#the concept of loneliness as a destructive force. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

larrythefloridaman · 2 years

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handing you more characters bc your analysis is so delicious .

crimson. the scrunkly. most likely to be cpuk's tumblr sillyman.

Studying this little freak like a bug <3

(cpuk and ncct spoilers)

The thing about Crimson is that narratively, he is, as a villain, a bad coping mechanism or a self-destructive behavior. Barely even a metaphor- thats literally what he is to peppermint in pretty much no uncertain terms, she's parasocially in love with him because he, and the concept of a multiverse, allows her to indulge in the fantasy of a world where she's happy, and indulging unhealthily in fantasy is what actively drives people away from her, making her even lonelier. And she's not the only example of characters whom crimson's relationship to them is defined by them giving in to a character flaw. Chessmaster is the other clear cut example- succumbing to his inferiority complex and giving in to evil for the sake of proving himself are directly interrelated events, and he broke free when he was given kindness and support, a clearer picture of why he's like this (because he was designed to be,) and a vision of something different, something healthier, to be. He tempts people, consciously or not, to act their worst.

Hamburger Helper was a family man. Season one's storytelling is patchier than later seasons, but one can read between the lines, both then and later, to see something of a Mr. Incredible style gloryhound mid-life crisis to inspire his behavior, and his husband putting his foot down and breaking things off wasn't enough to drag him back to sense- especially since his son was on his side, resenting dadondorf for both his more firm parenting and splitting their family, launching into his ongoing emo phase and "trying to summon satan to kill his dad." (Real line from cpuk1. smthn smthn nccts crimson's first host was a dad and hes good with kids and says despite being kind of a monster he wouldn't hurt one. food for thought) But when The Grunk died, the show went on hiatus, and he was left in the broken fizzled aftermath of all that and forced to slowly realize how immature he'd been behaving and what ultimately really mattered to him and defected from Crimson of his own will.

Valentine was a risk taker, all for the drama of the show. Valentine walked directly into explosions just to see if he could survive them. He's a performer and a gentleman and a hero to the people. However, a risk taken in performance is a risk nonetheless and his overconfidence was his downfall. Valentine made a bet. Didn't tell a soul before he did it, other than a crimson possessed hamburger helper, speaking in their minds- hold your breath for the drama! And then he lost. And the deal was real. And so were the consequences. And the show he so loved came crashing to a halt as he was used to kill a man. (I'd also like to note, captain crimson in the nccts is kind of another example of a recreation of val as an image without his input, if im understanding the dream-fakes correctly- bc theyre composed of the current dreamers recollection of them, and Val isnt in the fourth dream. So once again val is being copied over as a biased outsiders image formed from people's perceptions of him, this one more literal and impermanent and largely defined by a very publically known traumatic experience that he really doesnt like to talk about and the person who controlled him in that time, while Quad was originally made to be a sort of exaggerated parody of what he loves and values. fun.)

Larry's... well, I've talked about Larry's problem. He overextends himself, unwilling to burden others intentionally even if they're willing to bear it, and needs to show himself a little self-compassion. And the circumstances of his possession? He functionally agreed to saving Crimson's life, and Crimson repays this by running off with his body right away and refusing to let Larry see his loved ones (for reasons of self-protection, crimson desiring to lie low right now, but still) and Larry's still trying to fix him from the inside. Bro thats nice and very noble and all bc god knows crimson genuinely needs help but you functionally got kidnapped my dude!!!!!! You missed yet another Valentines day after SEVEN missed Valentines days! you're on course to miss a NINTH since the show's gone off air in your absence!!! Your man just wants you to be safe for once!!!!!! He misses you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sidenote ive noticed in terms of teaching the lesson of not overextending your compassion sometimes folks trying to teach it fumble the point by making it so the way its taught is by making the target not 'worthy' of the compassion somehow (tricking the giver of care or help into thinking they need it when they really dont or smthn) as if overextending yourself is a matter of choosing who's morally deserving of help and weeding out the untrustworthy lazy manipulators or some shit rather than You Cannot Help Everyone, its a Logistical Impossibility and By Trying You Will Only Hurt Yourself and Eventually Others as Either Your Loved Ones Worry Themselves Sick To Death Over You as Your Wellbeing Inevitably Declines Or You End Up Lashing Out At Others Because Your Needs Have Gone Uncared For As A Result, Therefore You Literally NEED to be Helped Because You Literally Cannot Bear It All Alone and im glad thats more the kind of vibe set up here. Like. Crimson definitely definitely definitely needs help that much is clear. But Larry aint the fucker to do it. because He's Super Not Okay Either and also, he'd been trying to get Crimson to open up for however long it was between cpuk orange and ncct2 hed been trying and didn't know Funbox's name when Crimson was willing to say that on live tv but Dani spends an hour in a vent with him and he's Explaining His Personal Living Nightmare to her. Larry is not a person hes willing to open up to, probably Specifically Because he is trying and wants to help him! Larry's fuckin. Red Cross Syndrome actively makes Crimson want to clam up! They can be good buds, they certainly seem to enjoy eachothers company well enough, but not in the 'i can unload about my trauma to you' way right now because neither of them are people who think they need or deserve that yet!

Maladaptive coping mechanisms and emotional regulation strats being the domain of a god of treachery makes sense- especially in a show about compassion and healing the way CPUK often is. they don't fix the real problem. Often they make it worse. They make you feel better, stronger, until they don't, they take control of your life, and sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you realize you have a shovel in your hands. But, the thing about them is, they're NOT 'evil,' they're volatile, theyre unhealthy, and they don't come from nowhere. Its the culmination of unaddressed pain. And as with Chartreuse's tragedy, this applies to Crimson as much as it does to those his powers effect- this badboy's chock full of dumb destructive shit he does to feel power and control over and satisfaction with his own life, and that makes itself most apparent in his relationship with Crimsonaut. Now, Crimsonaut lacks much of a firm moral compass- but he's kind, in a snarky long-suffering sort of way. he was created by Dr. Order to venture into the crimson for study. We don't know how that went, but we know the result. Allowing Crimson to hide and recover in his body, lying about being uncontaminated upon his return from meeting him, intentionally hiding and protecting Crimson from discovery until he was strong enough to start taking control of the body from time to time and getting up to his shit again. Crimsonaut is more than capable of verbally standing up to Crimson, he puts his foot down- but he puts his foot down only when Crimson condescends to him, treats him like he's not an equal. Crimson calls him his little buddy- like hes affectionately describing a cat or a small animal or perhaps one of those fucked up lil splatoon fish, and Crimsonaut tells the evil primordial god in his body that he owes him at least the title of friend. Takes some backbone, which he chooses not to use later. He wasn't happy with crimson attempting to destroy the universe, where he lives, but after the fact, their relationship as we see it doesnt seem to have changed at all. Crimsonaut was still willingly playing his snarky human shield. Crimsonaut's friendly with Dani, and no exorcism ever happened. even though he very nearly successfully destroyed a universe, (and got them both put on a fucking Leash by his siblings for weeks after the fact,) he'd rather let him stay. But being separated from Crimson as a result of Crimson's own meddling, getting a nice breather away from him, and Crimson using this break as an opportunity to make a direct attempt to kill him to avoid being put back was the last straw. he was horrible despite when they got along and what he was made for and he couldnt just put up with it anymore, although Prism's next move might have... complicated his feelings about it. Crimson might honestly care about him, but that didn't make him any less of a toxic friend, and for that, Crimsonaut doesnt owe him a continued place in his life, and Crimson lost himself the most earnest, faithful, selflessly motivated friend he seems to have had since he arrived in this universe entirely through his own short-sighted self-destructive inability to deal with the minor restrictions living with Crimsonaut imposes on his life. He cant make himself willingly hand over control to another person enough to adapt to a minor dietary restriction. Absolute control freak. And... well. We know why.

Prism and the Ciblings relationship wasnt... explicitly cast as being abusive in those words before the nccts, though one could easily read between the lines. And what the implications spoke loud and clear already was bad enough. But things are called what they are in the nccts, (not by the cods, who. likely think its... not normal. but maybe normal for gods. Theres not really other examples of godly parenting for them to draw from, after all. But Folk correctly labels Prism as abusive.) and Crimson's status as a favorite target of torment is exposed, and recontextualizes... a lot of things, really. He implies quite straightforwardly that everything he says should be taken with a grain of 'im aware of when Prism's watching and what im willing to say when she is is effected somewhat by that.' His words are inherently a bit deceptive, but not necessarily maliciously- but self-protectively. Every respectable parenting resource: "strict helicopter parenting doesnt teach your child obedience, it teaches your child how to lie to you" prism raising a god of treachery: "haha yeah thats the point :)"

Crimson and Prism's relationship is a pretty realistic example of the effect of the beginning of a cycle of abuse, in the broad sense. A parent, effected by existential stresses they cannot escape, be they monetary, interpersonal, psychological, whatever, lashes out against their children in the process of raising them, simultaneously traumatizing them and modeling toxic behavior to them, which they ultimately mimic because thats how dealing with problems and stress was modeled to them in their formative years, lacking access to or knowledge of more positive outlets for their feelings.

Crimson wants to be nothing like her- but he is, unthinkingly, like her. He hurts people to his own ends, he manipulates the truth, he's controlling, a number of other small things- a sickly smile to reflect prism's vacant yet intense one. He is his mother's son. Godhood of treachery and godhood of stories are... rather similar in concept, really- i don't recall who, but ive heard a certain philosophy of storytelling said as, paraphrasing, 'fiction is lies, falsehood, in service to truth.' he adopts an aesthetic of opposition, blood guts and chocolate cake, without really deconstructing his behavior in context, because changing who he is means making himself more vulnerable to being changed while he's figuring himself out, and Prism's entire modus operandi is changing you without you ever noticing, and he wants to believe through his rebellion he can atleast be fully authentically himself, uninfluenced. But change cannot be staved off forever, and despite what he wanted to believe, he's still stuck. Choosing evil is not an escape, it is another cage. The hopelessness and stagnation of lacking meaningful choice setting in seems to be changing him anyway.

I marked the 'horrible person' square the way i did because normally when one claims a tragic villain 'had no choice' but to commit their actions, its not really an accurate reflection- having reasons and motives to do what you do doesnt change that you chose to do them, if only under duress. But Crimson was... very particularly, literally and specifically being disallowed from having a choice in who he turned out to be under the gaze of a panopticonic and brutal authority that could begin watching him at any time, and what they wanted him to be was evil. He was born to be a villain and groomed into it, lead to evil blindly by a strict parent who's strictness was applied specifically to spawn the rebellion it caused and create a self-demonizing villain. He could've chosen to be better in theory- options were technically there- but he wanted to be a villain because he was raised in such a way that it felt like a meaningful rebellion against Prism's goody two shoes persona, but it wasnt, and he wouldnt have been allowed to pick the better options anyway- judging from things like Prism hitting the undo button on TOJ giving her a shiner, anything deviating too far from the plan can just be undone anyway, with none but her (and the audience,) maintaining memory of it, although it's marks are left regardless. little retcons. (Prism saying she felt guilt for what she 'had to do' to Crimson is... a bit supported by this- if she never wanted him to ever have nice things she could very easily take All of it away. She could have made that hug never happen. But she did let him have that. Doesnt make the constant cruelty better but yknow. Abusers are weird and complicated people sometimes and often they believe what they're doing is for the best for the child even if it really really isnt)

While we all came to agreement that Doctor Order's statement, about how if someone is changed by prism by unnoticed inches it will become miles over time, did not apply to her... I think it applies to Crimson, although not fully in the magical sense she meant, but the metaphorical. I think once upon a time there mightve been a better nature and hope in crimson which was slowly, steadily, and thoroughly corroded for a long, long time. Started CPUK Reboot in my rewatch recently, and before it became Team Calibur, Team Crimson's uniting factor wasnt even evil- it was passion. Bizarre, considering how inhuman Crimson was played in the first season. Kindness is what comes naturally to people. All that doesnt have to matter, not in the least, to the people he's hurt- but free will has always been more theoretical for him than the average person with Prism's eyes trained on him, and morality greys and greys as one gets into the weeds of why people are the way they are and when you remove or bar off meaningful and conscious choice from the equation. It is, sometimes, a luxury to have the option to be a good person, even if you aren't aware those options have been closed off to you. People get trapped, often without even knowing, in doing things that contradict what they believe or understand to be right to survive and enjoy any kind of happiness or fulfillment every day. smthn smthn no ethical consumption under capitalism for a familiar example. Crimson just raises So Many Fun Moral Philosophy Questions. God i love 'born to be evil, are so much more than that' type characters theyre always so human and fun to get pretentious about. can you tell my family's ex-catholic /j

Judging by his resentful tone with things like lovey dovey romance and Prism's 'barney the dinosaur' demeanor, i think its pretty fair to assume Prism's faux-sugary demeanor has made him thoroughly distrustful or disdainful of anything too 'sweet' at the outset. Only pain and grit is 'real', anything too sweet is a facade waiting to stab you in the back. Despite his two-faced smarmy deceitfulness being a defining trait, being Authentically Himself seems to concern Crimson a great deal, and for obvious reason. That being said i think theres also a part of crimson that wishes he could win over her approval, judging from his conversation with captain crimson- where i think he's the only one of the cods to actually briefly label prism as their mom directly, if only in a snarky derisive way, (usually they fall in line with her description of herself as their babysitter, but i mean. When your parent is a primordial cloud of feelings and ideas and not a person that can raise you but their emissary raises you in their place idc thats functionally a Mom) and implies Crimson sticks around here because of Prism in a way that makes it sound like it was a deliberate choice- it'd certainly explain why he actually tried to be good at the job he Knew he had (until attempting to self-sabotage to prove a point,) and making a point out of cobalt fucking up at his, despite his typically impulsive and self-indulgent personality. not really realizing he never could have her approval until his godhood of treachery was revealed to him, a title which means he is inescapably evil to her. I think Crimson wants very badly to be liked and approved of by Somebody, and in failing to get that from Prism has... latched on to the audience a bit, as another extension of his progenitor Spectrum. Crimson sees chat! He can see everything we say about him! He probably has thoughts and feelings on a good lot of it! He started using the nickname Crimbo because of us, and throughout orange's intros iirc he seemed more than a little disappointed by the reception to him as host not just from the competitors but from us in chat booing him (in a heelish kind of way, largely. God knows we do love crimson even if he sucks <3) and for god's sake the nelson warping is activated by us complimenting him. hes So Desperate for us to like him! Not unlike prism was!

i think the treachery reveal ultimately came as the second hit of a three hit combo of crimson's held beliefs being challenged. I think Crimson percieved Cobalt as kinda... Prism's lapdog to some extent? always trying to be the 'responsible' one, managing his and Chartreuse's behavior on Prism's advice while botching his own job. Cobalt showed his care for Crimson as his little brother through making deals to keep him alive, but considering he spends every other moment they're together (understandably, crimson is not a good person and cobalt has a very firm and deliberately constructed punitive moral compass to keep from losing sight of his responsibilities,) being critical of him on moral grounds it makes their relationship feel much more... transactional, even if Cobalt doesnt mean things that way. Like he's only making these deals to protect him because Someone needs to do his job. And then a disguised Crimson, after his apparent death, walks in on Cobalt discussing with Chartreuse that they need to do something about Prism, that this has all gone on too long. He cares, regardless of their stupid jobs, he just wants Crimson to be Less of an Asshole. And then, after the treachery reveal, there's chartreuse giving up her godhood.

