught off guard:

GoldHeart, smirks: Cute and smart is there anything you can't do?

Flug, flattered: Aww thank you...*flustered* wait what?

_____

Afterwards even though Flug was only supposed to be a scientist GoldHeart wants Flug to be a hero as well. So one day, GoldHeart asks Flug if he ever cosidered becoming a hero. Flug said he did try to apply a few times for hero training however they rejected him because he doesn't "fit the image of a hero" and because he won't get powerful superpowers if they give him the serums available after they did the tests on him.

GoldHeart responds that a lot of heroes got where there are not just because of their image or skill set but because they have connections and know someone or (or alot of times because they are rich).

And GoldHeart says he believes that Flug can become an exceptional hero. so he will vouch for him to attend hero training.

Flug was touched and agrees.

----

So Flug ended taking hero training while he is doing his job as a scientist. And despite Flug believing that he should complete hero training first, and learn the theories, basics and scenarios fist,

GoldHeart believes in "learning on the job" will help Flug become a hero faster and was able to convince Flug, desp te his hesitance to go heroic missions and fight crime and villains.

____

The Golden Rule Members aren't to thrill of Flug being a part of their team, they were already not too thrilled that their team leader dating the Flug who although has done alot to benefit and help out their team, thinks GoldHeart can do better than a nerdy weirdo who won't benefit their leader's reputation, which also might affect their reputation because they are in his team. Having Flug as a part of The Golden Rule would definitely affect their image of being the most popular, cool, and trendy hero group in P.E.A.C.E.

However GoldHeart has already made up his mind and there was no way of changing it and one death glare was able to silence any protest they have about Flug. (So they would often keep their opinions to themselves or just talk among themselves when GoldHeart was not around)

Other heros are also jealous of Flug's fast progress despite having no superpowers and not having an image of a cool hero. And some even believed he only got so far only because he was dating GoldHeart.

So Flug will have to prove to everyone his capabilities as a hero.

----

GoldHeart supports Flug every step of the way and is quick to vouch and defend him and silence any falsen rumors spread a out him.

He says things may be rough at the start and things will get better. And its just a matter of time before others sees how great he is as a hero just like him.

___

(Note: If Flug and GoldHeart were dating but did not have the capability if a hero, GoldHeart would not allow Flug to be apart of The Golden Hero, but if Flug wanted to use GoldHeart's fame and to do his own thing, such as starting his own business, he would allow it and encourage it.)

_____

Additionally Flug never went to Black Hat Institute so Miss Heed never met Flug and was never able to steal his thesis.

Hence, she was unable to join The Golden Rule, but despite was still able to become a popular heroine at P.E.A.C.E. (but was still less popular as she foes not have Flug's mind controlling formula to get people to obsessively love her.)

How she managed to become a popular heroine is similar to Villainous: through her father's money and and connections and her agent/community manger Anana Pina helping to maintain her popularity.

During fights her father also hired strong heroes to be her sidekicks to fight and do all the work for her while she gets all the credit and recognition. Something like her dynamic with Omega and Coyote or also something like this (below):

(image source)

As she does not have the mind controlling perfume she also did not apply to get powers to complement the perfume (see theory) hence in this AU, she does not have superpowers and relies on money to get ahead and often takes credit for other people's work because of her laziness.

----

Similar to the other heroes, Miss Heed is jealous of Flug despite being similar to her having no super powers as well as his relationship with GoldHeart thinking "THAT SHOULD BE ME!!"

And would glare seethingly at him every time she crosses paths with Flug.

Miss Heed would definitely spread false rumors mouth about him on social media if she could however there was a strict rule in P.E.A.C.E. not to bad mouth any heroes (as it would affect the organization's reputation if they do) and anyone who does so would face disciplinary action from the board (GoldHeart who would not take to kindly to anyone spreading false rumors about his boyfriend), hence she results to complaining and bad mouthing Flug to other heroes and the people in her circle such as her sidekicks, assistants, agent and her hero "friends".

And other methods:

She spends most of the time competing against Flug in everything and tries GoldHeart's attention so that she can prove that she is better than him (most as petty things like merch sales, chocolate bar sales, brand sponsors who can sign the most autographs, get the most likes in one post, modeling, building a sand castle, get more people to arrive at their birthday party, or during team challenges in P.E.A.C.E. hero retreats/company bonding activities, ect) and more fit to be a member of The Golden Rule and GoldHeart's lover than Flug.

(Such as loudly praising her own accomplishments and awards in front of a large crowd in front of Flug or saying how much nicer her costume is at a party)

Flug finds the whole thing rather annoying and dreads the interaction and tries to ignore her baiting but sometimes would agree to her competition due to her utter persistence wearing him down.

GoldHeart is annoyed and angry and would often ignore her and/or yells and threatened her during her attempts at getting his attention or saying anything bad about her boyfriend making her feel utterly humiliated and embarrassed that her crush hates her so much.

And would also cheer on his boyfriend in his competition and would lavish him with praise and affection every time he wins or loses. (He wins most of the time)

Making Miss Heed even more jealous, angry and frustrated at Flug's relationship with GoldHeart. And even screaming and throwing a hysterical tantrum.

Ironically her obsession of beating Flug ended up making her lose her popularity as she starts to prioritise beating Flug over her own reputation which Flug always beats her in the competition when he indulges her at times and nearly all the attempts lead to utter humiliation and make her look more desperate and/or to embarrass herself.

_____

Along the way Miss Heed's crazy obsession with Flug will make her develop some feelings for Flug leading her to kiss him at the heat of the moment during one of their competitions. This caused Flug to be shocked and GoldHeart to punch Miss Heed in the face for kissing his boyfriend.

[tobiasdrake]

How strong is Mr. Mark "Hercule" Satan in the manga? From what I know, in the anime we see him either vanish or use the afterimage technique (forget which) and I think dodge bullets - is that in the manga too, or he is just meant to be at the peak of real-life human ability (like the guys Kid Goku and Krillin fight in the preliminaries of the World Tournament)?

Peak of human ability. Within human limits, Mr. Satan is the world's greatest martial artist.

Right off the bat, he's identified by martial arts lore guy Yamcha as the martial arts champion of the world. The Cell Games reporter, known in the dub as Jimmy Firecracker, corroborates this statement at the tournament.

The anime hypes him up by pulling multiple buses and ripping phone books in half. However, in the manga, the Cell Games start like right after Mr. Satan steps out on-panel for the first time and gives his speech. Goku and the others have one chapter to wrap up the revival of Shenron and then it's off to the tournament.

The first we see of what he can really do is when he steps into the ring, bringing with him a tremendous demonstration of his power.

Jimmy's right. This is very impressive.

Uh. Within human limits.

It's just that we're a bit beyond that baseline by this point.

Incidentally, a common misconception for Mr. Satan is that he won the 24th Tenkaichi Budokai leading up to the Cell Games. He did not. The Tenkaichi Budokai was cancelled after Piccolo nuked the island it was held on, and wouldn't be revived until after the Cell Games.

That said, he did compete in it after the Cell Games, and he did win the gold.

This is a very easily confused plot point, so much so that even the Daizenshuu gets it wrong and pegs the 24th as having just happened five days before the Androids activated.

But although Mr. Satan was the world champion, he was not the champion of that tournament. Not yet.

All indications seem to be that Mr. Satan won the 24th legitimately. No tricks, no shenanigans, no fooling around. The punch machine records Satan at 137 points of... whatever measurement they're using.

It's just a couple points under the all-time record set at the 24th, also by Mr. Satan.

This slightly lower reading is probably due to the, uh, changes in his workout regimen since the 24th.

We never get to see this tournament, but we get a glimpse of it and its structure through its contestants. A few of the contestants at the 25th are veterans from the 24th, coming back to try and take another crack at the champ.

Satan is the leader of this pack, having won his championship belt in a stunning final bout against Jewel that left the announcer underwhelmed and disappointed.

Goku and his rivals have absolutely ruined this man for standard human-level martial arts. They've raised the bar so high, Mr. Satan couldn't possibly compare.

Though, by Gohan's estimation, Videl's outgrown him too.

Had the 25th not had all these aliens and gods and warlocks cluttering it up, there's a real chance this tournament would have ended in Videl dethroning her father in the finals. Something I would dearly pay to see.

As far as dodging bullets, I think the closest he comes to that is when these two idiots attack Buu.

When he scurries out of the way of this RPG they fire at Majin Buu. Though we don't see how far he got, as he momentarily vanishes from the manga following this blast. Perspective remains on the attackers reloading and firing on Buu some more while Satan makes his way to their position under cover of tunnel vision.

The actual gun that's shot at him in this fight hits its mark. But also it was a shot from behind so he couldn't have dodged it even if he could dodge bullets.

So I'm gonna call that "inconclusive" on whether he can dodge bullets. By battleboard logic, I'm sure escaping the RPG is an incredible feat. Mr. Satan is only peak human but, like, so is Batman. He's within human limits, but "human limits" can be extremely flexible in animation.

This is the same kind of thing as when cartoon characters dodge lasers.

And that's Mr. Satan's career in a nutshell. He's the biggest fish of a small pond (except for his daughter who's outgrown him). Talented and formidable in his own right, supremely impressive within his weight class, but woefully out of his league.

[byoldervine]

Unoriginal Writing VS Field Trips

A lot of writers worry that their ideas have been done before or rely too much on existing scenarios. And you absolutely do need to be original if you want to write your own book that you intend to publish professionally. But a lot of writers can also take this the other way and start worrying that every single idea they have, no matter how fleshed out and unique it actually is, is just a version of a very broad and generic trope, and so it’s automatically bad and nobody will ever want to read it since it’s all been done before

Let me tell you about what has been dubbed the Peter Parker Field Trip in the fanfic scene

The Peter Parker Field Trip is an incredibly specific type of one-shot fanfiction about Peter Parker visiting Avengers Tower with his class on a school field trip while having to try and hide his status as the Avenger Spider-Man, usually along with hiding the fact that he’s basically been adopted by the Avengers and they all treat each other as family, if not legally having been adopted by Tony. And this is only the summary, it gets way more specific from here to the point where you can follow each story beat by beat and the vast majority of these fics will follow them:

1. Peter discovers that the adults arranged for him to go on the trip despite trying to get out it/telling them not to sign the permission forms. Peter tries to talk his way out of it on the way but fails. Sometimes the teacher will discourage him from lying about having a Stark Internship while they’re there

2. While they’re on the bus Flash teases Peter about how now everyone’s gonna know he doesn’t actually have a Stark Internship, meanwhile Peter’s freaking out about everyone realising he’s more than just an intern

3. The kids arrive at Avengers Tower and pile out of the bus to be greeted by some of not all of the Avengers, usually with Steve and/or Tony leading the introductions. Peter tries to keep his head down but the Avengers either spot him or were actively looking out for him, but at this point they usually don’t acknowledge him too much

4. An actual intern hands out access passes to the kids, everyone has level one clearance except for Peter who has Level Ten Alpha Clearance™️, which is even higher than most of the other Avengers and is reserved for Tony and those closest to him. Peter asks if he can just get a regular pass like the others but the intern says they don’t have any extras, usually while being starstruck at meeting Peter

5. The kids go through a security scanner, through which Jarvis announces their security clearance. Peter has his Level Ten Alpha Clearance™️ broadcast to the entire class, leaving everyone shocked. Flash thinks Peter, resident Poor Kid McOrphanface, bribed Tony Stark, known billionaire, for higher clearance

6. The tour goes ahead. They meet Bruce either in his lab or the medical bay. Bruce has a pleasant chat with Peter, who quickly helps him with something while he’s there. People are shocked that Peter works with Bruce on science stuff

7. The tour goes ahead. They meet Natasha in the training room. She offers to give a demonstration and has Peter come up to fight her. The class are shocked when he doesn’t get instantly thrown on his ass, even though overall it usually ends with him on his ass

8. The tour goes ahead. They meet Thor either on the landing pad as he arrives back home or he’s in the kitchen making an absolute mountain of pop tarts. He’s the one that comes closest to leaking Peter’s Spider-Man identity because he has no social awareness and just wants to wrap the Man of Spiders in a bear hug

9. The class break for lunch. There’s an ungodly amount of coffee machines in the cafeteria. Everyone is talking about Peter. Flash is talking shit. Clint then proceeds to drop out of the vents to ask Peter about either Mario Kart or babysitting his kids, potentially both. Clint then realises the tour was today, apologises and goes back into the vents. Peter can’t even muster up the energy to be embarrassed

10. As the tour continues, Flash is getting more vocal about his dislike for all this. There’s a 50/50 chance he’s going to get physically violent with Peter. If he doesn’t, he’ll ask Tony Stark why he’s let Peter lie about all this stuff only to be told harshly that Peter is Tony’s kid or something similar. The bullying will be discovered and Flash will be kicked out. If he does get violent with Peter, one of the Avengers will stop him, Tony will defend Peter while revealing that Peter is his kid or something similar in the process, then will kick Flash out

I just described to you an ungodly number of fics beat by beat. And people don’t just read one of them and call it a day; we consume each and every one of them despite knowing the exact plot and having read it a gazillion times

And I think that these fics are the most obvious example of the fact that people don’t care about the repeated use of tropes or clichés or plotlines; if they like it, they’ll like it. They’ll be willing to read those tropes a million times over, even if they know what’ll happen at every turn. And that proves that it’s not the use of tropes that matters, it’s the way you use the tropes. Even if it’s just a new way of wording it, people will enjoy it. It doesn’t have to be completely new or original, it just has to be out there

[rokhal]

Eli Morrow is a dumbass

Can’t remember if I already did a meta on this, but while Eli is a serious intellectual threat in All-New Ghost Rider, his opponents are two teenaged boys, one of whom is intellectually disabled. It’s like that tiktok where the guy brags about sueing a nine-year-old and winning.

