#i made other versions that actually sort of look like horses somewhat but this is the best one actually

[biblically-accurate-dca]

day 24: mlp :]

[scottpetersen]

DuckTales The Inter-Dimensional Swap Fanfic Chapter 2

Scrooge McDuck (2017) POV:

I wasted no time in trying to find a way home.

But that’s starting to look much harder than I thought.

I asked this world’s Gyro Gearloose if he can find a way to send me and my counterpart back to our home dimensions.

But after giving me a brief lecture about String Theory, he told me that according to his instruments, whatever sent me here is keeping my “quantum strings” fixed onto this world meaning nothing can reverse it besides what caused it in the first place.

Speaking of Gyro, I’m not getting anywhere near as much pompous mad scientist vibes from this world’s version of him as I did from the one back home.

In fact, everyone here is a bit different than the versions of them I know. There’s no version of Della in this world! The Donald here is usually away working at the navy. The Huey, Dewey and Louie have completely identical personalities and the only thing that helps me tell them apart is that they’re color-coded. The Beakley here doesn’t seem like the fighting sort. And neither does this world’s Webby.

And while I’m on the subject, I asked this world’s Beakley what things are like between the Webby here and my counterpart.

She told me about how this world’s version of my daughter likes to mimic me from time to time like how she copied my counterpart’s attitude on a phone call. It reminded me of how my Webby read my biography and perfectly mimicked the way I drink my tea.

This world’s Beakley also told me about how this world’s version of me makes sure to correct himself when it seems like his more negative quirks are starting to rub off on this world’s Webby.

So, I guess this world’s version of my daughter has at least a small bit in common with my world’s version of her and our counterparts in this world do have at least somewhat of a father/daughter relationship.

I also decided to teach this world’s Webby a thing or 2 about horse back riding. She didn’t seem to be the fighting or athletic sort. So, I figured teaching her how to ride a horse would be the next best thing.

I did actually enjoy it all a bit and this Webby does indeed remind me of my Webby.

But it just did not feel the same.

This Webby asked me why I called her my daughter earlier.

I then told her everything about our relationship back home and my world’s Webby turning out to be a clone made from my DNA which technically made her my biological daughter.

“Wait. If Ms. Beakley is the other me’s grandma and you’re the other me’s dad, wouldn’t that make my grandma your mom?” this world’s Webby asked me while I was explaining.

I almost fell out of my chair at that thought.

“Um…well…I never exactly thought of it like that. But…” I started to say but stopped myself not sure what to think of that idea. “How about we just move on with what I was saying?”

“Ok.” this world’s Webby replied.

After I finished explaining the story to her, she all too enthusiastically asked if that could be the case here too.

I wasn’t sure about that. And I also didn’t want to keep the truth from her since keeping what happened to my niece a secret from my family almost tore us apart and Beakley keeping where she found her a secret from Webby almost broke her heart.

So, I asked this world’s Gyro to do a DNA test to see if me and Webby’s counterparts could be related here too.

And the test indicated that they actually aren’t.

When I saw this Webby deeply saddened by the news, I went over and gave her a hug.

The whole ordeal made me feel all kinds of horrible and uncomfortable in more ways than one. But I was still able to give this Webby a sympathetic speech about how even if she and my counterpart aren’t genetically related, they’re still family and they can still be father and daughter.

That did make this Webby feel a bit better. But I still saw tears in her eyes.

For once in my life, I actually fled from the situation.

I took a dip in my counterpart’s money bin to calm myself down.

But even my money bin didn’t feel the same as back home.

Ugh. All the more reason to find a way home and see my world’s version of my family again!

Then, something else just crossed my mind.

There is one thing that would be powerful enough to put me and my counterpart in this situation: the Papyrus Of Binding.

I went and did some research to see if there is a version of it in this world.

But if there seems to be very little record of it in this dimension. There isn’t even any record of its location. That might explain why my other self never seemed to search for it.

Another thing is that if it was used to send us to each other’s dimensions, that means that someone is behind this!

And that someone could be getting ready to attack me and my counterpart any moment now.

With that in mind, I realized that I may need some help to get the Papyrus Of Binding away from them.

I asked this world’s Duckworth about everyone my counterpart has met and one name stood out to me!

According to Duckworth, she doesn’t reside in Duckburg.

So, I asked this world’s Launchpad for a flight.

I made sure the reporters know that I’m going away to make sure whoever caused this doesn’t attack where most of my family’s counterparts are.

This world’s Launchpad and I crashed-landed in Klondike.

“Wait here. I’ll be back soon.” I told this world’s Launchpad.

“You got it, Mr. McD.” this world’s Launchpad replied.

With that, I started heading towards town and soon caught sight of the household I was looking for.

I sure hope this world’s version of her will help me.

-

Scrooge McDuck (1987) POV:

This world’s versions of the people I know are very different than the ones I’m familiar with.

The boys here are actually very different from each other unlike the ones back home. The Dewey here is reckless and silly. The Huey is very book-smart and heavily relies on the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook that all 3 of the boys back at my home relied on so much.

The Duckworth here apparently died and is now helping around the mansion as a ghost as I found out the hard way when he accidentally startled me.

The Ms. Beakley here is much more firm and strict than the one back home. And she’s also a very competent fighter. And apparently, she was also an agent of a spy organization called SHUSH.

The fact that this world’s Webby is actually my daughter caught me off-guard even more. I do love my world’s Webby and I do try to be a good example for her when it comes to how to interact with people. But I never actually thought of her as my daughter.

Speaking of this world’s Webby, while I was researching and studying all the artifacts and trinkets my other self had obtained over the decades, this world’s Webby called her friends for help on her “cellphone”. My family’s other selves told me that cellphones work just like telephones except they work wirelessly and can give you access to a vast array of information.

Anyway, 2 young girls soon arrived.

“Soooo…you’re the other Scrooge Webby talked to us about?” the duck in the black and gray stripe shirt asked.

“Yes I am.” I replied. “…And who are you 2?”

“I’m guessing there’s no versions of us back at your dimension either.” the hummingbird in the green shirt said.

Seems like this world’s Webby told them about there being no version of my other self’s niece back home.

“Apparently not.” I replied.

“Ok. Here’s the rundown…” the duck in the black and gray stripe shirt began.

The duck in the black and gray stripe shirt introduced herself as Lena and the hummingbird in the green shirt introduced herself as Violet.

And after they finished explaining just who they are, I was completely shocked by what I heard. Especially by Lena’s story.

I can’t believe that this world’s Magica De Spell had a niece. And that she used her as a way to get to me! I also can’t believe Magica made Lena suffer the way she did all because she wanted revenge on me!

And it was my fault for not helping Magica’s brother.

“Lena, I am so so sorr-” I was starting to say.

But Lena stopped me.

“Don’t. The other you already beat you to the punch after that trial he had with Louie.” Lena said. “Besides, he was getting ready to try to find my uncle wherever he was and turn him back to normal before I stopped him. I mean him and my aunt were already evil tyrants to begin with who turned people into mindless animals. So, they got what was coming to them.”

I nodded understanding her logic.

As for this Violet girl, she says she’s a magic enthusiast who has become dedicated to researching and learning everything she can about the supernatural. So, I believe that’s at least one of the reasons this world’s Webby invited her here. This also means she might actually be able to help me and my other self.

“With all that out of the way, I think we should get started.” Violet said with Webby and Lena nodding in agreement. “First, we have to pinpoint exactly what caused this inter-dimensional swap between you and your counterpart in order to better make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“Good idea.” Lena replied.

This world’s Webby nodded clearly agreeing as well.

They used a ritual on me with a crystal, a mirror, grains of sand and an arrowhead as the ingredients.

The ritual sent waves of magic into my body. It felt very strange. It was like every bit of my body was starting overflow with adrenaline.

Once it was done, a sphere of magic emerged from my chest and was beginning to move through the hallway.

“We have to follow it!” Violet said.

We followed the sphere until it eventually lead us to a hall which looks to be full of hundreds of chambers.

This world’s Webby previously told me this is the Other Bin and that it’s where my other self keeps all the magic artifacts he obtained over the decades.

And judging by the number of magic artifacts I was told were stored here, I’m betting my other self must’ve been named the explorer of all time.

The magic sphere lead us to one of the chambers.

When we entered, we noticed the magic sphere stop at a pile of ripped apart pieces of paper that looked magical.

“The Papyrus Of Binding caused this to happen?!” this world’s Webby exclaimed in disbelief.

“I’m guessing this is the thing you mentioned earlier that lead to the discovery that you were my other self’s biological daughter.” I said.

“Yes. It’s a magic paper that can make anything that is written on it come true. But it can’t be. It’s destroyed.” this world’s Webby said before pointing at the Papyrus. “Plus, it’s been stored here ever since FOWL was defeated.”

“Wait. Look at the way the sphere is reacting.” Violet said pointing at it.

We looked and we saw the sphere glowing bright yellow and it’s also fluctuating in a strange manner.

“I think that means that it was the Papyrus Of Binding from your world.” Violet said before looking at me. “That’s what caused our Scrooge to be switched with this one. And because of the Papyrus’ sheer power, it was probably able to bypass the dimensions’ different rules hence why this Scrooge’s head and eyes stayed the same even after making the trip here.”

“Ok. So, is there a way to get him and our Scrooge back home?” Lena asked.

“I’m afraid we’re gonna have to restore the Papyrus Of Binding from this world and use its power to cancel out its counterpart’s effect.” Violet said. “We might be to restore the Papyrus briefly but it will take time and an insane amount of magic power.”

“Looks like this is gonna take longer than we thought.” this world’s Webby said before turning to me. “You might need something to do in the meantime.”

“I’m afraid so.” someone said from behind us.

We all turned to see that it’s this world’s Ms. Beakley.

“Apparently, there’s a social gathering our Scrooge is supposed to attend very soon.” this world’s Ms. Beakley continued.

“Can you reschedule it, Grandma?” this world’s Webby asked.

“I’m afraid not. It’s happening in 2 hours.” this world’s Ms. Beakley said.

“So, I have to attend in my other self’s place.” I said knowing where this is going.

This world’s Ms. Beakley nodded.

“I’m sure I can handle it.” I assured this world’s Webby. “I’ve attended social gatherings before. This shouldn’t be hard.”

“Ok, other-dimension Scrooge.” this world’s Webby replied.

“But just to be sure, I’ll be accompanying you.” this world’s Ms. Beakley stated.

“Alright, Ms. Beakley.” I said in response.

2 Hours Later…

This world’s Ms. Beakley and I are at the social gathering.

This world’s Lena conjured a magic disguise for me that makes me look exactly like my other self. It also changed my voice to sound like his too. So, I won’t cause any suspicion from my other self’s enemies like Glomgold for example.

“Be sure not to wander off. Whoever caused this to happen in the first place could be planning an attack at any moment.” this world’s Ms. Beakley whispered.

“Ok, Ms. Beakley.” I said.

As I greeted the guests at the gathering, one walked up to me. An owl woman in a suit.

“Hello, Mr. McDuck.” she said.

This must be Zan Owlson, the mayor of St. Canard that this world’s Ms. Beakley told me about. I’ve never seen any version of her back home.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I replied briefly forgetting that her and this world’s version of me have met before.

I quickly realized my mistake and this world’s Ms. Beakley stepped on my foot glaring at me!

Zan Owlson raised an eyebrow at me.

She turned to this world’s Ms. Beakley and asked her, “Does your boss have some kind of amnesia?”

“No. He tends to have a hard time remembering his former employees.” this world’s Ms. Beakley lied with a calm demeanor.

Zan Owlson still looked a wee bit skeptical before shrugging it off and saying, “Well, be that as it may, I want to talk to Mr. McDuck about the charity drives in St. Canard.”

“Oh, yes…the charity drive.” I said very reluctant to spend what could be a lot of money.

“I know that you don’t like spending money, Mr. McDuck.” Zan Owlson said. “But I also know about your self-reliance philosophy. I’ll get straight to the point. The people this charity is for can rely on themselves and their own skills to get by in life. But only if they’re given the opportunity to do so. And do you really want all that self-reliance and hard work to go to waste before it even begins?”

I can see her point and it does, in a way, remind me of Mad Dog McGurk, a friend who was wrongly sent to jail for a crime he didn’t commit thanks to Flintheart Glomgold and was thus separated from his mother. We met when I myself was framed for stealing a painting by Glomgold. He was robbed of his opportunity to get by in life until I gave it back to him by pardoning him. So, I think I can do the same for those poor souls Zan Owlson is talking about. And since my other self also does believe in self-reliance, I’m sure that he would agree with Zan Owlson if he were in my position right now. So, this shouldn’t cause any suspicion.

So, I responded with, “Very well. I’ll be sure to invest the money those people need into the charity drive. But only what they need.”

“Ok. I’ll be sure to inform those people of the news.” Zan Owlson said beginning to walk away before stopping. “And just to be sure you go through with it, remember that this would look good for your public record.”

With that, Zan Owlson walked away.

Sighing in relief, I said, “That was close.”

“I think it’s best that you let me take the lead at the start of the conversation next time.” this world’s Ms. Beakley said.

“Agreed.” I replied.

As the social gathering continued, I kept on greeting the other guests until I caught sight of a woman at the top of a staircase.

The woman I’m seeing is a duck wearing a yellow dress and gold earrings. And she seems to have yellow (almost gold) looking hair.

She also seems to look incredibly familiar.

So, after making sure I was out of dodge of this world’s Ms. Beakley, I started making my way towards the mysterious woman.

-

Scrooge McDuck (2017) POV:

I was making my way to the household I was looking for and saw a shadowy silhouette of a woman with a shotgun.

“Who’s there?!” she shouted.

“It’s me. Scrooge.” I said.

“Scrooge?” she asked.

“Although not the one you know.” I said.

“You’re gonna have to be more clear if you’re gonna be making sense.” she said as she made her way out of the shadows.

If I’m gonna make it back home, I’m gonna need help from this world’s version of Goldie O’Gilt.

“Well, let me explain from the beginning…” I said starting to tell her about the situation me and my counterpart are in.

-

Scrooge McDuck (1987) POV:

I had to make it through an entire crowd of other guests in order to make my way up the staircase.

But when I made it up there, that woman was gone.

I was starting to think I wasn’t going to find her when someone tapped my shoulder.

I turned around to see who it is.

It’s that woman!

“Hello, Scroogey.” that woman said slyly.

All of a sudden, I realized who this woman is!

It’s this world’s Goldie O’Gilt!

Notes: Ok. I think I’ll be posting chapters of this fanfic on a weekly basis. The next chapter will come out next week and it will be in celebration of the 70th anniversary of Carl Barks’s story Back To The Klondike and the first appearance of Goldie O’Gilt. Credit belongs to @goldiejake11 for making that fact known to me in her HAPPY (ALMOST) 70TH ANNIVERSARY TO THE KLONDIKE QUEEN HERSELF - GLITTERING GOLDIE O’GILT post and also to @pick-and-shovel-laborer since I probably could never have found that post if they hadn’t reblogged it. Also, Happy 70th Anniversary to the first appearance of Goldie O’Gilt.

[pesterloglog]

Vriska Serket

Act 6, page 7785-7788

VRISKA: I'll 8e taking this, if you don't mind.

VRISKA: Not that I care if you mind.

VRISKA: For that matter, not that there's any chance you could possi8ly mind what ANYONE does with this deadly secret weapon, since you've made it perfectly clear what sort of person you want to 8e.

VRISKA: Which is to say, someone who's dedic8ted her entire existence to 8eing utterly useless.

(VRISKA): W8........

(VRISKA): Which version of me are you?

(VRISKA): Are you alive?!

VRISKA: 8e quiet. I'm talking.

VRISKA: Look at you.

VRISKA: Just looooooook at you.

VRISKA: How completely pathetic.

(VRISKA): What?

(VRISKA): What's your pro8lem?!

VRISKA: My pro8lem is you make me fucking sick.

VRISKA: Did you know that?

VRISKA: That it was possi8le for you to go so far down whatever toilet you decided to jump into however long ago, that you could literally make your own stomach turn?

VRISKA: I mean, my god.

(VRISKA): What are you talking a8out?

(VRISKA): Is it my new clothes and tattoo and stuff?

(VRISKA): Look, I mem8er feeling that way too, all stuck up a8out certain-

VRISKA: It's not your new look!

VRISKA: I mean, not that it's the slightest 8it flattering.

VRISKA: In fact, I think it's perfect for you!