Crimson's been confused by and rudely dismissive of his sister's relationship ever since he found out- particularly so after learning what she's been doing to maintain it. She's weakening herself, hurting herself, making herself vulnerable, to maintain a relationship with some mortal who, even if she could keep up what she was doing, not telling him anything and enduring the pain of keeping his fracture in the timeline sustained, would have sixty maybe seventy years at best to be with her and then she'd be back to the usual. They are incomprehensibly old, Folk is a blip in the grand scheme. She'll get over him, she should stop whining about it, its spilt milk. And then she gave up her godhood entirely. This mortal was worth facing not just pain, but the inevitability of death to her, worth facing the absolute vulnerability of mortal life. Crimson still can't understand it... he still doesnt agree with her decision and he doesnt particularly like Folk that much. but he can understand this is Really Fucking Important to her. and he cares about her enough to respect it and want to be a part of it as much as he can.

Ultimately, what i think Crimson really needs is to learn is how to trust someone enough to willingly hand over power and control to someone else without it being the end of the world and that change can be for the better, and him respecting the agency of other people even if he intensely disagrees with their decisions is an important step in the right direction on that front.

#anyway. *points gun at you* listen to fly in my room by kerrin connolly and think about dani and crimson. Now #this is long to a frankly embarrassing extent #mostly because i went on several partly related tangents or overexplained the background observations that led to my conclusions. lol

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advnterccs-archive · 2 years

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REPOST AND LIST 5 SONGS & FIVE QUOTES THAT INSPIRE YOU TO WRITE YOUR MUSE

Songs:

Hot Girl Bummer - Blackbear

Venom - Icon For Hire

Feel Invincible - Skillet

Break - Three Days Grace

Mr. Self Destruct - Nine Inch Nails

Quotes:

"Enjoy using it all by yourself while you sit there and think about how nobody wants to be around you and how you ruined it for yourself because you're a huge piece of shit. Look at you sitting there, king shit on his throne of loneliness."

"I think you have to think ahead and live in the moment."

"Rick, the only connection between your unquestionable intelligence and the sickness destroying your family is that everyone in your family, you included, use intelligence to justify sickness. You seem to alternate between viewing your own mind as an unstoppable force and as an inescapable curse. And I think it's because the only truly unapproachable concept for you is that it's your mind within your control. You chose to come here, you chose to talk -to belittle my vocation- just as you chose to become a pickle. You are the master of your universe, and yet you are dripping with rat blood and feces. Your enormous mind literally vegetating by your own hand."

"If there's ever a saying about me, I'd fly into the fucking sun."

"Oh, I had all my problems removed my entitlement, my narcissism, my crippling loneliness, my irrational attachments."

Songs:

Immortals - Fall Out Boy

I Just Wanna Run - The Downtown Fiction

Kick In The Teeth - Papa Roach

New Divide - Linkin Park

I'm Just a Kid - Simple Plan

Quotes:

"We don't need to overthink shit, okay? Nice and grounded. Fully immersive from here on out."

"A hundred years! Rick and Morty, not sticking to one path."

"No, I don't trust you. I don't want to do this anymore if I'm not gonna get straight answers."

"Well, then get your shit together. Get it all together and put it in a backpack. All your shit, so it's together. And if you gotta take it somewhere, take it somewhere, you know? Take it to the shit store and sell it or put it in a shit museum. I don't care what you do! You just gotta get it together. Get your shit together."

"I ain't better than shit, jack!"

Tagged by: @countlessrealities <3 Tagging: @aslyfcx, @helluvabitchx, @somniaxperdita + whoever else wants to do this !

#{ dash games ; 🧪 }#{ headcanon ; 🧪 }#{ headcanon ; 🎮 }#{ thanks scotty for tagging me in this uwu !! }#{ also this took me so long xD }#{ it was so hard picking songs for morny ;w; }#{ but i got it xD }

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brahmsheelshireshusband · 2 years

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friend! 14 and 18 from the ask game? I was already hoping youd reblog it so i could ask questions 😭🥰

Aaaaa I’m so glad I reblogged it then!! I love asking about other people’s processes and thoughts but always feel. shy.

14. Favorite part of the process? I’m always torn between the actual start of writing being my favorite and the whirlwind of editing I do before I post something I’ve finished being my favorite. There’s something fun and exciting about when I first have the idea (however mundane or silly or “Me” of an idea it might be) and the intense brainstorming that follows. It’s also fun in a more tired, satisfied way when I’m winding down and working out those last few kinks in a story before I hit post, knowing that everyone is about to see whatever nonsense I came up with.

18. What is a recurring theme or symbolism that you like to include in your writing? this depends on what I’m writing!! For my Character x Reader stuff (especially the slasher stuff) I love to focus on the uncertainty of it all. On the vulnerability that comes with liking and eventually loving someone, of how these (typically) strong people suddenly find themselves weak to someone that would usually be a cake walk to handle. I also love delving into the loneliness my favorite slashers have experienced.

I think I can speak for a good number of people when I say that part of what appeals to me about horror movies and slashers in particular is how they’re usually “othered” in a sense. And there is something so uniquely lonely in being othered, in having those around you decide you don’t fit in for one reason or another, and I think it’s something that actually adds a certain human depth to these otherwise “inhuman” characters. Because I truly think there is no human experience more universal than loneliness. And perhaps my favorite thing about writing horror and slashers is turning that mirror so that I can reflect myself in their image, or reflect them in my image. if that makes sense.

I’m also pretty big on family (see any house of wax Fic I’ve ever written ever). Whether it’s family by blood or family by choice, I’m going to delve into it. Because that’s another thing that’s so human to me, this concept of “These people are bound by blood to take care of you, to nurture you, and to love you.” juxtaposed to “These people chose to love you, chose to be near you, chose to stick around despite what good and bad traits you have and the things you’ve done.” I love family. I love the power in casting aside blood ties and choosing your family, choosing people who love you and nurture you, choosing happiness and acceptance.

I think I love it because it’s such a journey for the characters (slasher or not slasher). If all you’ve known is quiet indifference and the crushing weight of unsaid expectations, it’s so earth shattering to then experience familial love that is kind, warm, and without attached strings. To have someone who loves and cares for you even when you fall short or fuck up. I love journeys. I love raw, messy emotions. I love characters eventually coming to grips with the fact that maybe their parents were wrong, and maybe they are lovable, and maybe they deserve kindness and softness, and maybe they aren’t some purely destructive force of nature.

god I love symbolism and themes.

#ask game #talking with my friends #myers meadow

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specreativeprojectdevelopment · 5 months

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Blog 30: Concept Building III

FINAL PROJECT PRE-PRODUCTION: VIVID - SHADOWS OF HAVOC

To begin with the pre-production research, I started out on Howard Philip Lovecraft, and his works.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, born on August 20, 1890, in Providence, Rhode Island, was an American writer who is widely considered one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th century. Lovecraft's works blended elements of science fiction, fantasy, and horror to create a unique style that has had a lasting impact on popular culture.

Lovecraft was raised in a wealthy family, but his parents both suffered from mental illness, and he was primarily raised by his maternal grandparents. Despite his privileged upbringing, Lovecraft's childhood was marked by loneliness and isolation, which contributed to his introspective and imaginative nature.

Lovecraft showed an early interest in literature and the macabre, and his grandfather encouraged this by exposing him to classic works of horror, such as Edgar Allan Poe's stories. Lovecraft began writing at a young age and published his first work, "The Poisoned Island," in the local newspaper at the age of 16.

In the years that followed, Lovecraft continued to write and publish stories in various pulp magazines. Despite his prolific output, he struggled to make a living as a writer, and he took various odd jobs to support himself, including working as a clerk and a ghostwriter. Despite his financial difficulties, Lovecraft remained dedicated to his craft, and his works slowly gained a following among fans of horror fiction.

One of Lovecraft's most significant contributions to the genre was his creation of the "Cthulhu Mythos," a shared universe of creatures and gods that features in many of his stories. The Mythos features powerful, ancient beings who reside beyond the limits of human understanding, and whose influence on the world is often portrayed as malevolent and destructive.

Lovecraft's writing style is characterized by his use of dense, evocative language and his focus on the unknown and the intangible. He often wrote from the perspective of characters who are slowly losing their grip on reality as they come into contact with the supernatural forces that pervade his stories.

Despite his limited commercial success during his lifetime, Lovecraft's impact on popular culture has been enormous. His works have been adapted into movies, TV shows, comics, and video games, and he has inspired countless other writers and creators in the horror genre.

Lovecraftian Horror

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, was an American writer who is best known for his contributions to the horror genre. Lovecraft's works are characterized by their imaginative, imaginative and psychologically rich depictions of the supernatural and the unknown. Through his writing, Lovecraft explored the limits of human understanding and the consequences of delving into the unknown, creating a unique and powerful body of literature that continues to captivate audiences today.

One of Lovecraft's most distinctive and enduring contributions to the horror genre is his creation of the "Cthulhu Mythos," a shared universe of creatures and gods that appear in many of his stories. The Mythos is centred around the idea of ancient, powerful beings who reside beyond the limits of human understanding and who have the power to shape and manipulate reality. In Lovecraft's stories, these beings are often portrayed as malevolent and destructive, and they often represent the ultimate triumph of chaos over order.

Lovecraft's writing style is characterized by his use of rich, evocative language and his focus on the intangible and the unknown. He often wrote from the perspective of characters who are slowly losing their grip on reality as they come into contact with the supernatural forces that pervade his stories. Through his use of vivid, imaginative descriptions and his focus on the psychological and emotional responses of his characters, Lovecraft created stories that are both deeply unsettling and deeply imaginative.

Another hallmark of Lovecraft's writing is his use of cosmic horror. In many of his stories, he explored the idea that the universe is not as ordered or rational as humans believe, and that there are forces beyond our understanding that have the power to destroy us. This sense of cosmic dread is often intertwined with Lovecraft's exploration of the unknown and the intangible, as his characters encounter supernatural forces that challenge their understanding of the world and threaten to overwhelm them.

Despite his limited commercial success during his lifetime, Lovecraft's impact on the horror genre and on popular culture has been enormous. His works have been adapted into movies, TV shows, comics, and video games, and he has inspired countless other writers and creators in the horror genre. His writing continues to be widely read and studied today, and he is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential figures in the history of horror fiction.

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hereliesbitches--me · 1 year

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:V: A New Hope:

:V: A New Hope (Star Wars):

Hey there, and thank you for checking out my verses!

My Star Wars verse is primarily an independent story that's obviously influenced by the events within the canon universe. My characters are primarily alien; thus they are able to be adapted both into the prequel movies as well as the modern Rey saga movies. I primarily set the story within the Skywalker storyline but am more than happy to adapt it over. Here, you'll find the general info about each character, the antagonist, and the major story plot points which we can integrate for interactions. Enjoy the read! ❤

▪︎ The Prequels: The Skywalker saga

( Taking place from the clone wars all the way to the fall of the Empire)

♡ The Jedi that never was: Rosie Valentine

Personality:

Once kind and painfully optimistic, Rosie is still young and has grown paranoid and jaded because of the stress of being alone as a young mother. She is distrusting and overprotective of her lone cub, a haggler that will use her influence in the force to persuade others in getting what she needs. Once her walls come down and she begins to trust you, it can be seen that she really is just a tired and scared girl. She’s grieving the father of her child who promised her safety and trying to navigate the world that wants to hunt her down. Her family among the jedi have been killed, her homeworld of Atrolize has been overtaken and used for its resources and its civilians taken hostage as slaves or breeding cattle for their versatile genetics and the abilities that come with it.. Her father, the senator, was assassinated like many others who wanted a movement for peace in order to end the war. She suffers in a void of loneliness and grief she doesn’t know how to handle while burdened with the responsibility of being a parent and teaching her cub how to survive. When relaxed, she can be affectionate and snarky like any feline, and incredibly protective of her allies. Spite her or wrong her in any way however, can result in her blatantly resorting to eating you or completely crippling you. At this point she is not averse to killing for the sake of self preservation.

She is a jedi no longer – really, she never was.

Abilities:

Duel Saber wielding

Style: Ataru, Shien/Djem so, and Jar’kaiSlowed aging

Force healing /Draining (Able to heal others or herself, usually in extreme cases by stealing the lifeforce of another if she lacks the energy herself)

Animal Bond

Force push/Pull (Rosie is able to take on much larger weight using the force than she would by her raw physical strength alone. Under enough stress, she would be able to hold down an escaping ship for a period of time or hold up the weight of crumbling infrastructure on top of her just long enough for people to escape)

Force Scream (an involuntary attack when she has become enraged and overwhelmed, it normally comes in the shape of an outburst of grief or panic while trying to protect someone else. The use of it can burn her out as its not measured in the power she puts behind it)

Kinetite (Force lighting, instead of uncontrolled streams of lighting , it is concentrated into a solid ball of energy which can be thrown, then expels the energy upon impact with a surface. Can be deflected back with the use of defensive force abilities)

Lesser Force Destruction (a weaker variation under the same concept, Rosie is able to concentrate a mass amount of energy within herself and then expell it in an anergized wave strong enough to send people flying, but it cannot burn anyone the way a true sith could)

History:

Rosie is of a race of anthropomorphic animal beings known as Atrolians. Born in 46 BBY, Her father was a senator that represented her people, this was her initial meeting with the jedi order. Vassago, an ancient jedi master in league with Yoda (hailing from a naturally force inclined race known as seraphim), is good friends with Senator Roland, and sees the force potential early within his young daughter. Because of the growing unrest behind the scenes of politics and world affairs, coupled with the fear of what his emotional daughter could do with her untrained abilities, Roland deems his 8 year old daughter would be safer in the hands of the jedi and his oldest friend. Rosie is then recruited into training as a youngling, to eventually become a padawan under vassago – despite the council’s concerns regarding Rosie's unnaturally strong pull between the light and dark with her emotional ties.

As a padawan, Rosie specialized in duel wielding sabers which could be connected at the hilt to form a double ended saber. Her fighting form specialized in utilizing her inherent animalistic abilities of her species, thus she is most efficient in Ataru, Shien/Djem So, and Jar’kai with her duel sabers. Being a big cat creature possessing strong legs and a prehensile tail, Rosie equally utilizes her natural physical attributes in battle against enemies as well. Her tail allows her to wrangle the limbs of her opponent to throw them off balance, while her thick claws on her feet and hands could easily tear through skin and leathery armor with ease. Being a feline makes her incredibly agile, which makes her throw her weight around and bounce off surfaces to confuse her enemies.