Here is Robbie’s first fight against an opponent who is an equal threat to the Ghost Rider. Eli encourages Robbie to charge at Grumpy head-on, and Grumpy promptly kicks them ass-over-teakettle.

Robbie asks Eli for help as he grapples with Grumpy, but all Eli gives him are platitudes (”Don’t play his games, Robbie!”) and unhelpful analysis (”Sonofabitch is too strong”). When Robbie summons the car to slam Grumpy away, Eli cheers him on, distracting Robbie from how useless Eli’s contributions so far have been.

See, it wasn’t that he had no idea what to do or what their actual powers and limits were, it’s that he was just waiting for Robbie to figure the answer out himself! Just like Master Reigen does for Mob

Eli doesn’t really know how much trouble he and Robbie are in, but he doesn’t want Robbie to back away from the fight. The practical reason for them to fight Grumpy is to eliminate the Charger’s legal owner by getting Robbie to kill him in self-defense, which doesn’t work because they lose. The encounter is also an opportunity for Eli to test-drive their powers and get a feel for how to subvert Robbie’s control. Eli doesn’t know how strong they are, and he doesn’t know everything they can do. He throws Robbie unprepared into a fight that he doesn’t know they can win, giving Grumpy a good look and feel for them, and potentially putting them at a disadvantage in a future rematch (which luckily for them, never happens).

tl;dr Eli doesn’t know exactly how his and Robbie’s powers work and he prefers to push Robbie into fights so he can see what happens and avoid  admitting his own ignorance.

So, Eli is new to this whole possessing-a-human-revenant-car-fire-demon-guy thing. Understandable. We haven’t even gotten to the real dumbassery: hunting down Yegor Ivanov.

If you want to know who someone is, look at their friends. Not just who their friends are, but how their friends treat them. Yegor Ivanov treats Eli like a stooge.

Eli’s initial attack on Yegor’s club was...impulsive, but in his defense, he didn’t know how much or how little time he had in control of Robbie’s body, since Robbie passed out in gym class. Could be a year, could be a couple hours. He bet on it being all night, and if it weren’t for Johnny Blaze’s intervention, it would have been all night, and Yegor Ivanov would be dead. But Johnny Blaze did intervene. The next time he and Robbie switched, Robbie started off conscious, and quickly began to surface again. Robbie proved able to grab control of their hand at inconvenient moments.

OK, this is a bad setup for Eli. Yegor did not know this. Eli did and carried on anyway. Whatever. Yegor’s super sophisticated crime-kingpin plan to lure Eli into a trap was to call him on his phone and invite him.

Does. Does Eli think he’s going to get the jump on Yegor here?

Heehee! My buddy Yegor who ratted me out to the cops thinks he’s gonna hire me for a job like old times! Even though I already announced myself by name and told him I was going to kill him and demonstrated all my demonic powers!

Surely, Yegor is calling me because he has a job, not because he has prepared countermeasures for my supernatural nature. He will be so surprised when I shank him!

Or, alternatively, he might know this is a trap and figure that he’ll just improvise his way out of it. Which would be excusable, except for the fact that Robbie is awake and fighting him for control by the time he actually leaves the house.

Yeah, that looks just like what you want to have happen when you’re riding a concussed teenager to a mob meet and you don’t even have a gun. To suddenly lose control of your weapon arm just when you’re about to get revenge on your hated enemy.

Eli shows up at the agreed-upon meeting-place, without negotiating for a more favorable spot or a two-hour delay to knock over a gun store or anything. You could hide an entire army of super-powered teenagers in that warehouse.

He shows up alone to a one-on-one with his “old friend,” who is by now a very important person in the local crime scene. Yegor probably never shows up alone anywhere. This should be incredibly suspicious. Eli’s confident enough in his own powers to believe he’ll just fireball his way out of a few armed goons, but by this time, he knows that Yegor knows what he can do!

And Eli’s not at his best right now. Remember, Robbie is also awake!

WHAT DID HE THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN??????

Anyway. Yegor Ivanov, the guy who knew Eli best while he’d been alive, asked Calvin Zabo to help spring the most obvious, low-effort trap possible to eliminate him. And Eli walked right into it. (See: army of super-powered teenagers.)

Did. Did Eli think they were actually friends or something? Did he think Yegor had a soft spot for him for old time’s sake that Eli could exploit???? I mean???

In conclusion: this is no criminal mastermind.

[divineerdrick]

Grinding Gear Games Live Stream for March 21, 2024

So I wasn't the biggest fan of the Adepticon live stream from last night. I'm hoping Grinding Gear Games can make up for that a bit with new details on Path of Exile 2 and Necropolis. While not the first time I've reacted to a League announcement (I think that was Synthesis?) this will be my first live reaction on this blog.

I absolutely love Path of Exile. When I was trying to do the YouTube thing, I tried my hand at making some PoE content. Unfortunately I hate editing, especially sound editing (does not go well with migraines). So that put an end to that. This is one of the reasons I've tried to move to a blog format, despite the fact that blogs get far less attention. But somehow, it never occurred to me to do blog posts about Path of Exile!

I might also try putting some content on here about Last Epoch, since I'm falling in love with that game as well. Don't know if it will replace PoE as my favorite ARPG, but it's definitely a ton of fun!

With that preamble out of the way, let's do some predictions!

Predictions

For Path of Exile 2, we know they're probably going to be giving us some Ranger gameplay. Johnathan has also talked about the Witch, but I'm gonna guess she's not ready based on things he said in a recent interview. So, for my prediction, I'm going to say we'll also finally see a reveal of one of the itemization systems.

As for Necropolis, that sounds so much like it would be a dungeon League. But we just had one, so I'm thinking this will mostly be a map mechanic. Judging from the preview, I'm betting we're going to have to dig up relics, as in bones and possessions, of heroes of The Eternal Empire. We'll then probably have to earn the respect and favor of these heroes through combat. But that still seems like easy predictions, so I'm gonna go a step further. We will be fighting alongside these heroes in special, juiced, boss encounters.

This League is also turning out to be quite the QoL patch too. Though, if you've been following the teasers and reveals, not all of the changes are actually beneficial. There have been some pretty heavy nerfs revealed, probably to bring the game more in line with design intent. The big one is that we can no longer bind skills on click to move. Instead, we will have to use the new support gems to automate those skills for us. This not only takes away a popular feature, but also takes away some of the control that click to move auto-casting gave us while also increasing socket pressure. My guess is that there will be some more grinding of teeth after the patch notes as well.

I'm gonna guess we're not done with new features yet though. The reveal of a separate PoE2 means that many of the announced features are now up in the air for PoE1. I'm guessing we'll hear some more about features coming back to PoE, even if we don't get them this patch.

I'm also gonna guess we're not gonna get any new transfigured gems, despite how popular that feature is. I'm thinking a great deal of the patch notes will be dedicated to balance changes on these gems.

And I think that's where I'm gonna stand for my predictions!

Announcement Stream

Oh nice! Simultaneous expansion release! While this doesn't affect me as I don't enjoy trying to play PoE on console, it's nice that development and developer tools seem to have caught up to the point where they can release the expansion on all platforms at once.

Oo! I heard deep crafting system~

Jumping right into Path of Exile 2! Here we go with that Ranger preview! We're really focusing on the bow it seems for this preview. For those of you not familiar, your class in Path of Exile does not come with a fixed playstyle, just things the class might be better at. So, for example, melee and grenade rangers are a thing. But for these previews they've been trying to focus on specific things to demonstrate.

Oh! Mounted combat! Diablo 4 eat your heart out!

We have some NPC villain reveals too! They're slowly giving us teasers for the story and setting of this new campaign.

Rangers are getting that move and shoot like the Mercenary. This is huge! One current problem with PoE is that you almost always have to plant your feet to use your skills. This means the difference between being a bow build or spellcaster is whether you're scaling attack damage or spell damage. And the less said about melee the better. Giving bow users the ability to move and shoot helps make the playstyle feel different, instead of just casting AoE spells from a bow.

Speaking of, it's smart to have the finisher have a bit of AoE. Melee already has a little bit of built in AoE, but arrows are still just pure hit or miss. Especially with that wind up on Sniper Shot, hitting multiple enemies and making sure you hit your target will be important.

Johnathan then starts going through the skill system for all the new people who have become interested in PoE2. Thanks again, Blizzard! All you sweet summer children, waiting for the sequel to play PoE for the first time, will never understand just the incredible upgrade this is. I love it so much!

You'll also be starting with such a better looking game! These new lightning effects are so good!

Interesting . . . Barrage has been changed to a cooldown skill. This support skill currently just greatly reduces your damage while rapidly firing our 4 shots. Now they want you to set it up a bit first. It feels a little like another support that exists called Unleash that lets you build up repeated castings over time. So this does feel to me like cooldown finishers will be a thing, but maybe you'll have to choose to opt into them by using a support gem.

But man! Sitting here watching this I just love all the skill and combo interactions in this game! Path of Exile 2 is going to become a theory crafter's dream! I mean detonating gas clouds! That's awesome!

Of course we end the preview with an epic looking boss fight. This boss appears to have a few bullet hell mechanics. I wonder how rolling interacts with these sections.

Wait! Not the end of the preview! Here's that mount, and it's a Roa! I wonder how much of the game you get to use it for.

Oh man! Beta delay . . . Oh well, I prefer they delay and make the game as polished as they can. Even if this does mean we have to wait till the end of the year. But hey! Now it won't be competing with Shadow of the Erdtree!

With that, we're onto Necropolis!

Oh! This does look like a dungeon League! Possibly more Rogue-lite mechanics too! I honestly didn't think they'd do two in a row.

Woah! New Tier of Maps and new bosses. I though we weren't going to see endgame reworks of this nature yet. I guess PoE2 is getting to the point they can divert more resources back to the original.

Yes! There's one I'm glad to be wrong about! New transfigured gems! Can't wait to see what we get!

Oh! No it's not a dungeon League or a Rogue-lite! This is definitely an in map mechanic. I like these modification manipulations, though it might slow things down a bit. I also really like that this is much more control over difficulty than last League.

This is a lot of information we're getting here too! New players can potentially use this to make more informed decisions on how to move through the game.

Oh wow! Cool rewards here! Though this is a weird collection mechanic. But hey! I knew bodies were involved somehow. And talk about a wonderfully morbid form of deterministic crafting. I love it! They keep revealing more and more you can do too! The reveals don't stop keep happening! You can even use these to craft and get better rolls on Uniques!

Oh that's an awesome jewel!

And the corpses are tradeable! I love this league so far!

What! There's even more to the mechanic! You can modify the monsters in the maps! That's so cool! This can help get rid of problem monsters!

And Tattoos are back! This is insane!

Oh interesting! We're getting direct Atlas Tree support during the league! Pretty good, since I'm betting this mechanic isn't going core.

Okay, this is an interesting way to get to Ubers. Now the value of these maps won't be determined by your Atlas Passives. You unlock the original bosses the same way you always did. But then, you move onto a new Tier of maps. You farm those for shards to make your attempts on the pinnacle bosses. These maps also make good intermediate content to gear up on before the attempts.

Oh wow! Nice way to rework some Uniques that have fallen behind. Instead of just improving some and making them rarer, they're going to some of the new bosses.

Looks like they're adding almost all the optional content to Scarabs. Not sure how I feel about this, though it does give a lot of control if you can get the Scarabs you need.

Oh! I love that Divination Scarab! I hate farming the same maps over and over! See this is one of things I love about this game. They're always trying to find ways to allow you to progress the content you want to progress. And to that end, they're also increasing our ability to get content into our maps.

Oh wow! They easily saved the best QoL change for this reveal. We now get three Atlas Trees we can swap between! Again, this gives us more control what content we experience.

Oh! New campaign improvements, huh? Nice! I think that settles it. I'll be playing this League.

Here's the note again on the new and reworked transfigured gems, plus our two most controversial inclusions, Automation and Call to Arms. We're also getting a new support gem for wanders.

Okay! I wasn't sure if I was going to comment on the supporter packs, but I really like the turtle hideout. And wow most of these are still just fun and silly, between that and the mimic pet I might have to see if I can find some money for PoE this League.

All and all, a very impressive live stream!

Interview Stream

I'm gonna follow right on over to the interview with ZiggyD. The amount of extra detail and discussion this always gives us is so worth it. I'm wondering why we're not getting more of Chris this time though.

Interesting. We won't be getting a new monsters or bosses for this the League mechanic. They focused on the new maps instead. This League will instead be all about augmenting our existing content and getting these new crafting mechanics.

Hmm. Not sure I like the fact that you can't sustain T17s. Still because the drops are tradeable, they need to gate them somehow.

