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doodlesdreaming · 4 months

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Shin Megami Log 4(After Game Thoughts)

Finished SMT V during Christmas, and I have THOUGHTS.

I'm gonna put all that under the 'Read More' bit, so if any of you are interested in this game, then scroll past and no peeking.

Right then, final thoughts:

Brief history lesson first, I knew very little about the SMT series or the spin-offs like Persona. Of course, with how incredibly successful Persona 5 is, it's hard to miss any sort of info. But even then, my knowledge of the entire franchise was very limited. All I know is that it's basically the "Dark Souls" of RPGs with character driven stories that have of ingredients than a Final Fantasy title. At least, that was the vibe I was getting.

But even then, I never have been interested enough to want to give any of the games a try. I did get Persona Q2 back when I first heard of the 3DS dying out, but it mostly because I didn't want a Persona game with Joker's face on it to be forever lost. Weird I know, but that was my train of thought, at the time. But after clearing the first boss(and realizing that prior knowledge of Persona 5's story is an absolute must) I got bored and haven't touched the game since.

Fast forward a few years later, when Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne was announced with a HD port to current gen consoles. I was genuinely excited by the announcement. This meant that if I ever decided to give Nocturne a try, it'll be alot easier for me to do so now. Then after that came the biggest surprise of all; Shin Megami Tensei V.

Now this....this caught my attention. Though I can't really explain why. Was it the character designs? The gorgeous looking world? "D" all of the above? All I can say is that something 'clicked' and I was very interested. Even though it would take two years later until I actually got it.

And I'm so glad I did.

I was invested right from the start. From the silent "show don't tell" protagonist, all the way to Lufcier himself, the story, even with its swiss cheese holes in plot at some points, had me hooked from start to finish. The combat never got boring. I was constantly thinking of strategies and building up my demons that suited my needs and my playstyle. The world was incredibly fun to explore, even though the lighting choices, in some areas, made my eyes strain a bit. It would take me up til the big boss of the area for me to finally adjust.

And the bread and butter of it all, The Law and Chaos mechanics. A stable, I've come to understand, in the SMT series. Yet an important take away from all this is that nothing is as black and white as it seems on the surface. SMT is a franchise that makes you think. It makes you question yourselves and you inner most thoughts. And SMT V had me rolling in so many thoughts, that when I reached the 'alignment lock' of the game, I had to take a break because I was starting to get overwhelmed.

Of course, this could very well be a really weird quirk of mine. But when I get into a really good story, I REALLY get into it. And the choices I make would impact the ending I would get.

By all accounts, the Law ending would naturally mean the good ending, right? Well sure...if you can live with a Law that discriminates all other forms of thinking(a.e. free will), will not hesitate to punish they see as 'unfit' and the willingness to become corrupt yourself, just to prove a point. Sure. Law is the way to go.

The Chaos ending usually entails victory for the bad guys. And yet, there really isn't a clear "villain" in this case, other then the absolute obvious ones(f you Lamau). In Chaos, there is diversity, the freedom to choice your fate, to be yourself. And yet with so many possibilities, there will be disagreements, arguments of what is right and wrong, and power competing against power. No one really wins, and there is constant strife. But hope is just as abundant, with the capability that anything is possible.

The Neutral ending is well...the Neutral ending. You don't pick a side. You're that little kid that asks, "Why not both?" A balance of law and chaos. So understandably this would the best choice. Yes...except the neutral path follows a man who has been brought down low by both law and chaos. He lost everything precious to him, to the point where he belittles his fellow man if they show any sort of weakness. So the solution? Make humanity the leading power of the universe, but take away every viture and sin that exists in the heart and soul. And by extension, all the angels and demons in existence. Never to be even a story told by campfire light because it would never be allowed to cross through the mind. Humans would be free of woe and fear, and grow abundant in their everyday lives. But will it truly last?

You could probably guess which ending I ended up getting. And quite honestly, I'm satisfied with it. Plus it lines up perfectly with my ever growing headcanons of the Nahobino. So I'm taking it as a win.

I honestly can not recommend SMT V, especially if you're like me who enjoys a good rpg that I can sink my teeth into. It has it flaws, yes. But they feel so small that it doesn't really bother me. Some of them I can just 'fix' with good old imagination. And it's definitely inspired me to play Nocturne next, for sure. But first, I want to see if I can beat the Demi Fiend himself in combat....

There's so much more I'd like to talk about, but I think I rambled long enough.

The main takeaway? I LOVE THIS GAME. Definitely gonna be alot of fanart for sure. And I'm gonna get my hands on some merch when I can. It probably won't exceed my growing Darksiders collection, but it might come close in time, lol.

The other main takeaway from all this is that I get it now. I get the appeal and why this series is standing as strong as it is. HEE-HO!!!

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shima-draws · 2 months

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Hi Shima! You have a lot of Pokemon content on your page and I’m sorta curious about the like, world of Pokemon, so would you have any recommendations on what like game I should start with or what I should watch first? Thanks!

!!! YOOOOO OKAY I GOTCHU ANON. Buckle up bc my 20 years of being a Pokemon fan is about to kick in

As for where to start with the games--this is all really depending on how your own personal playstyle! Do you like games that are more easy going and light on plot? Or do you like ones with heavy amounts of story? Or do you prefer games that are a perfect blend of the two? Pokemon's got a mixed bag of all of the above so you really can't go wrong

If you're into that really nostalgia feel I'd recommend starting out with the first Pokemon game I ever played as a kid, which was Pokemon Emerald! You can actually play this for free by downloading a Gameboy Advance emulator and the Emerald ROM. I have a lot of fond memories of Emerald and it's still one of my favorite games to date. I actually even prefer Emerald over its remakes (Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire) bc it just doesn't quite hit the same lol. I think even without having played Emerald as a kid it'll just spark that nostalgic feeling? It's that kind of game, at least to me :")

Going off of that if you REALLY want to hit nostalgia central and start where it all began, Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen is also a good game to start out with. It's a remake of Pokemon Red/Blue, which were the first ever Pokemon games that were made. Personally I'm not a super huge Gen 1 fan bc I feel like it's been WAY overdone at this point (it's had two remakes already) but if you've never played a Pokemon game again it's definitely a good starting point. It's barely got any plot so it's really a game you can just dive into and enjoy without focusing too hard on the story. AND as an added bonus, Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver is the direct sequel to Gen 1 (and a remake of the original Gold/Silver/Crystal) so I'd definitely play that one as well, it's lots of fun!

Of course I will also recommend Pokemon Black/White and Black 2/White 2, which is generation 5 and my FAVORITE mainline Pokemon games of all time. BW released right before the transition to the 3D games so it still has sprite art. It's a GORGEOUS game honestly and I think it's really well balanced with story VS gameplay. It's got great characters and fantastic design elements (with everything honestly like the Pokemon designs are great, the character designs are great, the city/town designs are great, etc) and the most KICKASS soundtrack ever (looking at you Driftveil City AKA Toothless dancing meme music). I could go on and on and on about Gen 5 for hours lmao I really hold it near and dear to my heart. Also it's one of the very few games that actually has a sequel which I LOVE. BW2 takes place two years after BW and I love the story and character progression 🥰

Shouting out Pokemon Platinum as well, I know it's a huge fan favorite and honestly I also love it very much!! Platinum came out before BW did so it's got that early DS era feel to it. It's got a decent plot and classic fun gameplay elements. Also Pokemon Legends Arceus which ties directly into Platinum as its prequel (but you should play Platinum first? I know it's confusing lol). PLA is SUPER fucking fun, it's got a completely different gameplay style and mechanic than regular Pokemon games, and it ties in with Platinum so well.

And to my last few recommendations -

Pokemon Sun and Moon!! There's mixed feelings about this one from a lot of people but it's one of my personal favorites...I think people dislike that it's so plot heavy, there's a LOT of dialogue even when starting the game so if you're not into that I wouldn't go with SM. But I LOVE games that are heavy with plot and SM just does it so well. The characterization is really well done and I love watching Lillie go through her development arc 🤧 But yeah it's SM NOT Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon which are like. The same games but Worse. USUM took SM's plot and stomped all over it so I would not go for those lol

And, of courseeee. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet! These are the most recent mainline games to release and ohhh my god. Is the game laggy and bugged out as hell? Yes. Is it also fucking FANTASTIC and has made me cry multiple times? ALSO yes. If you don't mind occasional shitty graphics then please please PLEASE play SV. The open world aspect is a ton of fun, the new Pokemon designs are so charming, the characters are wonderful, and the STORY??? The plot literally blew my socks off the first time I played it. SV endgame you will always be the king of my heart. It's definitely heavier than any previous Pokemon game and it had me reeling for DAYS after. The story is just. So so so good. And we get a continuation of the story kicking ass in the DLC. I love SV to death it really redeemed Pokemon after the disaster that was gen 8 for me (and it's REALLY fun to shiny hunt in).

And LAST but certainly not least. My favorite Pokemon game of all time period ever in the history of Pokemon. Not a mainline game but a side/spinoff game--Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky!! If you want the classic Pokemon experience I probably wouldn't start with this since it's so different from the mainline games but I'd 10000% play it after finishing your first Pokemon game. It's a dungeon crawler, you get to BE a Pokemon, the music is phenomenal, the gameplay is phenomenal, the story is PHENOMENAL, everything about it is incredible and I will love this game until the day I die. I CANNOT recommend it enough. It's so so SO good and it means so much to me I can't even. Please play PMD Sky this goes to everyone who hasn't played it I prommy it's worth it

So basically:

Easy games with no/light plot: FRLG, Emerald, HGSS

Games with a perfect blend of actual gameplay and plot: BW/B2W2, Platinum, PLA

Games that hit HEAVY with plot/storyline: SM, SV, PMD Sky

Honestly you really cannot go wrong no matter where you start out. Even if it's with one of the games I DIDN'T personally recommend, all the mainline games have their own unique charm and each generation has its die hard fans (UNOVA GANG RISE). I've played all of them and they're all enjoyable!

As for the anime, my personal recommendations are the XY saga and the SM saga! The SM saga is my ultimate favorite, it's really cute and charming and fun, with some heavier plot arcs sprinkled in so it's a good blend between lighthearted stuff and more serious story. XY is VERY plot-heavy especially in the latter part, there's a lot of character development and crazy stuff going on, so I'd go for that one if you want to get hit hard with Feels. I haven't watched as much of the anime so I'm sure other people would recommend other seasons (I know the original saga, the Hoenn saga and the DP saga are fan favorites).

I'd also recommend watching the sub instead of the dub,, especially if you haven't grown up watching the Pokemon anime like me the dub is VERY hit or miss. I prefer subs as well bc the dub actually cuts out a LOT of stuff? I know for SM they had fun extra little bits at the beginning and ending of each episode that the dub just. Didn't include. For some reason? Like they'd cut out entire scenes. Idk. It's up to you either way tho ^^

And that is my introduction to Pokemon list.........if anybody has anything to add feel free! These are just my personal recommendations based off of what I like so naturally not everyone will agree lol. If you have any questions anon don't hesitate to ask, I'm always down to talk Pokemon. And I hope you have lots of fun playing whichever game you decide to go with!!

