#the pains of being born on an alien planet where no one gives a shit about your existence

[thanagrian]

shay doesn't really do/understand birthdays but hers is the end of march

[vegetablejester]

Ramble timee, this is some WoH lore. It's not ultra important, just some background info I'll likely add in the future but I feel like yapping abt it now since it's not spoilery I don't think. Just some Celestial lore and ideas I have.

So I may have made it look like they lived on a planet, but that's kind of a retcon now. With how old they can live, their home planet likely died long ago so now instead they're using ships that have compressed space in a sense. So it's an entire planet's worth of space inside of one ship and there's a few of them. They're like the equivalent of being these super advanced folk who don't do anything with their tech with any other planets or colonies.

Nightmare technically was one to break from that mold and reach out which is peculiar for a Celestial but going into the effects of that is actually spoiler territory vgbhnjk. So for now I wanna talk about why I wanted to yap today, the ships. Celestials while split into two types based on being Nocturnal or Diurnal have societies closely based on our own, Meta Knight was born in the Celestial equivalent of Mexico and Vega is the equivalent of being Greek. In these boats however, all these countries are very big for the population they actually have.

Celestials have a rather small population, due to the length of their lifespans and due to all of this space, a lot of weird stuff pops up time to time with these types of beings. You see, the predominant architecture across Celestial ships is inspired by Dream Architecture, something annoying to give examples for now because of ai and other shit. But a long and short of it is very surrealist but modern architecture that you could only see in a dream. Maybe with some Frutiger Aero touches. With this excess of space, those more well off will just drop pet projects around with little care or thought, creating strange alien like spaces in the middle of no where for your displeasure of running into. While it may see beautiful to an unfamiliar eye, much of it is soulless and created from the border of near immortal beings without much to do and money and time to waste. Much of the old world and traditions are slowly being washed away and the homes they live in have basically become an endless surreal maze of curved white hallways and a sun that barely sets. You can see why Vega has issues man.

One design aspect I can imagine quite vividly in my mind for what a Celestial home may look like is inspired by the MC Escher staircases. Massive monochrome rooms leading to nowhere, an endless abyss of your own footsteps echoing as you spend an hour trying to find the toilet in this dumbass fucking house your dad thought would be great to build and they're shocked as to why you spend all day in your room which is the sanest looking space imaginable in that house to begin with. 'An Autobiography by Vega' But yeah I just like the idea of these ultra-powerful old beings just being so bored with life they make all the architecture and buildings in their society art pieces which looks nice at first but then becomes a pain in the ass to live in especially with the stupid amount of spaces everywhere.

There are some more normal parts of their society at least, since that is mostly the upper crust of Celestials which is quite a lot of them. There's quite a big economic split which is a whole can of worms both irl and lore-wise. These areas are a lot more cramped in comparison, but much of the architecture is closer to more traditional designs and or dated like how we have a shit ton of houses build in the like 50s over here in the UK. Ironically Castle Dedede kind of has similarities to rich Celestial design which also probably annoys the fuck out of Meta Knight. But yeah this was mostly an architect ramble lmao, of all things. Though speaking of that I do have some ideas of giving Nightmare stuff inspired by HR Gyger, like in terms of some of the technology he uses specially for creating Demon Beasts and cloning. A lot of the spaces I've have Vega create as well are based off dream spaces and more backrooms type vibes. The one where he's in the white room is specifically meant to be weird and off-putting as his recreated mind is basically falling apart. The ocean often plays a big theme in symbolism when it comes to dreams, which is why it shows up so often. It's also his preferred creation due to his control over water, so most of the time if its an ocean Vega has likely been the one to create the dreamscape that night.

[div-divington]

big ol’ invicncible spoilers, watch the show first trust me you’re not missing anything if you don’t read this post

I’ve never talked about a cartoon or tv show before but I’ve gotta say that people who say there’s ‘no complexity’ to Omni-Man’s character just tick me off.

I mean, listen, he’s totally a villain at least in the cartoon adaptation (I’ve not read the comics, going to consider them separate entities for the sake of argument), but he’s far from a two dimensional sussus amogus imposter blindly readying the planet for invasion.

I whole-heartedly believe that Omni-Man enjoyed being a superhero, saving lives. I believe his friendship with the tailor guy was real, I believe he respected, admired even, the Guardians of the Globe, cherished his relationship with Debbie, and enjoyed living among humans. The brief interaction with Darkwing and The Immortal when the Mauler Twins attack the White House is so sincere right? Like, it seems to me he respects them, the jokey “you’re welcome” when he saved Darkwing, the “I had him” when he saved the guard Immortal was going for, that wasn’t necessary of him. He had no real reason to be playful and cordial with them, he could have been distant and still gained their trust easily (I mean, Darkwing was a jerk and they loved him). The brief moment of shock and unresponsiveness when Mark revealed that he’d finally gotten his powers? I honestly believe that was a moment of disbelief. I think he hoped Mark’s powers wouldn’t manifest, hoped he wouldn’t have to continue his mission. That pause was him coming to terms with the end of things. The realization that he would have to hurt people he respected, finish his mission, and end his time as a father, author, and superhero.

When he collapses after murdering the Guardians of the Globe, the look on his face isn’t just exhaustion from the fight, it looks to me like shock. Disbelief. I don’t think he wanted to kill the Guardians, I think he hated doing it, but it’s what he was bred for. He was born and trained from childhood for thousands of years to weaken a planet from within, prepare it for invasion. Earth had superheroes, naturally a pretty noteworthy obstacle for an invasion, so he, in his mind, had no choice but to kill them. And notice that most of his kills are pretty... clean? He goes right for Immortal’s head, ditto with Aquaris and Green Ghost, snaps War Woman’s neck, kills Darkwing in one clean move, tears off Martian Man’s heart(? is that a heart?), crushes Red Rush’s head (which seems slow because of Red Rush’s perception of time being RIDICULOUS compared to our own, that horrific scene only lasted like a second for the rest of the characters). He goes for quick, clean kills, minimizing pain. Maybe its just brutal, soldier-like efficiency, since the greatest superheroes on Earth cannot be allowed to get any good hits in (they nearly killed him as it was), but what if it was a desire to not prolong the suffering of people he genuinely liked? 

We see in the flashback towards the end (during the THINK, MARK, THINK! scene lmao) that he initially didn’t give two shits about humanity on a deep level. He loved and respected Debbie and his then-very-young son, but thought humans were, on a whole, primitive and dumb. But as he spends time observing them, watching their culture, interacting with them, living with them, he warms up to them. The smile on his face when Mark hits his first homerun in little league, remembering Debbie’s favourite foods, the way he laughs when he mentions how a superhero had to meet the president in a plaid supersuit, the fishing photograph with the tailor. Even after he finally reveals himself as an infiltrator, the way he talks, to me, shows respect for his adversaries even as he demeans and belittles humanity. The discussion with Cecil, the warning to ‘stay out of this’. Nolan seems reluctant to kill anybody he doesn’t have to, and seemingly acknowledges that the Global Defense Agency at the very least is a minor threat.

So, you say, why does he act so AWFUL at times?

Well, his seeming lack of emotion after the funerals for the Guardians of the Globe can proooooooooooooobably be chalked up to his alien psychology. He finished grieving, he didn’t see the harm in cracking jokes about them. Calling Debora a ‘pet’? I think that honestly would be him trying to rationalise his feelings for her. There’s a fraction of a second where he hesitates to say it, and I honestly think he’s just trying to explain to himself how he could ever love a ‘lesser lifeform’. Killing all those innocent people? In his mind that was justified to get through to Mark. He doesn’t enjoy it -- though he also doesn’t dislike it -- he just sees it as a flat necessity, no less insignificant than killing a bug (i said the man is a complex character, I didn’t say he wasn’t evil). 

Don’t forget, Nolan’s genuine reasoning for bringing Earth into the Viltrum Empire is to help it. He argues that Viltrum technology can end hunger and poverty, end crime, revolutionize medicine. In his eyes, his indoctrinated eyes, he’s doing the right thing to help the people of Earth.

He still thinks he’s the hero.

‘it’s right to pity them’.

He sees humans as lesser creatures, he thinks they need protection from themselves, need to be brought up by the Viltrumites to be better. They can’t survive on their own, they’re weak and soft, they need us to reach their full potential, to find true glory in serving the might of Viltrum. Omni-Man does not see his actions as evil, he thinks he’s the good guy. He reluctantly kills the Guardians of the Globe, slaughters thousands of people, and destroys a city in order to, in his extremely twisted sense of morality, help people.

And, in the end, it is not the Viltrumite parts of Omni-Man and Invincible that end the conflict. It is Mark’s very human belief that he will, one day, get through to his dad. His refusal to give in, his undying love and determination to save people, save Nolan. It’s this that reaches Omni-Man. It doesn’t reach the tough soldier he had been for thousands of years, it reaches the small part of Omni-Man that wasn’t pretending to be human. The part that is Nolan Grayson. The part that, despite still seeing them as primitive and inferior, likes humanity. It’s a human tear that leaves his eye as Nolan flies away from Earth, finally giving up and refusing to facilitate the invasion if it means killing his son, something a full Viltrumite wouldn’t hesitate to do for a second if their family got in the way of their conquest. He was changed by his time with humans.

I’m not defending Omni-Man, he’s obviously a bad guy, an antagonist, serving a genuinely evil empire, but i AM saying he isn’t some flat, boring two dimensional villain who just PRETENDED to like humanity for the twenty odd years he spent living there. I’ve seen people in youtube comments replying with “I think you misunderstand Omni-Man as a character, you see, he was simply pretending to not hate humanity, it was all an elaborate ruse, there’s no real depth and inner terminal in him at all uwu” but i think THEY misunderstand Omni-Man.

He’s not morally grey, he’s arguably not even redeemable, but he IS a complex and well written character and boiling him down to ONLY being an evil alien who tricked people into liking him just rubs me the wrong way.

but idk maybe I misunderstood him and he really IS flat and boring. Maybe his time with humanity didn’t change him at all, he isn’t emotionally conflicted, and he’s just less cool than I thought.

And despite my seeming passive aggressive language, it’s totally chill if you disagree with my personal interpretation of Omni-Man as a character, art is meant to be a unique experience for everyone, so if you see him completely differently to me that’s great! I just dislike the insistence from some people online that anybody who sees him as a deeper, more complicated character is just wrong.

also sorry for this post coming out of left field entirely lmao 

[squishneedsahero]

The Crash

Trust and Emotions 

Part 1 of 2

Word Count: 3487

I'm on both a starwars and marvel kick so like.... Peter Parker x Reader

So... things weren't going very well. There were many reasons for this but the largest was probably the fact that you were in a malfunctioning escape pod, hurtling across space at close to light speed. How you were going so fast, you had not a single clue though.

Lower on your list of problems, but not much lower, was the fact that you had kind of sort of just run away from the clones. They were your friends, hell you'd practically grown up with them. The war was won and the next moment you and your master were being shot at by the clones you had thought to be friends.

The final of the big three problems on your list was the one that was causing you the most grief. Your master, the one person in the galaxy you were closest too, the closest thing you had to a parent was now dead. They had sacrificed themselves to shove you into this escape pod and make sure you got out alive.

Okay, maybe those weren't your biggest problems, though they were all related. Your biggest problem was that you had no idea how many rotations you'd been stuck in this pod with very little food and water, but even more limited air. It had to have been at least 7 rotations at this point, you'd spend a ton of time trying to fix the pod. More time sleeping and even more crying over your lost master.

You were probably going to die stuck here in this pod, which was an alright way to go you supposed but honestly it's probably more painful than being shot in the face by your friends. At this point most of the air was gone, leaving you fading in and out of sleep as you struggled to survive. Hopefully you'd be asleep when the air finally ran out but with your luck probably not. This was your plan, to die in your sleep as peacefully as possible, but as a Jedi since when did things go to plan?

The pod around you shuddered, a sensation you'd felt a million times, you were entering an atmosphere. The pod slowed significantly from how fast it had been traveling, causing you to slide off the seat and across the floor, into the opposite wall. You struggled to keep yourself awake, but ended up passing out again before you could hit the planet's surface. It was probably good that you did, so you wouldn't have to face your death as you crashed into the ground at terminal velocity.

Once again things don't go as planned. You wake up in what has to be a med bay, attached to machines beeping and making a million other various sounds. You're familiar with med bays, you had ended up in one many a time, you aren't worried until you try to sit up and find yourself strapped to the bed.

The restraints cause instant panic to swell up inside you. Where were you and why did they need to keep you there- In your panic you struggle to free yourself, trying to get a hand free to be able to get out without alerting anyone or anything thing.

"Ma'am," your thoughts are interrupted, not by a medical droid as you had thought but by a person, a tall man with an eyepatch. "I'm afraid you're going to have to stay there until you explain yourself and how you crashed on our planet."

You can only stare at him in shock. What did he mean explain yourself- you couldn't do that, you'd just be killed if they knew you were a Jedi- SHIT- your lightsaber where was it, in your panic you feel for your hip- nothing.

The man notices, "I assume you're looking for this," he holds up your lightsaber, "don't worry we'll give it back to you- we just need to know you aren't a threat first."

He was holding your lightsaber and had no idea what it was or who you are. This calmed your nerves some, but you still couldn't bring yourself to tell him everything, so you start with a name, "my name is y/n l/n. What's yours?" You ask, possibly using the force to get him to answer easier.

"Nicholas Fury, you can just call me Fury." He pauses before continuing, "so, y/n why are you here?"

You pause, staring at him confused, how dense was this guy- "I crashed here, wherever here is," you answer shortly, trying to keep your patience with his questioning. You needed to know where you were before you tried to get out of here.

"This is earth, in the case you really do not know. How is it you crashed here?"

"I..." you pause deciding how much of the truth to tell.

"I suggest you tell the truth. Things will go much smoother for all of us that way."

"I was in a malfunctioning escape pod. Couldn't control it. In fact I was about to die from lack of air when I entered earth's atmosphere." The man stares at you, judging what you had shared, then he just- leaves the room the door closing behind him and he doesn't even say goodbye.

Once again you felt anger racing through you and you forced yourself to relax. Strong emotions were not the way of the Jedi. You let your head flop back onto the pillow and you close your eyes. You didn't need to rush, you'd figure out how to get out eventually, you weren't in any immediate danger.

You must have fallen asleep yet again as you lay there because you jump awake at the sound of your door opening and people entering. "She says her name is y/n l/n, female, human and about 17 years old. As far as we can tell she is not a threat but feel it would be best if you all kept an eye on her while she finished recovering from her injuries received in the crash."

You sit your head up and look to the voices. It was that Fury man once again, but this time he had three other people with him, two men and one woman. That's when he turns back to face you, "ah, you're awake very good. This is Steve, Tony and Natasha, they will be keeping an eye on you while you recover along with some others."

You wanted to protest you were fine, but somehow you thought that would be fruitless so you just nod and look at the three. They were strong, probably hard to escape from, but you'd escaped worse. Granted those were all with the aid of your master, this time you were on your own. That was fine, you'd take your time with it unless there was any sign of real danger from them.

"Do I have to stay restrained on this bed or can I be let go?" At their suspicious looks you come up with an excuse, "I was nearly dead when I crashed, that was before the impact. I have no idea how long I've been here, but I'd like to stretch my legs before they disappear."

Fury looks at the three and they seem to shrug, though Steve nods, "she hasn't done anything for you to be suspicious of has she? I mean besides being an unknown who crashed on earth."

"Not yet," Fury says begrudgingly before moving over to loosen the restraints an let you up.

You ignore the hand offered in help, sliding off the bed and carefully steadying yourself. Your legs were weak, but you could manage to hold yourself up. You look once again at the adults, feeling as though you were surrounded by the Jedi council. "So, what were you talking about? With them watching me while I recover?"