Despite her efficiency in close combat, her control on the force was not up to par. She was easily overwhelmed by heavy negative emotions when she became frustrated or distraught, which could often trigger a suffocating outburst that hurt allies and foes alike. Accidents led to a fear of using the force, to which vassago gently coaxed and encouraged her to let emotions flow. Unfortunately, the state of the galaxy escalating into the clone wars did little to help her case. Because of her instability, despite her age, Rosie remained a padawan under Vassago well into the clone wars. Her eventual salvation by chance came in the shape of the enemy, a bounty hunting mandalorian they crossed paths with while providing aid on a planet holding back pirates and droids. Rocky, the mandalorian, sought after the young padawan he felt an impulsive attachment to in an attempt to befriend her. Going so far as to remove his helmet and meet her in secret. Rocky, a seraphim like her master, promised her safety and encouraged her to escape this war that was not her own to fight. She was too young to be burdened with the responsibility of a peace keeper for a galaxy that doesn’t seem to want peace. She deserved better. The mando’s promises struck her in the place of longing, and she agreed to go with him. With the support of her master, she abandoned the jedi order to escape with the Mandalorian and his brother in arms… Which saved her when Order 66 was executed only weeks later.

Grief stricken by the crippling sensation of death and pain that overtook her, it traumatized her, however there was no way of returning home.

Traveling with Rocky, Guts, and their third brother Erron, Rocky taught her the essential survival skills in utilizing her force abilities, being able to scrap and rebuild, and fight the street way if she wanted to survive. All was well for months until she wound of pregnant;

The breaking point of the brothers. Erron, feeling Rosie had imposed herself into their lives and his brothers in arms took her wellbeing as more sacred than their own, broke off without a word. Much to the grief of Rocky and Guts.

Months later, Mia is eventually born on the ship and cared for deeply between the three of them. Deeming it unsafe to lugg around an infant on mercenary missions, Rosie and Mia were left on a safe base established on a thick forest planet that would keep them well hidden from the empire even if they had come looking. Mia was 2 years old when her uncle Guts and Father went on a recon mission, but her father had not returned home. Without Rocky, Rosie had no choice but to strike out on her own, unwilling to burden Guts with the needs of herself and her daughter when she felt responsible for tearing the brothers apart to begin with. At the time, her master had been killed in order 66, but Vassago’s strong connection both to the force and his padawan allowed him to linger to her and continue her training in truly mastering the force from both the light and the dark side

Pets:

Silus (an Anooba)

Kordath (A Massif)

♡ The Cub: Mia Blagrove

Personality:

Happy-go-lucky, optimistic, mischievous, likes shiny things, loves being groomed and fitting into tight spaces she doesn't belong. She likes talking and hunting small animals. Not the biggest fan of training but she knows she has to if she wants to be strong like her mom.Abilities:Force Persuasion Animal Bonding Force Push/pull A crossbreed between a Seraphim and an Atrolian, Mia is predominantly feline while bearing the body feathers of the seraphim like her father. A combination of two highly force sensitive beings means Mia has a powerful predisposition to use the force – fortunately, unlike her mother, she is more inclined to positive happy emotions and uses her abilities for harmless antics. Mia, like the kitten she is, often gets herself in trouble by going into places she is not supposed to. Including baggage and cargo bays or pulling off wall panels and crawling into the cozy space among wiring. Her need to make friends means she perfected her art of force persuasion to get what she wants or to at least make people stay and talk to her. She is a fearless little warrior in the making with a weakness for salty meat, sweets, or shiny things. She is naive and her mother often keeps her only a tail length away with their tails knotted together.

♡ A Mando far from home:

Rocky Blagrove

Personality:

Sensible, patient, charismatic and a natural born leader. He’s fairly easy going and hides his emotional pain well under the guise of being laid back. Rocky is the understanding friend despite the cold streak he can turn into when on the job. He doesn't hesitate to kill, but he does have a moral standing about killing innocent civilians or children. He runs by the rule that if you raise your arm first it's a death sentence. His most notable quality is the smile gun : if you're upset, he shoots up a finger gun and compels you to smile. His own smile, if you saw his face, is infectious. Its a real shame he stopped taking off his helmet

Abilities:

Flight (wings)

Plasma resistance (his feathers and wings, at least in terms of his outer feathers, are resistant to the super heat of a plasma blast and have some durability against low caliber bullets. Beskar makes up for the weaknesses)

Air Manipulation (utilizing the force to manipulate the air around his wings provides extra propulsion needed to shoot through the air beyond simple takeoff and gliding)

Deadly marksman

Blade specialist

Adept close range combat

History:

Born 56 BBY, The prodigy child of his family clan, Rocky would meet his future brother in arms, Erron, after the boy was found and taken in with the other mandalorian children in training. Naturally talented with the force, he hails from a species of winged aliens known as Seraphim, who utilize the force to manipulate the air around their bodies and wings to make them superior fliers and fighters even in the air. By extension, they have an affinity for animals, but they excel most as warriors.

Trained since he was a child and expected to become the next clan head, Rocky's flaw was own dislike of the burden of responsibility– he played the part until he was 17, old enough to break off on his own with all he had learned from his guild. Taking with him an adoptee he's call his brother, Erron. Together the two of them made a name for themselves as Skeiron and Big mouth in the Galaxy as elite bounty hunters, with Guts (a mandalorian of a separate guild who has also broken off on his own) joined their brotherhood as the armorer and weapons master. All was well for the three men, up until Rocky took a fondness for a jedi padawan in the middle of the clone wars.

His action to take Rosie away from the battle and teach her among his brother causes a severe rift, primarily with Erron who envied the attention Rosie received from his brother and despised her for being a jedi, until Erron finally completely abandoned their little guild without a word upon Rosie's pregnancy announcement. Heartbroken, but responsible for paying a new life for his future child, Rocky keeps it together with the help of Guts. Rocky never believed in the by the book formality of traditional mandalorian traditions, especially in regards to showing his face or the requirement to force a child or partner into the life of a mando by extension of being with them. He holds true to the honor system of battle, but that is about the limit to what he follows

▪︎ His "Death"

3 years following the end of the clone wars and the rise of the empire, Rocky and Guts follow a bounty hunt that unknowingly leads them into a crossfire between imperial clones and a group of fallen jedi taking refuge among civilians that are caught in the crossfire. Rocky, with his ultimate undoing being his morally obligated heart, abandoned the bounty hunt to aid in the civilians evacuation and the hopeless jedi. The decision, without Guts to help him, fatally injured Rocky as the masses overwhelmed even a sharpshooter like himself, but provided a good enough distraction to allow the imperial targets to escape. Bleeding out, Rocky was saved only because of the Jedi who were able to heal his condition to a manageable state, however he required nurturing and augmentation provided by the civilians.

Unable to find his brother, only his blasted helmet and scraps of broken armor in a puddle of blood, Guts can only assume the worst fate for his brother and returns to give Rosie the bad news.

Rocky remains in the care of locals for nearly a year, unable to contact his brother or his family with his communicators damaged from the battle. He lost an eye, a leg, an arm and a few fingers that have all been replaced by beskar steel recycled from his previously damaged mandalorian armor. When he was finally strong enough to move on his own, Rocky returns to the safe base he and his brothers established for their family, only to find it raided and burned down. With no other evidence to point to life, Rocky relives the second devastating blow to his heart and completely hides in his armor to separate himself from the world. Unable to really live and unwilling to die, he takes to never removing his helmet or armor and joins the rebels against the empire to avenge the death of his family

Rocky specializes in training of new recruits, but primarily scouts out Intel and useful allies to recruit. He has lost any hope of finding his brothers in this endless galaxy, though he hopes to hear circulating rumors at the very least. He's melancholic but without seeing his voice, his charismatic confidence is infectious.

♡ The Lone Wolf Survivor:

Guts

Personality:

Introverted, painfully loyal to a fault, self sacrificing , but a brutal mercenary when it comes to battle. Guts does what he must to get the job done but he has an inherent soft spot for women and children, especially those caught in the middle of the galactic mess. Guts usually keeps to himself, not usually one who starts the conversation but maintains it by only keeping up with vital information. For all his gruffness, Guts is very well capable of being compassionate and gentle despite what may be perceived as stoicism when hes hidden behind his helmet. Above all else he honors his brother's memory by taking care of his niece and Rosie. Nothing matters more to him than family

Abilities:

Weapons specialist

Armorer and Engineer

Sharpshooter, beskar sword wielder

Loth wolf shifting

Heightened sense of smell, hearing, taste, and eyesight

Superior strength to his build

History:

He was born within a prestigious mandalorian clan, one of the last bastions of loth wolf shifters long believed to have died off. His father is the clan head.

Like most children of mandalore, his childhood was one of harsh instruction and training from the moment he was capable of walking and wielding a weapon. As the only son of the Clan head and the future heir, he was treated with excessive cruelty from his father to assure his son would surpass all other children within his rank and older. To be the best warrior the clan had ever produced to take his father’s place.

Guts, then named Vessten, excelled beyond expectation with a talent for not only combat, but the engineering of weapons and armor as well. It was in his adolescence that his mother Diandra,the clan armorer born within the clan just as his father had been, refused to see her boy destroyed any further by his father and escaped the clan with her son.

Guts, always loyal to his mother far more than his father, continued his training and honing his skills as taught to him by his mother. Excelling in the realm of bounty hunting, earning the title of Black hound, he would eventually go off on his own and form his own small guild with his future brother in arms, Rocky(Skeiron) and Erron(Big Mouth).

Guts had served in the same role as his mother before him, as the group's armor and weapons specialist on top of serving as a heavy artillery warrior. Interpersonally, Guts was a constant voice of reason and logic in comparison to Rocky’s laid back nature and Erron’s impulsive arrogance. He is haunted by a level of guilt for his inability to pick a side when tension formed upon Rosie’s addition to the group. When Erron left, He did attempt to find him for a short while, until he decided Rocky and Rosie needed him more. When Erron was ready to show himself, he would do so

Upon Rocky's death, Guts vowed an oath of protection to Rosie and her cub in honor of his brother, with an underlying love he secretly held for a woman he could never have. Guts regularly travels the cosmos on bounty detail and returns to bring a wage back for Rosie and Mia, wherever they may be hiding at the time.

Guts deals with heavily bottled emotions and guilt ; He struggles heavily in showing emotions and using the right words to show support and comfort. Oftentimes he is more of a man of action to show his care, which gives way for him to meet many people in his travels

The Antagonist:

♡ The Tyrant Warrior: Balrog

The father of Guts and the leather of the loth wolf guild, Balrog is a scourge to some and a messiah to all those his guild has recruited and empowered from the poverty left behind by war. The guild has grown in number and power that proves to be a nuisance for even the empire and the first order, well known for their cruelty to their enemies and the iron fisted hold they have on shipping lanes and planetary trading posts. Nobody passes through territory without payment in goods or useful information – all those who don’t comply are typically met with a grizzly fate of fire, dismemberment, cannibalization, and heads showcased on pikes to mark off territory points.

Temperament wise, Balrog is cool and collected, proud and confident in his skill that very little phases him. His inner circle is composed solely of loth wolf shifters to preserve their heritage, but all other clan members are treated with the same kind of brother and sister in arms love. Among his clan, Balrog takes no excuses, but he is compassionate and kind to his kinsmen. He sees to it that his people are taken care of across the galaxy, and offers a hand to those suffering to empower themselves by joining his league (if he sees potential strength that could be utilized by the clan).

Outside of the clan, Balrog is a bloodthirsty creature of malice to anyone deemed an enemy. He does not take shit from any group, and is quick to make exampled of them for all others to not make the same mistake. With Loth wolf’s inherent skill and connection to the force, it makes him an exceptionally formidable enemy with the combination of combat skill , lethal weaponry, and dark force abilities to aid him.

The betrayal of his late wife and son prove to be a sore point from him ; He is still determined to find the traitors and reprimand them – but most importantly, to keep them where they belong.

♡ The Wolf in sheep's clothing: John Shaw

A shady lothwolf shifter that had no place in the clan, John (preferring to go by “Shaw”) simply goes with the winning side that offers him the best deals in terms of lifestyle and payment. He has no loyalty, but his sociopathic specialty of masking makes him surprisingly charismatic and ideal for negotiation and spy work. This charismatic nature hides his underlying sadistic pleasure in the suffering of others and his narcissism.

On the surface, John goes where the money goes and he likes the little pleasures he can gain from the galaxy’s suffering. You usually find him in the slimy city underbellies from planet to planet, gambling and swindeling crooks out of their wealth and drowning in the warmth of a sex worker.. Or whatever poor thing he can rob, rip, and dip. Having force abilities does help a lot in the persuasion aspect..

After all, who’s gonna fuck with a giant dog man?

♡ The Imperial Daughter:

Pandora

A Child born within the empire’s rule, she is the product of an admiral’s lust with an atrolain slave that was later harvested and indoctrinated into the empire, as is often the fate of many like herself. An incredibly intelligent tactician with a skill for language, combat, and negotiation, Pandora rose through the ranks quickly from her growing youth. With a controlled, nearly emotionless deposition, it made her a favorable cadet among the high ranking officers for a woman who would not argue, yet one who shined in times of urgency and combat.

Currently serving as a vice admirable on board a ship primarily staffed by many of her halfblood brethren, her ultimate goal is to take a shot at the rebllion and mandalorian brigade that proves to be a thorn in the empire’s side. Show the empire just what atrolians can be beyond simple body guards or sex slaves.

Appearance wise, Pandora is an albino that stands at about 6’3, bearing subtle canine features in her large pointed ears, eyes, claws, teeth, and a thin layer of white fur that covers her body. She had a tail as a child that was hacked off in training , deemed as liability in combat. An event which she resents, and continues to be reminded of from the tail nub that was left behind.

PLOT POINTS TO EXPLORE:

Pre order-66 where Rosie is a padawan training with other younglings or taking part in the clone wars

Rosie is traveling the galaxy in a desperate attempt to avoid the inquisitor's tracking and the empire's tyranny with her adolescent/toddler force-sensitive daughter. For her species, Rosie is the equivalent of a late teen/early 20 year old mom learning to survive entirely on her own. She takes up mercenary/Bounty hunting work on the neutral planets she makes her temporary home on, which could lead to crossing paths with your muse either as the target, the client, or perhaps a rival hunter

Rosie herself is still a powerful force user, even if she was not promoted to the rank of a Jedi. That being said: she is adept in lightsaber fighting forms, she knows how to find and make a lightsaber, the use of the force for both practical and impractical reasons, and she still possess her former jedi master in the shape of a force ghost who continues to train her in using both aspects of the light and dark side of the force. With the Jedi order destroyed, despite her negative feelings for the order, padawan and surviving jedi were still family to her. She is capable of teaching another muse survival skills , fighting skills, or how to hone their connection to the force

Mia, her daughter, is fearless and will attempt to make friends with anyone because her mother keeps her hoarded up and suffocates her with worry and overprotectiveness. Downside is Mia tries to make friends usually by harassing someone with questions, or by taking something shiny and making them chase her for it. She is still a kitten at the end of the day and possess kitten mannerisms that do get her in trouble. Your muse could be a victim of her antics or have a secret friendship with her while her mother is often out trying to hunt. Maybe your muse is a neighbor or an ally that occasionally comes by to help Rosie get a break, or maybe you just really think this kitten is cute

Please teach Rosie it is okay to learn to be her own person. She is more than just a mother, there is more to life than just fighting and worrying about tomorrow.

