#the time and he’s not actively clarifying if it is or isn’t lore now

[guckies]

I went back to watch the moment about Bad bringing up purgatory and really it’s just that everyone is confused and Bad needs to explicitly say if he is canonically on or off the island without some weird loop hole that gives him both lores on the both islands for one character to know.

Now the mini events aren’t always like a lore canon thing but the eggs are in lore majority of the time. This is cause the eggs are lore/rp characters the same way Cucurucho is and the only way they aren’t is when they explicitly say it or the cc says that the info they’re saying is out of rp.

But this is what happened -

Bad brought up first that he saw Tubbo that day to sunny who had been with Fit the entire day. Then Richarylson questioned him saying “Aren’t you meant to not be spiritually projecting rn” and he said “I don’t know what you’re talking about” which is just as confusing as what Richas said to him.

Then the others asked a general question just saying how was it and if he was winning not anything about any of the lore aspects. He then later brought up the quesadilla lore stuff with Phil despite it not really being the time or place, as well as him not supposedly being there to the other characters (specifically Fit and Phil think he’s kidnapped because he hasn’t clarified and they honestly act like they can’t be bothered asking anymore about it which not gonna blame them on) who all think that he is kidnapped because Bad has evaded the question and not given them an explicit answer.

So the eggs, current quesadilla islanders and the viewers are very confused.

Cause none of it make sense and Bad’s “1/3 is in purgatory”(which is the spiritually projecting thing richas is eluding to) is a struggle rp wise too because how is he meant to participate in lore or rp when he’s giving so many mixed signals if he is or isn’t canonically on the island.

Like he’s telling the eggs about their parents when they’re always meant to be in lore, then telling the other islanders that he’s on vacation which implies he’s not doing lore. So then it looks like meta gaming (because the eggs are just being told info randomly without knowing they’re getting told ie like a twitch chat that a streamer reads except eggs can’t really ignore it) from the pov of someone who has no clue if it’s in rp or not especially when it’s told to the eggs who are in rp 24/7. But then even the eggs don’t know if he’s actually there or not so they have to come up with a rp opinion about it and now think he’s lying about their parents because they aren’t meant to know about it really.

Along with this how come he can only just now separate himself in parts like this(yes things are secret but that raises the question how come he didn’t preemptively do this in purgatory 1), how is he getting the info back and forward from each “part” of him, how is it even a different part/version of him if he’s still in the same dimension(cause travelling back and forward from the island defeats the whole purpose of purgatory 1 and he isn’t a slime so how would he be able to make a clones/another version) and then why is he even telling the kids that information when they are separated from their parents which is just going to make them sad(but it is giving the eggs a rp struggle because not all of them are going to know if they are meant to know that info or not).

But really the real question is why does bad have to be involved in both lores and knowing everything. It’s not as if the others are going to keep everything from him and not tell him. Like when has anyone not ever told people about lore that affects everyone, he will be told everything all he has to do is ask. By the time he’s back the photo if the eyed workers will probably still be up as well all he has to do is ask them about it and they’ll give him an answer.

[fandomtrash-whataboutit]

Fairy Tail Freed Justine Thesis

Part 1 (of ???)

Magic

The most detailed explanation I have found describes Freed’s magic as having two distinct parts: Dark Ecriture and Jutsu Shiki. The former is responsible for everything enacted on people, things like Pain, literally inflicting pain, and Darkness and Absolute Shadow (we’ll come back to this. Jutsu Shiki is responsible for the barriers of all kinds, both from season 1 and season 9.

First, and most important, point: what got me started on this insanity? Well, when activating Jutsu Shiki on several occasions, the terminology is ‘Enchatment Activated’ in the English dub and similar vocabulary across the board. But,,, Wendy’s magic is enchanting? To make a long story much shorter, I agonized until I came to a true epiphany: Wendy enchants people and objects, whereas Freed enchants TIME AND SPACE.

Let’s talk about that. Freed’s enchantments are, for the most part, absolute, but I can’t just leave it at that. As far as I can tell, there are two (main?) types of barriers: those that are laid out ahead of time and those that need to be maintain. The former of which are ones that are absolute. As of season 1, Freed is able to keep Makarov himself contained without any strain. For further clarification, the absolute barriers are presumably laid ahead of time and have set rules once activated. The maintainable barriers are presumably shorter notice and/or covering much larger areas, resembling magic shields. Very significantly, I would like to clarify the unintentional details of this magic to desperately try to justify how insane I am about Freed. Thus far I have explained the steps in my thinking so I would hope to justify the assumptions I have had to make because this awesome character has been sidelined. Operating under the assumption that Freed is enchanting space itself (and what else am I supposed to assume?) that means that in the areas that Freed enchanted (think those squares and rectangles in the battle of fairy tail) are spaces in which Freed has absolute domination over the laws of reality in every cubic millimeter of space within his runes.

And, now that that tangent is done, let’s talk about runes. I’m willing to admit that I am not super sure about the exact canon lore surrounding the Magic Counsel’s Rune Knights, because their appearances are so sparse, but I am simply going to try my best. There isn’t as much to say here as one might think, at least for me, but a couple of points still exist. For one thing, as the rune knights are THE enforcement agency of the magic counsel and possibly the government depending on the circumstances, the government’s default way of apprehending people is literally inaplicable to Freed. The counsel’s cops literally can’t do shit to him. And Freed can outclass the government officials.

Next we can get on to the very important thing:

Dark Ecriture: Darkness and Dark Ecriture: Absolute Shadow.

Both of these are runes that Freed can enact on himself to take on entirely new forms. I specifically want to talk about Darkness, although most everything I am about to say applies to both forms. You see, Darkness is a demonic form. It is, presumably, similar to take over magic. except Darkness is Freed’s demonic form. The implication of this is that Freed first used the technical strength of rune letter magic to REINVENT take over magic and then pulled a ZEREF and MADE A DEMON. Of course, obviously, it wasn’t actually a zeref thing, but you can presume he embutes himself with demonic magic, curses?, to turn himself into a partially demonic creature. WHICH IS INSANE. Im so normal about him.

Honorable mentions include: his ability to teleport, his ability to fly, and a never displayed spell that presumably causes INSTANT DEATH.

Finally, let’s talk about his power level. The first point I want to make is that, judging by the displayed battle and the circumstances of the fight between Freed and Mira at the battle of Fairy Tail as well as the circumstances of the trials, Freed could be considered at the level of an S-Class wizard. I’m not going to say he’s as strong as Erza or Mira or try to say that OOO he COULDVE beaten Cana or if he ended up fighting someone else in the trials he would’ve beat them, because pitting characters against each other is always just confusing and frustrating. However, in terms of a test, like the way we say Gildarts acting with Natsu, I think Freed could succeed in an EXAMINATION against one of the S-Class wizards, and therefore earn the rank. The next big thing is the very obvious: in season 9 Freed single handedly maintains a barrier around the entirety of Magnolia against the combined might of all the long range weapons of 50 of Alakitasia’s flying warships. Come on.

[seven-thewanderer]

okay my time back on Tumblr is running out, so I decided Imma give some lore on my Sun & Moon (and maybe Solar, but if I do I may do that tomorrow, or later)

So for Sun, he’s just a little silly guy. He loves to have fun with all the kids, and even with other animatronics. Sun is rare to get mad, but when he does, he’s really scary. Other than that, he’s just a nice lil’ silly guy. He can also get really invested into topics. Ask him about something he’s interested in, and he’ll start talking about it so much, that if he could breathe he’d start running out of breath while telling you about the thing he is very interested in. Sun also needs things to be perfect. The order of the barrels in the stack, all of the balls must stay in the ball pit, the stuff toys must stay in the stuff toy section, and the harder toys must stay in the toy box, all of these things must be perfect. If one thing is off, he’ll flip and start panicking (I feel like some kids in the daycare would tell him that a ball is missing from the ball pit, and he’d start counting them all. Every. Single. One. Just to find out if a ball is actually missing or not.) Sun’s also really energetic. Like, really energetic. It’s like he runs off of Sundrop candies & Fizzy Faz. It would take a lot of playing for him to run out of energy.

I think that’s enough about Sun, so let’s move onto Moon

Moon is very shy. Now this very much contradicts with the game and the book(s?) because Moon’s an evil gremlin, he wants to kill you! The book even states that he was made to be the evil side, because Sun & Moon were theater bots. But, this is my version of them, and plus I made this lore before I even knew they were theater kids, and before I knew that Moon was just always evil. But anyways, Moon is a shy lil’ babey, and he always tries his hardest during his shift. Moon would always do whatever he could for the little kids to help them rest, like for example: reading them bedtime stories, singing them lullabies, he’ll cradle them, he’d even go and get warm milk for them if they needed it. He also has Moondrop candies for desperate measures only. However, Moon also doesn’t like messing up, like if he was bringing warm milk for a child, but then tripped on a left-out toy, and spilled it all, he would actively start crying in front of all of the children. Moon also doesn’t like being in the daycare when Sun’s out (I feel like here’s a good place to clarify that if it wasn’t obvious, my Sun & Moon are in separate bodies) (for now), because the bright lights and the yelling from all of the kids are too overwhelming for him, so normally he’s sleeping in their room when Sun’s out. Moon also doesn’t talk to people much, only to Sun & the kids most of the time. This is because he’s very shy, and whenever he talks to someone he isn’t comfortable talking to, he fidgets a lot, and if they point it out, he starts to mumble & fidget more. Another thing about Moon is that he’s very insecure about how he looks. He doesn’t like when the kids try & pull off his nightcap because he’s “bald” (the kids love to make fun of him for that, and it hurts his feelings), and he also tries not to smile while showing his teeth, because the kids call him a vampire (he kind of has fangs, so the kids call him a vampire because of it. He doesn’t like being called a vampire). He also really loves having his nightcap, so if it ever goes missing, then he won’t even want to go out of his room, let alone be seen by anybody who isn’t Sun.

I think that’s all I have for Moon, but there’s one last thing I wanna talk about for the 2 of them:

their nicknames for each other!

Moon’s nicknames for Sun:

Sunny

Sunrise

Sundrop

Sunnyrise

Sunnydrop

Sunset

Starbeam

Dawn

Sunflower

Sun’s nicknames for Moon:

Moony

Moondrop

Moonrise

Moonydrop

Moonyrise

Starlight

Cresent

Dusk

Moonflower

And some nicknames for the two from the children!

The nicknames for Sun:

Sunny

Sun man

Star

Mr Sun

The nicknames for Moon:

Moonman

Moonface

Vampire Moon

Baldy

Mr Moon (very rare)

Sun clone

Yeah, most of the nicknames they have for Moon aren’t very nice…

And then there’s Sun & Moon’s nicknames for the kids!

Sun’s nicknames for them:

My little sunrays

My sunbeams

Sunlights

Little sparks (cus they’re little sparks of energy)

Moon’s nicknames for them:

My little stars

Starlights

Moonlights

My little owls

And to end this off, the rules that Sun & Moon (mainly Sun) have for the daycare:

Play nice

Clean up if you make a mess

Do NOT poop in the ballpit (nor pee in there too)

When it’s time for bedtime, please go to bed

Do not be mean (especially to Moon)

Always be nice

Try to help out too!

Do not hurt anyone in the daycare (and out of the daycare too)

Do not leave without permission

Have fun!!

Stop bullying Moon (added by Sun at the bottom of the list in red marker)

They’d have a blue sign by the security desk that has these rules

but anyways, that’s all I can think of for lore of my Sun & Moon

if anyone ever has questions, you can ask! Though I’ll probably be gone, I will try to answer them whoever I can (if I even get questions)

[lazyliars]

/rp

Before I get into it, I want to state that is EXPLICITLY an analysis of the Characters, and is not intended to touch on how the cc’s played them in a meta sense unless specifically stated otherwise.

Also, this is technically a part two to my other post, which took a more in depth look at Techno and Phil’s reactions to Tommy’s death. It’s not necessary when reading this post, but I don’t address their reactions here.

So. The question must be asked.

Are we [the Syndicate] the baddies?

Yes.

The End.

 Why are the Syndicate the baddies?

They got damn logo is a wither skull.

The End.

That's not how this works.

Yeah, yeah. You’re right.

The Syndicate's goals as an organization are not inherently bad. They seem to have good intentions behind them, and the focus on the freedom of it's individual group members is important to remember when talking about it; It is not a government. There is no hierarchical power system. No one is forced to do anything against their will, or surrender any of their rights or power to remain a member. It is not a government.

I also want to address Techno and Phil backing Ranboo into a corner – I see them getting a lot of flack for this, but I personally do not think it is relevant to the greater discussion, or necessarily representative of any contradictions within the organization. It was clearly played for laughs, and after they back off they clarify to Ranboo that they won't force him. Then later when Phil and Ranboo are alone, Ranboo feels safe enough to express that he felt like he was pressured into it, and Phil assures him he is allowed to leave whenever he wants; He is not being forced to do anything, and he is not being coerced or blackmailed.

None of the Syndicate members have done any wrongs against each other in the context of the Syndicate, OR gone against any of the Syndicate's core principles.

That, said, holy shit are they the baddies.

Listen, there's trying to telegraph a meaning or message to the audience and then there's having your logo be wither skulls on blackstone. That is straight out of the skit I keep referencing, seriously.

Okay, but, they laughed at it! It was played as a joke, just like the Ranboo thing!

The Ranboo thing was improv, the Syndicate's headquarters were planned – the artistic choices that they made reflect on what role they want the build and the organization inhabiting it to play in the future storylines.

Wither Skulls kind of have some CONNOTATIONS. Techno is an English major, I don't think he chose the most threatening imagery possible on accident, and then joked about the way people would interpret it just to stir the pot. This reads as hugely intentional.

And beyond that, the jokes they make during this part aren't “haha yeah, we look bad but we're actually good!” they're “you can tell by looking at these that we're the good guys wink wink, this is good guy stuff right here :)” It is a joke about how they are definitely not the good guys. This isn't even a case of unreliable narrators, this is one step down from flat out saying the meta intent.

But okay, I hear you, I'm talking about things that haven't happened yet. The Syndicate hasn't used any Withers, they could be an aesthetic choice.  Lets look at what they do in practice.

So, they barge into private property, assess Snowchester's right to continue existing based entirely on their own ideals of what Freedom is, and then only once Tubbo assures them that they have no standing leader do they grant the place their approval to, and I gotta stress this part, continue existing.

 In my Quackity meta, I already talked about how Government in the context of a M1necraft RP cannot be compared to IRL Governments on a one-to-one scale. They don't serve the same purposes or have the same type of power. What I didn't talk about was Agency in the context of m1necraft governments.

In an irl government, if you are born into one, you can't really leave without committing a massive overhaul on your life, which can be expensive and difficult, if not impossible for many people. Even in a “benevolent” government, the simple physicality of where you were born can prevent you from leaving it easily.

The same hurdles do not exist in the Dream SMP. People who join M1necraft governments choose to. They want to, either at the beginning when they form one, or later on when they join up. So far, no Government has just Sprung Up and forced the current residents of an area to become dependent on them, except maybe the Eggpire, who's status as a government is... shakey.

And even when people want to leave or separate from the government, they have been historically able to do so without any trouble or any effort from said governments to stop them. Jack Manifold emancipated from Manberg. Fundy and Quackity both left to start new nations. In all cases they were allowed to do so without any attempts on the part of the governments to stop them, either through force, or institutions preventing them from doing so.

The most anyone has lost when leaving a government is their house, which is still usually their property anyway, and is something that is easily rebuilt elsewhere and is inconvenient to move anyway.

The only exceptions to this might be Schlatt exiling Wilbur and Tommy - but even then, they weren’t trying to leave, they were trying to get back in, and of course the original L’manberg revolution, where Dream attempted to force L’manberg back into the Dream SMP, which wasn’t even a government at that point in time.

I don’t consider Phil’s house arrest an example of a government forcing someone to stay a citizen - that was treated less as a matter of a citizen wanting to leave the country and more as a threat to national security. Still pretty fucked up, but it’s a different issue.

What I'm saying is, If Tubbo wants to create a government out in the middle of nowhere, threatening no one, forcing no one to join either through force or desperation, and allowing people to join willingly because they want to, then he should be allowed to do that.

The Irony of the Syndicate, a group of people consisting of some of the richest, strongest people on the server, going around and enforcing 'Freedom' that entails no one person having more power than any other, is absurd. 

It shows an extreme lack of self-awareness and/or self-righteousness, as they seem to think that they deserve to be the ones who decide what constitutes a government.

