#to other dimensions or timelines or what. but its clearly Not Normal | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shima-draws · 3 years

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THIS IS SEVERAL DAYS (WEEKS?) LATE BUT I LOVE YOU ALL thanks for enabling me

-The AU begins with a casual city patrol. Izuku, Todoroki, Uraraka and Ojiro are teamed up. Things are seemingly normal until they accidentally bump into Shigaraki and Kurogiri—a completely unplanned encounter. Despite Kurogiri’s warnings, Shigaraki charges into battle against the students. Kurogiri jumps in to back him up by using his warps

-There’s a close call where Izuku’s about to get the jump on Shiggy—but Kurogiri manages to open a warp right before Izuku can reach him. This is where things get...funky.

-Izuku activates One For All as he disappears into the warp. Kurogiri opens a gate somewhere nearby. Todoroki and the others wait for Izuku to reappear...but he doesn’t.

-Todoroki, Uraraka and Ojiro gang up on Kurogiri and demand their friend back. Kurogiri doesn’t know what to do, this has never happened before, and he doesn’t know how to bring Izuku back. Apparently his warp malfunctioned, and Izuku seemed to get lost between dimensions.

-Finally, several minutes later, Izuku reappears. In the ensuing chaos Kurogiri and Shigaraki make their escape. Izuku is weak and shaking from the distorted warp, so Todoroki calls Aizawa and takes him back to campus.

-Izuku explains that it felt like he was falling, and almost like his entire body was trying to rip itself apart molecule by molecule—but then he fell back into the warp and came out on the other side like he was supposed to. Recovery Girl checks on him and just says that he’s in shock, no other injuries besides that. Izuku tries telling her about the strange feeling of pain he had, but she just says it might be a side effect of Kurogiri’s quirk, and that it might be some sort of delayed reaction. Izuku accepts that and things go back to normal

Rest is under the cut because she is looooooong lmao

-Except they don’t. Izuku starts to have strange dreams about somebody calling out to him. They leave him feeling unsettled and shaky in the mornings, almost like how he felt right after the warp. The dreams don’t go away—they keep coming back almost every night, and while they seem to get clearer, he still can’t figure out what they mean.

-Things start to get worse when the dreams transition over into the waking world, and Izuku starts to see flashes of someone with white hair and sad eyes in the corners of his vision. He easily gets distracted during training, and can’t seem to shake the worried feeling he has about this being important.

-It all comes to a head when Izuku suddenly finds himself in that weird place between dimensions during a training drill. He’s only there for a few seconds, but he’s finally able to catch a glimpse of what that world is like, because the last time he was there he was falling and spiraling and was too panicked to pay attention to his surroundings. After he snaps back to himself, he wonders if it was just in his head, but when it happens again and his friends have to shake him out of it, he realizes that his mind keeps transporting to that world...it seems like his place in reality is faltering.

-The “visions” slowly continue to get longer and longer each time, with Izuku slipping into that world more often. It’s getting harder to hide it from his classmates and teachers, and finally, there’s a time where it happens and Izuku is unresponsive for over 15 minutes. The person with the white hair keeps showing up, and Izuku is desperate to find out who they are

-During another training session, Izuku feels the lapse coming on, and decides to hide away for a bit to let it pass. Except this time he doesn’t just slip into the nether dimension with just his mind—this time his whole body transports there...and he finally figures out the truth.

-Izuku searches through the new world. Everything is distorted and gravity is all topsy turvy, and when he finally catches sight of the person reaching out to him in his dreams, he follows them. At long last he discovers just who has been communicating with him...and it’s himself!!

-The mystery ghost is finally revealed: an older Izuku, from another timeline. He explains to Izuku that the place they’re in now is a world between time and space that acts as a stabilizer and general overseer of other timelines and worlds. He refers to it as the Beyond, or by its more technical name, the nexus. Apparently the other Izuku has been here for a long time, keeping watch over all of his alternate selves and keeping the timelines in balance.

-Izuku questions just why he was brought there, and his alternate self tells him that when he activated One For All in Kurogiri’s warp, it ripped open a hole in space and he was able to make a connection to the Beyond, primarily because of his alternate self’s already existing presence there. That connection is unfortunately unstable so it kept pulling Izuku back in over time. The other Izuku has been trying to fix that connection but wasn’t able to do so without full contact, which is why he’d been reaching out to Izuku in his dreams.

-To make things easier, the other Izuku asks to be called Nexus. Izuku peppers him with questions, but Nexus is reluctant to answer. He decides to send Izuku back while he researches about his connection there to try and fix it—and then he makes Izuku swear that he won’t tell anybody about their interaction, mostly because outsiders shouldn’t be aware of the Beyond’s existence in the first place.

-Izuku arrives back in his world and realizes that several hours have passed since he vanished into the Beyond. His classmates and teachers swarm him when he returns, saying that they were about to send out pros to go find him. Toshinori questions Izuku about what’s been going on with him lately, but due to the promise he made Izuku can’t answer.

-As the days pass, Izuku continuously visits Nexus (mostly because he has no choice in the matter, being dragged there by the distortion lol) and tries to pry more answers out of him. Nexus is shockingly tight lipped and Izuku knows that something bad must have happened in his timeline for him to be here. Being older isn’t the only factor tying into Nexus’ general quiet demeanor and more serious attitude. Meanwhile, Toshinori and the Dekusquad are hurt by Izuku’s silence on what’s going on with him, and Izuku has an internal struggle over what matters more: the promise he made, or the trust of his friends and family. It’s a rough time.

-Izuku breaks down and Nexus realizes that maybe it’s time he starts being more forthcoming—he knows what the burden of secrets does to Izuku, being Izuku himself. Nexus finally reveals that his timeline had been completely wiped from existence centuries ago, due to an epic, climactic battle with AFO who was attempting to figure out how to access the Beyond and gain control over it in order to rule over all possible timelines. Apparently there was a backlash when AFO tried to access the Beyond and it caused the timeline to be erased. Izuku is absolutely horrified by the truth, realizing that billions of people existing in that timeline are just...gone now. Including everyone he loves.

-Izuku asks if AFO is gone too. Nexus looks haunted by that, but says he’s sure that he’s gone for good...leaving himself as the only proof that his world even existed at all. After Izuku leaves, Nexus decides to do a bit of digging, just to make sure that the AFO from his world truly is dead. And what he finds is not comforting.

-Apparently, after the timeline had been wiped from existence, Nexus wasn’t the only one who was tossed out before it happened. He discovers that AFO is still around, and that he’s been skulking between timelines, gathering new quirks and more power. Terrified, Nexus summons Izuku and tells him of his findings, and says that if AFO were to come after him in the Beyond, or any of them from any timeline, there’s no way they would survive the battle.

-Izuku convinces Nexus to come to his timeline to explain everything, because clearly this is no longer a one man job and something Nexus can’t handle by himself. The issue with that is that the Beyond has a strict no interference policy, at least on the basis of entering the timelines and tampering with them, so Nexus has been stuck there for centuries because he’s literally not allowed to go timeline hopping lol

-However, since Izuku was able to make a connection there and can travel between the two worlds freely (for the most part…) he’s able to utilize that connection to allow Nexus to enter his dimension. Nexus sees the sky for the first time in hundreds of years and is shaken into complete silence.

-The rest of the Dekusquad happen to be there when Izuku arrives with his alternate self and immediately bombard him with questions, but Izuku tells them the first thing they need to do is go see All Might and the other teachers to explain what’s going on.

-Upon seeing All Might again for the first time in centuries, Nexus bursts into tears (and this is a MONUMENTAL moment because Izuku hasn’t seen him cry once since meeting him, even when he told him that everyone he loved no longer exists). There’s a lot of fluffy family bonding and it’s very soft. Toshi holds onto both his boys and cries and I’M EMO LISTEN

-Nexus prepares to tell all the staff what’s going on, but first he reveals to Izuku that he didn’t...exactly tell him everything about what happened to his timeline. A quirk user is brought in who can read memories and project them on a movie screen, and the teachers and Izuku watch in horrified silence as they experience the last night of terror and heartbreak Nexus went through before his timeline was erased forever.

-The memories play back. Izuku is awoken in the middle of the night to find that the entire city is burning. The screams and pleas for help echo all around, and he finds that he can’t get into contact with any of his friends. Racing outside, Izuku looks up to see AFO silhouetted against the red sky, floating among the ashes and smoke. As Izuku hurries to catch up to him, he witnesses the sheer horror of a mass body count and hundreds dead along the way, including lots of minor and pro heroes that he knows.

-Izuku finally reaches AFO and immediately leaps into the fight. He doesn’t stand a chance. AFO has gathered too many quirks, and explains his plan to escape this dimension and gain access to the Beyond in order to spread his control further. Izuku is joined by his friends, but does not get to enjoy their help for long, because each of them are struck down, one by one. Fueled by rage and grief, Izuku ramps up OFA all the way and completely lets loose, chipping away at AFO while he cries over the deaths of his friends. Yeah this is gruesome and dark as shit and I’m not sorry

-AFO is about to get one final attack in—but Bakugou arrives at the last second and takes the blow for him. Bakugou dies in Izuku’s arms and that’s the last straw—OFA goes out of control right as AFO is preparing to open a warp to the Beyond, and the power spark causes a backlash that distorts everything, making the world glitch out.

-When Izuku wakes up, he finds himself in the Beyond with the blood of his friends on his hands. Information starts flooding into his brain about the Beyond and all of the timelines it’s tied to, and Izuku realizes what has happened. His home is gone...his friends, his family, the entire world...all wiped from existence. Now he is the only one left, tasked with taking care of the Beyond and mourning his losses for the rest of eternity.

-Needless to say, everyone watching the memories play are extremely emotional, and Izuku (our Izuku) is overcome with so much grief for his alternate self that they end up in an embrace, sharing a feeling that only they know between each other.

-Nezu and the other teachers agree to help Nexus defeat AFO once and for all. Nexus tells them that bringing in Class 1-A would be smart as well, and that he won’t make the same mistake twice and let them die. They decide to battle it out in the Beyond, it being the safest place to go wild without any risk of casualties or property destruction. And so!! Izuku introduces Nexus to the rest of the class, they all take a trip to the Beyond together, and so begins their grand training arc.

-Nexus preps each member of Class 1-A individually and on teams. They take turns going up against him and all get their asses thoroughly handed to them :) Nexus is hella strong and has had centuries to practice. He teaches them how to use the terrain of the Beyond, how to deal with the gravity and use it to their advantage. He tells them how to look for AFO’s tells and quirks so they can deal with his multipurpose battle style. Overall it’s a very fun yet stressful time with lots of bonding, sleepovers in the Beyond, and everybody getting a huge ass crush on Nexus because 1. He pretty, 2. He stronk, 3. He’s literally an eldritch being at this point, and 4. It’s Izuku. How can they not.

-There’s a time where Nexus takes Izuku to a special corner of the Beyond, and Izuku sees it’s covered for miles and miles and miles with gravestones. Izuku realizes that Nexus had spent years crafting as many as he could for all of the people that were erased from his timeline, even those he didn’t know, and at this point he’s lost count with how many there are. There’s a separated section with all of his family members and friends, and each of the stones are carved with special memorials. The rest of the class shows up and gets to look at their own gravestones and it’s fucked up as shit!! It’s very emotional and then everybody smothers Nexus with hugs and hgnhhhgh 🥺

Obviously there’s a lot that happens after this and the whole battle and everything but like. I don’t have all that planned out yet. But this is the general idea for the most part!! I’ve had a lot of fun brainstorming for this AU, I would do anything for Nexus period, and I’m super excited to start making content for it >:D

THANK YOU FOR READING and thanks for letting me infodump oh my god this is so long

#BNHA #Boku no Hero Academia #My Hero Academia #MHA #BNHA AU #Distortion Link AU #Midoriya Izuku #Deku #Dekubowl #Tododeku #Bakudeku #All Might #Dad Might #Toshinori Yagi #Nexus #Shima's AUs #Shima answers questions #Long post #Friends

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mckkachins · 3 years

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gif cut-out tutorial

ok ok so @subtledean requested a tutorial on how to do stuff like this post with the gif cutouts and the text effects. hopefully this helps aria ;w; i’m not the best at explaining things but i included some screencaps for clarity. i’ve tried to compress all the sample gifs and screenshots down to under 3mb to avoid tunglr compression on mobile so if they look a little different from the actual gifset, that’s probably why!

what you’ll need:

photoshop, i’m using PS 2021 but any version of photoshop will work out

a basic knowledge of gif-making (i’m assuming you already know how to make a gif and color it).

step 0: storyboard

this isn’t strictly necessary but i HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend it. you don’t have to do any photoshopping this first step, but it’s really important to check out your footage and the shots you have gathered to see what works, especially if you’re trying to combine three or more gifs onto the same canvas. like literally take a piece of paper and draw out where you want the character’s faces to be, where you want the cutouts to be in relation to their faces, and think about whether or not there’s enough empty space to the right or left of characters heads for a cutout to be placed. is there too much movement that would be distracting or messy in an already busy gif?

things like that really help, and it also makes you double check on your footage quality and feasibility. if you end up making a gif where you want one character’s face to be on the left side of the gif but it turns out there’s not enough empty space on the right side of their face to place a cutout and you then have to hunt for new footage or start all over, it’s kind of a trainwreck and you just waste another hour of your time as you deepen your procrastination hellhole. that’s not a real story—

step 1: make the base gif

i’m assuming you know how to color it already. and aria i KNOW you know how to color already so :) size it accordingly to your desired dimensions.

as you can see, i left enough space on the right side of abaddon for the knight cutout to be placed.

save this as a .psd file. you don’t actually have to sharpen and do everything that comes at the end of making a gif right away, but make sure your layers are clearly labeled. do NOT convert to video timeline/smart object just yet.

step 2: make the cutout gif

this is critical: make absolutely certain your cutout gif has the same number of frames as your base gif. otherwise it could get really messy! abaddon has 20 frames, so the cutout will also have 20 frames. again, do not convert the cutout gif to a video timeline/smart object. just keep it as a frame animation. here’s my cutout gif. it’s just a simple b&w gif but i added a touch of purple for color consistency sake whatnot.

now for this particular gif i’ve actually cropped abaddon to be roughly exactly where i would want her face to be in relation to the first gif, but that is unnecessary. helpful, but unnecessary. you do NOT need the cutout gif to be cropped exactly perfect in order to make this work.

step 3: combining the two gifs

there are many different ways to combine two gifs onto the same canvas. some people like to do it via video timeline. i prefer to do it by frames and convert everything to a video timeline only at the end (it’s just a personal preference). here’s a tutorial if you prefer working with timelines, but i’m gonna go over how to do it by frames.

first group everything in your base gif into one folder. then group everything in your cutout gif into one folder as well. you can name them however you want to keep track of things.

then, select all of the frames in your cutout gif. in this case, all 20 of b&w abaddon get selected. make sure its not just frames 4-20 or whatever, but all the frames you made. you can click frame one and then shift-click your last frame to double check.

click the timeline tab group options bar and then go to options > copy frames

now go to your base gif canvas. select ALL the frames of your base gif as well (it’s critical that all of them are selected).

now do options > paste frames.

a popup should appear and you’re going to select the “paste over selection” option. do not link layers.

your cutout gif should now be completely or partially obscuring your base gif. however, now you should see two groups on your sidebar of layers. one for the base, one group for the cutout. if you labelled them with names you can tell which one is which.

step 4: creating the cutout

in order to create the cutout, we use my favorite thing in the whole world of photoshop. layer masks.

to make a layer mask, you simply select a layer or group you want to mask and then click this little icon on the row of icons at the bottom of your layers panel.

white on a layer mask means whatever group or layer is getting masked is completely visible. black on a layer mask means that the group or layer is invisible. if there is 50% gray on a layer mask, then its 50% visible. so on and so forth.

i love these so much i abuse them on the daily. i’ve made a few gifs where i’ve masked every frame one by one because i wanted to get some cool effects. admitting that kind of embarrasses me but oh well.

anyway this is simple though. just find a picture or an outline of a knight. i used these boyes:

obviously i cropped out the knight of the bunch, got rid of the watermark, and then i placed it on the canvas where i wanted it to go.

select the interior of the knight with the magic wand tool. should be pretty simple since it’s all black.

now click over to your layer mask. make sure you have selected the mask and not the group. you can tell you have selected the mask when a little white rectangle pops up on it.

when you know you have the mask selected, click command+i or control+i to invert. if for some reason you do not have this keyboard shortcut, just take a brush tool and color over the area in complete black. as long as the magic wand tool is still selecting just the interior of the knight, it should be fine.

now once again, black means a layer will NOT be showing, white means a layer will be showing. so right now after i disable the visibility of the top layer we used as a reference for the silhouette, it looks like:

do not fear the clownery. layer masks are great because they are always non-destructive. meaning that even if you somehow mess up and your canvas is showing something completely gross, you can always go back and edit your layer mask and your original gif would be unharmed as long as you did not touch any layers in the group, only the mask. simply invert the mask (again, make sure your mask is selected and then command+i or image > adjustments > invert) to get:

for a layer mask that looks like:

you could have also just made a black layer mask to begin with and then inverted the knight outline to be white. many different ways to do the same thing.