Rosie strains in the heavy pull of the dark and light sides of the force as her emotions rule her abilities just as much as they fuel her. Her love for her daughter serves as her light, but when she is in danger or her limits are tested, Rosie is capable of great destruction and misuse of her abilities for selfish personal gains.

The current state of Rosie’s homeworld Atrolize has been degraded under the rule of the empire, their species subdued to slave labor and breeding cattle because of the species genetic compatibility with any humanoid species in the universe. Anyone who becomes handicap or fails to pay their debts becomes sold off as a slave – which can mean hard labor, the life of a concubine/prostitute , or an exotic pet to trade among the wealthy. When Rosie is seen in the streets on more criminally inclined planets, its not uncommon for someone to ask a price to buy her off or buy her time. Lets see how your muse feels about that

Rocky “died” after taking heavy hits from clones while trying to help civilians and jedi escape. He was on death’s door but was saved by the jedi, ultimately. I wouldn’t mind a scenario of a muse being one of those that nursed him back to health. Be it a jedi, padawan, or a native civilian

After assuming his family was murdered by the empire, Rocky took fully embrace the Traditional mandalorian code he had long ago abandoned in his time of mourning. He never takes off his helmet, and has taken fully to aiding rebels in unraveling the empire one step at a time. Rocky often trains the newest rebels in close and ranged combat, leads recon missions or targets possible allies, and takes bounty jobs on the side to pay for the maintenance of his own weapons and armor.

Guts was a brother in arms to Rocky who bears the burden of feeling responsible for his brother’s death. In honor of his brother’s memory, he still returns to check on Rosie and Mia to bring supplies and credits to help them. Bearing an unrequited love for Rosie, he struggles with these emotions and the burden of his own bloodline as a lothwolf shifter. Given that his father Balrog is determined to bring him home, he desperately avoids his destiny by throwing himself in danger. A fellow mando companion or a friend in general to provide him someone to talk to about his struggles would be nice. Though, obviously, being seen with him is a dangerous game as your muse may become a target to force him back home to his clan.

Balrog is the clan leader of a mandalorian cult composed of his surviving lothwolf shifters, along with an amassed army of new mandalorians willing to follow him in their path of retribution for the deeds done against them by the Empire. Their loyalty to Balrog knows no bounds and the mandalorians prove to be a power that even torments the empire as they control trade routes, pilfer what they deem is a necessary tax to go through their territory, and take over arms, armor, and drug smuggling in their region. Balrog considers himself the leader of a new world order of mandalorians now that the old ways are simply inefficient given their enemies. This in itself can be a major point for any kind of character targeted for trying to stand against them or for simply being in the way.

John is a self serving lone wolf that travels the galaxy taking the worst kind of moral work that gives him the best pay. For all intent and purpose, john is a selfish sociopath but at the very least he’s funny and may hassle your muse either as a target or coworker. Or maybe your muse targets him because of the high bounty on his head. Any which way, he’s an adventurer if you want a little corruption on your muse.

Following the fall of the empire and the gradual recovery of the universe, the rebellion is still needed against the first order… Mia, now a fully grown Atrolian, has taken the Jedi skills taught to her by her brother to run reconnaissance detail and the training of new recruits against this well known threat. Though she is only slightly younger than Luke and Leia, her species has put her in what is the equivalent age of a young adult.

▪︎ The Sequels: The Rey Saga

( Taking place during the era of the first order, Onwards)

♡ A Rebel at Heart: Mia Blagrove

�� The Old Warcat: Rosie Valentine

Unable to part with her daughter knowing Mia has taken to fighting a war way over her head, Rosie begrudgingly puts her exhaustion aside to make sure these brats don’t get themselves kid. Luke Skywalker sure as hell isn't the last Jedi and someone needs to teach these new generation brats some humility. Who better to do this that a war cat?

Plot Points:

Mia is a young woman at the time of the first order rising, similar to the age of her own mother when the clone wars took place. She has become a formidable opponent given her tall agile stature, her force abilities, her flying capabilities with her wings, and her unyielding nature when it comes to justice and doing what is right. As soon as she was old enough, Mia ran off and joined the resistance to face off against the rising threat of the first order. Here, she takes on stealth and recon missions in a similar fashion, She is fearless and inspires hope in others with her strong presence. Being who her mother is, Luke Skywalker is no longer the last jedi. Being part of the rebels leaves open a large window in which she can meet muses varying from first order agents, rebels, or even planet natives as she travels around the galaxy

Rosie suffers empty nest syndrome and goes against her better nature to follow her daughter into a war that has nothing to do with them. She has grown harsher, more tired since her master’s ghost deemed his teachings maximized and left Rosie to become the teacher of a new generation in a new world. While still only a young woman in terms of her species, the stress of being a mother and a warrior has given Rosie an older appearance. She aids in humanitarian work, as a healer for rebels, or as a heavy hitter sent in emergency situations. Where Mia can be found, her mother is usually not too far behind.

Depending on what happens in the prequel verse, there can be a point of involvement with Rocky which can lead to paths crossing between the family by chance. Any previous connection with any of the character can be a major emotional moment for how the muses deal with Rosie, Mia, or Rocky being whiplashed by the discovery that they’re all alive

Self explanatory but Mia would have issues in trying to unravel planetary corruption. Rosie has decided assassination is always a good option

#mobile verse #:V: A New Hope (STAR WARS):#star wars rp #scifi rp

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neuxue · 4 years

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The last line in MDZS ch6 — Jiang Cheng’s offscreen ‘introduction’ — hit me like a tonne of bricks:

“得罪哪家都不能得罪江家，得罪谁都不能得罪江澄” “Whatever family you offend, you cannot offend the Jiang family; whoever you offend, you cannot offend Jiang Cheng”

(I miss translating from languages I actually feel confident in but that is not the point so we are MOVING ON)

Because placed into the context of the full story, this one line says so much, and conveys so much about Jiang Cheng’s character arc, and both the triumph and the sadness of it. In the context of the full story, the contrast between this — the first real introduction we get to Jiang Cheng’s reputation, to how he is perceived by others (which, of course, is such a core concept in this story) — and what we see of him when he is younger and first assuming this role, in a single sentence manages to convey so much about those intervening years that we don’t see.

And it hurts me.

Because at this point in the story we have been told two things about Jiang Cheng: that he (is believed to have) killed Wei Wuxian, and now that he is the one person you do not cross.

Compare that with (CQL as I’ve not finished the novel) Jiang Cheng, inheriting the leadership of his sect amidst a massacre, far too young and so very afraid of not being good enough, not being strong enough. Jiang Cheng, trying to defend and rebuild his sect first on the battlefields of Sunshot and then the banquet halls of its aftermath. Jiang Cheng, the youngest sect leader in the room and the destruction of Lotus pier at his back and his mercurial asset-and-liability of a brother at his side and then not, and Jin Guangshan watching and prodding and moving to consolidate power.

Jiang Cheng, too young and too violently handed an impossible task — rebuild Yunmeng Jiang, protect it, make the others see him as someone to be respected rather than someone to be controlled — and having been told all his life that he doesn’t measure up to the standard of acknowledging the impossible and doing it anyway.

It would be so... understandable, for him to fail. For Yunmeng Jiang to vanish, Lotus Pier perhaps an outpost of Lanling Jin rather than Qishan Wen, or else fading into obscurity or becoming a lesser sect. A consequence of the war, some might say, shaking their heads in shallow sympathy. But what can you expect, with almost no surviving disciples and only a child to lead them...

But Jiang Cheng — Jiang Cheng, who could not save his parents, his family, his sect; Jiang Cheng, who then cannot keep his sister alive and his brother at his side; Jiang Cheng, who has loses everything — instead looks at the impossibility of preserving his sect and their standing, and does it anyway.

And it does not come without a cost. There are choices and sacrifices and compromises he must make along the way, especially in those turbulent first days, when he has so very little political capital or power at his disposal in anything but the form of lightning and anger, when his sect is little more than a memory and a vow.

And we can talk all day about how Wei Wuxian projects invulnerability until people believe it, and the cost of that, but in his own way Jiang Cheng does the same. He refuses to be seen as a child, or as a weak leader of a prize ripe for the taking... but the cost of appearing invulnerable is, of course, that people come to believe it. They will not see his pain, his loneliness, his fear; because he buries deep anything that might be read as weakness.

But I don’t think it ever truly goes away.

He does the impossible, in that decade-and-some. Brings the world to see him as a force to be reckoned with, as someone to respect, as the one person you do not cross. It’s not a triumph, but there is the sense of years of determination and perseverance, and fuelling that is...

Is the memory of his too-young self, staring over the rooftop at the destruction of everything he knew and loved, powerless to stop it. Because it’s too late to save them, but maybe, if the world knows him as the one person never to cross... maybe at last, it will be enough to keep those he is responsible for safe.

#this is not exactly groundbreaking analysis or anything i just #that line just kills me #the way it say so much! about those years we never see!#the years jiang cheng worked and endured and fought for alone #the image he holds now in the eyes of the world #the price he paid for that image #both in the achieving of it and the reason for its necessity in the first place #it's just Feelings About Jiang Cheng hours here on this blog tonight #jiang cheng #mdzs #neuxue reads mdzs

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shihalyfie · 3 years

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The meaning of the Beast Spirits in Frontier, and what it means to control it

(On request by @digitalgate02.)

When you think about it, Frontier can be framed as a story of outcasts or misfits having to accept the idea of “changing themselves” in order to become better people, both literally in the sense of embracing physical transformation, and metaphorically in the sense of making attempts to do better. Implicitly, it speaks a lot as to how quickly these kids accept the idea of turning into something else -- perhaps implying as to how ostracized they’ve felt that such a thing instantly sounds appealing -- but it also adds some interesting layers to the concept of the Beast Spirit and how the difficulty of “controlling it” ties into each character’s personal story.

I think a lot of it has to do with the idea that these kids did have inclinations of being selfish or shallow at the beginning -- while they were full of potential to become heroes, they definitely started off as unlikely misfits at the beginning. In that respect, you can see the Beast Spirits arc as a sort of lesson that great power must be used wisely and responsibility...

Believe it or not, our biggest clue to all of this comes from episode 16, Izumi’s episode. It’s not directly stated in words, and the abstract summary of “determination” is passed off as a joke, but looking at the context clues around the episode indicates that’s actually not far off.

The thing is that Calmaramon is depicted as having the hardest time with her Beast Spirit compared to practically about anyone else in the group, and one of the recurring themes about it is that it’s partially because her personality is downright terrible. If you look at the context clues behind the prior episode (15), you’ll notice that while her looks are briefly brought up as an issue there and in this episode, the part that’s really freaking everyone out (and is making everyone worried Izumi will turn out to be the same) is that they actually saw it have an impact on her personality, where she was clearly conscious and able to talk but also indiscriminately destroying everything and enjoying it. At least in the case of Kouji, Takuya, and Junpei, they can be forgiven because they all did their best to keep it under control after the initial fallout, but Ranamon changing into Calmaramon had also involved her becoming someone actively reveling in senseless destruction. When everyone worries that Izumi might turn out like that, they don’t even bring up looks at all, and they all recoil when she does start showing signs of being destructive anyway.

The thing is, the entire rest of the episode puts a massive spotlight on Izumi’s actions of standing up for the Gomamon and empathizing with their loneliness (which, given the contexts added about Izumi’s background and backstory in episodes 8 and 26, are most likely her feeling that the concept of “being isolated from others no matter how much you want to reach them” hit way too hard for her) to the point she puts her foot down to override the boys’ prior plan of chasing the Toucanmon and their Digivices. She actually faces quite a bit of protest from the boys on this issue, and even admits she’s not sure if her own plan will work, but focuses on the idea of doing her best to undo the whirlpool with her abilities -- that is to say, using her power to protect and help others.

This sentiment of “I have to protect everyone” drives Izumi’s actions for the rest of the episode, to the point it’s the only thought consuming her head right before she finds and claims her Beast Spirit. So to make it clear, at the time she claimed it, the thought of “protecting others” was desperately, single-mindedly consuming her head...

...and the contrast is immediately apparent when Shutumon emerges, and the only thing Ranamon cares about is looks.

In other words, the reason the Beast Spirit wasn’t working out for Ranamon/Calmaramon is that she only wanted the Beast Spirit’s power for the sake of pride, vanity, and dominating others, and because of that, she had difficulty controlling it because it resonated with those feelings -- after all, although she wanted to “control” it to the extent of not carrying her all over the place, she was perfectly fine with the part about causing wanton destruction. Izumi, on the other hand, is clearly holding herself back even after her first evolution to Shutumon -- trying to keep a calm head -- and, after all, her entire motivation had been driven by “helping and protecting others” for the whole episode, so she doesn’t want to let this fail on her now, and she keeps that calm head all the way throughout the rest of it.

When we get to the next episode (17), you’ll also notice that one of the first things Blizzarmon (Tomoki) does is actively attempt to restrain himself. If you look back at what Tomoki’s character arc is about, he’d spent the better part of his past being bullied by others and tossed around, so “overpowering the weak” is the last thing Tomoki ever wants to do (especially given the events of this episode, as well). So, having witnessed the potential consequences of the Beast Spirit with the other boys, it stands to reason that Tomoki would want to avoid “hurting others” so much that restraining this would be a strong priority for him. While it’s commented that it does take his personality out of control a bit, the worst it ever gets is that he seems to be overly elated and cheerful about his defeats, but that’s also in line with Tomoki constantly having been pushed down so much during his life that you can imagine he’s enjoying the opportunity to finally be strong and have the spotlight.

But because he hates the concept of bullying and pushing others down so much, it stands to reason that he wouldn’t really have as much of a problem with that.

So when you look back at the prior episodes with the Beast Spirits with this context, you can see it applying there as well. In episode 14, Junpei was spending the better part of the first half of the episode livid at what was happening to his friends -- absolutely pissed at Grottomon for taking Izumi's spirit (and, despite Izumi's doubts, it's pretty apparent he actually does care about it beyond just having a crush on her), and then upset at the idea of being a sitting duck while Agnimon and Wolfmon are getting tossed around. While Junpei initially has trouble keeping the Spirit under control, the exact moment he gets a grip on himself is the moment he reaffirms his determination to fight for the sake of his friends.

