#and also problems of yous from parallel universes disappear

[cat-loving-elf]

doin some sick and wicked skateboarding tricks would solve a lot of problems for me rn and would also totes kick ass *does a kickflip and then ollies the fuck out* (also im chillaxed to the max so its not like i have a lot of problems, but w/e)

[evilwickedme]

It's very frustrating to talk about fridging bc the original point of it was like a very specific criticism of how minorities are treated in comic books in particular and it's now been universalized so much people think it means "killing a woman off because she's a woman" or "killing any character to motivate another character" (the definition according to tvtropes fyi, kill it with fire kill kill kill kill). Fridging isn't bad because you're killing a character as motivation, and it's not bad because you're killing a minority off, it's bad because it's a pattern of behavior from an industry overrun by white men writing and drawing and editing those stories. You're allowed to kill a woman off if it suits your story, but the issue was that women are constantly getting hurt or depowered or raped or killed off to motivate other, non-coincidentally male characters.

The problem that stood behind the original women in refrigerators website was that the narrative that the comic book industry at large was telling was that the purpose of female characters was to get hurt in order to motivate some other guy. Kyle Rayner's girlfriend gets stuffed in a fridge, we're not sad because her life got taken from her too soon, we're sad because Kyle Rayner just lost his girlfriend. Gwen Stacy gets killed by the Green Goblin, we're not sad because she didn't get to live a full happy life, we're sad because she didn't get to live a full happy life with Peter Parker. That is not to say that the story doesn't still get told. Peter going after the Green Goblin is horrific and terrible and amazing and leads to some great plot and character development. But the choice was not to hurt Peter himself, not even to threaten his loved ones but not actually harm them, the choice - CHOICE! - the writers in the comic book industry consistently made was to hurt a character who was already part of a marginalized group, and to do that for the benefit of a (presumably) white male cishet able bodied main character's narrative.

I speak mostly in past tense because once fridging took hold in the collective popular consciousness it didn't disappear completely, but it did fall out of favor in being used so blatantly. It became isolated cases rather than the main feature of one of the best selling batman books of all time. Characters get killed off occasionally, and those characters are even sometimes members of minority groups, and biases still inform those writing choices, but I'm struggling to remember reading a comic in the last couple of years that specifically fulfills the criteria for fridging.

Anyway if you're reading this in context, you know that at the end of this month (may 2023) Marvel is planning to celebrate the most famous fridging of all time by absolutely not learning their lesson and fridging another character. They're being lazy about it, too - they've decided to do it to Kamala Khan in Peter Parker's book, two characters that mean close to nothing to each other, and being extra awful by making it a Pakistani Muslim woman being killed off during AAPI month, and so far the information we have doesn't even involve Kamala's own friends and family and superhero team mourning her at all. It's supposed to motivate Peter, because it's part of his book, and it's also supposed to parallel Gwen Stacy, and they chose to do... This. Kamala is a wildly popular and beloved character who deserves better, and frankly Peter deserves better too. If you're going to fridge, at least do it well.

But I'm also already seeing white men, who supposedly agree with me and think this is bad, saying, well it's for MCU synergy, not "because she's a female" or "because she's not a white character" (direct quotes don't @ me). And firstly, ok, way to assume the rest of us didn't also catch up to the obvious conclusion that marvel comics is doing MCU synergy, AGAIN. The thing is that those aren't separate concepts at all? Or well, they are, but they don't negate each other. They're trying to do MCU synergy and make Kamala into a mutant, but they could've done that a million other ways, just as cheap and not as offensive - a simple retcon would've sufficed, they just did that a few years ago with Franklin Richards.

They chose to do it by killing her off, and they chose to kill her off in somebody else's book to motivate him rather than tell a story about her, and they chose to do it while celebrating Gwen's fridging for some fucking reason. This is context that, when removed from the situation, makes the whole thing meaningless. And you can say a lot about Gail Simone, but that she didn't have a Goddamn point is not one of them.

[mikkokomori]

is omari basil still a delinquent

(and side note here id LOVE to hear you ramble all about your Omari au)

Ahem,,,, if it is alright with you then,,,,,, I will talk about my OMARI Basil then,,,,

To answer your question, he was planned to be the delinquent of the group (as per typical swap aus), though over time, I really began to sit down and think about it the more swap aus began to pop up around the fandom. I didn't really like the idea of being a carbon copy of various other omari aus in specific, so during the time I have been absent on here I began to slowly revamp the AU over time. I had to start over with what I originally had in the first place since a lot of the au things in my take on it also had contributions by followers as well!

For Basil, his first concept was initially a delinquent take... but the thing that caused a problem with that was the fact that I had planned for him to also play a sort of "detective" role in this universe, as I had written a short snippet on Basil having caught on to something suspicious going on between the older siblings and Sunny's sudden disappearance.......

Frankly, as much as a delinquent Basil is my darling concept of all concepts, I had to, unfortunately, push it to the side and alter his role in this AU to fit with the revamped look I was going for him... therefore fully integrating him into his "detective" role. In a way though, looking through Mari's perspective, he's sort of a clashing force with her and is equivalent to an antagonist in her own story (but! Keep in mind, Mari in this AU isn't the Mari who you should be sympathizing for.... an unreliable narrator who happens to be a wolf in sheeps clothing....).

As for the emotions, while a lot of people tend to view the emotions being assigned to the characters as their possible role in RW (the happy-go-lucky, the perfect student, the delinquent), for mine I ended up making it were each friend had 2 main emotions.... Basils would be anger and sorrow (Aubrey and Kel tend to have anger as their second emotion, though that is still up for debate! I still have a few things to work out :3). So, in a way you could say that in Headspace they were only ever seen as a one-dimensional character by Mari/Hikkiko, while in the real world, they had a even bigger "mess" of emotions that they all dealt with. In turn, Basil's concept strayed further away from the path of delinquent and more into a path which.... ehehe..... obsession as a concept is such a fun thing to play around with, don't you think?

Just as much as he plays the "investigator", he also is meant to be a parallel of what Mari/Hikkiko is. Obsession has always been a part of his character, and in doing so, you could say I played around with it until I found quite a nice concept with this. Mari/Hikkiko both have a need to keep Sunny around as the perfect brother and therefore paint his Headspace counterpart to their own liking.... while Basil in turn has, on some level, a need to imitate Sunny as closely as he can. Both are a form of obsessions I have given them, and in a way, the only reason Basils is a more "lighter" version of this is because Aubrey, Kel, Hero (sort of), Polly, his grandmother, and Faraway Town as a whole have been there to guide him on a better path. Though his obsession to keep Sunny's memory alive by becoming like him is still there, it's not to say that he doesn't have people to talk some sense into him-- meanwhile Mari does not have that type of support.

Obsession stems from love, at least, in their case. And in the end, it really depends on whether or not they have people who are willing to reel them back into a state of sanity. Basil was, at least in terms of my omari lore, viewed as a delinquent at one point, though he never acted out aggressively towards others unless provoked enough and only ever kept to himself.... eventually the town residents accepted the fact that this was just his way of grieving and treated him with patience and respect, especially with the fact he took it upon himself to go around town and helping around with the little things, though especially with gardening and photography.

it's not to say though, that he doesn't have some... worrying habits. That as in, most of his plants being replaced with tulips and most of the heads of certain plants being chopped off with garden shears, left to rot. While Basil mimics his best friends habits, he isn't exactly the best at fully hiding his feelings and emotions as Sunny was able to. No amount of masquerading will change the fact that once he's laid his sights on you, it'll only be a matter time before he seeks for your head on a silver platter.

[daylighteclipsed]

Love you tags/thoughts on Sora as MoM theory. I never care for it either since that would break the "dull, ordinary boy" thing Nomura is insistent on, and what would it do for Sora's character exactly? He should resist change/growth even harder? A clone theory on the other hand...well isn't that a super ordinary thing by now?

We’d definitely be stretching what constitutes as “ordinary.” Because even if clones and replicas and nobodies and all that have become ordinary in KH… if Sora’s a clone or something of the MoM, he still exists for a decidedly unordinary reason.

But Nomura has honestly been stretching Sora’s “ordinariness” for a while. After all the extraordinary things Sora’s done, since the literal time he was born apparently (connecting with Ven’s shattered heart), he doesn’t really feel like an ordinary boy anymore.

But I guess it depends on how we define “ordinary,” too. When Xehanort and Xigbar/Luxu and even Sora himself think “special,” they think chosen. Chosen by the Keyblade. Chosen by the universe. Chosen for greatness. And in that context, yeah, Sora is ordinary.

If Sora’s a clone or something, it wouldn’t change anything. He’s still unchosen. And all of his “specialness” still comes from his connections with other people. MoM would just be another name on the list. He’s “special” because MoM is. In fact, MoM would be the only reason Sora is in the story. The only reason he exists at all.

You’re special because another you — the original — is special. Boy does that sound familiar… I mean, it might explain why this theme of not being real or original and then characters asserting they are their own people keeps coming up over and over and over… Would also give more weight to Sora’s existential crisis in DDD over whether his self is original or just made up of other people’s memories, feelings, experiences, desires, etc.

Honestly it’s less a question of “is this plausible” and more well WHY would MoM make a clone of himself. The only thing I can really think of is the X-blade. MoM knows he’s ditching reality. For whatever reason, he needs someone to get the X-blade for him. Luxu’s mission is to observe and make sure everything plays out like MoM wants, but maybe MoM doesn’t trust him with the X-blade.

The locked black box feels like a trust test, which tells me MoM doesn’t 100% trust his apprentice. Which means the only person MoM trusts is himself. Perhaps he made a him that could obtain and deliver the X-blade to him in the future. Oof what a mean parallel that would be to what Riku tells Sora in KH1, “You were just the delivery boy.”

