#like yes he was a megalomaniac and also a tyrant and he needed to be eliminated

[thatswhatsushesaid]

🫠

[infinizero]

Ok so

There is this trope about ghosts not reaching maturity until they've been ghosts for several centuries

There is ALSO the trope that ghosts fight as a sort of way to communicate

With the power of these two tropes combined-- I give you this strange headcanon:

Ghosts become mature adult ghosts after 500 years.

Danny and his usual troublemakers are all in the same "daycare".

He's just the youngest + most unique ghost so they like playing around with him the most. In other words, it's the ghost version of older siblings ordering their younger siblings around

As far as ghosts go,

There are blobs, ghost animals, shades (those are ghosts as we know it) and ghosts (aka Infinite Realms Beings) etc etc

The blobs and etc are, well, blobs and etc

But ghosts need a while to fully grow up and be considered adult

And so, if these ghosts are children, they need guardians or caretakers at the daycare right?

Correct

Baby ghosts are under the care of the nearest authority (Ancient or Leader or etc etc)

Except baby ghosts usually stay near where they were born and Danny and Co just so happen to be near Pariah Dark

Pariah Dark is asleep

But Fright Knight is there!

Except Fright Knight is also sealed

And it's one thing to wake up the ultra powerful megalomaniac tyrant kinda parent figure but not really you're supposed to have and another to drag your oldest adult sibling out of their room to touch grass

In other words, the surrounding authorities just went eh the babies can contact fright Knight if anything happens

But then Danny defeats Pariah and inherits his authority

So he technically becomes the caretaker of baby ghosts in the area while being the youngest baby ghost himself

Hence the other ancients visiting and *playing* with him to see if it's ok to leave the babies with this other baby

And since they're ghosts who don't have human guidelines or morals, decide that since he's that strong it should be fine to leave it alone

Besides he has Fright Knight! Good 'ol Frighty will definitely help out this new baby kid ghost with doing everything!

Meanwhile, Fright Knight waiting for Danny to come claim the crown and ring: ...

Cue Danny's rogues coming up to him to show him shit they accomplished

Youngblood : Phantom look at this cool baking soda volcano that spews out real lava!!

Danny: It does WHAT

Youngblood: Look!

Danny: NO

Ember: Hey Babybop wanna listen to the new song I wrote? It compels humans to start cults based on my name!

Danny: Ember, no

Ember: I think you mean Ember YES

Skulker: Ghost boy I have skinned an alien and brought you a pelt turned into a coat

Danny: ...you did WHAt

Skulker: It is nearing winter time and one must always be ready for winter time

Danny, having an existential meltdown after seeing his parents and Vlad get it on together: Desiree what the actual fuck??? Did you do????

Desiree: I merely fulfilled a wish

Johnny: Hey Phantom look we got matching tattoos to celebrate our anniversary!

Kitty: Wait what did you just say?

Johnny: uh, we got tattoos for our anniversary?

Kitty: ...our anniversary is in TWO MONTHS. THAT was for my DEATHDAY.

Johnny: ...oh shit

Danny, about to soup them both: Man, get good

Lunch Lady: Phantom have you eaten your proteins today?!

Danny: uh... Yeah?

Lunch Lady, already throwing meat at him: EAT MORE

Danny:

Box ghost: WITNESS! THE GREAT BOX MECHA!

Danny: oh come on seriously

And on the other hand,

Walker, dumping ten piles of paper in Danny's room: Phantom, here are the latest forms that need revisions

Spectra: What do you MEAN you're not allowing me to open a beauty salon in order to dig into other girls' insecurities and maintain my own beauty?! That's why it's called a beauty salon!!

Cujo and Wulf who are both the best boys and favorites, with smug faces:

Fright Knight still waiting for Danny to accept the ring and crown:

Plasmius: What the heck is this weird feeling my ghost side keeps making me feel??

Plasmius: is it... Is there perhaps a ghostly way I can adopt the little badger??

[monstersdownthepath]

In my homebrew PF setting, one of the most powerful figures the players have met is The Pale King. A very old and Powerful lich, PK has basically created a negative energy plane fortress and a demiplane city where he keeps his mortal subjects. The question I want to ask you is how much do you think a figure such as this could manage their Undead tendencies, by doing things like organised vents of their destructive impulses, maintaining connections to undead and mortals, and deliberately thinking of destruction and entropy in more abstract ways?

Hmmmm

Well, looking at a canon example of a negative energy fortress in Malikar's Keep (Planar Adventures, pg. 116), the lich after which the keep is named spends most of his time using Astral Projection to reach other planes, upon which I assume he vents his undead wrath. I'm sure the attacks by Undead beyond his control, the omnicidal Nightshades, and the Shads also allow him to express his desire for entropy.

That being said, I believe liches are something of a special case when speaking of an Undead's craving for destruction. Their body is undead, yes, but their soul is still technically alive and held within a protected reliquary, and there's no lore on if the contained soul is their true formerly-living soul and thus made up of positive energy, or if it's corrupted into a negative energy quasi-soul like a normal Undead. There's no real clarification if a lich gains a negative soul in their body while keeping their positive soul in their reliquary, or if the truth is simpler and that negative energy is simply used as a power source while the soul guides the body from afar.

All this to say a lich might not experience the same urges that a normal Undead might because their soul may not actually be Undead, just tainted by undeath; and yes, there's a difference. A living soul is nourished by creativity and can grow, learn, and change, while an undead soul cannot (or at least cannot easily). This is perhaps why every lich seems to be gripped by a need to learn, to find some secret or piece of lore that they don't already know and to take greater risks to puzzle out the mysteries of creation, to continue to force themselves to change in order to maintain their living soul.

... And of course, those that don't wish to learn wish to conquer. Whether this is because megalomaniacal ambition is some inborn need that's built into lichdom, or because the kind of people who become liches are the kind of people for whom this behavior is natural (if exacerbated further by undeath), I cannot say for certain, but I'll simply point out that Tar-Baphon, the Whispering Tyrant and one of the eldest and most powerful of liches on all of Golarion, has (arguably) maintained his sanity and stability for thousands of years despite being locked in his own tower for a good portion of that time solely out of a burning and inextinguishable desire to rule creation. The average Undead locked away for that long would either decay entirely or fall into torpor!

To get back to your question, perhaps whatever plans your Pale King makes are what keep him active and sane long past the time he would have become maddeningly bored. Even if he's not actively malevolent, simply considering ways in which he COULD be and making plans to conquer, destroy, or control others could help him maintain his mind in the long term. His control over the lives and comfort of his mortal subjects could also be a source of spiritual sustenance, for better or worse, with acts which cause misery and misfortune scratching the itch in his soul for a time.

[trinoxtrinox]

Circumventing partial omniscience

Ectoberhaunt 2022, Side Chaos. Prompt: Coup.

Summary: Pariah Dark has become a megalomaniach warmongering tyrant, and must be stopped. But how can the Ancients begin anything if he has partial omniscience? Well, it's not as hard as it might seem at first sight.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Things were bad, very bad, and the realms wouldn’t be able to deal with it much longer. The Infinite Realms were destabilizing slowly but surely, and the mad conquest Pariah Dark begun centuries ago is taking its toll on everyone within it, not only affecting the veil between the realms, but also any ghost newly formed within this new dark era. Some ghosts dealt with this crisis by running away, others by hiding, many more simply bowed their heads in order to avoid getting themselves ended by the megalomaniac Ghost King, and the Ancients? The Ancients were sleeping.

However this didn’t mean that they didn’t want to do anything, the reason they were sleeping was due to their desire to have a reunion without the mad king knowing of their intentions. Within the realm of the dreams a round table was set up, tea was being served by an invisible hand and cookies remained at the center of it. Surrounding the table were all of the Ancients, Ancient of Time Clockwork, Ancient of Hope Pandora, Ancient of Medicine and Care Frostbite, Ancient of Life Undergrowth, Ancient of Weather Vortex, Ancient of Safety Marduk, and finally the owner of the dream realm everyone was residing in, Ancient of Dreams Nocturn.

