gothamcityneedsme · 2 years ago
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ngl i actually like arkhamverse talia
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poppitron360 · 2 months ago
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Thinking about names having power in the Riordanverse- because it’s exactly the kind of literature motif that I LOVE.
Thinking about “Leo” being short for “Leonidas” who was a Spartan King who sacrificed his life fighting to save his people in the Battle of Thermopylae.
Leo, similarly, gave his own life to stop Gaea and save the world.
That comparison has already been made before, but there’s more-
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Leo rejects the name “Leonidas” and chooses to go by “Leo”- in a way, rejecting the fate he’s assigned to. And he doesn’t suffer that fate in the end. He lives.
Yeah, names have power. But what you choose to name yourself has even more power. For example, the fact that Thalia rejected the last name “Grace” because it associated her with her mother, but then taking it back up again when she found out Jason was alive. And Leo chose to not go by “Leonidas” and he also chose to take the physician’s cure and come back.
And here we get onto what Calypso’s doing. By calling him something that he asked to not be called, she is taking away that agency of choice. She is taking away that power.
It’s a small moment, but it REALLY bugs me. Because, like Leo, I go by a shortened version of a longer name, and often one of the ways bullies used to hold power over me was by calling me by my full name repeatedly, even after I asked them to stop. It’s also a way a lot of transphobes hold power over trans people- by deadnaming. By taking away the power of their name, their choice, their identity, who they are, who they’ve built themselves to be, and their right to control all of that.
Now, I’m NOT saying Calypso is going as far as deadnaming Leo, but it’s a similar premise. It’s a manipulation tactic used to knock people down.
Now friendly nicknames -e.g. “Seaweed Brain”- are different, because Percy consents to it. It’s a term of affection between them (and notice how it’s different when Thalia used it. It’s a name that symbolises percabeth’s love, and it’s a name only Annabeth can use). But this is a name, while said in a jokey, banter-y manner, that Leo has SPECIFICALLY ASKED to not be called. And she does it anyway, ignoring the boundary he’s set, ignoring his choice to shape his own identity, ignoring everything that symbolised INCLUDING the fact that it’s literally Leo saying “I choose life” by rejecting the name that fated him to death. It’s just a big red flag for me. And if you put that on top of the fact that she also physically hurt him in this (enough to make him say “ow”) then you just get a whole host of Reasons Why This is NOT Leo’s “Happy Ending”- which the narrative paints it out to be.
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apathetic-revenant · 3 months ago
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uh...hi?
[head pokes around corner]
so...
I've been back to scrolling around on tumblr for a bit now, and have been really wanting to get back to actually, y'know. being here. posting. not just sort of hanging here invisibly like a mournful ghost, observing but never interacting. that sort of thing. (revenants, after all, are supposed to be corporeal undead.)
but I really wanted to explain why I just kind of abruptly vanished in the first place. no one demanded this of me, but it felt like something I had to do. and then, in the typical way of self-imposed obstacles, it became a massive stumbling block. partly because of the nerves and emotions attached to it, sure, but mostly, tbh, because it was a Task. I recently (about 3 weeks ago now?) started seeing a new psychiatrist and got an adjustment to my ADHD meds which basically made my brain boot up again for the first time in way too long. this is great! but it means I am having to kind of slowly rehab my brain into getting used to doing Literally Anything again, one small step at a time. I am not being hyperbolic when I say I had to gradually build up my executive functioning for a while just to be able to write a tumblr post.
but fuck it! I really wanted to just do this already. so, while I'm sure I'll talk about all this in more detail later, for right now I'm gonna strip this down to the bare essentials just so I can get it done at all.
here's what happened:
in 2020 I had a sudden onset of extremely severe OCD.
no, not about the pandemic, actually. yeah I was anxious about the pandemic but it was a pretty normal level of anxiety for a global pandemic, honestly. my OCD took the form of scrupulosity--essentially, an obsessive worry about being a bad person.
tumblr is....not a GREAT place to be if you have a sudden obsessive fear of being a bad person.
now, to be clear: tumblr did not CAUSE my OCD, and leaving tumblr did not cure it. that's just not how OCD works. later on, I learned that atypical antipsychotics--one of which I had been prescribed around that time, for depression--have been known to cause OCD. is there any way to prove that that's what happened? probably not, at this point! so I've just been kind of sitting with that terrible knowledge for a while.
anyway. I would've had OCD anyway, but reading a regular stream of posts going "hey, here's a really terrible thing you might be doing! you might even be doing it without knowing it! you need to think really hard and be constantly vigilant all the time for any sign that you might be doing this thing!" was basically pouring gasoline on the fire.
I never made an active decision to leave tumblr--if I had I would've said something first. I just kind of thought "god, I can't do this right now" one day and didn't open the app, which turned into days and then weeks and then months, and still things weren't getting better.
it's hard to express exactly how harrowing that whole experience was. actually I just started thinking about it and realized I would never finish this post tonight if I tried to get into it just now. so I won't. let's just say: It Was Bad.
but, by an astronomical stroke of luck, I ended up getting referred to not just an OCD therapist, not just the only OCD therapist in the state who took Medicaid, but the only OCD therapist in the state who took Medicaid and also she was really good at her job. I genuinely think that woman saved my life.
OCD therapy is one of those "the only way out is through" kind of things. it's brutal and also quite surreal, but it has a high success rate and is very effective. OCD is not a thing that you can cure, per se, but it went from completely dominating every waking moment of my life to being something that I occasionally have to yell at in much the same way as when the cat starts knocking things off my desk at 3 in the morning.
but, the thing was, it took a year-and-a-bit before my therapist and I agreed that I had probably "graduated" as she put it. so, by the time I felt able to go back on tumblr without my brain catching on fire again, it had been so long that I didn't know how to do it. I felt like I'd pulled a major dick move by just dropping off without saying anything. I still thought about it (usually late at night, at Time To Think About Every Regret I've Ever Had O'Clock) but my brain very easily goes to a place of "well, no one would really notice or care that I was gone, and if they did they'd be mad at me for having left."
well. earlier this year I started on the road to getting past that idea. shoutout to @fordtato for helping with that, btw.
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but it took me a while to work up the courage and then, as previously mentioned, even longer to work up the neurotransmitters.
I think I gotta wrap this up for now cause I don't have much concentration juice left. but, for what it's worth: I had a lot of emotions, coming back and seeing the names of people I used to talk to all the time. I don't know how you feel about me anymore, but I really missed yall. I would like to talk to you again.
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classpecting-the-hoyoverse · 6 months ago
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Veritas Ratio: The Rogue of Light
Rogue: The passive stealing class
One who steals aspect for others
Alternatively, one who shares or one who redistributes aspect with others
Light
Abstract: Knowledge, Awareness, Attention, Relevance, Fortune, Luck
Literal: Actual Light (Brightness), Vision, Eyes, the Sun, Stars
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This is gonna become a series isn't it?
It is. Now let's get going on discussing everyone's favorite interstellar scholar: Dr. Veritas Ratio!!
Let's get the obvious out of the way: His aspect.
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Light is more commonly known as the aspect of knowledge. But instead of talking about he’s light-bound personality wise, why don’t we shake things up a bit? We know that he's a smart and knowledgeable man, but what more can his aspect offer for us aside from that?
To fit with Ratio's Greco-Roman theming, I'll briefly discuss the World of Ideas in Plato's allegory of the Cave.
Forgive me to if I do get the allegory wrong and please feel free to correct me!
The gist of this is that ordinary people are like prisoners chained to a cave, only able to perceive reality through shadow puppets and the distorted noises that bounce off the cave walls. These prisoners were born in the cave and had been raised in the cave, not knowing anything else outside of it; ignorance. It's only when they break out of their chains do these prisoners start their path to enlightenment and they achieve it so once they see the bright sun outside of their cave; the World of Ideas.
Ratio seeks to break everyone from the chains of ignorance and guide them towards enlightenment through spreading his knowledge throughout the universe.
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Ratio is the man who would forcefully break the prisoners' chains and nudge them towards the light, as much as he could anyways.
And for one specific character, he hopes it is enough.
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We'll get back to him later! Next I want to talk about is Ratio and his connection to Christian Gnosticism, which likely had served as inspiration for the concept of the Light aspect in Homestuck. I will be borrowing ideas from one of optimisticDualist's essays so I highly recommend giving it a quick read before continuing onward.
According to Gnostic myth, the world was created through the desires of an aeon named Sophia, an Emanator of light. I should also note that the Greek word for wisdom is Σοφία.
Sophia longed to understand God in His entirety, but in doing so she committed treason and was thus cast out of heaven. Her desire gave birth to Yaldabaoth: a blind, violent, and ignorant god who knew nothing but himself. He created the material world that you and I perceive, shielded from the light of Sophia that birthed him. Because a blind god made the world in his image, the denizens of his earth are also blind to Sophia.
So what do banished gods have to do with the purple guy?
Well, just like Archimedes and screws, things come back around. In order to save yourself from Yaldabaoth’s world, one must be delivered a certain knowledge that is delivered by a “messenger of light” and thus gain the ability to perceive Sophia and her World of Ideas.
In other words, salvation can be sought in what Gnosticism calls a gnosis.
However, one cannot just simply be gifted a gnosis. Those who seek Sophia’s salvation must be driven to reach it, reach beyond the Demiurge’s dark and imprisoning world and into the intangible, bright world above.
Doesn’t that sound familiar?
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By Gnostic definition, Ratio should be an Emanator of wisdom, helping curing others of ignorance and helping them on their way towards enlightenment. Hell, you can even say that he's a sylph with all the constant allusions to healing and helping, especially since that Ratio's a Doctor.
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However, we all know that this isn't true. Within Ratio's character stories, it can be inferred that his one goal in life is to become an Emanator of the Erudition. His arduous pursuit of knowledge was likely all in hopes in attracting Nous' gaze.
Yet, despite all his efforts, Ratio was never spared a glance
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Dr. Ratio is a model Emanator of wisdom by Gnostic standards, yet within his own universe his Aeon of Erudition does not acknowledge him. No matter how hard he tries, he will never reach the status of a member of the Genius society, almost as if he wasn't destined to be a part of it.
