#currently dealing with the emotional realization that they have their own comic (despite already knowing that) like guys..... they get to be

[themyscirah]

I apologize sincerely for the person I am about to become here

[yesimwriting]

The Promise of Rain, Blurb 3

Technically the third in a blurb-ish series (though this is kinda long for a blurb lol) but can technically be read as a stand alone, but i think the other parts make this seem more significant lol

A/n kinda angsty, not sure if i loveeee this but i haven’t posted a fic in such a long time bc of graduation chaos but now it’s summer and i’m working on a lot of requests/stories :))

Summary: jealousy is out of place when there’s no real warrant for it, and sometimes it’s okay to be content--to not need the rain to make you promises. 

Pairing: Kaz Brekker x sunshine-y! reader

--

Tiredness dulls the part of me that craves the rambunctious, but I’m still positive. I smile when someone does something only the truly inebriated find comical. I laugh when something somewhat actually funny happens, and I let the world around me drink. Twenty minutes--in twenty minutes I will claim a headache and go upstairs. 

“You okay, y/n?” Jesper’s concern would border on genuinely considerate if it wasn’t for the slightest hint of slur in his words. Nights in which he consols himself after losing game after game are when he’s the friendliest. “You’re strangely quiet--you’re never quiet.” 

I press my lips together oddly, smiling in a way that finally reaches my eyes. Jesper’s nice in an oddly particular way when he’s tipsy. Overly observant and careful. “Just a little tired,” I shift in my seat, leaning back against the plush seat in Kaz’s office, “I wish Kaz would just get here and dismiss us so I can go to bed.” 

Jesper smiles, lifting his arm slightly and causing his glass to sway. Kaz is not going to take it well when he realizes that Jesper was extremely involved in the downstairs celebration. He turns ungracefully, moving to sit next to me with no warning. I half-heartedly glare as he takes up most of the small couch. 

“You’re grumpy when you’re tired,” Jesper hums, stretching his casually. 

I sigh once, but it lacks any bite. “I do not.” 

He smiles easily, tilting his head so far to the side that it falls against the back of the seat, “No...but I know the real reason you’re grumpy.” 

Rolling my eyes, I suppress my instinctual reaction. That would only expose his words as true. “I am not grumpy, there is no reason--” 

“You know he hated it.” 

I exhale, tired and slowly losing my fragine hold on fake tranquility. “Yeah.” That should make it  better. “I know.” It doesn’t--it doesn’t make anything better. 

So the contact we so desperately needed on our side took to flirting with Kaz. It was an uncomfortable situation because of its precariousness and I was worried because I know about his issues with touch. But it’s not like I care about the flirting part. No. It was unprofessional and so easily turned messy--that’s what my problem was.

Jesper sighs, stretching even more. I let him stretch his legs over me, too tired to push him off. I sigh, setting my chin on his bent knees. “What’s with the face, l/n?” 

I roll my eyes again. Sometimes having someone care about you is annoying. I take back all of my positive thoughts about him--Jesper Fahey is an annoying drunk. 

“There’s no face,” despite my words, I feel my expression sour even further. Jesper’s expression shifts from that of gentle worry to teasing pride. “And if there was one, it wouldn’t be because of Kaz Brekker.”

Jesper’s lips twitch upwards, something strange tainting his tipsy grin. “I never said a name.” 

“One more condescending comment, and I’m shoving you off this damn couch.” 

He laughs flatly, shifting closer and making himself more comfortable. Drunk and touchy--anyone else would have been slapped by now. “You’re nicer after some of this.” 

He holds his glass out towards me casually, amber liquid sloshing slightly. I blink at the liquid with slight disinterest. I’m not exactly in the drinking mood...but I’m not exactly in the mood for any of this. The sound of the door opening doesn’t phase me--it’s not Inej, because she never lets herself be heard. Kaz doesn’t say anything, taking one dull step and then another, footsteps leaching the room of any warmth. The coldness he exudes so easily as a mask is strong tonight, I haven’t even looked at him and I can feel it. 

Maybe I do need a drink. 

I take the glass from Jesper, taking a quick and shallow sip of the liquid. It’s offensive in smell, taste, and the way it spills down my throat. The taste is much more intense than expected, some of the liquid slips past the corner of my mouth. Somehow more bitter than this moment, the liquid leaves me ready to splutter like a child. I exhale, pushing through the burning. Jesper moves his hand forward absentmindedly, wiping a single drop of liquid from my chin carelessly. The gesture would be sweet if my throat burned less. 

“Jesper,” the warmth of the alcohol takes root in my chest, “That’s--” He laughs at my reaction, coaxing a smile from me. “Like literally the worst--why do you even have this?” If this is served in the Crow Club, I’ve never heard of it, this is the kind of under the counter alcohol that isn’t mass produced. 

He laughs a little more freely. “Won it off of someone passing through--I don’t always lose.” 

I wrinkle my nose, “An outlier shouldn’t be--” 

“Oh, shut up.” Jesper laughs again. 

“Both of you ‘shut up’,” Kaz sighs, stepping further into the room, “If you need to drink, at least wait until after my meeting.” I frown, ignoring Kaz’s lingering and sharp gaze, “You should all follow Inej’s example.” 

“We can’t even see Inej.” 

Kaz raises an eyebrow, but he regards me with nothing but voidness. He’s never exactly emotive, but normally in moments like this something I can never interpret touches his expression, coloring it human. “Exactly.” 

“You’re funnier than people give you credit for.” The comment isn’t exactly sarcastic, but it’s something lighter than I should be offering. It’s an attempt at peace, the slight stiffness between us is starting to bother me. Our usual dynamic isn’t exactly friendly, but it’s more than this. Kaz glares. “But not tonight.” 

His expression hardens. “Business is business. It’s not humor, it’s not whatever you try to make it.” Right. Just like it was business when that girl spent more time hitting on him than actually revealing real information. The thought leaves my expression tight as I swallow back my instinctual words. “It’s not whatever you’re currently doing.” 

It takes me longer than it should to realize he’s referring to the position Jesper and I are in. Can he relax? It’s not my fault Jesper is tipsy and touchy. 

“Kaz,” Inej’s voice is soft yet determined as she emerges from the shadows. It’s a miracle the way she’s nothing more than a shadow until she chooses not to be. “What’s our next job?” 

Prompting Kaz in order to prevent a fight--Inej, always the closest thing to a mom available. I give her a partial smile, glad that she’s wedging herself between us and the tension, preventing conflict I’m too tired to follow through on.

“A merchant’s house,” he begins slowly, “We’ll be searching a merchant’s house but I’m seeking evidence more than property.” Jesper swings his legs off the couch with no warning. My head falls. I glare at Jesper who offers me a slightly apologetic tsk before dropping his head on my shoulder. Kaz must note the exchange because something in his expression tightens. He’s extra irritable today. “I’ll disclose more tomorrow,” he sighs once, already turning away, “Most of you are beyond listening tonight anyways.” 

He’s at the door before I can tell him that I’m not drunk. The door opens and closes, but Kaz’s heaviness lingers like led. I frown, letting my head fall to the side, resting on Jesper’s.

“He’s weird today,” I mumble, unsure if I want a reply. 

“He’s always like that,” Jesper breathes, “You’re losing your novelty, y/n--he always learns to harden himself against anything bright.” 

The words leave me even more tired. “I don’t think I’m particularly bright.” 

“Kaz does,” Inej replies, “And it has nothing to do with ‘novelty’, Jesper’s just cynical when he drinks.” I don’t know if I believe her, but I like knowing that Inej thinks that. “And Kaz can’t harden himself against you, and he hates that.” 

I press my lips together, straightening my spine. “I’m not that great, and whatever Kaz does or doesn’t harden himself against doesn’t affect me at all.” My nails press into the plush seat. “I don’t even know why we’re talking about this because whatever he does or doesn’t feel doesn’t matter to me.” I force myself up, doing all I can to seem perfectly calm. “All I care about is going to bed.”

Turning my head, I start to approach the door. Kaz has been strangely cold all night, and while I’m used to his moods, he hasn’t exactly directed them at me so fully since the day he caught me waiting for him to wake up after he almost died. If he wants to go back to how it used to be, then it can. Maybe I’ll care in the morning, when the growing weight of my eyelids is no longer a distraction.

“Sometimes the two of you confuse me,” Inej begins, “And sometimes I see you try to deal with emotion and I see the common ground.” 

The words leave me cold. I don’t think being compared to Kaz is an insult, not when there’s so much it could mean. He’s much more complex than he wants to be. There is goodness within him, gilding the parts of him that are more shards than anything else.  

I exhale, refusing to turn. Inej is too observant for her own good. “There is no emotion.” 

“I’m not going to waste my time arguing over that because I know it’s a waste of time.” She pauses and I consider turning around in hopes of reading something less honest from her expression. “I’m just telling you as a friend that one of you needs to be mature and talk to the other tonight before the tension gets worse and that it’s not going to be him.” 

She’s right. I exhale, “Do you think I should let him go?” Even just saying that leaves my heart aching. I know instantly that that’s not what I want, but it might be what he wants--it might be the best option. I might have the strength to let him go if I work at it. “I don’t--that’s not what I want and I’m not sure I could, but maybe that’s selfish of me.” 

“Y/n.” I turn slowly, but I purposefully avoid her gaze, keeping my head down. “I know that I’ve known Kaz longer than you, and I know that when he’s getting along with you he’s,” she trails off, uncertain, “More him, in a good way.” 

My heart swells, and with that comes feelings of panic. I never wanted to change him--to make him better or worse or anything; all I’ve ever wanted is to know him and to maybe help him with his burden. And to hear that maybe I’ve done that from someone so close to him--someone so observant and aware. That’s everything. And that terrifies me. Nothing good can last; nothing that seems to be all you could ever want actually is. I know that from life before the Crows, before I ran away from the castle I called home.

“I think he does the same for you.” I’ve never really thought about Kaz’s effect on me outside of the fact that he makes me feel warm in small moments and painfully seen in large ones. 

I smile because she’s trying and she’s given me something. “I’d say I’d tell you when I make my decision, but something tells me you’ll know.” 

She nods, expression shifting to something kind. “Goodnight, y/n.” 

Jesper stretches out on the couch, settling himself comfortably, “Night, y/n.”

“Goodnight, guys.” I disappear past the door easily, heading towards my room.

I haven’t decided whether or not I’m going to look for Kaz tonight. How much damage could be done in one night? Maybe he needs space. Maybe seeking him out now will make things worse. I exhale, opening the door to my room easily. I’ll decide before going to sleep.

When I step into the room, everything is in place. Everything is fine--but something about it feels off. The light is on. I didn’t leave the light on. Nothing else raises any red flags, so I continue into the room calmly, examining everything carefully. Nothing feels out of place as I further enter the room. I take in my bed, my dresser, and lastly my nightstand. 

My heart swells all over again, but this time it feels even heavier than before. On the center of my nightstand, in perfect condition, is a copy of Pride and Prejudice. The same book I told Kaz about, the one thing besides clothing I took from the palace. I told him it was my mother’s favorite and then he asked me to read it to him. 

I can’t picture him seeing this and thinking of me. I can’t picture him thinking of me--but no one else knew about my attachment to the book. I need to find him. I need to--to see him, to speak to him. To look him in the eye and see something I only ever see when we’re alone. Maybe he won’t have that look this time, but that’s okay. 

I can’t expect to always understand him, but that does not mean I don’t know him. 

The thought leaves me feeling a little more settled within the boundaries of my skin, but I don’t ease entirely. The good is more frightening than the bad. My fear of happiness is a benign secret I haven’t had to worry about in years. I don’t know enough about it to know how to deal with it let alone mention it to Kaz. Not that it’s his problem. 

I squeeze the book to my stomach. Swallowing pride is a difficult thing, but I’m used to it with him. It’s usually worth it with Kaz because sometimes when I try he tries in his own way. I should find him. He’s not awfully creative about where he goes when he wants to be alone because people know better than to bother him. Kaz is probably in his attic or getting air outside or…

The lights were on when I came in. I’m an idiot. I didn’t feel weird when I walked into the room because of the book. Someone’s in here. He’s in here. 

Setting the book down like I should have never touched it, I let out a sigh. “Lurking is unbecoming.” 

“It’s also unbecoming to work for me and be so easily distracted by a book.” His voice reveals nothing as he emerges from the shadows. “I could have killed you with how long it took for you to notice my presence.” He pauses, eyebrows drawing together. “The light was on.” 

Normally I’d have some kind of comment, some kind of joke that offers a more peaceful situation. “I know.” It’s a flat response. “I think on some subconscious level I knew,” I drop my gaze away from him, “I knew I was okay.” That sounds dumb. “I mean...I think I knew it was you so I knew I was okay.” Yeah, that wasn’t anymore eloquent. “That doesn’t make sense, but if you get to be confusing, I do too.”

“Confusing? There’s nothing to understand.” Curt. Simple. Dismissive. 

I frown. ‘Nothing to understand’. Right, because there’s nothing confusing about how quickly he decided to dismiss me just to bring me some obscenely sentimental gift. “If you’re mad at me, you should at least tell me why.” I press my lips together. “At least that way I’ll know if I need to apologize or kick your ass.” 

At that, he presses his lips together, corner of his mouth threatening to tilt upwards. “You would kick my ass?”

Great, even when he’s easing he has to be annoying. “I could.” There is no universe in which I could take him in a physical fight. “On a good day.” I let out a breath, doing all I can to not focus on his expression. Awkwardness settles in my chest as my eyes land on my bed. I sit down, trying not to let my shoulders slump tiredly as I stretch my legs across my bed. “You’re not having a good day.” 

“My day is fine, I’m just not naively cheerful like you,” his words turn sharp, “Or Jesper.” 

Weird addition. “Jesper’s not cheerful, he’s just drunk.” I let go of the ‘naive’ part, deciding to focus on the bigger picture. “And I’m not as naive or joyful as you think I am.” I’m not sure if I mean that as a rebuttal or just a fact. “I have bad days too.” This isn’t the kind of conversation I should have while this tired. “I could be less cheerful if you’d like.” 

He’s so silent I momentarily wonder if he’s left. “No.” It’s not much, but I take it. Straightening my back, I pull my legs beneath me, intentionally creating space. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

Ah, blatant rejection. It would sting if I was less in the right. “Maybe you’ll be less weird then.” 

“I am not being weird.” At least I’m getting some kind of reaction from him. “You’re the one who--” 

“Who what?” Finally--progress. 

Kaz sighs, turning slightly. “You’re the one who decided to ignore me after we met with the contact.” I part my lips, ready to retort, but no words come. He did pick up on my slight annoyance, and he reciprocated it in a much larger way. 

He can never know that this all came from some ridiculous, territorial--partial jealousy. “I didn’t mean to ignore you,” partial lie, “I’m just kind of in a weird place today, I’m tired.” 

“Not too tired for Jesper, it seems.” 

What? Is that what this is about? “What? All I did was sit there--he’s a touchy drunk and I just happened to be next to him.” 

“You laugh with him,” he says this blankly, “You can touch him.” 

The edge of unsafe territory cuts into me at an odd angle. Is this about him? Is he really tormenting himself over something so asinine to me when it comes to him? I’d rather have him than all the physical touch in the world. The book on the nightstand feels closer to me, growing by the prospect of its significance alone. That gesture, that’s more intimate than anything Jesper and I did downstairs. 

“So?” I straighten my back slightly. “It doesn’t mean anything.” 

He presses his lips together. “That’s the problem--anyone can manage meaningless contact…” The silence is louder than the words that came before it. Oh. I guess I’m not the only one who gets just a little jealous in an unwarranted way. “What if you were hurt? What if you were hurt and we were alone and you needed someone to help you and I couldn’t?” He lets out a sigh, a sound too tired for me to associate with him. “You say you don’t care now, but you’ll grow tired of it--the only life I can offer.” 

Inej’s words about the similarities between Kaz and I echo in my mind. “Sometimes I don’t like when things are going well because I don’t know how to be truly content, fully happy.” Saying this twists my stomach. “I don’t know how to trust good things, so whenever there are good things I think about all the ways I could ruin something and then I do.” I take a breath. “I’m not saying that things are particularly good for you or that you’re happy, but I am saying that maybe you shouldn’t think three steps ahead when there’s nothing to think ahead about.” I regard his expression carefully, but nothing has changed. “I told you the only thing I want is to know you, and that’s not going to change.”

“Y/n,” his voice is low, “I am not rain--I can’t promise you anything.” 

I scratch my knee, dropping my gaze. “For once I don’t want rain.” 

Kaz sighs. “Get some sleep.” Something about the way he’s speaking is authoritative but it lacks any weight. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

I frown freely, “Kaz--” 

“You look tired,” he mumbles, “You need rest.” He’s using this as an excuse to escape his feelings, but he’s already given me more than I expected. Greed ruins things, but then again, so does selflessness. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“For the job?”

Something strange crosses his features as his expression teeters on shifting. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he repeats, a little more certain.

The response doesn’t satiate me. “Kaz--” 

“I may not be the rain, but I’m capable of making promises as well.” There’s something final about the way he says this, but it doesn’t feel cruel. 

Maybe I’d protest if my eyelids were less weighted. “Goodnight, Kaz.” 

My head falls against the pillow. I’m not sure if he replies, too lost in the drawl of sleep before he can even close the door. 

--

General taglist: @theincredibledeadlyviper, @grishaverse7 @benbarnes-supremacy  @tranquilitymoon @kaitlyn2907 @lunamyangel @christinawxxx @deceivedeer @real-mbappe @tonks33

[littlemisssquiggles]

Ruby Alone

As you all have seen, since prior to the last episode, I’ve been sharing my thoughts and ideas on the theory of V8 concluding with the “death” of RWBY after they fall “off Remnant and into a mysterious Other World”, as alluded to by Oscar.

While I’m still inclined to believe that theory may become possible given what transpired in this recent episode, in reviewing the RWBY V8 Opening, I noticed something interesting about the visuals again which caught my attention.

During the opening, RWBY falling was hinted much earlier in the theme during these shots right here. It’s these two shots of RWBY’s signature weapons falling through negative space which is later followed up by the opening ending with the weapons landing together on the ground.

However, here’s the bit that I think is noteworthy that I didn’t take into account before. Although the weapons of all four main girls were shown falling together through space and landing on the ground, not only is Crescent Rose the last one to hit the ground but it is also the ONLY one shown in the final shot of the opening.

It is also worth noting that the weapons fall in this particular order---first Ember Celica, then Gambal Shroud, then Myrtenaster and final Crescent Rose which ironically spells RWBY backwards.

And going back to my theory about RWBY falling in order....with Yang falling first then this is all starting to make more sense.

Going back to my point---Crescent Rose---Ruby’s weapon is the only weapon that landed on the ground but didn’t fade to darkness like the others. Instead, Crescent Rose is the only one remaining in the snow on what appears to be Remannt. Keeping that in mind, it’s making me start to ponder an alternative to my V8 finale theory. 

What if…I’m actually mistaken about the whole RWBY team falling prey to the Other World ? 

What if…as an alternative prediction, V8 will end with Ruby as the last man standing and the sole surviving member of her team after the rest “die” to the void?

Thus; V9 becomes Ruby’s story as she deals with the depression of losing her whole team; all obviously culminating with her eventually reuniting with them in the Other World. But before that, it’s mostly just about Ruby. Not RWBY. But just Ruby since RWBY started with just Ruby on her own in Remnant, trying to become a huntress. She only ends up going to Beacon and meeting and forming her own team due to Ozpin’s influence.

