#im trapped = most devastating line of all time

[bludhavensbirdboy]

my main reason for shipping buddie is in “eddie begins” (3x15) just by how passionate buck is to get eddie out when he is trapped and how devastated he is the whole time, like eddie was the first thing he thought about when things went to shit and eddie gets trapped and all the montage including so much of buck but im specifically talking about when eddie cuts his line in the tunnel to save the kid and they won’t send buck down after him cause they all know he would cut his line aswell if he needed more time to save eddie even hen says to buck ‘oh so you can cut your line aswell’ buck and eddie have no care for themselves when it comes to saving the other and if that isn’t the gayest most in love self sabotage thing you have ever heard or seen i don’t know what is

[marshmallowprotection]

Hi again!

Can you do a Saeyoung imagine set during the time he's in MC's apartment after Saeran's intrusion, where MC is masc and has ADHD + Depression?

I was thinking maybe you can do some soft comfort where Seven begins to regret his coldness after MC goes nonverbal or limp (something that happens sometimes when im under a lot of stress) and he helps him calm down?

Saeyoung regrets his cruelty before it was even leaves his mouth.

You are the sweetest guy he's ever met in his entire life, and he can't imagine hurting you the way he feels he needs to to make sure you survive. He knows that if he doesn't scare you away, you might end up like his brother, and considering what he saw, he doesn't think he can risk something like that happening ever again.

The pain in his brother's eyes was enough, and to imagine something like that on your face viscerally gives him the ick. He can't stand it. He can't stand hurting you. But, what's the alternative?

What's the alternative here? If he decides to keep you in his life, then it's only a matter of time until somebody finds out you're close to him, and they use you against him. You don't know the depths of his despair nor do you know how many people he has pissed off in the short amount of time he's been trapped in that agency. Those people would do unspeakable things to you in the name of revenge, and he could do nothing to stop it. 

How could he live with himself if that happened? 

In one reality, in one bad timeline, where you do get taken away and tortured, it devastates him to the point of no return. He finds himself unable to do anything, hopeless and lost, filled with despair at the acknowledge you suffer because you care for him. That is something people look to exploit when they want to take someone down, and if he can do anything to stop it, he will.

Even if it means being cruel to you when he doesn't want to be. 

He's not exactly the world's best liar when it comes to you. He can lie right through his teeth to anybody else in this world but not you, never you, and for that reason, if you looked between the lines of his words, you would find that every time he told you to go away, his eyes were telling you to come closer. It doesn't excuse his actions or take away from the fact that he hurt you, but it gives a greater insight as to why he would even think of doing it in the first place. 

But, what fills him with the most regret is seeing you distraught like that, with hot tears in your eyes and muscle weakness dragging you down. He tried to justify it to himself a hundred times but it never worked.

You wouldn't know it until he told you what he did, but every time he turned from you, pulled his hood over his head and shoved headphones on, he wept silent tears that made it that much harder to work. 

It's when he sees you in agony that he wants to take everything back. He regrets being cruel to someone who fell in love with him and knew there was more to him than just pranks and jokes. When you're laying on the ground, staring into distant space, he quietly drapes his jacket over your shoulders and helps you back into a seated position against the couch. You sob, a palpable sound, but one that reminds him he is the one to blame.

"Sorry," you babbled. You thought it was all your fault. "I'm sorry. I won't bother you anymore, I promise. I promise. I know you need to go as soon as you finish, it's okay, just— just leave me alone. I'll be okay once my heart calms down."

He had a sinking feeling in his chest at the thought that you suffered from this feeling any time you were overwhelmed by something. It was likely an involuntary response, your body being so overwhelmed that it had no choice but to shut down, and he was to blame for that this time around. He thought he could make you cry once and maybe it would be enough to show you that he wasn't the kind of person you would want in your life.

But, you didn't give up on him.

Why wouldn't you give up on him? 

Hiccups, sobs, and words that made less and less sense to him burned his ears. This was all his fault. He did this to you in some misguided attempt to make it hurt less later... but it wouldn't hurt less, would it? He hurt you now trying to avoid hurting you in the future... it's all hurt... and it's all wrong.

He didn't say anything for the longest time, but he stayed there by your side, silently going through every single excuse and apology in the book he had until—

"I'm afraid of losing you."

Silence.

"[Y/N], I'm afraid you'll get hurt like my brother if you stick close to me. I'm afraid of losing you like I've lost Saeran. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to be mean to you. I don't want to be the cause of pain for you in any way! But, I know if you stay, you'll suffer in ways I'm afraid I can't even begin to explain because it gets worse every time I think about it."

Shame.

"I care about you so much that... that I would rather spend the rest of my life knowing you're safe than knowing you could get killed any day because of me. If you died because of me... I would never be able to... to forgive myself. Even if you find happiness somewhere else, as long as you live to see the sunrise... that... that can be enough for me. I'm... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I made hurt you. I thought this would be better... better than losing you forever."

Guilt.

Your sniffles didn't die down but from the corner of his eyes, he saw a glimmer of hope, your fingers gripping his jacket like a lifeline.

[z1ggy2003]

Max Mayfield Storyline Predictions Part 2

ST4 MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD

Continuation

Snowball Flashback Rumors

I'm really excited for this scene cuz it's fucking horrifying to experience in real life.

UPDATE: OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS 😭 IT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING HOLY SHIT SKSJSJSJSKSJ

I POSTED THIS BACK IN JANUARY IM FREAKING OUT

Max is in the mindscape. Not Peter's memories, but using her own memories. Peter trapped Max in her most treasured memories, and Snowball is one of those.

If it's actually gonna be a dream sequence, maybe this leads to Max's coma (Much like Joey in NOES III, he's lured) Peter uses someone to lure Max. She bites in, cause maybe Peter made it like that person is gonna save her. Max followed that person which she ends up going to different places, a complete nightmare.

She went deep into the Mindscape that she was literally just confused of what's real or not. It's obviously all in her head, but mind powers are more fatal than we think. Our mind is powerful as fuck. Especially for an actual superhuman.

Peter's a VILLAIN. Peter's literally a MONSTER. He doesn't care, especially if he's possessed by Vecna and died a long time ago. He's not a human anymore. Peter Ballard DIED the moment they got flayed, same as Billy. But I'm taking a guess that maybe Peter's case is different. That he died in a human form. But Vecna used his body. So clearly, he wasn't flayed, his body was entered by Vecna. That Vecna didn't literally kill him.

avengers age of ultron is one of the movies the writers listed. and i believe it's because of the scenes of wanda controlling the avengers' minds

So I think Peter catches Max first in her physical form. He can't put her into the Mindscape while the gang is there. I believe it's just gonna be the two of them.

Enter Hounds of Love. It's I guess basically foreshadows Max's fate. Vecna's following her, and she's exactly captured in the forest. Maybe she got lost from the gang. They were devastated that Max is taken by Vecna. So they create a plan. But at this point, they're really tired. And the military arrives exactly that's why they were taken to the school. They told about what happened. Military looks for Max.

Now hounds of love are hunting. I've always been a coward, And I don't know what's good for me.

Here I go! It's coming for me through the trees. Help me, someone! Help me, please!

Take my shoes off, And throw them in the lake, And I'll be Two steps on the water.

The real reason why Peter does this is still unknown. Like what's his reason for wanting to fuck up these kids. Like he can just release all of TUD creatures out of nowhere if he wants to take over Hawkins but why the hell he even bothers to kidnap and kill teenagers. What does Peter/Vecna/001 wants? I fear it'll remain unanswered until ST5.

Back to the "dream sequence", Max goes in the Snowball '84.

The moment it happens it clearly is very dreamy, nightmarish. It's unrealistic. Scenes pop out of nowhere, someone pops out out of nowhere.

This song is perfect for Max held captive in the mindscape. Asking her to wake up... But it's not gonna be simple.

Max is confused. She walks through the crowd still processing what the hell is happening. Exactly like Cap's reaction. He doesn't have lines, but expresses confusion.

She walks in the middle. Observing everyone, processing everything. Then Lucas '84 pops behind her back.

He takes her hand, she's even more confused. Just like the moment Lucas asks her if she wants to dance. They'll dance exactly like the way they did, or we'll see a flashback.

But it immediately shifts to Max's position before the dance scene. The dance wasn't real.

Again, Lucas shows behind her back. But this time, he asks her something else. And it's obviously Vecna's. It's meant to lure Max. Like what Peggy said to Cap, “The war is over, Steve. We can go home."

After Lucas says something, maybe like Vecna uses Max's sadness to make her stay there. He tricks Max that it's much better to stay there than the reality. So Max slowly loses control of her own body and gets trapped in the mindscape.

The look on Cap's eyes says everything. He's in love with Peggy. He wants to be with her. But it's not possible because it's all in the past. This is the point for Max's decision. Should I stay or should I go? She's depressed and maybe suicidal. So will she choose the made-up place than the reality?

I really think Vecna wants Max to stay in the mindscape. To lure El because he can use Max. So Vecna wants her to stay alive, for thr meantime. All he needs is to take full control of Max's mind. Her physical body doesn't matter to him, so when the Military or the gang finds her unconscious, he lets it happen. He clearly wants them to know that Max is now in his hands.

The Military or the gang takes her to the school, which is now the evacuation center. Lucas reads Max the wonder woman comics she love... while hoping and waiting for her to wake up.

[yhgayoon]

━  ❖ (lee sunmi, cisfemale, she/her) hey thank you for coming to town hall to update your information im gayoon! you’re a citizen correct? good to know! are you enjoying yourself around yunhwa? you’ve been staying here for 8 years right? i’m glad! remind me, are you born on 30/06/1991? we’re so lucky to have someone so convivial around as the owner of madam micha’s boutique and tailor even if sometimes you can be abrasive. hope to see you around house #5011, hwesakgu!

and a big ol’ hello to you lovely lot! i’m blair, go by they/them, and am super excited to be here and to introduce the ever so dramatic im gayoon, the reluctant owner of madam micha’s boutique and tailor, and the tavern’s self proclaimed number one customer. if not in the boutique she can be found slumped on a barstool surrounded by many empty glasses around her. a definite mess of her own volition, trying to find the good amongst all the bad. below the cut is a summary of her, as well as the links to her respective pages. just a warning though, i’m horrible when it comes to plotting and prefer winging things so! please be patient with me! 

stats . bio . plots 

old money means old power, deeply rooted and traced back to the earliest of yunhwa’s recorded history. they were the type of family who’d place their hand on the mayor’s shoulder and have them tense at the weight of what the action meant. blackmailing, low balling, typical rich people stuff. 

gayoon was the middle of four other siblings, usually overlooked and left to her own devices. the lack of a solid caretaker left a wild child used to getting her way. 

in primary school she’d often boast that she were going to do big things, things beyond anyone’s comprehension in this little town: and for a while she almost did it. almost. 

after graduating in a top private high school in busan, she flew out to a parisian fashion school, and after graduating was an intern for a notable company in the city. until her mother called and she was meant to return to yunhwa immediately. 

her second eldest sister, who everyone had an unspoken agreement with that she’d be the one to inherit madam micha’s in yunhwa and help run their affairs there while the oldest did so in busan, eloped with their childhood love and turned their back on the family, leaving gayoon next in line to run things 

she was nearly inconsolable, having to kiss her life goodbye in order to appease her family, but she knew without a doubt that to them, family comes first, and what her sister did was reprehensible. 

so she’s back in square one, happy to at least be able to dabble in the subject of her dreams, but disheartened to be trapped within a small town when she’s got big city dreams. 

it doesn’t stop her from dressing frivolously, though. catch her mid afternoon amongst the stalls in a blindingly gaudy get up, just to run simple errands. 

can be found in the tavern if she’s not working, drinking her sorrows of the could bes and what ifs. 

if you knew her back when you were kids, she’ll act as if she forgot who you were and talk as if her current situation was temporary and she’ll be back in paris in no time. of course, she expects you to forget that she’s been saying this for the past eight years. 

emotional, dramatic, egotistical, and quite immature for her age: still, she means well. most of the time. 

wanted connections 

the one who, with an unspoken agreement between you two, are the one who takes her home when she’s had too much to drink at the tavern. some nights they receive a call at three in the morning from the bartender, but always pick up 

the one she’s decided to take under her wing. because this town was just filled with the same people who need to dream bigger and aim higher, and she sees the potential in them the way no one else does. 

the one who she picked on in your younger years, them being an easy target while she’d do anything to remain cool in the others’ eyes. now they’re grown up and she’s back in town and you have a bone to pick with her. 

she caught them trying to steal from madam micha’s and rather than turn you into the police, she has a much more humiliating plan up her sleeve.

they came into madam micha’s looking for an outfit for a date, and ended gushing about the person to gayoon, who in turn says that the person sounds sketchy and they shouldn’t go. of course they don’t listen to her and proceed to go on the date, only to find out that gayoon’s intuition was right. now they see her like an older sister, always asking for advice, and she’s happy to oblige because her own siblings never bothered coming to her for anything 

 their pet went missing months ago and have been devastated over it, never recovering from the pain, until they found their pet on someone’s yard out of nowhere. they dive after the pet only to be met with an angry gayoon at the door. ‘what the fuck are you doing to my pet, dude?’ 

[cross-d-a]

I want to know ALL about Wu Xie embarrassing time traveler!Li Cu!!! ✨✨ I'm also v intrigued by Nie Huisang death death death

(Also, Cross you have so many wips; I read in awe. And to think I thought I had a lot of star wars fix-it ideas! I only have anything at all written down for two of them!)

(this refers to the WIP tag game I completed a few days ago!)