And here's some of that conversation I mentioned. I noticed right away that this was probably gonna slow things down a little, as you'll want to try and optimize your monsters in each area. While Mark does suggest that some people might just ignore the mechanic and select whatever they get dealt, and we're even getting a Atlas Passive for mapping that way, they definitely want us to slow down and think it over.

Interesting! They've also made it so that you only get the best modifiers the first time you clear an area in the campaign. And the more of the campaign you do, the better your potential rewards. Combined with campaign improvements and new secrets to find, this is another reason I'll want to play this League.

And while I was impressed with all the information we're getting in game now, it looks like they're not done. They're going to try and add more information to the UI on release. So we'll potentially be able to prepare or min/max a lot.

Okay! Looks like we're going into binding click to move.

It looks like they're making changes to this. The bad news is, they're not ready to revert yet. The good news is that it seems that when they changed this, they suddenly discovered everything the community has been using it to fix. This means that even if they revert, I hope they continue to address these things and make the game better. At the end of the day, this is a lot of annoying stuff that, as Ziggy puts it, we've been using left mouse button as a band-aid for.

Okay! That's not a bad fix for mines. But I'm not sure about the passive changes. We'll need to see the changes directly to see if they're any good.

"Oh, he's doing it again!" Thank you, Ziggy! Pausing coming to PoE1! Doo eet!

They're definitely still trying to come up with systems so you don't have to trust people with your items. Again, in their world we wouldn't use trade for clears or bossing either. But anything they can do to provide tools to keep us safe from scammers is good.

For more on the economy, it feels like they're moving a bit away from the idea of how drops should feel or the economy should feel, and just paying attention to the community and how the game feels. This is obviously the correct choice. First, you won't be able to please everyone. I know plenty of people who hated how easy it was to get gear last League, especially those who enjoy juicing maps. But I know builders like Ziggy loved it.

Bye bye rucksack. F's in chat . . .

But hello Town Portal button!

Moving onto Path of Exile 2!

Woot! Active block! Can't wait to see the new Souls comparisons that will come from that! I love the sound of it personally. Being able to walk forward with your shield raised might be a huge boon to melee.

Oh no! More monsters with tracking! That's going to be fun! Again, Elden Ring says "Hi!" But still, this will be much more engaging than running around in circles.

Still, I wonder if they ramped difficulty for the people they invited to test the game again. I think a lot of people are still very curious as to how difficult this game is going to be.

Oh nice! Multistory dungeons! Wonder if we'll get some scene transition boss fights? Get some Mortal Kombat style beatdowns going.

Sounds like they're trying to make the Beta the entire game, though we might not get all the classes or the full endgame. They definitely want to know if the campaign is good to go before release. If possible, it sounds like they want changes in the beta to be just bug fixes and balance changes. So we'll be getting all the content they can give us.

Finally, we get a little mention on the life globe changing color. I'm surprised they'd never thought to put poison on the life globe before. It's a classic ARPG mechanic.

I honestly feel this was a great interview. I know some people are insisting on being salty about "LMB" right now, and I'm already seeing people take Mark's "deal with it" out of context. Again, I do think this has revealed some real mechanical flaws that need to be addressed. If it comes back, it should be because it's a feature players like and not because we need it for our builds.

Patch Notes

I'm following along with Zizaran for the patch notes on this. I'm a huge fan of his content and He'll catch way more than I ever could.

It's RAW!

Ziz thought this was going to be a Vampire Survivors League! Oh man! A bullet heaven league would be great! I do hope we get something like that in the future. Bet they're already trying something out along the lines of Blight.

"Added a new Intelligence Support Gem - Sacred Wisps:"

Definitely need to see how those wisps play out. I've always enjoyed Wanders and have been wanting to try one again. I'm also curious about Elemental Hit and Tornado transfigured gems.

"The following currency items now have a stack size of 20:"

Woot! QOL stacks!

"Added a myriad of small improvements and surprises to the Campaign."

Again, the campaign changes demand I come back.

"Alternate-art Unique Items can now be converted to account-bound microtransactions . . ."

Oh wow! Very nice! You can now make account bound alternate art items! This . . . probably doesn't affect me? I don't think I have any alternate art items. Nearly all of them have been from races, and I don't think I ever did well enough to get one. You'd think I'd remember if I had, but migraines often make things fuzzy.

"The Dark Seer Unique Sceptre now has +2 to Level of All Spell Skill Gems . . ."

Dark Seer is +2 to Level of All Spell Skill Gems! Wow! That's gonna be a chase item.

But I'm with Ziz here. Not sure that's a good enough change on Malachai's Endurance.

"The Manastorm Unique Shield now has 1-100% increased Mana Recovery from . . ."

This sounds like a blast!

"The Wraithlord Unique Helmet now has 4 Abyssal Sockets . . ."

And this just seems completely amazing! To be fair, minion builds often have to deal with a lot of a socket pressure, and this kills a full 4 of your sockets. But this is so powerful and they're taking steps to bring some needed QoL to minions too.

"The Yoke of Suffering Unique Amulet now has Enemies take 5-10% increased Damage . . ."

Yoke of Suffering seems fail at first, as the buff has only increased by up to 5%, and nothing else. But that extra 5% can stack up pretty quick with all the ailments you can inflict in this game.

"The fifth slot in the Map Device is now unlocked upon completing a non-Valdo's Tier 17 Map."

Oh nice! We no longer have to do Legion for this. Again, we get to do the content we want.

"You can no longer earn Einhar, Alva, Jun or Niko Master Missions . . ."

Yeah, I'm not sure on the Master Missions. But if you can target farm the Scarabs properly, this should be an improvement.

"Added a new Atlas Keystone Passive to the Necropolis Atlas Tree . . ."

As Ziz points out, we can't know how good the Necropolis keystones will be. They all depend on how good the mechanic turns out. If the mechanic is garbage all around, no one will care about these. If the rewards from the maps are good, but not the crafting, then all we'll care about is improving those and vice versa.

"Added a new Atlas Keystone Passive, Thorough Exploration . . ."

If you like clearing your maps the way I do, this will be great. If you just run to bosses you'll pass on this. Again, helping you to play the way you want.

But there's a lot of changes here. I mean, a lot of changes! Like many of the passives around the League content really change a lot!

"The Amplified Energies Atlas Notable Passive now causes . . ."

Looks like a bit of an Essence nerf here. To be fair, Essences are a powerful mechanic for both farming and gearing. But they're so useful for when you're trying to get your build going, especially in SSF. I kind think this first change is okay, but the second one seems pretty bad.

"Essence Monoliths in White Maps can now spawn up to a maximum tier of Screaming . . ."

Okay, that's a better change for Essences. I never liked White Map Essence farming.

"Vorici's Research Safehouse reward is now a stash of Harvest Scarabs."

RIP white sockets.

"The Unique Cortex Synthesised Map can no longer drop from Atlas Map Bosses . . ."

Did we just lose Cortex? Okay, there it is.

Here's the part of the Patch Notes where we get the map changes for the League. And I agree with Ziz that these are mostly good map changes. There's a few we've gotten that I'm really not fond of (Cells and Dungeon), and a few we lost I really like (City Square, Mesa, and Racecourse). But overall this seems like a pretty good pool.

And wow! They took away Seventh Gate and just gave us all the map options! That's a totally worth while trade! Again, it's about letting us pick how we want to play the end game.

And now for the big list of gem changes! I'm honestly seeing a lot of buffs here. There were only a handful of gems that seemed really over tuned, so it seems like they're happy to bring up more options in power while only nerfing a few.

"Essence Drain of Desperation: Now deals 50% more Damage over Time at all gem levels."

Hee! GGG's gonna force Ziz to run ED again . . .

"Sniper's Mark: Now causes Cursed Enemies to take 10% increased Damage from Projectile Hits at gem level 1 (unchanged), scaling up to 29% at gem level 20 (previously 35%) . . ."

Big nerf on Sniper's Mark! That will affect a lot of builds.

"Summon Raging Spirit: The Raging Spirit's melee attack no longer naturally gains 0-38% more Damage as it levels."

RIP vanilla SRS. But as Ziz points out, minion instability will still be very good.

"The Ralakesh's Impatience Unique Boots no longer provide 30% increased Movement Speed."

Ralakesh no longer that impatient.

"The Void is now considered a Boss-exclusive Divination Card."

That's an interesting change to The Void. Ziz is wondering if that means Void can grab boss exclusives.

"Scrolls of Wisdom can now be used on items that are Corrupted. As a result of this, most items that previously dropped identified now drop unidentified."

As Ziz, says, "Oh no!" And yeah, I'm just gonna hide any non-six link corrupted items. The only advantage these had was you knew what they were when you saw them.

"The Veiled modifier that provides reduced Mana Cost of Skills during Effect can no longer be unveiled or crafted on Flasks."

Massive nerf to Pathfinder!

"The Jewel Suffix modifier that grants 3-5% reduced Mana Cost can no longer roll."

Yeah, I'm with Ziz on this. Not sure why they killed the Jewel Mana Cost mod.

Wow! This is a lot of changes for Tattoos and many of them are really good! It's great to have these back!

"Rare Monster item bonus mechanics are now rarer, and the following item bonus mechanics have been removed: Items dropped are converted to Gems, Items dropped are converted to Scarabs, Items dropped have all White Sockets . . ."

RIP white sockets! Why are they reducing them like this? How were they a bad socket fixing mechanic? The whole of PoE2's skill rework is socket fixing! Why does PoE need to have vanilla socket fixing?

Also, I really don't like the changes to Rares. The drop mechanics made Rares feel so much better. They made me want to engage with the Rares in my maps instead of just boss. And they definitely didn't feel overly generous to me. They do remember this was offsetting a drop in loot, right?

Well that was not the best way to end the patch notes section. There are definitely some bitter pills in all of this. But as Ziz keeps pointing out, we're getting so much! But that is GGG for you. They're not afraid to take harsh measures to fix things, but they do fix things. The click to move binding is probably still the harshest thing, but I'm willing to give them a league or two to fix the mechanics it was propping up. At the very least, they've got as long as it took them to realize Archnemesis was a bad idea.

Final Thoughts

That was definitely a nasty way to end the patch notes, but it's not souring me on this. This League looks like it's going to be a ton of fun! Obviously, click to move casting is going to continue to be contentious until they either fix everything or end up reverting. Other than that here are my primary concerns.

1. Scarabs are doing a lot of work.

They've shoved a ton of mechanics that were all previously separated onto Scarabs. Want sextant modifiers? Scarabs. League content? Scarabs. Master missions? Scarabs! Plus they're even adding new and interesting modifiers to them to top it off. If getting the Scarabs we want is too inconsistent or we just can't get enough from drops, then we're just vanilla mapping.

2. Pressure to Run Tier 17

Right now it often feels like you need to get to the point you can run Tier 16s as soon as you can, and there isn't any point running anything less. This often causes newer players to wait to do certain content until they've geared up to running those maps, making progressing their gear harder. I even catch myself doing it! I'm hoping the way they drop will incentivize players to engage with content instead holding off until they can do the highest tier maps.

3. Drops

This has been a concern for a while now, with some not being happy about it since Expedition. It didn't help that Leagues had gotten way wealthier previously, with many players forgetting how lean drops could be originally. But especially given how wealthy Affliction was, players might be feel poorer this League. And now they've made Rare drop mods, um, rarer. Even though this is a crafting League, that could cause some problems.

However, even with those bad things let's look at what we're getting.

1. More control over the endgame than ever before!

They just keep knocking down barriers to experiencing the end game the way we want to experience it. Well, except maybe if you're playing SSF. But if you're playing any form of trade league, you can probably make money farming the content you want and trading for anything you need.

2. So much QoL!

Just so much! So many little things we've been asking for or that are sources of friction are gone!

3. More build diversity than ever before!

Transfigured gems really did cause a ton of new builds to pop up. Yeah, some have gotten nerfs. But for the most part, it's all broken stuff. And some of that looks like it survived pretty much intact. Add in new gems and buffs to older ones, and hopefully theory crafters like myself will have content to chew on for months!

4. An honestly awesome looking League!

I'm still a little concerned with fiddling with monsters between maps, but I think many builds will eventually get to the point where you just grab random enhancement for increased rewards. The changes to the campaign seem really interesting though. And the potential crafting power might lead to some awesome items. We obviously won't know until next week, but I'm honestly really excited to log in!

[wrestlingisfake]

Final Battle preview

Athena vs. Billie Starkz - Athena has held the ROH women's world championship for a little over a year, and this will be her 19th (!) title defense. She's 1-0 against the challenger, having defeated Starkz in a non-title match on June 25.

Shortly afterward, Athena took Billie under her wing--it's been so long that I've completely forgotten when, or why. For weeks ROH aired skits about Starkz being a "minion in training," but always disappointing Athena compared to Lexy Nair (who was also undergoing training for some reason). After Athena proclaimed that Lexy had "graduated" but Billie didn't make the cut, Billie snapped. On the December 14 show (taped last week) Starkz did a run-in on Athena, demonstrating all the viciousness she learned from her former mentor, and Athena suffered a legit broken nose.

