#the rest of the cast doesn't start until june

[mybreakdowns]

if byler isn't endgame you will never hear from me again

[tinytalkingtina]

The True Face of Bravery

Written for the @steddiemicrofic June challenge prompt, using the word "stuff" and max 483 words.

483 words | Rating: T (for a single swear word)

Tags: Fantasy DnD AU, Tiefling Steve Harrington, Anti-Tiefling racism, Steve Harrington has bad parents, implied child abuse, first kiss

Ao3 link

"'Mi'lord', your squire is whining he can't find your club, the one with the spikes and-um." Eddie froze with his hands still on the tent flap, staring at Steve. And surely this was Steve, he had the same facial features and clothes as Stephen Harrington, heir to the Barony of Loch Nora and paladin extraordinaire. Except Stephen Harrington didn't have luminous red skin, or a pair of horns that spiraled up out of his hair and curved back over themselves just above his ears. And he certainly didn't normally have a pointed tail poking out from his trousers. Before Eddie could even begin to think of retreating, he found himself roughly yanked inside the tent. “Wait!” Eddie flailed, wrenching himself out of Steve's grasp. “Please don't kill me! As fitting as it would be for Eddie the Banished to die at the hand of a noble I really would rather it not happen today, I promise I can keep my mouth shut and—“ Eddie stopped babbling as he took in how badly Steve was trembling. Weaponless, he had only moved to block the tent flap. Steve lifted a shaking hand to his nose. "Father was right, it was always going to come down to an act of stupidity on my part. Just, let me finish this mission, please." Eddie blinked, still wrapping his head around his companion’s true appearance. "What?" "Vecna is a blight on these lands. Even if the Order is going to expel me once they know, I swore an oath to slay him. I'm asking that you wait to turn me in until we're done. I promise, I'll go quietly." "Why would I turn you in?" Steve's tail twitched when he was anxious. "Have you somehow missed that I'm the shameful reminder of my ancestor's wrongdoings?” he said, clearly mimicking something he had been told many times over. Eddie took a tentative step forward. "And what makes you think I give a flying fuck what stuff society or your Order believes? Sweetheart, I'm just impressed you've managed to hide yourself for this long." "As a child my parents wouldn't let me leave my chambers until I could cast illusion magic." Steve whispered. "But why—” "You're kind of the ideal paladin, you know?" Eddie barreled on. "Always throwing yourself headlong into danger to protect others. You're kind and funny and," he blushed, "absolutely breathtaking. If those abyssal chickens hadn't broken my lute, I would immediately start composing something about the swirl of your horns." "You would...oh." Red hands with black-tipped claws reached out to gently encircle his waist. Eddie shyly reached up to tuck a loose lock of Steve's hair behind one of his horns. "Come on, let's get some rest. You have an undead lich to slay tomorrow, Sir Stephen the Brave,” he said softly. The equally soft kiss he received in response spoke of something much longer than tomorrow.

Some tidbits of trivia/more babbling about this AU under the cut!

I've had an idea for a DnD AU for a long time, featuring members of the nobility Harringtons who made a deal with a devil in exchange for power and wealth. When their first-born son was a born a tiefling, to hide their shame, they at first kept him hidden from view, then, once he learned magic, forced him to constantly cast disguise self to appear human.

As a paladin, he is driven to helping those in need, but doesn't like anyone touching his hair (they'll feel his horns under the illusion magic) hence his nickname "the Hair". Dustin is an artificer gnome, his loyal if mouthy squire, while Eddie is a half elf bard who doesn't initially like "Mr goody two shoes shining knight".

Vecna is a literal undead evil lich causing trouble from his own pocket dimension, dubbed "The Upside Down".

Also Abyssal chickens are in fact a real DnD monster and they are adorably terrifying.

[daily-hanamura]

I kind of wished that the persona 4 cast wasn’t stuck in a narrative where the main theme is ‘always accept the role thrust upon you and if you don’t like it, just force yourself to like it’. Yukiko actively wants to leave Inaba and create her own life, but is portrayed negatively when doing so, with her character arc involving her accepting the role thrust upon her. Don’t get me started on Naoto. I know you’re the Yosuke guy, and was wondering what are your thoughts on this when applied to Yosuke?

I want you to know that being called "the Yosuke guy" is now my greatest achievement you've made my day everyday for the last week

I do agree with you, and I think it was one of my initial issues with P4 where, for a game whose entire narrative is about being true to yourself, it sure falls back into that tired sense of social conformation a lot. It's grating, right, because it feels like what they really mean to say is "be yourself! but not too much and not in a way that makes other people unhappy and make sure you're still living up to other peoples expectations because that's the real reason why you're unhappy with yourself, you haven't accepted who we want you to be (which is the real you that we've decided) etcetc" and it just undercuts the emotional impact of their self-acceptance (see also kanji and rise). (dw I know P5 also kind of has the same problem, and I can go into a whole thing about the limits of transformative narratives written by capitalist corporations but i wont. today-)

I think with Yosuke though, it's really interesting because his character arc is more so tied to his relationship with Inaba as a place, rather than his fundamental self-perceptions. It's established early on that Yosuke hated the town for various reasons; he's a city boy who wants excitement and connection, but most of the town hates him so he's shit out of luck and it gives him little reason to like the town back. As the game progresses, he starts to like the town -- "it's not about where you are, but who you're with", so it's his friendships (and having people who accept him for who he is) that makes the place meaningful for him. And, at the end of the day, Yosuke did get what he wanted - excitement and connection.

But he's not tied to Inaba.

In P4AU, it's revealed that Yosuke's struggling to figure out what he wants to do in life, but by the end of it he tells Yu that he wants to leave the town and go to college with Yu in the city, and that he wants to see the world and experience more things for himself. It fascinates me because it very strongly implies that Yosuke's arc isn't complete as we're very expressly told that he's still developing. It stands in contrast to the other characters who have effectively been fixed into some role or position (Yukiko as an inn manager, Rise as an idol), and unlike them, Yosuke hasn't been permanently relegated to the things that he starts off hating. He hasn't been written to stay in Inaba or even to continue working at Junes after graduation, instead he gets the opportunity to try things. imo this makes his arc more situational (and therefore layered) - Yosuke's perspective on his circumstance matures, but who he is as a person doesn't have to change, and he's not forced to make a trade-off with the wishes he had at the start.

This might be because Yosuke is Atlus' favourite character of the contrast between Yosuke's city background and the rest of the Inaba folk. There's a guy in the school who talks about how most people who finish high school in Inaba just go on to get jobs, and very few actually leave for college and beyond. It's something deeply realistic and reflective of human geography IRL, because that's very common in small communities. A fear of the outside world because of how isolated they are (and Inaba kind of is - remember how Yosuke said they barely had cell connectivity up until recently) means they tend to look inwards instead of out, so there isn't as strong an awareness of what else there is out there and a belief that your options are basically just that (it also makes it all the more impressive that they have surprisingly well-traveled teachers). Yosuke, on the other hand, is very much connected to the internet and the outside world, and he also tends to think about the things that he's missing out on more tangibly.

It makes for a very interesting parallel with Yukiko, who had grown up in Inaba all her life and also expresses that same interest in wanting to go out and see the world. Yukiko's idea about the kind of options that she has is weirdly limited for someone who is supposed to be at the top of her class. When you meet her at the bookstore, she talks about getting a job license so she could leave town, and her first thought was interior decorator (do you even need a license for that? it's not a chartered profession unlike an architect or interior designer, but things might work differently in japan). And maybe she does have a genuine interest in it so I'm talking shit, but it also feels like it's a job that she's aware of only because of the ryokan. As far as I could tell, we don't actually see her express any interest in, say, furniture themes or colour swatches and fabric textures in the way Kanji very clearly does. Her world view, like everyone else, is bounded by the reach of her experience, but because Inaba is so small and cloistered it impedes her ability to imagine beyond that. Even when she's thinking of leaving, her options are still limited to her experiences at the inn. I'm still really salty about how she decided to stay at the ryokan in the end, because something much more satisfying in my opinion would have been for her to get the opportunity to try different things elsewhere in the world, and if she decided that the ryokan was the right thing for her, then, well, fine, I guess? Or some cliche like exploring other inns elsewhere so she could bring that knowledge home. Especially since she had the support of her family and the inn staff, it makes her narrative feel more like an acceptance of her lot in life, rather than a genuine realisation that yeah, this was what she wanted, which was what the game wanted us to think, except it's not convincing. Instead, it just feels like a weird stagnation because her initial wish of wanting to see the world beyond the ryokan was not satisfied.

But hey, guess who does!

Yosuke gets to learn how to make the best of a situation, but ultimately, he's not beholden to it. He - and his writers - understand that he's not done growing, so he doesn't fix himself to a role that he doesn't like. AND IT'S GOOD. I just wish everyone else got that opportunity.

[momentomori24]

Ok, ZERO ESCAPE 999. This game was a weird one for me. Definitely great, do not get me wrong--- I LOVE this game to pieces and after finishing this post I will finally start VLR during the weekend (hopefully), and mull over the characterization because what the hell, everyone is absolutely hilarious (Junpei, Snake, Seven and Santa specifically I'm looking at you)--- but it certainly left me with a bunch of questions to which I have no answers. Which makes sense considering the next game will most probably pick up where 999 left off so I won't touch on that too much, but everything really felt like a crazy, confusing, convoluted fever dream. In a good way. But still, very cryptic.

Speaking about fever dreams, June's situation is the most unique circumstance for a character I think I've ever seen. If I have everything correct (and correct me if I'm wrong), she originally died in the present timeline in the incinerator room long ago and somehow the Akane we meet in the Nonary Game exists simultaneously dead and alive at the same time in the aftermath of that event--- so basically Schrödinger's cat. The Nonary Game was set up to make Junpei save the Akane through telekinesis to create either a separate timeline or more likely influence the present one so that she can exist normally. That's why she's doomed to disappear in every ending; Junpei doesn't get to recreate that exact scenario in the incinerator room, so past Akane never reaches him and dies the way she was supposed to, meaning June ceases to exist as a consequence. And the burning fevers she would randomly get are her body reliving the memories being burned in the incinerator room 9 years ago. Did I get that all right? If so, then wow, that's not a twist I saw coming at all. Props to the creator of the game, but also how dare you doom my girl like this.

My biggest question how tho. I know that's not the best question to ask in a game where we are literally on the replica of the titanic, the exact same place where half of the cast along with other kids where brought to almost a decade ago because they were targeted by a supposed medical company and leader of said company is also part of our gang, forced into solving locked rooms while death hangs over their heads until 9 hours are over but our protagonist can turn back time without even knowing it every time things go bad, but still. If it's revealed later on then please don't tell me. If not, go ahead.

This is my second attempt to type this because my first drafts somehow didn't save and I'm too lazy to re-do everything so I'll bullet point:

•What happened to Santa in the true ending? Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think he was present during our car ride. Ace was there, though, despite being taken hostage by him and led away.

•So June is alive, right? Since we rewrote the timeline and helped Akane survive, what happened to her? She vanished on us during our confrontation with Santa, so where did she end up when everything was over?

•Who the hell killed everyone in the other endings? We know Clover goes crazy in one and Ace kills her in another, but what about the rest? We know it's not one of us because every single person we have gets slaughtered in the Sub endings with Junpei last. I did make post about it and I'll stick to what I said, but I guess I'll wait and see if the next game will answer.