Let’s talk about his class: The rogue.
Rogues in Homestuck are the outcasts of their societies. They're loners, isolated, unable to fit in with the groups they want to identify in.
Rogue of Heart Nepeta Leijon lives alone in Alternia's wilderness far from troll society with her lusus as her only companion that is physically close to her.
She's been explicitly described as lonely, creating comics and ships of herself and her friends in order to mitigate her feelings of isolation from other trolls:
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Then there's Rogue of Void Roxy Lalonde, who for her first 16 years of life was the only human within her town of carapaces, whom she provides food for. The only other human in her post-apocalyptic world is more than 1700 miles away.
Being a Void-Bound, her isolation is very much apparent, but her loneliness reaches its apex during her bad end in her Pesterquest route. Drinking herself to a stupor as the undeserving consequences of seeing her mother just once consumes her.
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And then Rogue of Breath Rufioh Nitram, who was seen as a mutant for his wings and thus was avoided by his fellow trolls, which took a blow on his self-esteem.
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Rogues also struggle with a surplus of their aspect and trying to cope up with that extra while it consumes them. Nepeta taking on the personas of other people through roleplaying, as well as her cave walls being covered in shipping grids. Rufioh living a literally directionless grubhood as travels with a nomadic group called the Lost Weaboos, not to mention his wings, a symbol of freedom, being the cause of why he views himself so lowly. And then there's Roxy, who feels so alone in the carapacian bastion that she fills that void with insobriety, befuddling her mind.
So what does this have to say about Dr. Ratio? All three rogues here have exhibited some type of self-worth issues and a desire to connect with others, but due to being so engulfed by their aspect, it hinders them from reaching that goal...
What if tiny Ratio exhibited such intellect at such a young age that throughout his childhood, he was told that he would be a great scholar growing up? Maybe his genius would earn him a spot within the Genius Society. He was even admitted into a university during his adolescent years.
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As that is impressive as that sounds, can you imagine how isolating that can be for a child? Ratio, the only kid in class with his classmates years above him, talking about things outside of academia that he's too young to understand. Meanwhile Ratio likely doesn't interact with those his age as they couldn't provide anything to stimulate his brain. It could also be vice-versa too: Ratio trying to talk to them about topics far beyond their comprehension and they just start to distance themselves from him, unable to understand him, making an outcast out of him.
His intelligence and genius isolates him from making any genuine friendships during his formal years of life. At least, any that we know of before 2.1.
This loneliness does seem to follow him well into his adulthood as well: Becoming a celebrity comes with its own flavor of isolation: being surrounded by the limelight yet no one will truly understand you.
And let's not forget about his ambitions to become an Emanator of the Erudition, to become a member of the Genius Society, which he fell short of...
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...something that he holds quite close to his chest, a betrayal of his self-perceived character. He became yet, once again, an outcast.
Another thing, I want you guys to got to Ratio's wiki real quick and see how many characters mention him.
How many people do you think were close to Ratio?
Within the team selection menu of Star Rail, Ratio has lines for when he's added to a team with Ruan Mei and Herta, yet the reverse isn't true. Both Genius scholars say nothing when added to a team with Ratio already in it, almost as if they don't acknowledge him.
There is, however, only one character who says something when added to a team with the Mundanite already in it.
Can you guess who it is?
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But, as for all classes, their lives aren't meant to be miserable forever. A Rogue must find a way to overcome this loneliness; piecing through the walls of their confines made of their aspect. Instead of just keeping all their aspect for themselves like their Thief counterpart, Rogues find fulfillment through sharing their aspect, often by taking it from one source and distributing it to others. Or in some cases, exchanging something else in order to hand out.
And after all this, I dare say that Ratio joining the Genius Society would be the worst mistake he'd ever make. Stay with me, I have my reasons:
Though we never got to see much of Nepeta in action, we know that she distributes Heart through her shipping chart, arranging couples, distributing aspects of their personalities to see who would go together the best.
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The amount of thought that she puts into her ships puts a Sylph of the same aspect like me to shame!
I digress.
In exchange of bringing attention to the Watterbitch that's about to destroy their game, Roxy was able to obscure the progression of her session from prying eyes, covering it in a blanket of blankness in order to keep Batterwitch from knowing what they're up to.
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And then for Rufioh, his Alternian counterpart The Summoner lead a rebellion against the Condecse, using his wings to guide his fellow trolls towards freedom.
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And even after his defeat, his tale lives on as Pupa Pan. While the tale of his rebellious predecessor the Signless is silenced and therefore lost to obscurity, the Summoner's story lives on, allowing the idea of freedom to flow into the mind of young trolls.
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Dr. Ratio's entire character is dedicated to making education accessible for all. Though some of this does end up into his desire to cure people of idiocy, Ratio does truly believe that everyone should get a chance to attain knowledge. I'd even say that his ambition is the reason why he became a professor!
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Ratio would dedicate his life towards his goal towards sharing knowledge, even if it meant forsaking Nous' attention in exchange.
His path also affirms this drive. One would expect that someone as knowledgeable as him would be following the path of Erudition, but instead Ratio follows the Hunt.
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Ratio's determination to educate, his determination to spread light across the universe manifested into the path he follows. Even if he's never accepted by the Genius Society, he won't let that hinder him or dampen his drive. Ratio just simply strides forward.
The people who make up Nous' faction are described as researchers that rarely interact with each other, and even rarer are the people who are willing to share their research. Ratio would have never found fulfillment in being a member of the Genius Society, I'm almost certain that by joining it he would just be seeking out more and more knowledge, more and more light, becoming more and more isolated.
And one more thing: Rogues are fond of those who manage to get close to them. They appreciate their company and are incredibly dear to them.
For Nepeta, she has Equius.
For Roxy, she has Calliope.
Rufioh had Damara and the Summoner had the Marquise.
So who does Ratio have?
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Even outside of a shipping lens, Aventurine is a very important person to Ratio. The 2.1 Penacony story quest demonstrated how much in tandem these two can be together; how much they trusted each other to pull off this huge gamble and draw attention to the death happening in the Planet of Dreams and Festivites. Luck and Knowledge, they both work in perfect harmony.
Aventurine calls him his equal during his episode in “Keeping Up with Star Rail”, claiming that Ratio’s the only one who can understand him.
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Ratio and Aventurine must have something closer than just mutual respect however. Before Aventurine goes off into his grandiose self-annihilation, he checks up on him. He risks breaking their façade of disgruntled-coworkers-at-best just to make sure Aventurine can continue on.
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Ratio does care for the Stoneheart. So much so that he imparts luck to quite literally the luckiest man alive in hopes that his advice will carry him out of the darkness that he’s in and back into the light. Bringing him out of the blinding Nihility and back into the World of Ideas, back into reality.
And it makes this note all the more important when Aventurine accepts Ratio’s advice, accepting his light when most would brush it off.
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Ratio is a bright person, yet most cannot see past his luminosity and at the same time, he can’t shine bright enough to attract those he aspires to be. To remedy this, the Rogue of Light distributes his lights to others who needs it. He wants to cure those inflicted with ignorance and guide them towards enlightenment.
Knowledge for knowledge’s sake is not his Ratio rolls. His altruism may go against what the Genius Society believes in, but he wouldn’t change his ideals for anyone, steadfast in his determination to cure idiocy.
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positivelybeastly · 2 months ago
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I'm just curious what the Beast and Abigail Brand relationship is like? (I haven't really read any of the x men comics until now.)
Ouaghhhhh . . . okay, so.
Full disclosure, I am a late comer to the truth of Wonderbeast, and, in fairness, I have an excuse! My trajectory for getting into Beast was reading him in X-Treme X-Men and New X-Men in the early 00s, then falling out of comics for a good long while until X-Men: First Class got me back in. When I got back home from watching the movie, the very first thing I did was go on Amazon, and type in 'X-Men comics.'
This was the very first result I got.
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That is my legit Amazon purchase history right there, by the way. December 2011, verified, right there for you.
I bought the first volume, consumed it voraciously, then bought the other three volumes rapid fire. I still have them.
And this is how the Beast/Brand pipeline begins.
When we meet Hank in Astonishing X-Men, he's at a very rough place in his life, still. His best friend, Jean Grey, has recently died, he's still struggling with his anxieties and insecurities over his secondary mutation, still reeling from the psychic attack by Cassandra Nova, and, as if to rub salt in the wound, he's presented with the simplest solution to at least most of his problems.
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A cure.
Because let's be real here - we can call it a mutant gift all we want, but some people have it worse than others. Beak, Glob Herman, Maggott, Dummy, Forget-Me-Not, Beast - these people have powers that suck exponentially more than Storm or Cyclops or Emma Frost. They just do. And I am well aware of the fact that this is a nuanced discussion, that Scott has to wear his glasses/visor, and that Ororo has to maintain control over her emotions so that she doesn't wreck the weather systems, I get that. I know that.
But.
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It always hits me, the fact that Logan cannot respond to Hank's point specifically. He cannot argue that Hank's X-gene specifically makes him dangerous, because to do so would be fucking insulting - all he can do is blow it out to a macro level, and make it about Hank's status as an X-Man, about the fact that an X-Man admitting that some mutants just want to be cured and all that implies would be a massive blow to everything they represent.
And that is a point, one that has to be weighed up, but you can't act like this isn't literally dehumanising for Hank. Logan literally says he's not a human being, he's an X-Man - his duty outweighs his right to peace of mind and humanity.
Also, no, I don't care that Hank 'did this to himself.' Hank turned himself blue and furry, yes, and he made his peace with that.
But he did NOT choose to mutate into a feline monster with less fingers, new predatory instincts, less humanity. This is a nuance that is almost always lost in this conversation - Sage made this choice for him, and that will always colour this stage of Hank's life. It's very well likely that he might've chosen to go ahead with the mutation anyway, to save his life, but it doesn't matter because he never got the chance.
Treating Hank's different mutations as broadly the same, despite the fact that they are eminently different and they make him feel differently, is one of the many nuances that is often lost by both writers and the fandom at large, and it makes him a less complex character as a result. It is important that classic Hank would not have chosen to cure himself, but feline Hank would. That is important.
This probably seems like I'm getting off track, but I promise you I'm not. This is all vital context for this relationship.