Presumably this match will follow the old trope of "I taught you everything you know, but I didn't teach you everything I know." Either Billie has learned from Athena how to beat Athena, or she hasn't. Or maybe she can beat Athena by rejecting Athena's teachings, I don't know. It's safe to say she'll put up more of a fight than she did in June, but I'm not convinced it'll be enough. At the last ROH pay-per-view, they had be thinking Willow Nightingale could unseat the champion, but it didn't happen. And with all due respect to Starkz, she's not at Willow Nightingale's level--not yet anyway.

I'm in favor of seeing a title change. Athena's done all she can do in ROH except kickstart a women's tag team division (and if she was gonna do that, Billie would still be her sidekick). A sympathetic babyface champion would be a nice change of pace--someone who can play the underdog against the likes of Leyla Hirsch, Marina Shafir, or Mercedes Martinez. I would have preferred doing it six months ago with Willow, but much like Athena Willow should be on AEW television at this point. So I'll take Billie as ROH champion, but I'm not at all confident that ROH is going to give it to me.

Jon Moxley & Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mark Briscoe & Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler - This is billed as a "fight without honor," which just means the match can't end by disqualification or count-out. The idea is to pay tribute to Mark's brother Jay Briscoe, who was killed in a car accident on January 17, 2023. Jay and Mark began an epic rivalry with FTR (Dax and Cash) at Final Battle 2021, which concluded with Jay's last match at Final Battle 2022.

From what I can tell, the Blackpool Combat Club are heading into this match looking to honor Jay rather than play the heels. But the BCC are particularly good at acting like sadistic assholes even when they're supposed to be good guys. This is Claudio's first ROH match since September. Danielson, an ROH hall-of-famer, hasn't wrestled for the brand since 2009. It's been just as long for Moxley, except his ROH experience was just dark matches--this will be his on-screen debut with the promotion.

Moxley, Danielson, Castagnoli, and Briscoe are all booked in AEW's Continental Classic; in fact, Bryan and Claudio have tournament matches slated for tomorrow, and they'll face each other next week. Moxley has probably clinched a spot in the semfinals, and Briscoe is already mathematically eliminated. I doubt this match will affect the complexion of the tournament, but you can count on the announcers to bring it up a time or two.

I would imagine the goal here is to recreate the bloody chaos from the Briscoe-FTR matches last year. The BCC shouldn't have any difficulty holding up their end of that. I'd normally pick the BCC to win, but given the tribute angle it'd be promotional malpractice to book any finish except a Mark Briscoe victory.

Dalton Castle vs. Komander vs. Kyle Fletcher vs. Lee Johnson vs. Lee Moriarty vs. ??? - This is the final in a "survival of the fittest" tournament; the winner will be awarded the ROH television title, which Samoa Joe vacated on November 8. Each of the participants won a qualifying match to get here, except the mystery sixth entrant. The final is contested under elimination rules, so whenever someone loses a fall they leave and the match continues until only one man remains, who is declared the winner. Note that Komander's AAA cruiserweight title is not at stake in this contest.

I have no idea who the sixth participant could be, but it seems like he has to be a heavy favorite to win the whole thing. I'd be happy to see Bandido, Mark Davis, or PAC return, but I'm not sure any of them really work as a shocking comeback that will upset the balance of this match. A new guy coming in could work. Shelton Benjamin and Dolph Ziggler are free, right? Oh well, just in case the sixth guy isn't cool enough to win, I'll fall back on Castle as my go-to guy.

Keith Lee vs. Shane Taylor - Lee and Taylor were a tag team in ROH years ago, but they split up with Keith jumped to NXT. A year ago Taylor made it known that he resented Lee over this, so they clashed in a two-on-two match, which Lee's team won. Then nothing really happened for a long time, until Taylor suddenly brought it up again and they decided to do run it back one-on-one. I suppose it'd be interesting if Taylor upset Lee, but I don't expect it to happen here.

Wheeler Yuta vs. Tom Lawlor - Yuta is defending the ROH pure title, so this match is under pure rules: You can only use the ropes to break a hold up to three times, and you can only get away with one strike to the face, and so on. Lawlor has been a regular in MLW and NJPW STRONG, but he hasn't gotten many opportunities to appear with AEW/ROH. Yuta likes to bully opponents with his grappling expertise, but Tom has MMA power so that probably won't work here. Yuta will retain, I'm sure, but he'll need every trick in his book.

Ethan Page vs. Tony Nese - This is an "I quit" match, so the only way to win is to compel your opponent to verbally submit by literally saying the words "I quit." Over the past few months, these two have gone 1-1 against each other, and I guess Nese cheated to win the first match and refused to shake Page's hand in the second. I don't know, I don't really care why they're fighting.

An "I quit" match can go one of two ways--either both guys absolutely torture each other for a long time, or one guy chickens out and quits over the threat of something that doesn't seem so bad. I'm not sure which we'll get here. I really hope we don't get some bullshit where the heels trick the referee into thinking Ethan quit. I mean, Rock vs. Mankind was 25 years ago, and I don't think anyone's pulled that shit since then, but I'm still hot over it. Ideally, Nese should quit because of something really dangerous-looking.

El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Black Taurus - Vikingo is defending the AAA mega championship. Taurus is a AAA regular but I mainly associate him with appearing in Impact, so it's a little surprising to see him here. Of course, I never seem to see him win at anything, so this should be an easy win for Vikingo.

Brian Cage & Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun vs. Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita & Bad Dude Tito - Cage's team is putting the ROH trios title on the line. The Gates of Agony (Kaun and Liona) just returned from New Japan's World Tag League tournament, where they went 2-5. One of those five losses came at the hands of Shane Haste and his regular partner Mikey Nicholls. I'm not sure why Nicholls isn't here, but their associates in TMDK are here. The important thing is Haste is the one with the cool hat and the cool music, and Tito is literally named BAD DUDE. Fujita is their young boy, though, and that poor little guy is going to get squashed real real bad. Champs retain.

Ross Von Erich & Marshall Von Erich vs. Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd - This is set for the pre-show. Ross and Marshall are the sons of Kevin Von Erich, who has a movie coming soon about his career wrestling in Dallas. This show is being held just outside Dallas. You do the math. I dig the Outrunners (Magnum and Floyd) but this just ain't their lucky day.

[llliiinnnaaa]

Reprisal | Chapter Seven

coriolanus snow x gaul oc

Summary: Ten years after the Tenth Hunger Games, Coriolanus Snow is under Dr. Volumnia Gaul’s wing as a Gamemaker alongside her niece. Unbeknownst to either of them, they’re both being prepared for a much greater task.

Warning: This story will contain explicit violence against adults and children alike (I mean, it’s Dr. Gaul AND Snow) as well as explicit language, and sexual situations.

***This fic is in no way, shape, or form, me endorsing or co-signing the horrific shit Snow does, nor am I trying to romanticize it. Also, apathy and will be the main driving force of any remnants of a relationship between my OC and Snow’s character. So if you’re interested in something very romantic and fluffy…it’s not gonna be this.

Thank you for reading, I hope you like it!

   Dr. Gaul announces the case in question, along with the time of the start of its review, and its experimenter, adding, “This review will pertain to the evaluation and grading of the subject’s ability to camouflage successfully, reach an immersion speed of twenty miles per hour successfully, and reach a Terra Firma speed of twenty miles per hour successfully…let us begin.”

Coriolanus studies the landscape twenty feet below them, the large area outside the safety window of the viewing gallery is murky, deep water, with an artificial current, though that’s not what his eyes fall on. 

No. 

It’s yellow eyes, that become more apparent the longer he stares, that seem to be floating along the ground. 

Camouflage, he thinks to himself, just as one of his peers announces, “Right there,” motioning in the general direction. 

Some of them have to crane their necks to notice it.

“Shit,” he hears it whispered, taking in a breath as his tense muscles begin to relax. 

All Minerva is doing is sitting still, instinctively adapting to the color palette of her surroundings. 

Only it’s not just the color, it’s the entire pattern of the mimicked floor of the tropical forest that the arena for this year's Games in. 

After a few moments, an assistant cautiously steps to the lizard, guiding her into the small river using a chunk of meat. She happily obliges, slow and lazy in her steps as the snack is kept above her head. 

Once she hits the water and is rewarded, she propels herself with her spiked tail, disappearing under the water. 

Snow frowns.

How is she going to demonstrate her speed in water?

Then, as if reading his mind, another assistant rolls in a cage into the large enclosure, the walls of it blacked out. 

The room is growing impatient and curious. 

Gasps and small chuckles of amusement sound out when the cage is opened and an Avox is thrown out.

Usually, Avoxes are somewhat sedated if they are to participate, it keeps them cloudy and less likely to fight back…

But this one is wide awake, alert, more than aware. 

Snow leans forward on his seat, watching the tongueless man try to scream, trying to fight the assistants, but they both over power him, throwing him into the opposite end of the river, expertly placed least sixty feet down from where Minerva is dwelling, the spikes of her back still visible peeking through the soft roll of the current.

They step back from the water, the Avox flailing, bringing too much attention to himself.

Coriolanus finds himself jolting back slightly at the sight of those spikes disappearing under the water. 

No one says a word, on the edge of their seats, anticipating Minerva’s strike while her victim wails, splashing and trying to get to the bank. 

In the blink of an eye, he’s under water. 

Blood dyes the bubbling liquid, turning and thrashing with struggle.

Until it stills and the Avox reappears in two halves, innards strung out of him, his legs and abdomen floating in two different directions.

“She didn’t even eat him. She did that for fun .” Someone remarks.

She got to him quick . No one denies that. 

“Gem of Panem.” Is hissed out by one of the women a few rows back, every single Gamemaker nearly panting as another cage is rolled in. 

The final test. 

How fast she can run on land. How quickly she can catch a tribute that’s running from her. 

The cage opens, again, sixty feet from where Minerva is waiting in the water, yellow eyes glistening as a mute woman fights just like her male counterpart had. 

This time, the assistants scramble from the enclosure, shoving at the Avox to keep her away from the door. 

It’s slammed, the woman beating against the door, her screams echoing so loudly that it’s heard crystal clear in the gallery. 

The water shifts.

“I can’t watch, but I can’t look away.” Snow hears Philo mutter. 

That’s the point , Coriolanus thinks.

If the Gamemakers feel this way, surely all of Panem will.

Water hits the bank, Minerva making her way to land to get a glance at her prey. 

She and the Avox make eye contact quickly, the banging at the door ceases, and the woman is gone, darting away from Minerva as fast as she can.

That’s why they’re not sedated. 

She doesn’t stand a chance, Minerva bursting forward. 

Dr. Crane was right. 

She doesn’t tire after some seconds, she doesn’t tire at all.

The lizard reaches the Avox without her breath even getting unsteady despite her unsettling speed as everyone is damn near leaving their seats in anticipation.  

A pin could be heard if one were to drop at this moment. 

This brief, millisecond of silence before the floor shakes with Gamemakers jumping to their feet, a new shrill of excitement and morale bursting in the air around them at the sight of the lizard lunging and snapping the petrified Avox’s body in half with one fucking bite, just as she had done to the male Avox.

They saw the struggle in the water, not realizing it had been as easy to do that much damage…but her attack on land proves that pressure in her bite was stronger than even Tawny had anticipated, and her jumping to do it was a ravenous eagerness that Snow hadn’t expected.

Money goes flying from hands reached up in cheers, as multiple voices repeatedly say, “pay up!” bets having been placed on whether Dr. Tawny Crane would pull this off or not. 

She had. 

And did so very well. 

Snow doesn’t rejoice, or even smile for that matter. 

He doesn’t openly boast and welcome the pats to his shoulders and back with wide arms. 

He takes what’s given to him in passing, but his eyes are focused on the back of Hilarius Heavensbee’s head where he’s still seated, flabbergasted by what just transpired. 

Snow’s hands grab his shoulders, head leaning down to casually state, “ My guy only has one out of three — yet, still managed to kick your guy’s teeth in.”

Tawny’s lizard made Dyess’ killer wasps look like sugar flies, and his heavily engineered poison ivy look like frilly dandelions.

Blue eyes scan the room small slam-full of Gamemakers and apprentices, trying to find Dr. Crane. 

He’d told her to be here early, he wanted her to witness this accomplishment, to see that she’d have a successful case. 

He finds one Crane, utter exasperation blatantly cloaking Dyess’ features where he’s seated a couple of rows behind Snow. 

The sight is all Coriolanus had wanted, all he dreamed of ever since Dr. Gaul had informed her that she would indeed move the time of their case review sooner.

Starting toward the door, Snow shovels through more touching, patting, praise, pretending it doesn’t mean anything to him. 

He’s free and outside in the hallway, glancing around to see if Tawny was present and has kept to herself.

Disappointed to find she, in fact, was not. 

But downstairs, she was still standing in the corner of Dr. Gaul’s lab, keeping back toward the door, heart still hammering in her ears from when she’d heard the shouts from above her moments before, Gamemakers losing their professional decorum as they act like giddy children. 

Based on their reaction, they already know it’s been a success.

