#i also think that it’s be cool that the shadow would become sentient and have a mind of its own kinda like peter pan’s shadow on ouat

[anxiety-elemental-kay]

Jade Shadows: Reactions and Gender Thoughts

I know opinions about Jade Shadows are a dime a dozen, but! I also have some Gender Thoughts I need to get out of my skull.

Spoilers under cut, natch.

There’s two things I want to talk about: my reaction to the quest itself, and Jade as a playable Warframe.

Part 1: Jade Shadows Story

I agree with a lot of people that the hype surrounding the quest was ultimately harmful to the story itself. The devs promised Stalker backstory, and we only kinda got that. I still don't know what a Low Guardian is, or even what the Stalker’s deal is. So he and Jade are sentient warframes like Umbra, I guess? And they were punished for being together? Why though? And despite this punishment the Stalker still hates Warframes and their role in the downfall of the Orokin? I feel like I'm missing a critical piece.

If the messaging had been more along the lines of “We’re getting an insight into the Stalker as a person and find out what he’s been up to lately” I think it would’ve had a more positive response. Instead it was framed as if we’d be getting answers, which we didn’t. Even upon completing the quest there’s a cheeky line in the codex about being left with more questions than answers.

That’s fine in a general sense, but that’s not what was promised.

As for the mystery of Jade… I’m disappointed that Jade turned out to be the Stalker’s romantic partner. It was the most boring option they could’ve picked. I was on board with the speculation that Jade Shadows was going to be a transition story; either the Stalker finds peace with herself and becomes Jade, or he used to BE Jade, but after the fall of the Orokin became the Stalker. At the very start of the quest when we see that Jade is, in fact, a separate person, I started to wonder if maybe Jade was his mother.

Jade just being his girlfriend who pops out a baby then dies… sucks ass. It’s boring! Even more than the problematic elements of this trope, I’m disappointed by this direction because it’s BORING! Warframe is a lot of things, but even when I don’t understand or don’t like the story, it’s at least interesting in its insanity and incoherence.

I desperately wish Jade was an actual character in the story. For example, since Jade is associated with the Jade Light, she could have been an executioner for the Orokin. That’s why she’s ready to give up her life to have her baby, her guilt about her participation in that system, and feeling that making a new life might begin to atone for taking so many. Not the best way to take her story, sure, but it would’ve been something!

At the end with the Corpus standing down when they realize the Stalker has a baby with him and letting him go felt dissonant. Especially with, uh, the state of the real world. There are people out there who are totally cool with murdering children, and I don’t believe the Corpus would ever let something as unique as Stalker’s baby go without a fight.

Since I’ve rambled about things I didn’t like, I want to spend some time talking about the things I did like! Because there’s plenty of that too!

Although the Ascension mission isn’t part of the quest itself, I really like the stuff with Parvos and Ordis! I’d never expected these two to interact, or for Ordan Karris to be brought up again! There's so many nice lore tidbits in there, as well as great character moments and animosity between the two. Delightful! Get his ass Ordis!

Speaking of Ordis, I loved him so much in the quest! I love Space Dad so much and it's always a delight to get to see him do things.

There was a brief mention of Umbra in the quest! When Stalker is trying to sneak onto the Orbiter and Ordis is patrolling, he calls out asking who’s there “Operator? Umbra? …Helminth?” I’m still disappointed he doesn’t get to be a character in the rest of the story after The Sacrifice, but its nice to acknowledge that he’s not just doomed to sit in the arsenal.

The message from Hunhow at the end of the quest was touching too. Jade and Stalker might not be trans but Hunhow is, or at least Sentients don’t adhere to common human understandings of sex and gender. Which still counts because I say so!!

I’m not wild about how the baby (I named him Orion) entered the story, but he’s a possible interesting thread for the future. How will the Stalker change going from a hunter to a carer? What does this new kind of life form mean for the rest of the system?

Whispers In The Walls is already setting up a longer story arc, so I’m okay with stuff just planting seeds for now! I know I was just talking about how a big problem with Jade Shadows was it failed to deliver a payoff after years of speculation, but I have enough respect for DE that I’ll wait and see. I always appreciate that they’re willing to take risks (I totally misunderstood how to do the, uh, mini game… but still… won???) even if those risks don’t pay off.

Part 2: Jade as a playable Warframe

Okay, so…

Here’s a bit of background for me to establish where I’m coming from when I talk about Jade: I’m an AFAB nonbinary person, and pregnancy is one of my few dysphoria triggers. I’ve talked before about how I would rather die than give birth. Any discussion of how precious or important motherhood is feels weird or gross to me, because I know I’m perceived as a woman, and those expectations could be projected onto me.

…So keep that all in mind when I say I think Jade being pregnant as a playable Warframe is interesting!

I don’t yet have Jade as of writing, but I’m still excited for her and hope to play her a bunch! When I watched the devstream where Pablo showed off her kit I was excited! She has a fun theme, she has interesting abilities, I love her visual design, and I love Titania so I’m happy to see another warframe that can fly! (I low-key keep forgetting Hildryn can fly because I almost never use that ability oops)

The reveal that Jade is pregnant was shocking during the quest, and sure I feel a bit uncomfortable thinking about equipping a pregnant frame… but that pregnancy is entirely aesthetic. The Jade we build is not the person who died, there’s no baby in there, and like any other frame, we can equip and unequip Jade as we like. In the same way the Tenno are not locked into one gender when picking a frame, Jade’s pregnancy doesn’t feel like a cage or a parasite the way real pregnancy seems to me. There’s no permanence or consequence to Jade appearing pregnant.

Additionally, being pregnant is entirely unrelated to any of her abilities or signature weapons. Though she was just Pregnant Girlfriend in the story, as a warframe she’s primarily Avenging Angel who just also happens to be pregnant. She’s still powerful and capable, her pregnancy doesn’t take that away, and that’s cool! People get Weird about people who are pregnant, like it diminishes their personhood or capability forever. This isn't a topic I know much about, because of the aforementioned dysphoria, but those are the vibes I get, especially from some of the critiques of Jade herself.

Thanks to everyone who stuck around for this whole thing! I know there’s been a lot of negativity around this quest, much of it earned, but I’m enjoying the update as a whole! Even if I have mixed feelings about the story, I’m not going to linger on the negative aspects because I don’t think that’ll do anyone any good. The devs will hear the criticisms the players have, and we all move on. I’m excited to get Jade and BE NOT AFRAID my enemies to death.

[bluezey]

Redeemed Alastor

I know it's never gonna happen. Nearly impossible. That guy is thriving way too much in hell

But I'm having way too much fun than I thought with the idea!

So it all started with me trying to do it as a cosplay. I updated the P2 outfit, because I can't make clothes, but I think the redeemed Alastor outfit would be more white and gold colored. But I got the right antlers, gold deer antlers that curl up to resemble a halo. I don't see him having wings though, and he would have his microphone cane still, I just couldn't find one. I also think my brass lion's head handled cane is pretty cool. Oh, brass would be a good color for redeemed Alastor too, like bronze and copper. Would sepia be a bit much? Anyway, and yes, he embraces the tail now, but no touching

And for fun, I made a few headcanons. But then, I made so much, and had so many, I may have made an AU character 😅

Below is a list of ideas I made up for the character. Feel free to ask any, I'll try to answer, and maybe even add it to the list. I maaaaaay be open to role plays, it's just that I haven't rped in a looooong time

He still goes by Alastor, but goes by prodigal demon. This is to show even he can be redeemed, and radio angel didn't have a good ring to it

He has earned angelic powers to replace his voodoo powers. He can still do voodoo, he just chooses not to use it because it's frowned upon in heaven. He misses using voodoo, the temptation is still there, and if in a bind, he may instinctually use it

He still got to keep his sentient shadow, and while Alastor didn't get wings, his shadow got tiny little cherub wings for aesthetics. His shadow still has his rebellious streak, and sometimes even tempts Alastor to do something rebellious like use voodoo

Alastor still has the power to make deals, he rarely does it now, and refrains from making ones that include owning people's souls

Alastor tries to be peaceful and pacifist, but if poked enough times, he'll attack

He still has the radio filter and the smile, but in times when he's deadly serious, he drops both

He now shows off the deer tail, but doesn't like people touching it

As well as being asexual, he now takes up celibacy

He had to give up cannibalism, which sucks, but he can still eat raw deer. The temptation to eat human still exists

Alastor does say redemption was worth it, but admits heaven has a few flaws such as some hypocrisy and the popularity of sweet foods and drinks, but at least spicy foods, raw deer, and rye and whiskey exist up there, as well as radios and jazz clubs, despite jazz being niche compared to gospel and rock

It is currently unknown as to why Alastor got redeemed. It is also unknown if Alastor chose to, or if it just happened. Only clues is the few things Alastor did to become redeemed, such as giving up cannibalism, using voodoo less and less, only killing for food or self defense, and even nullifying the deals where he owned souls

While many of his deals are void, and his owned souls are now freed, some deals still remain in effect. He has made a few deals after redemption, but they are few and far between, in part because he can't make deals that are hurtful or own souls

He can return to hell to visit, and does so to check on Charlie and the hotel

[simple-seranade]

Okay back on my bullshit now I’m free from Jail aka my job. I saw you post about card games therefore-

A world where you can fight people with magic summoning cards that either summon beings or effects and the dark version if you lose a battle your soul gets trapped into a card yugioh style,

But also like Bakugan you have a main sentient humanoid bro that is like bonded to you though it’s there choice really. It’s sorta like the being choses whatever schmuck. And some are notoriously picky. They have their own will and dislikes and what not. They are a person

Cue Jimmy being a card user that has the equivalent of a deck of the worst buffs (Example he has cards that give him bad luck he can’t get rid of) or newb monsters On the level Like Kuriboh (Yugioh) or caterpie (Pokémon) and like his only useful card is the one that gets him canary wings but to use that card he has to use one of his bad luck cards as well.

Cue Jimmy after probs about to be a victim of his soul getting trapped into a card yugioh style after losing to a evil dude that does shadow realm esque villainy. Finally managed to get his main dude that’s his ace and gets bonded to Tango right before he dies.

Tango is a chimera class bonded which means that he is a sentient dude that can switch elements which is very rare. He is even more powerful because his elements (ice and fire) are completely opposite. Usually even after the whole you got bonded to a dude the being can decide their relationship or what not. And idk mate Tango sees the worst card player ever and thinks ah yes this is the one.

So Jimmy hears all these stories about how the card players have to like show their worth to their bonded and Jimmy is like Tango never puts me in trials yo get his respect. Meanwhile Tango is hear thinking he has the greatest dude as his partner and maybe perhaps wanting to smooch him (which is not uncommon in this universe)

Jimmy accidentally makes Tango Uber powerful because he falls into the thing in Pokémon the more friendly you are to your Pokémon the more they will be op (in Pokémon case literally forcing itself to stay at 1 if it was crit hit or being the matrix)

And Yes Jimmy eventually figures it out that Tango loves him. But it takes a while solely because Jimmy isn’t the sharpest tool. Once they get together tho they legit become feared. Because again Tango is a OP monster being that’s hella rare and even rarer to counteract against all his powers. And Jimmy goes through like a typical card game protag and get gud.