So imagine if...after everything she’s been through these last eight seasons, things just go back to how they were before. Ruby is on her own again. No team to lead. No big sister to guide and protect her (although ALPNE is there of course). No “BFFs” or “future-sister-in-law” on the same team to fuel her spark of hope. She no longer has her main friends by her side.

Ruby will be on her own for the first time in a long time and it becomes just her story for the most part of V9 as she does her best to figure out things all while the rest of the cast who survived the fall---Penny, ALPNE and their allies in Vauco and eventually Vale---try to provide her with the emotional support that she needs in place of the one she lost.

For the first time, the story is not about Ruby having to be the spark of hope to support others but…her friends, at least the ones she still have, coming together to support her for once in a time when she can truly need it.

Like I said. It would be the story of Ruby. Not RWBY. Just Ruby. If you get what I mean.

...And now for a squiggly rant...about Ruby:

One general complaint that I’ve heard from the FNDM about Ruby including Little Red Ruby fans like myself is that Ruby has more or less received the shortest end of the stick in terms of development over the past couple of seasons since V4…despite the fact that she is our central main character who is the leader of our core team with her name literally being in the title. Not to mention that Ruby is also the face of the RWBY franchise. When RT isn’t promoting the whole RWBY team together, it’s mainly Ruby to represent RWBY since of all the girls, she is the main one as the main protagonist of RWBY. At least…she’s supposed to be?

To be blunter, I’m just going to call out the fat Heffalump in the room---Ruby Rose, despite being the leader of RWBY---despite being our title character and face of the franchise---the one characters in the show always turn to since she’s THAT important---despite all of that, Ruby has NOT felt like the actual main protagonist of RWBY for several seasons. Since V4 as some fans like to point out. 

And after closely observing her story over the last few volumes, I can’t help but agree with these critiques and comments of Ruby’s treatment when it comes to her own writing. Even when the CRWBY showrunners DO attempt to do stuff with her---it all falls...flat especially when you compare Ruby to other characters like Jaune Arc, for example, whose stories and overall development were handled much better. At least in my opinion.

Don’t believe me? Take for example, Ruby’s whole so-called “arc” as a Silver Eyed Warrior. First it was introduced as a new idea for Ruby during the FINALE of V3, then it got abandoned for two whole seasons between V4-V5. Then it got reintroduced back in V6 but was then rushed and dropped yet again for V7 only to be brought up again briefly during V8…kind of?

It’s really telling when you realize that Ruby gained control of her silver eyes despite never truly receiving any actual training from Maria in how to control her powers. Not only that but the showrunners really did Maria Calavera dirty. She was supposed to be the wise old mentor who was a badass in her prime meant to pass down her wisdom to her young eager apprentice who knew nothing of her own unique abilities including its mysterious origins.

Instead Maria didn’t know at all about where her powers originated from until she conveniently met our heroes after the Argus Ltd crash and just happened to be present when they asked Jinn about Oz’s secrets. Instead of being a mentor to Ruby which she was initially propped up to be, Maria ended up being relegated to the Granny Uber Driver of the hero team---no longer the wise experienced ex-huntress whose supposed to be teaching our title character but just a form of transportation who provides the occasional comic relief and support for Pietro Polendina, who she was put to work with…instead of Ruby…her alleged apprentice?

 Shoot---despite being a Silver Eyed Warrior, Ruby was never even a person of interest for this volume. Despite the main big bad being in Atlas and despite targeting her in the past, Salem…never goes after Ruby again while she’s in Atlas??? Ruby never even meets Salem? Despite…Salem targeting Ruby back in V4? Despite Salem’s history with capturing Silver Eyes? Despite Salem’s connection to Ruby through her mother???

Ruby is never actively a part of the Salem subplot on Monstra…even though… certain developments left over from previous seasons indicated that she should’ve been?

Instead…we got to watch Yang accost Salem for Summer Rose’s death after SHE is the one to be on the rescue party to save Oscar from Monstro. Even though…Yang has neither been a person of interest to Salem before NOR has the Xiao Long girl been shown to be a close affiliate of Oscar in the past prior to V8 NOR has the Xiao Long girl actually addressed Summer Rose as her mother since V2???

Up until V8, Ruby has always been the character of focus with all things Summer Rose and Salem and yet…we NEVER saw her meet Salem in the flesh period for this season…at all…???

Instead; Ruby spends MOST of this season cooped up at Schnee Manor, completely absent from and even oblivious to some of the more dire PLOT stuff that was happening outside of Schnee Manor (such as YJR going into Monstra to save Oscar before the Aces Ops blew up the whale).

Despite her connection to Oscar who became Salem’s prisoner. Despite her connection to Salem through her mother. Despite being a Silver Eye and a former target of Salem. Despite the Hound and what it turned out to be. Despite the showrunners literally teasing Ruby meeting Salem face to face back in V7---WE NEVER GET TO SEE RUBY MEET SALEM IN THE FLESH AT ALL DURING V8 WHILE SALEM IS IN ATLAS???

Salem targets Oscar which makes perfect sense given his connection to Ozma as his current incarnate. But Salem doesn’t target Ruby? DESPITE HER BEING A TARGET OF HERS IN THE PAST? DESPITE HER BEING A SILVER EYED WARRIOR? DESPITE WHAT THE HOUND REVEALED?

Why didn’t Salem send the Hound after Ruby? That would’ve made more sense, again knowing what the Hound actually was? Instead the Hound was sent after Penny which, in my opinion, felt mighty redundant since Salem already had Watts and Cinder Fall dealing with Penny.  

THEY EVEN TEASED THE HOUND TARGETING RUBY BUT IT WAS ALL A FLUKE.  RUBY IS COMPLETELY OMITTED FROM THE SALEM SUBPLOT EVEN THOUGH SHE IS THE TITLE CHARACTER AND THE ONLY ONE ON TEAM RWBY WITH A LEGIT CONNECTION TO SALEM AND HAS BEEN A TARGET OF HERS SINCE V4???

I DON’T GET IT!

…BUT… with my mini rant aside, those are just a few of the inconsistencies that I’ve noticed in the writing of RWBY in respect to Ruby Rose.

Overall; the point I’m trying to make here is this: for the sake of sounding like a Negative Nancy, I ask this honest question to the CRWBY Writers. How? How can you fumble this much with your own title character? I’m not saying this to come off disrespectful. I’m saying this as someone who has followed the story of RWBY since the get-go and has closely observed the treatment of its characters; particularly the main ones and particularly the ones that I personally love and Ruby is one of them.

Despite being our main girl, Ruby’s writing hasn’t been the squeakiest, admittedly. As a matter of fact, it’s been quite messy since V4 due to the amount of times the showrunners have introduced ideas for her only to abandon them later on thus creating those problems with consistency I mentioned earlier.

Overall, it’s difficult for me to even say that Ruby is the lead character of RWBY since often times; she doesn’t FEEL like the main protagonist despite the show claiming how important she is meant to be. And this sentiment is due in part to how messy her story is handled compared to other characters of lesser importance.

And it’s a sad thing for me to say as both a viewer and fan of Ruby’s character since Ruby is THE lead main character of RWBY. She’s like the Tony Stark of the RWBY-verse. She’s the one who started it all yet her story is one of the messiest I’ve seen in terms of direction and treatment. At least by my observations since this is just my opinion on the subject matter.

It’s one thing to blunder a bit on your side or even your supporting characters. But to slip up on your lead characters, especially your MAIN one who is the FACE of the show, c’mon CRWBY Writers.

And the events of V8 didn’t help change my opinion. After taking away all the bloat this season had for all the stuff they tried to shove into this one season, I realized that V8 didn’t really do much for Ruby. At least, not as much as I anticipated.

I was hoping that Ruby would’ve been a more focal character for V8 since V7 teased some stuff for her in respect to Salem. Instead, I watched a season where Ruby felt more like a supporting character for Penny Polendina since, in my opinion, Penny received much more focus and better development for V8 while Ruby, our LEAD took backstage to her story.

Because while Ruby was stuck playing supporting character, she was actively left out of subplots that she should’ve been a major part of. Not just because she’s the “protagonist” but because of elements to her story that were developed seasons prior but seemed to have gotten dropped for V8?

Ruby’s treatment for V8, to me,  is an example of a “build-up with no payoff”. All that stuff between her and Salem and her mother felt like it ultimately didn’t matter in the end because Ruby didn’t even meet Salem. 

Yang, to me, had the development with Salem that Ruby should’ve received.

Shoot---Ruby wasn’t even a thought on Salem’s mind…despite the events V4 and V7???

I just don’t understand. 

But like always, this is just how I feel about it. I’m disappointed with how Ruby was done for this season. While I liked the moment she shared with Blake in V8CH8 and Yang in V8CH11...that’s pretty much the ONLY thing I liked about Ruby’s story for this season. 

Outside of that, it felt to me like the showrunners didn’t do much with her for V8. In a season of so much happening, the stuff that happened with Ruby on her side of the story didn’t honestly stand out to me compared to what I saw the showrunners do for other characters who aren’t the lead this season.

It’s not like I’m trying to say she didn’t receive any development at all for V8. It’s more like most of what was done with Ruby didn’t quite stand out to me so it ends up feeling like not much was done for her. 

To me, Ruby falls into the same category as Nora Valkyrie for this season. Despite the PLOT preaching about them getting big developments, if you rock back and actually analyse the narrative, you’d actually see that not much was done for them despite the PLOT “talking the talk but not walking the walk” y’know what I mean?

And going back to Ruby, that’s disappointing since I wanted more for Ruby. I EXPECTED MORE for Ruby as our title lead but it didn’t happened. Instead it felt like some of the major developments that she should’ve received for this season went to other characters while she in turn took a backseat.

Things didn’t really start kicking up for Rubes until halfway through the season when the 100th episode aired and the Hound appeared. And even then the excitement of that reveal was short-lived since...Ruby was NOT the real target of the Hound. PENNY WAS. The Hound wasn’t sent to antagonize RUBY. It was sent for Penny which to me sort of undermines the reveal.

Some Ruby fans have been wishing for the show to feel more about just Ruby again for quite some time now and it is for this reason why I’m starting to dig this alternative theory of mine with Ruby surviving “The Fall of the Central Zone” alone with the rest of her team lost to the Other World.

While the concept of RWBY being trapped together in another world is still on the table of possibilities, I still wish to toss out this other one too.

I like the idea of a more Ruby-centric season where for the second time in the narrative, she’s separated from her core teammates only this time…it’s in “death” or rather “nonexistence” or “nothingness” since from Ruby’s perspective with her limited knowledge of magic (despite what she does know from Oz and Jinn) and the workings of the world that Ambrosius created, she doesn’t know what truly happened to her team.

The only thing she knows is that she watched her whole team dissipate into nothing before her very eyes and that is the last memory she has of them that haunts her for some time.

Imagine if…V9 will be about Ruby dealing with such a huge loss which could potentially touch more upon how she internalizes death in general tying back into probably flashbacks of her time with her mother before she learnt of her death at a young age.

While I understand we’ve had a storyline with Ruby being separated from her main team before back during V4-V5, however a plot line like this would be different this rounds since unlike before, Ruby at least knew that her team mates were alive. Far away. Separated by distance. But still alive and still a part of Remnant with the hope that she would be reunited with them again.

However this won’t be the case this second time. It would truly be Ruby alone since her team would be gone and no one could provide her with the solace of seeing them again---not even the friends she does still have (although that doesn’t stop some of them from trying to be there for the little red rose who has now lost more than her heart could handle)

I know the off-chance of this theory actually coming to fruition might be scarce. But like many ideas I’ve shared, it’s still worth tossing out since you guys know how this squiggle meister likes to roll.

~ LittleMissSquiggles (2021)

[beevean]

SEGA and its most recent Sonamy side – more canon than ever

[Translator’s note: this article was originally written in Spanish by @latin-dr-robotnik​]

Hello again! Today we’d like to discuss about something that’s been happening recently, and probably taking Sonic fans by surprise: what is going on with SEGA and its stance about Sonamy?

At the beginning of this year, to celebrate the 200 articles on Seaside Hill Paradise, I finished what I call “the Sonamy trilogy” of articles that I started in 2018 and which cover different themes, such as:

SEGA and the eternal issue of the Sonic-Amy dynamic

“I love you” – Forbidden words in Sonic

SEGA and the eternal issue of “Sonic’s girlfriend”

The idea was to offer a more-or-less complete analysis about the many facets of their dynamic in the last 27 years; a dynamic that, you may have noticed, is not that easy to pin down, and that we���ve been updating almost regularly (although I also intended to investigate on other dynamics, like Knuckles and Rouge’s for example, and write about them). Generally speaking, in these articles I don’t draw objective conclusions about the status of the ship in canon (despite the fact that the available information tends to confirm it in various occasions). I also like to repeat myself and say that shipping is supposed to be for fun, not for tearing each other’s hair in that black hole of misery that is Twitter, but recent events left us slightly perplexed, and this is why we’re here once again.

We left the status of the Sonamy canonicity with these two peculiar instances back in August: Sonic mentioning his “girlfriend” in the Japanese version of Sonic Battle, and the Twitter account of SEGA of Europe saying Sonamy is their “favorite videogame romance”. Now, let’s recap a bit…

Sonamy in Sonic IDW... Round 3

[SPOILERS ALERT FOR IDW SONIC #14-#35]

In 2018, when IDW just started, I decided to study a little how the Sonamy dynamic worked in this new universe. To our surprise, the comic didn’t waste time in dropping its biggest bomb, in one of the cutest scenes we had seen in ages. Since the very beginning, IDW proved that it didn’t intend to deceive those fans that looked for a bit of development of both characters.

I wrote an article about it in June 2019, and it coincided with the beginning of one of the most infamous arc I’ve seen in a Sonic comic for a long time: the Metal Virus Saga. The question is, what has happened since then?

Well, in 2019, with the same accuracy of an aimbot, I said “We’ll probably see some new interactions between Sonic and Amy sometime around IDW #20”. And wouldn’t you know, as misery and tragedy settled in that arc, it was exactly around IDW #20 that we saw some Sonamy interactions: both exhausted, to their limit, with a Sonic that couldn’t even touch Amy to soothe her pain, due to him being infected with the virus.

The arc developed like this in what felt like an eternity, to finally conclude in one the most absurd ways in Sonic history. But it wasn’t a complete disappointment, as, after months and months of asking and discussing on the internet about how much Sonic and Amy deserved a hug at the end of the arc… it actually happened.

Since that moment in IDW #32, we shippers thought that it was what both of them deserved after so much time spent separated and pushed to their limit to survive, but also that after the end of the arc everything would go back to normal. However, what we didn’t know was that the Sonamy train had no intention of stopping, not in IDW, nor anywhere else.

A recurring detail in IDW Sonic is that Amy’s tail starts wagging every time she sees Sonic, as if she was a happy dog. I swear, it happens every time.

Come IDW #35, once again we have some hugs and bits of dialogue between our hedgehogs. For sure, the question here isn’t their relationship itself, as it was for IDW #2, but rather the issues this arc is slowly dealing with. But it’s really nice to see them again, sharing that closeness that they’ve had in the comic since the beginning– be it with some gestures of affection, a wink, a gesture, a private joke.

My favorite image is the first one, Belle’s reaction to seeing Amy hugging Sonic. It’s like she’s thinking “oh, is she his girlfriend?”, and she wouldn’t even be wrong in thinking that.

It can’t be denied that IDW Sonic provided us the conversations and the emotions that the games seldom do. Certainly, the comic has its share of issues and it’s not really a story that I personally follow for its own merits (it’s more because it’s still Sonic, for my interest for things like this, and Belle’s existence… whom I already ship with Tails, sorry not sorry), but what it does well it does really well.

For now, we have to see how IDW Sonic will follow the development of the characters, especially in view of the closure of the current story and beyond. And we may be done with this part of the article, but there is still a lot left.

Sonamy in merchandise

Taking us completely by surprise, recently SEGA launched, in collaboration with Hot Topic, a series of Sonamy-themed t-shirts. No, seriously.

So many people told me this as soon as the voice spread (you know who you are, thank you guys for thinking about me <3), and I can’t help being still surprised that this is actually a thing. T-shirts with lines like “You’re my favorite”, “Love in the fast lane”, and my personal favorite, “S&A Forever”, with drawings of Classic Sonic and Amy… in SEGA-approved products. I don’t know if you realize how much of a big deal this is, even more than “Celebrate the 25 years of Sonic’s girlfriend” from 2018.

One of the things that surprised me the most (aside from how explicit they are in officializing the relationship, and the fact that there are still 2 months left before Valentine’s Day 2021), was the decision to use Classic Sonic and Classic Amy. I tried to understand this decision by analyzing the simplicity and easiness with which the Classic designs convey a message (let’s not forget that Classic Sonic was so iconic because it was specifically designed to convey his expressions without words), besides the fact that they’re inherently cuter than their modern designs. There’s also the controversial aspect of post-Adventure Sonamy, with all the dubbing and weird interpretations that the fandom made over the years… By comparison, the Classic design are a much simpler choice.

What is actually going on?

Well, let’s take a step back and think about what we just saw. The way SEGA has been recently trying to push Sonic and Amy in front view (and for the entirety of 2020, based on the articles I mentioned in the beginning) tells us the harsh truth we all have to accept sooner or later: Sonamy sells, and it sells a lot.

From a strictly business point of view, the ship is so iconic and popular, with fans and detractors alike, that it would be absurd for SEGA to ignore the chance to print these two characters and get a load of money. As I said in my 2018 article, despite the fact that in Japan Sonic isn’t as big of an icon as it is elsewhere, they know pretty well that Sonic + Amy = love, and they have huge amounts of merchandise to back it up. It’s in the West that because of different cultural values, of which we’ve already talked about, along with some internal resistance, left this aspect of the franchise a little on the side. But they’ve been trying to fix it… and how…

Let’s not forget that a decade and a half ago Sonic Team seriously favored Sonamy. They officially said it, Sonic X was their purest view of Sonic they had at the time.

Outside of the business perspective, I believe we’re facing the moment that we’ve been waiting for: it’s time they’ll establish once and for all the dynamic of these two characters, following more closely the original Japanese vision of Sonic. I said many times that, in trying to change canon, the West, especially SEGA of America, did nothing but confuse fans and generate more discussions than needed, by introducing different data and portrayals that contradict the canon established by Sonic Team.

We’ve talked about Unleashed and emotional support, about Sonic X, about the major moments that opened the door to interpreting this dynamic as something more. We don’t threaten at gunpoint those who would rather stay away, but we respond to those declarations that still try to violently discredit the simple fact that Sonic and Amy, who are most of all close friends, form in some measure a couple that, even with its imposed limitations, manages to captivate fans and not fans everywhere in the world. Even the Simpsons used it as a joke, and that says a lot.

What the future has in store for us.

Unless something else happens in this last month of 2020, this is the most complete compilation I can offer at the moment about the status of Sonamy in the fandom and in the official canon. Yes, canon.