So, the cure is destroyed, although Hank has one sample of it sitting in his lab by the end of the story.
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Now, by this point, Abigail Brand has entered the story. She is, to put it bluntly, an asshole - Nick Fury with less warmth.
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It's also vitally important that you know that Hank and Abigail's literal first interaction is him making fun of her. I'm not kidding.
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So, we fast forward a little bit, and Cassandra Nova comes back, and. Well.
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Hank's literal stated worse fear. Thanks for the second dose of trauma, Nova! Really love that!
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This is also very important to their relationship. Swear down. Hank is, unfortunately, an unwilling cannibal, and it's all continuing his increasing alienation and isolation and dehumanisation. For someone who is, I would say, best characterised as a humanist, to become, if you'll forgive the ghoulish joke, a humanitarian, is ego shattering.
Anyway, Hank and Abigail begin to interact more and more as S.W.O.R.D forcibly recruits the X-Men to help them with their problems.
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And thus, a. Tension, begins to develop.
Anyway, remember how I said cannibalism would be important?
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And things continue to roll along . . .
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Oh my . . .
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Ouuaughhhhh . . . I love heart on his sleeve Hank . . .
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So, what is this all building to? Well . . .
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And there it is.
Abigail Brand is a massive monsterfucker, confirmed. Love her for that.
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Now, this exchange kinda reads differently now, after all the mud that Hank's been dragged through since the mid-00s, especially with X-Force and everything, but at this point in continuity, Hank was still very much one of the most moral, ethical, well regarded heroes in the entire Marvel Universe. He would often be given maxed out stats for conscience and wisdom in expanded material, people would repeatedly state that he didn't have it in him to kill, that he could be trusted to do the right thing - he was a moral counterweight.
And the fact that Abigail wants him on her side because of that? To be her professional bullshit caller? To bring her up to snuff? That speaks a lot about her, honestly. She is not just a thug. She feels. She cares. She has a sense of right and wrong, it's just distorted sometimes by the wider scale of dealing with intergalactic politics and all the attendant bullshit that goes along with them - and Hank gives her perspective. He grounds her.
And to Hank, this is a fucking brand new epoch. He's just coming off a relationship with Trish Tilby where she explicitly rejected him because his form repulsed and scared and unsettled her - and now, this woman wants him because his form is familiar to her. Because it conforms to her sense of attractive. It gives him an all new perspective. He looks like her people. What must that feel like to Hank?
Suddenly, it isn't, I'm a monster to my fellow humans, it's, to the right people, I look beautiful.
(Well, Abigail would likely not use the word beautiful, but.)
That is immensely attractive! And let's be real here - this is all kinda mercenary, to begin with. Abigail wants to fuck Hank because he's hot, and she wants to work with him because she's trying to be a better person but can't trust herself to do it properly; Hank wants to fuck Abigail because he's lonely and isolated and wants to feel wanted, and he wants to work with her because it's a chance to be a contrarian full time!!! What more could he goddamn want?! Feelings have not yet begun to enter the equation.
But that's fine, because this is fun.
And we can let things cook . . .
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And it's clear that it takes a little bit. Feelings are entering the equation, but it's not impossible for things to take a backslide here and there. They don't quite completely trust each other yet. They're cute together! But they're still brittle at this stage.
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Things could still break apart - except, Abigail does have a heart.
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Look at that smug motherfucker.
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What really seals it for me is this, though, from a later arc of Astonishing X-Men.
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For someone like Abigail Brand, for whom work is everything, there is no clearer way to say 'I love you' than this. She wanted to protect Hank from the consequences of his actions. She wanted to protect him from the perversion of his work, done with good intentions but perverted for ill. She worked, for months, off the books, on things that weren't her jurisdiction, because of Hank.
There's so much that she's not saying here, but this is the EXACT SAME WOMAN who, if you scroll up, just panels ago, was saying there was NO-ONE she would not sacrifice, no enemy she would not sleep with, if it meant that Earth was safe.
The Earth . . . and Hank, apparently.
That is huge.
Also, they kinda have a kid together? Sort of?
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That's Broo, Hank's protege. He happens to be around because of a whole adventure where Hank pulled the X-Men into a Brood related nightmare that ended up producing a mutant Brood with compassion and emotions and empathy.
A Brood related nightmare where Abigail was in danger. And why was she in danger?
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Because she was being heroic, huh?
And then there's this . . .
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Now, this is from Siege (2015), part of Battleworld, so it isn't quite 616 canon, but it's the exact same writer as S.W.O.R.D, so I have absolutely no hesitation in saying that this is exactly how Abby feels about Hank in 616 as well.
"After McCoy, she will never let herself love anything."
Ouauuhhghhhhh . . . they complete each other, quite frankly. He's the moral counterweight to her pragmatic solutions. She's the realist that reminds the optimist that the world isn't sunshine and daisies all the time. He's the bright, colourful, bounding genius, she's the insanely deadly workaholic who hates you. Enemies to lovers.
This is crack to me, friends. This is crack cocaine.
Also, I reject the idea that they're on-again, off-again. These two were locked in from S.W.O.R.D onward, and I refuse to hear otherwise.
It's incredibly clear to me that the X-Men never understood this relationship, just like how they never really understood what makes Hank tick in general, and so they just make assumptions based on what they think they know, because we're literally never shown these two in the middle of one of their supposed arguments. Every time they're on panel together, they're flirting and backing each other up, consistently, every time. Even during X-Force, Abigail is pretty much the only person that Beast treats with respect, and love, and care. They hug, which is unheard of for that version of the character.
Well. There is one other character evil Beast treats with care.
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Man, X-Force #50 was all kinds of gay . . .
Anyway. If it weren't for Simon, Beast/Brand would absolutely be Hank's One True Pairing. As it is?
Hank has two paws. He can hold two hands.
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raspberrydraws · 8 months ago
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pls pls tell me about your hcs for the first members of the crew fitting the elements of harmony, i very much wanna hear 👀👀👀
Thanks for asking I love u very much allow me to bring a chair so you can sit down and read all my rambling 🪑
some notes about this absolute madness:
I feel like they fit the element but also some traits of the mlp characters too so I will add that when it's necessary
When I talk about the mugiwara's dreams I assume they've already reached them bc the story is not finished yet like mlp and I KNOW THEY WILL ACHIEVE THEIR DREAMS anyways
Please don't have high expectations ahhh I don't wanna end up feeling like I thought something cool and it ended up being lame, I'm not used to writing or explaining stuff this way (and in english tho oof double brain work)
I'll put a everything under a read more bc it ended up being long and also uhh CW: spoilers for both series yeah
✦ Magic: First of all and obvious reason, main character lol.
Character who gathered the group in the first place
Royalty !!! King of the Pirates!!! Princess of Friendship!!! besides the fact that Luffy's dream is becoming the king and Twilight just had to do it etc etc
Very powerful mentor who's far away but encouraged them to start their journey and find their friends
They're not similar in personality at all I get it lmao
✦ Kindness: oof do I need to say anything
Sanji is kind, that's like one of the traits that made him one of my fav characters (more than his totally badass habilities).
and of course that's one of his most important traits
His mother sacrificed everything and celebrated everytime he showed his kindness, he was a sweet child, he's soft with children and helps anyone who's in need.
He's so full of emotion and can go from the softest to the meanest in a second if he needs to (flashbacks to fluttershy literally confronting a bigass dragon, making him cry and leave bc he was mean to her friends)
Also both characters are certified Friends of the Little Critters ™ and can't fly very well
Special mention to Pinkie Pie here, since she shares the "Third child who stands out like a sore thumb from his other siblings because she's weird to her family standards" backstory with Sanji
✦ Loyalty: That's like one of Zoro's main character traits right? He's in the air before Luffy says jump
Cool, they're just cool and probably the most liked characters + the ones who sell more merch for sure lol
Both have a childhood dream, becoming the best swordsman/wonderbolt, but that doesn't push them to leave their friends to achieve it alone + having friends actually helps them reach their goals
hot headed kids + dumbass sometimes
✦ Honesty: The group's voice of reason
Character that pretends to be okay but hell naw she's not ok (AJ harvesting sweet apple acres and almost dying / Nami Pretending to be Arlong's little trustworthy human so she can save her village) until their friends help them to be honest and ask for help
Also they have similar lifes cultivating apples/tangerines with their families and I thought that was cute hehe
✦ Generosity: SCREAMS Chopper my little chop chop I love u my sweet child
The way that Rarity shows her element is usually by giving away something important to her (her time, her talent with fashion, HER FRIGGIN' TAIL) so she can help other people (creatures?) feel better, and there's no signs of repentance after that, she does it with her heart (and sometimes to show that she can make things fabulous)
This brings me to Chopper looking for the mushroom to cure Dr. Hiriluk's illness and showing up at his door all hurt but he's like heyy I got the thing. I understand that's another kind of "sacrifice" The way he showed his thankfulness to his mentor by risking his life looking for the mushroom and trying to prove that he's a good doctor too (even tho uhh we know how that ended)
This was a little bit more difficult to connect with his element and that's why I was in between choosing kindness and generosity for him, but
kindness had to be sanji's element for suree
Dr Kureha specifically told him that "kindness wasn't enough to save lives" and I won't contradict her she scares me so much
AND I feel like Chopper's generosity it's shown all along the show just by treating all those injured pirates over and over again for free lmao
My overall feeling when giving him the element was "He's a little doctor, of course he's generous, doctors are generous enough to learn how to save lives! so we don't like.. die! next question"
✦ Laughter:
This one was pretty simple too, I love Usopp bc he makes me laugh a lot, he's such a comedic relief for the story and also: my best friend in the whole wide world, yes *gives him a lil kiss*
Of course he's not just a comedic relief, he tries to make things easier trying to solve conflicts (sometimes) or joining the sillyness (most of times)
Also they like to tell stories! I feel like that's a cute trait that makes both characters more interesting, even when someone's stories are lies *eyes emoji* I like storyteller characters a lot !!
they're good with kids + tell them stories too !!
also the whole.. alter ego thing, yeah
AND THE PUFFY HAIR ♥
AIGHT
Hope you enjoyed my TED talk, thaks for giving me the strenght to be a little unhinged, I don't talk too much here but this whole mlp au has people coming and encouraging me to talk/write and I have a problem, once I start talking about something I like I can't shut up
And I like MLP since I was 12 years old, i started drawing because of it and I'm currently rewatching the whole series with my bf so if I see anything else I'll come back and add stuff for sure ♥
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masterqwertster · 10 months ago
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Been thinking about it, so:
Bells Hells C1 Class Swap AU and the Spark of Rau'shan
The fun of AUs is at times taking the paths canon didn't...
