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space-blue · 2 months ago

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It's horrible too if Jinx lives!!

OK, I guess we're doing this?

People keep coming at me for my post about Jinx dying being terrible writing and promoting suicide by heroics as a valid way out, and the argument is always "Actually, Jinx is alive because XYZ"

So let me makes myself clear : if Jinx lives, it's also terrible writing!!

Because for all intent and purposes, she DOES DIE! Even if she's alive and fucked off in that blimp, she's still dead to everyone who knew and loved her.

WORSE! Vi will go on thinking for the rest of her life that Jinx died because of her, or at the very least that she couldn't save her.

It's not for no reason that Vi has this scene in the cell with Caitlyn, where she says she always choses wrong. In the scene on the crumbling metal beam, Vi choses not to listen to Jinx!

People got in my comments saying I have no humanity for reproving Vi picking "Vander's corpse" over Jinx. But what we see happen is Jinx telling Vi multiple time to get away and how to get to safety, and Vi completely ignoring her to interact with Vander/WW, only for him to wake up, attack her, and force Jinx to risk her life to save Vi.

Vi made a choice, between more time with Vander and listening to Jinx, and the price paid in the end is Jinx dying.

What if she lived and escaped? Vi doesn't know that! Ekko doesn't know that! Or Sevika! Or anyone!

Thought exercise time: close your eyes and imagine a relative disappearing for your life after a lethal accident you're involved in. You never recover a body and never see them again. How do you feel about it? Mmh?

"Oh but Caitlyn sees the schematics that show a side tunnel…"

Firstly, Caitlyn was nowhere near the event, and she can't frame-by-frame the explosion as we do, so you can hardly claim she's looking for Jinx and not, for example, the arcane gem, or Warwick.

Vander/WW was shown to be entirely impervious to the bullets from Jinx's automatic gun. If anyone has a chance of surviving, it'd be him.

But do you know what? If Jinx is in that blimp, and Caitlyn then tells Vi, "From the schematic, I think your sister could have escaped" (ignoring entirely the fact that Jinx should be cut in half by WW's claws wrapped around her waist), then what would happen???

That would send Vi on a wild goose's chase!! How many years would she spend hunting through Zaun trying to find her sister? How many years until she starts resenting Caitlyn for giving her false hope? How many years until she's forced to accept Jinx isn't anywhere, and so must have died back then, and has to see herself as Jinx's killer all over again??

How is this good for Vi?

And Ekko? He pulled her out of suicide what? 5 times? Had some epic bonding with her painting all over each other, doing self-care and hair dyes and fixing a balloon so they could go on a big attack together.

Maybe he thought he could genuinely finally be close to his world's Powder. Silco just taught him the greatest thing he can do is forgive, and the girl he forgives fakes her death and runs away?

They're barely 20 ffs, Jinx would have plenty of time to struggle on the road to recovery, especially with his help. What if Ekko was ready to be there along the way with her? What about him?

How is it good if Jinx is NOT dead but has NOT told him? What difference does it make to him? She's dead for Ekko, and if he learns later on that she faked her death, all he'll know is that HE wasn't worth her staying. He wasn't even worth telling the truth to!!!

It's fucked! It's not healthy!! Jinx could have her ending removing herself from Zaun without having to fake her death.

But hang on, it gets worse!

Because it's straight up not good writing even on the meta level.

Arcane has millions of viewers. Nobody I know IRL thinks Jinx is alive. Plenty of people in my notes agree she's dead. Do you know what millions of people think? That she is dead!!! Because it's the TEXT OF THE SHOW.

Millions of fans will think Jinx was killed off, because they aren't willing to go frame by frame, extrapolating and make-believing their way into thinking she is alive. Most fans are normal people who aren't terminally online, theorycrafting all day long.

Most normal fans have moved on to watch Dune Prophecy or Sweetpea. And if Jinx comes out alive in another show, the "Somehow Palpatine Jinx returned" memes will abound.

Let's go over the common elements brought forth as arguments.

Jinx uses pink and blue in that bomb, and pink is how she gets away "quick".

No? The bomb she attached to Thieram in season 1 was pink and it was all for glitter and harassment. There is no strong canon association of meaning. If you watch frame by frame, there is a pink "light gleam" over the first blue detonation followed by a very large pink blast and ZERO smoke trails or anything indication someone getting away. Jinx uses the same bomb she used to kill herself very effectively earlier in the show, so we have no indication it wouldn't kill her here too.

We can see the inside of her bomb when she kills herself (with the two liquid vials) and it's the same she uses on Vander/WW and herself.