YES… YES

as someone who gets very emotional when my pokemon affection crit/dodge/heal a status effect i can imagine jimmy being like. “man tango is so cool and strong. i hope he likes me.” and his Best Buddy (i think either scott or grian) would be like “um. dude you do realize part of why he’s so powerful is because he really likes you right”

cue jimmy learning that affection actually affects power and being very flustered because “oh so that’s why he keeps annihilating everything in his path. because he cares about me. ok. ok.”

but yeah. dramatic anime duels, they go on a quest to find one of the rarest cards in the game (aka the warden card) to defeat whoever the rival is

actually stream of thought while i’m doing this, joel is the rival. i think that would fit. can’t believe he has the super powerful ocean queen AND the insanely crazy ninja cards. wild

your aus >>>>>

[kob131]

given that you caught up to fairy tail what are your thoughts on the idea that the celestial spirit king = ankhseram due to an ankh being a key. also fun fact zeref sounds like seraph which are associated with fires and dragons . what are the chances of natsus demonic dragon form having 7 heads ( since people associated e.n.d. with satan who becomes a dragon with 7 heads )

future rogue telling natsu what happened likely changed the future since he warned gray who could have gotten himself inspected

what are your thoughts on future rogue giving himself to the shadows because frosch died ( some people criticized that because its just a a cat)

(out of the exceeds who do you think is the cutest)I remember lots of people paralleling natsu and gajeel to sting nad rogue ( I did too only to realize rogue parallels gray ( heck after someone they care about who speaks in the 3rd person dies ( or in grays case think) they went to try and kill the other ( maybe ice devil slayer magic came with a dark transformation but gray getting an inspection stopped that)fire and ice to shadow and light

Wow, this is a lot.

A. I don't think the Celestial Spirit King is the same as Ankhseram simply because the King has never demonstrated any power over life and death and the King was easily swayed by Lucy's display with her Spirits while Leo was dying. You'd think the same god would see something like Mavis and Zeref having a kid (i.e. a new life born of love) and would relent.

I honestly don't think Ankhseram will ever be expanded upon since the best time was when Zeref and Mavis were still around. And that's fine, Ankhseram seems like a Greek God- a living narrative device to punish hubris.

B. While cool- We already know what E.N.D. looks like. Natsu awoke as E.N.D. during the Alvarez arc, made the power of the time god look like a bitch and nearly killed Gray in a mutual kill despite Gray's magic literally being his kryptonite. I don't care if E.N.D. is just Natsu but even more fire- a pissed Natsu is already scary enough to be on the wrong side of.

C. 'Just a cat'? It's made pretty fucking clear the Exceed are fully sentient creatures akin to humans, meaning Frosch is closer to a lifelong friend than just a cat. ANd multiple people would KILL for their pets. That's about as dumb as getting pissed that Laxus said 'I'm getting fired up.'

D. Happy. I don't particularly find Carla or Panther Lily or Lector cute. So it's between Happy and Frosch. And Happy gets the most time to have cute moments.

E. Yeah actually, Rogue does parallel Gray more in his quieter disposition and close relation to Sting than Gajeel, who half the time is louder than Natsu and doesn't give that much of a shit about Natsu. I could buy Rogue and Gray would rely on Sting/Natsu to act as counterbalances, I don't buy that with Gajeel.

[erikiara80]

What are your favorite theories?

Ciao, anon!

1) Well, my absolute favorite theory is that Will has powers.

I'm not sure about creation powers, but I believe he has a power connected to lights/elecricity. And Truesight/shadow walking. I also agree with the theory that Will created the fog that hid the demodogs in the tunnels in S2, because later Mike tells him that during a game he saved the party by casting Fog Cloud.

The connection to Henry/MF/UD, and him being able to spy Henry and maybe even convince him to not destroy the world is cool, really, but imo is not enough for his character, narratively speaking.

Also, it doesn't matter if Will and El are actually siblings. They've been paralleled each other from episode one. They are the Wonder Twins of ST, imo it would be weird if one of them has super powers but the other is just a victim who needs protection. Plus, Will having powers is the type of plot twist the Duffers said they love: the one you should see coming.

2) Love the theory that Will's powers are blocked. At first I thought he had the Soteria in his neck, but Pinkeoni's theory is better. We actually saw what took his powers and when it happened.

When he coughed up the slug. It would be a cool parallel with El. She lost her powers AFTER she killed that thing in her leg. So maybe the same happened to Will. The only weird thing is that it's after he coughed up the slug and supposedly lost his powers that he had the first vision of the UD. So, maybe... it's because when the UD took his powers, the connection between them began?

3) And I LOVE the theory that Will is already in a trance at the end of S4. I talk about it here but other people talked about it first. This theory is awesome because Will in a trance would make the ending of S4 even more dramatic, and S5 would begin with a plot twist! Epic.

4) The Mind Flayer as a living being. A sort of cosmic plant or fungus. Not necessarily evil. But dangerous. Especially after it merged with Henry into (imo) an Elder Brain. I think of it as a Langolier (in the SK novella, they're called Timekeepers)or the power in the cave (LOST) that merged with Jacob's brother and created the Black Smoke. Audrey II in LSOH. The Thing. The Serpent in DnD (as power itself. Time power?) The Nothing. The zombie-ant fungus. A Body Snatcher (The Duffers mentioned this movie in an interview)

I like that the gates growl like a living being, that the tentacles let Vecna fall like a sack of potatoes, and Dart didn't kill Dustin even tho Henry was controlling the hivemind. So many movies that inspired the Duffers have some alien sentient plant/creature that needs hosts. I'm a fan of both human horrors and Eldritch horrors tbh. Even better if they're combined (of course, it is possible). I don't care about human horrors are better! or Eldritch Horror is scarier! Imo, they're both awesome and make horror genre so fascinating.

5) I love the eightfifteen mystery. Is that some sort of constant? The moment when different timelines were created? Cool reference to the Oceanic Flight 815 in LOST.

6) One of my old theories is the Lich theory. DnD Vecna is a lich and in order to become immortal he placed his soul in an object. A phylactery. I'd love it if the grandfather clock was a sort of phylactery

7) And not gonna lie. I also still like the coma theory. The fact that both Henry and El fell into a coma... The two people with powers. And I think Will has powers too? So, maybe? I don't know how long it would last. But it's not impossible.

But now I'm obsessed with another mystery. The last person who went missing in Hawkins, in 1923. I've already found interesting parallels with other stories, but now I found something even better. And it's even mentioned in the show! Yes!

It's so interesting. I'll post about it later. Or tomorrow.

Thanks for the ask, anon!

[lusilver001]

(i saw in a tag that you’ve thought shadow flux is sentient) and. yes absolutely. the core elemental abilities are sentient, and so users have to be very careful so they don’t go crazy and let the element take over like a parasite 😃 also there are enhancer drugs that are illegal for elemental abilities bc the owner will go crazy but some people (cough fintan and umber cough) use them -t1sb

Yes! I love the idea that the elements are intelligent in some way. Mainly i like the idea of characters like Marella, Tam, and Linh hearing their respective elements speak to them; like most eleven abilities are intuitive (at least partially), and elemental ones just have the element giving the elf tips as they go along.

It would be even better if this fact wasn’t common knowledge among non-elemental elves. Off topic but it would be cool if the Black Swan found this potential aspect of elven abilities to be useful and found a way to give it to Sophie despite the fact that she herself does not possess any elemental abilities.

Different elements also have different personality’s, some are more violent then others. I also think that the elemental elves would have some affect on the personality/actions of the element itself. Example: before the banning of pyrokinesis fire was more of a protector, but as the pyrokinetic elves (namely: Fintan) started to become more insane themselves, it caused fire too follow that path as well, enabling the elves to gain thee ability to utilize the most dangerous and unpredictable form of fire: everblaze.

[candyandmeat]

Repostober day 4!

This is fairly old! Made in 2020 :0 !

This was my attempt at making adventure time characters based of me, my current best friend at the time, and my brother. I even had ideas of what their introduction episodes could look like!

I don't remember where I kept the notes for them but here's what I remember...

:readmore:

My character would've have been found stalking the ruin of a bombed town. Anytime that they were seen would've been in shadows giving them a spooky mothman/boogie man vibe. Finn & Jake (or who ever is the protagonist of that episode) would be terrified of them until they took of their mask and stepped into light. Revealing that the bombed out town they stalk used to be their home and that bomb mutated them into being part moth. Since then they try to scavenge the town to save anything that's not totally destroyed

FB or "Frozen Boy" is just a normal human boy that was frozen for many years in a music shop. He struggles to remember his so for the time being he accepts the nickname "FB". I think Princess Bubblegum is the one who defrosts him to see what would happen and he does not react well the whole world being so different. Later on he might be seen having a job at the music shop Marceline visits that one time.

Fire is a cool uncle type character with a sentient fire guy chilling in his stomach area (that might also be him too?). I'm not quite sure how he came to be but I think his corpse many years after he dies becomes irradiated with fire magic and he kinda just rolls with it. I think he was supposed to be a cool parental figure like a uncle or an older cousin. Fire and "Mothman" would've have been siblings in this universe too but due to happenstance they don't know that each other is alive at first. There would be clues dropped here and there relating the 2 to the same things, maybe someone of the main cast could've figured it out.

That's all I remember so far, if I think about it anymore I would be making more stuff up. Thank you for reading this far :3

(Also, if you've seen this drawing before I originally posted this on my old side blog art account that is now called candybeforemeat!)

[lordkingsmith]

Had an odd dream about a magic war last night, and star crossed lovers on the opposite sides of a battlefield.

So there’s this disease that makes everyone become susceptible to moving shadows right. And if you don’t get treated you’re killed by a heart attack seeing the shadows move/attack you. You only sustain a heightened heart rate if you’re injured by shadows and you will die if your heart rate is too high. This only affects the sick, too. However if the infected are treated they become super human, able to use the shadows to fight, travel, et cet. Once a treatment to insure survival is invented and people see the side effects of surviving they find this out. So naturally people start immediately waging wars using these super soldiers.

At some point some high ranking soldier with these shadow powers on one side of a war and this normal guy on the other get stuck in a situation where they have to depend on each other or die. Naturally, they get close. When the normal guy is rescued it becomes evident they’d fallen in love. It also becomes more evident after some things happen (I can’t remember but I think consistently putting the normal man’s safety over the other’s missions) that this guy is the other’s weakness. So his country more or less turns him into a hostage/POW to use as a meat shield and bait for the super soldier.

I don’t know why the group of super soldiers also decided to make him fight beside them-he’s a normal human and some of the areas he’s in are full of untreated people. But they do make him and he contracts it. I think some of them had convinced themselves that he was somehow immune. Forgetting he’d been living with someone who’d recovered and wasn’t contagious for months, not consistently exposed to this illness every day. So when he does inevitably get it they all deny he’s got it and refuse to treat him. Getting further into this wild shadow country while he’s getting attacked by sentient shadows, he finally has had enough and throws himself out of a car. He gets as far as a train bridge where the other side’s men are before collapsing. His superior locates him, puts him in an area with no shadows as his heart rate is gradually climbing, and goes to find the super soldier.

