#to note : amy looks relatively old in this but after thinking about the timeline i realized she's supposed to be way younger at this point

[tekatonic]

Opening up with the early early things back when i didn't really know what i wanted to do with this.

We're going chronologically, so this is all from february/march 2022 !

[cadomoisspokenfor]

Legion Rewatch Notes,

Chapter 8:

The Revolution

Aw man, how unfortunate what’s happened to Clark. I feel soooooooo bad. I mean he was just humble div 3 agent, doing his job, gaslighting marginalized individuals, participating in a genocide. How cruel of those bad bad mutants to injure him so badly. He was only actively about to kill David. What could he possibly have done to deserve any of this?

In other words, the Clark propaganda is not working on me this time. At all.

Maybe don’t participate in a genocide? Idk :/

I normally hate when people type in the passive aggressive way I have been for the past few paragraphs, but goddamn, Clark deserves it.

He’s not quite as damaged... but he’s kind’ve like old David here, from the over-medicated living with Amy timeline. Again, not quite as damaged as that though.

Clark considers mutants a “threat to democracy.” 🙄 “Moral panic” I guess?

“The second I walk outta this room, i’m going to war.” There’s that word again. Clark could just... not, and they’d probably have more time to figure out how to safely eradicate Farouk. But because he doesn’t and David busies himself with peace treaties, Farouk escapes and continues to be a problem for the next year. Clark has a family. A husband and child who love him to death. And he chooses war over them. This pattern will repeat in other character. Technically this isn’t even the start of it.

Suit change, new cane, same Clark. This really doesn’t change anything, does it? He could go through the rest of the series in the suit he wore before and it wouldn’t make difference. The valiant hero dressing for an expected victory over their long time (relatively) rival, only to be stopped immediately by an unforeseen development. This pattern will repeat... tragically.

Considering Farouk!David woulda just dusted them, it’s probably nice for his friends to see the real him is much less violent. He just stacks em like a Jenga Tower, no need for anything more.

Also, Wilhelm scream from one of the soldiers.

He’s also talking strangely. In an almost too calm voice. Measured. He talks like this a few other times, but I think those times have sadder context. Maybe they reflect on this moment. He talks like how he talked when Farouk was mind-melded with him, but his intentions aren’t evil this time around. I guess this is just his “fully in control” voice.

Clark’s literally shaking where he stands.

The zoom in to Clark’s blind eye is reminiscent to previous zoom in’s to Walter’s foggy eye. I guess Clark has taken on the role of Walter, artificially. Makes sense since he’s now the main D3 representative/antagonist like Walter was before.

“I don’t care if you save me, or the world, if you don’t save yourself.” David will eventually choose himself over the world, and Syd. And Syd will hunt him for it. Goes to show how much things change in s2.

“You know the most dangerous thing about schizophrenia?”

“You’re not-“

“The most dangerous thing is believing... you don’t have it! That’s the trick, the mind killer, your disease convinces you you don’t have it. So, for example, one day in the hospital you meet a girl and she has some friends, and they tell you you’re not sick. You have superpowers. And more than anything you wanna believe it because that means you’re not crazy! That means you can fall in love and live happily ever after. But you know if you believe it, if you surrender to the hope and you’re wrong, then... you’re never coming back.”

“I’m here. I’m real. The power is real. You gotta accept it, otherwise we can’t move on.”

“I was in Clockworks for six years. Drugged, doing nothing. Contributing nothing. And now, finally I can be useful! I can help! Don’t you get it? I am so sick of myself. This only works if it’s not about me.”

“David...”

So... that’s a lot. David believes being crazy means he’s not allowed to fall in love, or be happy. He said the same sentiment to Amy before Clockworks. This whole season and this episode especially push David into his full “I’m not insane, I won’t believe you if you tell me otherwise” mindset. At the very least that’s the stakes we’re playing with. If David fully gives into the hope, even for a moment, he believes there’s no possibility for recovery. No possibility for love or happiness. Why even try after that? It’s life or death for him. “If the choice is between life and death, I choose life.”

