#he's not that special his ability is. very specific and weird and by all means he didn't have to exist. but I'm glad he does

[daz4i]

imo mark twain is the funniest adaptation of real author into bsd

like. most authors bsd charas are based on look fairly normal. like yeah that certainly is a guy. but mark twain has a presence and a very distinct look if you ask me (also imo he's among the most famous names in bsd, i think he and poe were the only ones i actually knew when i got into it, so like these are big shoes to fill)

then his bungousona is a whorish twink who just wants to chill out shoot guns and have fun. with his tits out :) he does one thing in the entire story and is purely decorative the rest of the time. and he's the best

[somerandomdudelmao]

OKAY SO GENERAL THOUGHTS AND SOME HYPOTHESES BASED UPON THE INFORMATION WE HAVE:

Holly is from Teegarden; a place where either all of his species can shapeshift or he himself is some kind of priest of whatever god they worship that has given him the ability to shapeshift. If ALL of the Teegardenians have innate shapeshifting, this makes the bird hunting Inherently More Sinister, but it makes far more sense to me for Holly to be special, because he says he's from a temple and attributes his shapeshifting to god. It also makes sense for Holly to be special amongst his species because Sculptor asked Oscar and Ward 'Which of you is smarter?'

They're keeping higher quality/more unique specimens in The Vault and maintaining them for some reason.

When Ward is still Very Much Ravaged by whatever the fuck the Science Scrapers were doing, we see probably-Sculptor saying they should put him specifically with 'someone peaceful'. We don't know why they have taken this consideration beyond determining he's not going to be a danger to a more peaceful inmate, but we do know Holly is also missing an eye, which means that must be part of the 'forcibly extracting information from a creature's body and brain' process. Ward was not doing any talking, they got the information about Oscar's laptop via stealing it out of his brain. Sculptor was not separating the dangerous smart one from the harmless stupid one. The Echolocators (this will be my shorthand for the rest of the Q) fully believe themselves to be above both these weird little dudes, but they know from experience they can get more, better information about humans out of the smarter of the two.

Holly sighs sadly and says 'they've found another civilization to destroy', and he's been kept alive alone in the vault for an indefinite period of time while the general ecosystem of his planet appears to be intact enough for regular hunting excursions. Either the Echolocators circle around regularly between planets they've previously colonized to keep the base resources on each planet fresh, or they are in the middle of ravaging specifically Teegarden beyond livability, and will move on to Earth next now that they've conveniently found some fun new pets. I believe the use of 'civilization' is significant enough to suggest it's the former, which is Way Scarier because they've also noted humans are edible and taste good.

A species of colonizer aliens being set up in an ant-like colony is delightful by the way. Also I saw someone in the notes saying 'oh no she doesn't know about The Incident' over Ecliptica being like 'I didn't really check on Ward, science is boring to me' and would just like to say No. Ecliptica absolutely knows about the unethical Whatever That Was and The Vault. She just doesn't know if Ward survived or is any semblance of okay. Because Oscar is a cute fun novelty and Ward is some guy she does not particularly care about.

Oh, my God, I want to express my thoughts on your hypotheses so bADLY. But that would be the wrong way to present information that should be shown in a story. But I still want everyone to see it, because carefully analyzing a story is one of the greatest forms of art that amazes me every time🧡

[cherrifire]

Please share your thoughts on the other 5 cutie marks, I'd love to hear!

Hi everypony! I got like 20 asks for the Dogwarts cutie mark lore so I'm here to speak my truth!

Before we start, I would like to write a quick reminder that a pony's cutie mark is not always their "special talent", but can also represent who they are, their personalities, and a possible destiny. Different cutie marks have different meanings and interpretations, but they're not just about representing what you're good at.

That being said, let's start with the cutie mark design I'm proudest of!

Ren's Cutie Mark

Ren's cutie mark is of a sunrise and looks pretty simple at first glance but there was a lot of thought that went into this one.

First of all, I bet you're wondering why a sunrise? Well, in the show, it is pretty typical for unicorns with great magical abilities to have one relating to space (examples being Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, and Sunburst). And I figured since I wanted Ren to fall into a similar position of potentially becoming an alicorn, I gave him a cutie mark following the same trend. And I chose a sunrise to reflect the way Ren seems to glow when he enters a room. The way he carries himself is very warm and bright it just catches your eye in a similar way the sun would.

Also, Ren wears sunglasses. So a sun-themed cutie mark seemed appropriate.

Additionally, there are a couple of smaller details I want to point out too. Like the sun rays, if you look at them for a moment you'll see they're shaped like little crowns! I of course had to put a crown in thanks to how much Ren likes to play royalty, so I snuck it in there. And then the red spots underneath could both be interpreted as the sun reflected over water or blood. (But of course, this is a kid show AU so there wouldn't be any blood in Ren's destiny, just a fun reference to the red king and his whole thing about blood dyeing the snow red)

Martyn's Cutie Mark

I explained this one in an earlier ask but I thought I'd explain it again here for anyone who didn't see it!

Martyn's cutie mark is of a chopped log and a small stick.

This one is mostly a play on the name "Littlewood" but has other meanings too. As a character, Martyn tends to travel and explore quite a bit. In the Life Series specifically, he is usually the last one to find a permanent base and even then doesn't spend a lot of time in one place. Always on the move. Additionally, he's more of a wild card compared to other characters, always trying to be as unpredictable as possible.

The smaller detail here is the little swirl on top of the log is the same as the one on his Minecraft skin's shirt.

BigB's Cutie Mark

Cookies! Cookies! Cookies! BigB's cutie mark is of 3 cookies where one is trying to eat the others. There are also a few sprinkles there made to look like action lines.

We all know BigB loves cookies so of course I had to give him a cutie mark with cookies in it. For this one, I decided to follow the cutie mark trend of "symbol/item important to the pony duplicated 3 times" (examples being Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie) but I added a bit more creativity to it with the top on trying to eat the others to represent just how tasty they are 😋

Additionally, rather than the first cookie trying to eat the others, you could interpret it as opening its mouth to talk. Because BigB can not keep a secret to save his life! In Double Life when he started "secret soulmates" with Grian, he didn't last a day without opening his mouth. He told Ren about it immediately because he felt bad for keeping things from him.

Also worth quickly mentioning: People pointed out in my original post that they don't think BigB would be the element of honesty because of his behaviour in Secret Life. But that's just Secret Life. I think Secret Life to BigB was like that episode of My Little Pony where Discord makes the main 6 act the opposite of their true element. BigB was just going through a weird phase of telling very obvious lies because a book told him to.

Skizz's Cutie Mark

Skizz's cutie mark is of a lightning bolt from a couple storm clouds hitting the ground.

I think this is the cutie mark with the least thought put into it, unfortunately. There was still though just not as much as the others. The big thing I thought was fun was I made the lightning bolt shaped like an "S" to stand for Skizzleman. But other than that, this cutie mark sort of has the same meaning as Rainbow Dash's cutie mark. Quick like lightning, loud, bold, dangerous, and powerful.

Impulse's Cutie Mark

Impulse's cutie mark is of a lit-up lightbulb.

I absolutely crowded this cutie mark with the letter i. If you look closely, there are 6 of them. Impulse's design also has an i-shaped pattern on the belly if you look closely enough. But that's more of a fun easter egg and doesn't exactly reflect Impulse as a character.

There are a couple of reasons I chose a lightbulb for Impulse, the first and probably most obvious is that he's a redstone guy! He's a technical guy who likes to work smarter, not harder. So I figured the My Little Pony equivalent would be a light bulb/electricity. The second reason for the lightbulb is that it's usually used as a visual representation when characters have that "eureka!" moment in cartoons. When someone has a brilliant idea a little lightbulb turns on above their head. So since Impulse is the ideas guy, I figured a lightbulb would work for his cutie mark.

Etho's Cutie Mark

Etho's cutie mark is of a snowflake with a missing branch.

I promise there is more to this cutie mark than just "Canada is cold" even if that's part of the reason I wanted to give him a winter-themed cutie mark. While it is fun to make a nod to Etho being Canadian, I thought a winter-themed cutie mark would be fun to represent how he sometimes presents himself. Cold and a bit mysterious. I think deep down once you get to know him, those attributes melt away, but for people who have never met him, he may be intimidating that way.

I'll be honest, I don't watch a lot of Etho content, but I do have a few friends who identify as Etho girlies so I did my research. I was told in his Minecraft Let's Play World, that he has a snowflake build somewhere. I believe they said it was an iron golem farm? (Please correct me if I'm wrong) but I thought that was perfect for the cutie mark. And if you're wondering why there's a branch missing, it's because one of my friends said he was incapable of finishing builds sometimes so I thought that would be fun to include.

-=+=-

Alright. Rant over. To celebrate, here are a few pony doodles so I can put this post in my art tag.

[broken-glass-puppet]

Ok so Miguel request

Whar about Miguel (or basically just the spider team form atsv) x male reader that acts like a jumping spider and kinda look like it too

So the reader is small and very quick in his feet, he can also jump way farther than any of the rest, but he also has the other spider abilities. And I just imagine the reader being an anomaly and accidentally being teleport to HQ and they try to capture him, but he's all skiddish and nervous and just jumps away from them every time. In the end someone manages to calm the reader down (you can decide how, maybe with food or some shit) and the talk to the reader. And the reader just answers in very short very quick answers, and he's still very nervous

Aahhhhhhh I'm sorry I wrote this, this is so long!!! But I hope you do mangage to write it, but no pressure, I don't want to force anything

Okay, im going to use this for my spider sona

Fast and nervous, not good combo

You runned and jumped for...one, two, three...then multiple for two...damn you weren't good with math, but what can you say?! If someone had a lot, and I mean A LOT of Spidermans running after them, they would run too, I mean, they don't look friendly... specially that one with the red and blue suit...a bit more specific?...the one with the talons...so you runned and jumped and...did what a spider would do! You thinked you managed to get them away when suddenly-

"There you are!" Someone grabbed you and tied you to a chair with spider web, it was that man...hmm...tall, tan skin, hooked nose, deep cheeks...is that a Mexican accent? "Now.talk"...you started hyperventilating and squirming and moving "hmm...if you keep moving it will stick to you more chiquito" you looked at him and started breathing slowly

"yo dude, you shouldn't be like that" another voice said, he was...goth? No...Punk? Yeah that kinda looks punk...oh he has a guitar...

"I'll ignore the fact that you just called me 'dude', now...back to you.Name"

"[redacted]"

"where are you-"

"earth [insert here number]"

"how did you-"

"I was in my dimension, in my room and suddenly I saw this big portal and one thing went to another and here am I..."

Miguel sighed, pitching the bridge of his nose "are you always this nervous...?" He said looking at you up and down..."i have to admit...you jump and move really good...you are slippery and quiet..." He said while walking a bit closer to you "I'll untie you...don't you dare try to scape you hear me cariño?" You nodded, he untied you, you got up immediately, oh...oh he's tall...you are kind of small compared to him hehe...you looked around...you looked back at him...and runned away, in part it was for fun...what would he do...he sighed and chased after you...you giggled...this was REAAAAAAALLY fun...he's almost as fast as you!...you runned for...half an hour? And hour?...you stopped and took a deep breath...you looked around.. oh...oh is that...a burger...a bit wouldn't huuuurt...

"coño, where the fuck is-" Miguel cutted his sentence and looked at you devouring the burger, hmm, okay... nervous? Check, fast? Check, jumps a lot? Check, likes food? Check...he walked behind you quietly "boo" he whispered in your ear

You almost dropped your hamburger, you gulped the rest that was in your mouth and looked at him "hey?" Miguel smiled sarcastically "you know what was the only thing I told you not to do?" "Y-yes?" "What was it?" "To not...run?" You said smiling nervously "yes, and what did you do?" You looked at him nervously "I runned?" He smiled sweetly but it was a sarcastic smile "exactly...now..." He tied both your wrists and putting you over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes...food thing you finished your hamburger...

He went to his...office? Would you even call it that...he sat in a chair near by and sighed, you still in his arms..."look kid-" "don't call me that, it's weird" "why would it-" "I'm sitting in your lap and you call me kid?" He looked at you and sighed "okay, what should I call you" "[nickname]"..."okay okay...now [nickname], will you let me finish a sentence for Once?" "Yes..." "I want you to join me" "after you chased me all over here?! Yeah, no" he chuckled seeing that you were refusing "feisty one...i like that..." You couldn't help but smile at that

Oh boy, you two were going to be REAAAAAAALLY close

Please i loved this type of reader, please z person who requested it, please use this type of reader, i want to see more of him

[hanafubukki]

Silver’s UM & MC Connection/Malleus’ Power and the Blessing by Meleanor

I’m still thinking about the “Have I see you before” line from Silver in the trailer. I talked about this line before and how it made me so curious about him when I first saw it (also the shipper in me screamed)

With the context of book 7, I’m looking at this line with brand new eyes. Especially after the whole MC being cursed/blessed theory

We know that Silver has the ability to travel into anyone’s dreams, even Mickey’s dreams. Which means that he has the ability to travel across worlds/dimensions.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

MC comes from a different world, so what if this is what Silver meant? What if he had unknowingly traveled across worlds/dimensions and met MC in their dreams? And he just?? Forgot?? But it happened enough times that he has a vague sense of familiarity with them?