"They have a large secure place you can stay as you finish recovering. You have yet to do anything to prove that you need to be kept in a cell, but you also have yet to prove you aren't a danger so you'll be watched," Fury explains.

You nod, you could live with that. "One thing- could I have," you pause, unsure what to call it, "the thing you showed me the last time you came in that you took from me?"

Fury nods, but hands your lightsaber over to Tony, "we've yet to figure out what this is but it's obviously important to her. You take a look at it, and you decide when she gets it back."

Later that rotation you arrive on the landing platform of a tall building. "This is Avengers tower," the one named Tony says, "you'll be staying in here with us until Fury decides otherwise."

"Alright," you purse your lips and shrug your shoulders. This was fine, the place was similar to many places in Coruscant, though this also seemed to be the high tech place on this planet. That was fine, it was similar enough to the temple that you were comfortable in the room that you were shown too.

"We will have dinner in an hour and you can meet the others then," you can only nod as the door closes behind you. How long an hour is and what dinner was eluded you but you would try and be there on time.

It seemed you finally had a moment to yourself so you found a comfortable spot on the floor to meditate. You get settled and begin to get in the zone when there is a knock on your door. "Come in," you call as you stand and go to open the door for the visitor.

To your surprise it's a young man close to your own age, "uh- hi," he offers a smile, "I'm Peter, Mr.Stark said you'd be staying here and that you were close to my age... so he thought I could help you adjust a bit since I'm his intern and am here a lot."

You look at him, quietly and using the force to poke and prod, figuring out that he had no ill intentions even if he had some sort of secret. "Very well," you say and move aside so he can enter your room.

He comes in and hesitates before taking a seat on the edge of your bed. "So, where are you from? All they told me was they you were from out of town."

You go and take a seat on the bed near him, deciding it would be harmless to answer his questions even if he's reporting back to Fury. You tell him the name of the planet you were born on and he tries to figure out where that is until you finally just have to explain that it's another planet all together.

"Wait- so you're an alien?! That's awesome! How's you get here? Are you like the Asgardians where you look human but have super strength and magical powers?"

You're bombarded with questions and you only answer some of them, "I suppose you could call me an alien." "What is an Asgardian?" And so forth.

Despite him asking most of the questions you're able to learn quite a bit from him. And even though you don't really trust anyone here you feel that Peter is the most trustworthy, freely offering you information in exchange for information. Your conversation is interrupted sooner than you'd like with a knock on the door and Steve sticking his head in to let you both know it's time for dinner.

Your brow furrowed in confusion for the millionth time but you get up and follow Steve and Peter to whatever this dinner was. It was food. And good food at that, not the normal military rations you'd get stuck with on missions or the simple food they served at the temple.

You take the seat next to Peter's and look at the other adults you hadn't met yet. They were all wary of you but that was fine. They introduce themselves, Thor, Clint, Bruce, Wanda and Vision. Six men, and three women including yourself.

This was everyone, Clint, Natasha, Steve and Thor posed the most obvious threat to you. Wanda seemed to just be a normal civilian who was here for some reason, as did Tony and Bruce. But Tony had to be a threat of some sort considering he was one of the three sent to get you. Bruce on the other hand if anything seemed scared of you and that was alright.

"Hey Mr.Stark, is y/n going to school while she stays with you guys?" Peter speaks up.

"No kid, y/n will just be staying here. I'm assuming that you've figured out that we don't know who she is or where she's from considering that Steve found you in her room just now," Tony says.

Peter's face reddens and he stutters for a response, "you're the- the one who told me to go talk to her!"

Clint joins in, "wow, Pete, you're already sneaking into her room? Tsk tsk I expected more of you."

Whatever the hell they're on about eludes you so you continue eating as they banter. "So- y/n," Natasha interrupts, "seeing as you don't have any clothes with you, Wanda, Vision and I will be taking you shopping tomorrow to get you something to wear other than that ill fitting SHIELD uniform they gave you."

You looked down realizing for the first time what it was you were wearing. All black just a long sleeve shirt and pants, it wasn't bad but it wasn't what you liked. "Okay," you respond, it would be nice to get a better look around this place called earth.

The next day goes smoothly, the three help you find clothes that will allow you to blend in, jeans and tshirts and shorts. They were all brightly colored, hardly any greys and nothing brown, and just a few black items. When you had spotted a robe in one of the stores and grabbed it they let you, saying something about Tony paying for it and if it'll help them get on your good side.

That light grey robe becomes your constant companion. They are surprised when you wear it absolutely everywhere and over any of your outfits, you had a strange sense of style but it was fine it wasn't like you left the tower.

When what they call a month passes you realize that you had only gotten closer to Peter, not any closer to escaping this place. But overall it wasn't bad, no clones had shown up to hunt you down and the others living there seemed to be the protectors of this planet, similar to the Jedi over the galaxy. So you were actually kind of content, despite being restless after exploring every inch of the tower with Peter.

Sure they had tons of books and other scripts to read, but you were used to always going never stopping. Now you were stuck, not even able to train thanks to Tony still holding your lightsaber hostage somewhere.

Other than that it was fine though, Peter had asked if you wanted to watch a movie with him, some form of entertainment. Seeing as you had nothing better to do you accepted. As he showed you how to make popcorn and got to the television room he was blabbering on and on about what was apparently his favorite movie series. It was something called Starwars and he was so excited to show it to you sure that you would love it.

A New Hope is the first that you start with and it held your attention from the moment it started. Peter doesn't think anything of your fixated silence, thinking you to just be enjoying the movie. At least until you stand up when something familiar comes on screen. "What is this?!" You demand almost angrily.

"What's what?" Peter asks, nearly terrified as you glowered at him.

"That!" You point once again at the screen, more specifically the lightsaber.

"It's a lightsaber-"

A million things rush through your mind and you grasp the sides of your head, "how do you know about lightsabers?! We are no where near Coruscant and only the Jedi can have them! How do you have record of them here- here on earth?"

Peter is flabbergasted by your outburst, normally quiet, almost stoic, here you were shouting at him over a movie. A movie you claimed to have never seen before and yet here you were knowing stuff about the prequels when he'd started you on Episode 4.

"I- I- I don't know what you're talking about y/n it's just a movie! I thought you hadn't seen them before?!"

It's at this long you relax enough to realize how scared he truly is and you calm yourself down. You look at him and he truly is clueless as to what you're on about. You take a breath and calm yourself before taking his hand, "we need to talk, somewhere private-"

He grabs onto that, you calming down and just talking it out with him, "follow me," he says taking you along by the hand to a closet, one of the few spaces in the tower without a camera. Once the two of you are in there you're standing nearly nose to nose and Peter's face reddens yet again at being close to you, why he did that you didn't know and right now you didn't care. "What are you talking about y/n?"

You take a breath, "those movies- how do you have them? All that information about the Jedi and the Sith- Tatooine and R2 droids-"

You could keep going but he cuts you off, "it's all made up y/n, a guy named George Lucas, he made up those stories they aren't real. He went and made some movies for fun, that's all those are, stories, made up stories."

You throw your hands up in the air, you'd gone backwards in your progress of not showing emotion since being here, "Peter- no, you don't understand- those things, they aren't made up." You pause and grab his shoulders, looking in his eyes, "I'm a Jedi- I'm a padawan. That's why I haven't told any of you anything about me. The clones killed my master while they saved me. They shoved me into an escape pod and launched it- it malfunctioned and I crashed here then I've been here ever sense. But somehow you know about the Jedi and lightsabers and think it's all made up-"

You finally let go of him and let yourself fall to the floor, grasping your head. This was madness. What in all the known systems is a movie and how is there one having all the secrets of the Jedi on a planet that doesn't know you even truly exist.

You're snapped out of it when Peter kneels in front of you and takes your hands so you stop pulling at your hair. "Okay, okay- we can figure this out y/n, we'll go and talk to Tony, figure out why you think all of this is real."

As soon as he mentions Tony you're crawling away from him, muttering, "no no no no no no no no," as you struggle to get the door open.

"Y/n, it's okay I promise, trust me- no one here wants to hurt you, let's figure this out together-" he tries to stop you in your panic. But nothing he says helps, it's only when he does something, something that shocks you out of it that you stop to listen to him.

His hands cup your cheeks and his lips crash against yours. You don't respond for a moment, until you pull away and look at him in shock. What was that? You think but no, you can't get distracted by strange earth customs.

You relax and close your eyes, when Peter tries to remove his hands from your cheeks you hold them there with your own. It's a minute before you open your eyes and look at Peter again, "okay... we can figure this out..." you say gently, "I just- not the others- not yet. I'm still not sure I can trust them... but you- I feel safe with you," you admit.

Peter's face reddens again but he nods, slowly removing his hands from your cheeks to wrap you in a hug. You can't help but lean into it, putting your arms around him in return, "we'll figure it out. Just us, no Tony, no one else, promise."

For as long as you don't let go of him he doesn't let go of you. But eventually you do move, you don't know what it is but there's something different about Peter, something different from any other life form you had met. The two of you move together, getting up from the floor of the storage closet, then go back to your room.

[threeeyesslitthroat]

So I watched Chaos Walking(2021)

Yeah, lucky for me, my local theater was open and showing(side note, I love my local theater so much. Like, not to brag but seven dollars for a movie and a snack is so great)

Anyhow, I watched Chaos walking. This is sort of my review. 

First off, I read The Knife of Never Letting Go and one third of The Ask and Answer, almost two years ago. When they finally dropped the release date and the trailer, i made the choice not to go reread the first book because i wanted to give the movie a chance and make an exercise of managing my expectations(in preparation for Disney’s Percy Jackson adaptation). Which means not only do I not have a complete understanding of the source material, but I also have a shit memory, so I don’t have a great shot at analyzing this films in adaptation terms, but i’m gonna try anyhow.

So first off, The Noise.

I found it a bit sketchy that they decided to make the make Noise have visual elements alongside audio but I decided it was fine, since it be pretty hard to bring this to life with only just audio and not make general audiences confused.

But they did try and do a solid job. Minus not letting us hear the Noise of animals, which sucks. we do see the Noise of a Spackle, but briefly.

The part that really pisses me off is the final confrontation, when the Noise is treated like a Super Power. we see this when Todd scares Davy’s horse by conjuring up an image of big snake, when Mayor Prentiss tricks Viola into a false trap, when  Ben tricks everyone by pretending to give Viola up when in fact he’s buying Todd and the real Viola time to get away, and in the final, Todd distracts Prentiss by conjuring up the image of his mother(complete with bloody wounds) and the various women that died when he was a baby, which caused Prentiss to fall to his death.

I don’t know how the Noise is depicted in the later books, if it was anywhere remotely like this, but i know for sure it doesn’t happen in the first book, which the film is based on.

(Also, how the fuck does Todd know what his mum looks like, or any of the other women and how is he able to bring up their images so perfectly how is ANYONE ABLE REMEMBER SOMEONE WITH THAT MUCH DETAIL That goes beyond photographic memory)

Second bit, the Spackle.

 The design is boring. Its clearly an alien, buts its dark grey, tall, holds its own when Todd attacks it in the film, has zero impact on the film as a whole and pretty boring. I do recall reading the book and imagining them to have faces similar to real world lemurs or Sloths, with big expressive eyes and such, but the CGI monster doesn’t emote for shit in this film. Todd comes at with a knife with every intention of killing it and it shrugs him off and walks away like it wasn’t fucking attacked my gods.

But in short, they only brought up the Spackle because they’re a thing in the world and it teased the bigger concepts of the next books with like, one measly exchange between Todd and Viola. (it went something like this)

Viola:We’re the aliens, though. They’re the natives.

Todd: huh.

Third bit, New World itself. Not a big deal, It looked like how i originally imagined it, no mention of swamp apples, though we see Todd Hewitt use a knife to stab a big ass bug thing for food. i hear some critics consider it lame that the planet isn’t actually alien but eh, whatever, Didn’t really feel an alien vibe reading the book so it doesn’t matter. 

Now there’s one bit i have to acknowledge in passing. At one point Todd decides to go get lunch by going into the water with his knife and wrestles with some big ass thing with tentacles. Which is fine, just have a couple of questions.

A: is this in reference to the books? Where there big ass tentacle creatures in the novel that are hunted for lunch?

B:if not, was this the film makers deciding to remind the viewers that yes, they are not on planet earth and to make Todd look cooler and justify why he’s useful for the quest and show how much Viola doesn’t know?

I kinda have to acknowledge the thing.  In that scene, Todd and Viola take a break, and Todd removes his clothes (all of them) and decides to go hunting in the water naked as the day he was born. You may have noticed that the Tom Holland stans are all over this scene because One) the camera focuses on Tom Hollands muscles when he takes his top off and Two) one can see his bare ass in the distance. 

Not a big fan off this, just find it interesting because its the most recent example of a Male being objectified by the camera when this never happens once to any of the female characters in the film, including Viola. Also, a touch of weird character detailing because haha, get it? Boy’s never seen a girl before in his life and doesn’t know what modesty means.

Also, very weird because Todd Hewitt in the book was so fucking self conscious that he would never have done that. 

Now I gotta talk about the characters.

( i understand why they aged them up, i truly do, better to get established actors instead of child actors that could more easily break to movie than sell it. its easier to make movies with legal adults instead of working with child labor laws. but damn it you lose so much of the fucking nuance of the novel when you age them up. There’s so much shit that makes an impact because of how young they are. Around the ages of eleven and twelve is when ones understanding of good and evil has its foundation, to me it was like the story was grappling with Todd Hewitt’s very soul and you lose so much of that when you change it to them being older because instead of being just kids in fucked up situations its younger adults in messed up situations. Like ugh. and aging them up leads to even more problems but we’ll fucking get to that)

Tom Holland’s Todd Hewitt is not the Todd Hewitt of the novel. He just ain’t. There is nothing there that reminds of the boy. The acting is solid, don’t get me wrong, but it just ain’t the Todd Hewitt i remember. Neither is Daisy Ridley’s Viola Eade.

(excuse me while i get Percy Jackson flashbacks)

Now, I have to acknowledge the fact that neither actor(actually none of the actors in this film) slouch on the job. They bring solid and at times very good acting.(If Tom Holland is in the film, its not going to be complete waste of time. He brings quality.)

Honestly, respect to Mr Holland because he was basically the main character, not only acting but also doing voice  and various stunts(also huge credit to the stunt coordinators and stuntmen) and I heard that filming wasn’t that great and bloody broke his nose how many times like damn boy, hats off to you.

But here’s the thing. I don’t want to say that Holland was playing himself or just a version of peter Parker, because i really don’t think he wasn’t but it just. Didn’t feel like a legit character? Especially when compared to the novel. Like Todd Hewitt in the novel is such a raw force of emotion and such a smartass and i was so looking forward for Holland to own this role but in the movie he just? Awkward dude going through some stuff?

but yeah, Holland works his ass off and there are some scenes and moments in the movie that work just because this fellow is just that charming, so (shrug emoji) like i said, He doesn’t waste your time at least.

Ridley....sigh. i know this woman can act. But next to the character who’s thoughts are heard constantly she’s very boring. And it hurts so much because Viola has an actual personality in the novel like; I’m ninety percent sure that Viola hits Todd with a big stick and I do remember that there were multiple moments where she lets Todd know when he’s being a dumbass.(seriously, i may have a shit memory of the book, but i do remember that they play off each other well and hugely entertaining seeing two twelve-year-olds handle the shit getting thrown at them)

Like, Viola in the film doesn’t really have much going on. We see the crash, we hear about the graves she dug herself, we see her be sad, we see her look at Todd like weirdo, we see her look horrified or shocked. (its so sad that I only remember the facial expressions more clearly than the actual dialogue) We really have no idea what the hell is going on with Viola Eade. I don’t think we can blame Ridley, only the film makers, because how can you see Viola Eade in the novel and then turn her into that????

i do have to talk about the relationship between Tom Holland’s Todd Hewitt and Daisy Ridley’s Viola Eade, even though its painful. In the novel, them is just two kids on a really tough adventure.  Because they aged them up, its not two kids old enough to run for the playground when recess starts. Its Teenagers. 

