#idk. for many this is a horrifying new development for me this is horrifying but not new. the veils just been pushed aside

[cybertranny]

.

[justa-smalltown-gargoyle]

I just finished the Tyranny of King Washington DLC for AC3!!!!

Thoughts under the cut :3

Interesting premise, I was intrigued by Connor seeming confused at the beginning, and the remnants throughout of him being aware of the regular timeline.

I really enjoyed seeing more Kaniehtí:io, would have liked even more :( she’s such an interesting character. Honestly I’d be excited to see friendly faces again only for them to quickly die😔 it was fun seeing some of the homestead people there! And having them help out! So cool!

Connor/Ratonhnhaké:ton’s new fit was very cool, I liked it a lot and also made more sense because in this version why would he ever get the assassin robes??? But also why tf was he out here bare chested in the mf winter????

I did enjoy the powers (the flying one was the most fun) howeveerrrrrr the backstory behind them was 😬😬😬 idk I feel like being like ooooooHoooOoh tea from the treeeee and the “spirit animal” thing was. Very stereotypical and racist

Btw why did they do that to his poor eyes. Horrifying, change it back !!!! Bro was standing there all the time like

🔵👄🔵

Also like what frustrated me so much, and it makes sense for the story but always having high notoriety was annoyingggg and I got very tired of it. Using the powers made it less assassiny but I guess this is an au storyline so, whatever, like they were a fun gimmick but also just very different than what I’m used to. (Also the guard dogs. wtf)

I feel like the plot had a nice progression and again like I said the story was interesting. Seeing Thomas Jefferson was wild ngl. I didn’t super enjoy all the running around the pyramid before finding Washington but oh well- I think there was also an interesting concept there of like “how far are you willing to go to stop evil/what will you let yourself become, will you too become a monster, or like when does it stop being about helping people and when does it become just taking the big bad down. I do think the powers chipping away at Ratonhnhaké:ton and also like his desire a bit for the apple at the end was interesting….but not fully developed. I feel like that character arc/plot thread was never really fully developed or finished. I feel that Washington had more a complete “arc” in this story.

Anyways I want more character study on Ratonhnhaké:ton because I love him and there are so many interesting things about his character and so much more you can do.

Also the ending reveal of what was happing was cool and I enjoyed that as the explanation! Why the apple does not do this for everyone…I do not know. Or maybe it does and they still give in? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyways! Fun dlc yay

EDIT: not fun dlc yay, apparently they got rid of a lot of the original cast and replaced them with white actors without letting the original cast know, wtf, and didn’t have cultural consultants !!!! Hmmmm dumb tea tree making a lot more sense now! Also makes me question the authenticity of Connor’s fit and his markings. wtf Ubisoft ???

Also you take down the pope that has the apple in the staff in AC2 with no powers, why does Connor suddenly need powers???

[pumpumdemsugah]

Ok, pls tell me if it’s just me. But I’m a Black woman and a feminist. I’ve seen on the clock app that there’s been a man going around punching random women in the face in New York, USA. Most of them have been White women.

Naturally, as a woman, I’m horrified and shocked. I automatically believe these women bc I’ve literally seen the bruises on their faces, and some of them seemed distraught.

However, in the comments, I saw some Black women say they didn’t believe it. Some of them were laughing and saying that the White women probably deserved it bc ‘we all tired of White women’, some of them were saying that ‘Black women go missing all the time and no one cares, so who cares about this’.

Ok. Like, I understand White women have racism issues, and I understand the history between White women accusing Black men of violence that didn’t happen and such. But they’re still victims of gender based violence, and I don’t like seeing women get hurt regardless of race or whatever privileges they have. Is it just me or does it seem like some Black women just hate White women for misogynistic reasons? I can’t help feeling disgusted by the comments I saw (and they got a bunch of likes!) It made me think about when a White woman judge got attacked by a man (who was Black) and everybody was laughing and calling it racial justice. I found it all disgusting.

We're in this moment where more Black women than ever know about feminism or being pro women but they aren't and think existing is enough without any effort to back up political claims no one asked them to commit to. When I first got into feminism, Black women were suspicious or indifferent but because they were coming from a place of ' idk what this is about' they didn't act like know it all. The problem with the misogynist Black woman that hides behind progressive ideas is you can't convince these women they're wrong . It's funny because this attitude is exactly the way how very extreme hotepish women would act

People think they can be about something without any effort or reflection. A lot of Black women online have gone backwards politically as much as we talk about only here for Black women because those words aren't even backed by thought. People just say shit.

The types of criticisms of white women that are popular aren't even about their racism anymore. People are throwing buzzwords at a wall until something feels substantial. It was easier when people just said ,fuck this bitch and didn't pretend it's them being noble because it's poisoning the well and as much as Black women can be trail blasers we have our reactionary streaks not help by how religious we are and how many interpret that religion

With women like this the only thing that seems to get through is reminding them that men that like to target certain women tend to be a danger to women point blank or unstable at best and can and will change who they decide to fixate on. Sometimes you just have to get people to recognise something is wrong first before you get them to develop empathy or decency.

Also it's worth remembering that comments sections tend to attract the dregs of society

[eco-lite]

New Star Trek book review!

Diane Duane is one of the only people I trust with Spock’s character. Besides Original Series writer Dorothy Fontana and Leonard Nimoy himself, nobody else captures Spock in the way I see him. So obviously Duane’s novel Spock’s World is essential reading for me.

This book takes a very literal approach to the title, splitting its time between the present day plot and an account of Vulcan’s history going as far back to the literal formation of the planet. The “Enterprise” plotline focuses on the current tensions on Vulcan, whose government is teetering on the edge of seceding from the Federation. Each chapter of the “Vulcan” plotline follows people (all implied to be Spock’s ancestors) living during critical points in Vulcan’s history, from the planet’s genesis to Spock’s birth.

It was really interesting to see Duane’s take on Vulcan’s history. We don’t know much from canon besides the fact that Vulcan’s history was very war-torn until Surak’s philosophies of logic and embracing diversity caught on. In my head, I always imagined that following Surak’s teachings allowed the Vulcans to finally reconcile their differences and work together to achieve all of their technologies and space travel. But Duane posits that Vulcan had already developed many advanced technologies and was using them for intraspecies destruction long before Surak. It was these technologies’ horrifying power that jolted Surak awake and inspired his future teachings. Duane also claims that the Romulan split was post-Surak, which… idk, that just seems way too recent to me. I’m not buying that bit. But my favorite aspect of the “Vulcan” chapters was the visual motif of Vulcan’s sister planet T’Khut standing watch over all Vulcans, and Vulcans in turn looking to her for guidance and inspiration. I could picture the looming T’Khut’s sunset visage so vividly. Wonderful imagery.

While the “Vulcan” plotline shows us Vulcan’s past, the “Enterprise” plotline shows us the threat of its possible future outside of the Federation. Despite the popularity of Surak’s “infinite diversity in infinite combinations” philosophy, xenophobia is very much alive amongst the Vulcan population. Certain individuals (I won’t give it away, but I will say I think it’s VERY contrived) have taken advantage of the population’s anti-human sentiments to leverage their own agendas. It’s up to Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sarek, and others to convince the public that secession is not the answer. McCoy in particular really shines in this story. Despite how often he gripes and pokes fun at Spock’s Vulcanisms in the show, he adamantly believes that the relationship between humans and Vulcans benefits everyone and is a crucial part of what made the Federation the utopia it has become. Everybody clap for character growth! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 There are also many delightful moments of the triumvirate just hanging out and chatting while they’re on Vulcan and the Enterprise, which we love to see.

My main gripe with this book (besides the contrived antagonist) is that there’s not enough Spock content! For a book called Spock’s World, I expected it to be from his perspective. There are a couple of scenes from Spock’s POV, but Kirk is the main perspective here. And though Kirk is great, Spock is who I’m really here for. I wanted to get deep into his feelings about the situation given he’s a child of both worlds. But I guess I’ll stick to AO3 for the truly emotional fanfiction.

Other than that though, Spock’s World is full of great character moments and interesting exploration of Vulcan’s history. A must-read Trek novel. Thank you, @dianeduane !

[chryzure-archive]

AU rant AU rant AU RANT tell me about the Chrysijacks AU that came to mind once you finished reading this ask 👀

OKAY SO THIS IS KINDA HARD TO EXPLAIN, BUT!!! i’ve been playing with chrysi and jacks being childhood….. acquaintances, at the very least. they weren’t rlly friendly to each other, so i wouldn’t describe them as friends, but they sure did spend a lot of time together.

jacks was a new fate that was made by ???? idk, it’s just like he was born a fate (versus the actual canon, where i think he was made a fate as a young man… regretfully, i can only have this confirmed via the new book…. :(( but at least i get new jacks info from it) and chrysi’s fate-adjacent. since they’re close to each other’s age, they were engaged since they were young. mistress luck acts as jacks’s guardian—she’s overlooking his development into a full-grown fate—and she encourages all the fights between jacks and chrysi, since she thinks it will help develop jacks’s cruelty and ruthlessness. she doesn’t like that he’s the prince of hearts, because she thinks that’ll make him a weak fate.

anyway, you’d think the kid that’s a fate causes the most trouble. nope! chrysi gets jacks into a lot of trouble—but since she’s not a fate, and since she’s a charming little kid, she always has jacks take the fall for whatever chaos she causes. this clearly pisses jacks off quite a bit, so when they’re kids, there are many times where they get into a scuffle. (just to be clear, jacks didn’t start the scuffle at all!! he just will complain / be mean to chrysi, and she’ll respond by fucking launching herself at him and biting and kicking. jacks calls her a feral girl-thing instead of her name because of it.)

ACTUALLY, HERE’S SOMETHING THAT DEMONSTRATES HOW ALL THAT CHILDHOOD STUFF WORKS:

((disregard the way it’s formatted—i use writebox so i don’t have distractions and i don’t both to use italics))

anywayyyy, this continues until they’re abt 14—both of their families keep shoving them together, despite the continuous disastrous results—before chrysi’s shipped off elsewhere for a more “well-rounded” education (which is rlly code for her older sister trying to cover up a scandal of chrysi’s. she wants chrysi to come back a proper young girl.)

before she goes, however, she and jacks make a deal where they’ll happily break off their engagement if the other finds someone else to get married to. jacks leaps on this deal, since um. chrysi’s been tormenting him for years. find someone else? hell yeah, of course he’ll do that.

tiny detail jacks forgot: his kiss kills ppl. he actually never tested it on chrysi before, but i think his hope was that if their engagement ever went through, he’d kill chrysi with his kiss at the wedding.

and so jacks becomes notorious for burning through fiancées while chrysi’s off “learning” (little did nessa know that chrysi’s now hanging out in graveyards unattended—she became friends with many a ghost in the meantime 🥰—and hunting ghouls and the like).

by the time they reunite at the age of 22, both of them have been largely unsuccessful with finding someone to marry them. chrysi fell in love with a boy that, uh, did not like her fate-adjacent powers (more on that later), and so she’s not so happy about talking about fiancés, and jacks has. killed all of his. some on accident, some on purpose.

they both aren’t happy with the situation.

jacks doesn’t even know chrysi’s back from her “education” until she’s at one of his parties. he’s courting tella, turns a corner, and almost fucking screams when he sees chrysi hanging out, holding one of his special apples. she thinks it’s very funny.

actually, he doesn’t recognize her at first either 😭 he’s flirting with her (or threatening her. you can never tell with him), much to her amusement. eventually jacks catches on, and he’s horrified that he didn’t recognize her.

they’re both irritated that the other hasn’t found anyone yet (jacks could’ve sworn chrysi would succeeded in seducing that tris boy. chrysi immediately shuts that down, and jacks is suddenly concerned he’s going to be bitten by chrysi again), so they SUPER promise that they’ll find a way to break off their engagement.