Brown eyes look up at the ceiling above her, tears of relief trailing down her face after her Aunt announces, “That concludes our review,” naming off the case number, date, time of review…then in one sentence, Dr. Gaul banishes any self-doubt Tawny had left, looking toward the corner her niece is hiding in behind Volumnia’s peers of highly established Gamemakers that conceal their excitement much better than the greener ones above them. “Conclusion reached on the subject's ability to camouflage: successful. Conclusion reached on the subject’s ability to reach an immersion speed of twenty miles per hour: successful. Conclusion reached on the subject’s ability to reach a speed of twenty miles an hour Terra Firma: successful.” Her aunt announces, looking directly at her as she finishes, “Overall conclusion: successful .” 

A small nod from Dr. Gaul is a silent confirmation that Tawny’s subject will be used in the Games, her niece returning the silent gesture before exiting the lab and rushing upstairs, needing to find Coriolanus. 

She receives the same glory as Snow, when she reaches the hallway upstairs, Gamemakers emptying from the gallery, shoulder pats, “well done,” and “congratulations,” being said every other second by someone new and she repeatedly says, “thank you,” as graciously as she can. 

Platinum hair catches her eye, and he sees her, lips pulling at the corners, only noticed by her. 

He’s proud, she thinks to herself, starting toward him. 

Then, abruptly, Dyess is coming for her, wide smile and arms outstretched. 

She’s relieved at his reaction, having deciding not to tell him about any of this despite him pressing her to. 

He hadn’t even been aware it was getting reviewed as soon as it was until she was getting dressed two hours sooner than she normally would be, accidentally waking him up in the process…then he insisted on coming to work earlier, too, to see it for himself. 

Snow watches as she nearly jumps on her husband, eyes closed with her giant grin, face streaked with tears. 

“You did it!” Dyess exclaims, kissing her before wipe the tear stains off her cheeks while. “It was brilliant, darling, brilliant.” He adds. “You’re brilliant.”

Again, his lips find hers before hugging her tightly.

She opens her eyes in his embrace to see Coriolanus looking at her, his expression now blank and nearly distant, but he says enough without all the faux hoopla her husband carries on:

Snow is proud, she is brilliant, and this eminence is only a small taste of champagne rain shared between them. 

     She waits for him in his office, seated at his desk, fumbling with her wedding ring as she sniffles and wipes the tears of bitterness away from her blue eyes. 

She’d known exactly what case her husband had given Dr. Crane as soon as Philo Marius had described it to her.

Livia had missed the case review due to its last minute expedition, having her own lab to teach with her students. 

A lizard with spikes down its back. 

Vague and certainly not a unique description of any of the past subjects created at the Citadel. 

When he mentioned the lizard's teeth… that was what startled her because she had been the only one to come up with such as that. 

And Tawny Crane had taken it and ran with it, all with Livia’s husband’s stamp of approval. 

No, Tawny hadn’t taken it. It had been given to her. 

Handed off. 

The door opens, Coriolanus taking a moment to stop and look at her, handsome and charming as he immediately starts unloading, excitedly.

“Darling, it was incredible . It snapped that Avox in half. With one bite. It strikes like a damn snake, it’s so brisk. And it’s fast – on land, and in water – we’ll only need one more, or else all the tributes will be slaughtered by a bunch of Minervas.” He chuckles at the thought. 

“ Minervas ?” She asks him, taking a breath. 

“Dr. Crane named it after her mother.” He scoffs. “Rather fitting.” 

It’s now that he notices her fully. 

“Comfortable?” He asks her lightly, nodding to her in his chair, and she stares at him. 

He now sees the smeared makeup of her eyes, wad of tissue in one hand, her wedding ring laying on his desk, plucked off her finger. 

His demeanor immediately shifts. 

He allows the irritation he’d been keeping under the surface ever since seeing Dyess put on a good show of praise for Dr. Crane’s accomplishment, to now show plainly on his face. 

Patience was already a luxury that was growing a little more difficult for him to afford, and here his own wife is. 

Staring him in the eye while gouging the price of it higher. 

“Aren’t you ever the proud partner?” She asks him, sniffling. 

“Put the ring back on, Livia.” He orders flatly, giving her the opportunity to. 

“You gave her my case.”

“I gave her your failed case.” He corrects her. “Which is no different than any past cases you get to correct.”

“It is different.” She hisses. “It is different, Coriolanus, and you know very well it is different.” 

She could tolerate his late nights, his lingering stares, not that she believed he was  have an affair by any means, but things such as that did get to her at times, though it  was bearable…but this was unacceptable . 

This was unbearable . 

She can’t pretend not to notice this . 

“You realize you are exalting another woman and slapping your own wife down only to prove to everyone you’re good at your job, and get the same round of applause you’ve been chasing since we were children?” 

“I gave her a failed case. Just like every single scientist here gets a failed case multiple times a year to retrace and have an opportunity to make a success out of it.” He stands over her, leaning over his desk, large hands bracing against the wood on either side of her hands, blue eyes peering condescendingly into hers. “You’re acting like a child, Livia. A petty child. All because someone you don’t like played with something that you once had. I gave her a failed case. One that just so just so happened to be one of yours.” He adds it, fingertips brushing against the damp skin of her cheek, black tears from her mascara staining his skin. 

He wants to recoil and grab his handkerchief, cleaning his hands of her bitter jealousy taking physical shape, but he tolerates it for the sake of not provoking a further scene at work. 

“And I meant no offense, in doing so, Livia. I promise.” He says, next, gently, grasping her chin in his fingers. 

She had seen him do this so many times to others, be so endearing and attentive, making them feel as if they were the only people that held his interest. 

Livia wasn’t a complete fool, she had grown up with him, she had witnessed some of his more morally gray decisions from their time in the Academy, through University, and now, in their careers…but none of those decisions had ever affected her so personally.

“I’m proud of you, Coriolanus.” She lies as she whispers it, her left hand holding at his fingers that hold her chin. “And I love you…” 

It lingers, more to be said, he waits for her to speak it.

“...I think I just need to go to my mother’s for a few days.” It’s finished with her plucking his hand from her, rubbing her red lips together. 

Her lack of support disappointed him – a new occurrence, as he can’t recall any time in the past she looked at him the way she is now. 

It gives him the same feeling his father had always given him whilst he craved his approval…the same feeling he’d felt ten years before with a certain girl from District 12. 

After everything I’ve done for…all I’ve given you…it’s still not enough .

He had done his best to ensure Dr. Crane’s success because it reflected well on him, and anything that reflected well on him, reflected well on Livia. 

The higher he climbed, the higher she would.

Yet she was spitting it all back in his face, ungrateful and demeaning. 

“Is that so?” He asks her, tonelessly, imagining her rushing to her mother, crying on about how horrible he was to her, how humiliated she had been by the looney Dr. Crane, who’d once been seen as too mentally unwell to babysit a goldfish, let alone retrace one of Livia Snow’s cases, and exceed everyone’s expectations.

“It is so.” She replies, anger still cloaked under her teary-eyed gaze. “I won’t have to come in to assist with the Games as none of my cases got selected for participation …so I’ll stay with my mother, and you can stay here, assist with the Games, and wallow in your laudation.”

He has to bite his tongue to keep from saying, “ Technically speaking, one of your cases did get selected for participation.” 

Instead, he thinks of how his time without her at home would be spent.

He would be wallowing in far more than his laudation…

“Very well, darling,” Comes from his lips as he watches her stand to her feet, deliberately leaving her ring on his desk. 

The kiss to his cheek is empty, as if she’s long abandoned him in her mind, and is now only acting on doing so, and when she goes to leave him, this realization begins to settle in as he slowly makes his way around his desk, picking the emerald cut diamond up, blue eyes acrimoniously on her back as she walks away. 

He opens the drawer to his desk, grabbing at the file he’d originally come to collect for his nine o’clock meeting regarding Dr. Crane’s case review, in which the board will officially sign to have her case be the third and final feature in the Games this year, leaving his office.

It doesn’t take long before Philo appears, always keeping a look out for Snow, having learned to move when he moves because if he doesn’t, he’ll miss his footing and won’t be able to keep up with Coriolanus in the slightest. 

Things around Snow were ever changing, a back-up plan for a back-up plan was always tucked away in his mind, he always maintained his stride of several steps ahead of those around him, keeping himself upright and standing tall in the race that was Gamemaking and the politics that it all boiled down to. 

“Mr. Marius,” Coriolanus mumbles, the man who once trailed after him like a nervous puppy now walked shoulder to shoulder with him, in-step with him perfectly. 

“Mr. Snow.” Philo replies. 

“Please, extend an invitation to Dr. Crane for a celebratory dinner at my apartment tonight.” He states.

“Dr. Tawny Crane, or Dr. Dyess Crane, sir?” 

Snow resists the smirk that wants to come to his lips as he recalls Dyess' angered expression in the gallery earlier. 

“ Tawny .”

[soul-dwelling]

To start off, I was watching the Fire Force anime first when Season 1 came out. I enjoyed the characters for the most part, the power system was unique take for fire/heat imo, and the mystery behind the combustion was making me stay for the long haul.

After finishing Season 1, I read the manga and kept going until reached beyond what Season 2 was and then I started getting hooked to the idea of Adolla links because it reminded me of Soul Resonance to a degree in SE.

Then, we learn about the metaphysics and how the first combustion altered the world to what it was (This is also around the time I went back to re-reading the SE manga, which I enjoyed doing). When we were learning how the concept of reality changed, I was curious on how they were gonna end it. At the time, there were callbacks to SE but I never thought they would go all out with and say that it was a prequel, so I was happily surprised for Ohkubo going through with it.

As for the characters, I didn't think there was any distinct one that I didn't like: Fire Brigade 8 were cool, the White Clads were cool as villains, and even the minor characters were entertaining for me.

While Fire Force did have its flaws, (the fanservice is indeed a handful, but coming from someone who's watched Kill la Kill, the manga/anime is relatively tame to what I've seen) I enjoyed the story for what it was, what it tried (and failed) to do, and for what it succeeded in do.

I hope this explains it as a fellow fan of Soul Eater/Fire Force fan.

Thank you for your reply. I can agree with a lot of this, so what I write below is more about my opinion, not at all to say you're wrong.

I think my regard for Fire Force, before the anime was announced, would have been similar to your reaction. Maybe some characters were less complex than I would have liked, maybe there could have been more unique power sets (although Karim's ice powers were the kind of variety in power sets I wanted).

I never saw the Adolla Link as similar to Soul Resonance. That's more engaging as an idea for the series (but then opens more questions whether that means Soul Resonance in Soul Eater proper is also about synchronizing with an Adolla doppelganger, which doesn't appeal to me as much).

About the only character that infuriated me was Inca, which, yeah, that's kind of the point. The way her story ended, given the Soul Eater setup just makes me more bitter; the stupid potential harem ending is even worse.

My breaking point was the Assault and Tamaki chapter being timed with the anime announcement. That was too much and demonstrated enough where Ohkubo was going. I've ranted as well how that last Tamaki fight was some of the worst content I have seen from Ohkubo (sexualizing a minor, reducing sex appeal to just women and not even women but a teenage girl, ignoring other sexualities as well as asexualizing, reducing sex to just procreation). If anything, for all the problematic content of Kill La Kill, that felt far more sex-positive compared to whatever Ohkubo was trying to do. That, and Assault is an adult, Tamaki is a teen, this is fucking disturbing.

Then by the time the Soul Eater prequel reveal happened, I was just exhausted and hating reading this series. A lot of that is bitterness at how slapped together it felt making this into a prequel when previous content was so inconsistent (Spirit showing up in the Assault chapter and mentioning Maka; the Excalibur face showing up earlier in the anime; an Excalibur plush earlier in the anime) that it all seemed less like prequel setup and more like Easter eggs now awkwardly coexisting with actual evidence that this was a prequel.