First question, HOW OLD ARE THEY??? Is Todd sixteen? Eighteen? Seventeen? He sure as hell ain’t Thirteen in this. What about Viola? I mean, big shout out to the hair and makeup team for making 28-year-old Daisy Ridley look so much younger but how. OLD. IS.SHE? Nineteen? Twenty? Twenty-one? Pretty sure she’s older than him in this? I ask because it MATTERS.

The way they play off each other has a vastly different energy to the novel because they are aged up. Its pretty obvious pretty fast that Todd’s feelings are basically a big crush, though not all of it is superficial as the film progresses. And Viola is clearly not receptive to that in the film. (honestly i cringed so hard at the “daydream kiss’ and whatever the hell that was in the Farbranch mayor’s house)

The relationship in the film just doesn’t have the nuance or the energy that the novel had in depicting their relationship which is depressing for all the Todd x Viola fans i’m sure. There’s some adorable bits though, like Viola seeing Todd’s dream of her playing with Manchee, and not so adorable canon bits like when Viola read the diary to Todd.

I’m just grateful that the film at least ended with them being friends instead of trying to force the romantic relationship. That right there is why I like the movie. It’s a crush, its used for a couple laughs, they’re friends, its fine. Even if you didn’t read the novel that’s really great for a movie in this day and age to not end with forcing two opposite sex characters into a relationship. To be honest, I like the idea that the film leaves us thinking that yeah, maybe these two could be real friends one day.

I just want to touch on Manchee real quick.

Manchee’s Noise is not seen or heard in the film. It is briefly acknowledged by Todd ins their first scene but other than that? Nada. Which is a low blow in comparison to the novel because Manchee was a character in his own right, which is why the death hit so hard. 

Todd?” he barks, confused and scared and watching me leave him behind. “Todd?” “Manchee!” I scream. Aaron brings his free hand towards my dog. “MANCHEE!” “Todd?” And Aaron wrenches his arms and there’s a CRACK and a scream and a cut-off yelp that tears my heart in two forever and forever. And the pain is too much it’s too much it’s too much and my hands are on my head and I’m rearing back and my mouth is open in a never-ending wordless wail of all the blackness that’s inside of me.”

in the film, it takes place in white rapids, So its chaotic, its awful, the veiwer’s all stressed out because Viola can’t swim, everyone's getting separated and Aaron’s there and he is seen drowning Manchee. 

Dude, its brief, but not pretty. Because you can see Manchee’s legs trashing above the water, struggling to get free. Aaron is drowning a dog, letting its lungs fill with water. For the folks that don’t like watching dogs die in graphic detail on screen, this isn’t great. 

Personally, I love this scene in the novel. Its the first time i had to put the book down and take a moment. It hit really close to home for me, because i watched my own dog die in real life. It was emotional and horrifying and had such a fucking impact because we could hear his thoughts. Todd had to make the choice to leave him behind to keep Viola safe. To be honest, i think the death is better in the novel, since Manchee basically dies instantly instead of drowning, which takes time(I’ve always assumed that his neck was snapped but I’ve heard others say it was the psine but whatever) it would have been easy and necessary for them to not show that on screen. I personally just think that in terms of depicting a violent death, the novel did a lot better.

Anyway, on to the other characters

(I had to choose the one with the big orange fluffy coat, and i couldn’t find a good pic og Ben and Cillian on google images.)

As for Mayor Prentiss, he’s played by Mads Mikkelsen, and he delivers. But for the most part, we don’t really know why he’s the bad guy, he just wants to get Viola because “she’s the key” which isn’t really explained, and at the end he tries his hardest to kill Todd. 

Because i only read the first book, I don’t know what exactly his character arc is. And since its been a really long while, I don’t remember what he’s like in the novel regardless, other than the cliffhanger ending.

I did take a quick crashcourse  through the wiki and it turns out that Todd and Prentiss have a relationship in the later books, which the film sort of touches on, because Todd looks up to Prentiss in the film from the get go. 

To be honest, I knew that the trilogy was a lot more complex, and even though I didn’t read the whole thing I knew it would be really disappointing for the fans to see the mayor be hollowed out to almost unrecognizable and not getting to see the whole picture on screen.

As for Davy Prentiss Jr., he was an asshole and stayed an asshole. I know he improves and gets killed off in the novels, so yeah, exhibit B of character foundations not being laid down because there isn’t gonna be a movie after this. Also, why is he played by Nick Jonas? Did they actually have more in mind for him when they decided to go with a Jonas brother or was it just star power? 

As for Aaron...don’t have much to say about him, other than just being pretty weird fit to the film. I think he’s after Viola because he’s just that full of delusions but other than that, his character is just flat and useless. (I wish to the gods that writers would actually think instead of going with “religious delusion” to explain insanity) He only brought tension in a few scenes for the most part. I’m pretty sure that in the novel Todd and Aaron have a confrontation, like the final fight of the novel, and I’m 90% sure that its where the Novel gets the Knife of never Letting Go as its title, because the knife is big deal at that point. But I guess they wanted Viola to have a quick boss battle for the ending and set him on fire. 

Ben and Cillian were fine. They did a good job, the actors were pretty great, I liked Cillian, and i like how they acknowledged that these dudes were family(i know that they’re gay and a couple but the film doesn’t say it outloud beyond letting them sleep in the same bed, be Todd’s parents, and having Ben hold Cillian in his arms) I get a kick out of the fact that the official reviews by Movie Critics are openly curious about why the film doesn’t make it more obvious that they’re gay, but whatever.

As for the overall plot, this is a fine example of mashing three books into one film and not having good results. Instead of going to Haven, the movie decided to shortcut the ending and go to the original ship that somehow has working tech but whatever, Viola needs to communicate to her ship. So not only do we not get the great relationship between Todd and Viola, not only do we not get the Spackle, Not only do we not get to see the noise of Manchee, not only do we have poor character adaptation, we also don’t get to have a plot that matches THE ONE BOOK THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO ADAPT. THEY HAD ONE FUCKING JOB AND THEY COULDN'T ADAPT THE ONE BOOK-

Its only so sad that they decided that this was going to be a one-shot deal because they didn’t have faith in the film and chose to have all the threads tied up. I mean, its so sad for the fans because the movie makes it very clear that we are not going to have anymore movies. sigh. 

slight respect towards the film makers for tying up all the story threads instead of leaving them hanging. they did a neat job, even if it wasn’t a great one.

Anyway, maybe later on when google images has more than the promotional material I’ll do a review of only the good stuff this movie did, even if its a sad pathetic failure of an adaptation. Anyway this review is a bit of a mess and already so long so i’ll stop now. 

May the gods give us strength against all the Tom Holland stans that will inevitably clog up the Chaos Walking tag with their Todd Hewitt x reader fanfics.

[purplecatghostposts]

Omg PLEASE write a part 2 for the Pining Gordon snippet you did, if you want! It was sooo cute and so fun to read them banter!!

Hell yes.

Continuation of This

There’s two requests for a part 2 so this is Part Two and THEN there’s gonna be a part thREE.

Unlike most of my shorts/drabbles, I actually came up with a title for this one. It’s called ‘Lights Out’

Edit: Adding a lil ‘Keep Reading’ thing since this got kinda long

——

Gordon’s first mission of ‘Don’t fall in love with the security guard’ failed. Now, his second mission of ‘Don’t flirt with the security guard’ is on the same downhill path.

In Gordon’s defense, it’s been a while, okay?

Before the Resonance Cascade, Gordon’s life was pretty cut and dry. Wake up, take Joshua to kindergarten, double and triple check that his babysitter would pick him up afterwards and if they couldn’t, contact the backup babysitter, and worst comes to worst, contact his ex.

Once he knows Joshua is in good hands, Gordon goes to work, spends most of his day there with the occasional bathroom and lunch break, might catch up with a few coworkers and have to turn down any offers to go out, then head straight home, cook dinner, ask Joshua how his day was, probably draw or watch TV with Joshua, put him to bed, go to sleep, and it starts up all over again.

Rinse and repeat. Being a single dad takes up most of his time, he hasn’t gone on an actual date since Joshua was born and Gordon and his partner decided to split, much less flirted with anyone. Not to mention, nobody’s flirted with him much either.

This isn’t new or unfamiliar territory but... Gordon kinda forgot what it was like to have this feeling in his chest.

Benrey yanks him out of the sight of a turret and when Gordon nearly falls, Benrey catches him just before you hit the ground. Gordon must look as bewildered and flustered as he feels because Benrey can’t hold back a snicker. “What, got two left feet or none at all, Gordon?”

“I’m gay- GREAT, I said I’m great.” Gordon sputtered, quickly standing up straight. Benrey must’ve not heard him because he looks more confused than smug, and Gordon knows he would’ve looked smug if he heard him.

“Whatever you say.” Benrey shrugs, letting it go.

Gordon got off the hook this time but he’s losing it. The latch on Benrey’s helmet broke so Benrey has been wearing his helmet less and less as of late and all Gordon can think of is the fact that he so badly wants to touch his hair.

The idea of asking embarrasses him. How is he supposed to defend himself? Or worse, Benrey is chill enough to where he’d let him. What is Gordon even supposed to do if he says yes? He hasn’t even got that far, every time his mind tries to imagine it, Gordon’s heart palpitates and he has to chill out before Benrey notices.

Assuming he hasn’t already. Benrey’s not an idiot and Gordon’s not a great actor. The inevitability of him putting two and two together is there and it looms over him.

The longer they spend time alone, the longer Gordon can feel himself becoming more and more comfortable with him.

They settle down in a quiet corner of Black Mesa, an office that’s a little worse for wear but it has a door meaning they’ll hear if anyone comes in. The heat must be broken around these parts because Gordon finds himself shivering for once.

A hand reaches over and flicks his nose, because Benrey can never get his attention the normal way, can he? “How are you cold? This... ‘S nothing. How have you even survived this far if this makes you shiver?”

“We’re in New Mexico, Benrey. I’m used to it being hotter.” Gordon shoots back. There’s no bite in their words anymore. With the rest of the Science Team still missing, they’ve fallen into a rhythm. The teasing is still there but... Well, it’s just between friends now.

“You haven’t seen real heat until it’s 170 degrees outside.” Benrey releases a short cackle. Gordon rolls his eyes but the ghost of a smirk betrays him.

“Stop trying to one up me in every conversation with stories about your planet. I get it, shits intense there and you’re like a... Alien god or whatever.”

“And don’t you forget it.” Benrey grins. It falters for a split second when Gordon’s shivering gets a little worse. “Hey uh... Since you’re a loser who can’t control your body temp at will, c’mere. Would be... Would be pretty lame if I just let you die.”

Gordon feels his heart stop, but by some miracle, he inches closer and leans against Benrey. He’s cold, but only for a second. Then he suddenly feels like a heated blanket and Gordon stops thinking. He lets out a breath of relief and without meaning to, drops his entire body weight on Benrey.

Benrey luckily doesn’t budge, nor make much of a fuss. Gordon buries his face into his shoulder. “How..?”

“Huh?”

“You can just... Heat up like that... How are you so lucky? Not fair.” Gordon tells him in a muffled voice. Benrey stifles a laugh.

“I wouldn’t call myself lucky but-” Benrey’s abruptly cut off as his voice turns into a pleasant song. Gordon turns his head and gets a look at pink and golden balls floating in the air. He sits up, staring at them curiously.

When he looks at Benrey again, his face is a deep red. “...As- as I was uh, saying before I was rudely interrupted-”

“What’s gold to pink mean?”

“It’s pink to gold- fuck.” Benrey quickly shut his mouth. It did nothing to sway Gordon’s interest.

“What’s pink to gold mean, Benrey?”

“Look... Do you want the translation or the heat because you’re not gettin’ both. ‘S not fair.”

Gordon groaned and didn’t answer. They both knew what his answer was going to be- he wasn’t going to give up the heat. “...Do you sleep at all or is that another perk of yours too? Don’t think I’ve seen you actually sleep.”

Benrey made a noncommittal noise. “Kinda. It’s less ‘Unconscious’ and more ‘Hitting pause on a video game and taking a snack break’ you feel me?”

Gordon wasn’t entirely sure he understood what that meant for Benrey physically but he nodded anyways. “Think everyone else is okay?”

“Huh? Yeah of course.” Benrey snorted. “Not a single one of ‘em are fully human like you, they’ll be fine.”

“Right.” Gordon’s eyes drooped.

Benrey must’ve noticed because the next words out of his mouth were, “You gonna become Gordon Sleepman?”

“Maybe...” Gordon mumbled, eyes closing and refusing to open again. Benrey laughed but it got further and further away until Gordon slipped into a dreamless slumber.

—

Fighting by Benrey’s side took some of the usual stress away. Gordon knew that Benrey had his back, it became easy to relax a little and focus with him there.

The assassins were tough but with their power combined and a few explosives, it wasn’t hard to drive them away. Gordon had to take a breather afterwards, leaning up against the wall, but there was a smile plastered to his face. They were really doing this- they were going to get out of here alive.

God, Gordon couldn’t wait to see Joshua. He’d get an earful from his ex but he knew they meant well and would only be worried about him. Not to mention, Gordon wanted Benrey to meet Joshua. Something told him that they’d get along and Gordon wanted Benrey to be apart of that life.

“You good?” Benrey was looking over him carefully, eyeing a particularly nasty looking wound. “Lookin’ a little red there... In the face too.”

Gordon shook his head. “Just need a breather. And possibly a first aid kit.”

“I know where one is.” A new voice told them. Benrey and Gordon blinked and turned to the source. Gordon’s jaw dropped and his eyes lit up.

“Bubby! Dude, where- where have you been?”

Bubby seemed to shift in place. Something about him looked off, the look in his eyes, his arms crossed, the halting way he was talking- did he actually swallow before speaking? “Around.” Bubby said simply.

Gordon blinked. “You... You good, dude? You don’t seem yourself.”

“I’m fine, Gordon. Do you want a first aid kit or not?” Bubby snapped at him but his shoulders were tense.

Carefully, Gordon made his way over to him with Benrey on his heels. “That’d be great, thank you, Bubby.” Gordon paused, determining that stress seemed to be the answer and offered Bubby a hug.

Bubby took a step back. Gordon refused to take it personally. The guy looked like he was having a bad day. If he needed space, so be it. Gordon would be here when he was ready.

Benrey’s eyebrows raised at Bubby. “Where’s Coomer ‘n Tommy?” He asked slowly.

“...We got separated.” Bubby turned his back to them, moving forward. “Let’s just go already.”

The lack of expression alarmed Gordon. Did something happen? Why was Bubby acting so... Distant.

“You can tell us anything.” Gordon told Bubby. “We’re a team, no matter what.”

His offer fell on deaf ears.

Bubby stopped in front of what looked like a supply room. At the very end of the room laid a first aid kit, just as Bubby said. Gordon turned to Bubby and gave him a smile. “Hey. Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Bubby’s face dropped and while his mouth opened, no words came out.

Gordon entered the room, with Benrey following behind and Bubby in the back.

The lights went out.

—

The lights going out temporarily surprised Benrey until his night vision kicked in. Not a moment too soon either as soldiers suddenly surrounded Gordon and his stomach dropped.

Benrey was ready to lunge forward but arms wrapped around him and held him back. Benrey struggled until there was a voice in his ear.

“Don’t interfere or you’ll get hurt too.” Bubby hissed.

It wasn’t hard to figure out what had happened. Benrey turned his gaze to Bubby furiously, though Gordon’s cries in pain pierced his heart. “You- you did this?”