SO. A LOT OF STUFF STARTS GOING DOWN. because jacks is doing his jacks thing—scheming for… what purpose? his own amusement? okay—and chrysi’s hiding things from him. which isn’t new, but it bothers jacks a lot more now, for a reason he can’t quite put his finger on.

ANYWAY, TURNS OUT that while chrysi was away, she started to develop powers similar to jacks—but rather than use love to her advantage, it’s fear. chrysi’s disgusted with herself for being able to do this. it terrified tris (for supernatural reasons and for normal reasons) and that’s why he broke up with her. and in addition to that, chrysi got the attention of a certain elias bloom. so she’s been dealing with a stalker and her new horrifying powers.

so jacks has his whole attempt of an engagement with tella, he’s worrying abt chrysi at the same time (but he swears he’s not actually worried about her), and chrysi’s dealing with the fact that she might be turning a little more into a fate than simply remaining “fate-adjacent”.

i don’t rlly have anything planned for right here, tbh. my thoughts pick up where jacks realizes he’s actually in love with chrysi, BUT APPARENTLY stalker elias bloom finds a way to break off jacks’s and chrysi’s engagement by getting engaged to chrysi (?? chrysi didn’t agree to it, so jacks is even more confused—since she’ll make it very clear that she only does what she wants to do). jacks immediately starts scheming (w a purpose this time!!) and yeah!!! yeah. idk where this is going BUT I WANT ELIAS TO TRAP JACKS IN A CARD AGAIN 🖤🖤🖤

mostly i wanted to explore jacks being a kid, so the most i have planned is the kid stuff 🥰

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

So this is less kicking a hornet's nest and more flinging a dynamite stick to it, but... The Baby Ludi case from the Star Wars EU is fascinating.

And not fascinating in the story itself (earthquake destroys town, mom is presumed dead, baby is found and adopted by the Jedi, mom wasn't dead, battle for custody ensues because the baby's mind has already been opened to the Force), but actually fascinating with how effective it is, and how it perfectly exemplifies how polarizing issues work.

It was specifically written to show how the divided the Galaxy was, especially over the Jedi, just as the Clone Wars were about to break out:

Pablo Hidalgo wrote it, though idk if Lucas approved it - or even knew about it at all - since it was promotional material for AotC but still was never featured or hinted at in any capacity in the main canon.

The only thing we have on Baby Ludi are 9 holonet articles (available on archive.org, see the wookiepedia page for a list of all of them) with absolutely no indications of how objective they're even supposed to be. They are media pieces. They make us feel emotions - they sensationalize, they stir up outrage, they make us completely irrational. Just look at what's under the first holo-report:

It's just so meta - so clearly reflecting on itself as it presents us with a certain (incomplete) narrative while simultaneously exploring how incomplete narratives make people react.

I used to see people (admittedly a while ago) brandishing this one obscure-ish story that only appears in one piece of EU media as the end-all, definite proof that the Jedi were meant to be understood as kidnappers - but in doing so, those people were actually playing into the story's very purpose: showing how manipulation is done. Showing how media and news outlets work.

If the story's goal was to end the debate on whether or not the Jedi are baby thieves, then it wouldn't have been given to us in the most vague, subjective way. There are no reliable sources in the articles, only second hand retellings of nebulous events.

The people who like the Jedi (like me) will probably jump on the information that Ludi's mother was too busy reviewing the script of an upcoming movie relating her tragedy to comment on people trying to storm the Temple on her child's behalf, and later being too busy with the movie's casting to comment on Ludi being transferred to an off-planet Temple. Or that Thrynka Padaunete, the leader of a Jedi 'watchgroup' who first protested the situation, then went on to be Jovana's agent in a production that was expected to be very profitable.

The people who don't like the Jedi will focus on them moving Ludi off Coruscant, or Plo turning an entire crowd of protestors away with a powerful mind trick (by the way, not something that's actually been shown to be possible in canon, but that's not the point).

At first I tried to analyze the story like I usually approach things, by trying to understand the perspective of each party involved. While I personally couldn't see the Jedi from Lucas' story keeping the child after only one month of training (since there even is EU precedent for Mace giving a kid back to the parents because they'd changed their mind), that wasn't what this story said, so I tried to understand. Maybe it really was too dangerous. Maybe they would have let Ludi see her Mom again if not for one particular reason we weren't aware of. Maybe they knew something that I wasn't being told.

And then I flipped my perspective, and I tried to put myself in the mother's shoes, and it was really horrifying. It was gut-wrenching, and there had to be more to her than making money off a tragedy. Maybe her conspiracist agent manipulated her, playing on her grief. Maybe her saying she wanted the money to go to charity was genuine. Maybe she was actually too distraught to keep fighting, because she felt the battle was already lost, hence why she stopped commenting on the developments.

And that's when it hit me. I was trying - when I was missing basically all of the information and all of the context - to pick a side to see who felt more right.

But we don't know. We can't know. We don't have any first hand account, any actual interview of any party involved given to us. There really is next to nothing more to the story than the summary I gave. Technically - since the story is entirely fictional - the 'right' answer doesn't even exist - there is no objective truth to base an opinion on. We don't see the reasoning behind each decision, who could have influenced who and why, what could have been political and what was in good faith.

Even when we do have those things, like with the actual movies, it's still possible to endlessly debate intentions, responsibility and failings. Here, we don't have any context, any ground to build upon. So to try to create that context based on our assumptions, whether they are more favorable to one group or the other is - in a very meta way - playing into the media's polarizing effect as though we were citizens of the Republic blind to the looming war, and trying to pass judgment on issues we're badly informed on.

That's the point of the Ludi story, not whether or not the Jedi are right or wrong, or whether the mom is actually opportunistic or simply heartbroken and human.

The point of that story (which is only 'canon' because it's referenced in the current continuity's book on propaganda) is to show how people jump to assumptions, and then try to create context around this kind of stories because they're either trying to support said assumptions, or because they're aware they can't pass judgment with so little to go on from, but since they want to pass judgment they have to give themselves something to work with.

And you know why I didn't include that much info on the story itself? (Apart from the fact that making this into a proper, impeccable meta would be a hassle and this is me already procrastinating on my homework?) Because many people who read this probably had their opinion on the case set by the time they were done with the second paragraph. Because I didn't give you any context, but it hardly mattered - just like it hardly matters to us that we often read a headline and think we've got it figured out.

So again, the Ludi story is fascinating, and super effective. I was ready to make a big fool of myself by trying to analyze the facts, when I didn't have them, when they didn't even exist.

Damn, that's the kind of reflection on perspectives and narratives and politics that Star Wars can do right!

ps: Lucas' Jedi were not child thieves in the movies or TCW, that's a hill I will die on. Here though? It is not the point. If anyone tries to use this post to argue that the Jedi were child kidnappers OR that they were right in the Ludi case - you missed the point.

[oswald-privileges]

ALL RIGHT BUT YOU ASKED FOR IT

Power of Three as a series is just. full of weaknesses, most of which come down to poor continuity and structure. I'm not gonna try and fix ALL of those, bc that'd be laborious as hell, but I will pick out things that I feel are the most egregious as case studies.

What Po3 does have, tho, is an absolutely shining strength in the concept of its three main characters. After twelve books of Blandly Heroic Protagonist Syndrome, Jayfeather is an absolute godsend. He's angry! He's rude! He's unhappy! He's not nice. I Love Him And He's My Son. Lionblaze has his invincible pride (hah) and emergent bloodlust, and Hollyleaf has her moral absolutism and certainty. These are good starting points for characters. Sadly, the lack of continuity undermines what could have been three really good character arcs.

So! I present to you:

HOW TO MAKE "WARRIORS: THE POWER OF THREE" NOT COMPLETELY SUCK ACCORDING TO MY PERSONAL TASTE; A NON-EXHAUSTIVE, NON-CONSECUTIVE LIST BY ME

ONE

- Have there be a persistant, overarching series threat. Sol is a character with amazing villain potential who does literally nothing except hang around, and do exactly 2 Bad Things completely off-screen. This Is Not Good.

- Instead, have him be present from the second book onwards- initially introduced as a friendly but enigmatic outsider who is slowly revealed across the series to be a complete black hole of a personality, a social parasite quietly rearranging whatever community he's a part of to just-so-happen to benefit him as much as humanly possible. His "preach individualism not starclan" methods are not so much values as one strategy out of many. (to those who know me- yes i have a type. no i will not apologise.)

- Maybe his ultimate goal is to dissolve and centralise the clans or something so that he can live out his life as a political puppetmaster in all the cat-luxury he likes. idk it's hard to imagine overall stakes for this rewrite BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL DOESN'T HAVE ANY

TWO

- For gods sake you don't have a series based on the premise of "the main characters develop super powers" and then only have the second power confirmed by the end of the fourth book. I understand the first book mostly focusing on Jayfeather- his powers are obvious from the start, he's got the strongest personality of the three, he gets access to most of the prophecy plot stuff because of them. But you NEED to have the other two show an interest in something concrete happening to them beyond that, and you need to at least hint towards the other two having something unique to them even if nobody clocks it yet.

- Have Jayfeather tell his siblings about the prophecy by the end of book two at the latest. The amount of time he spends noodling around not sharing it with them is inexcusable. It's not that it's out of character for him to hang onto a secret for a bit, it's just that there's no point and it slows everything down. It would be equally in character for him to go to his siblings and be like "look, i'm SPECIAL. well you as well but ALSO ME". Boy starts off as desperate for recognition, what can I say

THREE

- Have Jayfeather discover that StarClan don't withhold signs or information on purpose for the sake of "building courage and faith" or whatever nonsense. Seeing and communicating the future is metaphysically very difficult, so interpreting signs and messages is a genuine skill, or even an art. The cats of StarClan, however, really are just ghosts, much more similar to living cats than the currently living believe. This is the impotus for Jayfeather's discarding of his reverence for StarClan, which remains consistent throughout the series.

- Have Hollyleaf and Jayfeather both still change their cat careers in the first book, but put place more attention on the fact that they basically switched jobs. Have a scene where they end up yelling at each other, because can't the other see how lucky they have it? The tension breaks when they realise they've both lost something important to them- Jayfeather his chance to prove he's as capable as a sighted cat, and Hollyleaf her path to helping her clan in the way she thinks is best. They commiserate together, and reluctantly promise to do the best they can with their lots, so they don't waste the path the other wishes they'd taken. This closeness is eroded over the series as they disagree more and more on the subject of StarClan and its role in their moral choices and obligations.

FOUR

- Speaking of Hollyleaf! I nearly threw my phone across the room when the first Omen of the Stars book claimed that Hollyleaf "worked so hard to discover her power to help her clan". Where, Ms Erins??? I would have LOVED to have seen that!! Hollyleaf expresses absolutely no concern over the details of what power she has/will develop, and only has a couple of scenes even touching on her ambitions to help her clan. She has some vague ideas about becoming leader and like one scene where she gets to do some leadery things, but that never gets followed up on. What does happen is that the whole "warrior code" thing becomes more and more a part of her personality (for no clear reason) until she snaps.

- Hollyleaf going off the deep end is something I wanted so badly to get into and be moved by, because I could see where it comes from! Her moral certainty is fascinating, especially since it's based in something as abstract as the warrior code- which, when you think about it, isn't really... anything. There's no concrete set of rules that make it up, no traditional wording or cat philosophers, not even any fables. It's a handful of agreed-upon, common sense rules- don't cross boundaries, don't take prey that isn't yours, respect your ancestors, and don't murder. That's it!