There have been parallels with MC and Silver multiple times but very subtly, such as the camera, ability to use the sword, etc. (more can be seen in the link)

(It also make you wonder if Silver has unknowingly seen the dreams MC has of the great seven)

And with the way MC is spending time with the dream squad, more connections between two is had. Especially when you consider they both have a ‘hero’ role right now. MC and the blots/Silver and saving Malleus and Lilia.

Ray(@moonlightequin1) and Kallisto (@prince-kallisto) talked about death and rebirth, and in this case, it applies as well.

Dreams can be seen as a type of death, and waking up from it a type of rebirth. So in a sense, this cycle of constant, deaths and rebirth keeps happening. Who has been constantly waking and sleeping? In this cycle? Of course it is MC (with their visions) and Silver (with his dreams), and again the connection is there given how Lilia mentions they have such similar states as well.

@chernabogs mentioned how media love to depict souls seperated from the body, so maybe MC body is somewhere else but their soul is in twisted wonderland, but what am I trying to say? Maybe Silver was able to see MC through a mirror or a dream before they isekaied. Or if we go back to timeloop theory, maybe Silver saw them use the sword then through MC visions.

So you’re probably wondering where does Malleus come into the equation? Because we already see the connection with Silver and MC.

As you can see, Meleanor is weaker than Malleus, who is much younger than her. So I can’t help but wonder if that was done on purpose?

I’m already suspicious about Maleficia and her lack of action in the past, but also right now when it comes to stopping her grandson.

What if, she and Crowley (maybe one of them have divination powers as mentioned in the linked posts) had this all planned. I also found it weird how Lilia was suddenly made to leave the school and hence being one of the reasons for Malleus to OB. When this dragon fae hasn’t OB his entire life given how he grew in isolation and people feared him and how that obviously made him feel lonely and ripe for an OB.

What if this was all planned so Malleus would be stronger? And they need him for that very reason, to be strong so they can use him? Or maybe they need that stone from him specifically, maybe something about a stone from him would be special. Maybe as strong as the stone Meleanor had?

Maleficia won’t stop Malleus but that’s why the stage was set for others to stop him, namely because no one would be able to stop Maleficia is she OB but someone could stop Malleus.

Another thought was that, Malleus is the poster boy. What if they made him this strong for a reason? What if their aim was to make Meleanor’s blessing true??

Make Malleus into someone who would be a great benefit to the fae but someone whom the humans would fear (chernabog??)

Make Malleus into a true villain, feared by all, because then Meleanor’s wish became true didn’t it.

(With the help of Crowley and Maleficia, you can’t tell me some part of the queen doesn’t want revenge. Especially when they killed her daughter. We haven’t heard about grandfather either. And Malleus was locked in the castle, Lilia tried to teach him to like humans but Malleus still had a dislike initially before meeting Silver, so where did that come from if not from someone else Malleus knows? His grandmother?)

Hope that made sense, I feel like I was everywhere with this one lol

[r00kaline]

How would Overwatch characters have you saved in their phone?

Tanks:

*Roadhog- Probably first name basis when it comes to contact info, probably in big ass bold letters so he would see it better though.

*Reinhardt- Saves people as numbers in his phone, so you'd probably be the number of the next contact.

*Orisa- Your callsign with maybe ":)" at the end depending on how close you are.

*Sigma- Definitely a weird nickname of your actual name, something that he made up and went with, it's probably not even close to your actual name.

*Doomfist- The incorrect spelling of your name.

*Zarya- Russian nickname on what she thinks about you (Slavics understand what I mean).

*Junker Queen- Something about your physical traits which helps her identify who you are.

*Rammatra- Also probably just your name.

*Mauga- Emoji as your contact name.

Attackers:

*Genji- Your name spelled in Japanese to help him read it.

*Torbjorn- Either "Kid #whatever" or no name at all.

*Ashe- Probably a southern nickname like "Chick" or "That One".

*Echo- Saved as your real name with the initial at the end.

*Hanzo- Pretty much the same as Genji but your callsign.

*Junkrat- Maybe "Sheila" or like "The Special One", he has the weirdest contact names for people that make no sense to anyone but him.

*Mei- Your social media username.

*Pharah- Your full legal name with the initials and what not.

*Reaper- No contact name either, just a profile picture.

*Soldier 76- The country of your home flag.

*Sombra- "Amiga/o" and than your name.

*Symmetra- Your callsign with two emojis that she thinks match you.

*Tracer- A short nickname of your name in all caps and even an exclamation point.

*Widowmaker- Your name in her contacts is based off the color of your hair, somehow, it's a bit too accurate too. It can also be based off of a little detail about u like a specific spot with a birthmark or something.

Supports:

*Briggite- "The" and then how she views or thinks of you.

*Moira- "Little girl/boy" or smth like that.

*Zenyatta- Also your full name but spelled in weird ass initials.

*Ana- Probably a nickname she has for you, very short one but only uses it on contacts.

*Baptiste- An emoji that does not match your name whatsoever.

*Lucio- Your callsign with a smiley face.

*Mercy- Probably "Mein Freund" followed up with your name.

*Kiriko- An emoji of your spirit animal.

*Lifeweaver- Something that would correlate with your special ability so he can remember you easily.

Please request something in the comments with COD, OV2, or TF2, I am on a block and am currently trying to wrap up one smut for a friend that I'll post.

[aroaceleovaldez]

one demigod powers retcon that really annoys me is how demigods being trained with the Mist works. Because in TTC we learn that Thalia is extremely well trained with manipulating the Mist and learned how to do that while living as a rogue with Luke. But then in HoH when Hazel meets Hecate, and every time Hazel uses the Mist to create illusions afterwards, it’s treated as functioning entirely differently and that mastering the Mist is something that Very Few People Can Do (when in TTC Thalia explains that it’s extremely easy for any demigod to manipulate the Mist). And then again in MCGA we get another retcon where Alex insists that it’s better to do more mythological stuff rather than try to hide it because doing so generates more Mist and so hides stuff from mortals better, which is just an explicit retcon because that scene self-refers to how that’s contrary to everything we’ve been told about how the Mist functions since TLT.

I get the Mist is a catch-all, but we already have a distinction between the Mist and general magic/sorcery, particularly with characters like Circe, Medea, and Hecate kids like Lou Ellen and Alabaster (and then also a distinction between Greco-Roman magic like the Hecate kids use and Egyptian magic like the... Magicians use. But also Annabeth was able to use Egyptian magic, so). The sorceresses on Circe’s Island and also just generally Circe and Medea themselves confirm that in-universe anyone can learn magic (and Reyna and Hylla having lived on Circe’s Island and studied under Circe implies that both of them should know some magic, but we never see them use it).

So just generally it doesn’t make sense for Hazel to learn how to use the Mist specifically rather than learn general magic from Hecate if she’s going to learn special abilities at all - and it’s kind of a moot point anyways because her getting that guidance is implied to be a Special Exclusive To Hazel Ability but Mist or magic either way it’s impossible for that to be the case? It would have made way more sense to just have Hecate, as a chthonic goddess, go “Oh hey Pluto kid. How’s those powers of yours going? Wait, what do you mean you haven’t figured out how to do [x], [y], or [z] yet? Those are totally within your scope of powers based on your father. No no no, okay: Here’s a blessing from me and here’s some tips on how to do that. Now go kick a guy off a cliff or something.” and then Hazel scurries back to everyone and unlocks like 3 new OP abilities as a daughter of Pluto because dammit if Nico can BS his way into having whatever weird tangentially Hades-related powers he wants, so should Hazel! And we can even keep the same general powers scheme that she gets from utilizing the Mist by just saying she unlocked some kind of illusion abilities because it’s already implied since BoTL and Nico and Bianca had powers similar to that (Bianca sending Percy visions of Nico’s whereabouts, and Nico imparting an aura onto the Titan Army to part his way AND in HoO repeatedly casting out his memories/emotions) and that’s all we’ve ever really seen her use the Mist for anyways.

[royonninjago]

A Funny Idea I had for Hands of Time

I believe that many people in the Ninjago fandom share the opinion that season 8, The Hands of Time, is one of the worst seasons of Ninjago. Weird writing choices, bad animation (even by Ninjago standards), and the confusing time travel mechanics plague the season making re-watches difficult.

I don't plan on making my own rewrite of Ninjago or anything, but I had an idea that's been rattling around in my head for a while that I will now share with y'all.

We all know that Jay is the comic relief and resident nerd of the Ninja, but most of these jokes are more current grievances addressed in an over the top and exaggerated way, which can sometimes get old.

We also know that apart from the Day of the Departed special, we are right off the heels of Skybound, the season that (arguably and within the context of the show) changed Jay the most, but since technically none of it ever happened the only one aware of it is Nya.

Another thing to keep in mind is that this is the arc that involves time travel shenanigans that many sci-fi and fantasy feel compelled to write, making it almost obligatory for the genre.

Keeping all this in consideration, I think a really fun way to demonstrate how much he has grown since Skybound while still staying true to his character would to have him take lead of the Ninja in very specific counter-time shenanigan strategies that he developed based off of all the time travel stories he's read and watched.

The idea originally came from a realization while rewatching the season while still somewhat fresh off the heels of watching the anime "JoJo's Bizzare Adventure".

I highly recommend this anime and that you go into it as blind as possible, but if you don't care about spoilers then here you go.

The abilities of the Hands of Time and the abilities of JoJo's main villains from parts 3 to 6 line up shockingly well. There requires some tweaking to the abilities to make them fit, but it still works really well.

The Pause Blade and Dio Brando's Stand "The World" have the same ability to stop time.

The Rewind Blade and Yoshikage Kira's Stand "Killer Queen: Bites the Dust" have the ability to rewind time, although Bites the Dust can't use it on Kira.

The Forward Blade and Diavolo's Stand "King Crimson" can both skip ahead in time to avoid undesirable outcomes.

The Slow-Mo Blade and Enrico Pucci's Stand "Made in Heaven" both have the ability to control the speed at which time moves, however Made in Heaven uses it to speed up time for everyone else instead of slowing everyone down, but its used for the same effect.

I like to imagine that while the Ninja are heading out to meet Master Wu at the burned monastery, Jay is just thinking to himself "Wait, this can't be King Crimson, can it?" and when they finally get there and Jay realizes that it is King Crimson he uses the same strategy they use in JoJo. Because the skip is instantaneous and imperceptible to everyone, the only way to possibly defend against it is to physically measure the time. The easiest way to do this without relying on watches or clocks that can be easily broken is to cut yourself and count the drops of blood that fall on your hand. If the number suddenly increases, that means a skip has happened and that the enemy is probably in your blind spot. Obviously this is a kids show and they can't show blood, but the point of the strategy is to count falling droplets of a liquid.

Not only would this demonstrate Jay's newfound leadership skills to the rest of the Ninja while showing off more of his nerdy side, but it could also be easily used as comedy since now he has a good reason to be watching TV shows and reading comic books when he could be doing something more productive.

"No, Lloyd, I am doing something productive! I'm watching Back to the Future because we need to understand the potential ramifications of time travel!"

If you have any similar thoughts or opinions about something like this, please feel free to share because I love reading them!

(P.S. Can you tell that Jay is my favorite Ninja?)

[mysadcorner]

Hi! Can I request a DC characters with a reader who can summon any weapon they want? (The only downside of it is that you can get extremely tired after summoning a lot of guns)

I love your works btw <33

DC Characters x WeaponSummoner!Reader Headcanons

- Credit to all gifs owners - Please be specific about characters wanted for requests -

Masterlist Navigation

I’m assuming that the selection of characters for this is the same as my last DC characters post - if not send me specific characters in another request and I’ll write for those!

Damian Wayne

• Damian would find you incredibly helpful, as not only is he well versed in on using a range of weapons, but your ability makes it easier for him to improvise in the moment against a new or consistently changing villain. It also means that he (and whoever else the two of you are working with) won’t need to be worried about having a specific item that may be needed in a crucial moment.

• Even though you can make weapons and reduce the amount of things he and the team would need to carry with them, he’d still prefer to bring weapons with him. He had items he specialises in that he always uses, and there’s no point in making you exhausted when many of the weapons they have in their possession.

• Your tiredness would obviously be a cause for concern if it results from the aftermath of using your abilities too much. As it can cause difficulty in getting out of missions or dangerous situations Damian will stay by your side if he’s aware that this is going to happen.

• Villains would be amazed if they could see your powers and abilities in action so Damian does try to keep you behind the main line of fighting if that’s possible. However, he knows that they will still come after you so he puts a lot of effort into defending you at all costs.

• Since you’re making your own weapons he does like to see that they have a personal touch to them rather than always being completely boring. Figuring out what he likes or him telling you what the perfect weapon would be I’m certain situations also comes in handy at all times.

Jason Todd

• Jason knows that a lot of people appreciate and make use of your abilities, but for him personally he isn’t in too much need of it. Unless he’s in an extremely strange situation or all of his weapons were taken than he’d have no real use for your abilities.

• He will always prefer his own weapons as he has a special attachment to them. The weapons he keeps with him are like his banques and he takes excellent care of them since he finds such a personal connection to them.