“I didn’t have a choice!” Bubby’s grip on him was tighter than iron. “You don’t know what they would’ve done!”

“I wouldn’t betray a friend, even if my life was on the line.” Benrey felt his form start to shift, getting less humanoid and more monstrous in his anger.

“It wasn’t my life!” His arms were shaking now. Benrey stopped.

Oh.

“How-” Benrey tried to say but Bubby cut him off.

“It doesn’t matter how.” Fear and fury leaked into his voice. “But I didn’t. Have. A choice.”

Benrey wanted to argue- he would’ve- but something else stopped him. Stopped them both in fact.

There was a soldier with a hunter’s knife and Gordon was screaming.

Bubby’s grip loosened enough for Benrey to break free, but Bubby didn’t seem to care when he did. Instead, his eyes were paralyzed. “I... They never said they were going to... Bastards.”

Benrey felt his form shift and grow before finally he made his attack.

He was too late to save Gordon’s arm but Benrey wrapped him in his own arms and bolted out of there. He looked back, only once, to watch Bubby burst into flames.

Benrey let his instincts guide him- out of Black Mesa, into the sun, and away from the soldiers. Nothing else around them except for a headcrab but Benrey sent one dirty look to it and it ran.

Gordon was bleeding- a lot. Too much- and missing an arm. Benrey could regrow those but Gordon was too human to do the same.

“G- Gordon?” Benrey said carefully. His breath hitched in his throat when his eyes cracked open, squinting. “Hey uh... You’re- you’re not gonna die, are you?”

Gordon paused for a long moment. Then he laughed to himself. “Benrey... Thanks. For getting- getting me out of there.”

“You- you’re good, right? Thinkpan still working? Got- got a lot more blood than this, right?”

Gordon blinked before nodding slightly. “I... Think so? It’s- it’s really hard to think right now. I think I should sleep... Man I- I really need a first aid kit now, huh?”

He laughed again. He kept doing that but Benrey didn’t get what was so funny. “Gordon?”

“You look- you look beautiful, you know that?” Gordon’s one good hand reached up and cupped his face. Benrey didn’t know how to deal with that, his mind was moving too quickly. “Your hair... You should take off your helmet more.”

“You- you don’t know what you’re sayin’...” Benrey stuttered.

“I mean every word.” Gordon stifled a snicker, eyes looking far away.

Benrey shook himself. He didn’t want to go back into Black Mesa but he needed to patch Gordon up before he passed out. Benrey was afraid of what would happen when he passed out. “Keep- keep on chattin’, okay? Stay with me, Gordon.”

Gordon laughed again but this one was softer. “You- you know, I really like it when you say my name. Sounds good when you- when you say it.”

Not actually flirting with you, he’s just delusional. Benrey told himself, keeping his focus as he carefully entered Black Mesa through a pipe. “That’s- that’s cool, Gordon. Uh, what else do you want to talk about?”

Gordon went silent. Benrey panicked. “G- Gordon? C’mon, stay with me, man.”

“What’ssss... What’s Pink to Gold mean?”

Benrey swallowed. Anything to keep him awake, right? “Pink to Gold... Means you’re a sight to behold.”

“Oh. Ohhhhhhh!” Gordon got a stupidly, cute grin on his face. It would’ve caused even more pink and gold sweet voice had Benrey not been stressing like he was. “Benny... Do you loveee me?”

“...I mean, isn’t it obvious?” Benrey thought it was. He was so very certain that Gordon knew. He finally spotted what he was looking for and sprinted over to it, setting Gordon down against the wall and taking it apart. “Stay still- I’m gonna help you, alright?”

Gordon didn’t resist but he did keep talking. “What’s obvious?”

“...I uh, care about you a lot, Gordon?”

Benrey wondered what Xen would say about him if they saw him now. The Great Benrey, running away from home and falling in love with a completely regular human. Except Gordon wasn’t really ordinary- he was... Everything. Funny, kind at heart, protective- a little stiff at times but he loosens up when he can relax. Not to mention, the guy had a great laugh and an even better face.

A face that had such a kind smile on it right now. Benrey wanted to protect that smile- no matter what. Gordon deserved to get out of here safely.

“I- I care about you too, Benny.”

Benrey swallowed. If it weren’t for the fact that Gordon wasn’t looking so hot right now, he might’ve really liked that nickname. Another time- if Gordon ever called him that again, that is.

“I’m gonna wrap this up, okay?” Benrey gestured to where his right arm used to be.

“Okay.” Gordon was still smiling, eyes half lided. “I trust you.”

Those three words went a long ways for Benrey. He shook his head and got to work. As soon as he was done, Gordon promptly passed out, his head against Benrey’s shoulder.

Gordon needed the rest. They’d figure out what came next later. Benrey would take care of him until then.

——

So. I might’ve gone a bit wild with the plot because I couldn’t stop thinking about how differently thing’s could’ve gone with the events in this AU so yEAH!

Hopefully it was good though! Made sure there was some softer moments as well as the darker one. How well I balanced it is up to y’all I suppose!

Thank you for the request! Hopefully Part Three won’t take as long!!

[thoschei-rights]

Season 12 but The Master kept pretending to be O??

Basically self-indulgent Thoschei with a twist.

lots of typos bc?? i aint got time to go correct stuff yet? I will later?? 

So Spyfall is resolved, The Kasaavin are banished back to their realm and the Fam and Doctor are clueless as to the true mastermind, Barton taking the fall while the Master continues to pose ad O, having decided he’s enjoying the game of tricking her too much.

Perhaps among their texts they’ve grown close, or perhaps the brief time together in the outback led to events?? ;) But either way, he changes his mind mid plan and continues to act human.

Since he never leaves the message or has the confrontation in Paris, the doctor remains unaware of Gallifrey’s destruction. The fam wait off on asking their questions since she isn’t off with them.

Orphan 55 happens, and while the fam go do their shit, O stays with the Doctor bc admit it, she was like oh ;-; when everyone went to explore. My poor baby. So they hang out together before everything goes to shit, how cute?? Things get resolved, but with the revelation of one of earth’s potential fates, and the potential that the doctor lied about knowing, the fam decide to ask to know more about her. She shares what she believes its true at the time, being born on gallifrey and being a timelord, O looms in the background looking awkward bc he knows none of that is true and he feels horrible keeping the truth from her, it makes him as bad as the rest of the time lords- but he is selfish and he doesn’t want to stop what he’s doing, he’s started to really enjoy her company, its everything he’s ever wanted, every star.

And then it’s ruined when Yaz asks to see her own planet. Blissfully unaware of its destruction, she takes them, and so they’re right there with her when she sees, opens the doors to the rubble, the dying flames- and oh god. The fam are horrified, she’s horrified, O has to fake it, while being utterly glad those nasties are dead- maybe he gets to sneakily comfort hug her??? like she’s trying not to tear up even after that whole shit show of the confession dial, it was her home??so yeah he’s like hugging her but he’s so angry bc they dont deserve her tears?? 

The doctor is off after that, and the fam know why, and none of their words of comfort do much, because sure they’ve just witnessed the death of earth too but that is just one timeline, can be completely avoided, while gallifrey is gone forever, and she believes she’s once more the last of her kind. it hurts.

they visit tesla all the same, and when that big ass scorpion looking alien (bc im sorry i didnt like the episode and i’ve forgotten her name so....) mentions dead planets, she can feel the fam stiffen, as though the doctor is gonna blow at any minute, but she keeps calm, tries to bury the rage, but O can tell, can tell by the way her arms shake, hands clenched into fists in her pockets- and it hurts him to see her like this- the longer he spends around her, pretending to be someone he’s not, he’s just realizing more and more what a dumbass he is and that he’s still as in love with her now than he was all those years ago in the academy- none of the truth will change that-

and then boom the shit show with the judoon occurs and suddenly O is confused af because that Lee guy could ONLY have been him. Who else on gallifrey was stupid enough to hide out with the doctor, marry them and die for them?? him because he’s a dumbass? but he’s a dumbass who definitely doesnt remember this memories?? which theoretically in the doctors timeline should have been sometime after the division? or during? he’s not sure? but to his knowledge he shouldn’t have been alive at this stage? and now he’s not sure what the fuck HIS own life is too? did they take his memories from him too? has he lost part of his life? suddenly the truth doesnt seem as known as he thought- so while the doctor is reeling from the information of Ruth being her somehow? O is having his own mental crisis because what the fuck did they do to him too? what is he missing?? 

praxeus continues as similar as it did originally, O is only the tiniest impressed at Yaz, ever since Spyfall he’d sensed she was the human with the most potential to not be utterly worthless so he’s glad at least one of the doctors latest pets seems to have some initiative?? but yeah i dont wanna change much about praxeus? its not important- except the doctor saying she’s a romantic and the master wants that? wait what- he’s conflicted about his own thoughts? he wanted to break her, destroy her with the truth? but he also just wants to wrap her in his arms? make everything as okay as he can? what the fuck is even happening with him? jsut your usual ‘im a mess’ vibes lmao

when can you hear me? rolls around, it happens in a similar way, i dont wanna get to into it because i dont wanna think too much...the episode was weird, it was just weird-- i cant?? although maybe bc that zellin and the lady whose name i forgot...but they were immortal right?? maybe their species is the doctors species?? huh? huh? think about that- but don’t think too hard bc i hate that theory and i’m gonna pretend i never had that thought- lets just ignore can you hear me even though the end made me cry for yaz bc lol relatable sis, relatable. do whatever you want for this bit fam, idc.

Anyyyyyway. the bit I’m waiting for... Villa Diodati ;) O is ready to smack Byron round the face, fingers itching towards the tce everytime he tries to flirt with the doctor. the lone cyberman appears and wopdie doo earth is going to be destroyed and the doctor is about to do something stupid, thinking there is no other way? the master is like um lol change of plans i dont want the cybermen to win, look how in pain my baby theta is?? i gotta help?? oof? and idk, his patience is like nope all gone? and he whips out his TCE on the lone cyberman and boom. crisis averted? except now the doctor is looking at him in horror and shock and- she realizes who he is then and there, and normally he’d made a big drama out of his, throw in some words, a speech about how easy it was to deceive her, how he destroyed gallifrey- about how he was under her nose this whole time- but he doesn’t, instead he meets her gaze and can barely manage to whisper an “im sorry” and wow shit i wasn’t gonna write that version, i was gonna have feral confrontation but now im stanning a sad master who just needs a hug and some therapy because nothing makes sense, he thought he had everything figured out but he doesnt and he just wANTS HIS FRIEND BACK uiferkghlujkfaghjfkgladhfajkg; i m fine 

i dont know what i wanna do after this point? it could go a lot of different ways?? but thoschei rights bitches. could go angst confrontation and then she abandons him in whatever century that was set bc wow i studied frankenstein in school but i couldnt tell you what century the author is from bc im dumb? 18th? maybe idk that seems likely? or 19th? but anyway yeah or maybe she’s just relieved someone else is alive? or is she shouting for answers or?? i dunno.... but woop ??? 

wow this turned into a big mess but hopefully you can kinda see where i wanna head with things? after this he’d probably show her the truth? i dunno how that’d go down, but he’d be there with her?? But anyway, this idea is free for anyone to write, but holla us a link and I'll give yall a free promo at the end of this post!!

Versions of this that yall Lovelies have blessed us with:

[mltimse-a]

Me remembering ideas for characters I haven’t used yet, they’re under the cut because hella long. If you actually take the time to read theseand give input on which one you’d like to see, I’ll cry??

Archeron. Sea Serpent. He's a sea serpent that has a human form and loves to come annoy humans. He has this gruff way about him and could very well be considered a pretty boy. He can manipulate water while in his human form and if he gets wet while he’s in his human form, scales tend to appear in the spots where water touched. He has no goal really, other than annoy everyone in any which way possible.

Ivy. Poison Ivy plant somehow made human by a burst of magic. Still has the same affect as a human as they did as a plant, likes to be a little touchy just to cause mayhem. Doesn't understand how humans should act so tends to talk way too much and is kind of an ass ngl.

Tobias. Cursed Human. The curse on him to never be able to leave the old home of a witch that he trespassed on many years ago and cursed to never die, or rather, truly die, he can die but he just comes right back, so as the home rots around him, he’s stuck there, feeling hungry and lonely but never being able to die. The house is very haunted but he’s made friends with the spirits, well the good ones, the bad ones love to see him suffer. The home is a hot spot for occult lovers but the minute he appears and tells his story, they never believe him and leave him there. He has no idea how the curse can be lifted but he wants out.

Rivers, magician, A magician who grows tired of the worlds antics, of all the constant fighting and then peace for a tiny bit and then more fighting, is trying to figure out how to make world peace exist. A total pacifist. Specializes in defensive magic, especially light magic.

Yasmin, human, a bubbly little kleptomaniac who gets close with you only to steal all your stuff and then drop your friendship. She’s a runaway and does this to get money to live off of but also because she loves the thrill of stealing from someone that trusts her. She’ll steal everything from her friends, even their s/o. She just lives for stealing.

Ryan, human, owns a bar & smokes way too many cigarettes, gives good relationship advice to say he's never been in one, will honestly flirt with anyone if they're into it.

Gou, human but swears she's a magical girl, throws herself head first into dangerous situations to try and 'save the day' usually ends up in trouble because of it.

Brayleigh, magical being, can tell if a person is good or bad by looking in at their soul, bright souls are pure, shadowy souls are corrupted and horrible, murders the bad & takes the years they had left of their life and adds it to her own

Nym, Elf, monster hunter for hire, became one as a teen after his village was slaughtered by a gang of different monsters, his hunts sometimes lead him to the human realm.

Benjamin or Ben, cursed human, cursed to turn into a cat instantly after being kissed but turns back after 24 hours....But then turns back randomly when his emotions get out of control.

Atsuyoshi, spirit of good luck, being the spirit of good luck comes with a price, he has nothing but bad luck because he’s constantly blessing others with good luck. 

Hiei, tengu, pretends to be human with the help of his magical necklace, disowned by family and wanders around looking for his own way and his own people to be apart of.

Ayer, a demon that got kicked out of hell for falling in love with a soul he was meant to torture forever but instead did the whole fall in love and force reincarnated their soul despite them being a bad person so basically he unleashed evil back into the world

Kibiyo, an alien who has found peace on earth but works at some lousy bar. They are a server and the entertainment(singer) at the bar. They left their war torn planet because they were different for not wanting to just fall face first into a fight despite being born with the instincts and drive to fight, they just focused their mind on other things and wanted people to notice them and give them attention rather than fight in a war that might never end.

Wish. They're the 'wish granter', they're a monster that feeds on peoples souls while granting their wishes, sure you get the things you want but there's always a catch, always a bad bad side to the wishes and then you're losing your soul to the monster that has been fooling you from the very start. They're a sneaky little thing that has been around far longer than they look and well, they have no plans of going anywhere anytime soon.

Jacob. your neighborhood asshole. He likes to go and cause fights and used to be part of a street gang but got kicked out when he just about killed the leader of said gang, now he has to deal with that gangs lackeys coming at him and thinking they can kick his ass when he literally can take any of them. He isn't cocky, he isn't rude(usually), he just likes throwing his fists and likes causing pain and feeling the pain of someone fighting him.

Kii. They're a straight up killer for hire. They enjoy it so its a plus. So many people see their innocent and young looking face when they're hiring them and think that maybe they were blackmailed into their profession and this little shit right here just grins wide before giggling and saying 'oh no i chose this, it's kinda fun havin' that power of who lives and dies.' they just, really don't give a shit and just like to find creative ways to take down their targets.

[jaskiers-sweetkiss]

Worth It

Pairings: Dousy, background Pepperony, FitzSimmons, Philinda, Mackelana, and Huntingbird  

Word Count: 2.8K

Warnings: mentions of violence, mentions of gun use, mentions of ptsd, light swearing

a/n: Here’s my soulmate au for day 6 of @aosficnet2 ‘s AoS AU August! It’s got Modern Man!Daniel Sousa based on Enver’s appearance as a police officer in The Avengers. 

