#and he did it with like no difficulty and the only reason he didnt kill him is because the person that hired him told him not to

[roseworth]

wait that post about deathstroke is so hilarious isnt he supposed to be better than bruce 💀

fsjhfasdjfhad yeah lmaoooo dc loves to act like deathstroke is a god amongst men and the greatest fighter ever but. i mean he regularly gets his ass kicked by a team that has TEEN in the name. im tired of dc acting like hes so cool and dangerous. he is just some guy

[thedawningofthehour]

Its always a joy to see an update from your fic and I do hope this one treats you better than the last and that youre well!

I havent quite read through the latest chapter yet, but I remembered a question Id forgotten to send. Some time ago you answered a different ask I believe wanting to know what would happen if Leo were to ask Draxum to join them. I think you said Draxum would have refused him, but obviously he didnt do that with Raph and so Im wondering, what was different? Would he have still refused Leo had he beaten Raph to the punch or would Draxum have accepted Leo in this time since they had the collars at the ready?

Hope you have a great rest of your day!

Thank you! In general readership went way down when I moved from Book 1 to 2, but it worked itself back up. Not to the point doth was at in the last few chapters, but better. It's plummeted again, but I'm hoping it'll pick back up like it did for Book 2. (otherwise, I'm not really sure what's happening, other than people getting fatigued? Did a bunch of people stop reading because of Raph doing his stupid thing?)

Clarification: Draxum would have initially refused him. Leo would have had to sell himself, and really make a good case for it because Draxum would have been very resistant to the idea. But that's the sort of thing Leo really excels at. So I don't think it's out of the question that he'd succeed. He'd just really have to nail it in one go.

I mean, a couple reasons. A major one being that Draxum really doesn't like Leo. Leo is overwhelmingly the one poking the sword in Draxum's side, he's loud and disobedient and Draxum thinks he doesn't take anything seriously. He's come to realize what a mastermind strategist Leo is, but honestly that just makes him hate him more because Leo is usually strategizing against him. He hates how fanatically devoted he is to bringing his twin back, he hates that he can't just kill Leo or beat him to a pulp. And he hates that on some level, he still thinks to himself "in another life he'd be my son."

But the main factor in all this is the way Draxum views Raph. Draxum glorifying Raph's size and strength is a huge theme here and it goes back to the table chapters. Raph was the only other turtle he seriously considered taking besides Donnie, and even though he ultimately decided against it due to the difficulties of holding him, it always bothered him that he still technically didn't get everything he wanted. Logically, he knows that Raph's fighting prowess could be replicated-Tigerclaw isn't one of his mutants, but he's proof that Draxum could easily obtain other powerful mutants that came willingly to his cause and were far more loyal.

The problem being that Draxum, as much as he pretends he's not, is very sentimental. He planned to raise the turtles themselves, both as warriors and people, and especially now with how close he's grown to Galois he thinks more and more about what life could have been had Lou Jitsu not kidnapped them. It wasn't just having a super elite warrior at his beck and call, it was the thought of having this massive, extremely powerful mutant warrior and being able to call him his. He considers both Donatello and Raphael to have been his masterwork-and he can't even take full credit for Donnie because it wasn't his intention to make him a genius. It drove him crazy not to have his masterpiece by his side, and even if he can't admit to creating Raph now he still knows Raphael was his work. He feels very smug about that.

Another thing is going back to the risk vs rewards thing. The reason Draxum didn't kidnap Raph along with Donnie was because he'd be physically impossible to control, but with Raph submitting willingly (and having a shock collar that could paralyze him on command) that was much less of a concern. But Raph, as strong and powerful as he is, is also...not very bright. Like, he absolutely has good problem-solving skills, and while he's not on Leo or Mikey's level he is emotionally intelligent. But there's no way he could outsmart Draxum, and he's also aware of his own limits enough to know not to try. A shock collar and the threat of instant death is enough to subdue him.

It would not be enough for Leo. Even if Draxum didn't think Leo could outsmart him outright, he'd still try. His attempts could be destructive, and he'd likely be forced to hurt or even kill Leo in retaliation. Which he wouldn't consider a breach of his promise to Donatello, since Leo would have initiated the entire thing and agreed upon those conditions, but agreeing to Leo's proposal knowing it would most likely end with Draxum killing him wasn't really in the spirit of the promise. And again, part of him still doesn't want to kill Leo. Part of him still understands that he's his son's brother, and they both love the same person even if they're calling him by different names.

Also Raph's proposal addressed a major insecurity of Draxum's, that being the subject of Galois's safety. He's freaked out. He knows he has to let Gale out of the house at some point, but he's terrified of what might happen when he does. 'Giant murder turtle bodyguard' might not solve the problem, but it makes it a whole lot better, and it's done in a way that doesn't make Draxum look like a crazy overprotective father. He might worry about Raph messing with Gale's head, but he knows Raph is still extremely protective of him and would die before he let Gale get hurt. Leo-what could Leo do for him? He wasn't big and intimidating, had already proven that he couldn't protect Galois properly-he's still injured from that event, at this point Draxum would have every reason to believe Leo's lack of mobility is permanent. It just wouldn't be worth the risk.

In short: Draxum knew he really shouldn't take any turtle up on that offer. It was a stupid decision, and it went against what he promised Donatello. But Raph did the equivalent of dangling a piece of meat in front of him and Draxum was practically salivating the second Raph knelt before him.

[raveneira]

hi, do you think when sarada awoken the mangeko (as much as i wish that trashy awakening wasn't real it unfortunately is) because of she cared for brto and was a die hard fan or was she just really upset that no one belived her and thought she was spouting nonsense? for me i low-key feel that it is the latter since sarada seems to have more concern for herself and the fact that she thinking that everyone denying her reality affected her so much to the point of awakening ms? it's still bad tho

Unfortunately if we're being realistic, nobody fkin knows what triggered it, there are two primary theories in the fandom and both are factually false

1 She was overwhelmed, everybody suddenly hunting/attacking Boruto, hearing Naruto was killed, her father not believing her, and finally her desperate plea for him to save Boruto is was caused her MS

2 her immense love for Boruto and fear of him being killed is what triggered it

Both of these are factually wrong, others may wanna live by Ikemoto's bs rules but Im not, Kishimoto didnt spend 15 yrs establishing this power up for us to just be like 'well none of that matters now cuz Ikemoto did different' stfu, the original creator >>> an incompetent assistant that constantly says fk what Kishimoto established in his own verse to make whatever bs plot/scenario he needs to work. In this case, he needed 'change Boruto's fate' and justify Sasuke leaving with Boruto for 3 years so he pulled that omnipotence bs and then made Sarada awaken her MS solely to convince Sasuke to believe her, there was literally no other purpose than that.

So for a memory refresher, why is her MS awakening factually wrong? because neither of the explanations people give are how the MS WORKS.

This is literally in part one where we're first introduced and explained to how the MS is obtained.

Itachi says you have to kill your closest friend to obtain the MS which isnt a lie, but its not the entire truth either, but the general idea is the same as I will show here where we get more detail.

Tobirama, like Itachi, are correct in their statements, but once again it is not the entire truth either because as we've seen several times the BASE Sharingan can evolve without feelings of hatred, but a strong desire to protect those dear to you, grief, and losing a dear loved one are all triggers for the Sharingans evolution, this is further proven by the fact that Kagami and Shisui never fell into the 'curse of hatred' and still had fully evolved Sharingan, Shisui even had MS despite wanting to follow a completely pacifistic path.

Now lets go over the actual difficulty in how it is obtained, lets look at the databook first, I took the liberty of highlighting the relevant parts for those who like to stay in denial whenever this topic comes up.

A cursed ocular ninjutsu only obtainable through great sacrifice.

Through the entire history of the Uchiha clan, it was rare for a member to be able to weild the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Here's the part I want you to keep in mind going forward because I WILL be coming back to it later.

Through the entire history of the Uchiha clan

Remember that for later, now moving on to the next point, ok so thats databook statements but what about in verse? the same thing.

It was rare to obtain the MS, the clan would literally slaughter eachother trying to gain it to no avail because its NOT a simple and easy thing to obtain, otherwise everyone in the Uchiha clan would've had MS if it was just as simple as killing your own kin or being overwhelmed etc [refer to the bs reasons ppl give for why Sarada gained hers] but it actually took SPECIFIC requirements to gain, and we were shown what those were several times.

I think you notice the common theme here, Obito got his MS from seeing his best friend kill Rin, his first love, Kakashi got his at the same time from the act of killing Rin by accident, Itachi got his from watching Shisui commit suicide, Sasuke got his after killing his brother and then learning the truth about Itachi and his clan.

The theme is clear, the requirements to awaken it are even more clear, there is literally no amount of gaslighting anyone can do to overrule whats literally been consistently shown in the canon danm manga by the original creator himself.

'Oh yall just wanted Sarada to be edgy like everyone else Im glad her MS was different' is the stupidest response to this, nobody said they wanted her to be edgy, they just want her danm MS to follow the rules that have been established for 15 years. Also Shisui wasnt edgy and he had MS, so I dont even know how anyone thinks thats a gotcha anyway, she could literally still be the loving Sarada she's always been and still get MS because hatred isnt the only way the Sharingan evolves. I dunno why someone actually thought that was a rebuttal, but it just goes to show how ignorant these ppl are about how the MS works and only care about things being 'different' instead of caring about the actual worldbuilding.

Now lets move onto Sarada, her base Sharingan, although lackluster, still evolved in a way that was consistent with what was set up in OG. She awakened her sharingan for the first time due to her years of pain and longing of missing her dad and then being overjoyed when she was finally about to meet him at last. This wasnt unusual because Sasuke awakened his third tomoe because of how overwhelmed he was that Naruto considered him a brother, his first bond, and his dear friend, despite Sasuke literally trying to kill him right now and cut ties with him, Naruto's sincere love for him made his final tomoe appear. This is why the base Sharingan evolving in this way is not unusual, as long as the emotions are strong enough and struck a cord with them, then the Sharingan will evolve.

This is not the same for MS though, it is a completely different eye with a completely different set of rules, this is why Sarada's awakening is complete ass and not only that but literally breaks the rules of the verse.

Keep this in mind, she hears Naruto, her idol, the man who she aspires to be like, who at one point she wished was her dad, is dead, but not only that, she hears Mitsuki say hes going to kill Boruto. Remember this for what Im about to say next.

This is several minutes after she was told Naruto was dead and that Mitsuki was going to kill Boruto, her eyes didnt budge when she heard Naruto was dead, nor did her eyes budge hearing literally EVERYONE is actively hunting Boruto now.

At the very least the news of Naruto's death was more in line with how the MS awakens, so if she heard that and got her MS from it then it wouldnt have been all that difficult to accept, but unfortunately thats not what happened, she just sat there and cried, no reaction to Naruto dying, and no reaction to hearing and seeing Mitsuki trying to kill Boruto.

So what did trigger it? her being overwhelmed? false because thats what she was in the panels I've shown, she had been sitting there for several minutes with all this chaos goin on around her and no MS, not even her dad not believing her is what triggered it, literally NOTHING anyone tries to say it was triggered it, your literally looking at the panels, her eyes didnt BUDGE.

So what did trigger it then? if none of that did it then what did?

I shit you not, I cannot make this shit up, what triggered her MS was literally because 'Why cant Boruto ever catch a break?'

When I tell you my blood boiled reading that line words cannot describe the rage I felt because the total and I mean TOTAL disregard of everything, EVERYTHING that has happened to her dad, her idol Naruto, and Kawaki was infuriating because she NEVER asked why they cant catch a break, but now all of a sudden because poor Boruto is going through it right now all of a sudden its too cruel.

Her father lost his eye and got fatally beaten up by both Borushiki and Isshiki, Naruto was nearly killed by Isshiki and Borushiki, Kawaki was hunted down by Delta, Code, Isshiki, and Momo, Amado put karma back on him without his permission or anyones knowledge, Kawaki was slowly being consumed by Isshiki through his karma the same as Boruto was with Momoshiki and she didnt give af about NONE of that.

NONE OF THAT

She didnt give af about ANY of it, know who she did tho? Boruto, in chapter 69 who is she telling Mitsuki she feels bad for being unable to protect? Boruto, who is she angry at herself for not being reliable for? Boruto, who does she want to get stronger for so she can help them more? Boruto. This is literally right after Naruto nearly died, Kawaki nearly died, and Boruto nearly died, but the only one she gave a danm about was Boruto.

So you want the real answer to what triggered her MS? Ima be real with you, its honestly anybodys guess because Ikemoto is so bad at properly building up and portraying things clearly compared to Kishimoto, you can see clearly what the MS triggers were for everyone I showed and it isnt up for debate, its clear as day, but Sarada? you literally have to friggin guess because it just pops up so randomly your caught off guard wondering where tf that even came from.

Im not even kidding I've reread this scene so many times and I can NOT pinpoint what the trigger actually was, the only thing I can say is that the turning point was Sumire telling Sarada the cause of everything thats going on, Sarada then falls apart more because 'This is too cruel, why cant Boruto ever catch a break' which again is complete bullshit but I digress...so then she pleads for her dad to believe her and help Boruto because he's innocent but Sasuke doesnt, this is supposedly where the shift happens because her eyes are hidden during these panels.

She basically tells her dad that even if none of this makes sense to him, just to please trust her and grant her this one selfish request, aka saving Boruto.

Im not even kidding but...this is just so danm bad for her...like if I were to be completely generous and unbiased here then I can only make one conclusion from whats been laid out here and that is that her MS awakened simply because she desperately wanted her dad to save Boruto, she wanted her dad to do her this favor no matter what, she wanted him to do it so badly that her MS awakened.

That is the only explanation that can be taken from this, and that is why this is rightfully seen as the WORST MS awakening we've ever seen and why its a complete and utter disappointment because look at this shit, LOOK AT IT, she's just standing there crying and beggin daddy to help when she's had the chance to do something her danm self.