Looking back at the other two episodes about rampaging Beast Spirits in episodes 10 and 12, you can also see why the concept applies there as well. It’s interesting how the “worst” rampage shown among the main protagonist Beast Spirits was not the first one obtained (Garmmon) but the second one (Vritramon), and if you look at the circumstances surrounding them, it doesn’t seem to mean as much about Takuya having any particular stronger tendency towards condescending violence as much as the sheer circumstances that went on behind them:

Kouji obtained his Beast Spirit under the circumstances of already knowing that he needed to protect Gotsumon with that power (and, moreover, having spent the end of the prior episode and the duration of the beginning of this one mulling on Ophanimon’s warning that he’d need to “grow” before he could obtain it). Therefore, “using this power for the desire to protect others” was a huge thought in his head from the very beginning, even though -- presumably partially because this was a first time for everyone -- it threw him off just enough for him to end up exhausting himself.

Takuya obtained his without warning and without proper understanding of what he was dealing with, having had it practically forced on him after Shamamon-as-Vritramon’s defeat, and so, with no context of purpose and no real depth of what he was about to get into, he ended up on a complete destructive rampage. He was snapped out successfully by the need to not hurt someone (Tomoki), and spent the rest of the episode agonizing and mulling over the risks and meaning of having such power before he eventually evolved into Vritramon without too much issue the second time.

So the point is made clear: the “destructive” and “uncontrollable” impulses associated with the Beast Spirits will be sent out of control if the user doesn’t have a strong desire to use it with proper purpose. For Ranamon/Calmaramon, she had the worst time with it because she was the single most obsessed out of the Legendary Warriors to use it to stroke her own ego and vanity, whereas at least the other three Cherubimon-allied ones (besides Duskmon -- see below) were at least capable of using it towards a greater goal, and the remaining five went through the proper outlets of thinking about how this power should be used and how it shouldn’t be used lightly.

While the issue of the Beast Spirits being inherently difficult to control isn’t as prominent as we go later into the series, we do actually see shades of it when we get to the tale of Kouichi/Duskmon/Velgrmon, because while part of it can be chalked up to the power of darkness being consuming, Kouichi, during his first transformation to Velgrmon in episode 30, is only able to talk barely coherently and is really just venting his rage and anger out, presumably because his entire state of mind is locked into all of that, making the rampage even worse. (Also keeping in mind the theme of embracing the idea of changing yourself, you can also think of this in terms of how Kouichi is getting so consumed by his own emotions of anger that he’s become almost completely unrecognizable from his original self.)

Once we get his first “proper” evolution in episode 33, however, Kouichi is abundantly aware of what he’s done and has all of the proper determination to never let such a thing happen again -- so it’s not surprising that his evolution to KaiserLeomon happens with relatively little incident.

#digimon #digimon frontier #shihameta

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mobiused · 2 years

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the immediate implications would be that the ritual in ptt is actually OH transforming into the black hole and starting anew. this would also mean KL isn't so much a time traveler with powers to rewind/scrub time but rather someone who can withstand going through a black hole and retain information. there is wiggle room here considering the lipsoul/tenet theory but i think this is a compelling reasoning as to why OH has to fulfill the role of fenrir/the destroyer and how the loop works 2/5

but im a big believer in OH being an allegory for girlhood and monstrosity and i think the most compelling thing about her is her duty towards eden, her yearning for love in the girls, and how her grief and wrath is fueled by both of these. so im wondering, to reconcile this concept and angels' lack of will, if she became a fallen angel BECAUSE of that inner conflict? an angel straying from axiom. but in feeling that reluctance and seeking that love she loses favor with eden and is alone 3/5

and so maybe in that loneliness she STILL goes through with that destruction, limping along her former axiom in a bid to regain angelhood. whether she rejects HJ's attempts at friendship or realizes divine love has been in front of her the whole time depends on the loop. BUT in the axiom post the divine urge to create is described as "the void". and that's EXACTLY what HJ and OH are. OH isn't wrath or cleansing fire. OH is the force that lets HJ delight in the act of creation over and over 4/5

OH is HJ's subconscious self-love. egoist goes both ways. HJ allows herself the indulgence of creation and OH understands that her destined path of destruction IS love. she wasn't denied god's love or running away from it she IS the love. anyway i think the final loop will entail HJ and OH renouncing god/angel-hood and having one final perfect iteration as humans with ot12. it all comes down to love! 5/5 hope you find this compelling, would love to hear your thoughts bc i feel like i've been going insane -🐯

I have terrible news. I never got your first ask. So I feel like this is kinda more disjointed than it woulda been.

The werewolf as allegory for female puberty is a good theme, and good commentary on how society views it, dealt with iconically in Ginger Snaps which I assume probably had some influence at least in a very small capacity, knowing the director's interest in teen flicks. Lip's affiliation with casettes, which are powered by magnets, came to mind when you mentioned 'scrubbing' time, but I don't think 'withstanding' a black hole and Lip's time powers (IMO she can't time travel conventionally, she exploits her superspeed to circumnavigate(?) the flow of time). I personally don't really like yyxy girls/Olivia as angels but I see what you mean. I do like the good end/bad end ideas for the timelines though. (Also this OH/HJ thing links with my homestuck view of Olivia being Lord/epitome of active vs Heeijn being Muse/epitome of passive teehee) Though that last part, I kinda prefer interpreting Egoist as accusing Yves of being the Egoist in question as opposed to Olivia identifying as one, despite the self-love theme... but I do think the notions of divine love and yin/yang is present in the work throughout, in OH/HJ's dynamic as well as 2jin and hyewon and really all over. But ya it really does all come down to love ^__^

#🐯 anon #loona lore #long post

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liketheinferno2 · 3 years

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I've been chronically fucking exhausted since the good ol' sleep phobia's been acting up but I will try to assemble thoughts betwixt images okay? Okay.

First off: I've seen people talk about Shadowbringers like some impossible lightning in a bottle with no concept of how it could be replicated, and frankly that's an insult to this writing team's chops and the insane amount of build up there was leading to this. ShB is Heavensward: 2 and it's that because Heavensward already WORKED. They did it more and betterer. The basic character triad from Heavensward is expanded to the best it can possibly be. You've got:

1. Good boy with a twist; your friendly character who is obviously and suspiciously going through a lot of shit off screen that he hides from you; guy who is diverting the suffering inflicted on these characters towards himself and pays for it by being horrifically kidnapped by the bad boy he was previously on functional terms with. (G'raha, Estinien)

2. Bad boy with the twist; the villain, an extremely depressed extremely old man who, while greatly destructive, is able to plead the case for his various crimes against the other characters via the fact that his immortal anger and grief are completely justified and even the other characters are brought to sympathise with that loneliness. (Emet, Nidhogg)

3. Long suffering headmate weirdo who's visible only to the WOL and offers them gentle guidance and support along with his unique perspective, eventually stepping up to help them fight back against the villain and rescue poor good-boy. (Ardbert, Midgardsormr)

Bonus round: Ryne fills the sad baby slot that Alphinaud did in HVW, although she's not your baby this time and that's okay. "Your baby" is not a character type that can just keep happening, but it's cool to have a cute teenage character go through their personal development, so she gets assigned to Thancred to pull double duty and help tie up the loose plot threads about him being a mourning father that were never properly addressed.

These four are without a doubt the highlights among the new characters, and then the rest of the spectacle is in the characters we already know and love being elevated to the best they can be. The off-color humor about Thancred's trauma being swept away and replaced with background gags about sleeping around and drinking himself sick is no longer a joke, that's part of the character. Y'shtola's sight becomes relevant after 2 expansions of forgetting about it and she starts to act more like Y'shtola. The twins are growing up, Alphinaud's acting like a big brother and Alisaie's expressing the full force of her emotions in a way that feels not "fiery" but genuinely triggered, sometimes. Urianger gets such uniquely textured relationships that bring the sheer weirdness of his character into the spotlight in a way that finally feels like it fits. These characters are like old friends now and it's fantastic to see them hit their potential.

And considering the actual base plot of Shadowbringers digs into a lot of stuff that is pulled straight from zombie movie setups, it's certainly not originality that makes it so fantastic. Nay, the opposite. It's the way this installment takes all the most beloved parts from previous sections and other things people already like, fills it with strong and emotionally intense characters and then threads it all together with a singular clarity of purpose -- if we are fighting for those we have lost; for those we can yet save? Emet-Selch does the exact opposite. He is fighting so those he has lost can be found, as impossible as that should be.

The Scions' mantra is that of mourning and acceptance; Emet only wants to deny his losses so profoundly that denial is made physical. See: Amaurot under the sea. They say it outright that everyone's purpose here is to see the lives of their loved ones protected, but Emet doesn't have any left, for all the pieces of the people he loved are now shattered parts that became the people you love now, so these missions are diametrically opposed.

Something really incredible to me about Emet-Selch is just how well he fits in this story, and how he could never ever fit in any other. Another incredible thing is what they did with him and Nidhogg -- making such impossible huge scale levels of angst feel relatable and understandable to the little human brain of the audience. You walk into Amaurot and just feel hollow under the weight of it, the immediate understanding of how lonely someone would have to be to make this. He accidentally gave the illusions here sentience because he thought a little too hard about how much he missed them. It's horrible. You're just walking around in your fucking FEELS.

The thing about G'raha that's incredible is how specific his feelings are and how well they get them across regardless. He loves the WOL. He cannot allow the WOL to love him back, because he knows (or at least thinks) that he will die soon, and doesn't want to hurt them any more than he has to. His attempts to divert the love away are failing, though, because all he has the heart to reject is your attempts to know him, and even then not for very long. There's this whole conversation where he talks about some guy you've never met that he's apparently in love with and is very obviously hiding that it's YOU.

Real "Kiss me, you fool!" moment here. Barring all else FFXIV is a bi boy heaven simulator.

So yeah Shadowbringers was damn near perfect, but I've hit image limit. This is a good fucking video game. GOATed with the sauce one might say. THE CATBOY'S EARS TWITCH, GUYS. YOU TELL HIM YOU'RE GLAD HE'S OKAY AND HE STARTS SOBBING. GOD.

#dante plays catboy simulator #let him speak #meta

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supercorpkid · 3 years

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It’s crossover season – Part 2.

Supercorp, Kara Danvers x Daughter!Reader, Lena Luthor x Daughter!Reader, Iron Man x TeamMate!Reader, Captain America x TeamMate!Reader, Bucky x TeamMate!Reader, Falcon x TeamMate!Reader, Vision x TeamMate!Reader, Wanda x TeamMate!Reader.

Word count: 2675.

Previously on the series - part 1

“What do you mean no one can lift Thor’s hammer?” You ask Cap, who puts his arms around you with a little smile. “Is it made by a million tons of condensed dwarf star?”

“Is it what? No, nothing like that. It’s a long story.” He says guiding you back inside. “The important part is that you just showed everyone how worthy you are.” You smile at the compliment. “Do you mind training a little, before the big fight? I just want to make sure you’re in sync with the rest of the team.”

“Yeah. I would love that.” You agree with your head and Cap guides you to a large room with a bunch of new people you don’t know.

“Guys, this is Superkid. She is back-up for the fight that is to come.” Cap says and you smile shyly, looking at everyone staring at you. “Remember that we’re facing a strong and big army, and any help is more than welcomed.” He looks back at you. “Now onto work.”

You agree with your head, and he leaves. You look at a guy with wings coming out of his suit and nod.

“Nice wings.” You smile politely. He agrees with his head.

“Thank you! Nice…” He looks at you for a second and you finally notice what you’ve been wearing all along. Your momma’s old college T-shirt, and sweatpants.

“Oh, sorry!” You change into your super suit using your super speed and go back to the same place you were.

“So, you’re fast.” He says like he has deciphered you. “I’m Sam, aka Falcon.” He points at himself. “Red guy over there is Vision.” You look up to see an actual red guy flying.

“Lovely to make your acquaintance.” He says from up there.

“Yeah. You too.” You look back at Sam, pointing at the only other girl in the room.

“That’s Wanda.”

“Cool. Hi Wanda!” You wave at her and she kind of waves, kind of nods at you, but doesn’t quite do any.

“Bucky.” Sam says at the guy coming closer with a frown on his face.

“Are we going to kindergartens to pick up heroes now?” It’s what Bucky says, when he gets closer to you and you roll your eyes. Not another one questioning your abilities because of your age.

“Nice arm.” You point at his metal arm with a smile. “Is that your superpower? You have a metal arm?”

“Funny.” He frowns while Sam laughs at him.

“Come on, kid. Time to show us what you’ve got.” Sam says and they all walk to the same side, leaving you alone in the other.

“So, it’s all of you against me?” You furrow your brows and they smile.

“Don’t worry, we’ll go easy on you.” Bucky says with a blank face, and you shrug.

Falcon is the first to come at you. Wings up, flying towards you, with a gun in hand. He doesn’t shoot, but he doesn’t catch you either. You fly up, and when he passes down on you, you throw your body back at him, making him fall on the ground. He uses his wings to protect himself from the fall and rolls to the other side of the room.

Next, Bucky comes at you. You know he’s more of a combat guy. That’s not your fighting style, you are aware. You were never really good at that, so you should avoid it. He comes in, metal arm ready to punch you and you hold his hand before it hits your face. You don’t know what this metal is, but it’s very strong, and a lot harder to break than you thought. Still, you make an effort to at least make a dent in it.

“Stop!” He pulls his arm away from your grip. “This is expensive, kid. Don’t break it.”

“Sorry.” You look at the little dent you made in it and smile apologetic. “I’ll go easy on you.”

But your time with Bucky is over, because Vision is coming at you now. He flies towards you at full speed, but he doesn’t have his fist closed. He is not going to punch you. Instead, he hits you with some kind of yellow ray, and you look at your hands glowing yellow, and feel your entire body shivering like you just got a blast of excitement.

“What is this?” You ask him, and he stops. Surprised you’ve taken such a hit, without running from it.

“Solar energy?” He asks, landing in front of you. “You were not supposed to take the hit, I thought you would move away from it.”

“Solar energy?” You smile. “Cool, man. That’s how I get my powers. And you just blast me with the strongest sunlight I’ve ever seen. I bet I’m even stronger now!”

Just to test it, you punch the floor, making a hole all around you. You notice, kind of too late, that this is probably the second time you’ll cause structural damage to a room, when you hear the windows breaking, making glass fly everywhere. Just a second later you hear the walls starting to give in and soon they’re crumbling down.

You look around, before the ceiling falls on top of you, to see the rest of ‘the Avengers’, and pick them up to save them from it. But you’re a second too late, because soon, there’s a red energy force around you, and before you blink, you’re thrown away, along with everyone else from the team to the field next to it.

You roll on the floor, stopping a little further away from everyone else, and you look at the now destroyed room you were all inside.

“I’m sorry.” You look at them feeling a little embarrassed. That was too much. You went too far. “Did I mess up big time?”