“It is very rare for everyone present to allow themselves to come to my realm, it is such a pity that I won’t be able to weave precious dreams for any of you today”

“Worry not Nocturne, I’m pretty sure we can get everyone to sleep sometime soon.” Undergrowth comforted his friend a little, it is well known that for life to thrive they need to sleep a certain period of time, and as the Ancient of Life, Undergrowth also follows their patterns in order to be more attuned with them.

“While sleep and dreams are often important for maintaining one’s mental state healthy, I’m afraid that your dreams have a tendency to overextend themselves into a coma-like state, and those are not healthy, they actually indicate a problem that must be taken care of.” Frostbite offered a rebuttal, yet still maintained his amicable attitude against them.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to a few days of sleep causing mayhem with my tornadoes, but them leaving no consequences after their actions ruins half the beauty of my precious natural disasters.”

“We should return this meeting’s purpose back on track. We’re here to discuss how we’ll dethrone Pariah Dark.” Observant Marduk reigned in the conversation.

“Yes, I predict we only have 15 more minutes before he notices we’re all asleep in your realm and tries to make a move against you.” Clockwork relied the worst case scenario he could see at the moment, and that got everyone to shut up for a few seconds before Pandora opened her mouth.

“Well, I certainly hope that we’ll be able to find a solution to our problem with the mad king today.”

“And that’s our cue to start talking about a way to get rid of him. Any ideas?” Frostbite clapped his hands together, bringing everyone’s attention to him.

“I’d say we end him once and for all.” Vortex let his opinion be clear, his swirly tail reflecting his opinion of wanting to be done fast with this by spinning faster than usual.

“No, if we do that we’ll be forced to find a new ruler, and the realms are not ready for that, especially if we need to fix all the problems brought by the mad king first.” Observant Marduk shut down his idea.

“In that case a seal would be for the best. If we can find a way to trap him before he attacks us it would be for the best as well.” Undergrowth proposed next, smelling a flower he was holding in his hand all the while.

“That’s a brilliant idea, the thing is how to seal him though.” Pandora congratulated the plant ghost. After that comment she spun towards Clockwork, and everyone casted their gaze in his direction.

“I foresaw this possibility, and have already talked with Kagu-tsuchi in order to create something strong enough to contain the sealed Pariah Dark. I’m sure you’ll find it enjoyable as well Nocturne.”

“Oh? Are we putting the mad king to sleep then? I can’t say I won’t enjoy every single dream and nightmare he might have then.”

“Yes we are, according to Kagu-tsuchi, the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep should be done in about 2 weeks, we need to resist until then and plan for a way to knock him out when the time comes so we can seal him away without any troubles.”

“Considering his ability to oversee everything that happens in the realms, that won’t be an easy task.” Ancient of Safety Observant Marduk noted

“But that doesn’t mean that it’ll be impossible, we just need to distract him.” Pandora, ever the strategist, proposed her idea. “We can’t do any concentrated attacks however, otherwise he’ll focus on us since we’d be the biggest threats.”

“So causing chaos throughout the whole realms? That’s exactly what I like to do .” A grievous smile appeared across Vortex’s face, him already imagining the different things he could do and incite.

“In order for us to knock him out we’d need to attack all at the same time at almost point blank.” Frostbite continued, “It’s feasible, but hard enough that we’ll have to coordinate very well before delivering the final hit so as to avoid giving Pariah any chance to strike back.”

“Once we wake up, come to my realm, I'll give everyone a communication flower so as to allow us all to talk with each other without having to depend on dreams like now.”

“I’ll make sure to oversee Pariah Dark’s movements.” Marduk said, separating himself from the round desk.

“Leaving so soon? And here I was going to say I’d go to Kagu-truchi to engrave some runes in the sarcophagus to incite sleepiness and keep whoever’s trapped inside in a deep slumber.”

“It is time for us to leave, Pariah Dark is beginning to be suspicious of some of us.”

“I’ll make sure to let my people know of the dangers that are coming afloat.” Frostbite finished the conversation, stood up as well, bowed to everyone, and woke up. Everyone else soon followed his example. It might not begin today, but soon the crown will be put in eternal sleep and the realms will be free of the reign of the mad king.

[resplendentgoldenwings]

The Hope That is You II

So I’ve been meaning to do a longer post about the series finale of Disco but honestly I’ve just really been sort of absorbing it and the two previous episodes these last few weeks. Anyway here are my thoughts.

I haven’t seen much talk about the actions sequences (and yes I know Star Trek isn’t about fight scenes and shit but sometimes it is). Man I loved that shit, ok. Sonequa is a great physical actor and Michael is obviously a very physical person. That whole turbo lift scene was just blew my mind. Like grrrl what is you doin’? I love that Michael is just that fucking brave and bold and physical and terrifying and just out here kickin’ ass and takin’ names. There have certainly been better action scenes and fight scenes in shows but the intensity of that one- I loved it!

Watching her and Book handle Zareh and Ossrya was like yessss! Queen. From “Up here you sonofabitch!” to “No win scenarios, I don’t believe in those.” I was one super happy fangir!

After There is a Tide, I kinda wanted Ossyra to live and hang around for a while. I felt like the episode added some interesting depth to the character, especially since she was being somewhat honest and perhaps genuinely willing to be not horrible. Then Wednesday happened and we still have leaders quibbling about whether or not a certain megalomaniac should be impeached or put on trial because “maybe it’s divisive, maybe it’s not expedient and we need to heal” blah, blah, blah!

 Meanwhile that ass-hole is still making threats and we’re gonna live with what he stirred up for a long time (truthfully I don’t think I’ll rest easily as long as he’s alive, the piece of shit) so it was nice to see a leader who knew and understood what needed to happen, and even nicer to see that tyrant get what the fuck she deserved in the end. It may not be the Star Trek we want but damn if it ain’t the Star Trek we fucking need. 

It was also really great to see the crew working together, to  learn more about Joann and have that moment of Michael and Sylvia’s friendship be so helpful.  Also Joann and Kayla, a couple? Y/N

Book can fly the ship, woohooo!I know some people were a bit confused about the fact that Book could just fly it immediately but the way I understand it Stamets added the tardigrade DNA to his own and that allowed him to navigate the mycelial network itself. Book as an empath wouldn’t be able to navigate the network but the network is an intelligence of a sort that he could communicate with and ask for help. Like how he and his brother asked the locust to go somewhere else.

One moment that really stood out to me was when the crew reunited with Michael on the bridge and Tilly asks Michael to lead them, saying that they all wanted her to take charge. Tilly is radiating so much defeat here and while I was happy to see Michael taking charge I felt so bad for her.

First she never should have been put in that position and second while I think there were things she could have done differently in that moment it seems like even a more experienced officer would have lost the ship under those circumstance. I also caught Michael reacting to it and I hope Tilly’s now damaged confidence is revisited going into s4.

Speaking of Tilly not being ready for command who is Michael’s first officer going to be? I’ve seen two suggestions that I really like. Hugh Culber or Jett Reno.

 Jett Reno is my fave suggestion because I think she would serve as a great counter balance. Michael is level headed but extremely passionate and her emotions run deep. Reno is super steady and I think Michael would benefit from a really, steady down to earth first officer. Unfortunately this won’t be happening Tig Notaro, the actress who plays Reno, doesn’t want to take on a full-time gig, damn it.

Hugh Culber has a similar steadiness but such warmth, compassion and patience that he would be a great support and sounding board for Captain Burnham. And we already have another doctor who takes charges in the sickbay and Dr. McCoy was 3rd in command on the Enterprise if Bones can do it than so can Culber. 