[nenekobasu]

there’s a scene in kaneshiro’s as the gods will where god candidate akashi wins a game by punching the god who tested him in the face, which i think encapsulates one kaneshiro principle pretty well: in order to become god, one must be willing to fight god. this is relevant to blue lock because isagi’s final ideal form is likely to be that of a god

for kaneshiro gods are defined as beings who oversee and dominate/control an environment (hence why kaiser pegged isagi as a ‘game-master’), so in blue lock any chara who is presented as overseeing and/or controlling the pitch can be considered a god thematically. egojin who ‘created’ blue lock and oversees every match is a god. by this definition the capitalist sponsors who funded blue lock are also gods (as demonstrated in barcha, when they force isagi into the game)— tanuki guy, one of these sponsors who made a special deal with egojin, counts as a god because he is ostensibly capable of influencing what happens within the environment of blue lock (as is implied through the deal scene?). (basically god = having power over a space, which is related to how capitalism operates as well? it’s all about power basically)

i mention this because ‘fighting god’ is something isagi doesn’t seem to have done yet, but he must do it if he wants to complete his journey towards godhood. fighting egojin i think is not narratively viable because egojin embodies blue lock meaning it’s far better to gain egojin’s approval than fight him (isagi did this in manshine). fighting tanuki guy however is viable, because he may be a god but he’s also a capitalist who only cares about blue lock for the money which makes him a guy who just plain sucks.

gonna make a claim here and say tanuki guy loves isagi because he loves money. isagi is recognized by the world as ‘mr. blue lock’ (from the announcer at the start of ubers) and was put into barcha because ‘the world’ wanted to see him play; from tanuki guy’s perspective, isagi is like blue lock’s money-making mascot. (while tanuki guy’s create-a-mascot ideas were rejected by egojin, he probably doesn’t need them as long as isagi’s around?)

this puts isagi in a difficult position, where 1. he must fight this capitalist god, but he also wants to win with soccer, which means as long as he keeps scoring he can’t stick it to tanuki guy, and 2. isagi is entirely ignorant of this dynamic between him and the capitalist gods. however there’s a great amount of precedent for isagi doing things while remaining ignorant of the full situation so i think it’s possible for isagi to fight back, and i think the answer is in igaguri— obviously igaguri does not have the sponsor-support or recognition that isagi has, meaning that if he scored a goal it would suck for tanuki guy who would probably prefer a goal by an established hero like isagi. the biggest potential fuck you isagi could give to the the money-grubbing gods of blue lock would be to enable and assist igaguri, an unrecognized and unknown player

in short isagi assisting igaguri into final goal would be an appropriate way to end the final blue lock game because it sticks it to the capitalist gods of blue lock and fulfills one condition of godhood for isagi which is that he must defy god. furthermore what would likely be an anti-climactic result for the average in-universe blue lock viewer might be satisfying to the average blue lock reader who is familiar with igaguri and presumably sympathetic with his desire to survive— what the in-universe world wants and what the average reader wants may be the same (an isagi win), but an igaguri goal (just like isagi’s final ubers goal?) would be a challenge posed to the reader that questions ‘what audiences want’ from a story-match and this is in line with blue lock’s meta-elements + commentary on the nature of fiction. believe in epic monk hours

[passerine-writes]

Silent Sparks - Volt 15

Warnings: Mentions of scars, All Might being an ass Word count: 2544

Notes: Italics - Tsukare signing Bold italics - Family member/friend signing 'Italics with apostrophes' - Thoughts Masterlist

Volt 14 | Volt 16

Since Hitoshi and I both had our bouts at being the villain, we were heroes this time. Sero and Hagakure would be the villains. At the go ahead, Hitoshi and I made our way in.

They're probably gonna send Hagakure, so look out for floating white tape. We might be able to get Hagakure with your quirk and have her tape up Sero. Do you remember what they both sound like?

He nodded once and pulled up his mask, messing with the dial on the side as we quietly moved inside. We cleared the first two floors just as silently, using sign language to our advantage when I saw it, the tape.

"Hagakure, above you!" Hitoshi yelled in Sero's voice.

"Huh? Where?" And with that, she was under his control. He moved forward and wrapped his tape around her wrists, then let go of his control.

I didn't want to risk it not counting, in real life it would but I don't know about here. Especially with All Might being All Might, he might not count it.

I nodded and we kept moving, finally making it the fourth floor where the weapon was.

He taped the place off, so he trapped it. I'll go in, you use the ceiling, the maintenance room should be right next door, bust down the ceiling and crawl through. I'll keep him distracted.

If you're in trouble though, I'll take him down instead of the weapon, it depends on the situation.

Yeah, I know. Now go, we probably only have five or so minutes left.

He nodded and I waited about thirty seconds before making my entrance.

"Wow, really nice in here, I see you already went ahead and decorated." He spun around and got into a fighting stance.

"Where's your partner?"

"Oh him? I don't know. Guess he decided to go rogue, or maybe he ran into Hagakure. I'd say I haven't seen her but I know she probably did what she did earlier and took her gloves and boots off." Just gotta keep stalling.

"I don't know what you're up to but you're not getting to the weapon." I rolled my eyes and got in a fighting stance, a solid five feet between us now.

He shot out his tape and I dodged, dropping to the floor and somersaulting towards him. He went to dive over me but I caught his ankle, making him smack to the ground. I moved quickly to get on top of him, my knee digging into his back to keep him in place as I grabbed his wrists. He was smart though, he kept moving his wrists so I couldn't keep one hand on him to use the other for grabbing my tape. I looked over my shoulder to see Hitoshi through a square in the ceiling, he took it out and was waiting for a signal, but also deciding what to do.

"Hitoshi! Now!" I watched as he jumped down, barreling towards the weapon.

I looked down and spotted Sero's capture tape on his waist, neatly tucked for convenience. I quickly grabbed it and just as I bound his wrists, Hitoshi touched the weapon. I let out a sigh of relief and rolled off of Sero, taking a deep breath as we heard All Might announce that the hero team won. I jumped up, dodging tape left and right as I tackled my brother in a hug. He chuckled and held me just as tight, the both of us giddy and cheering.

"Sir, if I may." Yaoyorozu raised her hand and All Might gestured for her to continue. The four of us stood in front of the class and I felt a certain pair of golden eyes trained on me. "Tsukare and Shinsou were the prime example today of how things go if you know who you're working with. It's common for heroes from the same agencies and those that typically work together to have much better outcomes. This demonstrated that. They're brothers and have been training together for multiple years. Aside from that, they're both fluent in sign language and used that to their advantage for stealth and solid communication. Nothing about this was poorly thought out on either end." I looked to her surprised, not expecting someone to actually compliment our teamwork or what we did outside of the teacher.

"I have to agree with Yaoyorozu. Lack of communication can be detrimental to a team. They also had no damage to property or people. The tiles moved can easily be moved back into their original place and the tape can be cleaned up." I turned to the quiet male with the weird costume, not expecting him of all people to speak up.

"Very well done! You both are very observational! Heroes, that exercise was done beautifully. Villains, you both did superb and kept fighting to the end. That is all for today, everyone may go and get changed. Young Tsukare, would you mind staying behind for a moment?" My brother and I shared a look but I nodded for him to go on ahead, we have lunch next so it's not going to kill me if I'm a few minutes late. "I would like to have a talk with you, would you mind if we went to a different classroom or office?" I shrugged and followed him however the closer we got, the worse the feeling in my stomach got. This hallway was all too familiar for me and I hoped he didn't make a right but he did. "Recovery Girl! I've brought a student and I'd like to talk with the both of you!" I glared at how loud he was being, the volume being obnoxious to me. That alone clearly saying something considering Pops and I have very loud quirks.

"Oh hello Tsukare dear, are you here for your meds again?" I smiled awkwardly.

"I forgot to take them this morning so I need them but I don't know why I'm here actually." She looked confused but went and got me my medication. I swallowed the pills quickly and thanked her before we turned to All Might.

"Recovery Girl, I would like to admit him to the hospital for a seventy two hour watch." My eyes grew wide and I took a step back, All Might turned and took another step towards me. "Now young Tsukare, this is for your own good. I saw the scars on your arms earlier and I know what they're from."

"Chiyo, call my dads down here please? T-Tell them it's an emergency." She quickly dialed both numbers and I took another step back.

"'Dads?' Are you feeling alright? People only have one father, young Tsukare." He went to place a hand on my shoulder but I promptly smacked his hands away.

"Don't touch me."

"All Might, give the boy some space! Go sit down!" His eyes widened and he swiftly went and sat in a chair. "Don't worry dear, we're not sending you there." I nodded and looked around the room, backing myself up to the wall subconsciously. I flinched when the door slammed open but ran over and hugged my dads. Two different arms wrapped over my shoulders and rubbed my back, holding me close to them.

"Chiyo? What's the emergency? Is Onryo okay?" She sighed and looked at the four of us before standing up.

"Let's go talk in my office. Midoriya is still resting."

"You tried to send our kid, where?" All Might looked hesitant as dad raised his voice.

"Well, Aizawa, I didn't know-" We sat in Chiyo's office, the number one hero cutting himself off at my dads glare.

"Onryo, can you explain what happened?" I looked up to Pops and nodded, I was currently sat between my parents.

"He said he wanted to talk to me about something and offered an office or classroom for what I thought were privacy reasons. I followed him here and he said he saw my scars and wanted to admit me for a seventy two hour watch. I told him earlier not to touch me because he put his hand on my shoulder and he backed me towards the wall and tried to grab my shoulder again. I told Chiyo to call you with an emergency. Then he tried to treat me like I was crazy and said that people only have one dad, not two." The two nodded, absorbing the information and All Might looked at a loss.

"Yes, I saw the scars on young Tsukare's arms and knew what they were from. I acted how I thought was best. I didn't realize you two were, uh, well, or had, uh-"

"Yes, Mic and I are married and have two kids, we keep it secret for protection reasons. I'm sure you can understand that. However, I'm now aware that you didn't read any of the student files I sent you." All Might sheepishly smiled, rubbing the back of his neck in shame. "If you had read the files, then you would know Onryo has a plethora of diagnoses and some of his medical history is listed as well."

"There were just so many to go over between all of the students, I could only get through so many."

"I gave them to you a month ago. If you're going to make excuses then you have no reason to be a teacher here." My leg bounced haphazardly against the tiled floor, catching my Pops' attention first.

"Onryo, why don't you go get some lunch, little listener." I nodded and practically ran back to the locker rooms to change and then hurried to the lunch room. It took me a minute, but I finally found my brother. However a certain blond interrupted me.

"Hey, Tsukare! You wanna sit with us? We have an extra seat!" I looked down as I blushed, not expecting him to want to sit with the weirdo kid who lectured a teacher.

"I would but I told my brother I'd sit with him. Maybe another day?" He nodded cheerfully and waved me off.

Everything okay?

All Might was being a total ass, almost got me sent to the hospital.

What?

I'll explain later.

Bro talk tonight?

Yes please.

"I didn't know you two knew sign language!" I looked to Uraraka, already socially drained.

"Yeah, we both learned as kids, Midoriya and Bakugou know it too. I don't know about anyone else in the class though." She hummed and continued eating her lunch.

"That's actually really cool, ribbit." I smiled at Asui, she's very nice and down to earth from what I've noticed.

I pushed my food around, after what All Might tried earlier, I lost my appetite.

You have to eat.

I'm not hungry. It's also probably because I took my meds on an empty stomach.

Dumbass. At least try and eat.

I sighed but took a bite anyways, the nausea only growing stronger so I just pushed it around more until the bell rang.

I slipped into Hitoshi's room at probably one in the morning, having our designated brother talk in his room.

"So what did All Might do? Aside from being completely incompetent during Midoriya's match." I explained to him all that happened and that's why our parents probably seemed so drained at dinner. "What an ass. If he didn't know we were adopted before from our files, he definitely knows now." I chortled out a laugh, trying to keep it down so we didn't worry our parents about our lack of sleep. "So what's going on with you and blondie?"

"Bakugou? Why would you ask about him? You know I can't stand him." He rolled his eyes and took a sip from his mug of coffee.

"The other blond, but speaking of Bakugou, I've never seen you react like that. I thought I was going to have to hold you back earlier."

"He pissed me off, All Might wasn't helping either. And wait, Kaminari? What about him?" I was completely confused as to why he was bringing Kaminari up.

"Oh come on, you've been checking him out whenever you can and vice versa. Not to mention how much you were blushing after he talked to you in lunch." I flushed at his words and rubbed the back of my neck.

"I don't think he even swings that way. I just, I don't know. Plus he's already a major flirt, so that could just be his personality and how he is. Double plus, dad has the no loud blond rule." My brother shrugged and offered me a sip of his black coffee to which I quickly denied. "What about Midoriya though? Are you finally gonna ask him out?" Thankfully he wasn't actively taking a sip, or else he definitely would've done a spit take. "Oh come on, you've been in love with him since you two met and I'm fairly positive he's interested."

"Yeah because the way he acts around Uraraka means he's interested." I rolled my eyes and turned my body towards him more.

"Please, he's the epitome of a cinnamon roll. Someone shows him any sign of attention or attraction towards him, he's gonna combust." He huffed out a small laugh, clearly agreeing.

"Hey, uh, I know you don't talk about it a lot, but how come you're so self conscious about your scars?" I bit my lip and criss crossed my legs, taking a moment to stare at my marred skin.

"When people see them, and realize what they're from, it's like advertising that I attempted. I get looks, I get comments, people act different, they feel like they need to walk on eggshells. I don't want people to treat me like I'm some porcelain doll when I'm becoming a hero. And it's just, I regret it, I wish I didn't do it but sometimes... sometimes I catch myself missing it. The feeling and everything. Even after almost three years I find myself missing it once in a while. I wish I didn't, but I do. Yeah my meds help and all but they can only help so much. Plus how they look doesn't help all that much, that's why I change in a stall, because I know that if someone in there sees my back and chest then it's game over." My brother looked at me sympathetically, a pained look in his eye.

"If you have rough nights you're always welcome in here, I know it's hard to talk to Dad and Pops about some stuff. Like, you know they won't be mad or pissed off but you don't want to risk bothering them or anything." I nodded along, completely understanding what he meant.

"Yeah, especially with how little we sleep. Dad would completely get it and Pops would get it because of being with Dad for so long, but it's that little fear of what if I do bother them? You know you won't but the voice of irrationality chimes in and throws you off."

"Exactly." My shoulders slumped a bit, the tension leaving once again.

"You should definitely ask out Midoriya."

[maybeigotwithsophie]

The wiz thoughts up to mean old lion 1978

Word connotantes - run, up, down, run, hide, ease, don’t ease, long, road, where, how, which way

Dialectics

All the characters have my new philosophy intro songs

Dorothy is so expressive and dramatic but she also has some deep confidence barriers

The friends get annoying after a whole esp Jackson but it’s the most real portrayal of my friendships I’ve seen thus far

Dorothy doesn’t have to posture.

these dialogues HIT HIT HIT

Charlie smalls was a genius no doubt

Why does no one analyze this?