It’s impossible to ignore the signals. As you may have noticed, I’ve been considering Sonic and Amy as an official couple, with its clarifications (for example, that at the end it’s more of a friendship, that it’s not a romantic relationship in the most explicit way, that it’s more of a personal perspective to justify a more mature vision of the relationship in the future, not right now), but nowadays I think that SEGA has spoken loud and clear. I think canon is ready to negotiate the idea that Sonic and Amy, apart from being excellent friends who would risk their lives for each other in a heartbeat, have something else on their hands (probably the other’s hand). This won’t automatically translate into a kiss, or a complete love declaration (although Sonic X came close…), or a commitment to a formal relationship like we know them in real life. SEGA canon affirms that Amy is “Sonic’s girlfriend” and nothing more. Outside of that detail, they still pretty much function as friends interacting with a little flirting here, and a little Sonic running away there. It’s the basis of their dynamic, now enhanced by the fact that SEGA is giving us a clearer message.

I think that this all may culminate in a game or an animated series, but I wouldn’t completely count on that. It is good to recognize how far the official position goes on this issue, but at the same time I want to reaffirm that there are things that are better left in the hands of the fandom, and in the meantime that IDW or any other continuity gives us hugs, winks, gestures and words of encouragement, we as the fandom will take care of exploring other avenues and hypothetical scenarios.

This is all I have to say on the matter for now, and I hope you’re happy with this wonderful Sonamy experience we’re going through – I certainly am. See you next time!

[cazielthegreat]

Since I currently am not allowed to draw at the moment have some writing! Please ignore any spelling mistakes haha. I hope you like this! My idea on how the possession went down and what would happen after your comic ^^"👉👈

*gently and nervously tags* @zu-is-here

Dream looked over at the demon, it’s murky aura flickering around them like a lightbulb, but around him there seemed to be no light—just a black hole of luring darkness.

They looked...oddly familiar, strange for a first meeting. Like he used to know them. Although Dream has seen the destruction and torment the demon has done to other people, this was his first time in his mind with a demon. He steadied himself, and he opened his mouth to speak but the demon spoke first,

“So, I assume you've called me here for a reason? People don't usually summon me for games.” He sneered.

“N-No—of course not, ” Dream fell quiet for a moment from the beast’s glowing blue stare on him. Quite frightened he just wanted to get to the point. “I w-wanted to ask you...for a deal?” He didn't mean for it to sound so shaky, the demon smirked at his fear. The looming aura seemed to grow around him.

“A deal? Why?”

“Why?”

“Give me a reason I should even consider this deal? Since I already know what it is you want.” His Cheshire grin split his face almost quite literally, it was impossible to smile so sinisterly and so widely.

“Well, ” Dream hesitated for a moment before saying, “I-In exchange for you leaving everyone alone, I’ll give you my soul.” Dream’s soul shone brightly in front of the both of them.

The demon hissed at the object, “You know you have a rare power, you make people feel that fake happy just by sitting next to them.” He glanced at the soul. “And I could simply destroy it the instant you give it to me, so I wouldn't have to bother with it infecting the village.” Dream held back a whimper as the demon circled him like a lion. The demon seemed to quite hate Dream for this.

“I know, I've thought it through countless times.” Dream felt his hand on his shoulder.

“So in exchange for the soul—”

“You leave the village alone.” Dream finished for him. The demon looks at Dream before letting out a chuckle. He already knows he won, Dream wasn't as smart as he understood now? Or maybe just the desperation clouded rational thought?

“This was your brother’s exact fate—a deal, possession, and in the end, unhappiness.” Dream flinched at the mention of his brother, “Once you shake a demon’s hand you cannot go back, you realize this, right?” He held out a hand, waiting for Dream to make his fatal move.

Dream nods, “I realize the terms, I know what I’m doing.” He goes to shake hands with the demon and the deal is done. The demon’s grin couldn't possibly be larger, but yet it stretched. His hand crunched down on the poor mortal’s hand. Dream yelped as tears pricked his eye sockets, he frantically pulled to get away.

“You say you know what you're doing?” The demon yanked Dream’s hand towards him to look him in the eyes once more. The blue stare and the Cheshire grin upon Dream, “Then you should've known that despite a deal, demons know how to get around it.”

Dream felt something crawl onto his hand. With a horrified expression he saw the slimy goop that was over the demon transfer onto him. He felt illness and pain. The demon slowly lost more goop, showing a skeleton underneath it seemed to look like—

“B-Brother?!”

“D-Dream, n-no. Don't make the same mistake I did!” Nightmare grasped at the tarry substance, desperately trying to pull it off him but that did nothing but make it spread faster.

“Oh, Nightmare, I suppose foolishness does run in the family.” The new demon laughed. Nightmare watched petrified as the new demon left the dark space. Nightmare was all alone.

The screams echoed throughout the room, Dream growled demonically as Cross stood over the bed, chanting the exorcism loudly over the screams.

The demon laughed and gifted his teeth as he tried to hold onto the soul, “You’re too late Cross.” They huffed as Cross stopped chanting, glaring at Dream with a burning hatred. “You’re too late to save him.” Cross hated those words coming out of Dream’s mouth. This wasn't Dream, he knew that, but the fact that they said that with his mouth made his soul twist. Dream would never say such a thing, about anyone. He—

“Check his soul.”

“What?”

“Check it. Have you ever even bothered to look?” The demon smirked. “Such a bad fiancé to have not even checked his soul from time to time.” Dream sneered.

”Fiancé? I-I never—”

“Oh! But you wanted to, didn't you? And on this exact day too. What a shame.” Cross fell silent. He wouldn't admit it but the silence did. The demon must’ve planned this, why now? The anger boiled up inside him.

He growled and started finishing the exorcism when the demon yelled, “If you get rid of me Cross, you'll kill him!” He laughed, “I filled the cracks in his soul, without me he'll die. And you, Cross, would be responsible.”

Cross stopped, “You’re lying.”

“Would I be in a situation to lie to you Cross?” Dream taunted, “Go ahead. Check his soul and be the killer.”

Cross hesitantly summoned Dream’s soul. It was covered in the goop, and the demon was right, the goop filled the cracks in the soul with their malicious intents. “B-But he never—”

“What? He never told you he was hurting? Or did you never bother to ask?” The demon loved the other’s frightened face, the negative emotions giving him power so he continued, “He was hurting, and you failed to see, so caught up in your own issues. Well good job Cross, you killed him. Now, it's only me.” Cross didn't even realize that the two items in his hands fell and clatter noisily to the floor. The restraints on Dream snapped, and Cross watched him.

Dream got up, went to the nightstand, and took Dream’s crown from the top of it. He placed it on top of his head making sure to show Cross as he did. “So, Cross, ” He turned to Cross with his Cheshire smile, the yellow eye that looked straight at Cross, “How do I look?”

[soyouareandrewdobson]

Marvel’s Dobson: Infinity PTSD

In case you wonder why I personally think Dobson is an idiot, here is one (of many) reason(s): Dobson takes the wrong things way more serious than he should.

 On one hand, he will belittle people e.g. to think about the new Pokemon starters more than about current events in real life…

But then he will also throw fits at something like a silly add slogan by Burger King, calling it sexist crap and that the company should be ashamed of it.

 Belittle lesbian teenagers for not taking “KorraSami” as something serious and progressive as he does…

Or in case of Marvels “Infinity War”, believe that the movies ending would be ptsd inducing.

I am not kidding. What you see here is a tumblr post Dobson made up shortly after he watched Infinity War in May of 2018, making it known that he is scared that the movie could be traumatic for people on a global scale.

Which was laughable back then and is even more so in the year 2021, when we actually go through a global trauma in form of Covid-19. Making me also believe, that Dobson, despite claims of suffering from depression and his own form of PTSD, has absolutely no idea what a trauma really is and that despite all his whining over the years, he must have one of the most privileged and easiest lives on the planet, if he thinks a superhero movie is going to be as traumatizing as certain real world events. At least the way the post is worded implies, that Dobson seriously believes seeing Spiderman and other Marvel heroes bite the dust (so to speak) has the same effect as e.g. witnessing 9/11 play out live or being involved in an actual war.

Don’t get me wrong, I know of the reactions people had at Infinity War and the infamous Snap scene. I myself was in a theater where a bunch of kids started to cry when Starlord died. And I do understand that reaction. Because unlike Dobson, I am not just using my brain to whine about things not pandering to my fetishes.

I know, that the MCU and its characters have grown on people over the years, myself included. So when we as an audience watch the world and characters we care about get destroyed as Thanos does to Knowhere, Gamora and so many more, we have an emotional reaction to it. I myself was not distraught, but genuinely surprised that when Thanos snapped his fingers, as many heroes died as we saw on screen. Sure, knowing the comics and that Infinity War was just part one of a two part Avengers Finale of phase 3, I knew the snap would happen. In fact, I even hoped for it to happen, cause I love badass villain moments and Thanos was a favorite of mine long before the movie. Not because I am a space fascist, but because I enjoy threatening villains and stakes in my stories, unlike certain people.

I just didn’t expect that after all the hype Marvel created for certain heroes over phase 2 and 3, especially Black Panther, they would do something as “radical” and kill as good as 95% of all heroes introduced in phase 2 and 3 off. Wakanda forever? Not according to this movie.

But I digress. Point is, I will give Dobson the following: Yes, the movie’s ending has obviously caused people to have a sad emotional reaction to it, because at the end of the day, we will react with sadness when we see someone we care about die. But guess what: So have many other movies over the course of cinematic history.

 Do I really need to remind people (and by people I mean braindead idiots) of stuff like Jack dying at the end of Titanic and watching the ship sink, Mufasa being thrown off a cliff, that one horse from Never Ending Story in the swamp, certain scenes of “Who framed Roger Rabbit”, that scene of the dog put down in “Marley and &Me” and so on? You know, stuff most of us remember as having watched in our childhood only for us as adults to joke how this shit traumatized us?

Okay, it may have at least to some degree in so far as that we remember those movies in parts because of those scenes. I think there have been a few kids not wanting to go into the water to swim for quite some time after watching Jaws. But guess what: Most people get over stuff like that, because somewhere down the line they realize it is just a movie or that those sad/scary parts are actually in their own way “fun”/good and helped us appreciate the story we watched even more. And all Infinity War is, is just another movie in a long line of such flics, while also being the culmination of a decade long multipart movie project by Disney to get the most profits out of superhero movies possible.

Furthermore, I doubt there is or ever was going to be everlasting damage, seeing how “Endgame” was going to happen anyway and has been out for almost two years. Meaning all the “drama” of Infinity War in 2018? Dealt with. All the people that turned into dust are alive again and well thanks to the Dragon Balls- I mean Infinity Stones, which is more than can e.g. be said about Bambi’s mom. So if your kid starts crying because Thanos won when you let them watch Infinity War? Make sure to put Endgame in almost immediately to show them their heroes are not dead. Just hope the kid is not a fan of Iron Man or Black Widow, cause they are the only superheroes of the bunch who are going to join Old Yeller and Co in the everlasting realm of fictional character deaths to “fuck up” your kids.

Which btw is the other thing worth pointing out: See, I can imagine kids having the most negative reaction to watching the Snap play out. Because most kids will not know as many media as adults and are on average not exposed to as much violence or “traumatic” events in the stuff they watch/consume or in real life (hopefully). And lets face it, Infinity War has some “brutal” scenes in it. Thanos choking Loki, Thanos getting stabbed, Thanos getting an axe in his torso, Thanos throwing Gamora of the cliff, everyone getting blown with the wind etc.

But the way Dobson words it, he believes that adults too will react to it negatively, to the point they may need therapy. To which I say, no. If most children can deal with Infinity War, so will even more adults. Personally I think the only person “traumatized” by Infinity War was Dobson himself, because if his history in regard of movies and media he consumes is any indication, he is a pantsy who likely pisses his knickers at animated Halloween specials despite being now almost 40.

Even others called him out on it, but Dobson, the manchild that he is can’t acknowledge that he may have overreacted to it and still believes this movie is a horrifically traumatic experience, based on some youtubers overreacting for the sake of clicks.

Last but not least, where was that kind of reaction by Dobson when Man of Steel came out? You know, the movie where the fight scenes in Metropolis were actually called out by many people in the media of being triggering for people who experienced 9/11.

Seriously though, if Dobson thinks Infinity War’s ending is traumatizing, I just have to ask the following things:

a) how many mainstream western comics has he actually ever bothered to read, cause on average even worse shit can happen in them to heroes than seen in Infinity War (just ask people who read “Cry for Justice”)

b) if Infinity War is already that traumatizing for you, how did you expect to ever be a decent story creator yourself, cause obviously you can’t see characters actually suffer? Except of course when they are straight males abused by redhead pirates.

c) Just as a personal opinion: Better turn into dust than to be inflated and popped, Catty!

[popculturebuffet]

Loud House Reviews: The Loudest Thanksgiving

It’s almost Thanksgiving! And a vastly diffrent one than in recent memory: Most of us are slimming down family gatherings to just whose in our house, you know because theirs a pandemic going on and it’s not worth risking your life for it. To those either guilting their families into it or doing so because MAGa or some such I only have this to say. 

Speaking of Black Friday i’ts spread over a week and it’s cyber deals mean I got a ton of graphic novels for a dollar a piece and my christmas shopping almost done. So in other words, boo Maga, yay safe and responsible captalisim.  But while the holiday may be diffrent, as well as the pseudo holiday attached that spawned a wonderful musical and many many injuries, one thing stays the same; Holiday Episodes. And despite being the less popular of the three holidays, Thanksgiving still produced tons of great holiday episodes and specials. And with everything being so busy I simply didn’t put too much thought into what to do for Turkey Day.. well okay the day proper i’m going to eat, spend time with family and watch a bunch of mystery science theater 3000, stay the course even in these troubling times, just with only the 4 other people who live in my house. But in terms of episodes I thought i had nothing.. then I started actually thinking on it and what do you know I have three things I want to do for the holiday, though one might wait till next year, and possibly a fourth. But given my workload currently, i’m not one to back away from a challenge, so welcome to a three or four course meal of reviews. First course: The Loud House thanksgiving special, the loudest thanksgiving.  I originally wasn’t going to do this one, mostly because due to my large workload and constant battle with procastination, I keep having to push back the latest episode review, and I have to do that one soon, as there’s a new episode in december and a christmas episode i’ve put off watching for far too long , as I INTENDED to watch eleven louds a leapin for every chirstmas up till now and never got to it before the season was over.  But just like elven louds.. Nick forced my hand.. and by that I mean the SPINOFF got a thanksgiving episode that’s also a sequel in some fashion to this episode. If I wanted to cover that episode this thanksgiving or the next I had to at least watch the original. And frankly, this close to the holiday there was no reason not to review it. So with that out of the way. 

Let’s Get At Er. This is The Loudest Thanksgiving... after the break

The Loudest Thanksgiving takes place during season 3, and still pre-casagrandes spinoff launch despite the christmas special taking place earlier. This is actually easy to explain: The Loud House runs on Comic Strip time... i.e. the characters don’t age unless the writers decide they do. But while the spinoff was in motion at this point, it was still a season off airing wise, and ill advised raitings stunt mini series wise, so in order to keep the Casagrandes fresh in people’s minds presumably, they did a crossover that at this point wasn’t a crossover but now technically is because the show exists but this existed before the show. 

It’s just a show, and I should really just relax. Point is this is a pre-crossover crossover, the two families meet for the first time, the man already said pitter patter, let’s get back at er.  So we open with Flip serving as our magical snowman narrator and regaling us with the tale of steven. Every compastionate can you imagine it... and i’m fucking with you, it’s of course abotu that time the louds and the casagrandes tried having thanksgiving together. 

We then cut to Lori and Bobby being all cute, as usual, and both talking over the phone as each show off their thanksgivings to each other and the enusing family shenanigans. On Lori’s side Lynn is wearing baggy pants so she dosen’t miss the game or the meal by going to the bathroom.. because that’s how pissing yourself works. Look if your going to do something that gross, stupid and broish just woman up and wear an adult diaper. The twins are guarding Lynn sr and the food, poorly, and Lisa has invented a Gravy Squriting robot. I can only see this ending one way. 

Yeah those single function robots really get useless once the exestnetial crisis kicks in. 

On the casagrandes side, Rosa is likewise guarding her kitchen, Frida is painting and Hector plans to sernade eveyrone because Hector is the best and you all should know that. Even with the recent Bobby Abuse he’s still awesome. As for the Mercado, CJ and Ronnie Anne are running the annual canned food drive because CJ is better than the best and should really be used more often.  Both wish they could be there.. and both honestly talk about possibly spending thanksgiving with each other and just one of their family. It’s not a wild proposition: Both are going to college soon, both are in a longterm relationship.. they plan to get married down the line for now. If things hold they will eventually have to figure this out. Of course rather than fate let them figure this out themselves, Hector overhears on Bobby’s end and Lincoln, whose busy A Clock Work Oranging himself so he can stay awake during dinner, overhears on Loris, leading to an emergency family meeting for both sides.  Both families are worried their prospective teenager going to another house of their longterm significant other for one year will mean they get all the holidays. Having never had a relationship last long enough to worry about this, I don’t quite get it as in my experince watching couples juggle this.. they usually just alternate years, spoilers the solution the episode goes with, or trade off christmas and thanksgiving, both fair solutions. Buuut as much as this bothered me at first the more I thought about it the more it actually made sense: People.. aren’t always rational and won’t always do the smart or correct thing, especially when it comes to their children. And with Lori leaving college and the casagrandes being togehter for thanksgiving for the first time in about 5 years, with both ronnie anne and her mom not having had a proper one in some time due to her mom needing to work thanksgiving, presumibly because of the eternal curse of gravy chugging contests, they have valid emotional reasons to go a bit nuts and do some irrational and assholish things. They just don’t want to loose their big sister and big brother, and that’s fair. It may not be at all accurate but it’s fair. 

So thus began the great Guilt Off of 2018. ON the Loud side they START with a fairly soft pitch, the twins simply offer her food early, and she takes it because honestly I would too. Then again, i’d also take free food in just about any situation, so i’m not really a good gage for this. As long as it’s not poision i’ll probably eat it if it’s free. The next two are a little.. less subtle, with the kids talking about Lori’s roll in the annual thanksgiving skit.. which I’m assuming is soley for Lynn Sr. as no one else seems to be going to their thanksgiving. Which granted theirs valid explinations for why their neighbors didn’t go, the mcbrides and mr grouse have their own families and while Mr Grouse rarely gets to see his, he now has neighborly friends after the last holiday special happy to help. But Pop Pop.. makes no sense as his girlfriend, the only plausable reason he wouldn’t be there, was said to not have much family in her debut. So he’s just.. absent from thanksgiving for no reason. Thena gain we later find out this play is movie length, so maybe he was just trying to escape that which in that case, who can blame him. Rita almost reigns things back in with the mother’s trump card: parental guilt. Almost. She then almost crushes lori’s hand but it’s funny enough.  At the Casagrandes, their opening move is largely the same only Rosa wins in terms of execution, cooking up some of bobby’s faviorites to specificially target him. Frida paints him into a painting, again the Casagrandes win his one in terms of effort. They do tie in the last bit, as Maria and Ronnie Anne try the same sort of guilt slining with the same bone crushing.  Eventually both teens get fed up with the next bit; For Lori, Lucy gives her a long overdramatic poem about an empty chair which is easily tied with one bit later for best bit of hte episode.. which granted when I can only think of two or three gags that really made me laugh...

Bobby likewise gets Hector telling the story about a realitvie not going to thanksgiving. Both get angry.. which for Lori, isn’t all that suprising, if entirely warranted. For Bobby though? It’s like pissing off a dolphin. IT’s hard to do and very much not something you want to actually pull of. Both families are forced to admit they eavesdropped, and are incredibly worried about this whole situation, with Lynn Sr selling lincoln up the river for telling them... this man’s capacity for selling out his children is as awe insprising as it is truly pathetic. 

