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constantvariations · 2 years

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V9C4

Finally here after several hours of a dnd session zero, so this whiplash is going to be interesting

Post Ep: not as infuriating as the last episode but still missteps at pretty much every turn. At the very least we can say there’s been character “progression”

God Ruby’s voice is so damn bad I thought it was a literal child calling for a cat. Why does she sound more mature at 15 than 17?

Did we really need a close up of the cat piecing itself back together? We already know it can do wacky things with its ugly gradient body, so why the emphasis here? I doubt it’s foreshadowing for a permanent bisection

“Nothing we’ve tried has gotten us any further.” Ruby. Darling. Babe. You’ve tried walking to the tree. Nothing else. It’s not the cat’s fault you can’t think of something else besides Scooby Doo hijinks with the looping sections

What the hell is Yang now? She hasn’t been fun or quippy since Beacon but now (and that one spot in V8) she’s suddenly Joss Whedon with a dash of Hulk rage? And I can’t recall Weiss ever having these kinds of facial expressions. Judgmental commentary, sure, but this feels like she’s 3 seconds away from saying something into the camera like this is the Office

“Just because [the cat] doesn’t want to go back to the tree doesn’t mean we can’t lure them there.” That’s... a curious choice of words. Why “lure?” You lure someone into a trap or an ambush, not ask someone to be a guide. Why wouldn’t Blake use the obvious direction of “we can make a deal with the cat because they’re curious and want information we have.” You can’t really call someone a hero when their instinct is deception of a potential ally who’s already saved their asses for no real reason

Are they going to be losing the cat the whole damn episode? Is that going to be the running gag? I fucking hope not. Ruby’s voice is absolutely obnoxious this episode

She’s talking to the cat like he’s a literal toddler. And it’s acting like a toddler with an ipad. Someone put me down like Old Yeller please

Which of these idiots thought lampshading was a good idea? Like, congrats! You recognize the flaws in the story you wrote! How are you going to fix them 10 years too late? You can’t wink, wink, nudge your way out of shitty writing that you so desperately defended and clung to despite all the people giving actual constructive criticism

Why are all of them so tired of the questions? Surely, each of them have something they’d be ecstatic to talk about at length? Ruby with the progression of weapon development, Weiss with her plans to improve the SDC, Blake with other stories she’s read or how the White Fang came and fell, Yang with stories about Ruby when she was younger. There’s so many possibilities when you have a genuinely curious audience, yet they went the lazy route of “har, har, no one cares about anything” again

Was that bridge made of legos?

Okay, this is the second time the roles of acres have been mentioned. Exactly what does that mean? Do these roles serve a central purpose? The tree seems to be at the center of Wonderland, so are the acres serving the tree in some way? Is harmony throughout the different factions pivotal in keeping Wonderland in wonder instead of despair? What could this possibly mean for any themes or character arcs? It doesn’t seem like the areas thus far have resonated with any of the team, and they left behind Penny’s halo sword, the only thing that’s been even somewhat emotionally compelling, so I’m struggling to understand why Wonderland is set up like this

Love how literally nobody asks the obvious question of “are you okay?” All we get is Yang’s “Rubes?” (has she ever called Ruby that before? I can’t recall) and Blake’s logical deflection and Weiss whining yet again. You’d think for a season that cut away from the bloated cast to focus on the main characters they would, I don’t know, focus on the main character

This is the least Little has talked the entire season. Please keep the cat around more so this shithead will shut the fuck up. Also, Little deadass pointed to where the cat went and y’all don’t immediately follow? Are you trying to get lost?

Okay. Not gonna lie. The caterpillar’s design is dope as shit. The triple eyes in that gorgeous green. The pointy mouth that moves like a skeleton’s jaw. The two-toned wings. The antennae and little spikes. The collar and vest. That ~voice~ Fucking A+ The only thing I’m side-eyeing is the accessories. Hopefully I’m wrong - I’ll be the first to admit I’m not well versed in Indigenous cultures - but the coloring is very reminiscent of turquoise which was an incredibly significant mineral to Southwestern Native American tribes, most commonly associated with Navajo, and Caterpillar’s jewelry designs reflect this as well. My quick google search for this specific design mostly ends up being “hippie aesthetic” which does take inspiration from Indigenous aesthetics, so I can’t really say for certain which one crwby looked at for the design. Given the Medicine Man trope and the herbal smoking in the OP, I’m not holding out much hope

“Growgurt” sounds so damn gross please never say it again

They are really hammering this “who/what are you” thing directly into your eardrums aint they? I’m not entirely sure how this answer affects a recipe, but go off I guess Also, note how Caterpillar gets just the bit exasperated and Yang’s immediately in a fighting stance. The others are afraid, for some cocksmith of a reason - all homeboy did was grumble, what y’all scared of? Did y’all suddenly develop RSD? - but this bitch at half a foot is ready to throw down

Caterpillar is speaking philosophy 101 and these idiots are acting like he’s speaking ancient greek. I hope he poisons the lot of them

“This is how a king winds up a prince.” Does that imply that the prince was genuinely the king that played Alyx but he’s somehow reverted back to a toddler? That raises way too many questions I have no care to even ponder

This far in and we have no idea who or what Caterpillar was to Alyx. Not even a whispered expo-dump, which would be stupid easy given that most of them are tiny. Yet Blake, upon seeing the smoking, is like “we gotta dip” which so par for the course in every episode thus far. This better not be crwby’s attempt at an anti-drug message or I swear I’m gonna toss a fridge into space

Oh christ on toast the Beacon outfits don’t deserve this slander

“You could just be human or just a cat.” Once again, weird phrasing. Like, yeah, it’s clarified that it’s about trying to bring peace between humans and faunus, but why wouldn’t you phrase it in a way that sticks closer to that sentiment rather than acting like she has the Yamato and can carve out what she doesn’t like? What would it even mean to Blake to “just be a cat?” Would that mean living in Menagerie forever with no worries about humans? Would she turn into an actual cat? She just has fucking cat ears man, this is so overblown

Wow, these “I know who I am” speeches suck ass. They’re so vague and InSpIrAtIoNaL I’m wondering if this is supposed to be a mature cartoon or a reading of those posters they put up in school halls of cats in trees with the quote “hang in there!”

“I’m the granddaughter of a hero” bitch who? Who is this mysterious hero? If someone doesn’t know or watch the Remnant expo-dump series, they don’t know who you’re talking about Weiss! You can’t bring up something in the main story if the context is shoved in a spinoff! Also, “daughter of a villain.” Babe, your father was a clown at best and a business major at worst. Villain is not a title he deserves “I will not be defined by my name because I will be the one to define it.” Uhhhhh exactly where in this redefinition is compensation for the lives stolen by your family company? Have you thought of that, Miss Heiress? When your name has that big of an impact, I don’t think you get to be the sole decider. Also, you have siblings who might want a say in it too

Still pissed that the whole “Missing Summer” arc was shoved onto Ruby, who was what? 2? 3 years old when she left? Ruby talks to her gravestone, sure, but as for memories or stories, she hasn’t had a single one. This entire thing falls flat because there was 0 buildup

“You’re supposed to be helping others find their way, but you’ve lost your own.” WHAT WHAT WHAT THE FUCK. Jesus on a toaster strudel can you not villainize every single person who slightly questions uwu precious Ruby? He literally helped the other 3 cement themselves, why doesn’t that count? Sure, it was against their will and all, but these girls clearly need some goddamn help if they can’t answer a basic question like “what is a huntress?”

There are so many questions about those last 20 seconds that I don’t even know what to do with them. Let’s just sum it up with “what the fuck”

#rwde #i know who nicholas schnee is i just dont care #this one didnt actively piss me off but it did make me look up a bunch of stuff related to native culture so i wouldnt be reaching #its hard to trust the online stuff tho since so many folks wanna pretend to be native so they can sell bullshit #if anyone has any trustworthy sites please let me know! ive been meaning to learn more about the cultures #i want to be able to write indigenous characters without falling into the harmful tropes or misinformation #still not sure if im reaching on the caterpillar or not but given rts history... :/#we already had a racist romani stereotype this season #we could make a bingo board of all the racist shit these idiots pull lol #gotta say tho i do like the multi colored leaves. those are really pretty and not oversaturated #the cat keeps getting uglier the longer i look #if the caterpillar is gone do they still need to find the growth yogurt?#guess ill find out next monday lol

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tarnera-blog · 2 years

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This is an ongoing project. I was inspired by some other people who made Warriors of Light for all the Shards (even the lost ones). I had a lot of fun making them, though I haven’t leveled them very far yet. I hope to one day get all of them nice outfits and have even a bit of a backstory for them. I’m aware that I will likely get jossed as more games come out and more lore is given to us, but that’s okay too. They can be AU.

My idea for this one was that I was trying to have as many races as possible, but only one race/gender in the group. So I can have two Elezens but they have to be different genders, if that makes sense. I could also only have one of each Clan for each race.

The Source: Ginko Biloba. I already have a photo on my last post, so we’ll skip this.

1. Ardbert. I didn’t bother making an alt for him; maybe one day? I have enough alts to deal with already lol.

2. Khojin Angura

I struggled with her name for some reason, I’m glad I finally settled on this one. I can pronounce it, unlike the first one she had! This is also the third time I changed her appearance, but again I think I’m happy with this final look.

From the second shard, which was lost in the third Calamity of Fire. I originally was trying to make her look more affected by fire aether, but I’ve pulled back significantly and only made her eyes reflect that. I also cribbed heavily from Avatar: the Last Airbender for ideas on how to design these characters.

3. Aleidis Thorne

I got lucky with her, when I was designing her to be affected by Earth aether I just happened to make her absolutely perfect. I couldn’t bear to change her in any way, so this is just her now. I especially love her eyes.

From the third shard, which was lost in the fourth Calamity of Earth.

4. Edmelle Norbettaux

I belatedly realized I designed them after Alana the Lionness. They are a guard in whatever city they live in, and go by the nickname Ed.

From the fourth shard, which still exists.

5. Savvel Djt-bidit

His last name apparently means ‘tempest’ in the Viera language, which is why I chose it.

From the fifth shard, which was lost in the first Calamity of Wind.

6. Kazan Buhen

I also ended up changing his last name, I like this a lot better. Kazan apparently means volcano, which is hilarious to me as it was a random pick.

From the sixth shard, which was lost in the fifth Calamity of Ice.

7. Tsimh Dolabnha

Yet another one where I designed her to try and look like she was affected by the aether, but I’ve since decided she’s perfect the way she is. I think her hair makes her look like a calico, and I love her green eyes.

From the seventh shard, which was lost in the seventh Calamity (astral-aspected).

8. Betula Pendula

She ended up looking like a character from a show I like (Roswell Conspiracies: Aliens, Myths & Legends) which I’m not mad about. Furthermore, I’ve decided she’s actually in her late 50s/early 60s. She may be new to the adventuring life after several decades of running a farm and having little to keep her busy now that her children are grown and gone and her husband has passed on before her, but she’s no slouch and easily leaves the younger Adventurers in her wake. Most of the WoLs on this list have names suiting their race, but I made an exception for Betula. She’s named after the silver birch tree.

From the eighth shard, which still exists.

9. Tutulao Kokolao

I am very dissatisfied with his name and will try to change it soon, not sure what to yet. My main idea for him is ‘basically Batman’ only his dad is still alive and a jerk. Maybe throw some Robin Hood in there too? Idk.

From the ninth shard, which still exists.

10. Piane Yapih

From the tenth shard, which was lost in the sixth Calamity of Water.

11. Maev Alba

No picture yet, though I do have this character already made. I’m waiting for them to release female Hrothgar, and then I will fantasia her into a Lost Hrothgar woman. Right now she’s a generic lady Midlander. I have no idea how I’ll design her yet.

From the eleventh shard, which still exists.

12. Clementain Dubeltaire

I don’t like his lips, I definitely made a mistake there. I’ll fix it later. I was trying to make his lips look like they had color but it just looks ridiculous.

From the twelfth shard, which was lost in the second Calamity of Lightning.

13. Whispering Abyss

This is the only character I ended up keeping with the idea that she was slowly being corrupted by aether, because it’s the only one where I managed to find the balance I was trying to achieve with the others. I really love her a lot.

From the thirteenth shard, which was lost to the Void.

Azem

Naturally I have to include my idea for what Azem might have looked like. I modeled them after what Apolo is supposed to look like, and tried to make the eyes look like they glow a little by picking a really light shade. I might change their hair eventually, but I did try to make them look enby and the long hair is important for that. I gave them the name Aegletes Azem.

#ffxiv #ffxiv spoilers #endwalker #shadowbringers #endwalker spoilers #shadowbringers spoilers #shards of Azem #Azem

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caelum-in-the-avatarverse · 2 years

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I guess this is a housekeeping post? I’ve written a lot of fic over the years and I’ve talked about my relationship with canon in my author’s notes and comment replies, but I’ve never actually written up a full explanation and posted it anywhere easy for people to find. So this is that!

TL;DR, courtesy of @ao3tagoftheday:

I engage with the Avatarverse on an extremely specific, transformative level, and that level is "my worldbuilding-centric headcanons showcased via fanfiction". I love ATLA, but for a long time now I’ve been less in it for the show, and more in it for what I can do while I’m standing on the show’s shoulders. Fanfiction is my creative genre of choice for a lot of reasons, but a big one is because it lets me immediately start having fun with the familiar without having to worry about establishing much set-up.

...Which is ironic because usually that aspect of fanfic means people are playing with familiar characters, whereas I ignore most of the canon characters and focus on stuff that’s either super obscure or completely made up by me, which involves establishing a lot of set-up, but whatever. The world is familiar, and I enjoy exploring new ideas within it.

I’m also a Fandom Old. I first watched ATLA all the way through a few months after the series finale in 2008. Consequently, most of my ATLA fandom experience was well after the show’s heyday, when all canon information was established and nothing new was on the horizon. It was a relief as I started playing around with fanfiction, because storytelling takes a lot out of me and I couldn’t bear the thought of getting jossed after spending so much time and effort on something. And it’s a lot of time and effort, for me - lots of the stories I put up on AO3 in the last few years are things I originally thought up a decade ago. I write slow, I take breaks, I think a lot, I don’t always have the understanding I need to execute the story I want and have to sit on it for a few years. It’s just the way my brain works, and I didn’t like the idea of potentially having to dismiss a story or concept I was still chewing on because Bryke jossed me.

I was a stickler for canon when I was younger. But as I grew up I realized that honestly, it’s not that important. The clincher was when JJ Abrams’ Star Trek reboot came out, and Star Trek fans hated it and were freaking out about What It Did To Star Trek Canon, and then someone wrote an article that went “You guys need to learn a lesson we Star Wars fans learned ages ago - it’s totally okay to point at a spot on your canon timeline and say ‘I don’t believe in anything that comes after this.’ Personally, I stop believing in anything that happens in Star Wars after they kill off Chewbacca by throwing a moon at him, because that was stupid.”

As a Star Wars fan who'd read a lot of the EU but had no interest in getting that far because I also thought killing off Chewbacca via moon was stupid, that resonated with me. Heck, there were entire books set before that point that the entire Star Wars fandom collectively ignored! That article writer was right - choosing your own canon was great and should be the norm!

Shifting into that mindset came pretty easily after that; it helped that my main fandoms have always had a tenuous relationship with what constitutes “canon” anyway. The Star Wars Expanded Universe was absolutely buck wild and often stupid, and was therefore easy to alternatively cherry-pick or ignore. The only official canon in Tolkien’s works is The Hobbit and LOTR, everything else is cobbled-together drafts that are so contradictory that Gil-Galad Son of Plot Hole is now a whole fandom thing. And pre-FiM, My Little Pony barely had canon and was essentially a free-for-all for the dozen of us who actually wrote fic - the focus of MLP fandom back then was very much on collecting, obviously.