another tip: if you select your outline and then click layer mask upon a group or layer with no mask at the current moment, it will automatically make a layer mask with your selection as white and the unselected pixels as black. this is normally how i do my cutouts, because it’s a time-saver even if it like. saves a few seconds max. but i typed out the above for explanation and clarity, so hopefully i didn’t just make anyone more confused.

anyway.

now say you don’t like where the cutout abaddon is positioned. layer masks can also be linked or unlinked, depending on the little link icon you see between the group and the layer mask in the image above. if the icon is visible, the layer mask and the group are linked. if you cannot see the link icon, they are unlinked.

linked layer masks will move in conjunction with the group if any type of transform is done upon them. if the group moves, the layer mask also moves. but if a layer mask is unlinked, you can move the mask and the group independently of one another. for instance, i can change where the cutout is located on the overall canvas of the gif by simply moving ONLY the layer mask (and thereby changing where the blacks and whites of the layer mask occlude the cutout gif contents). but i can also transform the cutout gif layers without changing where the overall outline is located relative to the canvas itself. basically, i can transform the interior contents of the cutout independently. so here (make sure all of your frames are selected):

group unlinked. i’m also making sure that now i am selecting the GROUP (ie. the frames of the layers you are actually going to move) and not the layer mask. you can tell because the little white rectangle around the layer mask can no longer be seen.

now i can transform/adjust the contents of the cutout solely “within” the cutout, and i don’t have to worry about changing where the cutout is located in relation to the overall gif. when transforming, make sure all the frames of your gif are selected. like select the whole group and not just an individual layer, basically.

i’ve seen a lot of how to combine and cut out gifs tutorials on this website, and here is a really good one that i know sully also used <3 big shoutout to all the photoshop queens being inspired by each other!! however i haven’t seen anything that mentioned the linked vs. unlinked layer masks, which i really feel like deserves a shoutout. you don’t have to crop your gifs out perfectly every time, you can always adjust them later. for demonstration, i’ve positioned abaddon in a few different positions with an unlinked layer mask.

step 5: creating the outline

so in order to emphasize the shape of the cutout (the knight), i simply delete the white space surrounding the picture of the knight in the original silhouette that i used. magic wand tool + delete. you can also make a new layer, then paint bucket tool it. many ways to do the same thing.

now with only the knight on a transparent background, i double click the layer to pull up the effects. select outer glow. i used these settings:

when you are doing this, make sure you are on frame one of the frame animation and the “propagate frame one setting” is selected, otherwise you might end up only applying the effect to one out of your many frames, which blows.

then i go change the fill setting to 0%, BUT i leave opacity at 100%. fill is basically like opacity, but it doesn’t affect layer effects (whereas opacity does). so you basically get only the outline but not the black. you can also set the blending mode of the layer to screen and get the same effect, etc, etc. feel free to adjust however you see fit, in addition to the outer glow settings.

i move this layer over a couple pixels to give it the little offset effect, but you don’t have to.

step 6: adding the text

okay the two fonts i used are avenir and perla. i think a LOT of gifmakers use them because they’re really pretty.

i make TWO different text layers, one with avenir in a smaller size and one with perla in a bigger size. this is because for the perla one, i’m going to be changing the blending mode whereas i don’t want to be changing the blending mode for the smaller text. i position the text where i want it to be and make sure the perla font is in the color i like:

then i change the blending mode of the fancy text (perla) to difference. ONLY that layer, and again make sure to check “propagate frame 1″ and make changes on the first frame to apply the change to all of your frames.

but i still don’t think it produces enough of a difference. so i right click on the text layer for knights of hell, and then go to: select pixels.

then i click the curves adjustment layer. this will automatically make a curves layer with a layer mask that occludes everything BUT the area you selected. beautiful. i drag the curves around until i get enough of a difference that i like. normally i make the lights lighter and the darks darker. yeehaw.

again there are sooooo many different ways to achieve the same effect on photoshop. this is just want comes easiest to me, and it’s totally okay if you find a different way that works better for you at producing the contrast you want or the colors you want.

step 7: export and cry

NOW you can convert everything to a video timeline, put your video frame layers to smart objects, and then apply your finishing sharpening filters. export, cry, and hope tumblr compression doesn’t screw you over.

hopefully this was helpful! pls like... idk support my edits if you found this helpful or reblog this post. feel free to dm me about how u do some of the text effects as well bc i’m always trying to learn new things and i am by no means an expert on like. any of this.

aria please go write your fucking thesis before i delete this entire tutorial challenge. :D

#subtledean #THIS IS FOR YOU #I FEEL LIKE THIS TUTORIAL HAS MORE WORDS THAN UR THESIS ATM SO!!!#tutorials #mine #idk what to tag this but PLS pls pls feel free to talk to me abt ph*toshop #or ask for help or point me towards other tutorials <3 #shoutout to sully too its in there somewhere #resources #100n #ps

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thelionbyname · 3 years

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Together We Are One (prequel part 5)

(This has kind of evolved from a fanfiction into its own story, but eh, enjoy!)

“Hey Impulse! What’s going on? Little Tango called and said you wanted me to come.” A friendly voice drifted through the house, preceding its owner: another old man, but one who still had streaks of blond hair visible between the grey strands. This man walked in slightly bent over, not because of age, but because a very small girl was clinging onto his index finger. Together, they walked over to the center of the room, where a gathering of sorts seemed to be taking place. Four toddlers were sitting on the ground, facing the old man with the dirty shirt: Impulse.

Impulse looked up at the newcomers and replied, “Zed! Yeah, well... I think it’s time to tell them, and I thought it would be easier for both of us if we did it together.”

Whatever Zed had been expecting, this wasn’t it. It seemed Impulse had uncovered some memories he had tried to suppress. His eyes were suddenly filled with pain, pain that had not been there the first time, that now crashed back like a boomerang; only temporarily disposed of. He dove head first into the rabbit hole of memories that, despite having been in a hidden corner of his mind for thirty years, were clear as day, made fresh through the pain that stained them.

“Gwampa, what’s wong?” The innocent voice of the small child pulled him out of his whirlwind of thoughts, and Zed was suddenly aware of the girl gently tugging his finger.

“I’m okay, Tekkie. Go sit down.” And to Impulse, he said, “Yeah… I guess it is.”

The little girl, Tekkie, her grandpa’s troubles already forgotten, ran over to sit next to Tango and held his hand. Her soft fingers, which had not yet lost their baby fat, easily wove through his, and were clearly very comfortable doing so. He grinned at her, and she flashed a dimpled smile back. Then they turned their heads to face their grandpas.

Zed had taken a seat in the chair normally occupied by Impulse’s wife. He automatically reached for his friend’s hand in comfort, but he didn’t know if he was comforting Impulse or himself.

And in this position, hand in hand, they started.

Though there was still pain, it was a relief to talk about it, together. It was mostly Impulse talking, because he had spent his entire life dwelling on this, analysing every mistake, remembering every thought. Every time he paused for breath, however, Zedaph continued, contributing his own perspective.

The five toddlers listened intently to the most epic tale they had ever heard. They were very good listeners, gasping at the right time, whimpering when a character died, never interrupting. Only the oldest, Tango, was aware that this was all real, not just some story.

When their grandpas got to the part where little Tango’s namesake disappeared, they could not continue. Zedaph let out a sob.

Little Tango didn’t make them continue; for a five-year-old, he was very emotion-sensitive and seemed to know exactly when it was too much. Instead, he asked them, “Did they ever come back?” though he already knew the answer.

Impulse fought to hold back tears, and choked out, “No… they never came back.”

At the same time, in another world...

“Screwdriver.”

“This one? Here you go.”

“Wrench.”

“You could ask politely.”

With the sound of metal rolling over concrete, a man emerged from beneath a complicated-looking machine. He lay on a skateboard he was using as a car creeper, and his face was smeared with oil and what looked like rust. The man blew his moustache away from his mouth with a sigh of exasperation. “For efficiency reasons I find it easier to name what I need, rather than go ‘Tango, could you hand me that drill over there?’ every time.”

“At least say please?” Tango replied.

Mumbo rolled his eyes and disappeared under the machine again. For a moment there was no sound except the steady tap, tap, tap, of a hammer, but then Mumbo spoke again. “Bolt, please.”

Grinning, Tango handed one to him and replied “That’s more like it.” He heard a sigh come out from under the machine, but he could tell Mumbo was smiling. Tango turned when he heard footsteps approaching them. Suddenly, he stood face to face with Xisuma. “Gah! You startled me, X!”

X chuckled and looked down to where Mumbo’s hair was visible. “Nearly done, Mumbo? I have something to tell you guys”

“Almost.” Mumbo sounded like he had his tongue between his teeth in concentration. There was the low buzzing of a drill, and then Mumbo rolled out from beneath the machine again. “There! It’s finished! Phew… I’ve been working on that for weeks!”

“Amazing! So now all Tango has to do is program it.”

“Yes. That’ll be done within a few minutes. But you said you had to tell us something, X?” Tango reminded him.

“Yeah. Could you follow me to the meeting room? Falsie, Grian, and Keralis are waiting for us.”

The three of them walked into the next room, where indeed there were three other people sitting around a table, playing cards. False, Grian and Keralis looked up as they entered. They looked expectantly at Mumbo, who answered the question in their minds. “It’s done,” he said, with a hint of pride in his voice. They cheered, and Grian gave Mumbo a high-five. Sort of, because since he was sitting and Mumbo was super tall, Mumbo had to give a low five to Grian’s high five.

Xisuma walks carefully past a wall covered in weapons and over to a mobile whiteboard. He turned to face the rest, who had all sat down and were patiently waiting.

“I have some rather depressing news. Every day, I walk out of my apartment and meet my neighbor, who leaves at the same time. When I first moved in three years ago and met her for the first time, she was cradling a baby of perhaps four months old. Last week, when I saw her, she was holding that same baby. Then I realised, over the course of three years, that baby had not aged at all. I see them every single morning, yet I had not registered this until last week.

“So naturally, I decided to get to the bottom of it. I found pictures of us from when we had just arrived in this dimension, and saw that none of us have changed at all either. Of course, that doesn’t say much, because adults simply don’t change much over a mere three years, which is probably why we didn’t notice before.” He paused for breath, and Grian spoke.

“So, we don’t age. Is that really such a bad thing?” He grinned.

Xisuma didn’t smile. He looked at Grian sadly, and Grian’s smile vanished. “I wasn’t done. While I was trying to find out exactly what was going on, I found some other information. I asked Tango to hack into NASA for me-”

“So that’s what that was for!” Tango interrupted. Then, catching Xisuma’s eye, “Sorry.”

“NASA managed to do quite a bit of research on the time machine before we stole it. It is a miracle that Mumbo was able to fix it, when some of the best scientists in this world couldn’t. But the point is, I found some things. We previously thought that the black hole sent us to another dimension. We were wrong. We are on the same earth, but in a different timeline.”

This revelation was followed by shocked and comprehending gasps from those listening.

Xisuma nodded absent mindedly, and continued. “Black holes warp time. This explains why we don’t age. Time flows differently here. We didn’t go through the black hole, we are inside it. It doesn’t just freeze all organic matter into one state, it slows time as we experience it. For us it feels like we have been here for three years, but back home in the other timeline, it has been ten times as long. So for the other hermits, we have been gone for three decades. They probably think we’re all dead.”

This time there were pained gasps. Remorse transformed each of their features as they realised how their friends must feel.

“But it’s not all bad. Our original plan to get back was to use the time machine to travel across dimensions, but now that we know that doesn’t apply, I made some adjustments. We need to travel through time. We know the risks of messing with the past, but it is the only way to get back. You see,” He paused and started drawing on the whiteboard. He drew a straight line from left to right, and then split the line at the end so it resulted in a rotated Y of sorts. “This is what the timeline would look like, were it possible to visualise it. This,” he gestured to the bottom of the Y, “ is when we were all still back home. And here,” he pointed at the intersection, where all the lines came together, “is where we went into the black hole. We went to one timeline, while the other Hermits continued on the other. So the only way to go back to them is to take the time machine back to before we went into the black hole, because any time after that, we would still be in this timeline.” Xisuma looked around to see if they understood. It looked like some were still processing all the information, but there was only as much confusion as what was to be expected.

False spoke up. “That means that when we go back and change the past, we erase all the suffering we caused them, and their entire timeline,” she stood up and walked to the board, “will vanish.” she wiped away one of the split-off lines.

“Exactly,” Xisuma nodded. “We need to stay hidden until our past selves have gone into the black hole, because otherwise we could seriously mess up the past. This means that we have to stay far away, because past Tango or past Cleo could sense our presence.”

At this, Tango’s eyes widened. “That’s right! I used to have telepathy! I had entirely forgotten about that…” His eyes glazed over for a second, clearly seeing things the rest could not. Xisuma’s smooth British voice brought him back to the present.

“Right, yeah. I found information about that during my deep dive into NASA’s archive, too. NASA has two theories; the first being that the black hole runs on a different frequency, one that is not compatible with magic. The magic is still in the air somewhere, but humans can’t access it. The second theory is that magic is entirely dead here, because the vortex is too powerful, and magic simply can’t survive.”

They all sat and stared blankly, remembering a better time, when they were above the regular laws of humanity. They never knew why their powers had ceased to exist when they regained consciousness after being thrown around the void, until now. At least, a theory as to why. As they thought back to when they were more than human, the homesickness was suddenly overwhelming. From one moment to the next, they were all desperate to go home. It had always remained their home, all three years they had spent elsewhere. It had never felt truly theirs here.

Tango cleared his throat, which suddenly had a lump in it, and said, “I say we leave as soon as possible. I’m going to go program the time machine so it’s ready to go.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, some wiping the silent tears from their cheeks. Tango speed walked into the room with the time machine; he couldn’t get there fast enough.

Once he disappeared past the door frame, Keralis spoke for the first time that evening. “I agree with Tango. Let’s go home. Today. Anyone have things in their apartments they want to bring to the past?” He looked around, studying each face individually. He realised he hadn’t really seen them since coming here, to this new world. He knew he would only see the ghost of his past life.

“Nah, but I do want to keep these cool suits,” Mumbo said, gesturing to the six spy outfits on display in glass cases along the wall behind him.

“I second that. I just want to go home,” Grian concurs.

Within a few minutes, as Tango had promised, the time machine was ready for departure. Somehow they all managed to squeeze into the machine designed to transport one person.

With effort, Xisuma got enough oxygen to say, “Tango, you did program this properly, right? You were in quite a rush.”

“Yes, X. Have some faith in my abilities, please.” Tango rolled his eyes. “Ready? Here we go!” he pulled a large lever- with difficulty- and they vanished in a bright flash.

* * *

#hermitcraft #hermitcraft fanfiction #Tangotek #tango tek #Xisuma #Xisumavoid #Falsesymmetry #False symmetry #MumboJumbo #Mumbo jumbo #Grian #Zombiecleo #Keralis #Keralis1 #Impulsesv #Zedaph #Zedaph plays #Zedaphplays

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theflashdriver · 3 years

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Guardian (A Silvaze Fanfic)

For as long as Blaze had known him, Silver had always been an overprotective person. Outside naiveté and obviousness, the hedgehog’s strong sense of justice and want to make things right were his strongest traits by a wide margin; he’d take far countless burdens upon himself of both miniscule and galactic proportions. Even with the future saved, even though he was now living peacefully in the Sol Dimension, that fire had never truly left his heart. His protective passion had merely been lying dormant, searching out something new to focus upon. Well, starting around three months ago, it’d found its new target.

Blaze the cat, the queen and guardian of the Sol emeralds, was lounging atop a floating couch formed from pure psychic energy; being paraded around the library she’d once freely walked. Silver the hedgehog, the king and co-guardian of those aforementioned emeralds, was pulling book after book from the shelves in search of a tome she’d requested, constantly glancing back to make certain that she was comfortable. Psychic aura had begun to flare in an effort to expedite the process; books were being tugged from shelves, held to his eye, and flung back when they were found to be incorrect.

He was being silly, the feline was more than capable of seeking out the book for herself but, truth be told, she was enjoying this little display. Beads of sweat were gathering upon his brow; Silver had only been searching for ten or fifteen minutes but he was clearly worried that he was taking too long. It wasn’t as though they were in a rush and the book was hardly that important, it was just another addition to their ever-growing pile of baby-related literature, but he was seeking it out with the same fervour he’d used to pursue Iblis. This was all so mundane, but Blaze couldn’t help taking joy in it.

“Are you sure we’re in the right section?” He managed to ask, raking ten books from a shelf only to just as quickly throw them back, “We’re getting close to the end.”

“It’s here somewhere,” She cooed, reclining deeper into her floating chair, “I’m certain it was around this section.”

That was all the convincing he needed; Silver doubled his efforts immediately. Books from even higher up began to tumble but refused to contact the ground, encased in psychic cyan light. He threw glances in every direction, knowing instinctually when a book was hovering at his side. To put it plainly, the hedgehog was putting far too much effort into a relatively simple task.