•Who is Zero. That's it. I was thinking it was not Santa, to gradually being persuaded into thinking it could be him due to the evidence pointing into direction only for it to have really not him. He is actually more involved than most, but he's not the guy we're looking for (good). Give me answers, game.

Well, rant over for now. I'll probably slightly touch on VLR because I have an assessment to revise for, but I'm excited! I've heard a little about the gameplay and I'm really curious to see how it will pay out.

[chirpsythismorning]

I’m not going to get my hopes up, but if Netflix has to have an answer by October, when do you think filming will start then?

Hypothetically if the strike is over in Netflix's case by Oct or in general for all the studios, filming for ST would start up shortly after that. They've been ready to start filming since June, so they're pretty much just in limbo waiting rn.

There might be some cast members in the middle of something when the strike ends, so that doesn't mean every single cast member will take a flight to Georgia and be there the day after the strike to start filming. It will happen in waves, where some who are available at that time will get all their arrangements in order and make the plan to start filming while others might need a few weeks to get everything in order.

Sometimes filming happens out of order, especially with scenes that are really time consuming for VFX in post production, but still I do think that the priority will be either those scenes or scenes from the first few episodes. Those episodes are the most fleshed out script wise and they're also the episodes we're going to see sooner than the later ones. In the case they decide to split it into two volumes again, having those earlier episodes finished sooner than later allows them to then be able to edit them sooner and have them complete for releasing. So if the premiere period rolls around, and they're still behind on some parts of Vol 2, they'd be prepared to release Vol 1, with extra time to focus on the rest. Pretty much the same thing happened for S4, where Vol 1 premiered in late May and then they were still editing Vol 2 in time for it's early July release.

If the strike is officially over and all filming in the industry amongst these studios has been green-lit to return, let's say October 1st, then it's likely by mid October they would be starting filming again. Or if it was mid October that the strike ended, then maybe filming would be starting by the end of the month. If it's late October, then probably early November for filming to start. The transition won't take months, at most a couple of weeks.

Again, they were ready to start filming in June and they don't necessarily need every single actor to have their schedule free in order to start. They just need actors who have scenes alone or with other actors who are also available who they also happen to have scenes with in order to start filming. It is unlikely that whatever schedule they had planned originally for the cast back in June will be identical post-strike, as that will all presumably shift to accommodate everyones new schedules at that time of the year and going forward.

This is all a hypothatical scenario. Regardless of if the strike ends in October or September or god forbid January, which is when the Emmy's are being postponed until, Filming for ST5 would take a matter of a couple of weeks to set up and begin, and would then continue for the next 12 months following, give or take.

[destinyc1020]

Je's team really did try to hide the allegations (and esp the choking/hand on neck part, i found very few american outlets were talking about that part), so mayb Cailee really didnt know? Or she just turned a blind eye. Either way they def seemed close at one point, i remeber sering this video of them at a park talking n it was just the 2 of them. bt i dnt remember it that was during prisiclla filming or after.

I find a lot of JEs coworkers kinda distance themselves to him during some time. Might just b "hollywood"/growing apart bt Maude was close to him during s1/when he was dating Z bt then in s2 (when he n Z broke up b4 hand) and they werent spotted as often. TKB cast seemed close during s1 bt then after n Joey broke up the rest of the cast (and the newcomers) seemed to only talk about n praise Joey. Mayb jjst a coincidence or JE starts to get a lil moody n act up and show his true side

Yea, his team sure did cover that up didn't they?? 👀 

I doubt Cailee didn't know. How is it WE regular-degular folks would know about his assault allegations, and Cailee...who actually WORKED with him...wouldn't know?? 🥴

Even if she doesn't follow ET news like that, I'm sure SOMEBODY close to her (a family member, a friend, her agent, her PR person lol, etc.) would have alerted her to the fact that her co-star, and "friend" (?), has just been accused of assaulting somebody lol. Even if it was just to give her a heads up so that she knows how to respond properly when/if the media asks her to comment on him.

I just can't imagine that she had noooo idea until now. 🥴

Mayb jjst a coincidence or JE starts to get a lil moody n act up and show his true side

I definitely feel like JE can have a moody side. He just SEEMS moody lol. 😅 I clocked that long time ago back when he was dating Z. She was always looking carefree, and happy, and he was usually looking... 🫥 Then again, don't most people born in June tend to be moody and slightly emotional lol? (isn't he a Cancer?? ROTFL)... So..... Idk... ROTFL🤣

He just seems like he gets easily irritated. To me, that's a little bit of a red flag. I used to date a guy like that years ago, and I said NEVER again lol. No more "moody" men for me! Obviously, our emotions are going to fluctuate w/life. That's just a given. I just don't like when people seem like jerks, or seem to take themselves a little too seriously, to the point where they get irritated over every single little thing. 🥴

[unproduciblesmackdown]

via the summer stock show program again:

WRITER'S NOTES by Cheri Steinkellner | Book & Additional Lyrics

How do you begin to adapt a film like Summer Stock into a stage musical?

Close my eyes and remember what I loved about it when I was a little girl, watching it with my cousin Cathy on the Million Dollar Movie every night for a week and twice on the weekend so we could reenact it beat-for-beat at Sunday family dinner. Key memories include: Singing on a tractor, dancing on a newspaper, and a pink painted sky.

Open my eyes, dig out my Judy Garland boxed-set and watch the DVD.

Close my eyes and re-watch the story on an imagined stage, with a diverse cast, contemporary social values, and a fresh storyline to match.

Open my eyes and write that. Then rewrite it. Then re-re-write, until I hit my deadline and can re-re-re-rewrite no more.

About that deadline: I first got the call in October. They needed a designer draft by January, a workshop draft by March, and a rehearsal draft by June for a July opening. That's fast, even for me, and I started my career in TV where you write and produce a new episode every week. But Summer Stock is all about putting on a show in a barn—so we roll up our sleeves, get up early, stay up late, and get the work—and the play—done!

What has changed from the original and what are the challenges of updating a 1950 film for a modern audience? That feel-good feeling of the original movie is still intact, but story, songs, and characters have all changed to be here now.

STORY: When I first signed on, I was given one mandate: No tractor. Heavy farm machinery wouldn't fit on the Goodspeed stage, so there went the film's whole buy-a-tractor/wreck-a-tractor/fix-a-tractor plotline. This opened up space to answer some of my more burning questions:

Why is Falbury farm at risk?

Why can't Joe get his show to Broadway?

How does a farmgirl like Jane suddenly morph into a triple-threat superstar?

And why is she wearing nothing but a tux jacket and fedora in that pink-sky finale?

As I wrote, more questions popped up: What do you do with a wanna-be actress who doesn't wanna rehearse? Why is a Shakespearean matinee idol starring in a musical in a barn? And what happens when you make show-people wake up at sunrise to muck out the stalls? All of these questions are asked—and I hope answered—in song and dance.

SONGS: The film features nine songs. Most contemporary stage musicals have twenty or more. So building out the score was a task. Some of the film's original songs like "Howdy Neighbor" and "Dig for Your Dinner" are repositioned and repurposed to tell our story. "You Wonderful You" and "Get Happy" have gained back-stories. To fill out the rest of the score, I turned to the Public Domain, where old favorites like "The Best Things in Life are Free," "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows," "Some of These Days," "It Had to Be You," and more, could be tailored to sing in our character's voices. Production numbers like "Paper Moon," "Everybody Step," and "June Night" are newly built on tunes that are nearly a century old, but with Doug Besterman's jazzy, brassy, Woody Herman-inspired arrangements, and Donna Feore's dynamic direction and thrilling choreography, they sing and dance like never before.

CHARACTERS: Looking at 1950s characters through a contemporary lens meant making crucial changes, not only in motivation—but in the people we want to see onstage. One challenge was crafting a story to support a diverse cast of characters with intention, authenticity, and care. I found my way in through the U.S. miltary. Special Services began in WWII and was one of the few army units to be racially integrated. I could imagine an ace director/choreographer like Joe Ross working with a gifted writer like Phil Filmore, pulling together a talented troupe of marginalized soldiers, and putting on a show for the troops. But what happens after the war, when they come home and their show can't get a break on Broadway? Hit musicals in 1950—Brigadoon, Guys and Dolls, Call Me Madam—were distinctly homogenous—i.e., white. Historically, it would be nearly a decade before a Black director would helm a Broadway play (Lloyd Richards, A Raisin in the Sun). So now we know what Joe and Phil are up against, and why they need this barn in Connecticut to put on their show. The Falbury family—Jane, Gloria, and Pop—need this show—and these show people—just as much to save their beloved farm from being acquired by a rich and powerful land owner bent on creating her own family legacy. I won't give away how song-and-dance save the day—but in the end, everyone does Get Happy.

What has been your favorite part of writing this musical and what are you most excited about seeing come to life on stage? If I could spend the rest of my writing life putting old songs into new musicals, I'd be one happy writer. Summer Stock is the second musical I've crafted "with" legendary composers like Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, and Shelton Brooks (the first was Hello! My Baby, Goodspeed 2011). Bringing in these songs my mom taught me and her mom taught her, so my kids and theirs can sing them again, is my dream job—and I can't wait to see this dream cast hit the notes, find the laughs, and take flight like I can't even begin to dream.

[flameraven]

I posted 1,258 times in 2022

That's 564 more posts than 2021!

57 posts created (5%)

1,201 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@cheeseanonioncrisps

@kedreeva

@shinyhappygoth

@whispsofwind

I tagged 1,244 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

#good omens - 272 posts

#ineffable husbands - 111 posts

#art - 106 posts

#writing - 105 posts

#good omens fanart - 97 posts

#fanfiction - 64 posts

#good omens meta - 62 posts

#fandom - 49 posts

#nature - 44 posts

#ofmd - 39 posts

Longest Tag: 122 characters

#also because this is the first story i encountered that was like 'no putting your brain in a computer would suck actually'

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Seeing some posts/fanart with "let the gays run away together!" that include Crowley alongside OFMD and other shows and... it rubs me the wrong way, honestly. I feel like it is saying Aziraphale should have run away with Crowley and that just... puts an emphasis on their relationship like its the most important part of the story. Like them running away would be the happy ending. When Crowley asks Aziraphale to run away with him, he's panicking. The end of the world is in hours, they've lost the Antichrist, Hell knows he fucked up (and Satan has promised him personal, eternal torture)... he basically sees no way out besides running for their lives and hoping that Heaven and Hell are too busy killing each other to notice them missing. And Aziraphale wants to go. You see on his face how badly he wants to go. But he's still clinging to the last, desperate hope that he can talk to God and stop the War. He's an angel, he has faith. He still wants to avoid the whole mess-- he doesn't just want to save themselves, he wants to save Earth and everything on it. So he tells Crowley no, and you see how it hurts him to do it. He can't let himself run away. He has to try. And the thing is, Aziraphale was right. No, he didn't get in touch with God. But his encounters with the Metatron and the Archangels are what finally push him to see that Heaven is just as bad as Hell. That they really are okay with destroying the planet and all of humanity. That if he wants to stop Armaggeddon, he (and Crowley) have to do it themselves. They get their happy ending, because Aziraphale was determined to stay and try until the very last. Because they didn't run away to be alive and miserable on an empty rock orbiting Alpha Centauri. Because Madam Tracy wouldn't let Aziraphale shoot Adam. Because Shadwell discorporated Aziraphale. Because all of them, in their own way, thought it was hopeless but stood up and decided to try anyway. And they won.