So choosing my own canon is something I’ve been doing since...forever, actually. I only started doing consciously with ATLA, tho.

I’ll admit that TLoK disappointed me - probably not for the reasons you think, btw. (every time people start defending TLoK to me without asking what I dislike about it, they always defend stuff I think is perfectly defensible, and never address the stuff I dislike about it. but that’s an explanation for another time.) Once it became clear that the TLoK era wasn’t something I wanted to explore via fic anyway, tho...welp. *shrugs* Who cares?

And all the comics, books, this new RPG game, and whatever else that’s come out since? An even bigger shrug.

Frankly - and this is very silly and maybe even petty of me, lol - frankly, I don't actually consider anything beyond ATLA itself to be cold hard canon at all. (And not even all of ATLA either; they had to Word of God the timeline of Sozin’s death because the one given at Azulon’s funeral was ridiculous.) I reserve the right to park myself in what we knew when the show ended in 2008 and not bother with anything else if it doesn’t please me. I’ll use the other stuff sometimes and cherry-pick what I want, but most of my fic is written with an understanding of canon as it was in 2008 at its foundation.

The way I see it, if they wanted me to take new canon seriously, they should’ve released it back in like 2009 when I would’ve cared. And okay yeah sure that wasn’t feasible cuz Bryke wanted to do other things and Nickelodeon only valued ATLA for reruns, but them’s the breaks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ They left me alone in the garden of canon for over a decade, and I planted new ideas and grew new stories and landscaped a crapton of worldbuilding until it was all just a delightful, fun, overgrown mess; they don’t get to come back now to tell me that actually none of that matters and expect me to care about what they’re saying.

And also, I just see no reason to be beholden to anything that can easily be wiped away at Nickelodeon’s whim. ATLA itself is the cornerstone upon which this universe rests, so it’d take an especially stupid executive to toss it. TLoK too, probably. But the comics, the books, that RPG game, anything else they come up with? Yeah, I consider all that B-canon at best. If you wanna insist that oh no, the comics totally are what canon is, I’m just gonna point you at the original Star Wars EU, rebranded now as Legends. Hundreds of books, comics, video games, and more, all treated as canon to the point that there was literally a guy at Lucasfilm whose job was rationalizing how they all fit together - and they all got swept away on Disney’s orders. *shrugs*

ATLA will probably still be canon in 10 years. The rest of it? With how often corporations like to reboot things these days, who really knows? And if all the extra stuff does get wiped away and people stop caring about it because “it’s not canon anymore”, did they really even care about it in the first place? I’d rather base my fics on stuff I know I like, build up my headcanons in the direction I want to take them, and just refuse to conform.

So yeah, don’t expect me to care for new canon or go looking for it or bother to make my fanfiction and headcanons compliant with it, because I don’t care on so many levels. ;)

So all that said, here’s a list of things you can expect me to not care about:

The comics in general

Queerphobia even being a thing in the Avatarverse

Ursa’s fate

Whatever’s going on with Azula

That Maiko breakup

Whatever’s going on with that RPG game

Probably a lot more as I think of it, lol

#caelum rambles #housekeeping #Caelum's headcanon

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comradesummers · 4 years

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Top 5 buffy characters and top 5 angel characters?

Hi, thanks for asking!

Pretty sure that I’ve answered some version of this before but I’m not going to pretend I’m even remotely consistent about these things, so here we are.

Buffy Characters:

5. Rupert Giles

Giles is one of those characters that frustrates me a lot. He’s part of an inherently exploitative system and I’m not sure that, until the final episode, he ever truly extricates himself from that system. The best parts of Giles are his rebellion against the council and the worst parts of him are his ideological ties to them. But that’s what makes him so interesting. Because the man who defies what he’s been taught and loves this group of misfit children like a father is always at odds with the ruthless utilitarian he thinks he has to be. It’s a fascinating series long conflict, and though it’s not always handled as well as I would like, it does always make for a wonderfully flawed but thoroughly lovable character.

4. Willow Rosenberg

Willow is a character I struggle with because she’s the one that reminds me the most of myself. Some of these similarities are rather superficial: we’re both Jewish lesbians that pride ouselves on our academic merits. But on a deeper level, I find Willow’s insecurity and her desperate need to appear strong and important and worthy at all costs to be so painfully relatable that I have a hard time engaging with her at all. I don’t need to explain how incredible her storyline is over seven seasons, how much she grows and changes and evolves, because you know all that already. There’s no denying she’s an incredible character. And the fact that she resonates so deeply with me to the point that she makes me uncomfortable is maybe the best demonstration of what a good character she is.

3. Faith Lehane

Faith was initially introduced as the dark mirror to Buffy (which is why I believe her to be fundamentally tied to BtVS in a way that she isn’t to AtS). But her great accomplishment throughout Buffy and Angel was her evolution into her own character, separate from Buffy. And that’s also Faith’s character arc. At first, she is only able to compare herself with Buffy. She’s angry and jealous of Buffy because she believes that Buffy has everything that she never had and rightfully deserves. And, in many ways, she’s right to be angry. Yet her choice to direct her anger and resentment towards Buffy, as opposed to the real culprits (the council for one, along with all of the adults in her life) is what leads her to destroy herself. It’s only after she’s able to recognize her own self-worth outside of Buffy that she can truly do good and be good and be with Buffy. It’s a remarkable journey to behold and I love her so much.

2. Tara Maclay

I liked Tara well enough before season 6, but season 6 was when I fell completely in love with her. She becomes the show’s anchor that season as the only responsible adult who’s making good decisions, even when those decisions are extremely painful for her, like breaking up with Willow. And in a season dedicated to every other character fucking up, she’s truly a breath of fresh air. But more than just her function as a contrast to the other characters, season 6 really emphasized for me how beautifully and subtly she had developed throughout the show. Her ability to stand up to Willow is such a stark contrast to the Tara who was unable to stand up to her father (not that I’m blaming her for not being able to confront her abuser, I’m just pointing out how the contrast between these scenes demonstrates amazing growth on Tara’s part). Tara initially has no sense of self-worth, but as she develops, she comes to understand her own value and refuses to allow anyone to diminish it. It’s a beautiful, lovely story, and I will forever be bitter that she didn’t get the happy ending she so richly deserved.

1. Buffy Summers

Buffy Summers is my favorite fictional character of all time, as is evident by pretty much every single post on this blog.

Angel Characters:

5. Winfred Burkle

I have some issues with Fred. This is mainly because Joss Whedon’s obsession with this particular type of nerdy and adorable female characters makes me uncomfortable. But Amy Acker is a great actress and I can’t help but find her charming regardless. I think the episode that really sold me on Fred was Fredless. Like, the idea that she can’t face her parents because she doesn’t want to admit to them or to herself what she’s gone through is really heartbreaking. It’s the first time I was able to see Fred as more of a character than a caricature and I realized that I really liked that character. Also, fuck the writers for killing off their only remaining female character just so that Wesley could manpain about it.

4. Lilah Morgan

Lilah is by far the best villain on the show. She was, with very few exceptions, one of the only bad guys who was actually fun to watch. I particularly love that the writers never felt the need to redeem her in order to make her sympathetic. And she is sympathetic. You feel for her a whole lot, probably because Stephanie Romanov is such a pro. But she’s still a terrible, evil person through and through and I love that for her. Why the writers thought it would be a good idea to kill her off is truly beyond me.

3. Lorne

Another character who deserved better (sensing a theme here). Lorne is such an interesting, layered character with a wonderfully bizarre backstory and an interesting way of seeing the world. Yet, despite how wonderful he is, he was always pushed to the background to further another character’s story. And that’s not even mentioning whatever the writers thought they were doing with him in season 5. Also, why couldn’t he have been openly queer? Anyway, RIP Andy Hallet, who was an absurdly talented man who managed to create this incredible character in spite of all the writers’ bullshit.

2. Charles Gunn

Gunn was never just the muscle. The man ran a neighborhood watch/vampire hunting ring while he was still in his early 20′s (I assume? Do we actually know how old he is?). He’s a strategist and a leader in his community. He’s funny and charming and a good man and he deserved so much more love and care and development because he’s truly a fascinating character. But all the writers saw was a black guy who made quips and I am still so angry about it. Anyway, I love Gunn, he is, by far, the best man on the show and possibly in the entirety of the Buffyverse.

1. Cordelia Chase

Cordelia was pretty much the only reason I decided to watch Angel. She’s the best part of the whole show, her character growth is absolutely phenomenal, and I love how she grows as a person while still remaining wholly herself. I love her so much and I’ll forever be bitter about what the writers did to her and how terribly Whedon treated Charisma Carpenter.

#btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #ats #angel the series #rupert giles #willow rosenberg #faith lehane #tara maclay #buffy summers #fred burkle #lilah morgan #lorne #charles gunn #cordelia chase

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littlehollyleaf · 4 years

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So talking of finales penned by spn writers.

One of my fav comics the last few years has been Spider-Man/Deadpool, written by our very own Robbie Thompson.

Obviously, Deadpool is a character I was always gonna be fond of, since his fourth-wall breaking power / chatacter trait makes him all about the meta, and metafiction is My Jam.

Spider-Man/Deadpool has the additional fun of being about Wade and Peter's relationship specifically, which is just fun and adorable any which way, but the series also makes constant nods to the idea of them as a romantic couple (the title IS a LITERAL REFERENCE to slash fic/shipping). Never in a baity way either. The writing celebrates the idea of Spider-Man/Deadpool without ever teasing the idea it might actually happen. It's mostly Wade explicitly referencing them as a slash pairing in his various fourth-wall breaking speeches, while in the 'reality' of the universe the writing is pretty clear on the fact Peter only thinks of Wade platonically (or occasionally antagonistically :p), while Wade genuinely has an explicit romantic crush, but overall just simply respects and cares for Spider-Man as a person and primarily wants to be and have him as a friend (tho there's absolutely, deliberate, space left in the writing to imagine/fanfic a mutual romance between if you want).

(ASIDE: PETER PARKER IS NOT A KID IN THIS CURRENT VERSION OF MARVEL CANON HE IS 100% AN OF AGE ADULT, like he is in the Spiderverse film - in case anyone was freaking out)

So yeah, that's all fun and sweet and completely catering to my interests.

One of the big, big things about the characters and their relationship, though, is the fact that WADE DOES NOT KNOW SPIDER-MAN'S IDENTITY. And this quickly became one of, if not THE, things at the heart of their evolving friendship/relationship. The closer they get, the more and more you WANT Wade to find out or, better, for Peter to TELL HIM. Because you want them to reach that place of love and trust where they each know intimate things about each other, where Peter cares about and knows he can trust Wade enough to share that vulnerable truth about himself.

So, Peter telling Wade his secret identity - that's, basically, the ship/relationship endgame everyone is rooting for.

SO.

In the *cries* final storyline of the series, this whole epic Thing happens, that I won't explain cos it'll take too long. But basically, the world appears to be ending and in that context of dire and angsty straits - Peter reveals his identity to Wade! *insert Deadpool movie shock gif*

Now closer than ever, they team up with a rag tag collection of other characters to take on the Big Bad and, long story short, they discover the whole epic end of the world Thing has been a fake reality created by the real villain of the piece -

THE WRITER, aka Robbie himself!

Due a series of implausible comic book events they are able to confront and defeat him and he offers this in his defence -

and I just -

aw Robbie

your supervillain origin story was... WANTING FICTIONAL CHARACTERS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS TO GROW?

(#relatable)

When I first read this (which was, oh, back near the very beginning of spn S15) I thought

a) amusing that an ex-spn writer is, like spn itself, writing a meta story in which the writer is the villain

b) it's funny how spn's villain writer and Robbie's villain writer both harm/manipulate their characters for the exact opposite reasons - Chuck wants to prevent the characters from developing, comic!Robbie wants to force them TO develop

(and c) I wonder if this lament over characters not being allowed to grow, and the fact that wanting to change that associates Robbie with villainy, in any way connects to... other writing jobs he may have had... before the comic...)

The tragedy, tho, is that after his defeat, as Spider-Man and Deadpool are locking comic!Robbie away, he tells them his capture doesn't matter because in the end HE WON, because Wade now knows Spider-Man's identity!!

To which we end with this -

The growth Robbie wanted was denied!

*sad face*

(I forget the in-universe explanation, if there was an explicit one - either defeating comic!Robbie and his fake world caused all memory/experience if that world to be lost/destroyed... or there was genuinely no real explanation and that in itself was a meta nod to how comic book narrative is constantly dropping/discarding/ignoring/retconning plot points in order to maintain the wider status quo of the comic universe narrative)

AND YET - while the biggest growth of learning Peter's identity was denied (presumably because, as noted above, wider comic book canon requires/insists both characters and their relationship remain in a specific, static, status quo - so the industry can keep churning out multiple comics with them without necessarily having to bother with the extra time/hassel of researching specifics of continuity - because, money), as Peter and Wade's further discussion points out, SOME development HAS happened at least. Wade has grown more moral/heroic in how he doesn't immediately kill his enemies. And Peter has come to care deeply enough about Wade to be proud of him for this and tell him so. AND they walk away together side by side, their friendship cemented.

So bottom line - the story ends. And it's not in the BEST way. It denies the readers and the characters (and the writer!) the fulfilment of that key endgame plot point.

And YET.

It manages to still be a funny, heartwarming and ultimately SATISFYING end. One that, tongue in cheek, lampshades the development the rest of the story has, in many ways, been building up to and, using metafictional tricks, tells readers in a way that is funny, entertaining and also feels somewhat apologetic, that it simply wasn't a plot the creatives involved were able to give. But offers SOME growth at least, and leaves things open enough for readers to imagine the characters are poised for more in the near future (...although due to the nature of comics that may well have been jossed by other comic book runs at this point - I haven't read any that include the characters since this title ended).

WHY am I making a longass post about this you ask?

Well

a) because the comic is great and I think more people should read it, consider this a recommend (tho sorry for spoilers!)

b) ...just ...wanted to big up Robbie Thompson for a bit. A++ Robbie, way to land an ending, both in fiction and meta, kudos to you, nice to be reminded that it can be done!

(also in case by some miracle anyone at Marvel is reading this - I said the ending was satisfying, but that doesn't mean I WOULDN'T SPEND GOOD MONEY ON A REVIVAL OF THIS TITLE IN A HEARTBEAT! just because I'm ok with the last comic being the end doesn't mean I don't WANT MORE WITH A BURNING PASSION why must you cancel all my favs?? ...*coughs* so, yes, thank you any Marvel execs for your time...)

#robbie thompson #spiderman #deadpool #spiderman/deadpool #15.20 #the aftermath

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stillness-in-green · 4 years

Note

If it's any consolation, I'm sure that the Advisors and the rest of the MLA (Re-Destro, Trumpet, Geten) will show back up sooner than the final arc, just because we're going into Year 2 and the students would find great 1 on 1 or team opponents with the Advisors. Re-Destro and Geten are heavy hitters (and Geten could be tied to Dabi, Shoto and all that somehow) and they were locked up with Mr. Compress and Machia, but who do you want to see first from the Advisors?