These are my two favorite suggestions. Someone also suggested Owosekun which makes sense and it would give us the chance to get to know the character more. We could go with an outside hire which also makes sense. Discovery should have a liaison officer from the 32nd century. Sure they can look up information in the computer but having someone on hand who knows the places, the politics, the history would theoretically make things go more smoothly. Book can fill that role to an extent but they need someone who knows Starfleet’s current relationship with the rest of the universe first hand IMHO, so I’m all for an outside hire.

I’m just gonna say it Paul is a contentious ass-hole but honestly it’s also what we like about him. Difficult is what he brings to Discovery. And while we can empathize with Paul not wanting to lose Hugh a second time, especially since he’s been through it the first fucking time I hope with all my heart and soul that Michael doesn’t apologize to him or try to make things right. The decision she made to not go back for the away team was the right fucking decision. She’s captain now and this won’t be the last time she has to make a decision like that either. 

What I’d prefer to see for s4 regarding Michael and Paul is that maybe he has an attitude with her for a bit but then Michael has to do something similar with Book (he survives ofc) but Paul actually thaws then. He’s thinking she’s gonna be a hypocrite and inflict things on her crew that she isn’t willing to inflict on herself. Basically he thinks she’s selfish rather than having grown but when that isn’t what happens he ends up being the first to want to reach out to her. Both to maybe comfort her if there is a time where Book’s status is unknown and offer an apology.

It’s not on the captain to make amends for being the captain, it’s the crew to live with it or leave. 

I know this post is like super long already. I wanted to add some stuff about Su’kal and Saru but that’s honestly a whole other post on its own so maybe later. Right now just really looking forward to s4 and finally see Captain Michael Burnham, let’s fly.

[aion-rsa]

Star Trek Villains Who Actually Had a Point

https://ift.tt/3t8D3MQ

This article contains spoilers for various parts of the Star Trek franchise.

Last fall, airing just a few weeks apart, both Star Trek and Star Wars debuted season premieres of new streaming TV episodes in which the heroes of each show had to fight a giant, legless worm-monster. In Star Trek: Discovery’s “That Hope Is You Part 1,” it was the deadly Tranceworm, while The Mandalorian’s “Chapter 9: The Marshall” had the murderous Krayt Dragon. The differences between the Final Frontier and the Faraway Galaxy could not have been made clearer by these dueling beasts: in Mando, the plot involved killing the monster by blowing up its guts from the inside, while in Disco, Book taught Michael Burnham how to make friends with it.

The Trek universe deals with the concept of evil a little differently than many of its famous genre competitors. There is no Lex Luthor of the Federation. Palpatine doesn’t haunt the planet Vulcan. The Klingons have no concept of “the devil.” (At least in The Original Series.) This isn’t to say Trek doesn’t have some very memorable Big Bads, it’s just that most of the time those villains tend to have some kind of sympathetic backstory. Even in the J.J. Abrams films! 

So, with that in mind, here’s a look at seven Star Trek villains who maybe weren’t all bad, and kind of, even in a twisted way, had a point…

Harry Mudd

In Star Trek: The Original Series, Harry Mudd was presented as a straight-up con-man, a dude who seemed to be okay with profiting from prostitution (in “Mudd’s Women”) and was also down with marooning the entire crew of the Enterprise on a random planet (in “I, Mudd”). He’s not a good person. Not even close. But, he does make a pretty could case against Starfleet’s lack of planning. In the Discovery episode “Choose Your Pain,” Mudd accuses Starfleet of starting the war with the Klingons, and, as a result, putting the larger population of the galaxy at risk. “I sure as hell understand why the Klingons pushed back,” Mudd tells Ash Tyler. “Starfleet arrogance. Have you ever bothered to look out of your spaceships down at the little guys below? If you had, you’d realize that there’s a lot more of us down there than there are you up here, and we’re sick and tired of getting caught in your crossfire.”

Seska

At a glance, Seska seems pretty irredeemable. She joins the idealistic Maquis but is secretly a Cardassian spy. Once in the Delta Quadrant, she tries to screw Voyager as much as possible, mostly by hooking up with the Kazon. That said, Seska is also someone caught up in hopelessly sexist, male-dominated power structures and does what she has to do to gain freedom and power. The Cardassian military isn’t exactly enlightened nor kind, so the fact that Seska was recruited into the Obsidian Order in the first place certainly explains her deceptive conditioning. You could argue that Seska could have become a better person once she had Captain Janeway as an ally, but, the truth is, she was still a spy caught behind enemy lines, but suddenly without a government to report back to. So, Seska did what she had to do to survive, even lying to Chakotay about having his child. The thing is, again, outside of Starfleet, Seska is at the mercy of the sexist machinations of the Kazon, so again, she’s kind of using all the tools at her disposal to gain freedom. Had Voyager not gone to the Delta Quadrant, and Seska’s villainy may have been more clear-cut. But, once the reason for her espionage becomes moot, her situation gets more desperate, and, on some level, more understandable. 

Charlie Evans

In The Original Series, Kirk loves telling humans with god-like powers where to shove it. In “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” he phasers Gary Mitchell and buries him under a rock. But, in “Charlie X,” when teenager Charlie Evans also gets psionic powers, Kirk does a less-than-a-great job of being a good role model. For most of the episode, Kirk tries to avoid become Charlies’ surrogate parent, and when he does try, it results in an embarrassing overly macho wrestling match featuring those famous pink tights.

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Charlie was a deeply troubled human being, and there was no justification for him harassing the crew and Janice Rand in specific. But, angry, kids like Charlie have to be helped before it gets to this point. Kirk mostly tried to dodge the adult responsibility of teaching Charlie the ropes, and only when some friendly aliens arrived, did everyone breathe a sigh of relief. But, don’t get it twisted, those aliens are basically just social workers, doing the hard work Starfleet is incapable of.

The Borg Queen

Because the origin of the Borg Queen has dubious canonical origins, all we were told in Voyager is that she was assimilated as a child, just like Seven of Nine. As Hugh and Jean-Luc discuss in the Picard episode “The Impossible Box,” basically, everyone assimilated by the Borg, is, on some level, a victim. The Queen was never presented this way in either First Contact or Voyager, but, at one point, writers Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens had pitched a story for Enterprise which would have featured Alice Krige as a Starfleet medical technician who made contact with the Borg.

Because both Alice Krige and Susanna Thompson played the Borg Queen, it’s possible the backstories of each Queen is different and that maybe they aren’t the same character. Either way, assuming the Borg Queen retains some level of autonomy relative to other drones (likely?) then she’s pretty much making the best of a bad situation. In fact, at the point at which you concede the Borg are unstoppable, the Queen’s desire to let Picard retain some degree of his independence as Locutus could scan as a kind of mercy. The Borg Queen actually thinks she and the Borg are making things simpler for everyone. And with both Data and Picard, she tried to make that transition easier and, in her own perverse way, fun too.

Ossyra

Yes, we saw Ossyra feed her nephew to a Trance worm, and we also saw her try to kill literally everyone on the USS Discovery, including Michael Burnham. However, in the middle of all of that, Ossyra did try to actively make peace between the Emerald Chain and the Federation. And, most tellingly, it was her idea. Ossyra also pointed out one of the most hypocritical things about the United Federation of Planets: the fact that Starfleet and its government rely on capitalism without actively acknowledging it. Essentially, Ossyra was saying that the ideals of the Federation are great, but the Federation has all kinds of dirty little secrets it doesn’t want to talk about. In her meeting with Admiral Vance, pretty much everything she said about the Federation was true—and her treaty proposal was fair. 

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The only snag: she wouldn’t turn herself over as a war criminal. Considering the fact that the Federation made Mirror Georgiou into a Section 31 agent, despite her war crimes in another universe, this also seems hypocritical.  Why not just do the same thing with Ossyra? Tell everyone she’s going to prison for war crimes, but make her a Section 31 agent instead? Missed opportunity! 