The royal library was quiet today, devoid of visiting scholars and legal practitioners, but it’d been that way for a while now. Certain recent events had caused activity within the palace to slow and work-based visitation to greatly diminish. Well, it wasn’t as though the childcare section was usually bustling with life (in fact, they’d found it quite dusty upon their first visit) but the more complete calm of their surroundings had made their literature reviews far easier. Nowadays they couldn’t leave the palace without someone prying into their lives. It’d been years since life was last like that.

He froze in place, eyes darting twice across a single cover, before it was snatched from the air and presented to her, “Is this the one? The cover’s just like you described it.”

The hedgehog had produced a tome medium in size, only around one hundred pages long and (if she recalled correctly) filled with pictures. Its cover art depicted an array of cartoon fruit and vegetables tumbling free from an overfull mixing-bowl. Now that she’d seen the title, she immediately recalled her frantic flip-through a month ago; Nutrition and Newborns. This was indeed the book she’d requested.

She didn’t take the book immediately; instead, she leant in and beyond his outstretched hand, allowing her lips to weave their way onto his cheek, “Thank you, Silver.”

They’d been married for years and had of course performed acts far more intimate than such a tiny kiss, but watching his blush grow in response to her tenderness had rather become one of Blaze’s pastimes. As the book left his hand, it came to cup that very cheek while his prior beaming smile transformed into a more crooked, embarrassed, grin. He was still so plainly love-struck; rather recently she’d caught him in the wee hours of the morning, rubbing his wedding band and throwing her supposedly sleeping form all manner of tender glances. They’d been married for years but that reality still seemed to surprise him. Well, given the lives they’d lived, he could hardly blame him for feeling that.

“Do you want me to find anything else, do any others come to mind?” He asked, “I could go back through this section, see if we’ve missed anything good?”

“Perhaps later, this will do for now,” She attempted to quell his eagerness, “Let’s take things one book at a time, we’ve still got a few months after all.”

He smiled at that, almost daydreaming as the last books jumped back onto their shelves, “Yeah, just a few more months…” Silver reached up, she quickly took his hand.

Rather than simply float her, it was almost as though they were walking together; he led her back through aisle upon aisle of books to their little workspace. The worn couch and low table rather stood in stark contrast to their surroundings. While the royal library was filled with exquisitely crafted dark-wooden fixtures and floored with a deep emerald carpet, their table was formed of wrought iron and pale driftwood (crafted by Marine the raccoon herself) while the couch had more than a few patches sewn into it but was, mostly, wrapped in a soft red material. Truthfully, getting furniture that better matched their surroundings would have been easy, even if Blaze hadn’t been the queen, but the pair rather loved those mismatched pieces. Those out of place furnishings reminded her, and surely him, of their childhood amongst the flames but not the chaos tied to it. This spot reminded Blaze of ramshackle homes made in prior libraries, schoolhouses and musty old churches, their sanctuaries within a dangerous world.

The feline felt herself turn in the air, her hand slipped from his as she was gently lowered onto the couch; his psychic chair dissolved from the bottom up as it made contact with a real one and left sitting on the couch’s left side. Silver didn’t join her on it though; instead he stood on the far side of the table, concern still plain in his eyes. Knowing what was coming, her mouth curled into a small smile.

“Do you want more pillows or a blanket or…” Silver scrambled for more things to offer. He was trying so hard already, she felt lazy but so very cared for, “Something to eat, a drink…?”

He wanted to help so badly; Blaze felt herself grow softer still. She wanted to give him something to do, “We could take tea and read this together?”

“I’ll make a pot of decaf and hurry back,” He promised, beginning to turn away, “Are you sure that’s all?”

Ah yes, they had to cut back on caffeine… well, only she had to, but he wasn’t willing to let her face that alone. She was well beyond vomiting every morning, but cravings still lingered. The mere consideration of her common cravings caused one to spike.

Pinning her gaze to the book and trying to act nonchalant, she posited, “Perhaps a little bit of chocolate.”

Silver halted. He reached into his back quills and, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, produced a small, unopened, chocolate bar. Without so much as blinking, he presented it to her.

When he, eventually, noticed her befuddled expression, Silver simply smiled, “It’s your most common craving and I don’t like leaving you uncomfortable so…”

She felt heat across her face as she gingerly took the bar from him. Her eyes latched onto it, she could feel her tail flailing wildly, “Thank you, Silver…”

Was she really that obvious? Has she had this hankering that often? He interrupted her train of thought to reaffirm, “I’ll be as quick as I can, just shout if there’s anything else!” Before shooting between a set of bookshelves and towards the door, surrounded by psychic light.

Blaze slowly pulled back the foil and took a bite, but the taste did nothing to dispel her embarrassment. Her royal position had meant that, in this life at least, lots of people had tried to look after her, but none of them did it quite like him. Despite how oblivious Silver was to certain things, the hedgehog could notice the slightest of shifts in her disposition and pick up on things even she didn’t truly understand. Apparently, there were differences in the ways she purred and oddities in how her tail flicked but she’d be hard pressed to describe them. She supposed her cravings were far more obvious than those physical quirks, but it still seemed so bizarre.

Having eaten two of the bar’s eight total squares, the queen folded closed the wrapper and set it aside. She took up the book and scanned through the contents page: Foreword, Introduction, Nutritional-Timelines, Common-Mistakes, Weaning, Liquid-Foods, Solid-Foods and Additional-Recipes. Flipping through, only glancing, Blaze found that the wording was simple yet detailed, intended to be easily read but simultaneously informative. The illustrations also seemed helpful, they’d seemed rather useless on a cursory glance but, in hindsight, the feline needed all the help she could get with regards to cooking.

Before she could make a true judgement on the book’s quality though, the whir of psychic energy re-entered the room. She looked up from her book just in time for him to land in the exact spot she’d last seen him, tea tray in hand and a strong pillar of steam rising from a large pot. His quills had swept back to pin against his head and the sweat on his brow was plain. The kitchen wasn’t too far away but he’d plainly rushed, utilising far more of his power than he probably should have. The tea couldn’t have had more than a moment to brew; they’d have to leave it for now.

Despite this, Silver so very casually set the tray on the table and slunk around to sit beside her, “So, does it look alright? Anything interesting inside?”

“Well, it looks to be half nutritional guide and half cookbook; just like I remembered,” She responded, flicking her way back to the start and shifting to hold the manual between them, “I think it’s intended for slightly younger parents, but that just means it’s thorough and well detailed.”

The hedgehog shifted closer still, outer leg brushed outer leg, “So we’ll get a few new recipes out of it at the very least.”

With that, the pair begun their shared reading session; they quickly worked their way through the foreword and into the meat of the book. Her initial impression was proven correct, as she took in the nutrient-timelines, the information about baby’s requirements was handled gently yet informatively. Unfortunately, however, it was at this stage that Blaze noticed a change in her companion’s demeanour. The hedgehog wasn’t truly looking at the book, rather he was looking through and past it to what lay on the other side; a goofy smile had spread across his muzzle.

Knowing what was distracting him, Blaze rolled her eyes, but her smile grew further, “Go on, get it out of your system so that we can focus properly.”

Upturning the book and placing it upon the couch’s arm, Blaze gently raised the hem of her blouse. Her belly was revealed, still far from its full size but undeniably substantially grown. The royal baby was well on its way; the pyrokinetic feline was four and a half months pregnant. The father of her unborn child dropped to the carpet and began to tickle and brush his way through her white fur, plainly enamour by the growing form residing within her. Parenthood was so strange but it plainly excited him. Well, it excited them both, but he wasn’t literally attached to the baby twenty-four hours per day. He had to make his love known in more sporadic bursts.

They weren’t wandering into this blindly; they’d spent almost a year just questioning whether it was right to do. The life of a royal was one embroiled in politics and, even with the threats to their world long gone, the duties of a guardian were a lifelong burden. Working against that notion were their similar histories; Silver could hardly remember his parents and neither of Blaze’s had lived beyond her birth, their younger years had been wrung of relaxation by terrifying responsibilities. They’d been thoroughly enticed by even the notion of normalcy tied to parenthood. Their potential to give someone the comfort that they’d lacked had finally pushed them to decide.

Other factors had been considered of course, such as whether or how their inherent abilities would be passed on and the latent additional responsibility that would come with them. Silver’s powers were still an anomaly, unknown in origin and genetic nature, while Blaze’s had been consistently passed on for generations. Historically, her family’s powers had never mixed with another so, even as the baby grew inside her; they had no idea what would happen. It’d all been an almost blind endeavour that had, thankfully, come to bear fruit.

Blaze’s eyes closed as she felt his muzzle gently press against the bump and his fingers found her sides, “Hello there, it’s just me again.”

No response came from the baby bump, of course it didn’t, but that didn’t stop the hedgehog from listening intently. From her position it was difficult to make out Silver’s expression but from the way his ears had slightly flopped forward and the steady beating of his tail, Blaze knew this was exactly what he wanted. Despite the effort he’d gone to searching out that book, Blaze found herself forgetting their task as she looked upon him.

“I hope you’re doing okay in there, we won’t get to see each other for a while yet but I can’t wait,” He’d shifted slightly, letting his forehead press against the bump instead, “Your mum is doing wonderfully and I’m trying my best to help. I want things to be perfect when we finally do meet. Things are nicer here than they’ve ever been and we’re doing so much to prepare for you.“

Purrs broke past Blaze’s lips, their rumbling filling the quiet library. Her hand slowly came to mingle among his quills, gently rearranging them with no real purpose. Perhaps she’d braid them again tonight, their evening routine had rather changed due to their upcoming arrival. Where once they’d simply snuggle their way into bed, their journey to the land of the sleeping now took a few twists and turns. They always tried to do something before bed, considering that they’d soon be so much busier, they wanted to cherish such quiet moments. Massages would be given, books would be read, they’d play chess, watch a movie or she’d simply find herself playing with his fur.

Her touch caught his attention, the psychic’s eyes flickered up to her before returning to her midriff, “The baby’s right there, I can practically feel them, but it still doesn’t seem real…” Silver mumbled, leaning backwards and into her view, “I never really thought we’d get to…”

Words left unsaid resonated with Blaze’s very soul. One hand slipped from the depths of his quills to cup his cheek, “I wake up some mornings and question it myself, it almost seems impossible.”

“A-All of it does,” He managed to respond, “Even just being here, that weight being off our shoulders, is ridiculous. W-We’re safe, we’re comfortable, we’re together, we’re married…”

She could feel his wedding band as he brushed and rubbed the bump, hers was pressed against his muzzle, “I don’t regret a single thing, not a single moment.”

His eyes shot to meet with hers, “Me neither! I don’t at all, I just…” His head slumped into her grasp, seeking out her warmth, “Its been years since we settled, and I thought I had fully settled, but this it’s a step even further. This is normal, this is how things were meant to be; so very normal.”

She watched his tears begin to well and couldn’t help but smile. After all this time, he could still be so insecure, “Parenthood seems normal yet abnormal. We know it in theory and have our assumptions but it’s an all-new challenge, a brand-new adventure. No matter how we prepare, I’m certain something will surprise us.”

“We can read all we want but…“ As tears spilled panic came with them, “If I’m going to be a good dad I need to be even tougher than this,” He’d raised the back of his right hand to rub at his eyes, he was trying to hide his expression, “I-I shouldn’t be crying, there’s nothing to cry about, this is wonderful. I’m meant to be strong…”

“You’re still so naïve,” Refusing to let her hold be broken, Blaze thumbed away his tears. He managed to resettle in her grasp, “It’s just as you said; we were so on saving the future, neither of us thought we’d make it this far. You’re allowed to feel like this,” She promised, “We went through so much to get here, that’s why you feel this way. That and, well, parenthood scares most regular people. We’ve not lived the normal life we want for them.”

“You’re going to be wonderful at this,” He relaxed back into her touch, “You’re smart and strong and warm, you’ll do great,” He paused, as if unsure whether to ask his next question, “Do you think I’ll make a good dad?”

“Silver,” She sighed, shifting to cradle his head in her hands, “I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again, you’re going to be a fantastic father. The baby’s not even here yet you’re trying so hard. I can hardly imagine how caring you’ll be when they finally arrive. I doubt you’ll put them down for days.”

He smiled at that but concern still cut his brow, “I’m so excited but so scared, what if we have to fight again? What if they have to fight,” He fretted, leaning deeper into her touch. They’d of course discussed this in the lead up to her pregnancy but, while they’d decided they wanted a child regardless, Blaze had anticipated that worry returning.

“What if we did have to fight again?” She asked, knowing it was best that he finished his train of thought.

“I would, of course I would, but…” He struggled for the right words, “I just really don’t want them to. I don’t want them to have to do what we’ve done,” Fighting for one’s own life was bad enough, the pressure of fighting for whole worlds was terrifying. It was a fact they both knew, first-hand, “I want them to grow up safe and happy and peaceful. I want to be able to look out for them rather than whole universes.”

“Well, then you don’t have to worry about being a good dad, I know you’ll make a great one,” She promised, “You want them to be secure and loved, that’s what’s most important,” The queen insisted, “We’ve done all we can to make sure that they can live peacefully, more than any normal parents could have, even if that wasn’t our intent at the time.”

He’d slowly gone from kneeling to standing; his right hand had shifted to cover the top of her baby bump and the left had arrived to hold her shoulder. The echoes of his tears remained, but his smile was almost blinding. Slowly but surely, he leaned in and closed his eyes. His forehead met with hers as he began to nuzzle. Without a moment’s hesitation, Blaze returned that gentle contact.

Sweet nothings were murmured, her hands found his chest fur and soon they were freely kissing. They were gentle and brief kisses, little more than back and forth pecks, but Blaze could feel his heart in every single one. Silver’s defensiveness had easily led into softness; while he’d fight ferociously to protect others, he would also handle them with care. Blaze knew that she was going to be the sterner parent, she’d be the one to insist that they get out of bed or do their chores, but she was more than fine with that. It was in her nature, not his. For as defensive as he was, for as much as he wanted things to be just, he’d always been softer than her. Of course he was worried that he’d have to feign hardness, she hoped he’d never have to again.

Wispy words broke the quiet library air. She wanted to reassure him, even if she didn’t know what the future held, “We’ve done so much together; we can do anything together.”

“If we can manage something as impossible as this,” She felt his hand trace across his midriff, “Th-Then we can do anything.”

This intimate session could have lasted hours, perhaps even the rest of the evening, but it was interrupted by something neither of them had expected. As Blaze was leaning in again, the words “You’re such a softy” tumbling from her lips, she felt what she could only describe as a small fluttering inside her abdomen. It’d taken a moment to register but by the time the sensation repeated Blaze had realised what it meant. The baby was moving inside her, she’d felt their first touch.

Silver’s eyes had opened wide, “Did you feel that?” He half whispered.

No, they had felt their first touch. This was the quickening, the first tangible sign of life.

She managed a nod in response, her purring grew louder still as she shifted her hands from him and to her sides. Silver dropped back to his knees, returning to eye level with her swollen belly. Ever so gently, he returned his second hand to her form just in time for another flutter, “I-Is that what I think it is? They’re…”

“Y-Yes, I think they’re kicking,” She managed to stutter, closing her eyes in an attempt to focus on the sensation.

This was the first real sign, their child’s first real impact on their world. It’d been clear that they were there for a handful of months now, but they’d never acted; simply grown and waited. This was entirely new; excitement coursed through Blaze’s veins just as it plainly ran through Silver’s.

“Hey there little one, I’m sorry. Am I taking up too much of mummy’s attention?” He responded to her bump, gently rubbing small circles into her fur, “She’s just too lovely, I can’t help myself.”

Her child’s kicks having alleviated thoughts of silliness or feelings of embarrassment, Blaze also began to talk to the baby, “Or is it that I’m taking up too much of daddy’s time? Keeping him from playing with you,” She felt Silver’s eyes upon her and, emboldened, pushed further, “I did marry him you know; I do want to kiss him from time to time. I hope that won’t be a problem for you...”

Another flutter drummed within the feline; the unborn child could only be voicing their outraged. A snicker breached Silver’s lips and was quickly mirrored on Blaze’s own. Soon they were fully laughing; Blaze’s hands slipped to the pillows in an attempt to steady herself as Silver finally pulled away from her belly.

When she’d finally recovered, the hedgehog managed to respond, “I think we might have a problem.”

“Picking favourites already,” The queen jokingly scolded, gently combing through her white fur, “You know, I’m the one carrying you around; he only insists on carrying me because he’s scared that you’re making it hard for me to walk. Your dad can be so overprotective. He’ll go out of his way to solve the smallest of problems, even when there are far more pressing issues,” She was almost chiding him, though she was doing so purposefully, “But I like that about him. He’ll always look out for you, just like I will.”

No further quickening was felt but, in its wake, Blaze couldn’t help identifying a tender calmness that had overcome Silver’s disposition. He managed to make his way back onto the couch beside her, almost dissolving into the floral material.

Bright yellow eyes collided with her amber set, “Did that really just happen?”