Besides, even if she used some part of the explosion to get away, WW's claws are around her like this:

She'd be bisected in half.

So some people say that means that Warwick is also alive and let her go! But no. That's make-believe. That's fanon, 100%. The TEXT of the show is that Vander is burnt away (we see the final image of himself burning up) and he has just attacked Vi, trying to kill her. We have no indication he'd want to spare Jinx here.

HOWEVER, he's literally bullet proof, so if there's anything we can conclude is that he's likely to be the one to have made it into a shaft and to safety.

Speaking of shafts: the next argument is that Caitlyn is looking at the tower's schematics to hint that she suspects Jinx lives.

Maybe, but you are reading a character's mind. We see her look at schematics while holding the monkey bomb head, yes, but you don't know what she's thinking, and if the show runners don't make it explicit, then Cait's thoughts about an explosion she hasn't even witnessed aren't worth much. She could think Warwick lived. OR she could think, despite not witnessing the fight, that Jinx lived. But she doesn't KNOW, she doesn't tell us, and so you are INVENTING the thoughts of a character to mean what you want it to mean.

This would be a lot more meaningful if it were Vi investigating this.

There's a blimp going away, it has blue smoke, and then it ends with a Jinx glitch.

No. There is a blimp going away, slowly, without any blue smoke. It's also THE EXACT SAME ONE that opens Season 1 act 1.

Instead of coming towards Piltover, it now is leaving over the sea. This can be fully interpreted as a sign that the hextech era is over. Blimps have to travel the old fashioned way again. It's also going away from Piltover/Zaun, symbolizing future stories taking place there.

Finally, the glitch is 3 frames long and spells "the End". IDK why the fact that it's a little Jinxy means anything to anyone. The end of credits for season 1 was Jinxy as well, and it could simply be about keeping the same visual identity and not a sign of Jinx being alive???

If I wanted to play subtext games, I could say "Wow Jinx writing "the end" would be appropriate if she were dead" and reverse the argument.

Finally, and the thing in most poor taste, IMO.

Jinx kills herself several times in the opening of the episode, and a sad emo song plays over it, with sad fucked up lyrics. Then Ekko comes and pulls her from this…

Only for that EXACT same song to be played while she and Vander/WW fall. They are both crying. Vi is crying and screaming while these lyrics are playing!!

If I could just lay my head down and rest. If there was nothing to fight or protect. Maybe then I could finally be free. Maybe death is like falling asleep. This world is a wasteland where nothing can grow. I used to have strength but I ran out of hope. I know it's my fault that I'm here all alone. This world is a wasteland. Please let me go. Go, go, go. Please let me go.

This is literally singing about suicide. When you say "Maybe death is like falling asleep" over the animation of a character pulling the pin, you are not dealing in subtext or metaphor of any kind.

One of the earlier shots literally has her framed in broken glass among shards that are WARWICK'S MAW. It's like a hint of her death being killed by him, furthering the parallel.

And I think it is in very bad taste to have suicide apologia music playing over characters screaming and bawling (Vi)

while others cry (Jinx and WW)

and a bomb goes off (with no hint of survival),

only for some of y'all to come around acting like Cait glowering at a blueprint and a recuring blimp all means Jinx is alive...

It would be grief porn on the part of the writers. It would mean slamming us in our feelings in a brutal way, in an ugly way, while playing a suicide song, only to turn around and say "Syke! didn't you get that Cait is suspicious about Jinx so it totally means it was all a fakeout?"

I don't want a fake-out at this point!! Why would I?? It's legit worse! Because then it means they couldn't spare 5min of animation time to have her rescued by Ekko and being on the mend with him. Even if she has a scene where she tells him "I need to leave. I can't stay in this city), at least it wouldn't be a cruel joke on the fans and the characters.

This entire ending means that either Jinx was better off dying taking out the mad monster made out of her dad with her (making her the ultimate dad killer, yay), or Jinx was better off removing herself from the equation SO THOROUGHLY that MOST fans believe it, everyone in world believe it, and the show offers no concrete textual clue for it.

It means Jinx didn't deserve/or wasn't able to get better. And so she has to die or do the exact-same-as-dying but kind of more fucked up somehow.

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ULTIMATELY the message to impressionable viewers who struggle a lot with mental health and identified a lot with Jinx, are being told with soft sad music that yeah maybe dying is like going to sleep and your family should let you go, go, go, and that "leaving everything and everyone behind" is about the same.

It's fucked, and it saddens me that people are so focused on the "she lived" narrative that they miss out the fact that a hint she may be alive doesn't change the messaging.