Thanks, anon; I certainly do hope we'll get to see more of them. Admittedly, my main concern is that I so liked what was going on with the Paranormal Liberation Front that even if we do see all of the MLA types again, if it's only in the context of speedbump battles for the students, that's still going to be a letdown. Better than nothing, to be sure, but I really do want them to join back up with the League, even a League that's confused and out of sorts under All For One's hand. I love RD's big spiritual-awakening-flavored crush on Shigaraki, the cross-organization tensions and relationships, just as much as I love the depth the MLA brings to the world outside of just what's going on with the heroes.

I'm fairly frustrated with how the MLA fared during and after the raid, largely because it's awfully hard not to conclude that, if what we have right now is all the erstwhile-MLA are ever going to come to, Shigaraki would have been significantly better off if he'd just killed them all and shacked up with Ujiko for four months. And that would be such a waste! The end of My Villain Academia was such an enormous triumph for Shigaraki! I want his victory to amount to something more than what we've seen, something that shows that both his strength and his mercy will pay off for him in the long-term, will be a concrete benefit to him rather than, with the benefit of hindsight, the reason everything went so wrong.

Particularly with Re-Destro, since Horikoshi saw fit to have Dark Shadow all but one-shot the man, and Edgeshot defeat him off-panel, it's really not going to mean much to me for him to have a big fight with students unconnected to anything else. The drama's rather gone out of it at this point. That's particularly the case since, if he's no longer connected to Shigaraki's plot, it's that much easier for him to just be off-paneled and forgotten about. But, if Rikiya gets looped back in with the League, if his gratitude and admiration of Shigaraki mean he still has a role to play in Shigaraki's arc, that makes it much easier to get invested in any fights that role will lead him to. Ditto the MLA more broadly; it's categorically ridiculous to present that organization with the kinds of numbers, breadth of influence and legitimate grievances they have, only to try to sweep them back under the rug exactly like Shigaraki accuses heroes of doing with everyone they can't save.

To say the least, I'm pretty invested. But I appreciate your consolations and am trying to hold out hope that we'll get some good stuff with them yet!

My anxieties aside, and to hit the other portion of your ask--who would I like to see first among the Advisors?--hit the jump:

(All nicknames and shorthand are taken from this post.)

Well, it'd be nice if they could all get at least as much to do as the Eight Bullets back during the Hassaikai arc, seeing as they got a similar splash page spread introducing all their faces. There are considerably more than eight of them, of course, but even if they never get more attention than e.g. Galvanize or the hose-faced guy who iced Midnight did, at least then we'd have some idea of their power sets and at least one angle on their personality.

Assuming we aren’t going to get full breakdowns on every single one of them, there are still four things I'd really like to see happen with the MLA/the Advisors: the student fights we're expecting, the jailbreaks we're being told about, the reunion with the League I'm praying for, and for literally anyone in the in-world media to try and get their side of the story.

Student Fights: Seeing the guy who killed Midnight again is as sure a bet as any of these get. Momo is an important enough character, with enough sustained arc, that she will have to get something else to do before the series is over. Taking command of a group battle against real opponents--ones with more responsiveness and agency than Gigantomachia--would be in-line with what she's been moving towards so far. I would, however, love it if that fight would be more challenging than a straightforward battle of tactics.

I headcanon Hose Face and Scarecrow as, respectively, an ex-con and a dude with physical disabilities--both people who have ample reason to want to change the series' status quo irt human rights abuses in prison and overly restrictive quirk use laws. I'm not expecting the canon to validate me on what amount to wild guesses, of course, but I want those Advisors in particular to have motivations more nuanced than, "They're quirk supremacists; who cares why they're willing to put their lives on the line over this?"

A feel-good revenge match in which a bunch of teenagers lay the smack down on characters whose humanity the audience is asked neither to know nor care about would be lazy, and counterproductive to the series' current thematic concerns. Give Momo her victory, by all means, but don't give it to her easy. A confrontation like this would be a good way for the less central Class A students to begin wrestling with the question of who, exactly, heroes "save" and what it is that people need to be saved from, exactly the way Deku and Uraraka and Shouto are now wrestling with these questions.

As far as other fights go, I'd also love to see Brand and The Question pop up again. They're probably the two I'm most curious about purely in terms of what their quirks are. Why does The Question wear a mask, and what's he like that he wound up in Mr. Compress's chain of command? And with Brand, what kind of quirk does he have that's powerful enough to land him a ranked position in the Guerilla Warfare Regiment but indirect enough that he fights with a sword?

Prison Breaks: I wouldn't expect this to be particularly involved, probably more of an aside than anything, but I want the Bindi Ladies to spring Hole Punch Face, thus getting us an angle on what's going on with that particular trio. Aviator Teeth can come too because I want at least some hints about what his deal is.

I'd also love to watch Horikoshi even attempt to retroactively justify some of the logistics of the single-day capture and subsequent detention of 17,000 super-powered, combat-trained people.* I mean, I don't think there are any feasible explanations for that, but I'd be curious to see what he'd come up with, especially if every possible answer just makes Hero Society look worse! We have only ever seen Tartarus as an example of the prison conditions in this country; I'd love to hear more, and an MLA-focused jailbreak would be a great way to show it.

PLF Reunion: Of course, my number one thing to see with a reunion is Re-Destro being just as dismayed as Spinner is over Tomura's possession. I crave more serious attention being paid to Rikiya's profound awe over Shigaraki's freedom, and would love to see his reaction to Shigaraki apparently losing that freedom.

Aside from the obvious, though, if the PLF does start piecing itself back together, I expect to see Sanctum again, given the attention he's gotten so far, and the fact that he's now the highest-ranked member of the Tactics Regiment. It'd be great to get some explanation for how he can possibly be "the longest-serving member of the Liberation Army," given that the Army was generations old already when Re-Destro was just a child. (If we do get that information, I imagine my own explanation will be jossed hugely, so I would also be happy to take time with Sanctum that doesn't explain the discrepancy but also doesn't invalidate my headcanon.)

In the context of the regiments reforming, I'd also like to see Nimble and Aster, both because this manga needs more women, and because I'd like to see more of how Spinner and Toga interact with the people they were nominally commanding.

Media Attention: Trumpet's my number one hope here--the lack of any look into the state of the government in HeroAca Japan has been a total let-down since his introduction**, but I was particularly annoyed that the last time we saw him he was smiling (albeit in a fairly haggard way), giving me hope that we might next see him doing his part to portray all of this in a light that would sway public opinion. And then literally one chapter later, we get prison guards talking about how the Hearts & Minds Party, a perfectly legitimized political party with representation on the national level, has been perfunctorily dissolved less than twelve hours from when the raid started. How is there even an argument that the system heroes were upholding desperately needs to change?

I'm very tired of the media in BNHA only ever showing up to beg for/demand that heroes tell them what’s going on, particularly those damn press conferences. Journalists do investigative work! Newspapers employ reporters to actively seek out news! Reporters in free countries don't just sit around waiting for the government or heads of major industries to graciously hand them press releases! For heaven's sake, Trumpet was the head of a major political party. People should be foaming at the mouth trying to get a statement from him!

Especially with public trust in heroes breaking down, there should absolutely be intrepid reporters out there looking to get to the bottom of any of the layered conspiracies the public's just been hit with and told to just write-off as a bump in the road on the return to normalcy.

Anyway, Trumpet's the obvious choice, but if I could be sure the manga would validate my headcanons about Nimble and Scarecrow's disabilities, I'd be happy to put them in this position, too. Trucker Toad would be another good candidate, if there's any basis to my idea that he is or used to be a transport driver who's seen a lot of the country outside the areas e.g. the Top Ten Heroes are patrolling. He's obviously a good candidate for getting back to that idea of anti-heteromorph bias, too. But really, I'd take anyone who can give a cogent explanation of the MLA's position on self-determination and the various ways Hero Society has exacerbated quirk-based discrimination.

Anyway, that's about where my thoughts are on where I hope the MLA people are and what we might see of them. Thanks for the ask!

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

*Or as many as 100,000 more than that, depending on how through the statement, "Their bases around the country were also attacked, and their supporters rounded up," was meant to be. An influx of 116K people, incidentally, would triple Japan's current carceral population.

**Why! Why would you introduce a politician and then never even glance at your setting's political situation??

#boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bnha spoilers #meta liberation army #paranormal liberation front #stillness-answers

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song-of-oots · 4 years

Text

I’ve been thinking a fair bit about the Joss Whedon revelations and my thoughts are still a little muddled, but I’m gonna try and get them on page.

In many ways, this isn’t exactly new. There have been plenty of troubling stories circulating about Joss Whedon for quite a while now. Some of these recent allegations provide extra details of what was already suspected, some are new and highly alarming, and some just generally give a better idea of how deeply embedded this kind of toxic behaviour was behind the scenes. It also seems to be pretty clear that this is a problem that has continued on other Whedon projects.

While much of this is sadly not all that surprising, it still feels like a slap in the face.

Buffy meant a lot to me when I was a teenager. I remember feeling somewhat alienated and mystified by the way a lot of mainstream media presented female characters (or failed to include them at all). At that age I was not as conscious or articulate about it as I am now, but it was still a powerful feeling. Buffy was a show with not just one, but a whole cast of female characters who were varied and psychologically complex. Women and girls with believable strengths and weaknesses, who drove their own stories and got taken seriously in their endeavours. They were allowed to be feminine and strong, flawed and vulnerable in relatable ways. This was a big deal to me.

And I’ve read so many more stories from people describing how this show helped lift them up – cope with depression, recover from trauma, or come to terms with their identity or their sexuality.

So to learn that so many of the people – so many of the women – who worked to make this show happen had to suffer a toxic and traumatising work environment at the hands of a man who was making social capital off the back of his presentation of himself as a progressive ‘feminist’ is beyond disappointing. (And when I refer to the women specifically I’m not trying to claim that abusive treatment of men is less significant because I absolutely do not think that, but it does seem to be predominantly the female cast that is coming forward right now.)

On the one hand, it’s somewhat difficult to look at the show in quite the same way as before. Yet it also doesn’t materially change my opinion of it either. Which probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense... Basically it’s hard to enjoy it in such a straightforward way, knowing some of what was going on behind the scenes, but my assessment of the story itself is largely unchanged. It’s not like my eyes are suddenly open to Buffy’s flaws. The show has many issues, some fairly minor, others more serious. Probably the worst problems are the lack of true diversity and some questionable handling around the theme of sex (and relationships in general). In fact, if I’m gonna talk about how Buffy was important to me because of the abundance of genuinely interesting female characters, I think it’s equally important to acknowledge how it really failed in other forms of representation. Because all that amazing character development was pretty much exclusively reserved for thin white people.

Nevertheless, I’m still interested in watching and writing about Buffy again. It had a fairly big impact on me growing up and I’d like to revisit it now with a fresh perspective. I’ve seen people saying that Joss Whedon was talentless anyway, but I don’t really agree. Buffy itself was a collaborative project, so it’s not always possible to know who was responsible for what, but from what little I’ve seen of his work post-Buffy, I’ve found it to be inventive and entertaining – though also flawed. (Cabin in the Woods in particular left a bad taste in my mouth, despite being fairly absorbing.) Generally I don’t see much good in rejecting a whole piece of artwork just because it turns out the creator fails to live up to the ideals of the work itself. Lots of other people put their hearts into creating Buffy and their work doesn’t deserve to be thrown out, but that’s almost beside the point. Joss Whedon may be a thoroughly unpleasant man who cannot be trusted in a position of authority over others ever again, but Buffy can still be watched and enjoyed and debated and criticised according to its own merits and flaws.

I’m gonna finish by quoting a piece written by @buffy-thoughts (I won’t post the whole thing cos that thread is quite long, but this was just such an excellent point I really wanted to share it. If you want to read the whole thread it is here).

“I just think that if you frame it as "Whedon only influenced the show in bad ways and everyone else is responsible for the good things", then you play into this idea that only Good People can make Good Art, and Bad People make Bad Art. And I think that's dishonest, and a little dangerous. It leads to the assumption that is somebody is creating Good Art, then they must be a Good Person, because Good Art doesn't come from Bad People. And that allows abuse to thrive.

Bad People are entirely capable of creating Good Art. I think that's a truth we have to reckon with. It should never be used to justify abuse, but it needs to be accepted. Conflating Good Person/Good Art gives abusers cover, and it also allows the people who would defend abusers ammunition. If one group says "Whedon's writing is bad because his behaviour is bad" then that allows the response of "Whedon's writing is good, therefore his behaviour is not bad". And finally, it entertains the notion that if his work was good, then that would somehow justify his behaviour. It does not. I think that he is responsible for some great art, and that his behaviour is abhorrent and disgusting, and the latter does not change nor justify the former.”

#joss whedon #buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #cw: abuse

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veliseraptor · 4 years

Text

a kindness you can’t afford

[READ ON AO3]

Written for the anon prompt above, originally tried to post it as a response to an ask, then Tumblr fucked up all my formatting and I deleted the post, forgetting that I cannot just recreate an anon ask. Anyway! It’s a fic! It’s for an idea that I’ve been meaning to write eventually and ended up doing for this!

I wrote more rambly notes the first time I made this post but it’s probably for the best they’re gone. Thanks to @ameliarating for edits, as always, and to the Tumblr user who kindly indulged my request for “Chinese obscenities that could pass for a name.” The one Xue Yang uses here is literally “chrysanthemum” but also “anus.” This may be anachronistic, but I’m going with it.

content warnings: none, actually?? I don’t think??? other than, you know, the knowledge that this ain’t going anywhere good

What Xue Yang thought when the first sword went in was motherfucker finally did it.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen it coming. He’d known for a while that sooner or later Jin Guangyao would decide he’d outlived his usefulness and try to get rid of him, or else Xue Yang would decide he was done playing Jin Guangyao’s game and cut out his tongue to feed it to him. And then kill him.

Until then he’d just figured he’d enjoy the luxury of Lianfang-zun’s boundless resources, access to the Yiling Laozu’s notes, and willingness to provide Xue Yang with the opportunity to experiment.

But with the old man dead, and Chifeng-zun in pieces, he’d figured that probably sooner rather than later Jin Guangyao would decide he was too much of a security risk and not enough of an asset to keep alive. Jin Guangyao still beat him to the punch. And he didn’t even have the courtesy to do it himself.

Bastard.

The Jin assholes cut him up pretty bad before he managed to get away; least he managed to make sure at least three of them wouldn’t walk away, and a fourth was going to be down a hand. So that was something, even if he was bleeding pretty badly, feeling it in the cold heaviness of his limbs and the spinning of his head. The wound in his leg was the worst, cutting deep into the thigh.

There was a distinct possibility that he was well and truly fucked.

Well, he thought when his body finally gave out and all he could do was slither into the grass on the side of the road so he wasn’t quite so exposed, it’d been a pretty good run, all things considered. Still sucked, and he would’ve really liked to show Jin Guangyao the color of his own intestines right about now, but you couldn’t get everything you wanted.

It wasn’t the death he’d imagined for himself. But it was better than some he could’ve anticipated. Hopefully he’d make a nasty fierce ghost and could go torment Lianfang-fucking-zun for backstabbing him.

Even if that was exactly what he’d expected him to do.

Xue Yang fought losing consciousness for a while, but there was only so long he could hold out before his body surrendered for him.

He didn’t expect to wake up alive.

When he did, still fucking hurting and with someone touching his face, at first he was just too tired and sore to try to move like he should, still feeling wrung out and half-dead and figuring maybe playing helpless would be better than trying something when he didn’t have the strength to back it up. Then his vision cleared a little and he recognized who he was looking at.