Wu Xie being EMBARRASSING & Li Cu Time Travel: 

I’ve got a series of interconnected oneshots planned where Li Cu just- accidentally hops back in time to every drama/book and helps out the Iron Triangle. and it’s more like LI CU embarrassing WU XIE haha

I thought it’d be HILARIOUS if Li Cu got to see how Wu Xie (UR MY DAD BOOGIE WOOGIE WOOGIE) is so YOUNG and STUPID and EMBARRASSING when he’s young!! Wu Xie making (ACTUALLY) innocent doe eyes at an emo Xiao Ge?? GROSS. Wu Xie accidentally (DELIBERATELY?) setting off multiple traps in a tomb?? Li Cu is 10000/10 going to RECORD THIS on his phone and bring it BACK to the future and make fun of Wu Xie FOREVER. Also!!! There are SO MANY SNAKES in Ultimate Note!! And?? Conveniently?? Li Cu has a lil’ snake buddy?? MAYBE HE COULD HELP??? 

I basically want Li Cu being the Actual Competent One and the baby Iron Triangle floundering. Mostly Wu Xie. I want Wu Xie floundering. I also want Wu Xie SO EMBARRASSED when Li Cu hops back to his own time. 

li cu: DAD UR AN IDIOT 

wu xie: i DONT WANT TO RELIVE IT PLS AND THANK 

li cu: nO!! U ARE GOING TO SUFFER!! UR SO STUPID u set off FIVE TRAPS

wu xie: i hate you 

li cu: no u don’t u just told me u loved and appreciated me for saving ur life like ten minutes ago. there were tears in your eyes. actually they were streaming down ur face. u might have been hugging my leg and sobbing

wu xie: tHAT WAS SIXTEEN YEARS AGO FOR ME OK i am an OLD MAN

Nie Huaisang death death death:

I think it’s hilarious that you picked out one of the resurrective immortality fics considering we were JUST talking about the old guard hahaha. This one I actually have a good chunk written so far, so here is a long snippet near the beginning. Context is that Nie Huaisang’s mother is VERY pregnant and she’s riding through the mountains to visit her family before she gives birth. WARNINGS for gore (kinda??) and child death and just- DEATH in general:

There are beasts in the mountains. Ravenous, born of fury and blood, more ragged spirit than flesh. Their claws are jagged and broken and their maws drip with sizzling saliva. They have roamed the mountains for years and years, and have only grown more enraged, voracious.

The Nie Clan have always harnessed the butchery of their past. Binding rage and ruin to themselves, channeling it through their hearts and into their swords until they are one and the same. Until it feeds upon their flesh and their spirit, gnawing on their bones, carving out a little space for itself between brittle ribs. Until, one bloody piece at a time, it consumes them whole.

The Nie Clan’s power is also the source of their doom, and these beasts who roam and know only hate hate hate are Nie-furen’s doom, as well.

They descend upon the Nie in the dead of night, a roiling mass of snapping teeth and furious howls. There is blood, screaming, desperate flashes of Dao magic and heavy blades. But there are too many and it is not enough.

But the mighty Phoenix of the West has always been filled with unmatched fury and she is full of new life and about to burst. She will not let her child die here today. Not before he can breathe sweet fresh air and keen that first high cry. Not before his father can cradle him in his arms and his older brother can plant a kiss on his forehead.

That rage within her swells. It devours her spirit and bleeds out her eyes as she screams screams screams- a raging beacon of power and brutality and every ancestor’s grief.

She slaughters everything in her path.

When she comes to, she is soaked in blood and there is pain in her belly and an ache behind her eyes and in every breath- but she is alive. She lies amidst the ruins of her people and the lingering darkness of vanquished spirits and Shan Xifeng—

She goes into labour.

It is long and hard, lasting through the night into the bloody dawn and beyond. She manages to crawl to the edge of their encampment but no further. She twists into a curl of agony and cries into the clouded sky.

Her son is born on the cusp of evening, just as the sun slides behind dark, ragged peaks. He is born soft and warm and silent.

Shan Xifeng cradles him in quaking hands. Cups his cheek to her breast. His tiny head is blood-streaked like his mother. Blood-streaked like her friends and family around her.

It is an irony that on one of the most important days of her life, she is surrounded by her loved ones and yet they are all dead.

“Little one,” she murmurs, and tilts his limp head. “Little one, please.”

But he is silent as the dead around her and that grief swells again in her breast. It gnaws on her ribs and scrabbles at her throat and she is shaking shaking shaking.

“No,” she spits. “No! He has done nothing wrong! Nothing! Does he not deserve his first breath? His first cry? Does he not deserve the family that awaits him?!”

She screams into the sky and tastes blood between her teeth. “Take me instead! I beg of you! Please let him live! I would give my life! Every single one of them, so that he may live!”

Her sword quakes along with that dark raging thing within her and she clutches her dead son close.

Then—

The faint, elegant curve of a fan in the corner of her eye. The shift of cloth, the echo of a breath. The glimmering of ethereal gold and silver, like someone has spun the stars and sun above into delicate thread.

Summoned, like a beast to blood.

“All of them?”

Shan Xifeng knows better than to face an unknowable thing and so she bows as low as her broken body will allow. She stares into the bloodied dirt and breathes in dust and rasps, “Yes.”

“Hm.” A flicker of a stretching smile, coy, with a hint of sharp teeth. She does not see the fathomless dark behind those stark white teeth, a gaping void of ravenous benevolence. It is hidden behind the flare of the fan. “Do you understand what you ask for?”

“I do,” she says without hesitation.

The grin widens, lips scarlet and dark against bone-white skin. “Then I shall grant your wish.”

A shift of cloth, then a cool hand cups Nie-furen’s cheek, guiding her up. Her eyes flicker open and she sees what no mortal has ever seen, and then that fan whispers against her cheek and blood-red lips press against hers and the last thing she feels is her golden core trembling spasming dying as life is pulled from her breath- all the lives she has ever lived, the one she lives now, and every life she could have ever lived.

Shan Xifeng falls into the bloodied dirt beneath, still clutching her dead son to her breast. And then there is no one left living in that small clearing.

Pale, bony fingers trace a delicate line through the blood that lingers upon her cheek. It is still wet and useful. Stained fingers press against scarlet lips and the life held between stark white teeth is breathed anew into that blood.

Carefully, bone-thin fingers trace a deliberate character upon the newborn child’s left cheek. The blood shines, brilliant and devastating, before fading back into a gruesome name across pale skin. Slowly, the child begins to twitch, brows wrinkling in displeasure, before a high keening wail escapes tiny lips as the child take its first breath.

“Your mother does not know what she’s doomed you to.”

A day later, travelers upon the road hear a faint keening noise not far from their wagon. When they find the clearing, they gag and retch. When they find the weak, whining child clutched in his dead mother’s arms, they shake their heads and then stare at the crest emblazoned upon the woman’s clothes.

Two days after that, the child is delivered to Nie-zongzhu’s disbelieving arms.

“No,” he says, violent spirit quaking deep within him. “No. It- it is not true.”

The traveler ducks his head and clasps his hands in a bow. “I’m sorry, Zongzhu. We were not able to take the bodies with us. You’ll have to send someone to check, but…it was the crest of your house. And…” he hesitates, then nods to his companion who stumbles up and offers a sword.

Not just any sword. A dao.

Shan Xifeng’s dao.

Feng.

“No,” Nie-zongzhu cries, falling to his knees.

“I-I’m so sorry,” the traveler stutters. “I am so, so sorry, Nie-zongzhu.”

Nie-zongzhu sobs, clutching his newborn child to his chest. “Little one,” he weeps. “Oh, little one. At least life is kind enough to have spared you.”

“Yong,” the traveler blurts.

Nie-zongzhu stares uncomprehendingly, tears running hot down his cheeks.

“It- it was written upon his cheek in- in blood. I- I think that is what his mother named him. She must have done it with her dying breath. She must have wanted you to know. He did not enter this world nameless.”

“Yong,” Nie-zongzhu echoes, trembling. “It- it is a good name, for my brave little boy.” He cups his son’s cheek and sobs. “Brave like- like his mother,” he murmurs, voice thin and quaking. “She named you well.”

And perhaps it is bravery that made Shan Xifeng give up the chance to ever be reborn. Perhaps it is bravery that saved her son’s life.

But it was all a mother’s wretched love, and Shan Xifeng did not write the character for brave upon her son’s cheek.

No, it was not Yong for bravery, but Yong for eternal.

And it is not his mother who wrote it.

Perhaps it is bravery that saved her son, but is the curse of eternity really a kindness?

No, no Shan Xifeng did not truly understand what she asked for.

But Nie Yong soon would.

The next section starts with:

The second time Nie Yong dies, he doesn’t even realize it.

He is four years old.

and the third section starts with:

The third time Nie Yong dies, his Adie kills him.

He is nine years old.

It’s basically an Angst Fest with a happy ending bc...I just need a happy ending Always. I just REALLY love resurrective immortality and I love making my favourite characters Suffer :)

I hope these were fun and satisfying to read!! 

♪(ﾟ▽^*)ﾉ⌒☆

(also omg NO it’s a CURSE!!! I WISH I could just finish SOMETHING!! ANYTHING!! OMG!!! I am so envious you’ve managed to restrain yourself to a few!! Also!! I am SUPER excited to find out more about your fix-its!!! :D)

[thewritingstar]

any colorcrack ship heehoo

Pairing: Blossutch (Blossom x Butch) 

Fandom: PPG

Tag list: @shellielyzabeth @over-under-through1  and @yosuehere (for no reason winkwink)

so we just gonna pretend like i didnt know who sent this. And i'm also gonna pretend that you aren’t tempting me with Blossutch.....but...Blossutch...

Okay but evil Blossom?????? 

also this oneshot got outta hand but im okay with it. This is filled with flashbacks sorta and don’t ask me how the town got destroyed cause idk

Triggers: mild blood, minor character death

I hope you enjoy because i really like this :) 

----

She could recall the first time she had used her powers for evil. It was a whirlwind of emotion as the bodies fell to the ground one after the other. The people she vowed to save now were at their knees begging for mercy before she turned the other cheek and walked away. The vision of perfection was no more. 

It was devastating to feel that crack. Her heart slowly turned black until it became locked up against her will. There was no turning back now. She once scoffed at the saying "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Now it was a cruel future. 

Instead of leaving the place she once called home, she stayed and lived above it all. Her powers were now her protection as death threats and missiles were sent her way each day. She ignored them of course. She took a book out of Princess and had others do her bidding, but her hands had seen blood many times. 

It was too late now. 

The falling of Townsville wasn’t something anyone had ever thought would happen. Not when the three supers lived within the city limits. As they grew up, the city had stayed protected no matter how many robbers, villains or monsters threatened their home, they always saved the day. 

And then it happened. Something unexplained had taken over the city like a thick fog. The girls did their best to try and stop it but something had changed the minds and the hearts of the people. 

When the world goes to shit, you have two choices. Save the world and fight for what is right or watch it burn slowly and take what you can. Rebuild the empire to your liking and every negative thing about humans will be revealed. 

Humans are selfish, even the purest ones have corrupt thoughts. As the world is on its deathbed, true colors show. He had known it all too well and yet he was one of the dumbest people for thinking he could change it back. Restore good and evil, even though he was brought up with the lather. 

Corruption and destruction were his game while being a hero was hers. It was plain and simple. He was bad and she was good. Or so that was how the story was told. Maybe the story had lost its way a long time ago. Nothing was ever that black and white. 

--

Then the world had lost its mind and he was now bound to a chair with chains biting into his skin and the once notorious sweetheart was standing there with a blade and enough ammo to kill half the city. Sometimes he didn’t want to believe it. That she had lost the hero's glow and fell into the darkness he knew personally. 

Why should he fix this mess when the world has shunned him? It was the same question she had asked herself long ago. 

He sat watching her. His voice was muffled by a shitty cloth rag that he could easily spit out whenever, but he would play her game. His fingers tapping on the armrest as he twitched in his seat, he was never good at staying still for long. 

The first time he had met her was back when they were kids. She was bright eyed and witty. A leader for those who needed one and had a killer punch. Although they weren’t pair counterparts, they had more in common than not. He found himself near her more often as the years passed.

Now she just had a killer punch. 

He had been watching her for quite some time now. Usually people in his position would be dead but he wasn't like them. He was better. He understood her even with that mask on. He might have special powers with shield but she somehow had one he could barely break. 

She was staring out of the giant windows of her private office. The sunset sat on the horizon and if the city wasn’t in complete chaos then he would have thought it was beautiful. It was a massive space overlooking the city. He knew this place quite well but it felt foreign and lost as if it was a memory he tried to remember but never had. 

 Her grip on the knife tightened as she turned and walked up towards him. Her eyes raking over him as if she were examining her prey like a vulture. She was the embodiment of everything good in this world even if she was wearing all black and hadn’t smiled in years. He couldn’t blame her but he missed the way the corners of her eyes would crinkle when she laughed and the blush that tinted her cheeks. If he could go back in time for one more moment of that, he would in a heartbeat. 

He gave her a raise of his eyebrows and she scoffed. It was too quiet for his liking so he shuffled the cloth out of his mouth. 

“Blossom.” he spoke and she shivered as if no one had said her name in years, and maybe they didn’t.

She wasn’t the Blossom who was a golden child and adored by the world anymore. In fact her name sent fear through the bodies of those who dared to utter it. Instead of everything nice, she was just a black hole that sucked out the life of everything around her. 

“Butch.” She replied and he didn’t think hearing his name come from her would hurt so much. 

“Let me go.” He stated as if she would. They both knew he could break out of them. They weren’t stupid but maybe playing to the worlds cruel game was all they had left. 

-

Most people couldn’t say they saw the hero fall. Dying a hero was something her sisters had the pleasure of receiving and yet their sister was now the queen jewel of the evil capital. 