- So, combining the above points, I think Hollyleaf not being one of the Three should stay, but both the audience and the characters are given good reason to believe she is. By around the third volume, make it so that Hollyleaf has found that her power is to get cats to "Do The Right Thing"- i.e. what she wants them to do. She sneaks off often to see Sol, who teachs her how to use this power. Her siblings are concerned about this new power, having already gotten a glimpse at what Sol can do, but she's confident that she can only use this power for good. Volume-specific plot happens, Sol manipulates her into causing him to win, she is shocked and horrified, and vows to stick ridgedly to what she knows is right i.e. The Warrior Code

- However, the more fervently she tries to stick to this abstract idea, the less it gives her results, the more her power seems to be failing. Believing that StarClan is taking her power away from her, she becomes caught up in a faith-guilt spiral that puts her in the position to snap at the end of the series. By that point it's clear to her siblings that Hollyleaf has no power- she was just very, very good at persuading people to do what she wanted.

FIVE

- Lionblaze is a girl now because I Said So. This Cat Is Trans And There's Nothing You Can Do About It.

- Her relationship with Heathertail stays the same- childhood sweethearts who are torn apart as they begin to understand the nature of the societal divides that exist between them.

- This can be used to contextualise the whole "half clan/outsider blood" thing as a cultural contradiction. In reality, inter- and outer- clan relationships aren't at all rare. They can't be, otherwise the whole society would be inbred out of existence in like five generations. But if at least one society of humans can spend a good 200 years pretending Sex Is Bad And Sinful Actually then cats can have persistant cat-racism in the face of all logic. Heathertail clocks this contradiction, Lionblaze doesn't.

- Her relationship-to-power arc doesn't need changing all that much either, other than starting much sooner and being more consistent. At first, she's completely overjoyed by her power, since unlike her siblings, it lines up so well with her ambition- become the finest warrior any of the clans have to offer. As the berserker rage aspect becomes more prevelent, she becomes more and more disturbed by the fact that she isn't disturbed by what she can do, and that she doesn't want the escalation of her power to stop.

- Tigerstar still does his thing, but Brambleclaw knows about it. He recognises the signs from when his father used to visit him, and tries to train Lionblaze in his own way. She ends up caught between wanting to be a good warrior, and testing the limits of her power.

SIX

- Jayfeather can stay basically the same because he's my perfect little angy boy and nothing needs to change. His arcs can be strengthened by having a more robust relationship with Yellowfang where they try to out-bitch each other, and coming to terms with his internalised ablism. Maybe he has a chat with Mothwing about faith a couple of times. Him furiously lashing out at being offered help transitions into an acceptence and understanding of his abilities more naturally. He never stops being A Grumpy Old Man.

- All fucking past-lives unexplained time travel goes in the BIN. Doesn't fucking happen. You can have that lore dump sprinkled across the books, or come from going deep into the tunnels and having a surreal meeting. Make it properly eldritch-level scary, shake Jayfeather's confidence in the idea of them being just a bunch of ghosts.

SEVEN

- Have the way Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight present very clearly as parents to the Three be explicitly, textually unusual. One of the things I liked so much about the first series was an almost total lack of emphasis on who was mated with who, and who was related or not. It felt very real to how feral cat colonies form, where raising kittens is a communal job. This gets completely dropped the moment series 2 starts and now the cats have monogamy.

- This emphasis on the family unit and fostering close relationships between parents and kittens is deliberate on the part of both Leafpool and Squirrelflight. Their aim is to cover for Leafpool so she doesn't lose her role as medicine cat- something she already gave up Crowfeather for before she was pregnant.

- In that little bit of backstory, have a robust reason for both Leafpool and Squirrelflight to leave the camp while Leafpool is pregnant and giving birth, possibly one that ties into the present day story in some minor way. I don't know how, it would just make that element of the story a lot more ground than "we left, the kits were born, then we came back and everyone was cool with it"

- When it comes to the "I am Not your mother" reveal, Jayfeather and Lionblaze are confused and hurt that they were lied to, but come to the reasonable conclusion that well, since they were raised mostly by Squirrelflight, saw Leafpool often, and are loved by both, they don't hate her. Lionblaze has something of a crisis over being half-clan, possibly initiating an attempted reunion with Heathertail. Jayfeather is more concerned with how other cats will think it makes him lesser, something he's still sensitive too.

- Hollyleaf, meanwhile, completely fucking snaps at the way her mother Violated Part Of The Code. It's a completely irrational reaction, but expected because she's been growing more and more reliant on The Code for the whole series, and less and less stable in her attempts to aid her clan and train to be its new leader.

- Squirrelflight is the one to murder Ashfur. This is easy to work out while reading- she's literally the only one of the four with a motive who isn't a perspective character. The mystery is less around finding out who did it, and more about why she did it (it's very ambiguous as to whether it was an accident or not). The main tension comes from who finds out when.

- Lionblaze is shocked, awed by how far she'd go to protect the three of them, and reassures her she did the right thing (as a way to salve her own uncertainty over her own longing for violence). Jayfeather makes it all about himself because he's Jayfeather- upset that he didn't know immediately, instead of, you know, figuring it out in a few hours because he can basically read minds. They try their best to hide it from Hollyleaf, who is already rattling around the final volume as a full-on antagonist, but are unsuccessful. This almost costs them something incredibly important- possibly Squirrelflight's life.

EIGHT

- the whole plot with the Tribe Of Rushing Water is a MASSIVE can of worms that could be removed from the series without issue. As it is:

- Characterize the Tribe as uncertain of how to fight other cats, because yes, they haven't had to do this before. DON'T characterise them as pathetic, doing whatever their leader says without thinking, and with ancestors who have Given Up

- Have some of the Tribe be really good at the violence. Worryingly good. Have others be sickened by what they're being asked to do.

- Have some of the clan cats reflect on what they've done. Hollyleaf would be all for introducing this society to jesus The Code, but even she might be horrified at being thanked by a tribe cat who can't wait to get out there and win themselves glory, only to be killed a few hours later

- The Tribe begin a new tradition of marking the walls in the mud they use as camoflage in order to commemorate their battles, and memorialise the fallen. One of the characters reflects on the fact that in a generation or two, the Tribe will feel like it's always been this way. How many of their own traditions- those that feel almost like natural law- started out the same way?

- Have Sol as the leader of the invaders, or maybe having insinuated himself into the tribe as a "mediator" and doing his charismatic cult leader thing.

NINE

- Cinderheart isn't a reincarnation of Cinderpelt. She's just named after her bc Cinderpelt saved her mother from a badger. this is because I think the reincanation thing is stupid and I can't think of a way to make it good.

TEN

- No more using tails as hand gestures like covering people's mouths. Never. None of it. It's expunged from existence.

Disclaimer: I haven't read Omen of the Stars yet, so I can't account for anything that might happen in that series that's grounded in Po3. I'm like... two thirds of the way through the first volume. I'm Not Impressed.

[nottonyharrison]

A bullet pointed summary of all my Star Wars fics

*note* this hasn’t been updated in months I might consider it one day but right now nah too many it’s unweildy

Of Duty (Rexsoka, Codex, Codexsoka, Blyla, Queerplatonic Codywan, WIP @ 12/25 68k, E)

Everything is pain

No seriously this is the misery AU

Extremely bad life choices

Dead doves everywhere

The writer did not go into this intending to write poly

Of Duty: Sacrifice (Foxiyo, WIP @ 7/20 15k, M)

Politics, Politics Politics

Fishbowl Fox

Riyo Chuchi and the Horrifying Morality Crisis

Knock Yourself Out (Sev/Fi/Parja, 5.5k, E)

The endless frustration of Sev’s internal monologue

A very specific type of L O N G I N G

Buddy you’re so close to figuring out your sexuality and it’s driving everyone nuts

Kal Skirata and the vaguely hostile  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Idle Tether (Cody/Ahsoka, unrequited Cody/Rex and Rex/Ahsoka, 1.3k, E)

Do not read this if you can’t handle it rough

No seriously

This fic not safe for...

Just trust me on this

At Least Something’s Stayed the Same (Fox/Rex, 3k, T)

Oh no did I write more FoxLives? What a shame

Rex is Not Happy About This

Crying.

Anatomy Study (Ahsoka/Rex, 4k, E)

Old Rex Can Get It™

Age related body dysphoria is absolutely a great premise for a fic don’t @ me

Blink and you’ll miss it repcomm reference

SO MUCH blathering on for such a short fic

Different Toned Flecks (Fox/Vos, 3k, M)

Frenemies to lovers oooh yeah that’s the good stuff

Gratuitous setup gratuitous grime

Fox says my job sucks please and thank you

Off the Books (Besany/Ordo, under 1k, M)

Rated M for Mukdek

Ordo likes to learn new things including sexy things

Besany Wennen is (almost) unflappable

Equilibrium (Howzer/Ahsoka/Rex, ~13k, E)

Overly complicated Howzer backstory that nobody asked for

You didn’t have an OT3? WELL YOU DO NOW

Not really unrequited love I prommy

COINCIDENCES GALORE

Kinky.

Everything Turned Out Fine (Eleni/Cham/Howzer, under 1k, T)

Create OC, kill OC moving on...

Reunions! Yay!

Extremely canon divergent because fuck canon, that’s why

Clones in the Rebellion! Yay!

Five Sentence Ficlets (Multi, Ongoing series now with accompanying art, various ratings)

What it says on the tin

Send me a headcanon or prompt in my askbox to get your heart broken and feelings dismantled quickly and painfully

Stop, Reset (KixRex, 1.5k, T)

Emotional isolation

Rex and his absolutely truly really not a martyr complex honestly it’s just being pragmatic

Kix is the prettiest clone no write ins

Possibly the best kiss I’ve ever written but maybe that’s because it’s still new and shiny

Yeah, I'm fine (Echo, Ahsoka, Rex, eventual OT3, WIP, T + E final chapter)

Five times they comfort one another and one time they fuck

Rex can be a real prick sometimes

Did someone say character development?

Echo my beloved

Ahsoka, Echo, Rex, and the No Good Terrible Very Bad Days

More Than a Maybe (Rexsoka, 3.5k, E)

Xeno tentacles

Snark

Too much emotional weight for a Tuesday night

Hidden in Plain Sight (EchoFives, 1.8k, T)

FiveLives

Implied strap-ons

Please congratulate me for keeping this T rated

Many many ellipsis and em-dashes

Good People (CodyFox, 1.5k, M)

Hatefucking

Roundabout ways to explain why 79s is called 79s without actually saying the bar is 79s

Basically just worldbuilding with some clone romance thrown in the mix don’t @ me about it

Apparently a killer of a closing line but IDK you decide

Debrief at Oh Nine Hundred (Fives/Ahsoka, pre Fives/Rex/Ahsoka OT3, heavily referenced one sided Fives/Rex, 2k, E)

Long promised sequel to Pick Your Moments

No worldbuilding just horny

Fives’ head is a mess don’t come at me about it

Calling out accidental voyeurism is an aphrodisiac k?