#Shima answers questions #Long post #Pokemon #Sorry I word vomited there LOL can you tell Pokemon has been my hyperfixation since I was 7 #It is Everything to me <3 #ANYWAY HAVE FUN ANON!!! So glad I managed to catch your interest with my Pokeposting lmao

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thisblogisblank · 9 months

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Ummm okay bad news: things have become a crap ton busier over on my end so I don't know if the Marro vs. Inferno thing might be coming soon (or at all if I get burnt out-) so uuhh have some incorrect Wub quotes + Edin and Marro as compensation with a few of my own little tidbits in the image descriptions and also sorry most of these are Edin and Marro bcuz idk much about your characters and I don't want to accidentally portray them wrong sorry- (some of them aren't cropped properly and I don't know if you'll even be able to see the image descriptions ffff-)

HSHSHSHSH BESTIE IT'S FINE DW!!! I totally get it, just take care of yourself alr! /Gen

Now lemme just-

1) Evergreene kins smokey bear confirmed???

2) insinuating that marro would make a pretty corpse /j

3) ME TOO MARRO, EDIN IS VERY IMPORTANT. Edin my beloved.

4) plot twist: it's actually AR!Vana's staff and she's currently going feral trying to get it back

5) I'm gonna make Marro a fursona and it's gonna be a cat /j /j

6) Afterwards Common teaches Edin how to make a cup of coffee because "I don't want anyone else to suffer the same way I just had to." (<- lying. At least partially. He's warming up to Edin but doesn't want to admit it HSHSBS-)

7) inferno: WHAT?! You got a staring problem, pal?! Piss off! *Continues cooing and purring over some random monsterling that he found.*

(also fun fact about inferno since we're here: his purring sounds like the whirring of a giant machine! Y'know, since he is one. It's also very loud, so everybody on Earth Island knows when he's in a good mood HSHSHSH-)

8) flurry really said 'be ace do crimes' huh-

9) Marro, looking up at the 75-foot feral Wubbox with molten saliva and a giant crusher-thing on his stomach: ..yeah, I could kill ya! /J

10) the best part is that Evergreene would 100% play into it too, like a grown-up going along with a kid playing pretend HSHS-

#alternate realities #HSHS I'M SORRY THAT THESE POSTS ARE ALWAYS OBSCENELY LONG #i just like talking about em :']#also you got their personalities pretty much perfect!!! I'm super impressed :0 /gen

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bluest-planet · 10 months

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Miguel O'Hara Analysis from a First Gen Latine Perspective; Crab in a Bucket.

Alright, I'm gonna start this by saying this: I am definitely not the most articulated person when it comes to explaining my thoughts. Most of this is just putting my heart on the page by relating what I saw in Miguel's behavior and just one outlook out of many layered analyses.

Anyways, here's my analysis of Miguel O'Hara and how his internalized racism and generational trauma/jealousy stands out to me, especially as a first gen mixed Latine.

Let's lay some groundwork for my perspective first! Hey, you can call me Moonie or Blue. I use it/they pronouns, proud to be queer! I'm a highschool dropout, and both of my parents were immigrants from rural and abusive families. Mexican and Salvadoran/Salvi to be clear. Have lived in poverty my entire life, and been whitewashed and forced to assimilate to keep up appearances for a good chunk of life.

I've heard bits and pieces about Miguel's comic origin, but haven't read them myself so apologies if I get some things wrong. I have seen Spiderverse 5 times so I feel like that's good enough. Anyways here's a story anecdote;

I went to Mexico not that long ago, to learn a trade from some family. Real blue collar, labor intensive, factory work. I was there for a while, and really got to marinate in what it's like to live in a country where you're not the minority anymore. I'm not targeted, I wasn't (entirely) racialized anymore. I was able to explore my family's culture more. Not that I've ever been entirely separated from it. But growing up in a white school where knowing Spanish forces you to go to English classes even though I had proved myself multiple times does something to you.

You assimilate, you're taken away from your culture. Anyone like you. It's lonely. And when you do find someone else like you, even if it's not the same country, but just latine, it's usually a fun experience to share our lives. Like a little secret between us no one else has. But as you grow and see more people, you realize how separate you are from the rest. I can't exactly relate to the latine-american experience (tm) like others do. I don't call myself Mexican or Salvi American, I don't like to. I didn't grow up that way. Ive always preferred to use the first generation. Or child of immigrants.

Miguel O'Hara is a mixed Mexican/Irish man. And from what I've seen; not all that attached to his Mexican identity either. It's made more prevalent in the movie however. He doesn't have a strong accent, he has the high cheekbones and eyes I'd recognize on a cousin. But the strong jawline and sunken face of a mixed man who's certainly not taking care of himself.

He reminds me of my cousins. Or my uncles.

He displayed a familiar rage to my own; lashing out and stressed. But it's got some sinister machismo underlaid in it. When he yells at Miles, all I see is my dad yelling at me, or myself yelling at my dad. Bc anger is the only way we knew how to communicate and express ourselves living under so much scrutiny all the damn time.

Bc yes; the spiderverse is amazingly diverse, and anyone can be the mask. But Miguel obviously doesn't really see it that way. There are exceptions. It's always come off to me how most of the maskless spiders we see have black and brown faces. And while I'm sure it's not all white. The amount of Peter Parkers. I'm sure they are the large majority. Or at least it feels like that.

Maybe he sees the spiders that aren't peters as straddling a thin line. A tenuous canonicity in a sea of Parkers. They don't break canon, but they're outliers. It just reminds me of the few black kids or brown kids I'd see in my white school. Maybe one or two in my own classes. And none of us reached out to each other often. We were left alone.

And left to be scrutinized by our white peers and teachers and school staff.

They might not say anything; but you feel that weight. That gaze on you at all times. I was lucky for being light skinned and ambiguous in my appearance. Some confused me for the few East Asian kids even. A more 'model' minority and free from more gazes able to 'pass'. Miguel is darker, but he's conventionally attractive, tall with straight hair and a sharp jawline instead of short, chubby cheeks, round face and curly hair.

I get praised for being light skinned and largely unblemished, for being skinnier than my siblings and having a more traditionally feminine fashion and hobbies. But my anger, temper, and lack of 'respect' downgrades me. My lack of education? More so.

My uncles would say;

"Well! Since you won't finish school, you might as well get a job wherever you can and support your family!"

"Yes, I'm trying my best, but I don't want to work for pennies and bad hours. A lot of places don't want to compensate me."

"How ungrateful! When we were your age, back in our day none of us were blessed to be in your position! You live in America, where you ungratefully gave up such great education and life! We were lucky to even go to elementary school! Your grandfather had us working in the fields, or fishing instead. And when we could work? We took what we could! It didn't matter if the company treated us right, paid us good, or gave us good hours, we did what we had to for the family! Your generation knows nothing of hard work!"

"But how can you have pride in that? How can you not understand how exploitative that was? Letting them work you like mules and destroy your bodies? Why did you not fight? Why would you want to suffer like that?"

"We know we were not treated right. But we have the guts to do work no one else wants to do! We're men! It's our duty to take pride in providing for the family. We break our bodies for our children and love– your parents did not do the same for you to copy our hardships. But if you won't take that opportunity given to you– then you'll face the consequences and learn your place. The companies will never treat us better; you should've been better sso you wouldn't have to face the same as us."

"So you agree? They won't change and they'll keep exploiting you or anyone else who doesn't exceed great expectations? That these companies are taking advantage of people as desperate as you to get away with it and shrugging off any attempts to unionize and make things better? They're enslaving our people. And you're just going to go along with it? Because that suffering makes you feel prideful, meaningful? Do you really just accept this shitty undeserving position in your life? All because you feel like you deserve it for the outcome of your life you had no control over?"

That is to say. My relatives could not understand why I do not fit their perception of America. Even in Mexico, where although they are poor and the majority; they idolize the US. They boast about working illegally in the US under exploitive companies to bring the mighty American dollar home. They scoff at the notion of unions, government aid and compensation bc they think those that live in the US and work in blue collar jobs are undeserving of the scraps we get for being undereducated or face institutional racism at every corner. Even in their position it reeks of classism. For them the US is a temporary shitty job to work in order to make themselves richer bc the dollar is worth more than the peso. They can't empathize with their struggling relatives across the border bc hey! The US, is amazing. Nevermind it's the exact reason why their own country and many others face the hardships that they do.

They don't realize the internalized racism in their pride. Feeling as if their lack of education and standing makes them only deserving of the worst jobs. That it's the only thing they can do right and are worth for. That anyone who doesn't succeed even after getting a better chance only deserves the same pain in order to uplift someone else's worth and has a chance. You become a lost cause; your only worth is a cog in the system and uphold the status quo. Never to question it, never to try to reach above your station after you missed your chance.

Like crabs in a bucket, they want to drag you down with them. Out of jealousy and misdirected anger. And for not meeting expectations. And for your own good, to learn your place.

Older relatives, and even immigrant parents often become extremely jealous of their children. For getting better lives they tried so hard to secure for them and for having the things they never had; or for not going through their own hardships. So they try to live vicariously through their children. Giving them great expectations to live up to bc they don't know how to compartmentalize all the racist trauma it took for them to get there and the real faceless enemy that put them through it. But their children have faces, their children are theirs– not people but property says America, and Catholic/Christian culture.

Immigrant parents love to pull the card of how indebted their children are to them, guilt trip them with their own pasts and current struggles. God forbid if you try to fight back and question the one authority and control they have over you.

Not all parents of course; But Miguel reflects this too me.

He may be more coded as being whitewashed and excluded from his culture. But he tries to fit in a curated collection he doesn't fit with. He puts up appearances as a strict, competent leader, but since he has an unremovable aspect to him that separates him from the rest- he wasn't bitten, he was mutated with a spider- which everyone makes clear to you.

Everyone makes it clear that you're not white, even when white culture is all you know having been so sanitized, defanged and removed from your own. That you wont ever fit in and must grovel for the rest of your life to make up for it. Even if it's all you've ever known.

Miguel is a spider, but he wasn't bitten so he's not a 'true' spider he tells himself. He's othered as well with what I interpret as unintentional microaggressions.

"He's like a ninja vampire but a good guy."

"you're just gonna have to shut up and trust me, I'm a good guy!" "You don't look like a good guy."

"You're like the only spiderman who isn't funny!"

"Dude are you sure you're even spiderman?"

"You're like a feisty Latina!"

"Wait, you were born here?"

"You don't look Latina!"

"Are you sure you're even Mexican if you can't speak it?"