___

Daisy “Quake” Johnson - Inhuman, hacker, Agent of SHIELD, and now she could add “Avenger” to her list of descriptors. The agent hadn’t been entirely surprised when she’d received an impromptu meeting with Director Nick Fury about her powers. At the time he had told her he was putting together a team, a group of people with super-human abilities that would work together to defend the world if the threat arose. She had signed on, she was already a SHIELD agent and she’d had plenty of training with her ability from her mom growing up at Afterlife, but she never met the team. Well, until about 24 hours ago. They were a bit of a nightmare (a complete shitshow if she was being blunt), none of them had worked together before so it was no surprise that they were butting heads. Daisy got along just fine with Natasha Romanoff aka the Black Widow as the two of them had crossed paths from time to time within SHIELD, but she couldn’t say the same for scientist Bruce Banner (the Hulk), billionaire Tony Stark (Iron Man), or the first-ever superhero Steve Rogers (Captain America). Of course, now they were also dealing with a Norse god of thunder who was supposedly good and his brother who was apparently bad. Thor, Stark, and Rogers: three massive egos in one aircraft. 

Judging by the footage they were streaming from the museum Loki was more than just bad. Daisy had always been wary of powers, her mom had taught her that. Power was extremely dangerous when put in the wrong hands, that’s why Afterlife was so selective in choosing who got to go through terrigenesis. Loki was clearly the wrong hands and even though she really hated the men she was surrounded with, if they were the world’s only hope then she’d put up with them. 

“So you expect me to believe there is life on other planets?” 

Daisy sighed, trying not to get too frustrated. The man had been in the ice for seventy years, he missed a lot and probably had no reason to expect that “aliens” existed. Of course, she had known the truth since she was a child: not only was it highly probable that life existed elsewhere in the galaxy, but she was part-alien herself. Of course, no one else knew that. Inhumans were a secret from the rest of the world and it would need to stay that way. 

“Oh, I’m sorry Seismic Activity, did you know that already?” Stark asked sarcastically, raising a brow at her and she rolled her eyes. 

“It’s Quake, actually, and yeah, I knew that, statistically, it was highly probable that alien life exists,” she bit back, glaring at the man, “Just about everyone in this century knows that.” 

“Agent Johnson if you have some sort of issue with when I was born then you should just come out and say it,” Cap said, a frown on his face as he sat up in his chair. 

“Look, I couldn’t give two shits whether you were born yesterday or a thousand years ago, I just don’t think we really have time to be debating extraterrestrial life right now,” Daisy said, fighting the urge to roll her eyes again as she gestured to the holoscreen displaying Loki’s cell.  

“She’s right, gear up.” Director Fury said. Daisy wasn’t sure when he had entered but she was glad he was taking her side. “We’re under attack.” 

Daisy nodded, rushing out of the room to find her gauntlets and her weapons. It wasn’t a great idea to quake on a giant helicarrier so she’d probably be fighting old school. 

“Woah, what the hell is that Johnson?” Natasha Romanoff was sneakier than Fury and Daisy hadn’t even known she was in the room until her wrist was tightly in the woman’s grasp. 

She sighed, tugging her arm out of the redhead’s grip and slipping on her gauntlet to cover the writing. The marks weren’t uncommon, most of the world had them. They developed at age 16 and were usually the first words your soulmate said to you. However, not everyone got one or soulmates died and SHIELD specialized in utilizing the soulmark-less. That’s not to say there weren’t agents with soul marks in the organization, for ordinary agents SHIELD held a mostly don’t ask, don’t tell policy. Typically the only way to get into high-risk assignments like the Avengers was to prove the lack of a soulmate, but of course, the Avengers were less than typical. 

“They make exceptions for people with powers.” She brushed it off, slipping on her other gauntlet. 

“That doesn’t change the fact that you’re connected to someone,” Natasha argued and Daisy huffed, turning away. 

“Stark’s got a mark, and he’s actually met his soulmate. If something happens to me mine’ll never know what they missed.” 

Daisy quickly slid her various knives and guns into place in their holsters before leaving, effectively putting an end to one of the worst conversations she’d had in a while. She didn’t need the Black Widow to guilt-trip her, she had herself for that. She’d heard the stories about the pain people felt when their soulmate died and it often kept her up at night, but right now she had a job to do and she’d be damned if she sacrificed the world for one person she hadn’t even met. 

Of course, her dedication to the cause hadn’t mattered much, she still wound up on the floor of the helicarrier with Phil Coulson bleeding out. She didn’t know the man super well, but he was usually the agent present whenever an 0-8-4 was discovered and since Daisy was something of an 0-8-4 herself, they crossed paths pretty frequently. She knew he was an upstanding and kind man, she knew he was a good agent, and she knew he didn’t deserve to die like this. 

It wasn’t long until Fury came and swept him away and Hill ushered her back into the briefing room where some of the others were gathered. They all looked worse for wear and apparently they were about ready to give up. The Hulk was gone, Loki had jettisoned Thor from the airship, and he has the tesseract and would likely be taking over earth shortly. Daisy couldn’t believe it. 

“I just watched several good agents die, and you want to throw in the towel? Do you have any respect for yourselves?” She questioned, glaring at Rogers and Stark. 

She stormed out when she was met with silence, passing Fury in the hallway. She wanted desperately to change out of her skintight Quake suit and get cleaned up, but she wasn’t ready to give up the fight yet, opting instead to unzip the top half, tying the sleeves around her waist. She wandered around the ship like that, her sports bra the only thing covering her torso, before finding herself on the top deck, leaning over a railing. 

“Have you met them yet?” 

Daisy turned to see Rogers gesturing to her wrist where the words “Who the hell are you?” were written in a neat script. 

“Nah,” she shook her head, barely concealing her disappointment with a smile. 

“You’ll find them eventually, or they’ll find you.” He gave her a tight-lipped smile.

“Thanks for not berating me for risking my life while my soulmate is out there somewhere.” 

“Hey, I hid my makr to join a highly experimental drug trial and enlist in World War Two so I don’t have much room for judgment.” He joked and Daisy laughed, feeling a little better.

___

Daniel Sousa had been sure this would be another day at the station as he slipped his uniform over his shoulders, covering the soulmark on the back of his shoulder. Soulmarks appeared when a person turned 16, appearing at the place where their soulmate would first come in contact with them. The combination of the location of his mark and the words (“Probably your only chance at survival now let me go”) had always been a mystery to him though he hoped he would solve it soon. 

He took the subway to the station, just like he did every morning. Daniel was a police officer for the 99th precinct in NYC which was about a fifteen-minute subway ride away from his apartment. Despite its obvious flaws (thanks MTA), he liked taking the subway - it was more environmentally friendly than driving himself, it was much faster than trying to make it through New York traffic or walk (though sometimes he did walk when it was nice and his leg wasn’t bugging him as much), and the crowds increased the probability that he’d come across his soulmate. 

She wasn’t on the subway today again and so Daniel resigned himself to daydreams of how they might meet. He hoped it would be romantic, that she’d bump into him accidentally (it was the best way he could explain the back of his shoulder), maybe he’d catch her as she tripped over him and they’d lock eyes and she’d take his breath away. He pushed away the fears that she would be freaked out by his prosthetic or the fact that her words on his shoulder didn’t fit that scenario at all. He wanted their meeting to be perfect for her. 

He was ripped away from his thoughts by his partner, Jack Thompson, telling him they had to go check out a call downtown. There weren’t any detectives involved so it likely wasn’t anything serious- probably a noise complaint or something equally mundane.

Daniel had been right, the call was a typical noise complaint, easily solved and probably ignored as soon as they left the building (Jack bet they’d be back in 24 hours, Daniel gave it 32). However, he never could’ve guessed that when they went to climb back into the squad car a portal would open up in the sky and a bunch of space creatures would attack earth. Thompson grabbed the radio to inform the station of the situation. It took a few minutes of convincing (he didn’t blame them, he only believed it because he was seeing it) and a few more to figure out what to do (there really isn’t an official protocol for Hostile Alien Invasion) before they were told to stay put and that backup was on the way. 

Daniel reached for his gun, steeling himself for the fight he was sure he was about to be involved in. An alien invasion would be a really bad time for his crippling ptsd. Still, he was sure his hand would shake if he had to actually lift his gun, his finger would hesitate on the trigger, he’d have to fight to keep his eyes open because if he closed them all he’d see was Afghanistan. 

“Sousa you with me?” Thompson asked, snapping him from his thoughts. 

He nodded, letting out a shaky breath, when had he stopped breathing? 

Thompson nodded, more to himself than to Daniel, “Good, cause we’re going to get through this.” 

___

If she had been really thinking at all, she might’ve wondered if she was having an out-of-body experience as she moved through the streets of Manhattan with the purpose of a woman on a mission. The Avengers were scattered across the borough trying to fight the Chitauri with mixed success. It seemed like no matter how many they blasted, quaked, shot, or struck with lightning more kept coming through the portal. Daisy was taking out as many of the aliens as she could while trying to command the local police forces- badges or not, they were purely human and severely underprepared to fight this threat. Their services were more equipped to evacuate and protect the civilians. 

She hadn’t been paying attention when she knocked into someone’s shoulder. It was a police officer, she noticed, though where most of the officers she’d seen seemed ready to take on the Chitauri head-on, he looked terrified. 

“Who the hell are you?” The man questioned, quickly grabbing her wrist before she could run off. 

“Probably your only chance at survival now let me go.” Daisy bit back angrily and the man gasped, dropping her arm and backing away like she had burned him. 

“You’re- we’re-” The man stuttered and even though he could’ve been about to say anything (maybe “you’re Quake!” or “We’re gonna die!”) Daisy knew exactly what he meant. She knew from the burning sensation on the wrist he had been holding. He was her soulmate. 

“Oh my god, I don’t have time for this!” Daisy yelled angrily, quaking the alien that had appeared behind the man. 

She silently cursed fate or destiny or whatever was behind this for planning her soulmate meeting during a literal alien invasion. 

“Listen, I need you to leave the frontlines- spread the word: all officers are to evacuate as many civilians as possible. Focus on protecting them.” She ordered making an effort to put the world-altering event before the life-altering event she had accidentally just stumbled upon. 

“Who’s going to be there to fight?” 

Daisy quaked another approaching Chitauri soldier. “Leave that to the people with powers.” 

The officer nodded mutely, seemingly stunned into silence. 

“Sousa!” Another officer called out, “Quit chatting we have a job to do!” 

The dark-haired officer, her soulmate, nodded to the man and started to move away. 

“Officer Sousa!” Daisy called, taking steps backward herself, “Maybe we can get some coffee when this is all done?” 

“Sure but how’ll I find you?” He asked, turning back to stare at her hopefully. 

Daisy’s steps were picking up speed, the urgency of the day not lost on her. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll find you!” 

And with that she was off, turning on her heels and sprinting towards Stark Tower. 

___

Daisy stared at the computer monitor in front of her. It had been a few days since the Chitauri attack and while New York and her mental state was still a disaster, she needed to do this. The file she had found in SHIELD’s database was a welcome distraction, as was the handsome face staring back at her from the screen. 

Daniel Jordan Sousa. Born 1984 in Twin Falls, Idaho. Served one tour in Afghanistan before being discharged due to an injury resulting in the amputation of his left leg. 

She scrolled down to the contact information. 

Cellphone: (xxx)xxx-xxxx 

Bingo. 

Daisy: Hi, it’s Daisy Johnson, your soulmate? I was wondering if we could get that coffee?

She was surprised by how quickly he responded. 

Daniel: I’d love to! 

Daniel: btw how did you get my number? 

Daisy: It’s a bit of a story, mind if I tell you over that coffee?

Daniel: does 1:00 work? Maybe we could grab a bite to eat while we’re at it?

Daisy smiled before checking the time, 11 o’clock. She had two hours to get ready. 

Daisy: 1:00 sounds great. I know a cute place off 12th ave 

___

Daniel had no intention of pulling his soulmate from the field, he knew it was where she wanted to be and he’d never dream of taking it from her. However, he’d be damned if he wasn’t out there to watch her back. So, he joined SHIELD not long after they met. Despite his prosthetic, he climbed the ranks relatively quickly though Daisy wasn’t surprised. She had seen his record both in the military and the police force, Daniel Sousa was a damn fine agent. 

The two weren’t in any hurry relationship-wise. They had moved in together fairly quickly but even two years later they had yet to get engaged. It was a bit of an anomaly - soulmates were usually hitched within a year of meeting each other but Daisy didn’t really hold much stock in a piece of paper declaring their relationship valid and Daniel decided he really didn’t need that paper either as long as he still had Daisy. Besides, with their separate jobs at SHIELD, they didn’t really have much time to plan engagements or weddings. 

In 2014 the pair were recruited to an elite team by Phil Coulson, the man Daisy could’ve sworn had died in her arms, the man the Avengers were told had died. She had shaken her head at Fury when she found out. “You manipulative son of a bitch,” she had said though she had meant it fondly. Who knows what would’ve happened when the Chitauri invaded if he hadn’t done what he had. 

Daisy and Daniel joined scientist duo and soulmates Jemma Simmons and Leopold Fitz as well as Coulson’s soulmate Melinda May on the Bus, a giant plane Fury had given Coulson as reparations for his death. The team had its bumps in its initial missions but they quickly became a tightly knit family that only grew when Coulson took over as Director of SHIELD after the Hydra takeover. 

When Daniel finally proposed Jemma had been her maid of honor and Bobbi and Elena had been her bridesmaids. Likewise, Fitz had been Daniel’s best man and Mack and Hunter had filled out the rest of the groomsmen roles. It had been a small but beautiful wedding, Daisy’s mom had allowed them to have the ceremony at Afterlife and Coulson and May had been their officiants. 

Daisy had cursed fate when they met, but looking back she realized it was all worth it for this. 

___

a/n: I had no idea how to end this. Also, I have no clue where the 99th precinct operates in NYC (if it even exists) I just wanted to make a Brooklyn 99 reference. Though I’m realizing belatedly that B99 takes place in Brooklyn and probably doesn’t operate in manhattan but oh well.  

[tlblah]

So let’s track Reginald Hargreeves life bc I need some clarification

We start in the middle I guess.

- he is with his wife in her deathbed, she tells him to go (there are rocket ships leaving the planet)

- she then proceeds to die, and Reggie goes to the window and releases lights from a jar (I wanna know if this is what creates the children but I’m not sure

- We then find out she asked him to take her violin with him and give it to someone who will appreciate it

That’s all we know about him on his home planet.

- Next, he travels to earth. We don’t know if it’s both space and time travel, or maybe the speed of light caused time to travel backward when he traveled to earth? He seemed to land in the 1800s (??)

- He states his name as Reginald Hargreeves and stumbles across an Umbrella Factory I.e the future name (and location) for the Umbrella Academy

We fast forward in time, with an immortal (?) Reggie (though it could be that he ages as an alien but his human suit never does. He could also maybe not age or age super slowly when compared to humans) also what made him such an asshole like damn.

Ok now we’re in the 1960s

- he is that secret 12 illuminati type group. His main interest is the Dark Side of the Moon.

- so i don’t know if he knows human history or not bc if he knew about human history he would have known how to send a human into space but instead he had to call up Grace, who seemed to specialize in primates. Though he does have a serum that gave Pogo a more advanced brain/body?

- question: so he knew about the moon in 2019 but what did he know?? Did he know Vanya was going to be the bomb? Or did he just know that the moon was going to explode and destroy earth bc no aliens would have known Vanya was going to blow up the moon. Which makes more sense, now that I think about it. He knows earth events from an aliens perspective. So something from the timeline after the destruction of earth fucks up his planet. Also when is the commission?? I know they have all the time they want but are they really in a bubble in the space time or are they so far in the future that time has become something that they can control?