Khan

Khan was genetically engineered by wacko-a-doodle scientists at the end of the 21st Century. At some point on Earth, he became a “prince” with “power over millions.” But, as Kirk notes in “Space Seed,” there were “no massacres” under Khan’s rule, and described him as the “best of the tyrants.” Kirk’s take on Khan in “Space Seed” is basically that Khan was an ethical megalomaniac. Most of what we see in “Space Seed” backs this up. Khan doesn’t actually want to kill the crew, and stops short of doing it when he thinks he can coerce them instead. His only focus is to gain freedom for himself and his exiled fellow-Augments. In the Kelvin Universe timeline, Khan’s motivations are similar. Into Darkness shows us a version of Khan who, again, is only cooperating with Section 31 because he wants freedom for his people. Sure, he’ll crush some skulls and crash some starships to get to that point, but in his dueling origin stories, Khan is, in both cases interested in freedom for his people, who, are by any definition, totally persecuted by the Federation.

Khan is still a criminal in any century. But, we only really think of him as a villain because he goes insane in between the “Space Seed” and The Wrath of Khan. The Khan of The Wrath is not the same person we met in “Space Seed.” As he tells Chekov, “Admiral Kirk never bothered to check on our progress.” Had Kirk sent a Starfleet ship to drop in on Khan and his “family” every once in awhile this whole thing could have been avoided. In the prime timeline, Khan goes nuts because Ceti Alpha VI explodes and nobody cares. In the Kelvin timeline, Admiral Marcus blackmails him. Considering that Khan is Star Trek’s most famous villain, it’s fascinating that there are a million different ways you can imagine him never getting as bad as he became. In “Space Seed,” he and Kirk basically part as friends. 

Q

In “Encounter at Farpoint,” Q accuses humanity of being “a savage child race.” And walks Jean-Luc Picard through the various atrocities committed by humanity, through the 21st Century. Picard kind of shrugs his shoulders and says, “we are what we are and we’re doing the best that we can.” When we talk about the philosophy of Star Trek, we tend to give more weight to Picard’s argument: the idea that by the 24th century, humanity has become much better, in general than it is now. But, the other side of the argument; that there’s a history of unspeakable violence and cruelty baked into the existence of humanity, is given less weight. We don’t really listen to Q when he’s putting humanity on trial, because we can’t see his point of view.

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But, because Q wasn’t a one-off character, and because he said “the trial never ends” in the TNG finale, he’s actually not really a villain at all. Q exists post-morality, as we can imagine it. His notions of ethics are far more complex (or less complex) than we can perceive. Q is one of those great Star Trek characters who is actually beyond reproach simply because we have no frame of reference for his experiences or point of view. In Voyager, we also learned that even among other members of the Q Continuum, Q was kinder, with a more humanitarian approach to what he might call “lesser” lifeforms. If Q is villainous, it’s because of our definitions of villainy. Of every Star Trek antagonist, Q is the best one, for the simple fact that he’s not a a villain at all. 

Which Star Trek villains do you think had a point? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Star Trek Villains Who Actually Had a Point appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[korkrunchcereal]

Usurper

Aurelian Indaris was surrounded by morons.

That was the only word he could use to describe the people of the Kingdom Reborn; morons. Every single one of them was a hierarchy of idiots growing increasingly and frustratingly more moronic until they reached the ‘High King’. Aurelian could barely fathom how such a group was capable of threatening Quel’thalas, and yet threaten they did.

Yet if they were morons, what did that make Aurelian? Now, as inevitable battle drew closer with each passing morning he dwelled upon the thought. It wasn’t the first time he wondered if his choice was sound. He had betrayed comrades, allies and friends to serve the Kingdom, yet for what purpose? Power? Ambition?

In the mirror he had told himself it was for Quel’thalas. After all, there was no question that Quel’thalas was no longer in its golden age. Magic and science had been turned from the pursuit of higher understanding, to war. And beneath the shackles of the Horde? The Iron chains of crude industry and megalomaniacal warlords had dragged the Kingdom into war after war.

No, Quel’thalas had long left its golden age, but did the Kingdom truly offer such a return? Aurelian could not help but muse in the irony of their message. Unity. It was a powerful word, strong enough to rally commoner and noble alike to the azure banner of the Kingdom Reborn. Yet in such unity came annihilation; winter, which even now raged outside of Aurelian’s tent, had been brought by the hands of the Kingdom. High King Merik Morningstar had preached unification even as his men butchered Sin’dorei and starved the people with the frozen embrace of a false winter.

The greatest irony was that in order for Merik’s great unity, he needed to divide the people. Cousin turned against cousin as elf kind warred for control of Quel’thalas. In the middle of this conflict was Aurelian, and even as he sat before his mirror gazing upon a perfect reflection he could see how twisted his morals and conscious were.

Already some had likened him to the great traitors of the past; of Dar’khan and Kael’thas, whose wicked deeds were born of a lust for power. Aurelian could not argue against this, for had he not shown such a lust himself? The Gilded Lands were his, a task none in his family had accomplished since the time of Valkorius Indaris, first son of the House. The Tempest Coast was his in all their proud defiance. The Ridges were his, for what good a backwater mountain might have. They were all his.

Yet ambition begets threats. Aurelian could only presume that Merik feared Aurelian. It was the only logical answer he could find for the king’s rampant distrust and disfavor of Aurelian, the only commander who had captured holdings with the true message of the Kingdom at heart; unity. True unity without a single drop of blood being spilled. That was true power, and Merik must have feared that, for why else did he scorn Aurelian?

“You will keep your mouth shut…” Aurelian muttered, tilting his chin and rubbing a hand along it. His eyes fell over his features in the mirror, a frown pulling at his lips. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the handle of the mirror, remembering well Merik’s words to the traitor prince. Keep his mouth shut?

Aurelian?

Such was an insult Aurelian could barely stomach. He was undefeated! He was wealthy! He was a true lord, and such was met with derision and distrust! Did Merik not realize who Aurelian Indaris truly was? Of course not, considering his ‘advisors’.

“Ugh the others!” He shouted aloud, groaning as he kicked his foot forward and made contact with a now empty bottle of wine; one of several scattered on the floor. “Failing in negotiations with the Sunguard? The Sunguard? How utterly incompetent does one need to be to fail negotiations against them? Ugh!”

Aurelian pulled himself up from his chair, swaying as he did so. Light how much did he drink? More importantly, was their anything else to drink. He turned sluggishly, looking around the tent’s floor. Damn, nothing. He needed someone to get more. He needed…

He needed to not be surrounded by incompetent morons. He was punished for success by a mediocre excuse of a king who valued brute intelligence over proper, elven cunning. It was the half-blood nature of the man, Aurelian was sure. A half elf? As king? The thought sickened Aurelian, or perhaps that was simply the wine finally disagreeing with him.

He stumbled to the flap of his tent, falling onto his knees several feet before and crawling the rest of the way there. A shaky hand pulled back the flap, allowing him to stick his head out and heave. Definitely the wine disagreeing with him. The winter’s wind was bitterly cold against his cheeks, and even as he let out a final wretched sound he already felt his nose burn from the cold. Groaning, he fell back into the tent, the back of his head hitting the ground hard.

“Ow! Damn wine; this is why I miss Illonian.” Aurelian weakly brought a middle digit upwards, before letting his arm fall with a dull thud. “Ugh; why is everyone so damn incompetent. The Kingdom is led by fools, the Sunguard is led by bloodthirsty fools, and the Horde is led by a maniacal genocidal bloodthirsty fool. What am I supposed to do?”