314 notes - Posted June 2, 2022

#4

Just a pair of ineffable werewolves out on the town :3 Inspired by this video; Aziraphale is based on an Alaskan Malamute, Crowley is based on the extremely leggy Maned Wolf.

316 notes - Posted May 27, 2022

#3

Ok since everybody is extremely excited about pirates at the moment, I want to take a sec to recommend the podcast Campaign: Skyjacks, which is about SKY PIRATES.

It's set in the original world of Speir, where God died about 200 years prior, the stars fell, and the ocean is now extremely haunted. Fortunately people discovered a material called Featherweave which is lighter than air when heated, and allowed for sailing ships to be remade as Skyships.

Did I mention this world also has giant rideable birds? It does, they're awesome.

The story focuses on the crew of the Uhuru, a feared pirate ship under the command of Captain Orimar Vale. Unfortunately, when the story starts, Orimar has been killed while on an away mission. Fortunately (?) the ship's doctor is also a necromancer. So our characters decide to just... raise Orimar as a zombie and Weekend at Bernie's him so the rest of the crew doesn't know! Obviously a foolproof plan.

Our main cast is Travis, a changeling rogue; Gable, a 7ft tall fallen angel; Jonnet, a 14 year old kid with a Destiny and a third eye; and Dref, the doctor/necromancer.

It's a great show and while it can deal with some surprisingly heavy topics there are extensive CWs on episodes. Note that there are consistently a lot of crass/sex jokes as running gags.

If you'd prefer to avoid the heavier themes and dirty jokes, there is a spinoff called Skyjacks: Courier's Call, which follows three teens working on a skyship for the mail service. It's a much lighter series but still full of the same cool fantasy worldbuilding.

363 notes - Posted March 27, 2022

#2

My piece for 'Of Feathers and Wings'! @wingzine

509 notes - Posted July 15, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

12,264 notes - Posted July 15, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

Absolutely not surprised the Touch Grass Fanfic post got the #1 spot, it's gotten more notes than I've ever had on anything else. Still kind of annoyed it turned into a whole discourse on lawns, though. It was meant to be a way to share a funny post I saw about taking fanfiction too seriously... and then people took it too seriously, about entirely the wrong topic. Very happy people liked my werewoofs and wing art, though, and hopefully made some new Skyjacks fans!

[boydgearloose]

DuckTales Theory: The Rightful Heir of Scrooge McDuck

With the finale on the horizon, I've been thinking a lot about where they could potentially take the whole "rightful heir of Scrooge McDuck who is destined to find the Papyrus of Binding" thing. After rewatching the whole series thus far a few weeks ago, it's been on my mind a lot, and with all the news we've gotten about the finale recently, I've managed to piece something together that I think is pretty plausible. I want to warn you guys right away that this post will have spoilers for the finale promo that was released on Monday, so if you haven't seen it and don't plan on checking it out, please don't read any further! That being said, let's get into this.

For starters, let's look at what we know about the rightful heir to the Papyrus of Binding so far. FOWL is taking all of the missing mysteries and it's included, but they can't retrieve this one on their own. In The First Adventure!, Scrooge wrote that it shall go to "the rightful heir of McDuck" and "that those who attempt to harm any of them will be incapable to getting it." Therefore, nobody in FOWL would be able to retrieve the Papyrus because none of them are Scrooge's heirs and they've all tried to harm him and his family in some way. Another thing to note on the topic of this particular episode, despite being the finale of the show, The Last Adventure! is a clear parallel title to The First Adventure!, where the Papyrus was introduced, so it's likely to be found in the finale.

Now, let's look back to The Split Sword of Swanstantine! At the end of this episode, it's shown that Black Heron has gotten a feather from one of the McDucks for some mysterious reason. Many assumed this would be a cloning situation, where they need to get McDuck DNA in order to replicate a "rightful heir" who hasn't hurt Scrooge or his family in order to get the Papyrus back. However, a lot of the fandom seemed to think it was Scrooge's feather. I personally don't think that is the case. In the episode, we see Heron swipe at all of the children.

She very well could have picked up a feather from one of the kids instead. Of course, the triplets are the first to come to mind because they are essentially Scrooge's heirs, so it would make sense if she was after one of their feathers. But then, I started thinking and realized that none of them really take after Scrooge entirely. Huey primarily looks up to Fenton and Donald (if you're looking for someone inside the family) and leans toward being a superhero/scientist rather than adventurer. We know from the last episode that Dewey wants to be a pilot and has always primarily looked up to Della more than anyone else in the family. Louie you could make an argument for, but he only really admires Scrooge because of his money. He doesn't like adventuring and would rather focus on strategy.

So who could the rightful heir be? Well, there's really only one choice and it fits infinitely better than the rest. I'm very certain that Webby is going to be the rightful heir who is destined to find the Papyrus of Binding. There is a ton of evidence hidden throughout the show since season 1 of this, and I've collected all I could find. I'm sure I even missed some.

First of all, let's get into Webby's character. From her first appearance, she's shown to idolize Scrooge and everything about his family. She's invested in McDuck history and dreams of becoming an adventurer just like Scrooge. In fact, the episode of the series that introduces FOWL way back in season 1 is one that focuses heavily on Scrooge's bond with Webby. There's also the part in A Nightmare on Killmotor Hill! where it's revealed that her perfect dream is quite literally turning into Scrooge. She also believed him longer than the other family members in 87 Cent Solution! There's LOTS of stuff in the show about Webby looking up to him, too much for me to even include in one post.

Season 3 is focused on legacy. We've gotten focus or are getting focus on the legacies of each of the triplets: Huey being a superhero (we could get more of this tbh), Dewey being a pilot and whatever's going on with Louie in the next episode. What about Webby's legacy? Well, it's very clear to me that it lies with Clan McDuck. The last Webby-centric episode we got was The Fight for Castle McDuck!, one that heavily focused on why she's a part of the McDuck family and heavily revolved around getting a placement in it (the whole statue thing). This episode really felt like it was leading up to her ultimate legacy being to follow in Scrooge's footsteps and become a great adventurer. It was also very recent and not counting the Christmas episode which was likely out of production order, the last Webby episode before the finale. (Also, I think it's important to note that the first season 3 episode that heavily focuses on FOWL has a Scrooge and Webby B plot. Just food for thought.)

Another important thing that I just noticed is that in the season 2 finale Moonvasion!, at the end of the FOWL reveal, the camera SPECIFICALLY pans in on Webby hugging Scrooge. This is a deliberate decision, as Webby could have easily been shown with the triplets of Beakley in this scene. But they chose to put Scrooge and Webby front and center.

Another thing to point out is that FOWL's intentions with the feather is obviously cloning, as mentioned before and theorized by many. In the finale for the promo, we saw two new characters with an interesting resemblance to Webby. It's very likely that May and June are the results of them trying to clone Webby through her feather.

However, they don't look exactly like her. Their color schemes and hairstyles are different, and we know by the casting announcement that they have different voice actresses. Therefore, I don't think FOWL has mastered the art of cloning just yet. They need a perfect clone of Webby, and much like Bentley and Buford (who appear to be clones of Bradford, I'm gonna be real), they're like Webby but not exactly Webby. I wouldn't be surprised if they were sent to the lost library for being "rejects," where they're later found by the family, explain why they were created and open up the exposition for The Last Adventure.

How does FOWL know Webby is the rightful heir? I don't know. I don't think we'll be able to determine that until we know more. But I feel like they somehow do and plan on making the perfect clone of her to retrieve the Papyrus before the McDucks are able to. This is a bit of a stretch, but maybe Beakley knows about this too and is keeping it from Webby because it opens her up to danger. Who knows?

And one more thing before we wrap this post up: remember when Frank said something from Last Crash of the Sunchaser! would come up in season 3? That had to be about him stating Webby wasn't family. It could very well be brought up again in the context that Webby isn't only family but the rightful heir of Scrooge McDuck himself!

Anyway, that's about all I have. I'm sure there's more evidence, and if you have any, feel free to respond with it or send it to me via DMs or asks! This will definitely be on my mind until the finale airs LOL

[damfinofanfiction]

Chapter 14: Hollywood or Bust...er.

Here’s the full and a update to the latest chapter! Just to let you know, having outlined the story for a while, things will get romantic in chapter 16 and will get naughty in chapter 20!!! I don't know if Chapter 14′s good enough but I did my best. Enjoy!

Another note is at the end of the chapter.

As stated in the article of a Local Paper; Five people hurt in a car crash. Two women and three men were involved in a low-rate car crash when they were driving from the Biltmore Hotel for the party in honor of Mack Sennett. There were no fatalities but there were some minor bruises and concussions. Ralph F. Staub, the driver of a T- Ford who suffered a broken nose, blamed the incident on bit player and former Sennett Bathing Beauty Gayle Anders for distracted driving. As a result of the impact, Miss Anders was reported to have injured her arm. While the others had slightly recovered and have been sent home, Anders will be on the mend for weeks following a release from the Good Samaritan Hospital this morning. Her recent project is Harold Lloyd’s upcoming film, The Freshman, due to be out this September. She remains hopeful to be back in the movies after her arm is fully recovered.

Having read this in his office, Buster shook his head in pity, with a notion that she might be unable to work with him. “Oh, Gail.”

**************************

Just as the evening began, Sally ran out of the Bungalow with the burning Trout on the casserole dish. Gail aired out the smoke by opening the windows. As a last resort, she threw the fish from the dish on the ground and used the gravel dug from the area to extinguish the small flames.

“Damn it,” Sally said examining the crisp charred remains after putting it out. She turned to her friend, “Sorry Bae, guess I underestimated the baking time.”

Gail added disappointedly, "And it was a nice fish."

Since Gail came home from the hospital, it wasn’t easy for her to live with a broken humerus. Sally offered to help on the days it doesn’t intervene with her job. Not only the blonde did it out of loyalty but also as a amend to what happened last month.

Upon going inside, Sally threw away the ruined casserole dish and comforted Gail who hunched in despair, “Buck up, We’ll still have dinner. If only Auntie isn’t out playing bridge and Bertha didn’t take a day off.” Bertha, that she referred to was her and Lenore’s Maid.

When the Friends decided on take-out, Sally left to pick up the food while Gail stayed behind because she didn't feel comfortable going out in her state. As the table was already set in advance, the dark-haired woman was left to retreat to her couch and wrapped herself in a blanket because she felt a breeze from the open window.

Gail wasn't feeling herself after the accident in the past week. It was like grief. She barely slept the night, has a small appetite, doesn't smile much, and doesn't say much. Although she has endured a series of unfortunate events for the last few months, breaking her arm was difficult to cope with. Gail tried to sob and cry to let it out of her system, but couldn't do it. That didn't stop her from trying again while she was alone.

Her attempts to release her emotions were interrupted when she noticed a shadow passing by from the front window, "Sal?" she called.

A male baritone voice replied, “Close enough.”

She sat up straight when he swayed to the window, revealing his familiar face, “Buster!”

He chuckled while resting his arms on the windowsill, “Good seeing you too. You seem well.”

Gail would ask him how did he found her site but remembered she had sent him an updated resume with a change of address recently. She nervously said, "I didn't expect you to show up."