“Oh no, don’t worry. Who here never destroyed an entire reinforced training space?” Sam says, sounding a little bit too ironic, and you don’t know if he maybe meant it as a joke, or to try to make you feel better. Either way, you think this isn’t the first time you’ve destroyed your training place. “Besides, Tony’s a billionaire.” He says standing up, and you look up to Wanda, landing in front of you, and offering her hand to help you up.

“Thanks for getting us out of there.” You smile and she agrees with her head.

“Yeah, sure. Just don’t destroy the other side of the compound. That’s where we sleep.” She smiles and you agree with your head.

“I’m not mad.” You hear behind you, and you turn around to look at Mister Stark himself looking at the mess you made. “I just want to know who did it.” He takes off his sunglasses just to stare at you. “Let me guess, smart mouth over here is not only great at talking back, but she is also a destruction weapon?”

“In my defense…” You try, knowing there’s absolutely no defense for what you just did. “Vision hit me with solar energy, and you know that’s where my powers come from.”

He sighs, looking at you one last time, before putting his sunglasses back. If you weren’t paying attention, you would’ve missed the little smile on the corner of his lips.

“Where should I send the bill to?” He asks walking past you and you know it’s a rhetorical question, but you still roll your eyes and answer.

“L Corp.”

“Not a real place. But nice try.” If you didn’t have super hearing, you wouldn’t have caught that. “Wanda, do you mind showing our little troublemaker where she’s staying tonight? I hope we’re lucky enough that she won’t destroy that.”

“Come on.” Wanda points at the other side of the compound. “Let’s fly there.”

Wanda leads you to the other wing of the compound and shows you an empty bedroom you can stay in. You sit on the bed feeling relentless. There’s too much going on in your head, you would sound crazy if you try to put it into words.

It’s weird being here. It’s your first thought. But it’s also nice. You’re used to being around super-heroes. You were never a stranger to the saving lives and saving the world concept. It’s been like this ever since you were born, and you never knew another life. But whatever this is, it’s not what you’re used to. This is not a house, you understand that by looking around, this is a safe place. Sort of like the Fortress of Solitude. But instead of solitude, you find that there’s so many people around. What you’re feeling right now is anything, but loneliness.

So many superheroes with different abilities, all living together, training, making each other better. People with so many backgrounds. You were so scared they could find out you’re half alien, and then Thor waltzes in looking like he just belongs on this Earth, and you find peace. For the first time the thought of you being half alien is not scary. You’re not scared if they know that. In fact, you want them to know that.

You want them to know you, and you want to know them. You want to hear all about Thor’s hammer and why apparently no one else in this house can lift it, no matter how strong they are.

“It’s called Mjölnir.” Wanda says and you look at your door with wide eyes. You earn a soft chuckle in response. “The fact why no one can’t lift it, it’s because there’s some Asgardian protection and only who’s worthy can lift it.”

“Worthy of what?” You ask and she shrugs, walking to the chair in front of your bed.

“I guess who has a pure heart or good intentions?” Wanda waves it off, and you agree with your head. “Honestly, you have immense power. I guess the fact that you’re a kid also helps with the ‘pure heart’ part.”

“Like you’re that much older.” You roll your eyes, and Wanda smiles again. She must be only four years older than you. It’s not that big of a difference. And yet, here she is. Part of ‘the Avengers’. Fighting, being a back-up for everyone. While you just keep destroying training centers like a big stupid mess.

“Hey, stop that.” Wanda says and you raise your eyes to stare her. “You’re not a big stupid mess.”

“And you can stop reading my thoughts, please.”

“I’m sorry. But you’re wrong anyways. I wasn’t always back-up. In fact, I was once someone they were fighting against.” She breathes deep after that. You furrow your brows.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.” She bites her lips while fidgeting with her rings. “No one here is perfect. Everyone has a past where they did something they shouldn’t have.”

“Oh really? Even Mister Playboy?” You ask.

“Especially him. He made his money by selling weapons that were used by the bad guys. He might be a genius, but his money? I don’t really like to think about where that came from.”

“Sam? Bucky?”

“Sam was military, so I bet he’s done a lot. Bucky was literally brainwashed and has killed a long list of people by the command of a huge bad organization.” Wanda adds, and you furrow your brows taking some time to absorb her words. “Just-” She makes her way to sit in bed with you. “I know you feel bad for destroying the training center, and honestly you don’t have to.”

“I’m sorry, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that you all have such intense-” You look at her to see her reaction to the word. She hums in agreement. “Pasts.” You think about Kara. “I’m not very familiar with that.”

“How come?”

“Well, my momma is from a planet called Krypton and it exploded. So, she was sent to Earth, not this one,” you make sure to add. “She always did good. I think she sort of felt like she had to, ‘cause Earth was welcoming her after the loss of her planet, you know?”

“She never made a mistake?” Wanda raises her eyebrow and you think about a few times Kara was affected with red Kryptonite and sure, she made a few mistakes back there, but none was intentional. She was never fully conscious and chose to do so. You shake your head in denial. “Ooof, it must be hard. Is it only the two of you?”

“No. There’s my other mom. She came from a family of villains. My uncle is just always out to kill me and my momma, because we’re aliens.” You say, not aware why you’re telling this girl you just met everything about your life. “But, despite all that, my mom is good. She’s a genius who just makes stuff to make my Earth better.”

“I see now why you’re worthy of Thor’s hammer and the rest of us aren’t.” She chuckles and you give her a forced smile.

“I’m not so good. Not like they want, anyways.” You say and Wanda agrees with her head, like she understands you.

“You know something I learned when I joined the Avengers?” You look at her with puzzling eyes. “You can’t always be good. It’s impossible. The world isn’t black and white, things are not easy like that. You can try to do good as much as you’d like, but sometimes you think you’re on the good side, and you’re not. At all.” She really seems to be talking about her own experiences here. “There’s this grey area and sometimes we find ourselves there.”

“And then what do we do?” You are really interested, because maybe you’re in this grey area.

“We survive and we go on.” She shrugs. “That’s the only thing we can do.”

Go on. That’s her advice. She goes on. That’s not something Kara and Lena would say to you. They would’ve said the only thing you can do, is do your best. Do better. Fight your way out of this grey area. They would never have told you to just survive, and just go on. But here’s the thing, sometimes just surviving is you already doing your best.

You stare at Wanda’s face and hum in agreement. She’s right. And the best part? She wouldn’t force you to do better, but just to go on.

“Wow, you’re really wise for someone your age.” You are legit impressed with her. She smiles at you.

“I have been through a lot of pain and losses.” Her expression immediately saddens at that, and you can only imagine what she’s been through. “It forced me out of my youth.”

“Sorry about that, Wanda.”

“Yeah.” She shrugs, getting up, and she points to the door in front of yours. “I’m in that room, in case you need something. Just rest a little. Tomorrow will probably be the hardest day of your life.”

Wanda leaves your bedroom and you look around, breathing deep. Man, aren’t you far from home?

You think about Kara and Lena, and you hope they’re not worried about you. Because this might sound weird, but it feels good to be here. It feels like this is where you are actually supposed to be right now.

Post-credit scene:

“This is it?” Kara says landing in front of a door, putting Lena next to her. Lena picks up the card again and looks at it.

“This is it. 177A Bleecker St.” She agrees with her head.

“There’s nothing inside.” Kara walks in the front door, giving it a push strong enough to open it even though it is locked. They walk in an empty building, covered with dust and silence. “She’s not here. There’s nothing here.”

“Kara.” Lena calls and Kara turns around to look at her. Both have watery eyes, and hearts beating out of their chest. “I want my baby.”

“I want her too.” Kara says, wrapping her arms around Lena’s shoulders, bringing her closer. “I’m gonna find her. I will find you, little one. I’ll find you.”

#supergirl #kara danvers #supercorp #lena luthor #supercorpfamily #kara x lena #kara x reader #supercorp daughter #supercorp fanfic #lena x reader #reader insert #wanda maximoff #vision #bucky barnes #tony stark #steve rogers #sam wilson

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phantasmagoriaoriginals · 2 years

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What are three core traits of the first six deities as characters? Such as being too strict or too forgiving, having their heads on the clouds, etc

Arrow

Smug superiority — Arrow is the most openly powerful of the Deities, and debatably their "leader". Knowledge is the core of human existence, after all. He knows how important he is, and he doesn't hesitate to make sure everyone remembers that.

All-consuming awareness — In terms of facts, there's next to nothing that Arrow doesn't know. But knowledge comes with consequences, and there are things he wishes he could get out of his head. Or at the very least, have a moment of clarity and peace.

Fear of failure — Seeing himself as the most important means that there's never room to make a mistake. For all he acts like he thinks he's perfect, Arrow's inner turmoil is frantic and dangerous. He can't stand making mistakes when everyone's eyes are on him.

Cadence

The need to be loved — Cadence's domain is almost universally adored. No one can say they hate art in every form, meaning that she's by far the most adored and accepted of the Deities. And she wants to stay that way. Being seen as good is important to her.

Intentional harmlessness — In line with that, Cadence tries to paint herself as safe. Even though she can only communicate with the Vessels, she still tries to make a good impression on them. They're the only humans she can connect with, after all.

Fondness for humans — All of the Deities long to be closer to humanity, but Cadence is the most outspoken about it. Since she's so loved, she has nothing to lose by openly desiring the connection they're all missing. She doesn't try to hide it at all.

Legend

Guilt for what he is — As a Deity of war, Legend feels a lot of responsibility for how humans hurt each other. He's formed from their desires, which means that, beyond his capabilities in battle and strategy, he's filled with humans' regret in the aftermath.

Devotion to his duty — And yet, he takes what he does very seriously. Whether he likes it or not, he is what he is. Wars are better fought all-out and ended quickly. No matter how small the conflict, he'd rather see it be fast and brutal than drawn out.

Dislike of pointless things — Representing human ambition to its fullest extent, Legend can't stand things that exist without reason. Violence is a part of life, but it should be done for a reason, and with full awareness of the consequences that will follow.

Revel

Self-destructive impulses — For reasons he can't explain, Revel is drawn to getting himself hurt. He naturally becomes the object of people's lust, and through his ability to visit dreams, he lives out violent fantasies as the subject of human abuse.

Need for attention — All of the Deities have a connection with humanity, but Revel is consumed by loneliness easier than most. Because he can reach out easier, the more twisted attention he gets, the more he has to have. He feels empty without it.

Vicious levels of cynicism — And yet, Revel also has no faith in the humans he worships. He's seen the most brutal sides of human fantasy and desire, and with that being all he's ever experienced, he doesn't have a concept of what their kindness is.

Caliber

Belief in coming out ahead — While many would expect Caliber's domain to include fairness, it most definitely doesn't. She believes in personal gain above all else, with more of a focus on creating beneficial deals than being compassionate to others.

Adherence to codes — However, once a promise or contract is made, she expects it to be followed to the letter. Going back on your word or lying in a promise are quick ways to get on her bad side, no matter what reason you're doing it for.

Strict routines — Caliber likes clear, steady patterns and sticking to them. Sudden or forcible change unnerves her, especially when she can't control it. When she wants to stay with something, being forced to alter her path is endlessly frustrating.

Kindred

Devotion to fairness — Despite the common perception of her as ruthless and violent, Kindred firmly believes in keeping things fair. That may mean a brutal punishment in some cases, but she detests the idea of harming someone who doesn't deserve it.

Seclusion from others — As part of her very nature, she doesn't get along well with others. Even beyond the poor impressions people get from her, she struggles to get along with others, especially because of how she expects to always be judged and alone.

Vengeful nature — While Kindred may be fair, she doesn't hesitate to enact swift and cruel revenge on those who have earned it. She firmly believes that sin should always be found out, and she dislikes letting go of a grudge or knowledge of wrongdoing.

#Lux Replica #Arrow #Cadence #Legend #Revel #Caliber #Kindred

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k-s-morgan · 4 years

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Will’s vs. Hannibal’s Ways of Expressing Love

The fact that Hannibal loves Will and is in love with him is openly stated in the show several times. Will’s feelings, on the other hand, are more ambiguous, which is why some viewers often doubt whether Hannibal’s love is reciprocated. I think that exploring the ways these two men experience and react to love can explain the varying degrees of their openness about it.

I’ll put TLDR right here: Hannibal is more open about himself and his feelings, including love, hence he doesn’t have many challenges with admitting it. Will is closed off, stiff, and emotionally repressed, so he expresses his feelings in a much more subtle way.

Let’s start with Hannibal. Details about his past are scarce, but we know that he admits to loving two people throughout his life, his sister and Will.

E3 of S3.

*Bedelia: What your sister made you feel was beyond your conscious ability to control or predict … I would suggest what Will Graham makes you feel is not dissimilar. A force of mind and circumstance.*

*Hannibal: Love.*

Undoubtedly, Hannibal’s love for Mischa was traumatic and unhealthy. He loved her so much that he ate a part of her body after she was killed, devastated by this loss. But it was still love that made him feel all the related emotions, so Hannibal has some experience with it. From what we know of him, he has a very broad mind. He despises limitations and overcomes them, and he is not ashamed of who he is. He isn’t embarrassed to cry in the opera or to be the first to stand up and applaud; he delights in stereotypically ‘feminine’ hobbies like cooking and clothes selection; he draws fan-art and openly expresses his admiration when it’s due. For this reason, Hannibal doesn’t have many problems with expressing love either.

Upon meeting Will, he is immediately drawn to him. He sees him as his potential partner and decides he wants to try and build a family with him as early as E2 of S1. That’s when he starts planting the idea of Abigail being their shared daughter in Will’s mind. He does the same to Abigail, urging her to see him and Will as her parents, even giving her shrooms to evoke the desired associations (unsuccessfully since Will doesn’t come to dinner). So, Hannibal acknowledged his pull/infatuation with Will from the very start, and he acted on it right away.

It’s not 100% love at this point, but Hannibal still easily follows his emotions. He doesn’t stop to consider how strange it is to want a family with a man he just met; he doesn’t agonize over the idea of how his life has more risks now that he allows another human being to know him. When these feelings progress at the end of S1/start of S2, Hannibal is finally taken aback. While he never planned to leave Will in prison and it was a part of his plan, he still didn’t expect to miss him so much — he admits it to Bedelia, looking forlorn, in E1 of S2. He repeatedly pines for Will by sitting in front of his chair at the time of his supposed appointment, glancing at the clock despite knowing Will is not going to come. This is a shift to an actual love, but Hannibal still doesn’t fight it. On the contrary, he embraces it, and he spends the entire S2 doing repeatedly romantic gestures for Will. Namely:

1) Protects Abigail to reunite Will with her later.

2) Shares a part of himself he doesn’t seem to have ever shared with anyone else. He talks to Will about Mischa, reveals his views on murder and God, acknowledges he cared about Abigail, and shows vulnerability. He shares his teacup ritual with him, which is something precious and deeply personal.