He does and the guy was taking him to the hospital for proper treatment when I woke up. Had the guy cradled in his arms and everything. It was so cute but also kinda sad. You just knew if the guy survived he’d either be snatched back by his country or would be considered a traitor and never be allowed to go home again.

It was sweet though, that the super soldier guy kept offering sweet reassurances to his actively dying boyfriend. I think he’d given him something to stabilize him for the time being but guy was still very close to death and they had to avoid shadows while trying to get him to a good hospital who could treat him. I get the super soldier was trying to keep him calm and offer sweet nothings to do so but…my guy if you’d been chill for even ten seconds neither of you would be in this situation.

I can’t remember if the super soldier killed everyone the guy was with. I think he did kill everyone but the one decent superior before grabbing him to take to a hospital. Still, definitely one of those “this was easily avoidable” situations lol. Cool dream though

[namine-rae]

crack Lu au idea (from a very tired rae)

a Tokyo mew mew au

So like, basic premise:

the chain (who are at least mostly unrelated to/don’t know each other) becomes a Magical Girl team to fight the aliens/the monsters attacking the city (castle town?)

each of them gets animal dna from a creature from their respective games

the cafe is run by the goddesses time is a baker/manager while the boys switch between kitchen and server jobs (eight servers for one small cafe is a bit much I think)

The bois themselves are mostly in high school, with wind in middle and time being a Married Adult and is still Dad Age compared to the rest

Most direct character role swaps off the top of my head: - wind takes Bu-ling/pudding’s place looking after gran and Aryll - warriors takes zakuro’s place -hyrule takes retasu’s place and I’m not sure who would take ichigo and minto’s places

Everything would need to be adjusted to better fit the chain and their personalities. I don’t picture any romance aspected being involved since it would be a focus on team-as-family, and I don’t know if there would be any one “main character” since they would all deserve to have some spotlight (but wind is my favorite so knowing me it’d probably end up wind-centric)

it’s probably be demise/ganon behind the attacks, with the shadow in place of quiche. But it could also be fun to swap in other villain characters like griahim or Vaati. Maybe get spicy and do a villain redemption for some of them

Marsha’s character would be swapped for a fairy companion like Navi, Proxi, or Ciela. Like either a rotation/team of the fairy companions or a fully new one.

I’m not sure if the chain would have gone on their respective adventures before any of this, but I think it would be cool. No idea how to blend them all together without them knowing each other though. Maybe instead of different eras it’s different neighboring kingdoms/countries? Idk.

now for the animals for the bois: - twilight has his wolf form or ordon goat - legend has his rabbit form, but it would be fun to explore other options for him - sky would totally get remlit. While loftwing could be really cool, I think sky fits remlit much better. (Plus the loftwings can still exist in this au. I like them too much to just remove them) - wind’s games don’t have that many animals that aren’t sentient races, so that leaves pigs and kargarok. Kargarok I think would be best. For the angst potential and air connection - four would get minish. I know they’re a race and not an animal, but a sorta minish form is too good of an opportunity to pass up. Could add multiple tails to represent the colors like my in progress minish form design - similarly hyrule could get fairy, but if the Masha equivalent is a fairy that wouldn’t make much sense. I don’t know much about his games so I’m not sure what other options there are. - warriors is a similar issue. I don’t know what animals are in his games, though something like a horse might be interesting? A lion or peacock could be fun, but I really want to stick with in-game animals. - wild has a lot of animals to pick from. Though I’m leaning towards bear or deer. a bug or lizard might be cool too if there are any that fit with Wild’s personality. (I’m not including totk here because I haven’t played it yet and want as little spoiled as possible before I do) - time is giving me some trouble too. I haven’t played any of his games. Maybe something based on his masks? Like a great fairy or deku scrub? (Again with the sentient species vs regular animal problem that hyrule and four have) definitely should be something forest-related to tie back to the kokiri/growing up in a magic forest thing.

all of their weapons with either be their respective swords, or a unique one from each of their games

and that’s about it for now

[misslionfigther]

VENOMLIKE QUIRK for Himiko Toga.

Lately I have been thinking of a way to make Toga stronger when it come to fighting. I love her transformation Quirk and the possibility of her using others quirks but I think they nerfed that ability a little bit by her needing an emotional connection to the person she is drinking blood. Which is OK, it also make it more special character wise but it also mean she would have to fight more often with her knifes enemies that cool destroy her in a minute. She is practically fighting Quirkless. So I have an idea but is possible that I am making it to OP.

My idea started by making her Quirk be sentient almost like Dark Shadow. I also draw inspiration from werewolf fanfic in which sometimes they have to live with the wolf inside of them and can communicate with the beast. Toga gives me vampire/predator/beast vibes even more if her Quirk make her have like the instinct to "hunt" for blood and drink the blood from the people she love. Very vampire like. It can also serve like a second personality that urge her to use her Quirk and "feed".

However, Im taking my inspiration in Venom from Marvel, the bird powers of the Manga Birdmen, and even the abilities of Power from Chainsaw Man. But after reading more about the Symbiontes ability and their appearances I think is easier to just use Venom as the inspiration since it does practically what the Birdmen do. Also the thirst for blood is literally a Venom thing.

So with this in mind I am imagine Toga with a Symbionte as her Quirk. When she active her Quirk she becomes "Venom" and in that form she can transform and manipulate its biomass to: design her "suit" (whether is a classical superhero suit/armor or make it look more demonic like and looking like an actual beast), make her have more muscles, create claws and meele weapons, tentacles with needles, wings, be able to stick to wall. And her actual power to turn into other people not matter the size, I also include animals.

Almost like Venom, she can cure some of her wounds, can hold inside of it small things that don't weight much (like her clothes, purse, knifes or even a blood tank) and has enhanced physical ability while she wears the suit, like speed, agility, strength, resistance, flexibility, not to the level of All Might, The Flass, and Superman and others whose actual superpower is that enhanced ability, but enough to make her punches a real challenge and hurt a lot as well as having resistance to take to the punch. That enhanced physical ability, can explain how agile she is in canon and how she was able resist the explosion while fighting Curious. Her speed could be also the explanation why sometimes she can pass undetected.

Her weaknesses are the ultrasonic waves that make her lose her enhanced strength, speed, etc. Also just like Power from Chainsaw Man and Toga in Canon, her Quirk is fule by blood. Meaning she might be able to use all this cool things if she has drunk big quantities of blood. Maybe with actual training and experience she could use all her abilities with just a cup but until then she run out of blood pretty quickly so long battles are another of her weakness. In order to fight long battles she has to stick with one tipe of transformation or rely on her enhancements. The more she transformed he biomass more blood she burn. Like in Canon she can only turn into the people she has drunk their blood, the same can be said for the animals. The more she has to chance her size, more energy she would need. The forms that take the less effort from the less to just a little more are : some blood red brackets for her teeth, making a Venomlike mask, turning into "Venom" and/or make a knife or needle to suck blood. More things like decorating the suit, make "spider webs" or even wings to fly, as well as using the quicks of those she have an emotional connection, would break the transformation quickly. Running out of blood would first break transformation if she was in one but still be able to be in Venom form, later she might lose her Venom form but still have a little bit of enhancements without it, later she would not have any type of power but can still communicate with it. However, if she stays without drinking blood for a long period of time like weeks, month... can be bad for her health from having anemia, fainting, can cause pain on her limbs, her Quirk can end up sucking her glucose, fat... Maybe acting like a kind of Diabetes I. Eating can help a little bit but not much. However, she can do it the other way around, where she can sustain herself with only drinking blood since the Symbionte also heal her health problems. Which means this girl have been surviving in the streets by sucking the blood from her victims like and actual vampire. She can't be stuck drinking blood for a long time or daily, since she can end up found by heroes, so the moment she can drink, she has to drink how much she can. It can end her killing her prey in the process or being only able to drink a little bit and run, so she is unable to fill her "blood tank" making her only able to use the basic or her Quirk having to rely in only the enhancements and is always running hungry. The more hungry she is the less she can control her Venomlike personality and is running by instinct. This Quirk also make her more sensitive to the smell of blood and the taste being able to track and distinguish people one from the other.

In other words, Toga has a Venomlike symbiote that is the physical manifestación of her Quirk and also a mix between a second personality and her basc instincts. Like survival, reproductive, protective, possessive instincts. And Toga can communicate with it in her mind constantly. It urge Toga to act violent but can also show loyalty and be protective.

I think it can be a really versatile Quirk but since it run by blood. I don't think is to OP since she can't fight for long or do to many things at the same time.

[vicontheinternet]

Another missed opportunity of a storyline. I get that bloom is the show's main character and we have to focus on but it would’ve been nice to see one of the other girls have a chance to shine in their own centered storyline. In my fanfic when ever I get around to doing it every girl will have their own centered season think of it being like skam that neither here nor there now let’s get back to the program as scheduled. As I was saying it was a missed opportunity to not have have Stella be the center of season 2. I forgot which version it was but darker needed light to access realix not the dragon flame. It was made obvious that Stella was the one for the job when the girl went to cloud tower. They all had to do that spell. The orb for Stella was completely luminous but for bloom it was pitch back which griffin said even senior had trouble doing that. Also someone had a headcanon that stella doesn't have a shadow so I thought it would be cool if to symbolize lord darkar slowly gaining control of her she slowly starts to have a shadow. it would've made so much more sense but that's just my thoughts.

[metalandmagi]

Fall 2021 Anime Worth Watching!

It’s officially pumpkin season, which means it’s time once again to appreciate some of the options we have for new anime coming out. So here’s some first impressions of the things that have caught my eye recently. As usual, I’m putting (*) next to anything available on Crunchyroll. 

I also have master lists for every season of 2021 so far, as well as 2020 and 2019 (because I don’t have a life).

New Shows!

Blue Period: The anime that perfectly encapsulates the experience of every teenager who considers the possibility of doing art for a living. The basic description would be that our standard bored high schooler, Yatora Yaguchi, discovers an unexpected spark of interest in art, and of course, ends up joining his school art club as is the typical anime fashion. But the tone doesn’t really fit with the slice of life high school club anime at all. It focuses a lot more on the reality of the art world and the amount of time, effort, study, and MONEY it takes to go to a fine arts university with no guarantee of being successful after you finish school (and also having to tell your Asian parents you want to go to an art school). The animation style itself isn’t my favorite, but it tries its best to communicate the feelings that certain colors, places, or times of day give to artists that inspire them to create. 

If nothing else, just watch the first episode for the art teacher grandma, the best girl of the year who delivers the most hilarious jokes and genuine life/art advice I’ve seen all year.