Minutes past on the floor though it felt like hours, but soon Aurelian was able to pull himself off the ground and crawl to his desk. Dozens of letters were sprawled across in a disorderly fashion, penned from various commanders, lords and petty nobles seeking his opinion or aid. Aurelian grabbed one simply to read, his brow furrowing in annoyance.

“Dear Lord Indaris. Lord…that should be prince. No respect I tell you. Dear Prince Indaris, I write to request your aid with ensuring the volunteers that recently joined Merik’s army, blah blah blah” Aurelian waved his hand, continuing this single conversation with himself. “What do I care about some common bandits?”

Why did Merik even hire bandits, anyways? They were useless vagabonds born of deserters, farmers and other dead weights to society that did little but serve as meat shields. How did Merik plan to keep his kingdom running if he just kept turning everyone to bandits or made them fight? Who was going to grow crops when winter faded? Moron. The bandits were also morons for believing Merik would offer clemency.

The High King, at the end of the day was little more then a petty tyrant looking to seem important. He didn’t even have a claim! Light the man was more distant a relation to the throne then Aurelian. He was buying his kingdom and his crown with gold and blood…and it had been working. Now the Sunguard was on their doorstep and Aurelian was unsure what would happen save a number of unnecessary deaths. Now, if he were king-

Wait.

What if he was king? Aurelian was partly sitting in his chair, partly crawling up into it as the thought struck him. What if he ruled? He had plans already of course should either Merik or the Sunguard win the coming war, but this was a new idea. This was different.

What if Aurelian was king?

The thought made Aurelian smile. He could be king; all he needed was Merik’s death. At that moment he was thankful not to be among the inquisitors of Quel’thalas, for such treasonous thoughts would surely see him executed. Well, more executed then he already presumed he would be if the Sunguard captured him.

“If Merik dies…No there’s the idiot Palecrown and the twins to stop that. But if they weren’t there? Ah, glorious! Hear that sound; all hail King Indaris. A nice ring, wouldn’t you agree?” He turned his head to look at the mirror, flashing a drunken smirk. “Yes, you do agree don’t you beautiful?” In his wine addled thoughts, treason brewed.

He could be king. Why should he not be? He was ambitious, powerful and wealthy. If Merik did not trust or value Aurelian, then perhaps he should step aside. Perhaps he should die, poisoned or murdered. Perhaps the other advisors should also perish. Perhaps Aurelian should be king.

King Aurelian Indaris had quite the ring to it. But...that was something Aurelian knew would simply be in his thoughts alone. For now, he served Merik and the Kingdom as his treason beget. He would prove Merik wrong, of this Aurelian was certain. He would be loyal...

For now. 

[thewriterandthewitch]

ASGARDIAN EPISTLE 2/3

Summary: Jane writes letters to Darcy to tell her about her stay in Asgard. Surprisingly, Loki is a prominent figure in her letters.

Chapter 1

N/A: Thank you so much to those who read the first chapter! I think there will be one more chapter with other three letters and the epilogue. :) 

Letter 4

               Dear Darcy,

I am not writing you from the top of a tower guarded by a dragon. Thank God, because I am not sure I want to play the role of the damsel in distress. Life in Asgard continues to be as ordinary as it can be in a magical realm.

The most important thing that happened to me this week is that I found some books on my bed. I know that doesn’t sound very significant at first, but what if I tell you the books were in English? I am sure you can imagine who put them there! The idea of Loki Odinson entering my chambers without my permission makes me feel uneasy. I hope he doesn’t expect any favors, because I am pretty sure I haven’t signed any contract or made any deal with him, so I guarantee you he’s not going to have my first-born son.

Talking about fathers and sons, something “funny” happened yesterday during dinner. Loki said: “Father, pass me the salt.” Of course, Loki promptly corrected himself with a “Odin, pass me the salt” but for everyone present, it was too late. He had a slip of the tongue and called his father… well, father, and that couldn’t be erased. During the rest of the meal, everyone kept calling Loki son or brother and Frigga sometimes even dared to call him sweet boy to his mortification. Of course, I couldn’t call him by any other name than his own. I didn’t have affectionate appellatives for him and in that moment, the shows of love that his family bestowed on him seemed to frustrate him more than any insult. I have the impression that he enjoys feeling like the unfavored son because that gives him an excuse to his rage, any proof to the contrary is quite inconvenient to him.

This morning, Thor and I walked around town. It’s still difficult for me to accept that I am dating a crown prince. I suppose it is because in Earth, we all treat him like he’s just one of us, but here in Asgard, a lot of people look up to him. He’s going to be their future king. Or maybe it’s just because he’s part of the royal family because the people here treat Loki with the same deference – although with some apprehension, as if they were afraid that he was going to prank them. Of course, if you ask Loki, he would tell you that everyone ignores him or disrespects him – but again, I am starting to think he loves complaining about being in Thor’s shadow. And I can believe that happened in the past but now, his personality is too explosive to go unnoticed.

Thor is calling me and I need to go.

Love,

Jane.

Letter 5

               Dear Darcy,

I don’t have anything too exciting to tell so forgive me if I use this letter to share all the unanswered questions that plague me. Lately, I’ve been wondering about Thor’s relationship with his brother. Thor’s evident love and admiration doesn’t line up with Loki’s harsh resentment. Although, I have started to suspect Loki’s indifference isn’t real, it’s just his thickest mask.

The truth is that I have never understood why Loki feels such contempt towards Thor. The Warriors Three and Sif are of the opinion that it is simple jealousy, but I couldn’t understand why someone with his brilliant mind, his magic and his charisma could wish for anything else. Some of the answers to this question came in the form of a story: Thor and his friends were reminiscing about one of their past adventures. Fortunately, Loki wasn’t present, because I don’t think he would’ve been appreciative of the dismissive way they narrated his participation. It even offended me.

A long time ago, thousands of years ago when they were merely teenagers and Thor wasn’t yet in possession of Miljonir, the two brothers and their friends decided to walk into Asgard’s forest. If you think the forbidden forest in Hogwarts is a horrible place to take a stroll, Asgard’s dark forest isn’t any safer. There they found a centaur – and they aren’t as peaceful and astronomy-lovers as the ones in Harry Potter. No, they’re quite protective of what they consider their land and they weren’t happy when the princes and their friends stepped into their neck of the woods. Thor started a fight but they were no match for a group of centaurs that were thousand of years older than them. They were all captured, minus Loki, who used his newly-learned invisibility spell to hide in plain sight. Instead of leaving them to their luck – something that the current Loki would probably have done – He shapeshifted into his father and came back to the centaur’s land with the face of the only man the centaurs feared. From what Thor said, he did such a good job pretending to be their father than Thor himself thought for a moment that he was Odin. Thanks to Loki’s plan, the centaurs let them go.

What surprised me is that while they were telling the tale, they seemed prouder of almost besting the centaurs in the fight than of Loki’s impressive magic skills. They dismissed the merit of his rescue saying that Loki always used lies and deceit to get out of every situation. I reminded them that, in this case, he used it to get them out of a bad situation, but apparently it would have been better to rescue them using an honorable battle. Did they really expect Loki to defeat a group of centaurs when the six of them haven’t been able to do so just half an hour ago?. It astounds me how naïve some Asgardians are when it comes to their noble principles. And how can they not see how impressive Loki’s magic is? I have so many questions? How does he manipulate light to make himself invisible? When he shapeshifts, does his interior organs change too or is it only an exterior image? I want to ask about the formulas and the science behind it, but I know he will simply say: “Magic”.

This story makes me wonder if Loki would’ve become a different person if he had been raised in a society where magic was well valued. I know Earth wouldn’t have been the place, yes, Midgardians are fascinated with magic but they also try to capture or kill everything that they don’t understand. But I think maybe Vanaheim would have been a good home for him.

Best wishes,

Jane.