I know this is all already known and talked about and circulated 100’s of times over in various fan circles, but it’s probably the most important line for David’s character (the speech, not the Farouk quote). It’s very ableist, yes, but at least in the moment it’s coming from someone who’s just being too hard on themselves, and not ya know, being actively validated by the show.

2 episodes ago David talked about being worried about an “invincible” feeling. The dangers of mania.

We also know from that episode that David is more at peace in a calm, responsibilityless setting (with Syd) than he is out in the real world. David’s gonna take on a ton of responsibility, some of it’s gonna draw him away from Syd. At multiple moments throughout the show David has known his own mental health better than any of the others, and even warned them about potentially dangerous slopes he could fall down without their help. Despite this, David is pushed further down a path he tells them is dangerous and is still blamed for what happens in the end. I feel like Oliver’s line from ep4 is relevant here again, “We are the root of all our problems. Our anger, our confusion, our fear of things we don’t understand.” Everyone wants David to be something other than... David. A hero, a god, there projected image of a perfect partner. Not just... David.

Man, the more I realize about David’s self-awareness in s1 the madder I am at Syd for saying all that ableist stuff to him in s2 as if he wasn’t already down on himself 24/7. “It never occurred to you that you’re the problem not the solution?” It’s occurred to him like 5 times by now and has been shut down by you at least 3 of those times. I don’t understand.

What’s strange is... to my recollection David doesn’t believe he’s invincible at the end of s2. Or that he’s not sick.

“Saint David.”

“I’m not saying that. I make mistakes.”

“Say you’re gonna let them kill me if I don’t let them turn me into something different. Something easy. Something clean.” He sounds sinister here, but it is an indication that he knows he’s not perfect. In fact it sounds like he’s trying to appeal to Chap 1 Syd’s mentality. Your disorder is what “makes you you.”

So what’s the message here?

“We can’t just kill people. Or is that who we are now?”

“That’s who they are.”

The justification for killing here is that they’ll kill them if they don’t. Div 3 will kill Summerland if Summerland doesn’t kill Div 3, is what I meant. David has a similar justification for killing Shadow King in s2. Well, he has a LOT of justifications for it, but that’s one of them. Syd doesn’t hear it then either. She does attempt to kill David herself though. I don’t quite understand where the line is.

“He was gonna kill you, twice.”

“With that kind of thinking wars would never end.”

So... he shoulda just talked to The Shadow King when they were both powerless? Talking is what ultimately ends their fight in s3... hmm...

Cary is more humane to their POW than Melanie and Ptonomy are.

The show doesn’t necessarily say it was Cary’s fault for leaving Kerry. Either way though, Kerry needs some space.

Melanie calls David a “world breaker” and outright says now that he knows that’s what he is, div 3 doesn’t stand a chance. I suppose... knowing that... is why they so readily team with Farouk. They stood no chance otherwise. Even then, at least hide him away till after the intervention.

David’s floating meditation pose is seen more in s2 and A LOT more in s3.

He puts the onus of ending the war on Div 3. As if to say, “If things get violent again, it’ll be on you, not us.”

People keep talking about “gods” “waking up” and “realizing they don’t have to listen to us/them anymore.”

When Clark says it David’s first response is, “Isn’t that the history of the world?” But it’s a red herring (or something else) cause he follows it up with, “People of different nations, different languages, learning to live together?”

Clark is afraid if mutants gain power they won’t show humans mercy or equality. This is a common belief among fascist. The “they’ll treat us like we treat them” argument. Only it’s rarely self-aware, and it isn’t here either. Clark genuinely believes he’s not doing anything wrong. It’s all somehow in “self defense.”

Ah, so Farouk and Syd are connected psychically. He entered her mind whenever she entered David’s. He psychically affects her at multiple points throughout the series.