Heike Monogatari (The Heike Story): A historical drama set during the Genpei war that follows a young musician named Biwa who has visions of the future. After the death of their father, Biwa befriends the heir to the powerful Taira clan, who also happens to have supernatural sight. Eventually, Biwa comes to live with the auspicious family and begins to predict their downfall. There’s a lot more going on here, but the less you know going in, the better. It’s the Science Saru version of Dororo with fewer demons and an equal amount of political and family drama. It’s not going to be for everyone, but if you like weird period pieces, this is the anime for you.

Komi Can’t Communicate (Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu): A comedy in which a cool, beautiful high school queen named Komi is revered by everyone around her. But even though she seems aloof and mysterious on the outside, the truth is, she actually has terrible social anxiety that keeps her from holding conversations with her classmates. The show might have a common schtick, but it’s also got its fair share of heart with one of the sweetest first episodes of the year. Plus, it has some pretty good visual gags that remind me of Kaguya-sama and Sakamoto Desu Ga? But honestly, I think the real reason Komi can’t communicate is because her mouth is so tiny. 

King Ranking (Ousama Ranking): A fantasy series that focuses on the friendship between Prince Boji, a young, deaf boy who dreams of becoming his country’s greatest king, and Kage, a literal shadow that looks like a misshapen doughnut who comes from a clan of assassins. I didn’t expect this to be one of the most emotional anime of the season, and yet here I am, two episodes in and ready to cry over a little boy and his sentient figure eight. If you like characters who are clever and kind, but not very strong, you will be ready to adopt Boji in a heartbeat. Not to mention, the ranking system for the throne is very intriguing, and I want to see more of Kage’s shadow clan.

*Sakugan: A sci-fi/action piece that takes place far in the future, where humans live in underground colonies connected by a labyrinth filled with monsters. Our main characters are a father daughter pair, where nine year old genius Memempuu dreams of becoming a “marker,” one of the brave fighters who map the labyrinth and fight the kaiju. But no good dad would let his child do something so dangerous by herself, so instead of shooting down her dream, he goes along with her. It’s Deca-Dence meets Gurren Lagann. Even if we’ve seen this type of world building before, I love the pair’s dynamic, and there’s a lot of potential with this one.

Selection Project: An idol anime that follows nine girls across Japan as they compete in the seventh annual Selection Project reality competition show hoping to become the next American Idol Selection Project winner. Our main character Suzune Miyama has dreamed of debuting as an idol ever since she was a chronically ill child, so by all anime logic, she should be a shoe-in to make it through the challenge, right? I’ll admit, idol shows can be really hit and miss for me, especially when they involve so many characters, but this one hits in a bit more dramatic way, and the reality show set up is unique and fun. The anime goes out of its way to make it seem like Selection Project could be an actual thing that airs in Japan, so I’m here for it.

The Vampire Dies In No Time (Kyuuketsuki Sugu Shinu): A wacky comedy about an incredibly weak, video game loving vampire and a renowned vampire hunter who reluctantly team up to fight crime/solve mysteries. As fun as it is, I hope they branch out from the gimmick eventually, because 12 episodes of the same thing is going to get old fast. If you like zany, out of the box slapstick like Heaven’s Design Team or Osomatsu-san, this is definitely worth checking out. Not to mention the OP slaps hard. 

*The Faraway Paladin (Saihate no Paladin): In our obligatory isekai of the season, we follow our main character Will as he grows up in a fantasy world being raised by his three parents...who all happen to be undead. Eventually, Will yearns to explore the mysteries of this world and his guardians while aiming to become a true paladin. All in all, this has been pretty light on the isekai elements so far and acts more like a straight up fantasy. And I have to appreciate that even though Will has been reincarnated as a child in a fantasy world with his adult memories, unlike the Mushoku Tensei protagonist, he isn’t a total creep to everyone. In fact, the first episode is incredibly sweet, and by the time it’s over, you feel like you understand the gist of this world and our three undead parents pretty well. I’m sure it will ramp up, but for now it’s a chill, solid fantasy world with an MC who might be a little bland for now but ultimately has room to grow.

Taishou Maiden Fairytale (Taishou Otome Otogibanashi): A romantic comedy period piece in which Tamahiko Shima, the youngest son of a powerful family, is forced into exile after an accident that kills his mother and cripples his right arm. While he’s brooding away in the mountains, he is surprised one night with the sudden appearance of Yuzuki Tachibana, a girl claiming to be his future bride. Together, the two live in isolation and must come to understand each other. There are a lot of ways a story like this could go wrong (especially since Yuzuki isn’t even 15 yet), but this was freaking adorable. The two are awkward and silly around each other, and it’s nice to have a couple where the guy is allowed to feel bad about the whole situation and also acknowledge how hard his fiancé works to make their future a good one. And even though Yuzuki is very sweet and conditioned to be a “perfect bride” she doesn’t fall for Tamahiko’s dramatic loner tendencies. The two work great together, and I’m excited to see where this goes. 

And speaking of romantic comedies….

My Senpai Is Annoying (Senpai ga Uzai Kouhai no Hanashi): A workplace romantic comedy, in which short, feisty Igarashi Futuba is annoyed by her giant, enthusiastic senpai Takeda Harumi (who is actually a pretty decent guy). I love a good height difference, especially if it involves one character having to knock some sense into people about not being patronizing to those who are vertically challenged. It definitely runs in the same vein as Wotakoi and Aggretsuko. If you love slow burn romances with contrasting heights and personalities, you’ll probably like this too. 

*Takt op. Destiny: This is an original action/adventure anime made by both MAPPA and Madhouse, so does it really matter what it's about? In the year 2047, monsters that hate music have taken over the world (or at least America), leaving a lackadaisical conductor, a mysterious girl, and their harried driver/handler on a road trip to New York, hoping to defeat the monsters and bring music back to the world along the way. And when I say conductor, I mean it in the sense that the mysterious girl is actually a magical girl who uses the conductor to unlock her power in order to beat up the monsters. Because of course she does. The animation is dynamic and perfectly oriented for an action show, but what stands out even more are the everyday scenes that show off the character relationships. I could watch these three bicker all day. We’ve all lived this road trip at some point. 

*Platinum End: Honestly, the plot of this anime never really mattered to me. It’s based on a manga by Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba, so watching it was inevitable. But yes, it is basically Death Note with an emo protagonist, a waifu version of Ryuk, and an even more over the top sense of drama with questionable morality. The whole thing revolves around our main character Mirai, who is given questionable powers by an “angel” who rescued him as he was attempting suicide. Supposedly, the manga was amazing up until the ending (but hey, people said that about Death Note too, and I liked that ending). I’m intrigued, but I wish it could have been made by Madhouse because the animation is just...okay. 

Visual Prison: Okay, this isn’t a serious recommendation, but I want to shout out Visual Prison for having a hilariously genius concept (having vampires masquerade as visual k bands) but actually being a ridiculously mediocre nightmare. It is pure fujo bait that feels like a fever dream from my teenage years, like Utapri’s goth, stupidly serious little brother. It crammed four performances (plus the opening credits song) into the first episode, three of which are within the first ten minutes, and I can’t tell you a single thing about any of the characters except that they’re all pretty singing vampires. It is impossible to feel bad while watching...whatever the hell this thing is, especially if alcohol is involved. Please experience this insanity with me. 

Continuing Series!

*The Aquatope On White Sand (Shiroi Suna no Aquatope): If you missed it last season, this original anime from PA Works focuses on the friendship of two girls who are struggling to keep a small, run down aquarium in Okinawa afloat. The first half of the show was an amazing ride, and I was more baffled than excited when I learned that it was continuing for another cour. The first half had a perfect ending point, but the story does proceed in a logical way, so I hope it doesn’t drop the ball. The characters, visuals, and music are all top tier, so if you missed it during the summer, now is the time to grab your tissues and catch up. The first twelve episodes alone would make it one of the best shows of the year!

*86 (second cour): The sci-fi drama that ripped our hearts out and stomped on them earlier this year is back, and I am so ready! As one of the stand out shows of the spring, 86 is the story of the war driven Republic of San Magnolia, who is constantly fighting their neighboring country using “unpiloted” robots. But of course, these robots aren’t unpiloted at all, and we follow the rag-tag group of teenagers and their handler Lena as they fight for their lives and discover what it means to treat other people as fellow humans (yes the whole thing is definitely an allegory for racism and military control). It feels like something that would have come out in the YA dystopian craze (in a good, nostalgic sort of way). With some of the best music (composed by Hiroyuki Sawano), drama, and character development all year, I can’t recommend this enough if you’re in the mood to suffer. 

*Let’s Make A Mug Too (season 2): An adorable slice of life about a girl who joins her school pottery club and ends up making a connection with her late mother through her love of pottery. It’s so sweet and chill with a really heartfelt message about finding inspiration and what it means to create something. Also the main character’s dad is a major dilf, so what more could you want?

But there is more.

The anime itself is only fourteen minutes per episode, but if you’re watching it on Crunchyroll, they include a special along with each episode of the four main voice actresses going to the town the anime was based on/takes place in, and doing all sorts of things for another 8-10 minutes (including showcasing some of the real life artwork that actual high school students have made that are in the anime). So not only do you get cute girls doing cute things in anime, you get cute 3-D girls doing cute things in real life. It’s 100% a tourism promotion, but I don’t care because the VAs are all so lovely and funny. So if you missed it earlier this year, please give it a chance if slice of life is your thing. 

Honorable Mention

*Fena: Pirate Princess: A super fun adventure anime that mixes Western traditional pirate based fantasy with Japanese culture. The story revolves around Fena, a girl with a mysterious past who finds herself on a journey to uncover the secrets of her family’s history (yes, it’s basically pirate Anastasia). Since it started airing so late last season, I didn’t give it a chance until about half way through the show, and I’m glad I did, because I’m having a ton of fun with this. Fena and the crew are delightful and hilarious with just the right amount of drama. It will be almost done by the time this list comes out, but I couldn’t leave it out. The world building is great, and the villains look like One Piece characters, so what’s not to like?

Mieruko-chan would be a solid horror with its genuinely creepy designs for yokai, if it wasn’t constantly muddling its tone with incredibly distracting, unnecessary fanservice that ultimately ruins the vibe. And I’m sure The Night Beyond The Tricornered Window will satisfy anyone who wants the explicitly bl version of The Morose Mononokean that cuts out all the good parts of the manga. Also Demon Slayer is airing Mugen Train on Crunchyroll, so there’s that too. 

Well, I hope this gives people some things to watch. It’s probably going to be the last time I make one of these, unless I change my mind come winter.

[jazy3]

Free Guy Review

!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

If you haven’t seen the movie Free Guy (2021) stop reading right now! Drop what you’re doing and go get yourself a ticket! You’ll thank me later!

I loved this movie! I saw it this weekend for the second time because it’s that good! I first saw the trailer on YouTube a while back and then when theatres reopened a few weeks ago I saw the trailer again and my interest was piqued. I had high hopes for this movie based on the fun looking trailer, the premise, the cast, and the sense of fun and escapism that the movie seemed to embody and it did not disappoint. It’s always nice when you have high hopes for something and it meets or exceeds your expectations.