• Regardless of whether he needs your abilities or not, Jason will always be there to help you get out of a mission or fight safely. Your tiredness is a big reason for that, especially as this can risk him and the others around him to more danger and not just yourself.

• Jason doesn’t need much of a reason to fight criminals and villains to begin with, but protecting you certainly is a great excuse to do so. Not only does he get to keep you safe and Proventil a kidnapping situation, but he also gets to lay down justice much more with reason.

• When he interested he may ask you to make some absolutely strange and weird weapons just so he can see the range of what you can make, but if this stores affect your tiredness and well-being then he will keep it to a minimum.

Garfield Logan

• Garfield thinks that’s you’re astoundingly helpful to the people around you especially in extreme situations. However, Garfield has abilities of his own so it’s very rare that he’s going to be using a weapon other than himself.

• He is well versed in his abilities and power of being able to turn into different animals at will depending on what would work best. But, if this is absolutely not possible at all then he would use a weapon you’ve made - although he may be hesitant as first.

• Garfield is very sweet and caring so if the two of you managed to get back home safely and you’re powers have caused you extreme tiredness, then he would help you recover once he’s feeling better himself. He’d do this for any other person he was close to which shows how thoughtful to the well-being of others he is even when a fight is over.

• Garfield goes into automatic defence mode when he finds out that other are looking to benefit from your abilities. Criminals and villains would live the opportunity and saving abilities of not needing to keep weapons on them constantly which means you’re vulnerable - but Garfield always has many people around you both if he suspects danger.

• Garfield does like to make light of situations or make them fun, so it’s not a surprise when he tries to use your abilities in a playful way. However, you will have to put a cap on it before it ends up going to far or tiring you out before and important mission.

Bruce Wayne

• Bruce obviously thinks that your abilities are helpful, especially if he’s in need of a lot of weapons at the time or ammo. And if you’re willing to, he’ll use it as much as he knows is mortally right to do so as he doesn’t want to take advantage of it too much.

• Of course Bruce still prefers his own weapons, and this is mainly because he’s had a personal hand in making them so if anything goes wrong he has no one to blame but himself. Plus, making the weapons himself gives him a sense of comfort and reassurance while using them.

• Despite Bruce never taking good care of himself and barely sleeping regardless of how busy or tired he is, he is still very understanding and sympathetic to how you’re feeling. So, if you’re ever in need of rest caused by your abilities he’d fully understand.

• Bruce can’t guarantee that you’ll be protected constantly and forever (although that would be ideal) but he would promise to do as much as he could. Whether that be keeping an eye on you or giving you methods of defence and hiding he’ll do it if he thinks it to be effective.

• Bruce isn’t the type of person to make your abilities into a game or fun situation, but he will test them to see how they work. He’ll try a range of weapons of size and ability and would prefer to understand you fully before he turns it I to a fun concept.

[paper-starz]

/ay itsa me, a idiot that uses Dotty's acc.

/so I was wondering..

/cross over between Seven Sins and Self-aware Swap? Like. What could go wrong? A hand full of self aware puppets, and a handful of literal demons, in which a few have REALLY weird powers.

/Barnaby's ability is so useless that I love it.

YEESSSSSSSSSS!!! I can already see the interactions.....

The Julies

7S!Julie: OOOH! I LOVE HOW YOU DID YOUR HAIR!!!

SAS!Julie (smiling through clenched teeth) Thanks.... I did it myself...

(They are both very neutral towards each other. 7S! Julie tries to be friends, but SAS!Julie is a bit defensive...)

The Barnabys

SAS!Barnaby: Oh hey who are- WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR LEGS?????!!!!

7S!Barnaby: Relax man, I'm fi--

SAS!Barnaby: POPPPPYYYYYYY!!!!

(They are both friendly with each other. Both bonding because of their love of jokes... especially the dark ones that SAS!Barnaby tends to make at times.)

The Franks

SAS!Frank: What are you supposed to be...?

7S!Frank: A demon of course! Specifically pride (starts explaining demon hierarchy/ history)

SAS!Frank: (Starts writing EVERYTHING down) Yes! This could be useful for my theories!

7S!Frank: ...Theories?

(They are both friendly with each other. They both share a love of butterflies and they both love infodumping all the research that they have collected. I see 7S!Frank listening to all of SAS!Frank's wacky theories.)

The Eddies

SAS!Eddie: I like your tie

7S!Eddie: Thank you! I like your scar! Makes you look super cool!

SAS!Eddie: Thank you! I got it from Home!

7S!Eddie: W...What?

(They are both VERY friendly with each other. I see both of them loving to chill and hang out with each other. Though, sometimes SAS!Eddie does say something something INCREDIBLY concerning once in a while)

The Poppys

7S!Poppy: Oh my! That smells delicious!

SAS!Poppy: Thank you!

7S!Poppy: We must share recipies!

(They are both friendly towards each other. They like to swap recipes once in a while, maybe even drink tea together. XD. I see them as two old lady friends who gossip.)

The Sallys

SAS!Sally: (Literally just existing)

7S!Sally: Ugh... STOP SHOWING OFF!

(They don't get along well at all. Mostly because 7S!Sally seems to be jealous of her counterparts... well, everything! 7S!Sally does not realize that SAS!Sally needs to be perfect though...)

The Howdys

7S!Howdy: Where the HELL is my counterpart?!

SAS!Howdy: (hiding because he is WAY too scared to even meet the guy).

(They DO NOT get along well. 7S!Howdy thinks his counterpart is pathetic and cowardly, while SAS!Howdy thinks his counterpart is greedy and mean. Also! HE'S. A. DEMON! YOU SHOULD NEVER TRUST THEM!!!!)

The Wallys

7S!Wally: Wanna see a magic trick?

SAS!Wally: Of course!

7S!Wally: WATCH THIS-- (sets a tree on fire)

7S! Barnaby: DAMMIT WALLY NOT AGAIN--

SAS!Wally: Wow! So pretty! I wanna touch it!

SAS!Home: NOOO-

(Both are friendly towards each other! SAS!Wally has lots of things to learn about when he's with his counterpart! 7S!Wally just likes to cause chaos while SAS!Wally tags along.)

The H O M E S

SAS!Home: I LOVE your Wally! He's so cute!

7S!Home: Yes, he is quit-- WHAT IN GOD'S ACTUAL NAME???

SAS!Home: Is... Something wrong?

7S!Home: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR FUCKING SIN LEVEL???? TORTURE? MUTILATION? EXITENSIAL HORROR AND DREAD????

SAS!Home: Torture... Oh! Hehehe! I guess you could say I run my own special kind of hell over here!

7S!Home (absolutely mortified): And here I thought it was impossible to meet someone as scary as me....

(Both are neutral to each other. SAS!Home is pacified as long as 7S!Home doesn't tell Wally the truth. 7S!Home is both impressed and horrified at Home. Sure, 7S!Home is the literal Lucifer in this AU... but he tortures BAD GUYS! THE ABSOLUTES SCUMS ON THE PLANET. Not... these poor puppets.)

I also see some other interactions like:

7S!Howdy: (talking to SAS!Wally) Pfft! How is my counterpart afraid of you? You're practically harmless!

SAS!Home: (looms over in the back)

7S!Howdy: Anddddd there's the harm.

SAS!Frank: (talking to 7S!Wally) Wow! And what are your special powers?

7S!Wally: Oh! Fire!

SAS!Frank: Oh, do show me!

7S!Wally: I would... but I have nowhere to practice on.

SAS!Frank (points at SAS!Home): There's something you practice on!

(7 Sins Au belongs to @dottyorange!)

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #315: DOOMSDAY PLUS ONE!

March, 1990

Guest-starring the Amazing SPIDER-MAN! The enemy REVEALED -- WHILE A UNIVERSE TREMBLES!

Is Nebula auditioning for a Bond movie poster? What's with the ass shot?

Also, we're still really slapping SPIDER-MAN prominently on the cover. I wonder if this story arc got a sales boost. Because it really is trying for one.

And not to nitpick but "the enemy revealed" when we already know Nebula's flimsy grasp of science was behind the universe vanishing. And how can a universe trembles when the universe has vanished?

Dammit, cover text! Get your story straight!

So, last times in Avengers: the Avengers were cleaning up after Acts of Vengeance when bouts of photo-negativity kept hitting the universe. While Iron Man and Vision went to investigate a weird call from Starfox, Thor and Spider-Man came into the Avengers Subbasement just in time for a series of photo-negativity strikes. Sersi used her Eternal powers to shield the room from the effects. Then, the Avengers discovered that everything outside of that one room had ceased to exist.

Captain America: "The whole universe has... vanished!!" Thor: "Say it is not so, Avenger! The son of Odin in his time hath stood upon the very brink of Ragnarok but ne'er hath such dark words been said!" Captain America: "See for yourself, Thor! This long range scanner shows the area of deep space immediately beyond Earth's Moon... At least, that's what it usually shows. Now there's... nothing!"

I wonder what DOOMSDAY PLUS ONE means in this context. Plus one what? Plus another doomsday? Plus another day?

I also wonder how all the instruments of the room are working without being connected to the greater sub-basement. Were the scanners and cameras located just within this square chunk of room? There wasn't anything on the surface? That doesn't make sense for an underground base...

I wouldn't bother thinking about it except the fact that the heroes only have the oxygen in this very specific room and no more invites one to think about the logistics of this.

A neat little touch is that endless nothingness isn't actually a white void. That's just the best man-made mechanisms can do at showing nothing.

The Avengers are feeling pretty defeatist in the face of the entire universe being gone. Understandably enough.

Captain America: "I've spent all my life surviving, first as a boy growing up in New York's lower east side, then as America's first and only super-soldier battling the Nazis in World War Two... finally as a member of the Avengers. But this... I don't want to sound like a quitter, but I have no idea how to deal with this!" Thor: "Nor have I, brave Captain -- and Thor hath lived a thousand times beyond thy mortal lifetime..."

Then, very special guest star, Spider-Man, gets a brilliant idea. He's the very special guest star so obviously, he's got to be pulling his weight.

Spidey knows a thing or two about cameras and Cap said the long range scanners weren't showing anything. What if they were missing something closer?

So he adjusts the depth of focus and zooms out (how do the scanners do this?) to see if there was something they just couldn't see because of how close it was.

"The way dust doesn't register on a normal camera lens..."

And bingo bango Bob's your mother's brother, another chunk of something floating in the endless void. A building floating about where New Jersey was labelled PolyDyne Industries.

Cap goes to check PolyDyne in the computer banks but ruh roh the computers aren't in this floating cube of Avengers Subbasement.

Sersi recovers from the strain of protecting the cube and suggests she can telepathically scan the PolyDyne sphere and find out if anyone is over there.

She tries to warn Cap that there could be danger to doing this but Cap insists. At this point, they have no choice but to try anything!

Sersi scans and then yells NO-OHHH!! and curls into the fetal position.

So her psychic abilities are about as useful as Jean in the 90s X-Men show. Zing.

Thor points out that a similar thing happened when she scanned the Negative Zone in Avengers #304. So basically, how do we keep an overpowered Eternal character like Sersi balanced?

This, I guess.

She's so ruffled that she forgets English so can't even warn the Avengers that she sensed a great EVIL at the center of the emptiness.

I guess that Thor knowing Allspeak hasn't been established yet. Or has been forgotten.

Thor can speak and understand every language. He gets Cipher's entire mutant power as a racial bonus

Ain't it sad, Cipher?

Jarvis, the most humany person here, notes that the air is getting stale.

Cap apparently has a "super-efficient bio-system" so he's better at breathing than a normal person. But even he can tell that the air is getting heavy on carbon dioxide.

This room only has this room's amount of air in it. It doesn't have extra air tanks or a carbon dioxide scrubber installed. Why would it? Under what circumstances would just this one communications room of the Avengers Subbasement get launched into an airless void??

I mean, except these circumstances. These are a bit unprecedented though.

But now that there's Something the Avengers can do, Cap isn't giving up.

Captain America: "If I've learned nothing else in my years of battle, I've learned the absolute truth of one old saying: While there's life, there's hope!"

Over at PolyDyne, everybody floats around in unconscious poses.

Nebula regains her wits first and marvels at the power contained in the compressor.

Nebula: "The power! Never in my wildest dreams have I anticipated such power! It crackles still about the compressor! It surges through my flesh like a thing alive! Even mighty gravity seems twisted by it!"

She tries to contact Gunthar the Rigellian on her mothership but he's not responding.

Then she looks outside the window and sees only the VOID.

Bit of a nitpick but after the explanation that the empty white void is the best human instruments could do to show absolute nothingness, I was hoping that seeing it with eyeballs would have a different effect.

Eyes lie to the brain, y'know.

Ah, well.

The story already settled on empty white void and its made for some striking splash pages.

Nebula floats over and starts yelling at Professor Harker to EXPLAIN.

Professor Harker: "It can only be a genesis pulse! There was always a danger of this, but it seemed so remote as to be beyond the need for considering! What my compressor does is concentrate the force of a one megaton nuclear explosion into an area smaller than the nucleus of an atom! In theory, this should release a vast quantity of usable energy. However, there was a small chance it might duplicate the effect of the Big Bang... create a new universe in the midst of the old..."