Snowchester is a small independent nation - they shouldn’t have to live in fear of being obliterated if they don’t walk on eggshells to meet an arbitrary standard decided by people who’s only authority on the matter COMES FROM THEIR PERSONAL POWER. No one elected them! No one chose them! They were not “approved” by the server at large to enact this kind of law.

The Syndicate are not a government, but they are an unsupervised power structure exerting their ideals on a land that did not ask for them. Like, These people have invented an actual Authoritarian-Anarchist faction. How the hell did they manage this?????

Back on topic.

Tubbo shows them the crater left by his nukes. The reaction is oddly positive – the nukes are fine by the morals of the Syndicate, apparently. I'd argue that they come across as more impressed than anything else; they seem to respect Tubbo for having gotten ahold of “real” power.

(There's a few good memes out there about “We can excuse nuclear weaponry, but we draw the line at Government!”)

So. By the Syndicate's standards: A single person or group of acceptably equal persons with weapons of mass-destruction are only worth “keeping an eye on” because they might provoke other people.

Like, I consider Project Dreamcatcher to be one of, if not the most morally ambiguous thing Tubbo has ever done, largely because it was all on his own initiative. He holds some culpability for The Butcher Army and Phil's house arrest, but they weren't his ideas and he was mostly following Quackity at that point.

And Phil tells Tubbo, IMMEDIATELY AFTER SEEING THE NUCLEAR CRATER:

“Looks like you've reformed a little bit Tubbo, I'm proud.”

And it's fine. Crimes against nature? Fine. A sign of healing in fact!! Tubbo is having a sweeeelll time and he definitely didn't make these nukes specifically in fear of being attacked by these exact people! Tubbo is doing great. Tubbo is doing fine. Tubbo. is. FINE.

Anyway.

I don't think this presentation of the Syndicate was an accident. Looking at the greater lore of SMP right now, after the Egg is done, their list of enemies is slim, and considering that they seem solely invested in taking down governments, that leaves maybe Snowchester, Kinoko Kingdom, and Eret and the greater Dream SMP.

Snowchester has not been shown to be corrupt, evil, or have any intent to go down that route. The most ambiguous thing they've done is, again, is the nukes. Other than that, it's pretty much your average cottagecore snow village.

Kinoko is presented in an even more morally 'good' light, Karl having founded it specifically for his Time-travel library purposes, which are currently being treated by the narrative as a selfless act, if not downright heroic.

Eret is also a fairly 'good' aligned character atm. He's been on that redemption grind since the og betrayal, and doesn't seem keen on backtracking. He's actively tried to leverage his position as king to make things better, and hasn't been quiet about that. He was also 'validated' by Tommy*, a character who has been described both by his allies and enemies as “the hero,” so take that as you will.

What I'm getting at is, all of the current potential enemies for the Syndicate aside from the Egg, are currently being cast as 'good,' and if they were to be attacked, they would undoubtedly have the moral high-ground, unless something drastically changed.

The only potential shakeups I can think of is are a Dream escape and/or a Wilbur revival, both of which could draw the Syndicate's attention and ire, depending on how things go. That said, it's just as likely that either or both of them would join the Syndicate – Dream still has that favor, and Phil and Techno both seemed to think Wilbur would've agreed with their blowing up L'manberg.

Both of those characters are currently **villains – the fact that they're both prime candidates for the Syndicate is a huge indication of the direction it's going to go as the plot moves forward.

((*I know some people are gonna come at me for painting Tommy as the “deciding factor” of what is morally good, so lemme just stop you there. I'm not talking about Tommy somehow having the 'right' to decide who is and isn't good, and definitely not the right to decide who should and shouldn't be king. I'm saying that Tommy, a character who the narrative treats as, if not a good person, then a person who is trying to be good, was in support of Eret, a character who has also been trying to be good.

Eret doesn't gain the moral highground because Tommy said so, he gets it because a character who the narrative treats as trying to do better, acknowledged Eret's earnest attempts at doing the same.

**I'm referring to Wilbur here as a villain because Tommy seemed convinced he would be if he were to be brought back. There is always the possibility that he's wrong.))

So, to summarize this: I read the Syndicate as being intentionally positioned as future antagonists, if not outright villains of a future arc. They are NOT a Government but their goals are contradictory with their means, and it is important to keep in mind that they plan to enforce their own brand of freedom on people who did not grant them either the authority or permission to do so.

So, uh. Can you tell I loved these streams? They were seriously so good. I kept switching between Ranboo and Techno's POV's trying to keep up with everything. I still have to watch Niki's!

All in all, I'm super, super excited for whats coming next, egg stuff, Syndicate stuff, Tommy stuff, all of it.

[lovee-infected]

So Merlin the goddamn great, smh but no ROOK LORE I AM FURIOUS! I STILL WANT TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS

Warning: Spoiler alert!

Oooooofff the final episodes of chapter 5 did seriously explode the fandom I see, from the overblot Grim to our twst Merlin, everything literally everything about the end of this chapter was a big surprise but... This chapter has also brought up a considerably huge wave of drama along with it, which is basically because of Rook voting for RSA instead of NRC. I, personally, considered it to be just a reason to laugh and make a meme or two about this chapter and all. But looking at the fandom, I can clearly see that it's been causing some serious consequences, some fans/creators are leaving the fandom, there has been a couple of offensively worded Rook hate posts (small memes and jokes aren't counted) and there's ever a #RookIsOverParty on Twitter now.

Okay but, it was all cool and chill until it was just a joke. Can't you see? This happens in many fandoms! And is often a good chance to laugh! But...This is getting serious. A huge majority of this fandom (even Rook/Vil shippers and Rook stans themselves) are hating on Rook/Rook stans and fans are leaving, therefore I believe the situation needs to be clarified before it leads to more dramas.

Many of you had also requested a Rook analysis before sooooo- here we go!

First off, this episode did eventually give us a considerable amount of Rook lore although it wasn't as perfect as we wanted it to be. Most of us wanted to get to know him more, but I'd say focusing on all we've got already would do for now. But before that, let's talk about what exactly happened in chapter 5 and why are fand hating on Rook rn:

after the performances are voted on, it’s revealed that nrc lost to rsa by just a single vote. that vote turned out to be rook, who voted for rsa in favor of their own team as he was moved by their spirit. the whole nrc team is shellshocked (of course) and vil faints

it’s also later revealed that rook is one of neige’s biggest fans, possessing albums full of his bromides, going to each meet and greet, and even writing him anonymous fan letters.

Okay okay I know this was quite unexpected and resulted in NRC's loss, but before you say how much of a shitty character Rook is consider this:

1) He was totally honest with his opinion and thoughts.

One of the interesting facts regarding Rook's character design and presence in chapter 5, is how he played the role of both the huntsman and the mirror.

He was honest with his beliefs and decision, although it was against his friends. Just as how the mirror introduced Snow White as the fairest one of all although Evil Queen didn't want to hear of her.

This is also what Rook did, he judged based on his idealistics towards beauty. NOT because he's a screaming Neige fanboy and NOT because he disliked Vil.

Honestly, if there's one person whose judgement would be strong and on point, that'll be Rook and only him; in parts (2) & (4) we'll explain why.

2) His decision has nothing to do with his personal relationship with Vil!

Yes, he voted for RSA, but to assume that this means he secretly preferred Neige over Vil all this time and call him a betrayer now, that's wrong.

Look, if there one person who could judge NRC's process through the training sessions fairly, that'll be Rook. He's been there all this time, watching each and every second of Vil's coaching and team's progressing, note that he also helped Vil the most, this performance would've been impossible without his help!

But, he was also there when Vil lost it, when Vil's fear of not being the winner took over him and made him even try to poison Neige. At some point Vil was nothing like the perfect coach he was at the very beginning, and if Rook hadn't told Neige to escape who knows how terrible the whole think might've gone.

His decision, on the other hand, was HIS decision. He was asked to choose one performance, and he chose what he liked; that's all, no big deal. Note that the silly thing with the whole issue isn't mainly how Rook voted for RSA, it's also about how half of the audience as well voted for RSA which makes it sound almost stupid, this point will be explained in part (5)!

3) Have you all really forgotten what Rook is like?

I mean, come on this is what he is in general! This is Rook Hunt we're speaking of, one of the rarely known characters of the game and mister of surprises and unpredictable decisions!

Him being a Neige fan is no big deal, and I assure you, he probably stans a lot of other people else than Neige too. Don't forget that this is the same monseiur Rook who gave 100 points! to anyone who participated in NRC's VDC test, so there shouldn't really be a panic taking all over the fandom just because we know he stans Neige, Rook is one to greatly appreciate the concept of beauty in general, and Neige is one of the most famous and beautiful people in the whole twisted wonderland, so other than this being much of a snow white reference, it was totally expected to see him stanning Neige as well. Keep this in mind that just because he's a fan of Neige, it doesn't mean that he hates or he has betrayed Vil.

In Rook's point of view, there is no such thing as rivals in beauty, he just appreciates both Vil and Neige's beauty regardless of what's going on between them.

4) This chapter proved that Rook is indeed a perfect friend for Vil.

While there hasn't ever been a mention of a canon relationship between Vil and Rook, shipper may be happy to know that this episode didn't sink the ship at all. And if you judge and see through what happened in the right eye, you'll see it even shows how strong their friendship is.

Note that this wasn't the first time Rook criticizes Vil either, back in Vil's SR lab coat story he openly criticized Vil and said he's gonna get fat if he continued to eat like this. See? Rook never the once lied to Vil, he openly judges him, and his judgements are logical and on point.

Vil on the other hand is always working his hardest to improve, to become better and completer by each and every day that passes. He needs such a friend by his side to judge him nonetheless, a friend to judge him just like the mirror judged the Queen. But there's a difference, Vil accepts and appreciates criticism BECAUSE, he wants to improve.

A friend like Rook is seriously what he needs, Rook supported and helped him all the way as RSA was getting prepared for VDC, he could've just made them lose and by ruining their training sessions if he wanted to! Can't you see? He helped Vil more than anyone else, but didn't lie to him when it was the time to judge. Vil still has a long way to go, and Rook is aware. He wants Vil to see that he isn't yet complete so that he can become better than he already is.

That's it, that's what a real friend would do.

5) Twst needs to be more considerative toward story line and sudden reveals.

On the one hand, it's mainly fans who are exaggerating the whole issue and starting drama over a simple voting and all, but twst itself as well is partly guilty. This is such a huge and active fandom, each and every detail about the story can be super effective (ex: Sebek being half human, Malleus being an orphan, etc). After making RSA's Yahoo performance look super silly they worst thing they could do was to make NRC lose like this, meaningless, silly and helpless. Why?

Twst seriously needs to take details more seriously as they could've AT LEAST made this comparison sound reasonable by choosing a better and stronger song than a twisted version of Heigh-Ho.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with Rook voting for Neige, but seriously? Rook voting for Neige had to be a symbol of honesty and Rook's loyalty toward the concept of beauty itself and not Vil, not an stupid decision to make Rook prefer a childish song over NRC's wonderful performance and look like a helpless Neige fan boy.

-Sigh- Well, I guess that's all I had for now, hope I didn't miss anything. But anyway, the Rook drama is slowly getting overwhelming. There's nothing wrong with memes and jokes AS LONG AS THEY'RE JUST A JOKE- offending characters with clear intention and causing drama because of it is not okay. I know that was unexpected please remember not to exaggerate the story too much either!

[illusory-torrent]

Why I prefer the Genshin Impact fandom to the RWBY fandom.

I'll start off by saying what many of us are thinking. It's sad that the ships are nearly the only thing the RWBY fandom talks about because the plot leaves so many in a state of dissatisfaction. I've seen so many RWBY fans and non-fans alike say, "Oh, I don't care about the plot, I'm only watching for [insert ship here]" or "I'm going to drop the show if [insert ship here] doesn't happen". For those who doubt me, please believe me, it's a thing. 

Now, when I say that the RWBY fandom only really cares for shipping, you might ask, "Is that not what every fandom does though?"

Well... yes! You're right. However, I think the RWBY fandom takes it to the next level. 

First off, the theory-making side of the RWBY fandom has completely died. I remember there being videos theorizing if Yang was part-dragon Faunus or Ruby being a fox Faunus. These days, the fandom's theories boil down to, "What's up with the void that Team RWBY fell into?" due to V8's ending, but back during V5-V7, there were hardly any theories being posted. Most people just don't care anymore. 

Second off, Miles and Kerry struggle with writing characters outside of pairs. Not just romantic pairs, but pairs in general. Most characters only have interacts with their team partners, their love interests, their familial relationships, and... that's it. Blake is a prime example of this. Her best interactions are with Yang (her team partner), Sun (her former love interest), Ilia (another former love interest), and Adam (her ex-boyfriend). Her worst interactions are with Ruby (her team's leader, whom she hardly interacts with) and pretty much everyone else. Even her interactions with Weiss are few and far between. Another example would be Penny. Prior to Volume 3, Penny's best interactions were with Ruby. Penny hardly interacted with anyone else in a meaningful way. She dies and Ruby's tearful reaction is focused on. Why? Because she's one of the few characters Penny actually had a relationship with! Penny comes back in Volume 7, and she still only really interacts with Ruby. Her only new relationship that's developed is with Winter... and we find out why. It's because when Penny is killed by Jaune, her maiden powers are transferred to Winter, the rightful owner.

Miles and Kerry being unable to write outside of pairs is why we only have each of our characters only interact with certain other characters. Before Jaune helped kill Penny, did he ever even have a real conversation with her? We'll never know! Has Blake even talked to Jaune before? No idea! Did Yang even care that Pyrrha died? Probably, but we viewers literally never see the two interact prior to Pyrrha's untimely demise.

This type of writing (whether intentionally or unintentionally done) promotes shipping culture. Characters interact primarily with their love interests (who may or may not also be their team partners). This is why RWBY's fandom is so focused on shipping. Hell, even Blake's VA tweeted at Clover's VA with a joke regarding this.

Clover's VA: Has anybody heard of this thing, “shipping?”

Blake's VA: Welcome to RWBY.

[Photo for anyone who needs proof, in case these Tweets are deleted in the future.]

Blake's VA even once had to make a post saying, "Y’all, you know I love my Bees, but not everything is Bee related. Some is just RWBY hype in general. Calm yo’self.". The fact she even had to clarify that not everything she posts about RWBY is related to a ship is astounding. Imagine having to tell your audience that not everything you post is related to a fictional pairing. 

The RWBY cast even had an segment on The Ship-It Show where, you guessed it, they talked about their favorite and least favorite ships. Their tagline even was that "Shipping is a creative expression, so don't limit your creativity!", which went over with the fandom about as well as one would expect. 

Finally, Miles Luna recently posted a Cameo video where he stated, "Just remember: shipping is fun and pretend, and it’s just supposed to be a good time. Don’t be one of those people that attack other shippers and get real mean and toxic. We’re all just here having fun with wonderful make believe characters and make believe worlds, and I think that is a beautiful activity, as long as you’re doing it responsibly and kindly." 

So as you can see, shipping is a big part of the RWBY community. I'd venture to say that shipping is the most important part of the RWBY community. And that's fine! Shipping in itself isn't a bad thing. It's only when it gets completely out of hand where it becomes a problem. And I feel it is becoming a problem in the RWBY community. Rooster Teeth, if you need your show-writers to remind the fandom that shipping is supposed to be fun, you have a problem. 

Well, how does Genshin Impact avoid that problem? The fandom itself is large and the game is quite popular, so how does it handle not becoming a complete shitfest shipfest? 

For starters, Mihoyo doesn't confirm any ships at all. This is for profit reasons, the game is a gacha game designed for players to spend money on their "waifus" and "husbandos". Characters have outfit customization for this exact purpose. Mihoyo benefits from keeping characters canonically single. This is why, while people think soon-to-be-released characters like Ayaka and Tohma are dating, many people also believe these same characters to be single. 

Second off, VAs are unable to give their opinions on certain ships and on lore. For example, the VA for Lumine, the main female protagonist, confirmed that Lumine was 15, before apologizing and deleting her comments. The VA for Childe signed some Childe x Lumine artwork to sell, but blatantly stated that he only really shipped Childe with Childe. The VAs avoid discussing unconfirmed ships/lore and, in this way, Mihoyo avoids controversy. 

Finally, Genshin Impact only recently came out. This means that the theorizing part of the fandom is still alive and well. There's plenty to theorize about since there's so much us players don't know about the story. Lore tidbits are celebrated by lore junkies, folks who want to theorize on the characters' backstories or on the protagonist's journey to find their twin sibling are more than welcome to do so. 