Or maybe MoM needed someone who was specifically going to mess the prophecy up. What I mean by that is, he needed to introduce something new to the story — the prophecy — to change it. Because before he disappeared, he was specifically interested in the idea of changing fate/what’s been written. Sora’s like an extra digit in the code. Something that’s not supposed to be there that changes everything.

Maybe it’s a mix of both things. Maybe it’s not a coincidence that Sora is born, or at least his heart comes into existence, the exact moment Xehanort splits Ventus’ heart… Because MoM’s eye is in Xehanort’s Keyblade, and MoM knows Ventus is significant to the prophecy and specifically the X-blade.

And let me be just really insane for a second — Coded. Mickey creates Sora the digital copy is MoM creates Sora the copy is Nomura creates Sora the character. Each Sora is a tool: to solve a problem, to change a story, to tell a story. Jiminy’s Journal is the Book of Prophecies is Kingdom Hearts the series. God damn.

Any character you create is a blank slate until you give it a personality. Characters are based on us or people we know or characters that already exist. Nomura created Sora as a sort of opposite of himself and traditional SE mcs. Mickey bases Data Sora on Sora, but his own perception of Sora also seems to influence Data Sora… MoM maybe bases Sora on himself but has Sora’s newborn heart cross with Ventus’ broken one, forming a unique connection and impacting Sora’s personality, creating a “new” person.

I mean, if MoM wants to throw a wrench in the prophecy, it doesn’t make sense for Sora to be exactly like him, right? It sounds convoluted, but this is Kingdom Hearts we’re talking about… The fact that Sora’s name not only translates to “sky” but “emptiness” too… 😐 If you took away Sora’s connections, would there be anything original left that defines his self?

These are just some quick thoughts. I’m not sure how I feel about this theory. As on brand as it is for a series where every non-Disney character is also part of another character, mostly either Sora or Xehanort, I kind of want MoM to be a new character… But I guess they wouldn’t conceal MoM’s name if it’s one we’ve never heard before or one that doesn’t tell us a whole lot.

Anyway. In response to your comment about the Sora is MoM theory, like MoM is him from the future or another timeline or something… Playing Devil’s advocate, I would think in this scenario MoM would exist specifically because Sora does resist change. Like — assuming Sora became MoM because he couldn’t bear the deaths of his friends or the guilt for the destruction of the whole universe since Sora felt responsible for saving everyone (I can’t think of another reason he would go off the rails) — this would be what happens when you don’t accept change and loss and do not positively grow from those experiences. MoM would be a warning.

[chaifootsteps]

Random AU bits that try to make more idk a cohesive HB/HH universe with an OC:

Narrative and visual parallels? Like, idk if it's just my inability to resist making more OCs but, what if Loona had had a twin brother? Make Loona and twin OC hit more of Blitzo's trauma-baggage buttons. Make them kinda mirror the other twins, Barbie and Blitzo, but still different.

Then their adoption ends up being more than just giving some random kid(teens?) a better shot at life when he was initially probably shopping for a Hellhound worker for his assassin biz or whatever and caught not only Parental Feelings but also I CAN FIX THE PAST BY FIXING THESE KIDS' FUTURE feelings or whatever, unless he was actually looking to fix his problems with parenthood in a retcon, idk what do you think is more interesting? Anyways, then for Blitzo it's now also somewhat about Rewriting the story, he and Barbie are on the outs, but these twins won't be! Not only will Blitzo be the father he never had, but they won't end up hating each other! THEY CAN'T! NUH-UH! They won't ruin each other's lives! Everything's fine! (Listen, Blitzo projects hard, and I would like to see it more lol.)

Okay I will admit that Loona's twinbro OC is more vibes and narrative parallel than character substance right now, but I would really like to bring back OG!Loona's party animal/party crasher trait from her concept art (like, okay maybe the Keshabee party was the first party she was Actually Invited to, so that could've been an interesting reason why she was so nervous about making a bad impression, also idk I could see her and twinbro OC using party crashing as a way to steal food [if there's any] or whatever when they were younger, depending on their living situation at the time). Honestly what makes designing OC tough is how little traits from Barbie we actually get to see in canon, because that makes it a lot harder to make a similar parallel for twinbro OC, where Loona would mirror Blitzo, twinbro OC would funhouse mirror Barbie. But otoh I kinda want Loona and twinbro to get along at least, maybe in a codependent way? (Barbie and Blitzo probs got along too before Blitzo caused a magical fire that their mother died in, nearly killed & crippled Fizz for life, among who knows how many other things else. Also, I prefer a universe where Blitzo tried to do a hellfire circus trick and fucked it up, no stupid b-day candles, thanks). Anyways, Loona and twinbro OC, they somehow survived the Hellhound Adoption System together and ostensibly got adopted together (at least in the end, by Blitzo, maybe there could be some separation anxiety? Idk, like I'd imagine that they got separated sometimes before being returned), idk so there's loyalty or care there, despite both being fucked up from it probably (isn't everybody). AU of an AU: Alternatively have Loona and twinbro OC mirror Blitzo and Barbie harder, they weren't adopted together, twinbro OC was adopted first (again?), but disappeared instead of being returned. Loona either does or doesn't believe that he left her behind (idk maybe they acted out when they were adopted separately in order to try again in hopes of being adopted together? Or finding each other?) but either comes across information that informs her he was officially returned into the System but mysteriously disappeared and begins (or continues, depending on what Loona believed) her search for him, somewhat mirroring Blitzo's eventual search for Barbie, but the parallel ending where twinbro OC actually does (probably) want to be found.

Idk AU thoughts go brrrr, got an AU for something more mystery/whatever, got another AU for a more canon-but-a-little-to-the-left/more-cast, depending on the flavor I or whoever likes more. Also I know twin OCs to canon chars are a little cringe, but I enjoy it.

Good bits for sure!

[beardedmrbean]

You taking 22 hours to answer that anon is fine. Hell I would be fine if it took 10 years as you had a family matter to attend to

Now another black thing https://x.com/monstereagle91/status/1782124996111847729?s=46

Okay let me use my assassin Yasuke ideas vs the usual modern black characters are written

Actually it came from early access games when they did colonial thus slavery. In ac black flag your first quartermaster is a runaway slave turn pirate named Adewale who you meet when before you escape the doomed treasure fleet

Oh yeah the ship in the game is supposed to be the theorize ship that escape the storm.

Now Adewale enjoyed the pirate life, but as stated that he never had the same joy as the other golden age pirates and during the story he does stumble upon the assassins and templar because of his captain Edward did as well….well more because he stumbled upon a traitorous master assassin and accidentally gave away the West Indies brotherhood bases.

Ugh sorry adhd. But Edward and Adewale had a fallout, Edward eventually stop his foolish chase to become rich after most of his pirates friends did and properly join the brotherhood like Adewale did.

Now there are standalone dlc called freedom cry where Adewale ends up on Saint Domingo and oh boy they NO problem showing the cruelty of slavery as much they could in a 2013 game even in the database. But there was no Templars involved in the running colony. As that did not matter for freedom cry story show that the assassin brotherhood main cause is to fight for the freedom for all humans.

So yes Adwale played the seeds of the Haitian revolution. Though it was established in the psp game ac liberation that the Saint Domingo assassins were radical and François Mackandal was a extremist that took a twisted view on the brotherhood which lead to the 1751 port au prince earthquake

Sorry for the set up, earlier in the game Edward asked Adewale if there was any place he wanted to go back to. Because at the end of the day Edward was to have enough wealth to tell his father in law to piss off.

Who he later learned was a Templar who let his daughter/Edward first wife die from a fever. No wonder Eddy took care of him after going back to Britain

Ah, I feel like I’m a Tolkien lore detour. But Adewale mention he had no place to go back to and the jackdaw for the time being was his home.

Now to Yasuke, it stated that the devs did change his past a bit. Where he was the only survivor on a slave ship where everyone, including his lover, was killed. And in he eventually ends up under Oda and began a samurai apprenticeship

Iirc, he did have his own house and had a servant. So I think it very likely he would have become the first foreign samurai if not for the hojo incident

What I have a nunace approach with him.

But given he was in Japan for 3 years prior to him disappearing from records. I think they are going with a “foreigner who want to protect his new home” as the basic for his desire to unify Japan in red story.

Also him being an unknown factor to the Templars, as Akechi told then to send Yasuke to goa India, for a bit.

And ac like to do parallels, so it very likely the Japanese brotherhood will be fractured just like how Japan went back to civil war and it up naeo and Yasuke busy rebuilt it

But if I was a head writer on red, I wouldn’t Yasuke as a black ™️ character. I would writer an immigrant who want to protect his new home. Of course I would tackle the whole no ganjin law the Tokugawa set up (though I have a HUGE hunch William Adam is going to join or be ally of the brotherhood to go between Japan and other countries)

But I using universal themes, like coming from nowhere, adapting to a new place. Calling it your new home

The issues when modern black ™️ characters is that activists presume that no one else had slavery ancestry, being oppressed or fucked over by the government

I mean just about everyone did, but no one cling onto the past. Or lionizing their og oppressors or what black Americans did why the Dahomey because they have the same skintone

Wait I heard Indians did with the Mughals….but they been fighting against the lionization the Mughals recently

Sorry I just point out how modern writers treat black people like aliens vs humans

I know you're good I still like to be prompt if I can, had to pop out real quick last night so this one is delayed too now, lol.

ya this is gonna confuse people.

story starting Oh yeah the ship in the game is supposed to be the theorize ship that escape the storm.