The day he held her at the funeral. She had to watch the blood pool around her sister's lifeless bodies and there was nothing she could do. She had saved the city countless times and the minute that it went up in flames, her sisters lives were target practice and those who cheered them on had now put the stake through them. 

The horror of seeing her sister smile as she died in her arms haunted her. She wondered why she was the only one to survive. 

“You’ll save the day, you always do.” Bubbles had said happily as if she wasn’t bleeding out of her stomach. 

Next to Buttercup choked on bile as she used her last strength to smile and brush the matted hair out of her sister's face. “You’re a leader Blossom, always were. Always will be.” 

Sometimes if she was alone with her thoughts for too much time she could hear her sister's laughter and the snarky comment of the other one. She could see them flying around, playing tag and just having childish fun.

 But it was all gone now. 

-

Behind her on the desk was Octi. The infamous plush of the youngest sister. Blossom wanted to blast it to shreds and never see it again but he had convinced her to keep it. He stared at it then back to her. He wondered if she ever held it close to her chest and allowed herself to grieve, probably not but it was worth the thought. 

He had been captured by her countless times. It was on purpose too. He broke in, stole something  and hoped that she would be there ready to add another scar and they would fight, and then he would be thrown out. He would come back again and again just to see her. 

He hadn’t seen her in months now. After a while, only her goons paid him a visit and he would just drop the item and walk away. There was no point if she wasn’t there. 

And now he was in the position he needed. She was right there for the taking and he desperately wanted to hold her again, just like he did before all this shit happened. 

He moved in his chair, the chains rattling and getting her attention. He didn’t want to play anymore and decided to send a green spark on one of them but her hand came down on his wrist snuffing out the light. 

Her face was inches from his as her cold stare pierced his soul. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her lips were set in a thin line as if she was challenging him, daring him to break away. He loved her eyes. They once glowed with a vibrant pink that he could only describe as breathtaking. They gave her away every time but now they had turned to a frozen stone and it was harder to see what she was thinking. 

“So you’re finally gonna kill me then?” He asked, his voice calm and collected as she continued to glare. The blade of the knife was held at his neck and he thought about moving forward to see what she would do. 

“It would be easier that way.” She stated and that stung even when it shouldn’t have. 

His eye twitched and his foot moved quickly to tug at her ankle causing her to move forward and her chest touched his. She had moved the knife away quickly. Now it was held above his head and he smirked before quickly hiding it. It was nice to know she didn’t want to plunge the knife into him. 

“I always liked you better pressed against me babe.” His foot not letting up as the other one trapped her in. Her other hand was now gripping his forearm and he lowered his eyes. He wanted to know that the Blossom he once cared about deeply was still there. No matter how many shields she had up, he was good at destroying things. 

She was silent and he waited. Her silence was something you couldn’t mess with. Those gears in her head were turning and the smallest shift in her eyes had given her away. He knew she wouldn’t kill him. She couldn’t. Whether she liked it or not, he was the only thing she had left and even if it was a petty thing, she knew better than to throw it away. 

“Let go of me.” She hissed through gritted teeth and his feet only dug deeper into her ankles.

He smirked. “I’m the one tied up babe.” She used her free hand to slap him across the face and yet he felt nothing. He had made himself numb to the cruel world, the only thorn in his side was her and even that was barely scratching the surface. 

But he hated that. He desperately craved for the pain even if that's all it was. Pain. A pitiful idea. He once lived for the thrill of the chase. The waiting of a battle as he was some cheeky teen stealing things just so that some girl would notice. The truth was his heart had been through so much heartbreak that it never went away and he was just tired. 

He picked his head up from the blow and she was breathing heavily. Her knife was lowered and was resting in her hand. He shot her a toothy grin which made her bristle. “Mm playing rough today?” 

Her face flushed red as she pursed her lips together and bit back a snarl. “Stop talking.” 

There was something about pushing his luck that he thoroughly enjoyed. “Don’t be shy.” He snickered as he tilted his head up with a cocked eyebrow. “You can’t hide.” 

“You really wanna be saying that shit while I'm holding this.” She waved the knife in his face and he rolled his eyes. 

“Tell you what babe.” She frowned deeper. “You can kill me, go ahead. This world should have been destroyed ages ago but-”

“But what?” She rested herself in his lap. 

Butch let out a deep laugh as he smiled. “You have to kiss me.” 

Her face turned towards the window and he saw that she still wore the earrings he gave her years ago. He bucked his knee up grabbing her attention back. 

“Just one peck and then bam, you’re done.” He said smoothly as he eyed the knife. 

“Why?”

“You were the smart one for a reason, figure it out toots.” 

Blossom watched him closely and she knew what he was doing. No. It wasn’t fair and she wouldn’t give herself that kind of relief. Years ago maybe, but not anymore. She didn’t deserve happiness.

 She pushed off of him with a great force, breaking free from his feet before ripping the chains off of him with a powerful blast and stomping towards the windows. Her blood red heels echoing on the marble floor as her hips swayed. 

“Leave.” She spat and he rubbed his wrists where the chains had been. “Just leave.” Her voice gave out at the end as her head hung low. 

His eyes went to the door. He should have turned around and left. He should have just ran and went back to drinking and drugs and drowning back into the darkness, it would have been easier that way. But his mind ignored all that. He had waited too damn long to be in her presence again and he was a selfish asshole. 

-

He saw her fall off the deep end as the world turned its back on the shining light. They snuffed her goodness and took whatever innocence she had remaining and left her high and dry. She had pushed him away and lifted up the walls, she said it was to protect him. It never was. It was a cruel lie to justify how she felt. He understood completely because that's what he had been doing since he was a child. 

The pain of losing the closest people to you was something they shared. His brothers fell to the same fate as her sisters and instead of suffering together, they had distanced. 

-

Her back was towards him and he took the time to look her over. He found it adorable how she still wore her bow in her hair, maybe it was to keep her sanity and pretend like it didn’t mean anything. She stood tall and proud back in the days and she was right now but it was different, she was different and he knew that. 

Her hair was long and pulled back into the tight ponytail she always wore. He knew deep down she wanted to run to him. Forget back the past and go back to the days where they could be themselves. Even with the unforgiving circumstances, he thought she looked as radiant as ever. 

He stood behind her before reaching for her hand. It had been almost a year or two since he had touched her skin. She could easily turn around and slice him with the knife, end him right then and there. The voices in his head had silenced as the tips of his fingers touched the slight curl of her palm and he felt the spark that he longed for. It was small but he had felt it, he prayed she did too. 

He closed his eyes as he took another step forward and when she didn’t pull back and retreat, he held her hand. The once warm skin was ice cold and he didn’t know if he wanted to cry from how much she was suffering and he was once too blind to see it. It was crystal clear now. 

 He waited until his eyes watered as he felt her fingers curl around his. The breath he was holding was let out and he blinked rapidly to make the tears fade away. He felt how her hand tighten around his and her body shook slightly as if the wall she had put up now had a raging storm pounding against it like a dam on the verge of breaking. 

He pulled her until she was flushed with him. He raised her other hand and placed the knife against his neck. 

“It’s okay.” He whispered. “If it will bring you peace-” His words were silenced as the knife fell with a harsh clank and tumbled around until the ringing stopped. 

She looked at her hands with a fear she had only felt a few times before. Her shoulders went slack as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. 

“They hated us.” She cried into his chest. “W-we saved them and yet-” She could bring herself to say it. He wasn’t sure if she ever said that they had died. It would mean that it was true, despite it being years. “H-how...how could they do that to us?” 

He didn’t say anything but only clutched her harder. “They destroyed me.” Her head picked up as she looked at him. 

Eyes wide and puffy as she looked at him as her lips quivered in disbelief. She reached for his cheek where the indent of a healed scar was. She had been the cause of it but it faded over time and she traced her finger over it, whispering to herself. 

“And I destroyed you.” The heartbreak in her voice was unbreakable as he let the tears fall. He shook his head. 

“No, you-”

She nodded and pushed away the excuses. “I did.” Her eyes were searching around his face wondering how much damage she had caused him. “You were my light and I did the same thing to you as they did to me.”

Her breath caught in her throat as his lips pressed against her cheek carefully. It was soft in such a way that if she were a porcelain doll on the verge of shattering. 

“What they did to you is unforgivable but I don’t blame you, Blossom. I could never blame you.” He was honest. She might have pushed him away and even fought him but she was still the one who had held him when he cried and kissed his pain away. “Please baby-I. Please.” 

There was a heavy silence weighing over them. His eyes were glued to her and he would be a fool to turn and leave now. Not again. They say the end of the world brings out the worst and two broken people who had seen their loved ones suffer and end tragically only meant for a catastrophe. Instead of a violent fight of shouting and guns a blazing, their weapons were tossed aside and the dam had broken as she stared at him. 

The golden sunset was ready to fade into a new inky night as he told her he wasn’t leaving again as his lips brushed against hers. Never touching fully. 

“I don’t deserve to have you, not anymore.” 

“You don’t have a choice.” He stated and held her as she tried to pull away. “But.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the gun with the bullet that could penetrate through their superhuman forms. “You can tell me to leave and I won’t come back again.”

She was once a little girl who called for her to save the day. A teen that people worship and even a woman that they feared. She had done it all. Phases come and go but the only thing that didn’t change was her heart towards him. She would be lying if she said she had forgotten all the times they shared. Forgotten about how they would sneak away during school and have their way with each other as she giggled endlessly. Forgotten when he told her he loved her the first time on the rooftop. 

She was a fool for thinking she would throw it all away. The world had made a mockery of her when she turned towards the darkness for revenge and yet the thing that she could have done, could have, was right in front of her for the taking. 

“Or. You can have me for the rest of time and the world can go to hell.” 

The gun was held out to her. An offering that would either would vaporize any hope she had left, or could leave her feeling something more than just a hollow shell of a person. 

She took the gun from him and for an instant she thought about holding it against herself. In that moment, the pain could end. She could easily forget about it all and fade away into the abyss. Her mind traveled to that dark place until the memory of her sister’s bright smile came into view. 

“Blossom you deserve happiness and I think he’s the one for you.” 

“I can second that.” 

Her eyes looked into his and she saw a gleam of hope. The moment after she had lost her sisters was spent with her heart suffering and yet he wanted to be by her side through it all. He could have cast away those feelings and left time and time again but he was here. 

The metal burned her skin as she held it, fingertip on the trigger but all her attention belonged to him. Her fingers twitched and shook as she asked him the question that weighed on her mind.  

“Could you ever learn to love me again?” Her voice meek with a slight whimper.

Butch brought his lips to hers, touching them soft as a feather. “I never forgot.” And kissed her as if it was the last thing he would ever do. 

Those flashbacks of them together before the decay of what they had known came back in a rush and she wondered how she ever let them go. His hand wrapped around her waist and he felt the upward curl of her lips against his as her arms came around his neck. Her body molded to his as she held him tight, afraid that when he pulled away, he would be gone again. 

When the world goes to shit, you have two choices. Burn down with it or rise above and see the new horizon. 

And when he looked back at her with a smile that felt rusted and worn, her eyes had held a spark that became reignited. Like a flower blooming after a harsh winter, the life from deep within herself began to resurface. 

“I have always loved you, even in the darkness.” He spoke and he was blinded by the small smile on her lips. 

“And I love you.” 

Those tears on her face held years of misery but it was leaving her mind as she stared at him. The vibrant pink against an electric green. She felt those chains around her heart break off as the warmth came in. 

“So what do you say?” He asked as he kissed her cheek.  

“Let the world go to hell.” She whispered before crashing her lips against him and as if she was desperate to quiche her thirst. 

She smiled against his lips as he let out a growl. Blossom pointed the gun towards the window and fired. The glass raining down over the city as the light from the horizon seeped in.

The idea of good and evil was long on when the city’s morals became corrupted. All that was left were two people who knew better than to become incinerated.  

---

i hope you liked it!

[succubused]

thoughts on how jotaro in part 6 fills the same role as holly in part 3?

this got out of hand i.e. long because i got worked up. did some psychic damage but it has been a solid few days since i went off the rails about jotaro so im just gonna go for it ig

before i start i want to say that i actually never even thought of that before this which in retrospect is wild because it’s such a visible parallel but like. the difference between them i think is what makes the similarity more striking for me.

with jotaro his mother was always very openly affectionate towards him and present and there in a way that he, being emotionally closed off to a dazzling extent even as far as teenage boys go, clearly didn’t really know how to approach or accept. & then that constant was removed and he immediately and without hesitation threw everything he had into bringing it back, and succeeded, but at the cost of like. everything.

it’s all especially rough when you take into account that she was likely the only consistent source of love he had in his life, regardless of how he was capable of responding to it & in the process of trying to restore that source he forfeited his own ability to stay around the people he cares about in the future. forfeited any chance at future happiness at age seventeen effectively

and then of course the tangled nature of the relationship jolyne and jotaro have is like. a direct consequence of that damage i think. because he couldn’t give her the closeness she wanted and needed or the kind of affirmation he always had in excess from his own mother since he by that point was so cemented into what i always perceived as the mindset of “protect her at all costs even the cost of her opinion of me”. it’s like a counterpart to his locking himself in the jail cell as a teenager except instead of “i might hurt people without meaning to” his experiences have turned it into “people might get hurt because of me” so he locks himself away in a different way entirely.