Thirty Levels Up, Due East  (Blyla, 5.5k, E)

Bly is a sub no write-ins

Pr0n

Ripping off my own shit

That one time Bly and Aayla went to a strip joint

Discretionary Alternative (Un-fun Codywan, 3k, M)

Oof

10 years of Imperial indoctrination will do things to a guy

Obi-Wan is a kriffing asshole

M Rated but no fucking

Intermediate (Rexsoka, 4.5k, E)

Thirty-Somethings finally getting their shit together

Awkward fucking

That’s phosphorescent and I was not expecting that

Weird-ass metaphors

Pick Your Moments (FIvesoka, 6k, E)

Dipping out after important truth bombs

More plot than required to facilitate zero-G porn

Oops, I had An Emotion

Trying to rip a droid’s head off with your thighs is an aphrodisiac just trust me on this

Hope, Perhaps (Codysoka, 4k, E)

Even more Dead Dove: Do Not Eat

No seriously this is some fucked up self flagellatory identity porn (credit goes to the comments)

Existential MCD

Ugly grieving of the worst kind

Counting the Beat (Codex, 2.5k, E)

Inappropriate boners

That’s it, that’s the fic

It Doesn't Work Like That (Rexsoka, 2.5k, M)

I really need to stop writing DDDNE fics this is a problem

HIGHLY inappropriate fraternization

More ugly grieving

Fuck off, Fives

The Merits of Fleshglue (and Other Flirting Techniques) (Padmaayla, 1k, T)

Make the most of being alone on a spaceship with a hot lady or u dumb

Bly has a nice ass no more questions Your Honour

Commentary on That Dress because what is going on with the state of the women’s clothing industry in this galaxy, honestly

Fuck subtle

REXSOKA WEEK 2021

Gravitational Potential Energy | M For day 1: Boredom/Hurry up and wait

Everyone’s favourite, UST

That very specific form of exhibitionism where you’re trying to get someone’s attention while working out

Rex’s beard is hot no write-ins

Fifteen Hundred by Fifteen Hundred | E For day 2: Some like it hot(t)

Friends with benefits with big stupid feelings

Remember team, if you’re gonna do it in a shower make sure you have something to grab on to

The Twits | T For day 3: Bitter, not so sweet

They’re idiots, your honour

Besany Wennen is hot and will steal your girl (and Ordo can share too, I guess)

Fuck Kal Skirata, he dead

Scratchy Blanket | T For day 4: It happened once in a dream/AU day

Rex dies you’ve been warned

Existential horror mixed with a bunch of force visions is a great way to realise you fucked up

Dead Dove: Do not eat

Playthings | E For day 5: Show me your dark side

Rex is a sub and finally admits it.

Ahsoka’s unconvinced

Pegging with a Side of Power Play™

Seriously read the tags my kinks are showing

Convoluted and Ridiculous | M For day 6: Truth or dare

Repcomm adjacent

Rex in Lingerie, you’re welcome

Apparently I wrote comedy as an apology for Scratchy Blanket

Made You Look | E For day 7: FUBAR

Look away Cody, you horndog

When you’re desperate to escape the empire you’ll sometimes push things a bit too far

Only a bit of semi-consensual voyeurism

Pre-OT3 because I had to chuck a bit of that in this week who the heck do you think I am?

[abeltownshipslittlebitch]

Spoilers for S9M22

It’s kind of long because I have a lot to say, but it’s not all negative. There’s just one thing that’s mentioned in particular I feel the need to elaborate on

@dorkylittleweirdo I’m tagging you because I always like telling you my opinion on everything

While I was wanting to punch Maryam in the face for dismissing Sam’s VERY VALID worry for Peter, I’m happy to know Peter is safe and unharmed.

But if Maryam says shit like that again idk if she secretly knows he’s safe my Five is punching her on sight. Like the amount of times Peter’s safety has been dismissed this season is insane and I’m not here for it.

Also Maryam being a spy 😱. Who would have guessed? It’s not like we’d been all theorizing it since she was introduced or anything. True she’s not a RSB spy but still.

But I don’t trust her bc there is one thing thats very sus. RSB had cameras of places all around the world and yet they somehow have no idea what’s going on in United States? Like you’re telling me they have connections to countries they aren’t even a part of, but being an outpost to America they haven’t been able to contact one (1) military base in the US? Like do you know how many bases there are in the US?

Also like Maryam saying “no one knows what happened in the US”. Like if any place could survive the apocalypse it’s America bc the southern regions have guns and as a born and raised Arkansan I know motherfuckers down here blow shit up for fun. Also hunting is huge here. You’d never find these ppl hiding in camo. Also some 90 year old hillbilly could give you some homemade Moonshine and if that doesn’t make you immune to the zom virus, you can throw it at a zom and it would probably melt it.

And here I am just talking about the south. The Midwest lives in buttfuck middle of nowhere and knows how to can good and grow their own food, the north is cold as fuck and can survive it. New Yorkers would see zoms, shrug and then probably make their way to the subway bc they have to get to work. Also in places like Florida and New Jersey and specially Chicago Illinois, the zombies would be more afraid of the humans than humans afraid of zombies bc it takes a special type of person to live in those areas. I don’t know much about the west coast besides the fact that California is always on fire or having an earthquake so tbh I feel like zombies are like the secondary problem for them.

My point is there is no way that America has fell in the apocalypse. Not to mention even tho I’m only talking about regional point, we’ve had conspiracy theorists across the country WAITING FOR THIS DAY. Like no. This ain’t tracking.

Also there’s like a military base in almost every state I think. Sometimes multiple in a state. And we’re well defended, and we, ya know, have the biggest military in the world. The fact that Maryam is saying that RSB has no clue what’s happened in America when they were able to secure Van Ark goo from the black market (meaning a base in Tunisia had connections to England in order to get ahold of it), and literally had cameras looking at other countries in Europe (the Eiffel Tower toppled over in Paris France) AND the big boss knew who we are means that they had connections to know about ABEL TOWNSHIP which canonically probably has maybe 1,000 bc we did talk about in S7 how we kept bringing people in and we’re getting a bit overpopulated for us. It’s just…

There is no way they haven’t been able to make contact with America. Janine was able to contact Canada via Rofflenet in S2 on a unstable network, so to say this highly secure base with great tech that has been making some very horrifying experiments can’t contact the country their base is meant to be an outpost for is bs.

This either means S2S did crappy with their writing, or Maryam is lying. I’m really hoping it’s the latter.

Also Ernie I love you. He and my Five are clone buddies, or they will be after some character development and Callista trying not to be a hypocrite bc she knows she’s not the same as the person she’s cloned after but it’s hard to have that logic against the clone of the guy who experimented on you and gave you lifelong trauma.

Also Sam “yeah we have no idea who it was that shot you down with a rocket launcher 😬.” That made me laugh ngl.

Also there was no Janine this ep so extra points for that. Also Maryam said Janine said it was unlikely that Peter would be hurt, and then it’s revealed that Maryam knew that Peter was picked up by one of her spy friends. This gives the implication that Janine may have known Maryam is a spy. If she did, and she knew Peter was safe and withheld that from us my Five is going feral on her. Like I’m already mad she had us leave him but IF it turns out she knew he was okay and said nothing im not gonna be happy.

Bc Janine knowing stuff and not saying Is why Peter unnecessary cut off his own nose (don’t think I’ve forgotten about that S2S). I haven’t.

Also no Mo and Peter this ep so it also loses points for that.

Okay. Now time for me to crawl back into my hole. I have to get ready for work soon any way. (I’m heading in early to get some LSAT studies done.)

But yeah. That’s it for today.

[dreamteamspace]

So this stream I got a bit confused with what was going on with the whole spiel with schlatt and dream, and I dont actually think theres a traitor. However if there was one why not niki ya know? I mean, he kept saying how it would be way more unexpected than eret in the independance war, and literally everyone so far has been thought of as a potential traitor to pogtopia,, except well,, why not niki? She also had this letter to her "dear friend" that sounded like a new turn for her character and idk man why not?

Alright I’m a very texting type of person and you’ve got my started on my hyperfixation here we go-

My thoughts on the whole situation and why I think Fundy is the traitor:

I think from Dream’s perspective: Everything makes sense. I’m HIGHLY certain that Schlatt’s deal, which Dream said is “Something Wilbur and Tommy would never give him”, was that L’Manburg will either cease to exist (become part of the Dream SMP, and we know neither Wilbur not Tommy would ever do that), or that Dream would essentially become leader of it.

That’s why, in this flip situation, if he wins, he wins all of it. This also makes sense, as Dream is 100% alright with Wilbur just blowing it up, too: Because essentially he achieves the very same thing: L’Maburg/Manburg is no more.

Dream is absolutely right that he was never on their side or really on anybody’s side. Dream is his own side. It’s his server. He IS the Dream SMP, in that sense, just like Tommy is the spearhead of the rebellion right now.

I’m also fairly certain Dream will pull a lot more people than they think into this, and I think they ALSO know, in a meta-way, that they won’t be fighting only Schlatt and Dream and one traitor. He’s just letting them wallow in their security, although I have to say he LOVES dipping in his dramatic implications about what he’s doing or will do. In this case, he might’ve managed to keep quiet to let them think they’re safe.

So for Dream: Either they win, and L’Manburg is his/no more, or Wilbur sees they start losing, and L’Manburg is also no more. Honestly? He just has to make Wilbur panic hard enough to hit that button... and then he wins. It would be bad if he loses, though, so I do think he’ll pull together for this. He’s very competitive.

(Lot more juicy theory as to who the traitor is under the cut)

I predict that a good portion of BadboyHalo, Georgenotfound, Sapnap, Punz, potentially also people like Thunder or Alyssa?, are going to join Dream’s side. Sam seems close to the rebellion, but he’s also friends with George and Sapnap, but I just can’t see those two seriously fighting against Dream. If the stakes really are high, they’ll flip over to him, although I also can’t see them convincing Sam.

Most likely, George and Sapnap are just going to stay out of it entirely, and let Sam fight on the side of the rebellion. Maybe the current pet war might change that, though, say if Sapnap develops a new hatred against Tommy or even Sam? (I dont know what the pet war’s at atm but didn’t Sapnap and Sam fight over pets?), he would join in on Dream’s side. George? I have no idea. Most likely he just won’t be there. He doesn’t want to go against Sam (Who provides him with like. Everything), but he also doesn’t wanna fight Dream. IF he fights, though, I’m tempted to say he’d be on Dream’s side, but I’m honestly not up to date enough on his streams to say for certain.

As for the traitor: I actually haven’t seen Niki’s letter (to my great regret, I saw the news float around though), since I’m very focused on watching Tommy and Wilbur’s POVs. Honestly, if it’s Niki? That would be MASSIVELY surprising, and the biggest brain move I’ve ever seen. It’s possible, but I honestly don’t think it’s likely.

They’ve kept their characters fairly consistent, and while this IS kindof meta to say, I don’t think (with how things are atm), that Niki would betray L’Manburg, UNLESS she’s doing a double-agent thing and plans on tricking Dream in the end. That I could potentially see happening.

But knowing that she changed the anthem from Wilbur’s posessive “My L’Manburg” to just “L’Manburg”, that she’s been loyal even when they kinda half left her alone with Schlatt to tax her, and even during the pet wars she never strikes blood, but rather takes hostages and wants a sincere apology... I don’t see it right now. Then again, I don’t watch Niki’s streams on the SMP, so I could be wrong, as I’m not quite familiar with the intricacies of her character on the SMP besides the surface level.

On on hand... I also doubt whether there is a traitor at all, and Dream is just hoping to drive them apart and make sure they don’t get things done as efficiently as they could, because they’re busy pointing fingers at eachother, suspecting eachother, potentially even throwing somebody out once the tension between them snaps.

He needs to win this fight. If he does, he gets EVERYTHING. What they think of him after that point doesn’t matter, so the lie doesn’t matter. They can laugh at him afterwards, but he’ll still have won. I don’t know how many actually highly important details Dream would drop into conversation like that.

Consider, he does have a traitor. Why would he tell them he has one there? Why tell them that they’ll never guess? It just sows chaos in their group, and that’s what he wants. If he DID have one, he might just not say anything.

On the other hand: He might just be dramatic like that honestly. We all know they’re meta-fighting for the next spot in a sad-ist animatic, so Dream could very well be taking a more active role to insert himself into the story and cause some drama. Even if he DOES have a traitor on the inside, saying it still sows chaos. It’s a little risky, but if it really is something they won’t guess, then the chance that they’ll suspect the wrong person might be high enough, and make it worth it.