He uses English more often, and Spanish as a quick add in. English is obviously preferred due to the fact his accent isn't all that strong and uses short repeated words or phrases.

He's violent when he first meets Miles. Throwing a trash can at him, rejecting his food, and admonishing him for something that wasn't necessarily his fault. But he does 'cool down'.

Him throwing the can reminds me of machismo, and how violent Latino men can get. It's a bad stereotype but for the movie- this struck me more as a critique of it. Enforcing some weird dominance and need to be aggressive to follow that weird expectation and allowances but also– it feels in line with who he is.

I have had more than a few rough patches being physically violent to express my anger when I couldn't win something or felt too small and had to lash out to make myself feel heard. Hitting someone, slamming doors, breaking things, yelling, and destroying things. I moved past that stage as I grew older and wasn't a child anymore. But hell. I've don't things I'm not proud of yet can't help because all my life you're told to be the model brown person. To never express rage and seem like the monster everyone is waiting for you to show. To it lies festering until you can use it behind closed doors. Latina girls aren't allowed to be visibly angry like that- and while it's expected from Latino boys, and feared when Latino men express it. Most of the time, we're not allowed to spread anger at all. Otherwise it does make us unreasonable, angry monsters.

You're not allowed to be angry or frustrated. Which only makes it worse.

I'm not excusing his actions. But his rage reminds me of my father or a relative, or even my own lashing out on a younger family member because it's so normalized to do it only to family and the young- the only excusable people to express it at without repercussions.

But then he cools down, he gets quieter, when Peter B walks in. And reminds himself of his audience and a fellow adult.

He then tried to be more rational and explains to Miles what he believes he did wrong. Tries to even relate his own trauma to convince and prep him to not put up a fight when he inevitably tells him the truth of what's to come.

"you can't ask me to just let my dad die!"

"I'm not asking."

It's a familiar emotion. When an adult, a father, a mother, an aunt, an uncle, or even a sibling tells you that something is going to happen whether you like it or not. Enforcing that will onto you for 'your own good.' Or because it's what 'has to happen."

Miguel is jealous of Miles. He got bit, he's more traditional in origin than Miguel, but he won't follow the expectations and 'bright future' he's been set up for. For 'wasting' his chance. A chance Miguel would die for. One similar to his own. As an anomaly that replaced/continued the mantle of spiderman after their original perished.

Because why would Miguel only mess with Miles now, instead of when he had a chance? If he had all this time and knew about him, why wouldn't he just cut the problem from the root earlier? Why would he let Miles live and work so hard just to restrain him for the canon even of his dad dying to pass? Why would he let Miles be this 'Original' Anomaly and run free?

Bc he knows on some level, he's spiderman too. More than he is. Miles still fulfills his position as spiderman in his verse. There's no need for Miguel to kill him or do anything other than make sure the canon still happens in that verse and then never let him escape his own world again. Nor does he likely really want to hurt/kill Miles. Honestly, it seems if Miguel had it his way from the start; Miles would have been left completely alone and isolated from ever knowing about the Spider Society at large and let him be Spiderman of his world. If he didn't know about the society he wouldn't know about the canon even and try to circumvent it and everything would have been smooth.

Bc what happens if Miguel won and kept Miles at HQ? His dad died and he's sent back to being Spiderman forever excluded from HQ? He never tries to get rid of him. And it's obvious; he never did anything to help the 42! Miles' universe beforehand either. Content to just let it be before Miles gets there. It doesn't seem like he has any plans to actually do anything about a verse missing a spiderman so long as it's not destabilizing.

He's mad that now there has to be a spiderman that took the place of one that didn't need to die; but that world still needed a spiderman Miles fulfilled. Now there's one without a spiderman too, but he can't take the spiderman from one world to the other– not when, although it's in shambles, it is still intact. He doesn't need to intervene. He just need to uphold the status quo and never question it.

He's jealous that Miles got to be a more traditional spiderman, but none of the hardship because he feels like Miles didn't do anything to deserve becoming spiderman in the first place. But if he's going to be one, then he better fit his exact mold to make it up to him. To prove he has worth in the cog. Accept the shitty hand he's been dealt and take pride in the awful like he has bc that's the only way to make him feel like he has any worth too anymore.

Miguel tried to rise above his station, he aimed for that better life. And what did it get him? Nothing. Everything was taken away from him. It was just proof by the universe telling him he did not deserve a better life than the shitty one he was dealt. He's just like my uncles, traumatized from working hard for pennies, and thinks he's deserving of it, because he wasn't educated/a traditional spiderman. And that anyone else who doesn't take the better opportunities needs to be taken down with him in shared suffering.

He sees Miles: another mixed kid, optimistic and worthy, confusingly rejecting every opportunity in the face of a little short term pain. Giving it all up bc of one small hiccup. He thinks Miles is ungrateful and greedy, wanting it all; after all he's seen what happens when you try to have it all.

In a twisted way. He thinks having his father die is the lesser evil, the smaller pain. A singular familial death is a small piece to pay for an entire stable universe and the glory spiderman brings. That by showing this reasoning to Miles, not giving him a choice and just enforcing it like he knows better than an ignorant child will save him the pain and effort. He's teaching Miles his internalized racism and trauma. Passing it down to him like it's a survival lesson. Telling him to swallow it like a bitter pill that will make him feel better. He treats Miles like getting bit was a moral failure and that he has to make up for it.

But like me to my Uncles. And Miles to Miguel, he tells him it isn't right. That thinking is wrong. This system isn't my fault. It's a bad system that needs to change so this never happens again. You don't have to suffer to succeed and survive. You don't have to accept scraps when you can reach for the full meal. You have to try for something better, no matter how hard, and fight to make things better.

Don't let sleeping dogs lie. Miguel can wallow for all Miles cares, but he isn't going to let himself lose that same fire for doing what's right and aiming for a life that he wants for himself and his friends that they actually deserve.

Elders let the status quo remain, they often feel like nothing will change, but we can't accept that otherwise nothing will actually get better, never going out of that system that beat them down. Constantly expecting the younger generation to bend to their will and experiences. Miles and Hobie make it a point to show that no, they can put up a fight and they should and shame everyone else for just accepting that false narrative blindly.

There's so much more I could get into but this is long. Like how he contradicts himself to better suit his argument and what not. I have so much to say but this was all what I've been rotating since watching the movie a ton of times. None of this even low-key touched on my issues on how he's viewed and portrayed by fans but- I hope this outlook kinda helps to humanize him? Like. Of course I know he's being unreasonable and violent/aggressive towards a kid. But at the same time, I feel like most people just see him as this angry violent person who is just on some self righteous power trip asshole instead of a complex character and TO ME- a reflection on latine elders and yet also what it's like to grow up whitewashed/undervalued and trying to bestow that trauma to a younger Latino boy as a bad way of teaching a life lesson, to assimilate him. It comes from a bad place of… not love, but just. Wanting to prepare someone for hardship and yet not questioning why he have to deal with that hardship in the first place.

Anyways good night! It's 3:30 am dear God excuse any mistakes I needed this out of my system.

#atsv #atsv analysis #spiderverse analysis #miguel o'hara #miles morales #atsv miguel #blue speaks #blue's analysis #do not clown on my post so help me god i will turn off rb and replies of someone acts stupid #anyways personal hc but Miguel is also aroace and theres nothing u can do about it taking him to the movies cousin time #he was not my initial fave or anything but theres so many uh. bsd takes or just. idk i felt like i had to say my piece on this man from my #own personal experiences #long post #that vibe u get when the family considers you a failureeeee and shares their unwarented advice/opinions #and think they know whats best for youuuuu

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sergeantsporks · 8 months

Text

Gilded Family

Rating: Teen and Up, Gen

Ch 32/?: Deep Down

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6 , Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18, Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27, Ch 28, Ch 29, Ch 30, Ch 31

In which none of the previous golden guards or wittebro died, actually, they're all fine and living happily together as one big dysfunctional family

Ao3

“Okay.” Caleb paced back and forth in front of the assembled grimwalkers, most holding light glyphs to combat the creeping night. “We’re using a buddy system. No one goes out there alone. Watch each other’s backs—he’s dangerous.”

“I’ve got a grid,” Sam announced, “I’ve divided the feasible travelable area around the house into search sectors. Kill on sight.”

“No,” Caleb corrected, shooting Sam a look, “We are not killing on sight. Auric?”

“I made some sleeping smoke bombs,” Auric piped up, holding a basket, “Try to knock him out with those if you can.”

“Don’t talk to him,” Cherry warned, “Don’t let him talk you into a corner, and don’t let him get the chance to fight you if you can. Knock him out, bring him back. Do it quick. Everyone needs to return home before the Collector’s spies start their patrol in our area, because this much movement will attract their attention.”

Alex raised their hand. “Why are we bothering dragging him back? He was a lot of trouble to keep around. If he’s run off, shouldn’t we let him stay gone? It’s not like he can get past the barrier without a concealment stone.”

“Threat level,” Meleager told them shortly, “He’s a dangerous predator in the area—not having eyes on him is worse than being inconvenienced. We already know he’s got it out for Phoenix—even if we don’t find him, he’ll come back. And he’ll kill one of our own. We need to find him before he returns on his own with a plan and possibly allies.”

“So, smoke bombs,” Caleb affirmed, “Groups of two, at least, three if you think you won’t get in each other’s way. Most of you are going to search with Sam’s grid pattern, but Horus, Venari, Meleager, and Hamlet—you four are free to form either groups of two or one group of four and try to track him or set traps. Dagger, pick your partner, and then you’re also free to track as you can whichever way you think he’s gone.”

“I call Phoenix,” Dagger said immediately.

Phoenix blinked in surprise. He’d never gotten the impression Dagger was particularly attached to him or impressed with his fighting ability—why the sudden interest?

“Don’t take any risks you don’t have to,” Caleb warned, “Everyone, most important, stay safe. If you have to choose between catching Petro or the safety of yourself and your partner, choose safety. Auric and Evelyn will be on standby. I’ll try to keep tabs on all of you with the crystal ball, so if you do get hurt, stay in once place so that I can send them to get you. Remember, back before the Collector’s spies return on their patrol route. Good luck.”

Caleb held a hand up when Phoenix approached. “Phoenix,” he said quietly, “You’ve already had a long day, and we both know Petro wants you dead most of all. If you want to sit this one out…”

“No. Meleager is right. I have to know where he is. I’ll be more stressed knowing he’s somewhere out there.” Phoenix grabbed a few sleeping smoke bombs from Auric’s basket and followed Dagger into the woods.

“I’m surprised you picked me to be your partner. Petro will be targeting me; it’s a liability to have me around.”

Dagger shrugged. “Sure. But if I pair up with someone else, it’s anyone’s guess who he’ll attack first. If I’m with you, I know he’ll go after you first in an ambush or sneak attack, so standing next to you is actually the safest option.”