Moving on from that brain spiral

- obviously in the original timeline, everything goes as planned

- Grace dies between the 1960s and 1989 bc the children only know her as a robot

- Pogo keeps learning and growing as well

- Reggie is a millionaire and continues to be one the 12 (I’m not sure about this bc the timeline has fucked up we don’t know if he as meant to kill the other 11 or if that happened bc the kids fucked up this new universe. I hate parallel and alternate universes bc you can never fix it or go back bc it’s now it’s own separate strand of a universe)

Zoom past into 1989

- 43 kids are born to mothers who were not pregnant the morning of October 1st. Reggie goes on a shopping spree but it’s not succeeds in getting 7 of them.

- he raise them as trainees with the help of Robot Grace and Pogo

- he numbers them ranking from lowest in power Number 1 to Number 7 before having to mute Number 7 because he could not control her or her power like he could the rest of the children

- he ostracized Vanya, unwittingly causing her to become the bomb at the future date (oh fuck what if Vanya wasn’t the original reason why the moon crashed into earth?? Time travel is so confusing.)

- anyways he raise his children and fucks up perfectly good children.

- Number 5 thinks he knows his powers, and Reggie tells him no, unwittingly pushing Five to over use his powers and get stuck in the future after the apocalypse. Five is now lost in the time line

- Ben dies during a mission, breaking up the team and turns the children against Reggie even more when he blames them for Bens death. They are 17 here

- once they can they move away from their abusive dad leaving Reggie with only Number 1, who follows his dad to tee to shuck off the abuse he felt. Which is even more sad when Reggie sees that coping mechanism as a failure.

- Luther goes on a mission alone, gets injured and Reggie has to inject him with the same stuff he injected Pogo (is that the only thing he knows? Is it from his alien culture??)

- Once Reggie can tell Luther isn’t reacting well to the unwanted body modification, he sends Luther to the moon to both give him a purpose and to not have to deal with having to help Luther work through his pain (like fuck Reggie)

This is where stuff gets hazy. The children lead their own lives and Reggie is alone with Pogo and Robot Grace again for 4 years (the length of time Luther is on the moon)

- 10 days from the apocalypse Reggie kills himself to get the children to all come back home and help avoid the apocalypse (the kids are 30)

- He doesn’t know about Number 5 tho, who is able to jump back just in time, before the apocalypse begins

And that’s where The Umbrella Academy begins

So what are the questions we have about Reggie?

1. Did Reggie create the 43 kids somehow? Was it in the alien news and he just knew when they’d be born? What did he do that could have caused them. Basically what is the origin of the children.

2. What is reggies knowledge of human events. He honestly seemed surprised that they killed JFK so he didn’t know about The JFK assassination. And yet he knew about the apocalypse so maybe he just new human events that affected the galaxy? Or is it that he is from earth but after humanity has been destroyed and aliens took over? The possibilities

3. What happened to Grace? She obviously stayed with him in the past and died before the kids were born, but what happened? And did Reggie really care for her or just her brain? He didn’t seem to care all that much from Robot Grace since he didn’t even give her a room. Was Reggie even able to love anyone after his wife died or is it because he’s an alien that humans seem like puny mortals to him.

4. What made him leave his planet? Is he a scientist looking for something? Is he trying to also fix a timeline? What is the reason he came to earth and why did he feel the need to create the Umbrella Academy?

5. Why the fuck is Reggie such an asshole. Not a real question because he’s just the most asshole person of an alien, but what the fuck.

***** Edit/Note******

The commission never fucking stopped him. The commission must have known about Reggie but they didn’t do anything. Obviously they knew about the real apocalypse since they tried to keep 5 from changing the future and yet Reginald when back in time and live through a freaking century and the Commission didn’t do anything. Obviously he fucked up this timeline yet with just his presence but what the hell, Commission. I mean we hate you guys but what do you know that we don’t. Like is Reggie part of the commission? Are they using him to get what they want? What exactly does Reginald know why do fuck are storylines and timelines so hard when time travel is involved. Bc just this here has hundreds of possible timelines that you can just narrow it down and you only get more questions. Ie

Is there a timeline that the apocalypse happened and Reginald wasn’t involved

Then a timeline where reginal goes back and creates the umbrella academy

Another timeline with other children

A timeline where 5 never got lost

A timeline where 6 never died

Two different timelines where one happened and not the other and vice versa

A timeline that I’ll never believe of Reginald being a decent person

A timeline in The Day That Never Was, where Vanya found out on her own and Allison never got her neck slit.

A timeline where the siblings actually helped Vanya

The new timeline of the Hargreaves in the 1960s

A brand new timeline of the world after the Hargreeves interfered then left then came back in 2019, which is where we are now, with a new Sparrow Academy, a not dead Reginald and a not dead Ben. Also shit, Grace never stayed with Reginald so those children may not have had a decent mother figures they might even be more fucked up than the original 7 (or 6 bc Ben is sweetheart with sass)

[cant-blink]

It’s Not Over Yet

Summary: Something I whipped up really quick. Godzilla wasn't supposed to be alive. Ghidorah saw him die, so how is he still alive? How is he able to take the form of fire? And how will they survive when Ichi refuses to yield?

-

This was never supposed to happen.

The former king, the false king was supposed dead, and yet here he was, standing over him in a terrifying new form. It's been so long since Ichi felt fear for his own life, not since he was a child on his first planet. He was able to escape to live another day back then, a luxury he felt he no longer had here.

So this was how it was all going to end. Almost half-a-billion years of life, smothered out in this moment. So many trials he's overcome in his life, hardships of his childhood now flashing in his mind. So many lives he's taken, toyed with, the idea of his own mortality never crossing his mind. A Ghidorah is meant to be an immortal being, and to be slain as a full-grown adult was unthinkable.

Yet it was happening.

His brothers were gone, but their neurons remained. He can feel them still, the fear from San was intense and palpable, fueling his own. He is meant to be the alpha brother, to let his own fears not be known to his siblings, yet he knew they could feel it.

Ni's neurons were silent, as it always had been. Ichi wondered if he too was scared.

Self-preservation would tell him to yield, to surrender and plea for his life, his brothers' lives. He felt the neurons of his youngest begging not to die, to be spared, but San had no voice to make his pleas known. He wanted Ichi to give up but the eldest felt their chest tighten at the idea, his throat refusing to speak such words. His pride was always his strongest asset, his biggest weakness, and he refused to back down even as he felt the intense heat and heavy weight upon his chest. His defiance remained strong as he felt their ribcage begin to give way.

His own neurons managed to whisper what should be his final goodbye to his brothers, his apologies for failing to protect them.

Should be.

For the fates had other plans, and that plan took a familiar shape, a familiar sound as a piercing shriek cut through the air. The weight was removed from Ghidorah's chest as a red firey form slammed itself into Godzilla, the glow of its wings just as intense and angry as the radioactive titan’s.

Rodan was used to the heat, he was born of the heat, and his former king's new form did little to frighten him. His body was still pained and stiff from the toxic blow from the fallen Queen, but he still pushed himself to defend his new king, his mate.

Having succeeded in pushing Godzilla away, Rodan stood his ground between the two rivals, wings flared and toothed beak agape in a threat. Godzilla had one hell of a temper, and he would not take kindly to this interruption, but the pterosaur didn't care. He was not willing to stand back and watch his mate be killed. If he had to fall to save them, then so be it.

At the very least, it would serve as a distraction.

Without a word, Ichi pulled his mangled wings painfully against his body as he pushed himself back onto his feet. Retreat was not something he was proud of, but it was certainly better than yielding. Or dying.

All three of their hearts racing, Ghidorah ran as fast as their injured wings and legs could carry them. Even on the ground, he stood a fair chance of outpacing the fat lizard, but in this state, the fear of being caught was very real indeed. He could hear the roar of rage from his rival, and a responding one from the fire pest. He could hear the impact of bodies behind him, he could hear the sound of a charging attack and-

He saw the light before he felt it. A blinding light that engulfed him.

He felt the agonizing wave of heat over his back, and he instinctively curled his head under his body, mangled wings circling around him. But even with this pain, he noticed that it wasn't as bad as it was supposed to be. He dared to look back and saw the their slave has spread his wings to take the brunt of the blow, his rock armor now glowing red as if new from the volcano.

Rodan would survive, and it surprised Ichi why he would bother to think that. Not like he cared about the bird, who served only as their loyal slave to the bitter end.

That seemed to be the last pulse his rival was able to give, for his terrifying new form was gone, his dark grey scales back to normal. Even with that, Ghidorah was not keen to stick around and Ichi pulled himself from his defensive ball and pushed himself forward.

He could hear yelling behind him, didn't care enough to try and understand it. He had to get away, as far away as he can, recover his strength enough to return to the nearest volcano, and use its energy to regenerate his wings and brothers.

Is it over? he heard San ask in their neurons.

"Yes," he whispers in response, echoing the word through his neurons so the youngest can hear him. "It is over..."

They kept going, even when the noise behind them faded, they kept going. The pain was only getting worse as their adrenaline ran itself dry. Their legs felt pulpy and shook beneath their weight with each step. Their wings shot out webs of agony through their shoulders and chest with each movement. Even their tails had not the strength to keep themselves from dragging on the ground.

Their energy was draining fast and there was no sun to help them, their own storm having yet to subside.

At last, Ghidorah could take no more steps and they fell still before collapsing onto the unforgiving ground. Breathe, that's all Ichi could think to do. Draw breath as much as he can, for although they did not require breath to live, it helped in taking what little energy there was in this planet's atmosphere. Ichi's lung was alone in this task, and he wondered if it would be enough to keep them conscious.

It wasn't.

Ghidorah did not know how long they were out for, only that it was the hot gust of wind that woke them from it. It was terrifying, Ichi's head snapping up with wide eyes, fearful that the former king has returned to finish the job. Already, a Gravity Beam was building from his chest into his throat. It would be very weak, but it had all their remaining strength put into it. Meant as a final act of defiance.

But there was no sign of Godzilla, no vibrations from the earth to signal his heavy footsteps. Instead a shadow falls over them, and another hot gust of wind came upon their scales as a winged form landed by them.

It was the fire pest. He survived after all.

Ichi swallowed back the Gravity Beam, and growled a warning at Rodan's approach. He never felt so vulnerable, where even a slave could threaten them, and his eyes gave a brief flash. The telepathic wave of fear emanated from their broken body, and Rodan hesitates for a moment. Just for a moment.

The damn bird always was stupidly suicidal and now was no exception as he continued approaching them. Ichi growls louder, urging a wing to move so as to push themselves up, but no such movement happened. He felt his own scales flinch tenderly as their slave gently settled beside their left side, a wing moving to drape over them in a blanket. He used to always do this, something Ichi used to enjoy. The heat, the volcanic energy always coming from the bir-

Of course.

Ichi felt himself relax, his growls falling silent. The bird's natural energy was helping to mend their smaller wounds, and he felt the impulse to bite down onto their slave, -his armor was still quite soft-, and drain every ounce of life he had, regain that energy faster so as be at peak strength once more. But he knew better. The fire pest always was more useful to them alive than dead.

There was silence between them and Ichi felt nibbles on the scales of his neck. He does nothing to push the bird away, only hissing when Rodan got too close to the burn wound left from the pulse that took his brothers' heads. Rodan paused and then just rested his beak on what remained of San's neck. He felt the twitch there too, but San's neck made no move to push him away.

Finally, after a long moment, Ichi heard Rodan whisper.

"I told him you've yielded," he starts. He feels Ghidorah's body tense up and heard the soft growl from Ichi's throat. But he was not swayed. "It's the only way to keep you alive. I really don't give a shit if you agree with it or not."

"It is-" His voice was soft, too soft for his liking, but at least it still held the level of menace he needed to get the message across. "It is not your place to speak for us."

"Then you can tell him yourself, when you stop dying on the ground," Rodan retaliated. "Honestly, this is the thanks I get for putting my ass on the line for you."

"That was your choice," Ichi stated, lifting his head off the ground to glare down at the bird. Weak as he is, he was still imposing towards the smaller titan. "I do not recall commanding you to get between us. Only to deal with the insect."

"And you just expected me to let you die like that?" Rodan was still not backing down, always so argumentative. "I already lost one mate, like hell I'm losing you too."

Ichi had no real response to that. He knew the fire pest had some odd bond with them, a bond he readily took advantage of to command their slave that much easier. He didn't really care to fully understand it in the past, to understand this dedication to mates that the bird exhibited. Among Ghidorah, there were no pair bonds between mates and the idea was an alien one to them. The only real attachment they had was between the heads, a brotherly love.

Yet here was this creature, completely unrelated and just as much an alien to them as they were to this world, ready to give up everything for this mate bond.

Ichi didn't know if he ever wanted to fully understand it. But at least for the moment, he was grateful that it existed, that it allowed them to live just another day. It's not often he felt grateful to a lesser life-form, and his voice became a whisper as he fights through his pride to say-

"Thank you" to a slave.

Rodan blinked, having never heard such words from Ghidorah before. He taught San to say thanks, but the left head never actually said it with any meaning behind it. Here though, he knew there was truth behind it and he felt his heart lift to be given such an honor. He gives a soft smile.

"You're welcome."

Ichi doesn't look at him, giving a huff as he rested his head back onto the ground, feeling the bird shift to now rest his beak upon Ichi's neck. No twitching this time; already the pain was getting more manageable thanks to their Rodan-shaped first-aid kit. He lets out a breath through his nose and closed his eyes once more. With the warm wing over them and watchful eyes keeping a look-out, he didn't feel so vulnerable anymore and rest was what they needed to get back on the right track.

Soon, they would be strong again and that FALSE king will perish. And this time, they'll make sure he stays dead.

[taiblogcomics]

Trigon’s Incredibly Necessary Origin

Hey there, teacher, leave them kids alone. Well, I'm expecting my order, but not in time to read a new issue for the review. I don't like being late, so I guess it's more New 52 for us. However, I did promise something a little different. And after the cover, I'll tell you all about it~

And here is that cover:

I honestly don't have much to say about Trigon and his jazz hands, so let's skip the cover analysis and talk about the other thing. So, the first anniversary of the New 52, they had Zero Month, and published a bunch of #0s to explain backstory and set up the new universe. And believe it or not, we're at the second anniversary now (Teen Titans will not last long enough to see the third). So, as a promotion for the then-current event Forever Evil, they had Villains Month. All the villains took over and had decimal point issue numbers, which is the truly villainous act here.

So we open on a distant planet, with some philosophical narration about the nature of evil. Essentially, it's about that evil is not just something that you choose, but a real tangible force. To demonstrate this, a group of floaty aliens observing another race. They're confused that evil has suddenly started to propogate after they wiped it out in this species. One of them spots some outsiders, and they lay the blame on these creatures. Sounds a bit xenophobic, but here we are. They teleport the invaders to their side. Two of them appear to be orcs, and the third is a red-skinned man with six eyes. Hmm...

Anyway, they then introduce their god, the Heart of Darkness, and I don't mean Joseph Conrad's novel. No, it's literally a giant black heart that flies through space. They eradicate evil by literally feeding those that perpetuate it to this giant heart. I admit, I'm a little intrigued by your doctrine. Do you have any literature I can look over? The heart reaches out with its tentacles (ventricles?) and absorbs the two orcs, disintegrating them in flame. But when it touches the third fellow, he merely chuckles to himself and begins flexing. It's not so much feeding on his soul as he is feeding on it. All the cruelty, all the evil, all the empty milk cartons put back into the fridge... The red man absorbs all of it, naming himsel anew as Trigon.