Letter 6

               Dear Darcy,

I think I messed up. Yes, I really messed up. Note to self: Don’t recriminate unstable megalomaniacs about their failed invasions of Planet Earth. I just wanted to understand why he did it, okay? So I asked him. Big mistake. I am starting to suspect that someone forced him to do it. He denied it, of course, but in Loki’s world being a tyrant is better than a puppet. I have never seen him so angry. He didn’t hurt me, don’t worry, he only shouted at me… For a second, he wasn’t the collected and sarcastic man that was always in control. There wasn’t anything controlled in his behavior and the anger in his eyes really scared me. Yes, for a moment, I feared he was going to hit me… and he broke every furniture that he had around him, but he didn’t touch me. He didn’t touch me. (Later, when he calmed down, he waved his hand and all the furniture was fixed. More than fixed, it looked new once again!).

After such a scene, shouldn’t I be the one avoiding him, scared and angry? No, once again, Loki Odinson chose to be the victim in a situation where he’s more predator than prey. He’s ignoring me, avoiding me – to the point where he walks out of the room when I enter it. He’s so infuriating!

I was finally able to corner him in the observatory. And I forced him to admit that he was avoiding me. The asshole had the nerve to tell me “it was for my own good”. In his opinion, monsters shouldn’t hang out with us weak Midgardians. His condescendence is offensive, does he really think I am going to cower just because he shouted at me? I have always known he has a poor opinion on mortals, but this is laughable. The problem is that you can’t have a mature discussion with a baby with the ability to teleport. He just went poof and disappeared, and our discussion was over – just because he said so. He doesn’t know me if he thinks I am going just to give up.

Oh! And last night I went on a romantic date with Thor. It was good.

Well, those have been the highlights of my week. How are you doing?

Love,

Jane.

[deav0rs]

Personally for me, it’s Gamma Jack in particular that I want to see included in Incredibles media. This character is so interesting to me. Horrible, yes, but interesting. According to his NSA file, he had trouble taking on female supervillains because they were attractive, but he did so anyway - I mean, WTF? Also, as a hero, he only liked to save attractive women, rather than just saving whatever people needed help. He was also a megalomaniacal tyrant who believed that heroes were a superior race to humans. If they brought him back for a third Incredibles movie - say, if it turned out he faked his death at Syndrome’s hands - he could make a super interesting and layered villain. I hate and love this guy. 

[tifonbellanariablog]

Weird crackfic I can’t name

  Valentines Day is fucking Valentines day I want to write for you dears feeling lonely.   This ...wow....It has been over ten years since I wrote something this erotic!  Also Roshini is a lawful good but tends to bend the rules when something needs to get done through underhanded means. 

^^; I feel so anxious whenever I post stuff.

‘So...little Par is too busy to show you a comfortable and safe hotel, isn’t she?’ 

You sigh as you watch the clock in a cheap Chinese eletric clock, likes the ones from Casio. It’s 2 in the morning and your friend hasn’t returned from her “night shift”.  

‘Talk about a stupid hour to be lost in downtown Bangkok.’ You comment almost to yourself. 

‘Look...I don’t have a family. There is no need for you to be embarrassed. I can borrow you my bed, Miss.’ 

A thousand thoughts run through your head.  One - the cook and owner of the restaurant is tempting with a tank top and boxers, in that lax way most East Asians dressed in the scorching summer nights. In fact he looked like he walked out of a weird porn movie with the theme of Asian food. He’s lean and muscular, the evening sand complexion resembling a statue in the candlelight. Oval and long features with a sharp chin make him look younger than he probably is. You cannot discern well in the dimness. 

Fanning yourself - either from the alcohol fuzziness  or from the humidity, you don’t know - you sigh.   

‘Do you have a mosquito net?’ 

Washing thoroughly his hands with a herbal-scented soap that seemed to have laying in one of the shelves since the dawning of time, the man smiled warmly.  

‘I tend to know how to make a traditional repellent for bedbugs and mosquitoes. Pine tree incense mixed with peppermint. The little pests hate it. Besides, it’s not like we will be sleeping out in the open. When one of the waitresses happens to forget the bus schedule, there’s always a spare cushion and a summer tunic.’  

‘Oh, dear...I don’t think I’ll be able to get used to this...’ 

‘Worry not, young lady.’ He teased in a surprisingly eloquent voice in English, the slight accent making the bass voice seductive and, yet, so chivalrous. 

A few minutes later, you are in an underground basement area. To the button left, there is a large cushion-like bed. It seems to be made of cushions. It’s colourful. A golden dragon shimmers in the candlelight, embroidered in the thin mosquito net. Eastern one, with three claws. You remember of your cultural mythology lessons - five or four would mean the art is Chinese. This one is Japanese. 

 To your relief, it doesn’t stink of fish or spices. In fact, his musky odor seems to permeate the place.  

He winks, as though asking for your permission. 

You smile bashfully, nodding. It’s not like all the middle-school girls wanted that...but they fantasized about it. Being with a stranger in a dark place...It was dangerous. It was thrilling!   

Placing one hand carefully on your face, he kisses you tentatively. He tastes of black pepper.  Panting, you tear yourself away. 

Wrapping your hands around his waist, you sink yourself to this tall man’s soft caresses. He seems to know how much you like to be touched and where.  

Achingly, you take off your long-sleeved, nearly transparent top. A breathable D-sized cup bra appears to his eager eyes. They seem to glow in the dimness. You pant a soft “sorry, I’m fat”.  

‘No...you’re perfect.’   He says before reaching out, hugging and stroking. It’s a slow, tempting touch. A deep, hungry whisper. That voice is reverent, as though he is in awe. ‘My little Goddess!” You feel two sharp teeth nibbling your shoulders. 

‘God...’ 

‘Not a God...’ He replied in a hissing, groaning voice.    

He rips out his boxers, a long and soft member springing. 

‘We’ll take it slowly, my goddess. Unless you want it otherwise...’  

****

Iran, Persepolis

Roshini woke up, the sound of a woman’s moan and a man’s coaxing and seductive voice filling her dreams. It was a little unnerving. Yet, she had done kinkier stuff with the descendant of the Immortal Emperor. 

Leaning her head against the pale sand chest of Hibiki, she combed back the stray dark strands of hair. 

‘Hibiki? Hibiki...’

‘Yes,. my little lotus nectar?’ The tenor voice drawled. 

‘I just...I remembered the days where there wasn’t a single care in this world or space-time. No warlords, no mighty necromancers attempting to overthrow the course of history...just...us.’ 

Hibiki laughed nostalgically. Embracing her.  

‘You know, I wouldn’t mind roleplaying a megalomaniac evil mastermind. After all, I had so much practice trying to blow up the Shajak dynasty. It’s practically in the genes.’ 

‘Should I bring the iron cuffs? I’ll be the powerful and kind goddess and you the crazed Human tyrant...’

‘Oh yes, dear! Punish me!’  Hibiki laughed as he patted his rear. 

‘Really...It wasn’t your fault - that dynasty was ruled by a corrupt king----’ 

‘A corrupt king who sentenced my poor aunt to death. It doesn’t take a small land to make a man a monster.’ 

Roshini brushed the toes of her left foot against the iron chains, once used by Persian kings to tame dragons. Or at least, to tame the magical creatures that weren’t as powerful to reduce towns to dust. Hibiki had often turned the table on any Human man - or woman - who desired to control him, whether for his skills as an assassin, or in his beast form.  He was a man...A man she loved. 

‘I’m glad we managed to receive these from the Ayatollah in time. Kato Yasunori would offer a billion of dollars for these. Then, he’d likely try to contact other types of dragons...’  

‘Don’t forget about the arms smugglers who would wish to get their hands on that. You know, little Kinnaree...You’re my own personal light. Fighting demons or thwarting evil megalomaniacs, you’re my lighthouse in the end of the tunnel...’

Roshini placed the chains next to him, a tender smile on her triangular face. 