That sounded more like Dagger. “Ah.”

Dagger’s eyes darted over the forest in quick, analytic movements. “Locke said he ran to the left, which means…” He wandered around the outside of the fence, wafting a light glyph over to examine the posts. “Yep. His armor scraped the fence on his way out. He seems like a ‘runs in a straight line directly to where he wants to go’ kind of fellow. Question is… where… would he…” Dagger moved through the trees, nudging brush aside and checking all of the trees. “Mm. Okay. This way.”

Phoenix squinted. “I can’t see anything—and wouldn’t he cover his tracks?” Even in a hurry, Petro wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave an obvious trail.

“Yeah. He did. But that leaves its own mark and trail—you just have to know how to look. Which you obviously don’t. Come on. And stay quiet. I’d rather sneak up on him than the reverse.”

Phoenix kept on Dagger’s heels, his feet finding the spaces without leaves or sticks as naturally as if he’d never left the coven. The forest was too silent, too still. Phoenix wondered if the Collector’s spies had turned even the bugs that were usually around into puppets.

Dagger muttered something to himself, then pointed. “There.”

Phoenix squinted. Just barely, he could make out a patch of darkness built into the forest—a cave. No, a burrow? Some kind of passage that dug down and out, well camouflaged by brush and a fallen tree. “Are you sure?”

“That’s where the trail goes.”

Phoenix shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense—he’d be cornered in there. Unless there’s a back door-?”

“He might have just been looking for a temporary hiding space,” Dagger suggested, “He’d be trapped, but he’d also only have one entrance to watch out for. If he’s confident that he can handle anything as long as it doesn’t surprise him—which he seems like the type of guy to believe—then he might have picked it because there’s only one entrance. Or, yeah. Maybe there’s a back door.” Dagger wafted the light in. “After you.”

“Should we just toss in the smoke bombs and go in after they’re done putting him to sleep?”

“Don’t know how deep it is. Or if any turns or dips would complicate it. We don’t even know if he’s still in there. Just go. Or are you squeamish about tight spaces as well as heights?”

“Worst kept secret in the house,” Phoenix grumbled, but he pushed ahead. Even in the low light, he could see fairly well ahead, and when he glanced back at Dagger, the other grimwaker’s eyes gleamed, reflecting the light of the glyph. The walls started to become less dirt and more stone as they went along—whatever puppeted creature had dug this tunnel had gone deep. Ahead, Phoenix saw another gleam—this one the shimmer of gold.

The mask—or his armor.

Phoenix closed his hand over the light glyph, dousing it to a dull pink glow from his fist. He blinked, waiting for his eyes to adjust, then continued forward, slowing his breathing until he could barely hear it himself.

A fire flared up, and Petro swung a fist at Phoenix. He was difficult to look at in the sudden light, his armor and the mask Phoenix had left with him catching the rays and reflecting them like a beacon in the darkness.

Phoenix skipped backwards, reaching for the smoke bomb, but Petro was reaching for something, too, a glass bottle sloshing with golden liquid. Phoenix’s eyes widened.

“DAGGER, GET DOWN,” he yowled. He lunged forward, trying to tackle Petro and grab the bottle before he could use it, but Petro threw it to the ground as hard as he could just seconds before he could make it.

The bottle exploded, and the burrow above them rumbled. Phoenix flew backwards, propelled by the blast, and instinctively, he reached out, looking for any handhold. His hand cracked into stone, and he pulled forward as the walls caved in around him. His free hand came up, and claws of cursed mud broke stone into pebbles before it could crush him.

Still, the world heaved and twisted, and when it finally stopped moving, a thin layer of dirt and rocks covered him. Phoenix pushed himself up, coughing and spitting out dirt. The way behind him had collapsed, leaving a heap of stone rubble titan only knew how deep.

“Dagger?” he croaked, then cleared his throat, swallowing. “Dagger!” he called, brushing himself off, “Can you hear me?”

A faint whine of distress came from somewhere in the rubble. “I’m stuck,” Dagger’s voice came, muffled from the rock, and wobbly with worry. “I’m stuck, I’m stuck, I’m—”

“Dagger—listen, Dagger, take a deep breath—”

“Phoenix, I can’t move!”

Phoenix put his hands on the rubble—his fingers were still stuck as claws, and they rippled uneasily, but they weren’t burning yet, surprisingly. Maybe eating a proper breakfast really had helped. “Listen—deep breaths, if you can. What’s trapped? Where are you pinned?”

“Um.” A loud, shaky, hysterical laugh. “Um. My leg is—I can’t see it—I can’t see anything—” The rubble started to glow slightly. “Got a glyph. Uh. My—head and shoulders aren’t pinned, they’re out in the tunnel and—and I think I’ll be able to clear away what’s on my chest, but waist down—Phoenix, I’m trapped. I can’t feel my—my legs, I can’t—”

“Okay. Okay, deep breaths, Dagger, deep breaths. Let me see if I can…” Phoenix pulled some of the stones away, and the cavern shifted again, rumbling. “…not do that.”

Phoenix heard a groan, and he whirled around. Petro extracted himself from a pile of rubble, cradling one arm to his chest. Part of the mask had shattered, embedding shards of gold above his right eye, sending blood trickling down. He dragged himself to the wall, breathing heavily.

“Petro’s awake,” Phoenix said quietly.

“Smoke bomb.”

Phoenix shook his head. “Too close. It’ll get us, too, and I don’t know who will wake up first. Dagger—I’m going to keep on through the tunnel. See if there is a back door.”

“What?!”

“I’ll come back with help if there’s another way out,” Phoenix promised, “Or I’ll come back this way and we’ll figure something else out.”

“Don’t leave,” Dagger begged, “I’m sorry I used you as a shield, I’m sorry, don’t leave me alone, don’t—”

“Dagger—Dagger.” Phoenix felt sick at the panic in the other grimwalker’s voice (and the apology that must mean he was truly frantic), but he kept talking anyway. “If I stay, we’re going to be stuck here until we starve—or run out of oxygen. I don’t know a way to move those rocks yet, and—”

The glint of glass caught Phoenix’s eye, and he lunged forward, hooking another explosion potion out of Petro’s hand with his foot and gently popping it into the air. He caught the bottle neatly and tucked it in his pocket. “Stop that. How many of those did you take from Sam’s lab, anyway?”

Petro didn’t answer, just glared at him. Phoenix shook his head, returning to the pile of rocks. “I’ll come back, or I’ll send someone who can handle this better—hey, Dagger, you’re not going to stay trapped. I’m leaving, but I’m not abandoning you. Okay?”

He heard a sharp inhale. “Okay. Is Petro still out there?”

Phoenix glanced over. His predecessor still stared daggers at him, but in a somewhat woozy way. “Yeah.”

“Keep your eye on him.”

“Will do.”

Phoenix marched over to Petro. His arm was definitely broken—his forearm bore a bump that hinted at a clean, full break. And whatever had hit him hard enough to break his mask must have given him a head wound nastier than just the cuts from the shards of gold.

As he approached, Petro swung at Phoenix with his good arm. “Stay back!”

Phoenix leaned back to avoid the blow, ducking in closer. He reached for Petro’s mask, dodging another blow. “Sto—quit trying to hit me, I’m trying to help you.”

“Liar.”

Phoenix caught Petro’s good wrist in one hand and removed the mask with the other. The entire right side of his face was mottled green and purple from bruises, but the shards in his skin seemed to be stopping most of the bleeding, with only a little blood oozing out around them.

The fist of Petro’s broken arm started to clench, as if Petro was going to take a swing with it, but when he tried to lift it, he hissed in pain.

“Just…” Phoenix tossed the mask to the side. Some good reminder gift it had been. “Okay. If you give me your belt, I think we can make a decent sling for your arm.”

Petro eyed him. “What’s your game?”

“I just want to get out of here, and I don’t trust you not to stab me in the back or kill Dagger if I leave you alone. Belt.”

“Then just kill me,” Petro said roughly, “Say it happened in the collapse.”

Phoenix sighed. “I’m not killing you.”

“Why not? I’m a liability. Not just to your safety, but your whole family’s well-being. The smartest thing to do would be to eliminate the threat.” Petro snorted. “But then, I guess you’re too soft and pathetic to do it, huh?”

Phoenix had to admit, strangling him was starting to look pretty tempting.

“I don’t kill people,” he said tersely, “Not since I stopped listening to Belos.”

“You won’t even kill to protect the people you care about? I guess you don’t actually like them all that much. Or maybe you just hate yourself. You know that I will try to kill you again, right?”

This conversation wasn’t going anywhere productive any time soon. “Yeah, I know.” Phoenix opened and closed his hand. “Belt. Last chance or you walk out of this cave with nothing stabilizing that arm.”

Petro scrambled to his feet, wincing. “I don’t want your help.”

Phoenix eyed him up and down. “And you think I’m the pathetic one.”

“Because you are. You don’t have the stomach to do what you need to do.

Phoenix started down the burrow, keeping an eye on Petro as he followed. “You know, at first I was scared of you. Scared that you’d hurt me, or tear apart my family. Then I was angry about what you’d done. And now…”

“Oh, do tell.”

Phoenix shook his head. “Now, I think I just pity you.”

“There’s nothing to pity,” Petro snarled, “I’m better than you. I’m not a turncoat and a traitor.”

“For what?! What? Look at you! You’re injured, you’re alone, you’re obsessed with killing me to the point where it’s just sad, and for what? The approval of a dead man who never cared about you anyway?”

“You don’t get it. You don’t know what it was like between the two of us. You don’t know what he did for me!”

Phoenix threw his hands up in the air. “Then explain!” he shouted, his voice echoing through the burrow, “You’re right, I don’t get it! Explain what he possibly could have done for you to be so blindly devoted, even after everything he did!”

Petro stayed silent for long enough that Phoenix was almost certain he was sulking again, but then, “It was my caretaker.”

“What?”

“The lullaby. When you invaded my memories. The person you heard was my caretaker.”

“Your caretaker?”

“You got put in an orphanage. I got dumped with one of Belos’ civilian followers. A supporter, but not part of his army. She was just supposed to make sure I survived. Keep me fed, clothed, housed, everything I needed to live. She wasn’t supposed to care about me, or be kind, just… keep me alive until Belos came for me.” Petro shrugged. “She cared anyway. If there was ever a time where she did what she was ordered and kept herself distant, I don’t remember it.”

“What happened to her?” Phoenix was horribly certain he already knew the answer, but the question came anyway.

“She was murdered,” Petro said roughly, “A group of wild witches found out she supported Belos and came after her. She hid me, so I escaped their notice, but she wasn’t so lucky. And I was out on the streets.”