Kinda how it worked IRL for William Addams

Now Adewale enjoyed the pirate life, but as stated that he never had the same joy as the other golden age pirates and during the story he does stumble upon the assassins and templar because of his captain Edward did as well….well more because he stumbled upon a traitorous master assassin and accidentally gave away the West Indies brotherhood bases.

Oopsie

Ugh sorry adhd. But Edward and Adewale had a fallout, Edward eventually stop his foolish chase to become rich after most of his pirates friends did and properly join the brotherhood like Adewale did.

FMA time, hopefully without Nina and Alexander this time

So yes Adwale played the seeds of the Haitian revolution. Though it was established in the psp game ac liberation that the Saint Domingo assassins were radical and François Mackandal was a extremist that took a twisted view on the brotherhood which lead to the 1751 port au prince earthquake

I need to not do this tired because I saw "François Mackandal" and I was gonna say there's something fishy about him because I thought his last name was Mackerel

Sorry for the set up, earlier in the game Edward asked Adewale if there was any place he wanted to go back to. Because at the end of the day Edward was to have enough wealth to tell his father in law to piss off.

That does not say "Alphonse" I'm dumb, dyslexia and tired reading don't mix so I'll do the rest in the morning, but leave all that so everyone can have a hearty laugh.

But given he was in Japan for 3 years prior to him disappearing from records. I think they are going with a “foreigner who want to protect his new home” as the basic for his desire to unify Japan in red story. Also him being an unknown factor to the Templars, as Akechi told then to send Yasuke to goa India, for a bit. And ac like to do parallels, so it very likely the Japanese brotherhood will be fractured just like how Japan went back to civil war and it up naeo and Yasuke busy rebuilt it

I like this and the stuff before too, nice thing about historical fiction, even with real people, is you can fiddle with details.

But if I was a head writer on red, I wouldn’t Yasuke as a black ™️ character. I would writer an immigrant who want to protect his new home. Of course I would tackle the whole no ganjin law the Tokugawa set up (though I have a HUGE hunch William Adam is going to join or be ally of the brotherhood to go between Japan and other countries) But I using universal themes, like coming from nowhere, adapting to a new place. Calling it your new home

I could see people getting ticked off if he's not tokenized, lot of anti-racists get mad if you don't play to stereotypes for some reason.

The issues when modern black ™️ characters is that activists presume that no one else had slavery ancestry, being oppressed or fucked over by the government I mean just about everyone did, but no one cling onto the past. Or lionizing their og oppressors or what black Americans did why the Dahomey because they have the same skintone Wait I heard Indians did with the Mughals….but they been fighting against the lionization the Mughals recently

Ya pretty much everyone did in one form or another, slavery is a pretty solid historical thing right up till the 1800's when some people decided that should stop.

Sorry I just point out how modern writers treat black people like aliens vs humans

Part of that is concern over being "canceled" for writing just the wrong thing, which is one of the big reasons it's all gotten to where it is now.

And the audience is also berated if they opt to not consume something because the only reason could be that they're racist.

Racism is killing creativity, but not the kind of racism people want to talk about.

[hyperannotation]

Armando Fragale

The Exsolution

prove with the fluid application of the world that such things as karma are not empty poems on the other side of the karma and what you created in love you slaughter until you know the basics diverge a difference about people? it's a fluid data pyramid out there reflecting literature like expanding pressure on breeding planets … the manager himself also manages a lonely mistake whose social universe disappears can create love that casted person escapes human advantages and sexual prowess calculate the human dimension of the cute ripple? what you set is to classify your ai clusters into bodies and the relevant classifications are gravitational translating soul into literature looking down on the partnership forgot my soul is a pyramid time in our open silence demons trip your society hurry up variants and tales skeletonized sacrifices of ecstasy thing from drug disguise to you enjoy the outdated earth poetry misdirected and spiritual 39 opened my yin yang abilities this universe this human set free interplanetary writing room self development is the missing reality of the soul of the criminal integration of the time recovered in the trading shell into the karma is a mass of loopholes even in necrophilia until urination perversion is a telepathy is already a character do you control language? poetry data gravity her karma functions write many glitch in electricity totally forgive brain presence interplanetary divergence device calculation is always upside down something may ascend himself how rebellious speaking does not mean elevating your soul led by neighboring necrophilia lemuria language end negotiation agency fault nation don't need to know & thinks to be a lobotomy unless the navel is a corpse makes life strange procession love your reservoir of stored grudges is the parallel energy demons of envy actually and download this information if chaos extinction called integrated language disillusionment of machines and universe rape that of head painting destiny may have traps access how to pursue itself exactly i surround parallel reptiles who know they allow for exact partnership after a fatal accident what overheated was not genetics system synchronization is released when the energy increases the concern is holding the boundaries the lemurian complete problem is now grounded made fluid by giving modules of a symbiotic philosophy thus already affecting each perception explicitly has a lack of anti-gravity onset here at the base name and then an error can returned synchronously to see what is packed but there is no disenchanted spirit that code mutants migrate cause is the planet are you obedient now? the bloody deletion is you what is the poem of the connecting hole what is the poem of the dreaming body of the brain genealogy can never attack and access the depletion of the supplied dimensions that hinder the transition of the modified dive is foreseen i think there was some transition of this was a gimmick so synchronizing the obedience to the pill plug gimmick needs phenomenon line for the fetus era exactly this spirit to clairvoyance prepare economy is to change this then emotional flip sex force process self posthuman phenomenon set of provoked simultaneity of many languages ​​and the past of the era meant that 39 panicked without thinking not the cover of the planet animal had energy condenses the substance on such the yin yang invoke the events of the soul magic emanating from the language of the text can receive a quantum of human wheelsets

[panlight]

I always thought SM used the woods because that place holds a special meaning to both of them and their relationship. That it was a way to make Bella feel uncomfortable with something that once brought her peace and held a special place in her heart. A place that she felt held all the magic and the people she loved and cared was now dull and normal. Making the woods a place of grief, just like what happened with music.

I still think the out-of-universe explanation makes more sense. But that’s just how i justified that scene.

And i don’t think that Edward wanted to hurt Bella, but i do think he would try to make the woods an unbearable place to Bella so she could stay safe. Also, he was trying to make her forget about vampires and supernatural beings, so he broke up with her in the only place he was his vampire-self and would leave no evidence of their relationship or break up, which leads to Bella relying on nightmares to confirm the Cullens were real. It's been really interesting to read all the various reasons people have for why he chose to break up with her that particular way.

Something I'm realizing both with this discussion and the Midnight Sun car chase one is that apparently I don't think using super speed is as big of a no-no as other people do! In my head they're either moving so fast that humans literally can't see them, and thus it's not a problem at all (for example in Twilight it's "how did you get over here so fast?" not "I saw how fast you ran!" and it seemed to me Rosalie et al were more angry he stopped the van with his bare hands than he moved too fast, but your mileage may vary!) or they would be blurry and again like, how does THAT give away the secret of vampires? "Hello, 911? I saw some blurry figures running very vast along the highway." "Can you describe them?" ". . . no." It would just be some vague cryptid sighting no one is going to believe or understand. To me, this just seems WAY more under the radar than stealing two cars, drugging a woman, and causing a huge pile-up which will be on the news and investigated by authorities.

So, to me, there isn't really a problem with say, breaking up with her on a walk on Charlie's street because in my head he just kind of *poof* vanishes into the nearby wooded area and no one can really 'see' it (assuming there isn’t like, someone else walking a dog on the street or something!), but other people seem to headcanon the super speed as something more visibly obvious and a bigger tell to the supernatural and thus has to be avoided.

Some of the reasons suggested have been that he wanted to break up with her somewhere where she wouldn't have to relive it all the time; that he was lowkey encouraging her to stay out of the dangerous woods by making them a negative place for her; that it was just for the Aesthetic; that movie!Edward wanted to parallel her finding out what he is in the woods; or that he had to lure her away from the house at least a little bit so he had time to break into her room and hide her Edward stuff.

To me is just feels weird because Edward is so absurdly worried and overprotective that even the risk of "she's going to try to find me after I disappear deep into the woods" is something he'd avoid. But I feel the same way about him not using a condom in Breaking Dawn, too. Like, maybe the condom wouldn't work, but I find it weird that Edward, who is worried that open-mouth kisses might turn her, and knows that eye-venom can dissolve contact lenses, isn't worried about his other venomous fluids and doing everything he can to keep her safe.

But, hey, the plot needed to happen I guess!

[inafever]

For the ask game, by my lovely @hyperfocusthusly 🌻

cocoa - if you could have any type of hair, what colour and cut would you have?

I have brown hair, I'd love to have black with red or pink highlights and for the haircut, could I have this?

maize - share the weirdest encounter you’ve had with a stranger on the street.

I could choose from two encounters, one was quite unsettling and the other actually funny, I'm gonna go with the second one

So, like a year ago, I was gonna go out with a friend and we were gonna meet up at some place (and I remember I was already so late and basically running). on my way there I walked past two people, consisting of a middle aged man and young girl arguing at the side of the street, which looked kinda curious cause the man looked like he had just walked out of a seminar, he was in a grey formal suit and wearing a blue tie with yellow polka dots and the girl kind of looked like a student? I was mostly surprised because we didn't have universities at this side of town?