So the two teens go back to their rooms to figure something out and come upon a reasonable solution: just have one of the families host and both come to it. That’s more than fair. But given we still have a full special to pad out, both families are still treating this like a competion: while the louds win the coin toss, both sides are determined to win thanksgiving. IT’s far from the most insane contest i’ve seen this month, x of swords was happening and i’ve seen a russian yank a goblin out of the demonic alligator skin he was using as a puppet. And we don’t know for sure Arrakoa and Krakoa didn’t have a trial over a baby turkey being adorable as one of the challenges. Other challenges included getting drunk, an eating contest, telling someone to murder a kitten and a wedding, all of this is actual stuff that happened in this recent crossover, I have made up nothing. 

So after the break and Flip realizing oh shit the audience is back, the war begins. The Louds are preparing for war, with Lola putting out a picture of herself instead of bobby and laurie because of course.. still not a half bad gag. The Casagrandes arrive and in in a passive agressive move that was already done a year before this special by Brooklyn Nine Nine and better, brought their own food.. though the roast pig is a nice and unique touch. Points for that.  And this.. is where the special gets tedious. Yeah while the IDEA of this episode was really good and I was excited to cover it in practice it’s just similar gags on both sides done for both halves: The first being “let’s guilt them into staying” and the second being “Let’s one up each other” with only two bits really working: Frieda having a painting and the louds annual skit.  And the skit is because it raises a LOT of questions: Why is it 90 minutes, who played the adorable turkey in the years between babies? Was it just whoever was youngest? Who wrote this? Who is this for besides Lynn Sr and Pop Pop? Who all has sat through this thing at some point? Is that why the mcbrides don’t come over for thanksgiving? It’s just.. fantastic is what i’m saying.  

But otherwise this part is just the family trying to one up each other with food, or toasts, or song, before devolving into a big fight. What makes it not work is.. there isn’t a lot of personality there. You have these two big, plentiful, intresting casts, even at this stage with the Casagrandes far less established and fleshed out. And instead of finding interesting ways for them to play off one another meeting for the first time, and to use that to also flesh the characters out more for the inevitable spinoff, it’s just 

For most of the second half. Thankfully it DOES manage to bring things around as after things degenerate into a food fight, the families decide to just ASK the two of them where they want to go.. and find them entirely missing.  It then turns out, in a nice twist, this is where Flip came in. Since his place is the only place open 24/7 and 365, barring fishing season, Bobby and Lori fled here to flee their insane families.. who then follow them there because Carlos and Lisa have them chipped. I was suprised at first Carlos had a tracker on bobby but honestly, i’ts just common sense. The man is like a golden retriver in a man’s body. Here’s an artists interpretation

Both families breifly bicker before Lori and Bobby announce their starting their own family thankgiving with blackjack, and hookers. They really shouldn’t of let Flip in on the brainstorming session. Both families don’t want that, and apologize, admitting they just didn’t want to loose them and both genuinely offering to let the other have them next year. Flip, who despite having a “pay for my colonoscopy jar” with a picture of his ass on it, is somehow the voice of reason and just suggests trading thanksgivings every year, everyone accepts, and we do get a genuinely heartwarming ending of both sides gathering everything for a gas station thanksgiving. Honestly reminds me of king of the hill’s airport episode, but in a very good way and still unique enough circumstances to work.Also Flip, of all people, donates the cans needed to finish the can drive.. granted i’m not sure if they WANT any of that meat, but hey, he meant well and it made me really like the character.  We get a heartwearming duet between hector and luna and sono the whole family and we’re out. 

Final Thoughts: This was disapointing. I’ve listed most of my complaints already, but overall it wasted a good premise of two families coming together, and even the feud parts could’ve been funnier. As it is it’s just.. ehhhhhhhhhh. It has some good parts, and bobby is an angel here on earth as always. But the whole just feels padded. Like this was SUPPOSED to just be 11 minutes, got bumped up, and thus here we are. It’s not the worst Loud House has done, i’ve seen and heard of muccch worse, but for a holiday special it just feels stale and i’ve seen way better thanksgiving specials. And i’ll be getting to that.  If there’s an episode of a cartoon you’d like me to cover, just pop in my ask box or dms and you can comission a review for 5 bucks a piece. Discounts on bulk, 15 for movies. Until then , happy thanksgiving.

[popsicletheduck]

I can't believe i keep forgetting to send you this but: if the stories/settings you have created could all become video medium, what would they be like? Would they be movies, series, hell even youtube videos? What already existing things (not necessarily filmed/animated themselves! Video games and static art are also fair game!) would you want their style to be like? Live action or animated? 2D, 3D, stop motion, something else? (Rambling encouraged if you want, as always :) )

Damn! Like, what a question! I honestly hadn’t really thought about that before. I mean, obviously with the exception of listening to songs and vividly imagining sweet animatics to go with whatever I’m hyperfixating on (I have actually been trying to realize some of those recently with little mini comic sketches, but they never come out as cool as they look in my head. Partially because I can’t animate, partially because I’m still not that great at drawing. But I try!)

But as for actually making my works into a video medium... I think I’m going to focus on my original works here because for fanfic I think I’d probably keep them in the same style as the original work, just because that’s how I see them while I’m writing them, so like, the Witcher fics would be live action but the Resi or DBH fics would be 3D animated just for like. Narrative continuity sake, even if the fics don’t actually fit into the narrative.

(putting the rest of it under a readmore because I got long and rambly)

I’m actually going to start with the original work that I talk about far less on here, and that’s Data from a Dying Star, an original sci-fi novella? novel? series? still working on it, about an astrophysicist and the crew of their research ship struggling to deal with the effects of war and loss while on their way to observe a once in a lifetime stellar event, and possibly the fallout after that. I think if I were to make it into a video medium it’d end up being a movie or maybe a movie series, depending on how everything pans out. And despite my love for animation and the fact that the story is full of aliens that would be difficult to show convincingly in live action, I really can’t think of it as anything but live action. The aesthetic would be like some combination of the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies, TNG, my patchy understanding of Mass Effect, and whatever it is that this cover for Becky Chamber’s The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet has going on: building on old school traditions of sci-fi but with a modern understanding and sensibilities. Oh, and also this art piece specifically. Streamlined and geometrically modern mixed with organic elements, along with careful uses of color to portray mood. The ship, the only significant setting, shouldn’t be hard or sterile, but convey the life and emotions of the crew inhabiting it, which can sometimes be feelings of isolation and depression. Also the aliens should be practical effects as much as possible, though I admit that would probably be difficult, especially for those with different body configurations. Ryt in particular would be a nightmare, what with six appendages and fully covered in fur but like. Figure it out. Make it work.  If you CG my favorite child I’m coming for you kneecaps.

And then there’s Mhyddon, my homebrew D&D setting that I’ve been working on for years now and am actively running a game in (you may have heard me refer to Avan; Mhyddon is the world, Avan is a continent in that world. Avan is where the current campaign takes place and therefore where I’ve focused the most on worldbuilding). The nature of D&D and the setting would lend itself to a visual medium that was also episodic, whether that was a TV show or youtube videos. I could actually see either, but it would depend on what the focus was. If it was the campaign, the adventures of my party of lovely thembos, TV show would work best to keep a sense of the narrative throughline and character growth. But if it was just sort of a tour around Avan/Mhyddon, youtube videos would work really well. I actually got excited thinking about the possibility of a number of short videos, each from the perspective of an NPC that highlighted some aspect of the worldbuilding and the variety of experiences across Avan (following Compassion for a day to showcase the city of Savent, the experience of a younger Aravance to show life studying magic at the Obsidian Sanctum, Zero and the consequences of the Voldraunian Empire’s invasion, etc etc etc). Either way, they’d be animated, probably 2D animation because I love it so much and think it’s critically underrated in our modern day. Obviously the gold standard for 2D D&D animation is the Critical Role campaign 2 introduction, and I’m thinking probably something along those lines? But also, like, not quite. I also really love the work of ABD Illustrates in general and on High Hopes, Low Rolls specifically. Or even Avatar the Last Airbender because yknow, that show is gorgeous. And like, I certainly wouldn’t want it to be in my own amateurish style, but I have done some drawings of people and places in the world. I don’t know, 2D is hard because there’s so much possibility. I’d want something semi-realistic in order to keep it feeling somewhat grounded, but also it’s a fantasy world with room to explore and just make some gorgeous art. Beyond that I think I’d get too far into the specifics of inspiration for individual cities, towns, and landscapes (Savent was inspired by Assassin’s Creed Origins, much of the Greyspire Mountains are a mishmash of my own experiences in and around the Rocky Mountains, the Rustfell Peninsula comes from the depictions of Edoras from the LotR movies, etc).

Thank you for the question!! I never would’ve thought about this without it and also a chance to talk about my children and my worlds <3

[philocake]

CANON FACTS ABOUT DREAMTALE

simply because some people have been pissing me off a little over our wide Internet, I’ve decided to post stuff that is 100% canon about Dreamtale, a beautiful AU which unfortunately not many people know well enough, and for that they think it’s worthless, garbage and/or a blatant plagiarism. so, since most of this info is unknown to many of those who know about this AU, I’m here to open your eyes and relieve you of your stress!

this is just a long, helpful, awfully necessary summary, because all the posts spitting false information about Dreamtale make my blood boil even if it’s not even my AU. here you’ll find stuff you might already know, but it ranges from the basics to “secret” facts only certain people have had access to thus far (aka spanish speakers who know joku has a youtube channel)

remember, all of this is canon unless stated otherwise, no theories included (speculations with enough proof are still valid). thank me later.

* (joku, si por alguna razón estás leyendo esto y no lo quieres aquí por lo que sea, yo lo quitaré. pero no quiero que la gente siga hablando de esta forma tan pésima sobre tu AU y algunos merecen saber más de lo que tienen a su alcance.)

----

General facts:

- Within the concept of the AU, there are 3 vital trees that keep the balance of the universe: Life, Magic and Feelings, all protected by extremely powerful guardians (Quetzalcoatl, Lanny and Nim respectively). Each tree is in a hidden world; nobody must know where they are in order to keep them safe, though some people have found them, both good and bad intentioned. Because of this, Dreamtale occurs in a world completely unrelated to any place from the original Undertale, since it’s the occult world where the Tree of Feelings resides. This AU, by consequence, breaks the 4th wall several times.

- Dream and Nightmare were created after their subsequent mother was attacked by a human wielding a weapon, a dagger, powerful enough to wound a guardian in an attempt to obtain one of the golden apples. It’s possible this human was one of Quetzalcoatl’s creations, since at the time of the attack there was no life near the Tree of Feelings, and that it might have been deliberate. Dream and Nightmare were originally little fireballs, yellow and purple respectively. Nim was going to give them human bodies to protect their frail forms, but the energy that radiated from the fireballs made them explode as they had very few escape points. They were then given skeleton bodies (based on Swap!Sans), which allowed that energy to flow without trouble - this is why they are not considered Sanses per se. Dream and Nightmare are currently 503 years old (their birthday is the 21st of December).

- The apple incident occurred when Dream and Nightmare were 6 years old, physically, which meant Nightmare went through 6 years of bullying.

- The encouraging voice Nightmare heard before eating the apples was actually the conscience of the man who killed Nim, as he ended up being absorbed by the negative side of the Tree. It hasn't been specified if he had any more direct influence on Nightmare’s corruption, however.

- Dream can’t touch the black apples, and Nightmare can’t touch the golden ones, otherwise they would invert. It’s unknown what would exactly happen if Dream touched the black apples, and it will remain unknown in canon as he would never do such a thing. It’s also unknown what would happen if both twins touched a single apple at the same time.

- Dream and Nightmare were not true guardians, only replacements. They had to learn how to unleash their true powers on their own.

- At some unknown point, Dream met Ink, who in this instance made him believe he was a kind-hearted protector just like him. Dream thought Ink was hiding his emotions for some reason, until one day he saw him not doing anything to help when some people were in trouble. This caused a heavy argument between them that almost ended in a fight. That was when Dream realized they had immensely different mindsets, given that Ink didn’t care about people’s wellbeing, and felt like he had been lied to. He doesn’t trust Ink anymore after this, even though he’s unable to hate people.

- The villagers that lived in the world of Dreamtale were overcome by negative energy over the years, and turned into zombie-like, depressed beings that will attack and kill anything they see.

Story depth:

Despite his exterior, Dream actually felt overwhelmed about helping people back in the village, but just like Nightmare, he kept it a secret from everyone. He knew everyone counted on him, but he didn’t really count on anyone, and sometimes, after helping people, he snapped and went off to cry somewhere far away from the village so that no one would realize he was internally suffering.

At some yet unknown point before the apple incident, Dream met a homeless cat-monster while he was crying and saying to himself that he “couldn’t do this anymore”. The monster overheard him, but when asked why he was crying, Dream never told the truth.

This cat was Neil, a new character introduced into the story as of February 2018. He once had a family, his wife and his son, but they were caught in an intentional fire that burned their home down and in an attempt to save them Neil lost his arm. He tried to attack the people of the village because they knew what was going to happen and never did anything to help, but his behavior got him exiled. Long after that, he got a hold of himself and began building a house on his own, a little closer to the village. That was when he and Dream met.

Neil was not too fond of people, and because of this he did not want Dream to come back there. But Dream kept trying to help him, silently building the house alongside him, and over time, Neil began to enjoy Dream’s company and they became friends. Actual friends, and not just one more person taking advantage of his altruism. After this, Dream set a routine: help Neil during the day, and stay with Nightmare at night, or earlier. 

Neil knew Dream had a brother, however he never visited him, or the Tree, or the village in general, as he could not return.

Dream was with Neil when the incident happened. Neil let Dream run off to the village, but followed him after he heard screams. While not being part of it, he came in time to see all the chaos and destruction Nightmare had created seconds before he disappeared. His heart broke when he saw Dream as a stone statue, and even though everyone was gone, he kept coming back there regularly, as if hoping one day he would find his friend alive and well.

Meanwhile, Nightmare built that dark castle he’s known to have and (maybe?) an army of dark Papyri to help him. However, the comic this was first shown in depicted Dream under their custody – this is no longer canon, as Dream was never taken there and was instead left in the village.

Later on, Lanny, the guardian of the Tree of Magic, traveled over to where Dream was. Being overprotective, Neil threatened her to get away from him, but after exchanging some words they made up their minds to get Dream out of there and find a way to help him together. Lanny told Neil that the magic of the Yggdrasil (aka the Tree of Magic) could heal Dream, however she was only a materialization and couldn’t do anything outside of her world. Neil decided to take Dream there himself, then.

They set up a plan, but when Neil came back for the statue, it was gone. Earlier on, Nightmare had moved it to a deep fissure in the center of the village where the main town used to be to stop Neil from finding it. When he did, he was ambushed by Nightmare and his ‘ally’, Ccino, a Sans from an AU called Fluffytale.

Before all of this happened, Nightmare had found Ccino being beaten up by some undefined people. He enjoyed this at first, but the memories of the real Nightmare about being bullied made him snap and he killed the assailants. When Ccino thanked him, Nightmare only told him that he didn’t do it for him, he did it for him, his ‘real’ self. After that began a toxic relationship between the two, the only canon pairing in Dreamtale thus far. Ccino felt protected with Nightmare, and because he was someone depressive, Nightmare let him stay close; since he fed on negative feelings, he was like a constant charger for him, and he used that to his advantage. He felt nothing for him, and that was the only reason they were together. It was a deal: if Ccino said he no longer wanted to be with him, Nightmare would most likely kill him.

Both of them attacked Neil as he tried to get Dream away from there, but he still made it to the point where Lanny was waiting for him in order to teleport him to her world without Nightmare following. There, Lanny explained that the magic that had turned Dream to stone didn’t actually come from the Yggdrasil but from extremely powerful hatred, and she was no longer sure the Tree itself could do anything for him. After this, it’s unknown what exactly happens to any of the three, though Neil is known to end up dying and Lanny eventually becomes Dream’s teacher and trainer. He was still stuck in stone for 400+ years, though.

Before or after Dream is set free, Nightmare will try to snatch the fruits from the two remaining trees, actually managing to steal one (from which tree is still unknown).

*Note that, since his creator has left the Undertale fandom, Ccino is no longer in Dreamtale and it's unknown if the parts of the story where he appeared will still be in or if they will be completely reworked.

** There was a comic, probably separate from the ongoing one, that showed Dream finding his brother, just like he used to be, apparently dead. While he mourned him, the little, purple fireball that represented his true form appeared out of nowhere, telling him that he was indeed dead. At some point after that, the corrupted Nightmare attacked Dream, and tore off his cape while he was trying to escape. This is where Dream realized his brother was gone. The cape he wears with his new attire is the same one, except he fixed it up as best as he could.

Endings:

Dreamtale has four endings: good, bad, neutral and true. The upcoming comic revolves around the true ending.

- In the bad ending, Nightmare manages to kill Dream and obtain the last golden apple, making him extremely powerful and filling the world with despair.

- In the neutral ending, Dream manages to kill Nightmare, but saves one last black apple which he then takes back to what’s left of the Tree of Feelings and joins with his own, burying them together like seeds. This ends up killing him, though. The two halves of the apples make the Tree regrow and everything rewind to the day they were born, much like a reset. This ending will keep repeating everything over and over again, and it’s described as the worst one because of it. 

- In the true ending, Dream becomes a real guardian after defeating his brother in likely a different way than in the neutral ending. He manages to unleash his full power, this breaking his skeleton body and giving him a more humanoid appearance.

- The good ending is the only one that hasn’t been specified yet.

Character facts:

Dream:

- If Dream had been the bullied one, he would have held on throughout the years. Nightmare, being made of negative feelings, couldn’t help feeling overwhelmed by the hatred, even if he used to be the more brash of the two brothers, but Dream wouldn’t have let it get to him.

- Dream always spent a lot of time with Nightmare, healing him when he was hurt and even breaking the presents people gave him to make new ones for his brother after realizing he never got anything. He really looked up to him.

- Dream is very strong, stronger than his brother before the corruption. He can easily lift boulders and other similarly heavy objects without much strain. Dream’s strength is shown in a comical way in, well, the comic, with him easily lifting a stack of heavy concrete bricks while Neil only carried some hay, prompting him to silently say “f*cking kid…”

- The reason why Dream remained clueless after being freed, depicted as having the mentality of a kid, was because he was deprived of his senses for four centuries, and he was physically 6 when the incident happened. He had no way to learn about the world while he was trapped, until Lanny (most likely) told him everything.

- Once Dream gets his new attire, his weaponry changes with him. His arrows are made of positive feelings, which he takes from those around him (this will directly affect them: if someone is really happy and Dream shoots an arrow thanks to those feelings, said person will go from being joyful to just being neutral – never negative in any way). His bow can also split into two daggers joined by the bowstring, however he only uses this when absolutely necessary.

- He has to constantly hop between timelines to stay away from Nightmare and to keep spreading positivity, as his aura is not strong enough to reach every universe if he stays still.

- He has a deep respect for Error, since he knows that if he doesn’t keep the AUs balanced, everybody would die.

- Dream can heal himself, but it's not an extremely fast process. If a wound takes about 3 hours to heal, it would take Dream about 1. He can also heal other people, but that drains his soul's energy and tires him out.