[more specific part 6 spoilers after this and like…the rest of it lol]

he’s barely even surprised when she doesn’t want anything to do with him when he gets to her in stone ocean. he knew it was a trap he knew something would go wrong but it’s jotaro and it’s jolyne so of course he goes anyway. except then it gets flipped around on him because for the first time his intervention wasn’t enough to finish the job, not necessarily because he failed, but because he underestimated jolyne. he underestimated how far she would go for him.

i think in that moment he fully expected to die and expected for her to take the escape option without him, but (and this is in turn reminiscent of holly pretending everything’s okay and acting cheerful up until she literally loses consciousness) every time he tries to tell her to go and leave him behind she refuses, she tells him she knows he’s been hurt and to stop lying because jolyne, so much like her father, is far more concerned with protecting the people she loves than she is with protecting herself.

now the thing about jolyne is that her relationship with jotaro is vastly different from the one he had with his mother, which affects the motivations for that commitment and sacrifice between the two of them. jolyne had the opposite experience from jotaro’s growing up; she wanted more from her father than he was capable of giving to her. no matter how you feel about him there is no denying that jotaro cared about her despite all of that, but though i believe she had his whole heart and whatever love remained in it, he had presumably never really been able (or successful in any attempt) to show or express that to her. in contrast to jotaro, who received more affection from his mother than he was able to process, jolyne grew up in the absence of it and it even says this in her character bio:

and honestly the most heartbreaking part for me was to see how jolyne is affected upon realizing she was wrong. as soon as she finally gets that “i always cared about you” even just the look on her face is that of a person whose worldview was built around an animosity that never existed. and she’s about to lose it, she’s about to lose the one person whose love she always wanted most and always had but never had access to before this exact moment in time. right before that line she says “but i just—you can’t—“ and this very well may just be me projecting my own reading but i always interpreted that as i just got you back. you can’t leave now.

the difference between their relationships just KILLS me because for jotaro it’s the potential loss of something he had never lived in the absence of, and for jolyne it’s realizing she’s about to lose something she never even realized she had. she spent her whole life wanting him to love her, finally realizes he has all along, and he’s bleeding out right in front of her. she never even had the chance to know him in conjunction with the truth about how he felt and jolyne wasn’t about to let him go any more than jotaro was going to let holly go. (i don’t have the heart to address stone ocean ending with respect to this and why it’s fucking devastating but remind me of it in the future if you really want to get your whole nervous system ripped out)

this is the last thing jotaro says while he’s conscious:

i may be reading too far into it because any of this could be me reading too far into it. but i really don’t believe he would have been as….happy as he looked about it, if he knew she was about to try and stay and put herself in further danger for his sake. and i think holly, too, would have tried to stop jotaro from putting himself through all of that to save her, had she been in any state to do so or understood what he was about to do.

jotaro thought he had succeeded in protecting his daughter, that was all that mattered to him, and technically he was right. he did give her everything she needed to escape, albeit at the presumed cost of his own life. 

problem is, jotaro and jolyne are wired in very similar ways. i doubt she ever even considered leaving him behind. jotaro was completely correct about jolyne’s mind being strong. ultimately, the only thing he really failed to do was account for the possibility that there was too much of her father in her.

[wcstlcys]

PENN BADGLEY. THIRTY. CISMALE. HE/HIM. ) in texas, WESTLEY THORN is known to most as WEST. they have been riding with the REAPERS for TEN YEARS. they originally from STRATFORD and the ENFORCER is known to be very RECKLESS & VINDICTIVE but the other club members will tell you they are DEVOTED & ECCENTRIC. as the years go by, they’ve gained a lot of respect in the club and around town. they rarely ever drive a car but when they do KILL OR BE KILLED BY NEW YEARS DAY is usually heard blasting. ( A CRUEL AND CROOKED SMILE, BLOODIED KNUCKLES THAT NEVER HEAL, AN UNDYING LONELINESS. ) [ JUNE. 23. GMT+2. SHE/HER. ]

[ VIOLENCE, ABANDONMENT, CRIME, DRUGS && DOUCHEBAGGARY TW ]

basics.

* mostly goes by west, sometimes wes if you’re cute

* biromantic / bisexual

*  undying loyatly to the reapers 

*  currently the enforcer && will die for any of the members 

*  enjoys violence a little too much

*  mostly lives at the clubhouse but owns a shitty apartment that needs to be burned down 

*  incredibly reckless && does not value his life

* will only ever ride his bike, will not ever drive a car && will only be a passenger in one

*  substance abuse ??? possibly 

*   has violent felonies on his criminal record && will do it again

*   loyal to a very dangerous fault  

*   here for a good time not a long time 

about.

✘ abandonment issues would be the primary source when analyzing westley. the typical and tragic tale of a boy who seemed to be strangers with his own blood. his parents, far too focused on their own careers, never seemed to be around. while they provided him with the basic necessities, he was always alone. secluded in his own home left him feeling trapped, seeking attention on his own in all the worst ways.

✘ he didn’t care what it was or how he got it, he needed – no, desperately craved attention from others. most of the time, fist fights seemed to suffice. the adrenaline rush would satisfy him for a short moment, however it always quickly died out.

✘ if it wasn’t fighting, it was crawling his way into others beds, trying to fake some sort of love and affection without ever fully committing himself to anyone. he was selfish, incredibly so, he wanted to be loved and adored only to kick them out the next morning.

✘ somewhere down the line, when he barley managed to graduate high-school, he came into contact with a member of the reapers ( possible connection ). while he always knew of their existence, and in fact envied their group, he never knew anyone from that scene – but as soon as the connection was made joining the reapers easily became his new obsession. he was a simple hang around for the longest time, slowly building up relationships where he could, he moved onto prospect before finally becoming patched in by age twenty.

✘ the reapers was everything he wanted, the family he always longed for with seemingly the same interests and lifestyle that he had grown accustomed to. with this new found family a new sense of loyalty seemed to develop, in fact his loyalty and devotion to the club was undying. he would do anything, no questions asked.

✘ as the years went by, so did west move up in ranks. it was never intentional, he didn’t particularly strive for anything, he just went where he was needed. he moved up from rider to solider, and eventually up to enforcer. west is the type to shoot first and ask questions later. if someone was pointed out to him he would throw the first punch, never needing to know the reason why. he loves his club, scarily so.

✘ while his loyalty is his strong suit, it is also his downfall. west does not know how to let go of a grudge. once you wrong him, or someone he cares for, that’s it. he will find any reason to fuel his grudge, any small detail to validate any sort of vengeance. he cannot forgive and he cannot forget, west is simply not wired that way.

✘ west has the tendency to be incredibly reckless, he will simply do things purely for the thrill of it all. he rarely thinks things through and will act on impulse.

✘ westley tends to sleep around a lot, many of them never becoming anything more. he tells himself he’s fine with that, but in reality he wants something more. he wants genuine love but he can’t seem to allow himself to feel that way about someone else. that’s what he tells himself at least. while he’s had serious relationships, many of them tend to end up in flames. wes cannot hold down a healthy relationship and tends to develop rather toxic behavior and habits. he easily becomes obsessive and paranoid that ruins everything. ( fun fact he’s very much bisexual )

[ CONNECTIONS ]

✘ LOYALTY -- ok so applies to everyone in the club so come and love me bUT also potentially ppl outside of the club too k thnks let him die for u thanks

✘ FIRST LOVE && HEARTBREAK [  open idk  ] – i imagine wes, somehow, fell seriously in love with someone. however, the odds were not in his favour. whether the love was unrequited, or for some reason or the other the two could not be together or their relationship did not last long – west was left devastated. this completely wrecked him and he cannot find it in himself to fully forgive this person (whether or not they actually hurt him is besides the point). he holds a lot of ill feelings towards this person, despite deep down still  having feelings for them. i wanna leave this one open so that we can plot it out !! since he’s bisexual im fine with whomever for this plot tbh

✘ HOOKUPS / GROUPIES [  OPEN  ] – west is a hoe, he has needs, he likes to sleep around && most importantly he needs attention. behind closed doors he will be the most affectionate and loving he can be, but your ass is out of his room come morning. minus a few exceptions here and there

✘ PAST RELATIONSHIPS / EXES  [  OPEN  ] – he has tried many times at relationships and has failed nearly every time. some have ended on good terms, others on bad. again leaving these ones open for plotting!

✘ BEST FRIENDS / RIDE OR DIE  [  OPEN  ] – somehow, west has managed to become genuine friends with someone, someone who can actually stand him for long periods of time. i imagine a lot of his ride or dies to be of course fellow reapers, but i can imagine some civilians as well !!

✘ ENEMIES  [  OPEN  ] – oh, this is a given. he has pissed off a lot of people, and i imagine there is a good amount of people he holds a grudge against. especially from the rival groups this would fit lmao also rival club lets go 

✘ PAST FRIENDS  [  OPEN  ] – before he joined the reapers i imagine he must of left a few people behind in order to pursue his new life.

IM REALLY TIRED AND THIS IS ALL I CAN THINK OF AT THIS TIME BUT PLS !! I AM HERE FOR ALL THE PLOTS OK BYE XXX

[low-budget-korra]

The Legend Of Korra_Book One : “That’s Dark”

So reviewing TLOK made me not only caught up in the nostalgia of this wonderful and special animated show but also reflected on the journey not only from Korra but also from all Team Avatar.

 (Remembering that all this is just my opinion and some of the various interpretations that I have about the show)

 Book 1 is in my opinion the second best of TLOK and the darkest of all.

And reviewing I think I've noticed why.

Book One is the most "real" of all. All the problems there can be seen in the most different societies.

We have an ideological political clash in an environment where segregation between benders and non-benders is still a reality.

I think the whole atmosphere of Republic City is more dark , so at the very beginning we are introduced to those problems that I honestly think we can all understand. Fear of violence, lack of confidence in figures who hold power, a "savior" who appeals to the fear of this population and take's power, conspiracies for power, politics shit , social inequality , etc

Problems that are real at a international  level. I here in Brazil can feel and understand this in the same way as a person who whatch’s the show in Canada. I think 

Not to mention the urban colors and shades of grey and brown more saturated and not so bright (especially at night) , showing that the city is kind of a trap, something “Too good to be true." Its beautiful and scary at the same time.

So we have Korra, who in book one has 17 years (the same age as I when i started to watch the series) and as it is visible in her’s first moments, is that she has the “spirit of a kid”.

I think the expression "kid's mind in a Woman's Body" can define the Korra in Book One. She is naive, immature, spoiled, a bit arrogant, very self-confident, playfull...

I think it was one of the things that enchanted me in her and undoubtedly was what made me connect with her, because I was also, especially,  naive as she.

Korra comes with the glare for just being at Republic City, that childish naivete of thinking that everything will work fine, without consequences.

And it is precisely when she, for the first time, is confronted with the possible consequences of the  fight that she has just entered, she breaks. But before we talk more about Korra, let's talk about her nemesis here, Amon.

 Amon is a white and heterosexual man representing the patriarchy .... lmao im joking, or not...

Anyway, Amon ... The way he uses to subjugate and dominate his enemies, the violation he makes to achieve this ... I find it almost impossible not to parallel this with cases of sexual violence. Amom takes some of these people for himself, he forces something into them, they get devastated and depressed after losing the benders to him and also they look kinda of feeling humiliated by that.

So we have the terrible and beautiful  episode :"The Voice in the Night". Here we see  this 17 year old girl, absolutely terrified by the idea of ​​confronting this man who must be in his late 30′s.

I think that when Korra saw what Amon was capable of , it was the first time in her life when she felt truly afraid. And for us girls, being afraid of a man, especially when walking alone in the night , sadly still is a reality.

Anyway, going back to the show ...

After being coerced to fight on the front line against the Equalists for Tarrlok ( I will speak of him soon), Korra gains confidence and in her naiveness, invites Amon to a duel.

Amon not only arrives late as he is disloyal and does not come alone. An adult man ambushes a 17-year-old girl in a dark place with the help of his crew ... Man, this is dark ! And all the lighting and animation of the final scenes of the episode are excellent because it resembles more a horror story than a kid’s show.

The way they hold her on her knees, making her so small in comparation to him, who looks even more frightening. But not only this, because “be on knees” historically and culturally associated with submission and she was forced to be in that position. The way Amon holds her face makes it clear that the avatar was totally impotent since her rival had already crossed the “touch barrier” by touching her face.  The Touch for many people is something intimate and touch someone face is not only something more intimate but also associated with caring and love. And this motherfucker just crossed this line 

Amon accepted the challenge with the goal of destroying the Avatar independent of who she was. And thats terrible and scary, but also, so real for so many people.

After he leaves, Tenzin arrives and  ask if everything is okay and all. Korra then says that she still has her bendings and finally opens with him over her fears as she cries in his arms.

Then after, we have an episode more focused on love triangle and comedy. Cause its a kids show right?

 How will Korra deal with Amon now that she has already lost the first battle?

Honestly I dont think she overcame her fears there, I think she just buried them for the greater good that was defeating him. Something like “im scared as fuck but im gonna do it anyway”. And you need to be brave to do that

And after losing her bendings to the enemy in the final episode, when her worst nightmare comes true , she has nothing left to lose. And in desperation to save her friend and crush from going through what she had just been through, Korra discovers she can airbend. And this new wave of confidence makes her defeat Amon at his own game, exposing him as the fraud he is. But is that enough? I see later that she still suffering for losing all the other bendings, she’s still broken until Avatar Aang pass by to say “hey” and give her all the bendings back

(This scene had me on tears)

Tarrlok is a character that I just did not like. And guys since he saw Korra, he directed all the attention to her.

Of course he wanted to use her to climb the ladder and take Republic City's political power for himself. But seriously ... I know that maybe you find yourself thinking "Damn, you will put sexual subtext and sexual interpretation where they do not have". But listen to me.

Tarrlok is an older man who does not accept Korra’s "no" for his partnership proposals.

Then we have the episode where her confrots him by the arrest of her friends. Of course Tarrlok used the bloodbend on her cause she was ready to burn his ass down.