VRISKA: I couldn't possi8ly imagine a style more impecca8ly suited to what a loser you've 8ecome.

(VRISKA): Loser??

(VRISKA): Hey, come on now, I...

VRISKA: Yes, LOSER!!!!!!!!

VRISKA: You are a loser.

VRISKA: I'm sorry to 8e the 8earer of 8ad news, 8ut that is what you are now.

VRISKA: Are you really so far removed from reality that you can't see it?

VRISKA: Did this... "transform8tion" happen so gradually that you just... didn't notice?!

VRISKA: I find it hard to 8elieve, and frankly more than a little distur8ing, that some version of me could let this happen to herself without 8eing at least SOMEWHAT aware that a dreadful decline of personal integrity was taking place.

(VRISKA): I'm not a loser though!

(VRISKA): I LIKE who I've 8ecome.

(VRISKA): I actually feel happy and good a8out my life for the first time in... may8e forever??

(VRISKA): Like, ACTUALLY good a8out my life in a way that feels real, instead of forced. Don't you realize that's what it was like for us?

VRISKA: You don't have a life!

VRISKA: You're DEAD, remem8er?

VRISKA: I'm the one with the life!

VRISKA: And I fully intend to use it in a relevant and constructive way to help 8ring an end to all the horri8le shit that's 8een going on for way too long.

VRISKA: Remem8er when you used to care a8out that sort of thing?

VRISKA: No, o8viously not.

VRISKA: All you care a8out now is 8ullshit hipstery fashion trends, feeling "happy", and... whatever the fuck it is you're doing here?

VRISKA: Frolicking with some horses in an ugly field or some shit.

VRISKA: Just a8solutely disgraceful.

VRISKA: How could I have 8ecome so selfish??

VRISKA: You do know this is selfish, right?

VRISKA: This isn't having some fucking "epiphany" or like "growing as a person" or whatever self-serving spin you might 8e putting on what's happening here.

VRISKA: It's just plain narcissism, the worst kind you're capa8le of. A total renunci8tion of any responsi8ility for contri8uting to the gr8ter good.

VRISKA: And it makes me FUCKING SICK.

(VRISKA): No, that's not what it's like!

(VRISKA): You don't understand. You haven't...

(VRISKA): Like, 8een through...

VRISKA: 8een through WHAT?

VRISKA: I've 8een through plenty. Don't get p8tronizing with me.

VRISKA: How did you die, again?

VRISKA: Weren't you 8eing stu88orn and insisting on going off to fight Jack, even though that was o8viously an ill-conceived plan that was going to get everyone killed?

VRISKA: There it is again, making it all a8out you, even when trying to 8e heroic. You let that need 8lind you and you did something really stupid, 8asically leaving NO OTHER OPTION 8ut for you to get killed.

VRISKA: So since you started your journey as a ghost with that little feat of self-a8sorption, is it any surprise that after however many pseudo-sweeps floundering around as a lost soul, THIS is where you end up? A shamelessly self-indulgent, punk-ass NO8ODY?

(VRISKA): W8... are you saying you didn't try to go fight Jack?

(VRISKA): What happened? How... how are you the version that's still alive? I don't...

VRISKA: Different shit happened!

VRISKA: And from that point on, I started making 8etter choices, unlike you.

VRISKA: Contrary to your lazy fakey "happy" shit, I've ACTUALLY GROWN AS A PERSON.

VRISKA: What do you think of THAT, you frivolous, dithering 8ITCH????????

(VRISKA): !!!!!!!!

VRISKA: Honestly, I can 8arely even stand to look at you. I should really get out of here and spare myself the nausea.

VRISKA: Yet I keep standing here wasting my time dishing out this well deserved smackdown. May8e I'm paralyzed 8y disgust???????

(VRISKA): Why are you 8eing so mean to me??

VRISKA: Mean? I'm just telling it like it is, sister.

VRISKA: The truth is often harsh. That's something you USED to understand.

VRISKA: 8ut now you appear to 8e the physical em8odiment of everything I detest.

VRISKA: God, I just can't get over your shitty makeover. Ugh!!!!!!!!

VRISKA: Hey, did you...

VRISKA: Did you GAIN W8, too????????

(VRISKA): What?!

(VRISKA): No!

(VRISKA): I didn't... I'm not...

VRISKA: Yes you did. I'm not 8lind, you know.

(VRISKA): I'm not fat!!!!!!!!

VRISKA: Sure, tell yourself whatever you want.

VRISKA: Whatever lets you 8e "at peace" with your "new life"! Hahahahahahahaha.

(VRISKA): Why are you saying all this stuff to me?

(VRISKA): What did I ever DO to you????????

(VRISKA): I don't under-

(VRISKA): *Sniff.*

VRISKA: Holy shit.

VRISKA: This is actually getting to you, isn't it? Un8elieva8le.

VRISKA: Well, that tears it. You really are 8eyond any sort of redemption.

VRISKA: Fucking incredi8le. What ever happened to having a thick skin? Letting stuff roll off your 8ack?

VRISKA: Not letting shit get to you, 8ecause you always knew you were 8etter than the one slinging it?

VRISKA: I guess this is what you call happiness now? Letting a few tiny little 8ar8s shatter your self esteem?

VRISKA: You aren't happy. You're a hilarious trainwreck com8ined with a sad punchline, and I'm ashamed to share an identity with you.

(VRISKA): STOP IT!!!!!!!!

VRISKA: Oh, don't worry, "Serket". I'm done here.

VRISKA: I'm off to go do something useful, like winners do. Something you wouldn't know anything a8out anymore.

(VRISKA): ARGH, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!

(VRISKA): HOW COULD I... *Choke*...

(VRISKA): How could I have ever 8een so AWFUL?!

VRISKA: Ok, this is just getting em8arrassing.

VRISKA: Time to shove off. Though truth 8e told, I should pro8a8ly delay killing Lord English a little longer, just so he can put you out of your misery.

(VRISKA): JUST GO AW8Y!

(VRISKA): *So8* ...

(VRISKA): I H8 Y8U!!!!!!!!

VRISKA: Your wish is my command, loser!

VRISKA: Time to go get some awesome shit done, and gra8 the reins on a relevant, proactive existence.

VRISKA: Shit, I'm feeling more adventurous and worthwhile as a person just thinking a8out it!

VRISKA: Anyone who feels the same way is more than welcome to join me.

VRISKA: Say, how a8out you, punky-lookin' Peixes?

VRISKA: Does that sound like it might 8e the cut of your ji8?

(VRISKA): DON'T T8LK TO HER!!!!!!!!

(VRISKA): SHE DOESN'T WANT ANYTH8NG TO DO WITH A PI8CE OF SHIT LIKE YOU, 8ND NEITHER D8 I!

(VRISKA): TAKE YOUR STUP8D TREASURE, AND Y8UR SMUG GAR8AGE A8OUT "R8LEVANCE", AND GET TH8 FUCK OUT 8F HERE!

(VRISKA): COME ON, M8ENAH! LET'S DITCH TH8S EVIL HAG AND GO FIND SOM8THING ELS8 TO DO.

[grimoiredraconis]

seeing the whole process of her coming together was...amazing, actually. Renu is excellent to work with as an artist and I was incredibly satisfied with the results. Clara is my PC from a campaign I'm currently involved in, using the AMP system and somewhat its setting, though my GM has *so* many notes and characters made he's pretty much made his own version of the setting :P She's a trans woman, of mixed First Nations and European heritage, and her main power is basically supernatural beauty/charm, which as a mild-mannered, humble woman with a strong sense of justice she hates the idea of forcing what she wants onto others! She works on a horse ranch out in the sticks, and is very much intended as a "salt of the earth" type. Her power isn't *actually* mind control, as it only really makes her incredibly attractive and charismatic rather than affecting the minds of others, but it *could* potentially be, not that she knows that, and even as it stands she's uncomfortable with it. (I often refer to the more active uses of her power than the passive charm as 'fae charm' and go for a more eldritch vibe with it- echoing voice, the blue glow you see here, things like that) Personality wise, she's intended to be modeled off Superman/Clark Kent, thus her name :P She's very caring and surprisingly decent with people even without her powers despite being autistic- she jokes that horses and people are her special interests, and that when you regularly deal with the feelings and well-beings of creatures that can kick a hole in your chest with pathetic ease, being considerate and delicate with people's feelings isn't that difficult. Look at her in those glasses, she's fuckin adorable. And she can't just use her secondary powers, either- because those take the form of 4 headmates who have their own...more aggressive abilities and are violently protective of Clara and have their own personalities and sometimes agendas (especially in terms of how Clara acts towards others, in how to handle stressful or violent situations, and potential romantic entanglements! Fun!) So she's got a bit of a dilemma- what's the right way to use these abilities she's been granted? Can she really help people when she's at risk of overriding their will with something as simple as a smile? Or so she thinks, anyway. I put a lot of thought into what i'd ask for suit wise- she's wearing a classic superhero bodysuit covered by a hooded shawl sort of thing because she wants people to see her and think 'superhero' when she's in action, but she's still very wary about her body. It's pretty understandable, really- she was only about a year into HRT so her body suddenly going from something she had a complicated relationship with to something that, if you're into women, you're just kinda into her, so that's going to be *fun* to unpack and deal with.

Commission of a TRPG character.

[jj-babebank]

Camp Willowdale / JJ Maybank AU / PART 5

Synopsis: Camp Willowdale is buzzing with new campers. It’s Caroline Windsor’s first year as a camp counsellor after attending the camp as a camper for ten years. Little does she know that this year Willowdale Lake is going to be a little different from what she is used to it being… Warnings: future chapters may include curse words, mentions of drugs, mentions of alcohol, mentions of sexual activities, mentions of death. Pairings: JJ Maybank x fem OC Part 1 ; Part 2 ; Part 3 ; Part 4 Masterlist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 5 -

53 days of camp left

The first day at Camp Willowdale was usually pretty straightforward – campers arrive, sign in, move into their designated cabins where they meet their counselors, then all gather in the Wildcat Lodge to get their schedules, maps, badges and compasses. Ever since Pricilla’s daughter left her, she ditched the idea of having a stable with horses at camp (saying it reminded her way too much of Wendy, and also cost a lot of money to maintain), and settled for scavenger hunts in full scout mode in the forest, hence the compasses and badges. Every camper was given a first badge for participation and would get the chance to earn new badges to add to their collection during their nine week stay. Pricilla made sure that there was a badge for literally everything – from successfully starting a fire to throwing out the trash. She liked to do this to make all the campers feel included and special, which on its own sounded like a wonderful thing, however her actual motives were selfish – happy kids meant happy parents, and happy parents meant money. She also liked to turn everything into a competition, so she established a scoring system that nobody but her understood, where she’d award or deduct points from different groups and the group with the most points at the end of the summer will be crowned conquerors of the camp at a made up end-of-summer event Pricilla named the “Camp Will-all-hail banquet”. Caroline always found the name to be extremely tacky, but much like mostly everything that Pricilla put her finger onto, it wasn’t surprising.

JJ and Caroline had gotten assigned to Teens 2. Unsurprisingly, everyone in their group was almost their age, which seemed like somewhat of a recipe for disaster, as Caroline feared that this could result in the teens refusing to follow orders from someone who is basically their age. She was pleasantly surprised to find out that their group of teens was actually quite well-mannered and well-behaved. John B and Sarah’s teens, however, were a whole different story.

“You sure you got T2 and not T1?” panted Sarah after finally sitting down at the counselors table beside Caroline for dinner.

Caroline smirked, “Positive,” she confirmed, not being able to hide her amusement at the sight of an already tired Sarah, “Why’d you ask?”

“Oh, no reason,” said Sarah sarcastically, “Well, besides all the girls, and I’m pretty sure one of the boys, having a massive thing for John B, and them all quite literally being the spawns of Satan, hm… no reason,”

Caroline laughed at Sarah’s words, looking over at the table where her group and Sarah’s were seated at. Two of the T1 girls were giggling while telling a story, while everyone else’s attention was on them. Caroline came to the conclusion that they would be the It Girls at this year’s camp, bossing everyone around. She couldn’t help but laugh at the irony that it was Sarah who got these two as they were literally mini versions of her.

“Heard my name being called,” John B slid onto the bench across the table from the girls. Now that everyone had been sorted, the Wildcat Lodge seating area had been rearranged so that the groups would be sat together according to their ages, and the counselors would be sat together according to their groups. The head staff had their own table at the very foot of the podium, right next to where the food was, conveniently.

JJ was quick to join their group at their respective table, “What’d I miss?”

“Oh, nothing,” Caroline said nonchalantly, “Just Sarah being jealous over her girls liking John B, no biggie,” Sarah kicked her under the table, earning an, “Ow!”

John B’s eyes immediately shot up, that familiar twinkle of excitement swimming through his honey orbs, “Jealous?”

“As if,” barked Sarah, squinting her eyes at him threateningly.

“We’ll see about that, baby cakes,” John B winked, diving into his dinner.

“So,” said JJ, lowering his voice in case any of the neighboring tables were listening, “What’s the plan, guys?”

Caroline shook her head, “I don’t even know where we could start, I mean, the only clue we’ve got so far is that message we had to scrub off the rock this morning before the campers arrived…”

John B thought for a second, “Hey, wasn’t Topper paired up with her?” he said suddenly.

Caroline’s eyes widened in realization, “John B, you’re a genius!” she said, earning a proud smile from the boy, “Last night at the counting, Topper said something about feeling guilty for not offering her his jacket!” the four of them turned to look towards Topper’s table. He was sitting quietly, barely poking at his food, while the rest of his fellow counselors were having an animated conversation around him. Caroline turned back towards her friends, “Chances are he was the one who saw her last!”

“Yeah, and judging by the look of his face, he doesn’t seem too excited about it,” remarked JJ.

“Can you blame him? I’d be pissed if I was paired with Madison, too,” muttered Sarah, scrunching her nose at the leafy salad in her plate.

“Tonight at the bonfire,” said Caroline, “Sarah’s going to offer him some help with his girls, seeing as he’s dealing with all of his kids alone,”

“Hey, why me?” Sarah frowned at the plan.

“Because you’re the one who had a massive crush on him back in the day,” Caroline whispered in Sarah’s ear, resulting in Sarah kicking her under the table again. Caroline bit back a groan as she smiled forcefully, looking at the two boys in front of her, “Okay, well, sounds like we’ve got a plan.”

-------------------------------------------------

After handing out the songbooks and marshmallows to all of their teens, Caroline, JJ, Sarah and John B took a seat at their designated log next to their groups, which had somehow bonded during dinner and were all laughing together.

“Alright, settle down kids!” Pricilla said, causing everyone’s chatter to die down, “As you have already been informed, it is a Willowdale tradition to perform our very own rendition of Bomfiara every morning and night until the end of camp. The songbooks you’ve been kindly given by your counselors contain the lyrics to all of the camp songs we’re going to be singing this summer, but I’m sure that by the end of it you won’t be needing the books anymore,” Pricilla fake-laughed at her own joke while everyone just started at her blankly, “Okay, well, let’s sing!” she gave the tone and everyone started signing.

“This is so lame,” said one of the girls Caroline proclaimed as “It Girls” earlier that evening, “We’re too old for this BS,”

“You got that right,” mumbled Sarah.

“Oh, come on, I love it, it used to be our favorite tradition!” whined John B.

The two girls squealed and started pinching each other, immediately opening their songbooks and joining in on the singing, making intense eye contact with John B with their best seductive looks. Sarah rolled her eyes at the scene.

“See?” she whispered to Caroline, “This is what I meant!”

Caroline smirked at the blonde girl, “Am I sensing… jealousy?”

Sarah scoffed at the remark, “Pf, yeah right,” she said defensively, “I’m just annoyed that they’re only listening to what he’s saying and we’re supposed to be counselors together.”

Caroline nodded slowly, pretending to be buying the story, “Yeah, sure,” she turned to look at Topper, who regardless of the fact that he was surrounded by his group and fellow counselors, still seemed down, the camp fire illuminating his distant face, “Speaking of together, when do you wanna go talk to Topper?”

Sarah followed Caroline’s gaze towards the boy, “Once this stupid song is over,”

Caroline nodded and both girls turned towards their group again, where the It Girls were still making sexy eyes at John B, who seemed totally clueless to their approach as he was belting the lyrics of the much familiar song out loud, waving JJ’s hands every so often.

Once the song was over and everyone got back to their regular chitchat, Sarah stood up and straightened her shorts and camp sweatshirt as she made her way towards Topper.