You, he thought, eyes widening in alarm, and tried immediately to scramble back regardless of the fact that his body screamed furiously at him, because some random stranger who was either trying to help or trying to loot his body was one thing, but Xiao Xingchen-

Who was assuring him that he wasn’t going to hurt him. That he didn’t mean him any harm, and was just trying to tend his wounds.

There was a white bandage over his eyes.

He didn’t know. He didn’t know.

Well, Xue Yang thought, staring at him. Well, well, well.

We’re fated to meet again, he’d said, years ago, but he hadn’t figured for it being like this.

You aren’t going to ask me my name? he asked warily, and Xiao Xingchen smiled at him, utterly clueless, and said I have my own things I’d rather not talk about.

Fucking shit. Unbelievable. The blind idiot, just taking in someone he’d found on the side of the road who he knew nothing about, not asking any questions, tending his wounds…

Xue Yang had never believed much in good fortune. Not for himself, anyway. But this opportunity just getting dropped in his lap, and when he needed it most-

It certainly seemed to qualify.

Good. Fucking fantastic.

He could work with this.

There was something funny about the girl with Xiao Xingchen - a-Qing, or whatever her name was. At first he’d thought she was just pretending to be blind, which would’ve been a problem, but she seemed to really not be able to see. She certainly wasn’t a threat of any other kind. A nuisance, it was becoming clear, and for whatever reason she didn’t like him, but she wasn’t actually dangerous.

And Xiao Xingchen... Xiao Xingchen would be dangerous, was dangerous, but he was also blind, and nice, and didn’t ask questions. Xue Yang had worked out a whole story, an elaborate lie he’d use, but Xiao Xingchen hadn’t asked. He nursed Xue Yang, helpless and useless, like he was a friend.

Motherfucking idiot.

At least it was serving him well. Xiao Xingchen took good care of him. Perfectly solicitous. Admonishing him when he tried to get up and walk too soon. You’ll make it worse, he said, with that sugar-sweet smile. Be careful with yourself. If you want to heal cleanly you need to rest.

It was all working great, absolutely perfect, he couldn’t’ve asked for better.

It wasn’t going to last.

It couldn’t, obviously. Xiao Xingchen would get sick of this magnanimous act and kick him out, or he’d figure out who Xue Yang was somehow and one of them would have to die. There was always a flip side, a catch, a trap, and that it hadn’t shown itself here yet just meant it hadn’t shown itself yet.

It would, sooner or later, and Xue Yang just had to be ready for it.

It’d be easier to feel ready for it if he could stand for longer than half a joss stick without feeling like he was going to collapse. His leg hurt like hell all the time and while he was clawing his way back to his usual strength, as far as he was concerned it couldn’t happen fast enough. It was fine, though. For now, he was safe. For now.

If he kept telling himself that maybe he’d stop feeling like he was going to crawl out of his skin.

At least it gave him plenty of uninterrupted time to watch Xiao Xingchen. He was nice. He was patient. He didn’t raise his voice or lose his temper, as far as Xue Yang could tell. He was so impossibly, infuriatingly good and it couldn’t possibly be real.

“What is it?” Xiao Xingchen asked, and Xue Yang realized he’d been staring at him for a while, congee forgotten and getting cold.

“Nothing,” Xue Yang said quickly, and then narrowed his eyes and said, “you’ve got something on your face, by your nose. Big smudge of dirt.”

“Oh,” Xiao Xingchen said, and laughed a little. “Thank you for telling me. I can’t exactly check in a mirror.”

That was something Xue Yang found very interesting. It wasn’t Xiao Xingchen he’d blinded, and yet here he was. He hadn’t asked any questions about it, but he did wonder what he’d missed while he’d been working on rediscovering the secrets of demonic cultivation and creating a fierce corpse for Jin Guangyao.

“Yeah,” Xue Yang said, and then on a whim, “here, let me help you get it off.”

A-Qing scowled at him. “Xiao-daozhang can clean his own face, asshole.”

“A-Qing,” Xiao Xingchen said, and then smiled at Xue Yang. “She is right, though. I don’t need the help.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Xue Yang said. “Whatever. Come on, it’s bugging me.” He got up and limped over, dropping down next to him and reaching out, using his sleeve to scrub at an imaginary smudge. Xiao Xingchen reached up and caught his arm, but he didn’t knock him away, and he didn’t seem angry. His grip was firm but not hard; Xue Yang just kept himself from yanking violently away or lashing out.

“Stranger,” Xiao Xingchen said, “Please. I can attend my own appearance.”

Xue Yang pulled back slowly. He glanced at a-Qing, who seemed smug, and then back at Xiao Xingchen, and held up his hands.

“All right,” he said. “Didn’t mean to offend you.”

“I’m not offended,” Xiao Xingchen said. He smiled, the expression warm and fuck, he really was intolerable. “But it should be clear that even though I am blind, I’m not helpless.”

“Guess that’s obvious,” Xue Yang said after a brief pause. “If anyone’s helpless here it’s me. I’m the one you had to scrape up off the side of the road, huh?”

That made Xiao Xingchen laugh. For some reason Xue Yang found that sort of satisfying; for some reason a-Qing glared at him.

“You’re not funny,” a-Qing said.

“Daozhang thinks I’m funny,” Xue Yang said. Xiao Xingchen shook his head, but he was smiling again.

Too easy. Blind - literally - fool. It suddenly seemed sort of amazing that he’d stayed alive this long.

At least it was working in Xue Yang’s favor. He’d be ready for when that changed, but for now-

He could enjoy it, for now.

The smart thing to do would be to kill Xiao Xingchen before he put two and two together and came up with Xue Yang.

He’d do the girl too, obviously, but Xiao Xingchen was the one who could really hurt him. He might be playing nice now but Xue Yang had fought him before. He knew what he could do. He wasn’t going to assume that his being blind had changed that much. The way he moved mostly hadn’t. He didn’t use a stick like a-Qing, anyway.

So, yeah. The smart thing to do.

He still hadn’t done it. Mostly because the smart thing to do was sometimes also the boring thing to do, and Xue Yang would take not boring over stupid most of the time.

“So when are you gonna leave, anyway,” a-Qing asked loudly.

“Dunno,” Xue Yang said. “Every time you ask me that it gets further away.”

A-Qing scowled at him. “Why are you even still here? Do you like living in a coffin home?”

“Maybe I do,” Xue Yang said. “Maybe I’m not even alive. Maybe I’m a really animate fierce corpse. Like the Ghost General.” He thought of Wen Ning, briefly, chained up with nails in his head. Absolutely useless. Completely uncontrollable, which had really been just the most disappointing. “You wouldn’t know, would you?”

For a moment a-Qing looked a little uncertain. Then she scowled harder. “Daozhang would know. Obviously.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” a-Qing said firmly. “Besides, fierce corpses don’t bleed.”

“How do you know,” Xue Yang said. “Met a lot of fierce corpses?”

“Have you?”

“Yeah,” Xue Yang said. “I killed one once.” Its name was Nie Mingjue and its head is probably still in Lianfang-zun’s treasure room. He leaned back on his hands, flexing his leg and wincing at the pain that shot up into his hip. Fuck Lianfang-zun and his entire fucking life.

A-Qing shook her head. “You’re lying.”

Xue Yang shrugged one shoulder. “Believe what you want,” he said. “Doesn’t make any difference to me.”

He heard Xiao Xingchen’s footsteps a moment before he appeared and turned toward him, tensing reflexively and then scowling when that hurt, too. “What are you talking about?”

“Daozhang, do fierce corpses bleed?” a-Qing asked. Xiao Xingchen’s eyebrows rose a little.

“No. Not like living people do, anyway.”

“I knew you were lying,” a-Qing said to Xue Yang. “This asshole says he killed a fierce corpse, but he didn’t know that.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t know. I said you wouldn’t.” Xue Yang grinned at her. “If you’re going to call me names you could at least be more creative, Little Blind.”

Xiao Xingchen shook his head. “Why would you lie about such a thing, Stranger?” he asked.

“Came up when I was telling Little Blind how I’m a fierce corpse myself,” Xue Yang said.

“Don’t call me that,” a-Qing said. Xiao Xingchen seemed startled for a moment, and then smiled a little.

“I see,” he said.

“Well,” Xue Yang said. “You don’t, actually.”

A-Qing looked furious, but Xiao Xingchen let out a bright and full-throated laugh, like that was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. Xue Yang blinked. He hadn’t really thought about saying it, and if he had he’d’ve thought Xiao Xingchen would be touchy about it. But he was smiling, and still chuckling a little, when he said, “no, I suppose not. Perhaps you have us both fooled, though I suspect my sword would know.”

Xue Yang’s ears pricked. “What do you mean?”

Xiao Xingchen set down the basket of groceries he was holding and paused, seeming to be thinking. “My sword, Shuanghua,” he said. “It is able to sense resentful energy, and thus direct me toward beings like ghosts or demons. Or, presumably, fierce corpses. It is how I can still go night hunting.”

“Huh,” Xue Yang said. That was interesting. And he had sort of wondered. He hadn’t heard of anything like that before.

He wondered suddenly how discriminating Xiao Xingchen’s sword was. Did it detect any amount of resentful energy? Or type, or concentration?

Xue Yang tucked that question away for later. It wasn’t important right now.

“How is your leg today, Stranger?”

“Fine,” Xue Yang said. Lied. “Are you just going to keep calling me ‘Stranger’? You could just pick a name and go with it. Or guess. Or use a different name every time you talk to me.”

Xiao Xingchen smiled again, obviously amused. “Or,” a-Qing said, “you could just say what you’re called. Why won’t you, anyway?”

“A-Qing,” Xiao Xingchen said. “Sometimes a man’s history is his own business.”

Wasn’t that a nice idea, Xue Yang thought. He doubted Xiao Xingchen would still say that if he knew who he was harboring.

“Yeah, all right,” Xue Yang said. “I’ll tell you my name.”

A-Qing looked suspicious. “What is it?”

“Ju Hua,” he said. Xiao Xingchen let out a strangled sound, like a laugh disguised by a fake cough. A-Qing recoiled, her face crinkling up in disgust.

“You’re disgusting,” she said.

“Hey,” Xue Yang said. “It’s rude to make fun of peoples’ names,” but he started cackling a second later, hard enough it hurt his cracked ribs. A-Qing got to her feet and flounced off, taking a swing at his head with her stick he was sure was deliberate.

Xue Yang grinned at Xiao Xingchen, who still looked like he was trying not to laugh. “You shouldn’t tease her,” he said.

“She can take it,” Xue Yang said easily. The turn of Xiao Xingchen’s mouth and the set of his eyebrows was reproachful, though both offset by the amusement that was still there.

“You still shouldn’t.”

“Ah, Daozhang,” Xue Yang said, dragging out the second syllable. “Ruining all my fun.”

Xiao Xingchen’s expression faltered for a moment, eyebrows furrowing, and Xue Yang realized that his voice had slipped, a little. He held his breath, tensing, waiting, something almost eager jumping in his stomach.

Here it comes.

Then Xiao Xingchen shook himself and let out a faint laugh, though it sounded a little weak. “I know,” he said. “I’m merciless.”

Xue Yang pictured Xiao Xingchen as he’d seen him first, almost glowing in white, a pinched expression of displeasure on his face. He would’ve seen Xue Yang executed. Not done it himself - couldn’t get those pure robes dirty - but still. He thought merciless wasn’t as far off the mark as Xiao Xingchen probably believed.

“Yeah,” he said. “Absolutely. Those vegetables you bought don’t stand a chance.”

Xiao Xingchen laughed again, and smiled, and Xue Yang blinked at him, something funny twisting in his chest under his heart.

You know I’m going to kill you someday, he thought. Not yet, but I’m gonna do it. And I’ll make sure you’ll know how I tricked you, how stupid you were, when I do.

Xue Yang usually slept pretty well, if lightly. He’d learned the trick of it - a need to wring rest out of the hours he got when it was safe, but the ability to wake up fast when he needed to. Usually he could get through the night without waking up, and if he dreamed, he never remembered them.

At first he wasn’t sure what had woken him up this time, just that between one moment and the next he was awake, wide awake with his senses shrilling an alarm, something wrong. His heartbeat picked up and he started to reach for Jiangzai only to stop himself.

Then he heard it: quiet but still audible through thin walls. A soft, distressed sound from Xiao Xingchen’s room.

He held very still, waiting until he heard another. A whimper, almost. Quiet and pathetic, wounded animal. He rose, slowly, on quiet feet, and walked as silently as he could while still limping, out of his room and into Xiao Xingchen’s.

He was lying there on the bed, under a thin blanket that was now tangled around his body. One of his arms was flung outwards, his head turned to the side, face crumpled in a frown. There were red stains on the white bandages over his missing eyes. His chest rose and fell unevenly and too quickly.

As he stood there, watching, Xiao Xingchen made another sound, one of pain, and Xue Yang almost felt it in his chest, in his gut. He took a step forward, and another, and another, until he was standing right next to the bed and looking down at Xiao Xingchen, lips parted, in the grip of a nightmare, so vulnerable, so beautiful in his suffering.

What was he dreaming about? Losing his eyes?

Maybe he’s dreaming about me, Xue Yang thought, and had to bite down on a laugh.

He could see the big vein in Xiao Xingchen’s throat throbbing with his rapid pulse. It’d be so easy. He could draw his knife and plunge it in in less than a second. He could slide it between his ribs and up into his heart. He could slice him open like a pig and pull his guts out through the gash. It’d be quick. Or it wouldn’t, and he’d make Xiao Xingchen scream before he died.

Xue Yang cocked his head to the side and thought about it. What it’d look like. How it’d feel.

He pressed his tongue to his teeth and thought about licking Xiao Xingchen’s blood off his fingers.

His body snapped taut at a sleepy, “Daozhang?” and he moved immediately, dropping down into a crouch next to the bed and reaching out to give Xiao Xingchen’s shoulder a gentle shake.

“Daozhang,” he said, pitching his voice low but gentle. “Xiao Xingchen, wake up.”

Xiao Xingchen was a cultivator. He woke up quickly too, with a sharp inhale. “What,” he said, and Xue Yang let go of him quickly in case he lashed out.

“What’s going on?” a-Qing asked behind him, voice clearer. “I heard noises.”

“Your Daozhang was having a bad dream,” Xue Yang said. “I was just waking him up.”

Xiao Xingchen’s lips pressed together. “I’m sorry for waking both of you,” he said, and his voice sounded - not shaky, exactly, but shaken, and subdued. “I’m all right. You can go back to sleep now.”

“Thanks for the permission,” Xue Yang said. “But I’m good.”

“A-Qing…”

“I’m good, too,” she said stubbornly, but Xue Yang heard her yawn.

“You’re young,” Xiao Xingchen said. He sounded exhausted. It was so - human. Which of course he was, flesh and blood just like the rest of them, but there was still something sort of weird about hearing it. “You need your rest.”

“But-”

“You heard him, Little Blind,” Xue Yang said. “Go to bed. Your coffin’s going to get cold.”

“But-”

“A-Qing,” Xiao Xingchen said, and after a moment she made a disgruntled, frustrated noise and shuffled out. There was a brief silence, and then Xiao Xingchen said, “you, too.”

“Nah,” Xue Yang said. “Like I said, I’m good.”

Xiao Xingchen reached up to his face and touched the bandage, then stiffened with a sharp breath in and turned his face away. “Oh,” he said. “I-”

Shame, Xue Yang thought, with a little thrill. He was ashamed. Of the blood, or what it meant? How it revealed what he so carefully covered up?

“Looks like you need a fresh bandage,” he said, carefully matter-of-fact. Xiao Xingchen turned his face further away.