Nightmare:

- Before the bullying started, Nightmare was the more cocky and proud of the brothers. He has always been the more serious one, and is always interested in learning - both normal and corrupted, each in their own ways for their own purposes. The corrupted Nightmare still likes to read.

- Nightmare doesn’t actually have 999 souls, just one, the first apple he ate. The rest are that black goo that surrounds him, an extremely powerful shield that renders him invulnerable to most things; if he were stabbed with something, his body would absorb it and there would be no damage.

- Despite shown using one in that outdated comic, Nightmare can’t actually use Gaster Blasters of any kind.

- The corrupted Nightmare never lies, only hides the truth. He also takes deals very personally and will not hesitate to kill whoever backs off from them (even if he rarely attacks people physically, mostly as a threat).

- The real Nightmare is still in the mind of the corruption, reminding him of important things such as Dream being his brother and all the psychological damage he went through because of the villagers.

- His aura can affect the entire universe he’s in, and many others that are close enough. He doesn’t need to move much to spread negativity.

- Unlike his brother, Nightmare has no respect whatsoever for Error or for anyone who protects the balance of the multiverse. He doesn’t care if Undertale and its AUs die off, as he knows there are many other worlds out there. He still would rather not have any massive massacres, as it would take away the negative power he can obtain from people.

** Dream and Nightmare are rather complex characters, as there are certain things they cannot do or feel because they are driven by more negative or positive energy than anybody else has. This limits their actions and gives them a certain way to behave, ie Dream’s incapability to hate people, (non-corrupted)Nightmare’s instant lack of self-esteem when put under pressure, Nightmare’s lack of love or empathy, Dream’s urge to save any world no matter what… All of this is caused by the energy they are made of and what the world has taught them.

Neil:

- He’s 36 years old, though he lives throughout most of the 496 years Dream is trapped in stone since Dream gave him something to make him live longer (not specified).

- After losing his home and his family and being exiled from the village due to his hostility, he headed off to live in the mountains. He was hostile to people because they never helped him, which prompted them to gossip and say things like he was the one who started the fire.

- More than a friend, Neil saw Dream as the son he’d lost, very few times calling him by his own name and rather using words like kid, boy, etc. He becomes very protective of him and would gladly give his life to keep him safe.

Nim:

- She’s never been fond of mortal life, seeing everyone as careless, greedy creatures.

- Nim didn’t entirely die until the corrupted Nightmare destroyed the Tree; she lived within it, and could still reappear every once in a while, though as a spirit. Dream and Nightmare were the only ones that could see her in this state.

- She never bothered having a good relationship with Dream and Nightmare and they barely ever knew much about her.

Lanny:

- Being an elf herself, the village that surrounds her Tree is populated only by elves. She doesn’t like monsters around the village, as they take too much of the magic the Yggdrasil emanates, which keeps her and the other elves young and gives them longer lifespans.

- Lanny refers to Nightmare as a monster, since she hates him with all her heart for destroying the Tree of Feelings, killing all the people in the village, endangering Dream and thus the precarious balance of feelings, trying to steal the fruits, and etc. She’s generally angry for many of the things that have happened.

- Her wings are not real wings; she can fly (maybe just hover), but not thanks to them. They are an aesthetic, used to make her look prettier according to her. They are an extension of her magic that she can shape at will.

- Lanny was actually in love with Nim, though she never reciprocated her feelings. She was devastated when she died and placed the blame on Dream and Nightmare, just to have someone to blame. She treats Dream with hate.

Quetzalcoatl:

- His true form consists of two giant snakes, one that controls life and other that controls death. They can fuse together to create the human-ish form he’s usually depicted in.

Fun facts:

- Before eating the apples, Dream and Nightmare could not feel people’s emotions. At the same time, they didn’t radiate any kind of positive or negative energy, since the power emitted by the fireballs was something that couldn’t be perceived.

- Dream could have a very, very slim chance to bring Nightmare back without killing him, but odds are he would be the one to die in the attempt: there is a chance that if he touches his soul, a black apple after all, he would turn it golden. However, it’s not bound to work with so much negativity surrounding him, and his arm could start to melt if he tried such thing.

- Dream and Nightmare cannot control people’s dreams or nightmares. At max, Nightmare can mess with people’s minds using what they fear or hate the most to his advantage, this way creating hallucinations and making them eventually go crazy until they can’t keep holding on, and Dream can make people feel better and safer.

- The 3 guardians are all based on mythological creatures; Nim is something of Greek origin (not specified, likely a dryad), Lanny is an elf, and Quetzalcoatl is based on the Aztec god of the same name. They don’t have their own names; they simply took them from things that interested them, as they can watch every world that surrounds them.

- The apples of the Tree of Life are not edible; they are made out of glowing blue crystal. When people die, their souls travel inside these apples. Then, when they are thrown to the ground, these souls break free and are reborn into different people, in different worlds. Thus, the circle of life.

- The Tree of Magic seems to be the only Tree whose fruits are not apples. They look like pears and are rainbow-colored inside.

- Reaper (not exactly the same Reaper/Death/Sans from the Reapertale we all know) has been rumored to have a role in the AU, eventually. Killer may be in, too.

- Joku created Nightmare before she created Dream, for another AU completely different from Dreamtale (cancelled for a long time now) called Underflesh.

- Dreamtale's concept was partially inspired by two movies, these being The Prince of Egypt and Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland.

(i tried linking to the sources i got most of this stuff from, but that prevents the post from showing up in the tags (thanks tumblr). check the version i posted on deviantart for the links if you want more reliability)

[ofwizardsandmen]

The walk of victory

Idol AU (Rebelde AU)

Characters: Tara Lee (OC), Johnny Suh, Mark Yang (changed his last name for plot purposes)

Word count : 1,2k

In which Mark and Johnny end up tangled in a love triangle with Tara Lee, the country’s ‘Little sister’ and 1/6 of the Co-ed pop sensation IMPULSE! Mostly angst and very bad decisions.

(Part of a larger story and multiple AUs, but can be read on its own)

“There’s a temporary exhibition dedicated to expressionism,” Johnny says touching the back of his head “Maybe we can find some time this week to go watch it” he adds, wording the invitation carefully.

Or that’s what Tara thinks anyhow.  She’s standing before the full-length golden mirror that, by now, every fan of NCT has learned to recognize as a trademark of Johnny’s room. Her reflection stares at her judgmentally.

The series of events leading to the “scandalous” outcome of Tara spending the night at NCT’s dorm is still up to debate. Tara has been vainly trying to come up with one, but there’s really no explanation for what happened last night and what has been consistently happening in the last couple of weeks. She’s pretty sure that if they were to get caught, the tabloids and gossip-hungry websites that report her every move would reduce it to a petty feud between her and Mark. But even in her worst state of mind, Tara knows that whatever she and Johnny have been up to is beyond Mark and her desire to get back at him, to see him wither in pain and jealousy after betraying her trust.

For one thing, there is no pain or jealousy for Mark to feel at all. Tara has allowed her pettiness to cloud her judgment and has been acting like a foolish teenager who sneaks with Johnny whenever the opportunity arises and doesn't even bother to hide it anymore. And yet, as of today, Mark is still blissfully unaware of the affair she’s having with his bandmate and supposedly best friend. For another, there’s nothing suggesting he’ll find about it anytime soon. Considering how Johnny was completely sure Mark wouldn’t sleep at the dorm the previous night, it is probably for the best.

“He’s not been coming home lately” Tara can recall Johnny explaining with a smirk as he stripped her clothes off her body, his voice a bit too casual for her liking. Then, again, the whole situation was already far too out of control and messed up for her to start caring about trivialities like Johnny implying Mark had already moved on from her and was frequenting someone else.

“Tara?” Johnny’s voice pulls Tara back to reality. Upon blinking twice, she realizes the guy has moved to stand behind her, his proximity makes her shift uncomfortably.

“Uh…er… yes, sure.” Tara nods offhandedly. She knows Johnny won’t take no for an answer.

He never does.

That’s probably how she ended up fucking him in the backseat of his car for the first time. Or how they ended up sneaking into his group’s shared apartment last night.

__

Tara can’t pinpoint with exactitude the moment her life turned upside down, all she knows is that it all started a doomed night of December when she bumped into Mark Yang at an award show afterparty and it’s only gone downhill from there. Tara’s life currently consists of one mistake followed by an even bigger mistake; regret —occasionally overshadowed by the thrill Johnny Suh and his model-like looks make her feel—, and unexpected events.

Finding Mark standing outside Johnny’s room when she’s finally gathered enough courage to make the walk of shame is one of them.

“Tara, don’t forget your-“ Johnny’s playful voice trails off the moment he sticks his head out of the door and notices his bandmate staring at Tara as though he's seen a ghost.

In return, she watches with thinly-veiled satisfaction the way Mark’s face contorts when Johnny fails to hide her lacy bra behind his back. It’s almost comical until she detects a flash of hurt in Mark’s eyes and he clenches his jaw, allowing his hand to ball into a fist before letting an empty laugh that doesn’t quite achieve its purpose because he looks as though he’s going to burst into tears at any moment. That or attempt murdering Johnny, Tara is not too sure.

“So now you're fucking my bandmates?” Mark inquires, eyes glistening as though they contained the entire cosmos inside. Though, in reality, it is not a question, it's a statement. Or rather an accusation.  

Tara finds it completely hypocritical how Mark dares to act offended after publicly ruining her reputation with a song he composed and everybody was quick to assume it had been “inspired” by the relationship —or whatever it was they had— they had tried to hide for months. Tara has been trying to forget about it for weeks and she’s supposedly made up her mind around the fact Mark didn’t deserve her sadness, but seeing him again has her inevitably feeling like she is going to crawl out of her skin.It’s silly how she allows herself to feel so miserable about a boy who wasted no time and found her a replacement in less than a week, but despite any evidence indicating the opposite, Tara has never been good at dealing with her emotions. People have always praised her cool demeanor and strong-willed personality, her entirety and wisdom, but in fact, all she’s done over the years is shoving her feelings deep inside of her, in a place where they didn’t represent a menace to that perfectly and minutely planned life of hers.

Unfortunately, everything is gone by now, and though Tara has even planned what she’d tell Mark when and if he happened to find out about her and Johnny, no amount of planning prepared her to deal with the heaviness of the situation.

Mark, whose eyes were always gentle despite his stupidity and lack of genuine love for Tara, stands motionless, boring imaginary holes into Johnny’s head and looking as though he’d snap at them at the lesser of the provocations.

Even the confident Tara is afraid of speaking because her senses have diverted and she’s currently focused on the smell of sex lingering in the air. She wonders if Mark notices too because he scrunches up his nose and looks at her disgusted, as though he can’t tolerate her presence.  

So in the end, Johnny is the one to speak next.

“This is not about you, Mark-“ He finally says after a silence that stretches enough for Tara to make a double-take and notice how Mark still wears the black t-shirt she bought him for his birthday.

“No, of course not. This is about my backstabbing friend sleeping with the girl I used to-“

Whatever Mark had meant to say next is interrupted by Tara. She’s not too sure if she’s simply trying to protect herself from potentially finding out Mark regarded her as a simple fuck buddy —or less than that—, but she ignores those thoughts, pushing them to the back of her head on behalf of keeping her sanity.

“We’re not doing this,” She says simply, her expression impossible to read. “I am sure the three of us have better things to do.” She adds the last part thinking about the meeting she’s scheduled to have in less than an hour and the fact Johnny is already late for a studio recording session.

Mark opens his mouth to protest, but Tara is quick to turn on her heel, tiptoeing enough to reach Johnny and pull him down for a brief kiss that leaves him looking equally confused as he is satisfied.

“I’ll see you later?” She asks with a sweet smile, as though her ex-boyfriend —or whatever Mark was— wasn’t looking. Johnny has the good sense of nodding his head although he probably knows Tara will turn off her phone and won’t contact him for the next couple of days.

She is predictable like that.

Effectively, Tara is not expecting to see Johnny again any time soon.

But Mark doesn’t need to know that’, Tara thinks to herself as she walks out of NCT’s dorm with a self-sufficient smirk.

This is universally known as a “walk of shame”, but for some reason, Tara has brainwashed herself into believing she’s making her “walk of victory”.

Later the same day, that’s the title Tara gives to the song she manages to complete in record time with the help of Sungjae and that —according to the rest of IMPULSE!—, has the potential to become the next breakup anthem flying to the top of the music charts.

[theavengerfairy]

One Step Closer - Chapter 5

Previously known as “Gravity”

"Rayla, it feels like my legs are about to fall off! Can we stop for a minute?"

"We need to get a little farther first to make sure we've lost them-"

"Rayla, please! I-I think I'm gonna be sick."

Rayla's heart wrenched at Callum's plea but she didn't falter in her gallop. He didn't understand. She couldn't slow down, for if she did, the adrenaline that was currently clouding her mind would dissipate, making room for the thoughts that she desperately wanted to keep at bay. Unfortunately, she hardly had time to register Anora's hand latching onto her arm before she was sharply jerked to a halt. Behind Anora, whose cheeks were flushed from the extensive sprint, Callum and Maddie fumbled clumsily over their own feet as they fought against their inertia and managed to stop just before colliding with the elf, and not a moment later, the two collapsed into panting piles of sweat and limbs on the grass.

The first thing that Rayla noticed when her mind cleared was the acute aching in the fingers and palm of her hand which was still clenched as tightly as possible around the coin, and she didn't have to look down to know that her knuckles had turned a shade other than their natural color. Next was the wobbling of her legs, her knees having locked of their own accord to keep her from crumpling like her comrades; she still, however, lacked a great deal of grace as she lowered herself down to ground to give her body a rest. Though it hurt even more to move them as to let them be, Rayla gradually unfurled her stiff fingers and stared down at the little gold disk that weighed as much as a boulder despite being no larger than the fluffiest adoraburr. Runaan gazed wordlessly up at her from the confines of his unusual prison, and while he tried his best to conceal it beneath his standard stoic mask, the dark bags beneath his dull eyes and the weary lines carved into his face told of restless nights and painfully long days of total isolation.

Before she knew it, a hot wetness had dampened Rayla's left cheek, followed by her left, and with utter horror, she realized she had begun to cry. In a flash, her fingers coiled back around the coin while her other hand flew to her mouth to muffle her whimpering in case Runaan could actually hear her from inside of the coin. He couldn't see her crying. Crying was a sign of weakness and she couldn't bear the thought of disappointing him further, even if it meant keeping her pain hidden away in the dark where it would grow and fester. Locking her lips to keep her sobs at bay, she began vigorously brushing away her tears, but no matter how hard and fast she wiped, the tear stains still gleamed on her face.

Unable to watch the heart-wrenching scene before her in silence for a moment longer, Anora knelt down beside Rayla and threw her arms around her, praying that the younger girl wouldn't pull away and potentially retaliate for her forwardness. To the relief of herself and Rayla, the latter surrendered herself into the embrace despite the avid protests of her mind and her pride, resting her head against Anora's shoulder while she in return rested her chin atop the girl's crown and comfortingly massaged the valley between her shoulder blades with her fingers. She knew it was petty, but nonetheless Anora scowled down at the fist concealing the coin, hoping that Runaan would sense her disapproving stare even if he couldn't see it. Her parents had taught her enough about Moonshadow elves for her to understand why Rayla wouldn't want a man she heralded as a father figure and mentor to see her upset, and while she understood and respected that the concealment of certain emotions to avoid appearing weak was part of their culture, she disagreed strongly with the notion to say the least.

"This is all my fault." Rayla managed to lament after enough air reached her lungs between shallow hiccups.

"Moondrop, how could this possibly be your fault?"

"The humans knew we were coming and had a chance to prepare because of me. I tried not to think about the attack or what might have happened after the king was killed, but I never could've imagined-Oh gods, there were more coins back there! Some of the other assassins could be trapped in them as well and we just left without trying to help them too! Ugh, I'm such an idiot-"

"Rayla, that's enough!" Cupping the younger girl's face in her hands, Anora raised it up so that their eyes met, her own glittering with maternal fire while Rayla's widened in surprise at her sudden ferocity. You told me how you tried to call off the assasination; the responsibility for your team's choice and the consequences of that call are not your burdens to bear. If you think we have a chance, I'll go back with you to get the other coins while Maddie and Callum keep an eye on Zym and rest."

At the mention of his name, Zym thrust his head upward and knocked basket cover loose again, and with the lid perched on his head like a hat, he sprang up onto Anora's shoulder and curiously surveyed his surroundings. It didn't take the dragonling long to notice Rayla's sad expression and moist cheeks, and with a concerned yip, he started licking her face until she laughed, earning himself a reward of gentle scratches on the nape from Anora.

"I want to go back, but their keeper is bound to be on the lookout for us now. Getting captured is something we can't afford, but to just leave them seems..."

Anora understood that this decision was a hard one, and gently folding her hands overtop of Rayla's, she gave them a reassuring squeeze. "There is nothing to say we won't get another chance to free your comrades."

"There's nothing to say we will either."

"Well, that's just where we are going to need to have a little faith. For now, let's see what we can do to help your friend."

Turning her fist over in Anora's lap, Rayla opened it as the other elf leaned forward to get a better look at the coin. Runaan's expression hardened at the sight of a new face, his eyes darting up and down her form multiple times while he sized her up as was typical behavior for him given his occupation. His keen focus visibly shattered, however, when Anora started tapping the face of the coin without warning.

"Magic is obviously what got your mentor into this mess and it's what is going to get him back out. We just need to figure out what kind of spell we're dealing with here." Anora remarked with several more hardy taps. "Hmm, no ripples; that rules out a reflection spell then. I suppose that's a good thing."

Rayla's brow curved into a high arch. "You never said anything about being an Ocean mage."

"I'm not; my parents were though. I know bits and pieces about some different spells, but I was too busy chasing otters or racing hippocampi to study the art myself while growing up." Taking the coin between her forefinger and thumb, Anora gently shook it a little and then squinted down at it again, ignoring the sour glare Runaan was aiming at her as she searched for something else in the coin's face. "No bubbles either. I don't really recall my parents ever mentioning a spell capable of trapping someone inside any kind of object, so my hunch is this isn't an Ocean spell. Callum, can you come here please? We need your expertise on Sky magic."

"Um, I've only been a mage for about two weeks, so I don't think I'll be of much help." Even as he spoke, however, Callum was already staggering back to his feet and dragging himself over to Rayla's side. The minute he came into Runaan's line of sight, the latter shrank back, his features contorting into a feral snarl of wariness that was, in all honesty, a little comical given his current state.

Anora sent Callum a sidelong glance. "He doesn't seem to be too fond of you."

"Yeah well, our first meeting wasn't exactly on...friendly terms." Ignoring the phantom daggers Runaan was shooting up at him, Callum studied the coin in silence for a moment before voicing his thoughts. "The last time we saw Runaan, he was leading the attack against my dad...I took the Primal Stone, and I don't think Viren had another...That leaves one other explanation."

Rayla's heart dropped into her stomach. "You think it's dark magic."

"It's gotta be. Maybe a Sky spell will still be able to break him out though. Rayla, set the coin down and I'll try zapping-"

"No!" Clutching the coin to her chest, Rayla scooted back a little, leaving Callum to stare at her with confusion and hurt swirling in his wide eyes. He had hardly blinked, however, before Anora was beside him, her arm slung around his shoulders in a reassuring side hug.