He sighed, “I know, I should have told you I was coming, but work was finished early and I thought you could go for a surprise.” Gail found it funny that the last time she had seen him was when he rode with her so she could get home safely and now he was at her window unannounced. He asked, “So are you going to let me in or should I climb through the window?”

“Oh!” She hastily sat up and opened the door and let Keaton in to avoid being mistaken for a break-in if he had entered through the window. After having received flowers and get-well cards from friends and family, she was grateful for a visitor. When she opened the door, he was wearing a hazel suit with a white buttoned shirt underneath and a grey flat cap. He coughed in response to the smoke when he was in a kitchen area.

“Sorry, Sally burnt our dinner.” She explained while closing the door and the window curtains, “She had doused the fire out on the yard.”

“That explains the black mark out on the yard,” he pulled out a handkerchief from his shirt pocket to cover his mouth.

Gail retreated to her bedroom where she traded the blanket for her light blue buttoned sweater while Buster looked around. She called to him, “I guess you must have read about the accident in the papers?”

He responded, “Yes, though they didn’t get your name right.”

Gail intended to write a note to Buster about what happened to her but didn’t have any idea what to say as evidence of the trash bin full of the crumpled-up papers by her bed. “Well, the reporter was in a rush and didn’t have time to correct my name anyhow.”

Then Gail checked herself in the mirror. Her sleeveless day dress was alright. The curls on her locks were uneven, but she didn't mind because he had seen her unkempt hair on the train. Her makeup wasn’t too bad either, grateful that Sally had helped her earlier that day, otherwise, she couldn't do it with one arm. She only reapplied her lipstick before returning to the comedian.

“So this must be your new home,” Buster said as he sat on the armchair while she returned to her couch.

“I came across it in a newspaper. I found the name of the street familiar because I used to go around looking for a part in the pictures.”

“Had the others moved here as well?” he asked.

“No, just me. Sally’s only a helper. She tried her best and I’m grateful for that." Gail turned to the door, “Now I'm worried how she'll react to you once she gets back.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

She leaned towards him, “No no no, unless you have to go home.”

“No, I could stay for a bit at least before your other friend arrives.” it was then Gail noticed that her sling and cast were exposed from her opened sweater and tugged it back in due to her insecurity. From the look on Buster's face, it was obvious he had seen it before, no doubt from peeping at her while she was in the other room, “How long until your arm gets better?”

She was nervous to tell him but does so anyway, “If healed properly, the cast will be removed in a month. I may still wear a sling in addition to physical therapy."

“I’m awfully sorry that happened to you. At least it isn't the ankle.”

“Oh yeah, it happened to you.” Gail had almost forgotten of his injury some years ago before he brought it up.

“How could I forget?” He rested his foot to his knee to massage that very ankle, “There’s a scene from The Electric House where I ran on the moving staircase. That one step caught my slap shoe and before the stagehands could turn off the switch, my foot was dragged to the top, and the next thing I knew, my ankle was fractured.”

“That’s sounded awful,” Her voice was sympathetic.

“Yes, it was. I thought I was going to lose my foot, but thankfully I haven’t. Had to be out of commission for several weeks. They put me on bed rest, at least you can still move around. So anyway, long after my ankle is healed, we threw out the footage and started over.”

“When do you start filming?” What Gail knew from what he wrote to her weeks ago was that the production of Battling Butler was delayed until the end of the year and will be making an original story instead. Also, he’ll be working with a cow to which she thought was too ridiculous, if it wasn't a western.

He explained, “When we find a location for shooting and get everything ready, hopefully in June.”

Gail felt relieved, “Then, do I have a chance to be your co-star?”

He uncrossed his legs, “Well, About that.” Seeing his sullen look, Gail’s heart began to sink as it might be another case of the bad news.

It seemed he couldn’t find the words when he told her, “My boss Joe didn’t want me to hire you.” He sighed, “And he recommended me an actress from Dick Turpin, Kathleen Myers.” He assured her after she turned her face away from him, “It had nothing to do with your injury. It’s just that he preferred someone with experience as a leading lady.”

Gail felt sadness welling up in her throat and clenched her fist, “No, It’s definitely something to do with my arm!” She attempted to retreat to her bedroom, but being blinded by her tears caused her to collapse to her knees, and then she wept heavily. Her sobs made it impossible for her to hear Buster come up to her before he aided her to the dining table. She exclaimed, not making eye contact with the stone face, “I knew it, I knew it! I should’ve left home years ago, but I waited and waited for a chance to take me away like a chump I am!”

“You’re not a chump!”

“You don’t know that! I promised myself I would work with you, but I failed!” There were whimpers in her voice, “I couldn’t get cast in a cast!”

Keaton defended her, “It was only an accident.”

A teardrop ran across her cheek, “Which should I have prevented! This wouldn’t have happened if I was more careful.”

Her body shook as she cried again. Initially, Gail expected Buster to leave her to mourn, then she felt his hand rub on her back, then his arm wrapped around her, enabling her to huddle in for an embrace. With a scent of his cologne coming from between his shoulder and neck, her sobs became softer before they’re diminished. He patted her back a bit. She heard him say, “Gail, I wanted to work with you, I really have. Things aren’t always simple in Hollywood.”

She faced him again. He gave her his handkerchief when she began to rub her eyes. He brought her a glass of water from the dining table which he just filled up.

“Look at me”, he continued, “It took me three years in the film business before I started leading and directing comedies. How long you’ve been working on screen?”

She answered, “A year and a half.”

“That doesn’t seem so bad,” he placed his hand onto her cheek. “I’m sure things will turn out alright as soon as your arm heals. There’s still hope for us to work together once Schenck sees what you can do.”

With a sniff, she added, “And there’s still Battling Butler.”

“Yup that too.” he gave her a slight grin.

As she finished wiping her tears, Gail noticed the black smudges on his handkerchief “Have I messed up my makeup?” He responded with another nod. “Excuse me”, she got up to the countertop and brought out the bottle of olive oil, a remedy for running mascara.

He told her with the cloth in his hand,  “Allow me”

He added a dab of oil to his handkerchief and rubbed it onto her cheeks until they were clear.

“I might have unraveled your hair.” She pointed to the wavy part of his hair “Probably right there” she rose her right hand by his forehead, having her twirl the curl with her finger, “Perfect.” she said after stopping. Their eyes were fixated on each other. It was like that until they heard the key going in followed by the doorknob turning, the two then raced back to their respective seats.

Sally announced while opening the door and holding the big brown bag, “Hey Bae, took me longer to reach that take-out place, better to chow down while the food’s still hot.”

Gail was in her upright posture like nothing had happened, “Sal there’s a visitor.”

The blonde turned to Keaton who had just finished combing his hair, “Oh, shi-” She exclaimed, almost dropping the contents of the bag. Gail stood up to explain that the visit was a surprise to her as well and they were just talking in a professional matter. Buster also got up just to notify them he had to get home since it was almost six o'clock.

he turned to Gail, “One thing before I go, have you seen The Iron Mule?”

“No”

“My pal Roscoe actually directed it with a different name. It features someone I worked with back in the day and also watch out for that Indian.” he pointed to her, “You might find him familiar.”

she smiled, “Thank you for the visit.”

When he turned the doorknob and opened the door she just remembered something, "Wait!," She pulled out a notepad from the side table, wrote down her phone number, and tore it out to hand to Keaton. “No surprise visits next time. Okay?”

Buster nodded once, “Take care” he put on his hat and left her home as she waved.

Sally shrugged at her friend, “How the hell did he know where you live?”

She helped her unpack the take-out containers from the bag, “I’ll tell you over dinner and you owe me a dish.”

Gail was herself again, though embarrassed that she vented her emotions to her favorite comedian. What made her feel better wasn't the crying, but finding comfort in the object of her affection.

(sorry, I posted to my other account. I deleted it though.)

Note: I have to thank @trainrideswithbuster for giving me the idea that buster visits Gail while on the mend!

[thewomanwhowatchedchristmas]

Christmas in the Heartland (2017)

I'm gonna give this one props for not being as predictable as I predicted it would be.

So, we have fifteen year old Kara Gentry (Sierra McCormick) getting on a plane from Vermont to Stillwater, OK to visit her grandparents in Guthrie that she has never met to spend Christmas with them by herself. Her father Jeff Gentry (Christian Kane) owns a fortune 500 company, so they are loaded, and she has it all. Don't hate her though, she's not the villain.

We also have fifteen year old Jessie Wilkins (Brighton Sharbino) getting on a plane from Vermont to Stillwater, OK to visit her grandma in Guthrie that she has never met to spend Christmas with her by herself. Jessie is of the working class and has never met her father. Also not the villain.

These girls are seated next to each other on the plane (how CRAZY), and quickly find they have much more in common. They both would rather have stayed home, both lost their mothers, both like to sing, and (not mentioned) neither of them have sent school pictures to their grandparents. At first I thought they were gonna be long lost sisters Parent Trap style, but that didn't pan out. So once they get off the plane, they swap outfits and suitcases and find each other's rides. Jessie gets picked up by a driver in a fancy car, while Kara gets picked up by Grandma Judy Wilkins (Shelley Long) in a rusty green pick up (who the fuck calls it a pick em up truck? I'm too Midwest for this). Now, the movie swaps back and forth between storylines, but to simplify things, I will not.

Jessie (but remember everyone thinks she's Kara) gets let into the house (Manor? Estate?) by June (Tisha Bradford), the housekeeper. June shows her in to meet Elsa Gentry (Bo Derek) and Bob Gentry (Christopher Rich). It immediately becomes clear that Bob wants a relationship with his grandchild in whatever way he can, but Elsa wants to mold her into a true "southern Belle," complete with an entitled, holier than thou attitude, and deep-seeded classism. They even throw a coming out party to introduce Jessie to everyone, where Elsa's bitchy friend Ida Beth (Paula Trickey) mentions that she should be entered into the Christmas beauty pageant. Elsa agrees, forces Jessie to sing in front of everyone, and decides for Jessie that she's going to be in this pageant. Bob is pissed, but Jessie keeps acting like it's all fine, so Bob doesn't stop her. Jessie is a freaking wet noodle. Elsa spends all of her energy training Jessie and preparing for the pageant.

Meanwhile, Kara (but remember, everyone thinks she's Jessie) is riding with Grandma Judy, who says she has a surprise for her. Turns out, it's the real Jessie's father, Jimmy Wilkins (JoeDon Rooney), country singer! I really thought that would be enough to get the girls to switch back, but it wasn't. They go meet the rest of the family who they're going to be staying with. It's Jimmy's cousin-brother Roy Wilkins (Bryan Whorton) and his three sons. Roy's wife is deployed overseas. They have that real barbeque that Kara was hoping for. Then Jimmy starts playing his guitar, and Kara asks him to teach her. Then she ends up singing, and they're all blown away! Kara is actually the better singer in my opinion. Jessie isn't bad, but she doesn't have the power or the presence for performing. Then it's brought up (I think by Roy?) that Kara should enter the beauty pageant, too. Judy was a beauty queen in her younger years, so she trains Kara right up.