“I’ll - take care of it.”

“Want help?”

“No,” Xiao Xingchen said, his voice sharp, and then quickly added, softer, “thank you. And...thank you for waking me.”

Xue Yang shrugged. “It’s nothing.”

Which it was. He hadn’t done anything. Wasn’t doing anything. Wasn’t going to kill him. It’d be too easy, he decided, doing it when he was sleeping. He wouldn’t know. Xue Yang wanted him to know.

Xiao Xingchen took a long, deep breath. “I’m all right. Really.”

“Yeah,” Xue Yang said. “I know. Want to go for a walk?”

If Xiao Xingchen had eyes, Xue Yang thought he’d be staring at him. “What?”

“A walk,” Xue Yang said. “You know. That thing you do outside sometimes.”

Xiao Xingchen didn’t laugh. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“Not like it makes a difference to you, does it?” Xue Yang said. “I do it sometimes. Helps clear my head.” He stood up and stretched. “Up to you. But I think I’ll go regardless. And who knows what’ll happen if I’m out there on my own.”

“Your injuries-”

“Doesn’t have to be a long walk.”

Xiao Xingchen was quiet for a while. Then he said, “all right. I need to get dressed.”

“Great,” Xue Yang said with a grin. “See you outside.”

He put on his robe and went out, stretching his arms overhead and looking up at the sky, the stars. The moon.

Now why, he thought, had he done that? Xiao Xingchen’s nightmares were none of his concern.

It was sort of funny, though, wasn’t it? Comforting him. Helping him. It’d twist the knife harder when he eventually found out. Make it cut deeper. Maybe he’d cry, blood tears running down his cheeks, and Xue Yang would trace them with his finger, lick it clean. Xiao Xingchen, he’d say. Looks like you need a fresh bandage.

“You know your roof is leaking,” Xue Yang said. Xiao Xingchen sighed.

“I’m aware,” he said.

“Just making sure,” Xue Yang said.

“I keep meaning to fix it,” Xiao Xingchen said.

“Daozhang,” Xue Yang said with exaggerated patience, “meaning to fix it doesn’t mean fuck if you don’t just do it. That’s like saying-”

He cut off before he said that’s like saying you’re going to kill someone and not following through.

“Like saying what?”

“Like saying you’re going to go night hunting and then sitting at home on your ass,” Xue Yang said.

“Are you calling Daozhang lazy?” a-Qing said. “You’re the lazy one here. Useless.” Xue Yang’s face dropped into a scowl.

“You’ve really got a talent for interrupting conversations that don’t involve you,” he said. Xiao Xingchen frowned in his direction.

“Our guest is just pointing out that I should have done something about the roof leak before now,” Xiao Xingchen said. “And he is right.”

“Course I am,” Xue Yang said. “I’m right about a lot of things.”

A-Qing snorted. “Yeah,” she said. “Name one.”

You’re an ugly little brat who ought to get slapped. “Xiao-daozhang is the most beautiful cultivator in the world,” he said. Xiao Xingchen’s face went red. A-Qing scowled.

“I wouldn’t know,” she said. “So I’d just have to take your word for it.”

“It’s not true,” Xiao Xingchen protested. “Our guest is just teasing.”

Xue Yang shrugged. “One against one, Daozhang. Too bad we don’t have a tie breaker.”

Xiao Xingchen’s face was still flushed bright. Like he’d been slapped, all the blood right under the skin, and Xue Yang wondered if his skin would feel hot if he touched it. If he’d bleed faster if he cut into his cheek.

He’d started to think maybe he shouldn’t kill Xiao Xingchen after all. It might actually be better to leave him alive. Dead people couldn’t suffer like living ones.

He leaned back on his hands. His leg was feeling better these days. His other wounds were well on the way to healing. He could probably leave, if he wanted to. Slip out in the middle of the night.

Maybe he’d cut a-Qing’s throat to leave a message. That’d probably hurt Xiao Xingchen worse than anything Xue Yang could do to him.

It was an idea. He tucked it away for consideration.

“Anyway,” he said. “You should definitely do it before winter or Little Blind will freeze to death.”

“Why don’t you do it,” a-Qing said loudly.

“What’ll you pay me for it? I don’t do that kind of work for free.”

A-Qing scowled harder. “You’re eating our food and sleeping in our house,” she said. “Ugh. You’re the worst.”

“A-Qing,” Xiao Xingchen said, “our guest is still injured. You wouldn’t want him to aggravate his injuries further.”

“Says who,” a-Qing muttered under her breath. Xiao Xingchen seemed to pretend not to hear.

“I’ll get some supplies tomorrow,” he said. “It is starting to get colder. But don’t worry about helping, Stranger. I can manage.” He gave Xue Yang a horribly gentle smile. Why are you like this, Xue Yang thought angrily.

Yeah. He wouldn’t kill Xiao Xingchen at all. Just cut up his face so he couldn’t smile like that anymore. He wouldn’t even know how awful he looked until people started recoiling from him in horror, exclaiming with disgust.

Yeah. That was an idea. Kill a-Qing and ruin that pretty face.

He’d get around to it before winter, once he was fully healed, and find someplace nice and warm to set up in for the cold months. No reason to stay in this miserable dead city when there was a whole world to explore.

Xiao Xingchen did not have any idea how to patch a roof.

Xue Yang ended up mostly doing it for him.

There was an itch under Xue Yang’s skin, in his bones. He didn’t know why, exactly. He just got like this sometimes, tense and restless and jumpy and he didn’t like it. Usually he dealt with it in one of two ways: killing someone or fucking someone. Or both.

He hadn’t killed anyone yet today, but he was thinking about it. It’d probably be a-Qing. She was getting on his last nerve, and he kept thinking if he killed her quick and quiet and dumped her body in the river Xiao Xingchen would never need to know.

Though why it’d matter if Xiao Xingchen knew was another matter.

He didn’t think he’d really kill a-Qing either, though. Maybe one of the merchants in the market. The one who’d tried to sell them half-rotted turnips. He’d deserve it. Yeah. Him. He’d make a good target.

Itch, itch, itch. Fuck. He was going to crawl out of his skin if he didn’t-

“Stranger?”

Xue Yang whirled around, knife in hand, and just checked the movement before he put it through Xiao Xingchen’s neck. Or, he would’ve checked it, but Xiao Xingchen caught his arm first.

Xue Yang froze. His body coiled tight, ready for the retaliation. Briefly, he wanted to laugh. The first time he really got close to stabbing Xiao Xingchen since waking up here and it hadn’t even been on purpose.

Xiao Xingchen felt down Xue Yang’s arm to his hand, his fingers wrapped around the knife. Least it wasn’t his left. He paused for a moment, then let go and stepped back.

“I startled you,” he said.

Xue Yang blinked. “I was thinking about something else,” he said cautiously.

“Apparently so,” Xiao Xingchen said. He smiled, barely, and bowed. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re - for what?”

“Startling you,” Xiao Xingchen said. Xue Yang stared at him.

“I almost stabbed you,” he blurted out, and then grimaced.

“Yes,” Xiao Xingchen said. “But you didn’t. I suppose this might be a different conversation if you had.” His voice was still even, calm. Xue Yang stared at him harder, hating the confusion that was starting to overtake the itch for violence.

“Probably wouldn’t be a conversation,” he said, before he meant to. Xiao Xingchen smiled a little.

“I suppose not,” Xiao Xingchen said. “A good thing I have quick reflexes.” He paused, the smile fading. “Stranger...I know that you have...a history. That there are shadows in it you don’t want to discuss. For all your good humor, you are tense, and watchful, and wary. A man - a cultivator - does not end up on the side of a road in your condition without having made dangerous enemies.”

Xue Yang opened his mouth, then closed it, getting tenser by the second. He still had his knife in hand, but Xiao Xingchen had shown he could catch him, and while Shuanghua wouldn’t be able to sense him the way it did ghosts and the like-

“Whatever you might have done,” Xiao Xingchen said, his voice quiet and serious, “it doesn’t matter now.”

Xue Yang’s voice was locked in his throat. Speechless. He wasn’t speechless very often. There was a laugh in there, too, thinking wildly really, is that really true, Xiao Xingchen, would you still say that if I told you my name-

“Pretty generous of you, Daozhang,” he said. “I might’ve done anything.”

“Perhaps,” Xiao Xingchen said. “But you have not done anything to me, or to a-Qing, or to the people here.”

Not yet, anyway, was his first thought, and then oh. Oh, that was rich, that was hilarious, that was-

He felt sort of weird, suddenly. Not sick, and nothing was hurting, just - weird. Off-balance. The itch was completely gone now, leaving something else in its wake that he couldn’t quite pin down.

“Xiao-daozhang,” he started to say, and then stopped. Xiao Xingchen gave him a small smile.

“Most people, I think, have shadows in their pasts,” Xiao Xingchen said. “I am not a magistrate. I would rather not act as one.”

Xue Yang thought of Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan’s eagerness to deliver him to justice, and wanted to laugh. But only for a moment.

He sucked on his teeth. Cocked his head to the side.

“Call me Chengmei,” he said. And waited. Waited to see any sign of recognition, of memory, of understanding.

Xiao Xingchen smiled, slightly. “Chengmei,” he said. “Thank you.”

Xue Yang huffed a laugh. “For what?”

“For telling me your name.”

Huh. Xue Yang wanted to laugh, would’ve laughed, did laugh, a little. “That’s not telling you much, Xiao-daozhang. It’s just a name. It might not even be my real one.”

“I know,” Xiao Xingchen said. He didn’t reach out, just smiled that warm smile that Xue Yang hated, that set off that strange and twisting feeling like a worm winding through his insides. Nobody had made that face at him before. Not like that. “But at least now I don’t have to call you ‘Stranger.’”

“You still could, if you wanted,” Xue Yang said, which made Xiao Xingchen laugh. Everything made him laugh. He had a stupid sense of humor, Xue Yang was starting to realize.

Such an idiot.

Xiao Xingchen gave him one last smile and went back inside. Xue Yang looked after him, eyes narrowed.

He should’ve gone by now, probably. He was getting comfortable, and comfortable was dangerous.

But he had a good thing going, here. And he could end it whenever he wanted. The second he got sick of this game, he could finish it, and Xiao Xingchen, too.

There was no reason to hurry, though. No rush.

And he had some ideas for how to keep things fun.

He had time.

#anonymous #xue yang #xiao xingchen #xuexiao #(you know it's going there)#the untamed #the sad queer cultivators show #a wild fic appeared

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sam-started-it · 4 years

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I was waiting for both dolls to come in before doing the big ooh shiny post and Z came just as I was getting ready for work so here goes!

Both girls were ordered on Friday last week. Z showed up right on time. Joss actually came early, which was kinda surprising.

Joss

She actually came with 2 hearing aids in the case. Both are designed for the right ear, but having a spare was super exciting!

The only part of her meet outfit with velcro is the shorts! I love the little embroidery on the pocket. This is the first AG swimsuit I've interacted with since my younger sister's Kailey and I think the quality went up since then. I hate the flip flops though. I bent my nail backwards trying to get them off.

Joss herself is too cute and I like that her face mold was designed to better accommodate her hearing aid. Her hair is a little thin, but that doesn't bother me too much.

I fell in love with the beach jumper right when it came out so had to get it. All 5 pockets are real! Those buttons on the side are functional! No velcro! Plus I adore the shoes.

Also couldn't resist this year's holiday outfit. It's so pretty and as a little bonus came with a recipe for stained glass cookies! Waiting til December to try it on.

Z was a fb marketplace find. She was retired before I had a chance to save up for her new and I finally found a good deal. Don't even care that she has permapanties

She came with her sightseeing outfit and accessories! Both scarves have velcro at the back so they can only be worn one way. The glasses feel a little flimsy, but the only other glasses I've ever seen in person were Molly's.

Z herself is absolutely perfect! Definitely worth the wait! I love how mix and match her whole collection is too!

Despite having the same face mold, Z and Jess look super different. I hadn't see the modified eyes in person yet, so I had to compare them. Z also has some detail painting around her eyes.

#american girl #joss kendrick #z yang #review

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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How Thor Changed the Marvel Cinematic Universe

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Marvel’s Thor, the first theatrical live-action film to feature the comic book giant’s version of the Norse God of Thunder, opened in theaters a decade ago, on May 6, 2011.

Directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring a then little-known Chris Hemsworth in the title role, Thor was the fourth film in the still-nascent Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was also — as we look back at it now — a pivotal one in the development of the MCU.

“I’m very proud of my part of it,” Branagh told us a couple of years ago about his handling of Thor. “Which was providing a sort of backbone that they could comically riff off, but at least it originally contained some of the high stakes Nine Realms import that that larger mythology has to have as well.”

Thor took the franchise off the Earth for the first time and into the cosmic side of the Marvel mythology, introducing audiences to the Nine Realms, the kingdom of Asgard and other mind-bending concepts that comic fans had adored for years but which were a major risk to put in front of mainstream moviegoers.

Even the character of Thor — with his helmet and his hammer and his arch way of speaking — often seemed to skate perilously close to laughable in the pages of the comics themselves. But he was also a mainstay of the Marvel line and a charter member of the Avengers, the superhero team that Marvel based its entire initial run of films upon.

Marvel

Thor didn’t take the Rainbow Bridge to the screen

A Thor movie based on the Marvel Comics version of the character had, surprisingly, been bandied around for years even before there was a Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The God of Thunder debuted on the page in Journey into Mystery #83 (August 1962), created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby. A founding member of the Avengers, he joined Iron Man, the Hulk, Ant-Man, and the Wasp in the pages of The Avengers #1 (September 1963). In the ensuing decades, he has starred in multiple iterations of the Avengers comics, plus many ongoing and limited series of his own.

An animated version of the character debuted in 1966’s Marvel Super-Friends show, while the first live-action incarnation of Thor (played by Eric Kramer) showed up in the 1988 TV movie The Incredible Hulk Returns, a follow-up to the late 1970s series The Incredible Hulk.

While Thor continued to turn up in various animated Marvel properties, it was in 1991 that the first full-length, live-action Thor movie was proposed — by no less than Sam Raimi.

The director, who later went on to make the first three Spider-Man movies and who is now working in the MCU on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, revealed to the The Hollywood Reporter in the wake of Stan Lee’s passing that he pitched a Thor movie to the Marvel Universe co-creator over lunch.

“We worked together writing treatments and took it to Fox and pitched it,” Raimi recalled. “And they said, ‘Absolutely no. Comic books don’t make good movies.’ This was in 1991.”

The rights to Thor bounced around Hollywood for a few more years (at one point it was set up at Sony with David S. Goyer writing and possibly directing) until landing back at Marvel Studios, which had reinvented itself as an independently financed production company in 2005 with distribution through Paramount Pictures. The studio, run at the time by David Maisel with Kevin Feige as president of production, hired Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend and the unfilmed Batman Unchained) to write a script for Thor, with Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class) coming aboard to direct in August 2007.

Marvel

Enter Tom Hiddleston as Loki…

No sooner did Matthew Vaughn sign up to direct Thor than he seemingly left just as quickly, although it was officially announced in May 2008 that he was departing. Creative and budget issues seemed to have sealed his exit. “Marvel loves the script,” he wrote in The Guardian in late 2007. “The only problem is that it has been costed at $300m and they ask how I am going to reduce it by $150m.”

Even though Thor had already been scheduled for a June 4, 2010 release date, Marvel still had to find a director. Talks were held with Guillermo del Toro, but he decided to direct The Hobbit instead (which he ended up leaving as well). At the end of its search, Marvel finally chose Kenneth Branagh, the Irish actor and director best known for his epic adaptations of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Henry V — which kind of provided an idea of the tone Marvel was looking for.