“Hey, Top, this seat taken?” she said, referring to the empty spot on the log next to him where Madison was supposed to be sat.

Topper looked at Sarah as if she’d just said a distasteful joke, “Hey, Sarah…” he muttered, “Obviously not,”

“Awesome!” Sarah smiled widely, plopping down next to the boy.

“So,” Topper started awkwardly, “What brings you here?”

“Saw you from across the pit,” she explained directly, “Couldn’t help but notice that you seem lonely,”

“Yeah, well,” Topper looked at her with a look of disapproval once again, “I sort of am,”

Sarah pretended to only just realize what he was talking about, “Riiight… So, about that,” she chirped again, “Last night you said something about a jacket?”

Topper sighed, “Yeah, Madison said she was cold when we were in our cabin and instead of offering her my jacket, I sort of felt… relieved that she was going to leave me for a second to go grab hers. I should’ve known that something was wrong when she was gone for over 10 minutes, instead I just laughed around with Kelce and the boys and then we heard the scream…”

Sarah rolled her eyes, “Oh, please, you’re not blaming yourself for it, are you?”

“I mean, I kinda am,” Topper confessed, “If I wasn’t too caught up in being annoyed that I’d been paired up with her, I’d have just given her my jacket or followed her to your cabin to get hers and none of this would’ve happened,”

Sarah tried putting on her best apologetic smile as she reached for Topper’s hand, taking him by surprise, “Look, Top, I hate Madison just as much as the next person, but I hardly think any of this was your fault. She probably just used the jacket as an excuse to ditch and got excited to see her rookie boyfriend, hence the scream,”

Topper frowned, “Don’t tell me you actually believe all that?”

Sarah shrugged, “I mean, she was a drama queen,”

Topper pulled his hands away from Sarah’s, shaking his head, “Just go, Sarah,”

Sarah looked over towards her friends across the fire pit who were all staring at her in anticipation, as she shrugged her shoulders and mouthed them a, “Sorry, I tried,” making her way back to where they were seated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Camp has finally officially begun and so has the search for truth ~~ As always, let me know what you think, I hope you are enjoying the story so far, I'm super excited to be writing this xxx

tags: @k-k0129 ; @hayleyy-l ; @marvellover04

Part 6 here

[outro-tearist]

paws of paradise - chapter 2 {bangtan ot7 x reader}

hi everybody! sorry for the inactivity but idek how to do a schedule ever. i think that maybe once a week is what i'm shooting for, but i honestly have no plot and im making it up as i go!

as per usual, i'd appreciate comments, thoughts, suggests, anons, anything! have a great day!

~silver~

chap 1 chap 2 chap 3

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“Shit.” (Y/N) whispered. Not only were there two new dogs today, but Jimin also couldn’t make it to help with walking today.

Kim Yeontan and Jeon Gureum had joined the roster of new regulars, and while she appreciated the support of her business in the bustling city, she couldn’t help but stress over the fact that so many people were becoming dependent on her.

This was the busiest day she had seen ever since she had packed from her old home in a small countryside town. As the small town stereotype goes, everybody knew everybody in her hometown. She was mostly known for being a farmer’s daughter and having a preference for animals over humans.

After spending most of her teenage years hanging out in barns of cows, horses, goats, and other farm animals, she had realized her passion was helping and caring for them.

At the same time, (Y/N) was bored of her small-town life and wanted to experience the hustle that city life promised. She could have easily gotten a grooming job somewhere in the country but decided that it would be best for her to move to Seoul.

She had never once regretted her decision, but that does not mean it was easy for (Y/N) in any way. Buying a shop, getting certified to groom, remodeling her shop, finding an affordable apartment, and getting a small job before her shop opened were just a few struggles she had fought through.

“You little- c’mon Gureum! I have yummy treats!! Mmmmmmm come get some.” (Y/N) baby talked to the small white dog. He seemed to laugh in her face as it turned around and continued to jump around Yeontan and another larger dog that she forgot the name of.

Gureum seemed to instigate the most trouble out of all the dogs she had met. She would always find the “dynamic duo” (Jimin’s nickname for Gureum and Yeontan) prancing around the other dogs and creating chaos. Yeontan would usually stop when told but would be roped back in by Gureum to run around and bark wildly.

“Gureum! C’mere boy,” a new voice called from behind (Y/N). Apparently, somebody had come into the back of the shop and she didn’t even hear the bell.

She let out a small shriek as he rushed past her legs and made her lose her balance. She desperately tried to regain her balance but unfortunately fell backward. She closed her eyes to brace for the ass flattening she would receive but was only met with a firm chest and bulging arms wrapping around her quickly.

“Oh my gosh! Are you okay Noona?!” the young boyish-faced with the largest build she had seen called out to her.

(Y/N) looked up at the boy with bunny teeth and quickly pushed herself up and off his chest. “AH! Yes! I am all good now,” she chuckled awkwardly. “Um, how did you get back here?”

“I didn’t mean to scare you! I thought you’d heard the bell in the front but then I saw you struggling with him so I thought I would help a little.”

“Is Gureumie yours?”

The boy bashfully ducked his head as he leaned down to pet the calmest version of the white dog the girl had ever seen. “Ah, yeah. My hyungs say that he and I are kinda similar but I don't see it… Anyways, they also told me that you are the best groomer around, and from how he looks now, I think I’ll be here more often.”

“Wow… Thank you, and tell your hyungs thanks too! What’s your name so I can log him out?” (Y/N) was so excited to hear people giving her small shop good reviews. It meant that all her hard work actually meant something.

“I’m Jeon Jeongguk, and I’ll let Namjoon hyung and Seokjin hyung know. They’ll be happy you thought of them too.” he smiled brightly and picked his still wiggly dog up.

“Have a great day! Hope to see you soon.” (Y/N) smiled at Jeongguk as he walked out of the shop. She walked into the back only to see Yeontan jumping up on Jimin.

“Jimin! I thought you were busy today- and how’d you get in?” (Y/N) grinned at her coworker. She felt her cheeks warm and her heart beat a little faster now that he was here, but she brushed it off as soon as Jimin responded.

“The back door is always opened, like usual. And I still am but I just wanted to stop by… check-in and make sure you’re doing alright?” Jimin started somewhat nervously. (Y/N) giggled a little bit as she stood a little closer in order to pet the dog in Jimin’s arms.

“Well, Jimin, I am doing very well right now. In fact, I walked all the dogs AND finished the appointments scheduled so far. Maybe you need to step up your game on dog walking.” (Y/N) teased lightly.

Jimin scoffed, “Oh please, you wouldn’t have hired me if you didn’t need to. Admit it, you need me to be here.”

This statement made (Y/N) freeze up a little. He was her first friend that she had met in Seoul, and thanks to him, she was able to achieve everything she had wanted and more. The girl softened a little bit and looked up into Jimin’s eyes.

“You’re right. I really appreciate all that you’ve done for me. Thank you so, so much.” she expressed her gratitude gently.

Jimin seemed to fluster at this, not expecting a genuine response from his coworker as he stuttered and stumbled to find new words. Luckily for the blushing man, the tinkling bell sounded from the front of the store.

“Hello, welcome to Paradise Pet Groomers, what can I do for you two?” (Y/N) politely asked the men as she walked out of the backroom. “Ah, Yoongi-ssi, good to see you!”

“Likewise.” the stoic man responded. He had Holly on a leash as his dog smelled the second man who walked in with another incredibly handsome man. His face seemed to be perfectly chiseled and he seemed to be a few inches taller than Yoongi standing next to him.

“Hi, Taehyung-ssi. Jimin will be right out with Yeontannie. And Yoongi-ssi, I’ll grab Holly now if you’d tell me what sort of cut you’d like for him.” (Y/N) smoothly managed the two customers.

“Taehyungie!” Jimin shouted as he ran out from the back with Yeontan. Taehyung greeted him back just as excited, and (Y/N) couldn’t help the twists of jealousy that ran through her veins as they seemed so happy to see each other. Despite that, she forced a grin on her face to turn back to Yoongi, who had brought him back into the grooming area.

“Just do the same cut as last time, please. Holly looked good like that.” Yoongi’s deep voice grumbled as he bent down to say goodbye. He let out a few small high-pitched squeals as (Y/N) watched through the window as Jimin and Taehyung were hugging.

Fuck. That should not have made her feel as angry as it did. Yoongi seemed to notice the tension that entered the air as he cleared his throat.

“Oh- sorry. Holly’s cut should only take about an hour and a half, so we’ll see you soon!” (Y/N) tried to crush the bitterness in her voice, but it was useless. Yoongi had to have noticed it, but he didn’t say anything. All he said was, “See you soon, (Y/N).”

(Y/N) took in a strained deep breath, and picked up Holly just as Jimin’s blushing face entered through the back again.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to stay longer, but-”

“It’s fine. See you later Jimin.” (Y/N) cut him off shortly. Jimin’s eyebrows raised as he began to wonder what had happened when he was talking to- he blushed a little bit more thinking of Taehyung.

“Did Yoongi say anything? Are you alright…?” Jimin asked tentatively.

“No! I-I’m fine. Sorry to worry you, but you should get going. Don’t wanna be late to wherever you’re going.” Jimin’s shocked face hurt (Y/N) to look at, so she looked down at Holly and brought him to the baths.

“Oh. Right. I guess I’ll get going then.” Jimin stared at her a bit sadly before he awkwardly walked out the backdoor. “Oh my god Holly what is wrong with me.” (Y/N) said to the small brown poodle. He simply panted happily as she scratched behind his ears as the warm water flowed down his back.

[ladyyatexel]

I Went On A Manga Binge

So you don't have to

For those of you who have wisely avoided the shreds of it I've left around the blog thus-far, I had some weird notion to go re-experience Yu-Gi-Oh uuuuuh a week ago? We'll go with that. Time is meaningless.

I'd been able to read a good portion of the early manga at the end of highschool, and somewhere in my stacks and stacks of paper is fanart from this dark time, so you know I cared. I also still own a Dark Magician action figure somehow, so. I'd also watched a large portion of the anime with my brother because it had been laced with some kind of crack and we couldn't look away? I remember when we both were just like shit, wait, don't change the channel, I can't stop looking at it. And the next thing we knew we were waiting for new episodes and I was doing research on the Japanese original because I was that kid.

Anyway, unnecessary backstory out of the way, here are some... let's call them Observations and Consequences of having read somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 chapters (and growing) of a manga primarily hinged on card games from a spectrum of sources ranging from boringly lawful to sketchy as fuck.

Surprise actual character that develops in typical shounen fashion being Jounouchi. My limited experiences with the 4Kids dub and only early manga had not painted him in a particularly good light. I don't know if episodes were being aired out of order or if I had just missed the ones that established that he was making shit up as he was going along, but Wow I liked him a lot more going through the manga than I ever did watching the (dubbed, heavily edited and censored and thrown into a slurry machine) anime. I'd managed to come out with the impression that he was just as reasonably experienced with the game as Yugi back in the day. Wild.

I'm now reading every single comic-style post on Tumblr backwards.

Striking inverse to first point, wow, I don't like Seto Kaiba. Though he gets points for his general philosophy of the future, and the line I read in my sketchy online combo of scans and scanlations in which he said, "If God is in your way, you run him down," was Metal As Fuck. I somewhat shame-facedly admit to enjoying him a lot more as an Abridged Series character. (I watched Abridged as it came out back in the day! The experience of watching the anime with my brother had been so fresh that I got all the in jokes about the way things were edited and dubbed, it was great. Series remains influential part of my life to this day, which is hella weird.)

I almost understand how Duel Monsters works now. I don't want this.

That said, wow a lot of the decisions made in the anime made everything a lot more ridiculous than the admittedly already ridiculous original. I got the distinct feeling in the manga that the Duelist Kingdom stuff we were seeing was designed to be used and exploited in ways that don't make sense in an actual cardgame just played on a table like a normal person and this was part of testing everyone to think higher, differently. Maybe this is obvious to everyone already, I don't know. I had always liked that it was very, 'Not so fast, I'm going to blow up the moon to change the tides,' but I'm not really sure the anime gave enough explanation that this was an extra layer added to things for that event? You can see people actively getting used to it in the books, and people who aren't considering the real or 3D nature of it getting owned, but my memory of anime version is everyone just like, 'oh, shucks, fuck me, I forgot to consider the phase of the moon before i played this card, can't believe I forgot.' No one calls Yugi on any of this stuff because it's valid play in that situation. Plus Yami Yugi had mad trickster energy in the beginning and it suited him to think of ways to do things inside these little simulation boxes the way it suited him to set perverts on fire. I imagine the real card game trying to emulate this element as something that would be to its detriment, but I neither know nor particular care haha

Ryou Bakura.

Really, though. I think he became kind of casualty of 'wow, we have a lot of characters who really aren't able to do anything in this story anymore,' despite the fact that his whole inner life could have been as interesting as Yugi's. I always like thinking about the possibilities of stories in which main character falls into magical world and is given magical item and told they're the hero and then they find out they've been the bad guy the whole time. The first several volumes of manga were about the quiet weirdo kid that no one talked to who was always blacking out and turning into a fucked up version of himsef because he was so attached to his ancient Egyptian jewelry, so like, Bakura could have much the same shit going on. I want to know what's happening with him so much. He clearly doesn't love being possessed, but he's also so drawn to the ring. Despite it having stabbed him at least twice and him knowing it's a danger to him and his friends, he keeps being pulled back into it. You see so much more of him being like, 'Oooh, a creepy thing, I love that! :D' in the manga than ever in the anime, which I'm all about. Also more blood. I'm very about that as well. Though my memory of the anime also made it look very much like normal regular daily Bakura was just a weird facade in places before he ever would have been. I think that was it trying to compensate for what people didn't see from the Toei anime, but okay whatever, that I love everything about this guy is not news, I don't need to talk about Bakura excessively here, I'm pretty sure that's gonna show up on my blog by itself

On a related note though, damn, more of these people need to talk to each other. Can we have some existential crisis support clubs or something. Can we get like some apologies or something? "I respect you as a duelist." "Cool, but you literally built a tower designed to specifically assassinate me and my friends? You were supposed to get Better after I retaliated by putting you in a coma, but you kinda didn't." "Why would the coma have made it better" "I just told you it didn't" ---- "Sorry I went along with the plan of your evil parasite stabbing you, misled you, and then also jumped in and took up some real estate in your head too." "I understand, I also have an evil thing inside me that does things while I'm blacked out." "...no, I was conscious for all of that." "Oh." "..." "..." "..." "Do you like Ouija Boards?" "sure okay" ETC. Like damn we are reading shounen manga because no one is talking extensively about their feelings here and I'm tapping my foot angrily.

Holy shit there are so many mythologies happening at once. The ancient family guarding the Egyptian Pharaoh has a surname that's a Mesopotamian goddess. None of the god cards make any Egyptian sense except Ra, and just like. Baaarrrrely. Somewhere either Evil Ring Bakura or Mar/lik makes a reference to cremation and spirits being taken to heaven with smoke which several things, but definitely not Ancient Egyptian. Marik/Malik meanwhile is clearly trying to head Arabic, along with Rishid, but then, hey, our sister is just Isis. Goddess McGoddess. Sometimes they're the same goddess! Her name could be Isis Isis or Ishtar Ishtar. Meanwhile, all the obviously 'occult because Christians think it is freaky' stuff. ~ancient egyptian pentagrams~~~This isn't a complaint, I guess so much as a 'Wow, I can kind of see the cultural spot the author was coming from and where he was aiming' kind of thing.

Wonder where things would have gone if the card games had not been latched onto the way they were.

Managed to forget how gross the pre-cardgames stuff was on the sexual harassment front. I'm glad there was a sort of explanation of everyone drifting away from being dick heads and that that decision was made. It got way more comfortable to read after no one was bringing Yugi p*rn on VHS.

Yugi looks better with a nose, glad we got that upgrade.

Interesting to watch the series style shift as it goes away from being horror to being over the top cardgames and friendship (with blood!). The first picture of Mokuba is fucking Jarring. Also noticed that the nicer a character is, the less their teeth are defined.

Glad manga did not go as completely off the fucking the rails about Marik's face. I never got as far as seeing him back in the day because college occurred, but I remember seeing pictures and stuff and being like, "what in the Fuck happened to that dude, I think the house style has collapsed in on itself"

Things the author Really Likes: motorcycles, belts, SHOES, holy shit the shoes. These are some of the most lovingly rendered sneakers I've ever seen. All the detail on his characters goes straight to their feet and then it's stretched upward until it forms stiff peaks. Gently fold in 3000 years of trauma and bake face down in a crumb coat of scattered mythology. Remove when you roll two zeros.