Remember earlier when she heard Mitsuki say he was gonna go kill Boruto? if she was that concerned why she aint go try to stop him? she heard everyone else out to hunt him too and yet she didnt try to go protect him from them either, I mean she could jump infront of Boruto to protect him from KK, she could jump infront of Boruto to protect him from Kawaki, she can abandon her mission to come save Boruto from Shojoji, but FOR SOME REASON she cant stand up and protect Boruto from all the people hunting him right now? her childhood friend this fandom swears up and down shes madly inlove with? she cant stand up and protect him when he needs her the most!?

I aint sayin I wanted her to be the one to leave with Boruto hell no, but leaving with him and protecting him are two entirely different things, she could've easily saved him from Inoshikacho, Chocho would've definitely tried hearin Sarada out, Sasuke could've arrived and Sarada tries to appeal to all of them there, most likely Inojin and Shikadai wouldnt believe her, Chocho is her best friend so she'd know atleast something has to be wrong for Sarada to be so insistent, and Sasuke would be the most inclined to believe her because hes already witnessed something similar with the infinite Tsukiyomi, so is it really all that impossible that Ada, who literally has Otsutsuki dna, to mass brainwash ppl? Sasuke could've told Inoshikacho to leave and let him deal with Boruto and then thats when they discuss Sarada staying behind and Sasuke leaving with Boruto for the time being.

There was no NEED for MS to achieve that, all it would've taken is a little time and effort and CARE to make that ending WORK without having to throw in a forced af power up to justify it because you were too lazy to actually write something that made sense.

But if she MUST have gotten her MS before part one was over, I can show the best opportunities they could've made it happen at.

Kawaki was about to kill Boruto, she tried asking him calmly what is going on but Kawaki just tells her not to interfere if she doesnt wanna die which shocks Sarada because this isnt like Kawaki at all, they were all friends and teammates and not long ago Kawaki was on edge trying his hardest to protect Boruto and now hes suddenly trying to kill him. Boruto told her to run but she refused and chose to protect him anyway despite Kawaki being serious about killing her if she interfered, however when actually faced with that reality she froze which resulted in Boruto saving HER instead and losing his eye.

This was a good place for MS to awaken because someone she thought was a friend is now trying to kill her other friend, her friend shes known since childhood and she cant understand why. She thought she could protect him but failed to be able to follow through and that caused her friend SHE was supposed to be protecting to end up protecting HER and losing his eye because of it. She's feeling immense guilt, betrayal, frustration, helplessness, and now she knows for sure that Kawaki really will kill both of them without hesitation.

However for this to work the scene will have to be changed a bit, Kawaki would knock Sarada out of the way cuz she isnt who he really wants to kill and then proceed to seemingly kill Boruto right infront of her before she can react in time to stop it, I say seemingly because Momo has consistently saved Boruto from otherwise fatal/irreversible injuries. Anyway after Kawaki seemingly deals the fatal blow, Sarada's MS will awaken, right then is when everyone arrives to restrain Kawaki, things play out relatively the same but only even more hostile since he apparently killed Boruto, eventually after their back and forth Boruto wakes up but its Momoshiki in control now same as the manga and he helps Kawaki escape the same way too, only difference is everyones not just shocked Momos helping but that Boruto somehow even survived, this is just another flex of Momos healing capabilities however.

Anyway thats one way she could've gotten MS that is consistent with the established rules of how the MS works.

The other moment that would've worked is the Boro fight, when everyone was getting taken out one by one and seemingly all about to be killed and Sarada was helpless on the ground after being crushed, that was more than enough reason for her MS to awaken as Boruto, Kawaki, and Mitsuki were all out cold and as good as dead.

Unfortunately neither of those happened, and thus were given the weakest, stupidest, most lackluster MS awakening in Uchiha history. Speaking of Uchiha history, remember that like I told you to remember? this is why.

A cursed ocular ninjutsu only obtainable through great sacrifice.

What did Sarada sacrifice for her MS? nothing, she sat there and cried and then begged her dad for help.

Through the entire history of the Uchiha clan, it was rare for a member to be able to weild the Mangekyou Sharingan.

THROUGH THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE UCHIHA CLAN, it was RARE for a member to obtain the MS

Keywords, through the entire history of the Uchiha clan, so tell me Saradas MS is bullshit deniers, why was it SO RARE for Uchihas throughout their ENTIRE history to gain the MS if all it took was being a little overwhelmed and scared? this clan faught WARS, children DIED loved ones DIED Uchihas [and Senjus] lived in constant fear EVERY SINGLE DAY and they NEVER awakened it it from that, not even through killing their own kin willingly to gain the power up worked, so please tell me how Sarada can just change something THATS NEVER BEEN A THING in the ENTIRE history of the Uchiha clans existence, please tell me how you think Sarada can just completely change history just by crying and begging.

You cant, because its bullshit and you know it, the MS was rare for a reason, it took SACRIFICE, it took LOSS, you didnt gain it by just sitting on your ass crying and doing nothing, being scared wasnt enough to trigger it, being overwhelmed wasnt enough to trigger it, fearing for your loved ones life wasnt enough to trigger it, but you want me to believe suddenly NOW it is? do you have any idea how disrespectful that is to the entire Uchiha clan to say that none of them ever had to die, they just simply had to be in a chaotic situation [which they were] and cry about it and boom, every single Uchiha could've had their MS easy peasy.

Gtf outta here man and just be real, her MS is bullshit plan and simple and it breaks the established rules of the verse created by Kishimoto himself. IN NO WAY is simply desperately wanting your dad to save your friend enough to awaken your MS, maybe evolve your base Sharingan, but not MS.

So yea to answer your question, the most accurate conclusion to be had from this scene, although factually incorrect for the rules of the verse, In Ikemotos verse however, Sarada's MS awakened because of her desperation for her dad to save Boruto, she wanted that so bad her MS awakened as proof of just how desperate she was for her dad to grant her request, that is the truth of what triggered it.

Im not saying this happened out of some romantic love she has for Boruto, no, but thats still her dear friend shes known her entire life, I dunno why ppl treating her MS awakening in reference to him means she loves him romantically...like I literally saw a tiktok recently where Sarada says 'I awakened my MS for you' and when asked why/how she saids 'Because I like you' and I was just like 😑 yea no wonder people keep defending this garbage, they really do NOT understand how the MS works at all. Out of all the Uchiha's we've seen awaken MS, Obito was the only one who did out of romantic love, the rest was familiar or platonic love, so why her MS awakening is somehow proof of her romantic love for him that till this day is still unconfirmed is beyond me but whatever, these ppl will stay delusional no matter what the facts same so yea, I hope this was able to answer your question.

[emmacreatures]

A little introduction of what Ka'am would be. (and a fun piece of story attached to it as well💕 Thank you guys for reading my stuff, I've been writing since 2013 and had a HUGE stop for almost 2 years due to mental difficulties, so sometimes my writing is rusty and perhaps not as 'flowy' or rather smooth as others can, but it makes me SO happy people read our fanfics😭 Thank you beyond words!

As a little funfact, Ka'am supposedly would've been the new leader, the Olo'eyktan. But things didnt always go as planned. In fact, he got pushed to the side, each opportunity. Ka'am is the youngest sibling in the family. After Tsu'teys death.. He was to be the new leader in order, but as Neytiri bonded with jake, Jake got the place to be the Olo'eyktan. Pushing Ka'am far to the side. You could see Ka'am kind off like Scar in the lion king. Staying in the shadows, hidden while the man is dangerous due to the unappreciation and being in his own, figuring ways that others dont do. His way of dressing and handling his hair showed a bit of a rogue look. He too would be a bad influence at times without anyone knowing its him nor people figuring it out. Such as telling the younger kids from Jake and Neytiri that they shouldnt go to dangerous places.. Which made them all the more eager to do the exact opposite. He may even be the one to tell the kids to go to the battlefield, since only 'true and brave' warriors would go there. Ka'am himself was a rebel.. He shaped himself after being pushed to the side day after day.. But it made him strong, extremely dangerous.. Hidden, uncatchable, never noticed, like a python about to bite while watching his prey unnoticed. Jake did not agree with his behavior, but he didnt have much of a say about it. He knew from Neytiri the man was hard to talk to, especially since it was her younger brother. They werent far apart time wise, as Jake at first thought he was in fact the older one.. May it be due to the man's secretive ways of teaching himself.. Making him wise as the attention never was aimed upon him. And while he felt like Ka'am had never done anything wrong in ways that couldnt be excused, he just kept an eye on the man, always having felt a slight tension. Yet.. It was never proved that Ka'am couldnt stand jake.. So Neytiri made her husband stop to wander.. Which was perfect for Ka'am.

Even Lo'ak looks up to Ka'am alot.. seeing he does the things na'vi dont tell him what to do.. Like riding a thanator, or use specific venom that shouldnt even be touched by Na'vi hands to kill prey even faster. Ka'am was a determined man, and due he did things so precise, he might've even be the reason why lo'ak is such a rebel.. Noticing Neteyam got all the attention, becoming this perfect soldier.. The oldest brother. Making Lo'ak always stand behind him.. And Ka'am.. Was close to such a comparison as well. Neytiri was the older sister, and she so happened to be with this 'toruk makto'.. Pushing Ka'am far to the side despite he was promised and trained all his life to be a powerful leader.. Nonetheless, Ka'am had accepted his faith, but it made his thinking alot more dark.. Worse than anyone would even assume.

"uncle!!" Tuk called as Lo'ak and her approached the man, watching Ka'am who sat on his ikran, just being 'back up' in case they needed it.. which showed again how much of a priority he was. Ka'am just rolled his eyes as he didnt like to be called that way, and Lo'ak could tell. "Tuk.. You know he doesnt like to be called like that. You should know by now" Lo'ak said as he would approach Ka'am first. "Sorry sir, she's still having to remember" he said as Ka'am smirked hiddenly, hearing Lo'ak showed the same respect like he did to his father.. maybe a slightly more. "So.. What are the plans of the young warrior today" Ka'am said as he'd look down at them first, before getting off the ikran.. Walking a little as Lo'ak followed him right away. "Havent decided yet.. Is there anything you know off, or something you think I can take?" Lo'ak said rather determined, making Ka'am smirk gently. "My my Lo'ak. You are having the energy today" Ka'am said for Lo'ak liked to walk next to Ka'am alot. Hear his stories despite jake did not agree with it.. which made his younger brother all the more curious to hear more.. "Oh, speaking off. we heard of this.. battlefield a bit further away, far into the woods. Do you know about it" Lo'ak asked as he stopped walking, which made Ka'am realize exactly what he meant.. Stepping two steps further before he'd raise his head, let his mind wander before turning to the two kids. "Oh I know the place." the man sounded tricky, making Lo'ak get more eager. "Do you know exactly where its located?" Lo'ak kept on asking, for Ka'am's mind worked fast.. "No.. No Lo'ak" "But sir" "As much as I like you Lo'ak" the man said as a soft tricky smile appeared, before getting far more serious "there are things there that no one should ever see. There is a reason Sully does tell you NEVER to go there. Only the most profound and well trained na'vi dare or are allowed to go. Its full of the past.. Some things might even still go off" Ka'am said as he crossed his arms, his tail swooping slowly. "and what if you go with us?" Lo'ak said, making Ka'am tild his head. "So I'd get yelled at by your father?" The man said for Lo'ak was thinking of solutions. "But no one needs to know right. It would be just a quick look, please Ka'am" The young na'vi said for Ka'am hummed before approaching him and holding him a bit as his back. "I can tell you'll be.. or even already are a determined hunter lo'ak. But this is too risky, even for you. I'm sorry, I cant risk it, even despite my rather rebellious background" Ka'am said tricky, making Lo'ak nod. "Come tuk" he said as he respected Ka'am's words, wandering off as Ka'am raised his head with a more darkened look.. Feeling that was the easiest lure one could think off.

"Okay tuk, you stay here, I'm gonna go" Lo'ak said for Tuk sighed. "Lo'ak. What did he say.. Its too dangerous" Tuk said softly for Lo'ak rolled his eyes. "thats what they told Ka'am as well when he tamed the Thanator.. Yet all he got were the scar on his ear and eyebrow. Things like that will always be unaccepted unless you prove them wrong and he proved them wrong. common" Lo'ak said as Kiri and Spider ran into them.. Of course now wanting to come too. "Well.. if you're going, I wanna go too. I can be strong and- " Tuk said as Lo'ak sighed almosy in a groan. "Tuk?!" "I'll tell mom if you dont let me come" she said while pointing her tongue out, making them eventually sneak away.. all of them, towards that battlefield. Ka'am noticed the smaller kids eventually dissapear, laughing low in an almost hum once, before he'd dissapear into the shadows.. Curious what could possibly happen.