“If it’d only been me here, I don’t think I’d have believed it,” Blaze admitted, “I’d have told myself it was something else.”

He was beaming again but the combined endeavours of overly tending her, talking so deeply and observing the phenomena that was his child’s first actions had clearly exhausted him. Reaching just past the book, Blaze drew the chocolate bar and held it out to him. It took no more than a moment for him to understand, lean in and bite off the top square. As Blaze claimed a little more for herself, a blue bioluminescence engulfed the teapot and brought it to pour. The book was flipped open and gentle chatter ballooned to fill their little corner of the library as they shifted ever closer.

They were finally making their own future, no longer struggling to fix other people’s problems. Despite how unreal it all seemed, they were more peaceful than they’d ever had before.

#silvaze #fanfic #Silver the Hedgehog #Blaze the Cat #sonic the hedgehog #sonic #silverxblaze #fanfiction

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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The Rick and Morty Season 5 Finale Explains…Well, Just About Everything

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This article contains spoilers for Rick and Morty season 5 episode 10.

Rick and Morty is fighting a losing battle with its own canon.

The show has demonstrated time and time again that it prefers crafting episodic, self-contained stories to fully realize the potential of playing in a massive sci-fi sandbox. Like Rick Sanchez himself, the writers of the show understand that infinite universes (and a hefty 70-episode order from Adult Swim) means that a concept as earthbound as “story” will soon become pointless.

Viewers, however, have never felt that way. Despite being presented with the promise of infinite creation, many Rick and Morty fans just want to follow the story of the world’s smartest, yet most damaged man, and his happy-go-lucky grandson. It’s all quite ironic. Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon has spent much of his career advocating for the elemental power of storytelling, even crafting a “story circle” that is now a feature of many writers’ rooms (and probably the Marvel Cinematic Universe). But now the one time a Harmon writers’ room wants to have some non-serialized fun, fans crave structure more than ever.

And fans finally get that structure in the Rick and Morty season 5 finale “Rickmurai Jack.” Several writers promised before the season that this batch of Rick and Morty episodes would be more canon-focused than years’ past. Sure enough, this finale explains…just about everything in the Rick and Morty canon! You can tell it’s all canon too because Rick loudly proclaims it over and over again with lines like:

Rick: “The Citadel runs on canon.”

Morty: “We’ve been through a lot and he doesn’t like…” Rick: “Serialized drama.”

Rick “You wanna jump the shark? You wanna know my stupid crybaby backstory, then knock yourself out.”

Morty: “Woah, dead wife.” Rick: “Yeah, now everyone can shut up about it.”

Rick and Morty fans finally get just about every bit of canon they’ve been clamoring for from “Rickmurai Jack.” And in case you missed any of it, we will explain it all. Because that’s what we do.

What Is Rick’s Origin Story?

Rick Sanchez is clearly ashamed of his origin story. We finally find out why in this episode because it’s all so…human. Yes, as the series has long intimated (first in season 3’s premiere and then again in season 5 episode 8), the beginning of Rick’s multiverse-jumping saga begins with “sad about dead wife.”

Once upon a time, an evil (or probably just normal) Rick dropped into Rick C-137’s timeline to invite him along on multiversal adventures. When C-137 declined, the asshole Rick dropped a bomb into his garage killing his wife Diane and daughter Beth. Despondent, C-137 built his first rudimentary portal gun and traveled every possible timeline and dimension looking for revenge. In the process, he killed thousands upon thousands of his fellow Ricks but never found the Rick he was looking for.

Eventually, Rick grew tired of all the bloodshed and founded the Citadel of Ricks so that all the Ricks could live in relative peace. He then traveled to a timeline with a new Beth and settled in for a lifetime of adventures with his little buddy Morty.

What is The Central Finite Curve?

The Citadel of Ricks wasn’t the only thing that Rick C-137 and his fellow Ricks created. Have you ever wondered how, in an infinite set of universes, Rick Sanchez just so happens to be the smartest creature in each one? If the universe were really infinite, then wouldn’t there be dimensions where a Morty, a Jerry, a Beth, or even some random beetle was the smartest creature alive?

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

It turns out that the Ricks wanted to make sure there was no Genius Jerry universe. They’ve walled off their own set of realities from all the other realities. Using a concept known as the “Central Finite Curve” they’ve been able to isolate only the universes in which Ricks are the smartest creatures to use as their own Rick playgrounds. How did Doofus Rick sneak in then? That’s anyone’s guess.

What is Evil Morty’s Whole Deal?

Evil Morty makes his triumphant return in this episode. First introduced as a one-off joke all the way back in season 1, Evil Morty has now become arguably the most mysterious and important figure in the Rick and Morty canon.

Previously we saw Evil Morty elevated to the position of President of the Citadel and now we see why he wanted the job. Evil Morty wants to break free from the Ricks’ Central Finite Curve. He no longer wants to live in a set of curated universes where Rick Sanchez will always win. Ultimately he gets what he wants as the final moments of this episode find him entering into a new set of dimensions, 2001 or Interstellar-style.

Evil Morty scores his biggest win of the series yet but it’s still unclear where the little guy even comes from. Is it possible that he hails from a different dimension of smart Mortys to begin with? Maybe. But we think it’s more likely that Rick and Morty is operating under Jurassic Park rules: life finds a way. The Ricks tried to create a walled-in universe where beings like Doofus Rick or Evil Morty aren’t possible. Unfortunately for them, infinite universes aren’t so easily tamed.

How Cool is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Going to Be?

So cool. This may seem like a weird digression but keep in mind that the writer of this finale, Jeff Loveness, is also penning the next Ant-Man and the Wasp movie that will find Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror making his MCU film debut (after previously popping up in Loki).

In fact, this was Loveness’s last episode on Rick and Morty before heading off to Marvel-land.

Came back to write the Rick and Morty season finale. Airs Tonight. It is about the burning of the world and the lies we tell the people we love because we are afraid.

— Jeff Loveness (@JeffLoveness) September 5, 2021

What Has Mr. Poopybutthole Been Up To?

After becoming a fan favorite (and sustaining a near-fatal gunshot wound) in season 2, Mr. Poopybutthole has retreated to the background of the Rick and Morty world. Now he operates as an Oatu-like Watcher, dispassionately viewing the events of Rick and Morty from his couch, sometimes wistfully wishing these mortals could see what fools they be.

Mr. Poopybutthole’s monologue at the end of this episode is particularly haunting. Here is the script page in its entirety courtesy of Loveness’s Twitter account.

Learn from him. pic.twitter.com/lHaPQ5ZTkh

— Jeff Loveness (@JeffLoveness) September 6, 2021

“We don’t have as much time as we think. We never do. Oooowee.”

The post The Rick and Morty Season 5 Finale Explains…Well, Just About Everything appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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pineappleoracle · 3 years

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:0 you have more minecarft hcs????? i would love to hear them!!

alright *cracks knuckles*

i thought a little bit about what would make the most sense after the end hcs, more about avians from other dimensions or more about what the heck i was on about with hybrids and those "classifications"

and in the end i have decided its best to go for more general stuff off the bat so whenever i do go off about nether avians or the likes there's less explaining to do

let's start with the most important core concept of this all:

What defines a Player? Or the better title i gave it in my notes: Mob or Not?

first of all, there has to be a reason for a specific, lets say type of people to be referred to as "Players", an origin for the word itself

and that origin is the End Poem! And being able to "hear" it was how Players were originally defined too, until they got more into the technical side of things and realized some more specific parameters of identification are needed

Before the first people defeated an Ender Dragon, hopped into the well and heard the Poem, the entire concept of "Players" didn't exist, instead there was just a vague acknowledgement (is that really how thats spelled??) of sentience and a far bigger importance on whatever sort of group, be it species or or country, one belonged to. Once more and more people heard the End Poem themself and it was accepted as actual word from whatever created the universe, the entire concept of somebody being a Player regardless of species rippled through the worlds, changing society significantly - and bringing a lot of general peace, because it's hard to be a dick to anyone based on species if there's straight up Word Of God(s) that you're all equally great. The discovery of the End Poem thus marks the beginning of "modern times", a rough separation of the previous general mess to the focus on exploration and discovery that came after. (After all, this was the Adventure Update!)

imagine a general timeline (that's totally not based on me being a huge history nerd) that goes somewhat like this:

The Classic Age of temples, powerful magic and easy travel between dimension, when all the types of temples were build, spawners created and placed, the Overworld and the Nether were one and the End was still thriving;

The post-apocalyptic mess sometimes jokingly dubbed "Indev" (since the worlds everyone now knows where "in development" during this time), where the Overworld and Nether have been split into two, the old civilizations have collapsed or are fizzling out, the old knowledge is being lost with them and those remaining leave behind only crumbling ruins of stone brick, until things slowly cool down and the survivors are scattered across the universe like lonesome hermits, slowly starting to band together again and explore this universe they know so little about (the Universe may have done a bit of a hard reset during this time, its attempt to clean up the mess that was all the great old civilizations burning too hot until the inevitable supernova. not that the Players know about this, but there's a reason the current Players don't look like those back then, and the oldest ones of them seemingly popped into existence one day in an almost empty world)

The Modern Era, with the general focus of Player society being on exploration and discovery, trying to find out all the secrets of their world and what can be done with them. This is when all sorts of things like Admins and Servers come to be, since the Players figure out the Code exists and then relatively quickly learn how to mess with it too

Now that we know how the whole concept of "Players" came to be, let's get into those classifications I used for the different species in the End headcanons:

Player - A Player is a sentient being capable of Understanding the End Poem, respawning and travelling between worlds. (That last one is the Big thing, only Players have the ability to hop between servers with ease.)

Player-esque Mob - A Mob which is clearly intelligent enough to master language and communicate with Players, matching them in sentience but lacking the Code which allows travel between worlds. Usually cannot respawn without changes to their base Code. (A classification which was added after many years of arguing what the void endermen are, though it admittedly didn't help classify those tall mysteries at all. It did help create a better category to put Villagers, Piglins and extinct species that are impossible to call Players for sure into instead of lumping them in with animals and monsters)

Mob - A living, non-player creature, capable of moving of their own volition and possessing some minor level of sentience. (There are three further sub-categories of Mobs since this is the broadest and most vague category, really more of a catch-all for anything that doesn't fit in with the rest, but even those are vague at best)

-> Hostile Mobs / Monster - Monsters are Mobs which attack Players and certain Player-esque Mobs on sight without prior agitation. Most Monsters only appear at night and burn in the sunlight, but not all. (Common examples: Zombies, skeletons, creepers)

-> Neutral Mobs - Mobs which are not inherently aggressive (and can even be tamed with enough skill and patience), but will attack others if agitated or attacked first. (Common examples: Polar bears, llamas, wolves)

-> Passive Mobs - Mobs which will more likely flee from an attack than retaliate and are relatively easy to tame and keep as pets. (Common examples: Sheep, cows, chicken)

and im cutting this off here because its nearly 2am again, maybe i might work up the nerve to make a normal post on more of this soon explaining more stuff?? we'll see

#minecraft #mc #pine's minecraft headcanons #im really tempted to continue this to talk about hybrids and Hybrids but my friends are shaking me about dumping too much info at once lmao #more later I Guess #(also every time i get another one of these asks asking about more of my headcanons i cry tears of joy i just wanted to say that)#(please do keep them coming-)

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olicitysecretsanta · 4 years

Text

Its a Long Story

For- Jennifer ( @eloquence-of-felicities ) You said that you loved Olicity’s story and so I have written something that hopefully celebrates their canon story for all its multi-dimension, mutli-timeline awesomeness, including my interpretation of the ending. I hope you enjoy it! By @lupin72

Oliver and Felicity both tell various people the story of some firsts in their relationship.

Warning: the last chapter is rated E

Chapter 1- First Kiss

Oliver felt the punchbag cut into his knuckles, another scrape forming, each time he hit the leather. It didn’t feel like pain exactly. He knew pain well. This was more of an annoyance. But he welcomed it and hit the bag harder, faster.

It had been a couple of hours since he had left the hospital. A couple of hours since he had felt her lips on his for the first time. Or at least that’s what he thought. The clock on her computer screen would reveal it had been nearly 6.

He punched on.

In his trance he didn’t hear the footsteps until they hit the cold marble floor at the bottom of the stairs. Yet another proof she was a distraction. But, a growl tore from his chest, she was so much more than that.

“Oliver?” Dig called. Stopping just before him, and crossing his arms, his signature frown set upon his face.

“What are you doing here Dig?” Oliver asked. He stopped punching and let his hands fall to his waist, turning them to hide the scrapes.

“I left my jacket here so I thought I’d pick it up on the way home. But I can see it was good that I did. What’s happened man?”

Oliver shook his head and turned from his friend. Now that he wasn’t moving he could feel the exhaustion in his muscles and he let himself fall into the nearest chair. Her chair.

Dig slammed their bottle of vodka onto the desk beside him. Oliver immediately poured them both a shot. As their glasses slammed onto the table Dig sent Oliver a look that couldn’t be mistaken: explain yourself.

“We kissed.” Oliver confessed, not meeting his friend’s eyes.

He missed the small smile that crossed Dig’s face.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Dig asked, although he could tell from Oliver’s cut hands, which he was failing to hide, that it hadn’t been.

“It didn’t change anything. Fuck I’ve just made it worse."

Dig rose to his full height, towering over the man that had instilled fear into a city full of people.

"You’re telling me you kissed her but you still haven’t got your head out of your ass?” Dig did his best to keep his voice steady but this was Felicity they were talking about.

“It wasn’t like that. At least it wasn’t supposed to be.” Oliver shook his head at himself and poured another drink. Only once the burn had stopped did he start talking again. "I couldn’t let her doubt that I ever had feelings for her. She had to know, it seemed worse if she doubted it."

Oliver didn’t add how he had felt like it might have been his only chance to feel her lips on his. How he was greedy and selfish and took it. How he had felt his heart break alongside hers when she pulled away from him. Instead he summoned every ounce of strength in him and dictated, with as much conviction as he could muster, “It’s over now. So that’s that. We can just go back to normal.”

Dig sighed and leaned back onto the table. “I don’t know if that’s possible man.”

Oliver didn’t speak. He just hung his head low. It was all the confirmation Dig needed. He knew it too.

“Look its late, I should go, I’ve got four hours to get some sleep before I’m allowed back in the hospital.” Dig announced, picking up his jacket.

“Hospital rules or Lyla’s?” Oliver asked.

“Both.”

Oliver let out a breathy laugh. He felt Dig pat him on the back and looked up in thanks.

“You get some sleep yourself, maybe your head will finally be on straight tomorrow.”

Oliver didn’t get a chance to reply as Dig made his way up the steps.

Chapter 2- First Meet

A quiet night in the Smoak- Queen and Clayton household was hard to come by. It had been weeks since its three residents had been able to sit down and enjoy a meal together. But tonight the streets were quiet, Diaz had gone underground and the mayoral work was up to date.

Which meant a long awaited family games night was finally scheduled.

Felicity had pushed for it when she found a superhero trivia games set in the store. She knew they had a deck of cards in the drawer and William had some old board games under his bed.

After Oliver lost epically at the trivia, and William beating Felicity by one point, and then both boys getting annoyed at her counting cards in their games of black jack, they moved onto a more even game of snakes and ladders. Or it should have been even but Oliver seemed to have a tactic for constantly rolling a six. After one too many innuendos in front of her step son, Felicity had stopped interrogating him on his wrist action and gave in to the fact that he just might win this one.

It wasn’t just games. They shared small talk between jeers and taunts. Oliver spoke about playing with Tommy as a kid, Felicity showed them how to shuffle cards like she learned in Vegas. William even told stories of playing with his mom. It was fun and relaxing and oh so needed.

“Felicity?” William asked rolling a four and frowning as he was sent down a ladder. “How did you meet my dad? You said when we were in the bunker that it was something to do with a laptop and bullets ?”

Oliver and Felicity laughed quietly and turned to look at each other.

“Well, you remembered right Will, it was a laptop but it was already minus the bullets since your dad thought that would make me believe a latte was the problem.”

“I panicked alright.” Oliver defended , unable to wipe the huge smile off of his face. “You caught me off guard.”

William frowned. “I don’t understand.”

Game forgotten Oliver and Felicity moved into sitting positions. After all they should be comfortable to tell their favorite tale.

“The Hood, they called me that then, had been in a gunfight. I took the laptop to Felicity to try to get some information off of it to help with my…"

“Mission.” Felicity finished when Oliver clearly lacked the words to explain.

Oliver nodded to her in thanks before continuing. “I had heard that she was the best in the building for tech help, despite her position as support. I don’t know what I was expecting when I walked into her cubicle but it certainly wasn’t…” Oliver trailed off, lost for words again. “I wasn’t expecting Felicity.”

Oliver made direct eye contact with the woman in question, allowing his sincerity to show on his face. If William wasn’t there Felicity knew she would have jumped him. To break the tension building between them she turned to her step son.

“Picture this Will: I’m just sitting there chewing a pen-”

“A red pen.”

Felicity tried to glare at him for interrupting but her heart warmed as it did every time he remembered a detail about their past.