Free Guy is just such a fun and joyous movie. Never taking itself too seriously, packed with lots of heart, cool cameos, full of gaming and pop culture references, and it’s fueled by a unique concept that is well executed. There are just so many things I loved about this movie! It was a ton of fun to watch and the actors clearly had a blast making it. During the movie I kept trying to figure out where I knew most of the actors from but couldn’t place them. When I got home, I googled it and I instantly realized why. The roles are just so different and the actors embody their characters so completely you lose yourself in the film and get completely sucked in. I was honestly so surprised when I figured out what I knew most of the actors from because the roles that they’re known for are so different from their characters in the movie. Their appearances, established ages, and even the accents are so different that I literally did a double take, but that’s what makes the movie so good! Because the main actors obviously didn’t need the paycheque they were just there to have fun and it shows. I think if the situation had been different and the actors involved had been desperate for money or took the role for some other reason it wouldn’t have worked. The film would have come off as cheesy, forced, cringeworthy, or just plain bad. Free Guy is none of those things. The film stars Ryan Reynolds as ‘Guy’ a bank teller in a video game called Free City, Jodie Comer whose best known for playing Villanelle in Killing Eve as programmer Millie Rusk and her avatar Molotov Girl, Joe Keery whose best known for playing Steve Harrington in Stranger Things as programmer Walter ‘Keys’ McKey, and Taika Waititi whose best known for playing Viago in What We Do in the Shadows as the Head of Soonami Studios and the film’s main antagonist and villain Antwan. Rounding out the cast are Utkarsh Ambudka as programmer Mouser and Lil Rel Howery as Guy’s best friend and bank security guard Buddy. In a nutshell, Free Guy is about a bank teller named Guy who finds out he’s a non-playable background character (NPC) in an open-world Grand Theft Auto style video game called Free City. Guy becomes the hero of his own story after meeting Millie, the girl of his dreams, and winning fans all over the world by racking up points by being the good guy and helping others. After leveling up and helping Millie escape a dangerous situation in the game, Guy wins her over and she falls for him thinking that he’s another player. But when the world that Guy knows and all of the people in it are threatened, he teams up with Millie to save his friends before it’s too late. In the real world, Millie enlists the help of her former programming partner and best friend Keys in a race against time to stop their code and all of the sentient characters from Free City from being deleted by Antwan the developer who stole their code when the game’s sequel launches. I love that the movie had a unique premise and didn’t overcomplicate things. There are so many movies that I’ve gone to see over the last few years with such excitement only to be disappointed. For example, I loved Wreck It Ralph, but was so disappointed by its sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet. The trailers made it seem like it would take the premise of the first movie and move things into the online gaming world, and I was excited for that. Instead, the sequel left the premise of the first movie behind entirely and way over complicated the plot and the end result was extremely cheesy and disappointing. Free Guy’s strength is that it’s a self-aware movie made by self-aware people who are excellent at what they do. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously, nor should it, and that allows the story to flow and the characters to feel real and genuine. The movie achieves that perfect balance between being entertaining and telling a cohesive and important story because while the movie never takes itself too seriously the people behind it are serious about what they do. This was very clearly a passion project for all involved, especially Ryan Reynolds, and it shows! As he’s spoken about in interviews and on Twitter, Reynolds called on a lot of his friends to be in Free Guy and help him out and the end result was fantastic! I loved all of the cameos! The Chris Evans cameo was by far the funniest and the Alex Trebek cameo got me right in the feels. When I saw the movie in theatres me and everyone else in the theatre gave a collective “awww” when he appeared on screen. Enlisting real YouTubers to show up as fictional versions of themselves to talk about Blue Shirt Guy’s popularity was a nice touch and you’ve also got blink and you miss it voice cameos by John Krasinski, Dwyane The Rock Johnson, Hugh Jackman, and Tina Fey. Channing Tatum appears as the avatar of player Revenjamin Buttons which for the most part was hilarious. One of my few criticisms of the film is that they went a bit overboard the avatar’s antics as Guy and Buddy are attempting to leave and it got bit a cringeworthy. But I know other people found it hilarious so to each their own. I love all of the little details and references in the movie. Just listing them all would be a post in itself. If you’re someone that loves pop culture references and Easter Eggs this is the movie for you. The characters are fun and believable, and you get attached to them quickly. The actors commit completely to their roles which is makes the humour, romance, and heartfelt emotion of the film work. You buy it. 100%. Something that I absolutely loved was that the characters felt realistic and that the dialogue, attire, and settings for each character really felt authentic. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched a movie or TV show and walked away thinking, “The person who wrote that clearly never meet a kid, teenager, or twenty something in their life! That was so unrealistic.” The slang’s all wrong. The dialogue is so eloquent everyone sounds like they did Shakespeare in the Park last summer. You walk away thinking, “What the hell was that? No one talks that way!” What I loved about the characters in Free Guy is that they felt like real people you could actually run into or walk past on the street. I’ve read in interviews that in addition to the written dialogue the cast did a lot of ad-libbing and improvisation and the end result is both hilarious and relatable. The dialogue feels real because it is. The big exception to this of course is Antwan who is altogether off the wall and ridiculous. Antwan is such an outrageous, absurd, vulgar, and cartoonish character. He’s so fun to watch and the actors clearly had a lot of fun with his scenes! I’ve read that a lot of his lines with Keys and Mouser were improvised and I believe it. When he goes all Jack Nicholson on the servers? Lord. He’s such a great villain to watch. The characters that are established to be in their twenties like Millie, Keys, Mouser, and the other employees at Soonami Studios talk, act, and dress like they’re in their twenties. The actors that are in their forties are styled to look like they’re in their thirties and honestly, they’re in such great shape it works! I mean I was honestly shocked to find out Taika Waititi’s real age. I love how the costuming really fits each character and allows you to learn more about them. Keys’ clothing is your typical gamer chic which makes because as we learn from his interview with Millie coding is his life and what gets him up in the morning. From Mouser’s clothing we learn that he’s a sports fan, but also isn’t afraid to take risks like with that blazer ensemble he wears in his final scene at Millie’s apartment.