[werefag]

hang on like almost none of u play it but i wanna share my #thoughts on the various gw2 story arcs ... hii

base story - i honestly dont have much to say 👍 its very obviously the first thing written for gw2 and its not BAD imo its just a bit cheesy. which im ok with i think its cute i love trahearne i love the order mentors but i think they killed those off way too early in the story. tybalt forever. however the last arc (everything after claw island) drags on FOREVER and they need to cut the airship part out of victory or death

season 1 - scarlet is a very fun villain But otherwise i wasnt too into this season it was kind of just character introductions. also can i be honest i couldnt play past tower of nightmares bc u cant solo it

season 2 - s2 was a very fun set up for the expac. i dont like dry top i love the silverwastes The labyrinth mission was fun tbh. and that crazy sylvari guy. the zephyrites are nothing to me. the playing as caithe bits were annoying (stealth mission 😐😐) but i liked the reveal at the end. i think ppl give caithe too much shit for how she acted in her early life she was literally 2 years old.

heart of thorns - originally this expansion made me rage quit the game for several years bc i hated the maps so much but now i love love heart of thorns its my favorite. tue vibes the environment the whole set up of it being a race against time before the jungle overwhelms the pact bc theyre in unknown territory and in an extremely unfavorable position w most of their firepower missing was so fun + i love the chak. :) THOUGH im biased bc u do kind of have to play this expac w a sylvari to get the full extent of mordremoths threat imo

rata novus arc was kind of unnecessary to me but whatever. FUCK the migraine achievement though. probably the hardest story content in terms of difficulty. i wish we had another one or two story chapters set in the last map instead of directly jumping at mordremoth.

season 3 - my favorite bits here were raising aurene tbh. i love lazarus' design but i didnt play gw1 so i wasnt invested in those story points. the maps were whatever But i love braham dearly and i hate the shit ppl give him for this season bc afaik hes the first person in the commanders friend group to actually like. oppose them for once instead of just following along w everything. and like he did it bc he was mourning his mother who died horribly its only natural hed act rashly + not listen to reason. he was desperate to prove himself after living in the shadow of his mothers legend (eir can die in a ditch tho she sucked) in conclusion Be so nice to braham

i got sidetracked braham is my favorite character uhhhh im kind of... meh at this season being a set up to path of fire didnt hate it didnt love it either

path of fire - i liked the environments + characters + utlizing mounts for traversal But hated kasmeer and her fantasy christian bullshit 😭😭. I think the "gods left tyria to die bc they didnt want to deal with one of their own bc blah blah Consequences" was kind of dumb/lazy. the expac is overshadowed by s4 later tbh HOWEVER it still has probably my favorite story chapter in this entire game (the departing ❤️❤️❤️)

the bits abt stealing jokos army disguised as one of his generals was so fun to me even tho i hated the mummy mission lol. balthazar as a villain was not impressive to me but i appreciated the break from constant elder dragon threat to it being Disgraced God Threat. and then we immediately jump back to dragon bullshit. i do wish we got more time with vlast he was kind of a nothing character ??? literally 30 seconds of screen time

season 4 - #jokosweep i love this season and its characters Joko is one of my favorite villains in this game i wish we got more time with him. i love koss. we get to reconcile with braham we meet blish and gorrik and i always love the asura. all the chapters here were very fun to play through imo EXCEPT the stealth mission. again. and dragonfall... ❤️ one of the best extra maps to me

i liked the characterization of kralkatorrik in the end but i think aurenes ascension came too soon.

icebrood saga - god i love the start of icebrood saga so so much the horror elements were SO cool to me. esp the scene w the fraenir and the vibes/environments were so hmm idk a good word. like scary stressful. also im biased to charr and this was charr focused so. like icebrood very much had the potential to be gw2s best story arc imo w that set up but. forged steel and champions just drag it down so much those two specific episodes were just bad and too damn long. especially forged steel my fucking god im never playing that shit again

champions had the issue of being EXTREMELY rushed and things just seemed to happen for no reason and primordus got literally 0 screentime and was written badly as just some Mindless Force of Nature imo. i do understand this is all consequences of covid + they were Rushing to wrap this arc up to prepare for new expac release but it just left me disappointed at the conclusion. the other episodes are very strong to me nonetheless and as long as i ignore champions and forged steel its fine lmao. i love crecia and malice and efram dearly

i also like the money drizzlewood coast makes me 🙂

end of dragons - definitely the weakest of the 3 expansions LMAOOOOO i didnt care for anka she was kind of just edgy for the sake of being edgy. i didnt hate her i just didnt understand why she had to be in the story IMO if we got another full season w her as the main villain there it wouldve been better + a better set up for the expac in general. i love that they brought mai trin back + scarlet just a little bit with Revenant shenanigans. ivan the communist mole. joon was a very cool/fun character ill miss her. rama and his hat ❤️ but none of the maps or plot points really had me invested idk God i fucking hate new kaineng its so bad to traverse. the masteries also left something to be desired :-/ fishing got boring pretty fast sadly But i do really want those titles lol

i think eod just suffered from hype because this was very obviously the Closing Arc to the elder dragon storyline thats been central to the game for 10 years now and the entire thing just left me. disappointed. idk. i didnt mind the void plot point bc finally having a more concrete reason on why killing elder dragons w/o having replacements for their magic domains is catastrophical was better instead of just "ahh world blow up" but i do hate how they handled it? i wish we got more time with soo-won before she went crazy and also that we somehow got to save her tbh. my biggest pet peeve was how ALL the void enemies were just fucking retextures of previous dragon minions it felt lazy especially for a full expansion

i will say i enjoyed playing the last mission and i had a ton of fun i just didnt enjoy the conclusion to the story overall You know

i DONT like how they handled aurene because i dont think they shouldve used her as a fix it all solution to the elder dragon replacement problem + again i think her ascension happened too fast and i wouldve preferred it if it happened before/during the eod finale. idk i think it wouldve been more interesting if we had to find other beings for each domain of magic instead of just throwing it all on aurene Like the Pale Tree Is Right There As A Mordremoth Domain Conduit but what do i know... 🙄

Also what the hell is a giant gothic cathedral doing in the middle of cantha

what lies beneath/within - i dont know the entire thing was just kind of meh atleast u didnt have to pay for it lmao. i think going to the restaurant with rama was funny but this just felt like a lazy The pc acknowledges their trauma or whatever bit. they were kind of just banking on nostalgia for the previous story arcs But i dont fucking understand why we got a Mourn/reminisce about cinder instance but not trahearne?!?!?!? 😭😭 chul-moo was funny though and his relationship w yao is cute :)

personal ranking least to most fav 👇

s1 < base story < s2 < what lies within/beneath < eod < s3 < path of fire < icebrood saga < s4 < heart of thorns. ok thank u

[ninjasmudge]

so welcome the Bone King au! (thank you lupin for the name) im disregarding s3 completely for this since i came up with the idea way before it aired, i might come back and retcon the lore a little after the dub airs but for now its spoiler-free! an listen. i know most of my stuff is humour but i love horror so much and its my au i get to choose the nightmares-

in this au swk goes to fight lbd on his own, reasoning it will get the least people hurt, but when he tries, both he and lbd miscalculate each others power. lbd attempts to possess him, but he is the monkey king and he fights her hold more than she anticipated. she is determined to get in his head though, and she does, but not in the way she thought. instead of lbd possessing swks body, what happens is these two ultra powerful beings mash together into one absolutely spine-chilling, unpredictable and mist-shrouded being who calls themselves The Bone King. more under a cut so i dont take up everyones dash

so far, mk and the crew have NO idea this has happened, the only ones who know so far are the mayor and macaque, who were both there at the time.

the Bone King is tall and terrifying in a cold and unpredictable way, and also a huge mess of contradictions. they dont know what they want, their original goal includes erasing themselves from existence, theyre ANGRY, and they change emotional state like snapping your fingers, laughing one second, cold anger the next and then back to a blank watchful look. theyre not very emotive in general, and a very intense slightly bored look is kinda their default, i think the sound vibe that accompanies them would be a distressing silence and a slight whine of power. an also, their voice sounds like swks voice with lbd’s whispering distorting the words slightly.

they trust the mayor but they dont like or respect him, and the mayor serves them as loyally as he did lbd but theres an edge to it bc hes aware this is only Sort of lbd and this isnt the plan they agreed on. they absolutely fucking HATE macaque but the part that was swk doesnt want him dead, and the part that was lbd thinks he could still be useful. macaque is (rightfully) terrified of the bone king since this is two of the most powerful demons in existence and both of them have personal reason to hate him. he tried to slip away when they first combined (the ‘found you’ pics) but the bone king’s first actual agreed on thought was that, while they didnt know if they wanted to kill maq or not, he wasnt allowed to leave. it was also the first time they actually used all the new combined power and they destroyed the temple and most of a mountain just speeding over to where macaque was; they snapped his arm picking him up out of the shadows, dumped him down by the mayor and told him to ‘STAY.’. he did.

i think it would be really interesting to see them interact with mk and the crew, bc swk and lbd are at such odds about what they think of them, but to be honest this is the part that im still unsure of and would have to foray into spoilers territory to figure out so im leaving it for now, but if anyone has any ideas id love to hear them :) i do imagine when they turn up to mk and the crew, that its more like. they see them somewhere in the mists for a second and then theyre gone, making whoever saw them unable to trust their own eyes. a feeling of being followed, lights going out, eyes in the dark. but theyre just. watching. for now

also because im a wimp and not a fan of completely hopeless situations, i think it would be reversible, eventually, and with a lot of difficulty. (lbd and swk remember and oh god the trauma)

[shoezuki]

ok so like i been Thinkin a lot on that stream techno had today and i may be Thinkin Too Much cuz i was doing psychology while watching but im going to say Words Now

the entire idea and Plot of tommy going from only interacting/being manipulated by dream to only interacting with techno is a Lot. theres a lot here. and i am feasting like a fucking king on the potential of it and what this could all Mean

I think we’re building up the idea of how techno and dream differ and how they house both similarities and extreme differences in their ideals. 

So if we considered how Tommy’s arcs have changed theres a very, VERY clear juxtaposition between the exile arc to.... raccoon arc? whatever the fuck is goin on

Tommy Was manipulated, isolated, and gaslit by dream. that was the only guy he really had interacted with and that was Intentional entirely. Its very obvious this will have and currently has an affect on tommy. 

Now, he’s with technoblade. theres a lot of shit that can be read in this simply as considered right now. I feel we’re clearly supposed to at least somehow compare dream and technoblade because their positions are somewhat similar concerning how they are interacting with tommy. 

Tommy can only really interact with techno, only techno really has the ability to see him (although ranboo, ghostbur, and phil could see him but theres obvious difficulties in their case), and how tommy regards technoblade is.... complicated. like how he regards dream at the moment.

but theres some really, really important and clear differences in this that i think will show a lot about techno’s character and what’s to come

first of all, there’s a question of why techno is seemingly ‘letting’ tommy live with him. No joke, i’ve discussed this a LOT in the technocord and it’s made me realize it from a different perspective since many of those people in there are from Before techno joined the smp.

so, there’s no clear ‘rational’ reason why techno would benefit from teaming with tommy. there’s some arguments that could be made; tommy’s position with people and especially tubbo, using tommy as a bargaining chip with dream, and something else i cant remember. but the technocord hardcore ppl feel tommy is a liability in the long term. techno doesn’t really have much to gain beyond a distraction. the idea of using tommy in order to convince him he’s getting the disks and then to destroy lmanberg is kinda.... its jus more trouble to techno. In fact, it wouldve been defendable for techno to kick him out; he stole his stuff, and we saw how he reacted to his cows being killed, his previous base being pillaged. You’d have thought techno wouldve been angrier.

but like. that aside. there’s little reason for techno to open up to tommy. and thats the point.

there’s no necessity on techno’s part. he doesnt need tommy. he could kick him out easily. but he won’t. 

I imagine technoblade sees the trauma and hardship tommy went through and he sympathizes with him. Its been made clear that techno doesnt know the full extent of what happened, but he doesnt need to. he knows enough. 

Now, back to the happenings of the last stream,

it wasnt plot heavy at all. (mostly because techno’s fuckign glasses are held together with SCOTCH TAPE the guy couldnt even fucking use ducttape i hate that) but there were a Few interesting things, including the Plot Stream a bit;

the ‘box’ techno made with the idea of hiding tommy from dream. (perhaps a joke but it still shows something i feel)

how he’s been giving tommy a Lot of stuff. he hasnt Genuinely been upset at his golden apples being taken; in fact, techno gave him more food in protest of him eating all the gapples instead of.... demanding them back

went mining in the nether with the intention of getting tommy better stuff

he replaced the log he accidentally stripped. extremely funny considering he got the wrong type of wood but he tried

expending more resources on tommy with invisibility potions so that he wasnt in danger of being seen

Repeatedly would assure tommy that dream Is Not His Friend.

at the idea of tommy being ‘banned’ from the nether and being attacked in lmanberg, techno laughed at the idea of him being ‘attacked’ and killed even when tommy worried that he’d die for the Last Time

implicated that techno WOULD defend him. and the idea of someone killing Either him or tommy was funny because of that

okay so slight comparison to dream; techno is instead GIVING tommy resources instead of blowing them up, he’s obviously intent on protecting him in some way, and he assures tommy that dream is No Good (rather than how dream was telling tommy no one cared about him)

But there’s one instance that was really, really important to me

the control room had a very bad impact on tommy. most likely a panic attack (the shaking, heavy breathing, scattered speech/thought is something i know so intimately lmao) and techno’s reaction to it was extremely interesting. 

first, techno said he was��‘freaking out for no reason’ which could be a) techno is horrific at emotions and vulnerability lmao and b) to Him, it Is nothing. he has no clue what tommy had been through. 

He repeatedly asked what was wrong. what had happened in that room. He pressed Slightly. but as soon as tommy said he didnt want to talk about that, techno instantly backed off and said its alright. specifically, he said:

“It’s fine, no one recovers in a day tommy. Healing is a long process, it’s fine.”

that shit hit me like a freight train. Mostly i didnt expect anything to come from this stream like that but FUCK LMAO.

The biggest thing is, i think technoblade is going to help tommy heal from the dream shit and get back on his feet. 

but also, even though im not entirely sure i need to see more, tommy will get techno to be more caring. We know philza is the only one techno is really close to, and ghostbur as well. both of which either weren’t involved in betraying techno, or doesnt remember it. i see it pointed out that techno is going at tubbo and his government rather than dream, but i think it makes sense. 

dream technically hasnt challenged techno’s ideals or what he wants; while tubbo stole from him, used him as a weapon, and reinstated a government despite everything techno was saying. 

Tommy took part in betraying him, thats without a doubt. but tommy was also screwed over by the government in place. so techno empathizes with him. maybe they dont fully trust each other, but thats a work in progress. and it will progress to technoblade trusting tommy despite their past, and realizing that dream is in a position of power over Everyone. 

tl:dr: tommy is going to heal with techno’s help and full come to terms with/realize what dream did to him, and techno is going to realize he CAN trust people and that dream has been the one pulling the strings all along

[constellaj]

Can you please talk more about your very cool valerie and cujo concept ? Because honestly that's such a big brain take. I almost always see danny having cujo as a companion but never valerie. Is she going to ride cujo into battles instead of using the hoverboard ?