“I’m sitting there,“ she continued, not trusting herself to look at him again, "chewing a red pen when the boss’s son walks right in and smiles at me all handsome and mysterious. So what did I do?”

“You talked a lot?” William asked. He was sitting up straight, completely engrossed by the story.

“Yup.” The family shared a laugh. Felicity’s heart swelled again, this time for her love for the boy before her who she was starting to form such a bond with and who was willing to get to know her as well. “I babbled on about how your dad hadn’t drowned but his father had. It was terrible.”

“It was cute.” Oliver interrupted again.

“Okay I don’t care how cute you think you’re being if you interrupt me again, you lose your next two turns.” Felicity scolded Oliver. His eyes lit up as he curled his lips tight shut. “Now where was I? Yes, so he gives me this laptop, covered in holes and scratched up where he had obviously taken out the bullets. And he tells me he spilt a latte on it!”

William laughed. “You didn’t seriously think she would believe that did you Dad?”

Oliver frowned, making a deal of showing his lips were sealed.

Felicity smiled in amusement whilst William laughed harder. “So I of course called him out in his bullshi- sorry.” William shook his head and Felicity was glad Oliver wasn’t speaking for she knew he’d have his revenge and scold her for swearing. “I told him they looked like bullet holes and he didn’t even have an answer for me.”

“Why did you help him then?” William asked.

Oliver froze, as did Felicity. They had never discussed the answer to that question before. Intrigued Oliver stared at her till Felicity was sure he would explode if she didn’t look at him. She complied. “Because he needed help. And I could do it.“ She replied simply, but then her eyes burned with mirth and smile snuck onto her face "And he was my boss. And hot as hell.”

They all laughed and Felicity even let Oliver keep his next turn.

Chapter 3- First Nightmare

Felicity sprung up in bed, her entire body turning rigid for one split second before she was running from the room and towards her baby girl’s screams.

Cries of "Mom” came from Mia’s bedroom, causing Felicity’s heart to beat faster as they became more panicked.

“I’m coming Mia!” she shouted, finally able to catch a breath to respond.

Mia’s shouts turned into sobs. Felicity finally reached the room and she turned immediately, analysing for any danger and sighing with relief when she found none. Her relief didn’t last long when saw her 7 year old’s tear stained face.

“Oh baby”, she sat down next to Mia and pulled her into her chest, softly stroking her hair as she had done since she was small.

For those who didn’t know she dyed it they often commented she had her mother’s hair but Felicity knew better. She had seen younger pictures of Oliver and his unruly waves.

The pang of pain when she remembered her husband never seemed to ease.

“What’s the matter baby?” Felicity asked, pulling Mia closer and getting comfortable on the bed so they could lie side by side.

“Had a bad dream” Mia mumbled, muffled against Felicity’s stomach where she had buried her head.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Felicity asked.

Mia shook her head no.

“Okay,” Felicity pressed a kiss onto Mia’s head and contemplated what to say next. A familiar night came to mind and knowing her daughter’s current love for a story Felicity sat up straighter and whispered, “if I told you another top secret Green Arrow story would that make you feel better?” Mia’s snuffling stopped for a second before she nodded.

“Alright. So some time ago, long before the Green Arrow was known as the hero he was, and was instead just the Arrow, he decided to give up his fight to save the city and trusted his friends to do it. And so he and Overwatch decided to go out into the world to explore. You remember that baby? ”

Mia nodded. “They saw the whole wide world. The forests and seas and animals big and small.“

Felicity smiled in reply. She looked over at the framed picture on Mia’s wall and could feel her daughter turning to the same one. They didn’t have many pictures together as a family. Only a small handful. One sat on Mia’s bedside table, the other on her own. Throughout the mansion there were many pictures of Oliver. Moira had many from when he was younger and Felicity enjoyed hearing some of the stories that went along with them. But Felicity had some favourites of both of them together and Mia always liked them too so she put one up in her room.

"Yes they did. But it wasn’t all that easy. One scary night, when they were by the beach a storm came in. Now the Arrow didn’t like the sea much but he said that with Overwatch he wanted to learn to love it again. But then the storm came. And the Arrow was scared. It made his mind play tricks on him, nasty tricks and he had dreams. And just like you baby girl he kicked out and shouted and woke up Overwatch.”

Mia pulled back to look up at Felicity. “But the Arrow isn’t scared of anything!” She admonished.

“You’re right baby the Arrow wasn’t scared. But,” Felicity paused, trying to find the words to explain to her daughter how her father was both a fearless hero and a man just as capable as being scared as she was. She settled for what she hoped would be an explanation enough for tonight. “He wasn’t the Arrow that night.”

Mia frowned but nodded in understanding after a few seconds.“He was daddy. ”

Felicity blinked the tears from her eyes, a trick she had long since learned. “Yeah sweetheart, he was Daddy and Daddy got scared of nightmares too."

“But Overwatch helped him?”

“Yeah she did. She woke up and she told him everything would be alright. That the dreams were all in his head and he was safe. With her. And then she asked him to tell her about it. Because if you talk about your dreams they aren’t scary anymore. They are out here in the world where you can fight them and not in here.” She tapped Mias head with her finger.

Mia nodded in understanding again. "Do you think if I talk about my bad dreams I can fight them too?”

"Mia you are the strongest, bravest person in the whole wide world. Yes I think you could fight them. You want to tell me what happened?”

Mia buried her face again but her explanation could still be heard. "Monsters took me away. They were dark like shadows and they went bang when I punched them but they kept coming back. Then they picked me up and took me away. I don’t want to go away from you mommy.” she cried again.

Felicity’s heart broke a little as she pulled her daughter close. The image her daughter created sent a pang of pain through her chest. But she didn’t let it show. “Don’t worry sweetheart. I won’t let anyone take you away from me. Not ever. ”

She knew the day would come, however, when she could no longer keep that promise. Oliver was still out there as Spectre. She didn’t understand how it worked, just as all the alternate realities confused her. She had memories of a life where Tommy and Moira and many of their other friends and family had died. And she had many memories of this new one. It was confusing at times, but somehow she could separate the two timelines in her head. It helped that John and the others could relate and they often got together to tell stories of the old days as they remembered them. But she was forever thankful that her daughter was growing up to a future that much more brighter because of her father. And, knowing what the future had in store for her, having met the hero she would become, Felicity was confident that one day they would both be ready for her to depart to be with Oliver again. And she would explain it all to her, and to William as well, who she was forever thankful to be able to hold close after he had decided to stay with her following his father’s funeral.

In fact, she had already told William some parts of the tale but it was hard for any of them to understand how Oliver could still be out there somewhere yet they couldn’t reach him all of the time. He could, and had, appeared sporadically as Spectre, however the terms of his visits were as complicated as the rest of their story. But, knowing that with her deal with The Monitor, and that Oliver being Spectre meant that one day Felicity would be with her husband again? That was enough for her to continue to fight each day for a future where their children were safe in a happy Star City when she left to be with him.

Chapter 4- First Time

They had been on the road for three weeks before Felicity ever saw Oliver drunk. At the start she knew he was clinging onto the control. After nearly losing his mind in Nanda Parbat she could understand him not wanting to lose any of that control now. But then something changed. She’d watched him soften, become more relaxed, letting a tiny piece of the wall down each day. She’d loved it. It was probably her favourite part of the trip. Forget the places they had seen: the hills the sunsets the beaches, this man beside her finally letting his guard down was truly beautiful. And so they sat side by side at the bar, she enjoying a cocktail as she watched Oliver ask the barman for another whisky. He was far out drinking her at this point which would have alarmed her had it not been for the gentle hand on her thigh and smile that lit up his face. He was merely enjoying himself.

“I love you,” Oliver whispered in her ear, his hand sliding a bit further up her leg. She stopped it with a firm hand of her own.

“I love you too,” she told him and watched as his smile grew wider just as it always did when she said those three words. She often wondered how long that would last.

Just as she was about to lean in for a kiss a man bumped against her as he collapsed against the bar, his weight almost sending her toppling from the seat. Oliver was on his feet in a second, both hands securing Felicity’s shoulders, whilst glaring over her head at the offender.

The man startled and turned, slurring out an apology. Felicity could tell it wasn’t going to be enough for Oliver. Luckily, the man must have sensed it too for he elaborated. “Really man, I am sorry. Got a little carried away there but I blame this one really."

On his accusation a tall brunette stumbled against the man. "She’s a bad influence. Just a water please mate.” He told the barman.

Felicity smiled at the couple, the young woman falling against her boyfriend. "It’s alright.” Felicity reassured the man, offering her hand for a handshake and a sign for her over protective, slightly drunk boyfriend to calm down. Of course just as he let his guard down something would freak him out. Luckily Oliver relaxed offering his own hand and introductions.

Jennifer and Frank explained that they were in California for the first time, for their first holiday away together, celebrating their first year anniversary. They were both excited to find out that Oliver and Felicity were in a similar situation and, despite the rough start, both couples hit it off.

After another round of drinks the conversation somehow progressed to firsts.

Jennifer and Frank had been working together and their first came of a drunken escapade at an office Christmas party. Felicity found it exceptionally sweet but Oliver got strangely grumpy. She was confused until he explained that he had hadn’t got the chance to take Felicity home after their work party. Felicity blushed profusely remembering the night well. She had turned to wine for comfort after getting ridiculously annoyed by all the constant whispering and bitching about how the CEO and his EA were unable to stay away from each other for more than five minutes. She had gotten so drunk she had removed her heels and then lost them when Oliver had offered to take her home. Then she had told him, after he found her shoes, (somehow they had ended up under the Christmas tree), that they couldn’t leave together. That it would only add fuel to the fire. And so Dig had discreetly walked her to the taxi with the promise she would text Oliver as soon as she got home safe. What Felicity didn’t know was that Oliver had stopped by that night just to check and found her asleep on the couch. She didn’t remember him carrying her to bed, nor was she confused when she woke up, having not remembered huge portions of the night.

“So when was your first time then?” Jennifer asked. “You were friends for 3 years and you worked together, you’re clearly both in love and happy so how did you not explode?”

Felicity blushed further turning to Oliver for guidance. She didn’t trust herself to tell the story believing that she would babble on and give too many details away. Then again he wasn’t very good at cover stories sober.

“We were on a work trip.” Oliver explained, grinning like a fool. "A super romantic location, remote, high in the mountains. I’d already told Felicity I loved her, but she was in a relationship at the time, and then I screwed it up, but that’s not important.”

Felicity nudged him in the chest. “Hey babblings my thing!”

“Sorry honey,” he continued. “So we were on a work trip and I…” Oliver paused. Felicity could sense his planned cover story hadn’t gotten this far before he started talking. She didn’t blame him. Trying to explain why he was joining a league of assassins and she would never seen him again would have been difficult sober. Luckily, she had an idea. “You got another job offer for different company.”

“Yeah a different company! Hey that was smart!” Oliver praised, leaning in for a kiss. He froze, realising his mistake when he saw the look on Felicity’s face. “Oh for remembering I mean.” He tried to cover. She still didn’t look pleased. “Oh maybe I’m just flirting to kiss you.” She finally allowed him to do so.

Sadly, Jennifer told them to get a room, so it didn’t last long, but it appeared to have worked well as a distraction.

"Finish the story you two!” Jennifer demanded.

Felicity started talking when she saw the confusion on Oliver’s face who had obviously forgotten what story they were referring to. She liked to think her kissing skills had at least a small part of that and not just the alcohol.

“I realised I could lose him and it terrified me. So I told him how I felt.”

“And then we had sex!” Oliver blurted, looking exceptionally proud of himself for remembering what story they were telling.

Felicity slapped him playfully on the chest again and Oliver pretended to be in pain, causing her to giggle.

“Damn that is a good story” Frank praised. “Leaving it all for love that’s ballsy man.”

“Well she worth it.” Oliver replied, still watching Felicity who was now full on laughing.

“I’m sorry it’s just you’re a sappy drunk Oliver.” Felicity explained, leaning against him.

“Only for you.”

“Okay no more drinks for these two.” Jennifer announced when it became apparent that they were more than likely going to start making out like teenagers again.

“In fact make it these three!” She added when Frank stumbled again, missing the bar when he went to lean against it.

“Yeah we should probably get going.” Felicity admitted, shakily getting to her feet. Oliver subconsciously steadied her. Apparently it would take more alcohol for him to lose his coordination. Figures.

After exchanging details and promising to meet up for dinner the following evening the couples partied ways.

It was a short walk to the small room they had hired so Felicity didn’t mind walking in her heels. Plus, it put her at the perfect height to bury her face in Oliver’s shoulder.

“You know I think our cover stories are getting better.” She mused.

Oliver laughed, “I think we just work better as a team. Always have. Always will. ”

Felicity smiled up at him noticing that his eyes had cleared now which meant he was sobering up in the fresh air. “What do you say we remember that first night when we get back? I saw some candles in the drawer earlier, probably not as many as there were back then, but I think it could work?“

Oliver’s eyes glazed over with a look that could only be described as blazing heat as he ran them over her body from head to toe and back again.

"I’d say we better hurry and get back.” With that he picked her up bridal style and began running for the door only a few meters in front of them.

Both laughing, they stumbled inside. If either noticed what had happened they didn’t comment. Little did they know in three years he would be doing it again.

Chapter 5- First fight

Oliver lay on the couch contemplating his conversation with his daughter by his father’s grave, two days before. Not much had changed since then. Mia still shied away from opening up to him and William was still overjoyed every time he walked into a room.

It pained him, but Oliver couldn’t help but be happy. Even in its difficulty this time felt like a blessing.

He did however still pine for Felicity to be by his side during all of this. Even after William told him not to call her, pointing out the difficulty of the entire situation, he had still been tempted to do so every minute of every day. He wanted her here, he needed her here, she had a right to know what was going on, but nothing had changed. The Ninth Circle were still after them. From what Mia had said, in the future, even when that threat disappeared, the Deathstrokes had already taken over the city. But they had stopped that. The future was surely changed. Wasn’t it?

Mia and William didn’t like to talk about Felicity in the future. It seemed to cause them both pain to remember her. All Oliver knew was that she was alive but in hiding again and they hadn’t heard from her since she left which had been three weeks before they came here.

They both seemed to think it was more than hiding though, Oliver could sense it. But he didn’t know enough to speculate himself and so he simply hoped with every second that she was safe in the future or that they could change it somehow.

The very fact that his children were before him seemed to hint to that. So maybe bringing Felicity to Star City would help too?

But every time he went to press the call button he froze. Mia was still a baby there. Felicity couldn’t come here with her, he knew enough about the laws of time travel to know that they couldn’t meet. The Monitor could also come for him at any moment. He knew he had some time before the Crisis began but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be sent across the world or across time or space at any second. The same went for Mia and William. So if he could spare his wife the heartache of learning that the future wasn’t so bright, of learning about his death, of potentially seeing their children only for them to be torn away again? If he could protect her and their baby from the dangers here? Then he had to do it. And so he never pressed call.

Instead they continued their brief texts every now and then. They were always short. They hadn’t called since he returned. Both had silently agreed that it would cause them too much pain to continuously have to say goodbye again, not knowing if it was for the last time. And that was assuming either one of them would find the strength to end the call. Oliver knew in his heart that he for sure didn’t.

He looked down at the last picture Felicity had sent him. She was hodling Mia up to the camera and their daughter was smiling almost right at him. He could tell Felicity was trying to smile too but it didn’t quite meet her eyes. She had captioned it ‘Much love from us both x.’ He had cried the first time he saw it and he was barely stopping the tears now.

It was then that he heard a door down the hall opening and footsteps coming towards him.

“Mia?” he asked into the dark, reaching over to turn on the light. Oliver hadn’t explicitly told his children that he was sleeping on the couch rather than his own bed. Thankfully neither of them brought it up. He guessed that they knew why he couldn’t return to their bed alone.

“I’m sorry for waking you,” Mia spoke, cautiously moving closer.

“You didn’t,” Oliver reassured her, a tentative smile on his face. “What’s up?” He sat up fully and nodded his head toward the chair across from him, smirking when Mia perched herself on the arm rather than sitting on it properly. Her mother often did the same.

“Its fine, honestly, I couldn’t sleep and wanted a drink that’s all. ” The only way to describe the young woman was spooked. She was ready to flee any second. Oliver was about to speak when she blurted, “I’ll go back to bed,” and rose to her feet.

Hastily, Oliver sat up straighter, “Please stay? ” He cleared his throat nervously. “Maybe I can help?”

Mia shook her head. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

Oliver tensed when he watched a wall form around his daughter, she grew tense and looked ready to flee again. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to push.” Mia settled slightly at the apology. Taking this as progress Oliver hesitantly tried again, “I just want to help you.”

Mia seemed to contemplate the offer. Maybe she was thinking about their conversation by the grave too, or maybe it was how he was obviously pleading with her, but she didn’t argue and instead moved to sit properly in the seat.

“Did your team ever fight?”

That a question he wasn’t expecting. His confusion must have shown on his face for Mia continued.