How small a chance is too big a risk that a science project might destroy the world? Just based on Mr. Destroy The Universe's project, I might say a non-zero chance but we've had a lot of particle acceleration since this was published and the universe seems fine.

Nebula slaps him and yells that obviously that thing he just described would destroy both the new universe and the original! Now she has PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER at her fingertips and no universe to become absolute ruler of!

ALSO, SOME AVENGERS JUST BUSTED IN SO SHE'S ALSO ANGRY ABOUT THAT NOW!

I have to say... The Avengers (and Spider-Man) had no idea they'd be busting into the PolyDyne building right where the baddie was so this isn't an "Ultron, we would have words with thee" badass entrance. They just kinda blow their way in, glue the Avengers communications room in place so it doesn't drift, and then go 'oh hey Nebula is here, now this makes sense.'

Although, Spider-Man hasn't run into Nebula so mistakes her for Andromeda. Do all blue ladies look alike to you, Spidey?

Thor asks how Nebula managed to escape that time vortex she fell into with Dr Druid, as seen in issue 297.

And Nebula's answer?

She has no fucking idea what he's talking about. She thinks he's making up nonsense just to distract her.

Ah, so, the retcon goes even this far back.

While Captain America and Thor are safe thanks to their shield and spinning Mjolnir respectively, Spider-Man has to dodge and jump around in zero gravity while Nebula shoots ray blasts at the Avengers and Spider-Man.

Captain America throws his mighty shield... which Nebula easily deflects. BUT IT WAS A FEINT. While she was doing that, Thor spins harder and kicks up a wind which blows Nebula into a bulkhead.

She manages to peel herself and blast Thor off-balance. Spider-Man gunks up her wrist-mounted ray blasters and tries to grapple her but she tosses him away.

And while Spider-Man is distracting Nebula by being his usual charming and/or irritating self, Captain America and Thor wander off to examine the compressor.

Cap is guessing that the big, glowing energy thing is what made the universe go away. But he doesn't have the science brain to know what to do about it.

He asks Thor to try to dissipate the energy in the compressor but it's just too much for the god of thunder.

Thor has to release the energies or else explode "as would a mighty oak struck low by lightning."

Meanwhile, Professor Harker crawls out from behind a chunk of dislodged lab equipment and tells Spider-Man the heroes have the wrong idea.

But before he can explain to the Avengers how to deactivate the compressor, Nebula blows him up.

Okay, but why?

Nebula, did you firmly clutch the villain ball in hand? Do you want the universe to not exist? Shouldn't you want this problem to be fixed too?

Idiot.

And weirdly a pointless death.

Captain America just switches to talking to the next nearest dude, a PolyDyne employee with red hair and a beard. And this random guy, who I don't think even has a name, is able to deliver the same exposition as Professor Harker.

It's not like it's played for tension. Professor Harker blows up and then on the same page Cap is like 'hey you' to the beard guy.

So I don't really get the point of killing Professor Harker. Nebula should want to restore the universe as much as anyone. And killing the guy didn't stop the relevant exposition from getting delivered immediately.

Weird. Weird writing choice.

Random Guy tells Cap that the compressor will be self-sustaining once it reaches 100% efficiency but until then, it's reliant on power from generators in the sub-basement.

But its crazy to try to unplug it! There's such an intense electromagnetic field around the compressor!

Guy: "There's no force on Earth that could break that connection!" Captain America: "Maybe not... but we're not on Earth any more!"

That's... That's a weird argument to make, Cap.

Granted, he also argues that they've got no other choice but to try.

Cap gets as close to the compressor as he can, even as the field makes him feel like he's got ants crawling around inside him. He can only hope that the super-soldier serum will protect him long enough to get the job done. But he's sure if he comes out of this alive, he'll be lucky if all this exposure to a powerful magnetic field doesn't permanently damage him.

He reeeeaches but he just can't get to the giant power cable.

Luckily, Spider-Man saw what he was doing and comes over to ask what the hell he's doing.

When Cap explains that they need to pull the plug ASAP, Spider-Man decides this looks like a guest starring role for Spider-Man.

His webbing is non-organic and non-conductive, thanks to tangling with Electro so often.

He thwipppts a webline on the giant cable and

PULLS

AS

HARD

AS

HE

CAN

Like lift heavy thing except with pulling.

Spider-Man's specialty.

So thanks to Spider-Man pulling something really, really hard, the universe is back.

... I wonder if the Avengers Communications Room is still webbed to the side of the PolyDyne building. I honestly hope so.

So with everything restored to normal, Captain America does his best to put a logical explanation on this.

Captain America: "Apparently, the... ah... 'genesis pulse' had only thrown the universe into a state of complete neutrality. It needed to reach maximum power to completely annihilate everything."

How did you reach that conclusion, Cap?

Anyway, Sersi has recovered from holding the communications room together and then scanning the void. She's telepathically scanned the entire world and determined no time passed while they were in the white void.

The whole story happened between two ticks of the clock.

Spider-Man's take-away is that they just saved the world and nobody will ever know!

(Jarvis says, hey, we'll know! Jarvis is a good guy.)

Apparently, Nebula vanished while everyone was distracted by the universe and gravity being back.

But Captain America remembers that Iron Man and Vision went to investigate her ship and thinks she's going to be in for a nasty surprise when she gets there.

So, apparently this saga still continues. The next issue is teased as "SPIDERS and STARS" so I'll bet next time has "Guest-starring the Amazing Spider-Man" slapped prominently on the cover.

But before that, we switch back over to Avengers West Coast to continue the Wanda Is Evil And Crazy story.

yay.

Follow @essential-avengers because this issue was actually pretty fun. Like, reblog, comment, or dance like nobody is watching.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

hello! i don't know if you've answered a similar ask before but what do you feel about the 'dazai is the book' theory?

Not specifically, but I have talked a little bit about it and I can't say I vibe with it, personally. I've mentioned that I prefer theories which emphasize that Dazai is just a guy, which makes more sense to me, given his inspiration and main story beats.

However, I know there is some weird connection there as he, like Fyodor, has an awareness of its existence and its workings. Beast establishes that Dazai, somehow, created a singularity with his ability to read the memories of original timeline Dazai. We still don't know how this is possible, or whether Beast Dazai actually did get his hands on the Book or not (I re-read that part of Beast and nowhere does it say he used or even held the Book. I don't know why that belief is so prevalent and now I feel like I missed something?). He knows of the Book's existence, but I don't know if it's a connection to the Book specifically that he has - the one with the connection is Atsushi. Atsushi is canonically the one called the "tiger-beetle" or the "guide" to the Book. But there's something weird in that too because if the Special Division took a Page from the Book to study... don't they then know where the Book is? Ugh there's a lot there that we don't yet know. Also we haven't yet seen Fyodor and Atsushi interact and I expect that will be interesting.

If Dazai has a connection to anything, I suspect it is to the core nature of abilities. He has knowledge of ability-soul interactions, which in Beast is the main reason he gives for pairing Atsushi and Akutagawa - not just because of the powerful combination of their abilities but because of the "meeting of their souls" which goes "beyond power"... I still don't know what that means. :/ But we know from Stormbringer that a human soul is required for an ability-host relation. 55 Minutes shows that an ability becoming too powerful can overtake the host. Stormbringer and Dead Apple also have abilities that "survived" their hosts' deaths. And Fyodor's ability doesn't attack him but instead... completes his sentences and his edgy pose... I'm glad he has some(one? thing?) he can stand on roofs together with.

I do, however, find the possibility that Dazai's ability creates an inherent singularity loop to be very interesting... it would make some sense, as his ability is to nullify all abilities, but he himself is an ability user, but you can't nullify nullification so it just... idk what NLH does. Stays constantly active? It wouldn't blow up - it's not like the consistent amplification ability that likely powers Chuuya's singularity... idk man. Thoughts that he really is "no longer human", as in, he once was but is now mostly his ability due to the constant singularity are also intriguing... though I'm not sure it wholly makes sense with what we know about him, and it also makes me really sad, honestly.

If any characters are linked to the Book asides from Atsushi, my bet's on Natsume and Odasaku, personally. Possibly Akutagawa too.

[quietwingsinthesky]

8 and 16 for the choose violence ask

8. Common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about.

That Dean would return Cas’s love confession

Okay no actually you know what. I’m gonna talk about that. Maybe it’s just me being deep in Aro!Dean land, but I’m not seeing it. I’m not seeing at any point in the show where Dean loved Castiel. And I’ve been looking, I swear, but I’m. There’s no destiel on my screen. There is a lot more sastiel than I remember but there’s no destiel happening on my screen! There IS a lot of Castiel clearly having Problems and Issues and Angst about dean, and. Zero doubt here there that that angel wants to fuck him. But I honestly can’t imagine any happy ending for dean that revolves solely or even mostly around a romantic attachment. That man is hardwired for family being the most important thing to him, and I love that. Aro!Dean wins again.

Other notable things include: headcanoning Sam as not queer/trans because he’s too boring. Talked about that. Weird fucking opinion to have. That Gabriel is not exactly as fucked up as the other archangels, especially when presenting sabriel as the Good Sam Ship as opposed to samifer. My dudes, did we not watch mystery spot, do the reading. Also. Also. Not acknowledging the really clear character degradation of Lucifer in the later seasons/attributing later seasons stuff to how he acts in s5, just a personal gripe because whatever, people can read him however they want, but I really feel like on a meta level you gotta talk about how these are Two Different Characters who just happen to have been jammed into the same character. Okay. I think that’s it.

16. You can’t understand why people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc.)

I do not like coffee shops AUs. Actually, it’s more that im Extremely picky about AUs that aren’t canon divergence, and will drop them immediately the minute I feel like I’m no longer reading about the characters I like and am instead reading about Generic Guys who say funny quips and then kiss. Which is not a coffee shop au specific problem but the frequency with which that kind of au attracts that writing means I have kind of been turned off from ever reading them again.

if you are writing Sam into your coffee shop au and at some point he does not drop some insane backstory about the time he was kidnapped and forced to fight to the death with a bunch of other college kids, you have failed at writing this au and I am banishing you to the shadow realm /j

The other thing that I do not understand at all, and this extends into a problem with canon, I’m well aware, is how happily people will accept the idea that Castiel is rebellious/different from other angels because he was just Made Wrong. he’s too Broken to be like a real angel. that all the other angels are mindless drones and Castiel is the one good one who could learn about free will, usually justified with it being that “his love for dean is what makes him special”, but even outside of destiel circles, this kind of thing gets very annoying lmao.

And it’s just. That’s wrong. The show might have decided post-s8 that it believed this about Castiel but it’s False and Bad. I’m gesturing wildly at Uriel and Anna and Gabriel and Lucifer and Balthazar and Michael and shit what’s that one angel doing pinball I love them, them too, and Castiel is not special!!! He should not be special!!! All angels have the capacity for free will, they are living under a terrifying system of suppression that has stripped them of their ability to use it and has taught them that when an angel does something they disagree with, killing them is a mercy! (See: the implications of that one angel healer in s9 + Uriel and Cas being sent to kill Anna for falling in s4)

CASTIEL IS NOT SPECIAL. STOP SAYING HE IS SPECIAL. THE CRACK IN THE CHASSIS LINE IS BAD TO HOLD UP AS EVIDENCE OF HIM BEING UNIQUELY FLAWED.

ahem. sorry. i like the supernatural angels. i think making castiel into some separate special being who is the only one capable of rebelling and feeling love and etc does a massive disservice to the heaven storylines and angels as a whole. i think the show’s choice to never have another major angel character who wasn’t killed off quickly/made “too evil” to redeem was a bad decision and contributes to this view of cas as Different and The Good One.

[circesays]

Previous Part | Next Part | The Beginning

Joel felt… off. It wasn’t something the god could quite put his finger on. His villagers were fine, the temples were cleaned and had offerings, nothing was on fire or falling or cracking or breaking or crumbling to pieces, splitting in half-

(Pix smiled grimly at Oli, prodding the fire and adding another log. “I’ve had a... theory... as to how this is happening. I think there's more to all of this pain than we initially thought."

Oli eyed the historian from where he was idly strumming his new lute, the remains of their dinner already gone. Over the hill, the first grumbles of zombies began to emerge. “Is that why we’re-?”

“Yes, that's why we're, ah, detouring. What do you know about Empires? The idea behind the server itself?”)

But. Something was wrong. He frowned as he took in the setting sun over his glorious Empire. He’s a god, mighty and divine and perfect, there was no reason to be upset or frustrated or anything! No mob could climb his walls, no emperor was causing mischief in his domain, nothing! So why...?

(“Well uh- emperors come together and settle in different biomes, using lore magic and Player magic to build up Empires that match a certain theme. Uhhhh, we also get special abilities and people living in our empires based on the Lore we come up with? I’m not sure what else you’re looking for here, Pix, you gotta work with me here!”)

Joel was distracted from his troubles by a small presence and pulling motion. He glanced down to find Hermes hovering on his shoes, tugging on his toga with both hands and a determined look on his face. A smile spread across the god's face, uncontrollable and inevitable when his precious child was around.

“Hello, son, how are you? Daddy looked like such a grump, huh?”

(“Yes. That’s generally how it goes. However…” Pixlriffs paused to gather his thoughts, his hands fluttering and twisting as he tried to word it just right. “There’s more to the biomes and lore magic. They’re… intertwined, in a way. Every biome is special, with specific history and capability for life. And with capability for life comes a capability for its own lore magic.”)