And it is logical that he would disappear with her so she does not unmask him to everybody. Now, though it seemed like something got at the moment, Tarrlok had it all ready. The place where Korra would be taken  and where he kept her arrested .

Of course, the most obvious answer is that the place might have been prepared to receive Amon, though he did not know that he was a bender so he did not need that metal box because a normal cell would work, but with all that happened , Tarrlok had this change of plans. I think he may think that she could bring problems to his plans and the let this as plan B

But then an now unmasked and hunted by Republic City police force and just before Amon invades the place, he tells Korra that he will run away and that he will take her as his hostage.

But why? If he had hated her for ending his plans, he could just leave her there to die of hunger / thirst. Not to mention that, Korra would definitely fight and delay him in his escape, so why take her ?

Another thing, Amon wouldnt hurt Korra, he doesnt even saw her as a person, he only saw the symbol, the Avatar and that must be destroyed but all costs. Tarrlok in other hand wants to use the symbol but also know the person behind, he knows the 17old Korra and would hurt her if he has to.

The politics, the intimidation, the haressament, the fear, the power dinamics between those 3 characters...

 **

Mako and Bolin do not have much development in book One . Mako is the love interest and Bolin is the comic relief.

 **

Asami has a very remarkable moment. She has to choose between her father and what is right.

And the Fire Ferrets certainly helped her in that choice. Especially Mako, Asami's mother was killed by benders, probably fire benders cause they kinda murder people parents sometimes, and Mako is a firebender. So relating to him might have knocked over all the rest of prejudice and anger she may have for benders until that.

This arc between Asami and her father is also about the loss of innocence. In that case, lose the innocence of thinking that our parents cant be bad people.

And even more, from then on, Asami is shaped much more like someone who makes right choices in difficult times, even if those choices are heart-breaking.

 **

Tenzin leaves his comfort zone. He will train Korra, who is someone who almost totally contradicts who he is. And right away, we see that he is an excellent teacher. All your patience, your diplomacy is inspiring and will certainly help to make Korra the most conscientious and mature woman at the end of book four.

He also has tough choices, and shows himself steadfast in them, doing everything to protect his family and friends.

 **

Lin, there's a moment I think is incredible. When she sacrifices herself to save Tenzin's family. Lin does not flee the fight. Just like her mother, she is determined in her goals. And we have more depth development  in Book 3.

**

In another post i will talk about the book Two cause this is already too big.

So i believe one of the main sub themes or simple stuff that i can see on book One is the Loss Of Innocence 

[scripttorture]

so my mc kidnaps this girl, and my protag steals her identity to get into this elite program for superheroes. during the captivity, my protag has to beat this girl when she tries to escape (maybe more than once) but is generally dont-fuck-with-me-wont-fuck-with-you, you know? im not looking for any stockholm syndrome but will it be an issue due to her only hurting this girl when she “steps out of line”?

Also, i plan on ruining this girls life/reputation and letting her go so SHE has to take the fall for my protag’s actions using her name, do you think that will tie into it?

Scriptshrink is the best person to consult on Stockholm Syndrome. As I understand it it’s not very common but I think you’d be better off consulting Shrink’s posts for how likely it would be in this situation.

 I don’t think it would be necessary for the plot you’ve outlined.

 I’m- a little dubious about this idea. I think it’s mostly the idea that the main character ‘has’ to beat anyone. No one ever has to. Violence and brutality are always a choice.

 There’s nothing wrong with writing characters making terrible choices. I also don’t think there’s anything wrong with stories focusing on ‘bad’ people.

 But I don’t think we should be making excuses for them. I don’t think we should allow our fiction to be another platform for unchallenged apologia.

 We’re all here because we write about horrible things and unfortunately we live in a world where those things happen.

 Shorn of the superhero trappings a girl is kidnapped, imprisoned, beaten and mistreated. When she’s released she finds her reputation in tatters and she can’t participate in society any more. This is not a million miles away from what Boko Haram has done to thousands of school children.

 The scenario feels a little like punishment. It’s very targetted to the individual character. And while I’m not entirely confident I’ve understood the question it feels like a lot of this is centred around whether the victim is likely to defend, cover for or feel affection for the abuser.

 The answer to that is almost certainly not.

 Some survivors will comply with instructions not to report abusers. Especially if the survivor feels that reporting will put them (or a loved one) in danger, will not be taken seriously or result in a negative consequence such as deportation, arrest etc. But it’s worth stressing that a lot of people don’t report abuse no matter what an abuser says/threatens and a lot of people do report abuse even if they’re subjected to credible threats.

 A decision not to report abuse shouldn’t be taken as a sign of affection for an abuser.

 If you want your survivor character not to report on the abuser think about why she might make that decision. You might have already laid the groundwork for that if most of the people around the survivor are rejecting her and think she’s lying. An accusatory environment is not going to encourage anyone to report abuse. It’s going to lead most victims to assume they’ll be blamed for what their abuser did.

 Which is what’s happening here.

 And none of this shows the survivor’s feelings for the abuser. It shows the survivor’s assessment of their surroundings, culture and the people in their immediate environment. It’s an assessment of safety, of the consequences of telling the truth.

 I’m not entirely sure I understood the second question either, I’m taking it to be about the effects on the survivor if everyone around her believes she’s guilty of the crimes her abuser committed.

 This would be really devastating for recovery. In fact in that environment I don’t think recovery would be possible at all.

 Which doesn’t mean the character could never recover, but it does mean she’d need to move to a different environment or see huge changes in the place she is in order to improve.

 People don’t get better in a vacuum. They need support and understand as well as time.

 If the people around her think she’s guilty of horrible things, if they treat her badly or even if they ‘just’ avoid her and distrust her that will have an impact. It will make her much much worse.

 It’s not that her symptoms wouldn’t improve, they’d get worse.

 Depending on what you’ve picked out for her that might actually make people less likely to believe her. It’s- incredibly common for young survivors who’ve been labelled as ‘bad kids’ to have their problems misinterpreted as further evidence they’re ‘bad’. They’re ‘disruptive’, ‘inattentive’, ‘aggressive’, ‘attention seeking’. And no amount of diagnostic criteria will shift that interpretation if the people around her are determined she’s the one in the wrong.

 Society is incredibly good at dismissing ‘bad’ victims, people who don’t look or act like victims ‘should’. And people who are judged as having less social worth, sometimes especially if that’s tied up with ideas of ‘those people’ being tough or resilient.

 But again- none of this says anything about the abuse or the abuser.

 Rebuilding a life, rebuilding a support network, is a big ask for someone who has already gone through trauma and only just come out the other side.

 I know that some people use ‘school’ in a broad sense to apply to any educational environment but to me it implies ‘children’. If this character is under eighteen and doesn’t have financial independence then her ability to change her environment is essentially non-existent.

 Which means she’d be stuck in a situation that’s making her worse.

 This is not necessarily lethal. It is hugely damaging though. It would put her recovery back years.

 She might except blame for things she didn’t do in an attempt to keep or rebuild the social interaction available to her.

 I’m not sure what else to add. Consider what the character’s prison conditions are like and whether they amount to torture. This includes solitary confinement (depending on who you ask this is either less then 1 hour or less then 2 hours of social contact daily). It also includes lack of food, water, appropriate clothing/bedding, space and hygiene facilities.

 It’s your choice if you want to have a survivor character ‘defend’ their abuser in some way but I suggest you think carefully about the reasons why the survivor might do that. Also consider whether she might come to reject those reasons. And consider whether any of this actually serves the story?

 There is a lot of potential for unfortunate implications and condoning/excusing abuse in that sort of scenario. Do you feel up to navigating that? Does it add anything to the story? Could the story be more interesting and more unusual if you have the survivor responding differently?

 I hope that helps. :)

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[seilon]

long rant/essay? about kpop’s inherent homophobia and how it messes with idols as well as fans that are/could be queer. if u read it good luck it’s long 

you know i feel like ive said this a million times before but its just so astonishing to me how deep rooted homophobia is in kpop.. like not in the way of even openly being against against queer folks (even tho that happens too of course) but the deep fundamental exclusivity. the idea that idols can put on performances that are blatantly playing with gender norms or sexuality norms (examples; sungjong’s cover of adult ceremony, key’s born to shine or tik tok cover, etc) and it goes over, and even is appreciated by tons of fans and whatnot, and still the g word is never brought up because it can’t be possible. It’s not scandalous even in a homophobic society because the excluding of gay people is so rampant and deeply rooted that something obviously queer coded can be seen by onlookers and still be "fine” because so long as they’re not saying it out loud it can not be real.

In other situations, like say male idols like key or sungjong again who are known for doing girl group dances and being “fierce” in doing as such– and are still regarded as straight until proven otherwise because in that case the performing of a girl group dance or dressing in feminine clothes or anything along those lines is regarded as a joke. sungjong for example has done about a billion girl group dances in his career and takes them completely seriously, learning the details, not shying away from movements that accentuate his figure/hips/ass/etc, but no matter how hard he works on them or how well he performs them, it will, due to the society around him, always be regarded as a joke. when it’s too over the line of seriousness to be regarded as a joke by most people – like, say, adult ceremony– it is defended by all means by straight fans, media, etc. with excuses like “don’t spread rumors saying he’s gay it makes him really sad” as if what would bother him would be the idea of being gay (which obviously had to have crossed his mind in making such a performance at least once. you’d have to be quite oblivious to practice and practice feminine dances and adult ceremony particularly with that much queer connotation and not think “hm maybe this will be percieved as not straight when these male backup dancers lift me in the air like their beloved queen after i sway my hips and ride the floor”) and not the hateful, mocking neitzen responses to his percieved non-straightness. commenting on him possibly being gay by gay people themselves, is a hopeful compliment usually associated with how unique he is. commenting on him possibly being gay and that being something uncalled for and unfortunate is what would hurt a person. anywhom, the seriousness of that dance and others like it (born to shine, or even something like move by taemin where gender is not in any way solidified) scares people into defensiveness and that i believe is what can hurt idols. especially if they are not straight. sungjong’s devastated reaction to his rumors may very well be related to actually not being straight, and then when he was being comfortable in his sexuality and femininity, it being rejected and hated by a portion of fans and antis.  that really both perplexes me and hurts me deeply somewhere as a not straight not cis person. not only because idols are trapped in this zone of forced straightness with absolutely no other option allowed (or else they face super dire consequences) and that hurting them immensely if they are actually not straight, but also cause it ends up demonizing non-straight fans. when hate comes the way of an idol related to “he looks so gay ugh” or whatever, the reaction is to “stop calling him gay!!!” rather than “stop demonizing gayness, and support this person no matter how they act on their sexuality”. to say “stop calling (insert person) gay” is inherently homophobic in itself unless the idol is married or something along those lines. they literally can’t come out due to the society, so those little non-verbal expressions of queerness is as much as an idol can do and is something that should be really appreciated– if they do it knowing they will be perceived badly they’re truly brave, admirable, and provide non-straight fans with the most they can get which is... to say the least extremely appreciated by those fans. i guess my point in this accidental essay is that kpop is such a complex beast when it comes to being non-conventional and how that’s simultaneously allowed in many cases, but only to a certain extent and only if it is not openly representing the queer community. it’s amazing how much straight people want queer content, either to laugh to or to call attractive in their own fetishy way, yet want to keep their oppas names clear of anything as scandalous as possibly being queer. it’s systematically entrapping queer idols and queer fans alike and it’s very ridiculous. anyway thanks for coming to my ted talk im 99% sure no one read this far. 

[thelifetimechannel]

The Dave and Dirk log, for obvious reasons, was something I wanted to try very hard to get right. That meant although we drafted it together via msparp, as was our custom, I ended up overhauling it way more than any of our other combo walkaround logs. A few chunks did survive the transfer, though.

In other news, we’ve made a solemn pact to finish TLC over winter break, which is good because I’m running out of bonus content. Hopefully we’ll have some assets to show off soon. I’ve already seen a few; they’re very nice.  