“It’s just that in our time, the team wasn’t really a team. And I tried to lead and all it led to was Zoe-” the pain in Mia’s face, when she couldn’t finish her sentence, shattered Oliver’s heart.

“We didn’t always get on.” Oliver smiled gently, remembering how their team had started. “Your mother tried to quit right at the start. In the end everyone quit at least once.”

“Mum never mentioned that part of the story.” Mia said, moving closer to the edge of her seat. “She focused on the good stuff I guess.”

Oliver nodded, “yeah your mother has a way of seeing the bright side of things. But no it wasn’t always that easy.”

“Would you tell me about it?” Mia asked.

Oliver’s smile grew. Perhaps this was the start of that impenetrable distance between them starting to close. “I don’t think I’ll be as good a story teller as your Mum but I’ll give it a go.”

The smile that lit up Mia’s face might have been the brightest he had seen since he met her.

“Hmm okay. What if I tell you about our first fight?”

Mia nodded, that bright smile of hers still in place. Oliver couldn’t help but see her mother’s in it.

“Well I had just started my mission, and at the start I wasn’t always that…kind, to the criminals I faced. Your mum didn’t like that and so one night, just as I was about to go out, she changed the lock to the door. I thought I had mistyped but, when I tried again, and still couldn’t get out, I realised what must have happened. I was a bit more hot headed back then and I lost it.” Oliver laughed, he could remember the outrage that took over him and the shock that Felicity had dared try such a thing. And then she had surprised him again. “God I was so angry. And I ran down the stairs, straight for where Felicity was working at her desk and I shouted her name. I tried to intimidate her, the way I did with everyone, but she just wouldn’t let me. This tiny woman stood up, she could barely reach my chin, but she looked me right in the eye and told me she was quitting.. I was speechless and Dig just gave me this knowing look. And then we watched her walk out. The next day we were trying to get her to come back because I realised I couldn’t do it without her anymore.”

By the time Oliver had finished a look of wonder covered Mia’s face. A spark in her eyes he had only seen when she had a bow in her hand had been ignited.

“Listen Mia, this life isn’t ideal. It’s a life I didnt want for you-” he hastened to finish when he saw that she was ready to interrupt. “But I can see that it’s a life you want for yourself and so I’ll support it in any way I can. Maybe start with some training if that’s okay with you?”

Mia nodded vigorously, looking very much like the child Oliver was still trying to remind himself that she wasn’t anymore. “I would like that.”

“Okay.” Father and daughter shared a smile. “Well then you better get some sleep because you’re about to start training with the man that out-duelled Nyssa al Ghul.”

Mia smirked. “I’ve done that a few times myself.”

Oliver laughed and watched as his daughter sprung elegantly to her feet and made her way back to her room. She stopped just as she reached the start of the corridor and turned back to look at him.

“Thanks dad.”

Tears filled Oliver’s eyes for the second time that night. He had long since let go of the idea that he would ever hear his baby say those words.

“Goodnight.” he replied. With one last knowing look between them, both archers found sleep easily for the first time since this new adventure had begun.

Chapter 6- First I love you

Oliver and Felicity lay in bed, side by side as they had done for the last few weeks. They had been for dinner with Frank and Jennifer and with full stomachs they were both almost asleep.

Oliver sighed, looking across at Felicity with a gentle smile on his lips. She was lying flat on her back and had been groaning for the last few minutes about how full she was.

He reached out to tuck a stray hair behind her ear and encouraged her to turn to him with a hand on her waist. She did so with another groan.

“Mm dinner was good.” she yawned snuggling closer to him.

“So you’ve said,” Oliver replied, his hand rising to cup her head and pull it close so he could whisper “three times since we got home.”

Her only response was another “mmff.”

He laughed. “You know when Jen asked about when we first said I love you and you spun that story about it being another work proposal that could mean us never seeing each other again because it was in such a remote place I couldn’t visit or call-” Oliver rambled.

Felicity interrupted to cut to the chase, not interested in hearing the embarrassing tale. Living it once was enough. “And they totally didn’t believe me so we had to change the subject? Yeah I remember.”

“Well that wasn’t actually the first time I told you I loved you. I mean it technically was the first time I told you. When you could hear me that is. But I said it before.” Oliver confessed. Truthfully, he had forgotten about it until Jen had asked the question. He figured that the moment must have been clouded by other memories of that particular night.

Felicity seemed to wake up entirely at the confession, pushing off Oliver’s chest so she could look down at him. “Oh really?”

He nodded. “I told you I loved you the night of our first date.” Felicity’s smile grew. “After the bomb hit and I found you lying unconscious, I knew we had to get out of there so I carried you out the back. It was as I was holding you I realised how much you meant to me. I’d always been scared of losing you, and we’d had some close calls before, but holding you I knew that if you didn’t wake up my life would be over too. I wasn’t even thinking I just said it.”

Tears filled Felicity’s eyes and she leaned down to press her lips against his. “Thank you for telling me,” she said, resuming the kiss. It steadily grew more heated as their tongues fought for dominance. Oliver’s hands wandered from where they were wrapped around her, one heading straight for her ass to pull her close, the other for the bottom of her top to slip underneath it.

Felicity groaned as she began to move against him causing Oliver to snap his hips up against hers in response.

“You know,” Felicity continued, as her hands snuck under her boyfriends top, “I told you I loved you before Nada Parabat.”

Oliver frowned “Really?"

“Mmhmm,” Felicity began, trailing kisses down his neck and giggling when he squirmed more beneath her. For a big, scary vigilante he was ticklish.

"I hadn’t been working with the team long. It was just after I cloned your phone. You had finished with another name on the list and I left you a voicemail explaining I had to go home because my cousin was in town. Well at the end of voicemail I said: love you, Goodnight! And hung up without thinking.” Oliver burst out laughing and Felicity couldn’t help but join in.

"And I’m guessing you hacked my phone to delete it? Oliver asked.

“Yup, took all of fifteen seconds but it was the longest fifteen seconds of my life. I thought I was done for.”

Oliver laughed harder before cupping Felicity’s head in his large palm. She groaned and turned into it. And he couldn’t help but think about the first time she did so. He had loved her even then he realised. He had loved her for much longer than he let his heart admit.

"I don’t think you would have lost me had I heard it Felicity. Sure things would have probably been awkward but the man I was then? I would probably have pretended like nothing even happened.”

Felicity chuckled, "yeah you’re probably right.”

After a few seconds of staring at each other with eyes blazing with humour, a spark seemed to erupt between them. Oliver grabbed Felicity’s hips and turned to lie her flat against the bed. Felicity groaned. He knew how much that move turned her on.

Oliver’s lips immediately latched onto Felicity’s neck, his stubble scratching lightly at her skin as he made his way down. He got to her top and made short work of pulling it up and over her head so that he could continue on his quest. Felicity felt his length press against her thigh and she moaned again. But Oliver didn’t want to rush this time. Instead he latched onto her right breast with his mouth, his hand finding her left. Felicity immediately began writhing beneath him, the noises she was making spurring him on. He slipped one leg between them so that his thigh was pressed tight against her centre. But it wasn’t enough.

“Oliver! Please,” Felicity gasped, her hand reaching down for him. “Please,“ she cupped him through his jeans causing him to growl at her.

Pulling back from her breasts he immediately made direct eye contact with her. Their heated gazes locked, burning like an inferno as Oliver tore his pants off whilst Felicity made short work of her own.

Still not breaking eye contact, Oliver softly linked his thumb into Felicity’s underwear and slowly pulled it down the path of her leg, stopping when it was past her knees. He then got into position on top of her again, one leg at either side of hers, as he quickly pulled the garment all the way down before tossing it onto the floor. Oliver then tore off his top and threw it behind him. He lowered himself back on top of Felicity’s now naked body, grinning with a glint in his eye that Felicity was now recognising as pure happiness.

Felicity’s hands grabbed his boxers as soon as he was close enough and she pushed them down murmuring “off,” and he was only too happy to oblige.

Now both completely naked, Oliver leaned down so that his weight was balanced on his knees and his arms which allowed him to cradle Felicity beneath him. He pressed his forehead against Felicity’s and they smiled before their lips met. Dueling, they battled, until Felicity reached between them to align Oliver with where she wanted him. Oliver nipped her bottom lip in retaliation before thrusting inside.

Felicity gasped, "Oliver!” and he groaned her name in response in her ear.

Allowing Felicity a few seconds to adjust , Oliver pushed up onto his arms again to give him the momentum to pull back and thrust in fast. He then pulled out again, only to slowly push inside, watching as Felicity’s face transformed into one of pure ecstasy.

He continued the random rhythm he had set, moving from fast to slow until she linked her feet around his lefs and pulled him down on top of her.

“Faster Oliver,” she growled in his ear. “And don’t stop this time.”

Deciding to be merciful, and because he himself was on the brink of losing control anyway, Oliver immediately began snapping his hips down to hers. Soon Felicity was on the edge, he felt her toes curl and her spine tense. Reaching down between them Oliver found her clit and rubbed in fast circles to match his pace.

“Oliver yes!” Felicity cried out as she finally found release. Oliver snapped his hips against hers one more time before he spilled over after her.

"I love you,” Oliver told her. He was looking down at her like she was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. “And I’ll happily tell you that every day for the rest of our lives."

Sadly Oliver wouldn’t get to live that promise. Circumstances would tear them apart. Time and time again. But like all good love stories they found their way back to each other in the end. On a strange plane, not defined by time nor space, they found each other once more. And they could say those three words to each other any time they pleased. For eternity.

AN- I was going to tell the story of the first time Oliver saw her but I felt that it was Oliver’s to tell and the show set it up much better than I could have.

#arrow #olicity #olicity secret santa #goodbye Olicity #submission

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toku-explained · 3 years

Text

The Darkest Swordsman

Z: GAFJ have developed D4 from Barabas' horn, a dimension destroying weapon, and have ordered it's installation in King Joe STORAGE Custom, the installation overseen by Yuki Mai. The Maintenance team make clear from the start they are against this, and the main squad are clearly against it as well, and the Director makes clear he is against using D4 as well, but orders have come down, he's not well, and Celebro encounters him. When Kelbim arrives, drawn by the energy at the initial test site, it quickly heads to where the next D4 weapon is, and the Director brings down the orders from on high to use only King Joe STORAGE Custom and make use of D4, even as more Kelbim descend from the sky and hatch. It's pretty obvious what has happened to the Director, but it's not outright shown. In defiance of orders, Hebikura dispatched Haruki in Windom, but even as they take out one another spawns, and Z is forced to come out. As they continue more appear and Yuka detects the Mother Kelbim in space. Z Delta Rise Claw goes to face it, but even as it wins the numbers become to much and Yoko is forced, out of desperation, to use D4. The attack does take out the Kelbim, but the dimensional collapse keeps spreading, only being stopped by Z. Hebikura makes clear he is angry about all of this, and Yuki Mai seems to have ideas about Ultraman's power. But the big this this time is, as every single member of STORAGE, the entire maintenance team lead by Bako, Yuka, Yoko, Haruki and Hebikura defies GAFJ orders, and the entire unit is being dissolved.

Ultra 6 Brothers The Live: I laid actual money to watch this, since it seems to tie into The Absolute Conspiracy. After Nice warms the crowd up, the story introduces us to Baltan Seijin Baruru, a child alone on a world save for his robot friend. Baruru seems to remember his grandfather, but that's it. One day Red King, Hellberus, Astromons and Giestron rampage, and Man, Seven, Zoffy, Hikari and 80 arrive to stop them. Afterwards the brother discuss why the Kaiju are acting out before all but Ultraman leave. He meets Baruru and befriends him before leaving, asking the robot to look out for him, and after it's gone Baruru and the robot plan to plant a flower, when a gang of Valkie Seijin, Magma Seijin and Zarab Seijin arrive, and start beating up Baruru, calling Hellberus back to assist. The Robot, inspired by Ultraman's words, fights back and does a decent job until losing power, but as more Kaiju come the day is saved by the arrival of the Ultra 6 Brothers. Zoffy fights Zarab, Man fights Red King, Seven fights Valkie, Jack takes Giestron, Ace battles Hellberus, Taro deals with Magma. After the brothers win, they save the Robot and leave, Baruru and his companion continue their journey, but in the end Baruru walks away from the robot, which continues the other way with the flower. Absolute Tartarus appears, commenting on a power. After an intermission the plot moves forward, and to an earth in 2020, where Bemstar and Telesdon come down from the sky, and the narrator explains the Devil Splinters, this is followed by Z Alpha Edge's stock footage, the Rise accompanied with a new one for Zero. Zero and Z Alpha Edge face the two Kaiju, then discuss about the Devil Splinters when an effect devices the Kaiju. Zero defeats Bemstar only for Tartarus, who Zero is aware of, to appear and revive Bemstar, and reveal his servant, the adult Baruru, who created the system reviving the Kaiju. Zero and Z are overpowered until Ultraman and Seven arrive and help defeat them. Ultraman recognises Baruru, and Baruru remembers him, Tartarus arrives and explains their plans. Ultraman asks him to stop but he lashes out, and uses the system to revive Zetton and EX Zetton, which overpower the Ultras, before taking them aside and fusing their genes with himself to become a Zetton Baltan Seijin (variants previously appeared in Orb stages, one being a Dark Ring fusion), and join the Zettons in their battle. While the other Zettons take Seven and Zero offstage, Man and Z fight Baruru. Nice comes onstage to guide some audience interaction to power up the heroes here, which brings Seven and Zero back, and the rest of the Ultra 6 Brothers. After a moment where Man and Baruru wordlessly reflect on their past, Nice somehow finds himself faced with Tartarus, who trounces him before the Brothers minus Man pull him away, they then defeat the Zettons. Zero and Z face Tartarus until he decides to leave, but Z pursues. Ultraman and Baruru fight, although really it's just Man trying to remind Baruru of his true self, Baruru wakes up and returns to normal, but Zetton Baltan Seijin still exists on its own, now mindless and Ultraman is injured taking a hit. Zoffy, Ace and Seven take care if it long enough for Baruru to revive Man using his device, and he destroys Zetton Baltan Seijin. Tartarus murders Baruru and calls on Tyrant, which already mostly defeated Jack and Taro, and Man, Zero and Z struggle with, until Nice leads the audience again. Together the Brothers Zero and Z defeat Tyrant. The dying Baruru is shocked by the robots return. Ultraman informs him they're on earth. The robot uses the system to save Baruru, and presents the healthy plant. After sharing some parting words Baruru and his friend leave. The assembled Ultras thank the audience and leave some last words. All in all good, but about as important as those Ultraman Festival Stages or the Final Stages. Also this is pretty clearly pre-Z so I don't know why they didn't just have Z in his initial state.

The Absolute Conspiracy: The highly anticipated event begins. New Generation Heroes was a prequel to Taiga, and featured the first live action appearance of a character previously only seen in a Pachinko machine. Similarly, The Absolute Conspiracy is a prequel to Z and features several characters previously only seen in the Ultraman Festival Stages. There are differences too though. The central villain here is, to my knowledge, wholly original, and while New Generation Heroes was a a single narrative from start to finish, this is a story in 3 "parts", and while New Generation Heroes focused on only the New Generation Heroes, as well as the two most direct mentors to that group, and an Ultra who debuted in the era but is not considered part of the group, here we have quite a diverse group. So we start here in Part 1, starting Ultraman Ribut. In the M78 timeline this would appear to be set sometime in the 1000s of years gap between Mebius and Ultra Galaxy. Cool to see there's a proper OP this time, evidently going to switch up for each part. After our brief appearance by Absolute Tartarus our focus moves to young recruit Ribut, who is working alongside Civilisation Guard Max (original VA), who is one of a number of M78 Ultras who was originally believed to be from his series' universe version of the Land of Light, but since the Zero movies we now know them to be from the main M78 universe, and traveled from there to the timeline of his series. The planet is having it's energy drained by a Maga-Orochi egg, the existence of which is concerning due to the Maga-Orochi being sealed on Orb's earth....by a group of Ultras that included Zero....this might be later in the timeline than I thought. Hellberus might be an indicator Tregear is behind what's going on, he has interfered with several other New Generation Kaiju, but Sran Seijin is the only mastermind we have at the moment. Gudis Cells are infecting Max now, and I presume they want the Maga-Orochi to evolve into something more. We go to Planet Kanon. This is before the event of The Origin Saga, as the Tree of Life is still standing. The present War God, Queen Izana, is also part of the Galaxy Rescue Force, which seems to draw from an old idea from the 70s of a Galactic Federation that Tsuburaya's heroes were all part of, in this instance though the alliance is multiversal. Anyway here we have Sora, making her first appearance outside of stages, she started out as one of the generic Ultras, but now have that armour to stand out. She's accompanying Yullian (new VA) princess of the Land of Light, who is wearing a mantle here for the first time. Leucocyte attacks, which may further point to Tregear, and 80 (original actor) appears to help, until Leucocyte flees. The 80 sequence heavily reminds me of the Ace and Leo Brothers sequences in Ultra Fight Victory, giving the classic Ultra a strong showing before the newer hero takes centre stage. Ribut reports what happened to Zoffy, Taro and Hikari (all have their longstanding VAs) when the other 3 arrive with their own report, giving them a lot to deal with, and establishes the history of Ribut and Sora. They have to create an antibody to Gudis' cells in 3 days or Max is lost, and Ribut is sent to train on K76, where he meets for some intense training Great (New VA) and Powered (Kai's actor Kane Kosugi in English, Kai's dub VA in Japanese).