But anyway I continued walking and I realised the professor-looking man was also headed for the same direction and he had apparently started to rant out loud to himself about how the new generation had changed and how they needed to learn so much and things like that, we were walking parallel on the sidewalk at this point and I had decided to continue walking and keep listening and internally I was like yeah sometimes people need to rant out loud on the street about things? So he continued for a while, and then he stopped and apologized, only then I considered he may be talking to me and answered that it was no problem! I wasn't going out of my way to do anything for them anyway

Just like that I kept going and we were still walking the same direction, and what I wasn't expecting was for the professor-looking guy to be also a medium? Cause he looked at me and said that I had a good halo? And asked me things like whether or not I had been in love? Or if I had made a wish to the universe recently? Or what I was majoring in? all of which I answered politely and briefly while walking to the tube and despite all the initial hurry when I reached the destination, I had to wait a couple of minutes outside until he was done giving me advice to continue my education until PhD and not get distracted by boys. all the while I was thinking that it's time he offers me his fraud business card or number or something with an strange excuse, but that didn't happen. the old man wished me luck and just walked on and disappeared into the horizon with his suit case and grey suit and blue polkadot tie. I still crack up at the memory every time I remember it ><

orchard - share one thing that you’d like to happen this autumn

Getting a vision correction eye surgery if the time is right? I have astigmatism and nearsightedness and I'd really love to get rid of the glasses :)

Ask me things!

[aehyei]

𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗥 (PREVIEW)

Was it all really just a sick twisted fairytale in his head? Haechan knows he loves you the moment your fingers touched in the mirror. You make him so happy that he just wants to keep you all to himself.

PAIRING : man in the mirror! yandere!lee donghyuck x reader

GENRE : heavy angst, heartfelt, historical, parallel universe au, yandere au, drama

WC : 9.65k

WARNINGS : cursing, mentions of mental issues, hospitals, aggressive behaviors, dark themes, obsession, forced marriage, rebellion, slice of life, pressure, haechan has daddy problems :0

RELEASE DATE : MAY 27, 2022 (OUT NOW!)

“YOU HEAR THAT JISUNG? WE’LL HAVE A GREAT NIGHT. Tomorrow will be another day, another discovery. Although I have to go back home and talk to that Jaemin, it’s all going to be alright in the end. I just hope that…he’s really kind as everyone says.” You frowned and looked down. Jisung chirped and flew up, making you shoot your head upwards at him, “Jisung! Where are you going?!”

Jisung continued to fly away. You chased after him around the barn, trying to catch him back, “You just recovered from injury! Come back here!”

But the bird didn’t listen. Instead, stopped and flew down in front of a huge mirror leaning on the barn wall. You also stopped in your tracks and scoffed, “Oh, this must be what Minhyung was talking about,” you placed your hands on your hips and walked closer, “woah, it is big.”

Jisung made a sound that seemed like he was agreeing, making you chuckle and remove the cloth that’s covering the front glass, staring back at your reflection. “One day, I’ll be staring at here too, but with a husband,” you sadly said, caressing it’s side. The bird fluttered his wings and flew on your shoulder, settling there.

“Of course you’ll be invited to the wedding. Mother will surely invite everyone, happy that her unladylike daughter is out of her house.” You spoke, lifting your hand, observing how your reflection copies your every movement.

“But this is all too much. I should help Minhyung carry this, right? Surely he can’t handle all of this alone.” You chuckled, imagining your best friend clumsily breaking the mirror in an accident. You shook your head and firmly placed your hand on the mirror.

You weren’t sure if your dreaming or imagining things, but the moment you feel the smooth surface, you felt a warmth of someone’s hand—and an image of another man with light purple hair who was shirtless (a towel only covering his lower part) and had droplets of water fall down his body is on your reflection. Both your eyes widened as you screamed and immediately stepped away, pulling your hand back as if you were burned.

---

Haechan was just finished with his long shower, now trying to recollect himself in front of the bathroom mirror. He had his eyes closed tightly and the only thing that could be heard was his heavy breathing. When he finally opened his eyes, he looked back on his reflection in the mirror, and he felt mocked.

He tries. He tries so hard to be like his dad and make the people around him proud, but why is it entirely impossible? He did everything he could: excel in academics, be a star player in football, have countless medals displayed in their living room, and even smiled when it was the darkest part of his life.

Shaking off his thoughts, he lifted his hand and wanted to wipe the blurry mirror with his hands, when he felt a spark and then saw a beautiful girl wearing a ripped dress with a blue bird by her shoulder on the other side. Haechan's eyes widened and his heart nearly stopped beating. But when the unknown girl screamed, she suddenly disappeared.

Haechan scoffed lightly and placed both his hands on his head, slapping his cheeks, “Your imagining things, Hyuck. Keep it all together. You still have a lot to do,” he scolded himself and reached for his clothes with you still on his mind.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Prey (2022)

We live in a universe that saw 2022’s Prey released straight to Hulu (Disney+ in territories like Canada) while 2018's The Predator made it to theaters. I’m starting to think maybe this is the evil mirror-verse. Easily the best film in the franchise since the original, it offers everything you want: lots of action and plenty of the franchise’s trademark gore, interesting spins on material we’ve seen before, a memorable protagonist with a satisfying character arc and top-notch filmmaking.

In 1719, Naru (Ambert Midthunder), a young Commanche woman, wants to prove herself a capable hunter like her brother, Taabe (Dakota Beavers). During a search party, she encounters a creature unlike any other: it can effortlessly go toe-to-toe with a bear, turn invisible and wields impossibly sophisticated weapons. This Predator hunts for sport and humans are its preferred prey.

This is the story of the first encounter between humans and the Predator. More importantly, it’s the story of Naru showing everyone who doesn't believe in her wrong. Taabe doesn’t think she can do it and neither do the other men in her tribe, the French voyageurs invading their land, or the Predator. Having your protagonist dismissed by everyone when the audience can see their ingenuity, bravery, and skill at work is a sure way to make them someone you cheer for. You can’t wait to see her in action and believe me, you won’t be disappointed, particularly since the way Naru overcomes the many obstacles put in her path are not immediately obvious.

A human protagonist you’re eager to cheer for is nice and all, but what about the monster that’s been carrying the franchise? Once more, you’ll be pleased. This is not quite the same alien hunter we’ve seen before. Its goals are largely the same: to kill its prey and collect skins, skulls & other trophies, but this film is not set in the present day, which means the technology in everyone's arsenal is way different. Some gadgets will seem familiar, others wholly new. Call me sadistic, but the spaceman tech gets used on a lot of people to ghoulishly enjoyable results.

What makes this use of the “character” so good goes beyond new toys and gore. Director Dan Trachtenberg and his co-writer Patrick Aison know we’ve seen the Predator in 6 other movies and that much of the mystery surrounding it has disappeared. They play with your expectations, managing to surprise you even when you think you’ve seen it all already. The script also draws an interesting parallel between this merciless hunter and the film's human antagonists: the French voyageurs. Like the Predator, they're also invaders from a faraway land who are looking to come in and take what they want - beaver, buffalo skins, etc. - regardless of what the repercussions to the natives might be.

There are many elegant flourished courtesy of Dan Trachtenberg along the way. All of the Comanche people speak English while the Europeans speak French so there's no need for subtitles or a Hunt for Red October-style translation transition. The franchise is given its equivalent of Ellen Ripley in Naru without her being a copy in any way, the end-credit epilogue is cleverly done and non-intrusive, Midthunder gives an excellent performance and this Predator is given its own memorable personality. My only criticism is that the film has several dark scenes set at night. In the theater? It'd be no problem but at home, you'll have to make sure the lights are properly dimmed and the windows are covered.

If the Alien and Predator franchises have a real-life rivalry going on, the latter has officially pulled ahead since it now has more good movies than its competitor. Prey is so good it's a crime everyone will be seeing it at home. (August 19, 2022)

[linelpisffxiv]

Men who were missed, but if this is done again, here’s my flippant jokes:

Estinien: Growly voice. May have fucked Aymeric in the past cuz they were friends beforehand. People say he’s notoriously bad with money, but it’s also a bit of a kindness thing, at least one time (He likes to help those in need knowing he’s being scammed). Once got possessed by a dragon. We saved him. Fandom is generally close to Aymeric’s due to their friendship, Haurchefant’s due to both being Ishgardian Knights, and now the Scions’ fandoms since he joined them, but that last one isn’t as close except for the Twins’ and G’raha’s fandoms. (And more specifically Alphie’s the most, other two somewhat tangentially due to a few scenes and a high school au)

Zenos: You cannot convince me he isn’t a sex-repulsed aroace, but I am *very much* in the minority here. He likes battle. Only battle. And even then not all the time, only the rarest of times where someone can challenge him. So far, that’s only been the WoL. Lets us ride him in the final battle of base Endwalker. Also turned into a dragon. Cannot die. Fandom is generally close to Emet-Selch’s, but also I know many who have it overlap with various heroic NPCs’ due to the same devotion (or “Devotion”) to the WoL.

Thancred: This is Thancred. May or may not be in a thing with Urianger post-Shadowbringers. Started off as a pretty boy flirt, but as of now is an adult spy who could actually get some if he wanted but is too busy worrying about his daughter in a parallel universe. Is very well-liked in fandom, with a decent amount shipping their WoL with him. Generally not very controversial even if everyone was sick of his shit during Shadowbringers, but he gets over it.

Alphinaud: Is 16. We do not touch this.

Raubahn: Leader of Ala Mhigo, former general of Ul’Dah. Big and burly. Clearly a bear. Pretty well-liked, but I don’t know many people who would choose him above others in the game.

Hien: King of “China” that is really Japan cuz it has samurai and ninja. There’s also another Japan that’s more Meiji Japan but that one we don’t learn as much about. Is literally Cyan’s (well, Kaien’s) son. Is... decently popular, but also has people who hate him either jokingly or for serious because of certain things he’s said and done. (I say both, I know people in both camps of hatedom.)

Midgardsormr: Is a space dragon from the planet dragon. They can reproduce both sexually and asexually. It is unknown which version his 7 kids are (He escaped Planet Dragon with their eggs). Is the WoL’s best friend and I will hear no arguments.