So while the Genshin Impact community engages in tons of shipping, none of the ships are more canon than any other. A Zhongli x Childe shipper might argue that their ship is canon because Zhongli gifted Childe some chopsticks, but a Zhongli x Ningguang shipper could easily argue back that Ninguang is a reincarnation of Zhongli's former friend/partner Guizhong. And of course, a non-shipper could look at both of these arguments and believe them both to be false.

I think this allows shipping to remain a fun and lighthearted activity in the Genshin Impact fandom. You can ship what you'd like, or you can just enjoy the plot and lore like a normal gamer. 

So where am I going with this? Well, my thoughts are that no matter what the fandom, there will always be shipping. There's always gonna be some degenerates (like myself) who see two cute characters and want them to get together. However, it's up to the creators themselves to decide where to go with ships or to even entertain them at all. Mihoyo, in my opinion, handles the Genshin Impact fandom's shipping craze much more successfully than Rooster Teeth handles the RWBY fandom. 

So what are your thoughts? If you're in both fandoms, which fandom do you prefer and why? Let me know!

[demibats]

Unsteady - BENEATH THE BLOOD MOON

summary:  Bludhaven and Gotham take a fearful turn when a new threat is posed in both Batman and Nightwing’s territories, neither of them equipped for it. That is, until Dick crosses paths with an unlikely new ally...

  word count: 4k warnings: brief mention of violence.

A cool breeze ruffled Dick’s hair as he looked over the city of Bludhaven, way up on the tops of the buildings. He’d been hunched over, listening intently on his police scanner for far too long. It was too quiet of a night. Not even the common street criminal was causing a disturbance. The silence was far more vexing than any goon he’d come into contact with over the past week. 

Dick tried not to let the little noises pester his paranoia further, though it was hard.  The sound of an animal rustling in a garbage can or a car’s horn was enough to make him jump. Dick stood, taking in a deep breath before he flipped from one roof ledge to a lower one. Landing with a hard thud, he turned over his back, eyeing the spot he’d just left and the gap below. Below, consumed in the darkness, he swore he heard voices.

Dick turned and peaked down, seeing nothing in the bleak emptiness between crumbling buildings. He continued his typical patrol around the tops of the buildings, looking over the city. It was the first night in months that not a thing gave him a good chase. While he felt like he deserved a break, the sudden change in activity felt odd. It was as if an entire world of crime just stood at a stand still, completely unmoving as Dick traveled the rooftops of Bludhaven. 

Faintly, Dick heard a grunt and blows landing. It was quiet, but Dick’s trained ears focused on it and could make out a cocky ‘that all you got?’ He did a front somersault off the ledge and slid down the opposite wall, skillfully as to not disturb the others in the alleyway. He turned on his heels and crouched down behind a rusty dumpster, peeking his head out to survey the scene. 

A woman was facing with her back toward him, striking whatever was in front of her with her palm, upward into her attacker’s nose. Jesus Chirst, Dick thought, usually now is the time I have to come in. She spun around and delivered what should’ve been a near-fatal kick into the attacker’s ribs, but he only stumbled before throwing his hand into the woman’s head. She took barely a second to steady herself before grabbing her attacker’s next hit by the wrist to twist it upward. At an impressive speed, she unsheathed what looked like a wooden stake and plunged it into the chest of her attacker. Dick caught a glimpse of the man’s face, seeing it contorted and molded with yellow eyes before it burst into dust. 

He was in awe. Of all the metahumans and villains he’s faced throughout his entire life, he’d never come across something quite like that. Maybe he’d read about them but seeing one perish in person was an entirely new ballgame. He stood up from his spot, stepping out from behind it, but didn’t trek toward the woman. She was relatively new and, to be frank, scary. “I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that maybe now isn’t the time to ask questions?” Dick spoke clearly, despite being unsure of this new vigilante, if that’s what she was. 

She flinched at his loud voice and whipped around, fists clenched. When her eyes laid on him, her mouth dropped, but her shock didn’t last long and was soon replaced with some form of annoyance, “Nightwing, is it? A little birdie told me to watch out for you. Well, another little birdie.” She said, poking fun at his alter ego.

“In the way that we’d be brawling like your little friend or just as a precaution?” Dick quipped.

“Neither. Just a piece of information I needed to have before I moved here.”  Her shoulders relaxed as she walked toward him, “We done here?” Her shoulder bumped into his and which only spurred Dick’s talking on more. 

Before he could get a word in, she said, “You were watching for a while before I dusted that creep. Is it a part of the job to leave capable dames to their own devices now? I definitely could’ve used the help.” Her tone was sarcastic, Dick couldn’t tell if she meant it, or was just annoyed simply by his presence.

Dick blinked a few times before answering, “I have no idea what that was. Or what or who you are. I was a little taken aback, needed time to plan my next move.” he responded, following her out of the alley. 

She stopped in her tracks and turned around, narrowing her eyes on him. She examined his face for a moment and Dick grew anxious that she was trying to figure out his identity for a split second. Shaking off the uneasy feeling, he furrowed his eyebrows. “You really have no idea what I just killed?”

The fact she’d said ‘what’ instead of ‘who’ returned the uneasy feeling, but this one was different, “No, I don’t. Mind telling me? This seems like crucial information I should’ve known when I moved here.” He mocked, but the woman could only smirk at it.

“It was a vampire. Like, a genuine dracula. Blood-sucking demon of the night, fangs and all. There have been sightings and nests popping in Atlantic City, Gotham and Bludhaven more and more recently.” She explained, continuing her walk down the empty street. Dick didn’t realize he was supposed to follow her.

He jogged up to her, slowing down and matching speeds with her pace. Dick never walked through the neighborhoods at night, too busy flipping from the rooftops to realize how things looked down here at night. Gazing at the woman through his peripherals, he sucked in a breath, “And you’re.. What? Just doing a public service by driving stakes through their hearts?” he asked, question after question popping into his head. If she was a civilian, where’d she learn how to fight and defend herself like that? Why was she absorbing blows that should’ve knocked her on her ass? How did she know all this? Especially that these supposed nests were in Bludhaven?

“I’m the Slayer. It’s my destiny, or whatever, to hunt them down and send ‘em back to hell.” She clarified, sounding less than enthused.

Dick chuckled, “Whoa there, try to contain your excitement.” 

Rolling her eyes, she picked up speed, wanting to shake the nuisance that was Nightwing, “Look, I’ll go my way, you’ll go yours. There’s no need to be all buddy-buddy. I’ll kick vampire ass, you’ll beat down criminals, simple as that.”

Dick stopped on their walk, grabbing her wrist just for her to rip it from his clutches, “Would you listen for one goddamn second?” he raised his voice, surprising her, “If these creatures are as dangerous as I’m thinking, and to the extent you said, you’ll need help. This doesn’t sound like much of a cakewalk. I’m not an idiot who wears a mask and punches cat-buglers, okay? There are more important skills than brute strength, ones I have, that could help you.”

He could tell she was considering it. It took only a few seconds for her to answer, “This isn’t something that’s a team effort. I’m the slayer, and whether I like it or not, I have to do this on my own.”

Dick let her go off on her way this time. He couldn’t wrap her head around the events of that night, especially not the fact that Bludhaven and Gotham, his home and former home, were riddled with creatures like the one she’d just fought. Grotesque, monstrous creatures that were preying on the innocent the way that they were. He feared for the citizens of Bludhaven, knowing that he might not be able to protect them from the vampires he knew nothing about. Sighing heavily, he took out his phone and dialed a number he hadn’t saved but could recite from heart at any given time. It only rang once before a familiar voice spoke. “Master Dick, it’s been too long.” Alfred chimed. 

“I miss you too, Alfred. Tell him I’m driving up. There’s something brewing in both our cities and we might need all hands on deck for this,” he paused, “I’m gonna send you some information of my current location, can you please use the cameras in the area for facial recognition for the woman I was with tonight?”

“I’ll hop to it, Master Dick. I’ll let him know, as well and make preparations for your sleeping arrangements.” Alfred spoke in his typical calm and calculating, yet stern tone. 

“I’ll get a motel, just tell Bru-”

Alfred cut him off, “I’m afraid not, Master Dick. You will be staying in the manor and there’ll be no arguments made against it. The facial recognition you requested will be done within the hour.”

Rolling his eyes, Dick smiled, “Yeah, alright. See you soon, Alfred. Thank you.” And with that, Dick ended the call, inhaling sharply. His night just became a lot more eventful than he could’ve ever guessed. 

“Fuck.” 

-----

Dick pulled into the long stretch of driveway through the gates, his tongue running over his teeth. It’d been some time since he’d been home and it still felt cold and distant. He didn’t plan on staying too long, but would stay as long as needed to research and learn about any lore pertaining to vampires and ‘The Slayer’. Bruce had more money than God and enough books to educate a small community, some of those might even be older than God.

The sprawling grounds of Wayne Manor, while being the apple of any remotely smart person’s eye, made Dick feel more alone than he ever had. However, he did what he learned as a child, and pushed those feelings down, trying to focus on the task at hand. After stepping out of his car, now parked in the garage, he met up with Alfred. That old rascal always brought a smile to Dick’s face, even after the time he’d seen him. “Nice to see you, Master Dick. Master Wayne is waiting for you. The facial recognition was successful.”

Dick couldn’t help but grin at the butler before clapping him on the shoulder, “Thanks, Alfred. I owe you one!” He shouted as he booked it toward the indoor entrance to the cave. 

The manor was always remarkably clean, thanks to Alfred ( and sometimes Bruce ) . With Alfred’s older age, you would think that he was ready to give up the butler life, but there was no way he would, not while Bruce was running rampant in the streets wearing a cape and cowl. Dick waited patiently in the elevator ride down, his hands fidgeting at his sides. He shoved them into his jean-pockets as the door opened, revealing the dimly lit cave.

Bruce was standing before the bat computer, pictures and records up on the large screen. He was hunched over the tabletop in front of him, rather than sitting in the chair. He wore a black tshirt and dark jeans, rather than the full form of the batsuit or head-to-toe formal wear. Bruce heard Dick’s footsteps and straightened his back, turning toward the younger man. “You look different,” Bruce said in monotone. 

Dick chuckled, “Yeah, living on your own does that, I guess.” He knew that Bruce wasn’t one for physical affection but that didn’t stop Dick from giving him a brief hug, which to his surprise, Bruce reciprocated for the short while it happened.

“So, did you pin-point our mystery girl?” Dick said, leaning against the counter, arms crossed, eyeing Bruce as he pulled up what looked like an ID photo.

“Y/N L/N. Goes to a community college in Bludhaven, lives alone. She previously lived in Chicago, graduated from high school, got accepted into a community college there, held a steady job, but moved here after her mother was killed eight months ago. Coroner’s report says animal attack but given the information you sent, I’m guessing that whatever she fought off last night is one of the things responsible for the murder of her mother. Who is she to you, Dick?” Bruce slowly turned to face Dick, raising his eyebrows in curiosity. 

Dick shrugged, “I’m interested in her line of work.” He said, but Bruce knew exactly what Dick wasn’t saying. He let it slide, obviously not wanting to open that can of worms. 

“I’ve pulled up every known instance of vampires over the past twenty years and… a lot of it is complete nonsense, Dick. Very slim picking of what compares to Y/N’s vampires. Something about Twilight-” Bruce was about to continue but Dick cut him off. 

“Steer clear of anything marked under that, you won’t get anywhere.” Dick turned away from the computer and walked toward the dark oak bookshelf away from where Bruce stood.

“And where are you going?” Bruce asked.

Dick turned over his shoulder as he walked, “There has gotta be something in one of your dusty old books that’s more helpful than you skimming teenage fanlore.” He chuckled, eyes running over the spines of all the books. He didn’t have too much to go on, but anything would help them at that moment. 

Bruce and Dick spent hours researching vampire lore, hoping something would point them in the direction of some sort of slayer prophecy. Of course, it would’ve been much easier if Y/N complied with Dick in the first place, but she was dead set on avoiding Nightwing like the plague. While Bruce appreciated literature, he knew how to find needed information on the web better than anything else. It bothered him that he wasn’t coming up with much, but he’d never tell Dick that. 

“Any luck?” Bruce called out.

“Not on the slayer, but this volume and the one like it talks all about what they are and the lore behind them,” he paused for a moment, then realized Bruce was waiting for him to continue, “They’re essentially demons, soulless creatures from Hell. They can only inhabit earth if they possess a human corpse. Apparently they’re considered hybrids, less pure than other demon species.”

Dick looked up from the pages of the worn book, seeing Bruce look absolutely lost in thought. He cleared his throat, hoping he’d have some sort of feedback. “What are they doing in Bludhaven?” Bruce asked.

“Add that to the pile of answers we don’t have.” Dick huffed.

The two men were up into the early hours of the morning, almost 5AM before Dick had a breakthrough in one of the thousands of books in the cave. “Here!” he called out, getting Bruce’s attention. The older man quickly made his way to the table that Dick had been hunched over, reading and researching. 

“Every generation, one girl is chosen to be the Slayer. She wields the power to fight demons, vampires and other forces of darkness. Apparently the first slayer actually had the gifts of a vampire given to her by said vampire.” Dick read.

Bruce was silent.

“Are you going to say anything? We’ve been at this for hours and I finally find something and you’re a statue.” Dick was annoyed and tired and beyond ready to burn every book in the manor and then go right to sleep.

“That’s just it, Dick. We’ve been at this the entire night and all we’ve learned is that some otherworldly force picks a woman to fight the undead. We’re still at square one in my book. Get some sleep, we’ll regroup and pick it up again after some rest.” Bruce said, turning to shut down the computer.

Dick grumbled, gathering up all the books he hadn’t read through, along with the one who explained who the Slayer was, and went to his old bedroom. He would probably only get a few hours of sleep before he would be up and at it again. He needed to find more out before going back to Bludhaven to find her again. He wanted to be prepared, knowledgeable. Dick knew that there was no way Y/N would let him help if she had to teach him all there was to know about vampires. He still didn’t know if she could be swayed even if he had already learned. 

As soon as Dick hit the mattress, books surrounding him, he was out like a light. He hadn’t pushed himself to the extreme of staying up over 24 hours in a long time and he felt like he would go insane from lack of sleep. That first night back at Wayne Manor, Dick had nightmares. He was in his Nightwing suit, except for his mask, standing in an alleyway that seemed like it went on infinitely on both ends. He tried to run one direction but felt like he was getting nowhere. On all sides of him he heard someone crying out for help and a hiss that felt too familiar. The cries continued as did the hisses for what seemed like mere minutes, but when Dick opened his eyes, he’d realized it was nearly three o’clock. 

He felt like he’d been hit by a semi-truck, or maybe a large pick-up at the least. There was a cup of coffee next to his bed on his nightstand, still steaming. After all these years, ALfred had a knack for knowing when his boys would be awake. Dick grabbed it sluggishly and took a small sip as he sat up. The room was still and quiet, while he enjoyed the peace, sometimes it was deafening. After he’d downed most of the coffee, he pulled his shirt off and headed to the shower. 

-----

“Let’s just say that she does allow you to work with her, will you keep me informed?” Bruce posed the question as Dick looked over yet again, another book. He peaked over the pages of the book he was reading, lips on the rim of his coffee mug.

Bruce looked like he’d gotten enough sleep for the both of them, had his healthy breakfast and already did his eight mile run. It was appalling how easy it was for Bruce to hide his fatigue, while Dick, Jason and Tim had always looked tired, constantly. 

“If what she said is true, that Gotham as well as Bludhaven, has these nests, then yes. You’ll need to stay in the loop and be hypervigilant during patrol. These things are no joke, Bruce.” Dick answered, “Mind if I take the books with me back home? I’ll scan over any information I deem important.” 

Bruce nodded, but before Dick could exit the kitchen to pack up his belongings, the older man called out, “Be careful.” Bruce might not express his fondness or affection for his son, but he knows that Dick knows exactly what his simple words mean. 

Dick turned back and nodded. “You too.”

The drive back to Bludhaven was tense. Dick knew he’d have to betray what little trust he’d managed to create the first night he met Y/N by essentially breaking into her apartment. He fought with himself mentally about his next move. He still had research and planning to do if was going to seriously enter this world. He was too stubborn to just let Y/N tell him no. He didn’t care if it was her destiny to battle these things alone. He was going to make sure she wasn’t on her own and that he upheld his oath to protect Bludhaven.

Within the wall of his Bludhaven apartment, he stood in the kitchen, unmoved as he pondered his options. There weren’t many. It was either he’d help Y/N and go to her apartment, maybe get his ass kicked if she was startled or not help her and go about his regular vigilante activities. It shouldn’t even be a question. Dick tried to put his impulsivity aside, tried to think before jumping immediately into this unprepared.  Y/N told him to stay out of it, he should respect that. But what if it becomes too much for her to handle on her own? Wouldn’t she rather have an ally? Someone to depend on? There had to be a reason why she was so harsh about it.