OKAY SO

in the reboot valerie has actually been fighting ghosts for a WHILE now. actually the audience finds out at the same time danny finds out-- when hes miles high in the sky going after a ghost and this RANDO comes outta nowhere. hold on i have some super rough sketches i did the other day for these bits

the "red huntress" is, according to her, Amity Parks *ONLY* ghost-busting superhero, and amity doesn't need another one;

at school of course danny is complaining about this rando getting on his case (he has no idea who she is) and hes rambling and yelling like "who does she think she IS??? i'm the SUPERHERO AROUND HERE" and sam just blankfacedly goes "dude, shes been superheroing for longer than you." tucker/sam pull up an article on valerie and her stunts from a while ago (altho shes of course just a "mysterious figure" and is more often than not cited as a cryptid, because at this point in the story ghosts are still largely a superstition in amity park) (to elaborate a little, my amity park isnt haunted primarily because of the fenton portal, but it just happens to be a ghost hotspot; val has been fending off ghosts for a couple years now)

at the same time theres also parallels between val/danny regarding the superheroing thing, eg val's dad would think its a waste of her time or too dangerous, etc. the above panel isnt like a final concept but i think it would be rly neat/funny if val also had a friend or two who was the sam/tucker to her secret identity (cant have it be paulina or dash tho bc reasons)

val brings cujo with her everywhere and he just sits in her backpack and he looks. real dumb. and causes so many problems.

danny is never gonna figure out her secret identity btw and she’ll never figure out his i just like it more that way (well except for the big plot twist/finale-ish episode but thats besides the point)

ANYWAY backstory ive rambled long enough as is dancing around the point UHHHHHHHHHHHH

cujo is valerie’s dog. also a halfa

(old art, no longer final)

val has had cujo since before he was a ghost he is just a very excitable lil pubby and she loves him very much

BASICALLY wulf (who is more of a typical wolf/dog and way more malicious) opened up a portal directly ON cujo a couple years ago as an attack

(last one is old art)

but because of how danny phantom rules are, this turned cujo into a halfa instead of outright killing him. this whole Incident(TM) of course gave val an anti-ghost vendetta in 0 seconds flat and now shes got it out for every ghost in amity, wulf especially. after getting over the terror that is your puppy now being able to shapeshift into a MASSIVE GLOWING GREEN DOG, she learned how to train cujo to use his ghostly abilities to their advantage so they can protect amity park better! in ‘normal form’ cujo still looks like a completely average dog (and has more difficulty flying etc without specific commands) so its not really suspicious

valerie hand-made everything else she uses to fight ghosts, including the costume and whatever weapons she has (I still haven’t decided on a signature weapon)-- no hoverboard at all (yet. seasons progress), instead, yes, she rides Cujo into battle! with a few whistles/commands she can have him fly, turn intangible, etc, helping them stay in pursuit of anything that dares attack amity park

i really wanted to keep cujo tied with valerie bc it felt weird to me that he was only used in getting val her powers and then just. didnt come up again (i know the afterlife “moving on” bit was implied but. youd think val would at least adopt a dog later or something). and i also really wanted to cut out vlad giving val her stuff and instead give her her own agency- she is a black belt, after all. so this is the final concept, and man am i pleased w it :)

she still hates danny and they end up being like absolute rivals and she doesnt trust a ghost as far as she can throw it but it becomes more of a bickering-over-how-to-save-the-day one than her directly trying to kill him (until he fucks up, majorly, and even then danny also gets on HER nerves intentionally because, hello, he’s the GHOST EXPERT here). and of course of course the ending of the red huntress DEBUT episode is 100% them having to set aside their differences and work together to defeat Wulf and his owner

[wickedpact]

dear tumblr user crim wickedpact pls write the essay/dissertation about nicky being shakespeare's fair youth (if you have time, ofc!!)

Not To Imply Nicky Was Shakespeare’s Fair Youth But Ive Read The Fair Youth Sonnets & Nicky Was Definitely Shakespeare’s Fair Youth, an essay by me, tumblr user crim wickedpact

background knowledge: our man shakespeare wrote some 120 sonnets about a young man referred to as the Fair Youth during the mid 1590s; there has been some debate among shakespeare enthusiasts whether shakespeare’s interest in the Fair Youth was platonic or romantic (but like. they were definitely romantic). no one knows for sure who the Fair Youth was, but it was definitely nicky and my first and most important piece of evidence regarding this hypothesis is the ‘lmao babe do you remember that guy who had a crush on me?’/ ‘i try not to remember the guy who had a crush on you’ look joe and nicky exchange when Merrick brings up shakespeare during the movie. especially since gina confirmed in a tweet that joe and nicky canonly did know shakespeare

my second piece of evidence is that it just Works (except for a couple small facts like.. the Fair Youth was prolly closer to his 20s than his 30s. and the fact that shakespeare implies that the Fair Youth slept with his mistress at one point. but he doesnt know what hes talking about shhh we IGNORE)

long post under cut

A. The Description Matches

when describing the Fair Youth (who I’ll call the FY from now on), shakespeare says he has a ‘gold complexion’ and ‘beautiful eyes’ and compares him to a ‘summer’s day’. He says the FY has “A woman’s gentle heart" and “An eye more bright than [women’s are], (...) Gilding the object whereupon [they] gazeth”

As much as shakespeare’s perceptions of sexuality and gender are very........  late 1500′s (whoo boy sonnet #20 is a wild ride) ...... the description does match, and also:

  B. The Fair Youth Refused to Get Married

it’s never really said why one way or another (shakespeare assumes it’s because the FY is selfish) but the FY didn’t/wouldn’t take on a wife and have a kid, and this was something that was a real sticker for our man Willy S. because, as he says in his sonnets a million times: beauty doesn’t last forever, but having a child not only passes down the FY’s beauty, but also blesses the woman the FY would have a child with (im not saying shakespeare wanted to bear the FY’s children, but he definitely did)

Whose fresh repair if now thou not renewest, Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother. For where is she so fair whose uneared womb Disdains the tillage of thy husbandry?

(ie. If you don’t renew yourself/ have children, you deprive the world and deprive a woman from having your child, since what woman out there is so beautiful that she wouldn’t want to bear your child?)

Like.

1.) if nicky is the FY then so many of these poems center around the idea of nicky growing old sometime soon and that must have been pretty funny to Nicky and

2.)  the fact that shakespeare would have been So Desperate for nicky to find a wife must have been the opposite of funny to joe. considering the ease of his and nicky’s relationship and the fact that being gay in late 1500s england was probably not a walk in the park, it is very likely shakespeare wouldn’t have known they were in a committed relationship-- or at least not known how close they actually were. Thus:

  C. The Rival (aka. Joe)

shakespeare mentions having a poetic rival in regards to the FY in several sonnets. In sonnet #21 he talks about how he’s not like Those Other Writers who use grand metaphors to talk about their muses

So is it not with me as with that Muse, Stirred by a painted beauty to his verse, Who heaven itself for ornament doth use And every fair with his fair doth rehearse, Making a couplement of proud compare With sun and moon, with earth and sea's rich gems, With April's first-born flowers, and all things rare,

(ie. I’m not like other poets who, when inspired by a ‘painted beauty’ use heaven and every other beautiful thing on the planet to make a grand comparison to their muse: he specifically lists the sun and moon as examples as well as other beautiful things)

He then goes on to say

And then believe me, my love is as fair As any mother's child, though not so bright As those gold candles fixed in heaven's air:

(ie. my love [the FY] is as beautiful as any other beautiful person, though I wouldn’t compare them to the stars/heavens (which is what he means by the 'gold candles’. those are stars.))

So shakespeare insults poets who compare their subjects to the sun, moon, and stars (amongst other things) and in the comics, Joe does literally exactly that

That man is the stars in my sky, and the sun that lights my days. That man is the moon when I'm lost in darkness, and warmth when I shiver in cold.

shakespeare also goes on to say in the same sonnet “Let them say more that like of hearsay well / I will not praise that purpose not to sell” which is to say ‘let people who like that kind of language use it, I wont because I don’t want anyone else to have the subject of my affections (the FY)’.

(which is a bit of a contradiction regarding his feelings abt the FY getting married, but these sonnets are full of contradictions. shakespeare was a confused dude; man spent the first 100 or so sonnets convinced the FY loved him back only for him to start wondering if the FY ever loved him near the end)

(not to mention Marriage For Love wasnt really.. much of a thing in Ye Olden Times but thats a different conversation. so shakespeare prolly didnt associate marriage with love/competition? anyways)

Shakesy-boo goes on to complain about this rival several times. In #79, he says

Yet what of thee thy poet doth invent He robs thee of, and pays it thee again. He lends thee virtue, and he stole that word From thy behaviour; beauty doth he give, And found it in thy cheek: he can afford No praise to thee, but what in thee doth live.

(ie. everything ‘your poet’ (as the FY apparently favored this unnamed rival) says about you, he takes it from you in the first place. he talks about your virtue, but learned the word from watching your behavior. he calls you beautiful but only discovered beauty by looking at your face. every compliment he gives you he took from you in the first place)

[and, as a smaller example, he also bemoans the fact that people want to paint the FY in #67, saying, “Why should false painting imitate his cheek, / And steal dead seeming of his living hue?”. and yknow. Joe’s an artist.]

And then another example in #86

Was it the proud full sail of [the rival’s] great verse, Bound for the prize of all too precious you, That did my ripe thoughts in my brain inhearse, Making their tomb the womb wherein they grew?

Was it his spirit, by spirits taught to write Above a mortal pitch, that struck me dead?

(ie. he’s talking about how he’s having difficulty writing abt the FY and is rhetorically asking if ‘the proud sail’ of the rival’s verses was the reason his ‘ripe thoughts’ were killed in their ‘womb’. He then asks (again rhetorically) if it was the rival’s ‘spirit’ (or creativity, maybe) ‘’’‘by spirits taught to write’’’’ that killed his own drive to write. none of the analyses I’ve read really explain what shakespeare means by ‘spirits taught to write’, other than maybe being a joke or reference to something we dont know, but... ‘taught by dead people to write in a way mortal people can’t’ very much sounds like a description of an immortal poet, eh?)

Which brings me to,

  D. Willy Boy Thinks There Are 500 Year Old Writings About the Fair Youth

shakespeare talks about people having written about the FY ‘500 years ago’ from the late 1500s in #59 which......................... would have been around 1100 AD. :thinking face:

Oh that record could with a backward look, Even of five hundred courses of the sun, Show me your image in some antique book, Since mind at first in character was done, That I might see what the old world could say To this composed wonder of your frame;

(ie. Oh if I could look back 500 years and see how you were described in some old books so I could see/reference what people used to write about you)

Which again brings me to,

  E. I’m Not Saying shakespeare Stole From Joe, But:

1.) In #22, shakespeare says this,

For all that beauty that doth cover thee, Is but the seemly raiment of my heart, Which in thy breast doth live, as thine in me: 

(ie, your beauty is due to the ‘clothes’ my heart gives you-- probably means something like ‘you’re beautiful because i love you’. goes on to say his heart lives in the FY’s chest, and the FY’s heart lives in shakespeare’s chest)

so: shakespeare tells the FY he has shakespeare’s heart. in comparison, Joe calls nicky ‘my heart’ in the comics...... :thinking face x2:

2.) In #109, shakespeare tells the FY ‘thou art my all’,

For nothing this wide universe I call, Save thou, my rose, in it thou art my all.

which rings similar to Joe’s ‘he’s all and he’s more’ as well as (from the comics) ‘he is my everything’

and just saying. joe looks pretty #done the mention of shakespeare.

  F. The last One

Despite shakespeare writing 30+ poems about the FY eventually growing old, the very last poem he writes about/for the FY says,

O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power Dost hold Time's fickle glass, his sickle hour; Who hast by waning grown, and therein showest Thy lovers withering, as thy sweet self growest. 

(ie. you [the FY] have power over the ‘mirror’ (fickle glass) of time as well as time’s ‘harvesting’ ability (sickle hour) and as you grow older, you remain beautiful while your lovers [shakespeare] wither and grow old)

The transition from ‘get married and have a baby before you get old!!!!’ in #1-20 to talking about the FY’s presence in 500 y/o books in #59 to admitting the FY isn’t growing old in #126 kinda seems to imply shakespeare learning of/about nicky’s immortality at some point, and this last poem is him accepting it.

TLDR: not only does it make perfect sense if nicky was the Fair Youth from the FY sonnets, but it also makes perfect sense if joe was the Rival from the FY sonnets. its canon nothing will convince me otherwise

[char-lotteral]

I agree with Kishimoto never trying to use the girls. The hate they get is not fair. I used to defend Sakura back in the days because I hoped kishi would do her justice. When shippuden started I WAS SO HAPPY because I thought this was the start of something great for Sakura and the girls but NOOOOO. Every time, Sasuke showed kishi turned her brainless. If you compare Naruto's actions and Sakura's actions to sasuke, you'd see they're completely different. What's up with that weird fake love confession scene 😭? It makes her look like she was manipulating Naru. JEEZ.

Also he literally had badass Tenten and Temari with cool useful abilities and he didn't use them ?! TF ?! Thank god for modern authors who treat their characters with respect :)

okay2 you know how i am with these longass rants so click readmore and brace yourselves

The way I see it, Sakura's character development in shippuden was always one step forward, two steps back. She gets this really badass scene (like her fight with Sasori and those cool ass medical skills) but is then regressed back into a pining girl in love every time Sauce is on screen or Kishi just throws her in the background YET AGAIN.