Also this is really long so I put it under the cut.
So! Bells Hells still makes the trip through the Shattered Teeth, meets Evontra'vir, gets sent after the Spark, successfully retrieves it, goes back to Whitestone for the Quintessence Array.
Things go a little different in that when talking dunamancy with Allura, she does recognize the Echo Knight powers as such, though obviously different since Ashton's come in different forms. And still takes a look at the half-beacon brain and titan shard.
The big change though, comes later that night, when Fearne brings the group together to declare that she can't take the Spark, despite everyone else pushing for her to do it.
See, Fearne's power, her fire, comes from the Moonweaver in this AU, a Prime Deity who stood against the Primordial Titans, helping destroy and seal them. When Fearne held the Spark, she could feel Rau'shan's dislike for the gods, for those who serve them. So she knows the Spark won't accept her as its vessel.
Fearne also points out that this disqualifies Orym for the Spark as well, seeing as the little paladin is also devoted to a goddess.
Ashton volunteers themself in the ensuing silence of realization and states an unwillingness to back down unless someone else truly wants to have their life changed like that. No volunteering someone else for it anymore. He also points out that someone has to take it, otherwise Ludinus Da'leth is going to send someone to collect it for him, and that would be really fucking bad.
Imogen, as the first person to volunteer Fearne, thinking she had the perfect solution to bestowing the Spark, looks around to everyone else, hoping someone will step up and stop Ashton's bad idea.
No dice.
Chetney thinks Fire Titan powers would be cool as shit... but doesn't want to be constantly risking burning his carving projects to ash. ...And secretly worries that his limited time left among the living would leave the group in lurch on such an amazing (and likely necessary) power. If trying to take it doesn't make his old ticker give out.
Laudna won't take it on the grounds that she's kind of a mushroom colony and fire would burn her out. She doesn't want to burn, to die (again). (Yes, Delilah would still like it. Especially as All Minds Burn's influence is pushing her out and breaking her tether)
Laudna's rejection helps Imogen not want the Spark. She doesn't want things that will hurt Laudna or put distance between them. (Even if Imogen is starting to long for a power she doesn't have to worry about disappearing if they stop all this Moon Bullshit)
And while FCG is willing to try, they don't actually want it. ...And he has some concerns about his constructed nature meaning that trying to add a great power like the Spark to him without making adjustments to his built-in parameters might just overload his power-core and explode him. Or cause a critical (literal) meltdown.
So by default and desire, it's agreed that Ashton gets the Spark.
Now, because they have lots of warnings that this could kill Ashton and yet they're trying it anyways, things become a planning session for "What can we do to give Ashton the best odds of surviving this?"
Which is actually quite a bit given their party composition, as:
Paladin (Level 8 or less) Orym has:
Bless: 1st Level. 1 minute Concentration. Component of A Sprinkling of Holy Water. +1d4 to Attack Rolls and Saving Throws. I would guess they didn't try this in canon since Ashton's Probability Matrix didn't help and is basically the same thing. Though whether that failure was because it was Ashton's thing or just no boosts to Saving Throws in general… only Matt knows. Also, the Component being holy water... it might evaporate and negate the spell depending on if the holy water needs to touch the targets rather than be in the caster's hands
Cure Wounds: 1st Level. Restore 1d8+Your Spellcasting Modifier HP, +1d8 per level cast above 1st. Raw healing with the drawback of burning the caster
Heroism: 1st Level. 1 minute Concentration. At the start of its turn, the target gains Temporary HP equal to your Spellcasting Modifier. Kind of functions like Fearne's canon Aura of Life in that it would bounce Ashton up with each turn, though with Temp HP instead of the real deal. But that does provide time for real healing
Warding Bond: 2nd Level. Components of 2 Platinum Rings worth 50 gp each that must be worn by you and the target for the duration. +1 to AC and Saving Throws, and Resistance to all Damage. Drawback of taking equal damage yourself when the target does. Lasts for 1 hour, until you drop, or you and the target are separated by more than 60 feet. Or the spell is cast again on you or the target, or voluntarily ended by you as an Action. This could definitely help keep Ashton up, though there is a risk of Orym going down as well. And the Platinum Ring Components get tricky if the wrong arm/hand crumbles off of Ashton
Lay on Hands: Paladin healing pool of 5×Your Paladin Level HP that can be parceled out via touch with an Action. This can be used to either help keep Orym up for Warding Bond or just on Ashton in general. Though best not combined with Heroism or Bless since they're touch-based and touch burns, forcing a Concentration Check
Cleric (Level 11) Fearne has:
Aura of Life: 4th level. 10 minutes Concentration. Any ally in 30 foot radius regains 1 HP at the start of their turn if they are at 0. Fearne's canon MVP for keeping Ashton up
Aura of Vitality: 3rd Level. 1 minute Concentration. Restore 2d6 HP to one creature in a 30 foot radius of you with a Bonus Action. FCG's canon MVP for pumping extra health into Ashton. Also, since it's a Bonus Action to pump healing with this, it leaves room for a Spell Action to do even more healing
Beacon of Hope: 3rd Level. 1 minute Concentration. Affected creatures regain max HP possible from healing. Runs support for everyone else healing if Heroism is used to cover the role of Aura of Life
Bless: Possible boost to Saving Throws
Cure Wounds: Raw healing with the drawback of burning the caster
Death Ward: 4th Level. Drop to 1 HP instead of 0 from Damage the first time. Negates instant death effects that don't deal Damage. One Get Out of Jail Free card, though less useful with an Up Every Turn spell going on
Heal: 6th Level. Restore 70 HP. Good for one big burst of healing.
Healing Word: 1st Level. Bonus Action. Restore 1d4+Your Spellcasting Modifier HP, +1d4 per level cast above 1st. Raw healing without touch, so no threat to maintaining Concentration while throwing on more healing, but doesn't jive with Aura of Vitality Bonus Action healing
Druid (Level 11) Laudna has:
Aura of Vitality: Bonus Action for decent healing as long as Concentration is maintained
Cure Wounds: Raw healing with the drawback of burning the caster
Goodberry?: 1st Level. Component of A Sprig of Mistletoe. Produces 10 berries, eating one restores 1 HP and enough nourishment for 1 day. I think the berry would burn like the potion did, but it is potential to pop Ashton back up.
Heal: Good for one big burst of healing
Healing Word: Raw healing without touch, so no threat to Concentration, but is also a Bonus Action vs Aura of Vitality
Ranger (Level 8 or less) Imogen has:
Cure Wounds: Raw healing with the drawback of burning the caster
Goodberry?: potential to restore 1 HP in a pinch
Bard (Level 7 or 8)/Artificer (Level 3 or 4) FCG has:
Cure Wounds: Raw healing with the drawback of burning the caster
Healing Word: Raw healing without touch
Heroism: Temporary HP to bounce Ashton up every round
Boldness Elixir?: Alchemist Artificer's get Experimental Elixir, which allows for the random creation of one of six mini-potions. Boldness works like Bless, plus 1d4 to Attack Rolls and Saving Throws for 1 minute. Best to take that before they start absorbing the Spark, otherwise evaporation. If it works at all
Honestly, the only ones who can't contribute any healing or help? Ashton and Chetney (which also says something about the healing game of Vox Machina. It's likely part of how they managed so well without their cleric Pike most of the time). So really, having Ashton or Chetney take the Spark gives them the best odds for keeping the absorber up.
Bells Hells meets with Percy and Allura the next day and declare their intent for the insane and a need to delay the Moon Scouting Mission for another day. So hey, you've got more prep time for these awesome plans you've come up with!
It's stupid and crazy... and the only option they've really got at this time, unfortunately. And well... Percy and Allura have seen crazy and stupid work, so might as well let them try. While hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.
Percy takes them all down to the Ziggurat as both a place of power to help the ritual and somewhere mostly isolated to keep the damage away from his people and city. Allura throws up the Magic Shield Bubble.
Bells Hells readies their spells, throws down what they can beforehand, and get Ashton hooked up in the Quintessence Array (in their skivvies to spare what's left of their clothes after the lava bath).
The ritual begins, with Ashton expanding and breaking and burning like canon.
Except when they fail a Save and explode, Ashton tries to Echo out of the explosion. Though instead of creating a single Echo to uselessly swap places with, Ashton accidentally splits themself into three bodies, three vessels, for the powers he contains:
A burning efreeti-like fire genasi Ashton, Vessel of the Spark of Rau'shan. Basically what Ashton would be like if he were still soft with canon!Fearne's Demi-titan style and a general fire genasi aesthetic layered over it.
A hulking, more Elemental earth genasi Ashton, Vessel of the Shard of Ka'Mort. Ashton's canon Demi-titan Form. Maybe a little bigger and more jagged. Also, the glass in their head is dark, no firework lights, though still an opal brain under there.
And a galaxy-winged aasimar Ashton, Vessel of Dunamancy. Basically what Ashton would have been without the Shard of Ka'Mort but still influenced by his half-beacon brain. Also, the gold scars and glass are still there, which looks odd on "human" flesh, but does help Bells Hells know that these are all Ashton.
The three Ashton Vessels are also connected by tethers of power, similar in appearance to a Twinned Witch Bolt, though with dunamantic flavoring as the Dunamancy Ashton is putting them out to the Titan Twins.
It is not, however, a Witch Bolt, but rather Ashton's will keeping the two Titan Fragments from running wild and attacking and/or exploding while also trying to draw them all back together into one being. But the Fragments have a bit of will of their own that latched on to similar sentiments in Ashton and are resisting him. Duna-Ashton is holding the Titan Vessels still for now, but that's not going to last and they still have to finish the absorption process/ritual.