Where the fuck am I going to put the extremely large omnibus volumes of this comic I purchased in order to balance out how much I would be reading for free on the internet. I should have grasped that a three in one edition would be Thick and yet somehow I was still :O when it arrived. Have I strategically purchased volumes that contain my favorite parts, maybe, what's it to you will i eventually get the whole thing because incomplete book series gnaw on my soul? yes

Wish the transition from "I've murdered several people in delightfully karmic ways" to "all you need is friendship in your heart and cards in your hand" Yami Yugi/Pharaoh had been discussed more/transitioned better. Buddy, where did you get this approved for television high horse? Please go back to strangling people with yo-yos or at least tell me why you stopped.

I still can't tell anything that looks like a big robotic monster apart from any other big robotic monster. My dude, I can't tell cars apart, all these monsters look the same.

Yami Yugi fascinated me way more in highschool? Maybe because it was still super early and the anime was like 'we need to torture you about his origins WeEkLy. Now I'm just like 'wait hold on, can we go back to Bakura and Marik for a minute, there's some extreme unpacking to do here?' Those two are paying so much more in baggage fees here my guy wow

Violently uninterested in any of the spinoff media

[twdmusicboxmystery]

The Orange Backpack Symbol

So, we’ve been batting around the symbol of the orange backpack for a LONG time. We first saw it on a hitch hiker in 3x10, Clear, when Rick and Michonne went and found Morgan. We’ve seen it and things like it many times since. We still aren’t entirely sure what it means, but these are some ideas we’re batting around.

(Not my edit but just thought it was funny. It shows the fandom picks up on these symbols, even if they often don’t know what to do with them.  😊) I’ll give you my fellow theorist’s observations, first. They are excellent and most likely correct, even if we can’t say for sure, yet. Then I’ll chime in with a few of my own.

@frangipanilove:

I’m still uncertain about the Orange backpack symbolism versus regular backpacks. It sort of depends on the Dutch angles from Coda. If the term “Dutch angles” was something that came from TPTB, then I can make a strong case about Orange being tied to Beth. If it didn’t come from the horse’s mouth then it’s a much weaker connection. It could still be a thing, but it’s just not a case I can argue very convincingly.

@twdmusicboxmystery: For the record, though we haven’t heard tptb specifically mention “dutch angles” in any particular interview that we know of, I do believe we can safely say this came from them. It was talked about in the fandom a LOT and I believe the writers themselves leaked the first idea for it. It’s also part of the “on screen notes” in the Amazon digital version of the episode. Amazon has no involvement in the show other than carrying it and wouldn’t know what to put in the on-screen notes. Which means they come from the production itself. So I DO believe the “dutch angles” idea can be seen as something confirmed by the writers. Back to @frangipanilove:

@frangipanilove​: But either way, I believe the “back” in backpack is a reference to “come back” or “return”, “resurrection”, Sirius symbolism. Same with “back pocket”, as well as the torsos we’ve seen sometimes. My reasoning behind that is from season 3 when Merle returned to the show, and Michonne wrote a “biter gram” where she used a walker’s back to symbolize “go back” to Merle.

The original Orange backpack in 3x10, Clear, can be tied to return symbolism in many ways. They initially ignored the guy, then later saw him dead. They passed him, but returned to grab the backpack. 

And we’ve seen the backpack numerous times since, and it’s easy to tie it to reunions and returns to one’s family etc. We saw it in Michonne’s trippy vision with Virgil as well. Basically, it’s more return symbolism, because she’s going after Rick. She’ll find him, but even if she doesn’t, the return symbolism has already happened in that she found his boots and the iPhone (apple symbol) with the etching. That’s return symbolism.

(To her, Rick is dead, but these told her he might still be alive, so he’s just been resurrected in her mind.)

So, I view the backpack symbolism as return symbolism, and then the question is if Orange is a symbol that adds something different to the symbolism, or if it just enhances the return symbolism.

@wdway​:

It's funny that we're having a discussion about the brownish orange or rust color backpack because I wanted us to discuss it, haha. I've been thinking of it quite a bit in the last few weeks and I agree with you to a certain point, @Frangi, about it possibly being a reunions symbol.

I guess the difference for me is that I believe it also represents a journey. Some journeys are shorter than others, but a journey that reunites you to a person you have not seen for a long time, or even possibly thought were dead. In my head, that's for the rusty orange color.

In the Clear episode, team Rick passes the guy with the backpack, they journey to his hometown where he reunited with Morgan, someone who he was not expecting to see and may even believed was dead. The difference is, he picks up the backpack on his return home.

With Glenn, his rusty orange backpack journey was longer, but he ultimately reunited with Maggie who he hoped was alive but was not certain.

Daryl wore the rusty colored backpack when he, Rosita, and Denise took a short journey to a nearby community. On their way back home, they encounter Dwight. It was a reunion, but not a good one. And although Dwight was alive, the last Daryl had seen him, I'm sure Daryl hoped Dwight was dead.

It occurred to me while I was doing my research about the red rag that Daryl is wearing a rusty orange with brown legging on his right leg when he is on a journey to find/reunite the body of Rick. I need to go back and check but at the D.C. capital, there was a banner of an eye that we believe to be Emily's/Beth's. I believe that banner was a rusty orange, which would mean that there would be a reunion with someone that would require a journey to be reunited with someone believed to be dead.

I believe a regular or bright orange could possibly also be a journey color, but not necessarily a reunion with someone the person believed to be dead. Virgil had a bright or regular orange backpack when he found Connie. And yes, Connie was believed to possibly be dead but we are not led to believe that Virgil knew Connie, so the reunions part of it does not apply. Only the journey he had taken from his Island.

I do not know if tptb actually mentioned Dutch angles but I have seen several interviews of movie directors over the years that have used Dutch angle and have commented that it is something taught in film school that could represent something being somewhat out of tilt, something that is not quite right. I do want to mention that in the episode Stalker that has Daryl and Alpha in the garage there was Dutch angles around Alpha which ties it to the episode, Coda.

I think there were better images of the eye in the promo pictures for that season. The second shot is in the entry hall where they showed all of the different exhibits, banners in different colors, etc. What I want to point out is that chevron at the bottom. The banner looks like it reads, “Natural History,” and maybe the word “Living.”

@frangipanilove:

Regarding the Orange cover on Daryl’s leg, I interpret it as boot symbolism (it covers his leg = boot = trunk), which is synonymous with trunk symbolism IMO. That’s also what we see after Michonne has had her hallucination, including the orange backpack; she finds Rick’s boots in the boat. Boots = trunk and boat = vessel = vehicle.

So, I interpret in a way that ultimately points to the story of survival by way of trunk (three/tree/trunk symbolism). In Michonne’s case, it points towards Rick’s survival story, but because of the blue heron painting (among other things) we know that Rick’s story and Beth’s story are two versions of the same story.

So, when I interpret the symbolism around Michonne in that episode as pointing towards a reunion with Rick (or return to Rick), it means I also interpret the same symbolism as pointing towards Beth’s survival.

The banner in the museum in 9x1 IMO is eye = Sirius symbolism. This is because of Sirius as the “heavenly dog with a star in its eye” from the Robert Frost poem, and therefore also a reference to the one-eyed dog from Alone, among other things.

And in 9x1, the eye banner is orange, and Daryl’s leg wrap is orange. Which ties orange symbolism, eye symbolism and boot (Daryl’s leg) symbolism into Sirius symbolism. The orange backpack = return/resurrection. Daryl’s leg wrapping = boot = trunk = return/resurrection. The orange eye banner = Sirius = return/resurrection.

Also, I don’t think they will ever comment on whose eye it is on the banner, but you cannot convince me that it’s not Emily’s eye unless they specifically deny it.

This is a very short explanation of the symbolism pathway that leads me to think back = return. It’s a way to explain it that fits into my system. But basically, I believe what you say about a journey is just a different aspect of it. They’re slightly different ways of ending up at more or less the same spot. But in order to have a return, there kind of has to be a journey involved, otherwise it’s not much of a return, right?

Actually, I don’t know where you guys stand on this now, but I remember when the Michonne episode aired, @twdmusicboxmystery interpreted the apple symbolism as “separation.” I interpreted it as kind of the opposite: apples as a symbol of “bringing your family back, as Virgil said after poisoning Michonne. She said it took her family away from her, but I believe tptb use the apple symbolism as pointing towards reunion/return/resurrection.

My point is, we’re both right because they are two sides to the same story. There can’t be reunion unless there has been some sort of separation first. So, it could seem like I interpret the apple symbolism opposite to what @twdmusicboxmystery said after the episode, but I actually don’t think about it that way. I think we’re both picking up on what’s important about the apple symbolism, and then we use slightly different word to describe it.

I focus on the return/resurrection part, but in order to have that, there has to be some kind of separation or journey preceding it. You can’t reunite with someone you haven’t been separated from, and most likely, there’s a journey involved. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make much sense, right?

We first saw the eye banner when spoiler pictures from filming 9x1 emerged. They made no attempt to prevent the spoiler pics from coming out, they actually made quite the spectacle of it instead. I actually find that very interesting, because if it really is Emily’s eye, which I’m fully convinced it is, then it was a very loud announcement to TD about Beth, the eye/Sirius symbolism and also the orange symbolism.

We first saw Daryl’s leg wrapping in Stradivarius, right? We see the orange leg wrapping (IMO a boot/trunk reference) in Stradivarius, which is kind of the first we see of Daryl after the time skip, if you don’t count the small clip from the opening minutes of 9x6, which is an interesting clip. But you actually don’t see the orange leg wrapping there.

Which, if you don’t count the clip from 9x6 is kind of the first chronological appearance by Daryl after FM. You see him transitioning into the orange leg wrapping in FM, but chronologically that’s set in the time between 9x5 and 9x7. I love the little clip from 9x6, so packed with symbolism. But I do find it interesting that it doesn’t show the orange leg wrapping. It’s like they went out of their way to NOT show it. No idea if that’s significant or not, but certainly interesting.

@wdway:

You're right Frangi at the core we pretty much all believe the same thing. I agree totally with the eye banner being symbolism of Sirius the one-eyed dog but I also was very excited about seeing the Chevron symbol at the end of the entry hall banners, all in colors that can be tied to Beth. To me it speaks that there will be some type of military tie between the Sirius symbol (Beth) and the Chevron symbol (Commonwealth/CRM)

@frangipanilove: Yeah, agree on the chevron. They really like to pile on the symbols, don’t they. It’s symbolism on top of symbolism.

@wdway: We did actually see a quick glimpse of Daryl's orange legging in Who Are You Now, immediately following the reveal of the X on Michonne's back.

@frangipanilove: That’s awesome. Because that means that when we see it in Find Me, it’s the first time in the chronology he wears it. Assuming he had the orange leg cover during the entirety of 9x6, it means the very first time we see Daryl wearing it is when he’s standing waist-deep in the water spear fishing. Obviously, we don’t see it, but I’m going to assume we’re meant to believe he’s wearing it in the water while spear fishing.

Spear fishing is something we saw with both Leah and Carol in FM. He threw a fish at the front door with the X. In 9x6 we saw him catch a fish on the spear, then immediately a walker emerges from the water. All very strong symbols. Michonne has a very poignant voiceover, lots of symbolism there as well. He sees a walker representing himself grown into the tree trunks (three I believe). It reaches out for him, or something. Then the blue bird comes, grabs the ear worm, we see the nest, the bird babies. More poignant monologue from Michonne, tiny beacons of light etc.

@twdmusicboxmystery

What actually kicked off this conversation not long after Fear, 6x12, In Dreams aired, was that I noticed in Grace’s dream, when she met her daughter Athena, Athena was wearing an orange backpack. Not THE orange backpack, but another one.

I don’t have tons to add except to say that I totally agree with these two ladies. Another, slightly different (though not really) way you could look at it is that backpack always appears before someone dies, but there’s always a return as on the horizon as well.

In Clear, as @wdway mentioned, Morgan qualifies as a resurrection and return, but the hitchhiker carrying the backpack also died. In this case, Morgan also disappeared again, not to reappear until 5x01. So it was also the beginning of another separation between Rick and Morgan.

I seem to remember Carl having the backpack in 3x16, just before TF finally kicked the Governor’s butt. I’ve often wondered if it was a death omen for Carl. And it may have been, given that this is the episode where Gimple took over and probably planned Carl’s arc. But that wouldn’t come for a long time. 

It’s more likely that it meant other things. Many of the Gov’s people actually did die, but that also kicked off the Gov’s arc where he disappeared and didn’t return until 4x08 when he bulldozed the prison. And there were HEAVY Beth parallels during those two episodes (4x06-07) about him. There were also smaller returns here, such as Karen returning to Tyreese at Woodbury, and them finding Andrea. Though she, too, actually died.

Michonne’s vision with Virgil has been covered pretty well here. Clearly it’s leading toward her finding Rick (reunion) but also kicks off her separation from her kids, Daryl and the rest of TF. We didn’t see obvious death around her, but I’m sure there will be some in her coming arc. The fact that she keeps ending up with Negan’s bat in her hands is proof enough of that.

I’m sure you can also see how the orange backpack ties into the left/right/back pocket symbolism as well.

So yeah. I think you get the idea. It’s a fascinating symbol, isn’t it? And one we’ll definitely keep an eye on moving forward. Thoughts?

[wingsofthewibbets]

Hello I Made A Playlist

It is specifically for the vibes of the Calamity Trio! Also, I feel like contributing to fandom, so I tried to explain why I felt each song gave off the ~Vibe~. Apologies for the length of this monstrosity. It’s on Youtube and Spotify, but there is a song on Youtube I used that was unavailable on Spotify. It’s in no particular order, although maybe I’ll organize it one day.

~‘California Friends’ (The Regrettes)- Generally the fun upbeat vibe of the song, but also these specific lyrics make me think of Anne’s :

     I think I love you but then I think

     No way!

     I gotta go but I wanna stay

    Just stay!

    I guess I’ll save it for another day, well okay?

As well as:

     I get mixed up in my head, you do too

     But I don’t forget a thing you’ve said

     Well that’s true

I think the lyrics definitely give me more Anne/Marcy vibes, but the music itself makes me think of Sasha getting them into trouble. There’s some big garage band energy here, and it just makes me think of them running around and causing chaos. (also the ‘i gotta go but i wanna stay/just stay’ definitely reminds me of the end of the aquarium episode)

~’The Archer’ (Taylor Swift)- Oh man this song where do I even start?? There is so much?? (I know I’ve already talked about this one, but Imma do it again) I was listening to this song one day and the lyrics hit me so hard as reminding me of all the girls, specifically:

For Anne:

    Combat, I’m ready for combat

    I say I don’t want that, but what if I do?

    ‘Cause cruelty wins in the movies

    I’ve got a hundred thrown-out speeches I almost said to you

I feel like this is pretty self-explanatory, but this seriously makes me think of her relationship with Sasha -or the shambles of it anyway oof- and the speeches line just makes me there’s so much that she doesn’t tell her friends about what’s running through her head. 

Anne’s an emotional person to be sure, but she’s also a very impulsive one, which means a lot of times, what people get from her is the unedited, unreflected version of her thoughts, which don’t make them any less true, but that also means that she’s probably a little more reticent with the deeper ideals that don’t get unearthed through dramatic moments. She just does things a lot of the time, and when she gets stuck on something, it is kinda obvious from the outside, but she also gets uncomfortable with trying to talk about it, because there is no clear solution she can enact in the moment to resolve it.

For Sasha:

    Screaming who could ever leave me, darling?

    But who could stay?

    I see right through me, I see through me

As well as the repetition of ‘they see right through me/can you see right through me’, these lines give me huge Sasha vibes, specifically. I think of them kind of especially applicable to the Reunion episode, but also just how there were a couple scenes where she seemed to be regretting hiding from her friends the toad rebellion that was going to take place in Newtopia, and that conversation Anne and Sasha have in The Third Temple. I don’t think she ever considered regretting the rebellion at all, but I do think she worried over what it might do to her friendships. 

The end of Reunion was heartbreaking, for both Anne and Sasha, because if the Plantars had been able to pull both girls up, I think there would have been more opportunity for Sasha and Anne to have a better reconciliation. (i think this about this a lot ngl) And, also because she was willing to die for Anne??? I don’t think that gets discussed enough. That episode has big ‘who could ever leave me’ at the beginning, and then at the end ‘who could stay’ vibes. 