Trigon flays the Heart's worshippers, turning the skins into the white loincloth he wears. Boy, when they say fashion is painful, they weren't kidding. Full of evil power, he tries to leave this universe. A divine barrier repels him. Even with his newfound power, he can't get through. But a door swings both ways, and he's able to call something through from the other universe: a woman. He impregnates her then and there (thankfully in silhouette) and returns her to her universe. And somehow, this allows her to give birth to him. He's literally his own father. Oh god, this is some Avengers #200 shit.

And so it goes. Trigon grows up in the new universe, conquering planets, then galaxies, then everything. He impregnates a wife to rebirth him, and a dozen more to make heirs. And the whole process repeats. Most of his brides don't survive, either through the agony of the birth or taking their own lives to prevent the child. Sorry this is all so grim, but I guess we are exploring the backstory of a literal demon. Anyway, only three of his offspring ever survive. These are probably his sons we saw a couple issues ago.

As Trigon's conquest continues, he clashes with a warrior in a familiar-looking spiky armour. This is the Silent Armor, and the wearer also has an equally spiky sword. They actually manage to fight Trigon to a standstill, and eventually it's Trigon who runs away, shouting taunts behind him. I guess evil really is a superstitious, cowardly lot. The captions then let us know that the first wearer of the Silent Armor lived for another 30 years before passing it down the line. Well... Good for her, I guess. I hope those 30 years were very fulfilling.

And so the comic ends with another outpost by Trigon in his latest universe, where a bounty hunter brings him tribute. It's a woman, one from Earth, which Trigon admits he's never had the like of before. He asks whether she worships or fears him, and she replies she does both. Trigon is pleased with this answer, and decides she'll be a lovely vessel for his latest child. And thus was Trigon's only surviving daughter born, the girl named Raven. And we close with the reveal that it's been Raven's mother narrating this whole time, begging the reader(?) to help slay her daughter's father.

I’m... not sure this issue gave us any new information. Oh sure, there’s some superficial stuff, like the first wearer of the Silent Armor or how Trigon got his pants, but none of it is essential information. This was basically 22 pages to tell us what we already know: Trigon was a dimension-conquering demon and eventually fathered Raven. Trigon didn’t need an origin beyond that, and perhaps fittingly, they didn’t honestly give him one. I’d much rather have an origin for that flying black space heart~

Next week, we’ll again do something different. My order should be due in, and this is a great place to break it. But even if, against all odds, I don’t have a new review for you next time... prepare yourself for something different anyway.  Villains Month isn’t over, and the next one... needs a little context first~

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

Spoilers.

Okay I can’t hold it in anymore, I need to yell about Star Trek. 

SO.

In light of the revelations we got from Picard ep8 and ep9, I have come to the conclusion that the plot is a giant fucking mess. Lemme explain.  (Buckle up, it’s long and VERY spoilery).  First, a recap: 300 000 years ago, synthetic lifeforms from another galaxy dragged eight suns together (or maybe created them) and put a sign on the planet in the middle, saying “hey synth pals, when the organics decide to destroy you, give us a call, we’ll destroy them.” The Romulans stumbled upon it, understood only the “synth, organics, destroy” part and decided to hunt and kill robots before they evolved. So far, the robotic higher beings have only succeeded in making the organics hate the synths, so good job. Using the Romulan rescue, Oh makes synths illegal through the attack on Mars, causing the death of most of her people (and incidentally, of the entire Vulcan race in another timeline. Thanks, Oh!). I’ll give her points for dedication, at least this isn’t a “save my people and screw the rest of the Federation” scenario. She’s actually willing to sacrifice her planet to save the whole galaxy. (Doesn’t make it moral, but still, pretty selfless, in a dark a twisted way.) Again, this is the robotic higher beings’ fault. 

Moving on, The surviving synths try to make first contact with Starfleet, resulting in the death of Jana, Beautiful Flower and Vandermeer, which has overall very little consequence on the bigger plot. AGAIN, this is indirectly the robotic higher beings’ fault. (Maybe losing her sister is what makes Sutra such a bitch? Don’t think so though, we’ll get to that.) Maddox, learning nothing from the Ibn Majid, decides to learn the truth about the ban and sends two synthetic girls that look exactly like Jana to investigate (my god is he stupid), while not actually telling them what it is they’re supposed to find (oh, Bruce. Oh my god). It leads to the Romulans realizing that there’s an entire planet of synths. Outstanding work, dumbass. 

Picard does his thing and decides to save the synths and advocate for their lives, Sutra realizes what the Admonition actually meant, and decides that killing all the organics sounds like a great idea. She doesn’t hesitate to let Narek kill one of her sisters to unite her people, showing that she’s exactly the same kind of psycho bitch as Oh. The problem is: SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECIES. The robotic higher beings are fucking IDIOTS!! They’re supposed to have seen many civilisations rise and fall, so they should know what to do and what not to do, and their rational still is “organics will kill us anyway, so let’s kill them,” leading to the organics being like “oh shit, the synths want to kill us, let’s stop making them,” leading to Sutra being like “welp they’ve already started hating us, our robot overlords were right, let’s kill organics.”  OH. MY. GOD!!!

I get that the lesson is that fear is the great enemy, and in this case it’s really well demonstrated (gotta give credit where it’s due), but still! It’s so frustrating!! 

My biggest problem with that convoluted plot is that we (the viewers) are supposed to see the synths as the organics’ equals. Their plight is supposed to be equal to the Federation’s. Except NO. I’m sorry, NO. 

(More on in-universe morality and out-of-universe viewer experience under the cut, because I took pity on your dashboards.)

I get wanting to survive from the Romulan attack, okay. (There is la Sirena for that, just as a reminder.) But Sutra saying that the Federation banning them was essentially genocide? NO. They are made. They aren’t born naturally. A government telling its people to stop making procreating isn’t the same thing as a government killing every kid younger that ten! Parents refusing to conceive isn’t the same as murdering their children (I won’t open the can of worms that is the abortion debate, the point stands). 

We as an audience are still supposed to see the Zhat Vash as the bad guys, because Oh, Narissa and Narek are villains, and because they have caused untold suffering. (By the way, linking Cris’ personal tragedy to the synth crisis is a massive plot contrivance to make us hate the Zhat Vash more, which I found frustrating watching ep8. Losing people in a horrible way happens even without grand global conspiracies, and Cris had already been established as going out of his way to help people even when there was nothing in it for him. We didn’t need the connection to empathise with his pain, and he didn’t need the added incentive. Seriously, how small is that galaxy? Are everybody’s demons linked to Picard’s heroic quest? How convenient.)

But are the Zhat Vash really the bad guys? (Even Cris questions that despite arguably being the Sirena crewmember who as per ep8 had lost the most because of them, along with Elnor.) I’m sorry, if Sutra does try to call the robotic overlords, I say burn Cappelius to the ground. Lemme continue to explain. There are what, 50 synths? 50 robots. And the show tries to make me (again, the viewer) accept that risking the survival of the entire Federation (trillions of people) to save them is actually a question worth asking? From an in-universe moral standpoint, perhaps. 

From an outsider’s perspective (the audience), not even close. Robots having souls and being equal to humans isn’t even a discussion we’re having in real life. I don’t believe androids will ever be self-aware, and capable of emotion and love. Sure, in the Star Trek universe they apparently are. So what? Suspension of disbelief only goes so far. The show can’t expect me to accept that many IFs. I get the very one-the-nose “fear of the Other,” “make love not war,” “different races have equal rights to life” analogy. The message is very much worthy, the show’s depiction of it really pisses me off. The show isn’t asking me to decide whether or not it would be moral to kill the last survivors of a human (or even alien) tribe to save the world, it’s asking “but what if we were basically God and we fucked up, how would we fix it? What if the stuff we made eventually had feelings? Then it’d be bad to destroy it, right?” 

Aside from the sheer hubris of that premise, I don’t know that the robots have feelings. I know it looks like they do, and that they believe that they do, but again, how am I to know? From a biological viewpoint, they’re certainly not alive:

“Life” (biological def taken from the web) Definition. noun, plural: lives. noun, plural: lives. (1) A distinctive characteristic of a living organism from dead organism or non-living thing, as specifically distinguished by the capacity to grow, metabolize, respond (to stimuli), adapt, and reproduce. 

Do the synths grow? Nah. Do they metabolize? Yes. Respond to stimuli? Yes but debatable as it’s programmed. Adapt? Yes. Reproduce? NOPE. 2.5/5 on the living scale lol. That’s not that great. (From an in-universe moral perspective, this time. I know, TNG did an ep on that, sorry.)

Still the show tries reaaaally hard to sell their sentience, and the one time that really didn’t sit well with me was that “robotic finger touching the human finger” image. WOW, last place where I expected to find religious imagery, a show that questions what it means to be human and what creating beings in our image would entail *sarcasm*. 

Except they twist the imagery. In the Bible, human lives are sacred because they are in the image of the perfect God, and He values us (=> so human worth come directly from God attributing worth to us because we’re meant to reflect His goodness). Humans being imperfect due to their fall, creating something in their own image is called an idol - it’s a false god, it’s not sentient, it’s even more imperfect, and it’s wrong. And if humans don’t value it and and it doesn’t reflect who they are anymore, well, it would make the idol even more worthless, right? (clearer explanation because my arguing skills suck => drawing on the Bible’s imagery, either humans are not gods and the images they created are worthless, or the series means for them to have God’s place, in which case refusing to attribute worth to their images makes those worthless. That invalidates the question that I previously said the show was asking.) So all in all, reminding us of the Christian take on the issue right in the middle of the Admonition claiming that synths are perfect is thus completely counterproductive, both in universe and from a viewer’s pov.

But but but, I hear you protest, what about Data? He had worth! 

This may be controversial, but Data mattered to us because of the character he was, not because he was supposed to be human. He was adorable and losing him meant losing an interesting and enjoyable element in the show, which would make us sad. I love him like I love Cris’ holos, the Voyager Doctor, Wall-E and Eve, R2-D2, Jarvis and Chappie. They’re (very) likeable fictional creatures that can be used as metaphors for real life issues, nothing more. In any show/movie I’d be really sad if one of them had to be sacrificed to save the world, but I’d accept it (looking at you, Infinity War Captain America). If the question arose in real life, would I question the morality of it? No. 

So, are the new synths the same? I already tackled the metaphor thing, it’s not handled that well and Detroit Become Human did it first. (Again, it’s hard to portray the otherness of other real life-cultures that we may unjustly fear by using things whose living status is so easily questionable!!)  Is killing off the synths wrong from an out-of-universe perspective because the audience loves them? Let’s see... Are the new synths adorable/likeable? Heck no, give me Emil and Enoch over them any day. Would we lose something in the show if they died? Nah. We didn’t even know they existed until one episode ago. Picard would get angsty and Agnes would get upset, but it’s nothing a few fluffy fics wouldn’t fix. Do we know the synths as characters? We know that Sutra is crazy, violent and bloodthirsty, Jana was probably nice (?), Dahj had a cute boyfriend (outstanding characterization) and Soji... Welp... *sigh* I guess Soji is okay, even though she’s the least relatable and interesting character of the whole Sirena crew?  We know that their creators and biggest advocates, Soong Jr and Maddox, are(/were) creepy old dudes with warped ethics, half a brain between the two of them, really toxic interactions with Agnes, and enough hubris to bring the entire greek demigod population to shame. They would race Icarus to the sun, seriously.  We know that Captain Vendermeer killed himself over two robots, permanently damaging one of the nicest and most beloved characters of the series. Yeah, real incentive for me wanting to see the Federation risk destruction for the androids, guys.

But seriously, the last time a psycho AI tried to destroy the galaxy and make it in its image (*cough* Control) the protagonists spent a season trying to destroy the thing, and they were right! Future-control was self-aware and demonstrated anger and fear! Make up your mind, CBS!! 

And by the way? THE SYNTHS HAVE A MEANS OF ESCAPE!! No, I’m sorry, if they don’t decide to go aboard la Sirena and choose to endanger the Federation instead, then for all plot issues I’m siding with the Zhat Vash. Go on, destroy the synths. As part of the audience, I don’t care, and the show attempts at making me care by trying to make it a moral issue feel clumsy and forced. 

Also. Q exists in the Star Trek universe! He’s a deus ex-machina machine!! (Pun intended.) It’s hard to take big issues like that seriously when he could just swoop in and teleport the synths out of the galaxy/destroy the Romulan armada/put the robotic overlords in their place. JL, please, give Q a call. Yeah, yeah, it’d take away from the moral stakes because you can’t solve your irl problem with a snap of your fingers and you have to make actual decisions - but as I already said, I feel like the moral stakes are dumb and contrived. Give me the deus ex-machina, please. 

This has been a Star Trek rant. I know that I tackled two separate issues here: the in-universe morality of the synths’ death (I will admit that from the crew’s perspective it’s not right, because they can’t know if the synths are alive or not for sure) and the out-of-universe viewer experience. I apologize if it came across as really confused and complicated. 

I still like the show and love the actual characters (meaning, la Sirena’s colorful crew), and the show writers are not incompetent, or stupid, or wrong for writing their show how they want. They are really skilled and talented and they have created mostly compelling characters - I’m just unhappy with the direction taken by the story.

[dafukdidiwatch]

As Above So Below

This somehow both scared and bored me at the same time

<Lots Of Major Spoilers>

Overview

: After years of searching, Treasure Hunter Scarlet finds a clue that would lead her to the fabled Philosopher's Stone somewhere in Paris. She gathers together a crew to find the stone in the catacombs of Paris, but there are other things that lurk down below.

I would consider myself a big time movie/tv person. Have I seen everything? No. Do I like watching anything? Yeah, I'll give it a chance. I like most genres.

Horror though, I have mixed feelings.

Now, I'm gonna be honest, it was hard trying to go into this movie open minded. I have a love/hate relationship with the Horror genre of movies. Older classics like John Carpenter's Thing, Alien, even Scream are movies I adore. But...modern horror movies are a pain to me. I hate how they use shortcuts to try and scare me with random ass Jump-scare for no purpose other than to scare me. It's ridiculous! I can call out when the jump-scares happen, and they Still scare me because of the freaking sound track!

Anyway. I felt it would be unfair for me to say how much I like/dislike the movie without mentioning my preferences. If you like the newer horror movies, awesome, you do you, but for me, its like one of those gatchapon machines where theres a 50/50,chance you'll like it or not.

With that out of the way, lets Actually start talking about the movie.

The movie is shot in Found Footage style and that already added a tally against it in the 1st minute. I am not a fan of found footage. I know that it's popular to make it cheap and personal, but it makes it so hard to follow what is going on. When they are being chased or attacked, I don't know whats happening! Its too dark to tell, the camera is jostling around making me slightly nauseous, and if it does show something, its only for like 5 seconds unless it is stupidly close! There were parts that felt more like watching a Let's Play of a 1st person horror game. Run Run Run, Punch Monster, Run.

It is due to this 1st Person view that, not gonna lie, I barely followed how they got into the catacombs in the first place. Scarlett was in Iran...then she went to France, then...a church to pick up a reverse vandalizer, club, tunnel, catacombs. I can remember the place order, but like hell can I remember what exactly they were saying. All of that took 30 minutes and I was bored out of my mind. And the things that I do remember, they just sort of randomly popped up? Like, they were discussing on whether to jump into the hole

There are parts of the movie that I think was their attempts to build atmosphere, but sort of came out of left field. They say a pale woman walk away from a club: ok. They see her...directing the creepy ass ghost choir?? No idea what that was about. Then They ran into statues that just....came to life to bite at them??? This,was Never Mentioned as potential threats anywhere, it was as if the movie decided it needs random encounters to fill the climax, which is a shame because the tension in this in the middle was really good.