Millie’s clothing shows the contrast between her and her avatar Molotov Girl, and Antwan’s ridiculous coat enhances the overall wackiness of his character. Guy’s clothing tells us something too. He wears the same thing every day until he meets Millie in the game at which point, he starts deviated from his Free City programming and chooses a different blue shirt. I also really love that they put thought into why Keys needs to wear glasses. Something I noticed on rewatch is that Keys is far sighted which is why he has his glasses on when he’s looking at his laptop or computer and sometimes when’s talking to other people, but not when he goes to see Millie at her apartment or when he goes to get them coffee at the end of the movie. Another interesting aspect of Keys’ character that I noticed on rewatch is self-confidence is really something he struggles with in contrast to Millie and Mouser who are very confident. Millie is a genius programmer and Mouser is excellent at what he does, and they are both very confident in their coding abilities, but Keys isn’t despite being every bit the genius that Millie is. At the beginning of the movie when they first notice the issue with Guy Mouser jokes that Keys needs to be better at his job. In response Keys meekly says he thinks he’s pretty good at his job and trails off at the end. Mouser is just joking around, but because Keys lacks self-confidence comments like that hit him hard. Mouser is moving towards his own desk as he talks so he doesn’t notice how self-deprecating and uneasy Keys’ response is. In the interview from the indie games conference that Millie plays for Keys at his apartment, he brushes off the interviewers comment that he’s a genius and says Millie is the real genius because she created the AI engine and he just wrote the code to make it work. Later on, when Keys helps Millie get into the stash house, she calls him a genius and he tells her that as he’s currently sitting on a toilet stealing user code he doesn’t exactly feel like one. Millie responds offhandedly that he never does, but luckily, she knows better. When Keys realizes that Millie was right, and that Antwan did steal their code and their game worked he tells Millie they need to celebrate because once everyone sees their build she’ll be celebrated and she could win a noble prize. Both Millie and Keys are geniuses in their own right. The game wouldn’t have worked without both of their skills and Guy wouldn’t have come to life without both of them working together. Millie’s AI engine made his sentience possible, but Keys is the one who gave him hopes and dreams so that when he met Millie in the game, he came alive. When done right the settings we see tell the story just as much as the characters do and I love how realistic the settings in Free Guy look. The floor at Soonami Studios where Keys and Mouser work looks like a real office and I love that the desks have clutter and personal effects on them like real cubicles do and that they show Keys taking a box of his stuff with him as he leaves. The lobby with the moving water videos and Antwan’s massive but largely empty office fits perfectly with the obnoxious, zany, and over the top character that he is. I also love the contrast between Keys and Millie’s apartments and how those settings tell us a lot about each character and where they are in their lives when the film starts. When Keys comes home from work to find that Millie has broken in, we see that he lives in a stylish one bedroom apartment with an open concept kitchen full of stainless steel appliances, a large living room centred around an expensive wall mounted TV and entertainment system, with his computer and gaming station set up in the corner. On the walls we see artful clusters of black picture frames, through a partially open door we see a bedroom off to the side, the apartment is full of black and white furniture including a plush couch and nice lamps, and features a textured silver accent wall. All of which makes the fact that Millie managed to break in even more impressive because it is clearly an expensive apartment in a nice building. Keys’ style is minimalist and upper scale and based on what we learn about the events that took place before the start of the movie this indicates that Keys got the apartment and all of the nice stuff in it using the money he received when Antwan bought his and Millie’s game. In contrast, Millie lives in a bachelor apartment and spends her time in coffee shops ordering one single black coffee over four hours. This tells us that she kept her original apartment that she had from before the game was sold and is living off the money she got from the sale while she spends all of her time trying to find the proof she needs to win her lawsuit. When we see Millie’s place, we find that it’s cozy, full of plants, throw rugs, quilts, and comfy furniture. She’s got a bike in the corner, you can see her bed from the centre of the room where she’s got her computer and gaming station set up adjacent to the coffee table and the rest of the living room furniture. Her kitchen is smaller and full of wooden cabinets and her bathroom door has DIY multicoloured square panels on it. Keys and Millie’s apartments are very different and through these settings we see the contrast between where these characters are in their lives, their wealth, and their personal style. The song ‘Fantasy’ by Mariah Carey is featured heavily in the film and is guaranteed to get stuck in your head in the best way! Jodie Comer’s cover of it is amazing! It fits the moment where Guy makes it to the island that is Millie and Keys’ original build and shows it to the world perfectly. This movie made me appreciate Mariah Carey’s music in a whole new way and I can’t be the only way. After watching the movie, I went looking for the song on Apple Music, wound up listening to the Mariah Carey Essentials Playlist, and I’ve become obsessed. I knew some of her hits, but after listening to her music more I get why people love her so much. Her five octave vocal range is amazing, and her music is just so fun to listen to. The film has a really great soundtrack overall and I’ve had many of its song on repeat since I saw it. Something I really loved about this movie and the reveal at the end that Keys is in love with Millie and is desperate for her to notice, but she’s been oblivious the whole time is that they don’t do the supposedly nice nerdy guy whose really a jerk trope. So many movies do this where you have a nerdy male character whose unluckily love, looked over, or his love is unrequited, and we’re supposed to root for him because he’s a quote “nice guy”. But really, he’s not. He’s a jerk who feels slighted because a woman in his life doesn’t love him back or notice him and he feels as if she owes him something. The scene at Millie’s place where Millie tells Keys he looks cute when he brags, and Mouser encourages him to tell Millie how he feels is super frustrating to watch but it’s so important to Keys’ character. He asks Millie out for coffee and when she turns him down to jump back into the game, he doesn’t make a big deal about it even though Mouser wants him to. Instead he gets up and goes and gets her a coffee anyway. She goes to tell him her order, oblivious to the fact that he’s memorized it, he tells her he remembers, and goes to get the coffee anyway much to Mouser’s and the audience’s dismay. This is big because Keys clearly doesn’t want to be walking down the street by himself to get coffee. He wants to be getting coffee with Millie so that he can tell her how he feels to see if she might feel the same way, but when she turns him down he goes and gets the coffee anyway because he truly loves and cares about her and he values their friendship enough to put his own feelings aside and suffer in silence rather than lose her and what they’ve built. So, he takes the opportunity to get some air rather than continue to sit there in disappointment. Which is why he’s so confused when Millie runs after him and calls out to him from across the street. He doesn’t understand what she’s doing there. She turned down his offer to get a coffee and he already knows her order so why is she there? I love that they chose to make that scene non-verbal. I think if Millie had come out and made some big declaration of love it would have felt cheesy and overdone. But her running after him and silently communicating through her smile and body language that she understood and that she felt the same way was perfect. It was subtle and beautiful and perfectly acted. It also felt realistic to the characters because in real life when you’ve known someone a really long time and you’ve spent a lot of time with them you don’t always need words to convey what you mean. What Millie wanted to express in that scene was so big and so all-encompassing she couldn’t find the words to say everything that she wanted to say so she didn’t. She just stood there and smiled knowing that being the genius that he is he would understand. It’s like Keys says in their interview, words will fail you, but code never does. His coding worked and now she understands so rather than try and say it all and fail she just looks at him and smiles to show him that she finally gets it. She finally understands what he’s been trying to say to her all this time. And you can see the exact moment Keys realizes why she’s there. The moment where he goes from being confused as to what she wants to realizing that she saw the video and she knows how he feels and that she wouldn’t be standing there smiling at him like that if she didn’t feel the same way. When I watched the scene the first time around, I was anxiously clutching my nachos the entire time because when Keys ran towards her my immediate thought was, “Oh my god he’s gonna get hit by a car and they’re never gonna get to be together! Oh my god!” But then he didn’t get hit by a car and Millie ran out to meet him and for the first time in their relationship she met him halfway and they kissed and it was beautiful! I think because Free City had so much violence in it that’s where my mind went and I’m very glad they didn’t go that route. One of my only criticisms about the movie is that I wish they had stayed on Millie and Keys just a little bit longer. They kiss and embrace and then very quickly they cut to black. I wish they’d linger on that moment just a little bit longer because I love those characters so much and in the scene that follows where Guy and Buddy are reunited we see them hug and then walk away together to start their new lives and I wish we’d gotten just a bit more time with Millie and Keys. I also really loved the parallel between the different kinds of relationships within the movie and how platonic relationships are just as important as romantic ones. The reveal at the end about Guy being Keys’ creation and a love letter to Millie and her realizing she’s been loving Keys vicariously through Guy and them finally coming together and being on the same page is beautiful because from the very beginning the movie is full of clues, hints, and foreshadowing that all comes together at the end. Meanwhile, we see the friendship between Guy and Buddy and how important that friendship is to him because it’s something that he created on his own. His love for Millie is born out of the programming that Keys gave him, but his friendship with Buddy is something that Guy created all on his own of his own volition. Which is part of what makes Buddy’s death on the bridge so tragic. I cried when Buddy disappeared. Reynolds and Howery play their characters with such sincerity that his death pacts an emotional punch you don’t expect. I love that the security guards at Soonami are so moved by Buddy’s heroism and are so captivated by what’s happening with the live stream that Millie is able to sneak past them into the server room and stop Antwan from destroying what’s left of the game. Something else I noticed on rewatch is that during the final battle after Millie gets booted from the game and Guy has to fight Dude on his own the glasses he’s wearing are very similar to the ones Keys wears in the movie which I thought was a cool nod to Guy being Keys’ creation. This really is a movie in which you find something new every time you watch it. For instance, the second time around I noticed that the foreshadowing that Keys is in love with Millie, but she’s oblivious to it because she’s so focused on the game was really well done. In the video from the indie game conference that Millie plays for Keys at his apartment when asked by the interviewer about their chemistry Millie responds first and says that their friends, their relationship is completely platonic, and laughs off the idea that they have chemistry. In contrast Keys falters and is silent and then eventually says meekly that they’re just friends. Millie is looking ahead at the interviewer and to the side away from Keys as she’s laughing and so she doesn’t see Keys’ reaction. At the end of the apartment scene after Millie breaks in to ask Keys for his help, he tells Millie he cares about her and he almost says something else. It feels like he’s about to say, ‘I love you’ but then he catches himself and instead tells her that she needs to leave. When Keys visits Millie’s apartment to tell her that she was right and they’re sitting on the couch he reaches out and puts his hand on her knee and then snatches it back when he realizes he’s gotten too close. He wants so desperately to be closer to her and in his excitement, he gets closer than he normally would before realizing that putting his hand on her knee in that close proximity is not a platonic gesture. Millie is so caught up in the realization that Guy, the person she’s fallen in love with, is an AI and not a real person that she doesn’t notice. My heart broke for Keys in that scene as he realized that Millie had fallen for Guy and kissed him and was so upset about it and meanwhile, he was right in front of her desperate for her to see how much he cares. It must have just wrecked him to go home that night and realize that Guy was based on the lovelorn character he created and that Millie had fallen in love with his creation while at the same time being so oblivious to his real world affection for her. In the scene at Millie’s apartment after they’ve gotten the server from Antwan and Mouser encourages Keys to say something, I noticed on rewatch just how weak and meager Keys’ attempt to ask Millie out is. He stumbles his way through asking her to get a coffee and trails off at the end so it’s no wonder Millie doesn’t clue in that he’s trying to ask her out. And in Keys’ defence he sent her a whole video confessing his feelings for her and all of the little things he loves about her and then told her to watch it and he has no idea if she did or not. We the audience know that Millie only saw half of it, but Keys has no idea if she saw none of it, part of it, or all of it. He knows she got Guy to remember, but she’s also sending him mixed messages. One minute she’s saying he’s cute when he brags and the next, she’s turning him down for coffee to talk to Guy. From the outside it’s so obvious that Keys is in love with Millie, but she doesn’t see it because she’s always looking the other way, not paying attention, so caught up in the game, and too focused on their work to see what’s right in front of her. On rewatch one of the big things I noticed is that Keys is always on the edge of telling Millie how he really feels but he always stops himself because she brushes him or the idea off and because he’s scared of what will become of their work and their friendship if she doesn’t feel the same way. It’s a huge leap. If Millie doesn’t feel the same way it’s going to make their relationship incredibly awkward and could potentially destroy their partnership so Keys decides it’s better not to say anything or only hint at how he feels rather than run the risk of ruining everything. Something else I noticed on rewatch is that in the interview they give Keys says he thinks of himself as an author and that code is what gets him up in the morning and that he loves the ones and zeros of binary because words can fail you and let you down but code never does. At the end of the movie when Millie goes to talk to Guy in Free Life he tells her that he loves her and while he knows that’s his programming he’s realized that he’s a love letter to her and that somewhere out there in the real world is the author. Such a great callback. All in all, I can definitely say that Free Guy has been my favourite movie so far this year! Definitely my favourite movie of the summer. I went to see it twice in theatres and I’ve never done that for any other movie before. I’ll rewatch them at home sure, but I’ve never actually paid money to see something twice on my own. I’m very excited to see the sequel and my hope is that it will be just as good as the first.  Until next time.

[the-sprog]

So since I'm very bad at remembering my ideas, I'm gonna throw this out there and hope one day I'm like "WAIT didn't I have an idea for a fic??? What was it???" And I will find it on my tumblr.

It's about Danny Phantom, obviously.

There are actually two of them in here so:

The easiest one: Jack and Maddie are not stupid. I mean they're scientists, the use the scientific method. One of the things about the scientific method is that if you do a bunch of tests, based on an hypothesis and only one of them comes out disproving it, then your hypothesis is incorrect.

Phantom has disproved basically all of their hypothesis.

So, next thing to do? Create a new one. Do new tests. They take Jazz's suggestion and try and see if the ghosts of Amity are actually conscious. Because obviously they're sentient, but are they like animals? Or are they like robots with artificial intelligence?

Or even better yet, are they like humans?

They grab Phantom's attention and ask him if he would cooperate for this test. A simple Turing test. Obviously they're still wary because of everything that happened with him, and do the test with witnesses to keep both Phantom's and their minds at ease.

He passed the test. With flying colors.

They're shocked and ask him if he knew peaceful ghosts that would be willing to take the test (because, y'know. Scientific method. Need to try over and over again). Phantom would have to explain that not all ghosts are as human-like as him (as, first of all, he's a halfa, but he doesn't say that. And second, lots of them are blobs or animal-like ghosts), but cue his parents meeting Jhonny and Kitty (cause I like the idea that they have a truce with Phantom and that going out of the zone helps them with their couple problems), as well as Shadow (example of a less human-like ghost). Then Sidney, Dora, the Fright Knight (cause king ghost Danny ftw) and Frostbite.

They all pass, more or less. Some, like Dora, the light and Sidney, where given away by their choice of word, but other than that all of them passed the test.

OK SO MORE COMPLEX ONE:

I love crossovers. I love finding ways of putting the two universes together, of making them work with each other, adapting the rules so that they apply to both. (With Danny Phantom it's also really cool to just... Make him travel the multiverse. He doesn't adhere to the rules of where he goes to, so it's always hilarious. But we're not here for that now).

One of the best ones to do this with is My Hero Academia. Whenever a show has someone with powers I end up asking myself "how should that work in the world of my hero?" And start trying to incorporate it in the lore.

So, first thing first, we're getting rid of the canon story of my hero. Completely unrelated to the show. This takes place decades in the past, when the first people where developing quirks (so if I wanted to write something with this and actually use my hero characters, I'd make it so that they where hit with a time traveling quirk or that Clockwork was somehow involved).

The Fenton's hatred for ghosts? Make it discrimination against the people who have quirks.

Danny being half-ghost? His quirk's fault. He calls it Ghost, for simplicity, it allows him to come back as a sort of ghost-like creature after he dies. Somehow, one day, he doesn't die completely so his body fixes it the only way it know how. Making him partially ghost.

Obviously that would mean that all the ghosts he fights aren't ghosts anymore. They're villains with quirks, and their powers would be based on what they can do on the show, minus the basic intangibility, invisibility and flight.