Branagh was finally signed in December 2008, telling MTV News, “It’s a chance to tell a big story on a big scale…It’s a human story right in the center of a big epic scenario.”

Once Branagh was signed, the movie’s release date was pushed back from June/July 2010 to May 6, 2011, providing plenty of time for the film’s extensive visual effects to be designed and created and for Branagh to find his cast — starting with the God of Thunder himself.

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The first person allegedly approached was Daniel Craig, who had just starred in his second James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. It was because of his commitments to the already massive 007 franchise that Craig turned down the hammer-wielding Asgardian, although it’s somehow hard to imagine the tough-as-nails Craig as the egotistical (at least at first), young Odinson.

A long list of young, relatively unknown actors tested for the part, including Chris Hemsworth (who was just making his brief but scene-stealing appearance as James Kirk’s father in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek), his brother Liam, the equally obscure Tom Hiddleston, Kevin McKidd from Grey’s Anatomy, Alexander Skarsgard (Godzilla vs. Kong), Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Joel Kinnaman (The Suicide Squad), and others. But Chris Hemsworth ultimately won the day, with Hiddleston landing the consolation gift that would keep on giving, the role of Thor’s villainous adopted brother Loki.

“That was my starting point, was that you have a character with a predisposition toward mischief,” Hiddleston said about playing the trickster god, during a 2010 set visit attended by this reporter in Manhattan Beach, California. “An inclination toward chaos and a delight in imbalance, and you couple that with the fierce intelligence that he has, and a chess master’s ability to manipulate events three or four steps ahead of the game.”

Adding even more gravitas to the production was the signing of the legendary Anthony Hopkins to play Thor’s father, Odin, along with Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Rene Russo as Thor’s mom Frigga, Colm Feore as Laufey, the king of the Frost Giants, Idris Elba as Heimdall, and others. Also signed: Samuel L. Jackson for his third appearance as Nick Fury (in an end credits bonus scene) and Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, marking the live-action debut of the bow-and-arrow-wielding Avenger.

Filming on Thor began in mid-January 2010 and wound down in early May, with shooting taking place at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, California (Marvel’s studio home in the MCU’s early years), Santa Fe, and other parts of New Mexico, and locations in northern California.

Colm Feore told The Deadbolt that the Shakespearean training which he, Branagh, and Hopkins all shared enabled them to quickly communicate with each other while shaping the characters and finding the right tone: “One of the things that was enormously helpful on Thor was that during the breaks, Tony, myself, and Ken would be talking in Shakespearean shorthand about what the characters were doing, what we thought they may be like, and how we could focus our attention more intelligently.”

During that same set visit to the Manhattan Beach set of Thor, Marvel president of production Kevin Feige told this reporter and others that the movie was going to feature more extensive post-production work than other Marvel films. “When you walk around Captain America or Iron Man, you can get it,” he explained. “With Thor, what you’re seeing is only 30% of what the movie will be. This is the big question mark and to me that makes it the most exciting. I like it when people don’t exactly know what we’re going to do.”

Reshoots were completed in late 2010, while The Avengers director Joss Whedon shot the end credits scene in which Nick Fury reveals the Infinity Stone known as the Tesseract to Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard).

Marvel

Marvel takes a big swing with Thor’s hammer

Introducing Thor and the Asgardians — who were essentially aliens, with technology so far ahead of our own that they seemed like gods to the ancient, more primitive people of Norway more than a millennium ago — was a major gamble for the MCU and its then-president of production (and now Chief Creative Officer) Kevin Feige.

Out of Marvel’s first three films, Iron Man and Iron Man 2 were massive, out-of-the-box hits, while The Incredible Hulk was a middling success at best. Yet all three films were Earthbound and dealt with plausible (as far as it went) science and technology. The science of Thor was — to borrow a phrase from the late science fiction titan Arthur C. Clarke — indistinguishable from magic.

“Asgardians are kind of ‘been there, done that’ when it comes to that kind of stuff,” said co-producer Craig Kyle to this reporter and others on the set visit. “For them to send you across the universe, it’s as easy as turning a key … Their technology is only as sophisticated as it needs to be to do extraordinary things.”

Making Thor, Odin and the other inhabitants of Asgard, Jotunheim and the rest of the Nine Realms into extra-terrestrial beings mistaken for gods by ancient humans took Thor away from sword-and-sorcery and fantasy and more overtly into the science fiction genre. But it also provided the film with a back story and mythology that was perhaps easier for modern movie fans to swallow — more Star Wars than the Völuspá.

“We just kept trying to humanize it all, and keep it very real,” Chris Hemsworth told Superhero Hype at the time about his approach to the title character. “Look into all the research about the comic books that we could, but also bring it back to ‘Who is this guy as a person, and what’s his relationship with people in the individual scenes?’ And working with someone like Kenneth Branagh, who has all those bases covered and has so many ideas, it was a hell of a time!”

In addition to taking the big creative risk of bringing Asgard and Thor to the screen, the movie took several other chances as well. Starting a tradition that Marvel would return to with films like Captain Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor did not function as a traditional origin story. We meet Thor, Loki, Odin, and enter Asgard with only a brief introduction detailing the history of ill will and war between the Asgardians and the Frost Giants.

Thor’s journey in the film is not that of an ordinary character being bestowed with great powers and learning how to use them, the typical arc of a superhero film. He is fully formed here, if flawed, and as the film progresses he learns to be a better version of the immensely powerful being that he already is — with the help of the human beings that he meets during his fall to Earth.

When Thor — the likely successor to his father’s throne — reignites hostilities with the Frost Giants partially due to his own immaturity, Odin decrees him unworthy of wielding Mjolnir and banishes him, powerless, to Earth. That leaves the door open for the crafty Loki — who has discovered that he is not Asgardian after all, but the child of Frost Giants — to manipulate and scheme his way into power himself.

Marvel’s other big gamble was making Loki a much more fully developed antagonist than had been previously seen in many comic book movies. Skillfully portrayed by Hiddleston in a performance that made him an instant star, Loki is an empathetic, nuanced character whose longing for the love and attention of his adopted father — who lavishes more of both on Thor — leads him down a dark path and into a character arc that would take several years and movies to play out.

“I think Loki intuitively feels that he doesn’t belong there, he doesn’t belong with the family in Asgard and doesn’t belong in the pantheon of gods,” said Hiddleston at the time. “He’s confused about his place in the universe … We all reach a point in our lives where we think, ‘What the hell are we supposed to do with our life?’ Thor reaches that point in this film and Loki does as well, so yes, maybe if Odin had made him feel valued and respected and essential to Asgard, then it would have been okay.”

Marvel

Thor smashes all preconceptions

Thor had its world premiere in Sydney, Australia on April 17, 2011 and opened in that country — Hemsworth’s native land — four days later. It premiered in 56 more markets before finally opening in North America on May 6, 2011.

The film earned a 77% fresh rating and mixed reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the performances by Hemsworth and Hiddleston, as well as the grandiose family drama on Asgard, but less impressed by Thor’s journey to Earth and the climactic battle there against the massive golem-like Destroyer sent by Loki to kill Thor.

More importantly for Marvel, the film connected with audiences despite the perception that Thor was largely unfamiliar or dated. Thor earned $181 million at the North American box office and a further $268 million abroad for a worldwide total of $449 million.

While that ranks it near the bottom of the 23 MCU movies released to date (along with Ant-Man and Captain America: The First Avenger), it was a far from shabby showing for the early MCU and proved Marvel’s calculation that it could expand Marvel’s footprint on film beyond already established characters like Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Hulk.

“I liked it when people said, ‘Iron Man’s the B-Team. You’re calling out the B-Team!’ We knew it wasn’t,” said Feige on set about using what were perceived as lower-tier Marvel heroes. “We knew it was going to be great. And that holds true for Thor … here’s another one that will redefine us and at least raise the bar of what a comic book movie is, for both people who’ve read comics and those who haven’t.”

Thor expanded the boundaries of the MCU into the realms of space, alternate dimensions and cosmic conflicts, while putting another key part in place for the impending arrival of the Avengers. And while 2013’s follow-up, Thor: The Dark World, was a misstep and considered one of Marvel’s few outright failures, the studio brilliantly reinvented the character in 2017 with Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok, moving him away from the initial Shakespearean grandiosity and into a more humorous space.

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That in turn allowed Thor and Hemsworth to have one of the most profound character arcs across the entire span of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. His story in those films, the box office clout of Ragnarok, and Hemsworth’s enthusiasm for the role led Marvel to commission 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder — marking the first time an MCU hero is venturing into a fourth solo movie.

Ten years later, while not a perfect film by any means, Thor is still an enjoyable, consciously weird Marvel epic that proved the God of Thunder could bring the lightning even to modern audiences. And while Thor has seemingly abandoned the throne of Asgard for now, his first film’s place in the MCU pantheon is secure.

The post How Thor Changed the Marvel Cinematic Universe appeared first on Den of Geek.

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constantvariations · 2 years

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Rwby V9C2. This time i decided to put all my thoughts down as i watched the episode (i know most folks do this as a massive series of reblogs. No thanks lol)

You know its gonna be a gr8 episode when the very first line is a disingenuous trope aware quip. No wonder at the new world, no anxiety about how to get home. Nope! Just... bland disinterest. Did Joss Whedon join crwby?

I hate Little so goddamn much. Idk if yall read that one teaboot post where they talk about their hatred of Olaf from Frozen but I am reaching that level of irrational fury

As much as I like the uses of sweat drops and pop animation and frustration speech bubbles because they're delightful anime visual tropes... it's wayyy to late to be introducing those now. This would be like adding farting unicorns to The Walking Dead after half the cast was eaten. Again. Once more, I am asking what the fuck the tone is supposed to be here

Why is it called the Ever After? Wonderland rolls off the tongue way better and makes more sense for the name of a new world/dimension/whatever

So glad to be getting the exposition on the girl who fell through the world now instead of any organic weaving into dialogue prior. I love getting my information shoved down my throat all at once

I do actually like them discussing the tale. Different takeaways from the same story are always fun. Wish it could've lasted longer, I really want more conversations between these guys that aren't always directly about the plot

Okay, Weiss's doubts are good to hear. Sound like a lot of the stuff we've been saying, which may or may not be on purpose. Strange she doesn't mention her family at all, though, just the downfall of Atlas. Would've been really interesting to hear her thoughts on her parents and brother

Little needs to die. Now.

Weiss going back and forth between freaking out about the impracticality of their situation and taking charge when impracticality occurs is jarring. Maybe it's the smaller nonsense she can handle and not the big, abstract stuff? Guess we'll see

"I've always wanted to be long, but I'm still small." That's the funniest thing crwby has written in the last 5 seasons and it goes to the worst character. Typical rwby lol

Yang is absolutely intolerable in this auction bit. Knowing she's in a strange and illogical world, her first instinct is to be a cop? I've seen children act less petulant than her. Also, any item bought is probably more easily stolen from the buyer than the racoon, so why isn't that even on the table right now?

Did these idiot townsfolk really not know the gimmick? He's been at this long enough to be immortalized in a fairy tale, and I highly doubt there's enough space in Wonderland for him to never visit the same place twice. Unless everyone's memories get reset after a certain point, they should damn well know the coon is a con

Also that sword looks like it should be in Halo. Guess old habits die hard

Not this fucking Scooby Doo shit again. Can these characters stop interacting with the loop de loop sections before I throw my computer into the sun?

Wait that's Penny's sword? It's ugly as shit why you gotta do Penny dirty like that again

I find Ruby's expression of depression to be highly unbelievable. The excuse for so long has been that she's been hiding her emotions for the sake of everyone else, which is a fair enough point, but now there's not even a token effort. No obviously painful smiles, no jokes she breaks partway through, no overcompensating by hyping up too much. Ruby might as well be the goth girl at the top of the skyscraper from the All Star Superman comic for all the characteristically realistic depiction of depression she has

It worked well enough when she was alone and didn't have to fake for anyone - which is why everyone was so excited for Ruby to finally be free to break - but that was nipped right in the bud, and nothing has grown in its place. It's just... disappointing

#rwde #ngl the racoons outfit reminds me of scalan from critical role except way worse #the coon isnt even all that interesting either. i hate the name his methods are boring the things he wants are too abstract for me to care #conniving/trickster characters can be some of the most fun characters ever and this is how you do it? ugh #also that bumblebee 'moment' isnt in the main text bc i originally sneezed and missed it #which is so fucking funny and depressing on every level #hurrah they ALMOST held hands. something theyve already done several times. someone call the pride parade #this season is already a mess but at least it isn't actively pissing me off like the last season did w actually offensive choices #these are annoying or bad choices at most so far #cant wait for it to get worse lmaoooo

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dipulb3 · 4 years

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Analysis: White guilt, apologies and why Hollywood is a cauldron of race issues at the moment

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/analysis-white-guilt-apologies-and-why-hollywood-is-a-cauldron-of-race-issues-at-the-moment/

Analysis: White guilt, apologies and why Hollywood is a cauldron of race issues at the moment

Despite complaints about “cancel culture” and racist insistence that people who talk about these important issues are “playing the race card,” Hollywood can’t seem to get away from conversations about race and diversity.

And while hopefully those discussions can lead to progress, lately they have led to controversy for some.

Osbourne said she didn’t necessarily agree with Morgan’s comments, but defended his right to make them. She herself was accused of being less than respectful when she berated Underwood for appearing to get emotional and insisted that if anyone should be crying over the conversation, it should be Osbourne herself.

Her perceived “victimhood” not only didn’t go over well, but the incident led to both an apology from Osbourne and an investigation by CBS into happenings on the set of “The Talk.”

Chris Harrison: “The Bachelor” franchise and its issues with race have long been discussed.

From its lack of diversity to last year’s outrage over “Bachelorette” star Hannah Brown using a racial epithet while jamming to a song, it’s safe to say the reality show has generated some headlines on matters of race.

But things came to a head this season after the casting of the first Black “Bachelor,” Matt James.

Longtime franchise host Chris Harrison has had to step aside from his duties after controversial comments he made during an interview with Rachel Lindsay, the first Black “Bachelorette,” who has been working for the TV show “Extra.”

During the chat, Harrison appeared to defend contestant Rachael Kirkconnell for being photographed at an antebellum plantation-themed fraternity formal event in 2018.

Harrison apologized, and James ended up giving Kirkconnell the final rose but then broke up with her over the controversy.

Billie Eilish: This instance was not so much an apology aired but rather yet another time a White artist has felt compelled to acknowledge a Black artist when an institution — in this case, the Grammys — did not.

Last Sunday, Eilish took home the final award of the evening, the prestigious record of the year, and used her acceptance speech to explain why rapper Megan Thee Stallion, one of her fellow nominees, really deserved it.

“You are so beautiful, you are so talented,” Eilish said. “I root for you always. You deserve it, honestly.”

If the moment felt familiar, it was because we had seen it happen before.

Adele tearfully gushed about Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” album deserving to win album of the year in 2017, instead of her album “25.”

Three years before, White rapper Macklemore apologized to rapper Kendrick Lamar for winning rap album of the year instead of the Black artist.

Race and identity politics can be complicated, but what’s not hard to understand is that these incidents happen because disparities and a far-from-level playing field absolutely exist in this world and in Hollywood.

Until that changes, someone is going to end up feeling sorry for it, or at the very least need to acknowledge it publicly.

For your weekend

Three things to watch:

‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’

Calling all superhero geeks.