Phoenix hissed in. “Hey… are you sure it wasn’t—”

“It wasn’t Belos,” Petro snapped, “I read the diary, little bird, and it wasn’t planned. He was furious that he lost track of me after that; I was three years too early. Whatever you think now, whatever you believe about Belos and his enemies, the wild witches weren’t perfect little saintly martyrs. They hit back. I’m sure most of the other kids at your little orphanage could attest.”

“Okay, so you have some kind of reason to hate wild witches,” Phoenix admitted, “But Belos-!”

“I was a powerless kid trying to survive on my own. You think you had it bad in your little orphanage? Try fighting with rats to survive. Belos’ supporters, wild witches—it didn’t matter. None of them helped, or even gave me a second glance. Until he showed up.”

“And offered you power,” Phoenix finished, “A life where people didn’t look down on you. Magic, the ability to fight, everything you never had.”

Petro snorted. “He offered me magic, yeah. But he gave me something far more important; the chance for revenge. My first mission? To find the witches that killed her and eliminate them. And I did. I never would have been able to do it without him. I would have died on the streets, and her murderers would have gone free.”

Petro brushed past Phoenix, forging on ahead on his own. “I’ve tried the soft little family life you people keep telling me I should want, and it was destroyed in the blink of an eye. I owe him for giving me the tools to avenge it, and to keep living without it. So don’t tell me to just turn on him. He gave me everything.”

“Don’t you think you’ve more than repaid that debt?” Phoenix asked softly, “He’s dead. It’s over. You don’t have to define your life by what he wants, and you don’t have to keep trying to kill me out of some—some misguided attempt to win his favor back. Your caretaker—I think she’d want you to be happy.”

“Don’t tell me what she would have wanted. It’s not over. It can’t be over.” Petro’s good hand curled into a fist. “He was the only one who understood me, and he’s the only one who ever gave a second thought about me after she died. You and your family just want me to change—he was the only one who liked me the way I am. Even if he’s gone, I’m not going to abandon his memory. He cared about me; maybe he chose you then, but given the chance again, I know he’d choose me.”

That was probably true. Still, it struck a hollow chord in Phoenix. Belos had started him out on a path of revenge from the very beginning—no wonder he felt like he had no other options.

Petro stepped into moonlight, and Phoenix’s eyes widened. A way out?

But when he joined Petro, he wanted to slam his head into the wall in frustration. The burrow ended at a pit, too deep for Phoenix to reach the edge.

“Where now, o fearless leader?” Petro snarked, “Are you going to become a full bird and fly out?”

“I—this is your fault!” Phoenix sputtered, “You’re the one who collapsed the cavern in on us and blocked the exit!”

“Well, I was planning on it killing you!”

“And how were you going to get out? Huh?”

Petro didn’t respond to that, but something about the silence felt melancholy, rather than angry or skulking.

“…Petro? Did you have a plan to get out?”

“Like I said,” Petro said roughly, “The one person who cared about me is dead. Killing you is pretty much the only thing I’ve got left.”

Despite the threat of it, Phoenix felt a spark of pity and a twinge of horror. “Oh.” He twisted his hair around between his fingers. “You have got to find a better hobby. I’m sure we can think of something.”

Petro snorted. “You wish. Doesn’t matter. We’ll both die in this pit. And your little friend back there will die thinking you abandoned him.”

No.

I won’t abandon anyone else.

Phoenix examined the walls of the pit. “…If you gave me a boost, I think I could get out. If I stood on your shoulders, maybe?”

“And give you the chance to run off and leave me here? No. You can give me a boost.”

“Absolutely not,” Phoenix said immediately, “You will definitely leave me to die. I promise I’ll get you out, or send someone after you.”

“Yeah? And why should I believe you?”

“Because between the two of us, you’re the only one who has a history of trying to murder the other.”

“Exactly why you would want to leave me to die.”

“We already established that I’m not going to kill you!”

“Letting me die and killing me aren’t the same thing. I’m pretty sure even your delicate sensibilities would be able to ‘forget’ me here.” Petro pointed to his arm. “I don’t know how you’re expecting me to give you a boost, anyway. I’m not exactly working at my full potential, here. If I were…”

“I’d be dead, yes, yes, I get it. I’m still not letting you run off without me.”

“Well I’m not letting you run off without me.” Petro gave him a smug look. “And I know you’re going to boost me up, because of the two of us, you’re more willing to trust, and we both know that I’m not. So if you want to get out of here, you’re going to have to trust me.”

“I don’t.” Phoenix eyed the top of the pit again. He wasn’t entirely wrong—Phoenix knew Petro would never bend. “…Okay, I’ll boost you up. But I’m holding onto your ankle, so you better be strong enough to haul both of us out.”

“What?!”

“I’m compromising. If you don’t like it, you can let me stand on your shoulders and just trust that I’m not as murderous as you.” Phoenix crossed his arms. “And if you try to kick me, I will dig claws into your ankle so you can’t run off.”

Not that he actually thought he could make the curse work for him enough to do that, but Petro didn’t have to know that.

“Fine. Fine! I’ll take your compromise, little bird. But if we both fall back down because you’re clinging to my ankle, I might forget my arm’s broken and strangle you.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s on the agenda anyway.” Phoenix made a cradle with his hands. “Let’s go.”

Petro stepped into his hands, then up on his shoulders. Phoenix wobbled to his feet, clutching Petro’s ankles tightly. His predecessor reached for the top of the pit, but before he could touch it, Phoenix heard a sound that made his blood run cold.

Drip

Deep inside Phoenix, a fear sparked, shuddering up from his fingertips. Something more than a normal panic, something different, like every cell in his body wanted to flee. A deep, primal terror that started in his arms and worked its way through him. Something slithered—no, dragged itself around in the darkness outside, something heavy and dripping wet. And even though Phoenix had only ever heard the sound across stone hallways rather than leaves and dirt, he recognized it immediately. He stumbled back away from the edge of the pit, Petro tumbling from his shoulders and down to the ground with a yelp and a hiss of pain.

“No,” Phoenix whispered, backing towards the tunnel, “No, that’s impossible, that’s—”

Petro’s eyes lit up with an eerie, feverish glow. “Yes,” he breathed, “It is! HEY!” he shouted, “Hey, over here!”

“No!” Phoenix hissed. He retreated fully into the tunnel and out of sight as a horribly familiar face peered over the edge of the pit. His arms shifted and roiled, as if terrified of their original self—or maybe trying to return to it and leave Phoenix.

Belos was falling apart. Phoenix could see bone through shifting mud, and the emperor dragged himself along the ground on his belly, rather than walking.

But he was alive.

How was he alive?! The Collector had turned him into a grease spot! He’d fallen completely apart—how was he here? And, Phoenix realized with mounting horror, how had he not seen him when they’d gone to rescue Ghost? Where had he been hiding all this time?

Petro tilted his face up. “Wow. I told you that you needed me—didn’t think you’d fall apart quite so literally, though. You look awful, old man.”

“Yes, because you seem to be in wonderful shape yourself, golden guard,” Belos snapped back.

“Better than you left me.”

Belos’ expression shifted, his eyes darting to the side, then back to Petro. Phoenix shuddered. He recognized that look—he’d never been able to see it before, but now, looking from the outside, he could tell. That was the face Belos made right before he said something that would twist your insides around, something that would make you want to help him no matter what he’d done.

“But yes, I suppose you were right,” Belos said in that horrible, kind, oozing voice he could turn on at a moment’s notice, “I need you, Hunter. Now more than ever. You were the exact guard I needed—the exact guard I wanted. Had I known that sooner, we could have avoided all of this… unpleasantness.” Belos extended a hand down into the pit. “What do you say we rebuild our empire… together. As it should be. Just… you and I.”

No, Phoenix wanted to scream, No, it’s a trap. Don’t trust him, don’t go back. But all he could do was watch in silent horror as Petro’s face split into a wide grin.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Petro grasped Belos’ hand, and Belos seemed to… flow down his arm, sinking into cuts and scrapes. Phoenix put a hand to his mouth, holding his breath as he watched. Petro’s broken arm snapped back into place, and his cuts scabbed over with green mud. Petro twitched, his hands turning to claws that ripped through his gloves, then back to his regular hands. He shuddered one more time, then went still, his back straightening into a regal, commanding posture. Petro did a slow turn, and Phoenix pressed his back against the tunnel wall to avoid his gaze, now glowing an eerie blue.

“Ah,” he said in a voice that was somehow Petro’s and Belos’, like two instruments playing over each other, “That’s better. Now… let’s see if we can’t get up to that floating monstrosity. I think it’s about time we paid our old friend the Collector a visit.”

Petro’s—Petro? Belos? Betro? Pelos?–arms lengthened, roping to the top of the pit and hauling him—them?–out. Phoenix ran back out into the pit, barely able to see the two disappear into the dark trees. “No!”

He couldn’t let Belos get to the Collector—and he couldn’t let him… Phoenix shuddered. What had happened to Petro? Was he even still in there? Or had Belos killed him? Was he going to do that to the Collector? Or King? Phoenix felt sick at the thought, his stomach writhing like a bag of snakes.

“Deep breaths,” he murmured out loud, “Deep—wait… no.”

If he did nothing, the Collector would get hurt. King would get hurt, Darius would get hurt. And what if Belos could see Petro’s memories, the way that Phoenix could see Belos’? That would lead him straight to the family.

Phoenix’s arms shifted uneasily, the tips of his fingers turning to claws. Instead of banishing his spiraling thoughts, Phoenix let them continue, running the same track over and over in his mind.

They’re going to get hurt

All of them are going to die.

His arms bubbled, making the complete turn and staying mud instead of flickering back and forth while his chest heaved in short pants of air.

Phoenix ran at the wall, jumping and sinking his claws into the side of the pit. His hands cracked into stone, and he hauled himself up, digging his claws in a foot higher.

Again.

Phoenix slowly hauled himself out of the pit, panting. Early morning light started to filter through the trees, staining everything a dark red.

Phoenix didn’t need to track Petro/Belos. He knew which way they’d gone—right to the head. He leapt over logs and ducked through silent trees as if he’d lived in the woods his whole life, his heart pounding in his throat.

Find them

Stop them

He heard the sound of one of Collector’s stars buzzing through the air, and without thinking, he reached out, his arm elongating and his claws wrapping around the star’s point. He whipped his arm around, and the star went flying, slamming into the trees with a splintering crunch.

The attack barely slowed him down at all, and he raced out of the forest, skidding down a steep hill. More stars whirred towards him, their red eyes blinking menacingly. They surrounded Phoenix, and he twisted to dodge their beams.

I can’t get caught. Not here.

Phoenix lashed out, slamming one into the ground with a single strike. Another, he seized, swinging it through the air like an oversized shuriken and slamming it point first into the other stars. One by one, they dropped beneath his onslaught, until he was left standing in a circle of weakly sputtering stars. The cursed mud he’d left inched back towards him, crawling off the stars. Phoenix’s head spun for a second, and his legs wobbled, but he shook himself. He had to keep going. He had to��

“Hey, Phoenix!” A girl’s voice called from the top of the hill, “Do you remember me? Probably not, but I’ve got someone here who you will recognize!”