"That's very kind of you, Callum, but I agree with Rayla that that's not a good idea. There's a chance of the coin being damaged or destroyed if we don't use the right counterspell, which would leave Runaan trapped forever. You understand?" Relieved when she sensed the tension dissipating, which meant she had successfully averted the tricky situation, Anora slung both Zym's basket and the satchel of rations off of her back, setting them down by her feet. "Why don't we take this moment to fill our bellies and replenish our strength before we continue on our way? Maddie, you think you can manage to drag yourself over here or do I need to come carry you?"

Rather than snickering mixed with a few choice words from the little redhead, her taunt was met by the snapping of a lone twig as it was trampled underfoot. The sickening crunch shot out among the trees, whose leaves rustled slightly as though they too were plagued with unease at the sound, and as their anxious whispers echoed overhead, Rayla leaped to her feet after tucking Runaan safely in her pocket and assumed a combative stance alongside Callum, who also stood at the ready. Anora, meanwhile, scooped a squirmy, chittering Zym up with one arm and beckoned Madeleine to her side with the other all while watching the brush for any signs of movement.

"I would say I told ya so, but I'm gonna wait on gloating until we're out of immediate danger." Rayla's face bore no sneer nor even a trace of a smirk, but the potent smugness in her voice more than made up for it.

Just as Madeleine finally slipped into the safety of her comrades' shadows, an idea struck Anora. "Maddie, you have any more of those celebration starters in your bag?"

"Ya know, I'm not so sure I want to call them celebration starters anymore. The name's too wordy and doesn't roll off the tongue-"

"It doesn't matter what they're called-" Before Rayla could finish, Anora swiftly cut in, her reprimand firm but gentle.

"Maddie, priorities."

"Right, right, sorry. I've got something even better for the occasion." Rifling through her bag, Madeleine produced two items while beaming with pride: a metallic, simply decorated cylinder the length of her arm and the wristbow with which they had already been acquainted. After strapping the latter onto her dominant hand, she handed the former to a perplexed Anora, "There's a couple of kinks that I still need to tinker out, but it should work well enough for now."

Noticing a little knob on the side of the device, Anora gave it a gentle twist. With some clangs and clicks, the cylinder shot outwards on both sides, causing Anora and Zym to jump, until it stood at a height of just a hair taller than Anora. Reaching over, Maddie jiggled the staff slightly followed by tugging on it with all her strength.

"Good, looks like all the interior bolts are secure. Just don't smack anyone too hard or they might get knocked loose."

"Maddie, when...why..."

"Well, your folks taught you to use a bo staff, right? You said yours got turned to cinders in the attack; now you have one that can't burn!"

Tears pricked Anora's eyes as she swept Madeleine into a tight hug, which the latter readily returned. "Thank you..."

"Um, sorry not sorry about ruining the moment, but could ya save the sappiness for later? We're kind of in the middle of a situation!" Rayla called over her shoulder, not daring to look back for even a moment and thus give the enemy an opportunity to strike.

Callum shot her a look of disapproval. "Rayla!"

"What?! There's a time and a place, and this is not the time or the place!"

As though on cue, aggressive rustling rang out from some bushes off to their left which shuddered as their unwelcome contact drew closer.

"Wait a minute," Maddie interjected out of the blue. "We came running from the other direction. How'd the merchant get ahead of us without being noticed?"

Instead of the round, angry merchant, the shrubbery spat out a disheveled Corvus, who ceased muttering to himself when he perceived the faces before him.

"Rayla! Prince Callum!"

"Corvus? Oh thank the gods! We thought you were-" Callum's relief was cut short when he noticed the apprehension lurking in Corvus's face, from the bags beneath his eyes to his tightly drawn lips, along with the absence of his brother and the grumpy glowtoad from his side, "-Wait, where are Ezran and Bait?"

"Don't tell me ya lost 'em again? What kind of tracker are you?" Rayla jeered only for dread's icy claws to seize her innards when she received no reaction, not even an indignant huff, from the man. "Hey, I was just joking. Corvus?"

Corvus slumped to his knees, his body collapsing in on itself, and if he hadn't thrown his arm out in front of him to cushion his head as he fell into a repentant bow, he would've fullblown face-planted into the dirt. "Please forgive me, my prince. I have failed in my duties and do not deserve to call myself a soldier of Katolis."

The color drained from Callum's face, leaving him paler than a specter shrouded in moonlight. "Where is my brother?!"

Corvus swallowed thickly, hardly able to speak as shame and terror nearly swelled his throat shut. "King Ezran has been captured and is being held for ransom. I have a week to fulfill his captor's demands or he will be killed."

Rayla and Anora both threw out their arms to catch Callum as he stumbled back, eyes wide with terror while his breath puffed from his lips in short, rapid bursts. Memories of Callum's frightening delirium from not even an entire week earlier engulfed Rayla's mind, so with her heart taking the lead while her head was incapacitated, she squeezed Callum's shoulder and shook him a little to loosen the hold of the spiraling panic which fought to drag him down into its dark, gaping maw.

"Callum, breathe! You need to breathe! We'll get Ez back, I swear it!"

The words tumbled from her lips without much thought, but as though they were magic, Callum's body started to relax, his breathing regulating. Once the last traces of the trance lost their grip and disappeared, his hand slipped overtop of Rayla's, which was still tightly clasping his shoulder, and returned her firm squeeze in a silent expression of thanks and reassurance.

"How much do they want for him? I'll go back to Katolis with you and we can take whatever we need from the palace treasury." It was almost certain that Callum wouldn't be allowed to leave again if he returned home now, which meant saying goodbye to seeing Xadia with his own eyes and, even worse, to Rayla. However, if that was the sacrifice necessary to save his brother's life, he would not hesitate to pay it along with the ransom.

"That is the problem, my prince. This monster doesn't want riches. He asked for something very specific in exchange for your brother: a stolen Xadian mirror decorated with runes."

Something about Corvus's intonation stuck out to both Anora and Rayla, with the former eventually voicing their shared question, "When you say monster, do you mean that figuratively or literally?"

"Literally." Corvus, either just noticing Anora entirely or realizing what she was, paused and took a moment to analyze her intently as he had been trained to do. Apparently finding nothing about her which troubled him, he then continued, "I didn't think creatures like him lived anywhere other than Xadia."

"Creatures like him?"

"Merfolk."

A guttural groan of loathing and dismay reverberated from the depths of Anora's core. She had started to have her suspicions about the identity of this gutsy assailant at the mention of the desired magic mirror, but part of her had fixated on the lack of interest in treasure as proof that it couldn't be who she suspected. There was no denying it now however, even though she oh so desperately wanted to.

"Of course it's him. It's always him."

Corvus sat up a little straighter with obvious interest. "You know this creature?!"

"Blue tail, gold eyes, and irritatingly cheeky?"

"Yes, that's him!"

"I do, unfortunately. His name is Castel, and he's the acolyte of a dangerous archmage, a choice which got him banished from Xadia many years ago. My parents kept an eye on him in his exile to ensure he didn't cause any major trouble, and they had their work cut out for them to say the least." Her usually relaxed nature steadily succumbing to nervous agitation, Anora wrung her hands a few times while she mulled over the facts of the current dilemma. "The only thing that snake loves more than treasure is magic, so this mirror he wants must be some kind of powerful relic. Did he give you any clue about where this mirror is being kept?"

"No, he didn't."

"Uh, are you two serious right now? You're just gonna hand a mysterious magical artifact over to a banished mage? We have no idea what he plans to use it for!" Rayla barked fiercely, although she spared conflicted glances down at Callum as she spoke. She knew her protest might come across as somewhat callous, but attached to the thought of giving this bully exactly what he wanted was a stifling foreboding that left her hair standing on end. "Archmage acolyte or not, there's five of us and one of him. Even if we can't defeat him, we can distract him long enough for one of us to grab Ez and get him to safety!"

"Moondrop, your heart is in the right place, but the risk is just too great. I don't like it any more than you do, but our best option is to just give Castel what he wants."

"Assuming we can even find this mirror in time. I was given a week, but that isn't enough time to search all of the human kingdoms for one object." Gritting his teeth, Corvus pounded his fist against the dirt. "Damn that bastard! Damn him to hell!"

"Hey! Language! There are little ears listening!" Madeleine snapped, throwing her hands over the sides of Zym's head as he perched cutely on her shoulder.

This entire time, Callum had remained deathly quiet, his brows drawn together in critical thought. Reaching into his satchel, he rummaged through it for something. "What if I-"

"No!" Rayla exclaimed, grabbing his arm. "I know exactly what you're thinking! You want to try that tracking spell that Claudia explained she used to find us, but I won't let you!"

"What? No! No dark magic ever again, I promise! I was just wondering if maybe Castel would accept a different magical item in exchange for Ez." From his bag Callum withdrew the Key of Aaravos and set it in his lap, and Rayla's hard features soon softened significantly.

"Callum, are you sure?"

"If it'll get Ez back, absolutely."

"There is no time to waste then. I will take you to him and we can-" Corvus' voice abruptly broke off and he raised his hand to signal for silence. Both Rayla's and Anora's ears also picked up what had caught his attention: the murmuring of wind despite the air being completely still. Sliding his kaginawa off of his belt, Corvus slowly tilted his head from side to side, listening carefully; then in an instant, he whirled around and lashed out with the weapon, slicing the tops off of several bushes before the blade at the end of the chain sunk into a tree trunk with a thud. The whispering echoed on somewhere nearby, but the surrounding foliage remained completely motionless and devoid of any signs of life. Perhaps their frayed nerves were playing tricks on them; perhaps there was truly nothing there after all.

There was a glint of silver followed by Corvus giving a ghastly howl, his knees hitting the dirt and a throwing knife's hilt protruding from the back of one of his thighs. Though she didn't see it, Rayla heard the whistling of a second knife as it sliced through the air, and she swung her own blade just in time to deflect the projectile from embedding itself in the tracker's neck.

"Everybody circle up around Corvus! Now!"

Standing shoulder to shoulder with their backs to their wounded comrade, Rayla, Callum, Maddie, and Anora watched and listened, muscles twitching in anticipation of the next attack.

"There!" Glimpsing a deep purple flicker in her right peripheral, Maddie took aim and shot off an arrow, but to her amazement, the projectile passed harmlessly through the smoky body of the humanoid creature, falling instead among the shrubs and tree roots behind it. "Um, guys? We have a problem."

A dark shadow blanketed Anora, prompting her to raise her staff just in time as another ghostly figure sprang from the shadows and swung at her with its naginata. Their weapons colliding with the grating shriek of metal against metal, they struggled against one another before Anora surged forward with all of her weight, shoving her attacker back. Meanwhile, the two other dark assailants darted into the light, heading straight for Callum and Rayla who countered their attack with a lightning spell and a few slashes of the latter's blades.

"It's those smoke creatures again! Which dark mage did we tick off this time?!" Rayla lamented, swinging at one of the shadows when it took a few steps too close. "Callum, use your wind spell!"

Callum was already halfway done drawing the Aspiro rune, but when he uttered the incantation which transformed his exhaled breath into a mighty gale, the two closest elves darted to either side out of the spell's path.

"They're too fast! I need something to keep them in place long enough for me to hit them!"

"Leave that to me. Cover your ears!" Anora remarked before clamping her hands over the sides of Callum's head. Once the others had heeded her warning, she let loose her ear-piercing shriek, sending all the nearby wildlife fleeing in terror. The smoky apparitions recoiled at the sound, and in their moment of vulnerability, Callum's traced the rune out once more while uttering the incantation, the gust from his lips swiftly sweeping the four figures out of sight.

"We need to move. Even if those things don't come back, their master could send someone or something else after us." Kneeling beside Corvus, Rayla looped one of his arms over her shoulder while Anora took the other. "Maddie, you carry Zym and scout up ahead. Callum, you guard the rear."

"I'm just going to slow you down like this. Leave me here and go help the king; I'll be fine." Corvus grunted, doing his best to hide his pain behind a brave mask.

"We are not leaving you here. There's a town nearby; we can set you up along its outskirts near the main road so you can flag down a ride into town and get some help." Anora refuted as their little group started to limp along.

"But King Ezran-"

"We will free the king from Castel. I give you my word."

As they walked, Rayla stayed completely silent, and although she was typically the quiet type, the way her head hung low between her shoulders and her eyes stared uncomprehendingly at the ground told Callum that something was on her mind as he followed along behind her.

"Rayla, you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Rayla was not fine, but Callum had enough to worry about at the moment. Retreating back into her thoughts, images of those four figures played over and over in her mind, taunting her as she struggled to make sense of what they were. Unlike the wolves Claudia had sent after them, these beings had been more humanlike. They hadn't fought like humans though, and the longer she mulled over what she had seen, the more familiar the ghostly creatures started to seem. However, her mind refused to delve any deeper for one reason or another, and perhaps that was best for the time being.

[onwardintolight]

Han x Leia, ESB, Trip to Bespin, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff

Summary: ESB from Leia's POV. A journey from despair to hope, a blossoming, an opening to vulnerability and love.

Warnings: Deals with some heavy themes, incl. working through trauma, depression, self-harm, attempted sexual assault. Each chapter will be individually warned.

Note: I’m currently in the process of reposting the first nine chapters here in full, since when I first wrote this fic, I only shared links to the chapters on AO3 and FFN. I will try to post at least weekly. In the meantime, if you’d prefer to binge-read it, the entire fic is posted in full on AO3 and FFN.

Part: Masterlist | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Epilogue

~~~

Warnings for Chapter 24: Brief reference to the torture and attempted sexual assault that occurred in Chapter 19

Author’s note from 1/2020: An important disclaimer: As I wrote this fic, I strove to make it canon-compliant—at least compliant with the canon that existed at the time. Now that I'm posting this, however, a few things have changed; notably, we've seen the release of the first issue of the new line of Star Wars comics set after ESB. While I haven't had a chance to read it yet, I'm pretty sure it diverges from what I've written in my final two chapters, and I have no desire to change any of what I've written to fit it. I know most of you don't even care about canon—this IS fanfiction after all—but I just wanted to give you and all future readers a heads up anyway!

One last thing: Several of you have asked me if I'm planning on writing a Leia-focused fic like this one about ROTJ. First of all, I'm super flattered that you'd like more! Tbh though I don't really see myself writing it as another big multichapter; however, I would really like to do a few shorter fics about it. So keep an eye out for those! That being said, things can always change. If I discover that there's an arc I really want to tell through the whole story, I may find myself in over my head again ;) 

~~~

The Kaliida Nebula was about six hours away, not counting the brief stops they’d have to make every few hours to switch hyperlanes. Lando had once again joined Chewbacca at the Falcon’s helm; they had both insisted in no uncertain terms that Luke and Leia get some rest, promising they’d comm if they needed anything. She was tired enough not to argue.

Immediately after the jump to hyperspace, Luke had sat frozen, staring out the viewport into the whirling star tunnels. He’d glanced at her when she offered him a hand, looking for all the universe as if she were his only tether away from the maw. Silently, he’d let her help him back to the crew quarters, and once more she shakily attached the fluids line and pulled a blanket over him.

He was gazing up at her again, now, eyes wide and hollow. “Leia,” he whispered.

Tenderly, she brushed the hair from his forehead and reached down to clasp his remaining hand, squeezing it. She perched on the edge of his bunk. “I’m here,” she said softly. “You’re safe now.” Slowly, his eyelids began to flutter, and he drifted off into a fitful sleep.

She sat there for a long time, weariness bleeding into her bones, listening as his breathing grew deeper. Finally, when she was fairly certain her movement would not wake him, she slipped her hand carefully out of his, turned out the light, and walked over to her bunk, curling up on top of it without bothering to remove the blanket.

The pillow smelled like Han.

She thought of him laying there next to her, his fingers tangled in her hair. She thought of the hungry kisses she had never wanted to end. She thought of easy laughter and healing tears, of potent words and new openings.

She thought of the bed on Cloud City, and how they’d never have the chance now to find out if she’d regret it. She thought of his rending screams, of coils and needles and agonizing pain. Of Captain Orffa’s leers, her ripped shirt, his broken neck as he lay on the other side of the room. Of Vader’s hated mask, cold and merciless. Of throbbing rage. Of helpless grief.

Of finally saying “I love you.” Of the one she loved, turned to stone and torn away.

All the emotions she’d been trying to hold at bay rushed in. Her defenses crumpled, and the first tears came in like a flood, violent and inevitable. Burying her face in the pillow to muffle the sound, she wept, her body shaking with sobs. She wept until every breath came as a gasp; until she could no longer imagine what it was to not be weeping. She wept for Han, and for Alderaan, and for every loss in between. For a galaxy full of loss, cracked all the way through with the cruelty of it.

Long after her tears ran dry, she lay there, face still buried in the pillow—Han’s pillow—breathing in the scent of him. She wasn’t ready to let him go.

She wouldn’t let him go.

She would find him, somehow.

Slowly, exhaustion crept up on her, disarming her resistance just as her tears had done earlier. She gave into it with a mild sense of relief, letting her eyes close.

I don’t regret it, she thought as she began to drift off. Sleepy astonishment at the realization gave way to the certainty that she had always known this, somehow, despite her fears. I don’t regret loving him. Not one bit. As much as this hurt—and oh, how it hurt—she would gladly love him and lose him again.

Then sleep took her, carrying her far away into blessed nothingness.

~~~

She was woken up what felt like minutes later by the chime of her comm.

Lando’s voice was on the other end. “We’ve stopped at Terminus,” he said. “We need you up here to watch for Imperials while we search the ship for homing beacons. We’ve got her pretty well hidden behind a moon, but it’s a race against time until they find us.”

Trying to keep any bitterness out of her voice, she gave her consent and stumbled groggily toward the cockpit. Lando gave her a look when she arrived—she must have looked like hell, with red-rimmed eyes and smeared makeup—but to his credit he didn’t say anything, only giving her a nod on the way out. Chewie was already gone. She moved to sit in the co-pilot’s seat, but changed her mind halfway there, instead opting for the captain’s. Curling her legs beneath her, she leaned back into it, smelling its faded leather and a hint of old cologne. She scanned the starfield carefully, glancing at the sensor displays afterward for any signs she might have missed. There was nothing; only stars. On the other side of the moon, she knew, the sky would be filled with ships of all kinds. Terminus was a busy world; she hoped that, as such, it would distract the Empire long enough that they wouldn’t find the Falcon.

She shifted in her seat, anxious. Finding the homing beacon would likely take Chewie and Lando awhile—they had to suit up to examine the hull, after all—but she wished they would hurry and be done with it. Normally, this would have been made a much easier exercise by simply scanning the hull via the ship’s sensors, but the Empire had certainly disabled that function. Or rather, they probably just hadn’t bothered to fix it—it was, after all, one of the sensor systems that had been damaged during their escape from Hoth.

The minutes ticked by. Fifteen minutes passed, then half an hour. A light freighter moved into view. She stiffened, then relaxed again as it jumped to hyperspace moments later.

Forty-five minutes. Her eyelids drooped; she pinched her arm to stay awake.

Finally, she heard the door open behind her, and Chewie came in with a roar. «We found it,» he said. He was triumphant, but his voice was laced with sorrow. She knew enough of him now to hear it. She caught his gaze, and he sat down next to her. For a minute, they looked out on the emptiness together. «You should go back to bed, Little Princess,» he finally said, his voice gentle.

“You sure you don’t need sleep?” she whispered.

«I will,» he said, «but I have strength left to spare, and I was not hurt as badly as you. Go sleep.» She nodded and got up just as Lando came through the door. She didn’t look at him as they exchanged places. Hazily, she walked back to the crew quarters, fell in her bunk, and was once more lost in unconsciousness.