For Marcy:

    And all of my heroes die alone (OOF)

As well as

     All the king’s horses, all the king’s men

     Couldn’t put me together again

     ‘Cause all of my enemies started out friends

Ahahaha this is the ANGST. So. I mean, obviously the king’s horses part makes me think of the ending of True Colors, and I don’t think that Marcy considers Sasha and Anne to be her enemies by any stretch of the imagination, but I don’t think that Andrias is above manipulating her to think that they think of her that way. (Also the line ‘cause all of my enemies started out friends’ line is very applicable to Anne and Sasha as well, it just happened to be part of the lines that made me think of Marcy) Plus sticking around the king and whatever the heck he has in store for her will definitely not put her back together sooo-

The ‘help me hold onto you’ and the ‘I’ve been the archer/I’ve been the prey’ just apply to all of them (for the former, think Sasha and Anne in Reunion, the way Marcy tried to mediate in The Dinner, and just True Colors in general; for the latter, it makes me think of the sword-fights between Anne and Sasha, as well as how Marcy once believed that Andrias actually cared about her). The ‘Dark side, I search for your dark side/But what if I’m alright, right, right, right here’ make me think of how Anne is going to be reevaluating her friendships with both Sasha and Marcy, as well as how all of them seemed to grow into the Amphibia communities that they landed in and what they are going to struggle with leaving behind.

I had this song on loop for way too long trying to word my feelings out about it.

~’Soldier, Poet, King’ (Oh Hellos)- This song is just so absolutely perfect for the three girls. I’d like to take the time to state that I think Sasha fits soldier, Marcy poet, and Anne king, but what are y’all’s thoughts? 

     There will come a soldier/Who carries a mighty sword

     He will tear your city down

Big Sasha vibes, fits with what’s she done so far in the show, as well as how she’s being set up for the third season to be a hero (whose intentions somewhat align with the consequences of her actions).

    There will come a poet/Whose weapon is his word

    He will slay you with his tongue

Marcy spends a lot of time journaling, and she even takes the time to learn a dead language! She seems rather skilled with more traditional weaponry, but her biggest boon is her intelligence and her quick-thinking. I also think that if she does end up getting possessed by the Night, its words being spoken by Marcy’s voice is absolutely going to SLAUGHTER Anne and Sasha.

     There will come a ruler/Whose brow is laid in thorn

     Smeared with oil like David’s boy

Apart from the fact that Anne literally has plants growing from her head in the S2 finale, she is also a charismatic leader who has made connections all over Amphibia. She genuinely cares about the people around her, and takes the time to get to know them and spend time with them. Also, a lot of times, she is underestimated and seen as the David to her opponent’s Goliath- whether that be physically or in skillset.

~’Someone To You’ (The Banners)- No specific lyrics here, but the general vibe of the song. There is a sort of desperation that seems to permeate it, as though if the narrator isn’t someone to the person they are singing to, they will be nobody at all, and I think that is very much how all of the girls view their friendship, at least at first. 

Marcy gets the music box thing going because she doesn’t want to be alone; Sasha is desperate to have Anne, and she wants so much for both Anne and Marcy to look up to her as someone who is strong and present. I think for Anne, we kinda see this song in the speech she gives to Sprig in Best Fronds when she’s trying to get him to break the rules with her, but also in how she is open to reconciling with Sasha in The Dinner and giving her a second chance. Mainly, though, what I associate with Anne for this song are the scenes where she reunites with Marcy and Sasha for the first time. The spinning hug she gives Sasha, and how tightly she hugs Marcy with tears in her eyes- she really does love and care about these girls.

They all cling to this friendship so much, in different ways, both healthy and unhealthy, and I think this song really captures that.

~’Lost Girls’ (Lindsey Stirling)- This song is mostly instrumental, so again, no specific lyrics here, but there is a very deep, melancholic feel to this song. It gets kinda fast-paced at some points, and reminds me of the ending of True Colors, with Anne and Sasha and Marcy separated. There is so much space- literal and internal- between all of them now, and I think this song does a really great job of getting Those Feels across. They aren’t just lost to each other, they are also struggling with battles inside of themselves.

But the lyrics that are in this song, (lol I just said I wouldn’t mention them whoops) ‘Lost girls find a way’, are sung, the music played after them that plays remind me that, like Matt Braly said, sometimes things have to be broken to be fixed again. They can find a way. It’s not a happy song to be sure, but there’s a quiet strength and determination in it.

~’Long Live’ (Taylor Swift)- I could cite specific lyrics here, but this song has just always given me epilogue-end-of-the-battle scenes, where we get to see everyone exhausted, but happy and most importantly together. This song is what I’m hoping the future gets to be for Marcy, Anne, and Sasha; happy about their present together, being able to heal despite the past, and accepting that even if they aren’t together forever in the future, that doesn’t mean they weren’t important to one another.

~’Torches’ (Oh Hellos)- ‘Torches’, on the complete opposite hand to ‘Long Live’, kind of represents where the girls are right now with one another. 

Despite keeping that old wheel turning, despite laying that next spoke down (yes these are direct lyric references), they are also continuing to make mistakes with one another.

    I got a venom like a snake running out of my mouth

    (Running out of my mouth, running out of my mouth)

    It’s got you burning at the stake

    Innocent or not, you’re not a bet I care to take

 And, yet, somehow, they keep being led back to one another. They are more alike than they think, and even if they get back to Earth, they will still be bound by the mutual experiences they had on Amphibia, that no one else is likely to ever understand. The ways they misunderstand one another and don’t communicate cleave them apart, but also together, in a way. 

    And Father Ignorance will make brothers of us all

   (Brothers of us all, brothers of us all)

    As he sets our torch aflame

    Chasing down the flimsy specters that we pro-create

As well as 

    Mother Fortuna, O, she makes sisters of us all

    (Sisters of us all, sisters of us all)

   When the faces in her wake

    Look more like our own than the effigies that we immolate

~’Castle On The Hill’ (Ed Sheeran)- Purely just the vibes. Nothing super deep, just makes me think of how Anne, Sasha, and Marcy are going to look back on their friendships and their time together. 

~’Trouble’ (Valerie Broussard)- Though I will forever associate this song with Six of Crows thanks to a fabulous animatic, I will say that it also makes me think of the darker tone that Season 3 might take on, and how each girl is poised to take on a different problem. I see it as a very Sasha song (especially ‘I’m your Number Two man in a fight/We are revolutionaries tonight’), but all three of them tend to lead a trail of chaos in their wake. (Also the vibes here are impeccable)

~’Time Alive’ (K.C Katalbas)- (not on Spotify, definitely recommend checking it out) This song just has that perfectly nostalgic, yet aspirational feel to it. It is hopeful, yet it it has its own sort of weight. It pairs nicely with ‘Long Live’ and ‘Castle On The Hill’, in a way, I think. It makes me think of what the future could be for the girls, once again, and how even if something is bittersweet, you are still allowed to be hopeful. Mostly, it makes me think of each girl reflecting about one another, and the time they spent together. 

    And this is your life, every plan has a right to fall

    And this is your heart, through the dark it’s the loudest call

    And this is breathing

    And seeing her go

~’Try’ (The Lightning Thief)- True Color battle against Andrias vibes! And Season 3 vibes! A lot of these lyrics are kind of specific to Annabeth, Percy, and Grover’s characters, but I also think the general feel of this song is very applicable to Anne, Sasha, and Marcy. Particularly, I am reminded of how Sasha and Anne will be feeling about Marcy.

    I may fail you

   I may fail you

    I may fail you, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t try

And

    I’m not leaving your side til we find what matters

   I’m not leaving your side til we’re back home

   I’m not leaving your side til you’re remembered

   No matter how far we have to go

As well as probably the guilt that Marcy was feeling during True Colors:

   Two thousand four hundred forty eight reasons I have to come along

   Wash my hands of past mistakes

As well as

    The weight of the world’s on my shoulders

    Like Atlas, it’s crushing me down

    We’re not brave, we’re not strong, we’re not soldiers

And how could I forget?

    L.A doesn’t seem so far away…

~’Drive It Like You Stole It’ (Sing Street)- Again, like ‘Trouble’, but a little softer. If ‘Trouble’ has Sasha vibes, this one makes me think of Anne, but it also has a similar line to ‘Time Alive’- this is your life. For the most part of Amphibia, I think the girls focussed a lot on fitting in and adapting to their surroundings, but I think Season 3 is really going to see them owning who they are and taking it upon themselves to enact change. 

It also just makes me think of them messing around and being kids, trying to figure out who they are. It’s like, if they ever make it back to Earth in one piece and stay friends, but still manage to get into shenanigans.

~’What’s Up Danger’ (Blackway, Black Caviar)- local newt king gets mauled by three newly empowered thirteen-year olds

~’How Far We’ve Come’ (Matchbox Twenty)- This one is a classic. No playlist of mine is worth its salt if it doesn’t have this song here. It has the ~vibes~ of pre-last battle energy, and also I can definitely see Sasha and the Sharps playing it at some point. 

Alternately, this also makes me think of Anne, Sasha, and Marcy finally going home together or reuniting properly after the end of True Colors. Lots of angst either way.

~’We Are Young’ (fun.)- What I picture with this: Anne, Sasha, and Marcy are not entirely reconciled with one another yet, but it’s the night before the last battle or somethin’, and they still care about one another a lot. This has that energy. They’re just kids, but they’ll be damned if they don’t go out without a fight, and without standing by one another’s sides. 

(and marcy found someone(s) to carry her home nanananananana)

Slightly more uplifting(?) than ‘How Far We’ve Come’, but similar energy, I think.

~’Pump It’ (Black Eyed Peas)- three local teenagers get pumped to cause problems on purpose; montage time. I have no justification for this song, only that it has the vibes of Sasha and Anne’s relentless energy and the confidence of Marcy swinging down on a rope she doesn’t know will actually hold her weight. 

~’Disaster Hearts’ (I Fight Dragons)- I feel like this song is the definition of Matt’s tweet about how some things have to be broken to be fixed. It has vibes of the aftermath of a battle, and opening the door to reconciliation and forgiveness. Amphibia has tied these girls together, for better or worse, and I think there is room for them to become better friends and mend their relationships.

    Disaster has a way of remaking our hearts

    Long after all the thunder and scars

    Days pass and bit by bit we begin to restart

    Our disaster hearts

~’Thus Always To Tyrants’ (Oh Hellos)- It makes me think of where Anne and Sasha are left at the end of Reunion, but also in how Anne wants to find Marcy now that she know she’s definitely out there. The sound of the song gives me huge Marcy vibes, with how it does seem to be almost cheerful? The very last line makes me think a lot about Sasha (‘Learn to love without consuming’), but I think a lot of the song is applicable to all the girls in different situations. 

[highladyluck]

I feel like anyone reading this blog on the regular is probably at least neutral if not actually positively inclined towards Mat and Tuon's relationship (or you would have unfollowed or blocked me or my Mat/Tuon tag after the past month), but nonetheless I still feel the need to set the record straight about their last canonical interaction. On the surface, it does not look like these two crazy kids are going to make it! But I have hope, and here's why. (Essay with entire series spoilers under the cut).

Tuon frowned. The explosions reflected in her dark eyes. "I'm with child," she said. "The Doomseer has confirmed it." Mat felt a jolt, as sure as if a firework had gone off inside of his stomach. An heir. A son, no doubt! what odds that it was a boy? Mat forced a grin. "Well, I guess I'm off the hook, now. You have an heir." "I have an heir," Tuon said, “but I am the one off that hook. Now I can kill you, if I want." Mat felt his grin widen. "Well, we'll have to see what we can work out. Tell me, do you ever play dice?"

It is with deep embarrassment that I must tell you that this is how these two dumbasses flirt with each other. I'm sorry! It hurts me too.

Things that look like baldfaced threats from Tuon are not a new interaction, so we have a pattern to study. Tuon has basically been threatening to demote Mat for insubordination (with asides on his appearance) since kidnapping Day 1. She does it when she thinks he's being rude or acting inappropriately; she never strikes first, but if she thinks he's been rude to her she'll be rude right back. I think the first time she threatens to make him her cupbearer is when she's pissed off that her cover story is that she's a thieving servant. Then it's when he's a little late for their shopping trip. Interestingly, she's like 'you look good in lace', which is actually a compliment, so she covers it up with 'maybe I'll dress you in lace when you're my cupbearer'.

The other times she does it is when he has bad table manners (and doesn't apologize for it or change behavior to her satisfaction.) The time she does it in the thakan’bar ‘hell’ she changes it from 'cupbearer' to 'running groom' because 'he's good with horses'. She's increasingly sure that he's the one in the prophecy so I think these become increasingly less serious threats- they also become increasingly mixed with compliments of a sort. She's taking him down a peg, but also complimenting him half the time, which makes it somewhat of a playful insult, which is a flirting strategy used by people who don't know their own feelings or who want plausible deniability about them.

Once they're officially married, and he does something insubordinate or that puts her status in court at risk, she switches to "Please don't make me execute you" with similar additions of "I'm growing fond of you"/"It would be a shame to kill you before you gave me an heir" and so on. She's telling him to behave, but the threats are pretty much entirely empty. Mat knows by this point that while she probably would kill someone who was loyal to her if she thought she absolutely had to, she will go out of her way to avoid doing it and would absolutely not do it on a whim and without considerable soul-searching, and he also knows that she has looked out for his welfare multiple times and is possessive of 'her' people.

There's a lot of examples of Tuon protecting Mat, from her attempt to salve his infected wounds- after she takes him down a peg for being smug about the kiss by telling him he has a fever and his wounds must be infected- and the way she and Selucia pull him back from spooky doom in Shiota, and her saving him outside the Hell, and the fact that she goes to rescue him when he's beset by Grey Men in the command tent, etc. And he knows that she trusts him implicitly because she looked to see what he was aiming at when he threw a knife at the assassin behind her. Trust is extremely important to Tuon and she trusts Mat with her life. There is no way she actually wants to kill him and they both know it.

Also, her prophecy specifically said "It is him you will marry and no other" and she plans to have a bunch of children so they can all fight for the throne and the fittest will win. She *knows* she's stuck with Mat. Honestly, Mat heard her version of the prophecy and should also have done the math and figured out that she isn't going to get legitimate heirs with anyone else, and that if she says she's with him to get an heir for the Empire, that means she's stuck with him for the rest of her childbearing years at the very least, because she's got to name the heir apparent for the succession to really be finalized. But in fairness Mat was distracted at the time and I also think he doesn't want to think about the fact that his kids are going to be encouraged to murder each other, which is, you know, fair. (There are actual, major problems in store for their relationship! Obviously! But sincere death threats for spouses is, I argue, not actually one of them.)

But I think, based on how she acts more than what she says, Mat knows that she's not serious about killing him. I think he knows this is just her weird way of flirting, because he's the one starting the joke, albeit tentatively, since he’s forcing the grin- it's her joke, it's not his, he's testing the waters and trying to mimic her terms (the way she often does with his, to comedic effect- remember how she put the same swear into the wedding vows he did!) He's taking a risk, he's saying "Well I guess I've done what you said is my job, I'll go if you don't want me around...?" And her response is "Actually *I* did *my* job!" (Subtext: I am specifically not saying your job is over- just like I specifically made you not under my protection at the circus so you had to stick with me and see the whole thing through- so by extension, you are not free to go, this is not over.) "Now I can kill you if I want." (Subtext: "And if I actually wanted you to leave I'd just kill you instead. ;)" The ;) is a stand-in for even more subtext, which is "And we both know I am not actually going to kill you, dumbass.") That's why Mat reacts with an actual grin- he correctly parses that she wants him to stick around- and a reply that boils down to "Wanna bet? ;)" which is both an acknowledgment of "I'm calling your bluff about the killing me thing" and an overture of friendship, because Mat likes to play games with his friends. (He said the same thing to the Seanchan soldier he won over earlier in AMOL.)

At this point they know each other well enough to hear the stuff that's underneath the bravado and posturing, and they have figured out how to communicate well enough to  a) fake a convincing split for battle strategy purposes and b) mostly be sure that it is just a fake split. They know their relationship is weird and vulnerable in a lot of ways, but they also have a deep practical awareness that the other person values them and will keep their promises, that the other person can be trusted to protect them, and that they need things from one another. They're both people who have a lot going on under the surface, who aren't super introspective and also deliberately hide their feelings and lie about them for advantage or survival. But their actions tell the true story, and they know it.