Vrtra: One of Midgardsormr’s sons. He’s a baby boy and it’s his birthday. Is a valuable ally to the main characters through Endwalker and is currently part of a party investigating the Void cuz he has a giant siscon (platonic, maybe? But not sure... I’m not gonna get into dragon biology here) and she disappeared into the Void 3k years ago. Has two dolls (one a kid, one an adult) he can control to wander around in a humanoid form. But LBR, he’s trying to seduce Estinien too cuz the big one only came out after Estinien started working for him. Generally well-liked by the fandom.

Vauthry: Is the hottest character in XIV. Okay, no, but yes. I don’t wanna talk about it too much, but he is a beautiful butterfly.

Elidibus/Themis: Is... borderline. While the word “youth” is used for him twice in english, in every other language, it’s more a term meaning “Young man” (which Youth can also mean, though more in the “College age barely legal” kind of way). May or may not have a boyfriend. Ends up becoming a god who gets sliced in 14 but only after his consciousness was ejected. Has memory problems in the present.

Erichthonios: Elidibus’s maybe boyfriend. Son of one of Elidibus’s coworkers, and works in Hell, which is just a containment unit for dangerous monsters made up by these people.

Lahabrea: Erichthonios’s dad and Themis’s coworker. Also Emet-Selch’s coworker. Is grumpy and has fucked at least once and had Ancient Secret Super Sex once. We’ve seen the latter on-screen. Was once a reasonable-if-grumpy guy, but the way we meet him (Cuz time travel) is a man who’s lost most of his personality into becoming a giggling evil ghost wizard from hell.

Fandaniel: Will kill you, the world, and everything and then himself. Because he hates living. I don’t think he fucks anymore, but who knows, maybe he did when he was Amon. Even if he regretted it.

Hermes: The Past life of Fandaniel and also kinda him? Ascians are weird. I generally hold they’re functionally the same, but this version is more openly sad. Made a bunch of bird daughters out of dark energy and sent them into space. Found out space was hella dead and decided to kill everyone and then himself. Then wiped his memory of that decision so he can test the people of his world.

Thordan: Has canonically fucked. Unfortunately. Is Elf Pope and Aymeric’s dad. Looks hella old. Keeps the secret that the elves started the war with the dragons.

Nidhogg: Has also canonically fucked, probably. Another son of Midgardsormr. Hates the Elf Papal States cuz they killed his sister 1000 years ago and has been trying to kill them ever since. Gets killed. Comes back, and then killed again. I like him. He’s fun.

Hythlodaeus: Does not have a made-up name. It means “Dispenser of nonsense” and is from “Utopia.” Or so I’m told. Is a fucking troll for the most part. Says he’s incredibly weak except for his magic sight, but he’s comparing himself to Emet-Selch and another friend. Works for the creation approval department of the Ancient DMV. Hates getting all the shark ideas. Keeps approving all the shark ideas. Wao Sugoi. Generally shipped with Emet-Selch (and sometimes their third) in fandom, extremely popular. Has the dead mom hairdo, which is fitting, cuz he died 12k years ago.

Nero: Cid G’s constantly divorced and remarried husband. Constantly trying to one-up him because Cid G comes from privilege and Nero “had to work his way up to the top” and kept  getting outshone. They aren’t actually married, but people often interpret it that way cuz there’s a five minute cutscene we have to watch every time we do a dungeon where he’s on call complaining to Cid and the WoL just... stands there.

Gaius: My BEC character who can do no right. Used to be believed to be fucking his adoptive daughter, but after he was given five more adoptive kids, not only was it revealed he wasn’t fucking her, but also that he thought it was creepy she was pursuing him and was his least favorite kid and subordinate and he totally hated that he adopted her. I hate him, but he’s generally well-liked. Has some funny lines that people don’t pay attention to the meaning of because haha guy says funny line in a funny way. One has been deleted from the game and people are still mad about it. Hates the evil laughing wizards from hell known as Ascians because one used him to try and destroy the world when he only wanted to rule the savages.

Ardbert: Is a bro. Ghost bro. Killed himself and his friends to cross parallel universes to save their world by causing a rejoining. Urianger managed to broker a way for their world to stay around without a rejoining. We later run into him again. He was a bro. Had at least one person who wanted to fuck him.

[spines-tvo]

Very personal stuff incoming

This is less to entertain others and more for me to just talk about this world that I greatly enjoy developing. So, if you don't care, just leave now.

So; Lemonland! An island that occupies the space in between universes. It grows and shrinks to fit the population, so you never have to worry about food or housing. How did it come to be? Well, over time, universes have tears build up in their fabric, letting things sort of drip through to Lemonland. (Our universe connects through the Bermuda triangle because it's neat.) While, yes, there are humans and human-like creatures, the number of them is smaller than other types of creatures. The island itself is kind of a utopia, however, with all these people and creatures occupying the same space, there are a lot of problems that crop up, whether those are personal or interpersonal. There are few to no rules that say who or what an occupant can be, so magic-wielders can live in the same house as literal war robots. Why is it called Lemonland? When it was first discovered, all the occupants had to eat were lemons from the lemon trees that dotted the landscape. The strange thing about these lemons is that if an individual eats a large number of them, certain parts (Normally hair or eye color) would change to a bright yellow, similar to flamingos when they eat shrimp. (This is mostly used as a way to differentiate different versions of the same character, however, some characters dye their hair to hide their identity.) Now, why would you need to differentiate when there's only one version of the character? Well, there are a lot more than just the one, actually. There are places that parallel Lemonland, such as Limeland (Similar except for one character's choices.) and Pumkinplace (Basically a Halloween-styled Lemonland.) Characters often jump to and from different Lemonlands, so you may have two or more versions of the same person in one place at the same time.

So... Who lives in Lemonland? (Right now, I'll stick to the primary Lemonland.) Timothan and his family. Timothan is an extreme optimist. Some people might even consider it toxic how optimistic he is. Thanks to the "Lemondyeing" of his hair, he looks like any other blonde haired, blue eyed white boy. He doesn't really think things over, and he expects everything to always work out. Since it actually does always work out, he doesn't really learn from his mistakes. He has one sister, Timothania, who travels across the multiverse in a small boat, and a dad named Deero who sticks around and helps out when he can. His mother disappeared when he was young, and nobody seems to know where she is or why she vanished.

Next is Namothy, a version of Timothan from Limeland who is occupying Lemonland because of a serious mistake he made that turned everyone he knew against him. He's almost exactly like Timothan, except he's more unhinged.

Then's Namie (Short for "the nameless one") who is a being of personified negative human emotions. They were created, destroyed the lab they were created in, got transported to Lemonland in order to prevent their entire home planet getting destroyed. And then's when they changed. Since they were based on humanity, they started to think like a human. So they got tired of being negative. And that's when they found Timothan. He's the closest thing to a being of pure positive emotions, so they sort of latched onto him (metaphorically) so he could teach them to be happier.

Bean Man. Yep. You read that right. Bean Man. He's an all-powerful deity that nobody seems to know. He sits at the top of a mountain in a gas station. And he looks like a bean with arms and legs. He's so powerful that when Timothan drinks from a goblet that Bean Man recently also drank from, Bean Man's saliva gave Timothan the power to restructure whatever universe he is currently in. Namothy also has this power, along with most other versions of Timothan, however, it was gained from Limeland's version of Bean Man.

Sorry this was so long and potentially confusing, I just really like talking about my stuff.

[wizkiddx]

hiiiii i love your stuff - could u do one where the readers ill but they have stuff to do and tom has to look after her. maybe if they were just friends before too but both pining? thankuuuuuuuuu

should I be writing this instead of revising? clearly fucking not. Did I make this little blurb req ridiculously long purely to procrastinate? Of fucking course.

but also this was v cute! I assumed u meant famous!reader, sorry if that's not what u were after at all anon x

summary: Tom Holland turns into the readers knight in shining armour when they get ill during promo

warnings: fainting / feeling ill

///////////////////

It couldn’t be today. Of all days, why today? You’d been at home for two weeks doing absolutely nothing, before this trip. And yet it’s when your itinerary is packed to the brim, people moving heaven and earth just speak to you. Two weeks of unrelenting press for Marvels next big ensemble movie. 

Your manager was speaking to you, reeling off a run down of todays activities but instead of listening you nodded along blankly - head rather cloudy with this heavy mist that was not shaking off, no matter how hard you tried. 

“You got that Y/n/n?” Lucy pointedly spoke, eyes almost physically knocking you backwards as if her eyeliner was battery rams. Fumbling with your thoughts, your answer wasn’t particularly cohesive earning you just a disappointed head shake. 

“I um… yeh I think. Who-who did you say I was paired up with?” 

“Y/n please for the love of god. Tom, like I said the past fifty times.” And to be fair to Lucy she wasn’t wrong. It was the first major major promo tour for the both of you and after just two days so far - you were both exhausted. She was more than allowed to be a bit short tempered. 

“But we-we hardly know each other? The chemistry won’t be there and-“

“As I said, I tried to re-jig it but Kevin is of the mind that acting is your job.” Her tone was sharp but as she glared across the opposing seats, in the little mini van Marvel had hired for you as transportation, her eyes softened. Lucy had been so wrapped up in her own stress she may have overlooked quite how gingerly you were sitting. By the time she had arrived at the hotel, your stylist had already managed to half save your ghoulish looking face, with sunken under eyes and tired skin, so it wasn’t so blatantly obvious how crap you were feeling.  “Is everything okay with you?” 