~~~

Leia’s eyes flickered open. How long had her comm been beeping? Yawning, she sat up, flipping on the light over her bunk, and froze as all the memories of the previous day flooded back in. The deep ache in her chest nearly knocked her over, and she fought off the urge to lay back down and forget everything again.

Luke. She had to make sure he was okay. She glanced over towards the other side of the room; there he lay, as still as a stone. Alarmed, she leapt out of bed and lurched over to check on him. His chest rose and fell, and she sighed in relief. He was in a deep sleep. That was good.

Feeling her heartbeat calm again, she sat back down on her bunk and answered her comlink. “Yes?” she croaked, her voice hoarse.

“Just wanted to let you know we’ve arrived at the Kaliida Nebula,” said Lando. “Whenever you’re able, I’ll let you take over and see if you can reach that contact of yours. Could use a little shut-eye myself.”

“Of course,” she said curtly. “I’ll be right there.”

When she arrived, Chewie was once again nowhere in sight. She felt a pang in her chest, thinking of his grief. At least, she thought, he was getting some sleep, too.

Lando nodded awkwardly to her as they switched places again and left without a word. For a minute, she stared at the glowing pink clouds outside the viewport. She knew he’d be just a comm away, but still, she was nervous. The nebula could be perilous. From time to time, it was home to migrating neebray mantas, which could do some serious damage to ships. Moreover, if the Empire had somehow found out about this checkpoint—

She felt her throat constricting and her heart pounding, and she stopped the thought short. Yes, the Empire had caught up with them a few too many times recently—she had good reason to be fearful of that. But she should be wary, not paranoid. This was the best chance they had to make contact with the Alliance. Straightening, she set a Rebel-coded message to broadcast at intervals to the surrounding parts of the nebula, then she took the Falcon on a leisurely tour through the cloud tunnels.

An hour later, she had a reply. It was also in Alliance code, and it gave her coordinates to meet nearby. She tensed. The Empire could have cracked that code since she was gone, they could have found out about this location, they could have—

She forced herself to breathe slowly. “Chewie,” she said into the comlink, “I’m making contact. I may need backup if it’s not who I think it is.”

The Wookiee yawned, but he didn’t hesitate. «I’m coming,» he said.

Soon both he and Lando joined her again in the cockpit. She felt bad that they’d only had an hour of sleep, but she supposed there was nothing to be done.

Well, mostly bad. She didn’t feel all that bad about Lando. As far as she was concerned, he could suffer. He sat behind her, keeping watch as she and Chewie maneuvered the ship to the meeting point.

Finally, the clouds in front of them parted, revealing an X-wing.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” the pilot whooped upon seeing their ship. “I was starting to think I’d never see that hunk of junk again! Is the princess there?”

Leia breathed a sigh of relief. “Hi, Wedge,” she said, transmitting the codes to confirm it was her.

“Good to hear your voice, Princess,” he said. “High command’s been going out of their minds. They figured if you survived, you’d make your way here. Lucky you found me now; they were beginning to think it was a lost cause. We probably wouldn’t have been patrolling out here much longer.”

“Thanks for waiting,” she said.

“Where’s ol’ Han?”

All the words seemed to dry up in her mouth, and she sat silent for a moment. “He’s gone,” she said finally, her voice quiet. Chewie let out a mournful wail.

She heard Wedge exhale. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice full of genuine grief. “Sending you the jump coordinates now.”

Within a few minutes, they’d left the bright clouds of the Kaliida Nebula behind and were headed home. It wasn’t truly home, of course—Home was Alderaan, and that was gone forever. These days, though, the Alliance had become the only home she could claim to have. But whatever familiarity it offered, it would be empty without Han.

“Hey,” Lando said from behind her, startling her. She didn’t turn around. “Chewie ’n I have been talking and…” he faltered for a moment, then he went on. “…We’re gonna find Han and bring him back. We’ll leave for Tatooine as soon as we can get fueled and ready.”

She leaned back in her seat. “You got a plan?”

Chewie responded. «We have some ideas, yes, but we wanted to talk with you and Luke and hear yours, too.»

Leia nodded slowly. “We’ll discuss it when we get there, after the briefings. I don’t want to put too much strain on Luke before then. He doesn’t even know what happened yet.”

“Sure thing,” said Lando.

She clenched her teeth to avoid telling him to shut up. Instead, she shifted her focus outside, watching the whirlwind starlight.

Somewhere out there, Han was trapped, but alive. And somehow, they would find him and bring him home.

A warmth grew inside her chest; the fire of hope.

[gamerfansims389]

Characters I Think Can (and possibly can't) defeat Alastor

You know. Different characters in Hazbin going up against Alastor one day in a full on power battle with him would be interesting. But what about other characters from other fandoms?

Disclaimer: Some characters from some fandoms, I haven't seen all of (like movies, shows and anime). So please keep that in mind.

I will also categorize characters in the following: High Chance, Medium Chance, Low Chance

High Chance meaning they could most definatley defeat him easily without any injuries or within the blink of an eye, Medium Chance, they could defeat him but it would take a while to, may take some injuries, Low Chance, will most definatley end up with injuries, maybe even come close to dying.

Please note: I don't hate Alastor. He's a really interesting character in my book. This idea has just been in my head for a while. And I wanna see if other people will agree and or disagree. You are also free to reblog this and add onto the list if you want to. This is an open topic to discuss. As long as it remains peaceful and civil. If it gets out of hand, I will delete this post.

This post may also contain spoilers from other shows, anime, cartoons, and movies. I'm leaving game characters out of this because I haven't played a lot of games in order to put those characters on this list. But you are free to add game characters if you wish. You have been warned of possible spoilers!

Anyways. On with the list. This also will be in no particular order power wise so yeah.

High Chance:

1. Mob/Shigeo Kageyama (Mob Psycho 100) (As of this post, I have 2 more episodes left remaining in Season 2. Do not spoil for me and for others please!)

Okay. Maybe not when he's at normal power (0%). But when he's at 100%, that boy is an explosive depending on what emotion he's feeling at the time of a situation. Yes, he has his rule of not using his psychic powers against others. But when the people he holds dearly are in danger of possibly dying or not, he is not a force to be messed with.

(An example of when he's at 100%)

2. Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls) (Spoiler warning!)

We all know of how powerful Bill is. He caused a Weirdmaggedon on Gravity Falls in the Season 2 finale. He froze time, he can grow, he can change his form, and he's been around since the beginning of time itself. Sure, he was defeated by Mabel and Dipper themselves a few times already. But as a whole, this triangle demon is pretty much an unstoppable force to deal with if you really look at it.

He also has a lot of similar qualities to that of Alastor. He likes to make deals, he likes to cause trouble, a lot of the citizens fear him, etc.

3. Kurumi (Date a Live) (Spoiler warning!)

It's been a long time since I last watched Date a Live. But from what I remember, this girl is pretty powerful. If my memory serves me correctly, she can freeze time, she can make duplicates of herself, she weilds a shotgun, she's quite a handful power wise. I haven't seen all of Date a Live. Just the 1st Season. So idk if other seasons/spin offs/OVA's/movies explore more on her powers or not (please don't spoil if it does).

4. Gon (Hunter x Hunter 2011) (Spoiler warning!)

I honestly do think that Gon has a high chance of defeating Alastor. We saw him duke it out with Neferpitou and he won for the sake of a friend. Just like Mob, he may not seem strong appearance wise but this boy has taken on some people much powerful than he is and won. Sure, his battle with the Chimera Ants almost left him for dead but he still made it out alive in the end thanks to Killua's help.

5. Elsa (Frozen, Frozen 2) (Please note I have not seen anything else Frozen related such as shorts. So I'm basing all of this based on what I have seen from Frozen. Any Frozen shorts that may have development on Elsa's powers! I have now seen Frozen 2 on YouTube due to a link but that doesn't mean you can spoil it for others!)

As rediculous as this may sound to some, she probably does have a high chance of defeating Alastor. We saw this girl make an entire ice castle just from her powers alone in Frozen within the course of a 2-3 minute song that everyone has embedded in their heads at this point in time. She can also change her outfits via her powers as well and make animate snow/ice creatures with her powers as well. Heck, we saw her freeze an entire kingdom which was the plot starter for Frozen! Again. Others may have other opinions. But this is what I think.

Medium Chance:

1. Celty Sturloson (Durarara!) (Spoiler warning!)

Like Date a Live, it's been quite a while since I last seen the entirety of Durarara so just bare with me on this. For those that don't know, Celty is a Dullahan, a creature from Irish folklore which is basically like their version of the Grim Reaper. Dullahans supposedly carry their heads around in their arms after they die. But in Celty's case, she lost her head and she kind of gave up on searching for it towards the end of the series. She can make a black ball out of an inescapable substance from her powers, she can make web-like structures with them as well, and she also does weild a scythe. Her motorcycle can also transform into different vehicles such as a horse (which is default), a bike, a carriage, etc.

2. Lelouch Lamporouge (Code Geass) (Please note that I have never completed this anime. I had like 9 episodes remaining in Season 1. So please don't spoil anything in regards to Lelouch's power development!)

I kind of have my doubts with Lelouch on this one since his powers require him to look at someone directly in the eye in order to possess them so he can command them to do something against their own will. But if he plays his cards right (which he's pretty good at doing), he could have a chance of defeating Alastor. Like I previously mentioned, I haven't completed all of Code Geass so I don't know the full extent of Lelouch's powers outside of Season 1. I already also mentioned Lelouch's powers previously, too so yeah lol. But yeah. I kind of have my doubts when it comes to him.

3. Yuu Otosaka (Charlotte) (Spoiler warning!)

Yuu would most likely have a medium chance of defeating Alastor because of his ability to harness other's powers. Keep in mind. It's also been a while since I've last seen Charlotte so bare with me on this one as well. I do think he would come out with some injuries because of the fact that he doesn't know the extent of other's powers that he has harnessed from them, he only knows about his own powers very well. If he's not careful, he could end up injured.

4. Albedo (Overlord) (Please note that I've only seen Season 1 so don't spoil anything that's important to Albedo's power development!)

I personally don't think Einz himself would go out to try to fight someone that's as powerful as he is unless it posed as a threat to his life and or his kingdom. So, I would think that he'd send his servants to survey the area of any potential threats and to get rid of them immediatley before they become a big threat. He probably wouldn't send Albedo out first but maybe she could be his 2nd to last resort before going to investigate himself. Either that or she'd automatically volunteer herself out of the sake of her love for Einz. Which, he'd probably agree with once the begging gets annoying.

5. Chrollo Lucilfer (Hunter x Hunter 2011) (Spoiler warning!)

This would be before he got his powers taken away and restricted into a state of Zetsu by Kurapika. He has shown to be pretty powerful. He made it out alive when fighting against two members of the Zoldyck family. But I think the only disadvantage to this would be the fact that he needs his Nen book in order to use other's powers. Without his Nen book, he's basically powerless.

Low Chance:

1. Ganta (Deadman Wonderland) (Spoiler warning!)

It's been quite a while since I've seen Deadman Wonderland. Bare with me here. So much like Gon, Ganta has taken on some pretty powerful Deadmen while serving his time in Deadman Wonderland after being accused of a crime he was blackmailed against for. I don't exactly remember his Deadman ability since it's been so long. But I do think he'd come out with quite a lot of injuries after challenging Alastor to a fight.

2. Decim (Death Parade) (Spoiler warning!)

The only thing I'm aware of power wise for Decim is that he can use web-like strings to hold people down after they've realized they're dead. I've heard quite a bit saying that he's based on the Greek god, Decima. Idk if that's true or not tho. But the extent of his powers is unknown and I highly doubt Death Parade will continue as an anime series. So I would think he has a low chance at defeating Alastor with all that we currently know on his powers.

3. Sebastian Micaelis (Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji) (Spoiler warning!)

A lot of fangirls will probably hate me for this. Lol. But I kind of doubt Sebastian could defeat Alastor without getting injured. We don't know the full extent of his powers yet despite also coming from Hell in that universe. So, that's the reason to my doubts.

4. Magica De Spell (DuckTales 2017) (Spoiler warning!)

This would be before the Shadow War! I'm also not going to discuss the 1987 show or the original comics since I've never completed the 1987 show nor have I read any of the original comics yet. So I'm only relying on what we've seen so far in the reboot. Like Bill, she was able to start this apocalypse by taking everyone's shadows from them. She trapped Scrooge in his own lucky dime in order to execute her plans. But I doubt she'd be able to defeat Alastor in all honesty.

5. Lena De Spell (DuckTales 2017) (Spoiler warning!)

Lena De Spell is the niece of Magica De Spell. She was created as a shadow with the appearance of the real girl in order to unwillingly help Magica with her plans to take over Duckburg in the exchange for her freedom. After Magica is defeated and powerless, Lena now currently possesses Magica's powers via her amulet. So she undoubtingly has some of the same powers that Magica had. But since she hasn't really had much character development/power development as of this post, I kind of doubt she could defeat Alastor without being injured.

Aand that's all. If you want to add to this post, reblogs are appriciated. Thank you!

[awinetintedmuse]

@southern-belle-outcast  Yeah no, I liked season one for certain aspects, but season 2, what little I watched of the beginning sucked all around. The show as a whole is a cop out, although well shot for the first season. Second season has way too many clipping of shots.

@titanofthemoon  yeah, the first season was okay. I liked it less for what it did than what it did NOT do, if you know what I mean. I don't remember if they had 2 or 3 seasons or if I even watched them. I think I watched season 2 and part of 3 and just gave up? i don't even remember what happened after season 1. not a good sign

Apparently, my opinion is not that uncommon. However, I think my issue with the series, and with the netflix shows in general, is a bit more specific. 

I should note that the actors are all great in their roles. Every person is well cast, and unfortunately, entirely wasted, because the writing on this shows is absolutely awful. 

But there’s a bigger issue, and that’s that Jessica Jones as a series aims to be a kind of women’s empowerment show, which it manages in the first season. Killgrave, being a stand in for every controlling, misogynistic, ‘nice guy’ that women deal with every day works. 

But. It relies on a shorthand that so many series rely on that kills it. See, Hollywood in general likes to employ shorthand for women’s empowerment, because it’s a very conservative system. Despite all the claims that it’s super liberal, it should be remembered that what decides things in Hollywood is money and focus groups. And because of that, we get things like that scene with the women in Avengers: Endgame, where they have all the women in one scene, and at the same time try to ignore the fact that none of these women were ever empowered in the movies they were actually in. It’s pure filler, sugar given to mask the fact that the people making the media don’t actually care. Rather that, you know, actually empower women, it makes the decision to give people the image of empowerment while using the same tropes that people claimed were sexist in the past. It equates result with change. Thus, they claim they’re doing work because they had the image of something, without actually changing anything. 

So with that in mind, we need to talk about Jessica Jones, because it’s a complete failure as anything resembling empowerment. As stated, it works on the image without doing the work, but like with the movies, it uses a second shorthand to be lazy, and that’s to cast everything in relief. 

Basically, Hollywood learned that it’s easy to claim that a female character is ‘strong’ if you don’t define her at all and instead define her in contrast to everyone around her. This prevents actually having to write a character and instead allows the audience to place themselves into the role of the character. Romance movies do this all the time. But it’s sexist. It relies on making the female character a cardboard cutout and then having her react to things without having to define her. Captain Marvel had this problem in a lot of its scenes, but they mostly succeed in at least giving her a character. Wonder Woman, had it not had all the stuff at the beginning with her growing up, and instead just had the movie start with her interacting with the mortal world, would have had this problem. 

Jessica Jones, by contrast, defines her entire character by her relationship with Killgrave. Killgrave is everything in season 1. He is the driving force, and she is contrasted with his actions. Her character is defined entirely by her opposition to him. Understandable, but this doesn’t leave her with a lot of character on her own. And it’s exactly why the series falls apart in the next two seasons. 

Remove Killgrave from the equation. What exactly is Jessica’s character? Who is she? Why do we, the audience, want to be around her? 

The answer is we don’t. Because removed from Killgrave, the show characterizes Jessica as a crude, rude, callous, domineering, self-sabotaging, jealous addict. She’s the kind of person who is almost defined by those nihilistic 2000′s myspace posts that are like ‘the world isn’t fair, sweetie’ or ‘god is dead’ and that means that every interaction with another character is her bringing the entire mood down. 

And it’s made worse that she’s contrasted with characters who are entirely defined better than she is. Malcolm, the guy who starts in season 1 as a drug addict, slowly gets his life together as he realizes that yes, life is worth living and that he wants to take advantage of the time he has left. Trish, someone who was abused and had serious chemical dependence issues, is constantly seen as someone who is proactive and tries to handle herself and her life despite the challenges she faces.

Trish is empowered because she directly takes control of her life and how she interacts with it. Jessica meanwhile, is constantly self destructing, lashing out at everyone else, claiming that she knows everything better than they do and that they are the problem for not listening to her, because obviously the woman who drinks herself into a coma on a nightly basis and is always snarking at people is the voice of reason. Because how dare they think the world is anything other than a cold dead void.

And so without the ability to contrast Jessica with Killgrave, a much worse person, we are left with Jessica herself, who becomes basically the worst emotional abuser on the show, who on one hand claims that no one should care about her while using people’s care for her to get her way. 

And the writers, realizing that Jessica has gone from currently being abused empowerment symbol to person who abuses her friends by wielding her trauma as a weapon decide that they need someone new to contrast her with, because rather than have Jessica realize that she has some real issues that need to be addressed, and have her face them and grow as a person, they decide to vilify everyone else in Jessica’s life. 

Trish, inexplicably, becomes the real villain, the person who is trying to control her own life and not be manipulated by anyone, because she’s already been manipulated by her mother as a child star. She cares about Jessica, but Jessica treats her as the villain at every turn, because Trish demands that Jessica actually allow Trish to make her own decisions and live with their own consequences. Jessica instead always frames Trish as someone who is selfish because how dare she not think about how her actions affect Jessica?

The fact that they needed Killgrave to show up in season 2 pretty much revealed exactly the problem: that absent someone so obviously evil, Jessica is a manipulative, vindictive, emotionally abusive asshole. She’s the villain. And so the show tries to frame everyone around Jessica as the problem, while never addressing that Jessica is the exact model of someone who is entirely codependent on others. 

And this is bad, because they have a model of someone who is entirely a women’s empowerment symbol in Jessica Jones from the comics. A woman who knows she has a drinking problem, but works to deal with it. A woman who doesn’t allow Killgrave, or anyone else, to manipulate her, but understands that she shouldn’t do the same. A woman who handles her own demons and has a healthy relationship with Luke Cage, and who has a daughter who she cares deeply for. Jessica is widely seen as someone who has demons, but who never lets those demons control her or define her. 

She defines herself. She doesn’t let anyone else define her. 

Contrast that to the show, where Jessica is entirely defined in contrast to others. 

This works for the first season, because Killgrave is a stand in for every controlling, evil guy that women have to deal with every day. But it doesn’t work in the next two seasons, because Jessica is left to be contrasted with Trish and others who are, by and large, also people who have dealt with shit and aren’t nearly as self destructive or bitter and angry about it. 

And rather than, you know, give her a character, or have her work through her issues, the show instead decides to have everyone around Jessica become the villain, contrasting Jessica to them, and expecting the same results. Only, this doesn’t work, because they all come off as entirely sensible. 