[introvertguide]

Bonnie and Clyde (1967); AFI #42

The next film that we covered for the group was the period true- crime drama, Bonnie and Clyde (1967). It is the story of the notorious Barrow gang, led by Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, during the American Great Depression. This film features a cavalcade of some of Hollywood's biggest actors including Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Gene Hackman. It is supposedly quite accurate because some of the witnesses and even a couple of the gang members of the actual crimes were still alive during the production of the film. Actress Estelle Parsons won Best Supporting Actress for he portrayal of Blanche Barrow, which I would like to comment on. I also want to speak a little to the accuracy of the story, but first I want to spoil the plot of the film.

SPOILER WARNING!!!! I AM GOING TO REVEAL THE WHOLE MOVIE SO I CAN COMPARE TO WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT THE ACTUAL HISTORY!!! THE MOVIE AND THE REAL LIFE STORY WILL BE SPOILED COMPLETELY!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

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In the middle of the Great Depression, Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) and Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) of Texas meet when Clyde tries to steal the car belonging to Bonnie's mother. Clyde had spotted Bonnie hanging out in her room naked from the heat, and she spotted him watching her and was intrigued by the danger. Bonnie is bored by her job as a waitress, which Clyde correctly guesses, and decides to take up with him and become his partner in crime. They pull off some weak crimes including a bank heist at a location that has been hit by the depression and there is no money. Clyde actually makes the teller come out to the escape car and tell Bonnie what the deal is and she just laughs at the situation.

The pair find an extra man in a worldly ignorant but mechanically inclined gas station attendant named C.W. Moss (Michael Pollard). Clyde apparently has a way with words because people just join him for no real reason besides being bored. Clyde's older brother Buck (Gene Hackman) and his wife, Blanche (Estelle Parsons), a preacher's daughter, also join them. The two women dislike each other at first sight because Bonnie thinks that Blanche will ruin their fun (she does) and Blanche believes that Bonnie is evil and wants to get rid of her (she does). Keep in mind while watching this that Estelle Parsons won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for this portrayal.

Bonnie and Clyde turn from pulling small-time heists to robbing banks since they now have a full gang. Their exploits also become more violent when C.W. comically botches a bank robbery when he sees an open parking spot and decides to parallel park. He can't get out of the space quickly and he delays their escape, forcing Clyde to shoot the bank manager in the face when he jumps onto the slow-moving car's running board. The gang is pursued by law enforcement, including Texas Ranger Frank Hamer (Denver Pyle), whom they capture and humiliate by taking his photo and setting afloat on a little dingy on a nearby river.

The group likes to switch out cars because they treat the getaway vehicles very rough. When they are seen stealing a car by its owner, a young man named Eugene Grizzard (Gene Wilder) and his girlfriend Velma Davis (Evans Evans), the robbed couple attempt to follow the stolen car. The gang stops and takes the couple hostage in the chase car and even pull over to get some burgers. They let the couple go when they find out they are in their 30s (too old apparently) and find a roadside stop. A raid later that night catches the outlaws off guard, mortally wounding Buck with a shot to his head and injuring Blanche so she can't see. Bonnie, Clyde, and C.W. barely escape alive. With Blanche sightless and in police custody, Hamer tricks her into revealing C.W.'s name, which they use to find any safe places where the remaining gang might go (until then, C.W. was only an "unidentified suspect").

Hamer locates Bonnie, Clyde, and C.W. hiding at the house of C.W.'s father Ivan (Dub Taylor), who thinks the couple have corrupted his son (as evidenced by an ornate tattoo that Bonnie convinced C.W. to get). The elder Moss strikes a bargain with Hamer: in exchange for leniency for the boy, he helps set a trap for the outlaws. When Bonnie and Clyde stop on the side of the road to help Mr. Moss fix a flat tire, the police in the bushes open fire and riddle them with bullets. Hamer and his posse come out of hiding and look pensively at the couple's bodies as a nearby flock of swallows fly away.

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This film stood out as it was a comical version of the super violent gangster films that were popular in the 30s. Storywriters David Newman and Robert Benton wanted to punch up the violence with a romantic undertone so they sent the script to French New Wave director Francois Truffaut for contributions. Warren Beatty was visiting Paris and heard about the project then decided he wanted to produce the picture. He was going to have his sister, Shirley MacLaine, play the roll of Bonnie until he decided that he was going to play the part of Clyde. That would have been really awkward, so he tried find a lead actress that he could have a romantic scene with. Many actresses were approached and Faye Dunaway was eventually chosen for the part.

Beatty decided that they needed an American director and offered that job to a plethora of established directors in Hollywood and finally landed on Arthur Penn even after he turned down the position multiple times. What it all comes down to is that not a lot of people wanted to be part of this production. It was considered somewhat of a risky art film at the time because of the questionable sexuality of Clyde and the heavy violence.

So what was so risky? Looking at films that were made only a few later, this seems rather tame. This film came out just a little before the MPAA was established and the writers had been influenced by the French films that didn't have the same restrictive film rules that were present in the United States. It was originally proposed that Clyde be played as bisexual, but the script eventually called for him to be more asexual. The real Clyde Barrow had been sexually assaulted in prison so he would have been scarred by that experience and might not have been interested in Bonnie in that way. This depth into a character's sexuality had generally been avoided in American cinema before this film and there was concern about audience reactions. They shouldn't have worried because the movie was a sleeper hit, eventually making $75 million on a $2.5 million budget.

The number of graphic murders actually shown on screen (especially when Clyde shot a guy in the face who jumped on the car during a get away) was unprecedented at the time. There was also some dismay by critics about the portrayal of Bonnie as sleazy and the whole gang as somewhat stupid. These were a bunch of uneducated folks that grew up in a time when it was more important to find a job. They were smart enough to avoid capture for years, which is shown in the movie, so they had to have some sort of intelligence.

There is a little bit of an elephant in the room with this movie and it involves the historical accuracy. The dates and crimes are well documented and a lot was known about the characters when the movie was produced. However, a major part of the movie was speculation and fabrication about the personalities in the gang. The characters that were based on living people at the time were actually the least accurate as C.W. Moss was a fictional person based on two different gang members (one who was still alive) and the actions of Blanche Barrow were based on a different member of the gang. The real Blanche Barrow lived until the 1980s and famously complained that Parsons's portrayal "made [her] look like a screaming horse's ass!" Parsons is the one the went on to win Best Supporting Actress.

This film was much more enjoyable for me on second watch. The first viewing left me hating the character of Blanche and I wondered if there was some sort of conspiracy to get that actress an Oscar. On second view, I realize that she was necessary to be a foil to the gang. There had to be a weak link in the chain and the audience knew that she would be the downfall of the group. Her presence made the police encounters all the more intense because there was this crazy wild card that could ruin everything at any time. It really adds a touch of comedy along with a bigger element of suspense. She is annoying, but enjoyable, and the people around her react to her behavior in a realistic way, so I appreciate what the character brings to the table.

I would highly suggest looking into the real life of Bonnie and Clyde along with the whole Barrow Gang because they took major advantage of the Great Depression banks, but not so much the suffering people. To some, the members of the Barrow gang were considered celebrities or even heroes because they were getting back at the banks that had mishandled so many people's money. I started my search off with this nice article on the Encyclopedia Britannica site and dug deeper to find out more about the connections between the real people and the film:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bonnie-and-Clyde-American-criminals

So does this film belong on the AFI top 100? I absolutely think so. It has some connections to French New Wave, but it is American directed with American actors and it tells the story of some of the most notorious criminals in American history. It is also a very good film that won Oscars and was a box office success. Bonnie and Clyde are part of Americana and were almost the equivalent of a Robin Hood character to many at the time. Would I recommend this film? I would. Keep an eye out for the Blanche character because she can be annoying, but know she serves a purpose and the movie is not all about her. The connection between Bonnie and Clyde is epic and has influenced a lot of American films, so enjoy it for the cinematic quality, the history in film, and the history of the United States.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #121: Lancelot (Saber)

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re building the one Frenchman who could do no wrong (until he did) Lancelot du Lac! This time instead of his snarly dog version we’re making his Saber class form, so buckle in for a huge smite and a whole lot of other stuff to fill time between getting smites.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here! 

Next up: How sad. Alexa, play Despacito.

Race and Background

Fun fact: Lancelot was raised by the Lady of the Lake, the same woman who would one day give Artoria her sword. Sorry, I think I said that wrong, I meant to say he was raised by a lady in a lake. Like, under the water. To celebrate this weird ass origin story, we’re making Lancelot a Triton, because I honestly don’t think I’ll ever get another excuse to make one of those. Tritons get +1 to Strength, Constitution, and Charisma, as well as the option to breathe air and water thanks to being Amphibious. You’re also an Emissary of the Sea and Guardian of the Depths, allowing you to talk to any water-breathing beasts, and giving you resistance to cold damage to boot. You can also Control Air and Water, which right now means you can cast Fog Cloud once per day using charisma.

Finally, as a knight of the round table you’re a Knight of the Order, giving you proficiency with Persuasion and Religion. 

Ability Scores:

As fitting of someone who turns lancers into fine smears on the ground, your Strength is going to be your highest score. After that is Charisma. Half the time you’re in some sort of situation where nobody can tell who you are, but they still like you anyway. I’d think a high charisma would make you less forgettable, but I’m not English. After that is Constitution- Dolorous Guard requires you to fight twenty knights, and they cheat on top of that! You’d better be ready for the long haul. Your Dexterity isn’t terrible, you’ll mostly be in plate mail anyway. Your Intelligence is a bit low, but your plans generally get summed up as “hit things”, so it’s not much of a loss. Finally, dump Wisdom. If you could resist charm effects you wouldn’t be in this mess. 

Class Levels

1. Paladin 1: I hope this isn’t too surprising. First level paladins get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves, as well as two paladin skills. Athletics will help you lug three shields around, and Intimidation will make that look even remotely scary to anyone else.

You also get a Divine Sense that will help you detect celestials, fiends, or undead near you for a turn. If you’re hunting down the holy grail, it’s probably guarded by celestials or undead, so this might give you an edge on your son. You can use this a number of times per long rest equal to 1 + your charisma modifier. You can also Lay on Hands for a bit of healing that recharges each long rest.

2. Paladin 2: Use your new Fighting Style to get better with your great sword with Great Weapon Fighting. This lets you re-roll ones and twos on your damage rolls with two handed weapons. when you combine this with your smites, it’ll get a lot of use. Oh, speaking of, you can use Divine Smite to add some radiant damage to your melee weapon attacks by burning a spell slot. Speaking of speaking of, you can cast and prepare Spells now using Charisma. Lance is more about the smiting than anything else, and you can also swap spells at will, so don’t get too worked up over what you take. 

3. Paladin 3: As a knight to the great King Arthur, you’re an Oath of the Crown paladin, meaning you can use your Channel Divinity in two different ways. Once per short rest, you can either issue a Champion Challenge or Turn the Tide. The former forces creatures within thirty feet of you to make a Wisdom save (DC 8 + your charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus) or they’re unable to move more than 30′ away from you. This ends if you can’t fight any more, or the creature is ever more than 30′ away from you. Interestingly enough, this doesn’t end if they’re incapacitated, so it’s good for locking down prisoners. The latter heals creatures you choose nearby if they’re bloodied. A lot of people get bloodied near you later, so it might be a good idea to save this. Both options use your bonus action.

You can also Harness Divine Power, spending a bonus action and your channel divinity use to regain a spell slot. Once again speaking of, you get the oath spells Command and Compelled Duel, meaning you don’t have to prepare them to use them. Forcing people to duel you would have solved a lot of problems you had while questing. Not the big one, but a lot of them.

Also, your Divine Health makes you immune to disease. Also also, Control Air and Water makes a comeback, and now you can cast Gust of Wind once per day too.

4. Paladin 4: We’re giving you a breather from all that stuff we got last level. This level, use your first Ability Score Improvement to grab the Tavern Brawler feat. This bumps up your Strength by one, makes you proficient with improvised weapons, improves your unarmed attacks by making them 1d4 instead of 1 damage, and you can grapple enemies as a bonus action after attacking with an improvised weapon. “A knight’s hands are never empty”, after all.

5. Paladin 5: Fifth level paladins get an Extra Attack with each attack action, and Control Air and Water comes back once again for one more freebie. Now you can cast Wall of Water once per day.

Speaking of casting, crown paladins get another level of spell slots and two more oath spells. Warding Bond will protect your fair maiden for up to an hour, giving them a bonus to AC and forcing you to take half their damage. You also get Zone of Truth, whose main purpose is to make things incredibly awkward between you and Artoria.

6. Paladin 6: Our last stop on the paladin train gives you an Aura of Protection, giving you and nearby allies a bonus to all saves equal to your charisma modifier. You’re good at saving against charms now, but at least you were lore compliant early on.

7. Warlock 1: Remember how you were raised by a faerie early on? It’s time to collect. Thanks to your Archfey patron, You can use your Fey Presence to frighten (or charm) creatures that fail a wisdom save once per short rest. You also get Pact Magic, spells that recharge on short rests that don’t quite mix with your existing magic. Just keep your paladin slots and warlock slots how they look on the paper. One class’s slots can cast the other’s spells though.

Speaking of spells: Sword Burst and True Strike for swording good, Armor of Agathys for armoring good, and Cause Fear to be more intimidating.

8. Warlock 2: Second level warlocks get Eldritch Invocations, ways to customize their changeling experience. You get Fiendish Vigor so you can cast False Life on yourself at will, and save the other one for next level. You can also cast Charm Person- nobody said you weren’t sexy.

9. Warlock 3: Getting fancy new swords must be pretty common for knights. At third level you enter the Pact of the Blade, giving you a fancy greatsword you can summon as an action. If you’d prefer something a bit lighter, you can also cast Shadow Blade for a smaller blade... made of shadow.

You also get the invocation Improved Pact Weapon, adding 1 to your attack and damage rolls.

10. Bard 1: You’re the poster boy of being good at just about everything you try, with the exception of keeping it in your pants. That’s a bard, alright. First level bards get any one skill proficiency- Animal Handling will help you stay on your horse better (It doesn’t actually, but it really should).

You also get Bardic Inspiration, d6 you can hand out to allies to help them with attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws that recharge on short rests. Finally, you get another round of Spells that use Charisma to cast. These spell slots mix with your paladin slots, so check the multiclassing page to figure out how many you have at any given time.

Grab Friends to be scarier and more charming, Dancing Lights and Faerie Fire for a bit more faerie magic, Heroism to lead your knights to glory, Longstrider to push yourself, and Speak with Animals. There were a lot of talking animals back then.

11. Bard 2: Being a Jack of All Trades makes you somewhat good at just about everything, adding half your proficiency to all skills. Camelot also gets a bit livelier thanks to your Song of Rest, adding a d6 to healing done on short rests.

Half the time you can hide your identity with as little as a new shield, so you can practically cast Disguise Self already.

12. Bard 3: You’re a master of weaponry, and so are Swords bards. You get another Fighting Style, and the Dual Wielding style will help you out when your hands are full by adding your strength to your offhand attacks. You can also spend your inspiration on Blade Flourishes, adding that much damage to your attack and gaining one of three options. A Defensive Flourish adds the same number to your AC, a Slashing Flourish deals that damage to another creature near you as well, and a Mobile Flourish forces the target backwards, and you can react to push the initiative. You can only flourish once per turn, but even if you don’t, attacking also adds 10 feet of movement to your speed for the turn.

You also get Expertise in two skills, doubling your proficiency in Religion and Intimidation. You came in second place in the Grail treasure hunt. That’s something to be proud of.

You can also cast Enhance Ability this level. It’s not quite the strength of four men, but it does give you the strength of two Lancelots, which is still quite a bit.

13 Warlock 4: It’s been a while since our last ASI, huh? Grab Fey Touched to bump up your Charisma and cast Misty Step or Gift of Alacrity once per long rest for free, or at any time like a normal spell. The former is teleportation, the latter gives a creature +1d8 to initiative for up to eight hours. You can also cast Booming Blade for even more swording, and Calm Emotions to delay your execution once the whole Guinevere thing gets out.

14. Warlock 5: Fifth level warlocks get third level spells like Spirit Shroud, giving you that cool shadowy thing your berserker self has to deal extra damage, slow down creatures nearby, and prevent them from healing. You also get the invocation Eldritch Smite- now you can smite while you smite!