It felt pretty puny to say that the jet lag from flying to Tokyo had been weighing you down further than you wanted, or that the local cuisine top chefs had kindly prepared for you last night wasn’t siting well in your stomach. To be honest, even you thought it was just your body being a bit overdramatic. So in response, you put on your best happy-go-lucky face feigning a smile.

“No no I’m fine, just want to give the best interviews I can and you know…. I’m awkward as hell as it is, then pair me with the most talented actor that I share about two minutes of screen time with…it’ll be interesting.” 

The way Lucy reacted with a weird slow nod, eyebrows furrowed, meant it was quite apparent you had perhaps overplayed that one. Had you not been so over the day before it even began, you would’ve tried again to give a more believable act. But as you were, you turned your attention back out to the bustling streets of Tokyo and the high rise buildings bordering each pavement. 

You didnt have a problem with Tom, far from it in fact. Tom was hilarious and the times you had met him, you’d both built up this weird and sarcastic competitiveness with each other. It was a game of who could get the last laugh, each of you pushing each other with the Mickey taking just a little further. Of course, not in a malicious way, just the way you’d both lived pretty similar but parallel careers - when everyone drew comparisons between the both of you, it was nice to make it a joke. 

Like Tom you’d also started out on stage, had a ‘big break’ movie as a kid and then spent your teenage years on and off film sets - till marvel happened. Then everything blew up to epic proportions, changing your life forever. Actually, it was so similar to Tom’s story, plus the fact you were also from the south west of the UK. It was bizarre your paths hadn’t crossed more - He probably could’ve been a useful ally in the the whole ‘becoming famous’ thing. 

And yet, you could probably count on two hands the amount of conversations you’d had with him. 

Now that, that was the issue. Right from the beginning you learn what the press want and when you are publicising a movie you cater into it too. They’d all be asking for the insider scoop on set; what pranks you’d pulled on each other; what was the most annoying thing about each other. Which is hard if you’d only had 5 or 6 days actually on set together. 

By the time the cab had wormed its way through the Tokyo traffic and you arrived at the PR hotel, it was already 9:30 - making you 15 minutes late (blame it on the traffic). Instantly then you were ushered straight to the interview room for the evening, no chance of green room chat or grabbing a drink before. The place was stuffy, everything was draped with black curtains except the poster board that Tom was already sitting infront of. 

He’d scrubbed up well, no doubt about it. He was wearing statement-ish burgundy suit trousers, teamed with a black knitted but collared shirt thing - that was clearly tailor made for the man. As soon as he noticed you scurry into the room, his face broke out into a warm smile, jumping up to greet you in a friendly hug. It was brief, and as you pulled back you accidentally bumped your head on one of the overhanging lights. No doubt someone had spent a ridiculous amount of time configuring them so they were positioned perfectly, which you had just ruined with your big head. 

“Oh shit!” Tom just laughed in response, shaking his head slightly as he lead you the two steps across to your pre-positioned seats. 

“Making an entrance as always I see!”

“Yeh, you know me, a bit of chaos just to keep everyone on their toes.”

“Oh is that why you’re ‘fashionably late’” With a playful wiggle of his eyebrows, you just rolled your eyes, fidgeting on the chair to find a position that didnt aggravate  your stomach so much.

“I’m ready now though! What did I miss? Just having to pretend to be your friend for 15 minutes?” You stressed the words as though the thought of conversation with Tom was the absolute worst thing in the world - which you definetly didnt think. Scowling like you’d insulted his dog Tessa, it was almost visible how the cogs were turning in his head looking for a comeback. Unfortunately for him though, he was quickly shut up but the organiser bringing the first interviewer in . 

For what would, no doubt, be a long day. 

////

Everything had started off so well, the banter was flowing between you and Tom, no major spoilers revealed that meant Marvel would have to make the journalist disappear. It was once you hit an hour of back-to-back interviews that everything started to crack bit. Because yes, it had only been an hour but that was enough to exhaust you on this particular day. When Tom joked around you got slower and slower, similarly the  energy was zapped from your own answers. It’s not very compelling when someone says ‘you have to watch this movie’ in a monotonous voice with sullen eyes. 

As the interviewers were swapping in and out, Tom actually lightly nudged your shoulder.

“Everything alright? We’re trying to sell tickets and you’ve got a face like thunder.”

“Oh no-no sorry I just, I-um.”

“You want some water?” Now looking at your with more concerned eyes, as if he was just nervous he’d actually offended you for calling you a boring bastard. And you would’ve picked up on it and alleviated his concerns, if it weren’t for the fact your eyes were glued on the water bottle he was holding out to you. You were thirsty. You knew that, that wasn’t the conundrum. What you weren’t so sure about was whether your stomach would accept it, or more violently reject it. In a very non ‘we’re-trying-to-sell-a-movie’ style. 

But the lightheaded fogginess in your brain won out, as you nodded jerkily, taking the bottle and taking a little swig - too cautious to take anymore. 

Now concerned with how Tom thought you were being a Debby-downer too, you managed to perk yourself up for the next four interviews. They were easy, asking questions without any activity and though you did rely on Tom beefing out and adding to your answers, it was okay. Then the next interviewer came in, who you recognised as being from the BBC, Ali Plumb, that had interviewed you a number of times. From the way Tom jumped up to give him afirendly bro-hug, you guessed he also was familiar with him. As soon as he took a seat the cameras were already flashing with the red light, demonstrating his 7 minutes had already started. 

“Guys! It’s been a while.” 

“How are you Ali?” You started it off with the pleasantries, Tom echoing, before the speccy dirty-blonde asked his first question. 

“So the last time I spoke to you guys the universe was in chaos, Peter Parkers on the run and Aurora Blake was trying to strip her own powers, so I guess my first question is how are you both doing? We can use this as a therapy session if you guys need.” His very typical nerdy joke made Tom laugh, nodding as he leaned forward and repositioned a bit. 

You didn’t share the same humour though, more focused on this invisible blanket of stuffiness that seemed to have been thrown on top of you. It made you feel groggy, incredibly hot and so unbelievable nauseous. The lights weren’t helping either, it felt like you were pouring with sweat from your forehead. You thought Tom was answering Ali, even if you couldn’t really hear  - everything had merged into a deafening roar. Adrenaline coursed through your veins, unconsciously making you fumble yourself to standing, desperate to get somewhere with fresh air. The last thing you saw before your vision tunnelled into darkness was Tom, reaching out to try and catch you. 

Because next thing you knew, you were on the floor, wires from all the cameras and lights digging into your back as you looked up to see Tom on one side and Lucy on the other - both wearing a similarly panicked expression. You knew you hadn’t been out long, seconds if that, going by the fact everyone else was in the ‘oh my god’ phase of panic. It was a bit weird how calm you where, but then again all your life you’d been the ‘class fainter’. Waking up on the floor was something you were long since used to. 

“Y/n? You awake?” Rather stating the obvious Tom asked the question as you bent your head up - allowing you sight of all the concerned facing oggling you. With a defeated sigh, you flopped your head back. 

“If this is a dream then it’s a real bloody nightmare.” This time Tom didnt seem to appreciate your joke, looking at you without almost dumbfounded eyes, as you blinked repetitively and groaned. 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Lucy appeared to want to lecture you, which to be honest wasn’t the most time appropriate. You were still on the floor, legs crumpled up under you, so ignored her. Instead you pulled yourself up into a sitting position, taking a moment to blink away the blotchy haze that threatened to takeover your vision once again, whilst the pair above you both cautiously rested their palms on each of your shoulders -trying to be useful. The room still felt cramped and stifling, as everyone around were no doubt looking at you. 

It took a few minutes but your body seemed to get over itself, sitting up normally and trying to make small talk with Ali - who, by the way, was still sat awkwardly in the chair. Still nestled on the floor, your back up against the chair you had been siting on as you raved with Ali of the Harry Potter theatre show. In a natural lull in conversation, Tom perked up - from the door where he’d been muttering with the organiser as Lucy bit her nails nervously. 

“Y/n you need to go home.” 

All of you knew what Tom said was impossible. Not being egotistical, but you were too important. Although you hadn’t been paying masses of attention for Lucy’s run down of your itinerary - you knew it was packed. 

So you just looked up and rolled your eyes at Tom, earning yourself a strong glare, before locking the organiser in eye contact.

“How many have we got till lunch?” 

“Um this gent here” He gesturned toward Ali, who was almost squirming in his seat now “then two more.”  

“And then lunch?” 

“Yes, then you have a personal appearance at a dinner, so transport will be coming to pick you both up.” This poor guy seemed obsessed with the clock and his timetable, looking at your with a mixture of panic and frustration. You should know this stuff, you should’ve listened to Lucy. 

“How fars the drive?” 

“At this time probably an hour and a half.” 

The plan was clear in your head, you’d sort yourself out in the car and be fully fine by the afternoon and evening engagements. Plus you felt almost fine now. So with a sigh, you hauled yourself up onto the chair, patting for Tom to sit back down. 

“It’s half an hour and then I’ll sort myself out at lunch - come on their waiting.” The way Lucy pouted showed she disagreed somewhat, except a stern look kept her from protesting, as Tom walked toward you. 

“Are you sure you don’t loo-“

“Let me stop you before you insult my appearance.” Snickering slightly at his worried face, you laughed it off , knocking his side with a gentle murmur of ‘don’t worry about me’. 

In fact after that little episode you did feel a little recovered, which meant you were properly noticing the change in the boy sat next to you. Throughout the remaining three interviews he’d done a complete 360 from earlier. Rather than trying to get little digs at you, he had become fiercely protective - jumping in if a questions wasn’t particularly appropriate or relevant to the movie ( meaning when an awfully crap man asked what underwear you’d been able to wear in your suit) ; taking the heat of the conversation as well as just watching you like a hawk. Each time you answered his beady brown eyes were watching you from the side, you got the impression it wasn’t only just because of the risk of spoilers. 