And it saddens me knowing that if Viktor's arc ended with him being validated in feeling like his human body was "broken" and "inferior" and that his disability made him lesser as a human, people would have pitchforks and torches out.

Jinx's mental illness and struggles in interacting with the world were her disability, and she got fucking killed or wiped off the city incognito for it.

P.S: If you're warming up to post hate in comments or tags because you don't like my take and don't know how to politely disagree, please save us both time and block me. I'm open to polite discourse but the next person questioning my humanity over fandom wank will be nuked from orbit with prejudice.

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thesummerestsolstice · 7 months ago

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So I rewatched the entire Hobbit trilogy (extended editions, of course), and I'm not sure if this is present in the book, but in the movies, the fight over the White Gems of Lasgalen really does feel like it was pulled straight from the Silmarillion.

For those who haven't seen the movies: both Thorin and Thranduil claim heirloom rights to the White Gems of Lasgalen, and both are willing to fight, bleed, and die for those rights.

Thranduil claims the gems are rightfully his because they belonged to a dead loved one (his wife), as well as basically accusing the dwarves of stealing them.

Thorin claims the gems are rightfully his because they're a part of Thror's (his grandfather's) treasure hoard, which Thorin claims absolute inheritance rights to. We also know that the dwarves disagree with the idea that the White Gems were stolen at all. But his decision is also clearly being influenced by the fact that Thranduil has unarguably hurt his people in the past (by denying them aid when Erebor fell).

And it's kind of impossible not to see this as a reference to the debate between the Feanorians and Elwing (or Dior) about who rightfully owns the Silmaril. Exchange Thranduil's wife for Feanor, Thror for Thingol, and "refusing to provide aid" for "the kinslayings," and it's easy to imagine them having the exact same arguments about who owns what.

Given this comparison, two things come to mind. First, the movie doesn't seem to approve of either Thorin or Thranduil's choices here. Thorin's inability to compromise by giving Thranduil the gems in return for the elves' aid is critiqued by Balin and Bard seems aghast that Thranduil is willing to go to war over gems. Both Thranduil and Thorin defend their choices by citing their heirloom rights. And they're both portrayed as heroic during other parts of the movies (Thranduil bringing aid for Bard's people, Thorin eventually realizing that he was wrong to value gold so highly), but the trilogy wants us to know that the choice to fight and kill for these gems is, on both sides, a bad one.

The other thing that comes to mind is Elrond. In the first movie, Thorin's company finds an old sword, and when Elrond examines it, he reveals that it belonged to Turgon. The sword is pretty clearly an heirloom of Elrond's house. And Elrond what does Elrond do? He willingly gives it to Gandalf with the hope that it'll serve Gandalf well, and it's really interesting to compare his behavior there with Thorin and Thranduil's stubborn possessiveness. And given what Elrond lived through because of the Silmaril, that choice makes a lot of sense. Honestly 10/10 Elrond characterization we love to see it.

#silmarillion #the hobbit trilogy #silm meta #the hobbit trilogy meta #thorin oakenshield #thranduil #dior #elwing #maedhros #maglor #feanorians #elrond #elrond peredhel #actually the hobbit trilogy has a lot to say about property and morality maybe I'll make a larger post on that sometime #for the record I actually really like the hobbit movie trilogy #the movies are very different from the book but both are awesome

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hugthesquids · 3 months ago

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Garnet's biggest flaw

So I’ve seen many people in the fandom state that Garnet has no flaws or virtually no flaws outside her co-dependence in the form of Ruby and Sapphire. But that’s not true.

No character is perfect and Garnet is no exception as she carries with her some fundamental flaws that I find interesting exploring. In fact, her flaws are in a way very ironic to her character.

Btw she’s an excellent character and this is by no means to discredit her or anything. If anything, I think it’s good that characters have flaws and aren’t perfect as it gives depth to them, and SU is all about not putting anyone on a pedestal.

(There is a TLDR at the end)

Garnet is bad at communicating

Despite often preaching about the importance of communication in any relationship, Garnet has major trouble in this department.

Even after Garnet opens up later on in the seasons, she still struggles in this aspect.

There are many times where Garnet doesn’t explain a thing to others like Steven, and because of this lack of communication, he ends in trouble. In fact, Garnet often resorts to letting her actions speak for her.

And with Steven in particular, someone who needs guidance, it becomes a tough point for him. And it often lands him in trouble.