I love Sakura's abilities actually. Her brute strength, intelligence, vast knowledge and skill as a medic nin. But what I dislike about her character is how kishi handled her feelings for Sasuke. Naruto and Sakura's obsession with Sasuke was so???? huh??? it was so damn toxic and i never once understood why both Nardo and Sak were so obsessed with him. They were a team for one year???? I mean its great that they care about him alot but Sauce's feelings were kinda valid. His freakin clan died. Id go batshit crazy against my own village too. BUT BESIDES THAT. Both Nart and Sakura's Sasuke obsession was so annoying. 80% of shippuden was literally Keeping up with the Uchihas or Naruto yelling SASUKEH. BUT what irks me so much is the fandom's double standards with both Naruto and Sakura. "Oh Sakura shouldve gotten over her Sasuke obsession" but then turn around and call Naruto's obsession cute and gush about how he's so in love with him!!

Hot take but the only reason why sasunaru is "the most developed ship with the most chemistry" is because theyre both male characters.

I guarantee you if Naruto was a girl and SHE would be the one to have this unhealthy obsession who was chasing around Sasuke, the fandom would shit on Naruto just as much. And if Sasuke were a girl, Sauce would be sidelined like the rest of the female cast and Naruto would have another male character to have a "brotherly bond" with, because thats the only bond Kishimoto is actually good at developing. Yey for male characters having all the screentime and cool assets <333

And about that confession scene, I get her intentions. I really do. I understand that she did that in order to bring him home and that she cares about him but honey, w-why?? Why lie to him about your feelings?? Supposed he DID believe her, then what? then what kishi???? huh??? Some of her fans point the blame on Sai or whatever but I personally dont see why that scene was at all necessary. Maybe to establish Naruto's feelings for her wasnt all that serious? or his maturity? idk man. That scene was such a clusterfuck.

In the end her development in The Last and in Boruto was immaculate. She had one of the best glow ups in the old gen and ironically enough, her character wasn't butchered in Boruto. She got badass scenes she was cheated from in shippuden. I also love how she's finally getting the spotlight she deserves. Unlike the other konoha 12 :,)))

Okay onto the next female character that Kishi completely wasted. My baby. My light. 🙈 AAAHHH HINATAA.

I DONT EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN OKAY2 DEEP BREATHS.

Let me just establish this real quick. Hinata's goal was to get stronger because of Naruto, her goal was never to be with Naruto. She wanted to become someone who is worthy enough to stand beside him, someone whom he can consider as an equal, as a partner. She NEVER once said "marrying Naruto-kun is my all time goal UwU" (if youre one of those weirdos who interpret her character that way, youre immediately invalid, go take a hike)

I personally dont have anything against their crushes but to the point of making their personalities revolve around these guys every time theyre onscreen is so fucking frustrating. And with the way he writes their dialogues is so.damn.cringey. Like that one scene in the war arc with Tsunade and Madara

"I mAy bE a WomAn but I aM nOt WeAAKKKK"

BAAHAHAAHHA WHAT?? Everyone else gets coolass monologues and one liners but thats the best you can come up with Kishi?????? Hilarious.

If im being honest. Hinata's character is actually kinda well written. Not well executed. Dear God no. But with the way he set her story, her personality, her chracterization. She's honestly one of the best written female characters on the show. IMO. By Kishi's standards of writing women ofc. She's hands down one of the most complex characters. Her shy personality wasnt out of the blue, it wasnt a cutesy waifu trait. Her abusive upbringing made her that way. Her trauma turned her that way. So yeah, sue her if she looked up to Naruto as an inspiration when everyone else in her family treated her like dust. Shit on her for having Naruto's love light in her dark when her own damn father wouldnt even look her in the eye and her entire clan shunned her because she was "weak." She doesnt owe her family shit so idgaf what they do with the Hyuga clan. Neji and Hanabi aren't included btw

Im not gonna deny that her role in the show was only as the love interest but tbh for a love interest, Im glad her character wasnt so one dimensional. It just pains me SO MUCHHH how fucking wasted she is. Every time she's with Naruto, they always make her into a damsel in distress. They always feel the need to turn Naruto into the heroic prince. How cute.

LIKE THAT ONE SCENE IN THE LAST WHERE SHE'S THROWN IN THE CAGE?? WHY??? LET NARUTO AND HINA FIGHT THAT FREAKING ALIEN GOD TOGETHER. QUIT WITH THE TOXIC MASCULINITY. WE GET IT. NARUTO'S STRONG. GOOD FOR HIM. NOW LETS SEE HINATA THROW HANDS AND PUT NARUTO IN THE CAGE GODAMMIT

Hnggggg dont get me started with her role in Boruto. She's as relevant as a damn houseplant in the manga. They made her into an invisible trophy wife and "the mc's mother" and we all KNOW what happens to the shounen mc's mother once mc is in need of character development :) Quit putting her in the background. Give us that scene where she won against Hanabi DESPITE being retired for years. Give us that scene where she trains Boruto. GIVE US ANY FIGHT SCENE OF HER WHERE HER POTENTIAL ISNT WASTED WTF?¿

Now if you say that Hinata didnt have development. YOURE INVALID. She came from an abusive household, the shyest girl in her class, her insecurities got in the way of her own confidence, had difficulty of standing up for herself now became a loving mother of two, has the guts to kick her husband out of the house(with whom she couldnt even keep eye contact with when she was a kid) became the strongest hyuga, most supportive wife and mother, and has given her kids the comforting childhood she never had as a kid.

She has one of the most beautiful stories in the show and if you think her personality is only Naruto-kun and big boobs, then im sorry that you cant appreciate such a heartwarming story.

And I agree, killing her would honestly make me feel more at ease than continue to see her suffer because of godawful misogynistic writers. But at least let her die in an epic fight. Please. PLEASEE. She got nerfed so bad, i feel a physical pain every time i think about it

Okay what else. I think Ino got pretty good development. Another wasted potential in shippuden but she's doing good for herself in Boruto. I dont know what Temari is up to. They basically made her into another classic angry mom who beats up her husband for comedy trope. Haha very funny and original! Im not sure with her career, im not that invested in the anime.

Tenten??

oh G O D Tenten. The dirtiest of all. Her jokes about her screentime is so mean and i hate that its true ahsjhs. She was the only female character in OG who's goal wanted to be as strong as Tsunade but what did Kishi do to her?? Sidelined. Forgotten. Irrelevant. Like every damn female on the show :D

Konan shouldnt have died. I blame plot armor. I know in my heart that Konan wouldve kicked Obito's ass if it weren't for Kishi's boomer mindset.

Tsunade had so much hype when she was introduced but died down in the war arc. Madara wiped the floor with the kages. Holy shit. Not only that, but yipee! Naruto is there to save the day AGAIN!!!!

AND UGHHHH If the female characters were given proper treatment then maybe MAYBE all the endgame couples wouldve made fucking sense????¿¿¿

I think that ends my rant. Im not sure how the female characters in Boruto are handled. Except maybe Sarada (she's pretty well executed in the manga imo). But arguably they are sooo much better handled in Boruto than how the old gen girls were. And thats because Kishi isnt anywhere near the new gen female cast. I cant formulate a solid opinion with the other new gen female cast since im not entirely invested in the anime. Not ashamed to admit that I only watch it for the sunshine moments and for Hinata :DD

[spookypotato]

Happy Birthday @marauderss-hp!

I hope you have a fantastic day! ❤🧡💛💚💙💜 Best wishes!

I hope you like this, as I couldn't get you a real gift, I made this.

This is also a small sorry or make up for yesterday

Perfect Difficulties

9th of march, 11.45 pm

"Hey", it came from the darkness of their dormitory, "can't sleep?"

It was Sirius voice.

"No", Remus groaned, almost loud enough to wake the others. "I just- what if I don't get one? I'm a werewolf we're not meant to have soulmates."

Remus could hear the other boy moving. "If you don't, then you don't." He could hear the blanket being thrown over the bed, bare feet touching the floor. "Doesn't mean you'll ever be alone, dont get your hopes up now, Moony." Steps connecting Sirius bed and his. He could hear and see now, his drapes being slid open. "Although I am pretty sure, people would actually kill to be with a beautiful," Sirius was sitting on his bed now. "smart," he looked back and Remus moved to the edge of the bed. "mischievous", moving the blanket he slid underneath it, next to Remus, muttering a silencing charm to not disturb the others with their conversation. "wonderful werewolf like you.", Sirius moved and just hugged Remus under the blankets.

He felt a bit better now. He felt the worry leave his body, even for just a few seconds. He felt almost relaxed.

His friend didn't let go and Remus was glad about it. He knew as soon as he moved, the dread would seep back into him.

"When did you get yours again?", he asked, still intervened with his friend.

"My birthday, my birth time. Do you even know yours?"

"5.37 am"

"Want to wait it out, or look at it in the morning?"

Remus would have said, that he didn't think he would be able to sleep with all the adrenaline in him. That he was too nervous. All the doubts and fears, everything that could go wrong, he had imagined. But somehow, Sirius tight hug, the feeling that no matter if his fear came true, he would at least still have his friends, he felt tired.

"I'll look at it in the morning. It'll be fine.", he said more to himself, than to Sirius, a yawn following a few seconds after.

Sirius didn't move away. He didnt go back to his bed and Remus was thankful for that. He could use the comfort. He even felt the others arms tighten a bit around his body as he heard a whispered, "I will be fine. Good night, Moony."

He could only manage a soft noise in response, before he fell asleep.

~

10th of march, 5.30 am

Remus was sitting in his bed. Next to him, there was Sirius, on his stomach, face turned in his direction. For all Remus knew, the boy could be a ancient Greek sculpture. He didnt move, and his aristocratic features could certainly belong to some kind of god.

Remus moved his eyes from his friends sleeping form, back to the problem at hand. Literally.

On his wrist, there were letters. Remus didn't know why they were already there. Sirius had told him, they would appear at his birth time. On his birthday. Well, they were here now. He guessed it could have something to do with the werewolf parts of him, maybe they had messed up the process. He just hoped they hadnt messed anything else up.

"I have a soulmate.", he whispered to himself, careful not to wake anyone. He couldn't believe it. He had a soulmate.

His eyes were transfixed on his wrist. He could see each white lines, forming white letters, forming a sentence. The first sentence his soulmate would say to him, after it appeared.

"Do you even know yours?"

Yes, that didnt really give away any characteristics, nor was it a compliment to him, like he had heard a lot of people get, but it was a sentence from his soulmate. His existing soulmate.

He imagined, what it would be like, to meet them. He thought about the context in which such a sentence would make sense.

"Hello, excuse me could I maybe borrow your phone? I really need to call my friend, it's an emergency. -shit, nevermind I can't remember his number."

"Do you even know yours?"

"Smooth move, stranger.", Remus thought to himself, shaking his head. This was ridiculous.

"HeLLo, StRanGeR! I might be a tiny bit drunk, but could I have your address so we can take this somewhere else?"

"Do you even know yours?"

Wow, yeah hopefully that's not how it goes.

He was shaken out of his thoughts, by the sleeping form next to him moving. "So he was alive", Remus whispered in Sirius direction.

"Happy birthday. Time?", was Sirius simple reply, but even though it was only a few words, Remus could hear the roughness in his voice from sleeping even then.

He cast a tempus charm and stated, "Thank you, and 6.25 am"

"Shit", Sirius scrambled up, which almost threw Remus of the bed in his surprise. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. So?", he asked clearly excited, glancing at Remus, his eyes flickering to his wrist.

"Calm down.", he said to himself as much as to Sirius, as the other boys excitement brought his own back.

"You got one right?"

"Yes." A smirk was forming on his lips.

Sirius mirrored his expression. "Come on, don't leave me hanging, describe it!"

"Alright, alright.", Remus laughed, a bit overwhelmed by his friends enthusiasm as always. "So it's right here", he drew a line over the words and Sirius' eyes followed his finger. "and it's a cursive handwriting, very neat, a bit less than yours, but it looks nice. And it looks almost like a scar on my arm, so I fits with-"

"What?!", Sirius interruped him. "So it's not red?!"

"No? Is it supposed to be? My dad told me his is white.", he added as if to explain himself.

"It-", Sirius broke of. He looked like a mix of happiness and confusion, hesitation and determination. "Remus, it only turns from red to white, once you've heard the words. Once you know it's your soulmate, the person you'll spend the rest of your life with."

Remus was confused. Why hadn't he known the words weren't supposed to be white yet.

"Soulmarks will appear on your wrist, the day of your birth, at the time of your birth. They will turn white, once your soulmate has said the words on your skin, as the first ones directed at you, after your mark has appeared.", Sirius explained further.

"I-, I haven't talked to anyone since then. I was sleeping.", the fears crept back into his mind. Maybe it was broken. Maybe it was just there to taunt him. See what you could have had? Creatures dont get soulmates. It wasnt supposed to be. It was just a mistake in the algorithm of the universe. The words were never meant to appear. Nobody would say them. Nobody would speak those words to him.

"What does it say?", he heard a very quiet, very hesitant voice from his side.

No use to keep them s secret now, since there isn't actually a real soulmate to say those words.

"Do you even know yours?"

"Off course I do. There on my wrist, I could read them to you right now." He moved his arm out from under the blanket and read, obviously not noticing Remus disstress to be understood nor the confusion about Sirius just reading his words out loud. No one was supposed to know until the words were said and Remus was fairly sure there was no soulmate Sirius spent tim with behind their backs.

Sirius looked Remus in the eyes, which flickered back to his wrist quickly after their eyes had locked.

He read, "No, saying 'It's my birthday' won't get you into less detention for a prank."

Remus was frozen.

"Always the voice of reason, Moony.", Sirius replied smugly.

"You- You? You knew?"

"Could you sound any less enthusiastic?", Sirius voice almost sounded disappointed.

"No! No, Padfoot, I'm not. I'm just confused.", Remus told him, his hand brushing against the back of his friends. "The first words you said to me today were 'Happy Birthday.'. It doesn't make sense."

And then Remus remembered. Almost midnight in the dormitory. Arms tight around him, comforting him. Whispering voices.

"When did you get yours again?"

"My birthday, my birth time. Do you even know yours?"