The stories of seasons 2 and 3 come off like they’re being told by that one friend who always feels like the victim no matter what, who can’t interact with anyone without constant validation, and who responds to any and all critique by making it a ‘why are you against me’ arguement. It’s manipulative. It’s regressive. It’s awful. 

And it doesn’t make good television. 

I could go on about how the netflix shows aren’t comfortable just being their own thing, the way Iron Fist is terrified of being based on lots of chinese mythology, but I think the way Jessica Jones goes from a show about a woman’s liberation to a show that actively depicts Jessica in the most regressive way possible. Like, almost nothing about her character would seem out of place if she was a 1960′s female villain in any generic story. 

It’s so, so frustrating. And it’s such a damn shame that the writers are so utterly incapable of making Jessica into what she is in the comics, which is an actually empowered individual. 

[elektrawwf]

So... this is my first “opinion” post on this website. I’ve shared my opinion before on other forums, but never here because tumblr scares me sometimes.

Before my courage leaves me completely, however, here is my current train of thought regarding recent developments on the CW’s Supergirl.

Also: This is essay-length. Sorry.

Now that that’s covered:

PICTURE THIS

A Superman TV Show with Clark Kent, Steve Lombard, and Lois Lane as the main Journalistic trio.

Canonically, we know Lois and Clark should be the OTP of the series, right? Of course we do.

We start our story off with Clark being fired by the Daily Planet for not divulging a source - the Daily Planet is a super shady newspaper in this scenario, and Perry White has already left to start a Detective agency (just go with it). 

Lois wants to help Clark because she knows he will end up being the greatest journalist to ever ... uh.... journal. 

Lois decides to start a non-Daily Planet sanctioned team of Kick-Ass Journalists (henceforth known as the KAJ) with Clark as the star reporter.

When she finds out about Steve Lombard – someone who appears to have great journalistic skills and his own destiny to fulfill – she seeks to recruit him into the KAJ.

In the process of recruiting Steve, there are various Misunderstandings That Are Meant To Be Cute™ (henceforth known as MTAMTBC ) regarding Lois -- who has now become little more than comic relief -- and Steve’s relationship. 

Eventually, Lois asks Steve to meet her at a restaurant, forgetting to mention that she wants to talk to him about KAJ. 

When she realizes Steve thought she was asking him on a date, Lois makes it clear that this meeting is not a “date” and gets to the point of the meeting - the KAJ team. This is played as one of those MTAMTBC.

At this point, it’s obvious Steve has a crush on Lois and would very much like to date her, but Lois doesn’t seem to reciprocate.

This is followed by more MTAMTBC between Lois and Steve, but aside from buying Steve a box of chocolates (which is then promptly made into another one of those MTAMTBC when the chocolates are eaten by Steve’s roommate), nothing more comes from it on Lois’s side of things.

But what about Clark, you ask. Where is he in all this? Surely he’s talking to his Canonical True Love, Lois Lane?

Well, no. He’s not. 

Despite the fact that Lois  1) Shared headspace with Clark last season where the two bonded over his emotional kinship with Krypto; 2) was brought to tears when Clark was suffering from Kryptonite poisoning earlier in the current season; and 3) is doing the whole KAJ thing because she’s worried about Clark and wants to make sure he has all the support he needs in his journalistic endeavours, Clark only interacts with Lois when he’s asking for her help tracking down a lead.

There have been no personal conversations between Lois and Clark, no shared moments of bonding, and nothing of substance that could possibly be construed as romantic.

Just work and work only.

Then Lo and Behold – Lois and Clark finally have a scene together where Lois gives Clark a heart-touching pep-talk about standing up for what he believes in and not forgetting where he came from.  

That touching moment is quickly forgotten, however, as their friend Jimmy Olsen gets shot and is hospitalized in the next episode. 

When Lois and Clark get to the hospital, they don’t even share a scene together. Lois, instead, shares all her scenes with Steve. 

One scene in particular shows us a noticeably upset Lois having an emotional breakdown over not only what happened to Jimmy, but every personal trauma she has had to deal with her entire life. 

Instead of listening to Lois and offering comfort, however, Steve just grabs Lois’s face and kisses her before she can protest.  

Lois freezes. She’s surprised at this turn of events and even tells Steve that they can never be together.

Steve thinks she’s just being cute and shrugs it off, even more determined to “get his woman”.

That’s A-OKAY, say the showrunners, this is just the beginning of our super adorable “will they/won’t they” storyline between Steve and Lois! Stay tuned for even more MTAMTBC between these two!  Because 15 episodes of that was just not enough!

So - we now have a Superman show with Steve and Lois as the “Will they/won’t they” couple rather than Lois and Clark... because the showrunners want Clark to be an independent man with no romantic inclinations.

Now let me just clarify that I’m fine with single!Clark at the moment. After all, our Clark had a tumultuous relationship with Cat Grant for a few months two season back, then she disappeared for awhile before showing up again with her new husband. 

This caused much angst before Cat finally took her leave again 

So sure – Clark could use a break from romance. 

Heck, maybe he should also totally avoid any friendly bonding with his actual canonical true love, Lois Lane while he’s at it...  

___________________________

Okay, does anyone really think the above narrative would ever actually happen on a Superman TV show? I’m 99.9% sure it would NOT. 

So why is this narrative happening on a Supergirl TV show?

Tl;dr: I totally get the concept of the "obstacle relationship” (henceforth known as the OR) before the OTP end up together.

What I DON’T get is the Showrunners dragging out the supposed OR with a season-long will they/won’t they arc, and adding in the angst of a we can never be together trope, meanwhile REFUSING to allow the canonical OTP to interact in any meaningful way - nor even develop any kind of close friendship.

Now to be fair - there are two ways this could go: 1) The canonical OTP will be built up at a later date and the OR is just that… an OR. Eventually, the aforementioned OR will realize their futures lie with other people and will move on to their separate OTPs; or 2) The show has no intention of ever exploring the canonical OTP even as a friendship, so we’re stuck with the OR being the OTP -- and too bad-so sad for anyone wanting the show to honour the source material.

I am holding on to hope for #1… but I’m afraid that #2 will end up being the reality.

That’s just my 2 cents.

[laufire]

ENDGAME

Okay. I definitely won’t be able to sleep today, so I might as well pour out all my Endgame feelings right now.

First thing first, I was probably in the WORST POSSIBLE HEADSPACE to watch this film; national elections where fascists could take over Congress (spoiler alert, they didn’t. I literally just cried with relief for over ten minutes) AND being extremely concerned about characters you over-identify with on the same day, all after the worst year of your life, apparently don’t mix well. Who would have thunk.

(btw, I was spoiled as I was voting about That Very Big Thing; everyone who follows me probably can guess what I’m talking about. I almost threw hands tbh. Then almost cried over a dozen times on the way to the theatre because the stress of the day was killing me ugh).

All this to say, my head is a mess right now, I don’t even know if this post is going to make any sense, and I will probably take time to process certain things and have a definite opinion on them LOL. But well, here is now.

And err. Warning for a brief mention of suicide ideation?

(crossposted to dreamwidth, livejournal, and pillowfort)

TONY (& CO)

– In case it wasn’t obvious, the thing I was spoiled about? Yeah, it was Tony’s death. FML. I mean, even if I wasn’t spoiled, I would’ve seen it coming as soon as we saw him after the five years jump, lbr (happily off-screen married to Pepper? With an adorable daughter? Pepper resigned to the possibility of losing him instead of begging him to stay like in IW? And then the movie kept hammering it home LMAO; that and a lot of things for the mains that I kind of saw coming from less than a third into the movie, which IDK if it’s because I was particularly intuitive, or the foreshadowing was that heavy handed xD).

Obviously, I’m not rocking your world if I tell you I’m extremely heartbroken, I guess. Especially because, as I said, my emotions were already all over the place. And seeing a character I adore, and in who I project a lot of my issues on –including, yes, suicidal issues–, sacrifice their lives (no matter how poignant, and moving, and well-written it might be) was incredibly hard for me. So, yeah. I’m going to have to deal with that for a while I guess. Which I plan to do by writing a bunch of Fix-It and Not Actually Fix-It fics ASAP.

But. I mean, out of all the endings Tony could have, this was always my second choice for him. And he was grandiose in this film. He figured out time travel. He created a gauntlet capable of holding the Infinity stones. Beings far more powerful than him were trying to carry that gauntlet to the van and none of them thought to use it, but he did. He was completely vindicated. He is the Saviour of the Universe.

And he looked gorgeous the entire time, which is truly important for me.

– In all seriousness, the thing I take to heart the most is that

his legacy remains intact

, and it’s inspiring, and heroic, and poetic, and prosperous. Clearly, without him, my enthusiasm for the universe will never be the same, but one thing that worried me is that I wouldn’t want anything to do with Marvel for a while after this film, and that’s not how I’m feeling; I’m very much looking forward to further parallels and homages to him in my ever-growing list :P

Tho, honestly, I’m kind of side-eyeing myself for the fact that, the one time!!! I go and fall in love with a male lead character, he happens to be genuinely heroic and self-sacrificing, instead of just using those concepts as lip-service and getting to have his cake and eat it too LMAO. I mean, sure, given my reactions to those characters, the AeJons Snowrgaryens of the world, I wouldn’t have liked him so much if it was the case, but dammit. It’d be nice to experience that high sometime xD

– The Iron Fam is the best part of this movie for me. Tony’s relationship with Morgan was way too adorable to handle it; Pepper was enormous and so poised (and the scene where they circle around each other in their armors… poetic cinema); I didn’t get enough Iron Husbands to satiate me (Rhodey’s caress should have been skin to skin!), but I loved what we got; Happy is an assholes who made me cry ABOUT CHEESEBURGERS.

And let’s not talk about Peter, OMG. My heart. And Harley appeared to Tony’s funeral! Though, honestly, the person I missed the most there was Christine Everhart, who should have been there just on the basis that I like her (plus, ya know, IMO she was important to Tony’s origin dammit).

I’m going to consider Nebula an honorary member, tbh. Her scenes with Tony in space cut me deep; and she and Rhodey are buddies!

Natasha and Fury (I loved his appearance *sniffs*) are honorary members too, because fuck it. They both appeared first vis a vis Tony on his movies, and have two of my favourite relationships with him, and I say so.

– Related to that, one Failure™ of this movie, is not providing a Nat & Tony one-on-one scene. Seriously, I can’t believe they didn’t realize how necessary that was. But I ADORED the scene where they and Bruce are lying down bouncing ideas about the stones (it made me softly whisper “ot3” LOL); it was possibly the only “Avengers” moment that worked for me –other than Clintasha, but that’s on a different league tbh.

I wanted more Nebula & Tony scenes too; I would’ve loved to see Tony interact with Past!Nebula. Yes, realistically, he would probably had made her LOL, but. I needed it. it’s definitely on my to-write-list :P

– I wanted just some positive interaction between Carol & Tony to counteract Current Comics Bullshit and I got Carol rescuing him, smiling beatifically at him, and Tony basically saying she was Da Bomb and the Avengers should follow her lead instead of keep sucking xDD So that was nice.

– I loved the scene at the beginning where he fucking SNAPS, and goes for Steve’s throat. It was probably my favourite scene. It’s resolution with everyone’s reactions and after the flashforward kind of… totally sucked, but whatever. Still amazing.

– The only part of his storyline that I HATED, and I mean absolutely loathed, was his scene with Howard. Jesus Fucking Christ. They went with the most simplistic take they could have, didn’t they. I haven’t felt more insulted in the theatre in my entire life, and my family made me watch both Ocho apellidos movies with them, so Marvel? That’s a feat. The moment where he says his father hit him with a belt so we (Tony included) are supposed to think, well, at least Howard wasn���t physically violent with his son, hooray?

And I think we’re supposed to take his “wouldn’t want my son to turn like me” as motivation for Tony’s actions and like… newsflash, but Tony has “put the worlds’ needs over his own gain” since Iron Man. Fucking. One. It’s literally what he does in this film, because we’re shown that, despite having achieved his happy ending, he was still trying to figure out time travel even if it meant risking his future.

Seriously, if they wanted me to be moved, they should’ve used Maria. Or hell, Edwin Jarvis was right there. And if whitewashing of Howard’s abuse becomes one of those MCU things that ends up bleeding into the comics, I’m gonna riot. Ugh.

BTW, just thought about this. Has anyone confirmed what the H. of Morgan’s second name stands for? Because my immediate idea was that it was for Happy, but now the fear that it might relate to Howard has entered my brain and I need someone to drive it out.

OTHER FAVES :P

– I am a lot more heartbroken over Natasha’s death than I expected to be. I like her character on paper a lot, but sometimes the writing or the acting don’t agree with me; neither was the case in this movie. I thought she was incredible. I loved the scene where she’s leading the post-dusting council. So losing her in this movie, of all movies, really hurts. And I understand why people who love her would be unhappy, and even furious –to some extent, so am I, tbh; specially because I don’t think she was properly honoured by the other characters after the fact–, but I do think it was extremely fitting for her arc.

– I loved Nebula’s storyline; how she was able to form new relationships, and what I know will be enduring friendships. Her interactions with her younger self were fascinating too; I loved that she perfectly followed the time-travel mumbo-jumbo. And she was so adorable at the beginning. Her bond with Tony didn’t have as much screen time as I wish it had, but the rest of the movie really shows how much his kindness touched her, and I love it. I’m a bit sad she didn’t get to kill any Thanos, tho.

– Okay, putting him in the “faves” section doesn’t exactly feel right, but whatever: I maintain that Thanos is a great villain. I don’t know what people that say otherwise are thinking. He’s the perfect foil for so many characters, and he is genuinely villainous; he is so delusional and self-righteous (seriously, his “solution” for the Snap 2.0 was… o.0) his plans feel sincerely menacing. He perfectly spells out his own doom; narratively speaking? He’s a joy of a villain to me. And I loved how he reacted to the information about the future; specifically, that upon learning about Nebula’s “betrayal”, his tactic was SOFTENING towards past!Nebula to make her even more eager to please him.

– Carol didn’t have much screen time, but I liked what she got (like, nothing too deep, but I didn’t expect much). I liked the Carol/Rhodey nod, even if I’m not sure how I feel about the ship in this incarnation. I wanted to hear something about Maria, but welp.

And on a shallow note, I kind of love that fandom absolutely freaked out about her wearing lipstick on a scene (while praising the “~natural no-make-up make up, effortlessly feminine without looking like you’re actually trying” look that she sported on CM, and disregarding that while yes, it was a troubling look that fitted a pattern across movies, A4 was made first so it was hardly a “betrayal” of the semi-grunge style), for the movie to go and give her the butchest look she’s ever gonna get on film lmao (and I will be pleasantly surprised if they’d keep a look like this for a movie where she’s the lead and not a supporting character, tbh).

– Sam and Bucky were So Soft™ with each other OMG. If their show doesn’t have at least ONE episode centred on them going undercover as a married couple, I’ll write it myself, because they are perfect for it (especially if you add some of the early banter/antagonism).

Btw, Sam getting the shield? The only good part of that mess at the end LMAO.

– I have mixed feelings for the Alt!Gamora development. I just… really loved the GOTG-IW versions of her character and her ship, and she’s gone and just… :( And that type of pseudo-amnesia/relationship do-over thing can be so badly written sometimes… But she’s back, and if done right, the role-reversal between her and Nebula could be gr10 for GOTG 3. We’ll see.

THE BAD™

– I know if I walked up right now to the Russos, and asked them why they hate Thor so much, they wouldn’t even understand the question. They would say, but we love Thor?? He’s such a fun character?? Or some version of the sort. They can fool themselves, but not me. You don’t do this to a character for whom you feel a modicum of respect, IMO.

Like, the fat-phobic jokes? The way they dealt with his substance abuse? How his arc about stepping up and assuming responsibilities ended by… him throwing away his responsibilities. Losing his hammer was a turning point for him to relearn the lessons about value and worthiness and power he’d been taught, and then… this movie. I couldn’t even fully enjoy his scenes with Frigga because I was so appalled by it all.

His only great scene, IMO, was how horrified and out of it he sounded after killing Thanos. I really felt that.

I didn’t even enjoy that he passed his power to Valkyrie because… unlike with Sam, that basically came out of nowhere. If they at least had given them ONE more scene at the beginning; seriously, it writes itself: just put her in the room when Bruce and Rocket are trying to convince him to go with them, and have her being the one that does it. Make her help him the way HE helped HER in Ragnarok; show her trying to help him and getting angry and frustrated. IDK, something.

And I know I’m probably alone in this because everyone around me practically creamed their pants when it happened but… having Steve control Mjolnir felt like adding insult to injury. Not just lifting it (which I would’ve been annoyed by too, given that they rewrote the new Asgardian mythology just to have this scene lol), but commanding it as only Thor did. Just. How much more are you going to take from Thor, people.

I want to make it clear that my problem is with the execution, not with Thor going through this; that, written differently, with more care, I could have loved.

– I’ve always been conflicted with MCU Steve. I loved the Captain America old comics I read as a child, and 616 Steve was A Hero. So I wanted to love MCU Steve just as much but… it often felt that he just didn’t measure up.

Well, conflict over. I don’t like the guy. Reading Man Out of Time just a few months ago probably isn’t helping (and yeah, that’s not a fair comparison, but it illustrates why I look at 616 Steve, and I adore him, and then I turn to MCU Steve and just… this guy is not worth my time).

I couldn’t even enjoy the ship, because my feelings for it come solely from my love for Peggy, and she didn’t even get to say a word? Add to that the fact that an endless loop of “OMG HE MADE OUT WITH YOUR NIECE. NOW HIS NIECE. RUN” was going through my head the entire time (the fact that Sharon was absent from the funeral when EVC acted in half of the MCU Russos films is hilarious in light of this xDD).

 MISC

– I really enjoyed some of the heist shenanigans. Especially Tony’s plan for a distraction being GIVING HIS PAST SELF A HEART ATTACK. How extra and edgy can my man be xD Tony and Scott are A Duo.

– I was thinking that Alt!Loki might make an appearance in GOTG3 if Thor is really a part of it, and how that might mix, but then a friend reminded me about his show, so I guess that’s where they’re going? IDK, The Avengers’ Loki is probably the one I liked the least out of all his appearances, so unless I hear something really good about it, I’m not picking it up.

– IDK if it’s because I was desensitized, but the white suits and Clint’s hairdo didn’t look as ugly on the final product?

– So THAT was the gay character Feige went on about. I knew he was going to be an unnamed nobody with less than five lines LMAO. Stop being cowards and give us Danbeau and WinterFalcon.

– I was very touched about Ned and Peter’s hug (MY BBYS), but isn’t Ned supposed to be five years older? AKA out of high school? I mean, he looked like he had missed Peter, not like he had disappeared with him too? And the entire class is going on a trip in FFH? Is it because of nostalgia/a friends thing? Were all of them dusted? Because poor teacher then xDD

– I think a lot of emotional threads were unceremoniously dropped, but other than the ones I’ve mentioned, I’m more indifferent towards their recipients so… eh. A great example is the fact that Bruce’s conflicting journey with Hulk was solved off-screen LMAO. Some of the humour felt extra-cringy too tbh.

– I have Tony-related fanart as my lock screen, my computer background, and my phone background. I get teary eyed with just looking at them. I should think of changing them, but I wont xD

– I know I’m forgetting things but whatevs, I can talk about them later.