So Bells Hells (who loaded up healing and support spells) has to protect Duna-Ashton from the Titan Vessels for the remainder of the minute (might be most of the minute, might be only a few Rounds) or the Titan Vessels will break free and try to escape the Magic Shield Bubble to go out into the world to instigate the Elemental Chaos that the titans ruled over before. Keeping Duna-Ashton up isn't easy as the Titan Vessels are pretty strong and HP heavy while Duna-Ashton does sort of try to fight and protect Bells Hells too while not being super buff. On the plus side, there's no range on the Will Tethers and there's a chance each Round that Duna-Ashton can Stun one or both of the Titan Vessels (I'm thinking WIS Save for the Vessels or Contested WIS Checks, Disadvantage for the Titan Vessel if Duna-Ashton is focused on only stilling one of them instead of both).
Eventually the absorption ritual ends and out of an immense cloud of steam emerges Ashton's new volcano Demi-titan Form (no rejection this time as there's no one else to really take it anyways). Basically his canon Demi-titan Form except that the jade is darkened and the amethyst turned to citrine as pointed out could happen with all that heat in this cool post, with lava fissures across them and the gold glowing hot. Also maybe bump the height up another foot or two for the colossus of two Titan Fragments.
Nobody can believe that fucking worked. What the hell have they just helped bring into existence?
Anyways, once Allura is reassured that Ashton isn't about to explode again to much more disastrous effect, she brings the Magic Shield Bubble down so Ashton and Bells Hells can go experiment with his new form a bit on the backside of the Ziggurat. (Ashton thinks they could have forced their way out of the bubble if they had to, but that would have been bad and dangerous) Mostly it's playing with Earth Glide and a few really basic fire spells as taught by Professor Fearne Calloway with assistance from TA Laudna. Ashton even pops off an Echo of his new form, which is just as capable of moving through earth as him (he doesn't mention bringing out the Echo felt like he might split into pieces again. He's sure that'll go away with time, right?).
Eventually, the Demi-titan Form ends, reverting Ashton back to his normal form, including coloring, with volcanic replacements for anything that broke off with still glowing lava veins and maybe a few random citrine crystals among the amethyst of their hair, or a citrine streak or undercut could be cool too. And hot sunny day beating down on a rock heat from his skin.`
Exhausted but generally satisfied with the outcome, Bells Hells totters off for bed.
But that night, either the Moonweaver or Nana Morri contacts Fearne and beckons her to return to Ligament Manor to receive the power of her heritage, just as her friend has.
So Fearne brings it up the next morning, setting off a debate of More Power vs Do the Mission. Which ends in her favor because Nana Morri can fuck with time so they don't loose any and might actually gain some (104 years from Fearne's perspective vs 6 years from her parents' perspective. Fearne is 112, Ollie thought she was 14 when reunited, 14-6=8 years with her parents, 112-8= 104 years with Nana), Laudna would like more time to get into her All Minds Burn shit, and Ashton fesses up about their Echo ability feeling unstable while hoping a bit more time will let everything settle right. Also, it's a training opportunity in general. Time to heal, time to focus, time to ponder and think. A moment to fucking breathe that they haven't really had since Bassuras the first time around.
Allura agrees to cart them to and from the Fey Realm (and gather information on an Archfey for the Arcana Pansophical on the side) given time shouldn't be an issue of more than one more day's worth of delay (which isn't great, but hopefully shouldn't be catastrophic).
They arrive, Morri agrees to make the Manor their training/general retreat, and sends Fearne on her way to talk with Birdie.
So hey, Fearne's got the blood of a minor archfey/fey lord in her veins. Plus she was raised by an Archfey. That has to count for something, right? I'm thinking either Fearne gets some fey or Bearer of the Lightless Flame('s kid) type of personal upgrade, or Birdie stole something powerful from Zathuda (besides the Moontide Crown that Ira still has) or Morri has a weapon/tool that Fearne is now ready for that requires some fraction of inherited power/ability from one like Zathuda.
(Honestly, I would have loved for Fearne to get cool fey stuff for her upgrades, really explore that background, and let Ashton keep all the titan stuff that fits into their background in canon. So I'm doing it here)
Nana helps Orym set up some cool (likely quite dangerous because it's Nana Morri) training stuff for Bells Hells. Probably with a focus on stealth and teamwork given the mission ahead of them where they will be sneaking and relying on each other more than ever.
Chetney makes his deal with Morri.
Ashton's shit does settle down in the couple of days Bells Hells takes there (it's only a few hours in Exandria since 104:6=17.3:1). Though there's probably some close calls at first, maybe even an Ashton Vessels rematch. His Echo patterns are slightly different now. There's (Perfect Copy) Volcano Genasi with Swords, (Mirrored Damage) Earth Genasi with Hammer, (No Damage) Fire Genasi with Pistols, and (Same Damage) Hishari Aasimar with Spear/Glaive. And the Demi-titan Form Echoes are Volcano Titan, Earth Titan, Fire Titan, and Lava Titan. Difference between Volcano and Lava is: Volcano is solid rock with lava veins, Lava is all liquid rock and goopy.
Laudna... might have trouble with connecting to All Minds Burn? Cross-dimensional communication can be tricky at the best of times. But if cut off from the hive, she does get to work on cultivating the psychic abilities it grants without a thousand other voices in her head by using her own strain of it.
Not entirely sure if Orym makes his deal here. Paladin is definitely less Just a Guy than Fighter, even if some of his levels are also in Inquisitive Rogue. On the other hand: Baby Dunamantic Volcano Titan, Baby Archfey of Fire, Exaltant Ruidusborn, Undead Member of a Psychic Fungal Hivemind, Old Man Werewolf, and Ancient Murderbot vs Halfling with a Little Faith Magic (Mostly Smite). Though I will say: Insightful Fighting's Sneak Attack without Advantage+Smite would absolutely wreck house. Sneak Attack+Smite on a Crit? Devastating.
So I think any further decision on Orym's deal is going to have to wait until we see what Orym actually got from his canon deal: spells/abilities(warlock level?) or a free Call Nana card (or like, a general immortality for the group).
And of course, there's room for inter-party drama during their break/training montage.
Then it's back to Exandria for the Moon Scouting Mission!
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weirdthoughtsandideas · 3 months ago
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What I think Violetta and Soy Luna character’s favorite animes are*
*I am only going from animes I myself have seen or are familiar with. I know for a fact that a LOT of animes were popular in Latam that logically the characters should have been familiar with and possibly would have fitted better as their favorite. However, there is a lot of animes I have seen/am familiar with that I know was popular in latam, too (Candy Candy especially). And the ones that weren’t popular there that I bring up… well, let’s just say it was just like with a lot of us, they found it later in life and was like ”omg where has this been all my life” and watched it on a pirate site.
Violetta: Hello! Sandybell. She got very inspired by Sandybell making a garden for her (supposedly) dead mother and she wanted to do it too. She also liked the way Sandybell traveled across Europe, the way she also did.
Luna: Sailor Moon. How can she not, it’s moon themed /j I also think Luna really saw herself in Usagi and appreciated there was a main character that was clumsy, often late, ditzy and didn’t get the best grades just like her, and how despite that still could kick ass and save the world.
Francesca: Lady Oscar. Ok this was kinda inspired by Lodo herself posting a photo with a Lady Oscar T-shirt, and some time later answering an ask about periods with ”think about Lady Oscar! She also had her period under all of those tight suits and armor, and she could still be a badass!”. It was also kinda inspired by me knowing just how fucking popular Lady Oscar was in Italy… but yeah I also feel like Fran was very fascinated with it.
Nina: Candy Candy. I think Nina most of all was fascinated with the history aspects, especially as they reached the WWI parts. But she also loved how Candy seemed to experience so much hardships, and yet still could keep going and be so strong. It felt very inspiring, especially as her parents were fighting in the background. Things will get better.
Camila: Oniisama e. She found this anime when she was a little older, and goes around bragging about how "no one knows about it except for her". She loved how basically every character was a lesbian (at least, they were in her head), and she called them cowards every time they "forced" them into hetero relationships. But she also just loved all the female friendships in general and got slightly annoyed whenever they focused on any boy.
Simón: I think also Sailor Moon, because I think he had a crush on Tuxedo Mask and him and Luna played that they were Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask a lot when they were kids. But, I think he also really liked Pokémon.
Naty: The Moomins anime. As she grew up in Spain, she got the castellano dub and got so surprised when she moved to Argentina and found out there was a latino dub they had there instead. Anyway, she really loved the whole atmosphere and vibes of the moomins and wished she could live in that utopia.
Ámbar: I think as a child she was only allowed to watch Candy Candy, as Sharon had seen it herself as a child and approved of it (I feel like Sharon had a list of pre-approved kids shows and movies Ámbar could watch), but then once she grew older she discovered Revolutionary Girl Utena. And she just fell in love with it. She has rewatched it so many times, always finding new ways to interpret the metaphors and allegories. She also has some deep emotions about and she didn't realize until much later why she felt so strongly about it...
Ludmila: Immediately I'm like... Starzinger... because it's a space adventure. I do not have much else to go from this lmao (because I have not at all properly watched the anime, just random swedubbed clips). However, it also feels like Ludmila's vibe.
Ramiro: He is a big Pokémon boy. I literally imagine him running around the school yard as a kid pretending to be James from Team Rocket. I can see him being into One Piece, too.
Leon: I don't know why, but Digimon. It just seems like his vibe idk.
Jim: Pretty Cure, the first show specifically. I think she always wanted a best friend she could be a magical girl with <3
Diego: Silver Fang. I know this anime was only popular and even translated in very few countries, but I believe Diego managed to find it somehow (maybe a fansubbed version on an old pirate site that no longer exists) and just thought it was the most edgy thing ever. But then he got super scared of bears for years due to it.
Yam: Oh, Revolutionary Girl Utena, but she also has made it her mission to watch every sapphic and sapphic-coded animes ever. She's also a big fan of underrated ones like Oniisama e. She has also specifically only watched season 3 and season 5 of Sailor Moon. So, I think she kind of really switches a favorite, but I believe RGU just hit her the most.
Andres: Hamtaro lmao. No more explanation.