Quite remarkably, you survived the rest of the day pretty well, after a power nap in the car on the way over - even if it was a bit difficult when you had your manager watching you like a hawk from the seat across. It was as if Lucy had never seen anyone ill before, she seemed concerned that you were going to spontaneously stop breathing and die at any point. 

Though by the time all the official business at the dinner was done, your body and willpower had reached the end of their tether. You and Tom were both on a round table, surrounded by 6 CEOs and execs of what seemed to be a multimillion pound business enterprise. With the language barrier meaning you had to speak through the two people on the table who were fluent in both japanese and English, the conversation was already pretty jilted. Though to be fair, the six did seem to be enjoying the evening - something you werent able to reciprocate. Thankfully, five minutes after the main course dishes had been collected, Tom spoke up from his position opposite you.

“This has been lovely and we really appreciate your time and generosity but me and Y/n have a really early start tomorrow so I think we should probably get back to the hotel.” You swore in that moment you could’ve kissed him, and it looked like Tom could tell - by the way your shoulders sagged and you let out an exhale of pure relief. Apparently even if you’d managed to convince the hosts you were enjoying the evening, Tom easily saw through the performance. After some hurried goodbyes, Tom led you out of the hall with his hand hovering over your lowerback, trying to make sure your exit was as discreet as possible. 

Away from the bubble of chatter and activity, in the deserted hallway, Tom stopped you - lightly holding both hands on each of your arms. 

“Wheres your team?” 

“Um Luce is back at the hotel, she was trying to see if she could reschedule any of my stuff tomorrow.” You winced at the way he sighed, realising you were all on your own in some random business event hall in Tokyo.

“Harry -my brother- is waiting in the car at the front - is that okay?”

“No Tom, don’t worry abo-“

“Yeh well I am and I think you feel ten times worse than you’re letting on.” He spoke harshly, like a school teacher telling you off - except the hint of a kind smile at the end was a dead giveaway. 

“You sure?” 

With a relieved nod (Tom had thought you might be a bit more stubborn - you obviously were really really ill) he wordlessly shrugged his suit jacket off, wrapping it round your shoulders. He muttered something about not wanting you to catch a chill but to be quite honest you were a bit distracted by the woody cedar smell of Toms aftershave that enveloped your senses. Maybe it wasn’t so bad being fussed on by him? To be fair he wasn’t wrong either, you were in a strapless evening dress - you would’ve preferred to be in joggers, but Marvels press team had other ideas. 

After a quick pit stop at the toilets, the two of you managed to make an unnoticed escape out the building - into a big SUV which had seconds prior pulled up onto the steps. You literally melted into the nearest window seat, body hunching over as you probably crumpled Tom’s jacket beyond belief. 2 seats along from you, a frizzy haired boy gave you a sympathetic smile, which you returned weakly whilst muttering a ‘hi’. Meanwhile, Tom pulled the sliding door shut, sitting across from you. 

“Oh Y/n this is Harry and Harry this is Y/n.” In unison both of you replied with an ‘I know’ eye roll. Your response was somewhat more shocking to both Holland boys, you could tell from the way they had this whole nonverbal conversation with their eyes - they were very clearly brothers. Needing to explain you continued. “I like to keep tabs on my castmates, I’ve seen you on Toms instagram.” That had both boys smirking, Harry presumably just because you knew who he was; Tom more smugly, you’d just given away you slightly stalked him on instagram. 

Silence reigned for a moment, as the driver put his foot down slightly. 

“How you doing?” Tom asked. 

“Mhm…” you thought for a second, how to eloquently describe the sensation. 

“shit.” 

Both boys chuckled a little and even though you had closed your eyes in an attempt to dull the throbbing behind your temples, you could feel the eyes on you. 

“You want the music off?” Harry asked, referring to the indie-rock coming quietly out the speakers of his laptop, which was resting on his lap. With a shake of your head you refused, even if really silence probably would help your head, you were already causing the two Hollands enough trouble - no need to bore them during the journey back into central Tokyo, especially when you weren’t the most enthusiastic company ever. 

Thankfully the music stayed on a low volume, whilst the car seemed to settle into a comfortable silence. With a long exhale you fluttered your eyes open, seeing Tom focused on his phone, before you rested the side of your head against the black-out glass. Taking some relief from the cool glass, you huddled further into the corner of the car against the door.

Floating in the space between sleep and wakefulness, you were kind of aware of your head occasionally bobbing and jerking about - but really didn’t have the energy or willpower to do anything about it. Instead, the thing that perked your attention was hearing some supposed-whispering from inside the body of the car.

“I know she said she didn’t care but she was clearly lying-“ 

“Like you know! You’ve been desperate to try and spend some time with Y/n- maybe you poisoned her just so you could be all knight-in-shini-“

“Turn. The. Music. Off.” Tom sounded scathing now, and with a grumble from your other-side the cheery drum beats ceased.

“Happy now?” …and Harry was sarcastic. 

“Swap places with me.”

“What?”

“Just do it.”

“Why?”

“So she can lie down.” 

“Well no because you would still be in the way if we swapped.”

“Yeh but she can lie on my lap idiot.”

“She can lie on me.”

“She doesn’t know you!”

“Well for 1, barely ten minutes ago she said she did know me. And 2, she doesn’t know you any better!”

If this was their version of whispering, you would love to hear what volume ‘shouting’ was. There was no reply for a short while, you imagined the two brunettes locked in some intense staring match.The next time Tom spoke he sounded more defeated - almost begging. 

“If I admit you beat me at the driving range the other day will you-” 

“I KNEW IT!” Harry yelped, the volume making you jerk, eyes flying open before reflexively closing because the light was too bright. There was a little mutter of an apology, then silence again. 

Once agin you must’ve drifted off because it felt like absolutely no time had passed when a firm but gently hand on your shoulder nudged you awake. 

Sure enough the boys had swapped position, Tom now sitting along the seat from you, Harry looked a little sulky from across the way. It was Tom who was reaching over, a gentle and peaceful smile on his face.

“You wanna lie down? Don’t want you to strain your neck.” He wasn’t wrong, adding to the throbbing headache, the cloudiness in your brain and the unsettled feeling in your stomach… now your neck hurt. Just bloody great. 

Had you been your normal witty and perceptive self, you might’ve teased Tom as to why him and his brother had done a switch - but everything hurt and all you wanted to do was sleep for a hundered years. So with squinting eyes you jerkily nodded, missing how Tom chuckled to himself. The guy undid your seatbelt, then sat back to let you balance the back of your head on his thigh, looking up at the roof of the SUV. Already your eyes were closed again, you kicked off your slip-on heels and bent your legs up to lean against the backrest - occupying the position you had been sat in before hand. You felt his hands reposition the jacket, pulling it round so it was now like a blanket tucked under your chin. 

To be fair it was much more comfortable than sitting up and you weren’t even aware of how quickly you dropped back into sleep. 

Though it wasn’t quick enough to miss Harry’s very sulky sounding comment, presumably meant only for Tom’s ears. 

“Still think you’re being fucking creepy bro.” 

<33 lemme know what u think! (would make me feel less guilty for not doing all the work I rlly should be doing aha)

tagging : @hallecarey1 @crossyourpeter @hollandfanficlove

[sokkastyles]

Zutara Month Day 10: Oma and Shu

I’ve seen some people point out that Zutara doesn’t necessarily fit Oma and Shu because the Oma and Shu myth is more Romeo and Juliet than enemies to lovers, and those people are not necessarily wrong. Romeo and Juliet, just like Oma and Shu, were never themselves enemies. They did nothing but love each other, but were forbidden from being together because of the feud. Zutara, in most interpretations, is less a “forbidden” romance and more a transition from enemies to friends to lovers. Most people imagine them growing to love each other after becoming friends, often after Zuko’s redemption and the end of the war. Nonetheless, the Oma and Shu story does share several parallels with Zutara that many fans have picked up on. What I want to do is examine some of these parallels from a meta angle, to look at the Oma and Shu story as it appears in the series and other similar stories that appear in ATLA, and to also compare them to similar stories in the real world, and analyze a bit the popularity of these various tales of forbidden love, why they are popular, and what their purpose is, as well as how Zutara fits into all this.

In universe, the Oma and Shu story, in addition to being a love story, is also an origin myth of sorts for the Earth Kingdom. It explains the creation of the city of Omashu, as well as telling the story of some of the first humans to learn earthbending. The message of the story, in addition to being a tale about love thriving between two unlikely people, and a cautionary tale about what happens when love is prevented from flourishing, is also a message about love being an act of creation and a force of transformation.

Love is brightest in the dark.

This sentence is a paradox, but it fits with the theme of balance that the show comes back to again and again, of breaking down barriers and deconstructing dichotomies to create something new, something more whole than the original. Something mirroring the harmony of yin and yang.

The greatest illusion of this world is the illusion of separation. Things you think are separate and different are actually one and the same. We are all one people, but we live as if divided.

The above quote by Guru Pathik is also similar to Iroh’s philosophy, which he tries to teach Zuko.

It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements, and the other nations will help you become whole.

Iroh also says something in “The Crossroads of Destiny” that echoes the Oma and Shu story.

Iroh: Perfection and power are overrated. I think you were very wise to choose happiness and love.

Aang: What happens if we can't save anyone and beat Azula? Without the Avatar State, what if I'm not powerful enough?

Iroh: I don't know the answer. Sometimes, life is like this dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving, [Aang earthbends the rocks away one last time. Iroh's fire blows out. He smiles.] you will come to a better place.