DIRK: Hey, dude. You did pretty well out there. DIRK: Didn't even die once. DAVE: twice in a day is my max im satisfied with keeping that record DAVE: even if getting machinegunned is rapidly becoming my "thing" DIRK: Seems we each have our respective "signature deaths". DIRK: Or at least it ain't a party until I get decapitated. That sure was something we needed to do again. DIRK: Just once, for old time's sake. DAVE: well that puts the nail in the meme coffin DAVE: any time you panic someones gonna tell you to keep your head on DAVE: like keeping your hair on except you know that shit aint going anywhere its probably shellaced DIRK: That shit is bolted to the floor. Did you know I walked around with a girly-ass pink tiara on my head this whole day and had no idea? DIRK: I had no idea. Couldn't feel a thing. DIRK: And people let me do that. DIRK: Can't fuckin' believe it. DAVE: oh DAVE: i figured you knew DIRK: I am less than pleased with my Skaia-ordained divine color scheme. DIRK: But I guess I have to live with it. It's part of the team aesthetic. DAVE: you could always change DIRK: Nah, with the tiara and tights ditched I have at least mitigated the enforced flamboyance. It's bearable. DIRK: I can't be the one dude out of uniform. Couldn't bear the shame. DAVE: my outfit is pretty sick ngl DAVE: sburb knows everyones secret desire is to have a cape DIRK: Unfortunately, mine isn't long enough to also make for a good tactical maneuver. DIRK: Not gonna lie, that was pretty funny. DAVE: if nothing else my attempts at combat can provide a source of humor in our lives DAVE: but honestly id be fine if my fighting days were over DAVE: i was never into it DAVE: rose on the other hand was obviously itching to beat people up DAVE: one of those 12 year olds who wants to get jumped in an alley to work out her suppressed anger DIRK: Maybe Skaia did make a few miscalculations in dumping your asses with your respective guardians. I think you'd get along well with Roxy and her cats, make her budget her time away from the alcohol. DIRK: ...in theory. DIRK: Rose can go a few rounds with me if she wants, we still need to sort out who has the rights to document our legendary journies. DAVE: ill plan your funeral DAVE: what kind of flowers do you want DIRK: ...there's different kinds? DAVE: damn thats right you grew up in waterworld DAVE: these choices matter DAVE: allegedly theres a thing called "flower language" DAVE: whether you can actually send someone a boquet telling them to meet you in the pit i dont know DIRK: Like, I get that, in theory, different kinds of flowers exist. But I fully anticipate any attempt on my part to conjugate in the language of said plants would end in my coffin declaring my hovercraft was indeed full of eels. DIRK: Maybe it'll have thorns on it. Or it'll be like the sixteen millions tons of green bullshit covering my land and making my nose itch. DAVE: probably DIRK: Worst case scenario, I'll pick out something orange and present to a prospective love interest and it'll mean something like "my brotherly passion for you knows no boundaries, and also no homo". DAVE: my bro wouldnt go for flower arranging DAVE: or pink tiaras DAVE: he was pretty uptight about the whole rah rah macho act DAVE: probably subscribed to alpha males weekly DAVE: which is weird considering DAVE: well DAVE: youre gay right DIRK: Uh. DIRK: Well. DIRK: My symbolic quest land is not covered in green bullshit, but I. DIRK: Happen to like watching birds, if you know what I mean. DIRK: Fuck, you probably don't know what that means. Jake and his goddamn thousand euphemisms. DAVE: cant say i do no DIRK: Nobody knows what it means but Jake. It's an old time epithet for being into dudes. DIRK: He knows all the old epithets, including some I suspect he made up. DAVE: so DAVE: thats a yes DAVE: in a roundabout way that includes birds DIRK: I've never denied it. DIRK: I'm just. DIRK: Not a huge fan of the word. Why, in this world post-society, do we need to confine ourselves to labels like "gay"? Such constraints were washed away from my world with the rest of the human race. DAVE: holy shit that was such a pretentious dodge DAVE: dont let rose hear you say that DIRK: Rose can hear all she likes. DAVE: but anyway DAVE: i wasnt asking to get up all in your business like SOME PEOPLE DAVE: who are so into getting into other peoples businesses theyre basically the fucking mafia or the irs DAVE: but DAVE: it explains some stuff DAVE: but on the other hand it doesnt DAVE: the way you raised me was kinda aggressively mainstream masculine enough that it wasnt something that ever seemed to come up as an option DAVE: [describe that type of culture and mindset better later, I KNOW what i mean but im tired rn lmao] DAVE: and anything outside of that id just brush off because it couldnt apply to me DAVE: and that went for pretty much everything that went against what you wanted for me DAVE: including that DIRK: And yet, here the man was, subconsciously shrieking his desire for floppy felt dong through, DIRK: What I guess you could call his art, for want of any other applicable word at all. God, the mental images are crawling up the insides of my skull like the Exorcist child, do I want to know? DAVE: probably not DAVE: guess trying to act peak male has its drawbacks DAVE: weirdly enough troll culture is obsessively hyperviolent but doesnt give a shit about sexuality DAVE: they dont see the difference most of the time i guess DAVE: and so like DAVE: maybe it rubs off on you because in some ways that kind of makes sense DAVE: but after so long its hard to know what i feel and what it means because i spent so long ignoring it DAVE: so i guess i was wondering DAVE: if you had anything that might help with that DAVE: or if youre also trapped in this whirling screaming maelstrom of bullshit DAVE: while kinsey sits in the eye of the storm laughing DIRK: Wait, wait, wait. DIRK: You're coming to me. DIRK: For advice. DIRK: Do you know what a laughable hurricane of disaster my interpersonal life has been? DIRK: Like, in a weird way, I'm kind of honored, especially since about five hours ago you were scared shitless to be around me, but. DIRK: I'm standing here and waving my credentials in the air just to display how I don't fucking have any. My degree is a sham and my hands are empty except for a crudely scribbled on piece of construction paper. DAVE: are you suggesting theres a gay university DAVE: where you study bird watching DIRK: Do I look like a man who's been to college? DAVE: fair DAVE: but like DAVE: your friends know DAVE: how did you broach the subject there DIRK: I might as well have been dating a Yoko Ono for the devastation it wreaked on our friend group, so yeah, it was a little hard to ignore. DIRK: Compounded by the fact some smartass from Gay University was using my social circle for romance geometry homework. DIRK: It wasn't even a love triangle so much as a love roundabout. DAVE: ok but thats just because you were a dipshit not a gay dipshit DAVE: they were chill about the first part right DIRK: Thanks. DIRK: I mean... Roxy always seemed disappointed. DAVE: luckily i dont think anyones waiting in line for me DAVE: i guess im blowing it out of proportion DAVE: i dont think anyone will MIND DAVE: no one did about rose and kanaya DAVE: didnt even question the vampire bit which goes to show what our lives are like these days DAVE: like ok our outfit has vampires now DAVE: thats a thing that we have DAVE: if i say oh hey i might be bisexual theyll just say sure pull up a chair at the acronym table DAVE: the only one who might be weird about it is john DAVE: but hed be just as weird if i told him id changed my favorite color hes just like that DAVE: the only person its really a big deal for is me DIRK: Jane was a little bit like that. I'm pretty sure the only reason she had to object was because she found out the day I made a move on her crush. DIRK: It might just be growing up in a household where you're not regularly fighting for your life, and thus what genders are kissing whom has the space to be higher on your priority list. DAVE: that aint anyones priority these days DAVE: im prepared to acknowledge the concept that hey maybe everyone elses lives dont revolve around me and my personal drama or self revelations might have some merit at least as a hypothesis DAVE: when i met kid english he kept going on about how i was the most important person and everyone else was side characters DAVE: and maybe ive acted like that sometimes DIRK: Yeah, like you alone are the one responsible for everyone around you. DAVE: and maybe ive acted like i think that way too sometimes DAVE: ive been wrong about people DAVE: people i care about people i shouldve known better DAVE: i was wrong because i wanted to believe things that matched how i wanted the world to be DAVE: things that made it easier for the story i was telling myself DAVE: i dont think kid english meant to call me on it but damn DIRK: Reality is, after all, something we construct for ourselves. DIRK: I think maybe I knew that all along when I surfaced for air inbetween shoving my head as far up my ass as it would go. DIRK: Or maybe that's just what I try to tell myself in hindsight. DAVE: well if it takes a hyperactive 12 year old version of the final bosss creepy hero worship of me to make a point i guess thats not the least subtle way the universe has sent me a message lately DIRK: You want unsubtle? Let me tell you about my damn planet quest. DAVE: haha DAVE: i didnt have to do much of my quest because im invisible DAVE: thanks mom DIRK: My denizen practically sat me down like it was my life coach and growled in my ear about improving my communication skills with a guy I told to go fuck himself not eighteen hours prior. DIRK: So while I'm glad SBURB has a vested interest in me repairing my friendships, playing electroshock death DDR with him was a little on the nose. DAVE: maybe getting shot again wasnt that bad DAVE: so weve all learned our life lessons good job team DIRK: Exactly. Can we wrap this up now? Can we please go rest? DIRK: I'm so exhausted I haven't even noticed I'm still hungover. DAVE: sure thing DAVE: but if i need tips on leaping out of a closet to intimidate passerby i might text you DIRK: I mean, I can try. As long as you don't ask me for dating tips. That, I definitely shouldn't be helping you with. DIRK: Go talk to your sister for that. DIRK: ...wouldn't she, by the transitive property of siblings, also be my sister? DAVE: yeah i guess DAVE: but theres no way in hell im asking rose for dating advice DAVE: on her first date which she refused to admit was romantically oriented she got wasted in anticipation forgot to show up and then fell down the stairs DIRK: Oh my god. DAVE: she tries to look like shes got her shit together but its a lie DAVE: if you find my corpse floating on lolar in the next few hours dont let the truth die with me DIRK: Why are we like this? DIRK: Is there actually something hardwired into our DNA that predisposes us to being disasters? DIRK: But, that aside. DIRK: I won't object if it's me you come to talk to. DAVE: ill hold you to it DAVE: and if you ever want to publicly you admit you DAVE: "enjoy birdwatching" DAVE: in less vague and evasive terms DAVE: ill have your back DIRK: Thanks.

[cutsliceddiced]

New top story from Time: Here’s What It’s Like in the Bahamas After It Was Devastated by Hurricane Dorian

Bahamians are scrambling to respond to a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane that the nation’s Prime Minister has described as a “historic tragedy” since the slow-moving storm made landfall Sunday. Hurricane Dorian has claimed at least 20 lives and destroyed many buildings, especially on the islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco.

Governments and nonprofits from are offering money, workers and other aid to help with the rescue and recovery effort. According to the Red Cross, about 45% of the homes on Grand Bahama and Abaco — about 13,000 houses — are believed to be severely damaged or destroyed as a result of the storm, and some 62,000 people will need clean drinking water, the Associated Press reports. U.N. officials said that more than 60,000 people will need food assistance.

At the same time, Bahamians have carried out their own efforts to account for loved ones, posting frantic photos and notes on Facebook and WhatsApp begging for word about missing friends and family members.

Here’s what to know about the devastation the Bahamas is facing now that Dorian has roared through.

What is the hurricane’s death toll?

Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty ImagesResidents pass damage caused by Hurricane Dorian on Sept. 5, 2019, in Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas.

Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said at a press conference Wednesday that at least 20 people have been confirmed dead after the storm — and warned that the number of dead may rise. He declined to give specific details about the deceased.

“So many families have been impacted by the devastation, including those trapped during the storm,” Minnis said Wednesday. “Just about every Bahamian throughout the country has been worried about loved ones on Grand Bahama and Abaco.”

How bad is the destruction?

Miami Herald—TNS via Getty ImagesAliana Alexis of Haiti stands on the concrete slab of what is left of her home after destruction from Hurricane Dorian in an area called “The Mudd” at Marsh Harbour in Great Abaco Island, Bahamas on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019.

Much of the severe damage appears to be concentrated on the Abaco islands, a chain of islands in the northern Bahamas known as a boating destination. The Prime Minister said Tuesday that parts of Abaco are 60% destroyed.

Local communities within the Abaco islands have reported significant damage. A community known as The Mudd, which was built over time by Haitian immigrants, was “razed” by the storm, according to the AP. Most of the houses in Marsh Harbour, one of the largest towns in Abaco, were destroyed by the storm, the Miami Herald has reported.

Minnis said that most homes on Grand Bahama seem to have sustained “minor damage,” and he said he’s personally seen damage to homes, infrastructure and other buildings.

The Bahamas’ southern islands, including its capital, Nassau, were not affected by the storm.

The Category 5 hurricane was both powerful and slow-moving. When it made landfall, Hurricane Dorian had sustained winds of up to 185 mph. Moving as slowly as 1 or 2 mph, the hurricane arrived in the Bahamas on Sunday and did not have the all-clear until Wednesday morning.

What are the relief efforts?

Other countries, private companies and nonprofits have mobilized to support the relief effort in the Bahamas, although the nation has faced challenges as it’s worked to prepare airports and a harbor damaged by the storm into a position to receive much-needed support.

Ravelle Dean, a volunteer with the Bahamas’ National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) who is designated to speak on behalf of the agency, tells TIME that two of Abaco’s three airports are now open to private planes. The Sandy Point Airport was unaffected by the storm, and Marsh Harbour was reopened on Thursday morning. Treasure Cay Airport is open only to rescue and recovery helicopters.

However, aircraft need to receive permits from NEMA to enter the airports, and the agency has been “inundated” with calls, Dean says.

“There’s definite frustration on some people’s ends,” she adds. “We’re trying to go as fast as we can.”

The U.S. Coast Guard has sent crews to help with the relief response; as of Thursday morning, the Coast Guard said it had rescued 135 people and six pets in the Bahamas since the beginning of the storm. The Coast Guard also provided a helicopter for Prime Minister Minnis to survey the aftermath of the storm.

At the direction of @POTUS and at the request of the Prime Minister, @DHSgov is working with the Government of the Bahamas & is grateful to the @USCG and @CBP for their efforts to aid ongoing recovery efforts and those severely injured on the island following Hurricane #Dorian. pic.twitter.com/lqIk5tKGgc

— Acting Sec. Kevin McAleenan (@DHSMcAleenan) September 5, 2019

The United Nations has pledged $1 million in aid, and the U.N. World Food Program has bought eight tons of ready-to-eat meals that it is working to bring to the Bahamas. Canada has also pledged $500,000 to the relief effort, according to Minnis.

Carnival Cruise Line has partnered with Tropical Shipping and NEMA to bring food and supplies donated in Florida to the Bahamas. The Micky and Madeleine Arison Family Foundation and Carnival pledged $2 million to recovery and relief effort; Disney Cruise Line also pledged $1 million to relief efforts, Minnis said.

AFP Photo / UK MOD / CROWN COPYRIGHT 2019Members of the Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) team from The Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Mounts Bay deliver aid to the Islanders of Great Abaco in The Bahamas on September 4, 2019.

What can you do to help?

NEMA has set up the Bahamas Disaster Relief Fund, and posted instructions on Twitter for how to donate.

⚠️ #HurricaneDorian Information for #Bahamas ⚠️ https://t.co/uDUWAeCNmS

— NewsNetNews (@NewsNetNews) September 5, 2019

A number of other organizations are also collecting donations for the Bahamas, including the American Red Cross, Americares and World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, who has been on the ground in the Bahamas and shared images of devastation.