3) He digs up fake Freddie’s corpse and decorates it as a way of courting Will (as directly said by Alana).

4) He draws a fan-art of himself and Will as Achilles and Patroclus.

5) He is ready to abandon his well-established life in Baltimore and reputation to run away with Will. In Hannibal’s view, no one truly suspects him and there is no evidence against him, but Will is in danger. So he’s willing to discard everything he’s been building for 20 years for him.

Finally, he calls Will a loved one more or less directly in E13 of S2 (in fact, he implies that they both love each other).

*Hannibal: Do you know what an imago is, Will? … An imago is an image of a loved one buried in the unconscious, carried with us all our lives.*

*Will: An ideal.*

*Hannibal: The concept of an ideal... I have a concept of you, just as you have a concept of me.*

Will hurts him with his betrayal, and Hannibal still finds himself unable to kill him. He is openly crying in the finale, admitting how Will hurt him, breaks his (and his own) heart by killing Abigail, and flees to Europe to start a new life. But things don’t go as he hoped they would. Bedelia is not a worthy substitute, and Hannibal is increasingly slipping into a self-destructive state because of his love for Will. He kills Anthony, who was an improved copy of Will, and turns him into a Valentine heart for him. Again, this is a very explicit and open emotional action. Hannibal doesn’t hide his feelings. He’s an emotional wreck with Bedelia in E3, and as they are talking about Will, he admits he’s in love with him.

*Hannibal: You cannot control with respect to whom you fall in love.*

Bedelia points out his self-destructiveness.

*Bedelia: You're going to get caught. It's already been set into motion … I know exactly how I will be navigating my way out of whatever it is I’ve gotten myself into. Do you?*

After Hannibal keeps spiraling and kills Sogliato, she adds: *You're drawing them to you, aren't you? All of them.*

Hannibal gets so self-destructive over Will that he lets Jack beat himself almost to death, not even attempting to fight him. The first words he says to Will after they reunite in E6 are:

*Hannibal: If I saw you every day forever, Will, I would remember this time.*

He’s a romantic. The courtship, the Valentine heart, the romance — Hannibal did have some struggles, but overall, he accepts these feelings and isn’t afraid to act on them.

When Will pulls a knife in E6, Hannibal classifies it as another betrayal. This is where he decides to kill and eat him in the hope to put an end to this misery (which is what he and Bedelia discussed back in E3). However, even blinded by another heartbreak, Hannibal tries to save Will at the same time. He knows the police are coming and he puts off the moment of sawing for as long as he can, first fussing over Will and his wound, then waiting for Jack, then doing everything slowly as hell.

Everything changes in E7, when Hannibal faces the real risk of losing Will and comes to terms with the fact that a hope of life with him is better than life without him. So Hannibal carries Will home bridal-style, takes care of him, waits for him to wake up and writes formulas to reverse time. He directly tells Will that Will won, and that he, Hannibal, is at Will’s mercy.

*Hannibal: Your memory palace is building. It's full of new things. It shares some rooms with my own. I've discovered you there. Victorious.*

He gives himself up, sacrificing the freedom he’s been fighting for back in E2 finale, in the hope that one day, Will is going to come back to him. After this, Hannibal is all about Will, with all his heart. Throughout the second half of S3, he says things like, *“I gave you a child. You are family, Will. Was it good to see me?”*, etc. He agrees to risk his life by agreeing to Will’s plan, knowing he’s planning something but not knowing what and if he’d die in the process. In E13, Hannibal says:

*Hannibal: "No greater love hath man than to lay down his life for a friend"* and shields Will from the bullet. Later, he allows Will to push them both down, and he stays with him afterward.

Conclusion: Hannibal is very accepting of himself, so he doesn’t undergo severe challenges on the path to acknowledging what he feels for Will. He knows what love feels like because he felt it for Mischa before, so he embraces loving Will pretty quickly, even though he doesn’t know how to best approach it at times. That’s why we get direct and explicit confirmation of his feelings several times.

Now, on to Will.

Unlike with Hannibal, there is no evidence that Will has ever experienced love before (at least love for people). We know he had a father and was lonely as a child.

E4 of S1.

*Will: We were poor. I followed my father from the boat yards in Biloxi and Greenville to lake boats on Erie.*

*Hannibal: Always the new boy at school? Always the stranger?*

*Will: Always.*

His choice of words indicates that his relationship with his father wasn’t all that good (for instance, *I followed my father* instead of *My father and I had to…*). So, it doesn’t look like Will ever had meaningful connections. More than that, he says:

*Will: There’s something so foreign about family. Like an ill-fitting suit. Never connected to the concept.*

We can suggest that he doesn’t know what love is or how it feels like. From E1, we know he isolates himself because he hates himself for who he is: he understands he’s different, that there is darkness in him, but he desperately tries to subdue it and deny this fact. He’s rude, twitchy, and unhappy, but like Hannibal, he understands the extent of his loneliness only upon meeting him. That’s when he tries forming relationships with others.

Will’s relationships with Alana and Abigail are a good indication of his problems with love. He wants to be with Alana because he needs to feel normal. In 99% of cases, he remembers about her only when she comes to seek him out first. He kisses her for the first time at the moment of particular vulnerability, fearing that he’s finally losing his mind (in E8). When Hannibal calls him out on it, Will doesn’t deny it and semi-nods. He actually had to agree with it verbally according to the script.

*Will: I feel unstable.*

*Hannibal: That’s why you kissed her. A clutch for balance.*

*Will: Because I’m losing mine.*

So, it’s not that Will feels romantic love for Alana — he uses her because he desperately needs to feel like everyone else. Alana is a pretty, smart, normal woman who fits this goal perfectly. He doesn’t allow himself to be genuine with her unlike he does with Hannibal, to whom he opens up.

Will confesses to Hannibal that he loved killing Hobbs in E2, which got him down and made him panic. Hannibal supports him, and Will keeps coming back to him. He talks about everything important with Hannibal, opening parts of himself that he guards from everyone else. Will asks Hannibal to look after his dogs as early as E4 — he doesn’t have other friends, and he’s already focused on Hannibal. He buys into an idea of having a family with him and Abigail, which is amazing for Will, who has just said he could never relate to the concept of family.

When Will buys a gift for Abigail in the same E4 and freaks out, Hannibal asks him:

*Hannibal: Feeling paternal, Will?*

Will’s reaction is instant and defensive:

*Will: Aren’t you?*

Hannibal easily says “yes”, which disarms Will. This is a great contrast between them: Hannibal isn’t afraid to talk and acknowledge his feelings while Will is embarrassed of them and shies away from them. In fact, this is a repeat of their conversation in E2.

*Hannibal: You saved Abigail Hobbs' life. You also orphaned her. It comes with certain emotional obligations.*

*Will: You were there. You saved her life, too. Do you feel obligated?*

Again, Will deflects. He’s wary of emotions, especially of admitting them out loud.

Will shows a hint of romantic interest in Hannibal in E7. He brings him a bottle of wine out of blue, but unfortunately, he stumbles upon the party Hannibal is preparing. Hannibal invites him to stay, but Will says he won’t be good company. He’s shy and awkward, smiling nervously and dropping his gaze in embarrassment. Then we have this lovely line:

*Will: I’ve got a date with the Chesapeake Ripper.*

So, in S1, Will makes considerable emotional progress. He realizes he wants a family after all, and while he makes several half-hearted attempts to court Alana, he’s mostly focused on Hannibal and Abigail. He opens himself up to Hannibal, receives official guardianship over Abigail with him, arguably flirts with Hannibal (like in the wine scene above), and covers up murder to protect their family. But then Hannibal betrays him. Will doesn’t know his reasons yet, but this betrayal plunged him into darkness, bitterness, and new stage of emotional repression. It’s worth mentioning another point of Abigail here: in the end, Will doesn’t know her. He spoke to her only several times, and even fewer times were genuine. He loves the idea of her, and this idea was introduced by Hannibal, not by Abigail’s presence. It’s Hannibal who forced Will to confront his need to love and be loved.

In S2, Will is incredibly conflicted. He acknowledges to Hannibal that he hurt him, tries to kill him via Matthew, but when he recognizes that Hannibal wants him as a friend (as spoken in E7), his attitude changes. Will doesn’t plan to forgive him, he’s still angry at Hannibal for killing Abigail (which is his biggest conflict, as evident from his talks with Hannibal himself and Freddie), but now, he can’t bring himself to harm or betray Hannibal.

He gets his first chance in E7, after being released from prison. He threatens Hannibal with a gun and has a perfect chance to make him pay, but he doesn’t. Instead, he conspires with Jack and decides to cultivate co-dependency, creating an environment where only he “and the fish exist” (E8). What does Will do to start? He makes himself physically attractive, grooming and dressing prettily. It’s a seduction on all levels, and Will plans to use emotions to hurt Hannibal back. At the same time, Will admits to being confused over what he feels for Hannibal.

E8 of S2.

*Will: I envy you your hate. Makes it much easier when you know how to feel.*

E9 of S2 (talking about trying to kill Hannibal with Margot).

*Margot: Did he have it coming?*

*Will: What do you think?*

*Margot: I can't say that I know.*

*Will: Neither can I.*

He spends the rest of the season lying to both Hannibal and Jack, unsure whose side to choose, too lost in his own feelings to make sense of them. At the same time, he has a dream where Hannibal calls him beloved in E9. It shows that Will contemplates the idea of love in relation to Hannibal. In E10, Will tries to fantasize about Alana as he’s having sex with Margot. However, he sees the image of Wendigo near the fireplace, Wendigo who he’s used to associating with Hannibal. Two interesting things (copied from my other meta): first, Will actually sees Hannibal’s room and consequently, he sees himself in it (or he sees their rooms united). Second, he sees the Wendigo near Hannibal’s fireplace. Fireplace has many meanings, including passion, sexuality, home, family, and resurrection. It emphasizes the sexual and romantic subtext of this uniquely shot scene, where people destined to be together have sex with the wrong partners. Will’s vision begins to contract, focusing on Wendigo: he is having an orgasm at this very moment, imagining the Wendigo’s face very close, approaching him. Still through the misty eyes, he tries to focus on Alana again, but his gaze moves up to Wendigo above her, as if he can’t help himself. He and Hannibal reach orgasm first, with Alana and Margot following them. So, Will dragged Hannibal into his sex fantasy. It’s both symbolic and physical: he tried to imagine Alana just like he tried to have a relationship with her before, in S1, out of his desire to be normal. But his attention is inevitably drawn to Hannibal, who’s his “real deal”.

Based on this scene, it’s underlined once again how Will struggles with emotions. Even in the safety of his own mind, in his own fantasy, he tries to think of Alana but still ends up with Hannibal. Will is always fighting himself and who he is. He refuses to accept his darkness just as he refuses to admit he loves Hannibal. It’s the essence of who he is, denial is his second name.

Among the important moments, there are Will’s words to Hannibal:

*Will: You are right. We are just alike. You are as alone as I am. And we are both alone without each other.*

So, Will accepts the bond with Hannibal, and at this stage, he even has the courage to voice some of his emotional thoughts. His progress is slow, but it’s there.

In E11, Will has a nightmare. He sees a burning corpse of ‘Freddie’ in a wheelchair, a symbol of his betrayal of Hannibal, and he hears his own increasing screaming. It’s easy to interpret, knowing the context: Will feels guilty for lying to Hannibal.

When Margot loses her child, Will feels renewed anger at Hannibal. He fantasizes about killing him and gets to realize his fantasy with Mason’s help in E12. But at the last moment, Will changes his mind and chooses Hannibal. He does the same thing in E13 by calling him. When he sees him, he doesn’t even try to point a gun at him: he asks why he didn’t leave as he was supposed to, and he even leans forward to accept the knife, accept the punishment for betrayal.

So, Will chooses Hannibal over Abigail, for whom he wanted justice; over his and Margot’s child, for whom he wanted revenge; over Jack and Alana, who were his only semblance of friends; over his own confusion and desire to be normal. For someone as emotionally stunted as Will, it’s huge. It proves that he loves Hannibal and is willing to compromise all other relationships he has formed as well his own beliefs for him (while Will is dark, he tries to fight it because he doesn’t think people like them are normal). Is it romantic? Will’s dream with the word “beloved” and his sex fantasy, as well as his acceptance of the idea that he and Hannibal were Abigail’s fathers (which makes them partners) imply that yes, romantic feeling is a part of it.

Hannibal’s romantic feelings became explicit in S3, and so did Will’s. But since Hannibal is more open and self-accepting, his were discussed out loud while Will’s were mostly portrayed silently, implied, and alluded to.

Will builds a boat to sail and find Hannibal, which is pretty romantic by itself. He spends his time in Hannibal’s house, in the kitchen where their bloody break-up happened, imagining Abigail near him. When Alana comes to find him, he asks her to leave. He’s cold and indifferent toward her — she’s not what he wants, and he’s not interested in even friendship with her. All he wants is to mourn his lost family with Hannibal and Abigail. Again, Hannibal is Will’s priority.

Will imagines his perfect world as the one where he and Hannibal killed Jack together. This scene is intercut with his Mizumono memories, namely, with Hannibal's face that emerges every time he moves yet another part of the engine. This is a vivid demonstration of Will trying to repair what is now broken. When Jack asks him why he called him, Will is indifferent and genuine:

*Will: I wasn't decided when I called him. I just called him. I deliberated while the phone rang. I decided when I heard his voice … I told him to leave. I wanted him to run … Because he was my friend. And because I wanted to run away with him.*

That’s a big admission for Will. This is the first time he openly acknowledges Hannibal as his friend in front of another person. Chilton calls Will and Hannibal’s interactions a “flirtation” in this episode, which once again points us in the romantic direction.

The entire E2 of S3 is dedicated to Will’s love for Hannibal, where he argues about it with himself in the form of imaginary Abigail. This is another proof of Will’s problem with emotions in general and emotions for Hannibal in particular. He can’t just think to himself as normal people do — no, he can’t admit how much he loves Hannibal this. Instead, he imagines Abigail and talks to himself through her to make it easier. He berates himself for lying.

*Will/Abigail: We were all supposed to leave together. He made a place for us. Why did you lie to him? He gave you a chance to take it all back, and you just kept lying.*

Will is reverent about Hannibal; he keeps talking about him over and over again.

*Will: This isn't Hannibal, it's just where he begins. Beyond this, far and complex, light and dark, is the vast structure of his mind. A thousand rooms, miles of corridors. Everything he remembers, wonderfully and fearfully reconstructed.*

Will goes as far as lies at the place where Hannibal’s Valentine heart for him was, reconstructing this image and trying to feel close to him. The heart comes to life the moment Will touches it, which is romantic. Will says:

*Will: A valentine written on a broken man … I do feel closer to Hannibal here. God only knows where I would be without him … He left us his broken heart … He misses us.*

He looks on the verge of tears, so Hannibal’s gift touched him. Will is overcome by emotions. At this very moment, his more frightened side suggests that Hannibal is also playing with him.