Obviously only Sam and Tucker would know he was Phantom and he had a quirk, he's also kinda the only one in town with one. People would be a little racist against quirk havers, but the kids, like in the show, come around to it. And actually start loving Phantom and thinking of him as a hero.

How do I fit Vlad in all of this? Ehm ahhhh this is the one thing I didn't think about. Very basic, but could give him a power similar to Danny, were instead of a ghost, he becomes a vampire. But his quirk is caused by an accident in college, so it's artificial.

Why does Skulker (who doesn't have a quirk. He's just a guy in a suit) hunt Danny? He has a very unique quirk.

Does Dani exist? I mean. Yeah. Cloning is not so farfetched, especially with the existence of quirks.

Clockwork can control time, he involuntary does that being a child, then an adult then an old man thing. The Observants are people without quirks that keep him in check, an organization that made a pact with him to stay young forever or something in change of idk what. No idea what Clockwork would get out of it I won't lie. Money maybe? Or somehow they found a way of keeping him there against his will?

Walker (and I'll make a seperate post about this) is an ex guy in white. Yes they still exist, but they hunt quirk havers instead of paranormal stuff. Walker was kicked out because he actually has a quirk but lied about it. He's after his own kind in the show as well. I mean, he's a stickler to the rules, but he only ever seems to care when it's ghosts that brake them. Correct me if I'm wrong, but never has he punished a human. His quirk is making semi-sentient minions. They're not copies of himself. They're like clay humans with basic forms. They all look alike and have no special characteristics.

Frostbite is just... A yeti. With cryokenisis. It's a mutation type quirk.

Same goes for Wulf, he's just a humanoid wolf that can create teleportation portals. I can't think of a reason why he would only speak Esperanto though. It could be something similar to Five from umbrella academy. He accidentally got stuck in the 1600 as a kid and managed to come back only relatively recently.

I feel like all the other ghosts have obvious powers.

Cujo can become ginormous,

Technus can control technology,

Dora and Aragon can become dragons,

Jhonny gives people bad luck and can control his shadow,

Kitty can make man disappear,

Ember can mind control using music,

Spectra can use people's negative emotions to stay young,

Bernard has shapeshifting,

Youngblood can't be seen by adults (side effect: can't grow old) and his sideckick has a variant of shapeshifting where he can only transform in animals. A definitive father figure),

Box ghost can control boxes,

Pandora can control the plagues of the world,

Desiré can make people's wishes come true,

Sidney can swap bodies with people,

Undergrowth can control plants,

Pariah Dark- I... Actually don't know...

Lunch Lady can control food,

Aaaanndddd no more come to mind.

I want to do something with this AU but I can't really think of an interesting story, other than "kids from 1A get misplaced in time and Danny has to help, discovering the existence of Clockwork and the Observants, whom he hates. So he tries to get Clockwork out of there with the other kid's help" but that's it, really.

I actually have a 3rd idea, but it basically works the same as the MHA one. Crossover with the X-Men.

Substitute quirk havers with mutants and quirks with mutations and you get the idea.

The plot would be more of a "Danny gets recruited by Xavier after the trauma of almost dying activated his mutation and goes to live at the mansion. This happens after the events of season 3, alla salted to make sense in the world of Marvel, but without Phantom planet. He makes friends there, since Sam and Tucker aren't with him and everything is fine and dandy and happy. Until it comes out that the Fentons actually contribute to the creation of the Sentinels, because they hate Phantom that much.

So Danny has to infiltrate his own family to get info on how the Sentinels work so they can destroy them, since his parents are still oblivious and they made it so that the Sentinels wouldn't attack Danny thinking that his accident just somehow make him register as a mutant on machinery" and that's it.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

I'm extremely happy that the two ghost-type Pokemon he has are also object Pokemon.

He needs the others: also he does not need to be bound by the six Pokemon rule.

Ghost types that are also objects:

Drifblim, cofagrigus, palossand, dhelmise (it the plant but shhh) cursola, spirtomb, and technically Rotom that funky dude. ( he already has a Litwick)

Ones that could be Loosely considered object Pokemon:

Genger( sentient shadow), marshadow (punch being in the shadows) polteageist (it's inside the teacup) trevenant (tree), gourgeist(pumpkin), Golurk . And if you stretch really far should shedinja ( literally sheded skin)

Possible ghost-type object Pokemon storys.

Cofagrigus: a great place to sleep on the go! keep trying to kill him. but will never work. (Maybe he thinks that Ingo already Mummy because his wearing rags) Ingo feeds in money. (Or straight-up wants to be ingo's coffin)

*Don't think about Ingo meeting it while he was a yamask (mask = coat) or worst alive (total lost of self once it becomes cofagrigus = immortality parallels?).

Dhelmise: man needs an ugly Pokemon and look what he found under the ocean. Probably won't live long because it's a plant (ghost comes first tho)unless. idea. the anchor is also possessed by a sea captain. Two in one. (In memory of Garbodor and Klinklang)

Mimikyu: (I'm counting it) just it to be itself and loved. doesn't want hide but sun hurts it. (this is probably before they decided to make up a costume inspired by Pikachu, ingo accidentally inspires this Behavior ) and ingo attempt to help her out. By making costumes. (Tailor is going to make sure is good one. Whenever it's not trying to kill the coat. it's making costumes for the mimikyu) (ingo snuggle forever could be your reality ~)

Spiritomb: guess where some of platinum clan went. Lol

Ghost Pokemon that would be interesting for him to have due to symbolic reasons:

Shedinja: remaining shell, entirely immobile Pokemon that does not breathe. The discard skin separate from the body gaining life. (Two Pokemon but one doesn't survive because immortality, and said surviving Pokemon is apathetic)

Golurk: made in ancient times and was ordered to protect people and Pokemon. But it fears that its seal in his chest will get removed which will cause it to rage indiscriminately. also somehow can fly around in the sky in Mach speeds??? Could be found left abandoned with no energy? maybe Ingo actually made one himself by total accident? (I mean they already existed in legends of Arceus but it would be cool)

this is the Council. it's a bunch of old ghost types who have Been Around and maybe ingo's figured out how to talk to them, i think that was proposed at some point... so these are his fellow immortals who've had a few centuries to Figure Out how to run a place and now they're like advisors.

why are you being so MEAN to DHELMISE i love the idea of it being possessed by the spirit of a sea captain though. he taps it for nautical wisdom and a fellow transit appreciator

AWW TAILOR ADOPTING MIMIKYU new afterlife goal after deciding to call off the war with ingo's coat: look after this soft lil shadow baby.

actually maybe ingo stole volo's spiritomb? since that one would be another immortal and volo definitely doesn't deserve it. why volo canonically has a spiritomb in the first place, though, i have no idea. that, OR it's vessa's spiritomb. it has a lot of knowledge on account of being like fifty ghosts in one, it's just getting the knowledge sorted out of that big mess that's the issue

[ladyeliot]

Stay with me

Prequel to  It will always be you.

Pairing: Tony Stark x Avenger Female Reader

Summary: Because of the consequences of your actions, 117 nations come together to create the Sokovia Accords. Now a decision hangs over you, whether to sign them or not, whatever you do will have repercussions.

Warnings: Angst.

Word count: 3702

A/N: Civil War. Some of the dialogue is taken from the film. Sorry for my spelling and grammatical mistakes, English is not my native language, I am learning.

Reader Powers: Psionic. You use psionic force to track any sentient being. You also create psychic shields to protect yourself. You can project psychic force bolts which have no physical effects but which can affect a victim's mind, causing them pain.

The evidence was clear, the position you were currently in had come about because of some very poor performance on your part, the news had echoed the catastrophes you had caused, especially the attack on Lagos, the governments had lined up to stop it and come to a common agreement to keep you under their command. Deep down you all knew that day would come, though you were confident it would be further away. It had been almost four years since Tony Stark had rescued you from your past, from being a contraption held in a laboratory for research. You had been offered a future where you no longer had to run or hide, you had been offered freedom, a purpose in life, but that bundle of paperwork in front of your eyes was meant to make you a prisoner of the government once again.

The discussion had been getting louder and louder, the different opinions countering each other were causing the nerves to come to the fore, alternating the atmosphere. Although the resolution was clear, there was nothing to be done, you were either with them or against them, becoming a fugitive wanted by the whole world. The Sokovia Accords were established by the United Nations and ratified by 117 nations, and what they proposed was to regulate the activities of the altered individuals, namely that the Avengers would cease to be a private organisation, and from now on would operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, and only when and if that panel deemed it necessary.

There was no turning back, the consequences had been placed before you for the acts you had committed, it was a one way street, not a return. Secretary Ross had been in charge of presenting you with the whole set of papers that would have to be signed by you, but convincing you all to agree was not going to be so easy. 

“So let's say we agree to this thing,” Sam said, unresponsive to the situation. “How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?”

“A 117 countries want to sign this,” Rhodes reminded him.  “117, Sam, and you're just like, ‘No, that's cool. We got it.’”

Unlike them, you chose to keep a few metres away from the meeting table, remain silent and meditate with yourself on the proposal, not that you didn't know the pros and cons or the consequences of not signing the agreements, but that you wanted to analyse the situation from different points of view without the others questioning your opinions.

"Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal," Natasha said, turning her gaze to Tony.

“It's because he's already made up his mind,” Steve's tone seemed harsher than usual.

“Boy, you know me so well,” Tony countered sarcastically, then turned his gaze and gestured in your direction.  "She does seem to have made up her mind what her decision is."

You felt the gaze of everyone present focus on you, who unlike him preferred to be absorbed in the shadows, hiding from the attention of your companions. But in the end, perhaps his words were true and you had made a decision, a decision that you were not going to allow anyone to choose for you.

"I guess it's not as simple as you're trying to make us believe Tony," your tone was calm and affable, knowing that you were about to receive a sarcastic and ironic counterattack from him.

"Simple?" he gets up from the sofa raising his hands, walking towards the kitchen area, where you were sitting on a stool. "You think it's simple for me?" he pulls a mobile device out of his pocket and sets it down right in front of you on the top, the device projecting an image of a smiling young man. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. Had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service. Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where, Sokovia."

You look down, you understand perfectly what he means, you remember what happened in Sokovia, you remember because you were there, you saw with your own eyes what happened and also the consequences of your actions. But you knew that any decision had consequences and they could have been much worse if you had not acted, although there were also causes for your own fault.

"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose," Tony continued, looking directly at you, his tone rising and stiffening. "I mean, we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass."

After his last word, silence filled the room, everyone in the room was reliving the ghosts of the past. Tony definitely realising that you weren't going to look up to return his gaze decided to head back into the room with the others.

"There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes..."

You felt his voice trailing off, then Steve seemed to come in to debate various points, but you could barely focus on what each of them was saying. An internal struggle was going on inside you, and you couldn't wait to see who was going to win.

"I have to go."

You looked up after hearing those words spoken by Steve, his body rose energetically, dropping the agreements from his hand. That was the beginning of all the consequences that were to come after we had made the decision not to sign.