Syd here is convinced to help The Shadow King by The Shadow King. And while he’s wearing a mask at that. Yeah yeah, this pattern will repeat. But still, Syd gives in relatively quickly here. Perhaps she just... doesn’t fully trust Summerlands capabilities? They are legitimately trying to get rid of Farouk, but Farouk has proven time and time again how dangerous he is. Or maybe the “unmake soup” thing is just that convincing to Syd.

Clark’s still standoffish, but he’s slowly becoming more cooperative.

Syd rolled a 4 on that hero speech. She needed at least a 7.

I legitimately NEVER noticed before that Syd secretly turns on the lab camera feed for Clark to watch. They weren’t trying to show him that.

David gets a chance to look back at his whole life and recontextualize everything.

David straight up halts Farouk’s theme. If Clockworks Podcast is right and he can hear that whenever Farouk shows up, this would be evidence of it. Alternatively, he was halting Farouk, and the music halting was for the audience. A fun subversion of expectations.

David describes him and Farouk as, “The Sun and Moon.”

Division 3 sees it. The monster they saw on infrared. Clearly a separate entity from David Haller. Clearly of a different disposition than David Haller as David Haller has acted very differently and non-hostile compared to when they saw him roaming those HQ halls. The monster and David are not the same. They see who their real enemy is now.

It seems evident there was no chance of David beating Farouk on his own here. I wonder why? Was it true? Is Farouk just too ingrained in his mind? Cary said he was like a, “Computer virus. Learning his systems, bypassing his defenses.” Maybe Syd remembered that, and that’s why she believed Farouk. Cause Cary had already said something similar before.

Clark could've escaped, but he stayed, then tried to help fight Farouk.

I feel really sad Oliver got possessed. It never occurred to me before he could even tell Melanie he remembered her. Melanie’ll just go on thinking he never remembered her for a year.

And thus it’s established. There are “good mutants” and there are “bad mutants.”

No one checks on Ptonomy :(

The Lenny that’s talking to Oliver here is still just Farouk.

Did the orb go back as far as it could? Or was this time specifically chosen? If it was chosen, it was probably because it’s very soon after Farouk had been expelled from David’s head, and before the big race for his body starts.

[cutegirlmayra]

Okay, I usually see this fanart but barely in fanfiction, so how about Boom Knuckles x Rouge? Since Boom Knuckles has a different personality, I want to see how it'll play out. I think she'd find him adorable and definitely tease him in a different way from his Modern counterpart XD

I illegally step away from being forced to write the last two chapters of my novel to bring you this thrilling saga.

Prompt:

“Rouge!” Eggman billowed, throwing a quaking hand up in the air.

“My, my… now, that’s no way to call a lady.” Rouge, having stowed herself away in the rafters, flew down in perfect elegance with a sassy remark. “You really should try and keep that tone of yours in line, Doctor. What would happen if one day, you find you can’t hit that note anymore?”

He ground his teeth together, in no mood for her shenanigans, “Quit the quick remarks already. You’re real flighty, you know that? It’s taken me forever just to track you down.” He leaned on his console.

She placed her hands on her hips, looking off to the corner of the room as though keeping a secret. “I’ve been busy.”… ‘With G.U.N so gung-ho on being one step ahead of you, I haven’t had one restful night to get my beauty sleep. Blame me for your temper-tantrum, ha!’ “You’re the one acting batty.”

She folded her arms. “I’ve heard you’ve really stumbled upon an alternate universe. What’s the deal, then? Need me to steal something?”

“How did you-?” He was actually pretty surprised, but twitched his mustache and turned back to his computer.

“As a matter of fact… you’re stealthy feats are exactly what the job order…” He grinned widely as his glasses shined with the glow of the screen. “My other self, in that world, refuses to give me a secret formula for transmutation! Steal it for me, and you can have… These!” he grabbed a briefcase, spinning around and opening it to reveal a wide array of sparkling gems, each looked ravishing as her thoughts quickly spiraled into luxurious fantasies of wearing them while on a mountain of glittering treasures. 