If he DOES actually have a traitor, my top sus are honestly Fundy, Tubbo, and maybe Ponk. I’m very sure it’s NOT Wilbur, Tommy, Sam, or Quackity.

Ponk doesn’t seem like the type of person to be reliable enough. He’s just kinda in it for the ride, and he’s too quiet to set a focus on. I don’t think Dream even considered him on the side of the rebellion for certain until today. It is, however, still possible. Tommy seems to trust him, and he’s not in deep enough for them to intently interrogate him on his loyalty, cause they know he’s more laid back when it comes to that. He feels only half in the rp to begin with, just wanting to fuck around with everyone. And then, BOOM, he’s actually been playing a massive role this whole time. It’s a little bit of a safe target, too, albeit a little underwhelming.

Tubbo... listen. We all love Tubbo. Tommy loves Tubbo, and we know Tubbo cares greatly for Tommy. Tubbo also seems(?) to care for L’Manburg. But I just....

It’s Tubbo, man. I have no idea. He seemed SO close to ACTUALLY flipping over to Schlatt before the festival. Everyone keeps pushing him around like this innocent tiny kid when he has the biggest third eye out of everyone and is the only one actually doing any work.

Tubbo has stated before that his official motivation is that he just wants peace for everyone. He just doesn’t want to fight and wants to do fun stuff. So of course he sounds horrified at the prospect of having to hunt down Tommy after Tommy was exiled, but happily went along with the festival. He was excited to do his speech. Schlatt actually placed responsability on them for once. He truly did seem happy about that.

It doesn’t matter as much to Tubbo who’s who. What matters is that the fighting preferrably stops, and they all just have a good time. Dream gave the line “I’m very convincing”, so I think he did actually have to convince the traitor, if there is one, to join his side. It wasn’t automatic.

Technically speaking, if L’Manburg is no more, and they’re all part of the Dream SMP again, doesn’t the fighting stop? If there’s no nation to fight over, then there’s no reason to fight. If L’Manburg is no more, then Schlatt has 0 power, and if Dream takes over, he could’ve promised to un-exile Tommy and Wilbur. And then they’re all part of the Dream SMP! No more fighting! Everyone’s on the same side!

Tubbo seems to care less for nations or sides, and much more for people, and for the people around them to be happy. His switch to enthusiasm at Schlatt’s festival came quickly, because many of the people he cared about still partook in it, and he never did hurt Tommy, because he does care about him.

But Tubbo DID say the line “may the festival begin” after his speech, and they knew what that would start. So why? In a way, I think Tubbo waged his options. Who does he care about more? Tommy, to his knowledge, is on Wilbur’s side. He might’ve decided in a moment of uncertainty that Wilbur and Tommy’s opinions of him are more important to them than the opinions of the other people there. Mostly Tommy, because we know those two would die for eachother. They chose Tommy over everyone else at that festival, potentially even over their own motivations, over their own gut.

Fundy, in fact, has MANY reasons to be the traitor, but isn’t quite obvious in that sense. They thought he was a traitor, actually, but once he showed them his diary, he essentially convinced all of them very certainly that he’s not the traitor, and they believed him. Dream joined the call later, so it’s possible he heard that part or Fundy told him about it (They’ve all been known to listen in on convos sometimes to know whats going in. They have to in order to build a good story line.)

Fundy has all the reasons. Reason number one, to me, is Fundywastaken. It’s canon in the Dream SMP lore, they just surprisingly haven’t done anything with it. During the independance war, that wasn’t a thing yet, and since they ARE a thing in canon now... they’ve never actually fought eachother. In fact, as things are now? We’re EXPECTING to see Dream fight his canon fiancé. Fundy officially joined the fight when Tommy asked him, confirming that they can count on him and that he will fight. We know for certain that Dream will fight.

If Fundy isn’t the traitor and doesn’t become one, then Dream and Fundy are inevitably meeting in battle on the 16th.

Consider his storyline: We’ve all been highly expecting Fundy to either punch Wilbur in the face or at LEAST be dissapointed in him or SOMETHING. He hasn’t, as far as I’m aware. He’s just standing there near him, very very quietly, giving a firm but quiet “yes” when Tommy asked him if they could count on him.

Fundy hasn’t expressed much to Wilbur at all, despite heving been left alone with Schlatt by him, despite how much he deserves to be angry at him for being patronized and not trusted with anything.

And, y’know... He’s officially Dream’s fiancé. The others don’t seem to know yet, and I don’t know how many people do know or not. It’s possible they just don’t know, and of course Dream wouldn’t tell them anything, not even tell anyone, this close before a fight. Dream might not even tell his close allies out of fear that the information could spread or that they could turn on him.

So honestly... Fundy seems the most likely for me to be the traitor, especially because there’s been plenty of foreshadowing for it, there’s a good setup, he has good reasons, and it wouldn’t seem like a cheap plottwist, but rather a gradual change.

Not to mention that meta-wise, Fundy has been actively involved in the rp and been dropping some pretty good lines himself. This isn’t something that Dream would have some non-rping person do.

I’m also kindof sure it’s not Technoblade, because Dream laughed it off and half-indicated that it is (Tommy: “I bet it’s Technoblade” Dream, cracking up: “I didn’t say that, you said that”), because he profits from doing so. He profits from them thinking Technoblade is the traitor. And also I really, really don’t think Techno would team up with Dream in this rp. Then again, Dream recently proclaimed to be on the side of chaos.... so who truly knows? I’ll definitly be surprised if it’s Techno, but I suppose it is a possibility. I just don’t think Techno can be convinced to much of anything, unless of course all it took was saying “Hey it’s Schlatt and Me against like 6 people so if we want an actual fight for once-” “Finally some bloodshed and war. I’m in”. I mean, I doubt it, but I’m leaving the possibility open.

TLDR: Dream wins if he wins the fight OR if Wilbur blows everything up. The traitor is likely either Fundy, Ponk or Tubbo, and I think there will be more people fighting on Dream’s side than just Schlatt and one traitor.

[kjhmyg]

christmas/ny (drabble)

pairing: jungkook x reader | jungkook x oc

genre: fluff, steamy at the end

words: 1.7k

summary: re!couple celebrating christmas and ny with jungkook after the holidays

a/n: um first of all, sorry. this is so bad im cry but also it’s kinda ok? idk. sorry anon if this isn’t what u wanted. i’ll try again next year 2022 lmao

����

As patient as he is Jungkook can’t wait for your nightly call. You try to stay off your phone for the most part being back home, leaving time to talk to Jungkook only when it’s dark out. Of course, some days you miss him so much that you break that rule to sneak in a couple of texts or photos. Today’s not one of them. 

Unfortunately, he had missed your earlier call. Horrified seeing two notifications of your failed attempts to reach him, he’s decided not to do anything else till he hears your voice. 

Jungkook shoves a spoonful of Suga’s homemade microwave spaghetti into his mouth, eyes not leaving his phone.

“You’re staring at that thing so hard the screen’s going to crack.” Suga judges him from across the table. 

“I’m expecting a call.” 

“Yeah, I know.” He sighs, “But it’s not like your phone’s on silent. It’ll ring once she⎼”

Jungkook jumps within the first few seconds of his phone lighting up, your name flashing across the screen. Leaving Suga to himself, he rushes into the room and takes a deep breath before accepting the call. “Hi.”

“Hey you.” Your chirpy voice makes him smile. “Missed you earlier.” 

“I know, sorry. Was busy. Did you have fun today?” 

“It was okay. We got a cute little tree and I managed to do some really last minute shopping because I just found out my cousins will be here tomorrow night.” You sigh. “Did you miss me?” 

“So much. I hate being apart, you know that.” 

“Well I did offer you to come home with me.”  

Jungkook had declined again. He doesn’t think it’s the best time to introduce himself to your family yet. Though, he had no qualms about letting your dad know. Funny enough, you decided not to. But you’re certain you heard your grandmother telling him about the couple photo you have as your homescreen. 

“Maybe next time.” He hums, thinking about the possible future. 

“I think my dad will like you.” The sound of your giggles has him cheesing so hard. 

“Is that why you chickened out on telling him about us?” 

“I did not! The timing isn't right.” 

“Sure baby.” He laughs. “You’re not embarrassed of me are you?” 

“I’m embarrassed someone like you is even interested in me.” You both laugh and let the silence engulf you. “You know I love you right? I hope we can spend the holidays together next year.” 

“I hope so too.” There’s a tiny amount of sadness in there if you’re listening right. 

“I might not be able to call you the next few nights. Since my cousins will be over. I promise to text though.” You say. 

“That’s okay.” You hear the smile in his voice. “Just have fun okay? I’ll be here when you get back.”

“One more week.”

“Right. One week. Seven days. I’m sure I can handle being without you till then.” 

“Merry christmas my love.” You send him a kiss over the phone.

“Merry christmas to you too.” 

When the call ends ten minutes later, he trots back outside, face looking even worse than before. Suga, now done with his food, shakes his head disapprovingly as Jungkook takes his seat and goes back to the sad, cold dish in front of him. “You’re pathetic.” 

𝄖

Jungkook holds his breath as the train slowly comes to a stop at the platform. Yesterday was the first day of the new year, which means today’s the day you come back. He’d planned out his route. First he’d get coffee and bagels to-go with chocolate danishes for you, in case you hadn’t had anything during the long trip. Then a short stop at the florist to get you a single rose before going off to the station.

It gets messy as everyone starts alighting and he struggles to catch you among the crowd. That’s when you come into view, head popping out between other random faces, wrapped in a beanie and scarf. Your face lights up when you see him, making hurried steps and dragging your luggage behind you. 

“Jungkook!” You squeal, running into his arms. 

He kisses the side of your face. “Hey stranger.” 

“I’m so happy to see you.” You say, squeezing him tight. “How are you?”

“You’re asking me that as if we aren’t constantly texting each other.” He laughs, handing you the rose and letting you cling onto his arm with your luggage in his other hand, headed for the car. 

“I know I’m just trying to break the ice.” 

Inside the comfort and warmth of the car, he kisses you deeply. Something he’s been looking forward to for the last three weeks. “How’s that for breaking the ice?” 

You roll your eyes but a smile plays at your lips as you properly adjust the seat belt. Gasping when you’re handed chocolate danishes, you pout at him, “You’re so sweet. Come here.” It earns him more kisses which he happily accepts. 

In the back seat you notice an odd shaped item, in purple wrapping, done quite messily. “What’s that?” You ask knowingly. 

“A surprise.”

“I have one for you too.” You smile smugly. 

 “Yeah? Can’t wait.” 

On the way back, you give him a run down of what went on back home. When he ended up confessing that he hadn’t done anything special for the holidays, not even with Suga, it made you feel bad. Even though he tries to assure you he didn’t want to celebrate it anyway. 

Back home, you lug your baggage into the room and dig something out of your bag. A packet of cookies lands on Jungkook’s lap as he takes a seat on the floor in front of the couch. “For me?” 

“Mmhm.” Nodding, you tear open the paper bag, behaving more excited than he is. “My grandma said she packed this for my friend. She winked when she told me that. And I’d already brought some back for Hana. I think she knows.” 

“About us? How?” 

“She’s always been nosy.” You giggle. “I guess she doesn’t want you to get left out.”

“Aw. She’s kind just like you.” 

“Wait!” He pauses, startled by your hand on his, stopping him from pulling one of the cookies out of the bag. “Hold on.” 

You get up and run to the room. Carrying as many pillows as you can with a comfy blanket somewhere in between, Jungkook watches as you make a barrier with the pillows and spread the blanket over him. Then, you’re off to the kitchen. 

After a minute of cabinet doors opening and closing and the clinking of glasses, you come back with two mugs of hot cocoa, marshmallows on top of course. Just the way your dad makes them. You place it right next to him then push the coffee table all the way forward to make more room to spread your legs. You put on a lame christmas movie on netflix, then snuggle up next to him. 