A million more questions spurred Dick’s thoughts on, but in the end, he decided he’d rather have her be pissed off at him interfering with the slayer business than her, laying in an alleyway, dead because of some demon. He’d set out to find her before it got dark, he didn’t want to risk getting a wooden stake to the torso because she couldn’t see the black and blue suit.

He donned the Nightwing garb as he seemingly flew over the rooftops, cartwheeling, backhandspringing, flipping, somersaulting all over the ledges and landings to get to her apartment which was about ten blocks from his own. From the roof of a building opposite to her apartment complex, he could see into her living room through a window. The curtains were parted and the soft lighting illuminated Y/N on her couch, a bowl of cereal in her hands and a textbook in her lap. The domestic scene almost completely masked her slayer personality. She simply was a college student, trying her hardest to be normal, plagued with the responsibility of protecting innocent life.

Dick slid down onto the fire escape below him before leaping to one on Y/N’s building, careful not to cause any reason for a passerby to look up and see him. Perched on her fire escape, he carefully knocked on the glass of the window. She nearly jumped ten feet in the air, almost spilling her cereal. Looking over to her window, her expression showed pure confusion. Dick was surprised, he expected blind rage. 

Getting off the couch, Y/N placed her cereal and textbook on her coffee table before storming over to the window, sliding it open. “What the hell? Are you stalking me now?” She whisper-shouted. 

Dick shook his head, “No, no. It seems like that but I promise that’s not the case.”

Y/N sighed deeply, clearly unamused. She remained silent, crossing her arms as she stepped out of the way of the window frame, “Come on in.” 

Dick slowly climbed into her apartment, hunched over for a brief moment before standing tall, scanning the room. It was simple and neat. She had multiple potted succulents and a few framed photos on the wall. She had a couch and a bean bag in her living room as well as a small tv stand and coffee table, which looked to be covered in books and paperwork. It wasn’t at all what he’d expected it to be like.

Before he got lost in thought about her apartment decor, he turned to her, “I read about the vampires and slayer lore. We didn’t have much to go by, but I found out the basics.” Dick could tell she was on the verge of interrupting, “Let me finish. I know that it’s your so called destiny to do this on your own, but I say fuck that. I want to help and technically speaking, if I’m not working with you, I’d just be hunting them down on my own. We can work together. Two minds are greater than one. You don’t have to babysit or coddle me, I get the gist of what you’re up against. Let me lighten the load. If you don’t like working together after some time, I’ll hit the road. Just give me a chance to show you I can be worth your while.”

Inhaling sharply, still with her arms crossed she spoke finally, “You’re not gonna leave me alone are you?”

Dick grinned, “Couldn’t get rid of me if ya tried.”

Feeling defeat sink in, Y/N rolled her eyes and walked back over to her couch and coffee table, resuming her spot where she was studying. “The second you get on my nerves, I’m kicking your ass.” She said, not a hint of sarcasm in her tone. 

“I won’t. Scout’s honor.” he did the hand salute thing before taking a seat next to her on the couch. 

Once more, she rolled her eyes and felt the weight of her decision start to sink in.

[tact-and-impulse]

Star Wars AU for the sci-fi prompt, @shepherds-of-haven!

fugitives

Out of all the planets she’s visited, she’s grown rather fond of this one. Nights on Zarros are long, yet bustling with activity as the inhabitants emerge to barter and sell their wares. The shops emit warm light, reflecting upon one of the many rivers cutting through the town. A flock of long-tailed birds passes overhead, flying for the distant mountains breaking the horizon. One indigo feather falls into her palm, and she smiles. This world is alive, and it’s beautiful.

“Remember to keep your hood up.” The low voice at her side warns.

She glances at Blade, who has that slight crease between his eyebrows again. He definitely isn't comfortable in this open market, but they need supplies before continuing their travels. She adjusts the cloth over her hair, murmuring. “I will. Thank you.”

“The Empire doesn’t have a heavy influence here, but we still need to be careful.” His dark eyes survey the surroundings, taking in every detail. As expected of the former general, famous for his battle prowess and command of his troops. She remembers watching his communications, in what seems like another life altogether.

“See anything yet?”

“No, but let’s be quick.”

“Alright, understood.” Before entering the main street, she tucks the feather into the little satchel at her waist. It’s been mended and patched over the years, but it’s enough for money and a little extra. Sea glass from her home planet. A ceramic bead, gifted by a respected Lore Keeper. The short loop of her Padawan braid.

She had to cut it off, but she never underwent the trials, since her master insisted there would be time after the war. And then, they were betrayed, in transit to Saleucami. The clones who had been their comrades were trying to kill them. Knowing they were outnumbered and ignoring her pleas to stay together, Master Rho had shoved her into an escape pod. Before the jump into hyperspace, her window was filled with the red glow of blasters, then the split-second image of his slumped body. She felt their connection break, the psychic shattering causing her to black out. In the haze of grief and shock, she hadn’t realized her lightsaber was damaged. It was functional in the initial weeks, then flickering erratically, and now, she didn’t dare to draw until another kyber crystal could stabilize it. 

In the meantime, she uses the Force in other ways, and it led her to Blade. They sensed each other’s presence on one of Naboo’s moons, the first time she’d encountered another Jedi in over a year. He had always been composed in his hologram appearances, but he was about to crumple with relief when he saw her face. Since then, she hasn’t given up hope that others had survived the purge.

“You said Zarros had crystals?” Blade prompts, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Yes, from the records I copied. There’s a good success rate, it’s just that not many were willing to make the trip out here.” She speaks in oblique terms, carefully choosing her phrasing.

He nods. “It’s close to the Outer Rim, and the closest temple was abandoned over a century ago, when our kind had to defend Coruscant. There’s some irony in returning now.”

“Yes, but I have a good feeling about it.” She smiles, and after a month of traveling together, she can tell that his expression softens.

A trio of children rush past, and they sidestep out of instinct. His hand lands on her shoulder, pressing firmly. “I trust your intuition. There were many I fought with, who didn’t have your strength of connection.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” She laughs nervously. It must be the lingering Padawan in her, that is buoyed by the praise. They continue on, and she changes the subject. “Where did you build your weapon?”

“On a mission, with my partner years ago.”

“A partner?”

“My brother.” He clarifies, in the monotone he adopts when he’s closing off.

That’s unusual, not only for siblings to be inducted, but to work with each other as well. She turns to ask further and nearly bumps into a droid that must have floated over. It’s spherical, except for a dome that could be considered its head.

“Hello. How may I assist you?” It’s a service droid, somehow locked onto their presences.

Blade smoothly steps in front of her. “No assistance required.”

It beeps. “I provide directions to all visitors. I am at your service.”

She can’t see his face, but Blade’s posture is incredibly rigid. His fingers drop to his belt, in a familiar gesture. He’s ready to summon his lightsaber at a moment’s notice.

She peers around his side, focusing on the droid. With a little wave, casual to any onlooker, she says with intention. “We don’t need directions. You can leave us alone.”

“You don’t need directions. I will leave you alone.” The droid repeats, then slowly drifts away.

Blade looks down at her, with a frown of admonishment. “You used the Force.”

“It’s easy on droids; people are a little more stubborn. Haven’t you used mind tricks?”

He folds his arms, his knuckles whitening as he stiffly answers. “My training has sufficed so far without it.”

The implication is clear, and she wonders how many he’s killed to survive, for it to become second nature. “...I see. We should keep going then.”

Water and rations are simple purchases, but Blade doesn’t speak again until they’ve left town. “Thank you.”

“Hm?”

“For preventing a situation. I was...overthinking.” He grimaces.

“It’s not like I blame you. You’re more seasoned than I am, and considering what happened, it’d be stranger if you weren’t vigilant.” She pauses. “But I’d be happy if you trusted me a little, even though I’m only a Padawan.”

“I already do.” By now, they’ve reached their small ship, camouflaged and docked on a rocky shelf. It’s cozy within, and he finally relaxes when the airlock clicks into place. “Once we find a crystal for you, we’ll practice combat forms.”

“I’m rusty, but I’m looking forward to it. Also, you can try mind tricks.”

“On you? That would be difficult.” He gives a short laugh, and his gaze is surprisingly fond. “Get some rest. We’ll start searching the mountains when day breaks.”

“Sounds good.” She settles into her cushioned cockpit seat and closes her eyes. She’s sure that the Force has led them to this planet for a reason, and when she dreams, it’s of silver light, glowing deep underground.

[dingoes8myrp]

An Examination of Joss Whedon

On February 11th, Charisma Carpenter made a post on her Instagram account detailing mistreatment she experienced on the sets of Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Carpenter worked on both shows from 1996 to 2004 and attributes this mistreatment to show creator Joss Whedon.

On the same day, I made a post on my Tumblr and my WordPress accounts regarding my stance on this topic. I felt it was important for me to post something quickly due to the large number of Buffyverse followers and mutuals on my Tumblr.

I was overwhelmed by the likes, reblogs, and comments this post received in less than twenty-four hours. I’m so glad so many people support Charisma Carpenter and others who are speaking out about their experiences.

Workplace mistreatment is insidious, and too often the systems in place to mediate these situations are designed to protect the employer rather than the person experiencing mistreatment. This happens everywhere in every industry. When people in the public eye draw attention to these issues it helps bring awareness to everyone and encourages societal change.

In today’s climate, social media moves faster than legal or internal HR systems. This means, more often than not, accusations spread, opinions form, and action is taken long before any investigation can occur. Because of this, it’s important for people to seek out the facts themselves in order to stay informed or make decisions about who in fandom they choose to support or not.

I’m going to go through various tid-bits I’ve seen over the past twenty-five years regarding Joss Whedon’s behavior, which prompted my quick response to Charisma Carpenter’s post. I feel it’s important to share this with those who may be new to the fandom, or those who doubt Charisma Carpenter’s claims and those of others.

The Bronze

Before there was Twitter, there was The Bronze.

The Bronze was the official online gathering place of Buffyverse fans. Joss Whedon and others involved with the shows occasionally popped in and posted, interacting with the fans. There was speculation about the trajectory of the show, discussion about lore, fan theories, and behind the scenes rumors.

I didn’t learn about these forums until I was in high school (from 2002 to 2006) and I never posted. I just read up on the fun factoids I could find. I wasn’t a heavy Internet user back then. We had one computer in my house and it was shared with my parents. I was only allowed on for so much time per day, yada yada.

I think Buffy the Vampire Slayer was one of the first shows – if not the first – to utilize this kind of creator/fan interaction. It wasn’t a regular thing back then.

The vibe of these forums was very laidback. When someone directly involved with Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel posted (known as a V.I.P.) it was with a very casual, unmoderated tone. There was no screenshotting every word to be saved for later. Someone from the media couldn’t grab a comment made and spread it across the Internet in real time. There were mailing lists – collections of email addresses for people who wanted updates on show spoilers or particular non-show activities of various actors. Fan letters were still a thing – actual snail mail letters you could send to actors and writers of the shows. Things moved slowly, and there wasn’t as much transparency as there is on the Internet today with sites like Instagram and Twitter.

In a series of posts made on November 6th, 2001, Joss Whedon reacted to the airing of the musical episode, “Once More with Feeling.” He called it “the biggest undertaking of my life,” but expressed his appreciation toward the UPN network, the cast, and crew – particularly Anthony Head, Amber Benson, and James Marsters. He calls Anthony Head “the golden throat” and writes of James Marsters, “And James, who always tells me to do everything I dream of, then brings that intense voice and those cheekbones along for the ride.”

All he writes about Amber Benson is, “Amber… just, you know… Amber….”

Alarmingly absent from his praise is star Sarah Michelle Gellar, who “went back and forth” over whether or not to sing in the episode. “I’m not a singer,” she told EW. She didn’t feel prepared enough and “didn’t feel confident.” As someone who broke out of her comfort zone and pulled off a wonderful leading performance, Gellar was certainly deserving of some acknowledgment.

Seemingly realizing he neglected to mention Marti Noxon, Whedon tacked on, “Do you know anyone that hot who can run a show? Do you? I don’t think so. What a voice.” At the time, alongside comments about James Marsters’ cheekbones and being “a little gay” for Anthony Head, this seemed to be an attempt at an edgy complement (though a little cringey). Marti Noxon was a new showrunner for Buffy, taking over for Joss. Referring to her as hot rather than praising her work is a little demeaning, in my opinion, particularly when it was up to him to make sure she was respected and taken seriously in filling his shoes.

On May 22nd, 2002, Whedon posted about “the gay thing” – probably not for the first time. Regarding some fan reactions to the death of Tara Maclay, Joss wrote, “I knew some people would be angry with me for destroying the only gay couple on the show, but the idea that I COULDN’T kill Tara because she was gay is as offensive to me as the idea that I DID kill her because she was gay. Willow’s story was not about being gay. It was about weakness, addiction, loss… the way life hits you in the gut right when you think you’re back on your feet.”

Keep in mind, at the time, Willow was one of the first gay main characters – if not THE first – on a major primetime show in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. Having a gay couple on a major show like this was not a regular thing, which made the shocking death of Tara and the dark turn of Willow particularly hard-hitting. While Whedon isn’t saying anything particularly inflammatory here, it does show a sort of crass attitude toward the removal of this representation from the show, which had become so important to so many fans – and still is now.

There’s not a lot of meaty information to be found that I could dig up, but I wanted to give people an idea of this landscape back in the day. I picked out those particular Joss Whedon posts because they show a very casual disregard for the women involved in the shows – an insidious and subtle thing, but it’s there.

Fighting with Buffy

Jeff Pruitt was a stunt coordinator on Buffy the Vampire Slayer from 1997 to 2000. He also happened to be romantically involved with Sarah Michelle Gellar’s stunt double, Sophia Crawford. Both would exit the show by its fifth season. According to Pruitt, it was not an amicable exit.

Pruitt claims he and Crawford were treated badly on the set, that Crawford was “one never ending injury” and she had “reached the end of her rope.” He said that they were threatened and blackballed when they made attempts to leave before the 100th episode. They got an opportunity to work on Dark Angel, but the people at Dark Angel supposedly received a phone call from “someone high up at their studio” and were told not to hire Pruitt and Crawford. He suspects this was to keep Sophia Crawford from leaving Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Their firing was unceremonious, according to Pruitt. “Sophia was told point blank that she was being fired because she knew too much about things,” he claimed. He said Joss Whedon and Jane Espenson threatened Crawford, saying if she spoke about what happened on set she’d “never work in this town again.”

Jeff Pruitt spoke about “sneaky politics” behind the scenes, saying “there was something weird going on” in the months leading up to his and Crawford’s exit. Pruitt claims Sarah Michelle Gellar was a “spoiled starlett” and that she was “out to get” him and Crawford. He attributes statements he made in private emails that were later read by Joss Whedon to his firing.

It’s worth noting that many people have stated that Sarah Michelle Gellar is undeserving of a “diva” label. When asked in 2004 what it was like working with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Julie Benz said, “She’s extremely talented and generous. Her reputation is just completely untrue. Unfortunately in Hollywood if you’re young and female and you have an opinion you get labeled a diva or something…else. Sarah’s an amazing talent, but she got labeled.”

In a 2013 interview on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, Alyson Hannigan answered a series of rapid-fire questions about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. When asked who was the most “annoyed” by the end of the show, she said, “Sarah,” referring to Sarah Michelle Gellar. When the audience booed, Hannigan clarified, “Well, she had a big career going, and it was a lot of work.” When asked when Gellar started to “hate” the show, Hannigan quickly said season three. In a later interview for Huffpost Live, Hannigan clarified her comments further. “[Sarah Michelle Gellar] worked her butt off,” she stated. “She worked eighteen-hour days for years.” Hannigan said she wouldn’t have classified Gellar as “annoyed,” saying, “she was super professional.”

Honestly, I’m Team Sarah on this one. I couldn’t find corroborating sources for Jeff Pruitt’s claims of her “diva” behavior, but I found several sources stating otherwise. Gellar did confirm during a cast reunion that she may have oversold her stunt experience, which ultimately would have meant more work for her stunt double and the stunt coordinator. It seems to me like this set everything on a bad foot with that team. But, the reasons Jeff Pruitt and Sophia Crawford gave for their exit had little-to-nothing to do with Gellar.