"5.37 am"

And as it all came together, he felt - happy. Truley happy. Sirius was his soulmate. He looked at the boy next to him. Aware of their closeness now. He had never felt more comfortable. He took his friends hand, that he had been brushing against since they had woken up. Pressing a soft kiss to the others knuckles, he told him, "If I had been able to choose a soulmate, I couldn't have made a better choice than you." And it was true. He couldnt believe his luck. For the first time, he was happy about how the universe had led his life, right to this moment, in the arms of this incredible boy. His soulmate.

[1littleshippergirl1]

A look inside his world

Summary: Oliver finds out a few things about Marcus

@raviliuz I hope you enjoy it!

--

1. His friends

Of course he had friends. Most people did. Even Slytherins. Still, Oliver hadn't fathomed that Marcus did, given his general demeanor. He always seemed like he didn't, or rather, that he didn't care if he did or not. But he did.

Adrian was the closest thing to a brother he had. He was a year younger, in Oliver's year and the complete opposite of Marcus. Quiet, studious, kinder than anyone else in his house; Oliver had heard other students refer to him as the Hufflepuff of Slytherin.

Marcus was protective of Adrian. Oliver learned that some of the Slytherins would try to bully Adrian for his different views and attitude, which they found revolting for a Slytherin. But Marcus, he'd use the fact that most students were afraid of him to his advantage. Honestly, that part puzzled Oliver. Marcus wasn't very big, height wise-he was around his size-and his muscles weren't remarkably; but Oliver despised bullying so if that made everyone else leave Adrian alone then so be it.

They did almost everything together: class, meals, quidditch, hung around the outside or common room together. Oliver saw a tenderness between them that Marcus usually reserved for him, few and far between at that. He wasn't really affectionate, being that, until Oliver came around, he didn't receive it and even now, he would grow visibly uncomfortable, wearing an awkward that was rather unsettling for Oliver to see. However, there were times when Marcus would lightly nudged Adrian or ruffle his hair in a quick manner, just barely messing it up.

It had also been thoroughly important to Marcus that Oliver and Adrian get to know each other. It wasn't so much that he asked Oliver, either. Rather, he told him that Adrian would be at the Three Broomsticks and he was to join him at seven, no later.

2. His personality

Many people thought they knew Marcus with just a few words: cheater, angry, troll.

But Marcus was more than that (and he didnt have any troll blood in him. Oliver asked and took his boyfriend's eye roll as a no); once they were alone, away from the prying eyes and ears and gossipy students who had nothing better to do, he would then let his guard down. It allowed Oliver to see a softer side.

Granted, he was no romeo. He didn't make it a habit of calling Oliver affectionate nicknames, he wasn't the sort to plan elaborate dates or do more than pull Oliver into his side, awkwardly patting his back when he was upset. Actually, he was still a git ninety-nine percent of the time, being one of the many, many reasons that they fought.

But still, the side was something that Oliver saw. He was less tense, the anger would subside slightly and he actually relaxed. Sometimes, rarely, he'd lay his head in Oliver's lap, nearly falling asleep from the fingers that would thread through his hair absentmindedly.

Beyond that, few things had changed once they got together. He was still wildly competitive, still bragged about his house's win if they achieved one and, funny enough, worked his team harder than Oliver worked his, feeling as though he needed to impress him. It was amusing to Oliver, who would try to suppress a snicker.

3. His family

Marcus didn't have the best family. Oliver pitied him, having come from a family that valued togetherness and love.

Marcus' parents were cold, so unlike his own. They threatened to disown their son if he made any other house than Slytherin, and practically put him in the hospital when they learned he had to come back for another year. They were regularly smacking him around, making snide remarks and on a few occasions, using the cruciatus curse on him.

Oliver had been horrified to find that information out from Adrian. His first instinct was to find Marcus and hold him tight as he could, making fierce declarations of his love. Of course, he couldn't. Marcus would know that Adrian had blabbed and he was the last person who wanted pity.

So, for the longest time, he didn't mention. Didn't mention that he knew of the secrets that Marcus had tried to hide, that explained his aversion to touching and disassociation with happiness and love. He never had it to begin with.

Oliver made it a point of hugging him a second longer, telling him he loved him an extra time or two, genuinely complimenting. Stuff like that. It was all he could do and Marcus never suspected a thing (although he would give him a strange look from time to time).

4. His views

Before they'd gotten together, by pushing from both Adrian and Percy, who were up to here with exasperation, Oliver thought he knew how Marcus thought, what he believed.

All Slytherins believed in blood purity and would follow You-Know-Who till their dying day. That's what Oliver thought that Marcus was about and never thought that, perhaps, it might be different.

Marcus, as it turned out, didn't think that way. He was more neutral. He didn't think muggleborns were any less powerful, somehow beneath him and had never uttered the word "mudblood" except for the sake of keeping up appearances. He also learned that both Marcus and Adrian disliked the Malfoy spawn greatly and were more than annoyed that he replaced Higgs as seeker, seeing as he wasn't even that good.

Other than Adrian and Oliver, himself, no one else could know. There was too big of a risk for that to happen, should his family or some other family that was supportive of You-Know-Who come to find out. He'd be killed, dumped somewhere carelessly without a second thought.

For now, until it became safer, until the day he had to let the world know where his true loyalties were, he had to keep them hidden.

5. His intelligence

Most people believed that Marcus was stupid, especially for having to repeat a year, something of which had not happened for who knows how long in Hogwarts history.

But Oliver knew better. His boyfriend wasn't stupid or lazy or whatever else the students rumored him to be. He just didn't get it, it didn't click so easily like it did for students like Percy or the Granger girl.

If only he wasn't so stubborn and would accept help. Percy had offered to tutor him in the various subjects that he was having difficulty in (which was all of them), but Marcus vehemently refused, looking like he wanted to throttle Percy. Luckily, Oliver stepped in, thanking Percy on behalf of Marcus before any of that could happen.

Oliver knew why, why he didn't accept help and avoided any talk about the subject by shutting it down instantly-he was embarrassed. Marcus tried not to let it show, acting as if he was indifferent to the whole thing, almost glad because now he had another year of quidditch and could graduate with Oliver and Adrian, but when it really came down to it, he was angry.

Angry at himself for letting this happen. Angry for how stupid he felt he was and angry at everyone else that whispered to their friends, snickering at him and his situation.

That whole year, while simultaneously strategizing about winning the quidditch cup, Oliver had been determined to assist Marcus in his school work. He was the only one, on occasion Adrian, too, that could coax Marcus into letting him check over what he'd written or practice a spell by making it into a competition.

And it worked well. Marcus just needed a little help. That year, he managed to get a total of seven N.E.W.T.S and had been very proud (in his own Marcus way) to mail the letter to Oliver after he received it.

--

Marcus Flint was not what Oliver expected him to be. The angry brute on the quidditch field was only a small part of him. He was loyal to those that earned his trust. He was cunning in his own right. He was smart in those areas he'd been able to master such as Defense.

And later on, a few years later, when he, Adrian, Oliver and Percy fought side by side during the battle, he showed his bravery, fighting against his own father.

[atouchofgreen]

Weed & Mental Health (adolescent)

Mom and Dad,

In the recent months I have experienced cognitive decline that I attribute to my use of weed cartridges. I started smoking weed cartridges when I was in my senior year of high school, and  became addicted. I hated it but for some reason I couldn't stop I smoked daily. Although I took month long breaks often, I continued to smoke in college during my first 2 years. Towards the second semester of sophomore year, I used legal delta 8 carts instead of delta 9 carts. The only negative aspect of using up to my sophomore year was my lack of motivation and any minute cognitive changes went away following abstinence. I should have quit or asked for help. In high-school I asked for help by leaving my stash on the laundry machine and gave a singular puff to mom one time (she thought it was an e-cigg though). In highschool in my AP Chemistry class, I saw a kid at the end of class do a hit from a similar weed cart in front of his friends. It would have been so easy for him to get caught, he was standing up giggling with his back turned but the teacher was on the computer and didn't notice. I recognized then that this kid was so alone with his addiction that he did it in front of his friends at school out of pain and solidarity. He had an expressionless face most of the day and seemed distraught, I knew from the grapevine he smoked a lot. He was like me, addicted, and did a hit in school subconsciously screaming for help. After class I asked coach Jacobs his thoughts on using weed. He said, sitting on his computer desk chair with his hands behind his head, " I think after 25 half a joint does the same damage as having a martini, but before then its really bad for you physically, mentally, and your development as a human being. You should wait until after your brain is fully developed to try anything." I remembered this for the rest of my life. I didnt have the courage  to directly ask for help but I needed it and should have asked anyone. I couldn't quit it although I should have had the courage to do so. I tried quitting many times but I was too far down the drain mentally. But now, I am scared for myself. I quit completely following moving jethin in because I was noticing cognitive decline in myself. It was terrible. One morning, I woke up and nothing entered my brain its like I was a zombie. That is why I quit. I hoped I would regain my functionality like before, but to no avail. My iq seems to have dropped 10 points at least. My short term memory has regressed so much that learning new information is difficult for me. Reading is harder and to recall something takes me much longer than before. I have a harder time making long term plans and imagining things. I had a hard time with understanding and expressing English as well though this has been improving. My mind is nothing like it was before. Now, my memory, pattern recognition, recall, imagination, has diminished to a much lower degree. I was fine last year and the year before that, my mental health and cognition were good, but recently it seems like a switch turned off for me. When I walk in the world I don't absorb information the same. I don't abstractify what I am seeing as easily, and my short term memory is really shot. Its like I'm just walking in the world blind deaf and dumb. I am scared I won't be able to pass my classes even though compared to highschool these classes are an absolute breeze relatively speaking to when my brain was sober. I can't do quick calculations anymore and I am acutely aware that my senses are just senses. Seeing touching hearing are just that, I can't calculate the same way i used to to create a coherent experience of what's going on around me. I don't have appreciation for life anymore. I  am telling you all of this now because i have really experienced cognitive decline and I am extremely depressed, unhappy, and anxious. I am afraid that my prefrontal cortex and hippocampus is permanently damaged. Weirdly, I've had a dull ache in my head ever since I've quit, in the middle and front of my brain, that's been getting slightly better with time. The slight discomfort or pain is always there its terrible. It also gets better temporarily when I cry, meditate, or sleep for an extended period. I hope that after a few months this dull pain would subside and my mental capabilities would return. Even my dreams are less complex and have less emotion. All of this is what I talked to that therapist about.  It's not like I am sad ALL of the time, but a lot of it. But I am pretty sure my mind will never be what it was before. I experienced life to its fullest extent while I was not using any drugs, and now that I've been sober for 2 months now and my mind is not returning close to what it was. I still feel like a zombie when exercising, and I develop a deep sense of sadness right after I work out because i recognize my short term memory and mental capability are weakened which makes it hard for me to make good memories and I get anxious about my future. I am pretty emotionless, even fear is hard for me to experience. When I am unhappy, at times I break out into a sob, but because my emotions have dulled probably from the weed, I only start to sob momentarily and then return to a face of stoicism. This makes it hard to achieve catharsis for my sadness and it gets bottled up inside. I don't really mind the mental health difficulties from quitting weed - that can pass over time with proper behavior - but it's the cognitive difficulties that makes me afraid. I am afraid that I will never be able to view the world the same way that I used to before weed. I am afraid that I won't be able to become a doctor unless my brain heals over time. I have read many studies about the use of marijuana during adolescents. Although there is conflicting research, my experience suggests the worst for me - that what I am experiencing may be permanent. I also read that smoking weed during adolescence can delay prefrontal cortex maturation, meaning I would never be able to absorb information and process it  the same way ever again. If only I had read the dangers of early marijuana use earlier and understood I would have quit immediately. It is entirely my fault my life is like this now, I was too weak. Both of you have given me everything and helped me the most you could. Especially Dad. Dad, I feel so bad because you have lowered your expectations of me so much. If I hadn't started smoking, I know I would be a completely different person.  Mom and Dad, I have been thinking about committing suicide for some time. I've been thinking about it at least once a day actually for a few months. Its not that I think life and the world is terrible and bad, I actually think the opposite. Before smoking I loved life and loved myself. I could feel the world like a thumping heartbeat or a quivering harp playing soulful music. I feel like killing myself because my current and future experiences will be inorganic. My brain structure/chemistry probably changed forever and I don't want to live with this brain anymore. I cant understand everything going on around me thus I can never understand the world the same way like I used to. I feel like i can't learn new things, everything I do now is because I am just accessing what I learned before starting to smoke weed and during freshman and sophomore year of college. My emotions have waned. I can't calculate complex things anymore and put it into context sufficiently. I can't move my body and think strongly at the same time. Right now, meditation and thinking about my long term memory is my only friend. My short term memory is shot which affects my learning and ability to make meaningful experiences or connections. It's like I have pseudodementia though not as bad. The only joy I get is accessing my long term memory and talking long walks in places and with people that used to bring me joy. I loved Turkey so much and the time we spent I go there in my head all of the time. I love Africa, I love India, I loved my friends at swimming and during highschool. But if that's all I am living for I don't know what the point is. I curse myself everyday for making the mistake of smoking weed or not quitting when I could have. I could've become a beautiful person had I continued developing normally. I am so sorry for being a bad son. I am so sorry that you came from India to America to have a child that fucked up like me. I am sorry for the stress this places on both of you. You both did nothing wrong in raising me, I just fucked up. I am sorry for how this may affect your work dad. And I am sorry for being a liability for the family. While I am drowning I don't want you both to drown with me. Maybe I can get a job somewhere or go into the military. At this point cognitively, unless my brain is capable of rewiring itself (maybe that's what the dull persistent ache is in my head) I don't think I can learn the information necessary to safefully treat patients. My therapist said it would take 3-4 months to a year to feel normal again but I don't know what I will do if I can't return to baseline. I used to live with such a thirst for life and understanding but if that doesn't return I feel like I am dragging life down and owe it to my memory of what life was before weed to take my own.  Currently my plan is to wait a year and a few months before seriously thinking of committing suicide if I don't heal because the pain I am feeling is so immense. I want to live life FEELING everything organically regardless of what it is. Also my smarts are gone and that gave me tremendous joy. I know what life was like before using weed and I know how it should feel. But I cannot properly life, my sense of self, empathy, and life around me currently. I am walking around blind deaf and dumb I don't know if I want to live this way for the rest of my life. I would have loved to become a doctor.