“Now it’s a real christmas party.” 

Jungkook laughs, holding you close and kissing the top of your head. You do the most unexpected things at the most random times. But he appreciates the way you always try to make sure he’s not left out. “Thank you baby.” 

You grin up at him and watch carefully as he takes the first bite of the cookies. His eyes go wide and you nod knowingly. It’s your grandmother’s famous recipe. One even if you had, wouldn’t even be able to replicate its taste. He hums in delight, stuffing his mouth with one cookie after the other. 

“So. Let me guess what happens after cookies and cocoa.” He says after finishing almost half the packet. 

“What?” You ask, eyeing him. 

He reaches round the side of the couch and pulls out the odd package you had seen in the car. “Presents?”

“Presents!”  

You run back to your room and appear with a small wrapped box. The rule was not to buy anything that costs more than your monthly rent. You both had agreed to this a while back. Which was difficult for Jungkook because all he wanted to do was to spoil you with expensive gifts. 

“What is this?” Jungkook holds the box to his ear and shakes lightly. “Hm.” 

“Wait I think I can guess what mine is.” You giggle, pressing into the soft parts of the wrapping. 

“Okay then you go first.” 

“Okay.” Tearing away the wrapping carefully, you find inside a soft, pink bunny with funky eyebrows. On the bottom of its little feet, there are hearts and in those hearts are both your names embroidered with a plus sign in between. “Aww no this is so adorable. I love it so much.”

“It’s not a diamond necklace but⎼”

“No this is so much better. Thank you.” You give him a hug with the bunny squished between your bodies. “It strangely reminds me of you.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah it’s weird and I like it.” You giggle, pinching his cheek. “Now open yours.” 

The wrapping comes off easy and he immediately realises what it is as the box comes into view. He looks at you for a second before unboxing it and pulling out a matte black polaroid camera. Jungkook takes his time with it, carefully looking at it from each side. 

“Do you like it?” You ask. “I know you like taking photos so I thought you might like this.” 

“Y/N I love it.” He smiles, bringing the viewfinder to his eye and getting a feel of it, then putting it down to focus on you. “Let’s take one together.” 

You scoot next to him as he loads the film cassette. Then hugging his middle, he hooks his arm around your shoulders and your faces press against each other. He clicks the shutter and you both wait for the film to develop. 

It comes out perfect, both your smiling faces perfectly in frame and even bunny made it in which makes Jungkook laugh. He can’t stop staring at it, holding it by the edges so carefully like he’s afraid he’s going to ruin it. 

“I love you.” He says, looking at you when he finally sets it down.

“I love you too.” 

He kisses you, tasting of hot cocoa and love. You’re being pushed onto the pillows with the blanket beneath as Jungkook hovers over you, pushing the hair out of your face. As Jungkook removes his sweater, you pull your shirt over your head. Jungkook smiles down at you, kisses you, then reaches for the camera. “Merry fucking christmas to me.” 

You shimmy out of your jeans and hook your ankle over his shoulder. Snap. “And happy new year baby.” 

[princeanxious]

Trust is a Fragile, Fickle Demon.

Pairing: Analogical

Fandom: Sanders sides

Warnings: hurt/comfort, happy ending, mentions of childhood trauma, mentions of mental abuse, mentions of abusive parent, mentioned of past betrayed trust, trust issues, let me know if i missed anything!

Wordcount: 1.9k words

(A/n): this is sort of a short one, idk that im very proud of it, its written a little differently than I normally write so let me know if ya’ll like it? I tried!

Trust was something earned, gained, given, not expected. At least, to Logan, thats how it’d always been. The omega had learned young the mistake of trusting anyone so readily, a freely given token of connection that only served to hurt him in the long run.

Even now, Logan was aware his upbringing had been slightly rougher than his common peers. His therapists all readily, or subtly, pointed out that his alcoholic alpha of a single father who never should have been a parent to begin with was undoubtedly the root cause of many of his issues.

First of all of them was the lasting trauma of the emotional abuse he’d endured as a child and teenager. Never smart enough, never quiet enough, never clean enough. He was never enough, he was never going to be enough. He was a weak, broken, and useless omega in his father's eyes, and would never amount to anything more. And while he never wanted to believe it, often said he never believed any of it, he could only confidently say he didn’t truly believe even just part of it by the time he was 23.

Another was that he’d never been given any freedom to do as he pleased when he was younger. He never got to visit friends or do anything more fun than read at the library(and boy did he read any chance that he got back then). His first real social outing was when Roman, his then longtime college roommate and current best friend, had playfully offered for him to come join him to go buy icecream at midnight. But, that story is better saved for a different time.

All you need to know is that, that midnight ice cream became a bi-weekly routine, and the other omega learned more about Logan than he thought he’d ever get out of the closed off nerd that night. Perhaps one could even go so far to say that Roman was the reason Logan ever even dared to go to a therapist in the first place.

Logan had become very stunted from the childhood neglect he’d endured. Omegas had many self-soothing mannerisms built into their primal instincts to comfort themselves when stressed, like purring when upset(was well as when happy or content!) and nesting to decompress or hide in a safe zone when stressed. And well, Logan had pretty much stifled his purring by the time he was 14, and.. Completely stopped nesting by the time he was 9.

There had been no point, and both had become increasingly dangerous to do as he grew older. Anytime his father caught him purring, the Alpha would berate him for being ungrateful, seeing it as a weakness. And no matter how well he’d try to hide his safety nests, his father would inevitably find them and destroy them. Far too many afternoons were ruined when he came home to find his father in a drunken stupor and his newest safe haven wrecked beyond repair, and stinking to high heaven of alcohol and aggressive, angry alpha pheromones.

So he gave up. He gave up trying to make the nests in hopes for comfort, in hopes for a safe haven to hide away. The longest he’d gotten was hiding away in his closet for periods of a time before his father decided it didn’t deserve a closeable door anymore.

Roman had been horrified, and promptly dragged the other omega into his own nest in distress. They spent hours like that, Logan sobbing and tucked up tenderly into Roman’s protective embrace as the omega purred and crooned comfortingly enough for the both of them.

It would be Roman to encourage Logan to begin nesting again. They’d made a whole day out of it, going out and buying brand new nesting materials along with comfort food and rented movies. Slowly but surely, Logan rebuilt his nest for the first time in a little over 10 years, and he was in heaven. And day by day, every time he came home to it intact and undisturbed, Logan’s psyche was assured just a little more that the nest was safe, that he was finally safe.

And no one could really be surprised that Logan became viscerally protective of his nest, even more so than the average omega, at that. The first time they realized this, one of their mutual friends, a beta named Patton, had suddenly come close to his nest in excitement over the new addition. Logan had snarled loudly and aggressively before he’d even processed moving to guard his nest from the approaching threat. When Patton had taken multiple careful steps back in shock, Logan finally snapped out of the defensive mindset and realized what had happened. He’d apologized profusely, and was quick to try and make amends.

Patton understood the justified reaction after some light explanation and waved off the apologies immediately. Logan, though mortified at his own surprising lapse in control, was grateful that there had at least been no hard feelings in the end.

Safe to say, their friend group and subsequently any new friends made in the future would be warned, “Don’t approach, or touch, Logan’s nest.” And it was fine. Things were even looking up, Logan had started truly healing, and trusting people started to become a little less difficult!

So it would really come as a surprise to everyone, let alone Logan himself, when he started developing a small crush on the kind and patient(if a little anxious) Alpha who nearly daily visited the library Lo worked at to study. It was an honest shock, but, perhaps it wasn’t the worst thing in the world..?

Logan had never seriously considered dating another until Virgil came around, and the prospect of dating an alpha was frankly terrifying. But, Virgil was nice, he was caring and gentle with him, and yet unwaveringly respectful. He’d listen to Logan ramble about stars for hours and never interrupt him, only asking questions when Logan’s voice lulled or allowed him to speak. Virgil encouraged this, wanting Logan to open up and ramble and talk without fear of being shut down.

Roman had told Logan it was obvious Virgil was crushing hard on Logan, that they both had it bad for one another it seemed. Of course, nothing had to come of it if Logan didn’t want it to! But the thing was, he did. He did want something to come of it, if at the very least they could just remain friends.

It took a few more months, but Virgil eventually worked up enough confidence to ask Logan out, and the unwavering, almost immediate ‘Yes,’ had almost taken Virgil off guard. They wouldn’t share their first kiss for another few weeks, but neither of them minded.

Virgil slowly but surely was given the whole story, and expressed his own quiet outrage in the form of promising to never let that happen again, nor let Logan’s father near him again. It was a protective sentiment that almost scared Logan, but the protectiveness was born out of love and compassion, not selfishness and hate. So he let it slide, and contently tucked himself into Virgil’s warm embrace with a soft “thank you,” and the first very soft but very happy purr that he’d let out in years.

This alpha, he’d find him telling himself a year and a half into their relationship, this alpha was the one that would be allowed into his nest.

It didn’t bother Virgil personally, that he wasn’t allowed into his omega’s nest. No one was allowed near the nest except him, and even then he still got growled at plenty. He was completely aware that Logan had a deep instinctual fear of the destruction of his nest, sewn by the only parent he’d had growing up doing just that out of malice. Logan had made strides in his journey of healing though. The omega was confident in himself, and refused to be pushed aside or spoken over. Logan was highly independent, even during his heats, which made Virgil feel all the more love for him to be let into his omegas life.

Logan wasn’t dependent on him like society demanded he be, and Virgil didn’t mind in the slightest, because he knew Logan. He loved this omega and knew said omega loved him back. That was all that mattered to either of them.

It took another half a year before Logan finally tried breaking down some of his protective walls over his nest. He was tired, so tired of the separation. Having Virgil's scent heavily entwined with objects in his nest wasn’t enough anymore. At two years into their relationship, Logan’s instincts didn't feel the need to growl at Virgil for being near his nest anymore. He wanted Virgil in his nest, and that thought was jarring to realize.

And when he’d brought it up, Virgil had been quick to assure him that he didn’t have to force himself to let Virgil in, that Logan’s safe space was sacred and he never wanted Logan to feel pressured by anything to let him in.

Perhaps Logan kissed him soundly after that, and was reminded just how much he really loved Virgil. Virgil's insistence for Logan's comfort coming first only made him want to pull his alpha into his nest that much more.

But still, he agreed to take it slowly. Every day, Virgil would scoot a little closer to the edge of the nest, would hold Logan’s hand and stroke his hair, even sometimes daring to slowly lean over and kiss him with prior warning.

It took a full week to really prove to Virgil during their progress that they were ready to take this next step, that Logan truly and fully trusted Virgil and wanted him in his nest.

And when it finally happened, they’d made a little date out of the occasion, setting up snacks and candy, ordering take out and lining up a few documentaries to watch on Virgil’s laptop, getting into their nightclothes.

Virgil had been beyond nervous, and Logan understood why. They managed to soothe each other as everything fell into place, and Logan carefully walked Virgil step by step into his nest. With careful movements, they sat down and Virgil let himself be carefully arranged as he was leaned back into the nest. It took a second for Logan to finish tucking things against Virgil and pull a weighted comforter over them before he finally settled himself onto Virgil’s chest.

Despite their original nervousness towards the idea, everything felt right, now. Logan felt so unbelievably safe now that he was tucked into his alpha’s arms within the cocoon of his nest. It was amazing in its own right. And it takes Virgil chuckling lovingly for Logan to notice just how content they both are.

“You’re purring like crazy, L,” he murmurs with a smile, running his fingers up and down Logan’s rumbling back, “If you’re not careful you might fall asleep before we even get through the first documentary.” Logan just grins back, tilting his head to peck Virgil on the cheek.