Your steps were decisive, you walked through those long corridors that had become your home for the last few years, knowing that you would most likely never see them again, or at least not for an indefinite period of time. You truly believed you had made a decision, a decision that could become the decision of a lifetime, a before and after in the life process you had created for yourself. You believed that you knew the consequences, that you would be willing to face them as they came. You knew there were going to be setbacks, obstacles, but you didn't expect one as big as him to stand in your way.

"So you've made your decision?" the figure of Tony stood in the doorway of your room, a serious look on his face seeming to immobilise you. "Are you going to leave with Steve?

"I think it's for the best," your words were blunt, as you packed your most essential belongings into a rucksack.

His body entered your room just before the door closed behind him. You knew Tony well enough to know that his next words to you were likely to make an impression on you, but your mind was made up.

"Did you hear anything I just said in the living room?" he pursed his lips and ran his fingers nervously over them.

"Don't make this difficult for me," those words left your lips almost as a plea.

You barely looked at him, your back was turned to him and your eyes were focused on the inside of that backpack that seemed to have no end.

"I suppose you know that your decision is a single ticket," his words were firm. "That you're basically signing your own fucking sentence."

"No," you dropped the backpack and turned to him to find yourself face to face. "That's exactly what I'm running from," you sighed. "I think you of all people know that I know what it's like to be someone's property, that I've been for far too long and that's what really scares me," your pupils dilated as you remembered every single moment you'd lived hidden from the world, being an experiment. "I don't need guys in ties fighting for their own interests telling me what to do or where to go, because my freedom ends when they command me," the seriousness on Tony's face had relaxed, he kept his gaze on his feet and nodded. "I want you to know that I'm going with Steve because you had already made your decision."

The tension spread slightly around you, so much was hidden in those words, much more than what was shown. The complexity of the situation went far beyond signing or not signing the agreements, it was the break-up of a group, of friends, of family, something that could never be put back together again.

"I... I don't know if I'm going to be able to protect you," Tony clenched his jaw as he denied to himself, resting his brown eyes on yours again.

"I never asked you to."

You knew perfectly well how much your words must have hurt him, and what he meant when he said he couldn't protect you. There were so many hidden things in the air, but this was not the right time to start that conversation, maybe it was too late, nothing was going to change things so you asked yourself to please not make things more complicated. You turned around and nimbly zipped up your backpack, everything you had of great sentimental value was inside.

"I'm sorry," you whispered, hanging the backpack over your right shoulder and looking up at him.

"You're not sorry," his tone became serious, but at the same time indifferent, he was hurt. His gaze turned away from yours.

"This isn't what I wanted to happen," you whispered hoping that wasn't the last image you would see of him before you left.

"So, all you have to do was stay," those were the words that almost caused something inside you to stir, but you only gave a small, wistful smile as you looked at his face.

"You know I can't," you whispered hoping he wouldn't extract his share of indifference towards you again. "Please don't make it more complicated for me, because I can't deal with you right now.”

It was impossible to explain to you at that moment the dilemma that was building up inside you. On the one hand your ethics and your values were what prevented you from signing those damn papers that limited and curtailed your freedoms, it was something you assumed. On the other hand, how could it be so hard to leave Tony, why, what was going on right now that you couldn't face?

"Maybe you should just leave now," Tony slipped his hands into his Tom Ford trouser pockets and focused his gaze on the door to your room.

You nodded slowly, your brow furrowed and your lips parted as you didn't expect those words at all, you were ready to start an internal struggle, but he had already sentenced the conversation.

"Alright," you muttered, taking a step backwards, away from him. "Bye Tony."

As you got closer to that door a lump settled tighter in your throat, like a dramatic movie you expected him to say something to stop you at any moment, but he didn't. The door opened and allowed you to leave. The corridors seemed miles long, perhaps because time was slowing down. A black car could be seen from the wide glass windows, there were Steve and Sam waiting for you. A guilty smile appeared on your face as you walked back through the hall, bidding farewell to those present.

As you stepped outside, the air seemed to open up your lungs again, which had been stuck after the last goodbye you had said to Tony. Sam was inside the car, and Steve took care of getting your rucksack into the boot, along with his shield and Sam's wings.

"Are you all right?" muttered Steve, to which your response was a gentle nod.

As you rested your hand on the handle to open the car door, you couldn't help but direct your gaze towards the top of the building, right where you had left Tony a few minutes ago. But there was definitely no sign coming from that spot to stop you from continuing on your way.

The next few days the situation became more complex than anyone here would have expected. Agent Carter's funeral passed without incident, Natasha appeared to inform you that she was leaving for Vienna to sign the agreements, that there was still a chance for you to change your minds, but none of you did. Perhaps it was for the best, because during the signing an attack happened on the spot, an attack that changed the course of things. All eyes were on the Winter Soldier, Bucky, that directed Steve, Sam and you to Bucharest in a supposed attempt to get to Bucky before the authorities did.

"They're on the roof," Sam reported over the intercom.

"Steve get out of there right now," you said hiding on the roof of the building next door. "I can sense you but I can't surround your body with psychic energy unless you come out into the open."

That day was one of the worst failures you had ever managed to pull off, perhaps it was obvious that things didn't go quite right when feelings ran high, and it showed in Steve, especially when law enforcement trapped you in that tunnel.

"Stand down, now," War machine appeared before you to end the fatal chase and set you on your way to Berlin.

You knew what would follow, there was only one way out or the consequences would be far more extreme, either sign the agreements or become prisoners of the law. Things were different for you, Captain could have his shield removed, Sam could have his wings removed and T'Challa, who had appeared in pursuit out of nowhere could have his suit removed too, but you and Bucky were far more dangerous, especially as your powers and dangers were in the mind.

When you arrived at the facility in that armoured truck Bucky was put in an extreme protection capsule, that marked memory making you remember the past time.

"What's going to happen to him?" asked Steve walking beside you in the direction of Everett Ross, Deputy Commander of the Joint Forces.

"The same as you. Psychological evaluation and extradition," he focused his gaze on you.  "Miss Y/L/N, let's hope you'll be cooperative."

You understood his words, you knew the fear you could cause, force could be controlled, the mind was much more complicated.

"Of course," you affirmed with all your good intentions.

You didn't know where, but you assumed that in a few minutes you were going to meet him again in some remote part of that building, you could feel it. First it was Natasha who approached you, and then when you stepped inside the control room there was Tony, talking on the phone.

"[...] consequences?" he turned his body towards you, his gaze fixed on you, which made you cross your arms and look around, avoiding her. "Of course there will be consequences."

"Consequences?" asked Steve with a serious look on his face.

"Secretary Ross wants to prosecute the three of you. I had to give something."

You walked away from them, realising that you had two armed men following your every step around that room. You watched the monitors, every corner of the planet seemed to be controlled by them, there was nothing they could miss, you could even see yourself reflected in one of them.

"Is it worth it?" you turned your face to find yourself face to face with the one who had made you doubt your decision a few days ago.

He took his right hand out of one of his trouser pockets and made a slight gesture for the two security officers who had been assigned to you to move a little away from you, offering you some privacy.

"What do you mean?" you cocked your head to one side. Your voice was stiff, you were tense enough about the situation to offer him a friendly tone.

"I don't know, was it worth risking everything to find yourself back here with possible legal charges?" you didn't deny it, Tony's words hurt.

"Are you rejoicing?" you squinted, uncrossing your arms and turning your whole body towards him.

"How do you think this will all end?" he ran his index finger down the side of his mouth, his nervousness showing. Those words made you shudder. "Now you have a chance, don't let it slip away."

"Please, don't make this worse than it already is," your pleas were in vain. The last thing you wanted right now was a lecture from Tony.

"This wouldn't even abe problem, if you wouldn't make one out of it!" his voice was authoritative.

Your refusals and hesitations had gotten on his nerves, it was evident in the way he was addressing you. That was the last thing you wanted to do, to cause trouble, but it was clear that you were on the defensive against any verbal attack Tony might offer you. Sparks could almost fly between your gazes, which were still on after the conversation was over. You had no idea what was going to happen next, so you were grateful that Natasha caught Tony's attention at that moment, breaking into a battle that wasn't going anywhere.

The hours passed really slowly, so you found a space in a glassed-in conference room to settle in, under, of course, the watchful eye of the guards in charge of you, until you were called in for your psychological analysis.

"Do you need anything?" the door closed behind him.

"Are you playing good cop?" you asked watching as he dropped his blazer on a chair and sat down right next to you. "You're not giving up, are you?"

"I'll take every last cartridge," he leaned his elbow on the table and dropped his chin into the palm of his hand. "You know, I was just remembering earlier when we all went to that Italian restaurant in Soho on your birthday, and then we were at the concert by.... Oh, what was the name of the band? "

"What are you trying Tony?" you cocked your head to the side with a small smile on your face.

"I'm trying to... how do you say?" he rested his index finger on your lips. "Signing a peace agreement? Trying to get to your sensitive spot, because you have one, right?"

"I don't know, I guess if you have one I might as well, huh?" you arched an eyebrow, intertwining your fingers on the table, causing him to make a gesture of placing his hands on yours, but he never got to touch them by restraining himself, so you ignored the gesture.  "Do you want to sign a peace agreement with me, or do you want me to sign the Sokovia Accords?"

He took a breath and let it out slowly through his nostrils. He was completely frustrated, you knew it, you could feel it, he had rarely been involved in those situations that were out of his control.

"Listen," he paused slightly, bringing his fingers to his chin. "I think it's time that I..." he tore his gaze away from yours, let it wander, searching for his words as he gestured with his right hand. "I've tried many times, to do this but.... God, this really is the worst time to do it." He looked around nervously and then crossed his arms, but quickly pulled them apart. "Whatever. We're... well, I... it's likely that I, maybe, can feel..."

You would remember that moment all your life, especially since you wouldn't know until many years later what he meant to say to you. At that moment the lights went out, the monitors stopped working and everything was dark around you, only red flickering lights would have made their way into your darkness. Your head swivelled around you in search of whatever it was that was going on, Tony got up from his seat and placed his glasses over his eyes.

"Friday, give me the source of the blackout," he said to himself.

Finally your eyes focused on Steve and Sam, who were standing next to Sharon in the next room. You listened as Sharon informed them of Bucky's location, and a last glance towards you informed you that they were going to head that way, but just as you were about to leave that meeting room a hand came down hard around your arm.

"Stay with me," the trembling words that came from his lips seemed to shake your insides.

"I can't," you mumbled through your teeth almost with all the pain in your heart.

His fingers loosened, allowing you to leave the room as quickly as possible, but you took one last second to contemplate his face and how many feelings were hidden in it. You knew you only had one chance, everyone present was distracted enough to find the reason for the blackout, you had only a few seconds to get out of the room without being seen, and a couple of minutes before they noticed, so you didn't take long to do it.

A new decision piled up on your list, always facing the consequences you had acquired, and fighting against the feelings your heart presented to you. It wasn't easy, you hadn't given it much thought either, but what you did know was that you didn't regret having done it, at least so far.

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