Vincent Kartheiser

Vincent Kartheiser played Connor on Angel, and he did a number of interviews talking about his experience on the show. I picked his interviews because I’ve always found him to be very candid and he doesn’t seem to shy away from uncomfortable answers to questions. A few of his answers provide a little insight into the mood on the set at times, and Charisma Carpenter’s attitude.

When Charisma Carpenter was pregnant on the show, she had a storyline that heavily involved Connor, so the two spent a lot of time working together on set. He was asked about her pregnancy and how it affected filming. In a 2003 interview for BBC Cult, Kartheiser said of Carpenter, “she was a great sport and would suck up the pain even though you could see that she was in it.”

In another interview for Angel Magazine from the same year, he said Carpenter had “an abundance of energy for a working, pregnant lady who, right in the heart of her pregnancy, they put her in so much.”

It’s worth noting Vincent Kartheiser had his own issues with the show. “What really made me interested in Angel was the idea that as a show, it changed so much and all the characters could change so much,” he told Angel Magazine. “It wasn’t that clichéd kind of ‘show up, do your thing, go home’ all the time.” Unfortunately, the potential that interested him never came to fruition for his character. “As the season went on, we never really got to deal with the relationship problems between me and David,” Kartheiser said, referring to David Boreanaz as Angel. “I never really got the opportunity to bond with any other characters.” He expressed a feeling that there was nowhere for his character to go and that Connor’s motivations seemed to change from week to week. “There were parts of the season I didn’t have the opportunity to stretch,” he explained, “that it felt like I was doing the same scene over and over.”

Vincent Kartheiser did a later interview with Giantmag.com where he reiterated some of these frustrations. For him, the character of Connor started to get stale early on. “Every week I’d show up and have a scene with Cordelia,” he said, “then Angel would show up and I’d have some sort of conflict with him. There’d be a couple of fight scenes where I’d fight with them even though I didn’t want to and then I would sulk and leave. That to me was every episode.” He felt the writers had written Connor “into a corner” and that fans responded poorly to him.

When comparing his experience on Angel to his experience playing Pete Campbell on Mad Men, Kartheiser expressed a lackluster feeling on the set of Angel. “There was a real sense on Angel that people were just doing a job,” Kartheiser said of the set. “The grips, the DP, even the directors would kind of just show up, do their job and go home.” This atmosphere is a direct contrast to what had attracted Vincent Kartheiser to the show in the first place. “On Mad Men we also have Matthew Weiner on set all the time whereas Joss [Whedon] was hardly ever on Angel,” Kartheiser explained. “I think Joss was doing Firefly at that point and was in love with his next project. I had a friend who filmed a few episodes in the first season of Angel and said everyone was invested and there was crazy energy, so maybe I just came into it late.”

Kartheiser also delved deeper into his frustrations over the direction (or lack thereof) of his character. “I let them know right off the bat that some of the choices they were making [about Conner] were wrong,” he said. “I showed up to play that character and I had a lot of ideas. And they didn’t like any of those ideas.” As a result, Kartheiser said he got “jaded” and “angry” at the show. “I felt like it wasn’t a collaboration, that the people I was working with didn’t care to take risks.”

In hindsight, he went on to say, “I was never a fan of Buffy, I’ll say it straight out. I was never a fan of Angel. I always found it hard to say Joss’ words.”

From all these comments, both from the beginning of Vincent Kartheiser’s journey as Connor, and from a few years after the show ended, it seems like he was excited for the opportunity, but ultimately disappointed with the overall experience. He also revealed how uncomfortable Charisma Carpenter had to be during filming while she was pregnant, but noted her energy and attitude were never a problem.

Farewell Cordelia

Prior to Charisma Carpenter’s official exit from Angel, her character arc had taken a very strange turn and Cordelia had been ominously left in a coma. Concern grew when Charisma Carpenter was not included in the cast of season 5. In a 2003 interview with TV Guide Online, Joss Whedon stated, “The Angel/Cordelia [love story] had gone pretty much as far as we wanted to take it” and that it wasn’t popular with the fans. “It just seemed like a good time for certain people to move on,” he continued. “Not completely, obviously. I’m hoping that we’ll get Charisma to do some episodes as Cordelia sometime during the year.”

TV Guide asked, “Isn’t that a disservice to fans who invested all those years in the character and her redemption? It seems an odd thing to do to the show’s leading lady.” Whedon responded, “That’s a fluctuating concept, the leading lady thing. And it is a little odd. Some choices are ultimately kind of controversial about who stays and who goes and who we focus on. But obviously, we had to have her out of a bunch of episodes toward the end of the year because she was having a baby… so what we had [leading] up to it wasn’t a dynamic I wanted to play out that much.” When asked if things were left on good terms with Charisma Carpenter, Joss Whedon stated he wouldn’t discuss that in an interview.

From Charisma Carpenter’s perspective, she was uncomfortable with Cordelia’s storyline prior to her coma and her death. “It was creepy,” she said of Cordelia’s relationship with Connor. “Connor was Angel’s son and half my age.” Carpenter stated it was important for her to return to wrap up the character’s storyline. “We didn’t want to just leave Cordelia in a coma,” she stated. “Whatever happens after this, I’m open. But it’s just best this story be [resolved] now. Otherwise, it’s a disservice to the fans of our show.” When pressed regarding whether or not she’d return to the show, Carpenter replied, “I don’t think it’ll be necessary. You never say never. However, at this point in time, I don’t see a future for her.” She continued with, “I feel like Joss feels – the Cordelia stories have been told. There were no other directions to go with her.”

Carpenter’s final appearance as Cordelia was an emotional experience. “We’ve been crying for the last two days,” she said in a behind-the-scenes interview. “I’m so physically drained.” She wasn’t the only one affected, either. “The director was crying, the crew was crying, we were crying,” she said. She called it a sad goodbye personally, professionally, and story-wise.

Working with Joss Whedon

Over the years, Joss Whedon gained a reputation for being unconventional to work with. Many actors from the Buffyverse have said they were unhappy with their characters’ creative paths. Sarah Michelle Gellar felt season six “betrayed” who Buffy was, saying she had to be “talked off a ledge” a number of times during filming.

Nicholas Brendon felt the character of Xander was “underrated,” particularly during season seven. “Joss did have a talk with Sarah and I because he was kind of contemplating the idea of Xander and Buffy ending up together at the end of season seven,” Brendon told AV Club. “We were both for it, but then that never came to fruition and I lost my eye.”

On an episode of Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast, James Marsters said he was “terrified” of Joss Whedon. “I wasn’t designed to be a romantic character,” he explained. “The audience reacted that way to it. And I remember [Joss Whedon] backed me up against a wall one day, and he was just like, ‘I don’t care how popular you are, kid. You’re dead! You hear me? You’re dead! Dead!” Rosenbaum asked, “Was he kidding around?” and Marsters replied, “No. Hell, no.” Marsters also said he had “open wounds” on his scalp from over-using bleach on his roots every eight days to keep the roots from growing out.

Multiple actors from Angel have talked about Whedon’s habit of making actors squirm. David Boreanaz spoke about how he learned about the Angel spinoff during a twentieth anniversary cast reunion. “I got a phone call that Joss wanted to talk to me,” Boreanaz recalled. “The only thing he said was, ‘I want you to come into my office tomorrow,’ and I’m like, ‘I’m fired.’” He described having a night of “angst” and spent the following day working on some flashback scenes. When he finally met with Whedon at lunch it took some time for Whedon to tell him his character was getting a spin-off. Alexis Denisof expressed a similar knee-jerk feeling of “uh-oh,” but had an idea the spin-off was filming. However, Amy Acker had a similar story to what Boreanaz experienced when she was told about her character Fred’s transformation into Illyria. “It seems to be an echo of, like, ‘Hey, can you meet me for coffee tomorrow?’ and I’m like, ‘Ohh, they’re firing me!’ And we sat down to coffee and he said, ‘I just wanted you to know I’m killing Fred.’ And he waited, like, really a long time.” Charisma Carpenter chimed in, “He likes to do that!” Acker was then informed she would still be on the show as Illyria.

Charisma Carpenter and Marti Noxon have shared their own stories about Joss’s “You’re fired, just kidding” stories. Seth Green quipped “He did that to me too, but it took.”

Whedon’s View of Women

While Joss Whedon considers his writing to be feminist, his portrayal of women as well as other statements he’s made contradict this. In 2013, he gave a speech for Equality Now about his dislike of the word “feminist.” While this speech earned him some acclaim, it also earned him some backlash from the feminist community. This was mainly because he claimed it’s natural for people to be equal, and to add “-ist” to the end of the word “feminist” implies that people’s natural state is to be unequal. This stance was seen as disrespectful to Feminism as a movement, for some.

Joss Whedon received wide criticism for his portrayal of women in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One critic, Scott Mendelson, talked about Whedon’s portrayal of Scarlet Witch and Black Widow in Avengers: Age of Ultron. “Scarlet Witch eventually has to be coaxed into bravery by one of the male heroes,” Mendelson writes of Elizabeth’s Olson’s character. Mendelson was even less thrilled with Scarlet Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff. “Maybe I shouldn’t be annoyed that the only major female character’s primary arc is a theoretically unrequited pining for a nice guy with major anger issues,” he writes, “or that said character briefly gets captured by the villain in the second act and tossed in a cage for no reason other than to be rescued by her male compatriots.” Backlash over this film caused Whedon to quit Twitter. In an article for Gizmodo, writers Meredith Woerner and Katharine Trendacosta point out that Joss Whedon teased a “killer” backstory for Natasha Romanoff. “Instead of an assassin constantly struggling with finding moral lines she didn’t know existed, we got a woman who feels incomplete because she cannot have babies,” Woerner and Trendacosta concluded.

In 2017, Whedon’s ex-wife Kai Cole wrote a blog for The Wrap stating, “he used his relationship with me as a shield, both during and after our marriage, so no one would question his relationships with other women or scrutinize his writing as anything other than feminist.”

Cole alleges Whedon wrote her a letter in which he said, “When I was running ‘Buffy,’ I was surrounded by beautiful, needy, aggressive young women… As a guilty man I knew the only way to hide was to act as though I were righteous… In many ways I was the HEIGHT of normal, in this culture. We’re taught to be providers and companions and at the same time, to conquer and acquire — specifically sexually — and I was pulling off both!” At the end of her essay, Cole wrote, “I want the people who worship him to know he is human, and the organizations giving him awards for his feminist work, to think twice in the future about honoring a man who does not practice what he preaches.”

In response to Kai Cole’s letter, Laura M. Browning wrote in an AV Club article, “I was sad, but not shocked—maybe a little embarrassed I hadn’t looked more closely at some very clear problems in his work… His work has plenty of male gaze and women in refrigerators and some narratively pointless rape scenes—it’s all right there, in hundreds of hours of television and film—but boy, it sure is a lot more comfortable to listen to a guy tell you he’s a feminist than listen to a lot of women telling you he’s not.”

Whedon’s veneer of feminism has been cracking for several years.

Recent Allegations

Actor Ray Fisher claimed Joss Whedon behaved inappropriately on the set of Justice League, tweeting, “Joss Wheadon’s on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.” Fisher also accused Geoff Johns and Jon Berg of enabling Whedon’s behavior. An investigation was done by Warner Brothers and co-stars Jason Mamoa and Kiersey Clemons publicly supported Fisher. Ultimately, the investigation concluded and “remedial action” was taken. The action taken has not been specified.

Shortly after, Joss Whedon exited the HBO series The Nevers, which Fisher attributes to his own claims.

Team Charisma

Those who have shown support to Charisma Carpenter include: Sarah Michelle Gellar Ray Fisher J. August Richards Michelle Trachtenberg Amber Benson Eliza Dushku Jose Molina Marti Noxon Emma Caulfield James Marsters Anthony Head Clare Kramer James C. Leary Sophia Crawford David Boreanaz Amy Acker Julie Benz Danny Strong Adam Busch Tom Lenk Nicholas Brendon Jeff Mariotte

Others who have written about Joss Whedon or come out to support those coming forward:

Courtney Enlow Nell Scovell Glen Mazzara

My Conclusion

As I stated in my previous post on this topic, I stand with Team Charisma. It is not okay for a person in a position of power over others in the workplace to misuse that power in an inappropriate or abusive manner. No matter how talented that person may be and how beloved the work may be.

[moviegroovies]

confession time: for someone who (semi) actively runs a movie blog, i really haven’t seen a lot of classic movies.

(i know this comes as a shock for those of y’all who have been subjected to nothing but my half-baked thoughtpieces on bad 80′s horror for the past couple of years, but bear with me.) 

to be honest, even this review doesn’t REALLY represent me making an active choice to remedy that so much as it does me pulling a long con where i endear myself to marilyn monroe by watching her movies to get myself excited to watch the miniseries blonde (2001), for abnormally pretty, young jensen ackles purposes*, but let’s not dwell on all that. the practical result is the same; i watched some like it hot (1959). now, i hope y’all are ready for a few some like it Thoughts™:

first, idk how much attention y’all have been paying to the loose bits of personal lore i occasionally scatter within my reviews, but one thing about myself that i feel i’ve been pretty open about is the fact that i’m trans. this being so, and knowing not a whole lot about the movie beyond the very basic premise “1959 extended man in a dress gag,” i can’t say i went in with the highest of expectations. imagine my surprise, then, when the gender aspect of this movie was... actually pretty good? i mean, full disclosure, it’s not exactly gender studies, but it’s passable! it’s tolerable! there were even a few moments where i felt inclined to say the words “oh, GENDER?” out loud!

perhaps most impressively, i’d say the Cis Creator Cringe Factor of some like it hot was actually impressively LOWER than a lot of modern moves with genderswapping premises tend to be. like, i know that one definite explanation for that would be the fact that trans experiences are more widespread today, so modern filmmakers don’t feel comfortable playing with ideas like this without at least giving lipservice to them, while the era that bore some like it hot didn’t face the same “pressure,” but, okay. listen. compared to another movie i watched recently--freaky (2020), in which a teenage girl swaps bodies with serial killer vince vaugn, featuring one incredibly anvilicious scene where, upon being informed by a gay boy that she’s in the men’s bathroom, the girl’s best friend retorts, “she [vince vaugn]’s got a dick in her hand, and you’re wearing chanel no. 5. i think we’re past labels.”--some like it hot, a movie older than my father, was wayyyy easier to watch**. actually, you know what? yeah. listen to me. cis content creators? movie producers? i’m talking to you. DON’T EVEN BRING GENDER (or gender “identities”... which is an incredibly gross term, anyway) UP IF YOU’RE NOT PLANNING TO DO SOMETHING WITH IT. sincerely, this particular bad taste corner of the trans community :).

...anyway.

some like it hot, by contrast, did it right. YES, the premise of the movie was two presumably cis men in disguise as women. i’ll put that in the open. however, there was a certain... i don’t know if “respect” is the right word, but there was an avoidance, at least, of the usual predatory tropes. in fact, the worst behavior by far from either main character comes when joe manages to take off his female disguise, donning another, male persona and using things that sugar (marilyn’s character) confided in “josephine” to create a nonthreatening, desirable “millionaire” in order to trick her into sex. okay, like i said, it’s not gender studies, but, the humor in some like it hot comes from generally the right place. joe and jerry don their female disguises in a matter that in quite literally life and death for them (and it’s more than the creators ever thought of, i’m sure, but there IS an interesting analysis to be had of them needing to pass to live), which to a degree removes the usual pitfalls of male to female crossdressing as a gag; they’re neither doing it for lecherous reasons, nor to parody the female experience. this being a comedy, there is a degree of humor found in the situation, but it’s directed at jerry and joe, the characters, more than their disguises. the general assumption is that they both pass without question, as long as they’re wearing their ladies’ clothes; jerry once comments that he’s “not even pretty,” but it’s never an issue to contend with. 

wrt the crossdressing, the worst moment for me, personally, was a scene on the train when jerry prepared to take off the disguise in order to sleep with sugar, and even this ends up comedically averted at jerry’s expense.

and speaking of jerry.

jerry is actually the most compelling part of the movie for me, especially viewing it through the lens of gender. while joe, who gets the girl and manages to spend large chunks of the latter part of the film in his second, male disguise, never thinks too much about what they’re doing beyond the survival aspect of it, jerry is the one who, erm, “gets into character.” joe’s female name is simply josephine; before they get on the train with the woman musicians, it’s assumed that jerry will be going by “geraldine.” however, when they give their introductions, the duo becomes josephine... and daphne. 

as the movie progresses, this distinction grows more pronounced; when joe has to remind a smitten jerry on the train that he’s a girl, referring to their disguises, jerry miserably repeats the affirmation: “i’m a girl. i’m a girl. i want to die. i’m a girl.” later on, however, as joe’s relationship with sugar develops, “daphne” becomes acquainted with local horndog millionaire osgood, who he at first dislikes, but comes around to after being forced on a date as part of joe’s plan to trick sugar. after seeing jerry excited by the prospect of marrying osgood, a bewildered joe has to remind jerry why it’s an impossibility, and in the same miserable tone as before, jerry/daphne muddles through a new affirmation, one that definitely didn’t ring false to my trans ears: “i’m a boy. i’m a boy. i want to die. i’m a boy.” 

hm. actually, now i’m thinking about a trans male reading of joe. he was the one at first resistant to taking the job (with the all-female band), when they only needed money, and not a place to hide from an upset mob boss, but also the one who seems to know more about the role when it comes time to get into character. while jerrydaphne gets increasingly comfortable with femininity as time passes, joe never performs it in anything but a perfunctory, necessary way, and sloughs the costume EVEN WHEN the danger of being found out has not yet passed, because pretending for such a long period of time is just untenable. something about passing for female being a safe haven and a burden for both closeted (re-closeted, in this case) trans men and out trans women?

anyway. by the end, though both osgood and sugar do find out the truth about the disguises, sugar seems to instantly forgive joe for his treacherousness (again, referring more to his actions as the shell millionaire than his escapade in drag), while osgood appears unbothered by daphne’s truth, leading to an ambiguous ending for the futures of the characters, and any realizations that might come later.

no, it’s not the “real transgender experience.” it (thankfully) never claims to be. BUT, being trans myself, there were some moments that made me feel linked to our protagonists, and relatively few, if any, that made me feel alienated. all in all, that’s a lot more than i hoped for going in, so that’s what i’m happy with.

watch some like it hot, y’all. it’s a good movie in a timeless way, and, as modern movies appealing to short-lived trends that will feel outdated next week (if not by the very time of their release) will show you, that’s more than it needed to be. 