She reached for one, “And what would this formula look like..?” But he quickly closed the briefcase and set it down.

“Ho-ho-ho… have I enticed those old thievery hands, yet?”

‘I haven’t robbed in a long time, not since Knuckles…’ she stopped her thought, “Alright, old man. You’ve tickled my fancies with your little… bribe.” she twiddled her fingers towards the briefcase. “Give me the coordinates.”

She offered him her hand.

She smirked, this would be genius! Not only could she go undercover and discover what world he was lurking in, but she could also inform G.U.N of transmutation plans he has in store.

And pack up those lovelies to boot, too!

Flying herself into another dimension, she changed her looks to fit in with the local crowd, all too easy-going for her taste. She tried to get data on this world’s Eggman when she noticed Sonic and Tails. “That can’t be..?” She put a dainty hand up to her mouth, blinking at the uncanny resemblance. “What is this? The timeline where Sonic goes on vacation?” she joked, moving on when suddenly…

“Knuckles! Look out!”

“W-woah-woah!”

CRASH.

“Knuckles?” Rouge turned back around.

There was a crushed fruit stand, Zooey exclaimed a shriek as her hands moved up to her face, “My watermelons!” she looked like she was about to faint before Tails quickly rushed over and caught her, blushing with a smile.

“Oh no, is he dead?” Sticks walked up with Amy then, before they both turned to Sonic who approached soon after.

“Not another wipeout. That’s gotta be a new record!”

“Sonic, he was the record.”

“Not for long. I plan on beating his record, towering over his as it blasts through the sky!” he pointed skyward, but the girls just looked unimpressed.

“Men aspire to the most strangest and pointless things.” Sticks commented before a crowd gathered.

Being used to the attention, the Sonic team paid them no mind, but Rouge sneakily weaved her way to the front, all while pickpocketing and gathering a feathered boa and sunglasses as a disguise. She swiped the walrus’s necklace and rings before finishing her walk to the front.

Then…

Her boa lowered over her shoulder, her sunglasses fell forward and her mouth gaped wide.

A shadow casted over the crowd as a wet Knuckles rose from the watermelon remains and shook himself off from the juices.

In a slow-motion montage, Rouge was faced with the hardest challenge she has ever faced.

A beautiful distraction to her mission.

Biceps.

“Oh no.” Rouge’s eyes shrunk as she fell to her knees, ‘He’s even hotter in this world!!!’ she rose her face up as her signature heart pattern flew around her head, having small black bat wings as they did so.

She was infatuated, purposefully withholding the priority of her mission to meet with him.

“Uhh… I told ya, Lady. I don’t have a job other than being awesome.” Knuckles shrugged, then flexed as Rouge let a long line of a smile stretch over her face.

“Nothing? Not even a … ancestorial vow of guardianship to overlook the safety of- oh say… a Master Emerald?” she scooted closer, but Knuckles was too caught up on all the technical jargon to know what she was talking about.

“Emerald? What emerald?”

Her eyes shot straight open with stars in her eyes.

No distractions…

“And with that,” she pulled two of his long, trailing hairs down to force him to bend to her level. It didn’t matter though, her wings were already pulling her up to his height.

His eyes were right smack in front of hers, unsure how to process such a pretty woman’s actions, nor understand what they implied.

“You’re now officially the better of the two.” she went to flirt and move up closer to his wide chest she could literally sprawl herself out on when-

“Rouge! What’s the hold-up?! Where’s my formula?!” a mic triggered from her belt and she tsk’ed.

“Dratt. Even without your angry demeanor, there’s still something there to interrupt.” she pouted, glaring with a twitch of her eyebrow at her dimensions Eggman calling.

“…Wait, that sounded like-” It just so happened that Knuckles picked up the voice acting skills of Mike Pollock, which just so happened to be the same voice actor of his own Eggman.