Hermes shook his head, a little scowl on his face. He let go of his father’s toga. “You’ve been acting weird,” the demigod signed. Hermes was having a quiet day, then.

Joel raised a single eyebrow. “Acting weird? What do you mean I’m acting weird? That’s not very nice, you know, I thought Papi Sausage taught you better than that.”

(“Okay, so different biomes mean different magic, seems simple enough. But what does that have to do with what’s happening to Jimmy?”

Pix paused from where he was using his soot-stained stick to doodle on the floor. “Well, see, that’s the thing. Different biomes have very different magics. But some biomes are also older than others, more powerful. More dangerous, even.”)

“You’re not yourself. Something is super weird, Dad. I’m worried about you.” Hermes put extra emphasis on his unique sign for his dad, the normal sign for father trailing immediately into the sign for lightning- tapping his head with his thumb twice and sharply moving into a downwards zigzag.

The god sighed. “Nothing is wrong, Hermes. I just feel like something is off. Nothing your big, strong, sexy, tall, amazing dad can’t take care of.” He patted his child on the head affectionately.

(Oli stared down at his lute thoughtfully, quietly, as if it held all of the answers he needed. “The plains biome is super old, right?”

Pix leaned forward. “The plains biome was the first.”)

Hermes sighed and wrapped his dad in a hug before darting off to play with his toys. He’d just have to talk to his Papi later.

Joel returned to staring out over the plains below, his eyes glowing bright green as he took it all in.

(“Joel wanted to be a god this season. He reached out to the magic of the plains and asked to be powerful, to be tall and handsome and sexy and capable of bending the world to his whim. And the plains, the oldest and most powerful biome, ever adaptable, reached back.”)

Behind him, the fountain of godliness and power and generosity gleamed and glowed gently in the encroaching twilight. Joel sat on the edge as he took it in, carelessly letting his clothes soak the water in.

(“You saw the strings, Oli. Dozens upon dozens, floating through the sky. But the strings didn't come from nothing. Which begs the question, what is anchoring them on the other end?”)

But what Joel could not see were the strings wrapped around his own throat. Every inch of him had a string, wrapping tightly and loosely, twine and wire and strings, strings, strings, more than Pixlriffs, more than Jimmy, weaving between the threads of his clothes and under his skin and-

His clothes dripped strings like water droplets as he let them soak.

(Oli and Pix both turned to take in the hundreds of strings flowing towards Stratos, floating in the distance. The gleaming city was enveloped in ominous green light. “We’ll reach the capital by tomorrow at noon,” Pix murmured, and Oli shivered in the rapidly cooling night.)

Joel could not see that the water was radiating bright green, and that the water was not water at all, but a fountain of twisting, glowing, writhing string.

[dlea203]

5 years - Hannix AU

A/N: Hello☺️! Seems like I'm getting a little better at updating at least a little more frequently, but don't hold me to a specific pace, please😅! Inspiration has been flowing these past few days and I'm pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. I hope you like it too😌. As always, comments/reblogs/likes/ideas are greatly appreciated and very welcome🥰!

ALSO: Thank you to all of you who have continuously interacted with this story🥰! You guys are the best!!!

Taglist: @carsgeek24 (as requested, my love😉💗) @sweetwhispersofchaos

Warnings: angst, fluff (I'm trying to put as much fluff into the chapters as possible to make up for the angst, I hope it's still bearable😬)

Previous chapter / Next chapter

Chapter Seven

September 16th, 4 years ago…

He wished he had a camera with him. To capture the magnificent sight currently presented to him. The gold and orange rays of sunshine were slowly crawling up the rocks, spreading their warmth as far as possible. From the rocks they jumped onto the walls of the houses in the village. You could feel them warming up the clay if you put your hands flat on the walls. And with that, as if the sunlight acted as its energizer, the village slowly came to life. 

The men and elder boys left the houses, farming equipment in hand. Yes, farming equipment. Although this region of Afghanistan was rather sandy and consisted mostly of never-ending deserts, the “high lands” around the rocks had quite some fertile soil. That’s why most of the villages were built there. There weren’t thousands of acres of fertile soil, but it was enough to supply the whole village. Sure, rain wasn’t too common around here, but the Afghan people, as Jake had come to learn over the past year, were pretty creative when it came to providing the village with sufficient supplies. 

The women said goodbye to them, sometimes even with small kisses on the forehead or cheeks. And, most importantly, never without the promise of being home for lunch. 

Jake sat on the steps in front of their house and faced the rising sun, his arms braced on top of his knees. He just watched, as practically every morning. But this morning was different. Not because something was out of order, but rather because today was a special date. And the reason why he wished he had a camera to capture this view. Today was Lynn’s birthday. Her first birthday.

And he wasn’t home.

If he had a camera, he could snap a pic and put it into a frame to gift his daughter. Although she would still be too small to comprehend the meaning behind his gift, he wished so desperately to be able to do it, nonetheless. Because this view was a metaphor for what he felt when Lynn came into this world. His whole damn world lit up when his princess made her grand entrance. Lynn, together with Nat of course, was his sun. His girls were the reason he kept fighting when his jet fell from the sky. He knew, should he give up, there would just be darkness on the other end of the tunnel. But his girls, back at home, they were the light. And just as beautiful as this sunrise here.

“Hey Jake!”

He didn’t even need to turn around to know who just called his name.

“What is it, Zahra?”

“Ma looks for you. Breakfast is ready.”

The sixteen-year-old girl plopped down onto the steps next to him, smiling brightly at him from the side. Jake smiled back, offering her a fist-bump. She bumped her fist against his, furrowing her brows.

“I still don’t understand why you do that. It’s… what’s the word again? It’s not silly, but…”

“Weird?”, he offered, smirking.

“Yes! Weird, that’s it.”

Jake laughed, shaking his head, and proudly listened to Zahra rattle off numerous reasons why the fist-bump-thing was weird and how many other not-weird-ways-to-greet-each-other there were. Why proudly? Back when the people of this village helped him out of his misery, at least to the best of their abilities, Jake felt this need to give something back for their help. At first, they refused, but then he had an idea. Jake offered to teach the kids, and later the grown-ups, basic English. Isaad presented his idea to the people of the village, explaining how beneficial it would be if the kids understood and spoke English. Especially if the American troops would find their way into the village. First, the men agreed to let Jake teach only the boys, because they were afraid that the Taliban would find out that the girls were taught too. But then Jake was able to convince them of letting him teach both girls and boys. And Zahra was an eager student. She practically soaked up the English language like a sponge. After only a few weeks, she was able to form grammatically correct sentences and speak freely about easy topics. Jake was sure he’d rarely been this proud before in his life. Now, after a year of practice, she was able to speak very freely about different topics and rarely made grammatical mistakes. Sometimes the words didn’t come to her right away, but the ones she knew she used correctly. And while he taught the kids English, they taught him their Afghan dialect. Although he wasn’t quite as fast as Zahra, she was a very patient teacher and spent hours on end going over the words and grammar with him. What he quickly did, was understand. He was able to follow dinner or lunch conversations between the family members and he understood what Isaad was translating when he spoke with someone of the village. Speaking was a different topic. But it came too, with time. The one thing he’d never forget was her reaction when he spoke his first Afghan sentence without a mistake. She’d jumped up from her spot at the kitchen table, squealing like she wanted the walls to burst and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Jake had felt a rush of pure happiness speed through his veins. A very emotional moment that he’d treasure for the rest of his life.

“Hello? Are you still there?”, Zahra interrupted his train of thoughts.

“Sorry. What did you say?”

Zahra narrowed her eyes, mused at him, before her gaze fell on his right fist that was tightly clasping something. She reached for his hand, gently untangled his fingers, and took a piece of paper out of his hand. A photo. Zahra smiled at him knowingly and a little sad, mirroring his expression.

“You miss her, yeah?”

“Every day, yes.”

Zahra carefully brushed her index finger over the photo.

“What was her name again? Something with an “N”, right?”

“Natasha”, Jake answered absentmindedly, staring at the orange ball that was the sun.

“Right… Natasha. Beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”

“She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met”, Jake agreed, smiling dreamily for a short second before the longing feeling took over again and squeezed his heart tightly inside his chest.

“You never talk about her. Why?”

Jake sighed, dropping his gaze onto the sandy road, mentally steeling himself for this conversation.

“Because it hurts when I talk about her. Or when I think too much about her. I miss her so much, and there’s no chance I get to see her anytime soon. So, I’m trying not to think about her too much or else I’ll go crazy.”

Zahra nodded, understanding. Her gaze rested on the picture of Natasha. Jake’s gaze joined her. It was a picture he’d taken last summer at the beach in San Diego. It’d been a pretty hot day and since Natasha had been 7 months pregnant at the time, they’d had no choice but to go out and spend a few hours at the beach. He’d taken many pictures over the course of the afternoon, but this one was without a doubt his favorite. She was sitting on her knees, her left profile facing him. Her right hand was hugging her baby belly, her left hand braced on her lower back. She was looking down at her belly with the biggest smile on her face. Her hair was up in a cute and kinda messy bun with a few stray locks that framed her face. The lighting made her look like a vision. That photo was one of those once-in-a-lifetime-shots, which was the reason why Jake used to keep it in the chest pocket of his flight suit. Now, he kept it within the tunic he wore. Where it was always safe and with him, just like his girls who were always in his heart. The other picture of them he kept with him in the jet must have burned in the flames…

“And the baby?”

Zahra was, as Jake had come to learn over the past year, a very curious girl and loved to cut straight to the point. He chuckled sadly.

“It’s a girl. She was born on this day last year. Her name is Lynn”, Jake answered, doing his very best to keep the tears at bay.

“You were there when she was born?”

“Yes. It was a long night”, he laughed, gently shaking his head at the memory.

“How long?”

“Almost 20 hours of labor… but Nat was an absolute champ. She did fantastic. We were both a little panicked at first when her water broke on the kitchen floor, but then we looked at each other and we knew – okay, we’re doing this now.”

Zahra chuckled, nodding her head, and focusing back on the picture.

“Then your daughter is one year old today?”

“Yeah, my princess is growing up fast. And I’m not even there to witness it…”

He averted his gaze, looking back at the rising sun. Zahra carefully placed her hand on his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“You will see her again one day. I’m sure.”

Jake looked at her, smiling thankfully. He didn’t need to say it out loud, Zahra’s eyes told him that she knew. They enjoyed the silence for another couple of seconds, when suddenly their names were called: “Zahra! Jake!”

Amira appeared behind them in the doorway, her hands braced on her hips. She scolded them for not coming inside for breakfast and threatened to put them on dish duty for the rest of the month if they didn’t hurry. Jake and Zahra shared a worried look before laughing heartily and hurrying inside to join the family at breakfast.

*-*

But even if he’d talked about it for a few minutes, the painful thought of home didn’t leave his head for the rest of the day. He was uncharacteristically unfocused, which didn’t go unnoticed.

“Jake, what is going on with you?”, Isaad asked when he joined a few other men for a cup of tea in the late afternoon.

“What? Nothing.”

“Yes, of course. And I’m the American president”, Isaad retorted, earning a few laughs from the rest.

“Come on, what is wrong?”, Jahan pressed, gently shoving Jake, as if to give him the literal push over the edge.

Jake took a sip of his tea to buy himself some time. But he knew very well that he wouldn’t get out of the spotlight this easy. The expectant looks from his friends told him so as well. Sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose, he conceded.

“Today’s the first birthday of my daughter.”

While Isaad, Jahan and two other men sucked in a breath, a few others looked confused and waited for Isaad to translate. When he’d done so, they reacted about the same way. Jahan patted Jake’s shoulder this time, an apologetic smile on his face.

“I’m very sorry”, Isaad whispered.

“Yeah, it’s hard right now, but it’s gonna be fine. Hopefully I can go home soon to be there for her next birthday.”

“What’s her name?”, the man with the name Behnam asked.

“Lynn. L-y-n-n”, Jake spelled, “well, her full name is Lynn Helen Seresin.”

“Beautiful name”, Behnam’s neighbor, Hussain, commented, earning a few nods.

“Thank you. She’s a beautiful girl. One of the few things I did right in my life… besides making my wife marry me, obviously”, Jake laughed.

“What’s the name of your wife?”, Cirus asked, adding a spoon of sugar to his tea.

“Natasha Seresin since she became my wife, but her maiden name is Natasha Trace.”

“Natasha… very beautiful name also. She is a beautiful woman, I think?”, Cirus asked, chuckling.

“She is indeed.”

“Jake has a picture”, Jahan jumped in, motioning for Jake to show it to the others.

He carefully took it out of his tunic and showed it to the round. The men eyed it closely, Hussain even whistled through his teeth. Bahiri, the eldest of the village, took it out of Jake’s hand and held it into the light for a better view. 

“Very beautiful”, he nodded, handing it back to Jake with a smile.

“Thank you.”