Jazmin: I think Jazmin thought Totally Spies was an anime and no one ever corrected her that it's French-Canadian, so now that's always her answer when asked.
These are all the characters I could come up with something for x)
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kingdomoftyto · 1 year ago
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So I had a new idea for one of those too-ambitious-to-ever-actually-write fics.
I had the thought today that Simon is the only really good father figure in the entire series. Even Jake, who tries his best, kind of sucks at being a dad, and it's only because the pups are so self-sufficient that they all turn out okay. Likewise, the writing is, imo, too forgiving to Joshua for some of the tough love crap he pulled on Finn. Obviously he's nowhere near as bad a father as Martin or Hunson, but the bar is so low it's on the ground.
So it's a shame Simon, who obviously very much wants to be a dad, and who has proven to be pretty good at it even if he's made his own share of mistakes, only returns to sanity when Finn is practically an adult. They're good friends, but the window was basically already closed on him being any kind of significant parental influence in Finn's life.
Then I thought, wait. There's no rules in fanfic. I can imagine whatever what-if scenario I want!!!!!
AU where Simon is Finn's adopted dad:
In this AU, Simon is cured (or perhaps only partially cured?) not long before Finn arrives in Ooo. The HOW may or may not be relevant to the story, but he's back to himself or at least as sane as he was when he was traveling with little Marcy.
When Margaret and Joshua find baby Finn, they do a bit of investigating and find out that there's another human who lives nearby, and they go to confront him in case he was the one who abandoned the baby. Simon is of course stricken at the accusation, but the misunderstanding is cleared up and, of course, eventually it's decided that he'll take care of Finn. (I picture the dogs being reluctant to part with him at first, but then Simon overhears that they're demon hunters and is like OH ACTUALLY I'D BE GLAD TO TAKE HIM IN, IN FACT I INSIST! I HAVE A LOVELY--and safe!--HOME HAHA... MAYBE YOU AND THE TWINS CAN VISIT HIM SOMETIMES THOUGH. WON'T THAT BE NICE)
Anyway I don't know exactly where it'd go from there but there's so much you could do with this AU
Obviously Finn and Jake are still best friends even though they're not actual brothers, because they're, like, literally canonically soulmates. And being around the dog family would be more than enough for Finn to pick up his same old reckless adventurer tendencies as before, despite Simon's best efforts to keep him out of trouble. This would be one of the biggest sources of conflict between them.
Marceline would of course be Finn's cool older sister figure. Getting Simon back early would have some serious effects on Marcy's character development, though exactly how that would play out would probably depend on the circumstances of his cure (and also how involved Bonnie is in the whole situation).
(I have a scene in my head where a really young Finn asks Simon why Marcy calls him by name instead of "Dad", and Simon needs to take a Moment to process the ensuing emotions.)
Maybe the fic could explore right after Finn is adopted, when Simon and the dogs are still trying to figure out where he came from. (They all become friends in the process, which facilitates more playdates for their kids later on.) Considering Finn appeared to be abandoned, the dogs would be fairly happy to move on and let his presumably awful birth parents just get bent and rot. Simon, although surprised other humans still exist somewhere, can't deny he feels similarly. But, the bear hat sparks something in Simon's memory, and when he brings it up to Marceline she remembers the ship she'd saved all those years ago. They make the connection and realize humans must have settled somewhere across the sea. Depending on what kind of fic you want it to be, they may or may not act on this epiphany right away.
Even if they save the islands for later, I think Simon--an anthropologist at heart--would recognize the importance of keeping something as culturally important as Finn's hat, if only to remind him of his heritage later. But even if he stored it somewhere, little toddler Finn would repeatedly dig it out of the closet and insist on wearing it, until Simon acquiesced that it was just going to be Finn's thing. Like Hambo and a security blanket all wrapped in one. With another human around to model himself on, though, I think Finn would eventually stop wearing it as an actual hat all the time and instead maybe just drape it over his shoulders like a hood or capelet.
I imagine Simon would insist on some sort of homeschooling for Finn, at least part of the time, because I just can't picture Candy Kingdom schools being up to his standards, let alone anywhere else in Ooo, lmao. Plus this way he'd be able to teach Finn about human history and culture without worrying about the truth getting mixed up or lost to time. For the most part, though, Finn would haaaaate formal education, which Simon would find baffling, as a lifelong nerd academic who surrounded himself with fellow nerds academics.
So yeah, as Finn grows and it becomes clear he's not cut out for academia like his old man, Simon has to accept that the world they live in is not the same as the one he was raised in himself, and that it might actually be prudent for Finn to learn to use a sword, if only to protect himself. He reluctantly eases up on the curfews and restrictions and gradually allows Finn more freedom to go on adventures with Jake, though he's a nervous wreck every time.
(Maybe Finn convinces him to come along sometimes to prove that it's safe, and Simon actually develops some dungeoneering skills too, in this AU? 👀 As a bonus, we get more scenes like that "I was quite the outdoorsman in my day!" moment in F&C where Simon gets to show off that he WAS a little bit of an adventurer back before the War. Optionally add Marceline on these adventures, too!)
As for The Betty Situation, it could range from "she simply died a thousand years ago and Simon has no choice but to grieve and move on for his new family's sake" to "the way he's cured in this AU plays out similarly to the episode 'Betty' except something goes wrong and now she's on Mars/trapped in a time bubble/whatever and Simon has been lowkey desperately searching for her in all his spare time when not actively taking care of Finn."
.........God.
I WISH I had the discipline to write this into a proper fic. I WISH I wasn't so chronically indecisive and that I could at least pick a direction for it to go in, lmAO. I couldn't stop thinking about it all day today, ugh, I had to at least toss it out into the ether and share the concept. Please feel free to steal any or all of it and also to send me asks rambling about this show and these characters please god I'm going to lose my mind before the finale on Thursday
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a-really-bad-decision · 2 years ago
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Look. I get that folks who are approaching the finale from this angle are usually doing so from a place of genuine good faith and love for Joel. But like. If your immediate reaction after finishing season 1 is to insist that the cure never could have been developed/distributed/tested/viable and that the Fireflies were stupid/naive/slapdicks/never could have accomplished it anyways, so Joel Definitely Did Nothing Wrong, I can’t help but feel like you’re wildly missing the point of it all.
Because like. Joel did not ever care if the cure could have worked. He did not care if it’s what Ellie might have wanted in that moment (neither did the fireflies of course, but they’re not the ones who traveled by her side, protected her, made her feel safe and cared about). Neither of these were ever a point of consideration in the finale. Ellie’s death and the resultant hypothetical cure could have had a guaranteed 100% success rate. It could have spread instantly, around the world the moment they removed her brain from her skull, turning every single runner, clicker, and bloater back to a healthy human being, with no deleterious side effect.
And Joel still would have shot that doctor point blank in the face.
Because that moment right there, is the point. To me at least. It’s the climax that the whole story has been building towards: a father’s beautiful, selfish decision to save his daughter at the literal cost of the entire world. And not just the world in an abstract sense, but in ways that carry weight to him on a deeply personal level. Tess’ dying wish. A real future for his niece or nephew. Ellie’s own agency in all of this. And he did it without hesitating for a moment.
Going from treating Ellie like cargo, like a clicker waiting to happen, to deciding that her life is more important to him than than any other human being who was or ever will be born? Regardless of whether it’s “““healthy”””, that’s an incredible fucking relationship arc. And it only has this level of gravity and meaning if there are genuine consequences to making that decision.
(And let me be clear here: none of this is a moral indictment of Joel. Joel’s motivations, actions, decisions etc. are all incredibly blatant, human, and relatable, and if he’d done anything but go on that rampage, it would have contradicted everything we know and understand about him so far. Also, he’s fucking fictional. Who gives a shit if he did a Kinda Amoral Thing. None of it is real, and it doesn’t matter)
The argument here isn’t that Fireflies Good And Smart And Can Totally Save The World For Sure Guys, or Joel Did Objectively Bad Thing And Is Unforgivable Bad Forever Now. The argument is that the show is much more interesting and internally consistent if you buy into the idea that there’s a chance, even a slim one, that the fireflies could have extracted a viable vaccine at the terrible cost of a fourteen year old girl’s life. That maybe Joel did prevent a cure from being made – that he potentially did doom the world for Ellie (or at least doomed it to another few decades of limping painfully by until something else came along). And that despite the cost, he pulled that trigger, brutally and without hesitation. He did it knowing that he’ll have to go on living with the knowledge of what he took from everyone, and how effortless it was to make that choice in spite of it all. That he’ll willingly betray Ellie’s trust as many times as he has to if it means keeping her from taking the burden of that guilt on herself, but also because he can’t bear the thought of her hating him if she learned the truth. And most of all (and in his own words), that if he was given the chance to go back and do it again, he would have made the exact same choice all over.
You take that out, and what kinda finale do you get now? A run and gun scene of a man rescuing a girl that he’s come to love, sure, but now it’s from a bunch of one dimensional, child murdering villains, set in a place they never had to go to, preceded by a journey that was rendered useless before they even left, all because there was never any chance of it working in the first place. Pointless roundabout cynicism, and an endpoint that now textually only existed to stick the protagonists in their get along sweater.
You don’t have to agree with this specific interpretation of the ending. I get that this can come across as a harsh reading of Joel, especially since he’s a character that myself and others genuinely like a lot. But that nitpicky fixation on proving that the cure never could have worked always felt more for the benefit of the uncomfortable player/viewer than as any sort of actual narrative improvement. A way to divest yourself of ever having to sit with the weight of either choice. Of having to think about the way that a secret so massive, sitting unspoken between you and a loved one, can rot that relationship. Of the way that someone you thought you trusted can act in your best interests, but against your own wishes.
And if that’s not what you want from the show, genuinely and without judgment: that’s fine. You keep doing you. I’m just not sure why you’re watching something like tlou otherwise.