“I hate to leave you wanting more, but I believe your rather large frame begs the question of if you can even fit more?” she let him go and blew him a kiss, heading for the other Eggman’s base.

“…I always have room for Meh-burgers…” He blushed, seeming to like the blown kiss, “Hehehehe…AH!” he placed a hand on his chest, snapping out of his timid blush, raising his head out of his scrunched up shoulders. “Is she calling me fat!? the humiliation! I knew I shouldn’t have skipped torso day!” he ran away crying, his self-esteem completely devasted.

The Sonic team attacked Eggman’s base, giving the perfect avenue for Rouge to steal the formula, but she was constantly distracted by this new Knuckles.

Then, a robot shot a beam at her wing and she began to fall.

“Woah! Bat lady!” Knuckles leaped to her rescue, punching down the robot that had struck her.

“No, Knuckles! It’s Batman- Hey! It’s a girl!” Tails was amazed to see a woman in his arms.

She lifted her leg up, squeeing a moment before flopping herself upright again. “No time, Knucklehead. I’ll swoon when my mission is- The vile!” she saw the formula, literally written down and rolled into a sailor’s bottle, crash to the ground as Eggman raced to get it.

“No, she’s a lady, Tails.” Knuckles argued, as though unable to follow the current pace of the conversation as she flew out of his arms. He looked offended on her behalf, but when turning back to his arms, noticed she was gone. “Woah! Hey! Where’d the pretty lady go?”

“Spy!” Eggman shot more lasers, but she skillfully dodged them, kicking them with her tornado kick and hitting them off his machine.

“Yeeeep!” Eggman ducked in fright as Rouge looked ticked off, grabbing the front of his Eggmobile.

“You’ve ruined my summer fling for the last time!” she tried to grab the formula but was swiftly removed by Knuckles again, delicately placing her back to the ground as the Sonic team gathered in front of her.

“What’d you steal this time, Egghead?”

“Me!? It’s her universe that’s- Grr… scratch that. Nothing to hear here!” he shook his hand as if to dismiss the topic. He flew off then, grumbling about the inappropriate attire and how anyone could sneak around with a pink heart on their chest.

The comments rose a fire in Rouge. She maneuvered out of Knuckles’s protective embrace and flew after Eggman. “Why you-! How dare you comment on a lady’s attire!”

He turned around, smirking as he summoned a portal back to her universe.

She gulped, “Oh drat. Can’t a lady get a vacation of her own too around here?” she accepted her defeat and flew through, after all…

She had what G.U.N needed, and…

There was only one Knucklehead for her.

It wasn’t fun if there wasn’t a Master Emerald to steal, or some raging red-faced echidna calling her names.

“It was a sweet summer, I’ll always think of you.” she blew a kiss to the Knuckles in this dimension, who looked relatively sad at her departure.

“Parting… is such sweet sorrow. I barely knew her, and yet,” Poetically, Knuckles bent down and picked up her calling card. “She remembered my birthday.” he thought the card was a birthday gift since he couldn’t read.

He was on the verge of tears as everyone and their mombot looked to each other with a ruffled brow to show their confusion on the matter.

Sonic stepped forward, lifting a finger up- “Uhh… Knuckles-” He was cut off by Amy shaking her head, placing her arm out.

“It was his first love, let him believe what he will.”

Tails scratched his head, “Wait,… is it really his birthday?”

The gang freaked out and hurriedly made plans for him, all the while… he sat and watched the sunset, holding her calling card in his large, fingered hand.

“Did I mention he had FINGERS? Ahhh-haha! Why couldn’t I have just stayed a week longer!?” Rouge fawned to her G.U.N reporting manager, who took a deep breath in and an elongated breath out. “Miss Rouge, PLEASE. For the love of this planet… what did you learn about the other world?”

“I’m telling you, Topaz. it was GORGEOUS.”