During the lead up to the pageant we find out that Jeff misses Kara and wants to spend Christmas with her, so he and his fiancée Sherry (Tiffany Fallon) fly down to Guthrie. Of course, they show up at the pageant, but don't find out about the switch at that point. But the girls are in hot water now. I kind of judge Kara for taking so long to break because Jessie doesn't have much for family left in Vermont and Kara is building all these amazing relationships with Jessie's family here while Jessie is both spoiled amd tortured by Elsa. But Kara is the one who breaks. And when the Wilkins family (the whole thing) goes over to the Gentry house to take Kara back and meet the real Jessie, we find out that there is a pair of long lost siblings- just not the girls (and still not quite in the way I expected).

The whole movie was very small town Oklahoma, and the music was pretty good until that last song at the end that the whole cast sings together. I think it's called "A Southern Christmas" but it is BAD. Other than that, I was pleasantly surprised by this movie.

Overall, I give it 3 stars.

[clexa--warrior]

Fear The Walking Dead' continues its losing streak in Sunday night's episode 'Ner Tamid.'

Credit: AMC

Sunday night's episode of Fear The Walking Dead was a little bit better than the rest of this half of the season, and I think I know why: There was no Morgan!s

Morgan and Al are off doing their own thing, and miraculously we didn't hear from either one this week. That's good! Sadly, we also didn't get any Alicia. She remains one of the only characters I still like on this show, though the past few episodes have done their level best to character-assassinate her (she's probably off painting more trees at this point).

The rest of the episode was pretty much about as pointless as the rest of the episodes in Season 5. Charlie "runs away" from the convoy to go find some place for them to stay, so that they're not always on the move. Finding a place to stay is a really good idea. Running off on your own in the zombie apocalypse is stupid beyond all reckoning, and I wish the writers and producers would stop making the characters act like such absolute dunces every week.

It appears the real problem is June, who is apparently in charge of the caravan and its 36 members. She's driving them all hard, not letting them stay in one place long, no rest for the weary and all that jazz. Even John Dorie is like "Hey June, baby, I love you but this is ridiculous," but it falls on deaf ears. I'm not sure why June is acting like this, or why she's suddenly in charge, or why they have a caravan instead of a base to begin with, but that doesn't matter. Fear The Walking Dead just does stuff, and we're just supposed to eat it up without questioning anything.

I think that's the only way people can still enjoy this show--just don't ask any questions, don't think about anything too much, don't expect anything remotely like logic or realism or human nature to figure into it at all.

In any case, Charlie makes yet another new friend while out on her own. This time it's a Jewish Rabbi, Jacob Kessner, who lives all by himself at his old synagogue. All his former flock are now zombies, calling to mind Father Gabriel from The Walking Dead (though Kessner is much less annoying than Gabriel, who I still can't stand). Charlie thinks this would be a good place for the survivors to settle down, but things don't work out. Before the end of the episode, the safe haven is overrun and Kessner is out of a home. Shocking. We've never seen the survivors show up and ruin a good thing before! (That's sarcasm, by the way. Everywhere our heroes go falls apart, from the family on the island to the Mexican villa, to the ranch, to the kids' treehouse this season).

June and Dorie show up and there's some zombie action, but we know nobody is going to actually get killed by a zombie. That hardly ever happens on this show. The last time I can think of it actually happening was when Madison died, but she died offscreen so we didn't even see it. There used to be some great zombie kills in previous seasons, but there's no reason to fear anything in Fear The Walking Dead these days.

That applies to Logan and his group of feckless, toothless bad guys. At one point they chase Sarah and Dwight--who looks ridiculous clean-shaven, though I suppose it's symbolic of his being totally neutered by the do-gooder sickness that's befallen the entire cast--and almost catch them but the tank shows up and saves the day. Of course, why they were so worried and running to begin with is beyond me. Recall last week when Morgan and Al were faced with a dozen of Logan's thugs and nothing happened. They just blocked the road and that's all. Are we supposed to think that this week things are so different that they pose an actual threat now?

Of course, it turns out that the whole thing was just a diversion. Logan wanted to distract the convoy. Apparently he's figured out where the oil fields are and he wanted Morgan's group as far away as possible which, uh, kind of sounds like what he did in the very beginning of this season by having them fly off to the nuclear power plant region. They're running out of ideas so fast it isn't even funny.

Is there even a story here? I mean, there are things that happen I guess, but is there a story? Let's try to parse it all together, shall we?

Season 5 starts with Morgan and most of the crew crash-landing a plane because they thought they were helping someone but it was just Logan tricking them so that he could take over the mill. The first half of the season is spent trying to get a new plane or fix the old plane so they can fly it back. There's also a nuclear power plant that's going to melt down, and we meet a new character, Grace, who is trying to prevent that. Eight episodes are spent on this dual-plot, with Strand and Charlie ultimately saving the day by bringing propellers in a hot air balloon to the heroes who then use their years of airplane mechanic experience to fix the plane and then fly successfully back to their own area of Texas because apparently that region has zero roads leading. It is a mystical island within the state of Texas that can only be reached by air (unless you're Dwight or his wife who apparently both managed just fine on solid ground).

So that's the first half of Season 5. Crash plane, fix plane, fly out. Logan has the mill. Then, bizarrely, at the very end of the first half of the season Logan tries to make a deal with them. This deal is not struck, we discover in the Season 5 midseason premiere, and Logan goes back to working with the thugs. I can't tell if they're working for him or he's working for them, because the show has done such a lousy, inconsistent job at explaining things to us.

Speaking of which, we learn that during the break, during the period of time that occurs off-screen between the two halves of this season, that Morgan has discovered where Polar Bear's oil fields are. And I guess he's also figured out how to refine oil into gasoline. And I guess this is what Logan was after the whole time, but they just neglected to introduce that conflict in any remotely comprehensible way. Now, five episodes into the back half of the season, the entire plot seems to be "Morgan and group go around helping people more while Logan tries to figure out where the oil fields are." Five episodes of filler with virtually nothing of any importance happening. Alicia meets the guy painting on all those trees. Morgan and Grace try and fail to spark a romance. Logan is mad at Morgan but does nothing about it. They film a stupid PSA and put it on VCRs with generators wherever they can so that people know that they're out there trying to help people.

None of this qualifies as a story, at least not really. The story, if it had to be boiled down, would be the conflict between Logan and Morgan's two groups. But that conflict barely exists, as evidenced by the times they've actually encountered one another and done nothing. At least Negan did stuff. At least the Saviors posed a threat, no matter how badly produced Seasons 7 and 8 of The Walking Dead were. At least there was a story.

Here we just have people driving around wasting gas, talking on walkie-talkies, rarely having realistic conversations or actually interesting struggles or conflicts. It's all contrived. You could probably boil down the entire 12 episodes we've seen so far into two and not lose anything.

Just take away the whole entire plane crash plot and have them tricked into leaving the mill. Then have Logan realize what he wanted in the mill wasn't there and go to war with Morgan to get the map to the oil fields. The oil fields themselves would be useless to Morgan since he doesn't know how to refine oil into gasoline, but he knows that Logan is bad news so he keeps that information from him anyways. Have Logan kill some of the good guys, and have that test Morgan's resolve to be a good person. Have Dwight show up as one of Logan's dudes, on the other side of the conflict, and have that make him question whether he's made the right choice.

I mean, I think you could probably get eight episodes out of this conflict, and then you could twist things around for the second half of the season. Morgan could snap again, go full killstreak mode. He and Alicia could break into two different groups and the conflict could continue between them somehow. This is all just spit-balling. The fact is, it would be fairly simple to come up with a better story for Season 5, with better and more natural conflicts. Actually, I'd have introduced Logan as a sympathetic character and had him join the group, had his treachery not manifest until it was too late. Make the betrayal sting.

But this is all fantasy. I want the same kind of tense conflict that drove Season 3, with sympathetic characters on both sides and no easy resolution. But what we're getting is a bunch of badly written filler episodes with no real purpose and an overarching conflict that makes no sense. Meanwhile, we get things like Al leaving all her tapes in a safe and then not bothering to even shut the lock boxes, and that's how Logan discovers the oil fields. We get John Dorie shooting a bullet at a hatchet blade so that it can split in two and kill a pair of approaching zombies. That's the kind of vapid writing this show has now. It's just sad.

Next week, Logan will use the oil fields to wipe out half of all living things in the universe and the week after that Al and June and Daniel will send Skidmark back in time in a time machine they built out of spare plane parts, and Skidmark's job will be to kill Polar Bear before he ever planted the oil seeds that eventually grew into the oil fields, but little do they know that Polar Bear is waiting for them . . . . it's a trap!

I just . . . I can't. I don't know what else to say. What a sad joke Fear has become.

[myth-and-mischief]

How come you feel "Zarkon's early death" doesn't work?

The actual fight itself is very well done.  The fight, the ambiance, and the animation isright up there with the other great fights of the series.  I also don’t have a problem with and actuallyprefer that Lotor is the one that ultimately ends up defeating/killing Zarkon,since it has a much greater character impact. But I have a problem with the overall idea for several reasons.  This mainly relates to the fact that Voltronhas an overall problem of telling us facts/story points rather than showingthem, and that Zarkon’s death so early on in the season is not used to set upeven greater villain(s) and thus comes off as anticlimactic.  

Emperor Zarkon reminds me greatly of Emperor Frieza fromDragonball Z.  In fact, given Voltron’stendency to reference, they might have even been inspired by/trying to pull aFrieza with Zarkon.  Frieza also ends upultimately dying/being defeated very early on in a season.  However, this ends up working tremendously asa storyline because (1) Frieza’s position as emperor and terrifying power havebeen repeatedly established for what ends up being a good chunk of the originalDBZ run (aka prior to Majin Buu addition) (2) the time they took to establishhis power and (3) his defeat beautifully sets up a series of increasingly morepowerful and terrifying villains in DBZ afterwards. 

The Emperor’s Power:

Frieza ends up being the ultimate villain of the FriezaGroup of Sagas (heading to Namek up the original defeat of Frieza), which endsup being 71 episodes in the original run and 37 episodes in DBZ Kai (whichessentially got rid of filler/ things not in the manga).  As it turns out, from the beginning of Voltronto Zarkon’s death in S5E2 ends up being 39 episodes.  However most people grew up with the originalrun of DBZ, myself included, so I’ll be referring to the original 71 episoderun. I’d also include the special/movie “Bardock the Father of Goku” in thelineup, since it provides even more background of how Frieza is in power, and howwith literally one swish of a finger he wipes out an entire planet save for ahandful of survivors (sound familiar with Zarkon vs Altea?)

What DBZ ends up doing is working up to its villains.  The first is Raditz, who literally leads tothe main character’s death, and then ultimately Vegeta/Nappa, who end upkilling half/most of the main cast.  Wellguess what?  Those guys WORKED forFrieza.  The main characters then go upagainst Zarbon/Dodoria, then the Ginyu Force, which again are increasinglydifficult villains who merely WORK for Frieza. This does end up having an equivalent in Voltron in characters such asSendak, other commanders sent against the paladins, and the Robeasts.  

The differences are immediately apparent when we finally getto “the final boss”.  Entire episodes arededicated to fighting Frieza.  Multiple peoplefight Frieza personally.  Then they fightFrieza through several different transformation stages of his that onlyincrease in power before finally getting to his ultimate form and once againkilling off at least two major characters (Krillin, Vegeta).  This is finally overcome with the first maincharacter/Super Saiyan transformation of the series and then thinking we’veultimately killed Frieza.  We get tophysically see the reasons that Frieza is so feared and has held onto his positionas emperor.  