The time is now to finally see how the Justice League film fared in the hands of Zack Snyder, thanks to the release of this extended director’s cut. Joss Whedon had stepped in to complete the 2017 film after Snyder left the project due to personal tragedy.

“The result of this fresh take, strictly from a creative and filmmaking standpoint, is fascinating: How did two different directors — Whedon, who birthed the ‘Avengers’ franchise on screen; and Snyder, who tackled adapting the famously unadaptable ‘Watchmen’ — approach the same material?” is how my Appradab colleague Brian Lowry described the project.

The movie premieres Thursday on HBO Max (which is owned by Appradab’s parent company).

‘Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal’

Ripped from the headlines, as they say, this film uses re-enactments to tell the story of the college admissions scandal that landed several wealthy parents — including celebs Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman — in legal trouble.

The story dominated the news for months, and now you can relive it all by heading over to Netflix, where it’s currently streaming.

‘Minari’

Now that the Oscar nominations are out, you may want to check out some of the nominees.

“Minari” is up for six categories, including best picture. The drama draws on director Lee Issac Chung’s childhood to tell the tale of a Korean American family trying to survive in rural Arkansas in the 1980s.

The film is currently available to stream on several services including Apple TV and Amazon Prime.

Two things to listen to:

Justin Bieber recently told Billboard there is a message behind his new music.

“I just want to be somebody who can say, ‘Look, I did some things that I’m not too proud of, but I took a look in the mirror and decided to make some changes, and you can too,” he told the publication. “There was a time where I really did have my identity wrapped up in my career, but I really do have an overflow of feeling like my purpose is to use my music to inspire.”

His sixth studio album, “Justice,” drops Friday and is Bieber’s second album release in 13 months. (“Changes” came out on Valentine’s Day 2020.)

With marriage to model Hailey Bieber and more private time — thanks to quarantining and no cellphone to limit who can get a hold of him — the now 27-year-old former teen idol appears to be at a new stage in his life and career.

Last year, Lana Del Rey announced she would be delaying her new album, “Chemtrails Over the Country Club,” for a few months.

Now, we get to see if it was worth the wait.

The studio album from the singer is the much-anticipated follow-up to her critically acclaimed 2019 collection, “Norman F**king Rockwell,” and expectations are high that she will continue to deliver her special brand of artistry when it drops Friday.

One thing to talk about:

It’s not breaking news that award shows and their voters appear to be out of step with the general public.

But this year’s best supporting actor category for the Oscars is even more confounding.

That’s because the two stars of “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Lakeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya, are both nominated in the category.

Which begs the question: “Which one is the actual star of the film if neither scored a best actor nod?”

I reached out to the Academy about this and a rep declined to comment. So we’ll just have to be content with the fact that the two won’t have to compete with the late Chadwick Boseman, a best actor nominee who is favored by many for what is believed to be his final on-screen performance in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”

Something to sip on

Looking for something to watch? We asked some of our friends around Appradab what they binge-watch to decompress.

Fredricka Whitfield, Appradab Newsroom anchor

Not at all uplifting, nor did they help me decompress, yet I indulged in “Killing Eve,” “The Undoing” and some “Lovecraft Country.”

Michael Smerconish, Smerconish anchor

“Call My Agent!” Who’d have thought I’d get hooked on a French TV show with subtitles — but I love it.

Kate Bolduan, At This Hour anchor

How can I limit it to just one?! Now, a year into Covid, here are some of the favorites that have gotten me through — “The Queen’s Gambit,” “Succession,” “Billions,” “The Spy,” “Kids Baking Championship (seasons 1-9),” “The Men Who Built America” and “The Mandalorian.”

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wildshub · 4 years

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WHO: The Fearless Fifteen WHAT: The castaways play a game of ‘Two Truths and a Lie’ to pass the time once they’ve taken shelter from the storm in the cave. WHEN: Day 5, later in the day NOTE: Just posting for record and so it’s easier to refer back to.

Jenny Since leaving the beach with the others Jenny had been struggling to stay present. Pain from their hand making them feel numb, and over time it was getting harder and harder to fight. The rain was loud outside the cave, quickly turning into a thunderstorm, but still they felt themselves fighting against fading completely. " Should we do something? " They voiced, looking to the others from their seated position. Their hair and clothes soaked completely, hoodie sleeve strategically pulled down over their still tender burn. The wet material was probably as close as they were going to get to soothing it tonight. " To pass the time, or whatever? "

Shane shane was squatting near one of the cave walls, wringing the water out of her shirt and hoodie, still regretting that she thought it was a good idea to take them off before the rain picked up. she was just grateful that divya suggested they moved here so they could actually get out of the rain. hearing jenny finally speak up, shane's eyes snapped to them, almost expecting them to freak out again. "never have i ever isn't as fun without alcohol," she commented. giving up on her clothes, shane sighed at sat down, pulling her knees up to her chest. "anyone know any other games?"

Divya While remembering the cave was good quick thinking on her part, getting to the cave in the rain was another story entirely. Divya was absolutely soaked after journeying through the jungle to get to the cave. She was in the midst of wringing out her hair when Jenny and then Shane spoke, a pang in her chest when the soccer captain mentioned games other than Never Have I Ever. "Wish I'd brought my UNO," Divya then said, lips turning downwards. It was difficult to remember in the midst of the heavy downpour. She sighed, plopping down on the ground against the wall of the cave. "Maybe we can play like a question game?" She then suggested after a moment. "Like Two Truths and a Lie or something." It was a simple enough game, one that didn't need alcohol or cards.

Jenny Trust Divya to long for her UNO cards when they were soaking wet in a cave on a deserted island with no idea where the rest of the group was. UNO cards didn't even crack the top 100 things they needed right now, but they did sort of wish she had brought them too. If they weren't so emotionally drained they probably would have made a joke about it but all they could muster was the corners of their lips tugging upwards a second. Though they didn't love the idea of opening up, especially when they were feeling so vulnerable already, it was Shane and Divya. The two they were closest to feeling safe around. And they didn't have any better suggestions either. " Yeah, I'm down, " they gave a pause to allow the others to agree before they launched the first round. Desperate for some noise other than the storm outside. " I'm an only child. I'm banned from like, most the bodegas near my house back home. And, " they trailed for a second, pretending to think of another one " my hand really fucking hurts. " They joked, not moving the hand in question from its delicate position. Now they only had to figure out which was the lie between the first two.

Shane shane couldn’t help the weak chuckle she made when divya brought up not having UNO with them, one of these days, they should really humor her and actually play a game. the idea of playing a game designed to get them to talk about themselves was not shane’s idea of a good time, but jenny and divya were probably the only two people that shane didn’t mind being around. at least it wasn’t joss; but as she thought that, she couldn’t help but wonder where the other captain was in this awful storm. she hoped the others were able to find cover somewhere. sighing, shane gave in, “okay, yeah.” jenny went first and of course they all knew the last one was true, but shane being herself went the sarcastic route, “oh the last one is totally a lie.”

Divya Despite all of the nastiness going on outside with the terrible weather, Divya was glad the lot of them in a cave could agree to do something fun and lighthearted like a game of Two Truths and A Lie to get their mind off of it. She chuckled at Shane's sarcasm. "Oh yeah, totally," she echoed with a smile. Though truthfully, she hoped Jenny would be alright. They would have to let them have a look at it later to see what the group could do about it. "But in all seriousness, I'm thinking the second one. The bodega one. No way you're banned by that many. How does one even get banned at a Bodega?"

Jenny Smile once again tugged at the corners of Jenny's lips while the other two joked along. It was a small thing, but it made them feel a bit better about it. And then Divya took a serious jab at it. And Jenny tried to hide any reaction, very easy to do in the growing darkness of the cave. " Is that your final answer? " They asked, raising their brows in her direction. Then they looked to Shane, wondering if she was thinking the same thing. Shane had the advantage, knowing what a bodega was like, and how annoying teenagers could be in them. " Do you think bodegas too? "

Shane when divya gave a real answer, shane thought she was off the hook on being serious for a moment. that is until jenny turned their attention to her. thinking it over for a second, she almost agreed with divya until she remembered how easily one of her teammates got banned one night when they were drunk. shane herself could have been banned too if she wasn’t outside having a smoke. “nah, i’m going siblings, bodega’s will ban you for anything. though, that sucks if it’s true,” she said the last part jokingly. “so which is it?”

Luna "What's a bodega?" Luna asked, pushing her dripping hair from her face as she looked up. She'd been quietly listening to the others, while tracing patterns into the dirt on the cave floor. She kind of wanted to play, but she was lost. "I can't know if you'd get banned from them all if I don't know what one is." Jenny They nodded at Shane's answer and pursed their lips as they did, mockingly, like they were weighing up which was true for themselves. But before they could reveal the truth, they were surprised to hear Luna pipe up. It threw them a little. And her question did too. " It's like– " they glanced to Shane in hopes of receiving a little help in describing the New York staple before they looked back to Luna. " Like a corner store, or something. It just sells like snacks and drinks and basic stuff. " They explained with a shrug of their shoulders. " So, only child or bodegas? Which is the lie? " They asked Luna specifically, now she was involved in the game.

Luna "So like a milk bar?" Luna replied, as if the American would somehow know what an Australian milk bar was like. She imagined it was like a bodega, but she didn't know. She bit her lip, tilting her head and considering the question. Truth was, she hadn't spoken to Jenny enough to know. Jenny had avoided her for so long, that their only real conversation had been about stars. "Dunno. Maybe the only child one?" she replied with a sly grin. Getting banned from every corner store seemed like the more fun option to be true.

Jenny "A what? " Their brows furrowed together, having no idea what a milk bar was but like, context made them assume it was what Australians called bodegas but like ... what the fuck? " Is that what Aussies call them? " they asked, still confused but also amused at this point too. But she voted only child too. They wondered for a second how much guessing was going on or if they were actually trying to figure it out. But they paused that snowball before it became a problem and simply told the truth. " I have two brothers and one sister. And I am banned from the five bodegas closest to my place. " They revealed, face cracking into a grin.

Luna "A milk bar," Luna repeated. She shrugged. "I guess so? I've never heard anyone call them something else except in movies." No one else was here to back her up--where was Joss? The other Australian, Luna suddenly realised, was not with them. She frowned, looking around them to check. But Jenny's reveal pulled her attention back. "Nice. What'd you do?"

Shane shane was right along with jenny in wonder what the fuck luna was talking about. “okay but do milk bars have cats? because there’s nothing better than a bodega cat.” she couldn’t help but feeling a little proud that she was able to guess correctly, but like luna, she wondered what they did to get banned from five bodegas. “yeah, whatcha do? am i going to see your picture on some wall of shame when i go home?” when. she was glad she said that instead of if because especially in the middle of this storm, shane was exactly hopeful.

Jenny Jenny wondered how a whole country could say milk bar with a straight face but they weren't going to press it. It was trivial. But Shane made a good point. " Bodega cats are the fucking best, " they agreed, suddenly filled with warm memories instead of the horrific ones that had been especially bad that day. They chuckled a little at the mention of the wall of shame. " Maaybe, " they answered, pretending to be coy about it for a second before they broke with a chuckle. They were definitely on a few walls of shame back home, Mia was on some too. " Just like, dumb things. Not paying for stuff, that sort of thing. " It was pretty much just solely shoplifting but they weren't sure they really wanted it to seem that way. " One time I just knocked a couple things over by accident but the guy was having a shit day I guess. " They chuckled again. But that was more than enough about them. In fact, give it a couple minutes, and it'd be way too fucking much. " So, who's next? "

Luna Her eyes widened. "Wait, you guys have cats in your bodegas? We don't have cats in the milk bars." Luna wished they did. She grinned at the idea of a wall of shame being a common feature in bodegas too. Shoplifters being on it made sense, she supposed, remembering the crappy CCTV pictures that were behind the counter in the small grocery store near her house. "I'll go, I guess." She hummed for a moment, deciding what to say. "Okay! I'm an only child. I was rushed to hospital to have my appendix removed. And I was homeschooled for a few years." The truths seemed benign enough for now, she hoped.

Divya Divya was loving this game. It was nice to learn about the other girls. You'd think with all of the free time they had on the island that they would have learned plenty about each other by now, but keeping yourself alive when you were stranded was hard. And very tiring. At the end of the day, you just wanted to sleep on your bed of sand. "Hmm." She narrowed her eyes at Luna, as if that would help her figure out which one of the three facts was a lie. "I'm gonna go with appendix," she decided after a moment. "What about you guys?" She asked the others.

Shane shane nodded, making a mental note to keep an eye out for jenny’s picture whenever they made it back home. kind of a small world moment if she was actually able to find them. attention shifted to luna as she went next and honestly she was stumped. she was pretty sure this was the most she had spoken to the other girl in the five days on the island so she really didn’t have much to go on, so she played it safe and decided to side with divya on this round. “yeah, i’m thinking appendix too,” she said with a shrug.

Jenny They considered the options presented to the group. They had already noted the scar of Luna's arm, so similar to their own, and though it had nothing to do with an appendix and made them think that she wasn't a stranger to surprise medical procedures. But, then that was the option Divya and Shane went with. " Guess I'll go with homeschool, mix it up a little. " They didn't think Luna was stupid enough to lie about being an only child so soon after Jenny had.

Luna It was a little surprising to her that the others caught her out so quickly. Except Jenny, who went with home schooling. "I still have my appendix," she confessed with a small grin, not admitting she had been rushed to hospital for a host of other things. "How did you guys know?" Maybe it was just a lucky guess.

Shane shane had a smug smile on her face when luna announced that she and divya were right. that’s two for two. though, she was mostly guessing, shane was still proud of her ability to read people. “honestly, i totally guessed and went with welbs on that one.” shifting where she sat, shane put her legs down since it was doing nothing to help warm her. after a moment of thought, she decided she might as well get her turn over with. “okay so, i lost my virginity to a guy at 14. i can play the guitar. and i have travelled to 5 different countries.” she was sure her lie was obvious but if everyone else wasn’t going deep yet, neither was she.

Jenny Jenny nodded a little at the reveal. If it had been someone they had spoken to more they might have been a little disappointed at the lose, but seeing as they and Luna had only spoken a tiny amount, and about stars of all things, they didn't feel too bad. But then someone they had spoken to quite a lot took their turn: Shane. Even though they hadn't spoken about any of those topics, Jenny would feel a little bad if they couldn't figure this one out. Once again brows furrowed a little as they thought. " I'm thinking either first one or last one. " They said aloud, looking around to gage what the others might be thinking. " Anything with a specific number is easy to make a little lie out of. " They added, to give reasoning to their thoughts. Though, on top of that, they'd be severely disappointed for Shane if she'd lost her virginity to a guy.

Alexa alexa couldn’t believe anyone would decide to turn her belongings into a rain collector, but the wind and the rain caused her to wrap all her things into a blanket in panic and head for the cave. couple wrong turns and she was starting to feel like she wouldn’t make it so she stopped by a massive tree to cry for over 20 minutes before continuing. as she entered the cave to find the peaceful atmosphere of the girls settled she dropped her stuff to the floor in relief. except the champagne now hanging from her hand. “okay who the FUCK ruined my suitcase? you know what? doesn’t matter! I hope you enjoy freezing instead of being wrapped in a nice DRY blanket. also i had the insides of that suitcase coated in special paint that reacts badly with water so all the water in there is basically toxic now. think about that next time you, the culprit, wants to fuck with somebody else’s shit.” she will drip all over Shane on her way around deeper into the cave and away from its entrance. “what did I miss? where is Joss?”