She felt slightly ashamed of her own voice. Yet, it was that voice that mellowed the hearts of men. It was her female voice that have had been the  catalyst to getting to know the elite of Syria, Iraq and Iran. 

[abundantchewtoys]

HS Epi Meat, p13 reaction

I suppose it is time for John's therapy session. :p It'd be interesting seeing Rose do real one, not one stuffed with jabs and such. Though, it would hardly be a private conversation on account of all the jelling involved.

Sad to say that there is no way out of there for them, apart from the preordained timeline, it seems. It'd be nice if they could stick it to Paradox Space one more time. But the house seems to be more isolated from canon in such an extreme manner, in barring even retcon powers from being used.

If John started talking about his feelings and how he came by it, though, in a way that would mirror the first hours he had those retcon powers. Adrift on his personal timeline (though it also included other people's), steerless.

Also, I hope from their subjective viewpoint, it isn't quadrillions years before the four of them resurface, obviously. In fact, I hope it's mere hours.

And that John may fix his glasses, or realize he doesn't need them any more, like Spider-Man.

"> Be John again.

It seems as if you’re attempting to be John again, with the expectation that we might spend a little more quality time with him in his cubicle of misery and self-loathing. You guessed we might really start to unpack his depression issues. Get to the bottom of all that. Well, nice try." ... Pfff, what, is the house barred from us viewing it? Why then did we see the start of their captivity? ... Is it because they weren't yet banished to the Furthest Ring?

Well, the good news is that if that's the case, we're in for a time skip. The bad news is that we're once again skipping a salacious bit of plot, but well, it's the epilogues, not the everything-logues. (And Homestuck was already not that keen on showcasing every little tidbit of conversation & interaction, anyway. Leave some for the fan artists, ey?)

"John can’t be here right now, because he’s stuck somewhere in the harrowing nexus between canon, post-canon, non-canon, outside canon, and fanon." Pfffff, ah, so he's so very unstuck his state has started following the uncertainty principle. :p

"He also can’t be here right now because, for the time being, we’re done wasting our breath on such a sad loser." yeah right.

"It’s well overdue for the true hero of this tale to take center stage.

> Be Vriska."PFFFF XD WHAT. No way. Vriska??? She's taking the POV?? Well, I hadn't expected that.

Guess we're being post-retcon Vriska, since that's the Vriska still intent on relevance at all cost. Also, apparently it's a Vriska that would hold John in disdain now, if the narration is to believed. Guess it is because he's been slacking off for seven years.

I suppose we'll be her some time right before she went to confront Lord English? Or, you know, it could be we're being her as she's stuck in a stalemate with him, as the Furthest Ring is sucked into the Black Hole around them. Just before the house spits out the kids. If they're really in a stalemate, that'd be a nice mirror to how Aradia was stuck holding Bec Noir back for a while, in the troll session after her ascension.

Though I wonder about the things the humans can do once they're out. They're not any more equipped to handle an adult Caliborn than before, eggsword not withstanding. Unless their stay in the house juju gave them all retcon powers or other. I can see them whisking away Vriska & Davepetasprite^2 & Aradia (if they're near), to regroup and create a new plan of attack.

Even though it'd be nice if they're already capable of handling LE, just imagine Vriska's reaction to her ultimate weapon failing. :D

So, ready for self-indulgent, self-agrandizing megalomaniac monologuing? I guess we are.

"Lord English stands before you in all his time-eating, universe-ending glory."IT IS TIME. TIME TO SEE HOW THIS SCENE CONTINUED. I'm psyched. I suppose there won't be any dialogue with LE, he's pretty much refrained from talking to anyone except the Handmaid. Though a "GIRL. YOU THERE. GIRL." wouldn't be out of place right about now.

"now you’re presiding over a whole host of ghosts ready to throw themselves once more into the maw of this final battle." Ah, right. The army wasn't entirely evaporated by LE, it stands to reason almost every ghost joined the army, so the ones sucked into the Black Hole were probably ex-members.

"You know that this isn’t your battle to win, but you are definitely the sign of the tide turning." Well, what do you know, for once she doesn't see herself as the main girl. Guess she thinks of the house juju then as the real 'winner'? Not Alternate Calliope?

"you deployed the white, house-shaped juju from the red chest. It grew to an enormous size, slammed down on whatever was passing for the floor in this esoteric battle environment, and a door materialized on its surface."OH RIIIIIIGHT. The door! I remember now. So that's gotta be the way out for the four, right? I suppose there's going to be some magic bullshit involved, where every kid sees a door inside their own separate room appearing, it leading out to the same exit location, namely right there in the dreambubbles. So, wait, I'm confused, didn't the door like face LE? Guess we'll just put it on Vriska "stealing" a peek of that viewpoint while being safely on the other side, using Thief of Light powers.

"You now stand off to the side looking especially pleased with yourself, waiting for the legendary weapon to unload itself toward the hulking tyrant." ... Ah. She thought she could just sit back and let whatever's inside do the dirty work for her. Guess she's about to be enormously let down. :p Also, confused at adult John.

"You’ve now got two bitches of either gender at your side: your main girl Meenah, who you stole from that embarrassing past version of yourself that you owned so hard you bet she’s probably /still/ crying. And Tavros. Not just any random ghost copy of Tavros, of which there appear to be thousands. Your Tavros, specifically, who’s been pathetically trailing after you like a lost barkbeast since you showed up." Ah yes. This is really the Vriska way of thinking about the world. For one, it isn't actually /her/ Tavros, since this is his pre-retcon ghost, the one that was once part of Tavrisprite. So, like, it's (Tavros). For another, Meenah wasn't stolen, she came willingly, nor did (Vriska) in the end remain crying.

... Hmm, so if Vriska assumed this Tavros to be hers, did she think she killed Tavros again? On account of creating GCATavrosprite, who was very unstable last she knew?

"It looks to you like the complete obliteration of space and time, the end of all things, the disintegration of literally thousands of ghosts." So... Yeah, they're sitting this one out and letting the ghosts keep LE at bay until the house juju finishes unloading.

"And no doubt your admirers out there would love it if you described it all in painstaking detail, but you’re not an executionist. You just call it like you see it, and what you’re seeing right now is pretty awesome." Sorry admirers! Vriska's not an executionist. An executioner, sometimes, but not the other thing.

"Kind of an overworked character design, you think to yourself. If someone showed you a drawing like this on their FLARP sheet you’d probably be obligated to immediately kick their ass." I'd like to have seen that, though. Vriska talking some sense into Caliborn about his OC. :p

"There’s a lot going on, from his vein-popping muscles to his eight-ball eyes to his pirate leg and his ostentatiously bright, gold pimp cane." Oh, right, the eyes were stuck in 8-ball mode! We assumed it had to do with him having become vulnerable, but that remains to be seen. And, uh, didn't Spades Slick have his cane last we knew? ... Hmm. Weird. Then again, during Collide we saw the weapon getting duplicated through Terezi and Dave's fraymotif, let's say it glitched something else too.

"MEENAH: im goin back fin MEENAH: you comin vris VRISKA: Of course!!!!!!!! VRISKA: But give me a minute. VRISKA: I want to SEE." Ah, okay, they were catching their breath, is more like it. So, is Vriska waiting to see the house unload, or is it like Blaperile thinks, she wants to see Meenah in action? If the latter, we'd get some insight into what she sees in the mini Condesce. Also, whether it has any foundations for a stable relationship at all.

Gotta say, I don't think we saw Vriska & Meenah use a fraymotif together yet. Maybe now would have been appropriate.

"This is what you always felt you were destined for, somehow. Standing at the end of the universe and seeing how it all goes down." I thought that was what Aradia always wanted though. :p She'd hate that, the thought of having that in common with Megido.