Oddly enough, Phoenix almost did recognize her voice. He slowly turned around, trying to remember where he’d heard it before, squinting at the top of the hill. At the crest stood a brown-haired girl that he vaguely recognized as a Hexside student Hunter had pointed out to him. And next to her…

Phoenix squinted. That wasn’t possible. It had to be some other blonde, medium sized…

But no, even from down here, Phoenix could recognize that nose, and the haircut. Somehow, some way, he’d found a way back. Tears sprang into Phoenix’s eyes, and his throat closed up, only letting out a strangled whisper.

“Jason?”

#toh #the owl house #gilded family au #toh fanfiction #my writing #golden guard oc #broken bone

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ursae-minoris-world · 16 days

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20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @starlightvld- thank you!!! ☺️

1. How many works do you have on A03? 42! (neat!)

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 140,503!

3. What fandoms do you write for? Mostly vld. I have a Good Omens fic and always want to write more and a few fandom that I'm tempted to write for, but I'm still very much in vld.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? - Breaking point (vld, sheith) ; A little mouse told me (vld, sheith); Flowers and Blood (vld, sheith); A cure to loneliness (Good Omens, ineffable husbands)

This gets long so I'm adding the rest under a read more!!

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes! I do! Sometimes I can take a little long but I really enjoy talking with my readers!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Just a call... (vld, gen) I think! It's an open ending, but it ends up on a frustrating note (which was the point).

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Oh man, they almost always have a happy or at least hopeful ending. Let's go with A little mouse told me (vld, sheith).

Oh, hey, fun anecdote! Someone commented on Stay with me (vld, sheith) to tell me it was the 200,000th work in the "happy ending" tag! They had just witnessed the tag going up to that number with my fic!

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not so far, thankfully. (Happened once on fanart though, but it was just one dumb comment by an anti).

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I haven't so far, I'm not really interested in writing it (never say never, though!).

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Well, I did 2 fairly recently for a crackship event! It was loads of fun. The craziest might be A Mysterious French Chef, which started as a Hunk&Remy idea, but ended up involving Hunk, Allura and the space mice for vld, and Linguini, Colette, and Remy for Ratatouille, and everyone interacting pretty significantly. I really loved mashing the 2 universes, and for something that started as a "crack" idea, it ended up working surprisingly well!!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of. I've had some original (anonymous) poems that I cowrote with a friend plagiarized down to using our actual pseudonym, but that wasn't in fandom or even online!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? I don't think so.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes! Five times Shiro broke the rules, and one time Keith did with VirdisDrachen (vld, Shiro&Keith). It's based on a roleplay. Other than that, while it's mostly an artist+writer big bang collaboration, I think Square_Orange and I did discuss the plot a fair amount for Let It Snow! (vld, sheith).

I also have 2 fics that are remixes of other people's work, done for the sheith remix event : When you lived! (the “Enormous, within your small hands” remix) inspired by a fic by @annaofaza, and High Score! (the “I want us forever” remix) inspired by a fic by Tragedy_Machine.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? To no-one's surprise: sheith.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I am fairly good at finishing my wips, even if I do have some stuff that has been waiting for a while. I still have my notes about Keith grieving Shiro between s2 and s3 and how the team tried to support him and each other but how things became tense, that I wrote just after s3 aired! I still hope to get to it one day!

There's also the collab with VirdisDrachen tbh because we dropped the rp after a while and I wouldn't finish this alone. So I'm afraid this one will stay as is.

16. What are your writing strengths? I think I'm good with dialogues and characterization? Themes like friendship, found family are my jam, too. Of course it's subjective.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I am learning, but action and fight scenes are *hard*. (But I also love them? haha). On the exact opposite side, stories with very low stakes are sometimes hard to write, when it's just 100% fluff and no conflict, unless it's like, a short scene... It's easier with some emotional or romantic build up (ex mutual pining > getting together) but otherwise I really have to *think* to plot the fic. I'm so used to stories centered around conflict (in the literary sense, including inner conflict, not necessarily an actual fight).

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I agree with @starlightvld that if it's a language that I'm not personally fluent in, I'd look for a native speaker who might want to help or avoid it. Except maybe for conlangs, like Sindarin or Klingon. Although if I ever write in a fandom with something like that, I would f*cking love to get insight from one of these people who actually studied them and are fluent. In a more general way, I'd be cautious that it actually brings something to the story, that it makes sense to use the language that way, and to do it in a way that doesn't confuse readers too much (unless I am purposefully writing for those who know the language, I guess). I will say that I do love different languages to be aknowledged, like for vld fics that actually dig into the paladins having different languages, and the Galra and Altean also, and so on (ex fics where they have universal translators and then there are issues when they break or they can't rely on them for whatever reason).

19. First fandom you wrote for? Voltron! My first fic was a Hunk-centric gen fic, While some count sheep, and I'm still really fond of it!

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? Oh, that's hard, I like them all for different reasons. I do enjoy Carry me away for the sheith saving each other vibes. A little mouse told me (sheith written from the space mice pov) was such a fun exploration! Honestly, the most kudosed ones in question 4 are all fics I am proud of. To chose a lesser known one, I also love A special day , a vld gen Hunk-centric fic!

Tagging... @sodomhipped, @tomatocages, @an-aphorism @museaway @jacqulinetan @levyscripts @annaofaza and whoever wants to do this!

(also no pressure at all if you are tagged!)

#writing #ursae answers #memes #fanfiction #sheith #voltron #good omens #ineffable husbands #vldGen

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milkteamoon · 4 months

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20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @shinyopals thank youuuu

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 42!

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 340,042

3. What fandoms do you write for? Currently and primarily The Magnus Archives — I only rarely write for multiple fandoms at a time. In the past I've written for Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun, Deltarune, Victoria's Electric Coffin......a friend and I used to write OC/Black Butler crossover fics in like, middle school lol

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Cicada Summar (JSHK, rated T, gen) — Pre-canon JSHK backstory fic

No Sort of Name for People Like Us (TMA, rated T, jmart) — mid s3 practice kissing fic

Our Own Personal Hell (TMA, rated T, jmart) — s2 time loop shenanigans

Tongue to Teeth (TMA, rated T, jmart) — victorian monster hunting au

Check Each Box That Applies (TMA, rated T, jmart) — s2 lunch dates and personal discussions

Cicada Summer was posted at the height of JSHK fandom popularity, so I don't think that one is super representative of my "best" fics, though I do think that No Sort of Name is pretty good haha

5. Do you respond to comments? I do my best to!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Prooobably Hazy Days of December...I got a lot of people yelling at me for that one haha (even if I don't think it's too bad? It's open ended at least)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Umm I'm not sure! I think most of my fics are happy endings...maybe Worth More Than All the Silence

8. Do you get hate on fics? I've gotten a few weird comments but I don't think I've ever gotten anything outright hateful

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I've written a few fics but must of my smut stays in the Google docs. My asexual ass likes things more focused on the humorous lead up and/or kink than the actual sex part haha

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I think the closest thing I've written to a crossover is the doctor who au I wrote earlier this year — I don't really write proper crossovers :,)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Don't think so!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Me and @indigosienna attempted to write a collab fic back in 2020, but we both ended up falling off of it before we finished (oops). The first chapter is still good though I think!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? HARD question, but jmart and hananene both have very special places in my heart

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Too many fic ideas to list haha

16. What are your writing strengths? I think I'm pretty good at humor and getting into a character's head. Also love writing an emotionally charged scene

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Dialogue heavy scenes are the WORST (writing dialogue tags without sounding stupidly repetitive...shaking my fist at the sun). Also forever complaining about editing

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I don't know any other languages well enough to do so

19. First fandom you wrote for? I have vague memories of writing warrior cats fanfiction waaaaay back in the day

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? This is a haaaaard question but currently I'd have to say 1. Learning the Ropes — I originally started this for the RQ big bang in June and didn't make it to the deadline, so it felt like a big accomplishment to actually finish it. Plus I just really like delving into that era of canon and Jon and Martin's whole not-quite-dating shtick they have going on. And 2. Tongue to Teeth — I really love this fic and this au and I was noooot at all expecting the love for it I ended up getting on it. I love this silly au and I'm glad others do as well :,)

Not sure who has been tagged so! Sorry for any repeats! @rakel-on-ao3 @asleeb @thatsrightdollface @crit20lesbian @phynoma @lo-fi-charming @pinehutch @cnnmonbimee

#tag game #thank youuu for the tag opal. these are always fun to do :)

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ssa-atlas-alvez · 1 year

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5 times the brothers competed against each other and one time they acted as a team. With something to do with Hotch, Jack & son! Reader, please ?

Dad fluff; both of them helping out when they see him at a low point :0 (mere alt idea, do what you wish tho uwu/gen) /nf

Also the werewolf!reader fic? Absolute love, it was hilarious at the end lmao — please do remember that if the request is too much, your requests are closed or you just don't feel like it, don't feel pressured to do it! Stay hydrated, have a nice day and keep your head up! uwu

A/N: credit to loud House for the +1 operation name idea/inspiration

You were twins, both highly competitive in nature and it drove your dad up the wall. The team however, found it absolutely hilarious. Here are just a few examples of the mischief you and Jack have gotten up to over the years:

"Race you down the stairs!" You exclaim, bolting off down the BAU stairs. You laugh, hearing Jack protest and your dad sighing deeply trying to call after you to stop.

Care flying out the window, you sprint down the stairs. Thankfully, you appeared to have good spatial awareness. Jack was only a few stairs behind you, so you let gravity do its work. Soon enough, you're on the last set of stairs. Your ankle gives way and you tumble down the remaining stairs.

Morgan, who just walked into the hall, approaches you in concern. "You okay, kid?" You grin up at him.

"Yeah! I won!"

"That's no fair!" Jack exclaims, making it down the stairs, "I didn't know falling counted! I could have fallen a few floors ago!"

"Whatever, you're just jealous, loser!"

"Oh thank God you're both okay," Aaron mumbles, finally catching up to the pair of you.

"I won."

"You also fell down the stairs,"

"I call it tactical thinking,"

Wrestling. An amazing sport that both you and Jack were obsessed with at the age of twelve. Something had possessed the pair of you to wrestle in the halls - both claiming you'd be the one who would win.

It ended up being a tie, two teachers separating you and walking you to the principal's office with a phone call to your dad. None of the teachers seemed to care that you weren't fighting per se, but competing for your homemade championship belt.

"I bet I'll get a higher score on the maths test than you."

"What?" You scoffed, looking at Jack. "We both know I'm better at maths than you!"

"Yeah, then prove it!"