*since my original draft of this post, i DID watch blonde, and i don’t know if that’s technically fair game for this blog (not exactly a movie) or what, but 6/10. fairly well done piece of art but just BEATINGLY tragic, so proceed with caution. jensen ackles literally is THAT PRETTY though, so the jackles cut i give a strong 11/10. i am a homosexual.   **i would like to clarify that this isn’t me telling you not to watch freaky. yes, some of the dialogue is tragically riverdaleian, but there’s also a scene where vince vaugn makes out with a teenage boy. so,

[its-whitetomorrow]

Pokemon Journeys feelings... not such a “journey”

Uh so I have lots of stuff going on, health and such... and I’m behind 3 pokemon episodes and really doesn’t bother me sadly

Just looks pretty boring tbh and after I checked today uh it’s even worse than general regularity

Goh will just randomly catch more pokemon, one episode is Team Rocket randomly caring for a patch of earth with a mecha apparently (hopefully framed as their free time but probably random and not clarified huh), the upcoming “spy” episode probably a filler nothing cool that it has potential to be and Goh doesn’t even have a reason to use a spy pokemon when his evolves... Team Rocket could but of course they are not being utilized like that *sight*

Oh and yes, apparently Suicune is being chased by random hunters (AGAIN, legendary chased by hunters but Team Rocket isn’t around for some reason and they can never come up with appropriate tech as of late.. just nets) and it’s actually owned by Goh now. DUH. Legendary pokemon that’s not a threat like Eternatus is in a ball and stashed away at the park... and won’t be used for anything important or plot relevant I guess so we might as well forget about it!

About Koharu... she seems to be in a transition state from unique pokeani girl to a tired regular pokeani girl as part of the three-some and invested in pokemon or specific pokemon activity - probably following in her father’s footsteps after all... meh, REALLY? Oh and right, from all Pokemon available she got an Eevee - the damn Eevee being featured yet again and owned by a female

I think the series has identity crisis. It IS being innovative (kinda), yes, but it is trying to cater to everyone while at the same time afraid to do something truly huge and unique. 

1. It fixed Team Rocket quality problems/why are they even still employed? problem while retaining their *irrelevance* in the series and plots. At the same time they’re considered “problems” by other members which is damn conflicting - simply because the tradition states they need to be third wheels when confronted with other rockets? Idk honestly, it puzzles me. It doesn’t make any sense. So are they contributing somehow or not? If not why are they being employed and given missions?

2. They do the “all regions” premise and bring back nostalgia, old characters, or places from old series. At the same time they AVOID *iconic* places and make many locations/scenarios exclusively game-based in order to cater to game nostalgia or new players from Let’s Go - for example. Also, those returns don’t mean anything, they are pretty frequent but don’t influence plot. It’s like you’re given something and then it turns out you were not, let’s forget about it again. Oh, and not even Team Rocket can bring back their old mottos to spice things up. DAMN IT.

3. Goh catches pokemon... no, he spams pokemon... and not even legendary can resist his awesome allure and powerful pokeballs. But it doesn’t bring any development, it doesn’t have any purpose after all, it’s just there to cater to Pokemon Go players and “collectible” mindset of a fan

4. The collectible mindset and no plot aspects are very prevalent, also lots of silly fillers (sometimes bordering on questionably appropriate which makes it more akin to franchises like Yokai Watch)

5. At the same time there are no ridiculously-intriguing SILLY plot bits and returning characters. You know, like in Yokai Watch...

6. But... they did experiment with “segments” - those weird two part episodes with openings in weird places and they seemed to work pretty well, even Team Rocket got cool relevant segment roles. At the same time... no, they won’t introduce returning segments in accordance with lore and with lots of silly plot bits or something, just regular pokemon episodes.

7. Hey but they still have Ash, he takes part in this competition to become top 1 and he seems like such veteran trainer now. This is sort of continuation of the old saga and caters to long time fans (kind of), this is also the plot so they have an ongoing plot (boring and stale as it is atm)

8. Team Rocket also spam pokemon with their gacha machine (which is a gacha similar to Yokai Watch gacha...). This is actually pretty cool and innovative, also huge potential and helps them become legit threats when needed. Only... eh... really sounds like the series DOESN’T need them to become legit threats! So the gacha becomes useless in the long run. I guess that’s the end of it, won’t be used in plot or even utilized in Team Rocket scheme bigger than their weekly filler battles. MEH!

9. Legendary fest, legendary on the openings all the time, more legendary fillers. But yeah exactly they are fillers - so just the collectible aspect of it

10. But wait, there is big plot too - they did the Galar arc. But even then it had some inconsistencies and was rushed, Rose just crash-landed and... is gone. Maybe dead lol. TR didn’t really matter while at the same time properly characterized and given orders by Giovanni off-screen. 

11 ... and yet Team Rocket only has a bazooka even when sent by the boss and informed about their target... because god forbid team rocket use “non-traditional” means even though Original Series TR used bazookas, lasers and energy fields (both the TRio and other members!). 

12. Also, TRio’s balloon seems to be something that’s considered “old” now (not modern enough for new audiences if you will, and I agree with this sentiment) and thus sparsely used. But they didn’t really replace it with something new, Sun and Moon at least had Bewear, here... nothing. No truck, no car, no jet, no jetpacks, no boat, no modern aircraft with steam or small TR blimp, nothing.

13. We have school so normal kids can relate. Koharu has a normal family, often showcased. But not much is known about her school in terms of plot... and why Goh is free to drop out of school... and still be part of it... and now Koharu will probably drop out of school too... pretty confusing. What was even the purpose of the school in the first place. I believe I know why Ash is not involved in a schooling system, probably because pokemon trainers who start early on are not required to attend but... well yeah in lore explanation/plot seems like a must here!

14. Oh and yes, almost forgot! They don’t really do Galar and thrive on cheap nostalgia. This is not a Galar-based series. Not even framed as Sword and Shield series. But hey, actually, sometimes they do Galar which seems like it’s gonna become more relevant and prevalent but not really, bad call! Back to Kanto, sometimes other completely random places in other regions, less frequently Alola and Unova... for some reason :) But then we gotta promote the heck out of Sword and Shield material so let’s introduce major characters from those games and create an “arc” (I wish...) or some one time “huge” event in Galar again. Back to Kanto and regular formula, soulless pokemon collectibles again. My head is spinning god damnit!

15. Ash and Goh are supposed to do Pokemon research work but mostly they are having random adventures and taking part in competitions... like in every other series. The research part is basically catch a Pokemon/help a pokemon and tell the professor about it, nothing interesting to learn, nothing to discover or unravel. The professor and his assistants are bore, why do they even exist and they are ORIGINAL characters created for this series specifically, mind you! Sounds like they just needed an excuse for the cast to locate legendaries (because it’s lazy writing lol) and someone who will pay for their flights. I wonder why Team Rocket and Giovanni can’t detect all those anomalies... LOL.

Ok, someone tell me this is normal and NOT an identity crisis? You can’t have everything in one magical formula but at the same time reset the clock every single episode and leave a viewer with a completely stale "traditional” formula requiring him to forget and adjust their expectations yet again (yet... all those exciting places in the whole pokemon lore and world we could visit... in a relevant way... all those legends that could actually contribute... in a relevant way... all those returns... and so on). Because then it becomes saturated, conflicting and unexciting.

They need to decide. They are either like Yokai Watch with fun returning silliness and inconsequential returning segments, where cool plot bits, ongoing side stories and development are prevalent and brought up but never serious enough to shake up “weekly” status quo and make you expect a huge ongoing plot out of this. Or... they are like Pokemon of the past, more realistic approach to the game lore, stories with morality and weight not a silly fest treated like it doesn’t matter, series with actual ongoing plot only better written, with fixed mistakes, more innovative and even braver than in the past. They can’t be both, those are mutually exclusive!

[ganymedesclock]

Hello! I just recently got HK and I wanted to pick your brain about something. The point of the Knight coming to seal the Radiance is that they're truly hollow enough to do it. That they had no will, no desires, etc. But they clearly display a will and a desire to explore and help the citizens of Hallownest. Even before they see their past and gain the voidheart. Is it just player-game dissonance or does the Knight posses a mind that's not understandable by PK, Radiance, and White Lady?

There’s, a lot of bits to this (and I am about to go to bed for the night so I don’t have time to dig them up) but my longstanding contention, put simply, has always been that PK is an unreliable narrator on the “emptiness” of vessels.

Because the character of the Abyss is not truly empty. If anything, it is abundant, overflowing.

You can, through the game, direct Ghost to behave as something who genuinely has nothing in their mind but PK’s objective. You can ignore everyone who doesn’t physically stop you, disregard anything that you can’t proceed without. There are programmed reactions to this- Elderbug trying vainly to get your attention, Hornet not opening up to you by Herrah’s bedside- and it locks you into the worst ending. You also, taking that run, are given the least information about what’s going on. You basically won’t even know the significance of what you’re doing, but you will be warned of its futility.

To get the better endings- to actually affect any sort of meaningful long-term change in the world, and specifically to better harness and wield the Abyss’s power, you have to direct Ghost to not act like a robot with no feelings. You have to poke around, you have to investigate things, you have to pry deeply into the world and the things that live there. You have to not only express curiosity about the game world, but be stubborn and aggressive about it.

This is not only conflated with more content, more lore- but this is what unlocks the Abyss and renders it onto Ghost’s use. Allegedly, the Abyss is “perfect emptiness”.

But what does that mean to be truly hollow? PK thought it meant a total absence of emotion- and I think in that sense, PK’s the last narrator we should trust. Why? Because, well, PK ruined basically everything- including himself- over his basic inability to understand emotions. PK and feelings are not on speaking terms. PK basically died because he can’t manage his emotions worth jack nor shit.

And it’s Hollow- the, arguably, “failed” vessel- who has strong themes of emotional suppression, of trying to truly Feel Nothing. Hollow, whose void-affinity is relatively weak, but, who, compared to Ghost, has a way better affinity for gleaming, silvery light as exemplified with the Pure Vessel boss fight- silvery light much like the Pale King, mister Terrible At Feelings himself. The exchange at the end of the Path of Pain, to me, is damning evidence that not only did PK know full well Hollow wasn’t emotionless, but he wasn’t emotionless himself; he thought both of them would be fine as long as they personally committed to denying their feelings. It didn’t work for either of them.

Ghost- who, the further you go into the game, is increasingly drummed as Abyss Incarnate, the Lord of Shades? Ghost has feelings. They have regrets. It’s not just player projection- the fact that Ghost produces a shade on death, that they have to grapple and contend with, is in-universe called attention to as that Ghost has regrets- intense, dark, violent regrets- that they are grappling with.

The Void Heart- mastery of the Abyss- does not destroy the Shade. It instead stabilizes the Shade. Arguably, the more “void regalia” Ghost gathers to themselves- the Shade cloak, the void-tinted spells- the more that they actually leak their shade through the controlling, fettering, “have no feelings” mask.

Getting the better endings requires awakening the Dream Nail to its full potential- which the Seer states happens because you are literally gathering others’ dreams to yourself.

I think the true nature of the Abyss’s “hollowness” is not actually lacking feelings, but accepting feelings. Because in a completionist run of the game, rather than a minimalist speed run that the game canonizes to better condemn- Ghost effectively acts as a medium to Hallownest’s restless spirits.

Throughout the game, even as you hone your strength and skills and gain power to affect more and more of the world, you are called upon to listen. To accept. To behold that which people want to show you, want to say, want to confess to someone. Even your enemies; the Failed Champion and Soul Tyrant don’t yield their crop of essence just to being defeated. Rather, you have to hear out what reads very much like their last regrets. They want to clarify themselves, they want to cry out- even into the darkness- that they were alive, that they cared, that they wanted something, that they tried.

This is not a dispassionate act. Being a confessor (and Jiji literally holds that title, being a very void-aligned individual who’s able to call your Shade to you and is very impressed by the Void Heart) is an act of active empathy.

But effective empathy does require not being preoccupied with yourself. You can’t be filled with your own thoughts and feelings if you are letting others’ flow through you cleanly.

Ghost clearly is themselves. They have a part of themselves that they don’t give to anyone, and don’t let anyone else define. Throughout the game, lots of people question Ghost- interrogate or simply remark on their silence, wonder what it’s like to be them, what they feel, what they think.

The message we get heavily throughout the dialogue is that Ghost has opinions and personality- they make decisions we as the player don’t. For example, listening to Hornet in Beast’s Den, she clearly reacts to Ghost giving her a look. 

You can talk to everyone holding a delicate flower in your inventory, but Ghost will only show it to some people, and that’s clearly not a decision based only in who asks for it, since you can offer it to people who don’t want it. It’s not player-directed either, outside of the ultimate yes/no prompt and getting the flower there in the first place.

So I think true or “perfect emptiness” in Hollow Knight isn’t the absence of emotion, but accepting it; and basically the idea of being a ‘perfect vessel’ or a true heir to the Abyss’s power is basically a question of how effective of a medium or empath you are. Because that’s not a stripe you earn by Avoiding Attachment or refusing to act in a sentimental manner to people, and actually doing that locks you out of abyssal apotheosis. Instead, the “True path” that empowers Ghost requires an amount of dawdling, poking around, investigating, and above all else engaging emotionally with people that cannot be explained in a being that doesn’t have any thought or desire of their own.

Especially since the Void Heart itself is only accessible if Ghost actually seeks out answers for their own past. White Lady doesn’t tell you that you should or that you must go seek out the place you were born- she just says it’s an option, if Ghost wills it, now that they have the Kingsoul. And while she remarks afterwards that she’s not sure if you feel anything anymore, to me, that suggests that Ghost has transcended, the way White Lady is aware of you using the Dream Nail on her and basically makes sure you don’t get at anything she doesn’t want you to. (and, it’s further confirmation that before the Void Heart, she was picking up feelings from Ghost)

TL;DR I think the Pale King is an unreliable narrator about the true nature of the Abyss because of his own issues with emotional suppression; the true nature of the Abyss is not Without Emotion as much as it is accepting and reaching a state of peace with one’s own emotions and the emotions of others. 

[egalitarian-tomboy]

Fans of Sonic: May I present my Ted Talk focused on the Comics

Archie =/= IDW Comics. 

I feel like a lot of Archie fans are still bitter about the cancellation of their favorite series even after the nail was put into the coffin 3 years ago. Since that ask got me into a ranty mood, I figured it was only appropriate to delve into the big clusterfuck storm that was the Sonic The Hedgehog Archie Comics. 

The comic series was published on November 22nd, 1993 by Archie Comics 4 months after DiC Entertainment’s “Sonic The Hedgehog” animated series started airing on ABC. Unfortunately, ABC would cancel the series prematurely at 2 seasons even though it was originally intended for a 3 season run. Leaving the fans of the animated series to rely on the comic books for answers regarding what would’ve happened if they’d gotten their final season. 