We all know these characters and the awe and amazement ref lyric is the Anne Shirley effect

The lion is annoying the shit of me because I know SO MANYppl like him my goods even scarecrow is annoyed af

Mills didn’t need to act dumb about Michael like I didn’t want to hear that

OMG TIN MAN LMFAOOOOO

Everyone presents and laughs so hard in this

Ease on down the road put a smile on my face.

You can’t win deserves its own award category. For most meaningful impact communicated through a song scene. Fight me.

The lion omg stfuuuyuy

The courthouse

Does anyone get the numbers symbolism?

It went over mine regretfully

Mills is not singing too well in her falsetto, emotional familiarity doesn’t make it reasonable.

The cab dances where each ease on down the road gets more confident mostly is just THE BOMB

the colorsss f the can b the yellow is so iconic and recognizable

The snow tornado let me inhibitions down

Guys I have to be Dorothy

Toto runs like a tiny Pomeranian

Bubbieeee

Oh no nut the metro

The lions announcer voice

FLEet

took me outtttt LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I swear

IFELAS

I CANT with this the black references guys I get all of them all

Nothing better than getting a cultural reference it’s like a fun little ping pong game full of fuzzy rewards

THE SCAEY TELETUBBIES KILL MEGHYSHELP

I don’t wanna be afraid AHHHHH IM SK SCAEED OMGFO S S THIS JA SCARIER THAN GETTING HARASSED PK THW RESIME STAIRL A AHAHAHAI FELT VISCER TWEELE

This is so actually scary help oh my god

This is so scary

Hell I’m terrified

I’m panicking

What what what

No e lion is oomna doej

What the hell i feel this

Def Stephanie’s better scenes realism wise

So the lion has courage and the crows weren’t and we’re real but that’s not the point because her session with scarecrow demonstrated how I talk to people who are struggling and how I get on with the world like th e light soundtrack encapsulates that I just wish the lyrics and it would mesh better

It’s light and flighty still even

But I still love it more than god

Toto isn’t with me I’m sad :(

Stephanie is so quirky

WHY ARE THE WALLS MOVING I STG

Acid what was wrong with Charlie smalls

Hello if you’re out there qu’ils board guy

I this mind trip is so long

Ok this is psychological horror I once panicked over being In a mirror maze funhouse when I was young because my intrusive thoughts had never seemed so pertinent fucking terrifying I felt like the ear th w was gonna fall under me and every light and mirror I touched wasn’t tangible or real

Oh poppies

[janaem]

i like you

"man, he doesn't like me." you sighed resting your head on the palms of you hands. tears were stinging your eyes, for you felt nothing but disappointment and grief. but then again, those were the feelings that often came with having a crush.

___, your friend, cocks an eyebrow, "uhh, what the fuck? yes, he does. he just doesn't show it, give him time."

you furrowed your eyebrows, giving your friend a skeptical look, "and...how long are you gonna say this exactly? It's been years it seems..." you swallowed a lump in your throat, thinking back to all the times you've tried to catch his attention and start up conversations with him. if it was effective, you wouldn't have been stuck in this depressing mental space.

___ shrugged, "yeah, well, it does takes a while for boys to come around," they smirked looking at the teacher's whiteboard, "my ex is a perfect example."

still, a bunch of thoughts started occupying your mind as you watched the teacher project today's lesson onto the board. it's been months since you've started liking ___, and all you've ever wanted was for him to acknowledge you a little more than he did. because to you, it seemed that he has liked your first, way before you started noticing and liking him back.

the sexual tension between you two was rather noticeable. constantly catching each other's gazes in class (sometimes they would turn into staring contests), all those times where he would physically get close to you without saying a word, you would even catch him looking at you while whispering to his friends. all these things, yet neither of you had made a single move.

not like you had a problem, you enjoyed the attention he gave you. that's probably why you started crushing on him in the first place.

you've been pondering on the idea of making the first big move, but you've done that to your last crush and that steered them in the other direction. but every crush is different, maybe ___ might even admit his true feelings instead of hiding. he was sorta the type to be bold—in his own way. he made things direct, but indirect at the same time, and it kind of frustrated you, let alone disappointed you, but you were more disappointed in yourself than you were of him.

you shook off the thoughts that were constantly attacking you, and did your best to keep up with your notes.

"don't look...oh god, please don't look." you pleaded to yourself quietly, silently fighting the urge to see if your crush was looking at you. you stared blankly at you notes, head faced down to avoid any eye contact with anyone

___ was, in fact, eyeing you. watching closely as you tried to keep your composure. you sat in a slouched position, gripping your pencil, you bit your inner cheek fighting the temptation to even spare a quick glance.

"....okay, so i want everyone to come to this table for a demonstration." the teacher announced pointing at the large wooden table in the back.

the boys stood on one side while the girls were on the other side. that was until a few other students joined and mixed things up. the teacher stood at the head of the table, talking and talking away about more of today's lesson. you felt a little more better, your crush was out of your mind for now, so this time you were all ears and watching the teacher.

you weren't thinking of it, but you wish you hadn't. you spared a quick glance at ___, who was right across from you, his hand supporting him as he leaned onto the table. body slightly turned to the teacher, yet his eyes were right on you.

your stomach immediately dropped and you turned your attention back to the teacher, acting as if nothing happened.

once the bell rang, signalling the end of the school day, you immediately gathered your things.

"hey, ___, since your locker is closest to the band room, could you grab my instrument for me? I'll meet you downstairs in front of the school so we can walk together." your friend asked as you btoh exited the classroom. their locker was all the way downstairs and the band room was two stories above, exactly where your locker was.

"yeah, i'll see you later." you said turning the corner and heading up the long flights of stairs.

a part of you really dreaded this assignment because your crush also goes into the band room after school. even though he was quite popular, he was also a band kid.

once you were done packing your things, you hesitantly reached the band room door. peeking in to see no one was there, you felt a wave of relief as you entered the room.

there were stacks of instrument cases on the floor and on the shelves. how on earth were you supposed to find your friend's instrument? you couldn't possibly search the hundreds of nametags.

you decided to whip out your phone from your pocket and texted them 'where in the room do u usually put your instrument?'

meanwhile, you took a look around yourself waiting for your friend to text back. that was until the door swung open abruptly, resulting you to flinch on the stop.

you turned around to see ___ walking in, running a hand through his hair once once he saw you.

you immediately turned your attention back to the instruments. your heart pounds in your chest rapidly, as if it was about to rip out of your chest. you had to lean onto the shelf for support it was beating so fast. the pressure on your eyes was unbearable as you tried not to look at him again.

"hey, uh, are you looking for ___'s, instrument?"

you immediately snapped your neck in his direction, you honestly did not know how to act.

"yeah...you know where it is?" you felt a sudden buzz in your hand. you assumed it was your friend telling you where it was. what's it gonna hurt relying on your crush?

it's just above mine, we play the same instrument." he said tilting his head slightly in the direction of the shelf of instrument cases.

you were practically froze in your spot, not knowing if he wanted you to come closer to him. you just stood there and nodded, and ___ gave you a questioning look.

the silence was loud in the small band room, your heart beat increasing didn't seem to help.

you just couldn't look at him. you weren't sure why he was able to look at you...maybe he really doesn't like you and just sees you as a regular girl at school. well, that's how he's been treating you for the past months...so why were your expectations so high all the time when all you got was nothing?

"you don't have to get it, i'll get it myself." you said reluctantly breaking the silence. you walked over to where your crush was, the space between the two of you was very slim. you didn't think much of it as you grabbed your friend's instrument and then his from the shelf.

turning around, you felt something faintly brush against your bottom, that's when you immediately noticed that ___ was dangerously close to you. once again, the adrenaline in your stomach started up again, you awkwardly turned around, handing ___ his instrument.

__ stammered, realizing how uncomfortable you were, "oh um sorry, i didn't realize-"

"it's okay." you said starting to head towards the door.

"__, wait."

you turned around, completely stunned that he had just said your name for the first time in a long time, "yeah?" you honestly wanted to hear him say it again.

"there's uh...something i need to tell you," he set his instrument down next to his foot and dug his hands into his pocket.

"what is it?" you said inching towards him a bit. you could see ___ starting to get a bit nervous under your stare. he fidgeted in his spot, but he still managed to maintain eye contact.

__ ran his hand through his hair, "i think i like you."

'wait what!? oh my gosh this is not happening!' you said excitedly in your head, you instead furrowed your eyebrows in 'confusion,'

"elaborate." you deadpanned, crossing your arms. but in your mind, you completely understood how he felt, because that's exactly how you felt about him. you tried so hard not to run  around  and squeal excitedly like a maniac.

"look, i know this may sound creepy, and you may get a bit paranoid after i say this." he swallowed hard, as if there was a lump in his throat.

"no matter what i do, who i'm with, or where i am, i just can't stop thinking about you."

you forgot how to breathe at this very moment , was he just saying this? or was he being genuine? because with the way he has been acting for the past months, you didn't know what to believe anymore.

___ took a few steps towards you, "you're all i think about, you're all i ever wanna talk about."

you raised your eyebrows a bit, you've never heard something like this come out of his mouth before.

"there are so many things i want to do with you, but there are things holding me back, and i fucking hate it."

you just stood there in silence, watching as he anxiously ran his hand through his hair again, "fuck, i—no one has ever made me feel this way before."

everything seemed to move fast from there, yet it felt like it was in slow motion. wasting no time, you carelessly dropped the instrument on the floor, your body started to move on its own once you started walking up to ___, lovingly extending your arms and gave him the tightest embrace you could ever give someone.

the tension has suddenly melted away into obscurity, it was like two lost souls have been brought together after such a long time.

___ slowly snaked his arms around you, "i've been wanting to do this for a long time." he whispered, you shivered feeling his soft breath against your neck.

you didn't want to let go, and neither did he. ___ took the opportunity to kiss the part where your jaw and your ear met. you turned your head to face him. both of your faces were only inches away as ___ removed one of his arms from you to place his hand on your cheek. you closed your eyes, feeling his lips touch yours softly, pulling your body closer with his other arm.

you kissed back, deepening the kiss even more. you honestly didn't think this moment would come. you longed to stay like this forever, oh you wish you did.

you two parted for a quick second, with your eyes half lidded you saw ___ smile a bit, leaning into kiss you again. this time, the kiss was a bit rougher. ___ trailed his hand down your cheek and passed the sensitive spot of your neck. you softly gasped feeling his hand wrap around your neck, his other hand stroked your back slowly ...

suddenly, your phone buzzed, breaking the hypnosis you two were in. the two of you reluctantly parted, and you removed your arms form around ___ and reached into your pocket and took out your phone. It was a text message from your friend.

'coming down? :)' it said.

you widened your eyes in realization, "oh shit i gotta go!" you grabbed you grabbed your friend, ___'s, instrument case.

"can i at least get your number, ___?" your crush asked pulling out his phone.

"uh sure," you said pulling up your information, "here it is."

once you were finished exchanging numbers, ___ pulled you in for one last kiss. then you picked up the instrument case and dashed out the door. ___ followed soon after, but you were well down the stairs before he could see you one last time today.

you both couldn't wait to see each other the next day.

[chemicalpink]

☾✧゜BTS Tarot Reading: a peek into their S/O energy ☾✧゜

Pairing: none, this is a tarot/oracle reading.

A/N: I used the divine feminine deck for this reading. Please do remember that every tarot reader’s relationship with their decks are unique thus it may vary the interpretation of the cards. This reading is for entertainment purposes only; the energy channeled may refer to a present or future partner. Whatever outcomes of the reading doesn’t mean ultimate truth and we should really respect the member’s dating life as fans. 

Kim Seokjin ☾✧゜

Mai Bhago: resources; warrior.

So i feel like this is someone that might have to fight for him

Someone that will stop at nothing to get him to open up.

Cause I mean sure, either way, Jin is so far up in the ‘people that will never be your boyfriend’ list with the way that BTS has grown but I feel like this is so much more than that.

I feel like 

It’s not hard to get close to him, but it is hard to get him to open up to the idea of someone loving him for him and not for what he’s accomplished.

idk if that makes sense (?

Lakshmi: abundance

As soon as I laid eyes on this card I got the idea of someone with all that bread.

Not sure if it is inherited wealth/ wealthy family or self made

But definitely someone that has the necessary resources to live comfortably

And also this adds up to them being able to make Jin open up 

Cause they are definitely not using him for money.

Which is a big relief for him.

Rita of Cascia: impossible causes.

Definitely someone that doesn’t run on the same circles as him.

I thought: hmmm maybe a fan (?

Or possibly someone that doesn’t necessarily has the time to date

But most definitely has the intention to love Seokjin with all their strength.

Min Yoongi ☾✧゜

Rita of Cascia: impossible causes

Hello we meet again.

But with a diferent connotation.

This is someone whos strong will puts us all to shame

Like really

Someone that gets their mind on something and will most definitely get it.

Very in tune with Yoongi’s energy.