“I see no downside to that, V, considering I’ll be falling asleep in my alpha’s safe embrace. What more could I ever want?”

Virgil flusters and hides his face in Logan’s hair as the omega laughs, hugging the other closer. Logan eventually does fall asleep in the middle of the second documentary, cuddled close and relaxed.

And really, there was no other place Logan would rather be.

[why-this-kolaveri-machi]

i’m an idiot. i screw everything up.

Titans 3.03

still here, still doing this. these reviews take a fair bit of time that i cobble together across days (like, ten minute chunks during breaks, etc) and i tend to struggle to keep up with episodes as they come out. this means that by the time i’m done with one, most of my stuff is jossed (or geoffed in this case? idk) or outdated and the post sinks like a stone into oblivion. so! i’m going to change things up a bit with this one and write as i see the episode rather than collecting my thoughts later. in my experience with spn, that was a faster way to get them done. 

anyway. let’s see how it goes! *shadowboxes*

SPOILERS ahead.

1. an auspicious start with some grave-digging!

digging up a grave and breaking open a coffin is some serious, back-breaking work--that dick did it on his own, likely straight after that fight with red hood, is a testament to the sheer intensity, stamina and discipline that he’s capable of. like, we like to joke about dick cooking cauliflower crust pizzas and making gar and rachel spar and memorise sun tzu--and despair at the obvious consequences of some of bruce’s parenting skills--but imagine crime-fighting almost daily without any superpowers, performing some of the most intense parkour in bulky, uncomfortable armour, doing detective work, pushing through every last barrier of exhaustion and then getting up to repeat it all over again the next day. dick probably thought he was going extra-easy on rachel and gar.

1.5. then again, dick probably had a hundred different easier ways to confirm whether jason was still buried or not, from using equipment to merely asking connor to have a quick look with his x-ray vision. but, no, he’s too caught up in confusion and terror, not really having come to terms with jason’s death in the first place, leave alone the possibility that he could be alive after all. he can’t possibly let the others know until he’s confirmed it himself, even if it means digging all through the night until his arms are jelly, thinking over and over again about jason’s eyes, jason’s voice, from behind that red mask. 

... besides, dick has good reason to believe that he could’ve been hallucinating. wouldn’t be his first psychotic episode, after all.

that just imbues this sweaty, desperate, fingers-scrabbling-in-gravedirt scene with that much more poignancy, and a fair bit of bone-chilling terror. dick is horrified to realise that jason’s grave is empty, but a part of him is also probably relieved.

1.75 (... also it’s curious that we’re never shown any of the team asking to see jason’s grave after they come to wayne manor. i guess it’s because the writers--and the audience--know that jason is actually alive, but these people don’t know that. i don’t know if it’s sad or infuriating or both that they’re barely shown mourning him.)

2. oh GOD the sheer TENSION in kory saying, “i don’t want to say it, but--” and dick quickly interrupting, “it was jason. i saw him,” and hank giving him this loaded sidelong glance. i love how dick’s precarious mental health from last season is still this big elephant in the room but at least nobody’s blowing up in his face and questioning his every decision yet

2.25. i love the relative matter-of-factness with which they’re discussing a possible resurrection. and, of course, ra’s al ghul is brought up and quickly dismissed

(still wouldn’t put it past this show to bring him up at the very last second as the real real mastermind)

2.5. “maybe they can bring donna back” OH KORY

2.75. didn’t they have this same conversation about killing/not killing rose last season? man, the og titans make me tired.

and i don’t know if it’s just hank, but there’s a definite in-group/out-group vibe going on with the og titans, where they’re not only ready to consider killing anybody who threatens the group but makes it difficult for new people to fit in. donna and kory got along well with each other, but the dynamics between hank/donna/dawn and gar/rachel/rose were somewhat strained, and with jason, they were really fucking terrible. it makes sense when you think about how the titans started and how they broke up the first time--both were fairly disruptive events, i’d imagine, in that they probably got together to break away from their mentors and strike out on their own, and when they split up, it was the first time they felt directly responsible for the loss of an innocent life.

but the titans that dick is leading now is explicitly about mentoring a young generation of heroes, about second chances and found family. dick definitely wants to reach out to him first, and i have a feeling he’s going to be forced to make some sort of terrible Choice later on in this episode. 

2.8. (honestly tho, this also seems like hank struggling with his own guilt re: jason; if red hood is not the kid that he failed, it’d be easier to fight him.)

3.

HANK NO

4. honestly this season is already ticking off so many things on my wishlist, but i really wish dick would sit down with the newer members of his team and trust them with important information the same time that he’s telling them to the other members. gar searching for help and reassurance from a man who just dumped all of his responsibilities on his son overnight and went AWOL is a sad sight

4.25. has it only been just 48 hours????? wow! jason’s definitely been planning the red hood gig for a long time now...

5. ezekiel, my man! shady looking guy gets into your cab without a destination in mind... no problem, get right in! said guy gets a call to go to the observatory when he’s barely even looked out of the window so far at gotham... yep, a damn tourist! i want more ezekiel in this show.

5.25. (of course jason has upturned table lamps all along the floor... we have to *gritted teeth* balance the TEAL with the ORANGE don’t we?)

5.5. “dick’s a fucking psycho--he could be following you right now.” hank... has no objection to that lol

5.25. hank, hank... this is bad-decision-palooza. i can’t imagine that hank actually thought that jason was reaching out to him for help, given that the last time hank and jason had any substantial interaction hank had been one of the people accusing jason of sabotaging the team. but for him to go seek out jason and go along with his demands without any backup, weapons or equipment? not the best idea he’s ever come up with.

(add to that getting into the swimming pool of a condemned gym... oh yuck.)

((yes, i have enough self-restraint to not cap his ass.))

(((cap his ass! HA!)))

5.5. do you think jason has bugs/monitoring equipment planted in wayne manor to monitor the titans, or remote access to the cave’s systems? wouldn’t put it past him.

6. oh man, hank came back before dick and the others could meet ezekiel! this is TRAGIC

6.25. i mean, it’s plot-convenient that connor was able to give so much information about the bomb from just looking at it once, but i also like to think it’s the luthor-side of him coming to the fore. it also reminds me of that (in)famous scene from the new52 run of Nightwing comics, where a bomb was attached to nightwing’s heart and luthor disabled it by killing nightwing (temporarily). it’s a neat little callback. 

6.55. “where i come from, you go after family? there’s no mercy.” BUT THAT’S THE PROBLEM ISN’T IT

6.75. i mean, dick’s making sense: this is a game, and they need to get it off playing out on jason’s terms. but having a member of his team in his face, doubting his reasoning and every decision? a very familiar sight. 

6.8. krypto with an a+ sense of humour? also a very familiar sight.

7. wayne enterprises... providing the military with... bombs that can be implanted in humans? a BIIIIG yikes. i guess it’s not too many steps above developing clandestine intra-dermal trackers and implanting them in your own sons, and bruce probably thought they could be used as part of negotiation tactics, but still... YIKES.

7.5. on the other hand, conner being asked to build a deactivation advice seems part of a growth arc that started from last season... he knows so much, but part of growing is learning, and part of learning is using what you know to create something new.

8. oh man, my heart broke at hank going “i’m an idiot... i screw everything up.” like. for him to go like this, after being brought down to such a low last season? struggling with pain and addiction and his relationship with the love of his life? it’s so sad.

9. oh, oh, oh! ronnie from schitt’s creek! i love her!

9.5. “one of jason’s minions” took his body out of the morgue... how deliciously morbid that he planned out his own death like this!

10. TALK TO HANK, DICK

honestly, tho, i’m quite impressed with dick here. trying to think beyond just the most alarming part of the crisis at hand, keeping his cool, delegating tasks, frequently touching base with different members of his team... well done. 

10.25.... whoops, spoke too soon. i’m genuinely confused here, tho. where did the van full of gold bars come from? why did they stop there and get out? how did dawn even know about this?

on the other hand, it’s cool to know dove has bulletproof feathers!

10.5. eh... curran walters isn’t really selling red hood’s menace to me so far. but then again, if titans version of red hood is vulnerable-kid-with-father-issues-trying-to-overcompensate, then yeah! yeah, it makes sense. 

11. “when bats have sex, they gotta have something to hang from” OH GOD HANK

... because i want smiley!gar on my blog :)

11.5. awww. i feel sorry for hank but NONE of these fuckers deserve gar except maybe kory

12. ohhh FUCK! look at jason being exactly one step ahead of the titans at every turn. nice.

no really, i love the building stakes and the building mystery - i feel like the deathstroke arc from last season should’ve been more like this. the flashbacks about jericho and rose came too late and after too much build up, which resulted in a very underwhelming and confusing season throughline.

13. HANK AND DIIIIIICCCKKK

“you’re doing your best by me. always have.” WAILING HERE

it also kills me to think that hank thinks that his imminent death is because of his failure to keep the team together (when he was clearly struggling with his own issues and was spiralling towards rock-bottom) and his fear that he will once again be the cause of the team falling apart. 

also:

14. “i grew up... you can, too. you just have to face your fear.”

yep, got scarecrow’s grubby little fingerprints aaaaalllll over this. 

14.25. nightwing’s got specialised batarangs! yay! (somehow i can’t see this universe’s dick calling them “wingdings”)

15. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

oh man, that was devastating. well done, show. fuck, well done, jason.

this is going to bring up all sorts of “if onlys” for the team. i can’t wait for some fucking aftermath. 

[that-bajan-kid]

Boku No Hero Academia Chapter 283 SPOILERS

(He lives, bitch.)

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We cut back to the mountains and the very horrified faces of the students. They look like they've lost all hope.

Oh no Suneater was there. Please let him be okay. He suppose to graduate this year damn it.

That is honestly very terrifying. Majestic saved them. That explains why there not crushed.

And then they all immediately got crushed. Yeah why didn't the Anaesthetic work? Is he immune? Cause that would suck if he is.

Mineta is going off about how all their efforts might have been for nothing since all the heroes are defeated and Giganto is still up and kicking. We also get a lovely image of civilians running for their lives so that's neat.

Dabi's out here living his best life. Toga still looks depressed which is understandable. Spinner looks... conflicted and Compress is wearing his mask so idk. Dabi looks like he's the only one enjoying himself.

I was kinda hoping he'd be gone by now. That one hero in the bottom left bout to loose both his arms from the looks of it. Aizawa, Miruko and Hawks welcome you to the "I lost a limb" club. I guess technically Ectoplasm should be in this club too.

Midoriya looks P I S S E D.

You can kinda see Aizawa's face more clearly and there is definitely blood where his right eye should be.

Shouto tells Endeavour to cool off while he handles things. Bakugou is pissed because apparently Midoriya left his ass behind. Gran is clutching his chest, something he wasn't doing before, leading me to assume he really is/was alive after Shiggy put a hole in his chest.

HE IS BEYOND LIVID. Look at his fucking face. We've seen Midoriya get mad but not like this.

Also I just realised, the chapter title is '75'. Is that supposed to reference Shigaraki only being 75% complete? Is that going to come into play later?

It's going to come into play now, apparently. He's not event healing anymore. Or this particular wound isn't. This is why you should always cook your food for the recommended amount of time.

Midoriya has come to the realisation that Shigaraki is incapable of handling AFO. Meanwhile Shigaraki seems to have come to the same conclusion cause he's asking for the date.

RyuuKyuu's sidekick is currently making her way through the city with a barely conscious Miruko in her arms, presumably looking for a hospital as we get a friendly reminder that Shiggy is undercooked.

Speaking of Shiggy, his regen kicked in and Izuku looks like he's ready to attack again, and I don't think I need to explain why this is a bad idea.

Shiggy is about to unleash Decay again but there's an explosion and I can't tell who cause it.

(Edit: Not an explosion, just Midoriya jumping off.)