Jake had never talked much about his home or his family. In the past year, he’d used most of his time to get to know the families here in the village and work his ass off so as they wouldn’t regret that they helped him. Besides teaching the kids English, he helped the men with basic repair work on the farming equipment or houses. Whatever was needed. On top of that, he helped with farming the fields as often as he could and lent Amira his hands within the household. There wasn’t much time to talk. And the people had been too busy adjusting to the fact that he was living with them now. They barely knew anything about him, and they rarely asked any questions. But of course, now that some time had passed and the topic had come up, they started to ask those questions. Beside talking about his familial life in San Diego, Jake offered a lot of stories from his time in the Navy. He told them how he’d met his wife, how they fell in love, what missions they’d been on together and which he’d done with his squadron. The men listened attentively, occasionally relying on Isaad and his translation skills. But Jake had gotten really good at explaining things in Afghan, so Isaad’s skills were becoming more irrelevant as time progressed. Slowly but surely, Jake was becoming a part of the village. But, although he was so grateful that they helped him and saw him as one of them, he couldn’t wait for the day where he got the chance to go home. Hopefully, that day would come soon…

*-*

Monday morning 6 a.m. came way too soon for Natasha’s liking. When her alarm went off, she huffed out an exasperated breath, hit the snooze button a little harder than usually and closed her eyes once more. A low chuckle greeted her at that, sending her heartbeat through the roof for a second.

“Still not a morning person”, Jake whispered, his devilish smile on full display.

“And I’ll never become one”, she retorted, scrunching up her nose without opening her eyes.

Jake laughed, before scooting closer to her, and wrapping his arm around her waist. He nuzzled his face into her neck and peppered her skin with little kisses, making her smile.

“How’d you survive the academy, flight school and all your deployments as a non-morning-person?”

“Guess I’m a surprise box”, she answered sleepily, pulling his arm tighter around her.

Jake chuckled again, pressing one last kiss to her cheek, before attacking her sides with his hands, tickling her. She immediately shrieked in shock.

“No, Jake! … Stop! … Stop!”

She tried to squirm away from him, but he kept her where she was, still tickling her.

“Jake, please!”

He had mercy on her but pulled her on top of him to kiss her properly. Straddling his hips, she sighed into the kiss, finally opening her eyes to look at him. He brushed a lock of hair behind her right ear, looking at her in wonder. Sometimes he still couldn’t believe that she’d agreed to marry him. And that she had taken him back, even though he’d been away for five years.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”, she asked, searching his eyes.

“I’m not looking at you like that.”

“Yes, you are”, she chuckled, “do I have something on my face?”

“Besides unmatched beauty?”

She rolled her eyes at his cheesiness, shaking her head.

“I’m trying to make earnest conversation here, Jake. So please don’t behave like a child. Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I was just thinking… Over there in Afghanistan, I was wondering if the things I know about you are still true”, he answered hesitantly, tightening his grip on her hips.

Natasha furrowed her brows, cocking her head slightly to the side.

“Why that?”

He shrugged, averting his gaze, but she made him look at her again.

“A lot can change in five years. I thought… that maybe, well… I don’t know.”

“What did you think?”

“No, it’s dumb. Forget it.”

“Jake, what did you think?”

Her gaze was as insistent as her voice, letting him know that he wasn’t getting out of this this easily.

“I thought that… you discovered new things about yourself in the meantime, maybe with a different partner too… that the things you liked or disliked aren’t the same anymore as before Afghanistan.”

She sucked in a breath, spiking his insecurity even more.

“I said it’s dumb. Please forget I ever said that. I-I just… I’m sorry.”

He tried to push her off and climb out of bed to go bury himself somewhere in the backyard, but she didn’t move.

“Jake, I…”, she started, cupping his cheeks, and looking deep into his eyes, “I never had someone else.”

Now it was his turn to suck in a breath. He definitely hadn’t expected that answer. Not because he knew that she hadn’t been happy with him and would’ve jump at the first opportunity to find someone else, but because he knew what an amazing woman she was and how many men would gladly take his place if presented the opportunity. Although he’d always wished she would wait for him when he’d been in Afghanistan, he'd known that he couldn’t ask her to. He would never have. She more than deserved to be happy, and if he wasn’t able to make her happy for whatever reason, he couldn’t trap her in this marriage. He’d half expected to come here and find her with a new man at her side, maybe even already married. 

“You didn’t?!”

She furrowed her brows again before pulling them up.

“I’m sorry, what? Are you mad I didn’t?”

“No! No, of course not, I just – “

He stared at her, disbelieving and slightly dumbfounded, before grabbing her face and smashing his lips on hers. She gasped into his mouth but gladly accepted the kiss.

“You waited for me, baby? All those years?”, he asked in a whispering tone, still disbelievingly.

She smiled at him, tears welling up in her eyes at the hell that were the last five years.

“Oh Jake… I thought you were dead. They told me you died in a crash. I didn’t wait for you, I was grieving – mourning you, like a wife who loved her husband wholeheartedly, does.”

A tear made its way down her cheek, getting caught in the corner of her mouth that was stretched into a sad smile.

“So, tell me – who should have wanted me, hmm? Who should have wanted a grieving woman as their partner?”

He chuckled, gently brushing the wet path of her tear away from her cheek with his thumb.

“Well, let’s see… how about that one neighbor that used to look over his fence whenever you went jogging?”

“Vincent?”, Natasha laughed.

“Mhmm.”

She gently swatted his arm before shaking her head, still laughing.

“You know what? I actually expected him to shoot his shot when it was evident you wouldn’t return. But he never showed up, not even brought any flowers over. I’m not sure how I would’ve reacted if he came over though… probably not very friendly. I think I would’ve told him off. Or I would’ve held Lynn in his face, telling him that that little girl has just lost her father and he comes over to flirt with her mother… I don’t know, I surely wasn’t in a good place back then.”

Jake cupped her cheeks, pressing his forehead against hers.

“I’m sorry, darlin’. I’m sorry for making you go through that”, he whispered, taking a deep breath afterwards.

She shook her head, kissing him.

“No, don’t! Baby, you came back to me! You came back home; to Lynn and me. That is more than I ever could have asked for.”

Natasha brushed her thumb over his cheek, enjoying the feeling of his skin under hers.

“I love you, Jake Seresin. I always have and always will. But I will not let you out of my sight for the foreseeable future, my beloved husband”, she said, chuckling and pointing at him with her finger.

He chuckled too, kissing said pointer finger.

“Don’t worry, Misses Seresin. I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.”

*-*

Hand in hand, their daughter a few strides in front of them, they strolled up to the kindergarten building. More than a few curious looks from other parents followed them on their way to the front door. Jake’s grip tightened a tiny bit when they entered the foyer and followed Lynn to her place in the wardrobe space. But Natasha smiled at him and as fast as his worries arose, they disappeared again. Jake crouched down in front of Lynn, took her little backpack, and proudly watched her untie her shoes, all the while keeping up the conversation they started before. Natasha stood a little bit aside, watching them, when the kindergarten teacher, Ms. Janine Robinson, walked up to her.

“Misses Seresin, it’s good to see you again! It’s been a while. How are you?”

“I’m very good, thank you. How are you?”

“Good too. It’s gonna be a busy day, but I’m sure you know how it is.”

Ms. Robinson crossed her arms over her chest, setting eyes on Lynn and Jake for the first time. 

“Oh, I see a new face! May I ask who that is?”, she asked carefully, eyeing Jake up and down.

“That’s Jake Seresin; my husband and Lynn’s father.”

Ms. Robinson turned her head sharply, her eyes widening and her mouth just so staying shut.

“Your husband?! But I thought you told me… I mean… didn’t you say that he died?”

“That’s what I thought for the past five years. But apparently, I was wrong, and so was the Navy.”

“Are you sure?”

Natasha raised an eyebrow at that, fixing Miss Robinson with a daring glare.

“I think I’m very well able to recognize my husband and the father of my daughter, but thank you for your concerns, Janine.”

The young teacher immediately averted her gaze for a second, looking down at her shoes in shame.

“I’m sorry, that was inappropriate. It’s just, you know… I’ve seen a couple of movies and reports where someone returned after a long time, but it wasn’t the person that originally left and the families were fooled, because so much time has passed and stuff – “

“I know what you mean, but trust me, he’s the real Jake Seresin.”

Natasha snorted.

“I’ve spent the last five years memorizing every last detail I know about him. I can confirm, without a doubt, that that man is the man I married.”

Ms. Robinson nodded, watching Jake’s interaction with Lynn with great interest.

“And Lynn is taking it well?”

“Yes, why?”

“Oh, you know, I’ve talked to her about her father a few times over the last year… I was surprised how much she knew about him since she never met him consciously. But she told me a lot about him, and that she knows that he’s with the angels.”

Natasha nodded.

“When the Navy told me that he’d died, Lynn was just over two months old. I realized pretty soon that I had to make a decision… either I tell her the truth about her father and who he was from the start, or I lie to her and make up excuses until she’s old enough to know the truth.”

Ms. Robinson nodded understandingly, following Natasha’s explanation attentively.

“I went for the first route, obviously. I wanted her to know who her father was. I wanted her to know where she came from. That she’d been born into a home full of love, into arms who’d be there for her for the rest of her life. And that those weren’t just my arms… Jake loved her from the first moment that he knew of her, just like me. He was so on board, it was frightening”, she chuckled, shaking her head. 

”I sometimes even questioned if the same man that I married still lived with me.”

Janine laughed, not tearing her eyes away from how Lynn dragged her father straight into the main room of the kindergarten to show him where she liked to play.

“She was always supposed to know who he was and what he and I had. On some nights, when she wouldn’t go down without crying for an hour because he wasn’t there, I wondered whether I really made the right choice… whether I caused her more pain by telling her the truth… but then I looked at old pics of our time before Lynn and I saw where she got her green eyes and big smile from, and I just… I just couldn’t lie.”

“I get that”, Ms. Robinson answered, gently touching Natasha’s arm, “I’m glad that it’s going well. How long has he been back?”

“He came home Saturday noon. I had our friends over for one of our monthly gatherings. You can imagine the chaos that followed when he suddenly appeared at the door, looking as if he’d never been gone…”

“Oh, yeah, I can picture that!”, Ms. Robinson laughed, nodding her head.

Natasha chuckled, checking her watch when the bell went off. Ms. Robinson did so too, gasping in surprise.

“Oh, I swear, time is running faster these days! I have to get the kids gathered together… I’m very sorry to leave this conversation hanging in the air, Misses Seresin. Would you excuse me?”

“Sure. Have a good day.”

Natasha watched her run off to the entrance, welcoming the last kids that were brought by their parents. Then, she peaked her head around the corner into the main room, chuckling to herself at the scene presented to her. Lynn was proudly showing Jake all her drawings, going over them with him in an almost analytic way. Natasha walked up to them, weaving her fingers through Lynn’s light curls, that were tied into a ponytail.

“Hi baby. Are you showing daddy all your drawings?”

“Yes, mommy!”

“They’re beautiful, princess. You should make more, you’re talented. Maybe you become a famous painter one day”, Jake said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“You think so?”

“Mhmm.”

“Woah, okay, there’s still a lot of time until then. For now, daddy and I have to say goodbye, sweetheart. We’re gonna pick you up in the afternoon, okay?”

“Can’t you stay?”

“No, and you know why. But you’re a big girl, you’ll be fine. Right?”

Natasha crouched down and adjusted Lynn’s hair tie, cupping her cheek.

“I love you, baby. Give me a kiss, yeah?”

Lynn kissed her on the lips, before throwing her arms around Natasha’s neck and squeezing her tightly.

“Love you too, mommy.”

Then, she turned to Jake and flew into his arms, giggling at him pressing a loud kiss on her cheek.

“I love you so much, princess. Be nice and behave, can you do that for me?”

“Yes, daddy. Love you.”

When Ms. Robinson walked in with the rest of the kids, that was their cue to leave. They walked to the door, looking back once more to watch Lynn take a seat on her chair in the circle, waving at them before engaging in a conversation with the girl sitting next to her.

“She’s such a big girl already”, Jake whispered in awe.

Natasha nodded, taking his hand in hers and looking at him for a second before looking back at Lynn.

“Our little princess.”

*-*

After they left the kindergarten, they drove straight into the city center, heading for the town hall. Although they’d only called this morning, they had managed to get a spontaneous appointment with the civil registrar in order to sort of “reorganize” Jake’s life from a legal point of view. He’d been considered dead for the past five years, not only from a familial and military point of view, but also legally. They needed to set Natasha’s civil status back to “married” and made sure that Jake was still correctly listed as Lynn’s biological and legal father. A lot of paperwork, but the civil registrar was a nice and funny guy, which made the hours fly by quickly.

*-*

“What would you say if I took you out for a lunch date?”, Jake asked, when they left the town hall hand in hand.

“A lunch date?”

“Precisely.”

“I’d say, I’m starving and if you don’t get me food within the next half hour, I will become your worst nightmare.”

Jake laughed, kissing her cheek.

“Lunch date it is.”

Although it’d been a while, he still remembered their favorite restaurant for lunch dates. Stealing glances at each other over the edge of their menus was still a thing, too. To celebrate their reunion, they enjoyed a glass of wine. They did some small talk here and there, nothing too deep. Well, at least until they finished their main courses. The waiter had just picked up their plates and promised to be back with the dessert menu, when Natasha cleared her throat, picking at a breadcrumb.