Whilst Aaron didn't usually approve of your competitive nature towards each other, if it got you both a good math grade (and you were still sleeping, eating, etc), he wasn't going to complain. Jack had won in the end.

"I would totally run a marathon faster than you."

"Bull. Shit." You responded.

"Language," Your dad called, looking over his shoulder.

"Prove it." Jack said. "Come on. Let's join dad in his next marathon. Whoever wins has to buy the other a comic."

"Deal." You both shake hands, Aaron hangs his head in defeat in the background.

You both train effortlessly. When marathon day rolls around, the entire team show up to support you both (and Aaron, but mostly you two). You're both shooting cheap insults at each other up until the start of the race. After the race, however, you're not as energetic - you do both manage the occasion 'idiot' to each other, but that's about it.

When the results are in, however, you're immediately full of energy - you had beaten him by a whole thirty seconds.

"I bet I could take you in a fight," You said, turning to Jack. You were watching the BAU have a rare brush-up on their self-defence and since your dad was taking part, you had to come along and watch. Your dad didn't exactly feel like he could trust you home alone at the minute as the last time you and Jack were left alone, the house ended up in complete chaos from your baking competition (who could bake the most cookies before dad got back - that one was a tie as the kitchen caught on fire).

"Oh god..." Aaron mumbles to himself before he looks on the bright side, at least here he could make sure neither of you died - and it wasn't at school (again).

+ 1

"Dad's sad," You look up from your text book.

"What?"

"Dad's sad," Jack said, "He phoned me to let me know the team had just finished the case and were just boarding the jet and he sounded defeated. I don't think it went well."

You close the text book, biology could wait. "Okay, Operation 'Work together to make dad less stressed and also think of a shorter name' is a go!" You exclaimed. "Up first on the agenda: tidying. Quickly clean rooms and then living room? We can clean the kitchen last and then make dinner."

"My room's already clean," Jack said, rolling his eyes. "I'll start the living room while you deal with this," He motioned vaguely at the growing pile of clothes on your floor. You scoop them up, placing them in the laundry basket - they would go into the wash as soon as you finished cleaning your room.

It took about twenty minutes and then you're joining Jack in the living room, washing on. When that was done, you both made your way out, Jack into the kitchen and you to put the laundry into the dryer. The kitchen is cleaned in thirty minutes and you both begin to cook.

Admittedly, being only fifteen, you weren't the best chefs, but you tried your best. Besides, you may or may not have phoned Rossi for pasta advice (you both hoped he kept it a secret from your dad).

And so, by the time Aaron got home, dinner was nearly ready. You both greet him at the door and Aaron is immediately suspicious.

"What have you done?"

"Cooked dinner," Jack answered with a shrug.

"We phoned Uncle Dave for some pasta advice, don't worry," You added, "Jack said it sounded like the case was a bad one, so we pulled together to make things a bit easier for you tonight,"

"So you've not been suspended for wrestling in the halls again?"

"What? No," Jack laughed.

"Wrestling is so last year anyway, dad. It's all MMA fighting now,"

"Please don't joke about that," Aaron chuckled, "I don't think I could deal with that phone call."

#aaron hotchner #jack hotchner #y/n hotchner #jack and y/n are twins #derek morgan #david rossi #jennifer jareau #emily prentiss #penelope garcia #spencer reid #sibling rivalry

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muse-rising · 4 months

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How to Name Your Dragon

AKA: How I spent the last hour and a half of my life on something that should be simple and straight-forward. Specifically, this dragon (who is not finished yet):

My new(ish), Solstice-hatched gen 1 with all gem genes and eyes (cries in that's all my current funds).

1. Stare at your dragon in their final state. Try to figure out the vibes they give you. Tip: Use their hatchdate for inspiration. 2. Websearch for names that mean things the dragon makes you think of: names that mean something relevant to the dragon's appearance, theme, or hatchdate. Check out a few of the resulting (usually baby naming) sites that pop up. 3. Write down possibilities as you come across them. I do this in the dragon's bio. 4. Play with some of the names and sounds to try a few of your own creation too. Or combinations of meaningful names. 5. Stare at the dragon's picture some more while trying each name out loud. Pit them against each other to the death. Last name standing wins. 5a. This sometimes involves cross-referencing the meaning of each name because some of these sites are literally just making it up rather than giving you the actual meaning from the actual origin. 6. Do a little spot research on the name source (ie language, fictional work, mythology, and or country of origin. 6a. This sometimes provides inspiration to plop down for creating some lore later. Either way it just makes sense to at least learn a little about the source before you use it. 7. Remember that there was a thematically appropriate pendant or something Galadriel gave Frodo on the whole "Light in the darkness" theme your Solstice dragon has going on.

8. Research Galadriel looking for the name of the thing. 9. Find pretty names and words in that research you might use, research those to see if they're appropriate. 10. Increase your in-depth knowledge of Galadriel and Tolkien's possible folk and myth inspirations on elves as angels. 11. Find what you're looking for and realize that name's not right. 12. End up researching Luthien/Tinuviel (forgot how I got here lol) to learn a little more about her than just the basics. 13. Realize while you like the meaning of "nightingale" for your dragon, Tinuviel doesn't seem to really suit them. 14. Check Silmarils just in case they might yield a gem or two and because you're only aware of the basics. 15. Go back to nightingale. Look up more names that mean nightingale. 16. Cross reference those in case the source is making things up. 17. Highlight the Latin "Luscinia" from nightingale wikipedia. It's a good one. 18. Research the symbolism of nightingale for both lore inspiration and verification it suits the dragon meaning-wise. 19. Read a pretty line by a poet named Percy Shelley. 20. Look him up before officially quoting it in the bio to make sure he's not a horrible creep. 21. Discover he was into political justice and free love way before the US went wild for it in the 60s and 70s and was an atheist in a time that got him shunned for it. 22. Read about his love affair and eventual marriage to Mary Godwin - wait...wouldn't that make her Mary Shelley. 23. Realize this poet is the same poet you knew Mary Shelley had married. 24. Read more about Mary Shelley while you're at it because while you know some of it, it's from an episode of Dr. Who primarily and you're curious about some of the things brought up in Percy Shelley's wikipedia. 25. Write a post about how it took you WAY too much of your life to pick a name. In my defense, I learned a whole lot tonight about a lot of random things. Even more if you count the hour and a half before that where I spent naming a different dragon and learning a bunch of stuff about Azerbaijani, Iran, Persia. + their modern and historical views of queer people. and the Ghost Busters universe/timeline.

Final name for the pictured dragon: Luscinia (Latin name for nightingale - which etymologically could mean "Little seen (as in the twilight) singer" or even "famous singer." Might also be "Little understood singer" referring to the mystery of their nightsong. Oh! 26. Remember that somewhere in there included research into the Greek language for many other names and in what order they tend to use adjectives+nouns. Also Circe, Callisto, and Kalliope research. My brain is full of learning. Azerbaijani/Ghost Busters research-prompting dragon was named Zulejxa. A day later: 27. Remember you also did a bunch of reading up on Amaryllis flowers both in general and according to flower language.

#Flight Rising #dragon game #Naming characters #There is so much knowledge stuffed in my head right now #3 hours of randomized but relevant learning to name two dragons #I'd call it a waste of time but I did learn things #and that's not a waste of time #so does it really matter that the driving force behind the learning was naming a bunch of pretty pixels?

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redratt · 8 months

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realized i have 5 bratoviches

I only have art of 3 of them . . .

Rattler Bratovich, 33, Second in Command of the Family Homestead and local menace. She wasn't Embraced, not like Molly, but is the oldest of the Bratovich girls there and the second-oldest of the 'Kiddos' at the homestead-- the only older one is Elijah, who spends most of his time off the land and looking for meat to kidnap for the Tzimisce. Rattler's fucked up eye lets her see spirits/wraiths/etc if she closes her other eye and focuses and is an implant from Gulo, the Tzimisce who maintains their home.

More Rattler Sketches, because she's a terrible woman and I love her dearly. Rattler is both victim and perpetrator; she's trapped in a situation she had no chance of escaping, and has been made into something truly horrid -- but the fact that she never had a chance to be anything else makes her a bit... tragic. It's one thing to be a monster because you wanted to, but another entirely to be born into a Revenant House-- and in particular, the house with the reputation for being the most fucked up out of them all, you know? She's not a good person by any means, but she is a good character. You've all seen Molly, of course, and she's Bratovich number 2 -- 7th/8th gen Tzimisce, got locked in a shed for a while until she picked up the flesh-warping practices properly, all of that.

Abbot of the Garden Snakes, Molly has a sense of hospitality that makes her a natural for the position. She shares what she has with the rest of the pack, and gets very frustrated when dealing with Cainites who are more selfish. She understands it, but... c'mon.

Then there's Patchwork/Patchcoat "Patch" Bratovich, the Bone Gnawer Hillfolk Ahroun who hates humans, hates the society of Garou, and refuses to listen to a lot of what the Nation proposes. She hates you, if you're a Silver Fang, a Black Fury, a Talon, a Coggie -- she fucking hates you, because where the fuck were you when the Kin-Blooded Bratovich were suffering? Where were you?

Black Furies in particular really make her mad.

Patch fights the Wyrm, but she doesn't have a pack. She doesn't often attend Moots. She refuses to associate with a lot of the Garou of the Nation, because she thinks they're all just fucked up angry failures who don't actually care about the world beyond their narrow view. She does a lot of work with the poor and the suffering, though, and actually knows a few healing gifts. Patch's Rage is fuelled by what she's seen.

When she was first-changed, Ma Bratovich leashed her up and put her in a silver cage. The muzzle and the scars that are burned into her skin left Patch in a near-constant state of Frenzy. It was there that Rat reached out to her and offered something more than just... being imprisoned.

The fourth Bratovich is Mar'yagh, and she's a Black Spiral Dancer Galliard. Not from Molly/Patch/Rattler's branch of the family, Mar'yagh was fourteen when she Changed, and was immediately driven out to a rural Pit where she was made to Dance the Spiral. Mar'yagh seems pretty normal, and actually has a series of gifts to hide her wyrm-taint. She's amicable, ambling, and has a series of good jokes.

But the Rage is there, and the Wyrm is there, and sometimes her head just hurts, you know?

Her personal Patron is Singing Bat.

The fifth and least-developed Bratovich is Winona (Winnie/Wyn) Bratovich. She's either going to be a Hunter of some kind or a Widderslainte, and I'm not too sure what I want to do with her yet.

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pokemonheritageposts · 1 year

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Sry but ur opinions on black and white are ruining my day and I had to speak up- the unova region was such a serve and the city designs were so pretty. Don’t even get me started on the battle animations they were so good 😭 The 3D movements with the pixelated retro feel was just amazing. (also Serperior? Darmanitan? Fusing legendaries? Gothitelle? The spiral staircases?)

in summary you’re homophobic

Sorry I have mixed feelings on something you love. Honestly I think that Black and White have a lot of interesting stuff going on and I'd be here forever if I went into full detail on explaining my opinion in full - I do actually plan on doing video essays on the whole main series at some point, so maybe then.