In the middle, when they are Finally going underground to when things got fucked, had a good tense build up. Showing landmarkers that shouldn't be on their route later on. Local lore of "don’t go down the cursed tunnel" (PSA: If the locals say don't do something, don't do it). They get trapped trying to crawl through a pile of bones. Now that part wasn't scary, but was Very Uncomfortable, especially if you have claustrophobia. They have just...random ass things appear like a Piano and Phone which, these people are dumbasses for thinking those things are natural to be there, but does add a good "what the hell" moment that just pikes on. I thought they might go the whole "vague supernatural tunnel turning tricks and getting them to turn on each other" route instead of "slowing pick one off one by one" type. And maybe that’s what they were trying to have, but it was still random monsters popping out to attack so... c'est la vie. 

Another thing I take issue with is part of the lore they use for the Philosophers stone. First, they use the legends and work of alchemists. And that’s pretty cool. Like mystical National Treasure, unlock secret symbols and solve chemical problems. There was a part where they had to figure out the number of celestial planets in the sky based on what century the stone came from since it kept changing over the years, that part was pretty clever. I didn’t know the information, but i appreciated the history.

But they just add random bits from around the world to be like "ooh they connected" like, ok. They have alchemist lore, 14th century Flamel. Makes sense. Then they add a mummy of a crusades guy. I don't know which crusades, but it doesn't matter since he was used more as a prop than plot device. Hell it might be Flamel himself, I don’t know. Then they throw...Ancient Egypt....Sure. Why not. Alchemists could go to Egypt to learn then stick hieroglyphics and traps in the french catacombs. Given how I don't know anything about alchemists history, I'll go with it.

What I WONT accept is them calling Dante's Inferno Mythology! That is Bullshit! I call BullShit! That! Is where I DRAW THE LINE!!

Because they carved "abandon all hope he who enter here" into the tunnel wall when things turned batshit and thats where i gave up on the lore.

Dante's Divine Comedy is not a myth! It is a poem! A poem written by Dante about Christain ideology of what heaven and hell is like! But the movie doesn't give a shit. The line just sounds cool to have as they go deeper into the tunnels!

If they just went with Dante references and alchemist lore, I would have been fine there. The main reason I got angry at that part with Scarrlet saying about "Dantes myth" is that she knows like 5 languages + 2 dead ones, all this backstory and alchemist stuff, and she doesn't know that inferno was a poem? Yes, part of that is semantics and technicalities, but it sort of pulled me out of the world a bit. Because at that point, it felt like they were picking and choosing lore to fit in because it sounded cool. Have an egyptian trap! Why? Because it was cool! Have hieroglyphic puzzle to find the stone? Sure, don’t know why it’s in France but whatever!  I dont know. It threw me off because it felt like they were adding too much, which is a shame because some of the Dante references like traveling through a pool of blood was really good.

I don't get the visions. I really don't. Like...random pianos and telephones just appear on level one of their journey, that calls out to their memory. Which is...bizzare. Especially since they actually touch the freaking things. Like, don't touch the childhood piano! It will make things worse! Seriously! White people!

You later learn that the visions come from their sins (like the one and only tormented sin they got) and it is only when I googled the end of the movie did I learn that they have to acknowledge their sins or die. Which if you have to google the movie to understand the message, the message didn't go through. And opens up to more questions.

Because there were other people that died that didn't get to see their sin visions. George and Scarlett got taunted with pianos and objects since the 1st floor. What about Benji? He was followed by the creepy ghost choir and fell down a hole. Tell me what sin that means. Do They....all have sins, or did the vague demons here have to kill off the innocent ones first before putting the focus on the true targets?

And Scarlett finding out that the power was in her all along? What? Did she...consume the power? Was it transferred? Did she have it since she was born? Does she still have it? It felt like a bad moment to throw in a self esteem psa in this movie.

I will give the movie credit though, i liked how they were forced to go down to get out. When everything turns to shit and they have to do the same things they did but in reverse order, but still forced to go down, that was good. It adds to the tension of "holy fuck how are they gonna get out is this even the right path?" And that last scene with the manhole, gorgeous. Really truly gorgeous. It just shakes you to the core with what you are seeing.

But Overall.....yeah did not like this movie. Wasn't a fan of shakey cam. Wasn’t a fan of the "gotcha" jump scares. The movie felt a little more uncomfortable than scary to me with the claustrophobia. There were a bunch of times where I had to check how long was left in the movie because I was really bored with what was happening. I did like the use of alchemist lore, the Egyptian trap scene, and the end scene, but just wished they stuck to one part than try to mash up different myths to fit.

And if they wanted to stick with Dante, fine. Apparently this entire movie was an allegory of Dantes inferno. (Thanks google) But while i can appreciate looking back on it in hindsight, it doesn't change the fact that I really didn't "get" the symbolic nature of what they were trying to do in the initial watch. Maybe if I rewatch it I would appreciate it more, but I would just skip like half the movie to the actual cave exploring part because I am not sitting through the full thing again. 

If you like horror movies with historic flair, this might be for you. But its not my cup of gatorade.

[incognitowetrust]

And now, because I’m sooo original, here’s a tuffle

[EDIT: I am including Lighshot links, because I tried to change the dimensions of the second image to see if Tumblr would like it more, but it just doesn’t seem to be clear, so I’m just straight up doin’ a link because when I bother to post a drawing I want people to see my work, dammit]

1st image: https://prnt.sc/oacf0z  Petri and Sweetie both: https://prnt.sc/oace9c

I made this new gal, and I think she turned out kinda cute, and yaaaay Petri has a friend now. I need to write interactions and dialogues for my characters so y’all can actually have better references for their personalities. 

But for now, here’s a normal ref. I gotta put the info under “read more” because I always write so heckin’ much. 

I wanted to make a tuffle… because… why not. I’ve made enough original-alien things, if I’m part of a damn fandom I might as well use some of the heckin’ races, right? 

Something that has actually worked out pretty well for me is, as far as this new OC fitting in with my other DBZ OCs, she’s gonna be a good addition, because Petri needs at least one trusted friend. Also, something that was completely accidental, is Petri is purple, while Veal is reddish, and Sweetie is blueish, Veal is the most aggressive/violent out of the three, while Sweetie is gentle, so it’s weirdly fitting that the one whose influences are a scary pirate “brother” and a nice blue gal, is a purple slightly grumpy gal. 

As far as an origin story goes, because there’s only limited things canon about tuffles, and because I’m not always in the mood to be brave with headcanons I guess, I’m making the macguffin that Sweetie has little to no memories about planet Tuffle, or other members of her own race. The most obvious way to make a fan character that’s the same race as another character… iiis to steal shit from the original character and repurpose it. I don’t actually know if I wanna have Sweetie have the exact same thing as Petri and Veal of having been created in the same lab, but she at least was kept there at some point, around the time when Petri woke up, as for them to meet and become buddy buddy with one another. 

If not born as a result of something in that macguffiny macguffin plot device lab lab, she was likely at least affected/changed there in some way. One of my original base ideas for Petri was that she was made with saiyan dna to be able to fight and kill saiyans, though that project wasn’t actually successful (since though she and Veal have some saiyan DNA in them, they cannot go Great Ape or go super saiyan, so therefore would be evenly matched or outmatched by saiyans). Sooo… Sweetie was probably in that lab either being another result of science bullshit, or science bullshit was used to enhance/alter her, like to make her stronger or to condition her to be more willing to fight, though nothing major was really successful because Veal eventually busted out and slaughtered nearly everyone in the labs in a fit of unstable rage. 

A big part of Sweetie’s character is that she does feel a big weight from the loss of her race, sooo… really I kinda just sorta decided that something she sought out and had done to herself was to have her memories repressed and locked away, so the grief would not get to her so bad. Either she got some sort of mind-altering thing done at the lab, or she was able to get assistance from someone/something else that could give her a memory wash. Or hell, maybe she was able to repress her memories so hard herself that she doesn’t remember much about her past that way. Regardless, dammit I know that lack of memories is a major cliche, but screw it I do what I want. 

Like Baby, Sweetie’s “name” pretty much was from a nickname, apparently enough people referred to her as things like “sweetie” enough where it was just adapted into what she considered her name. Petri likes to call her Sweets though. Lol, it’s like how if someone makes a saiyan they pick a veggie name, or if someone makes an icejin they pick a low-temperature name. Stole the name concept from baby. *slow awkward dab*

Petri is pretty much the only person in the universe that Veal genuinely cares about, but he has a little bit of a soft spot for Sweetie too, not so much because of her personality or existence itself, but because Petri doesn’t really like Veal much so doesn’t want him around, but Petri likes having Sweetie around, which makes Veal a lot more comfortable with being cut off from Petri for long periods of time since the two gals are fiercely protective over each other. 

As far as Sweetie’s personality, for the most part she is docile, with an innocent nature. However, she won’t hesitate to be quick to fight or flee if it means keeping Petri or herself safe, she has a fear that someone will try to kill them someday. When she fights, she prefers to use her ki, or take advantage of anything in her surroundings. Unless she is sparring with Petri she can be hesitant to let someone even get close to her in battle until she at least observes the person for a minute or two first, as an attempt to be more prepared. 

She doesn’t exactly hate saiyans, when it comes to someone like Goku she’d hold nothing against them at all. However, when it comes to older saiyans, or saiyans who won’t shut up about pride and warrior stuff without acknowledging the damage war causes… she has a problem with those folks. Becoming over emotional can make her quick to the trigger, and one of the reasons why she and Petri need each other is because they balance out each other’s flaws and struggles a little, able to calm the other down if need be. Unless something upsets them both… in that case, they’ll fight alongside each other. 

Even speaking about tuffles is a very sensitive subject for Sweetie. She considers thinking too hard about her race to be too painful, so will generally avoid it entirely. 

When they are required to do something that involves being around other people they don’t know, the two gals prefer to wear some type of basic cloak, because it makes them feel a little bit more secure to conceal their identities. They usually like to keep a low profile, but will sometimes steal, do little odd jobs, explore, or other things that puts them around other people. 

[starhelmed]

         —  looks  like  MELODY HAWKINS  is  attending  AURORIA  UNIVERSITY  in  auradon.  they’re  the  TWENTY ONE  years  old  child  of  JIM HAWKINS,  which  means  they’re  from MONTRESSOR.  heard  they’re BUBBLY  &  INVENTIVE,  but  can  also  be CLUMSY  &  ANXIOUS  ;  we all have our bad days.  people  normally  associate  them  with  SPRING FLOWERS WRAPPED IN NEWSPAPER, PETAL PINK LIPGLOSS & PASTEL PAINTED COGS.  

death tw.            : (

Melody Andromeda Hawkins. taurus sun & sagittarius moon and cancer rising.

pinterest

Former (space) pirate, current lead vocalist & university student, aspiring coffee shop owner

Melody is the eldest twin of former space military cadets, Jim & Kate Hawkins. and by eldest, she is older than rhythm nebula hawkins by roughly 15 minutes and holds onto that piece of information like a crutch

Born on Montressor at the original Benbow inn, Melody is quite literally out of this world, as was their entire family really. The life on Montressor was peaceful and quiet ; till fire & ashes smothered the childhood home & taking the family for all that they had; only managing to save a few small belongings as the family fled from the atmosphere on their ship.

there was nothing tying the Hawkins to montressor after sarah, melody’s grandmothers’, passing the year previous and thus, the star faring family decided to test their fate once more amongst the stars.

eventually ; they settled on auradon. greeted warmly by all the people, they were allowed citizenship on the premise that they were the heroes of their story. but then again, isn’t everyone the hero of their own story?

they bought a small plot of land on a cliff south of notre dame and built themselves a new life. the family was happy & content, their past of starfaring as much a fairytale, gone but not forgotten, as everyone elses fates.

the New Benbow Inn as it was creatively named was melody’s home, and the only home that she really remembers. it was soft & warm, and always filled with a variety of characters. But will all the villains trapped on the Isle of the Lost, all of said characters were remarkably good people.

Melody spent her childhood looking after the inn, entertaining guests with her bright and bubbly smile. but she was clumsy and often caused more trouble than help around the inn, and eventually was taken off waitressing duties. determined to be a help around, melody, ever the jack of trades, began to learn other hobbies; such as singing, and baking, to help pull her weight to keep the family business afloat.

One day you’ll rattle the stars;

Ever since they were young they were told stories of outer space; of pirates and treasure planets; and melody wanted to touch the stars more than anything else. And Jim and Kate said one day, one day they would. They just currently didn’t have the money to buy or build a new ship capable of doing so.

So melody started to tinker outside her shifts, and save up her tips to buy cogs and bolts to rebuild the rusting solar riders in the basement.

Sure, she wanted to reach the stars, but the ever curious mind knew that there was way more to auradon than they’re tiny little inn. so she tinkered away on this little air glider, planning to fly it around the kingdom, using it as a delivery service, or help anyone in need

like the angel she is, but most importantly, Earn some more cash so she can take the solar rider outside the atmosphere and finally touch the stars that she has in her eyes.

One day, Melody didn’t see her twin brother during his scheduled shift. which was annoying because it meant that she had to cover for him, and as mentioned, she was a terrible waitress

but it’s a twin sense thing that she just knew something was up, her first break she went down to her garage to find her solar rider gone. there was an obvious explanation, she hoped, he’d bring it back soon, she hoped.

a week went by with no word, so she threw together a makeshift glider with a barely functioning engine and hoped for the best.

but the best never came, she saw her brother in the air after only an hour of scouring the coast. their screams could barely be heard above the oncoming storm, but they could feel the anguish in each others souls, the deep unexplainable pain built in their bones.

the next feeling was fire. and falling. a sudden gust of wind threw the two ships together, or at least, that’s how melody remembers the crash before the burning and the breath leaving her chest, and the sharp pain in her leg, and the stinging as her back hit the water.

the next sensation was heaving water out of her lungs on a ship, a crew of friendly sailors — or was it pirates? had literally fished melody out of the water, that she had fallen into like her childhood name of comet.

luke & crew took melody in, though with some trepidation from the crew before hand, melody tried to fit in with her incredible baking skills, tinkering talents, and space shanties.

it was fun ! for a while ! until melody remembered her parents had no clue what happened to them; and also,  was her twin dead ? where was he ? what happened ? also her leg was lowkey turning green and the limp she was developing was a tell tale sign she probably needed help.

luckily, her new found family were more than happy to drop her off, with the promise she’d be back better than ever.

her leg, however, couldn’t get better, and the imposed limitations on magic were the main reason.

so melody was kitted with a cybernetic leg to replace the lost limb,   and it was the final feather that broke the girls back. the everything hitting her like a tonne of bricks; till her dad sat her down and told her about the bravest man, who just happened to be a cyborg, could do everything and more with his cybernetic limbs — that they were a gift, not a curse, and they would no way impede her life.

still,  she was recluse after losing her brother, and now her leg, unable to sing, or bake, or even get out of bed. so her parents decided to enrol her in aurora university, and gave her a little baby morph too - to help cheer her up.

now, melody’s just coming out of her mourning phase, she’s joined a band, and is studying engineering at aurora university.

she’s as bright & bubbly as ever, but part of that is just an act to keep up appearances.

she’s obsessed with the concept of love, but has never fallen in love. and thinks that no one could love a cyborg, that being part robot makes her invalid of affection, so she’s currently wrestling that fucking demon.

oh is super cool about villain kids bc if ur twin brother tries to murk u and then fakes his death like i guess ur just chill w that

wanted connections !

childhood friends that were made at the inn ! 

some people that melody helped out between 1-5 years ago on her little flying ship.

give melody some more band mates & pirate friends or perish

love some ak’s who weren’t fond of melody bc like ... not exactly the standard family unit or money situation as everyone else . and outsiders must be s h a m e d

the one kid who’s realised melody is basically an alien and loves that

also som new friends she’s just making . . her getting out of her shell 4 the first time in forever ....

the one person who convinces melody ( n morph 2.0 ) to just do the craziest shit for banter

oh and give her a thousand crushes on every person. melody is pan and goes all ways !

also love some people she’s tinkered things for !