Divya Divya was having such a great time with the girls, smiling and taking guesses. They all really were making the best of a bad situation. "You make a good point," Divya agreed with Jenny when she caught their gaze. She gave it a moment's thought before turning to Shane and squinting, doing her signature move of narrowing her eyes - as if that held any real weight to how accurately once could sus out which fact was a lie. "I'm going with the first one. Too many details." A guy and at 14. Though the second she thought it, she realized: wait, maybe more details were better. She was just about to open her mouth to change her answer and then Lex made her way into the cave. Her heart dropped to her bum at the mention of the suitcase, gulping when she knew it was all her and Shane's doing . She looked over to the soccer captain, eyes clearly expressing panic.

Shane shane smiled to herself when jenny and divya read her so easily. she opened her mouth to give the answer right as someone walked into the cave. the second she heard lex's voice behind her, shane froze, staring right at divya. water dripped on shane's already wet head. running her hands over her head to wipe the water off, shane saw the visible panic in divya's eyes. shane just barely shook her head, hoping the other girl could pick up on the fact that they should keep quiet. "i haven't see joss since last night. hopefully she found shelter," shane said instead of acknowledging lex's suitcase. "we're trying to pass the time with a game. so do you think lex, i lost my v-card to a dude at 14, i play the guitar, or i've been to 5 different countries, which is a lie?" she tried to make her voice sound as neutral as possible as she tried to push the conversation away from lex's belongings.

Jenny Though Jenny had nothing to do with the further ruining of Lex's suitcase, having been preoccupied with the fire, they did feel a little guilty about leaving her behind. And when she mentioned Joss, Jenny was forced to think about just how many people were missing from the cave. And though it really wasn't, they immediately believed that was at least mostly their fault. Adjusting their position so legs were to their chest and arms wrapped around them, as a form of comfort. Their right hand hanging loosely off to the side to avoid putting pressure on the still stinging burn. As both Divya and Shane seemed to chose to ignore the whole suitcase thing and all the energy Lex had brought with her into the cave and instead push forward with the game, Jenny did too. " Divs and I are saying v-card. It has more details than the other options. "

Alexa Alexa couldn’t believe none of them even acknowledged her suitcase conundrum and she was determined to make them regret it. Shane’s quick change of topic and unreasonably welcoming behaviour made her suspicious as heck and she was now eyeing all of them as if they al knew and she was the idiot. Regardless she sits down, pulls out a couple of semi-dry shirts from the plastic bag. She puts on a fluffy pink pullover and passes the rest towards Divya. “Well, Shane has all the attitude of someone who should be getting laid but isn’t so, I’m gonna go with the 5 countries one. I don’t know man, what’s your zodiac again?” as if all the answers stood hidden in that one answer. Without much thinking she’ll pass the champagne to her right and pull her knees to her chest. “Seriously though has no one seen Joss? I need a shit liar in this circle if I’m even gonna attempt to win this game.”

Shane shane knew they were suspicious as fuck but considering alexa was probably already blaming her for it, there wasn’t much she could do besides hope divya wasn’t going to have a panic attack over what they did. but if worst came to worst, she’d take the fall and give some speech about how it was used for the greater good of survival and how alexa’s clothes could dry while they actually have water to drink. instead, she stays quiet and just rolls her eyes at lex’s comment. “well considering we’ve been stuck here for 5 days, it has been too long since i’ve been laid. and i’m an aquarius, but i don’t see how that can sway your choice,” she shot back. if shane was honest, she was worried about joss and the other girls. they could be anywhere right now and she just hoped they were okay. instead she just shook her head and frowned at the mention of her. “anyways, welbs and jenny were right. i was 14 but i would never sleep with a guy. who’s next?”

Divya Divya tried her best to keep her calm, swallowing her nerves and looking anywhere but Alexa's eyes to help her do so. She took the plastic from the girl with a nod, eyes toward the ground when she did so. She felt somewhat better rummaging the bag for something dry to wear, even more so when Shane revealed the lie and declared her and Jenny winners. "Yes!" She cheered, squeezing a hand into a victorious fist. At the same time she found something decent to change into from Alexa's bag, tossing it over to Jenny so they could have a nosey now. "I wanna go!" Divya announced. "I have an older sister, I've never broken a bone in my body, aaaand I took first place in a watermelon eating competition in Year 3." She flashed a grin when she was finished with her list of facts, smile faltering slightly when she accidentally made eye contact with Alexa.

Jenny When Lex mentioned Joss again, Jenny thought of piping up to say obviously they hadn't seen her. Or Oona, or like everyone else who wasn't already in the cave. If they had seen any of them they would have made sure they came with them. Or Divya would have at least. But when the question was followed by only wanting Joss around because she was a shit liar, Jenny bit their tongue. Their lips cracked a small smile once more when it was revealed they and Divya had been correct. Even a light chuckle escaped them as they witnessed the other's excitement. When handed the plastic bag, they reached for it with their good hand, keeping the other hidden in hoodie sleeve. Though they'd just argued that more details meant lie, they felt differently when Divya filled her last option with far more details than the rest. " I think broken bone, " they decided, pulling a shirt from the bag before passing it on. " I've seen how clumsy you are, there's no way you've never broken a bone. " They said with a sort of affectionate teasing as they looked to her. Plus, she was decked out in athletic stuff. There was no way an athletic kid hadn't broken a bone at some point.

Alexa she observed them all carefully and for a moment even Divya appeared suspicious. That’s how she knew she was probably tired and making stuff up at this point. Now focused entirely on the game, and lowkey annoyed that she guessed Shane wrong, she tries to look for hints on Divyas face but to no avail. She just seemed like she was lying altogether. Lex was never much good at reading people though, or situations, she just either vibed with people or didn’t. Jenny’s answer seamed very likely so she’ll nod. “Yes, yes I’ll second that too. I mean, it does seem the most plausible. But then the watermelon is so specific I’m...confused. Wait, how many is supposed to be a lie? One? Two?” She itches the back of her head and shrugs. “One lie, yeah no the bone, I’ll go with the broken bone...”

Shane shane smiled as divya excitedly celebrated that she and jenny guessed right. despite being stuck with alexa now, she was glad that she could ride out the storm with two of the people she did enjoy spending time with. but next was divya’s turn and shane was stumped. “i want to say the watermelon because it sounds so outrageous. but i also feel like it’s something you’d do and throw it in there to stump us. so i’m gonna copy them and say bone too.”

Divya “Bone? Really? That’s what you guys are going for? Sure?” A beat for any final changes. Divya gave them all a cheeky look before revealing the truth. “You’re all wrong!” She told them with a spirited bounce. “I really never have broken a bone before. Though, I probably should considering all the trouble I find myself in.” She chuckled. “And I really did win First Place for that watermelon eating competition. One of my proudest accomplishments in fact. I got sick right after though, threw it all up in the closest bathroom after I had my picture taken.” She shook her head at the memory. “I don’t have an older sister. I have an older brother,” she told them with a small grin, chuffed she was able to get away with it. “Well, half brother but brother nonetheless. Sean.” In her excitement, she turned to Alexa, completely forgetting her prior guilt. “He’s in the Royal Airforce actually. Or was,” she corrected herself with a tilt of her head. She turned to the rest of the group again. “He’s like private contractor or something now. Gets hired by random people and does all sorts of things.” She gave a wave of her hand, bored now with the details of her brother’s current occupation.

#wilds.thread

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itwill-comeback · 4 years

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More headcanons bb

☆ Someone [Tomas] implanted a huge phobia of hospitals and doctors in Vlad like "If you ever get taken to a hospital they're gonna figure out that you're not human and dissect you like a frog, you'd be a freak science experiment" and 1. Vlad only feels safe in hospitals with Nelly and 2. Thanks for making him feel like even more of a freak you punkass and 3. When he woke up post-staking and was just like "Otis is here?" His mind immediately is torn between Fuck That Where's Nelly? & Otis Wouldn't Let Doctors Dissect Me, Right? & What happened to Joss? Is he here? Am I safe right now?

☆ Nelly knows he gets antsy in hospitals even when she's with him, but doesn't know why. She tries to talk him into coming by while she's working and meeting her coworkers but he just digs his heels in, full stop "Nah, I'm-- I'm okay... thanks tho"

☆ Also once he got into his teens and all his doctor's visits involved the doctor offering to speak with him privately without Nelly in the room just makes him damn near have a panic attack every time and outright refusing to let people draw his blood because NopeNopeNope I'mNotHumanGoAway!

☆ Getting his wisdom teeth removed and demanding he get all four of those teeth back because he doesn't want anyone to have his DNA.

☆ Normal Elysians never have to deal with this issue because vampires actually love the medical field. They can easily convince humans around them to give them a raise or help then with an overnight shift or donate money to the hospital or be more understanding about wait times or agree to a better treatment or forgive medical debt because everyone who has to deal with anything within a stone's throw of the medical field, either as a patient or hospital staff, is just consistently overworked, underpaid or just outright frazzled and exhausted. This leaves their minds open to persuasion and vampires use that to their advantage a lot.

☆ Never understood why vampires in movies can't handle being around humans in hospitals because oh no they might bleed! Like dude come on I could smell the most delicious food on the planet and still the other smells of Hospital just kill any appetite I might have. I'm supposed to believe people with super senses wouldn't get nauseating headaches at the smell of all that disinfectant and bleach and latex and sweat and chemicals and medicine and death and holy hell those bright ass lights? There's nothing appetizing in a hospital for folks with regular senses. Vampires at best just adapt to the senses onslaught that is the inside of a hospital and bear it for the sake of helping people.

☆ Also fuck the idea that vampires inherently just don't give a fuck about people. We see a few instances of people not immediately noticing the difference between humans and vampires and I honestly think vampires would rather help every person that needs their help than be picky about who gets much needed medical attention.

☆ On top of that even if vampires don't necessarily want to help people because it's the right thing to do, they could just as well be in it for the money because they would make fucking phenomenal doctors with their super senses and their extreme precision and attention to detail. Also just imagine the bedside manner of someone who can literally read your mind. They know exactly what you're afraid of and exactly what you want to hear, and what you need to hear.

☆ Otis tells Vlad about cool stuff Elysia made like chess, cities, and Sony, but he doesn't even think to mention all the brilliant accomplishments of Elysian doctors and scientists because there are so many, you could write a book about all the stuff vampires figured out as time went on in the medical field alone.

☆ And all that stuff about "this hasn't changed in the medical field in the past 70/80/100 years" Yeah that's because lots of vampires don't appreciate change if it isn't absolutely necessary. There's a lot of "When I was just a premed fledgling we still used brass doorknobs that disinfected themselves and now everybody wants stainless steel everything ugh"

☆ Add to that that it's usually free for doctors to sit in on lectures and classes about new medical stuff so that their practice methods don't become dated and vampire doctors literally get to watch humanity get better at medicine.

☆ Elysians almost certainly knew about bacteria and infection since before the plague but couldn't explain it to humans without betraying their secret so they had to use the right methods with the wrong science behind it to get stuff done. Ex. Plague doctors wore masks, gloves, long coats and boots, and had canes to keep distance from people but since they couldn't explain the concept of airborne disease to humans they just went "uhhh, the air is dirty? The stench of death spreads the plague so I wear this mask with herbs in it which protects me from the miasma? Gloves and cane so I don't have to touch sick people? Touching is bad, people are dirty?" And humans just went with it. Historians be like "They were wrong, but their methods were right! How observant mankind was!"

☆ Tomas was hailed as a great help with hunting during the plague times but fuck him, if anyone's gonna know who's healthy and who isn't it's the vampire doctors and they no doubt showed active disdain for Tomas going around and killing the few healthy humans left in any given populace. Like if you just take those humans as drudges and make sure they stay healthy you can share them with other vampires and then some people survive the sickness! They have antibodies for the plague! Don't kill them!

☆ So no doubt vampires cover all of the medical field and can easily keep information about Elysian patients out of the hands of human staff and helped shape privacy in the medical field (things like not reading through people's medical records unless it's necessary, laws that keep your medical information protected) but also the definite pursuit of Elysians to figure out what their biology is and isn't capable of, figuring out why they can't catch sicknesses and why they're allergic to garlic and how drinking blood of all things sustains their bodies.

☆ Can you imagine how dope it would've been if Nelly had lived and married Otis and become a vampire and just had so much further knowledge about medicine given to her? At first it's difficult for her to get passed all the sensory overload of the hospital but once she does she's absolutely ten times happier at her job? Night shifts are a blessing and she's happy to take them to let her human coworkers get home to their families? I'm always big heart eyes for Nelly, but fledgling nurse Nelly?? Is so so good?? One downside is that Vlad is even more insistent that they both get out of bed before he leaves the house because trauma.

☆ All her coworkers think she's so perky because she got married and finally has someone at home to help her and she's now got an empty nest and literally they're all just like "ooo girl! Marriage looks so good on you! How's your boy? He doing good at Stokerton University? How's your new hubby?? When is he gonna come by so we can meet him??" And she also gains new friends through meeting all her vampire coworkers I'm 💖💖💖 love one newlywed nurse!

☆ Vlad meeting vampire medical staff who [despite being super intrigued by his biology] are very understanding to his anxieties about hospitals and try to help him overcome his fears. This sweet anxious halfling gets his blood drawn for the first time in his life at age 18 and is super relieved to see that all the stuff they do is noninvasive and really not that bad.

☆ All the DNA analysis stuff they tell him about is sorta lost on him because he doesn't speak doctor lmao, but Nelly is super intrigued and can explain it to him in regular people terms.

☆ Also Elysian psychologists help him recognize that his dad planted that fear in his mind so that he'd avoid hospitals and avoid most things so that he'd probably never meet any Elysians. And probably also to distance himself from his aunt who Tomas likely saw as an obstacle and just in general he wanted Vlad to be distrustful of everyone and avoidant of others, especially people who would try to help him.

☆ Vlad makes fledgling friends at college and admits he has a phobia of hospitals and one of his friends is like "Dude don't be afraid of hospitals, doctors are super nice! I'm gonna be a doctor soon, I wouldn't dissect you 🥰" and another one's all "I'm gonna become a nurse, like your aunt! Medical staff are legit just normal people with good hearts! You have nothing to be afraid of." And it just completely shakes Vlad's view of medical staff as mad scientists who want to cut him open.

☆ Not that Vlad didn't have enough trauma to get therapy for [the staking, the fire, the attempted soul snatching, being bitten by crazies, his friends and family almost being killed, Tomas fucking Tod, almost draining his girlfriend, his abandonment issues, ect.] I just genuinely think being afraid of hospitals is a natural thought process for someone who's the first half-vampire half-human in the world. Also Tomas would do some shit like that to Vlad, never plant any phobia of something that would help him like slayer phobia or garlic phobia, but something he would almost certainly need someday? Like medical treatment? Yeah, let's make him afraid of that, Tomas. That's a great idea.

☆ As a little not medical related thing, I think even though Vlad said he didn't care what Otis did with the house when he was renovating it, I think he definitely was a little bit inclined to have Otis use stuff that was flame resistant and almost certainly put like four fire extinguishers in different spots in the house and was real particular about getting good blinds and drapes for the windows. Also no way in hell does he let Otis get a gas stove.

#can y'all tell my parents work in a hospital? lol #:: lighting off the blaze (headcanon)#:: casper speaks (shouting into the void)#the chronicles of vladimir tod #I'll probably write more later about what the hell happened with him in the hospital post-staking #because holy hell what did the doctors even do for him with a fucking stake buried in his heart??#i just had some thoughts about trauma and vampires and hospitals and thought id share #fuck Tomas Tod #for the thousandth time

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