15. Bard 4: Use this ASI to round up your Strength. This leaves you with one odd number-feel free to put this into anything you’d like, maybe you already got a +1 from something your DM gave you?

You also get Prestidigitation because I’m running out of cantrips to give you and Knock for a handy battering ram.

16. Bard 5: At fifth level of barding, your inspiration increases to a d8, also increasing the amount of damage your flourishes do. You also become a Font of Inspiration, allowing you to recharge inspiration dice on short rests.

Your final bard spell is Fear, because we haven’t spent enough time hammering home how scary an angry man wielding literally everything is yet.

17. Warlock 6: Sixth level feylocks can Misty Escape away when they get hit, using their reaction to turn invisible and teleport up to sixty feet away. Again, this would have been very useful in a multitude of situations while you were questing. Frankly this also would be super useful with the whole adultery thing too. Just bite your tongue and you’re out of the bedroom! You can use this once per short rest.

You can also call in a favor from your extended family by casting Summon Fey.

18. Warlock 7: Seventh level warlocks get fourth level spells, and we’re just gonna dip into your berserker self real quick, just for flavor. You get Shadow of Moil for another version of your shadow cloak, and the invocation Cloak of Flies for yet another version that makes you even scarier than usual.

19. Warlock 8: Use your last ASI to bump your Charisma even higher for stronger spells, stronger saves, and stronger persuasions. You can also cast Banishment now to help in your fight against more supernatural foes. Remember how I said the holy grail is probably guarded by celestials? Now you can deal with them.

20. Warlock 9: Your capstone level of warlock gives you fifth level spells and more importantly, fifth level spell slots. You can cast Contact Other Plane if you want to chat with those celestials you just threw back to Mount Celestia if you really want to. You can also use your final invocation Whispers of the Grave to chat with your ancestors or King Arthur.

Pros

Much like your boss, you’re really good at Smiting. A greatsword, plus eldritch smite, plus divine smite, plus a spirit shroud, plus a blade flourish, plus a crit is 4d6+28d8+5 damage in a single swing. It just beats out Lartoria’s smiting power, dealing an average of 145 points, with the added benefit of blocking the target from healing that back for a full round.

Bardadins are kind of good at everything. With at least half proficiency on all checks and +4 on all saves, you’re just about as skilled as you can get without excelling at anything. Aside from scaring your enemies.

Being good at everything also relates to being able to turn anything into a deadly weapon. Smiting a lich with a sword? Pedestrian. Everyone knows if you kill a lich with their own shinbone all their phylacteries break out of shame.

Cons

Your saves might be a bit better, but you still have low wisdom. Good luck finding that grail when you can barely find your own armor.

One big flaw of all that smiting? Almost no range. Flying and fast enemies can seriously put you through your paces.

Like most three fold multiclasses, this build takes forever to get online. You don’t get your final subclass until level 12, and you don’t get Eldritch Smite, which is kind of a selling point of the build, until level 14. Most games don’t even get that far.

[miraculousmarifan]

Felinette Month 2020 - Day 24: Huntress

Happy @felinettenovember! This was a last minute decision to do a little rewrite of a version of Snow White, at least to a certain point. Hopefully I will have enough motivation to finish the partially written ones tonight so you lovely readers can have four tonight!

Around 1700 words

When Felix found himself running through the woods, he regretted letting his father talk him into staying at home with his mother. His father had gone to the neighboring kingdom to discuss the terms of a trade agreement. Rather than bringing his wife, he allowed her to stay and watch over the castle and their children. His older sisters were betrothed to princes from other kingdoms, meant to be wed in the upcoming months, while his fate was not yet determined. He thought it was unreasonable for their mother to hold this against him when he was not yet of age, however during his father’s absences, she would find every reason to torment him. While he wanted to study quietly in his room or practice with his sword, she would find every reason for him to accompany her or his sisters on distasteful errands, clean whatever room or item was most disgusting (often the horse stables, despite their having a groom to care for them), or act as the practice dummy for his sisters’ self-defense lessons. There also seemed to be a disproportionate amount of “accidents” resulting in his being injured. It was not uncommon for him to have bruises just out of sight when his father returned from these trips.

On this day, he was sent out with his sisters to collect some flower that he had never heard of. As the girls rode their horses, he was forced to walk because their mother claimed his horse “needed to be rested for tomorrow’s task” and it would be too much for it. When they reached the river, he suggested they move up the river where it would be shallower. The girls insisted that they would be fine to cross and immediately started across. The horses managed it, though the water reached the girls’ legs. Felix tried to yell across that he was finding a shallower area, but the girls simply rode on without him.

He ran further up the river, finding a spot that he could sort of swim across without being pushed too far downstream, however it didn’t matter, as his sisters were long gone. He listened for a moment, noting how quiet the forest seemed to be. He determined that the beating from coming back without the flower or his sisters would still be a better alternative to being stuck out in the forest overnight. Instead he turned back in the direction he expected to be home.

Felix didn’t notice the pair of eyes following him, bow drawn. The huntress hesitated, despite having been paid to get rid of the prince. The entire afternoon thus far he had followed those girls without verbal complaint and only protested the situation when crossing the rivers. It seemed a shame that a young man like him was meant to be killed. She knew she needed to dispose of him, she wouldn’t be paid the bounty, two hundred gold coins, unless she brought back evidence of his demise. Additionally the queen was oddly specific about what she wanted as proof, some of the boy’s hair, a vial of his blood, and his heart. It made her skin crawl but those coins would make it possible for her family to move out of this kingdom, to one that actually could treat her father’s illness. They could afford a small house and be able to pay for food for at least a year, at least at the rates one of the traveling merchants had described to her. Those coins were the difference between their family dying, now that their land had been seized to pay for their recent debt. She took a deep breath and made her decision.

An arrow sunk into a tree near Felix’s head. He jumped, whirling around in a panic, before turning and running. It no longer mattered if he was running towards the castle, he simply needed to escape his attacker. Unfortunately the rush of adrenaline did not help his coordination and he tripped on a tree root. He stumbled to get up, hearing swiftly approaching footsteps, and tried to move quickly but more cautiously. As he ran, the trees grew thicker and he had to slow down more to maneuver. He gasped for air, trying to figure out if he could hide somewhere in the trees, before spotting an area of woods with thick bushes. He quickly dropped to his hands and knees to crawl into the bushes. The blood rushing in his ears disguised the footsteps following him. He was almost entirely under the bush when he felt something tug his ankle back.

Felix fell on his face when his other ankle was tugged as well. He tried to claw forward and attempted to get his knees back under himself with each successive yank. Finally he found himself being scratched up by the bush and unable to move forward from the stranger.

“Stop struggling! This will be much easier if you cooperate!” a girl’s voice demanded angrily. He froze, confused by the high voice. She tugged his legs again and he was pulled slightly closer.

“Wait! I’ll crawl out. Please don’t do that again. Just let me get on my hands and knees again,” he pleaded with a wince at the scrapes he was accumulating. She released her grip and he quickly pulled his legs under himself to back out. His legs were still shaking from the run and he turned to sit facing her when he got out from under the bush.

The girl in front of him had dark hair and intense blue eyes, as well as a bow at her back. He guessed she was near his age, though it was difficult to tell with how tired she looked. His mouth opened to say something but he wasn’t quite sure what to say. She spoke first.

“Just listen. The queen wants you dead. She’s got a bounty on your head. You need to disappear. Before you go though, I’m going to cut off some of your hair so she might be satisfied.” She stepped towards him and Felix tried to scramble back, only to feel his back press into the sharp branches of the bushes. She grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the base of a tree.

“Don’t worry. I just need the hair, not your head. You have to disappear once I’m done though. There’s a clearing that way,” she gestured with her hand and a nod, “where a family lives. They are rather generous and often house travelers for a few nights. If you ask politely, they may even help you get to a nearby town and you can start over. Now stay still while I cut your hair.”

Felix took deep breaths, trying to stay still and calm at the information she was giving him. She retrieved a knife from a bag at her hip and reached a hand out towards him. He flinched but let her touch his head. She gently pulled a chunk of hair away from his face before running the blade across the strands.

“It’s a shame that this needs to be done. You have lovely hair,” she mumbled as she cut chunks from his hair. She worked quickly without tugging on his hair painfully. Soon she had him turn so she could cut near the back. 

He stayed silent as she worked.

“There! I tried to straighten it out a little, so at least you won’t look like too much of a ruffian. As long as you follow my directions and head directly that way towards the clearing, you should be able to get help. Remember, you are not the prince anymore. You don’t know anything. Come up with a new name and start over. If you could get to a different kingdom, you’d be safest. I’m leaving now.” She scooped up a bunch of his hair, put it in a smaller pouch of her bag, then turned and started to walk through the forest. Felix felt fear grip him and let out a strangled noise before he could speak.

“Why would you help me?” he called after her. She stopped and glanced over her shoulder.

“It doesn’t seem fair to cut your life short. I’ve never heard a bad word about you from the servants.” She continued on her way. He stood and watched her until the trees obscured his view. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. It wasn’t as smooth as when he had it cut by his barber but it was at least sort of smooth. He decided it was in his best interest to listen to the mysterious girl. He also felt somewhat glad that the clothes he had chosen to wear for this errand were not as decadent as most of his. With the dirt and fresh tears, he thought it could be feasible that he was simply a traveler. He thought of what the girl had said as he trudged on, hoping he would reach this family before nightfall.

Meanwhile the huntress headed towards an area she had left wild pig traps earlier in the week, before this job came up. An idea had hatched but it depended heavily on whether or not she had a pig to kill. As she approached her closest trap, she heard the sounds of exhausted struggling and knew they were in luck. She put the animal out of its misery and set about getting the necessary parts for the queen.

The queen waited for a message from the huntress late that night. Her daughters had returned, saying that they had lost Felix when crossing the river. He hadn’t returned and the servants assumed it was with worry for her youngest child. Close to midnight, the signal was given and she slipped out into the royal groves. The girl gave her two pouches and a vial, which the queen checked the contents of in the moonlight before passing a pouch with the agreed on price. The two separated and the queen retreated to a hidden room of the castle, rather than her bedchambers.

As the queen set out the ingredients necessary for her spell, she couldn’t help but think about what a fair deal she was getting to remove an illegitimate son from their home, saving the purity of the throne. All that was left of her plan was to make the potion necessary for her to conceive a son in place of this boy. She had to stop herself from humming as she worked.

[miralia]

Speculation on the Historical Influences on the Kyoshi Warriors of Avatar

(Disclaimer: I know there are multiple influences. This is just something I found that I thought was really interesting. And we’re not going to get into how ATLA appropriated, appreciated, and cherry-picked Asian cultures. This is just a fun thing I found out. It might just be a coincidence. If you wanted an essay on “how terrible Bryke is”, go under the “anti bryke” tag and laugh at the toxicity. This is about history.)

I don’t know if this has been done already, but I was really excited when I found out, so I had to share!

So, I’m not quite sure how I found this out, but I think I was both off-and-on researching premodern combat weapons of different cultures (link here if you want to spend a few hours ogling swords and daggers) and trying to figure out what kinds of cultural things influenced the Kyoshi Warriors. I figured out (at least I’m pretty sure I did, sword experts feel free to correct me) that they do, in fact, wield the Japanese katana (I don’t know which period. Not trying to lump anything together, just thought it was best to refer to it as a collective for fear of being wrong). This was kind of odd to me, as the Earth Kingdom appeared to have *mainly* Tang and Qing dynasty influences. So I decided to dig a little deeper on this subject.

(SECOND Disclaimer: People more well-versed in the different parts of Asian culture I will be referencing can tell me I’m wrong in the comments and I’ll edit this. I really and truly am not trying to be offensive or say my opinion is correct blindly, but at the same time, I did do my research and that has to count for something.)

Introduction

I’m an ATLA nut, as well as an Asian women’s dress nut. I’ve made connections between real clothing and ATLA clothing before, but then realized that other people had already done it, and done it much better. 

But I haven’t seen anyone really talk about the inspiration behind the Kyoshi Warriors yet, besides a few mentions, so here I am with my two cents!

The First Thing (Swords)

The first thing I noticed that started me on this quest was realizing that the Kyoshi Warriors wield katanas (also called nihonto), as opposed to a Chinese weapon that would be more fitting for their position in the Earth kingdom (like we see with Jet’s hook swords). 

For clarification, I figured this out by using still frames of Suki from the show, then measuring the rough length of her sword to her height, approximating the length to see if it would be correct (it was). Then I watched the video of the Kyoshi Warriors’ fight with Team Azula, which is (if I’m not mistaken) the only time we actually see them use their swords as well as their fans. 

In a few frames, we can see Suki’s sword has the characteristic tsuka ito (cord wrap) around the hilt of her sword, a gold-colored habaki (blade collar), as well as a golden kashira (butt cap/pommel), paired with a golden fuchi (a band at the end of the handle before the tsuba (guard)) to make a fuchigashira. From what I can gather, these are usually intricately decorated, but we can blame early 2000s animation for exempting that detail.

But anyway, the presence of the katana got me thinking. What other Japanese influences are displayed in the Kyoshi Warriors?

(Actually, scratch that. The first thing that got me clued in to the presence of Japanese influence was the red and white makeup that the Warriors wear. It seemed similar to that of the geisha, but I disregarded this as it wasn’t similar enough to warrant real research on my part. Just google ‘geisha makeup’ and you’ll see what I mean.)

And the answer was: a good few. Something Mina Le (a fashion youtuber) already touched on in her video on Avatar. But the question is, what exactly influenced them?

So, back to katanas. Once I figured out that they wielded katanas, it was a simple conclusion that they drew inspiration from the samurai of feudal Japan.

War Fans (Tessen)

Another similarity that ties them into samurai are their characteristic fans.

I actually learned about the art of Japanese war fans (tessenjutsu) before I even watched Avatar. The fans called tessen are made out of iron, but the other types of war fans, gunsen and gunbai, don’t seem to fit the bill for what the Kyoshi Warriors use them for. So, instead of being made of iron, their fans are made out of a golden metal, probably to fit their gold-and-green aesthetic.

An illustration of a warrior using a tessen.

The way they use these tessen to fight is debatably accurate. I have never studied tessenjutsu, nor do I really trust modern videos of tessenjutsu, so I have no basis. But it is said that wielders would use one to attack and one to parry, and that does seem to be somewhat what they do? Not sure if their forms or usage or that one time that one girl threw both her fans at Azula like some sort of razor-sharp Frisbee is accurate. Tessenjutsu practitioners, feel free to correct me!

But all this talk about fans and swords isn’t coming to the real core of my speculation. There is one crucial fact: samurai are men. But the Kyoshi Warriors are girls. Were there any female samurai?

The Onna-Bugeisha

Yes, there were! They were called onna-bugeisha, literally meaning “female martial artist.” You can read more about the onna-bugeisha on their Wikipedia page.

Let’s start with the similarities between the Kyoshi Warriors and the onna-bugeisha. 

Clothing/Armor

The first, and most obvious, is their clothing. The onna-bugeisha appear to wear both the traditional kimono or large, loose pants in illustrations. This really does seem to differ a lot based on source material, and I’m not knowledgeable enough to really affirmatively say why. But they do appear wearing the pants when riding horses, and the kimono when they’re standing or looking super regal in the illustrations.

Empress Jingū, a mythological example of onna-bugeisha. She became empress after her husband, the fourteenth emperor Chūai, was slain in battle. She is said to have led an expedition to Korea around 200 AD, and was the first woman on a Japanese banknote. This illustration is probably not accurate, as it was made by a European man, but it does illustrate one of the earliest known cases of onna-bugeisha in Japanese culture.

Hangaku Gozen, a famous general of the Genpei War (allied with the Taira clan).

The Kyoshi Warriors!

Bryke/the animators chose the dress route for making the Kyoshi Warriors, dressing them in split-front dresses colored in shades of green, with a dark green layered underdress under a lighter green overdress crossed left over right at the collar (like many, many different kinds of traditional Asian women’s dress). The coloration appears to be more to signify “Earth Kingdom” than to be historically accurate to the onna-bugeisha, something that was probably a good idea. Remember, this was made to be a kids’ adventure show, and they had already established the color-coding based on country. 

The sleeves are voluminous, which is definitely a characteristic of the onna-bugeisha. They are cinched at the wrists with dark cuffs, which isn’t a characteristic of all the different illustrations/photographs, but is certainly present in some. These cuffs are paired with two-toned gloves, which are always a good idea in any kind of weapon battle, but aren’t present in many, if any, photographs, but at least in some illustrations.