“I… I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything, but you know that I’ve not been blessed with the ability to be patient. And we won’t have much time to ourselves in the next few days or weeks. I took off work today, but tomorrow I have to go back, and you’ll surely have to report to base within this week to get things sorted out… we’ll have to call your parents, my parents, my brothers – they’ll probably all want to visit us as soon as possible! It’s gonna be a lot of stress–“

“Nat, what is it?”

She sighed, taking a deep breath. Hesitantly, she met his gaze, pursing her lips.

“When will you tell me what happened to you?”

His face fell and he moved slightly back, letting go of her hands on the table. His hands disappeared into his lap and his gaze switched over to the window. Natasha sat up straighter, desperation washing over her face.

“Jake, I – please, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to–“

“I already told you, Nat, I can’t just… I can’t just talk about that on a lunch date. It’s–“

“But you can tell me anything, Jake, I promise!”

“This has nothing to do with you! Nat…”

Jake sighed, squeezing his eyes shut, focusing on his breathing for a moment, before looking at her again.

“It’s not that I can’t tell you. But it’s… it’s so much, and so much of it is ugly and heavy. I don’t want to burden you with it. You’re working almost full-time, there’s Lynn, our friends, our families, the house… You have so much on your plate already, I can’t put this on your shoulders too just like that.”

“Jake, you don’t have to worry about me, I can handle it.”

Jake shook his head, pulled out his wallet and waved the waiter over. Out of politeness, Natasha kept quiet, but inside, she was raging. Her husband knew how much she hated it when he babied her, when he tried to play the macho.

They left the restaurant in a hurry, heading straight for their car in the parking lot. But there, Natasha crossed her arms over her chest, planting her feet and staring him down.

“You know perfectly well what I can handle. So don’t worry about that.”

“Yes, I do worry about that. And yes, I know what you can handle, but this is another caliber–“

“Do not treat me like a child, Jake Seresin! I’m your goddamn wife! We vowed to treat each other as equal partners in this marriage, so live up to that!”

“I’m not treating you like a child! I’m trying to protect you from knowing what I’ve been through, because I want you to be able to sleep at night!”, he shouted, standing mere inches from her and fixing her with a hard glare.

She gasped slightly at that. Seeing naked fear flickering in his eyes made her insides squirming. Jake tried getting his breathing back under control, turning away and rubbing his hands over his face. She stood frozen where she was, processing what just happened. Slowly, he turned back around and walked up to her, cupping her cheeks tenderly. There were tears in his eyes, making her heart drop into her stomach.

“You don’t want to know what I’ve seen, Nat. Trust me, you don’t. I’m just trying to protect you, I swear, that’s all I’m doing”, he whispered, barely keeping his tears at bay.

She grabbed his wrists, pressing her forehead against his.

“I want to help you. Please, Jake, let me help you. Let me help you carry this burden. Please”, she whispered, choking on a sob.

He sighed, deeper than she’d ever heard him sigh. Some of the tears in his eyes escaped, sliding down his cheeks.

“Nat–“

“Please!”

She pulled back slightly and looked deep into his eyes, carefully drying his cheeks with her thumbs. He stared at her, contemplating. He knew she wouldn’t give up and it would only cause more flashbacks for him whenever she brought it up. He knew too, that he needed to talk to someone about it. And who did he trust more than his wife?

“Please Jake. I know how much you suffer; I can see it in your eyes. They don’t hold the same light anymore as they used to. Let me help you, I beg you”, she sobbed.

Jake didn’t want that she cried because of him. She must’ve done enough of that over the past five years. He didn’t want to hurt her, and he knew that he would continue to do so as long as he refused to let her in on the past five years of his life.

“Okay.”

His voice was no more than a whisper. She sucked in a breath, her lips curling into a small smile.

“I will tell you, once the stress of the next few weeks is over. Once we’re settled in, once our families know about me and had the chance of visiting us. I promise you, by my sister’s honor, that I will tell you everything then. Can you live with that?”

She nodded, kissing him deeply.

“I love you, sweetheart”, Jake whispered against her lips.

“I love you, honey”, Natasha whispered back, falling into his arms.

[cartoonfangirl1218]

Legend of the Dragon S1 Ep 1-13 Watch and Rewrite

I have gone down a rabbit hole by watching a random show from early 2000s (think Liberty's Kids, Sherlock Holmes 22nd Century kind of channel) that is clearly trying to jump on the Xiolin Showdown/Avatar the Lat Airbender and admittedly, it's mediocre but I'm just fascinated by its potential so my writer brain has a loooot of thoughts.

You can find the whole series on youtube if you want to watch before reading cuz this has spoilers.

Here's the plot: The show starts when the previous Golden Dragon has passed on to the afterlife and Ang and Ling Leung, seventeen-year-old fraternal twins, born in the year of the Dragon, are next in line for the Golden Dragon powerband and use of its mystical abilities to defend the mortal world from evil. Ang doesn’t believe he will become the Golden Dragon, as Ling is the best fighter at the Dragon Dojo.

Ling is positive that she will become the Golden Dragon. However, when Master Chin Ho calls upon the power of the Golden Dragon to choose who will be the next Golden Dragon, it chooses Ang. Humiliated and furious, Ling storms out of the temple and is tempted by the dark and evil power of the Shadow Dragon. From then on, Ang is forced to fight his twin sister.

First, the general

Alright, the animation style, let’s face it it’s not the best. But after seeing 80s shows, it’s not the worst. It’s just very dated. It’s a weird combination of some shots are really good, and some just look like bad flash animation yet you can also see the detail in the fight choreography. It’s weird. 

Speaking of fight choreography, the show is just in loooove with doing slow motion shots multiple times in each fight. Like it’s supposed to be epic but since it’s used all the time, I think they’re just padding the air time. And since the speeches are generic, I have fast forward through it unless a shot literally particular interesting or seems to be delivering meaningful conversation between Ang and Ling. 

That or it’s trying to mimic old Kung fu movies with the over the top yelling (gets grating after awhile tbh especially from Ling), people suddenly flying (just assume everyone has the power to fly) and the slow motion. 

As for the powers, each temple guardian has a magic armband that gives them powers related to their zodiac like turning into the animal plus extra like Bengali has super claw rips, the snake guardian turns into a shapeshifting, size changing cobra, the ram has power over avalanches etc. 

Which makes the powers of the dragons disappointing as they display generic fire blasts. I mean if it’s the top guardian, you should put a little something special into the power like flame breath and turning into a literal dragon! So I would give the dragons a power upgrade stat. 

Btw, besides the generic power blasts, each dragon has a voice upgrade. Ang gets a manly hero voice while gets sexy villainess voice. It’s kinda funny because it’s just so unexpected. No explanation for why these teenagers suddenly sound like adults or why that’s part of their transformations, it’s just there. 

As for the dialogue, the show has some spark when it allows the characters to show their personalities with humorous lines that make them distinct but it is also hampered by generic hero speech tropes (like in a fight it’s more about “Incoming” “I know the real you is in there” etc. if you’re going to do the tropes, at least make it specific to your character). Like the animation, it has good potential but also limited. 

Now to the real meat of the show the characters: Like the summary says, the two mains are Ang and Ling who are suddenly on opposite sides due to Ling’s insistence that she deserves to be the golden dragon. 

The first scene brilliantly sets up their personalities with them sparring. Ling dominates the fight with aggressive, offensive moves but Ang manages to outmaneuver her with observation and subtly. When Ang teases her about forgetting Master Chin’s lesson on using your opponents’ leverage, Ling nearly hits him again in anger over losing. 

Foreshadowing. . . Totally 

Ang is set up as the more laid back of the two. Into video games and movies, while Ling has been eagerly awaiting the day to be the temple guardian her entire life. 

As Master Chin invites to the temple, the show further demonstrates their differences and sets up Ang as the real candidate for Golden Dragon. Ling is consumed with getting the prestigious position, focusing on the power she will gain. Ang rightly points out, there’s a lot of responsibility to it too but that’s not interesting to Ling. She will rule, it’s a given, because she earned the spot. 

And so Ling’s pride goeth before fall. 

It’s only natural since Ling represents the yin which is feminine and dark and Ang is the yang, masculine and light (as if the name wasn’t enough of a clue). 

Ling may have memorized the teaching/learned all the moves, Ang is the one who has taken the education/teachings to heart and put them into practice. 

Ling tries to take the armband even when Master Chin tells her it’s not a mistake but it electrocutes her and when he assures her that her real destiny is to support the Golden Dragon and teach the next generation like he did, she blows up and directs all her anger at poor Ang who doesn’t even want the position. 

Anyway, I’ll go into my thoughts about what I thought about the split in the episode discussion but from therein, Ang maintains a typical protagonist personality when one is suddenly the chosen one. He is upbeat but sometimes he gets lazy, he doubts his capabilities, he delivers a few noble speeches.

Even though he’s a bit generic, he’s still relatable and a good protagonist to follow. It helps that his relationship with his twin brings out his flaws. Like his optimistic belief that she’ll regain her common sense and stop trying to take his position as Golden Dragon.

Despite her many actions on the contrary, he still believes she can be good again even though no one else does. In fact, he gets very defensive when others call her evil or psychotic (no matter how accurate a descriptor). He’s just a very loyal person and will do anything to protect his friends.

I still think that he needs a different name if only because Ang is too on the nose for symbolizing Yang. And the other famous Aang from A:TLA. If you’re gonna take the name, it’s gonna bring up unfair comparisons to that masterpiece. Do you really wanna be known as “the other Ang”?

Ling is arrogant, aggressive, entitled, not self aware at all. . . Pretty much a good villainess in the making. I feel like the show (so far) needs to work in more positive traits as to justify Ang’s intense belief in her ability to be good again. 

But she does make a good foil to Ang, easily countering him in battle and thinking ahead of him. Plus she makes a good snarky Shego to Zodiac Master’s Dr. Drakken, introducing such ideas as hacking Ang’s phone to track down other armbands and temples or to ambush him. 

I’ll discuss more about how to improve her characterization in the episodes below. 

Which brings me to the antagonist, the Zodiac Master. He’s a pretty generic villain, wanting to gain all the armbands so he overpower the Golden Dragon and achieve power all for himself. 

And. . That’s it. I know it’s a kid’s show but this was around the same time as Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego and Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, surely they can work in more backstory and motivation than just power for power’s sake. Like how did he even get power? Was he a former guardian, does he relate to Ling in not getting what he “earned” so he is taking it all by force? He needs more, which I’ll get to below. 

I’d also improve his powers which are generic power blasts (seriously why give the secondary guardians cooler powers than the protagonist and antagonists?). He does demonstrate life force draining in one episode which I think he should utilize more to make him a more dangerous threat. 

But between him and Ling, he’s the Dr. Drakken if Dr. Drakken was more evilly competent and took himself way too seriously. 

Master Chin, the teacher of the dojo and all the guardians is another generic (maybe even stereotypical?) wise master character delivering vague wisdom and a sometimes humorous old man line. I also wish he had more of a backstory and developed a more fatherly guardian ie. Uncle Iroh from A:TLA 

Bengali is the Tiger guardian and friend of the twins. It doesn’t say how long but one must assume they grew up together and she’s a little older since she’s been guardian for awhile (seriously this show needs to work on giving people backstories!). 

She’s kinda generic too. She’s a good friend, sometimes teases, sometimes is the voice of wisdom, will go along with the others hijinks, delivers quips during battle. She’s similar to Ang in that she focuses more on the spiritual side of being guardian rather than martial. She also has feelings for him (okay not yet but it’s obvious as the only non related, reoccurring female, she’s gonna be a love interest, let’s not kid ourselves). 

If I had to improve her, I would give more of a backstory on her feelings as being Tiger guardian. Since everyone seems to be an orphan in the show, maybe something about how being a guardian gives her a community, gives her a purpose in life, the spiritualism allows her to find acceptance in the face of so many unknowns of her origins, gave her confidence. 

According to wiki, Tiger personalities are passionate, stubborn, generous, and with a strong sense of justice. She can provide some contrast to Ang as believing things are black and white in Ling’s case and she needs to deliver the hand of justice to eliminate the threat Zodiac Master and his sister pose. If you have the whole Chinese zodiac, lean into it.

Xuan Chi is the Monkey guardian and is exactly what you would expect. At least with western depictions of monkeys, he’s a goofy jokester. Raised in the jungle, Xuan Chi isn’t quite used to civilization and is mainly there to serve comic relief. I think kids would like him even though his one note monkey jokes can get annoying after while. Luckily, he is more than one note as he provides common sense to Ang when the latter continues to ideally believe his sister can change or tries to take short cuts of his guardian training. I like their burgeoning friendship. 

Xuan Chi also has some mistakes in his past like the fact that he came to the dojo seeking help when thieves stole his armband. He doesn’t have powers like the others but his martial arts and tree swinging (and bananas) skills keep people off balance, providing dynamic fights. The loss of his armband provides some depth as he struggles with the humiliation and shame of failing his duty as guardian, revealing the insecure teen behind the happy face. 

Now the first half of the season:

Alright I described most of the first episode up to Ang getting the armband at which point, Ling blows up and the Zodiac Master appears with samurai goons to kidnap Master Chin. This gives the show an excuse to show Ang’s powered up Golden Dragon transformation and save the day. Ends with Ling swearing that no matter what, she’ll take that armband from Ang and become the golden dragon herself. 