I feel pretty weird about my position on this one because I love a lot about these games but they're not my personal favourites, which has me in a weird position where I don't entirely agree with anyone on them.

In the meantime, to address each of the points you made here:

-Aesthetically I like Unova a lot. Maybe the most of any of the regions, it's top tier at the very least. My problem with Unova (in BW anyway, it's been too long for me to remember how it was in BW2) is in how you progress through it. I know the linearity of it has been discussed to death but what really bothers me (and this has been true of a lot of subsequent games too) is how little it lets you actuakly explore it. The moment you've hit any major story milestone there is usually someone right there to tell you where your next objective is. I like actually being able to stumble onto my plot progression and find secrets in the process. I also don't like how restrictive the wild Pokemon options are borh in the earliest stages of the game and in how many of the best ones are locked off until absurdly late. This also makes navigating any of the optional areas restrictive because of the HMs required and the lack of water type options. The only gen 5 water type I'd want to use in a regular playthrough is Jellicent, and then I'm either doubling up with the several excellent Ghost types or just deliberately not using any of the others.

-The battle animations are also something I have mixed feelings about. While I do think they're a lot more visually dynamic and interesting to look at than the static sprites of previous gens, as a sprite artist it bothers me a lot how many parts of them are manipulated without any regard for how it warps the sprite. The individual frames of the sprite aren't generally redrawn, they're stretched or rotated, which sometimes leads to some really off-looking animations. The way some of themcare manipulated also conveys the weight of some Pokemon in weird ways. I fully appreciate how much time it would have taken to animate new frames for every single Pokemon and this is a good compromise but I've never actually been the biggest fan of how it looks. That said, applying the same technique to the region allows for some really good scenes, including the whole spiral staircase thing you mentioned (also true of DPP to a lesser degree).

-Every generation has some good Pokemon. I don't know why you'd think pointing out a few of your favourites in this one would sway me. Also, Darmanitan and Gothitelle? To each their own but like. Those are the first ones that came to mind to sell gen 5? (No shade for Serperior tho that guy rules)

-I literally invented homosexuality back in nineteen-aught-seven, thank you very much.

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beingfacetious · 4 months

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so this year I ~challenged myself to post a gifset once a week, because making gifsets is something I enjoy very much and can always improve in but literally cannot do for money or lbr meaningful validation and I am historically bad at doing things that fit those categories!

I ended up posting 54 gifsets in 2023, one a week plus a few extras lol. A few stats behind the cut just for fun!

Most popular overall: "I'm so glad I met you" with 1,738 as of this morning. Objectively correct. The nicest-looking gifs I maybe made all year and an all-time scene. Made it my pinned post recently.

Least popular overall: A Community set of Jeff making a Dane Cook joke, coming in at a grand total of 39 notes. This was actually a remake of a set I made YEARS ago because I think it's a great joke lmao. A set doomed imo by the youths on my lawn not knowing who Dane Cook is and also tbf Jeff as the only featured study group character.

Honorable mention to the Rangers World Series set I made, but I'm actually floored and delighted that it got 43 notes. There are dozens of us!!

Gifsets made per fandom:

Community: 14 (!)

Doctor Who: 10

Elementary, Mythic Quest, Ted Lasso: 5

Succession: 3

Last of Us, Leverage, Severance, Shrinking: 2

Always Sunny, The Bear, MLB (haha), Scrubs: 1

I'm a little insulted for Elementary tbh! Otherwise this pretty much tracks.

By average number of notes and not counting the one-offs:

Least popular fandom: Mythic Quest with an average of 130 notes across 5 posts. I don't care. I'll win you all over.

Most popular fandom: Leverage with an average of 837 notes across 2 posts, both of which were Hardison/Parker, so...

Most popular fandom not inflated by Hardison/Parker: Doctor Who by a mile with an average of 775 notes per post. Feels good. Feels right. We're back baybee

Interesting split of 18 shippy sets and 36 non-shippy. Including "outliers," shippy sets averaged 621 notes compared to an average of 332 for gen sets. Throwing out the two lowest note-getting posts from each set, the averages jump to 680 and 350. Also not a surprise; fandom loves a ship lol.

Number of sets (avg. notes) per ship, not including one-offs:

Ted/Rebecca: 2 (333) (womp womp)

Jeff/Britta: 3 (267)

Hardison/Parker: 2 (836)

Ten/Rose: 2 (619)

Nine/Rose: 6 (890)

Doctor/Rose: 8 (823)

It shows that I trailed off my RTD1 rewatch mid-s2 lol. (Which seems blasphemous!! but it was never the right time to handle the satan pit episodes, you get it) Doctor/Rose supremacy obviously but also justice for Jeff/Britta, the greatest relationship ever known

Some one-off fandom set thoughts:

The Dr. Cox set was a mostly-for-me fave. The Always Sunny set happened because I thought the Aaron Paul/Bryan Cranston episode was one of the funniest the show has had in years; that episode was also what finally pushed me into watching Breaking Bad this year, which I mostly really enjoyed lol.

The set I made from the finale of The Bear s2 ended up the sixth most popular set of the year with 1k+ notes and it's probably the set I most notice on my activity page every week. It does look really nice but also, I see you, Syd/Richie fandom, and I hear your siren song. Maybe in 2024...

So OK! Hey! I set a meaningless fun goal and accomplished it!! I'm not setting another specific gif goal for 2024 so will probably be a lot more sporadic. Or not! Who knows!

OK pals, thanks for indulging me, happy new year <3

#life of catey #this was actually v fun to do!#~notes from a gifmaker

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febrainrot · 6 months

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What build would you make for Mozu or Hinoka?

Okay so keep in mind that when I build units I don't really do it in a "normal" manner, I kind play the game almost solely to make stupid builds no matter the time it takes even if I have to farm a lot. Furthermore I have a few savefiles so I often use some amount of skill transfer, not a lot but sometimes I grab a few skills on another save to not waste levels on another. I'll still give more reasonable builds after detailing my 20 steps plan to make a godkiller. Knowing that:

Mozu is very fun because of both her growths and her easy access to profiteer. She can be a good multi use units, with resource utility and offensive power. Her main weakness is that she is fairly frail, and will probably not be able to survive too many hits.

My last run had her as a Kinshi knight for a few reasons: it has the same solid luck as merchant, second highest outside of strategist (hardly viable considering that magic is the one stat she has a growth below 10). While it has an inferior strength compared to other classes, kinshi knights have both great speed and massive range (flying movement + bow range). And because they use the same weapons as the merchants, the transition after you get profiteer isn't too hard. I wanted to give her a special niche along that so I decided to be very stubborn and farm her in a class she is absolutely not good at: sorcerer.

By befriending Nyx, she get access to the dark mage, which objectively doesn't work for her, but I have too much free time. I got her to level 15 in the sorcerer class (because of how the game works you only need to spend 4 levels in that class if you swap at level 11) solely for one skill: bowbreaker. That along the speed she gets as a kinshi and her great luck makes her near impossible for bow users to hit. That made her a weird case of flying archer killer which I thought was very funny, I could throw her in the middle of a bunch of archers and they'd all have 0%. Kinshi knight provides the highest luck cap, which she'll reach pretty easily. With this she'll have at least 30% chance of producing money every turn for 7 turn. If you are lucky/willing to grind the DLCs, you can get Anna's bow which gives a massive +5 luck for a skill and strength debuff every attack (her skill should be solid by now, and she doesn't need to kill or even attack to activate her skill so you can just equip it on her if there is a turn she doesn't have anything to do). Along with that, I gave her a bamboo yumi that gets her +10 avo, further enhancing her dodgetanking despite its weakness (it's not the rarest weapon to get at the lottery or on lucky spaces, you'll always end up having at least one and you will probably get to forge it to have it stronger). Along with Air Superiority she'll get as a kinshi knight, she'll also be able to avoid flyers and especially other kinshi. From there, she has the speed to rarely get doubled, the most precise enemies will have at best 20% or so hit rates with her, and she'll be producing lots of money while also providing decent supportive damage. If you go that way aptitude isn't gonna help you much as you'll be at equal or higher level than enemies, so you can drop it. From there there isn't much to add, you can grab life and death from Master of Arms and bowfaire to increase her damage output dramatically using a bow, both are accessible with second , add a longbow to increase her range if you fear she can't dodge everything or chip an enemy she can't reach.

If you want a less time consuming and more "realistic" build (aka "for someone who isn't as obsessed as me and doesn't have too much free time), Mozu's main advantage is her high speed and luck naturally leading her to dodgetanking. The most avoidant class is swordmaster (innate +10 avo along a nice +10 crit): marrying Ryoma will let her access it along with giving aptitude to an already powerful second gen unit. Between a whooping 85% speed growth with aptitude, 60% strength, 50% HP and skill, she'll be a reliable dodgetank, especially considering her personal skill let her regain HP on forest tiles (among other tiles), which makes her a good bait. She'll have the skill to activate Astra fairly reliably, and life and death from the master of arms class would again make her damage output insane, along with swordfaire that she'll get while progressing as a swordmaster. If you're in Conquest though, the next best option is probably marrying Arthur to get her to be a berserker. She doesn't get the avo bonus of the swordmaster but nearly as much speed, insane strength, and her innate skill growths counters the poor accuracy of axes, along with a 20% crit bonus that goes well with her good skill. Her sniper line can help her in that class: certain blow alleviates the axe inaccuracy. I wouldn't say gamble is really worth it but you can try it if your Mozu has a consistent enough hit rate, and since she'll be using only that weapon axefaire is good. Now if you want to have her solely as a player turn based unit, once again, life and death will have her obliterate people. If you want to use her good speed and strong HP as bait however, getting strong riposte and sol can help with that. Sadly since Conquest doesn't allow much grinding outside of DLCs, you can't go too insane, but her only friendships options there are Effie which gives class that'll probably affect her speed negatively, or Nyx, which. Yeah, without even more grinding the skills that could work with her aren't accessible. If you count the Heirs of Fates DLC rewards, you can get speedtaker or strengthtaker, preferably the first for swordmaster and the second for berserker (those skills cannot be used at the same time so no use getting both on her), and if you make a revelation berserker, befriending Oboro

Now, for Hinoka. She's a bit trickier because she's the balanced "jack of all trades master of none" type of character. Her growth rates are all around 40 without class bonus beside her magic at 15 and her defence being a little lower than the rest at 35. That means she isn't really bad anywhere, but she doesn't really stand out either. She is the kind of characters that you might have on the map but realise soon that whatever she can do, others will do better despite having more glaring weaknesses than her. However her base skill, resistance and speed stats are good, and she always joins with a guard naginata which is a pretty rare weapon. So for her, we have solid bases

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