Partially covering the dresses is the thing that most tipped me off: the armor. It seems to be of black plating, which bears a striking resemblance to the plating/ridging on the onna-bugeisha’s armor. The chestplate itself bears a really, really close resemblance (if it isn’t an exact copy) to the chestplates of the onna-bugeisha, though the color isn’t the striking red that seems to appear a lot of the time. The rectangular shoulder/upper arm plating that is present in nearly all depictions is severely lacking, however, though this seems to be a choice to make the Warriors seem less bulky and more dynamic. Plus, it would be easier to animate. (They do have slimmer shoulder plates that attach, though.)

But the (for lack of a better word) skirt plates of the armor remain really, really similar to the onna-bugeishas’ armor. It really just looks like a scaled-down, black instead of red version. And I think that’s super cool, and one of the best pieces of evidence that backs my theory.

Topping off the “Kyoshi look” are gold-and-green headpieces that are different depending on the warrior, and a hairstyle that differs depending on the warrior. I’ll probably go more in-depth about the headpieces and hairstyles on a different post, but the gist is that yes, the presence of headpieces is historically accurate, at least in some photos/illustrations (which appears to be the norm. Can I ever get something concrete here?). 

Examples of onna-bugeisha wearing headpieces.

All of them wore helmets (obviously), but some seem to have some sort of decorative aspect (again, tell me if I’m wrong and the pieces have a meaning or purpose). 

Edit: One commenter, @atla-headcanons​, said that their Japanese grandmother once said that warriors’ headdresses were status symbols, as well as ways to tell allies from enemies. This would be supported by the fact that Suki, as the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, would have a headpiece similar to Kyoshi’s, and the rest of the Warriors would have different ones. I was unable to fact-check this at the time (may return to it later), but it seems likely, and it would be really cool if it was intentional on the characters’ designs!

Avatar Kyoshi 

The second thing that made me speculate whether the Kyoshi Warriors were connected to the onna-bugeisha was actually Kyoshi herself.

We all know about badass Avatar Kyoshi. She’s amazing. A definite certified badass. But there might actually have been a real-world counterpart to her. Nakano Takeko, a famous onna-bugeisha of the Aizu Domain who fought and died in the Boshin War, could have been possible inspiration for her.

Statue of Nakano Takeko. I don’t trust that the pictures on Pinterest are actually her.

Not only is Nakano a certified badass, taking down five to six men with her naginata in the Battle of Aizu, she also taught women and children to fight with the naginata for a time. Sound familiar? It might just be a coincidence, but I’m sticking to my theory here. You can read more about her here, but I’ll give a rundown of the highlights that make her a Kyoshi-Level Badass™:

- Taught naginata to the lord of Niwase’s wife

- Taught naginata to women and children in Aizuwakamatsu castle

An onna-bugeisha wielding a naginata. They’re pretty awesome!

-  Worked in defense of the shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu

- Fought in the Battle of Aizu using a Japanese weapon (naginata) against a white weapon (guns)

- Created and headed an ad-hoc group of female warriors in the Battle of Aizu, retroactively called the Jōshitai (Girls’ Army). She did this without permission, as the senior Aizu retainers didn’t want them to fight and wouldn’t let them fight as an official part of the domain’s army

- When she was taken down by a rifle shot to her chest, she asked her sister Yūko to behead her so that the enemy couldn’t take it as a trophy. Her sister employed the help of Ueno Yoshisaburō, and did as she was asked

- With the reforms of the Meiji Era (samurai class abolished, western-style army established), Nakano Takeko was one of the last samurai in history.

Conclusion

That concludes my essay! Remember, this is all speculation. If you have your own take, please tell me! I love hearing all the cultural influences in Avatar.

Now, if Bryke meant to make the Kyoshi Warriors to be inspired by the onna-bugeisha, then there is something more that I would have liked to see. It would have been really cool to see them use naginata in the show, as it was actually originally a weapon for females to use, its length compensating for the smaller body size and comparatively lesser brute strength of women warriors.

(Also, I just want Suki utterly destroying Sokka with a naginata in that episode where she kicks his butt to prove a point. Hey, I’m a simple girl with simple tastes.) 

Sources:

Basically all Wikipedia. I’m sorry I couldn’t reference, like, ebooks on this subject. But I did look at the reference lists for the Wikipedia articles I used, and they all seemed to be credible ones. So, don’t come at me, please! I did the best I could!

I really appreciate whoever read this far. It takes stamina! 

Thanks for reading!

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale’s Pick: Miraculous Ranking (as of Season 3)

Rules:

1. The miraculous will be taken at their maximum potential. That means the user can use the special power as many times as they desire and what we know about those powers currently. (Example: I can't assume Chat noir will be able to throw his cataclysm like Chat Blanc, I only know he can destroy something he touches with it.

2. This list does not take into account the Kwami themselves. Their personality and abilities hold no bearing on the rankings.

3. The miraculous ranking will only be including its potential by itself. Not with fusions, power ups, just the bare essentials.

4. I will be ranking this based on Combat usage, practical usage, creative possibilities, and overall effectiveness

5. This is Opinion based and I would love to hear your logic on whether you think certain miraculous should be ranked higher or not. 

_______________________________________________________________________

13. The Mouse

It is a super situational miraculous. Its ability “Multitude” is a good ability when paired with other miraculous, but by itself, it sort of lacks in everything except stealth. It does allow for you to be in multiple places at once, but it isn't helpful when you are smaller then an actual mouse. Its not gonna win any fights, In a fight, it isn't gonna help the user out as anything more then a distraction.

12. The Fox

Now I know a lot of people will be shocked to see this one so low. But really, while its a cool ability, Illusions are kind of useless outside of distraction and deception. If used right it can cause your opponents some trouble and I do think it has a lot of creative usage and practical usage. But the problems set in when the user actually is aware that they are illusions. Now a clever person might be able to use the fact that their opponent knows they are illusions to their advantage... but that is also situational. Also, the weapon is a flute. It is one of the lamer weapons to use, little range, and needed for the power use, so if someone knocks the flute away, the illusion power is useless.

11. The Monkey

So how did the monkey’s situational power up beat out the fox? Simple, its power is useful in besting other miraculous  wielders and super powered individuals. Uproar is the power to mess up powers, your unique abilities become useless against this mad monkey. In terms of a fight, its like being an equalizer. Though the problem is, its kind of unpredictable. its effects change depending on who is hit and the power’s effect is only temporary, so if you use it, the user should act fast. Also, while the weapon is cool,, the miraculous is probably really easy to snatch off of his head.

10. The Butterfly.

Yes, I am putting the main villain’s miraculous down here. My reasoning, its highly conditional.

1. You need a consenting individual, usually one with negative emotions, or a willingness to do the user’s bidding.

2. The person with the akuma usually influences the power. Hawkmoth’s influence on their power set is confusing and its unknown. But it leans more towards the user’s mental state.

3. Hawkmoth can only control the akumatized victim somewhat. Again, this varies.

4. Only one akuma can be created at a time without power ups or boosts. 

5. There is a range on how far the akuma is that Hawkmoth can't influence it.

6. If that akuma is out of range, it can't be called back and a new akuma can't be made.

Now the butterfly miraculous does have some cool bonus abilities. Such as feeling other’s emotions from a stupidly far distance. If the akuma isn't purified it can multiply. It can boost the powers of other miraculous, and even make an akuma that has the power to boost its own power but again... that varies.

The butterfly is sort of like the king of conditional powers. It can be useful but it also can be limiting.

9. The Bee

How did I put the bee Miraculous this high up? Simple, stunning an opponent is crazy OP and its pretty much a one hit KO on most foes. Sure the user has to touch them, but at max potential, the attempts are unlimited and all the user needs it one opening and it is over. It is definitely more reliable in a fight and honestly in general.

8. The Turtle

Some say the best defense is a good offense, I say the best defense is a f***ing force field. The applications of Shelter are phenomonial. The shield is able to take a good amount of damage, Fu’s shield was able to hold out a long time even with attacks from Hawkmoth, Mayura and a sentimonster. Its a great stalling tool and great for protecting others as well as yourself. Plus the shield means you can Captain America all deadbeat fathers. And if Rising of the Shield hero has taught me anything, a good shield can do wonders.

7.The Dragon

I was actually surprised by how low I had this on the list. A miraculous that allows the user 3 different elemental abilities. Control of Wind, Lighting, and Water. How can I put this so low? Well the truth is, even though this is totally awesome and versatile. The other miraculous on this list are also stupid overpowered. But despite that, this is likely the best ranged power that is used.

6. The Horse

Transport is an amazing ability. Its fun with portals. Late for school? Portal. Need to avoid an attack? Portal? Want to send a weapon somewhere far away? Portal? Throw your enemies into the sun? Portal. Transport is crazy over powered, The only drawback being that the user has to jump into the portal to actually utilize it. So if someone sees a portal, they know something can happen.

5. The Black Cat

The cat miraculous is the best Offensive Miraculous. It’s weapon, the ever extending staff has crazy range, has a tracker, and can split into two weapons for duel wielding make it great to have. And its power Cataclysm can destroy ANYTHING it touches. While at first glance this seems lacking, imagine unlimited destructive attacks, not only that, it acts as the user’s protection from having the miraculous snatched, and it works on anything. Except sentibeasts, it just makes those go haywire. If you want the best example of how powerful and dangerous this power is, look at plagg. A cataclysm can level a city if not controlled. Chat noir has brought down things as large as the Eiffel Tower. And with unlimited cataclysms, One touch and the opponent is done FOREVER. It doesn't matter their ability if their dead. Also on a lesser note, Night vision and the ability to purr.

4. The Peacock.

The power to create Sentimonsters. Beings that can demonstrate sentience if not controlled by someone. The peacock seems to have the ability to make amok for people if they are willing to accept it or even themselves. The peacock has every advantage the Butterfly has, and more. It even gives the Peacock user free reign on what the amok is, Nathalie was able to make an exact replica of Ladybug with her own version of lucky charm. Meaning a peacock can make an evil version of pretty much any hero to an extent, though the amount of concentration needed is up for debate, which could be limiting. But a bonus is  that if the Sentimonster acts up, she can remove the amok. The only downside is that whoever has the item controls the sentimonster, and that can be turned against the user. But outside of that the weaknesses are pretty limited when it isn't corrupted.

3. The Ladybug

At first Glance it doesn't make much sense that Ladybug would be so much higher on the list, but the thing is, the Ladybug is crazy powerful, able to undo ALL damage done with miraculous healing. Able to summon an item that is guaranteed to help them in some compactly, and with unlimited summoning, can be used to handle ANY situation.

Plus, her weapon, the Yo-yo is also just as versatile as the Black cat staff. 

The only downside is that the Lucky charm needs to be figured out, in a hypothetical situation, with enough time and preparation, the lucky charm can helpfully beat any foe. But the key word is Preparation. Also there are some shortcomings of the Lucky charm.

1. It randomly give charms that are useful in an situation father in advance. (like the key in season 3)

2. It is not prepared for unknown elements. Like in season 2 finale, it summoned a miracle box, likely to get Hawkmoth’s miraculous, but the Lucky charm wasn't expecting Mayura so the item was useless.

3. If the user is not creative enough to know how to use the lucky charm, its pretty much useless.

But outside of that, at its max potential it is one of the most overpowered Miraculous.

2. The Snake

Anyone that has played undertale can tell you how OP save points are. Second chance is insanely broken. The user can memorize what their opponent’s attack patterns and counter. They can do this as many times as they want within a 5 minute interval.  Its a redo button and there is pretty much no limit to it at its max potential. Even with the limited 5 minutes before retransformation, it can be abused. In a one on one match, it is pretty much invincible. The only caveat is that the use nerds to slide the bracelet back to go back to the save point. So if the opponent wants to win, they have to incapacitate the snake user. Outside of that, Fu himself talks about how dangerous this miraculous is, and it is completely understandable.

1. The Bunny

Time travel in this universe is completely OP. Since the ML universe doesn't run on Multiverse theory, Time is delicate and can be changed easily. Bunnyx has the power to alter time in anyway she wants. Rabbit hole not only sends her to any time she thinks off, it takes her to the Burrow which allows her to view MULTIPLE periods of time and look at them like she is watching a movie, she can rewind and fast forward to find key events. Bunnyx could go back in time and simply take the miraculous away before the user even transforms. Heck, the bunny miraculous allows the user to do pretty much ANYTHING. Trap your opponents in the Dino age? Stop them from being born? Travel forward in time and find the cure for cancer? Bunnyx also has Pockets, she can HIDE HER MIRACULOUS!?

Seriously, The snake miraculous can have all the save points in the world, but it can't counter someone jumping through time.

Ladybug’s lucky charm won't work if isnt expecting a f***ing dinosaur to pop out of nowhere after its summoned.

The point is, Time travel is the best power and thus the bunny miraculous is dangerously OP and the best miraculous

[meta-squash]

Apparently I’m still on a Brokeback Mountain kick because I’ve thought of another thing that I wish had ended up in the film but didn’t.

And that is, the first reunion scene between Ennis and Jack essentially happens the same in the film as it does in the book except for one thing. In the book, when they’ve stopped kissing but before they go back into the house and talk to Alma, Ennis calls Jack “little darlin’,” a petname he only ever calls his horses and his daughters.

I wish it had ended up in the film because Jack’s affection and feelings are very obvious. He’s expressive, both vocally and physically. Ennis is less so, especially in the film version. He’s not a talker, that’s for sure.

So for him to be able to call Jack a pet name is huge. He’s confident enough in his feelings for Jack and Jack’s for him to call Jack “little darlin” even after 4 years of not having seen each other.

I think the movie is a lot more subtle about Ennis’ feelings, but I also think the film interpretation of Ennis leans more towards uncertainty and fear. Film Ennis is terrified of people finding out. But I also think one of the only things he’s actually certain of is his feelings for Jack. But he’s a lot quieter about it.

Ennis calling Jack “little darlin’“ gives the viewer a brief moment of total clarity regarding Ennis’ feelings.

Because we don’t realize the depth of his feelings until his reaction to Jack’s “I wish I could quit you” monologue. Which I do really like. I like that we see what Ennis has kept bottled up for years all come spilling out.

But I think that “little darlin’“ would actually make it more powerful. Because hearing Ennis say that would give Jack a certain type of hope. Young Ennis calling Jack a pet name is probably something Jack would hold onto for years. It’s something that would make the viewer understand even better why Jack is so eager and hopeful about starting a farm together or something. Ennis made his feelings obvious with a pet name--something probably somewhat unusual for someone as reticent as he is. So Jack has a memory to look back on.

And then the pet name doesn’t return at all, not since that scene, so when that “All we got now is Brokeback Mountain” monologue happens, we know that Jack’s hope from when he was young didn’t just come from that summer, but also from 4 years later and a pet name, and then the postcard about the divorce. All these little things building up.

It’s also a way to show the difference between the two of them. Ennis calls Jack “little darlin’,” will quit a job and drop everything to go up the mountain with him, basically doesn’t seem to need much from other people except Jack and really is just heart and soul for Jack. While Jack knows better what he wants, what he desires, and is a lot more forthcoming with affection, he also needs more physical gratification and finds other people to get off with. In the book but not the movie, Ennis mentions that he’s never fucked any other guys but jacked off thinking about Jack a million times. Jack doesn’t admit it aloud, but he’s fucked plenty of other guys in the interim of them seeing each other.

That doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. But I think the “little darlin’” comment shows that for Ennis it’s more than just a physical attraction, nor is it something he’s confused or conflicted about. I don’t think Ennis is ever confused or conflicted about his love for Jack. What he’s conflicted about is his ability to act on those feelings in a way that is safe and comfortable for him. He’s scared of being killed--rightfully so--but he’s also afraid of big changes. He’s confused by Jack, by Jack’s flippant attitude towards staying safe and under the radar about his sexuality.

I guess I just think that book Ennis is a lot more open to Jack’s love and a lot more open with his own love than film Ennis. And even that one little line I think would change a lot of the feeling of the rest of the film, because even just that little moment of casual affection like a pet name, something that’s got nothing to do with sex or any sort of physical affection, is sort of a lot scarier for Ennis because it’s speaking--something he doesn’t do much of, and because it’s a verbal confirmation of his feelings, so he can’t excuse it away as something else.