Zarkon, on the other hand and for the most part, we aremerely TOLD that he is powerful.  In theentirety of his 39 episode run as the ultimate villain, he is foughtpersonally/face to face only THREE times. This is:

·       Zarkon vs. the Red Lion/Keith, S1E11, which lastsroughly 7 minutes.  The actual length ofthe fight is even less because there are cutaways to Shiro vs. Haggar, as wellas rescuing Allura.  

·       Zarkon in his mech vs. Voltron, S2E13, whichlasts roughly 15 minutes.  The actuallength is even less since there are cutaways to Allura/Kolivan vs. Haggar/herdruids.

·       Huge wait to reach Mech/Suited Zarkon vs. Lotor,S5E2, which last roughly 10 minutes.  Andonce again the actual length is less due to cutaways of ½ paladins vs. Galra fleet,and the other ½ paladins rescuing Sam Holt.

An additional problem with the Zarkon fights aside from the firstis the question is how powerful is Zarkon all on his own.  Frieza (with the possible exception of whenhe returns in the Trunks Saga) is entirely under his own power and his power isonly enhanced by his personal transformations. Zarkon’s very first fight appears entirely under his own power.  But then there’s the second fight, andquestions of how much is it Zarkon’s power vs. Haggar/druids magic assisting/weakeningVoltron vs. his mech power assisting. The same happens with the final fight, how much is purely Zarkon vs. hisarmor vs. the quintessence he is absorbing.

Time:  

The 71 DBZ episodes in question, the original English dubrelease in the US ran from 9/20/1997 to 11/3/1999, or roughly 2 years and 2months.  This was also released in astandard viewing format/serialized television, aka of either daily or weeklyepisode releases.  Because you’re waitingfor a day or a week at a time to see what happens next, you keep that anticipationrunning.  

Voltron Season 1 was released in its entirety to Netflix onJune 2016.  Season 5, where Zarkon isdefeated, was released in its entirety to Netflix in March 2018.  That translates to roughly 1 year and 8months, which is already a shorter time span. The other problem that happens is that while yes you wait between seasons,you can marathon an entire season/the entire show in a matter of hours.  This is less of anticipation and moredrumming your thumbs waiting for the next season.  

Killing him off earlyin a season/Using his defeat to set up subsequent villains:

In the original DBZ release, there was a short season afterthe defeat of Frieza.  Granted the GarlicJr. Saga is technically filler, but it presents a new powerful villain.  But directly after that the main heroes findout that Frieza is still alive and coming directly to Earth.  I cannot tell you as a child how fuckingFRUSTRATING it was to have Frieza return as a villain because we had alreadyspent so fucking long with him as a villain.

But then FutureTrunks arrives and completely wipes him AND Frieza’s apparently even morepowerful father in almost an instant (4 episodes original, 2 episodes DBZ Kai).  It was so remarkable that it’s the entirereason Future Trunks started to become one of my top fav characters in thefirst place.  But then DBZ uses what Iconsider a brilliant story mechanic of using Frieza’s insta-death to set up thenext several villains.  The entire reasonFuture Trunks came back to the past was because there are two villains sopowerful that Trunks, who just insta-killed Frieza/King Cold, can’t defeatthem.  This then sets up Androids 19 and20, oh no opps those weren’t the (an)droids I was looking for.  But wait there they are Andriods 17 and 18and oh shit Android 16, who are all more powerful than 19/20.  But wait again here’s Cell, who starts outalready is more powerful then them because he can absorb power by killingpeople and is stronger than 17/18.  OhFUCK what do you mean Cell reaches his final form by absorbing 17 and 18???

Again, in short, killing off Frieza so early in a seasonworks beautifully because (1) its been thoroughly established how powerful heis and (2) his death is used as the starting point setting off severalsubsequent villains.  Zarkon’s death,however, fails on both fronts.  He hasessentially been poorly established in how powerful he is.  And his death ends up ultimately anticlimacticbecause its not used to do anything.  There’sa reason that ultimately defeating a villain is usually saved for a seasonfinale/end of a movie/end of a saga, or at least a mid-season/mid-saga finale, becausethat’s where it works best.  If you endup using it at a much earlier point you better have a damn good set-up orreason for doing so (which, again, Frieza’s works but Zarkon’s doesn’t)

What I think the writers should have done to make this workwas use Zarkon’s death to fully establish Sendak.  And they appear to somewhat start doing thisbefore shoehorning Lotor in as the villain for that season.  Sendak was personally chosen and traineddirectly by Zarkon, and the relationship essentially comes off as Zarkon usingSendak to replace Lotor.  We start to seethis in Haggar backing Sendak, Sendak fighting at the Kral Zera, and thenleading the Fires of Purification.  Butthen after S6E1, Sendak just fucks off the entire rest of the season, and we’releft with the poorly established/poorly executed/shoe-horned “Lotor was avillain all along!” finale.  Granted,Sendak returns as a rather terrifying villain in s7, but I feel its completelyundercut by s6.  

What I believe ultimately would have worked better is, postZarkon’s death and keeping closer to the canon we got, continuing to build upSendak as a villain until the s7 finale. Have him be motivated as getting revenge for Zarkon, or that he feelsthat only he is the proper/true successor to Zarkon.  Have him keep attacking the paladins/Lotor inincreasingly difficult/ insane manner (like the attack on Omega Shield), suchas killing people/planets just to get at the paladins/Lotor.  Needing more power or ships to fight Sendak couldhave also fed into the reason they go to Oriande, completing Sincline, andgetting into the quintessence field, which in canon feels rather disjointed withshaky motivations.  Then take Sendak allthe way up to the point of he is either directly the reason, or Haggar throughSendak, is the reason the Castleship is destroyed and the Lions are withoutpower.  Then, instead of killing them offlike fish in a barrel, he does something else to hurt them more:  letting them know he’s going to destroy Earth,and leave.  That in turn would make Sendakan even greater villain in s7.  

I also have an opposing idea of directly building Zarkon upproperly for a season then turning it over to Sendak the next season, but thatwould be an entire post in itself.  

[friendstobrothers]

Chapter 9: Correction Surgeries

Sergei's Plight

By Charmed Wolf

Here we go, the 9th set of 11 days for Sergei before he goes home to recouperate with his family from his burns, his emotional scars still need time to heal before he would be back into swing of things. Yushka is still hoping that Sergei would be back to being respected like he was once before; time will only tell if that's going to happen for him, this is also the start of the correction surgeries for Sergei so he could walk more normally instead of having the scars hampering the way he walks. Yushka is going to continue to try to build Sergei's reputation as a nice man back up, there would be people in his way to tell him a complete lie about his Russian brother. Keep in mind that this is a fictional story with fictional characters, it's to illustrate real problems that can go on in the real world, also keep in mind that Sergei is Russian and Yushka is Ukrainian; they hold a friendship that had bloomed into a brotherhood that no war could ever sever, and the incident that happened to Sergei made Yushka stand by his Russian brother more than ever. That is even right through every painful bandage change, now it's not as painful as when he first got to the hospital on the evening of March 9th.

~June 5, 2022~ First of many surgeries.

“We'll start in getting correction surgeries planned and line up for the first one already, so he could be walking a little better,” we all understood what Dr. Stein was saying so Sergei could be moving easier before he could return home, I'm looking forward to day that Danieli could give my Russian brother some time to decompress and to relax; majority of people that actually hate him haven't given him moments rest and been giving him stress. That isn't good for Sergei to be stressed out like that and causing him to cry in real emotional pain, he doesn't need to be treated like trash like that either; that was what was causing stress for Sergei. “I think you should try to change that for him, get his reputation back to what it was,” it was all of his friends suggesting I do just that, well; I'll do just that for Sergei, or at least try to do for my Russian brother. I hope first surgery is successful in starting to loosen up those scars so he could walk once cast is off his leg, whoever did that was still such bonehead doing that to Sergei making it that much more difficult on him. “Alright, I'll do that for Sergei because he's worth everything, he's someone we all hold dear to,” I knew Sergei could be legendary bear when it came to defending his friends and family; that's how he earned his nickname of Legendary Bear, it was all because he can be very aggressive at times. There had been major spat between this kid and Sergei not long after Germans invaded Russia; this kid and he was having it out wanted my Russian brother to join Red Army and this honorable Siberian Cossack wasn't about to do that, he told the kid that he wasn't to be there to save his ass like he did before, needless to say, that kid didn't survive war, getting killed at Stalingrad and Sergei not shedding tears.

“Why do you have such a fancy story like that to tell of that monster?” It makes me mad to here that from that man that was around, I will have to take him aside to talk to him in little bit so I could finish my story about Sergei; I know he's not some monster that has to be taken down. His friends were waiting until Sergei was out of his first correction surgery while I went to tell my story to anyone who would listen, I was told that first of his surgeries had been successful and doctor was going let my Russian brother heal before next surgery is be done.

“Because everything of that story is true and only one that is monster is you, not Sergei, I know him where you don't, I see him as my Russian brother and knowing that he has nothing to do with invasion of Ukraine or the autroucities being commited by Russian troops,” I knew Sergei to be of honor and to know better not to follow what those Russian troops, lately; I have been helping my Russian brother to get his reputation back to what it was long before invasion of Ukraine even began. I looked this man where his jaw just drops to ground in surprise, I do know Sergei to be respectful and very charming as far as Russian Cossack would go. “You take your freedom for granted, Sergei came from Russia long before you were born,” That was what I was trying to tell people, there were few willing to listen not only with their ears; they listened with their whole being. This was coming from those who had once disapproved of my Russian brother, they were finally seeing truth about Sergei.

~June 6, 2022~ Restoring the reputation.

“I heard that Sergei's reputation is finally being restored,” I nod as I was sitting in cafeteria of hospital enjoying some tea, I couldn't stop helping my Russian to have his reputation of being most respectful and most honorable in this city; he deserves as much love as I do because he hadn't have anything to do with invasions.

Sergei was sleeping after his first surgery had been done, in few days; Dr. Stein was going to start on another surgery to help free Sergei up to where he could walk better. “I'll say his skin is looking better than when it did,” I had to agree there, between correction surgeries and his burn treatments; his skin no longer had that charred look and it was getting better. He was starting to look like well defined Russian Cossack, Slavlana was still going to work with him to help him to walk once his cast is off. “These nurses are sweethearts, I like how they take care of Sergei,” Miguel had said as he saw one of nurses come into Sergei's room with familiar bakery box, someone must have known that my Russian brother loves pirozhki pastries; all of nurses treated Sergei well and all he showed for it was gratetude because he didn't expect compassion. It's like that one worship song sang at most churches, everyone needs compassion; it's true because that's what Sergei needed and he also needed time to decompress and heal, both physically and emotionally from what happened to him. “Мы пошли в булочную и купили тебе пирожки,” one of nurses helped Sergei to sit up so he could eat his favorite pastry, I think it would be fun to visit that bakery and pick up some Russian and Ukrainian pastries to eat while we would be out for day to have fun; oh and I just made myself hungry talking about Ukrainian and Russian food, oh well.

I suppose I'll have to stop soon and get lunch with Sergei's friends before we go back up to visit with my Russian brother, I'm going to be even happier to see Sergei home from hospital and his trip to Georgia. “I heard that someone had been vandalizing Russian owned businesses,” I had heard of same thing, it was all connected to Russian Orthodox church burning down and Sergei being burned; I though of that one sign that I had once seen in store, I thought of my Russian brother when I saw that. Sign read what doesn't kill you makes you stronger except bears, bears can kill you; I would like to get that for Sergei because he is definitely bear and he owns grizzlies.