I just don't know what to do anymore, I don't want to kill myself and I don't think I will have the balls to frankly but that saddens me even more if I can't feel or process what I am experiencing for the rest of my life. Life is too short to waste, any life really even if I'm dumber than what I used to be. I think of people who are paralyzed, people who have cancer, who have nobody left to care for them, people who are homeless and have physical ailments. They don't give up, but their minds are still natural. I am young and the only reason I am thinking of this is because I don't want to go the rest of my life with derealization of the world around me. I don't want to live the rest of my life blind deaf and dumb. No new experiences since the latter parts of my weed addiction have given me any meaning in life compared to what I had learned before smoking weed. I am grateful I got to experience and learn the meaning of life from my perspective and others when I was younger, thank you for that. I love you both so much. I am sorry and don't worry I am not going to kill myself its just that I am angry with myself, angry with my cognitive decline, and angry that I can't experience what life ought to be currently. I am hoping for better in the future though. I just thought you should know.

Love, Your son

Before Weed: 

I am telling you this because I am scared for myself although it may be too late. Before I tell you what I've been going through, I want to tell you about my life experience up until junior year of highschool. Although I wasn't exactly extremely smart from your perspectives, I was acutely aware of my surroundings. In school I was more focused on how things were organized and what every single person in the room was thinking and what their plans were rather then what they were teaching. It's like my brain was calculating 20 things at once and i was living existentially all the time. I was incredibly happy just to be alive. I could recall the exact positions of people and things around me, what I was thinking, and the sutle muscle movements of people over a reasonable amount of time. I used to know what people were going to say before they said them, and know someone's personality outlook on life, habits mentality etc.  just by watching for 10 seconds to an incredible degree of accuracy. The longer a person was in my focus I learned more about them exponentially. I could learn things very well and had a memory based on the things that I was focused on that was so precise and better than almost everyone I had ever met. People in high school who knew me well knew this and would be shocked how i could know things about them. Some things like sexuality and gender insecurities, presence of autism/ Asperger's as a child, family life back home, and who liked who, I could tell about people after observing them for a little. I had  respect from people at school and some teachers because they knew what I could learn about a situation or people just by being in the same room. I could learn new words in the blink of an eye if I heard it just once, I was constantly calculating. With dad, I could not learn what he tried to teach me though just because I was so scared of him that my focus wasn't there and panic was always set in I was scared to be beat frankly (i wasn't scared of the pain but just scared what it meant which was hard for me to fully realize because I would slightly repress the memories and I don't like to do that). But it's from him I learned how to analyze people and the world. But he is one of the only people I've ever met where I could not track his mind to a satisfying degree. For most people I would now what they were thinking, what they were incubating in the back of their head, and their current plan of action in a glance by looking at the eyes and body. I could not do this with dad because his mind is faster than mine it was too hard to keep up. He has mind palaces that are so structured and he can jump around his mind so easily I couldn't keep up with the mind palaces he created and how he navigates them. It was harder for me to do this with people who had a very high iq but I would practice everyday and would cherish analyzing introverts for practice. I walked on a street with a hundred people I would make an observation about each of them and could later recall exactly what I saw and what I was thinking. My kinesthetic sense was very good so physical distances was easy for me to calculate and remember. I truly believed that before starting weed I would become a doctor because all my strengths coincided with it. This ability, although most ppl might be able to do it, peaked for me right before starting weed. I was very much in tune with spirituality and enjoyed reading storybooks, meditation, and socializing. I was never focused on myself but what was around me, I kept my thoughts and feelings in a box in my mind to help me learn as I recorded what others were doing and thinking. I had balls - I asked out girls in highschool, and honestly wasn't afraid of much because both of you enabled me to experience life by taking me everywhere.

[handonshipper]

If I Knew Then: Chapter Three

After a bit, Landon laid down and stared at the ceiling. He hadn’t even noticed the door had been left cracked open when Josie left the room. He was too busy wrapped up in the thoughts that came with the boredom of isolation. Suddenly, about twenty minutes later, if the Phoenix had to guess, the door of the dorm room slowly opened, and Hope Mikaelson came walking through. She clearly had not been told he was there, he realized at he confused and shocked expression that was written across her face. 

“Landon?” Hope questioned, confused. 

“Hope” Landon breathed out in relief as he got off of the bed completely.

“What are you doing here?” She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, though seeming grateful for a distraction.

“I was, uh, looking for you. And I got locked up in the cellar. Josie brought me here instead. I’m not really good with small spaces” he said. All of this was true. He had yet to make a decision on if he should confess something that seemed crazy, even to him. 

“You were looking for me?” Hope questioned incredulously, a faint smile forming on her face. “Why?”

“I wanted to see you. It’s hard to explain,” he said. 

Landon looked at the woman he loved, unable to help the smile that was on his face. She was younger than he was. She had no knowledge of the passionate love they would have in the future. A love  worth fighting and dying for. She hadn’t been through as much at this point of time. Had not yet suffered through everyone forgetting who she was. 

“Okay” Hope said slowly. “Well, this isn’t the best time.I’m going through some personal things at the moment” 

Landon looked down slightly, unsure of what he should do about his current situation. Hope might be the only person able to help him, but he did not want to bother her after whatever it is she had recently endured.

“Well, tomorrow you will be gone anyways. If you’re locked up here, you must have failed at being compelled because of vervain” Hope said.

“I can’t be compelled” Landon said without thinking. 

Hope stilled at his words, looking at him. “What do you mean you can’t be compelled?”

“I mean I have encountered a vampire before that tried to erase my memory, and he couldn’t then” Landon said, looking at her 

Hope hesitated. “Maybe you were on vervain then too” she said. “Though if that’s the case, and it wasn’t a student from this school, you’re lucky you weren’t killed.”

Landon rubbed the side of his neck a little subconsciously as he remembered MG tearing into his throat, "Yeah I'd rather not die" for good at least, he added silently. 

"I should go. I'll talk to you later. Just try to stay calm. You're not a prisoner here, I swear" Hope said softly. She gave him a small smile before heading out of the room. But before she could cross the threshold, she hit a barrier spell that prevented her from going through. 

Hope let out an irritated sigh. "Who put you in here?"

"Josie." Landon answered, looking at her. 

"Fantastic. She won't take the barrier down then. And Lizzie is currently being a bitchy teenager, especially to me, like she has been for the past year. There's no way she would help me out either. Lizzie is Josie's twin" Hope explained, though Landon already knew this. "They are both siphoner witches. Basically they could absorb the spell if they were willing to get us out of here."

Landon nodded a little. "I guess this isn't the part where you run" he said with a faint smile as he thought of his Hope. 

Hope frowned slightly at that but walked over and took a seat on the other bed as she let out a sigh.  "Look, I like talking to you normally when I go to the Grill, but this isn't the best time for me to be stuck socializing" 

"What's wrong?" Landon asked, looking at her with a small frown. 

Hope inhaled sharply and was silent for a moment. "My mother just died" she said. "And I was betrayed by the guy I had been interested in." 

"I'm sorry for your loss." Landon said softly, looking at her. "I never really got to know my parents, so I dont know what that kind of loss must feel like" 

And it was true. Malivore was a pit of tar. And he had only truly gotten to know Seylah for a day before she dived into Malivore. Just like the love of his life. Except she wasn't there yet, he realized thoughtfully. There were no monsters. And he needed to try to avoid activating any artifacts. 

"Well, it sucks. Especially when it was your fault to begin with" Hope said with a sigh as she laid back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. 

“If you want to talk about it, you can. If not, that’s fine too” Landon said, looking at the one he loved.

“It doesn't matter what I tell you. You're just going to forget tomorrow" Hope said, looking over at him. 

"Maybe I will. Maybe I won't" Landon said. "Either way, it might help to talk about what you are feeling" Though he knew the love of his life wasn't usually vocal about her feelings. "If you dont want to, that's fine. I just want you to know that you can if you want"

Hope was silent for a moment as she looked at him. "Thank you, Landon" she said finally.                      

Landon gave her a small smile. “You’re welcome” he said softly.

He wanted to tell her everything. The last time he had kept anything from her (with the exception of how he felt when he first remembered her) was when he stole the knife without meaning to and then lying about having it. Though that wasn't truly his fault. It was all due to his father and his destiny. 

He wanted to confess everything to her. To tell her about what he was, about Malivore and who his parents were. He wanted to tell her he loved her. That he loved the way her eyes sparked when she was about to pick a fight. The way she would do whatever it took to save the people she cares about, but that she also put the lives of six people over one, no matter how important that one was to her. He loved the way she was starting to look at him, the way she loved him back.

He wanted to warn her about the monsters and kiss her so passionately it would leave their minds spinning and their bodies breathless. He had thought he wouldn't see her again, and that thought broke his heart. But now she was here. Except it wasnt his Hope, even if it was. She was three years younger here. And she had never danced with him, much less kissed him or fallen in love with him. And he had absolutely no idea what to do with his knowledge. 

The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt Hope by keeping the truth from her, but what would happen if he did? He's seen a couple of time travel movies, and he had no idea what the outcome would be if he chose to be honest with the love of his life. Would it destroy everything that had occurred in the future? Would a parallel dimension be created by the changes made from Landon? What was one supposed to do in a situation like this? 

Just merely looking into Hope's beautiful blue eyes had Landon nearly melting and telling her every single thing he was currently keeping from her, but he forced himself to remain silent with difficulty. He wasnt sure how long he would be here. He shouldn't just potentially destroy everything because of his feelings for her.

  

"So what are you?" Landon asked Hope curiously, watching her thoughtfully. 

Hope moved to sit up on the bed and face him. "They're just going to make you forget tomorrow."

"Humor me" Landon said with a smile as he looked at her.

"Alright" she said and straightened up a little. "My name is not Hope Marshall. It's Hope Mikaelson. Marshall was my mother's adoptive maiden  last name. Before she married her husband that is currently dead too." She paused to collect herself. It hurt talking about her mother. Especially so soon. "My father is Klaus Mikaelson. He is one of the Earth's original vampires. But he isn't just a vampire. He's part werewolf too. My mother was a werewolf, the alpha of her pack. And my grandmother and her sister were powerful witches" Hope said, looking at him. "All of that put together makes me…"

"A unicorn" Landon said with a smile, remembering the first time he had said that. 

"A tribrid. I'm the only one of my kind." Hope said. 

"See? Unicorn" Landon said, though his mind was unable to help going to the actual unicorn he had seen when the slugs took it over and used it as a Trojan Horse. 

Hope laughed softly despite the pain she was currently feeling inside. She tucked her hair behind her ear and looked away before getting up and walking around the room a bit. "I definitely wasn't expecting to get locked up in some empty dorm room" she said, looking ahead. 

"Well, it wasnt exactly on my calendar for the week either" Landon said, getting up as well. "Though being stuck in a dorm room is better than being locked up in a cellar." 

"Yeah, I imagine it would be" Hope said and paused, turning to face him again. "So I see you came here after work." 

"What?" Landon looked down at his shirt. "Oh, yeah. I just really wanted to see you" 

"Why? You dont even know me that well? Especially not before you walked into the dorm room." 

"I like you. I like talking to you" Landon said. "And you haven't been around much lately."

"Yeah, well, I've already given you some of the reason why" Hope said, her voice quiet as she stared at a wall for a moment. 

It was clear the memories of her mother's death were fresh upon the surface. Landon felt a wave of guilt for some of the questions he had asked. He didnt want to hurt her, but he also wanted to talk to her. And they weren't as how they usually were. Hope did not have the memories he had.  

Landon nodded a little at her words. "My mom's name is Seylah. She gave me up for adoption while I was still a baby" he informed her. "I never met my father" Not unless seeing his mudface coming up from his pit counted as meeting him. 

Hope looked back at Landon and nodded a bit. "Maybe you'll get to meet her one day." She said with a small smile. 

Landon smiled a little at her words. "Maybe I will" he said, thinking of the time he had met her. He wished he could free her from Malivore. He still didn't really understand why she erased herself. But she wasn't in Malivore now. 

"I hope things all work out for you in the end" Hope said, looking at him before looking away and sitting on the bed, facing away from him. 

He could tell she didn't fully trust him at the moment, though considering Roman had recently betrayed her, he didn't blame her. But she still felt drawn to him as he was always inevitably drawn to her. He was drawn to her when he didn't know who she was. 

He remembered her in his temporary death, despite Malivore's purpose being to erase her from everyone's mind. Except Hope's of course. Because she is the loophole, born to destroy Malivore. Except Landon would rather die permanently than let anything happen to her

[dailyandrewandaaron]

Could you maybe write something post-canon where Neil’s ableism comes up and he and Andrew have to sort of navigate it’s effects on their relationship/have some type of discussion over it? Or alternately if you’d rather not, something about bi Katelyn?

not quite that but heres something about ableism 

-

Its not the words so much that bothers Andrew but the silence that always followed them .  