This is what it’s like on the ground in Marsh Harbor on Abaco… captured by our @WCKitchen assessment drone. #ChefsForBahamas pic.twitter.com/aYuqFueNho

— José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) September 5, 2019

via https://cutslicedanddiced.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/how-to-prevent-food-from-going-to-waste

[meepface]

these questions seem very therapeutic and i have been havin a week so im gonna do em, please ignore me

1. What can you do today that you were not capable of a year ago?

say no to people!! post selfies and not feel ashamed of myself for doing so!! stand up for myself without immediately crying!! 

2. What has been on your mind most lately?

well this week i’ve been in kind of a negative headspace so i have sorta thought about how much easier dying would be than dealing with any of my problems, but i have also thought about how much i don’t actually wanna kill myself also so i’ve been feelin sorta trapped between ‘mannnn if i would just fucking do it’ vs ‘but i don’t wanna my mom would be sad’, so that’s a real fun time!

3. Right now at this moment; What do you want right now?

i wanna feel myself again honestly. i’ve felt super weird n distant from who i used to be and who i wanna be and i feel like im just floatin. i feel super dissociative and i don’t feel genuine in how i behave anymore like idek myself. another super fun time!

4. In order of importance, How would you rank: Money, Happiness, Love, Health and Fame?

love (not strictly the romantic kind), happiness, health, money, fame

5. What would best describe the way you have spent your time in the last month?

feel like i’ve been wastin a lot of time bein super unhappy. buuuuut i spent a lot of time with people i love last month so that was good. kinda mixed, neutral feelings about it

6. What is the #1 motive in your life now?

to learn how to live for myself more

7. In one sentence, who are you?

i would say i am an extreeeeemely sensitive and compassionate person who’s always tryin to do the right thing and make a few people laugh when i can

8. What do you want to be known for?

being good and kind and gentle and positive

9. If you had to move 3000 miles away, what would you miss most?

my family, my dogs, my girlfriend, my friends, my grandma, this local restaurant that has amazing pancakes, my university bc i really like it there, the general atmosphere of downtown Austin, my therapist, my bedroom. in no particular order

10. In one year from today, how do you think your life will be different?

hopefully i’m taking care of myself well, am happy in my current situation and if i’m not i am actively working to do what i need to do to fix that, maybe i’ll have finally gotten another job and have moved out possibly. who knows. just hope im doin well

11. Who makes you feel good about yourself?

my friend Stein, my mom, my girlfriend, my therapist, a few of my internet friends

12. What are the top 3 qualities you look for in a friend?

someone who makes me laugh, someone who is a good listener, someone extremely supportive and non-judgmental

13. What has fear of failure stopped you from doing?

joining a club and being more social in college, getting another job, moving out, making videos, volunteering at this abuse center i’d really love to volunteer at

14. What is something you have always wanted since you were a kid?

a golden retriever

15. What stands between you and something you want?

fear of change

16. What do you do when nothing else seems to make you happy?

i find something to calm me down and distract me, like a game or something i can play so i stop thinking too much. also talking to someone helps but whenever i’m not in the mood to talk i try to do something to distract myself, or go to sleep if it’s a good time to

17. What do you need to spend more time doing?

being with friends and family, writing

18. When did you first realize that life was short?

i mean i had a few near-death experiences as a kid but none of em i was like “wow i could’ve died and that would’ve been the end” bc i didn’t really process them like that when i was that young. one of first times that i can remember feeling really deeply anxious about how short life really is is when i saw a bad car wreck just last year that had just happened and (TW ahead) i saw a person dead on the road with his head smashed. that was so scarring for me and now wrecks make me uncomfortable and i used to drive kinda recklessly as a dumb suicidal thing but now i would never ever drive the way i used to. another time i can think of is when a girl in my grade who i had actually been close friends with all throughout middle school up until freshman year died in a car wreck and our whole school was devastated

19. What issues do you continually refuse to confront?

honestly i want to confront and fix or work on all of my issues lmao so

20. What is something a lot of people do that you disagree with?

there’s a lot of homophobic and transphobic people in the small Texas town that i work in and a lot of em say super offensive things really casually and i hate it so much. also a lot of people enjoy jolly ranchers which i will never understand

21. What is a common misconception people have about you?

i’m shy, i’m straight, i’m lazy, i don’t work hard

22. What is something no one can take away from you?

no one could pull me away from my mom tbh that bitch knows everything and no one can tell me not to tell her what they tell me bc she’s gonna know in the next hour

23. What is something you would hate to go without for a day?

ummm chicken probably. it’s all i eat

24. When you look into the past what do you miss the most?

how cheerful and happy i was in 2015 and some of 2016!!!!!! the fuck happened!!!!

25. What memory from the past year makes you smile the most?

hmmm probably the times my gf and i spent hours making out n stuff in parking lots bc we finally got over our fear of havin our first kiss w each other and went all out

26. What is the number one change you need to make in your life within the next twelve months?

hmmm don’t wanna share it but i know in my head the answer to this

27. If not now, then when?

when i’m ready and when i know for sure that it’s what i want. because right now i don’t know what i want with my life but i just know that right now i am not happy. baby steps

28. What have you done that you are truly proud of?

i gained soooooo much confidence after graduating high school. came out to everyone, told my mom i wanted to finally try to go to therapy which has been a blessing for me

29. What is something new you have recently learned about yourself?

i’ve learned where my dependency issue that i used to have super bad stemmed from. i’m kinda growin from that though. i still have residual anxieties that were caused by it but nothin i can’t work through

30. What do you want to remember forever?

hmm. probably that one quote that’s like “anything that costs your peace is too expensive”. either that orrrrr that one scene in the office where Jim gets drunk and crashes his bike into the bushes

31. What could society do without?

religion (yikes yikes yikes) (don’t hate me, just hear me out) - this doesn’t mean the spirituality of it but like..... the whole rules and order part of it. the ancient outdated books and everything being taken so literally in today’s world. everyone could have their own takes and believe in their own things and they can just be without feeling like they either have to go to church or celebrate a religious holiday or be a certain way bc ‘god’, whoever they may be, wants them to. idk i like to believe there’s a higher power that just represents love, in its purest form, and that’s it. that’s all you gotta know about them. there’s no rules to that, you just do with that what you will, learn from that what you can. does this make sense at all 

32. What is the one thing right now, that you are totally sure of?

right now i am totally sure that i shouldn’t have started doing this survey bc i am exhausted and i have work in the morning but i’m definitely gonna finish it

33. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large group of people, what would you say?

be kinder and gentler, thank you

34. What is something that you said you would never do, but have since done?

this is uhhh super emo but i didn’t think i’d live this long and here the fuck i am

35. What is something you changed your mind about when you grew older?

my feelings about The Gays, since i grew up to be one and when i was little i was terrrrified of that idea. i didn’t care if other people were but when it came to me i was like noooo way jose. also? the concept of marriage? i’ve become super apathetic towards it. i don’t care if i end up married or not anymore, i will commit to someone for life regardless and i don’t need a ceremony and anything official to prove that. buuuuut that being said, if my future partner wants to be married, i’m 200% there and i’m already starting to think about our wedding color scheme. man. idk if i’d rather wear a suit or a dress at my wedding

36. What didn't last forever, but was still worth your while?

hmmm maybe my current therapy stuff?? i know one day i’m gonna stop going to therapy but man have i learned a lot and man have i grown. i truly think everyone needs to go to therapy at least once in their life, you learn things that are valuable in every aspect of life

37. If you could go back and time and tell the younger version of yourself something, what would you tell?

you’re not stupid, you’re allowed to make mistakes, maaaybe ask for the braces that aren’t clear bc those just made your teeth look massive and you hated yourself while they were on and you can’t look at pictures with them even years later. aaaand they made you super insecure about your mouth and smile even years down the line so, please dodge that bullet if ya can. also you’re super gay!

38. If you knew you were dying in the next 60 seconds, what would your last words be?

finally

39. When it is all said and done, would you have said more then you've done or vice versa?

hmm i’ve probably said a lot more than i’ve done, which i wanna change. if i’m understanding this question right

40. What question do you often ask yourself?

what do you want? what do you need? which of the two is more important?

[mtg-weekly-recap]

MTG Weekly Tumblr Recap: April 24, 2017

Hour of Devastation Key art | Wizards of the Coast

Welcome to this week’s worthy edition! Prereleases were in full swing this weekend and this week saw Trials, Zombies, and our first glimpse of Razaketh in the Magic Story. Wizards might have moved the capital ‘A’ Announcement Day to June, but apparently no one told the announcements. Join us by the fertile banks of the Luxa that is this issue of the Magic: the Gathering Weekly Tumblr Recap.

1. Isn’t It Iconic…

Found on Twitter

Our recent announcement from Wizards’ home base this past week was quite substantial, with the upcoming Commander 2017 products which feature an exciting new tribal theme! We also have the name of the fall set, Ixalan, which will rotate into Standard with and is currently rumored to have a Meso-American theme. Likely the largest and most anticipated of all was Iconic Masters, which will feature iconic cards from all over Magic history!

Commander 2017 is set to be released on August 25 and will be available in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and Japanese. The products will all be available in the United States for MSRP at $34.99. They will feature a tribal theme, supposedly with Magic’s most popular and interesting tribes. A total of 56 new cards will be legal as well in Legacy and Vintage at that, and the most notable detail, there will only be FOUR of these decks as opposed to the usual five. More information is available here.

Ixalan, the 2017 fall set to come, has quite a few rumors floating about for its theme. One very popular speculation is that it has a Meso-American theme as aforementioned. One interesting speculation came from Zurgo Helmsmasher @khanofthemardu​, with another one here from @vampire-hoe via @chelsea-beleren-vess​‘s inbox. Check out some other ones here:

http://sarpadianempiresvol-viii.tumblr.com/post/159728962689/helene-bergeot-confirmed-today-that-the-fall-set.

http://coincidencetheories.tumblr.com/post/159806978574/mtg-conspiracy-ixalan-is-a-return-to-new-phyrexia.

http://darth-daud.tumblr.com/post/159788985615/im-so-glad-that-they-basically-confirmed-in-my. 

However, let it be noted that the Inkmoth Nexus promo is not indicative of Ixalan being a return to New Phyrexia.

Iconic Masters is the next “Masters” set, which will be released on November 17 of this year. There is something very special about this set in particular: there will not be previews of this set! We are told that the set will feature new artwork on many cards, bringing in an array of Angels, Sphinxes, Demons, Dragons, and Hydras (each color’s iconic creatures!) along with some of the most memorable spells in the game’s history. Still in line with previous “Masters” sets, it will have 24 booster packs of 15 cards each, including one premium card. Undoubtedly the set will have a very engaging draft format as Modern Masters 2017 and Eternal Masters before it. This set will be released at HASCON along with additional announcements on Ixalan, so be sure to grab your ticket! Some speculative links below:

https://phyrexian-without-a-cause.tumblr.com/post/159800155534/iconic-legends-what-could-be.

https://island-delver-go.tumblr.com/post/159827828502/with-the-reveal-of-iconic-masters-some-people.

With these announcements in mind, several questions come to bare, many more than I can think of currently I’d bet, but tell us your theories and thoughts on Commander 2017, Ixalan, and Iconic Masters! Whatever the outcome of these will be I’m sure Wizards has quite a few surprises for us yet to come.

— Jesse F, @sorin-memekov​

2. This  Week’s Magic Story Review

Servants by Kelly Digges

Lliliana, Death’s Majesty | Original MTG art by Chris Rallis

As the cards for Amonkhet were revealed to us, piece by piece during the glorious scramble that was spoiler season, two very significant names were conspicuously absent. Nicol Bolas, the man everyone wanted to see, as well what some, if not most, thought of as the warm-up act, one Razaketh. In Servants, the latter of these mysteries deepens.

With Gideon carting his touche with Oketra, and Nissa and Chandra exploring the forbidden sarcophoguses down Hapatra’s part of town, Liliana has been making inquiries of her own. With zombies literally everywhere, she is reticent to use her necromanty injudiciously, so she has been sending shades to search for any news on Razaketh. Razaketh is the third of four Demons that Liliana made pacts with for the eternal youth and seeming immortality she craved so deeply. Two of her demons, Kothophed and Griselbrand we have met in story and in card, and more importantly, they have met their fate, at a Chain Veil augmented Liliana’s hand. Razaketh’s presence on Amonkhet was no small part of Liliana’s reasons in agreeing and advocating to come here. She harbors strong hopes of enlisting the Gatewatch’s considerable talents in helping her defeat a being even more formidable than Griselbrand. 

The ever present yet enigmatic Raven Man is with her, he chiding her for her seemingly tardy and lackadaisical attitude toward ridding herself of the demons, in his mind the tarrying on Ravnica and Kaladesh was time that could have been better spent, and that he feels she is weakening in resolve and allowing the Gatewatch’s upright and selfless ideals to soften her and dull her otherwise keen sense of self-interest. It is especially hinted on three or four visits from Jace back when they were still on Ravnica that went deep into the night might be more than simple machination and manipulation, something she protests vociferously.

With ears clearly burning Jace arrives just as a shade brings Liliana word of a place to investigate. Liliana invites Jace along, knowing if she didn’t he’d just come along anyway, just invisibly. They are led by Liliana’s agent down to a subterranean facility where scores of Anointed prepare and process the less successful initiates of the Trials 

Anointer Priest | Original MTG art by Lake Horwitz

A relief in the bowels of this place reveals to Jace that Liliana is not, in fact in pursuit of Bolas, but Razaketh. Having been betrayed in the past by Liliana, Jace is less than happy about the omission of this significant detail about the plane, while from Liliana’s point of view, the eyes of the Razaketh carving snap open, and the Anointed start chanting her name. What cannot be deinied is that the mummies begin to crowd threateningly around Jace and Liliana. Liliana’s powers over the undead are blunted by the cartouches worn by the Anointed, and Temmet arrives to find the newcomers where no newcomers should be. Jace is forced to take over Temmet’s mind in order to carve a path for he and LIliana through the throng, and leaves Temmet unconscious and defenseless in a room where the occupants have strict instructions as to what happens to inert, lifeless bodies under their care…

…perhaps?