"Tavros is clinging to your arm like a little crybaby, while crying, you assume" Meanwhile, (Tavros) is probably thinking he's bonding, or something. :/

"You crane back your neck and:

> Watch Lord English put a crack in reality." Hmm, I think he might be trying to crack this part of the Furthest Ring same as before, though. Wait, yeah, if he does that, that's the cue for his circle being completed, and then the Black Hole will come through!

"You thought maybe he’d do something stupid, like punch the sky with his gross, throbbing muscle arm? But all it takes for him to shatter the roof of existence is a single, ear-splitting roar." Yeah, LE roars to crack through dimensions, it's Superboy that throws punches.

"Get smashed in the head?

It was so fast and dark you didn’t see it—the shard of space-time that split off from above and hurtled toward you. Your body rocks back, whiplash fast, and you nearly keel over. You’re still standing though, and laughing." Guess it's a good thing she's so high up on her god tiers, I suppose.

"That’s what you were doing when Lord English put a split in the fabric of reality. You were /laughing/, not crying. It doesn’t hurt at all." Pffff, okay then. It would've been a humane gesture, but she doesn't acknowledge she's capable of it so neither will I.

"TAVROS: vRISKA,,, aRE YOU OKAY?" Well, I don't think getting knocked in the head could've made her any MORE unhinged.

"Your eyes spin. All eight of them." ... Right, her eight pupils. That must be a freaky field of vision she has.

"It’s not a big deal though. Just a scratch. It’s fine fine F8NE." Well, a confrontation with the limits of her own immortality has been long overdue, after all see how long it took (Vriska) to come to terms with it! Leave it to Vriska to engage full Black Knight mode when she's injured. "It's just a flesh wound!"

"Why is broken space-time so sharp? Like splintered obsidian. Feels like it barely grazed you, and yet..." I don't suppose this could be weaponized AGAINST LE some how, right? Just saying, we already have Space & Time player in the backstage, waiting to go. And a fraymotif that perhaps failed to kill Bec Noir but might still be able to do something on a Time player.

"Everything around you begins to spin, and you’re not sure if... you can’t /quite/..." Wow. She's going to pass out and miss the house unloading? Didn't see that coming!

"the broken-glass sound of the ceiling of space splitting into hundreds of shards of potentiality." So the Furthest Ring is an inherent well of potential, like Skaia? Guess that it's due to all the aspects being interlocked out there.

"You wipe your bloody hand on the leg of your jeans and sneer with rage. You won’t go down so easily." Psyche! Guess she's just mad now. The gloves might be coming off. Will she try to steal his luck first?

"VRISKA: You’re so intolera8le! I... I need to........ VRISKA: Tavros, g-go. Find... f8nd Meen8h." This. I like seeing that moment when Vriska falters, and learning about all the ways she reacts to it.

"you’re distracted by something in the corner of your glasses. Your Trollian alert is blinking. There’s a message from Terezi." Pffffffff, wait what?? Talk about interrupting an important moment to check your mail! Wait, but, this is probably Terezi post-victory, right? 2 years into Vriska's subjective future? Oh wait, right, Terezi also sent her a message right before her Mindy thing, I almost forgot. If my theory is correct, then Terezi forced her ultimate self from coming together in that instant. I wonder if afterwards, she has some words for Vriska. Words of advice, or words of the heart, now she knows all about the Game Over timeline. They were supposed to have become moirails, but it didn't seem like either was doing too good of a job of it, before.

"You suddenly wonder if it’s been years from her perspective, waiting for you to respond, given how time moves differently out here. Were you too preoccupied with your incredible heroic exploits to notice?" Well, at least it provokes some reflection into Vriska, thinking about Terezi. I'm kind of reminded of someone checking their Gmail after not having logged in for years, only to find messages of old friends that were never answered. That's a special kind of embarassment, even if you are technically blameless for not responding in time.

"keep both feet planted firmly... whoops." Did the cracks reach her underfooting?

"You try to regain your footing, but you realize you aren’t in danger of falling over." Well, she CAN fly, as a god tier.

"You understand what’s happening. It’s the black hole."DUN DUN DUNNNN. Can't escape such a paranatural cataclysm on fairy wings. There's suddenly something more dangerous than the time mobster on the battlefield!

"Your hand goes wide and your fingers close around empty space as you reach impotently toward the glowing symbol of everything you ever believed you were meant for." Eeesh, could it be she's actually going to get sucked in before anyone can get to her?? It seems the kids are supposed to be LET out, they can't exit themselves. It reminds of how Karkat was reaching for the door just as Bec Noir entered their session, just a moment too slow.

"Another black shard of space-time hurtling through the void. It collides with your chest, right at the place where your ribcage connects, and sends you spiraling ever faster toward the deep, dark maw of infinity." ... She's been hit right about were her Light symbol is, isn't she? Where in the Game Over timeline, Terezi stabbed through her back out her chest. Guess you can't run from some circumstances in Paradox Space.

I wonder though, if this could be the end for post-retcon Vriska? Wouldn't have thought it possible before, but she's in dire straights. But then, what? Game Over Vriska finding a way to access her memories, having another go in her stead? She's dead though, somehow I think ghosts are exempt from reaching ultimate self awareness, no matter how much they have been seen changing outwards and inwards from when they were alive. ... Well, to be fair, John still has that ring on him, that he's bound to be giving to someone, it could just as well be (Vriska)!

"A black hole is something not even a god tier player can survive, you suspect. And even if one could, you highly doubt there’d be any clawing your way out of its event horizon and back into relevance. Not this time." ... That WOULD be a highly efficient way to get rid of Lord English, if we can be certain he can't blast his way out.

"finally you lose all sense of composure. You flail, spin, and flip in helpless little circles like a bloody rag doll, and you begin to scream." Wow.

"> JOHN: Emerge from the juju." Uhmm. They're going to be just too late, right? Guess Vriska and John never really got their synchronization in order, it was just the same way for their planned d8.

But, if Vriska wouldn't be around, how would they even know the slightest bit of what's going on here from first sight. Can't see Meenah or Tavros sharing valuable tactical information.

Maybe John will go zap her out of need first. ANYHOW. Guess we're finally doing this!

"The first thing you hear is a tiny scream getting sucked into oblivion. The voice is familiar" ... Wow. That's. A harsh way to go for anyone. Guess Vriska managed to put all the pieces in place, though At the Price of Oblivion. Unless it's a dreambubble ghost he hears instead, this is Exit Vriska. I do wonder if even her memories can be saved from the black hole.

"It’s not just a crack in your ears. This crack goes all the way down your spine. You almost don’t react to it because it’s so familiar. Around you, a cacophony rises up like steam." Oh boy, are they under attack, or is the crack just the previous one LE started, further moving underneath their current footing?

"DAVE: oh shit DAVE: its really popping off out here" Well, that's one way to put it. :P Guess it might be time to, uh, "drop it like it's hot while the pimp's in the crib", Dave. Okay, and maybe John just has crack-fatigueness from having heard it in his dreams so many times before.

"You can’t see anything but big, bright smears all along the horizon. You fish the two halves of your broken glasses out of your pocket and hold them up to your face." This is so unheroic, and yet I feel for John in this moment. Needing glasses really sucks on occasion.

"You can feel it now. The moment reality yawns too wide and snaps in half." Le moment supreme is nearing. Though, to be fair John, your reality has already split, into Meat and Candy. :P

Now, as for Vriska. I don't suppose her death, if she dies from the experience, would have her see resurrected elsewhere in the dreambubbles? I mean, okay, I guess it wouldn't really count as heroic, since it's more like a death from natural causes, no matter how unnatural they are in actuality. So that would mean she just gets resurrected over, and over, and over... Eesh.

Is it bad that I have 'Remember Me' from Disney's Coco stuck in my head now? Cause it's basically all Vriska ever wanted, to be remembered for her greatness.