Renee would only smile placidly when Allison named him monster and nobody challenged her but instead took it up for their own use

Aaron would offer no defence when he was named crazy only shrugging as if it was an indisputable truth

kevin raised no objections when he was called joyless , empty , agreeing that he had no purpose in life beyond himself

nicky would laugh  in the same breath as saying he was soulless  as if it was an in joke between them

Neil  did this too  - yes even him

He would later denounce their attitudes one by one pretending to be shocked theyd treat andrew so -  but it was hollow coming from him -knowing  before  their first meeting even he was already psychotic midget and this  is what he would remain -  even after - even when it means something

now - andrew wouldve been fine with a legacy of fear if that was all it was  but it was not  -  not  if he - not if he was - a midget - . yes , thats what cements it , what caused them to hold  him apart  from and below them - it shows  in their eyes - his lack of humanity -  

is he a threat or  is he a joke ? oh , certainly he is both-  they are afraid of him but they show him no respect  

he is that sort  of monster . The kind that  isnt only feared  it is  also pitied. the sort where people think it is a cruelty that he even  lives at all - being what he is  

they call him ruthless  to his face and whisper  midget behind his back

sometimes its  the other way  around  

and that is almost worse

. andrew encased himself with mystery and aggression hoping he could inspire enough fear that his height was never made light of in this way.  

his brother shared this particular burden . Aaron shouldered it by being unpleasant enough that he avoided the types who  would think to patronise in that sickening way due  to their stature  and by commiserating his lack of presence with the fact he was spared the condemnation of being the evil twin -  being short on its own is not monster  worthy status

being short and - crazy - well theres no hope for you there

kevin of all  of them knows the best the feeling , Kevin has words of his own . launched at him from the catapult of ignorance and prejudice  cripple, retard handicapped  he recognises the ripple of pain that surges through him when wymacks  mouth form the words

 Its the same as goes through his own body when neil says psycho , 

when Aaron says evil , 

when nicky says soulless , 

Allison says monster

- Yet Kevin does not defend him. He likes it that  he is one step above him this way.

You have two hands you only have one brain.

Neil in their secret moments tells him he is not worthless that he alone is his love but he never takes back those earlier words never soothing the wounds they made. Neil wont take any of it back

Its his own fault Neil says for not telling them the way it was,  for not explaining- because of course ,of course it needed explaining. This couldnt just be accepted

-but you see  Neil that he is andrew minyard .His reputation went before him . He was monster before he'd even arrived.

You could fight that or you could embrace that and  use  it as your shield . andrew chose the latter.

it kept people off his back at least

He'd known that Aaron was afraid of him skirting around his presence keeping Kevin or Nicky between them pausing before he got into the car hiding and suppressing his other relationships to not raise his ire. His brother who loved him enough to kill still found him a danger

Nicky who had left a happy life for him who had stayed without a deal and didn't leave the moment he could. Nicky  who spent years trying to keep them safe who had sacrificed for them. He believed it too or he had  no scruples in pretending and laughing about how he was soulless. This is a deeper insult from Nicky who actually believed in souls but long ago he'd given up the thought that Andrew would be hurt by such a thing. When things are said to nicky andrew says dont use that word but when things are said to andrew nicky doesnt intervene

Renee is stronger than him. Her fight methods are better. she knows that. She is teaching him he doesn't scare her in the way he scared the others but still she treats him delicate like he'd explode if she pushed too far. She has no problem fighting him but she is afraid not for herself but that one day he would betray her trust and use her careful teaching against those she protected. She would take Allisons side of course she had done before - she stays quiet when allison rants about him

Allison knew him the least but claimed she knew him the best. When you are already  monster , as in her eyes he was ,every thing you do becomes monstrous. She expected nothing less of him. Of course he would be violent . of course he would hurt her .he is a monster

Matt had reason enough he supposed to revile him though he had helped in the long run he distrusted him. Thinks he would hurt Neil. As if he would. A if he would do the one thing that would destroy him. But of course of course Andrew doesn't feel things. people were collected if they were useful. Matt was not useful enough and so he was not chosen. this is how he views it. Doesn't know why beautiful Neil would chose such a strange and damaged person as Andrew. He thinks Neil is an innocent and knows not the darkness of his soul which is assumptions in itself

Dan - he did not know truly what Dan thought of him but it was not warmly. She viewed  him as something to be handled to be put up with to reach a higher goal. His skills were needed his person was not. She kept him and his at arms length enough to say I'm not with them. Now there was a them and he was their leader. She left him alone which he was grateful for but she doesn't bring him in doesn't let him close she doesn't want to hear his voice she doesn't think the psychotic midget has anything useful to say

Seth was his least favourite and that was no secret. He was prejudice in a very boring way. Just the kind that hated those who were not like him and didn't care enough to change that. He hated Kevin the most but andrew , was a close second. His ideas about life having value  didnt extend to the likes of Andrew Nicky and Kevin. Not even Aaron was normal enough for him.

Wymack was a rare thing in Andrews life a older man that he trusted. That he could trust with his family. He knew that wymack would not hurt him -not physically. Nobody thinks Andrew cares what he is called. Wymack didn't hate Andrew he knew that . wymack was actually rather fond of him but he never stoped  using the words.

perhaps you know such a word. it burns deep into your body .It's not icy the shock of it, its hot , white hot. The word is such a noise that it fills you to your lungs.

It drowns you in hot water and you can hardly breathe. He doesn't know if wymack believes the words he calls him but he doesn't stop. He can't say they hurt for it would break the illusion. If they knew Andrew could be hurt by words then it's all over for him he might as well put a knife into his own belly .So  Andrew knows it wont stop .

Wymack would scoff if he ever mentioned ableism. It sounds made up but it surely is not.

Neil would tell him there's no such thing -but how would he know? The only other disabled person he knows is kevin whom he'd called a cripple.

I don't hate disabled people neil would say and  genuinely believe thats enough  That that's the most he can give. Andrew supposed that is what most people think is the best they can do.

that's not what ableism is anyway. Well. it is. but that's not all.

Andrew knew ableism well

The word is new to him but the feeling is not

The experience of it is nothing new

Andrew knows ableism  is not just hate  ignorance and prejudice. It's is not just violence. It is not just fear of the unknown.

Although it is all those things It is also choosing not to acknowledge the difficulties you face .

Choosing not to stop using the words.

Choosing to laugh and not to listen

Choosing not to care because it isnt about you

It is when you are hurt and nobody does anything because nobody thinks that's a thing that could hurt.

When you are hurt physically and everybody shrugs that's just how it is for people like you

You are different so your pain is not important because most can ignore it.

It is the silence that follows the slurs when not one single person says you shouldnt say that

Not your brother.

Not your cousin.

Not your boyfriend.

Nobody

Such is ableism.

when nobody raises it because nobody believes there is such a thing

So it continues unchallenged

because .

Well None of us were offended

say the abled bodied team members 

[slumberinglabyrinth]

a while back i did a review of the prison chapter in por and it was totally overblown and whatever but i kinda wanna do that again for (what remains of) radiant dawn so i guess i will

I'll be doing them in batches since this got long. In this post: 3-5 through 3-9

3-5: it's been two years and i forget why we have to defend this castle

this was a pretty alright map. the reinforcements were annoying but that's because I generally don't actually turtle all that much on defend chapters and as a result I was Right There whenever and wherever they showed up. I tried to grab the energy drop off the boss but the dude ran away from Heather the moment I created an opening and I didn’t want to reset so :^/

I moved provoke off of shinon and onto Brom for this and its... probably way too strong? like it wasn't a 100% draw rate but there were several turns in a row where he was the only person being attacked which is. insane. and also super fun lmao. I think it's a shame that the hostility mechanics in fe aren't as well documented; on some level it ruins the magic, but in cases like this where you're actively influencing it i think it'd be useful to know to what degree you're actually influencing it

disarm + steal is also a really neat/fun idea that would be a great way to counteract how i apparently will never have any money for weapons while playing as the greilgallia party crew 😔 (not to be confused with the greilgallia polycule, which disbanded around twenty years earlier) but I can also never get disarm to proc and half the things that i was able to get unequipped were too heavy for Heather to actually steal 😔

all around a decent map to ease myself back into playing rd with. I certainly could have played better, but defend maps tend to be easier and I appreciated that here

3-6: dawn brigade returns and promptly sinks into a swamp

god this map sucked. it's really hard to pick where to start with it but while i get that lore dictates that they need to only be fighting laguz right here it was probably the wrong gameplay decision with everything else that was going on. I think maybe making tigers have ~4 less str across the board would have been a nice start since I kinda needed to either never get hit by them at all or to kill them first.

several chapters later I’m also realizing maybe i should have like. started to use bexp lol

fighting laguz is also really weird in terms of like... because they have boosted stats while transformed so you can either kill them while they're untransformed (which is fairly easy but since they don't attack, you have to kill them during player phase which means one per turn per unit), deal chip damage (or none at all) to burn down their gauge so you can actually kill them, or try to power through their boosted stats and hope you don’t die in the process.

Because I hadn't used bexp and almost all my units were super weak, I mostly had to rely on the eff against beasts knife that you can buy in the bargain shop this chapter and also volug, who had enough def (even with halfshift) to not die in one round. Honorable mentions go to noland (a fitting name for this map), jill (with canto!), and zihark, who were able to help pick off untransformed laguz, and to micaiah, who could deal magic damage and actually damage transformed laguz.

this was also the first dawn brigade map! i know lots of people people dont like their maps after act 1 and while i was trying to go into this one with an open mind... yeah, they totally got shafted by this map design. it's not really their fault but this map sucked hard. I know that they generally did one of each class variant (fire mage, wind mage, etc.) and not have duplicates but I think that the dawn brigade would have benefited from another mage of some kind if only so you could have someone who could deal with all these goddamned cats

also bk shows up but since he's not a bonus unit i didn't want to feed him kills so i didnt really use him. maybe that was a mistake. also why couldn't he like. warp someone that wasn't the furthest away from the action.

3-7: hey so we heard you liked the previous map

Zihark is there? fuck this i'm reverting to a previous save and unrecruiting him

3-6: i forgot to mention that this map was a swamp map and also had darkness

I know I've mentioned that the similar map in fe6 (desert+fog) was actually kinda alright but this one isnt that at all. Playing through it a second time helped because i knew where enemies were spawning, but it was still more annoying than fun.

Swamps commit the cardinal sin of forcing everyone that can't fly (in this case: everyone but jill) to suffer massive terrain penalties. Deserts at least let mages move a little bit further (which admittedly wouldn't help much here since it's only micaiah and laura), but here everyone friend and foe alike (except Jill) moves slowly and it makes gameplay just grind to a halt which is never, ever fun level design.

Also Fiona just. could not move beyond the starting island. she couldn't even wade a little bit into the swamp like i did with ed and leo to attack at range and get laguz to untransform. they let you deploy everyone but it genuinely felt like i wasn't handed the tools to succeed at this map. always a great goal to have when designing a game

I don't know how to improve this map. unrecruiting zihark (by flying him up to the northeast with jill and having him talk to mordy/lethe) wasn't particularly difficult (battle saves make it easy enough to scout out where they were, and it's not like i'd ever feel bad about 'cheating' on this map) but... would a greater field of view actually help? would making it not a swamp actually help? would giving you more allied units that'll throw themselves in the face of danger with no regard for their own lives actually help?

I don't know.

3-7: but for real this time

Back to ikequest!

this map is... literally the same map as the previous one, but with a different map objective. and larger. and backwards. and not at night.

it's still a swamp.

Luckily, it's a survive map, and the vast majority of the enemy force does not have the time to actually reach you if you hide up in the corner.

Which is exactly what i did.

Here's the list of the optional units (ike and ranulf are mandatory, which sucks because i don't like using twinks cat laguz and ike's plot promotion feels miles away) I deployed and why I deployed them

Haar: to fly out and recruit Jill

Gatrie: to be carried by Haar and specifically to bait the single thunder mage in Haar's way (and help Haar clean out that area so Jill can be safely recruited). I gave him corrosion two maps ago and it actually fully disarmed a guy on this map! 🎊

Brom: stand near where the swamp ends and draw the handful of enemies that actually make it all the way there away from ike and ranulf and ulki and jaffar (who are auto-recruits in this chapter).

This map is. so incredibly easy to both beat and complete the (meaningful) optional objectives on. I missed a conversation between Ike and Micaiah (which requires you to travel all the way across the map that i just finished saying takes forever to traverse and do it in 12 turns), but as long as you unrecruit Zihark on the previous map (he's.... right in the middle of the main force so good luck if you don't) you can probably do this map first try with no deaths even if you haven't trained haargatriebrom At All

I think that kinda underscores a problem that intsys had with rd which was... it feels like they didn't really have a lot of time to fine-tune stuff? like you're going from the hardest (or at least most unpleasant) map to the easiest one this side of the tutorial and it just. doesn't feel good? like there's going to be some inherent difficulty in balancing a difficulty curve when you're shifting from party to party but. this was bad. really bad.

Also a side observation but it does actually say who units can talk to in battle prep which is pretty useful thing to have! you need to shift the stat spreadsheet allllll the way over, but it's there!

i promptly forgot about it by the time 3-10 came around and was like "hey i should just. have ike run up to elincia, see if they'll talk, and then reset" though lol

3-8: Less-than-Lethal Lava Land

A fairly standard lava cave map. My only real comment here is that it was kinda nice how they made the spots where you'd take damage fairly obvious while still making them appear as natural parts of the terrain. I think it was the durandal map in 7 but its "if you're on these at the end of the turn you'll take damage" tiles looked super out of place while the armads map on the other hand wasn't super self-evident and i'm glad they improved

3-9: still cant use lucia >:(

Another party shift (this time to Elincia), and there was some good use of ledges in this chapter!

Most of your units couldn't use them but it created alternate paths for the ones that could (Calill and Devdan). Previous maps tended to use them more as holes in your defenses than needed to be plugged, but it created ways to progress (and ways for reinforcements to catch up) that are usually reserved for flying units, except now you're interacting with the map instead of ignoring it completely.

I think I've yet to meet someone who genuinely likes ledges as a map element, though I think this map really drives home that the sole (inherent) problem with them is the accuracy modifications (which, as this map also demonstrates when the stairs near the end become a chokepoint, are actually present with all elevation changes). While the +2 damage dealt while on the high ground is reasonable, +50 and especially -50 to hitrate are insane and completely unnecessary modifiers. They should be half that if you even choose to retain both.

Anyway.

the absolute lack of a (player-controlled) healer in Elincia's party was also........ interesting. Annoying, but interesting. Why must allied clerics choose death?1