— Liam, @coincidencetheories

3. A Brief History of Jace and Liliana

Liliana Vess Speedpaint | Art by @oddsbod

A long, winding road brought Jace Beleren and Liliana Vess together. Their journey started with Nicol Bolas, which seems to be where they are winding up now.

In Agents of Artifice, Liliana travels to Ravnica where she meets Jace and his best friend Kallist Rhoka. Jace Beleren joins an interplanar organization known as The Infinite Consortium. Tezzeret becomes Jace’s strong-handed mentor, in hopes of training him to become a more talented mage. Tezzeret undoubtedly hopes that Jace will join Nicol Bolas in his quest for power. However, Tezzeret’s tactics are abusive; they are not at all characteristics of a healthy mentor/mentee relationship.

Enter Liliana Vess, who has made four deals with demons, and then subsequently with Nicol Bolas. She has to turn the Consortium over to Bolas in exchange for his help in finding and destroying her demon masters. She then begins a relationship with Jace to do this, so that they can take the Consortium for themselves. Jace falls in love with Liliana, and Liliana returns the feelings. It is known that they care very deeply for each other. However, her feelings of love toward Jace are not enough to stave off her betrayal, and she reveals to Jace (disguised as the planeswalker Baltrice) her motives. Jace then subsequently leaves Liliana, but forgives her and makes a pact to help her rid herself of demons. At the end of the AoA, Jace states: Like a thousand suns will rise across a thousand world, he knew that he and Liliana would meet again. He would get to know her, beneath the disguise, the desperation and the lies. If he could love who he found, perhaps they could begin again.

Fast forward to Catching Up, where Liliana visits Jace on Ravnica to ask for help with her demons. However, they are interrupted by Gideon, who pulls Jace off to Zendikar for the events of Battle for Zendikar. When the Gatewatch disposes of Kozilek and Ulamog, Jace follows Emrakul’s trail to Innistrad, where he meets up  with Liliana and asks for her help. Liliana ultimately joins the Gatewatch and helps them trap Emrakul.

The Gatewatch then travels to Kaladesh at the urging of Dovin Baan, where they find that Tezzeret is a public figure. Tezzeret is still very much alive and causing harm, so the Gatewatch takes a stance against the Consulate.

After the events of Kaladesh, the Gatewatch travels to Amonkhet, though Liliana doesn’t tell them her true motives for going to the plane, which is her third demon, Razaketh.

— Haley D, @sunshine-spice

4. Fan-arts…

Free Dogs | Original art by @shutupismelldrawings

This week in the fan art corner, we have some absolutely wonderful pieces. It feels like I say that every week, but, hey, I’ll stop when y’all stop making absolutely wonderful pieces… Watching our Gates this week are the cutest pair, with @darkselia​ ‘s Liliana, and @jakaltimes ‘s depiction of Gideon’s complex yet simple develpoing relationship with a literal God 

@oddsbod chimes in with the early moments from last week’s story, The Writing on the Wall with Nissa’s Dream, and @zeico treats us with a sketch of Ravnica’s most electric experiment Ral Zarek 

@Isharton contintues to absolutely kill it with this drawing of Hipster Hazoret and Coffeshop Oketra 

— Liam W, @coincidencetheories​

…and Fan-Crafts!

Master Tinkerer | Original Magic Art by Matt Stewart

The week that leads up to pre-release, just after the full preview of the cards is a magic time where people get creative with all the new inspiration and the motivation of showing off at the LGS! Here are a few of the great cosplay and other creative endeavors that graced our feeds this week:

(Nissa’s Pilgramage by @eternal0aranel, more Nissa cosplay)

Liliana Vess, @mossybunni

Cardboard Carapace and Plague Doctor’s mask, Redditor Mayorse via @mtg-realm

Amonkhet God Buttons, @sticksandsharks

(Amonkhet and more Cookies, from @mtg-realm)

Yarn Gideon (Gideyarn?) of the Trials, @oketragodofyarn

Cartouche of Solidarity, @hirfael

—Compiled by Liam W, @coincidencetheories

5. Tumblr Magnet

Tumble Magnet | Original MTG art, Drew Baker

Here are a few longer form articles written this week or simply recently that you might have skipped over that are worth the time to go back and read… @akhonography writes on Egyptian influences relating to Amonkhet, and here she has a few small notes on Cleopatra, the inspiration behind Hapatra @sarpadianempiresvol-viii argues that Amonkhet’s top down design is a boon for new players to get a handle on Speaking of new players, @imakethecard​ explains why the power-level of intro and Planeswalker decks are kept so low.

@askkrenko gives their opinion on why colorless cards are the most damaging type of card to be overpowered

@krymsinviking and others discuss the merits of having full art lands if and when we return to Theros. 

@cameronlamcomposer brings us Abzan’s First Lady, The Foremost, in song form!

— Compiled by Liam W, @coincidencetheories

…and finally: Tap for Initiative

It’s always a wonderful moment when a labor of love comes to fruition, or at the very least makes it into beta. @yaldobaoth has been working on their Magic the Gathering RPG system for over nine months, and is proud to release it into the wild, looking for people to take it for a test run, really put it through it’s paces and help find out where the next improvements are to be found!

Thank you again for reading this week’s issue of the MTG Weekly Tumblr Recap. Hope to see you next week!

Interested in contributing to the Recap? Want to keep track of notable posts and trends throughout the MTG community on a given week? Or write a short blurb on a specific topic? Do you just want to make us aware of one specific topic or post? Please PM our main editor @the-burnished-hart or any of our staff writers

[feedfrommysoul-blog]

She was an Angel.

She was an angel.

I was sure. The way the falling sunlight lifted her silhouette, illuminating her beauty. She was beautiful, in that moment I could see her soul, more attractive than any kind of physical beauty i’d previously seen. It was curios that today she would too be taking the bus downtown, was she here for me?

It was paralyzing, the way she glided amongst the human form, her daringly short dark hair contrasted her emerald eyes that her coral dress set on fire. She fit, yet stood so far apart, I was not alone in being mystified by her, but I knew most wouldn’t look twice, as the pursuit of the unachievable had long been forgotten in this generation, certainly for those on this 6 a.m. 50 bus to South Station. She found the only empty seat across from me and opened an antique looking battered book.

I could not look away, she had taken hold of my soul, and thus my entire mind; nothing else was deserving of attention. It was blissful, basking in the presence of such a serene creature; she was like a hug. For the first time that I could remember I felt nothing negative; no fear, no uncertainty, no anxiety, no hopelessness, in this moment I was no longer broken.

I could tell she was an angel for I had felt it in my heart. My heart had begun to flutter in a desperate attempt to fly and touch her. I did not move, for my heart could never carry my body, but I felt lighter, I felt my heart trying to escape as it pushed against my chest cavity forcing me to fix my posture. I caught her glance as she looked up from her book, she noticed me staring and smiled. It was real, I was right, for only someone with a noble soul would not be offended by misunderstood glares. She was like me, but entirely different.

She had not fallen.

I wondered if she too knew, if she saw my shattered wings as they begged her soul to come heal them. My curiosity begged to know If her heart too had fluttered, if my presence had given rise to any emotion as hers had filled this moment with enlightenment for me. I frowned, for I remembered that I was the yin to her yang, that I was the chaos that her tranquility was meant to evaporate. Had I ruined her day, taken all she had to offer? I needed to know If I somehow brought darkness to her just as she had just brought light to me.

 She put her book in her bag and locked her jade eyes into mine, I felt her push; the bag. I looked at her backpack and saw the nametag, then I understood. She gathered herself as she stood, she smiled a grin that would be enough to drive any sane man astray; a smile that proved I had done no harm to her divinity.

“I love how you’ve done you hair today, braids suit you well.”

Her voice was sweet with a rasp that melted my spiraling thoughts. I was glad she left just as soon as she had spoken for forming words for her would have destroyed me.

It was a message and it was clear; she had noticed me, no, it was more than that. She had been watching me, they had been watching me. She knew my soul needed to be lifted and now had invited me to aspire to attain her perfection. She told me without words, that I too could be whole again. They were watching, and they had noticed that today my brunette mop of hair was neatly tucked into an impressive fishtail braid. They knew i was trying to put myself back together, and they were extending an offering to invite my efforts further.

The doors closed and she was gone, lost in the sea of humankind, invisible to the mundane but unforgettable to the spiritual.

The thoughts flood back, my mind had only rarely gone so clear, these days my thoughts engulfed me as they dug deep into pits of despair within. Today, however, she had left me with an astonishing notion, a feeling that couldn’t quite be an emotional feeling but a commandment, a small message of achieving peace that clung in my soul and had now been embedded within my very being.

I closed my eyes and I recanted our encounter. What had I felt?

I felt warm, trapped in an embrace of some sort. Astonishingly I felt safe yet guarded.

“Uh, I need to talk to you, Ma…” I spoke in a careful tone trying not to reveal the nature of the request, as I was fingering my ringlets; my nervous tick.

“Now?” She asked, turning to search my face for an immediate understanding.

“Uhm, no in a bit, “ I choked out, I knew she was onto me. This was the game.

“I want to know now.” She turned the T.V. off to prove I had her full attention.

“I failed a class.” I looked to the floor avoiding any eye contact, the sensitivity was overwhelming even back then and matters of importance, such as my education, to my father were the worst. It took days upon days of crying to wash the burn of his disappointment.

“What class, what happened?” She spoke calmly even with her accent, this was the tone when she knew I had done something bad and would give me the opportunity to explain.

“French, I didn’t like my teacher, I couldn’t understand him. It was a hard class, but im willing to do it in the summer to make it up, pleeaasee don’t tell dad.” I wiped a flood of tears from my face as I finally looked at her.

“Don’t worry, ill talk to your father. But now your responsible for finishing summer school and passing this course so your done high school on time. You promise to do that ?” She spoke softly, holding my hand. I felt her love, her support, her trust. That whole day I thought I was going to die, to fall into an eternal despair but all of that melted with the tenderness of her voice. She was that reminder that nothing ends existence, that tomorrow the sun rises once more, and the people awake to a new dawn, a new start. I loved her to no end.

The memory washed me, and left me with the sensation that the angel had, a warm secure embrace. This was no coincidence, they had been trained to provide messages in a way that made it seem as though the universe had guided you to them. Her words had meant that she had wanted me to understand that she was one of them, she spoke as though she knew me. I understood why she had stumbled into the path I chose today. My initial instinct was right, she had told me that it was okay to begin the journey to be whole again. The gift she had given me was one my mother had handed me so many times before, a commandment to believe in myself, to believe in my tomorrow. Something I had not been able to do lately, not since he had left. Since I had found myself truly alone.

The ones like her were special, they had higher conscience connections, they were spiritually bound to a community of others like themselves who worked together to keep the battle of light and darkness in neutral balance. They were warriors, each with gifts from the universe, packages of knowledge meant to keep society in balance, they fought for the good of humanity. The darkness had been growing, it could be seen everywhere. The Militaristic control, the joke of this political state, the proxy wars, the rate of animal depopulation, fresh water depletion, the raging rebels, massive natural disasters and the unperceivable level of stress the human population was being crushed by, too many people were dying with their soul’s unreleased. They were dying out of their ordained destiny and that only meant they were being recruited outside of the universe’s will, into the growing darkness. Something big was coming and they needed me. I hoped. For if there was a possibility of that they would reinstate my position on their front lines.

Their names reflected the gifts that they bestowed upon their marks. Their names were their crowns that announced what they dispersed. They walked the world and handed humankind the direction that the universe had determined for everything had a reason. Although they almost never offered anything to one who had gone astray, it was punishment for breaking the rules. Like I did. I had been stripped of my gift and my name. Afraid of losing the one I loved the most, we ran away. I knew id loose him, but we left anyway, outrunning our responsibilities, outrunning our fears, our lives but we could never outrun our destiny. The darkness had come to him, just days before the cancer would consume him. Had I told him who I really was, perhaps he wouldn’t have taken the deal. He would be dead, but atleast the darkness would have had no hold on me. Perhaps the legion would not have kicked me out of the only family I had left without him.  

Now, as I walked the trivial line between darkness and light as most spiritually lifted did. Only now I was not fighting, I could not fight. All I could do was feel my soul slowly crushing by the growing knowledge that our side was weakening, I was nothing but a stray leaf drifting in wind. I felt the cries of sorrow and hope from all the souls who could not find peace. Waiting tell me their stories when I closed my eyes at night. It was agonizing living with all the knowledge, but no connection. It was heartbreaking to see all the broken people for I felt their pain, it was soul-draining to live among the mass population that had absolutely no idea that there was more to the world, their entirety lost too far within the capitalistic machine. It was even more devastating to be left in a room with a spiritual, someone who believed and whose soul was strong enough to see past the materialistic routine of daily life. They were not blind to the destruction of humanity, they too felt the lost souls. They weren’t as informed, but they had trust in the universes directions, and that’s what humanity needed to keep the balance. The people needed to stop falling to the darker pulls of greed, temptation, lust and vengeance and instead listen to the universes answers and follow the paths it provided.  

However, today i was being extended an offering by this angel I had just met. On her small backpack was a shiny red sticker with the words Hello My Name is, and printed, much too perfectly in silver sharpie was Fidem

Her name was Faith.  

-R.S.