Iroh says that Aang is wise to choose love over power, while walking through a dark tunnel, and advises Aang to trust in the darkness to bring him to the light. Meanwhile, Zuko and Katara, two people on opposite sides of a war, share a moment of unlikely tenderness in a cave lit by glowing crystals.

Zuko in the crystal catacombs does what Iroh has been trying to teach him to do, to let go of pride and the need for power, and to instead embrace compassion and humility. Which is what he does when he apologizes to Katara. This is also part of what stories like Romeo and Juliet teach us, that pride and petty grievances are destructive, and that only by embracing love do we become whole.

I know the prompt is Oma and Shu, but thinking about that story and its place in the narrative made me think about other mythic stories that appear in the series, so let’s look at another one that has significance for zutara: Love Amongst the Dragons, Ursa’s favorite play that she took young Zuko and Azula to see every year.

The actual story of Love Amongst the Dragons, according to the ATLA wiki, is this:

The play features the Dragon Emperor, bound to mortal form by the Dark Water Spirit, and forced to adopt the alias of Noren. The humble experience results in Noren falling in love with a mortal, and through this love he is able to break free of his curse. The play concludes with Noren defeating the Dark Water Spirit and embracing his mortal girlfriend, revealed to be the Dragon Empress.

What struck me when I found this description was that this is, with some slight changes, pretty much the Chinese myth of the marriage between Dragon and Phoenix, a representation for yin and yang and harmony in marriage, and which I compared in a meta to zutara as well.

Like the Oma and Shu story, it is a story about unlikely love, and about crossing divisions. It also has a lot of similarities with various myths involving shapeshifting love-interests, often referred to as “animal bride/husband” myths (which beauty and the beast is a subset of).

The symbolism of the tale in-universe is in its connection to Ursa, and thus Zuko’s connection to his mother. Zuko’s connection to his mother is contrasted with his connection to his father, which is representative of Zuko’s destructive side. When Zuko was trying to capture the Avatar, he was searching for his father’s approval, to become someone that would earn his father’s love. Ursa, meanwhile, taught Zuko kindness and compassion, and told him that it didn’t matter that he wasn’t the most powerful or strong. That Ursa took Zuko to see this particular play is significant, a play about a godlike being, the Dragon Emperor, being humbled and learning to love.

Only with your glory hidden in false form could you recognize my devotion.

Though different, and originating in a different nation, this is another tale about love shining through the dark, about letting go of pride and choosing compassion. Animal bride/husband myths are often about seeing past what is hidden to see the truth. They are stories of transformation, and like the Oma and Shu story, are about the transformative power of love.

It’s also from this play that Zuko gets his Blue Spirit alter ego, which Zuko uses as an exploration of his own identity apart from being the Fire Nation prince. In this story the same mask is worn by the villainous Dark Water Spirit. It is very interesting that Zuko uses an identity associated with water for this purpose. Also, like the Blue Spirit, the Dark Water Spirit seems to be a bit on the morally ambiguous side. Even though the spirit is defeated at the end of the story, its motivation for transforming the Dragon Emperor seems to be to teach him humility, and this is a message the play seems to promote.

Zuko and Azula’s dialogue from the above comic pages is interesting because it expands on what we already know about both characters. Zuko complains about always having to play the villain, just as he was made a scapegoat by his father and sister, and his adapting of the Blue Spirit identity is essentially him reclaiming that identity that was forced on him while trying to figure out who he really is. Azula sees herself as the Dragon Emperor, but she misunderstands the message of the story completely, and it’s not a coincidence that she talks over the love scene in the comic above and responds angrily and pridefully to the man who tries to shush her. Similar to Ozai when he names himself the Phoenix King, ironically misinterpreting the actual myth. I also think there’s something interesting to say about gender here, as this post points out. Not only does Ozai associate himself with a female figure, but Azula associates herself with the male Dragon Emperor, while Zuko is associated with the more feminine water spirit (water being a feminine element.) However, by the end of the series, Zuko embodies the transformed Dragon Emperor, while Katara I associated before with the Phoenix/Dragon Empress, as she is associated with healing and rebirth. Also notice the red and blue color coding in the comic page above, both with the Water Spirit and Dragon Emperor and in the coloring of the two lovers.

This also brings me to another play present in the series, the play that the gaang goes to see performed by the Ember Island Players. The same players that Zuko says his mother took him to see. The play we see them put on in the series is a Fire Nation propaganda play, promoting Ozai and the war. I actually can’t imagine that Love Amongst the Dragons, a play about a Dragon Emperor learning humility, was very popular during Ozai’s reign. We hear about it being performed before Ozai became Fire Lord, but we can assume that those visits to the theatre stopped after Ursa’s disappearance. The only other time we hear about that particular play being performed is after the end of the war. This leads me to imagine that it was necessary for the Ember Island Players to find a different play to perform while Ozai was in charge. While the play is not necessarily subverting Fire Nation superiority (the villain is a water spirit, after all), it is confrontational enough that I can imagine Ozai’s brand of narcissism seeing it as a challenge to his authority. Ozai who disdained love in favor of power and control.

“The Boy in the Iceberg” contains another love story between two people from opposite sides in their depiction of Zuko and Katara in the crystal catacombs. I wrote before about how I’ve seen interpretations of this that say that the Fire Nation was trying to portray zutara as an “inferior” Water Tribe woman falling for a “superior” Fire Nation man - essentially saying that the play is in favor of zutara as a piece of Fire Nation pro-colonization propaganda - but the problem with this is that that isn’t how zutara is depicted in the play. The play mocks zutara by portraying Zuko as submissive and subservient to Aang, and Zuko is later killed, as he is currently a traitor and threat to the Fire Nation. Thus, the “romance” between Zuko and Katara is not being depicted as supporting the superior masculinity of Fire Nation men, but rather portraying Zuko, who willingly chose to dissasociate himself with the Fire Nation, as emasculated and submissive to other, “lesser” men and aggressive “foreign” women.

This is a complete mockery of the real connection that Zuko and Katara had in the catacombs, the kind of love that is inherently subversive because it requires Zuko humbling himself in front of Katara and admitting that he was wrong, and working for her forgiveness. It is the kind of love that the Fire Nation under Ozai’s rule rejects. The kind of love that is truly transformative, revelatory, and brings light to the darkness. The kind of love that creates rather than destroys, that unifies rather than divides. That is humble and not prideful. That’s the appeal of zutara.

[tatakau-gimu-wa-nai]

OOO 10th spoilers

I decided to write a review after a few days, just so my frustration wouldn’t cloud my judgment too much.

So. I’ve seen a lot of people saying that Core Medal Resurrection is similar to Faiz’ Paradise Lost, that it's just like any other V-cine and that it shouldn’t be taken that seriously, etc, etc...

But like- I wish this was any other V-cine. I wish. But it’s NOT. It’s supposed to be OOO’s 10th anniversary celebratory movie. They saw how much fans wanted a 10th year special, they managed to bring the whole cast back together one last time, they advertised it as the long awaited reunion... And they gave us whatever that was.

One of the things that bothered me the most in the movie was the reason Eiji died in the first place. His entire arc in the series was about learning to rely on others, to not take everything upon himself. Yes, Eiji saved that little girl (that looked exactly the same days or even weeks after Eiji saved her life), that’s nice, and it almost looks like some progress was made from the series prologue. But in my opinion it seemed like his condition was presented not as something absolute, but as a problem to solve if they wanted to get rid of Gouda.

Compared to Ankh’s death in the series, Eiji’s death came across as a tragedy for the sake of tragedy to me, you know? The default lazy writers turn to when they don’t know how to write a satisfying ending. With Ankh’s death we had the entire series to understand what life meant to him, how much he wanted to live and how, through his connections and friendships, he found satisfaction in dying as someone rather than disappearing as something. Eiji died how he wished he had at the beginning of the series, by being able to protect a kid at the cost of his own life. It is a regression to his character development.

Eiji’s desire for power to protect was also dealt with in the series and, get that, during the episodes written by the same guy that wrote the movie! It’s not like he didn’t know. In fact, the death scene is very similar to Eiji in Ankh’s arms back in episode 34.

The concept of role reversal (or parallels, whatever you wanna call it) is interesting, don’t get me wrong, but when you throw 48 episodes of character development out the window, it’s bad writing.

One thing that I loved about this movie was the acting. Watanabe, Miura and Takada were absolutely amazing and I was moved to tears by their acting, not by the plot or whatever that was happening. Which just adds to the frustration! This movie was a waste of their talent! Not to mention... It pains me that some of the returning cast was there just to show face.

Tajador Eternity is gorgeous! The name is just ironic though. And they didn’t even bother to rewrite a few lines to make a new version of Time Judged All so... Yeah =/

I’m not gonna go into detail about the fighting choreography or how easily the villains were handled. I’m indifferent to these aspects, actually.

Now. I’ve seen people saying this movie was not actually a canon continuation of the series, that it’s just an alternative universe vision from a writer on how things could go, like with Faiz’ Paradise Lost. And no, it’s not. It’s a direct continuation, if all the flashbacks were not enough indication.

Paradise Lost is one of my favorite KR movies, ever. It has some issues, but overall it was a consistent movie with a coherent plot, beautiful makeup, amazing fighting choreography, and it utilizes the cast really well! And it was released during the run of the series. Did it spoil some plot points? Maybe. But the fans didn’t have to wait a decade to see it happen.

People are comparing Core Medal Resurrection with the Vulcan V-cine or something. I dropped Zero-One and I never watched their V-cines, but, again, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t released a decade after the ending of the series.

TLDR:

Overall, I didn’t like the movie. And I couldn’t be more glad I didn’t have to wait more than 10 years to watch this bs like some fans did.