Nothing like facing down death itself to unlock some new skills, am I right?

This kinda already got spoiled for me. I knew he was gonna unlock Float I just didn't know how.

OH MY GOD HE REALLY IS STILL ALIVE!!! LOL THAT'S GONNA PISS OF SO MANY PEOPLE. That's hilarious. Izuku has murder in his eyes. He ready to do whatever it takes to end this. He can fly now bitch, whatcha gone do about that, hmm? As long as Deku stays clear of those hands he should, more or less, be fine.

I can't believe Gran's still alive. I know there were alot of people ccelabrating his death in the tags for some reason. How we feeling now guys? He's probably gonna end up pulling a Nighteye and die anyways but let me have my moment, damn it.

Man I can't wait to see how Midoriya's gonna explain his sudden ability to FLY when this is all over.

It seems that the situation with Giganto has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage. Next chapter should be interesting.

Until next time.

[sunflowerdigs]

So, I did a little sarcastic-y review from the salt mines for RNM 3x09. Warnings for excessive sodium content, Maribel mourning, a desire to recycle cardboard, and, of course, Malex opinions. Without further ado:

- Every time Michael smiles I forget for like 5 whole seconds how much I hate that Malex keeps me shackled to this show. Too cute that he brought Alex lunch (and probably hoped he could sneak a glimpse of him) and they're going on their first date (omg omg omg).❤❤❤❤❤

- Kyle should yell at people more. Starting with his garbage friends who left him in a barn without proper triage or jello cups while he was in a coma (why didn't they just keep him at DS if he's having appointments there anyway? Nevermind... ). Alas, he's starting his understandable rage tour with Uncle Edgelord, who, naturally, makes a dramatic statement and tries to leave. I am so glad Kyle called him on that.

- Delmanes would be cute if Greg didn't have the personality of cardboard. They've created a character who is actually only here to remind us of how special and amazing Maria is. Turns out that's not super interesting. And it's so painfully obvious that it's a pair-your-spares situation. I really wish they'd just give her Kyle, he has the patience of a saint. Anyway, Isobel's pigtails are cute af (rip my Isobel/Maria/Kyle heart - I would have taken Isobel interrupting Delmanes and Heather's post with pigtails today as signs if not for genetics).

- Anatsa and Isobel's development seems to have taken place completely off-screen, like everything else gay on this show, so I'm guessing it's gonna stick. Honestly...I guess this is controversial but Isobel and Maria have really good chemistry and a history. I know their bond is supposed to read "sibling" but it doesn't for me. And rather than waste time watching them flirt with these one-note (ah, Greg chimes in right on time with a convenient line any rando could have delivered) LIs, I'd much rather see them get closer. The whole related thing has thrown a wrench into it for me. That said, it's nice to watch a woman be encouraged to go after another woman. 🎉

- Alex the sci-fi/fantasy nerd figuring out immediately that the hallucination is his own subconscious is 100% legit. Much like Kyle not letting his uncle pull a classic tall-dark-and-broody exit, I appreciate Alex's 4th-wall break moment.

- Not Max and Liz proving that discussions about s2 drama can occur on Roswell New Mexico?! What? Must be a straight thing. Lucky them.

- Isobel is actually acting a lot like Sherlock Holmes when he's on a case, from the wardrobe to the focus, and it's hot. Also, totally believable that Isobel would be able to pull up that pod from under the ice because we know she's been training even if it didn't happen onscreen. Because she told us. Just a suggestion.

- I love the idea of Jim Valenti as a double-agent, but I don't see how Eduardo thought he could keep Kyle safe by never knowing him. It feels like there's a lot more here Eduardo isn't saying.

- It wasn't a sister-fight that Maria and Isobel had, but whatever (no one got physically shoved or brought up a horrifying memory from 100000 years ago to shove in someone's face in public - doesn't count).

- Also, why would you waste a glass by throwing it into the fireplace? Wouldn't it just explode back in your face? Man, the show is trying so hard with Maria and Greg, I want to give them some kind of romance-novel award for effort (but not success).

- Not Liz and Max showing us that it's possible to move forward by discussing your past mistakes like adults instead of pretending they didn't happen!? What? Must be a straight thing. Lucky them.

- Draw a line on the bottle? No way, Valenti, he obviously wants you to chuck that whole thing straight into the fire in a fit of passion to prove that his words had an emotional impact.

- Also, Kyle wins the prize for this episode for that speech to Uncle Edgelord. Everyone go home. When do I get a Kyle and Alex spin-off where they travel the world, defying sci-fi tropes and seducing beautiful men and women?

- Not Liz and Max talking loudly about aliens while breaking and entering! This one is actually very believable, I take it back.

- It was idiotic of Liz to trust Heath. And Echo keep having this same fight because MAX IS RIGHT BUT THE SHOW WON'T LET HIM BE. Which is so obnoxious. I would forgive Liz for almost any sin (like, idk, getting a better romantic storyline because she's straight) because she's gorgeous and smart and tough and I wanna go live with her and her mad scientist energy on a deserted island somewhere. But she's being real dumb rn.

- I love the t-shirt and if Vlambase doesn't sell one I will. But he couldn't have held up a radio and blasted some Barry White? I feel like that would have cleared everyone but Alex put of the building real fast. Also, what is time on Roswell NM? Was Alex just setting the alarm every so often for kicks? Does Eduardo really not check in on staff who are working with dangerous technology for days on end? Also, why is this entire plot happening over a single goddamn episode instead of two or more so that we can really feel Alex wasting away under the machine's influence? The reason this twist is at all surprising is also the entire plot's undoing - Alex's demeanor wasn't exactly one of a man obsessed (or an addict, tbh) in his last scene.

- Anyway, back to Rizzoli and Isles. I definitely am always super excited to hear the details of my sister's sex life. All the time. That is totally a sister thing except where it's really not. Do any of these writers actually have a sister? I feel like they must because the Michael/Max/Isobel sibling chemistry is always bang on but Maribel is just...flirty lady city. Oh, and look, the beard just showed up with coffee to cockblock - it really is R&I!

- Back to Alex's plot line, which, much like Isobel's coffee, is Express To-Go. He's become haggard and worn in the time it's taken Michael's mom to find a cute sweater in the void. Seriously, we wasted like 3 whole episodes where Alex was presumably sitting in DS twiddling his thumbs and now he's being worn down by the machine in a single episode? Why didn't this plot start back in episode 3 or 4? Like...look, I don't come on here to be an asshole. But I just really hope they're taking note of what worked this season and what didn't because HOLY PACING FIASCO BATMAN. Just because you're giving us Malex doesn't mean everything else can just be hot garbage (not the acting, Taylor's doing his best to sell this). Also, when did Alex put his leg back on? I have so many questions but they aren't the good kind, so Michael better ride in soon and save this mess.

- Regarding what Nora is saying, it's fine, it makes sense but the zero build up makes it completely ineffective. Alex is afraid he doesn't love enough - it would have been nice to see that over several episodes instead of just being told in a burst of sudden exposition but, you know. Nice straight things we can't have, I guess.

- If Michael and Alex want their relationship to "purr" they could, idk, talk through their past misunderstandings like people in relationships do. Or the show could keep throwing exposition bombs at them, idek.

- Are those empty toilet paper rolls inside the machine? I knew the CW was budget but come on...

- And we finally get the Heath connection and it's to our brand new trope-y character, Wise Old Black Man Dallas. It's surprising but only because the 4th alien didn't exist before this episode. So, good job.

Overall, not the worst episode of RNM ever. I only wondered why I watch this show maybe 3 times this episode. And Michael's enthusiasm for Alex was adorable.

[avenger-hawk]

I've seen a lot of people who aren't fond of Itachi say something to the tune of 'Itachi's reveal made no sense because it contradicts his actions in part 1 too much'

For the most part, I disagree, I think almost all of Itachi's actions are perfectly understandable, no matter how cruel or extreme, from his point of view. In the lens of him trying to protect both Konoha and Sasuke, his extreme measures make sense, he's in an extreme situation and acts accordingly.

But there's always been one thing that I hadn't been able to reconcile for a while that I still thought was odd, and that was Itachi telling Sasuke that he needed to kill his best friend to become as strong as him. For me, that didn't make sense since we know Itachi wanted Sasuke to keep his bonds in Konoha to return there as a hero and live a happy life, and killing his best friend to follow Itachi's path would be very likely to destroy those bonds.

But then the thought occurred to me. What if Itachi saying that was a deliberate manipulation on his part? By telling Sasuke about that aspect of the Mangekyo and portraying it as the only way Sasuke could become stronger than him, Itachi was playing on Sasuke's intense desire to surpass Itachi. Presenting it as the only avenue forward in order to tilt Sasuke towards seeking out his own ways of becoming stronger in defiance of Itachi. As to why Itachi even told him about that aspect of the mangekyo to begin with, Itachi has already concerned himself about what information Sasuke receives and who he hears it from. If Itachi hadn't told him about the mangekyo, there was a possibility Sasuke could have learned it himself in some other manner, and independently come to the conclusion that he must kill his best friend to become stronger, which Itachi needed to steer him away from.

And hey, if this was indeed Itachi's intention, it worked! Sasuke absolutely did not kill Naruto and indeed sought out his own ways to surpass Itachi (even if he ended up leaving the village to do so, which Itachi didn't want).

Sorry if this topic is old news to you, it's something I'm happy to have finally hashed out in my head and I just wanted to put it into words and I wanted to know if you thought there was any basis to it.

I can’t imagine what kishi really meant for Itachi in the very beginning, my opinion is that he/the staff had a vague idea of him not only being the reason behind Sasuke’s trauma, personality and motives, but also him being a mysterious character that might have had a secret, that he hadn’t flashed out completely back then and that he developed later. I have this opinion because idk if in the volumes or elsewhere (so I can’t find the source) I read that he took Gaara’s name from some city souvenir (???) and he came up with some other character names in a quite simplistic/random way. Ofc it’s 2 different things to name some characters in a story with many of them, and to come up with a cool backstory, but still.

I’m not idealistic in this because kishi disappointed me too much with the ending and the new shit, so I realized that too often fans tend to see more into every detail of a story because they love it very much and they love its characters, while the author ofc loves it (or the money that comes with it) but has different priorities, like deadlines, like structuring chapters in a way to stimulate readers' interest and curiosity.

This, to me, is the case of Itachi telling Sasuke to kill N*ruto to obtain MS. Ofc it might be like you said, part of his plan, telling Sasuke to do something horrible so that he’d sound even more cruel, and so that Sasuke would be so horrified that he’d find his own path, but on the other hand it was a hazard...because what if Sasuke’s need for revenge was stronger than his love for his best friend? And like you said, what if killing his best friend would have been seen as a crime by the village Itachi himself wanted Sasuke to stay in so much? Because a shinobi can’t just kill a comrade, it would have been a crime, even worse than deserting the village and joining Orochimaru in pt 1.

Itachi should have been 100% sure that this part of the plan worked, it’s a bit too risky imo, especially considering that what we know of Itachi’s plan is that he wanted Sasuke to focus on revenge to have a purpose, to stay in Konoha, be a shinobi there and kill him when he was strong enough. We know that his plan didn’t envision Sasuke leaving and joining Orochimaru, but that happened because they met in the inn and Itachi was forced to beat and humiliate his brother, which led to him feeling weak and powerless, so much that he had to seek strength outside the village, like Orochimaru wanted.

Still, this part of Itachi’s plan, despite having failed, makes more sense than the killing N*ruto part.

So to me it sounds like a plot hole, an inconsistency in kishi's writing, something he wrote to show how cruel villain Itachi was, and to show how in comparison Sasuke was different, despite betraying N*ruto and the village, but still being good in his heart, not being able to kill his best friend even though it would have granted him a greater power.