Lalla: spoken words

I feel like this is someone that has gone through their life trying to heal

And succeeding

“I am the writer of my own story”

Some one that doesn’t fit into the ‘traditional’ way that they are supposed to live.

VERY straightforward.

I also thought of someone spiritual, a manifester of sorts.

Kali: mother of the universe.

LISTEN I’ve said how this one is someone non traditional

Now hear me out

I saw this card and thought well we are looking at someone not gender conforming.

I can even go as far as say that is is someone part of the LGBTQ+ community.

“It’s time to be the truth of who I am”

If you put 2 and 2 together, I can say that this is a healing presence for Yoongi, someone that will make him tune in into what he really likes, who he is.

Jung Hoseok ☾✧゜

Lalita: happiness

This made me so soft

Sunshine got his own sunshine

“Laughter leads me back to the light”

Very positive vibes for this one

One of those people that is impossible not to like

Just like him

Sarada Devi

“The presence of love is the absence of judgement”

This is definitely someone open-minded

In many ways

Someone that has no trouble with Hobi’s way of life

As in

He had to cancel last minute because there’s this thing at the studio? Sure no problem.

They don’t doubt one bit his love and devotion

And understands that they are not walking the same path

But rather walking each of their paths together.

Vajrayogini: liberation

A carefree soul

I feel like this someone is helping Hoseok feel free again

As in

Don’t get him wrong he loves doing what he does but sometimes your career ties you down

But all of those are gone with them.

A fourth card popped up: Mary Magdalene

Along with all those things, this someone is someone very down to Earth

They know where they stand

None of that getting their head get full of it for dating Hoseok

They are themselves and will stay themselves no matter what.

Kim Namjoon ☾✧゜

Marguerite Porete: mystic

Right off the bat, a soulmate connection

I’ll have to say soul family at least

A very divine love

Not like codependent but very very into each other

Shekinah

I feel like most probably this is a female, or someone that identifies as such

Also

Namjoon president? very much so

This is someone important

I see power

In like- a position wise type of way

I’ll go as far as to say a diplomat cause it’s what comes to mind

Or a business executive

Someone well respected within their own little world

Definitely someone Joon looks up to

Rita of Cascia: impossibles

What’s with these boys and this card

So again, I’m sensing fan or just someone that is not a celebrity

Public figure? sure

But like I said, they run just within their own circle

It also came to mind: foreigner

So yeah, i endorse my thought of a diplomat.

Park Jimin ☾✧゜

The Cosmic Egg

Listen I’m not surprised to get such a card from this man

This is indeed a soulmate connection

Also, filled with lots of love

But mostly like- demonstrations of love

I don’t wanna say they’re that couple full of PDA

but it’s what comes to mind

Teresa of Avila

DO NOT QUOTE ME ON THIS OKAY

But I feel like this is an already existing relationship

they keep to themselves

a very NON PUBLIC relationship

I feel like they don’t feel the need to announce it to make it more real

They vibin’

a very soft and chill connection tbh

Machig Labdron

So I feel like these two have known each other for long

This is someone that Jimin has helped through hard times

Chimchim is a healer within so I sense that he has helped them 

“I see light in my own darkness”

Also I feel like they’ve had a troubled past that has turned into love

Jimin was the light that helped them see their true lovable self.

Kim Taehyung ☾✧゜

Mira Bai: true freedom

Okay so this is someone VERY independent

Although they love Tae to death, they know to love themselves first

I can see Tae being a bit intimidated by this way of thinking at first

But learn later that this is his type of person

Yeshe Tsogyal

It came to mind an academic

Whether it is a teacher or an investigator

That academia vibe

A true intellectual

Very curious about life and averything that surrounds them

Just like Tae

Tae most likely learns A LOT from this relationship

And is very fascinated by their brain

Kali

“I release all that doesn’t serve me”

This someone knows what they want

And there is just no way around it

Like the first card said, they love Tae but life plans are life plans

Someone that loves to walk their own path

A very grown-up vibe to them

And listen I don’t wanna fall into daddy/mommy issues

really

But I’m gonna go ahead and say this is some type of inner child healing for Tae

Two very similar POVs but with SO DIFFERENT perspectives

Both curious, but Tae’s comes from a child-like place whereas his s/o views it as something greater, the purpose of the universe type of way.

Jeon Jungkook ☾✧゜

Sehknet

This card was very straightforward with the message

Someone that has been through shit

Jungkook is their well-deserved break at all the trials that the universe has put them through.

“I am pure strength”

I also feel like this is someone that tends to be an avid activist

VERY VERY passionate

and definitely tired of everyone’s bullshit

an old soul, VERY VERY OLD

“I honor my anger by giving voice to it”

Pope Joan

WHEN I TELL U

this is someone spiritual to the BONE

“Soul is limitless”

I got the ‘I will turn the world upside down to find you’ vibe too

Like

They know Jungkook is their person

And honestly? They are thriving to just watch how the universe is trying to apologize to them by putting Jungkook on their path

Someone very wise, more so in the sense of life than academic type

Parvati

THIS IS A PAST LIFE CONNECTION

like- really really had it coming for both of them

“I am a love that doesn’t leave”

They are also very very committed to this connection

They put their 110% spiritual self on this

I sensed the ‘healer meets healer’ type of connection once they meet

Also

Since this is a very old soul I feel like their soul journey is almost over and Jungkook is kind of a legacy for their learnings.

As always I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to request any other general tarot reading! Have a great day! I promise I’m working on all my other requests, this reading just suddenly came to me and i just had to do it.

[itsclydebitches]

"I talked a little bit about this in-in chapter 9 um, but just uh, how we quietly had like, these little moments for Jaune all volume. Just like, kinda show his mind set of like 'I am gonna do the hard thing. I still gotta job to do.' Um, how that carried through all the way to this kinda like, ultimate moment." - I legit thought that for several volumes the point was for him to subvert gender stereotypes, I wonder what's the deal with "fearless strong leader that makes hard decisions"?

Yeah, we've long lost the subversion work Jaune was originally doing and even back in the early Volumes it was shaky, given that so much of his characterization that contrasts the traditional, masculine leader was also treated as a joke. Haha isn't it funny that a man lost a bet and has to wear a dress. Haha isn't it funny that he wears a onesie to bed. Haha Ruby is losing her mind over him in a bunny sweatshirt. We're supposed to laugh at the subversive elements, not embrace them as equally valid forms of masculinity. Now that Jaune is no longer the inept loser used largely for comedy? Well, he's treated more seriously now too. He gets the hottest, most talented pupil in love with him, grieving and trying to avenge her untimely death (classic quest for the guy). He's got all the hot moms lusting over him while he helps kids cross the street (because that in and of itself isn't manly enough to stand on its own — remember, that's treated as another joke). That sweatshirt is again covered up, he's got new gadgets, a new haircut that the crew obviously thinks is cool... and another redhead to grieve, stepping into the spotlight to make the hard call because our primary hero was tossed into a void after forgetting to use the power singularly capable of taking out their opponent. Jaune's subversion was always surface deep, riddled with its own complications, and looking back, it was never meant to last.

But also, what "hard thing" was he doing in Volume 8 before Penny? Jaune isn't the guy making the tough calls, he's the "How about both?" guy with an incresingly useful semblance:

Does the group help Mantle citizens or try to send a message to the rest of Remnant? Jaune suggests they do both.

Do they rescue Oscar or save the rest of Atlas from Salem's whale? Jaune suggests they do both.

Do they kill Penny or let the virus continue? Jaune's semblance can suddenly keep coding at bay.

Does he side with Ren who thinks they've made horrific mistakes, or Yang who thinks everything would be worse if not for their choices? Jaune goes for the random 'Stop bottling up your emotions' middle ground.

Jaune isn't making tough calls throughout the Volume, he's just put into situations where a) he already has the solution on hand (semblance), b) ignores the problem entirely (Ren), or c) points out an incredibly obvious solution (we can split this team of eight into two. You know, like how our original teams were). The rest of the time the issue of a choice isn't even brought up — there's no question of whether they'll go after Oscar or help the civilians Fiona is calling in for, Jaune isn't taking May's place and demanding that Ruby make a call about Atlas vs. Mantle prior to Penny distracting them — or the group is celebrating his bravery for no apparent reason. Ren just announces that Jaune isn't feeling any fear (which is not the same thing as bravery anyway) and he and Yang admire that for a moment, despite the fact that they're all heading into the whale to look for Oscar. Jaune isn't demonstrating any unique action here.

The one time I can recall him acting like a leader making a tough call (in Volume 8) is him reminding Nora that they have a duty to the civilians when the fight with Cinder starts. "Priority one." That's it. Even if Penny's death wasn't a badly justified mess, where was this characterization? Granted, Jaune did more and made more decisions than Team RWBY, but by that low bar criteria, so did Ren, Yang, and Oscar. I mean, it's not that I want Jaune to have all these tough, emotionally draining decisions to make when that work should be going to our title team, but it just feels like another instance of the writers having a version of RWBY in their heads that doesn't match up with what they put on screen.

[dajaregambler]

HeliosR - Wondrous Tea Party On A Bitter Afternoon - Chapter 21

Translation of chapter 21 of the event ‘Wondrous Tea Party On A Bitter Afternoon’ from ‘Helios Rising Heroes’.

--A few days ago.

Marion: On the day of the LOM we’ll carry out a demonstration split in two groups, one with Alice and the Mad Hatter, and the other with the King of Hearts with the Card Soldiers.

Ren: ….Why, am I Alice…? That’s who this costume represents, right?

Marion: Exactly. You played her role for the reading

Ren: I know I did but…

Marion: After all, helping out at the bookstore has been recognized as an effort for Valentine’s. And we can use the arena for the LOM as a large-scale tool for promotion, no?

Marion: You’ll fight in a mock battle while properly acting out as Alice. Same goes for you, Gast

Gast: Y-yeah. I’m good with doing a mock battle. My costume’s the Queen of Hearts, right…? No, the King I guess. But why am I…

Marion: You two were the ones that helped out the bookstore to get back on its feet. And because of that you’ve been casted as the main roles.

Marion: What’s left is me as a Card Soldier, and Victor as the Mad Hatter. As for him it’s currently uncertain if he’d be able to join on the day itself. If necessary Ren will have to fight on his own.

Ren: ….Okay

Marion: Regarding the scenes from “Alice in Wonderland”, we’ll be doing the one where Alice is chased down by the Card Soldiers at the trial.

Marion: I’ll be attacking together with drones dressed up as the Card Soldiers, and you act to that in return. Just so you know, I won’t be merely putting out an act out there for the mock battle. The attack will last until the very last minute possible.

Ren: …Got it

Marion: The fight with the King of Hearts comes last. Until then, you will be sitting like a king on the throne placed in the arena.

Marion: So when our turn is over, Alice and the King of Hearts will engage in a climatic one on one battle.

Gast: Ooh, gotta go against Ren, eh. That’s gonna feel pretty fresh

Marion: Put on a worthy mock battle to the point that the jaws of the spectators will drop. You two rookies can pull it off, no?

Ren: Yes. I’ll give it all I got.

Gast: K-kinda feelin’ this huge pressure but I’ll do my best too

Gast: Ren, let’s think of a plan even if it’s something simple

Ren: Yeah…

Victor: My apologies for the wait.

Victor: I’ve been told that the theme for the upcoming LOM is “Alice in Wonderland”... could this be the Mad Hatter’s costume?

Marion: Yes. A role that allows itself to be absent without any problems on the day of the LOM. Well… it’d be more exciting if you were present. 

Victor: I’ll exert myself as much as I can to be able to join. I’d like to settle West’s problem before the LOM starts.

Marion: I’m not hoping on much

Victor: Fufu. I’m glad to see you were able to prepare for the LOM.

Marion: ….Hmph. Since you want to participate, you better not show any exhaustion in front of the citizens just because you were busy.

Victor: Yes, of course. I’ll be acting out the perfect Mad Hatter when it comes to it.

-

Announcer: “Alice is surrounded by the Card Soldiers! He’s in a big piiiiiiiinch!! What will he do!!” 

Ren: “What will I do… Can’t see any openings-”

Victor: Let’s sit down for some tea, Alice

Ren: Eh…!?

Victor: Would you like some cookies too?

Ren: What are you doing at this time…

Victor: The secret ingredient is gunpowder. You haven’t had anything to eat yet, so come and have a seat with everyone for a meal

Marion: Wha-... the card soldiers are…!

Victor: So would you like some? These cookies have a stimulating flavour, you know?

Announcer: “To think that the Mad Hatter would join the battle!! Nice assist!”

Ren: Vi-... Mad Hatter, the next attack is coming

Victor: My apologies, Alice. The tea party celebration for the Unbirthday has begun 8 seconds ago, my hands are full at the moment

Ren: ….!?

Ren: Gh, then, I’ll knock ‘em down myself…!

Announcer: “There it iiiiiiiis! A complete rain of bullets from Alice’s gun!”

Marion: Tch, this is it, huh…

Victor: Now then, I’ll also…

Gast: Heeeh, didn’t expect you to take down all my Card Soldiers 

Gast: Oh well. The punishment for stealing my bagel sandwich shall be carried out by my very own hands then

Ren: I keep telling you, I didn’t steal it…!

Gast: Don’t think such an excuse will pass. Those who oppose the King get executed!