*Will: Hannibal follows several trains of thought at once without distraction from any, and one of the trains is always for his own amusement.*

We know it’s not the case, especially here, but Will has trust issues and a low self-esteem. He’s worried that Hannibal’s feelings for him aren’t as strong as he thinks they are, which is why he’s not sure how to react himself. He asks himself, *“You still want to go with him?”* and replies, *“Yes.” He wonders about what life they’d have if they left.

*Will: What if no one died? What if we all left together? Like we were supposed to. After he served the lamb. Where would we have gone? … In some other world.*

Pazzi comes and tells Will that he hopes they’ll catch Hannibal together.

*Will: What makes you think I want to catch him?*

Later, Pazzi says:

*Pazzi: He let you know him. He sent you his heart.*

E2 ends with Will scaring Pazzi and telling him, *“You don’t know whose side I’m on.* Then he tells Hannibal he forgives him, which is also a huge step in his direction.

This entire episode proves that yes, Will loves Hannibal. Considering how he isn’t awkward from receiving a Valentine or hearing that Hannibal gave him his heart, Will shares the romantic aspect of Hannibal’s feelings for him. He regrets not running away with him and their daughter, he places himself on the floor where the heart was to feel closer to him — this is such a rich romantic subtext that it’s practically text. Especially for Will, who remains so conflicted and emotionally restrained all the time.

Will’s attitude changes after seeing Chiyoh. He becomes more bitter. Considering how dark he is in these scenes and how he constantly compares himself and Chiyoh, he likely sees her as someone Hannibal was supposed to love but easily abandoned. It makes Will draw the parallels between them, and he starts to doubt that Hannibal loves him, that his “broken heart” has any authentic meaning. That’s where he starts thinking about killing Hannibal again. He still says:

*Will: I’ve never known myself as well as I know myself when I’m with him.*

This line also speaks volumes. Hannibal gave Will a precious gift of understanding himself; he showed that he could accept him, and Will is drawn to it. Will admits the depth of their connection to yet another person. Then he makes a firefly from Chiyoh’s prisoner, a tribute that is clearly done with Hannibal in his mind, considering the style and the central topic.

Chiyoh sees right through Will’s emotional constipation. She implies that he should “kiss” Hannibal rather than keep being “violent”:

*Chiyoh: I told you, there are means of influence other than violence.*

She kisses Will then, thus showing him what others means exist. He doesn’t get it, though, since he responds to her kiss despite not feeling anything for her, and she pushes him off the train, likely admitting he’s a hopeless case.

Meeting Jack, Will tells him that a part of him will always want to leave with Hannibal. This is yet another declaration from him. Will isn’t scared of the consequences — he speaks of his feelings openly now. It’s a great development of his character.

But the feeling of doubt about Hannibal likely resurfaces further after Will sees that Hannibal replaced him and Abigail with Bedelia in E6 (hence his hatred for her since that moment). He mocks her alibi and then leaves to reunite with Hannibal. The following moment was deleted, but it still discloses some of Will’s romantic feelings:

*Will: I looked up at the night sky there. Orion above the horizon and, near it, Jupiter. I wondered if you could see it, too. I wondered if our stars were the same.*

From the words that did get into the episode:

*Will: You and I have begun to blur ... We're conjoined. Curious if either of us can survive separation.*

Will doesn’t just admit the bond between them, he elevates it the level of soulmates, implying they are one and the same. It’s also a declaration of love in his language. But love doesn’t stop Will from being vindictive, hurt, and angry, so after meetings with Chiyoh and Bedelia that affected his perception, he pulls out a knife as he and Hannibal are walking together.

There is a brain-sawing disaster after this and E7, where Will looks done and tired from the madness and his constant attempts to figure Hannibal out. He does bite Cordell before looking at Hannibal, seeking his approval; he uses “we” pronouns when speaking about Hannibal with Alana. One example:

*Will: You helped Mason Verger find us.*

So, he still sees himself and Hannibal as a team, but he’s still tired and bitter, so after everything is over, he hurts Hannibal by saying he doesn’t share his appetite and by attacking him emotionally.

*Will: I miss my dogs. I'm not going to miss you. I'm not going to find you. I'm not going to look for you. I don't want to know where you are or what you do. I don't want to think about you anymore.*

This is all personal and emotional. It sounds like a break-up, which is exactly how Bryan Fuller and others referred to it. When Hannibal leaves and Jacks arrives, Will puts on his glasses, an indication that he’s hiding again.

Fast-forward 3 years. Will is married now, but from the very start, we see that this marriage isn’t all people usually expect it to be. The first scene shows the family apart. Molly and Walter have gone fishing, which is something Will loves. He had dreams about teaching Abigail how to fish, but he doesn’t go to do that with his family, preferring to stay alone instead. It’s the first hint that his heart isn’t in this relationship, that he’s too hung up on the past to move forward and make new happy memories.

Jack came to drag him to Dragon’s case, and Will makes it look like he’s reluctant. At the same time, he doesn’t send Jack away, even though we know from the past that he has no qualms being frank when he wants to. More than that, he asks him not to show pics to Molly, but when they have dinner, Will deliberately leaves the house with Walter, leaving Jack and Molly together. At night, when Molly’s asleep, he crawls out of bed and goes to read Hannibal’s letter. He doesn’t tell the truth to Molly about himself and his dark urges, about everything he has done – Molly clearly has no idea who he truly is, considering how she jokes about his ‘criminal mind’ in later episodes and how Will immediately closes himself off from her. He never initiates physical touches with her; he doesn’t return her “I love you”, which is an even bigger indication of his lack of commitment. Will is emotionally stiff with Molly for the most part, and the only times he laughs with her or shows any emotion is when they are talking about superficial stuff in the former case and when he’s furious after Francis’ attack in the latter one. Other than that, there is no closeness or honesty.

Another point of Will’s inability to express or even give his love to someone is in his scene with Walter in E11. This child, his step-son, has just been attacked by a serial killer with his mother. His mother was hurt and they barely escaped. Will doesn’t hug him or offer him paternal emotional comfort; he’s very awkward. All he says is, “You're both safe here,” which is something an officer might say but not a father. Will was much more emotional in his fantasies about Abigail.

This is what Will says about Walter’s reaction to Jack:

*Will: He read about me in a Freddie Lounds article. I had to justify myself to an eleven year old.*

He’s resentful and not emotional. He doesn’t say, “I had to justify myself to my son!” – he distances himself from him. Will is cold. He has expressed his feelings for Hannibal at this point in rather poetic ways, but he can’t be bothered to do this for his wife and his son.

He treats Hannibal in a very reserved fashion too, in comparison to how he acted 3 years ago. However: first, there is the fact that he came to visit him in the first place. Will didn’t need his help, we saw very clearly how he managed to easily reconstruct the crime scene the night before. It proved that his mindset is in a good shape, so he didn’t need Hannibal’s assistance. But it’s Hannibal he requested to see right away.

Will distances himself from him by calling him “Doctor Lecter” and insisting that he’s more comfortable the less personal they are. His eyes glisten, though, and he can’t look away from Hannibal. The impersonal approach doesn’t last very long, too, and soon, they are talking like they always did. Hannibal accuses Will of marrying for false reasons.

*Hannibal: How did you choose yours? Readymade wife and child to serve your needs. A stepson or daughter. A stepson absolves you of any biological blame. You know better than to breed. Can't pass on those terrible traits you fear the most.*

Will doesn’t bother to deny it, though any man would have been offended, particularly if he truly loved his family. In Will’s case, from the experience and all the precedents, silence = agreement.

In E10, Will seeks Bedelia out. He acts catty and jealous, targeting her personal connection with Hannibal.

*Will: You didn't lose yourself, Bedelia, you just crawled so far up his ass you couldn't be bothered.* - personal, targeted against Bedelia's attachment to Hannibal.

*Will: You hitched your star to a man commonly known as a monster. You're the Bride of Frankenstein.* - personal, attack with romantic connotation. Bedelia catches up on it and mocks him:

*Bedelia: We've both been his bride. Have you been to see him?*

*Will: Yes.*

*Bedelia: Haven't learned anything, have you? Or did you just miss him that much?*

*Will: Have you been to see him?* - personal again. Will wants to know if Bedelia is keeping contact with Hannibal.

*Bedelia: I've seen enough of him. I was with him behind the veil. You were always on the other side.*

*Will: Something we should talk about.* - again, personal. It's all personal, which is why Bryan and Hugh called them Hannibal's jealous bitchy exes. Will is palpably jealous and he shows his resentment to Bedelia openly.

Later, we have some more romantic references.

*Bedelia: My relationship with Hannibal is not as passionate as yours. You are here visiting old flame. Is your wife aware of how intimately you and Hannibal know each other? … Your experience of Hannibal’s attention is so profoundly harmful yet so irresistible, it undermines your ability to think rationally.*

So, there is romantic text, parallels between Hannibal and Will’s wife, and Will doesn’t deny any of this again. He keeps coming to Bedelia because she’s the only person he can talk about Hannibal to without being watched.

After Hannibal sends Francis after Molly and Walter, Will spends about a minute being angry with him. Then he accuses Hannibal of staging a competition between him and Francis. It is startling: Will spent months, years mourning the loss of Abigail who he didn’t even really know personally, yet he forgets the gravity of what happened to his wife and won very quickly. He leaves Molly and Walter and tells Bedelia that they are finished. One traumatic event, and Will left. It coincides with something very important that happened here: after this, Will finally figures out Hannibal is truly in love with him. So he goes to Bedelia to discuss it with her.

*Will: Is Hannibal in love with me?*

*Bedelia: Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for you, and find nourishment at the very sight of you? Yes. But do you ache for him?*

Will is predictably silent. Obviously, if the answer was no, he would have said no. But he struggles because like we established, he has issues with expressing emotions. He only managed to start referring to Hannibal as his friend openly in this season, opening up about some of his feelings, but he’s not ready to go this far. It would be absolutely out of character for Will to say, “Yes, you know, I’m in love with him! Thanks for helping me see it.” Every confession Will makes is preceded by struggles and heartbreak. But he’s going to reply to Bedelia’s question, only not explicitly-verbally.

Will sets up Chilton and then comes to allegedly say good-bye to Hannibal. He lies several times in their conversation (about Chilton and Molly with Walter), so all his words are automatically suspicious. Regardless, he destroys Hannibal emotionally and walks away. Personally, I believe he was already planning to break him out, so he was playing it up for cameras and also taking a chance to hurt Hannibal for everything again. But whatever his plan was, what happens next is that Will conspires with Francis against Jack, Alana, and the FBI. They agree to break Hannibal out together. Will lies to Jack and then gets to ask Hannibal for help. He’s being flirty and manipulative in this scene.

*Will: I need you, Hannibal … You're our best shot, Hannibal. Please.*

He’s smirking, he leans close to Hannibal, he sends him a flirty look from under his eyelashes. Will is thoroughly enjoying himself, and he does it best when he has some excuse to hide behind.

Later, he lies to Jack and Alana again, leaks info to Francis (who nearly killed his wife and son), and gets many officers killed by proxy. He tells Bedelia the truth that he doesn’t “intend Hannibal to be caught a second time.” He also implies that he’s going to let him go free, which is why Bedelia should pack her bags.

*Bedelia: Can't live with him. Can't live without him. Is that what this is?*

This time, Will agrees, although in his way.

*Will: I guess this is my Becoming.*

For Will, Becoming was always connected to his feelings for Hannibal because accepting himself and his darkness meant being free to escape with Hannibal.

*Bedelia: You found religion. Nothing more dangerous than that.*

In E3, it was stated that love is a God (you can find more here https://www.reddit.com/r/HannibalTV/comments/7w54dg/lovegodreligion_s3_parallels/), so it’s possible to say that religion = love in this context. It certainly makes sense. Will is accepting himself and his emotions, and the trigger was establishing for sure that Hannibal is in love with him.

Will and Hannibal drive to the cliff house. When Hannibal asks Will if he intends to save himself by killing them both (Hannibal and Francis), Will replies:

*Will: I don't know if I can save myself. And maybe that's just fine.*

This is the first time he confesses that he might be incapable of killing Hannibal. Predictably, when Francis comes, Will can’t handle seeing Hannibal killed, so he reaches for his gun.

Will and Hannibal work as a unit and protect each other. Hannibal is shot, nearly strangled, thrown onto the ground, and he is still weakly holding on Francis' leg to prevent him from going after Will, even though it leaves him in an open and vulnerable position — Francis does kick him in the face with his other leg. There is fierce determination on Will's face as he stands up despite the pain and runs to save Hannibal. They act in synch, consummating their relationship.

Then, Will admires how blood looks on his hand and repeats Hannibal’s words:

*Will: It really does look black in the moonlight.*

He remembers the words Hannibal said to him weeks ago in one of their endless interactions. A bit earlier, he perfectly recalled the words Hannibal told him *years* ago, back in the middle of S2.

*Will: I understand that “blood and breath are only elements undergoing change to fuel your Radiance." Hannibal said those words. To me.*

So, Will remembers everything Hannibal told him. He stores these memories. It’s a small but still important proof how important Hannibal is for him.

At the cliff, Will finally accepts the truth.

*Hannibal: See. This is all I ever wanted for you, Will. For both of us.*

We know what Hannibal wanted: a Murder Husband. What does Will say to this?

*Will: It’s beautiful.*

This is a loud “yes” to Bedelia’s question about his feelings. Will acknowledges, accepts, and admires them. He doesn’t feel awkward, as he would if he knew Hannibal is in love with him but didn’t feel the same. No, he reaches forward to embrace him, and such physical contact from Will is mind-blowing because he almost never does it. He clings to Hannibal, puts his head on his shoulder, touches him as if he wants to melt with him. Then he gives the fate a chance to stop both of them or to set them free. They fall into the ocean under the Love Crime song, another romantic element.

Water symbolizes reborn, and post-credits scene indicates that Will and Hannibal have paid a visit to Bedelia and are in the process of eating her while she’s hiding the fork to stab one of them as he approaches. The deleted epilogue to the series shows that they are in perfect harmony now.

**Conclusion**: Will has passed through a long, painful journey. He went from hiding from emotions and deflecting to not denying and carefully acknowledging them. We don’t hear words “love” or “in love” from him in relation to Hannibal because Will is not that kind of person. He doesn’t use these words freely, and for him, every small emotional step is a struggle. He tried to deceive himself and other numerous times; he tied to deny the truth and manipulate his own mind, but with each season, his feelings for Hannibal became more and more explicit. Will reaching out for physical contact, Will saying “It’s beautiful” are his way of saying, “I ached for you. I love you.”

This is a story of mutual love and obsession, about soulmates, about unique type of connection that few people share. It’s not about Hannibal falling in love and Will not feeling the same. Their feelings are equally strong, but they express them differently, particularly as Will’s are tied to the acceptance of his own darkness.

#will graham #hannibal lecter #hannigram #nbc hannibal #murder husbands

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