Saber: Tassel on the phone to somebody, interesting. I've gotten over my issue with Touma's memory from last time, knowing he was friends with Kento and finding Kento was in the memories that seemed to be dreams are different things. It's only natural that Kento is confused, and he decides getting Kamijo to tell him everything is the only option. Apparently the 6 swordsmen being present is reason for Legeiel to step up Megiddo plans using Goblins. Kento and Rintaro argue before the activity starts, Sophia gives Mei a key and heads out, leaving Northern Base to her. Kenzan goes to face one Megiddo, while Buster's mission to face another is interrupted by Desast. Rintaro and Kento argue about duty to Sword of Logos when Kento is called by Reika to where Sophia is confronting Caliber. Saber arrives at another Goblin. Sophia is trying to get explanations from Kamijo when Kento and Rintaro appears. Kento asks if the worst possible scenario is true before confronting Kamijo, Espada and Kamijo clash, Slash joins Saber and lends Bremen no Rock Band, when Zooous arrives to face Slash. Caliber claims he cut down Hayato for being a traitor, while calling himself a seeker of truth, Espada uses Golden Alangina and pushes Blades out the way. Kento gets a good hit in, and Caliber decides to use Jaou Dragon, becoming Caliber Jaou Dragon. While they fight Sophia suddenly vanishes. Mei uses the key an unlocks the screen, and Saber uses Dragon Bremen to defeat his Goblin as Kenzan does the same. Unfortunately, this is exactly what Legeiel, Zooous and Desast wanted, opening gates of Fire and Wind. Caliber overpowers Espada on the end, and tries to make the killing blow, but Blades takes it, and Rintaro is in critical condition. I think Kento's probably going to act less rashly now. Tassel has a guest, and I have an idea who. I might be wrong.

Kenshin Retsuden: This time we have an episode of Kenzan, listed as being "another side" of episode 9. Ogami and Ren are both looking for Caliber when Ogami realises Sophia is about to do something reckless. Desast, who is looking for Caliber to reclaim his book, confronts Ren and mocks him on the nature of ultimate power, Ren showing some serious might makes right thoughts, before leaving, thinking something about him afterwards about Ren's nature. Ogami saves Sophia as in the episode, but afterwards Sophia comments that Kento will be hurt regardless of who Caliber is, opening Ogami's eyes to the possibility of someone else behind the mask.

Kiramager: Whatever it is the guy wants to say to Sayo, he's clearly nervous. Sayo has gone into the dinner with certain expectations, but isn't sure how she feels quite yet. The team tries to let her keep the evening for her date. While the team is busy, she really wants to hear it at least. Garza's plan is to unleash multiple Jamenju, which Riddle Kamen is making plenty of energy for. As for Sayo, it's not like she doesn't like the dude, but she won't know until he says it, but I like how everyone is just desperate to know more. Sayo solves the riddle but doesn't tell the others what it is. Garza is bending Hakobu to his will. While it appears what Kusaka had in mind was something different, Sayo gets straight in to helping him. I am a little disappointed that we're having a marriage would mean quitting being a ranger plot for a female in fucking 2020, but that doesn't matter because turns out, surprise, Kusaka was working with Yodonna. Garza is off to eliminate Oradin. Sayo still protects him, but any chance of anything more is done for, but she still entrusts him with warning CARAT. To be fair about the marriage plot, Sayo herself had every intention of making it work, and there is the whole surgeon thing giving it more justification here than in other plots. I like how we have this goofy scene of Juru making Riddle Jamen answer a riddle of his own interspersed with the fairly serious drama of the Sayo plot. Garza has arrived in Atamald, the plant is sprouting, and 3 Jamenju arrive.

#toku explained #ultraman z #ultra galaxy fight #kamen rider saber #mashin sentai kirameiger

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ill-will-editions · 4 years

Photo

‘HISTORY IS NO LONGER ON OUR SIDE’ - An Interview with Jérôme Baschet (2019)

Interview conducted on September 12, 2019 by ACTA, on the occasion of Baschet’s new book on the Gilets Jaunes uprising, Une Juste colère. Interrompre la destruction du monde.

Translated by Ill Will Editions

***

1. I would like to begin by asking about the title of your book, or rather, its subtitle: “interrupting the destruction of the world.” Since the 19th century, and for quite some time, the tradition of the communist movement has thought of revolution as, in Marx’s words, a "locomotive of history.” In other words, that human emancipation was somehow inscribed in historical development itself. Walter Benjamin reversed this formula, suggesting that revolution would rather be "the act by which humanity aboard the train applies the emergency brake.” You seem to be more in line with this latter filiation. What are the issues at stake for you of such a paradigm shift? And how are they linked in particular to the current ecological disaster? [1]

Jérôme Baschet: I’m quite happy to accept your Benjaminian reading of the subtitle. Let me add something about the term “destruction,” which seems to me to be characteristic of a third age of the critique of capitalism. If the first age focused on exploitation, and the second on alienation, the third now focuses on destruction. Although it was certainly anticipated here and there, this shift in dimension is now clearly becoming dominant, as ecological devastation - in the broad sense of Guattari's three ecologies - now comes to the fore. This does not mean that the other dimensions of critique - and the other aspects of capitalist domination they pointed to - are somehow invalidated; they must simply be reformulated in a new context where capitalist barbarism reaches such a degree that the very possibility of life on Earth is potentially called into question.

"Interrupting the destruction of the world,” then—although I might as well have said, even if the wording may seem strange, "interrupting the world of destruction.” For it is indeed a question of interrupting the course of this world of destruction, which crushes and annihilates so many manifold worlds. To interrupt the destruction of the world, in short, can only mean ending the world of destruction. And this world is the world of the Economy - a world dominated by economic tyranny and animated by a productivist compulsion that is the direct source of the present ecological and human devastation.

This insight implies a "paradigm shift" in our conception of the revolution and, more broadly, of historical time. It has recently been said that there is a major cleavage within the thought of emancipation. For some, it is necessary to preserve, or rediscover, the classical parameters of modernity, and in particular a conception of History understood as a triumphant advance of Progress. It certainly seems increasingly difficult to uphold such an image; yet some persist, in spite of every obstacle, in pushing this line, defending "accelerationist" theses according to which, to exit capitalism, it is necessary not only to continue "in the direction of history,” but even to move as fast as possible by intensifying the most advanced technological and organizational characteristics of capitalism. Full speed ahead, comrades! On the other side of the dividing line are all those who, following Benjamin, consider that we must completely abandon an untenable modern-progressive conception of history. To the arguments that Benjamin put forward in 1940, many others have since been added; and today it is ecological destruction that visibly and dramatically transforms the glorious march of Progress into a mad dash towards the abyss.

All this has important implications for the way in which a possible revolutionary process is conceived, but also, more broadly, for the relationship between present and future, or between past and future. We no longer have History on our side; we are no longer messengers on behalf of any sense of History that would inexorably lead us to salvation. There is a whole swath of representations wrapped up in this that need to be overcome, many of which have been highly effective at the level of organization, even if it is easy these days to recognize their fictitious and illusory nature. But it also means that another vision of history, of collective action, and of the intertwining in the present of the living memory of recollected pasts and the anticipation of possible futures, must be entirely invented.

2. Let's turn now to the Yellow Vest movement, and your book about it. You insist that an essential trait that characterizes the movement lies in its refusal of representation, the refusal to be “recuperated by politicians” and normalized by the classical forms of politics. It is certainly striking to observe that, whereas many if not most of the mass movements of the previous cycle of struggle paved the way for parliamentary parties claiming to embody their "political outlet" (Podemos in Spain, Syriza in Greece) yet producing only renewed forms of social democracy, the Yellow Vests have so far deviated from the rule. How should we explain this? Whence this deeply rooted refusal of political representation and traditional parliamentary games?

The Yellow Vests uprising has blown apart the frameworks of classical politics, based as it is on the principle of representation, whose center of gravity turns around political parties locked into electoral competitions over control of the State apparatus. Of course, we have seen the inverse tendency too, here and there, with people attempting to play the role of spokespersons for the movement, acting as self-proclaimed negotiators with the government. There have been attempts by far-right or left-wing militants to infiltrate and steer the movement. But what has been most impressive is the collective intelligence deployed by the various groups of Yellow Vests, most often successfully, which has detected all of this and prevented the takeover of the movement by political sects or trade union activists. The more militant leftist characters that have been allowed to move among the Yellow Vests have generally only been able to integrate provided they abandon their usual speeches and attitudes and adapt to a collective dynamic that breaks with the parameters of classical politics.

No one can predict what will happen, but it is unlikely that parties such as Podemos will manage to assert themselves in France as a "political outlet" for the Yellow Vests uprising. On the other hand, the preparation of the 2020 municipal elections could be an opportunity to rebound on some of the concerns expressed by the Yellow Vests. If it were then a question of entering into the game of classic politics, for example by integrating candidates branded as "yellow vests" among the lists of parties or personalities already in place, this would not make any more sense than the anecdotal lists that emerged during the European elections. Conquering town halls and then claiming to develop forms of participatory democracy would also have obvious limitations and would only superficially modify the frameworks of classical politics. On the other hand, the municipal elections could offer a pretext to relaunch the formation of popular assemblies at the county or district-level, which could take charge of the organization of certain aspects of community life. In the event that they had the strength, the Yellow Vests could try to seize municipal offices as a means to extend their capacity for action, while transforming the elected officials therein into mere executors of the decisions of the assemblies. Such a process would not be easy and would come with many risks. But we cannot a priori exclude the possibility that the local anchoring of the Yellow Vest movement and the concrete solidarity networks it has created may be consolidated and extended by taking advantage of the space opened locally by the municipal timeline. While this may seem paradoxical, it would not necessarily signal a return to classical forms of politics, provided that the focus and attention do not center on municipal administrations but rather on the popular assemblies, which could then engender genuine counter-powers.

3. I have a follow-up question: the Yellow Vests did not simply criticize representative democracy, but also experimented with the implementation of new forms of collective organization "from below,” in particular by multiplying so-called “popular assemblies.” According to you, the latter prefigure instances of self-government and echo other experiments in political emancipation both past (the Paris Commune) and present (Chiapas and Rojava, in particular). What connects these different experiences, and how are the Yellow Vests inspired by these other revolutionary sequences?

I think it’s important to underline the positive dimensions of the Yellow Vest uprising. At the same time as they have radically rejected classical politics — that is, politics from above, centered on state power, parties, the political class and "experts" in public affairs — they have also sought to experiment with another form of politics, which emerges from below, in situated places of life [lieux de vie] through the ability of ordinary people to organize themselves and begin making their own decisions. It is this rejection of the politics from above and this choice of this politics from below that creates a deep affinity between the Yellow Vest uprising and the other experiments you mentioned, such as the Paris Commune, Rojava, Chiapas, or others. This overlap seems highly important.

However, I don’t think it’s quite precise to claim that the assemblies that have emerged as part of the Yellow Vests movement 'prefigure instances of self-government’. This is only one possible future, particularly if one takes into account the Call by the Commercy Yellow Vests to form popular assemblies everywhere, by means of which “to reclaim power over our lives.” But it would be an exaggeration to suggest that the assemblies of the Yellow Vests necessarily tend towards forms of self-government, as if this formed their natural horizon. As for the Paris Commune, Rojava, and Chiapas, these references have appeared sporadically, and it is fortunate that they have never been invoked as models, which they cannot be.

That said, if we seek to give a politics from below its full strength and to push it to the point where it would be able to destitute politics from above, then it is indeed appropriate — perhaps as part of a generalized movement of blockades — to initiate instances of popular self-government. In other words, instances of self-organized communal life. In this regard, it must be recognized that the Paris Commune and Zapatista autonomy are particularly inspiring experiences. The call by certain currents of the Yellow Vests to increase the number of popular assemblies could be one way — necessarily singular — of sketching such practices of popular self-government.

4. Another important aspect of the Yellow Vest movement has been the centrality of the blockade as a form of action. Today, as capitalism extends its domination beyond the productive sphere and tends to encompass all aspects of life, the strike seems insufficient by itself to sustain a real balance of power. Hence the necessity, as you indicate, that an "articulation of multiple struggles” take place, a coordination of different social subjectivities in accordance with a logic of "generalized dispossession.” Among other examples, the blockade of the Rungis logistics center has seen the emergence of a practical alliance between yellow vests and the more combative nuclei within the unions. Similarly, some organizations in working-class neighborhoods, such as the Adama Committee [against racist police violence in the suburbs] were quick to join the Yellow Vests and affirm their solidarity with the movement. How do you view these attempts at crossover, and does the next step depend on a possible strengthening of these alliances?

Such crossovers do indeed seem important to me, and to be able to give them more strength would certainly be decisive. I devoted a whole chapter of my book to the question of blockades, as it has been one of the central forms of action adopted by the Yellow Vests. From this point of view, I suggest that we attempt to expand this notion of blockage to include all of its possible dimensions, in the hopes that they might be combined, rather than seeking to oppose one to another. This includes blocking flows and infrastructures, i.e. the sphere of circulation (of people, goods, and the flow of information). But also the blocking of consumption (in addition to the axes of communication, the Yellow Vests have often targeted the distribution centers on which supermarket chains depend); blockades that develop inhabited territories directly in the path of large-scale, harmful, and useless megaprojects; blockades in the sphere of social reproduction (e.g., climate strikes by the younger generation, which call into question social reproduction, of which schools are only one vector among others), as well as blockades in the sphere of production itself, through strikes.

On this last point, it is obvious that the strike has lost the centrality it enjoyed throughout the history of the labor movement. First, because the reorganizations of the work world in the neoliberal age have done everything possible to make it less and less possible, and less and less effective. But also because the work world can no longer be considered as the only sphere — or even the sphere par excellence — in which the relations of domination that constitute capitalism are exercised. This domination goes far beyond work, and when it comes to producing docile citizens and avid consumers, it quickly penetrates the “free” time of leisure and consumption, permeates all aspects of life and moulds subjectivities trained to competition in an increasingly direct fashion, resulting in a cult of success oriented around the quantitative evaluation of everything. In the classical age of capitalism, it might have seemed like the Capital/Labor opposition condensed its fundamental antagonism — and again, this would still be to risk overlooking both gender domination and colonial domination, both of which were and remain essential to capital’s affirmation. In the age of neoliberal capitalism, without the question of labor or strikes disappearing entirely from our radar, the fundamental antagonisms of the world of economics must be rethought more broadly, to encompass the multiple modalities of the dynamic of generalized dispossession: the dispossession of the meaning of one's work, accentuated by the insatiable pressure toward maximization; the relegation to social nonexistence through unemployment, precarity, and exclusion; despoliation of territories through the multiplication of infrastructural megaprojects and the acceleration of commodification; the impossibility of safety for women continually exposed to gender violence; the dehumanization and discrimination experienced by racialized populations; the curtailed enjoyment of a consumerism transformed into subjugation by the weight of debt; the pervasive feeling of political dispossession in the face of collapsing representative democracies; the dispossession of our experience of time by the tyranny of unending ‘emergencies’; not to mention the most serious of all: the ongoing ecological devastation that deprives us all of the possibility of a dignified life. On the one hand, then, there is antagonism, everything that contributes to our generalized dispossession, itself associated with pure and simple destruction; and on the other hand, everything that seeks to oppose it, in an ethical leap to save the possibility of a dignified life for all human and non-human inhabitants of the Earth.

It is this broad understanding of the multiple forms of dispossession induced by the world of economics that lends credence to a strategy based on intensifying blockades, understood in all their various forms. “Let’s block everything" is a perfectly sensible way of opposing the dynamics of capitalist domination and its extension across every domain of life. Finally, it should be stressed that the blockade in all its forms is a perfectly concrete response to ecological urgency. Is it not the most direct way to stop the destruction of the world, by “turning off the tap” of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as other pollution responsible for the collapse of living things?

5. As concerns the insurrectional “acts” of November/December 2018, you write that we were “on the brink of a situation over which the authorities might in fact lose control.” That for the first time in a long time in France, the destitution of power appeared to be a “credible” perspective... in the end, what was lacking, to make this overthrow effective? And what lessons can be learned for the future from this critical moment?

In the early days of December, the ruling class genuinely feared a popular uprising, which is something that had not happened for quite some time in France. The full deployment of law enforcement was nearly overtaken and those in power half-heartedly admitted that the Macronian five-year period was on the line. When they were first heard only a few days prior, the calls to destitute the Head of State had still appeared as a sort of pious wish. In short, power seriously faltered.

One may of course wonder what the departure from Macron could have produced in the way of change. The destitution of a president is still a far cry from the destitution of state power as such. And this limitation is surely linked to the tendency to present this or that politician in particular as the principal enemy. It is true that the hatred that Macron magnetized served as useful fuel for the uprising, but we can only agree with those Yellow Vests who insisted early on that another president would do no better and, even more so, with those who pointed out that, once Macron leaves, he must not be replaced.