~June 7, 2022~ Beware of grizzly bears...seriously.

“Nikita, are you going to start up summer programs?” I wanted to confirm what I was thinking, I was thinking that my Russian family was going to take summer off because of Sergei is in hospital because of being burned horrifically; Nikita was taking care of Sergei's bears. He hadn't answered yet, those bears were waiting for my Russian brother to get home as Nikita fed them. “We just started yesterday with Luka taking over until Sergei is better and home,” Well, I was wrong about that then; it was okay when I noticed Luka with some summer school students, first thing that those kids forgot is that you don't piss of Russian Cossacks. They already tried that with Viktor, he almost had to draw his shashka on one of those students. “Viktor, have they insulted Luka yet?” I had to ask that because I had a feeling that it would happen or one of them provokes Sergei's bears, only think Viktor did was shake his head; I'm hoping one of those kids would insult Luka or provoke those bears. I suppose you can say that is most badass Russian thing to do is have bears, makes me love my Russian family all more than I have when I had first met them when they were fleeing Soviet Russia to freedom.

“Юшка, Луку просто оскорбили и он в бешенстве.” oh so it finally happened, some kid decided to be idiot and insult Luka after his teacher said not to; that is good idea to follow rules and listen to teachers. Some kids just don't care and won't listen to their teachers at all, and people wonder where the kids had learned that behavior from, look at their parents. Then you have kids indirectly insulting Sergei for what happened to him, when he got burned that severely; it wasn't really his fault and he didn't deserve it one bit.

“ЭТОГО ДОСТАТОЧНО!! Well, that kid pushed one too many buttons on Luka regarding Sergei, and wait until he finds out what Luka had done to this kid; it was that kid that have paid attention to what happened to Sergei and why he's most vulnerable spot right now. Those kids that laughed weren't that much better, they ended up getting punished by their teacher for what this kid had done to indirectly insult Sergei. “Лука, что он сделал?” Luka looked to see it was Nikita, he wasn't just Luka's cousin; he was Ataman for entire 2 ½ squadrons of cavalry. I knew what was going on and what was pissing Luka off, it was not good thing to piss off any Russian Cossacks. “Этот парень, Никита, косвенно оскорбил Сергея,” Nikita was furious about it, it wasn't with Luka he was furious; it was that kid he was furious with because of that insult that was said. You really don't want to mess with Nikita when he's furious, my Russian really don't like when they get insulted, I don't blame them.

~June 8, 2022~ Sergei's second correction surgery.

“Dr. Stein had taken Sergei for his second surgery, it's just where he could move better,” I had informed his friends about what was happening, legiments in both of Sergei's knees had been damaged from flames when he was burned; same orthopedic doctor had fixed Sergei's leg was working on my Russian brother's other knee.

First surgery was complete success to replace what was damaged, I was hoping that this surgery is successful because I don't want Sergei to have any problems with walking while we would be out and enjoying ourselves. “Well, he's out of surgery and that went well, it was also a complete successful,” Dr. Stein said after he came from operating room, it would be after one hour that we would be able to go see Sergei; I know his knees would hurt after having them operated on to replace what was damaged. It wasn't just his side and back that had been damaged, Sergei's joints at his knees were damaged from those flames also. “That's great to hear, Sergei will little to no difficulty in moving now,” doctors also did some skin graphing to further free up my Russian brother, I know I'll be happier when walking with Sergei when he's home; I called Danieli to tell him that both surgeries on Sergei's knees were successful and he will be able to walk without any trouble. I know Sergei still doesn't want any trouble, I really don't blame him for not wanting any trouble. “I take it Danieli took the good news well,” I knew Miguel was itching to go up to see Sergei, it hadn't been at hour mark yet before he was moved back into his room to rest; once my Russian brother is back in his room is when we could go see him.

“Hey, what happened yesterday with their program they run?” De'shaun had a little brother that was going through those programs to be taught discipline, I had to tell De'shaun since he's only one that is having to step up to raise his brothers and sisters; so being brother and parent is very hard on him. It all started with one insult and then Luka yelling that it was enough in Russian, I take De'shaun aside to tell him. “One of those students at summer school thought it was good idea to indirectly insult Sergei and it pissed Luka off,” student that insulted Sergei indirectly wasn't De'shaun's brother, so that was good there; that insult really pissed Luka off that it made Nikita come over to see what was going on. And he was told by one pissed off Luka, it really made Nikita that much furious with that kid that you don't want to be messing about with Russian Cossacks.

~June 9, 2022~ 27 days since the incident.

“Прошло 27 дней с тех пор, как я получил ожог, и я уже прошел через многое, через операции по пересадке кожи, и теперь мне пришлось заменить оба колена из-за нанесенного ущерба,” Sergei was awake after his second correction surgery, he was grateful that he is alive; he also has support of his friends and family to help him get better. It was painful when Slavlana would work with my Russian brother to start getting used to his new knees, once cast comes off; Sergei will be able to be worked with more to move better. “Доброе утро, Сергей, я вижу, у тебя хорошо заживают колени, это хорошо,” Slavlana smiles as she went to go see how Sergei was doing, he was in a good mood knowing that he will be home soon after staying with Danieli in Georgia for some time; I knew Slavlana was going wait at least week before working with my Russian brother to start getting up and walking and, she knew that Sergei's leg was still healing nicely from being broken. “Доброе утро, Славлана, немного поболели, в остальном все нормально,” Sergei had smiled back being in such good mood, he knows that he's going to have to go through; it wasn't too hot outside for program to continue going on. I'm sure Luka or Nikita wouldn't want to tell what one of those kids had done and ruin Sergei's good mood, when it comes to problem kids; he's most patient with them so what they do falls back on themselves.

“Этого следовало ожидать, я надеюсь, что боль хорошо справляется,” Sergei had told her that it was, so his knees didn't hurt as much and that was good; he was uncomfortable with having to have pillow under his legs to keep his knees elevated, well, with that and him not used to laying on his back. When Slavlana left his room after helping Sergei to move to sit for little bit to read until lunch, Dr. Fox came to see how Sergei's knees where healing; he had a very good bed side manner as he checked the knees.

“Эй, Сергей, держу пари, ты взволнован тем, что скоро поедешь домой,” Luka had come to see how his older cousin was doing, I knew Sergei was wanting to stand to give his cousin a big bear hug; he'll have to wait until his cast is off for that. I heard laughing from Sergei and Luka when they were talking about what happened other day, my Russian brother knows how furious Nikita can get when it comes to problem kids pushing Luka's buttons one too many times and with that insult that was said about Sergei. “Что случилось с ребенком?” Sergei had to ask about that, Luka knew about Dimitri's habit of duct taping Viktor to Sergei's door just to piss Sergei off; Nikita had to ask for Dimitri's help with this kid. Viktor was glad that it wasn't him getting duct taped for change, instead; he helped Dimitri with duct taping. “Дмитрий и Виктор закончили тем, что приклеили этого ребенка скотчем к столу, что вполне уместно, учитывая, что Никита был очень нетерпелив,” that set Sergei off laughing thinking that was very fitting for this kid for acting like jackass, now I know that this kid's mother is Karen and she had tried to get Dimitri and Viktor to get him untaped. They refused to do so and she went over to Nikita, she demanded that her kid was untaped and Nikita refused to her face.

~June 10, 2022~ Sergei's burns itch, good sign of healing.

“He's not letting anything get to him, except for the burns starting to itch more,” I understood what Dr. Stein had said, Col Remer was starting to get things lined up for Sergei once released out of hospital; it wasn't going to be long before my Russian brother would be moved from burn floor to rehab floor once they think that his leg is healed enough to start with rehab. I'm hoping it would be so he could be up and walking, I'm still planning to walk with him and going through museum and have good time. “It sounds like Sergei is having more good days than he is of bad days, that's very good to hear,” I looked over as Dr. Fox took off the cast off and x-rayed the leg, it looked like it was healed over enough for Sergei to start rehab and to be moved to that floor; I went to go called Nikita to tell him about what was going on regarding Sergei. He was overjoyed with the news that his brother was going to be moved to rehab floor to start with physical therapy to get worked with to where he can walk without any problems, I was happy about fact that Sergei was able to be off any pain medicince. “I think your new room is bigger than one you were in when you first got here,” and that room Sergei was moved to was bigger, Col. Remer was protecting my Russian family by setting up relay to get clothes to Sergei for bed and for his physical therapy. “Да я знаю, Юшка, хоть хорошо,” he was able to get onto his bed very carefully, I know that Slavlana was told that Sergei never wears shoes and it was always boots; she understood fact that my Russian Cossack brother is from Siberia. Talk about cold winters there and annual snowball fights, just don't get pelted with snowballs from his sister-in-law, Sarina; sometimes she will hide rocks in her snowballs.

“Я рад, что ты, наконец, скоро вернешься домой,” I knew he was excited about about finally being able to go home, first; Danieli wanted Sergei to be able to decompress after what had happened to him. I think that's good idea on Danieli's part, also it was in part that there was contract hit out on Sergei's life. “Юшка, ты знаешь, как только я вернусь из больницы, мы с тобой должны будем посетить музей,” I chuckle about that realizing he was right, tomorrow was when Slavlana would start working with Sergei on getting him up to walking; before he'd know it, he'd be back to running. So far, I'm happy to have my Russian brother; I know he chose to forgive instead of holding onto bitterness, so many people want him to hold onto bitterness instead of letting it go like way he was raised in Russian Orthodox church as boy growing up.

“Не с нетерпением жду физиотерапии, да ладно, это еще один шаг к исцелению,” it was time for me to go home to let Sergei to rest, it was good to see him moved to bigger room on rehab floor; I think in coming days we'll more of my Russian brother's sense of humor. I think that is what helped him most to heal was knowing his friends and family hadn't abandoned him and fact he still knows how to be funny.

~June 11, 2022~ First day of physical therapy.

“Okay, we'll get you up and dressed before we start with breakfast and therapy,” Sergei starts to move slowly, he was still tired from being moved from burn floor to rehab floor to begin his physical therapy; I know he wasn't looking forward to that physical therapy. It was to point were he was still healing from his burns, Slavlana was being firm but gentle with Sergei when working with him. “Больно вставать и просто двигаться,” I think Slavlana understood that and stopped to let Sergei rest; it will get easier as time passes, this was just his first day of physical therapy. It won't be long until my Russian brother would be up and walking, his physical therapy was going to be long process just so he can walk without trouble. “Только в первый день терапии со временем боль начнет уменьшаться, вы сможете ходить без боли или дискомфорта,” I knew that Slavlana would be good to Sergei as she would be working with him; every time it would start to hurt after being worked with, she'd stop and let him rest until he's ready to start again with therapy. I would say by next week, pain with Sergei's knees would be less by more he moves and works with Slavlana. “Сергей, я так рада, что у тебя начинают получаться физиотерапевтические процедуры,” once he was back to his room to rest, he was pleased that he had done well with his first day of physical therapy; he let out yawn being tired and he laid back to rest for little bit. I know Sergei will continue to work until he could walk without any problems, Slavlana left Sergei's room after he had fallen asleep after his first session of physical therapy for that day.