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chromantlks · 1 year ago
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Workin on art at 5:30am and watching Vendetta, so to procrastinate even longer, here is:
Resident Evil Vendetta: Why Leon and Rebecca’s Positions Should Have Been Swapped
• Rebecca is not a damsel in distress please stop doing this to RE women (female characters in general, hate to be that guy), let Rebecca be the prodigious badass tyrant slayer she has been since day fucking one
• Leon’s entire arc would be improved in the way Chris’ sort of was if he was kidnapped and had time to think about who he is and why he’s come as far as he has, as well as accepting that he can’t always be the dashing hero and that sometimes he needs help too
• We could FINALLY re-explore the dynamic between Chris and Rebecca!! Don’t get me wrong, I love the relationship between Chris and Leon I love the part where they said “it’s gay sex Thursday” and then started making out on the chopper, but cmon. These were the ORIGINAL guys, the goobers, the oomfies, they were partners then and they could have been again
• We might have had more of a chance to catch up with what Rebecca has been doing all this time, we haven’t seen her since 0, or the stage play if you’re insane like I am, and I feel like we deserved to see her in action. It’s totally in line with her character to take more of a backseat to the action, having more of an interest in the science and medical aspects, that’s all good, but she’s still trained in combat and marksmanship. Can you imagine a scene of Rebecca showing off her skills, especially to Leon? Dude that would rock so unbelievably hard cmon.
• Chris has this continued theme in his life of losing people close to him and it reflects in the way he treats his partners/teams. This is just a flaw with the movie in general (which I continue to enjoy despite its. Yknow. Everything~), but we never got to see much of that. Obviously that whole theme was generally resolved in 5 and then continued into 6, but I feel like whether it’s Leon or Rebecca, Chris should have been, like. Way more freaked about it? Staying professional and all, but Jesus Christ man, you’re gonna exchange one liners and cool gun slow-no scenes with MCR over here in the hallway while you have less than 20 minutes to both SAVE and CURE someone who has been by your side for upwards of 20 years whom you have befriended and relied on numerous times??? Whatever! Whatever!
• Arias should have had a MUCH higher interest in obtaining Leon if he wanted his revenge plan work out. He’s already a suuuuper iffy character, I too would be mad if the government dropped a bomb on my wedding and killed almost everyone I held dear, but also I didn’t do arms dealing and bioterrorism so. Maybe reflect on that man. But anyway, the A-Virus already has a lot in common with the Plaga. Arias ABSOLUTELY could improve this connection via a sample of Leon’s blood and an examination of whatever’s left in his nervous system; if done right, this could have handled the virus nearly unstoppable. But instead, he opted to, uh…steal a woman that looks like his wife? Yeah, her blood with the antibodies made the virus stronger, but he had NO IDEA OF THAT. He totally lucked out there. Now, information about the Plaga would be easily attainable for a man of Arias’ profession and status among the underworld of crime or whatever, all that shit, and Leon’s name would absolutely be among that information. It’s just so much more convenient? Makes so much more sense?? Literally aids his evil plan???
I’m sure there’s more reasons I’m forgetting because the amount of times I’ve ranted about this is ridiculous, but like. Cmon cmon cmon I beg
If someone makes art or like rewrites the story like this tag me in it I beg of you like idk if this will incite any inspiration this is just my special weird take on a my special weird movie
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possessionisamyth · 1 year ago
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I agree on your post about fandom with Leon. I like him but the way fandom treats him and acts if he's the only character that has gone thru the most hell, it makes me not want to see him in any further content for awhile. Don't me get started on the shipping aspect of him whether it's self-shipping or his relationships with other characters.
I'd really love it if people who ship leon with themselves or reader or whatever would choose TWO ways to tag it as a group so I can block it en masse and not see their boring ass fantasies generated from character ai play out the same way 500x a day no matter how many variants of the tag I block.
Every time I think it might be a character analysis it's slapped with "He Wouldn't Fucking Say That" but for every sentence, and I get to decide whether I'm going to block or scroll faster.
Shipping aside(because woooo do aeon, cleon, and jilleon shippers love showing their misogyny as much as people who ship leon with other boring white men), seeing people baby him incessantly as if he's not a grown ass man is a different level of fury. Yes, his job fucking sucks. Yes, he was suckered into it. He's not special actually. How many people have the option to not work a shitty job for an uncomfortable period of time in their lives without suffering immediate financial consequences? I'll tell you who. Rich people. Who I don't respect anyways. You know who else has a shitty job? Literally the entire recurring cast of characters we see, majority of whom are women.
You know what usually makes a job shittier? Not having a dick. I cannot fucking imagine the hell that Jill, as much of a paragon in her field as Chris is, has to experience from the men higher ups questioning every single fucking decision she makes on top of dealing with bioweapon bullshit. Her only reprieve? Probably Chris or Barry stepping in for her to shut them up, and if not that, she can get some of that anger out through the gorey, visceral violence some people dream of having as an outlet when dealing with shitty customers in retail.
And don't even get me fucking started on Rebecca and Claire who don't have the mercy of that much of a reprieve! Both of them have to deal with politicians from multiple countries, majority men, also questioning and second guessing their every plan while they try to provide life-saving medicine and resources to people who need them. You know what Leon has to hear from politicians? Arrest or kill this guy and go home. Escort this person and go home. They dont' question his competency. I know for a fucking fact Claire and Rebecca get the third degree if they so much as even suggest a faster way to supply necessary footwork in order to rebuild a neighborhood or save lives, meanwhile Leon goes home and does, uh, fucking nothing until he's called onto the next job.
But oooohh ooohh woobie baby pookie puppy daddy waawaa googoo gaga leon kennedy has a dwinking pwoblem. He's soooo babygirl and needs to be cuddled and protected and loved because his job is sooooooo stressful, and he's a victim.
You know who's a fucking victim in this situation post RE2? Sherry goddamn Birkin who apparently has zero fucking contact with Leon for 15 whole years after the government snatched them. YOU KNOW? THE GUY WHO SAID HE'D KEEP AN EYE ON HER FOR CLAIRE. THAT ONE. Did I mention she is a sudden orphan after watching her mom die in front of her? Oh, and her upbringing can be considered questionable at best due to RE6 being a genuine shit show. Oh and she also let doctors experiment on her body in order to A)Fuck around with the G-Virus, and B) figure out cures and vaccines, WHICH MOST OF WERE MADE BY REBECCA ANYWAY WITHOUT HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION? So like!!!! If I want to separate it further by saying who has the worst shitty government job dealing with Umbrella after it's shut down, it still isn't fucking Leon! Can you imagine the hellscape assignments they send Sherry into with her super healing ability??????? I know they're worse because she can survive egregious injury without them using money to provide medical supplies! And you know governments everywhere love cutting corners when it comes to money.
But Leon is blonde ONCE, in ONE GAME, a good game yes but is apparently so iconic his pain magically takes precedent as the worst above everyone else's. And I hate that so fucking much because even Leon doesn't think this about himself! Leon literally doesn't think he has it the worst out of everyone! He just kinda wants to die sometimes which is not the same thing! Yet, the unfortunate amount of fans with little to no media literacy believe otherwise.
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constantineshots · 1 year ago
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so, me being me and having to read everything and watch everything the man is in, just so i can form my own opinions on it, i went and watched seasons four through six of dc's legends of tomorrow. i saw the first season and some of the second when it was initially airing, but no john in that, so.
i don't think i could ever imagine someone other than matt ryan portraying john, and i think that's? pretty unanimous across the community. i don't think i've seen anyone be like "he's TERRIBLE for john constantine". i watched constantine when it was originally airing ( when i was just a little thirteen year old </3 i blame him for the way i turned out ), which took me down this rabbit hole, but this post is about legends, so here goes.
i think one of the things i didn't like was that john was on a team to begin with. once i got past that, i enjoyed a lot of the characters- like sara lance, who i loved to begin with from arrow and stuff, nate heywood, who just seems to be the guy everyone likes and this general force of positive, "roll with it" kind of energy that i liked and how he took things with stride but this isn't about him, charlie who is a punk rock fate with the coolest outfits and a mostly strong will and incredible defiance and when she left i was kicking and screaming but at least she is happy, and zari 1.0 who became my wife from the moment she started speaking which is partially probably the reason why i really did not like zari 2.0.
anyways, i really like the references to hellblazer, whether they were slim or not. for example, they mentioned the whole "killer" thing from his father. which brings me to the scene that made me like. cry a lot. genuine tears in my eyes. where john is at a bar, and his mother is on the other side of the counter and he went there just to see her. granted, he gets kicked out for trying to kick his dad so hard in the balls that he never has kids, but paradox, as zari so loveily explains ( sorry i am in love with her. it shattered my heart when she almost got married. nate's on thin ice, he's lucky i like him ). BUT THEN MY WIFE GOES AND GIVES HIM A PHOTO OF JOHN AND HIS MOM LOOKING HAPPY TOGETHER. what a lovely woman.
this post is meant to be about john, so forgive my tangents on zari, love of my life.
ANYWAY. there was this. i also particularly enjoyed john's insistence on wearing his own little outfit ( trenchcoat. tie. you know, his usual ) around all the time, throughout time periods, because he's a bit of a weirdo. either he has twenty of the same outfit or he doesn't shower. i am choosing the former. but they do have this moment that i found kind of heartwarming, where he puts on the camp counselor uniform for "the kids" he claims, but then literally within the first twenty minutes of the episode, he's back in his old attire and running around bullying people and hypnotizing children. seems to me he reverted back to his bullying kids self. then he gave his life force to save a kid, and almost died in the process. which he says something like "i'm not letting another kid die" as a reference to astra. i liked this, but seeing john in a camp counselor uniform made me go "whaaaaat".
when ray ended up in hell and john went to go get him, he comes to a choice of saving astra or ray and immediately, without hesitation, he chose astra. this decision doesn't seem to affect ray much later on though, and i am honestly not sure if he remembers it even though it showed both his spirit and young astra's, though it could have easily been some sort of illusion or whatever. honestly, i think he'd do it again. and i liked that there was this little anticipation where everyone is like "oh, he wouldn't, right? he wouldn't leave ray here." yes he would. and he did. even if it was only temporary.