What was missing? What prevented the situation from tipping over completely? Some have suggested that it was the refusal of the central trade union organs to throw themselves into the fray. But could we expect anything other than a posture of suspicious distance from a movement that has so often presided over the decline of the very forms of organization they embody? A massive strike wave by the more combative trade union bases could certainly have been important. A broader alliance with the struggles of marginalized people from the hood, which has only seen furtive attempts, could certainly have changed the situation as well. By and large, it was one fraction of the working classes that rose up — the one rooted in the near hinterland zones that ring the major cities, who for the most part have regular jobs, own homes, and are by and large white. Of those segments of the larger working class who live in racialized neighborhoods, and more often victim to exclusion and precarity, only small numbers joined in the insurrection. In general, everything is done to ensure that these different segments of the working classes remain divided and even hostile toward each other, a process intensified by the sort of racism that invigorates the extreme right. From this point of view, the fact that so many in the Yellow Vest movement succeeded in rebuffing and rejecting the grip of racism and of the extreme right and, quite pointedly, avoided scapegoating “immigrant” or “migrants” is very encouraging, at least from the perspective of a broader rapprochement that might be possible down the road. The involvement of certain organs of neighborhood struggle is likewise a cause for optimism. But we are still far from the conditions that would really draw together the two halves of the working classes, beyond all that tends normally to divide them. Finally, the movement suffered the absence of certain more “militant” formations, whose mistrust of any movement in which the extreme right is presence tends to arouse mistrust, and critiques of “impurity,” being too-far removed from the forms of organization that their militant affiliation had accustomed them to consider legitimate.

Whatever was found lacking, a powerful legacy is nonetheless being forged. It shows the kind of power that the sudden appearance of unforeseen popular mobilization can engender, even in the absence of any pre-existing logistical support networks common to the broader left or political groups. A new and widely shared perception of what can be done has emerged. The effect that this collective experience and shared perception of possibilities can have in subsequent uprisings should not be overlooked.

6. On a more strategic level, you take up some of the insights already offered in one of your previous books, Adieux au capitalisme (La Découverte, 2014). We agree that today the seizure of state power can no longer be a regulative aim of emancipatory politics, and that communism must be understood less as a horizon to be reached than as a process that unfolds in the present. The material foundations of such a process are what you call “liberated spaces,” that is, immediate forms of experimentation with a post-capitalist reality within the very heart of the contemporary world. There is a tendency, quite perilous from our point of view, to consider these liberated spaces as community refuges, harmless margins, in short to neglect their “antagonistic dimension,” thereby leaving the structures of domination intact. For this reason, we prefer to speak of instances of “counter-power” as a way of indicating a clearer connection between “building" and “fighting." How can we avoid this tendency to ghettoize liberated spaces (whatever their scale)? How can we preserve a link between prefigural positivity and the destructive function?

Exactly. What I call “liberated spaces” [espaces liberés] should not be construed as protected islands, where it we live out a charming life in the midst of the surrounding disaster, but as spaces for combat. “Free space” implies that we must free ourselves from something, from what oppresses us or causes us to slowly die; it implies that there is a struggle. In reality, these spaces are not entirely liberated, but only in the process of being so: they are not free of what oppresses and attacks them, nor consequently of the need to fight against them. At the same time as they are building from now on a different, clean reality, escaping as much as possible the norms of the economic world, they also have an intrinsically antagonistic dimension.

To affirm, as some do, that in order to exit capitalism it’s enough to simply stop reproducing it, without having to face off with it, is to ignore the antagonistic dimension of what could also be described as an interstitial strategy of openings. And I would add that the theories of collapse, at least in the version offered to us by “collapsology,” seem to me to induce a movement of flight, sometimes with panicked feeling, to shelters where it would be a question of learning, individually or in small groups, to survive the disaster. In this sense, it seems to me that there is a fairly strong opposition — perhaps even a polarization destined to appear with increasing clarity in the years to come — between the perspective of the liberated spaces, heard in their antagonistic dimension, and the reactions that collapsology elicits in the face of an allegedly inevitable and already ongoing implosion.

Of course, liberated spaces can take very different natures and scales. The most modest and discreet of them, by no means contemptible on this account, probably come into less direct conflict with their systemic environment than those who reach a certain dimension and who, in their process of creating their own reality, are led more openly to flout the norms of commodity society, or even to engage in a process of secession from state institutions, as in the case of Zapatista autonomy. As for the liberated spaces linked to the fight against large, harmful and useless projects, these cannot help but enter into direct conflict with the forces that sustain the world of the Economy and find themselves immediately threatened from them.

That said, it is often the enemy who succeeds in reminding liberated spaces of their antagonistic character, by attacking them variously and forcing them to defend themselves. But this reminder of a defensive antagonism is not enough. To build and multiply liberated spaces is certainly a positive way to contribute to the emergence of a world free of capitalist tyranny. But we cannot conceal the fact that these spaces encounter considerable difficulties, not only on account of the attacks they weather, but also because of the spirals of division and internal disintegration that often undermine them from within. Under these conditions, it is reasonable to think that they can only prosper if a broader struggle is able to attack the power of capitalist synthesis. This is why a concern for the survival of liberated spaces should lead us not to withdraw into the process of their construction alone, but to link it up with the broader fight against the world of the Economy. The liberated spaces can then be designed as bases for building bridges to other struggles and intensifying the offensive against the enemy.

For example, we might develop strategy that combines the multiplication of liberated spaces with generalizing blockades. To the extent that the liberated spaces are capable of deploying their own material resources and technical capacities, they can serve as decisive nodes on the basis of which it becomes possible to amplify the blockade dynamics at key moments, in various forms. The more liberated space we have, the more we should be able to extend our capacity for blockades. Conversely, the more widespread the blockades become, the more they promote the emergence of new liberated spaces.

Another dimension of such a strategy consists in deepening of links between existing liberated spaces. This is an important point, the urgency of which is no doubt widely felt, but on which too little progress has been made. Taking up an idea already launched earlier, the Zapatistas have proposed in a communiqué this past August to resume discussions surrounding the creation of a global network of resistance and rebellions. Numerous initiatives could and should exist that move in this same direction, and it would certainly be valuable if the various rebel territories could meet more closely, get to know each other better and exchange proposals, experiences, and concrete forms of mutual support for one another. In any case, for the Zapatistas, it is clear that the creation of autonomy in their territories in Chiapas, however important it may be for the concrete lives of tens of thousands of people, is not an end in itself; it only makes sense in combination with a global struggle against what they have called the capitalist hydra. And that is why they have never stopped organizing international, or even "intergalactic" meetings...

7. A complementary question: if the liberated spaces multiply and carry with them a genuinely antagonistic potential, it is obvious, as you say, that "the rulers of the world and those who serve them will not hand over their privileges voluntarily." There is therefore also a problem of self-defense and the disaggregation of the enemy's forces. How can we envisage this today, given the militarization of policing and the development of law enforcement technologies?

We always come back to this point: liberated spaces are places of collective construction; but they must also be defended. The scale and radicality of the liberated spaces that we are capable of building is directly proportional to the collective power at our disposal — and in particular to the capacity for self-defense that we are able to bring into play. In this regard, it should be recalled that the construction of Zapatista autonomy would certainly not have been possible without the armed uprising of January 1, 1994. And even if autonomy has taken on a civil character and has developed by dissociating itself from the Zapatista political-military organization, it has probably only been able to persist until now because it has enjoyed the protection of weapons (the Zapatistas have renounced the offensive use of weapons, but have kept them for defensive purposes). More broadly, it must be noted that today, the two liberated territories that were able to push the construction of autonomy the furthest, Zapatista Chiapas and Kurdish Rojava, are both linked to contexts where armed struggle plays or has played a certain role.

It is not a question of advocating armed struggle - which is something that the Zapatistas have been careful not to do ever since their public appearance in 1994. But it does highlight the rather direct link between the size of the liberated spaces and the necessity of a capacity for self-defense. There are of course many forms of self-defense that do not involve the use of weapons. Many struggles are experimenting with this, as was seen, for example, on the ZAD in Notre-dame-des-landes during Operation César in 2012. But this implies a successful conjunction combining a broad capacity for mobilization, collective physical commitment, unrelenting determination to defend that which is we hold dear, tactical intelligence and inventiveness, and of course the material, logistical and technical resources that go with this. To be sure, the more the enemy increases the level of repression and the means placed at the service of "policing" and the extension of the world of the Economy, the more difficult it becomes to defend liberated spaces. There is no simple formula for these matters, but it is clear that there is no other option than to increase our collective strength on all the points I have just mentioned (and probably others still).

In conclusion, I should reiterate that we have been plunged into a structural crisis such that the capitalist system can reproduce itself only at the cost of ever-increasing difficulties for both us and for it - and, first and foremost, at the cost of ever-increasing ecological and human destruction. We can already foresee that the antagonism between the world of Economics — which has proven itself ready to do anything in its power to perpetuate itself, to feed the quantitative hypertrophy of value, and to preserve the privileges of a few — and liberated spaces marked by multiple and conjoint ruptures with the ongoing devastation is bound to intensify. If this wager is even minimally correct, it would probably be a good idea to begin getting ready for it.

****

[1] Jérôme Baschet is a historian, currently teaching at the Autonomous University of Chiapas in San Cristóbal de Las Casas. Author of several books on medieval history, he has also published Défaire la tyrannie du présent. Temporalités émergentes et futurs inédits (2018) et La Rébellion zapatiste (2019). This interview was conducted on September 12, 2019, on the occasion of the publication of his book, Une Juste colère. Interrompre la destruction du monde, on the Gilets Jaunes. The French original is available here: https://acta.zone/nous-navons-plus-lhistoire-avec-nous-entretien-avec-jerome-baschet/

#gilets jaunes #france #zapatisas #zapatismo #mexico #destitution #autonomy

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mehanblog · 5 years

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THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY

Similar to other comic adaptations I saw this as well, honestly I have not read the comics but I did my fair share of research before watching the show and I wasn’t disappointed with it. I mean they did a good job and tried to make it as much authentic to the comics they could. As I speculated that the “ranking” was in the reversed order of their powers and that was it, well watching too many mystery shows and movies give you a fair idea of what might happen in the show and I did predict how the end would happen, the apocalypse not exactly but who would be the reason behind it.

#1 Luther (The Spaceboy)- I HATED HIM. Just the worst of the siblings. You think you are better than all of your sibling because you listened to you so called father?? No you are not practically you are the worst. They all left the house when it was time because that is what you do when you grow up, move on. You keep sulking about that how he sent you to the moon, overlooking the the fact that he literally tortured every single of your siblings. This character got on my nerves to an extent even I can’t describe. The character depiction was amazing thought, it was the character that was complex and narcissistic and the fact that people hate the character with so much emotions is that it was portrayed perfectly. Still hate him.

#2 Diego (The Kraken)- Okay not my favourite but not the worst either. I honestly thing he was the most “normal” of all the siblings on an emotional level, sure they all had problems but he actually dealt with them like an adult. He called out Luther for his bullshit and supported and took care of Klaus in a way that mattered and not just money, He had to work and earn like a normal person and had friends, because it was just him who had friends amongst everyone. His reaction to his mom was something I totally agree with, even if she was a peice of technology she was more of a parent to those kids than their father ever was. And seeing him loose her broke my heart.

#3 Allison (The Rumor)- Not the worst but in the bottom two for me atleast. She tried to be a caring sister to Vanya but it’s not that she was before, this is all because now she realizes how she must feel because she is away from her loved ones too. She is kind of a manipulative bitch character who you don’t completely hate but is just plain bad writing. And if we talk about her powers its simple mind control I think. She can compel anyone to do anything against their will, it may good to use on your enemies but you always get greedy with great power and she did even after promising her husband that she wouldn’t. And her relationship with Luther, was like what the hell?? Who cares you guys are adopted you are still siblings and it’s just so wrong. I think it’s because of the growing “trend” to use incestous characters. That’s the worst relationship in the show and we had a boy with a mannequin.Yes Allison did pay up for the rehab for Klaus a few time but that does not change the fact that there has to be a profound bond and it’s not just about the money you spend on someone to show them you love, you actually have to show your bloody emotions.

#4 Klaus (The Seance)- My and probably many people’s favourite character, for me it’s because I can relate to him on a certain level that he chose the easy path of drugs instead the more difficult one because no matter what anyone says it actually hurts alot to be able too even think about your loved ones and baby boy could see them and have an actual conversation with them not just hallucinations. The part were their father use to lock him up in a mausoleum just so he could overcome his fear was one of the many reasons for his toxic parenting. He fucked up all his kids in all sort of different ways but i guess the higher their numbers get the higher they were “tortured”by their tyrunt of a father, he gave competition to Thanos for the worst adoptive father. I loved the fact that somehow he found love in dave but even that was taken away from him. One of the best sibling relationships amongst these was Klaus and Diego, how he took care of him while listening him to whine all the damn time. He showed alot of courage in the later episodes, I mean c’mon he literally died and even then his shit of a father was there insulting him instead of comforting him. Klaus (number 4) Hargreeves deserves way better.

#5 Number 5 - He was the only one who didn’t even want a name and that says something about a 10 year old child’s mental health and one more reason how cruel their father was that he didn’t even want to associate with that man. Yes he suffered alot because of a tantrum he threw as a child and not having a supporting parent in the household, clearly shows how much a lack of opportunity or encouragement means to a growing child. That is something I can vouch for personally because I have been through that and it is devastating that when you tell your parent about a dream you have and they don’t take you seriously and ignore you. Although my wish wasn’t to travel in space and time but all have our own things and he had his own, he made mistake and he did suffer for it and too alone, do you know how hard it is to live alone in this age of technology and connectivity and he lived all alone in a post apocalyptic world with a freaking mannequin, no wonder he got so hard and defensive, living like that can affect anyone and I don’t blame him at all for taking the only chance he got to get back to his family to do anything it takes to be with them, don’t tell me you don’t take the opportunity after you live 35 years alone in a world with no knowledge of how to get back or any other living person. He might show he didn’t care about his sibling but he would kill for them and we all know that very well. Don’t know what kind of relationship he had with Vanya before running of but how he trusted her and opened up to her after he came back tells me that he was actually nice to vanya than others, and Vanya did say she kept the lights on all the time for him hoping he might come and she didn’t want him to be scared of the dark when he comes back says something about their relationship, I am not saying that he wasn’t cruel to her as we saw the flashbacks that even klaus was mean to her a little bit can you literally blame the kids for that because no matter what you see what you do and they saw how cruel and cold and distant Reginald was with her and all they thought the same and c’mon they were kids the only person to blame was their father for everything. He had a hard time an dhe was trying to do everything he can to prevent that from happening again. This is the only show that didn’t give a crap about mixed timelines or anything, he wanted to save the world and w tried everything he could to that and honestly for the first time it was good to see that way. Well as i said before how the higher the number the stronger the power and it proved true when in the end he made a portal that could transform his siblings and got ben back from the dead too.We can only see his powers grow.

#6 Ben (The Horror)- we didn’t get much about him on the show because he was deceased. All we saw him was in the flashbacks and when Klaus conjures him, he is the purest of all the siblings maybe because he didn’t have to put up with the shit they had to go through when they become adults. Judging from his statue he died young and was very powerful too. His powers were something to do with a tentacle monster from a different dimension who he could conjure in his stomach. Kinda weird but if it wasn’t a powerful tool. We saw that he was actually sacred to use his powers and didn’t use it unless it was the last resort the whole team had and he felt bad about it. He was a good more like the best sibling to Klaus and their banters were honestly one of the best part of the whole damn show. The fact that he knew that Klaus needed hima nd no matter how much drugs he took ben fought throw it and stayed with him as his voice of reason. And for him to come back in the final episode to help all his siblings when they were all cornered was a defining moment and was a smack in everyone of their siblings who didn’t believe in klaus or him. I am glad that he is back, would like see more of him and that we would explore his powers as he was ranked the second most highest amongst the siblings.

#7 Vanya Hargreeves - Hands down the most powerful character, i mean she started the apocalypse. Someone like me must have guessed from the start that she has powers or is the most powerful and there was something their shit of father had something to do with it. But there is the one time I liked him was because he gave vanya the violin and the smile he had , had me thinking that he actually cared for one of his kids but it was just that he was scared of her. Having a father you says you are the most ordinary hurts no matter what you do and honestly that she lashed like that was understandable. Everything she did was just perfect for me, her reaction to everything was how it should have been. The only part i hated wa show she trusted luther and that asshole of a brother locked her up despite every single sibling of his was yelling at him to get her out of the prison and she wouldn’t have done anything if they actually talked instead of locking her up. She was the most human character in the show and how she embraced her powers at the end and became the white violin is honestly worth the whole show. And at the end them talking was the only thing that got them threw.

All in all a I liked the show and would want another season of it, just less of Luther because he sucked as a leader and as a sibling too.

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