“How was his first day of physical therapy?” Dr. Stein wanted to know as he saw that my Russian brother was laying on bed asleep, it had been very full day for Sergei since being moved to rehab floor; Nikita wanted to come and spend some time with his brother for evening break. I know Col. Remer thought it was dangerous do that considering that there were still some people out that didn't want my Russian family here at all, it's people like that don't know what it's like to have to flee from only country they ever know and in middle of war and winter.

“He did fine, he stopped several times because it was starting to hurt,” it was good news to here as my Russian brother was sleeping, all of his therapy were in morning after breakfast; to further protect his knees, I know Slavlana had gotten some specific knee braces for him to wear until his knees heal. Dr. Stein was pleased with news and finished up with release papers to get Sergei to be released some time in July, that would be time for Col. Remer to get hotel room and pick Sergei up. “That's good to hear, I'm glad, I'm going to have him released on the 9th of July so he could be home with his family,” I was going to tell Danieli that plans for him to take Sergei to Georgia were on, my Russian brother was going to be released on July 9th; that meant he will have extra time to decompress and heal from what all had happened to him since March.

~June 12, 2022~ Second day of physical therapy.

“Now this is going to be a little different as far as physical therapy, seeing how this is Sunday,” Slavlana was using her day off to work with Sergei, there were still people that still call him inhuman monster; although that number is not a great as it was. Slavlana could see that my Russian brother isn't inhuman monster or trash or anything else, she had to confront man as she was walking into hospital to work with Sergei. “Typically this would be your day off,” Sergei was wondering why she was coming in on her day off, she had chess set and set it up knowing my Russian brother would play chess as someone who knows strategy; I have always known that he'd be very smart when it comes to chess and to using strategy. This man doesn't know what Sergei is really like as person, that man that was badgering Slavlana hadn't known what Sergei's full story was. “I thought you and I could spend some time together,” I knew they got to know each other after she had immigrated from Ukraine and Sergei had helped her and her son with finding place to live and for her to find work to go to school, that was pretty generous of Sergei to do that for Slavlana; it only proves that he's isn't some inhuman monster. It only also proves that he doesn't deal with Karens and male equivilant there, it was all that remained of those that still call Sergei inhuman monster and trash and other sorted names they could think of without realizing what it's doing.

“Since being here and being treated for burns, I have missed playing chess with Alexei,” Slavlana knew that was Sergei's brother-in-law, or at least one of his brothers-in-law; hehe, Так, Sergei and his brothers all have 7 brothers-in-law. It goes without question that he was ready to return home, oh; even I would like to have him home so he would have place to recouperate from his burns and from what those three teenagers did to him. “I don't expect those Karens will try again to redicule you again,” Slavlana knew that Sergei knew what she had meant by that; that's one more reason why he doesn't deal with such people, as I had said before, I really can't blame him. Well, to come to think of it; neither could Slavlana, she didn't like dealing with one mother when her son had to go through physical therapy after being injured seriously in car accident at fault of that kid's mother.

“Speaking such entitled idiots, I make it point not deal with people like that,” Slavlana liked how Sergei had thought of that, in fact; it was actually Nikita that came with that. I know he doesn't like to deal with entitled brats either, like one that tried to make off with his kubanka and wear it. “The kid I had to work with once was sorry for his mother, who kept yelling at me saying that I was hurting her child when I wasn't,” Sergei knew that there was kids that would be embarrassed of their parents behaving worse than toddler, there was one time that my Russian brother had to ask one Karen of how old she was and then ask her not to act like toddler; so it was understandable for Sergei with summer programs for both entitled kids and those from disadvantaged homes.

~June 13, 2022~ Third day of physical therapy for Sergei.

“What's next for physical therapy? I enjoyed yesterday,” honest question and Sergei really did enjoy time off from physical therapy, Slavlana was working with my Russian brother over on parallel bars to get him used to his new knees; he was feeling some pain and it wasn't so much that they had to stop. I knew what Slavlana was doing when she put knee braces on Sergei to further protect his knees, these were kind that were allowed to bend with knees and she made sure that they were comfortable. “Okay, we're ready to start up with trying to get you used to the new knees,” I think Sergei understood what Slavlana said as she carefully helped him up, this was good start on road to return; I'm hoping better than before he was burned and treated like trash. Everyone knows that is wrong and should never be allowed, well; it still happens in parts of this world and it's starting here right now. “Getting up was easy part, hard part is getting moving,” Slavlana giggled at that and started to help Sergei to start into working on walking, what was amazing on therapy floor as there was double amputee cheering for my Russian brother; not caring one bit that Sergei is Russian. It was good to see that my Russian brother is back to wearing his kubanka, well; I'm happy to say that Legendary bear is going to back if he keeps this progress.

“It seems you have someone cheering you on,” Sergei didn't see who it was that was, it was friend of Peter's that was cheering for him; another physical therapist was pleased with how my Russian brother was making great progress trying to walk. It was hard for Sergei to move, but he kept trying to walk with Slavlana gently coaxing him to keep trying. “Is it starting to hurt?” Slavlana knew Sergei was starting to tire from pain and it was almost time to stop, he told her that it only hurt just little bit and not whole lot; she let my Russian brother give it one last try before stopping for day. It was known that Sergei's gait had changed since being burned that March, after that last try; Sergei was allowed to go back to his room to rest and those braces were his.

“I'll let you rest for today and we'll try again in a couple days,” Slavlana had said after getting Sergei back into his room, I think it was for tomorrow that they were going to try hydrotherapy to try to loosen up his knees at least little bit; I know that would help Sergei out great deal. I asked Slavlana if swimming would be good for Sergei, she said it would be good; especially during the summer season when it gets hot.

~June 14, 2022~ Welcomed Hydrotherapy.

“We're going try a little bit of hydrotherapy to see if we can loosen up the knees,” Sergei was helped to get ready, Slavlana was in decent swimmwear to start working with my Russian brother in pool start with therapy there; Muslim woman saw Sergei's burn scars and thought they were self-inflected. I know what really happened to Sergei, I witnessed three teenagers pour petrol over him and then lighting him on fire; she hadn't seen what I had and fact she doesn't know what Sergei has been through already, now he's going through physical therapy to get used to having both knees replaced because of damage done. “I suppose you can say it's self-inflected just so he could get sympathy,” just glare she got from my Russian brother, I know what he's going to say; I also know fact he'd be right. There is so much about Sergei that he doesn't really want to talk about and keep to himself, I know there is some things that he will talk about; especially of how he and his family had to flee from Russia.

“Замолчи! Ты меня не знаешь, ты не знаешь, что я пережил с самого начала дурацкого вторжения в дом моего украинского брата, ты ничего не знаешь, кроме херни и того, что ты мусорный мешок,” there was applause from Slavlana and myself, I knew it was matter of time before Sergei would snap; and to him, it felt like weight off his shoulders that had been on him since beginning of invasion of Ukraine. As I had known it, Sergei was right when he just snapped; Slavlana knew that when my Russian brother snapped, she knew that was Sergei she met as new immigrant from Ukraine. “But--” that same glare came back as he looked at this woman, Slavlana wanted to get therapy started; I know Sergei didn't want mess around with that walking trash bag. I know what was coming next from when he snapped, that Muslim woman had really provoked wrong bear. “Никаких но, за исключением того, что ты убираешься отсюда до того, как тебя выгонит охрана,” that Muslim woman ran away in tears after what my Russian brother had done, he had enough of what she said and stopped it; Slavlana managed to get Sergei into pool to start hydrotherapy for day. I was glad that Sergei showed his bear side and that reason why you don't want to mess with him, Так; I need to get him that sign that I had once seen in store. “Sergei, I bet you feel better after that,” just to hear that chuckle out of him, I know it did make him feel so much better to snap like that; Slavlana was doing great with Sergei to get him to work against water's resistance. I could see that he was doing good job trying to work against water, after few times; it was time for Sergei to stop and to dry off and to relax for little bit after therapy.

“It did, I got tired of it after fact she doesn't know what I had been through,” Kyoki told me what she thought of their religion, so I had to ask her once; and her response made me laugh. And Sergei had picked up on it and called it for what it really is, this is coming from someone who is expert at riding horses.

~June 15, 2022~ Time for a good rest.

“I think it's a good time we let you rest so you don't overdo on the physical therapy, Sergei,” Slavlana knew that Sergei was trying his best to walk, it had been it has been hard on my Russian brother; that Muslim woman didn't help matters yesterday when he was trying to work with Slavlana on his physical therapy. What she said finally made him snap with being frustrated with her and with himself, he really didn't need all what she was saying of those burn scars; and both Slavlana and I knew it. “Does it have to do with what happened yesterday morning?” It was honest question as he looked at Slavlana, I think part of it had to deal with what that Muslim woman did to cause Sergei to snap; I also think she brought it on herself for trying to get Sergei kicked out. He's patient at this hospital and not her, I had bad feeling that she may had made complaint against Sergei.

“Apart of it is because of that, it also has to deal that you still have some more surgeries to go,” the next surgeries were more cosmetic and not actually to work on any joints, I knew that Sergei had understood that when plastic surgeon came to see what he could do when he was taken to one of those exam rooms; Dr. Wolff took a looked at Sergei's burn scars and noticed that 3rd degree burns had minimal scarring from skin graphs it was other scars he was going to work on so my Russian brother can be comfortable taking his shirt off. It was today that Dr. Wolff started to work on restoring skin to Sergei's chest and enhanced around chest also; once finished with Sergei's surgery, my Russian brother was allowed to rest in his room to give time for medicines to wear off. “It went well, we didn't have any problems, I would think in a couple of days he can resume his physical therapy with Slavlana,” once awake, Sergei's stomach was upset again; Slavlana got some ginger ale for Sergei to help with upset stomach. I have to praise Dr. Wolff's decision on to helping Sergei; that heiress that we met few weeks back was going to pay for that also, it was nice to hear that there are some people that are decent. “Теперь я не чувствую себя подсознательно, когда снимаю рубашки,” Slavlana had set out Sergei's book for him if he wanted to read for little bit; my Russian brother picked up his book and laid on his side and started to read when another Muslim walked in, it turned out that this was that Muslim woman's husband. I figured as much that Sergei was not wanting any trouble, it turned out that I was right when these Marines came and had to physically picked the man and carried him off leaving Sergei laughing because it reminded him of two of his brothers-in-law.

“Теперь я не ожидал, что это произойдет,” those Marines return to salute Sergei, he didn't have to wonder why they were saluting him; he knew why they were saluting him. Peter had told them that my Russian brother is Legendary Bear and fact that he had been going through very rough patch, earning respect from United States Marine Corps wasn't that easy of thing to accomplish and Sergei had managed to do just that.

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Sergei is one more step to going home, this is the end of his 9th 11th days in the hospital; what surprised him the most was the fact he ended up earning the respect of the Marines. A respected Russian Cossack going through a very rough patch after he was seriously burned after being lit on fire ends up gainning respect in the unlikely of places, it was a big surprise for him to have these young Marines saluting him. He's still has a lot to go with physical therapy, and those Marines will be back to cheer Sergei and Yushka still telling the story. As I have said repeatedly, this is a fictional story and the characters are still fictional; there still a good lesson here to be learned. I'll have more to come for Sergei and Yushka, and Sergei isn't the one that's going to be killed and neither will Yushka; there is going to be a twist in the story.