there are references to his lung cancer, but in hellblazer, the man not only smokes after he's cured of his lung cancer through absolute deceit and gets revenge on gabriel afterwards, but he smokes during it, if i recall correctly. nothing could get that man to give up a cigarette. hell, there was a point in hellblazer where he was literally only going to save the world because there was going to be a lack of cigarette shipments if he didn't ( then, you know, everyone showed up and that changed ). which is why i think, even though it'd be great if this idiot stopped smoking, it was weird to have him stop smoking as a result and to have fucking zari 2.0 ( hm. i still really do not like her. i do not think i will be persuaded to like her. ) get him on a juice cleanse. you're going to sit there and tell me he was attracted to this girl who is a social media influencer BUT HE WASN'T ATTRACTED TO THE FIRST ZARI? fake. on his part. i just didn't see their relationship. i didn't like it. but then again, i don't really agree with most john ships. regardless. this one i really did not like.
then the ending of season six, i think they just wanted a way to get him off the show. i know he lost his magic, but the addiction, the fact he went cold turkey, then got? what? taken over by his "evil" subconcious and went and betrayed the legends, even though he's supposed to love zari 2.0 soooo much? yeah, no. i mean, john does do what benefits him, but i don't think he would have so readily injected something into his veins from a guy he knew was not a good guy and would definitely do something to get him out of commission without some sort of backup plan to save himself and scam the other guy, because that's what he does. show me his reputation, because this isn't all it is, heartless betrayals after confessing his love to some random social media influencer. then he became a mushroom, then he died, then he came back, then he ran off and? didn't even go back to his own time? so i don't really know what happened to him or where he ran off to. i am quite honestly so fucking confused about his send off.
anyways, if you don't focus on characterization too much, it's an enjoyable show, and while it's fun, it's really fucking confusing and i'm still not sure i'm quite understanding the plot in it's entirely because honestly that show felt like i was smoking something without actually smoking it. if that makes any sense to anyone.
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mk-wizard · 2 years ago
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A Plague Tale: When tragedy is necessary
SPOILERS ABOUT “A PLAGUE TALE” SERIES AHEAD!!
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As sad as the ending was and much as we all wish Hugo made it, it should stand not just because it would cheapen his death. The fact that there was no saving him was the entire point of the story which is actually Amicia’s story. The story of A Plague Tale is really the story about Amicia and her coming to terms with her brother having a supernatural illness known as the Macula and seeing him go through all the harrowing phase while fighting both literally and metaphorically for a way to save him. Eventually, she has to accept that there was no saving him from the Macula, but she could at least give her brother a proper goodbye and end his suffering out of mercy. While the circumstances and details are fictional, the situation is not. Dealing with a terminally ill loved one is a very common thing as is hoping that maybe they will be the exception and beat the disease or that there is a cure waiting to be discovered in their lifetime only to face the harsh reality that all we can do is love them and be there until the end.
We talk about representation, but we forget that isn’t just orientation, skin tones, race, religion, gender identity, etc. Representation can be things such as this and it is important to showcase them. We need show that some people just don’t have happy endings, but that doesn’t mean they can’t recover from them. In fact, the way Amicia was at the end of everything (Requiem) shows the right way to mourn which is to continue living your best life, cherishing the time you had together, remembering them and also learning from it. In her case, she wants to take action to help the next Carrier and Guardian, so that this time, they may have a fighting chance at least which can be seen as a metaphor for a loved one passing away from cancer and you trying to do what you can to help the fight against it so someone else may have a fighting chance. When you look at this way, it also drives home the point of how the tragedy of Hugo should stand. He did not make it, but because everyone learned from his experience, the next Macula Carrier might be able to.
Also, I mentioned that there was no saving poor Hugo and I meant it. The only way to keep the Macula from taking over the boy was for him to be constantly calm and happy which is impossible. No matter what Amicia and the others would have done or went, Hugo would eventually face stressful and bad situations as the beginning of Requiem showed us. It is impossible to control every single event and suffering is a part of life. And there was no medical way to keep the Macula at bay with the way science and alchemy were in the gang’s lifetime. Even if the Count had never kidnapped Hugo and they did make it to the cabin in the mountains, something else would have eventually triggered the Macula. They just did not have the means to cure, treat or keep it under control. Even the elixir from the first installment (Innocence) just slowed the process down. Also, Hugo was either always on the run, was in pain or getting treatments that were like torture which was not a life any person should live much less a child. To add insult to injury, none of it helped, so in the end, the only way to end Hugo’s suffering was to euthanize him.
This doesn’t mean that this is the way it will end in the hypothetical third installment. In the final bonus scene of the Requiem, it is hinted that the next Carrier was born in modern times when medicine, science and possibly alchemy has made progress in leaps and bounds. And considering how determined and unbroken Amicia was, I have no doubt that she made precautions to help the next Carrier and Guardian to prevent both a disaster and tragedy. It is possible and dare I say likely that in the hypothetical third installment, the terror of Macula will be put to an end and the Carrier will be saved. The dark side of this though is that Hugo’s tragic end has to stand.
Anyway, that is my opinion, and I would like to hear yours. Thank you for reading and as always, stay safe.
PS: I think the creators should create a third installment not just to complete the trilogy, but also because having this one time where having a story take place in modern times would work in its favor because we are going through a pandemic. In this case, A Plague Tale which takes place in our time would be especially terrifying and all the more satisfying.
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low-budget-korra · 1 year ago
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My thoughts during my second gameplay of The Last of Us Part II
-Why so many people think Ellie won't be able to play the guitar again? Bru she has two hands. Sure, she can't play like she used to but also for sure she can still play with the other hand.
-Again, I Don't get the Owen hate train. He is literally Abby's Dina. He was so nice, he only mistake was to cheat on Mel and let's be real, in that world this is so minimal.
Also, Ellie didn't think twice on killing him but he wouldn't kill her. He didn't before he had his epiphany, so he wouldn't do it now. He only jumped on her to protect Mel. And look at the full circle: He killed Dany in the same way Ellie killed him.
Speaking in full circle, the guy who spit in Joel's body, died with a bullet in his face. Btw, I liked Manny way more in this time around
-I still got mad that Tommy triggered Ellie to go after Abby again but let's face it, he had it a lot more than Ellie. Not only Tommy lost his brother, different from Ellie, he helpless watched the whole thing. He also lost one eye and he knee is so fucked up that he can't walk properly again. So yeah, for him is way more difficult to just let it go. Imagine all the PTSD Ellie has but worse.
-Abby's gameplay is way more fun to play than Ellie's. Maybe because her character arc mirrors Joel's so well...it's always better play a redemption arc than a self-destructive one.
-I get and agree with all the theories with the main pain to Ellie was her lost and desperate try to find a new purpose in life. First be the cure, didn't worked out so now was to avenge Joel, also didn't worked out .... Anyway, but personally I still think her biggest pain was the feeling of guilty. Sure she was mad because Joel lied to her and took away her main purpose on life but she was mad with herself because she couldn't forgive him and when she tried, it was too late. She couldn't forgive him in time and she couldn't save him. Abby didn't just killed Joel, she also stole the possibility of a new future with them being fine and happy again. But also, she didn't stole because if Ellie had been able to forgive Joel, they still could have had good moments. Ellie also feels for this "lost time" sentiment, that's why she also relieved those last important memories with Joel.
-Oh Joel... When the game was released people scream because they thought Neil make Joel stupid and out of character by trusting in Abby so quickly. What they didn't understand is that Joel isn't this brute cold blooded killer in his core, he became one because of the pain and anger in losing his daughter and due to the violence of the apocalyptic world. But after all that, living in Jackson, a peaceful community that communicate and trade with other people, he got back to be himself again, the man he was before all happened.
Also. It's not like Joel and Tommy had a choice. If they didn't had go with Abby, they would be killed by the infected or bring them back to Jackson.
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alicerosejensen · 2 years ago
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A moment of weakness
Have you ever listened to the beautiful compositions of Olivier Deriviere? My heart freezes and cries from "The Night (La Nuit)" Thanks to such talented people, I have been writing a fucking agnst for 10 years now. Don't get me wrong, I love a happy ending, but almost all of my work ends with the deaths of the main characters.
If we talk about Resident evil, then just the other day I wrote a short (no, it was long, I'm lying) chapter where the main character (the original female character) died in Leon's arms and he had to kill her HIMSELF. They had a long journey indirectly related to Leon's work, but in the end, despite all the attempts to save his beloved, despite all the ways they went, Leon literally had to go back and kill her. Moreover, she understood that he would have to do it anyway and repeatedly told him about it! And yes, I didn't make the main character an agent of D.S.O or B.A.S.S, she was literally a person who was just unlucky enough to encounter a fucking psycho. And then Leon Kennedy rushes to the rescue (but in fairness, while he was not there, she also held up well).
I enjoyed describing their relationship so much! Tender sex in Peru, after which Leon almost lies on his beloved and holds her right hand with his intertwined fingers, while the rays of the morning sun fall on them through the blinds. I love this scene! Considering that the main character is already broken, and Leon does not want to lose a dear person, then later it is he who jokes that she will not go anywhere from him. Hell, they literally had a conversation before that, during which Leon flared up when she told him that it would be better for her to die in the place from where he pulled her out.
Go all the way to find a cure for his bride, but in the end her salvation was death by his hands.
Leon was ready to start a quiet life with her. He wanted him to have at least partially what other people have - a quiet family corner. 
“Maybe even one child.
Do you really think that after what they did to me, I can still give birth?”
You see, he WANTED to take a chance?! Because I believe that Leon always wanted his family, considering how his childhood passed. This dialogue of theirs (of course it's quite long there) confirms this.
And now about the ending: His fiancee is dying, as already mentioned earlier. I cried my eyes out while writing her death and hated myself for turning Leon's heart into a mess.  
That's what I called this chapter "Emptiness". Because Leon had nothing else besides her. He's lost everything. Love and the last dreams of a normal family with a woman he fell in love with.
And do you know which composition of Oliver finished me off even more? "O Ma Belle Lune" Have you seen the translation from French? I cried like a bitch.
“Oh my beautiful moon
Your embrace and your good love
Make me like you
Pretty and strong, at dawn”
This is literally the first verse! Further only better! But the main theme of Leon and OFC would be "I'm Sorry" by the same Olivier Deriviere.
I still cry when I reread these pages. Because I like the suffering of the characters, despite the fact that Leon didn't deserve it. After all, the fan fiction originally had a good ending, but I killed everyone again.
I just wanted to share my thoughts. That's why I wrote this long post.
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