The Archie series had an impressive overall run of #290 issues spanning across 24 years of publication. However, the true cancer was seeded after one of the main contributors of the comics took Archie and SEGA into a fierce legal battle. 

Ken Penders vs. Archie & SEGA lasted from 2010 to 2012 after both companies failed to challenge his copyright filing to the U.S. Copyright Office in April of the same year. All parties settled outside of court which resulted in the continuity change in the comics with the Second Genesis Wave arc. This arc effectively removed many of Ken Penders’ now copyrighted characters and characters other contributors were also planning on copyrighting themselves.This arc would steer the longtime 1993 animated series focused comic into becoming more reliant on the game universe instead. A list of mandates were given by SEGA to Archie Comics about what they could and couldn’t do in their comic series after the lawsuit was settled. The Archie series would continue publication for a few more years until Archie cancelled all planned issues for Sonic in 2017 in 2016. 

SEGA of America confirmed on July 19th, 2017 that they were terminating their comic book publishing program with Archie Comics on their twitter account. In that statement they confirmed to the fans they were planning to “...take a different direction for the series that will be announced at a later date.” 

On July 21st, SEGA and IDW announced they would be collaborating together to bring a whole new era of Sonic comic books. The first issue was published on  April 4th, 2018 and has continued to be one of the highest selling comic series on the market today. 

So why is the IDW series performing much better than the Archie series even though they were going strong for 24 years? There’s 2 reasons. 

1. The new IDW series is reliant on game lore and ONLY game lore. At the time of writing this in January, 2020 there has been no sign of the freedom fighters making their comeback in this new era of sonic comics. However that isn’t to say that SEGA might not allow IDW to include them later on. But I don’t think it’ll happen. Especially if they planned on taking this series into a new direction away from what Archie was doing. Now that the comic is being rooted firmly in game lore and game canon history, sonic fans have a comic book that any fan at any age can appreciate since it draws from ALL of the games that have been currently published by SEGA. 

2. SEGA is Collaborating this time instead of partnering. What’s the difference? I hear you asking. Well there’s a big difference:  In a partnership, you’re working in a legal contract where you’re associated in a joint business. These associations can range from inactive to proactive involvement from either party. In the case of Archie and SEGA, SEGA allowed Archie to have their way for a good portion of their publication partnership. Only giving them rules to obey in terms of what they did with their characters and what was off the table. But that loose freedom came to an end after the Penders fuck up. Archie lost SEGA’s built up trust by not providing the legal proof they needed in order to toss Penders’ copyright out the window so they could reclaim the characters he took. Which lead to SEGA getting stricter in how their property was used by their company.  

In a collaboration however, you’re actively involved in the production of a product with the other party. Making it equally theirs AND yours. SEGA collaborating with IDW in this new era of Sonic makes them more appealing to Sonic fans who’ve grown more familiar with the games instead of the 1993 animated series. It’s this recognition that gives the comic a timeless appeal to them as well. Since anyone who has played a sonic game can recognize the technology they use in the comic from games like Sonic Riders Zero Gravity and Sonic Forces. They get references to Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. But Archie? Unless you read the series from the very beginning and you’ve watched the Sonic The Hedgehog 1993 series, you don’t care about characters like Sally Acorn and Bunnie. 

When you lose a series you grew up on, I know how hard it is to admit it’s gone. How there’ll never be a continuation of the series that once brought you joy after school or after a very long day at work. It sucks. But the lengths some people have gone to in order to shit on the new IDW series gives me a headache. 

No it’s not a video game. But that doesn’t mean that SEGA doesn’t have anything to do with the series. They’re just as active as the main staff. America has had their way with SEGA’s characters a bit too long and the main in Japan has had enough. The last straw was the Penders lawsuit and they’ve had to step in more than once to clarify with fans when things were in and not in character in other projects like when Sonic pushed Amy away by shoving her face.  

I don’t get how people can get angry at SEGA for stopping writers from doing something that is OOC for the sake of doing something “cool” when their whole termination of Archie started because writers and artists were doing something for the sake of doing something “cool”. SEGA knows their characters better than anyone else because they’re the ones who fucking made them to begin with. You might be huge fans of those characters, but you aren’t the one who created those characters. 

If you want to point fingers at someone for destroying what you thought was a perfect series, point them at Ken Penders for dragging the whole series down with him when he filed a copyright on all his contributions to the sonic extended lore. Hate him for making Archie & SEGA remove ALL of his characters from the old series because he wanted royalties. But don’t throw that anger onto the IDW series that is doing it’s own thing that is more relatable to the video games than the old 1993 animated series. 

But at the end of the day: This is just a franchise about a blue hedgehog and his friends fighting a evil scientist who wants to control the world. You can buy all the old Archie comics in collected editions via Half-Price Books or Amazon. Or you can stick to the IDW series if you want something more game focused and SEGA involved. 

Do whatever floats your boat. 

Just remember: 

Sonic The Hedgehog 1993′s Sally Acorn was not created by SEGA, she was created by DiC Entertainment. 

The Archie series is not focused on the game lore and is focused on the 1993 series primarily. Which was not a series that SEGA produced. 

Archie comics does not have a say in any future SEGA products regarding Sonic which means their Archie exclusive characters will probably not appear in the IDW series. 

If you want to hate someone then you should hate Ken Penders. 

[ardenttheories]

This was getting ridiculously long, so I’m answering this in parts instead. My final response to the thread milest3hr4t and I had going on.

I’d say just ask hussie, but even he is an unreliable narrator.

I don’t have Twitter, and never intend to, so this unfortunately isn’t an option. Beyond that, Hussie has a habit for changing canon based on what he specifically needs - e.g. the fact that the Aspects were originally just Time, Space, Light and Breath until he needed to introduce the Beta trolls, or the fact that he had to change canon to make the Alpha trolls fit into the timeline - so asking him probably wouldn’t help. 

I’m just looking at it like this ; God tier permadeath is with JUST and HEROIC deaths, which are based on their immediate action. if you are killed mid-attack, it is just, if you are killed while helping someone, it is heroic. That’s a nice, simple, straight-forward rule. I cannot imagine the rules for becoming god tier, are more complex than the rules for dying as one.

You seem to forget that the JUST and HEROIC deaths can also be swayed by what the Player being killed views their death to be. E.g. if a Player things they’ve become a villain, even if they’re not, that conviction would result in a JUST death. 

There are little rules like these scattered all throughout Homestuck. You’re right; there’s often very straight-forward rules. But a lot of the time those rules are hidden between weird shit that the kids and trolls do because of their broken session. 

My job, right now, is clarifying what would NORMALLY happen if, for instance, a Sprite doesn’t already contain your Dreamself (in which case the Dreamself doesn’t die from the Waking Self’s wounds at all, seemingly), or if you were to Godtier using the Quest Bed when compared to the Sacrificial Slab (and what the differences between these ascension methods are, because there are distinct differences). 

I would also like to point out a clarification, because what I said is not just “Corpse + quest bed”, it was “corpse + matching quest bed”. Dave could not ascend on rose’s quest bed, for example, it has to be specifically his. 

I’m not sure why you’re clarifiying this, because this isn’t something I ever questioned? When I was talking about matching Quest Beds I meant “the Quest Bed that exists on the Land and the Quest Bed that exists on Skaia”, like we see in JOHN: RISE UP. 

Of course Players can only Godtier if they go on their associated Quest Bed. That’d be like trying to equip an item that you don’t have the proficiency for; it just... wouldn’t work. 

Lastly, I think you’re actually wrong about one critical detail. That IS a typical session of sburb. Lord English is a core part of sburb. That’s what the epilogue was (possibly) about. (in addition to the set up for a sequel) For starters, John had to go back to beat english or they “couldn't’ actually win the game”, which directly implies, defeating english is a requirement for completing sburb, but more importantly– Dirk’s ultimate self, includes all versions of dirk, which includes AR, which includes ARQuiussprite, Which includes Lil Cal, Which includes Lord English. Then the ultimate expression of his class & aspect, his own soul is voided, Leaving Equius, Lord English, and a Kernal sprite. This is precisely why at the end of the epilogue, dirk is trying to start new sessions of sburb. because it is ONLY through playing sburb, that LE gets to manifest his true form, because he is a part of it. this is why he acts “out of character”. he’s perfectly in character for being LE, and it’s precisely why he and alt!calliope where mutually hostile to eachother from the start. The beta kids, and beta trolls, AND the horror terrors, had normal sessions, and all of them had to deal with lord english. 

I’m just flat out going to say no on this one.

Lord English is NOT typical for a session. He is often referred to as a Vrius, or a Virus-like entity. He is not MEANT to be there, and the session actively has to be set up to allow him to be created; e.g. the entire issue with the Session Glitch is 100% NOT typical circumstance for a session, and only happens because Lord English needs it to happen. 

He is a Cherub, a Player, a game contruct, all mixed into one. LE actively destroys the balance of the session and means that four sessions - each individual - have to be merged together just to ensure that a handful of Players can survive. 

How can we tell? Because we literally see Caliborn, a Player. He isn’t a game contstruct, and therefore, neither is LE - not entirely. He becomes one when he fucks about with the timeline in his efforts to be created, but LE and Doc Scratch are very specific to the Homestuck universe. They have to have a basis, a backstory, with Caliborn as their focus. 

It’s not like he is entirely unrelated to anything and happens to exist because the game needs him to be there, like with Spades Slick/Jack Noir - Lord English is specifically founded in connection to a Player (even if that Player doesn’t become him in the end). If Caliborn wasn’t eventually introduced there’d be no LE, because there’d be no foundation. He isn’t a natural part of SBURB’s code.

There aren’t any precautions set in place to help the kids beat him. In fact, he is completely undefeatable. If you’re going to tell me that this is meant to be a continued feature in every single session - that there’s always Lord English as the final boss when the trolls proved that a typical session doesn’t even foster his existence at all, when the entire PRESENCE of Lord English literally requires the kids to BREAK CANONICITY and fuck with the foundation of the story in order to succeed - then I’m going to have to shut you down very quickly.

SBURB is a game with lore. Homestuck is a story. Hussie frequently exploits the fact that Homestuck is a physical comic to introduce things that could never happen in a typical session - such as that narrative construct that John and the other Beta kids get trapped in, the white house thing that gives John his retcon powers - simply because that’s part of what Homestuck is about. 

If Players have to break the realms of fiction and reality in order to beat the game, then that likely isn’t a normal PART of the game. That’s the kids desperately trying to fight against something that is so abnormal they simply can’t beat it in the usual way. 

Furthermore, John has to go back to beat LE not because they can’t beat SBURB without doing it - because they do, and have, and the fact that Earth C exists proves this fact - but because it is the only way to keep the Meat Epilogue CANON. Again, these are metatextual concepts and are not related to the core concept of SBURB itself.

The kids have already won SBURB by that point. John going back into canon just makes sure that they stay relevant - it doesn’t re-beat SBURB. I think, fundamentally, you���re mixing up metatextual Homestuck concepts with the very basic lore of SBURB. 

 I also want to point out that this:

“This is precisely why at the end of the epilogue, dirk is trying to start new sessions of sburb. because it is ONLY through playing sburb, that LE gets to manifest his true form, because he is a part of it. this is why he acts “out of character”. he’s perfectly in character for being LE, and it’s precisely why he and alt!calliope where mutually hostile to eachother from the start.“

Is completely incorrect. Dirk isn’t starting a new session of SBURB. At all.

Dirk does two things in the Meat Epilogue:

- Send John back into canon to defeat LE because he was an untied “loose end” required to keep the Meat timeline canonical 

- Escape on a ship for an unknown reason, trying to find a habitable planet. There could be a thousand reasons he does this, and starting SBURB again doesn’t seem to be a very likely one. 

While I can believe that Dirk is being controlled by LE in some way - or that LE is manifesting through him - I also think you’re giving him a lot less credit than he deserves. Dirk still retains an ability to care that LE just doesn’t have, and seems to have alterior (and personal) motives. He’s still aware and in control there, simply deeply influenced at most, if we’re assuming LE is there at all. 

But, at the end of the day, it’s wild conjecture because we don’t know enough yet. Nothing’s been proven, and, again, there’s a thousand different reasons Dirk is doing what he’s doing that do not involve starting a new SBURB session. 

I mean, he literally flees after making John re-enter canon. No new session is created there. He facilitates LE’s downfall. Dirk is, arguably, the reason LE might die for good. This does not seem like the action of a man who is preparing to open up a new session for the sake of a soon-to-be-dead cherub.  

Canon LE is (about to be) devoured by the blackhole at the end of the Candy Epilogue. Calliope is physically going to eat him. This has no effect on SBURB, this just ends their confrontation and finalises her position as the predominant cherub - again, because they already claimed their reward and entered the new universe. To SBURB, this means that the game is complete. 

And finally:

There’s no mention of LE in the Horrorterror session. The Horrorterrors are being KILLED by LE in the Furthest Ring - which is post-session. So, he’s not normal for them. 

The kids’ and trolls’ sessions are literally exploited to hell and back and frequently glitched out - the aforementioned Session Glitch, for instance - in order to even allow for LE to exist. SBURB has to break for him to be brought into the session, and it has to break even more for the kids to try and survive - e.g. we know Players aren’t meant to be able to go to the Alpha session based on the Alpha trolls’ eternal-death state, yet the kids literally have to do that. 

And to do it, they have to go through the 4th wall - the literal representation that they’re leaving the normal realm of a SBURB session and into the metatextual realm of the comic - which is introduced by HUSSIE HIMSELF. The author of the comic - who, I really shouldn’t have to say - isn’t a normal part of the session, either. 

They have to break a fundamental aspect of the game in order to survive. 

You also seem to forget that Lord English is the reason ANY of those sessions merged to begin with. LE has to FACILITATE their fusion - through Doc Scratch, through the Session Glitch, through the Handmaid and HIC - because that’s not what a session is meant to be like.

Sessions SHOULD be self-contained. You’re not even meant to know that other sessions exist - let alone be contacted by the session that created YOUR session. 

Lord English has to enforce so many things just to exist within the Homestuck universe, and if you took him out, you’d notice that every session - besides the Alpha one - is completely winnable. He has to make winnable sessions be unwinnable to force the Players to reach a point where he can exist. SBURB, for as much as it doesn’t want people to win all the time, literally wouldn’t force its Players to repeatedly give up winnable sessions just so that this Time-demon could destroy it.

So, this is the funamental mistake you’re making. You’re taking SBURB to mean “everything that includes the parts of Homestuck that can only exist becasue it’s an experimental comic”. I’m taking SBURB to mean “the actual game that people play so I can help others understand what a normal session looks like for future reference”. 

There is a lot of the kids’ SBURB game that only happens because of the comic format, because Hussie exists as a character, and because metatextual elements are present that wouldn’t happen in a 100% normal session. 

In other words, in a session that was actually REAL, and not just being written by an author who can exploit the comic format and fictional universe, stuff like the white house Construct would be unlikely to exist - because that relies on the fact that we KNOW Homestuck is just a comic to work, that the entire universe is fictional and things like the narrative exist as more than just potential/theoretical concepts. 

People could include these concepts if they wished, but that’s not what the core game of SBURB is about, and not how a very basic, generic session would run.

[winnie-the-patton]

What if Roman becomes Depression?

@notafeeling had a similar idea today, though a little bit different, so definitely check out what they had to say!

---

My friend and I were talking, and he proposed a theory that’s been said before. The sides are not set-in-stone. They can change, “light sides” could become “dark sides” and vice versa. (I personally think this series will end with them realizing there are no “light” or “dark” sides they’re all equally important, but that’s for another day).

Virgil was a “dark side”, and now he’s a "light side.” One theory I’ve seen is that before he was “anxiety” maybe he was something else, like fear, or pure self-preservation (I also think the “dark sides” are all forms of self-preservation because Thomas functions mainly on selflessness and would always consider selfishness a bad thing, but again, theory for another day).

Is it possible for a “light” side to become a “dark” side depending on the situation? Are all of the sides BOTH “light” and “dark” but we only see what Thomas sees/wants to believe?

What would it look like for a “light side” to go dark though? What if Roman, Thomas’s passion and ego, became depression?

Think about it. What are some symptoms of depression? -low mood and energy -withdrawn -irritable -feeling helpless or worthless -hopelessness -loss of enjoyment and interest in activities

Now let’s look at Roman lately:

Low mood? I’d say so. From “the one and lonely,” to the "do I...” about accomplishing Thomas’s dreams, Ro isn’t so happy right now. We know he’s been dealing with self-esteem issues, and that he’s really down about Thomas not being able to accomplish his dreams.