First thing I would change is Ling’s reaction, vowing vengeance and all that. She acts more like a frenemy than a twin sister. She shows no care for her brother, and is so willing to hurt him for her supposedly “earned” position. There’s no connection between them and makes it hard to see why Ang would continue to root for her redemption and familial bond when Ling feels nothing on her end. 

So I would change her reaction to her, still being angry, but trying to calm down and say that she’ll try to support him and teach him better cuz he’s still the baby brother. 

Episode 2: Here, Ang goes with Master Chin to the dojo with Xuan Chi who came seeking help to retrieve his stolen armband. That will be saved for another episode as Ang is concerned with the sibling rift. Ling goes to the cliff side to calm down and the Zodiac Master appears to preposition her. Together, they can team up and steal the other armbands so they can eventually overpower the Golden Dragon. 

She hesitates for like 3 seconds because she knows he’s evil but damn her resentment makes her easily give in to his proposal. He gives her the shadow dragon armband (basically evil twin, I mean yin powers), she shows up at the dojo, transformed and drunk on the dark side. Ang eventually defeats her, and kicks off the whole series arc. 

The major change I would make here is to continue to make Ling less psychopathic. Have her totally refuse Zodiac Master’s offer because he’s everything she's been trained to fight against. She may not be the golden dragon but she has honor!

Zodiac Master would reveal his backstory-he used to be a teacher alongside Master Chin, training future guardians and warriors. But he grew weary over the years of watching guardians make foolish mistakes. He, with all his wisdom and experience should be the one with the power, he wouldn’t make those stupid mistakes. He knows better than all. So he struck out on his own and got the yin armbands (which corrupted him and so his original good albeit arrogant intentions have disappeared. Now he’s all about the power) 

Ling refuses and returns to the dojo. The Zodiac Master vs Ang/Xuan Chin/Ling fight would happen and after several bad mistakes, Ang would triumph. 

Ling wouldn't be able to appreciate Ang’s eventual victory through his out of the box smarts. All she would focus on is his mistakes and how, if she had been the Golden Dragon as she was supposed, she would have defeated the Zodiac Master with decisiveness. She would have defeated him once and for all, she wouldn’t have let him escape. She should be the Golden Dragon and if only she had the chance, had the armband, she could prove it. 

So she goes to Zodiac Master and accepts the offer, becoming the shadow dragon and the dark side seeps into her. 

Eye on the Tiger, Hero Worship, Terra Unfirma, Master of Sarcasm: All are good episodes, introducing other guardians, have Ang put his training and teachings into practice, some generic hijinks like “Don’t meet your heroes” “What being a hero/warrior really means” “Appearances are deceiving” etc. 

Although I must admit Hero Worship is really dumb in Zodiac Master believing a regular movie actor is an actual warrior even after Ling tells him Wang Lee is just a lame actor her brother worships, he still kidnaps the guy, convinced that Wang Lee is capable of teaching any martial arts to Ang when it’s the other way around. I do enjoy the Drakken/Shego vibes. 

Eye on the Tiger feels a lot like filler even as it shows Bengail’s Tiger guardian prowess. It was more focused on the fight scenes than character interactions or dialogue. Here, I would add more emphasis on Bengail’s friendship with the twins and the characters realizing “oh shit, Ling is serious about being a bad guy.” It does show Ling being not a total psychopath as she refuses to kill Bengali (just fight her and knock her out and steal from her but not kill) 

Terra Unfirma was fine though I wanted more ox guardian action. I liked Zodiac Master’s idea to combine the ram and dog armbands even if it put him over his head and Ang had to help him out in the end. 

Master of Sarcasm was the best. Not just because I liked sarcasm but because of the location change. Ang and Xuan Chi travel to Vietnam to learn discipline from Shoong (unbeknownst to them, he’s the pig guardian though his surroundings should provide a huuuge clue). He was a lot like a gruffer, tougher Master Piando. So enjoyable. 

Temple of Changes was disappointing. After failing in his training because he wants to hang out at the movies and do normal stuff, Master Chin tells Ang it’s time to go to the temple of changes as all the golden dragons before him have done. There he goes through some trippy sequences and fights a dark samurai before emerging victorious and more confident in his abilities. 

This was disappointing as Ang’s big test was fighting himself. Like literally fighting himself with very few psychologically painful taunts of his inadequacies. There was no reckoning with his destiny vs his wants. 

So I would change this with a poignant flashback to Ang’s past. A few months ago to be exact where Ang is playing a game on his phone while Ling spars with Bengali. In the present, he thinks about his new role and his past certainty with his future. He had thought that Ling was sure to be the golden dragon so he didn’t apply himself with the same intensity. He thought he would teach others like Master Chin. That he’d be able to travel, go to university, be able to hang out with his friends without responsibilities and new foes. Now he’ll be bound to the temple, always on alert for evil and he isn’t even as formidable of a warrior as his sister was. Why him?

So the temple would have him face these questions. Since Ling wants the armband so bad, why not give it to her? Why hang onto it? Because of destiny? Does he want this destiny? Is he capable of being a good guardian? Can he actually become better than he is? 

So the temple would force him to really think about why he chooses to stay in this role that he never asked for, ultimately deciding that he is doing it because he wants to. He wants to protect his community, his friends. He believes there needs to be a golden dragon in the world. He’s accomplished so much already, he can do more and he wants to improve, inserting some of the lessons Master Chin has taught him. 

Mindbender is another semi disappointing episode with a good premise that doesn’t go as far as it could. It’s Chinese New Years and everyone is celebrating new beginnings. Ang hopes that will include Ling coming back to her senses which everyone rolls their eyes and warn him that Ling won’t change, he needs to give up the idea. Zodiac Master attacks, setting up a distraction for Ling to sneak into the temple and ambush Ang when he goes to recharge his armband. In the midst of battle, Ang gets knocked out with amnesia and Ling sees the opportunity to trick him into giving her the armband. 

Predictably, it nearly works but Ang’s memories come back and he changes to the right side at the last minute. Also, in the episode, Ling should do a better job of convincing Ang she’s the real golden dragon if she doesn't get impatient and transform into the shadow dragon so they can escape the cave they’re trapped him. That was just so dumb. 

To make it more dramatic, the plot will go as shown up till the amnesia. Ling tricking Ang will have more weight as she references their past relationship (including a cute beach flashback), she is imbuing it with truth. She has always looked out for her brother, she protects him, she cares for him. She wants him on her side as always. And here, one can tell she means it even as she’s angling for him to give her the armband. Again, this will make her look like she has actual emotion instead of a manipulative psycho. 

Ang will regain his memories in time with the help of his friends, and defeat the Zodiac Master and Ling. Only their face off will end with Ang deciding to officially cut off all hope that Ling can be redeemed. He is too hurt that she was willing to manipulate their twinship, to corrupt their happy memories. She’s gone too far. 

Episode ends with Xuan Chi, Bengali, Master Chin and Ang having a fun New Years meal with Ang appreciating his new family. 

But there’s a flashback to his previous happy new year with Ling and Master Chin. Flashback ends to Ling sitting alone at the cliff side, staring at her locket with their baby picture. As fireworks bloom overhead, she decisively closes the locket and walks away, a tear running down one cheek. 

Chow Chow is yet another interesting episode that could do more with its ending. 

It all starts when the Zodiac Master is trying to resurrect the original dak Emperor of Yin, and tries to use Ling to do it by allowing the Emperor to drain her life force. Well, Ling isn't going out that way and realizing the danger she's in, tries to contact her brother for help. But the Zodiac Master intercepts the email and goes to ambush him, making it seem like it had been a trap all along. 

Now I like that idea, and the subsequent execution where Ang does the smart thing and hides his armband before getting subdued by the Zodiac Master in battle which enrages him when he realizes that Ang is useless. 

And Ling makes it much more difficult when Ang accuses her of setting him up and she gets all defensive that he doesn't believe her. I mean, girl, you have set up plenty of times before, you can't blame him. 

Nonetheless, when Zodiac Master threatens to suck her life force, Ang gives in and agrees to show where he hid the armband.

And while all this is happening, Ang's friends have teamed up with the dog guardian, Chow Chow to literally sniff out where he's been kidnapped. I just find these specific guardian traits/powers super fun. It also comes to an entertaining battle where Xuan Chi grabs ahold of the dragon armband and temporarily becomes the Golden Dragon. 

Cool but brings a few plot holes to why did it reject Ling if Xuan Chi can just take it? Does it only repel evil? Then why don't the other armbands repel Zodiac Master when he steals them?

In the end, there's a big fight and Ling returns to Zodiac master despite him trying to kill her just hours ago, proving how stubborn she is about holding a grudge against a brother who has only tried to help her. While Ang realizes she was telling the truth and admits that he wishes he could give up on her, he's sad to admit he just can't. 

So I would change the ending a bit. After Mindbender, Ang won't have any trust for Ling so when he gets her email, he just straight up assumes it's a trap. The plot will go on as expected only Ling will be taken aback by the fact that Ang was prepared for the betrayal and doesn't believe her. He just wants to learn what the Zodiac Master is planning. The life force draining will still take place as well as the battle. 

But the reason Ling stays with the Zodiac Master despite him trying to kill her will be because she sees that Ang doesn't trust her and she is totally alone. So she convinces herself that because this night turned out fine, she can handle it. She never needed Ang's help even if he had offered it. She'll show him and she will show that backstabbing Zodiac Master, furthering her evil descent.  

Monkey Mission was a very fun episode, giving Xuan Chi more depth than I ever thought he would get. For one thing, apparently he has PTSD-esque nightmares of losing his armband. You see, he didn’t just lost a fight to some temple robbers, they held him down and electrocuted him. No wonder he has nightmares! 

But now, he has a clue of where the thieves are going. They’re auctioning it and other temple items off like any good temple robber and Zodiac Master is on call to steal it back. 

Why doesn't he just buy the armband since his civilian disguise looks like he’s the head of a majorly rich corporation, I don’t know, but I guess he’s cheap. 

Anyway, it was a bit of Indiana Jones and a bit of a regular martial arts movie with three separate acts and gave Xuan Chi a chance to shine and prove to himself that he’s an honorable warrior even as it leaves off with a cliffhanger of the armband going missing again. 

The Emperor of Darkest Yin was an episode that felt like a filler with Ang and Xuan Chi disobeying Master Chin's warnings that teaming up with Zodiac Master's vengeful ex-partner. This ex partner calls himself the Master of Red Chi whose powerful blasts mostly make up for his incompetent combat skills. 

I liked the message, "When you  try to use the force of evil, it is evil that ends up using you," and it plays it straight with Master Red Chi double crossing them for another of Zodiac Master's traps as well as the twist ending. 

But it felt riddled with holes like why doesn't the Red Chi Master not have a name? Where did he learn red chi? Can anyone else learn or was he just born with it? His story was very vague and felt like it could have been expanded to add to the magical lore of the show.

The fight in the Hong Kong docks also felt silly with the Zodiac Master's entire samurai army in view. 

Like is this like Marvel New York? Are the people used to samurais and bombs in their harbor? Isn't this supposed to be a secret mystical battle? Just the concepts of what is secret and what is normal in this world is unclear? 

I would have kept the use your enemy concept but have Ang try to outwit his sister, the way she has been doing the previous episodes and throw in the Red Chi Master for the red herring (this was unintentional, I semi swear).

The Last Dragon- I actually have no complaints with this episode. It was solid story wise, revealing that the previous Golden Dragon was the twin’s father who had Master Chin erase their memories to protect him from their enemies. Of course, Ling is dumbly manipulated to turn her rightful anger toward Zodiac Master for murdering her father to being furious at her father for “abandoning” them. 

But the show actually pulls through and has her realize the truth thanks to Ang and of course, a cheesy flashback. 

And then they team up to fight the Zodiac Master! 

It’s a temporary truce but I enjoyed that it touched on my previous complaints that Ang was the only one acting like they had a familial bond. Also Ling was less hostile psychopath and demonstrated she may have some good after all. Also them as kids were cute. I would just change the animation of the last scene because it looked less like a hug in the moonlight between twins but the beginning of something else between not siblings. . . so ew.

Spy Hard was also a fun episode. As you might guess, it’s a James Bond parody! Well a parody if James Bond had mystical possession and martial arts powers. Okay, it doesn’t really follow any James Bond movie plot but the Rooster guardian,Lo Wang has a Sean Connery voice which is delightful to listen to. Ang learns a bit about thinking before acting which I’m pretty sure he learned before but I didn’t care since I was enjoying Sean- I mean Lo so much. 

Also, Ling continues to return to her roots by fighting against Zodiac Master again. While she was originally down for the whole possessing the dragon temple, she’s not in it for corrupting the Golden Dragon temple’s spirit with the darkest yin. If she’s going to steal the Golden Dragon, she’s going to do it honorably! 

So yay? She’s not quite on Ang’s side but she’s not the Zodiac Master’s idiotic puppet either. And Ang trying to do an awkward fist bump was surprisingly endearing even if Ling didn’t reciprocate. You could tell she kinda wanted. 

So yeah, as I write this down, I can see that it’s really starting to improve as the season goes on and I’m excited to see what the second half of the season does.