Withdrawn is harder to tell because they’re sides not people, but it wouldn’t surprise me. He had to be reminded that “No one hates you” in the puppet episode.

Irritable goes without saying, the way that he bickers constantly with Logan. Sometimes over really stupid things, like Logan “over-clarifying.” He’s been pretty cranky lately.

Feeling helpless, worthless, and hopeless. This is what I really want to talk about. At the end of the last episode, we saw Roman just give up. He won the case, Thomas was going to go to the callback, and he gave it all up. Why? 

Because it didn’t matter anyway. “It feels like no matter how hard I fight, or how much progress I make, something more important always comes around to knock us back to where we started.” 

He goes with what Patton says, because his opinions don’t matter. Patton is in charge, Patton is usually right, Thomas trusts Pat more, and siding with what Patton said was the safest choice.

And then in the Puppet episode: [Virgil:] You feel low. ([Roman:] That's not true!) [Patton:] It's okay. ([Roman:] Don't assume!) [Thomas:] You don't need to save face. [Virgil:] In almost any case [Virgil & Patton:] We embrace you. ([Roman:] That's rich.) [Virgil:]No one hates you. ([Sad Roman puppet]) [Thomas, Virgil, & Patton:] Everybody's got flaws. [Thomas:] But, with no you at all, I'm incomplete.

Roman doesn’t believe that “in almost any case we embrace you” because they don’t. He doesn’t get listened to, his goals are never reached, his needs are never prioritized, and his dreams seem hopeless. Roman feels worthless/helpless/hopeless because he’s been hurt and let down time and time again. Why should he believe that will change?

Which brings us to the last symptom I listed: Loss of enjoyment and interest in activities. This one is more of a prediction than a current issue, but if Roman already feels helpless and worthless, why would he keep creating? If all he does is for naught, what is left to drive his passion? 

I think it’s really possible that we see Roman not “duck out” per say, but give up. I think we could see Roman surrender, and stop driving Thomas to follow his dreams. 

As far as as lore goes, if Roman stops fulfilling his role as creativity, could he become depression? Or potentially apathy? Without Roman pushing Thomas forward towards his dreams, all that’s left is a lack of drive and desire, an empty and hollow feeling. Aka, depression. 

The question “Why do we get out of bed in the morning?” might have been a lot more foreshadowing than we realize.

[thefragileblackdahlia]

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester: Part One

Chapter Summary: Sam and Dean are stunned when the spirits of Meg and Agent Henricksen appear. Ariel has flashbacks of Lucifer with the Mark and also pays the price for doing the right thing.

Ariel centric episode.

Pairing(s): Eventual Dean x Archangel!OFC, Castiel x sister!Ariel, Kindred Spirit!MOC!Lucifer x Ariel

Warning(s): Typical Supernatural violence, Mild Language, Dark thoughts, Self-loathing

A/N: I'm glad that people are liking my style of writing. I don't do much all day so the episodes are gonna come out faster than planned. I am excited about this as much as everyone else. Sam's storyline in season 4 isn't really interesting to me. I hate it but I will include some parts, I promise. Beta'd by no one so if there are any errors I'm sorry.

Word count: 2,838

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The wind whisked past Ariel's face, her red locks swaying along with the breeze. She wriggled her toes in the moist soil, taking a few steps toward the sun that settled on the horizon. Her sunkissed skin radiated beauty and vigor, the pink dress adding a touch of hierarchy and femininity. Poppies brushed against her ankles as the wind blew again. This was her heaven, a vast field of poppy flowers, no end in sight.

She inhaled a considerable amount of air before sighing softly. The archangel shut her eyes as she sensed the presence behind her, Castiel.

"Cassie." She teased whilst pivoting on her heel to face the combatant. She frowned once she realized that he wore a pained expression.

"If you are worried about the Rising of the Witnesses...I have faith Dean Winchester will put an end to it." She stated matter of factly as she walked past him.

"I wasn't sure if you knew, you've been told to keep an eye on the Winchesters. I know, after our learning about Lilith's activities, you seemed uncomfortable." He stated as he closed his eyes, remembering the last time the Cage was mentioned.

"If this has anything to do with that, Castiel, my answer will never change. I am fine. Now stop asking me. It happened eons ago, it doesn't trouble me..." She hesitated, looking off into the distance. "not anymore." Ariel said in a hushed whisper.

If she had to be honest, the whole situation had been stressful for her. She was too close to this, being Lucifer's closest sibling besides Michael wasn't enough. NO, father had to go and 'experiment with kindred spirits' He said. Ariel didn't hate Lucifer, well before he went evil. He was enjoyable, eccentric and cared a great deal about affection, but that was before the mark had corrupted him completely.

Lucifer and Ariel sat in the observation room, gazing at the stars and black holes. It was quiet, still, and only the two of them as the others were off elsewhere helping Father. By then, Lucifer already donned the mark but he meant no harm, right? The nefarious actions started small.

"What do you think of me?" The male asked, his fingers grazing over her dainty ones.

Ariel's eyes darted from the supernova forming to her older brother. What kind of question was that? Is he feeling self-conscious or is he just curious? When she thought of Lucifer, she thought of the good in him as well as his handsomeness. She thought of his warm fingers and pink wings which only reminded her of her own. She felt close to him. Like he was,

"Home." She hummed whilst enveloping his fingers in her own. The naive Angel flashed him a soft smile before returning her eyes to the spectacle in front of her. Little did she know, Lucifer had different thoughts. The mark screaming in his head, coercing him to commit horrible acts.

Once she gripped his fingers, he knew he couldn't control much of himself anymore.

He merely desired to take his arch blade and force it through her skull, to feel the warmth and wetness of the blood trickly down his fingers. He needed to wind her soft, red hair around his fist and corrupt her. He craved so much more and the thoughts echoed in his mind, crescendoing the longer they held hands.

He yanked his hand away like he was burned.

"Don't," He uttered, pain in his heart once he realized he could have just killed her without a second thought if a second longer had passed. He drew his knees to his chest and rubbed his thumb over the mark. He hated his father, how could he give him suck a mark. This horrible mark, slowly corrupting him, changing him.

"Is it bothering you? I could bear the mark if the task is too much." Ariel could sense the mark corrupting him but that didn't keep her away. Lucifer understood why she couldn't keep away which only made him want to butcher her more if he only could just bring himself to do it.

Ariel tried her best to help Lucifer fight the mark but soon, her hope would die out, driving the two apart.

Castiel noticed her pause as if her mind was off in another world. After Lucifer's fall, her remaining brothers grew cold, distant and the only angel Ariel genuinely liked was, Castiel. He was 'wired differently' or at least that's what most angels said about him. He came off the factory belt wrong, maybe it was on purpose but Ariel didn't care, they said the same about her.

'Damnit' Castiel thought. The disgruntled angel made his way over to his older sister,

"Ariel, we have work to do." He couldn't show compassion or understand it but he knew something was wrong. He placed a hand on her shoulder, watching her flinch. The celestial being gazed into her eyes, seeing no light or hope. She was lost.

"The seals, Rising of the Witnesses." He continued, hoping to coax her out of her fugue state. "It will be all right." Castiel demanded her attention, gripping her shoulder tight.

That phrase, she disliked what it did to her. It forced her to relax. The same phrase Michael prayed to her before casting the only person that cared about her, out of heaven.

"Yes, let's go." She murmured and with a strong flap of their wings they were in Bobby's kitchen, the humans unaware. They arrived just as the three were talking about them.

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Sam ridiculed his brother, "Well, then tell me what else it could have been." He brought his hands to his head, massaging the bridge of his nose.

Dean paced the kitchen slowly, a hand on his hip as he responded. "Look, all I know is I was not groped by angels. Which, one is named after a Disney princess. I mean she even has the red hair."

"Okay, look, Dean." Sam retorted, "Why do you think this Ariel would lie to you about it?"

Dean held out his hands in defiance, "Maybe she's some kind of demon. Like uh... Like Lilith. Demons lie." He turned away from his brother, curling and uncurling his fingers.

"Demons who are immune to salt rounds and devil's traps...And Ruby's knife?" The more Sam talked the higher his pitch went. Sam motioned with his hands, "Dean, Lilith is scared of that thing!"

Dean shifted to face his brother, annoyance written all over his face as he rested against the kitchen counter. "Don't you think that if angels were real, that some hunter somewhere would have seen one...at some point... ever?"

Sam licked his lips and scoffed, "Yeah," He nodded. "You just did, Dean."

"I'm trying to come up with a theory here. Okay? Work with me." Dean argued as he gestured to himself.

"Dean, we have a theory." Sam huffed.

"Yeah, one with a little less fairy dust and Disney magic on it, please." Dean countered, pushing himself up off the counter and inching closer to Sam.

"Okay, look. I'm not saying we know for sure. I'm just saying that I think we-" Dean instantly cut Sam off.

"Okay, Okay. That's the point. We don't know for sure, so I'm not gonna believe that this thing is a freaking Angel of the Lord because it says so!" Dean boomed.

Bobby interrupted their passionate debate, "You two chuckleheads want to keep arguing religion, or do you want to come take a look at this?"

Dean peeped at Sam, letting out a small breath before rolling his eyes subtly and walking over to Bobby's desk, Sam followed reluctantly.

"I got stacks of lore-- Biblical, pre-Biblical. Some of it's in damn cuneiform. It all says an angel can snatch a soul from the pit." Bobby informed as he pointed to the picture of the angel holding a human and bringing it from the darkness into the light.

Dean subtly laid a hand on his right shoulder over the small handprint. "What else?" He asked, still in denial.

"What else, what?"

"What else could do it?" Dean articulated.

"Airlift your ass out of the hot box? As far as I can tell, nothing." Bobby elucidated.

Sam beamed, "Dean, this is good news."

"How?"

"Because for once, this isn't just another round of demon crap." Sam took a breath, "I mean, maybe you were saved by one of the good guys, you know?"

"Okay. Say it's true. Say there are angels. Then what? There's a God?" Dean derided.

"At this point, Vegas money's on yeah." Bobby joined.

"I don't know, guys," Dean said and waved his hand dismissively when he turned to step away. He let out a low sigh and scratched his head. He wanted to believe, he did, but something didn't feel right.

"Okay, look. I know you're not all choirboy about this stuff, but this is becoming less and less about faith and more and more about proof." Sam presented.

"Proof?" Dean asked, pivoting and wandering back to the desk.

"Yes." Sam asserted.

"Proof that there's a God out there that actually gives a crap about me personally?" Dean snapped, "I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it."

"Why not?"

Dean looked to Bobby, a distant look in his eyes before he answered, "Because why me?" He delayed, "If there is a God out there, why would he give a crap about me?!"

"Dean-" Sam started.

"I mean, I've saved some people, okay? I figured that made up for the- for the stealing and the- the ditching chicks. But do I deserve to get saved? I'm just a regular guy." Dean fought.

"Apparently, you're a regular guy that's important to the man upstairs." Sam clarified.

There was a slight pause as the three hunters stared at each other, waiting for anyone to say something. Dean looked to Bobby, then Sam with a sheepish look on his face.

"Well, that creeps me out. I- I mean I don't like getting singled out at birthday parties, much less by...God."

Sam folded his arms over his chest and shifted his weight, "Okay, well, too bad, Dean, because I think he wants you to strap on your party hat." Sam simplified with a single nod.

Dean brought his hand to his mouth and then sighed. He inspected Bobby who gave him the bitch-face as if the solution was obvious. Dean averted his gaze, his nerves going off the rails but he kept it hidden. The 30-year-old cleared his throat,

"All right. What do we know about angels?" He gave in.

Sam slowly turned his head to Bobby because he had no clue what angels were like.

Bobby stretched his arms, lifting the five books he had sitting on his desk and presenting them to Dean.

"Start reading." Bobby half-joked.

Dean stared at the pile of books with a dumbfounded expression. He twisted and pointed at Sam, "You're gonna get me some pie." He snatched the first book from the pile and went into the kitchen and begrudgingly sat at the desk stacked with lore books.

Ariel rested on the desk with her legs crossed at the ankles, the lore books phasing through her lower half as Dean placed them down. She curiously watched Dean as he sat in the chair, obviously shaken up. He gripped the sides of the chair, scooting it forward and closer to the desk. The crabby hunter dropped the book down on the desk and perched his elbows to help hold up his head.

'Why me?' He thought, raking his fingers through his sandy brown hair. He dragged his hands down his face, pulling at his cheeks. Dean let out a long and heavy sigh before picking up the angel lore book and starting from page one.

"He is so troubled." Ariel cooed.

"He has been through a lot," Castiel replied from the other side of the room, gazing intently at all the papers on the wall in Bobby's office.

Observing humans wasn't always his favorite but it was he needed to make sure his sister would be fine.

Ariel chose not to respond and instead just observed Dean's mannerisms. She lingered for a while, uncrossing her legs whilst she leaned back and rested her hands on the desk. In her seated position, she rotated her head trying to relieve pressure. She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, her neck exposed.

Castiel broke their silence by clearing his throat, "What do you think of Dean Winchester?" He inquired, walking over to the next paper.

Ariel leaped from the table, "The poster boy for humanity." She peeped at Dean when she spoke. "He's in constant pain." She continued with a sad look in her eyes.

"I see." He replied, mouth still agape as if he had more to say but he just buried his hands deep into his trenchcoat pockets.

The sound of Bobby talking on the phone was drowned out like there was a wall of water between them. Ariel could make out what was being said, she already knew what had happened. She and Castiel watched as Bobby and Dean exit the house and walk toward the garage, gathering supplies and packing it in Bobby's car.

Ariel hummed softly as she studied a page that was left open on Dean's desk. On it resided a painted representation of the Garden. Her humming stopped abruptly. She gazed at the illustration, panic filling her eyes.

"Luci, please stop...Not in the Garden!" Ariel whimpered. She brought her hands up to protect herself from her corrupted brother.

"They are nothing, Ariel! Why do you care so much for them?! Don't you care about how I feel?! I care about you, Father only cares about what you can do for him." Lucifer bellowed, snatching her wrists in his hands. He yanked her into the foliage and then slammed her body face front, against a tree.

She yelped as her head banged against the tree with full force. She shut her eyes tightly, shaking her head as blood trickled down her forehead and in between her furrowed brows.

"You won't join me. You weren't made to obey. You were born to rebel. Why can't you understand you won't be happy here, with them. Rebel with me, We can watch the stars together, for eternity." He growled, tightening his hold on her wrist with most of his strength. The corrupted Lucifer, using his weight and strength to keep her sandwiched between him and the tree. Of course, Ariel was very powerful but wasn't enough to overpower a mark baring Lucifer.

"Please, Lucifer...this isn't you." The angel murmured, her body quivering with dread as her wings were at an uncomfortable angle and she was now being harassed by her once beloved brother.

Lucifer contemplated, he already was halfway there, the rest would be easy. All he needed to do was draw his arch blade and shove it into her skull. The twisted man drew his blade pressing only the tip against her nape. He dragged it across her skin struggling with himself and fighting the mark as best he could.

"No..." He breathed, before letting her go. He disappeared with a flap of his wings.

THUD! Ariel was pulled out of her episodic flashback. Her icy cerulean orbs met Castiel's ocean blues.

Castiel "I've been saying your name more than I should. I have been called to battle-"

"I'm staying, I'll be fine." Ariel said gently as she exited the house, following after Dean and Bobby.

The low rumble of the impala caught everyone's attention as it pulled into the driveway.

Ariel furrowed her brows as her eyes rested on Sam. Sam's aura, with what used to be a bright, white, hot glow was now dimmed, only slightly. Not good.

Bobby approached the car window, leaning over. "Keep the engine running." He commanded.

"Why? What's going on?" Sam caught a glimpse of Dean packing something in Bobby's trunk.

"I got a friend one state over-- Olivia Lowry. I've been trying to reach her for three days on this angel thing. It's not like her to ignore this many calls." Bobby informed.

"Olivia Lowry -- a hunter, right?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah. We're gonna go check on her. You guys follow me." Bobby confirmed, tapping on the door as he turned to walk back to his car.

Dean came up the driver's side and opened the door, "Scoot over." He fussed and Sam did as told whilst handing the bag of food to his older brother. Dean settled into the car, shutting the door and snatching the bag. He rummaged through it, searching for the pie.

"Dude?"

"Yeah?" Sam answered. Dean looked at Sam with a dumbfounded expression, "Wheres the pie?"

"Still at the store." She snickered to herself, appearing the back of the Impala. Ariel paid no mind to the angel and with a wave of her hand, she sent him back to where he needed to be.

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