In a way, Garnet acts like the subversion of the old troupe of “learning your lesson the hard way”. She follows this line of reasoning, and yet she fails to consider that this isn’t a healthy way for Steven to learn. SU likes to subvert classic cartoon troupes, deconstructing them like how all the cartoony heroic adventures were actually traumatising for Steven and hindered his development in a healthy way.

So letting Steven “learn his lesson” with stuff like the proposal in SUF, it actually became the turning point in him spiralling so badly.

It hurt him so much (already dealing with a loss on what to do in life, losing trust in those nearest to him, losing his support system, lots of unresolved trauma bubbling through as Steven freshly processes how screwed up his life was and why he’s struggling so much now), and it essentially started the huge domino effect to what later happens in SUF.

(I’m not excusing Steven’s own actions, though as we’ve seen, he has things that contributed to the path that was taken. For this post, I’m focusing on Garnet’s stake in all this.)

The proposal, a point of neglect

I think the proposal especially highlights this weakness from Garnet in several ways. First a little background from Steven’s PoV.

He reached out to a guardian that he trusted and admitted he didn’t know what to do with his life, who only turned back and said he should’ve known better and he was dumb for listening to Ruby and Sapphire.

This is when we’ve just learned that Steven was scared at opening up to people because he’s afraid that it’ll push them away but Steven anyway worked up the courage to ask Garnet, who only told him she didn’t have time for him and let Ruby and Sapphire take charge.

This is also just after learning that Steven wasn’t socialised properly and doesn’t understand human conventions too (so he didn’t know it was weird to propose as 16 either. Most of his knowledge comes from cartoons and other media, where Steven himself loved reading books about adventures falling in love like The Unfamiliar Familiar, so this stuff was normal to him. Still not okay, but he was neglected socially.)

(Btw this also adds to Steven’s frustration with his dad later on, as the proposal stuff hurt so much and he didn’t know it was a bad thing to do as Steven was unfamiliar with human stuff and what to even do with his life and his dad didn’t provide that guidance and neither did the gems.)

Steven isn’t the one that brings up the proposal, that is a very important fact.

Steven opens up to Garnet, who dismisses him and lets him talk to Ruby and Sapphire, who are the ones that tell him to propose. Ruby eggs him on even as he goes “really?” and even then he doesn’t immediately do it but double checks by going to Sapphire, the one that Steven trusts to be the logical one of the pair. Ruby and Sapphire are still his guardians, and Steven has made it very clear that he struggles with knowing what to do with himself.

So imagine the betrayal that Steven feels, when his guardians, the ones he trusted and had trouble opening up to but decided anyway, just brushes his feelings off and makes it all his fault for trusting his family, essentially calling him dumb and makes it all about being a hard lesson for he himself not realising it was a foolish idea.

We as the audience know he didn’t have the tools to know, neglected socially and traumatised, and that he was in a very bad headspace.

And even the gems have seen Steven has not been in a great headspace for a while prior to this.

Robbed of agency

But because Garnet just accepts the future she “sees”, expects it to come and sees it as inevitable, she forgets to take responsibility.

She didn’t help him afterwards even if she could. She didn’t tell the other gems and left him all night and day after to be alone in his slump even though Garnet knew he was miserable and in a sensitive spot and wanted to reach out for support (like calling Greg). Instead he was left to spiral in those bad thoughts and feelings with no sympathy or aftercare.

Garnet let her role as Steven’s guardian slip.

She essentially robs both Steven’s agency with the proposal by saying it was inevitable, but also robs herself of her own agency to act. All because she believes her visions are certain and there is no reason to act otherwise.

But we know this is false, her visions aren’t certain!

Future vision

Garnet’s “visions” are merely calculations. She doesn’t see the future but calculates likely outcomes. Garnet herself has admitted that several times, but continues to contradict it as she still falls back to her habit.

Sapphire’s future vision coupled with Ruby's influence that lets her see multiple outcomes, gives Garnet the notion that she knows what will happen.

Steven's complaint that Garnet thinks that she "knows better" is an interesting one, because in a way, he’s right.

Garnet inadvertently robs other people of their agency by over-relying on her visions. In her eyes she knows they won't change, that they will always do this.

And that also inadvertently robs herself of her own agency.

It’s kind of ironic too, because if she truly could see the future in all certainty, she should’ve known that Steven would spiral badly after the proposal and needed support. But that’s the thing, Garnet doesn’t know better, she doesn’t see everything or every outcome.

The biggest irony of this is that despite Garnet being a fusion, has a whole spiel about how conversation is important in any relationship, how her own existence was due to Ruby defying what Sapphire “saw”, Garnet herself is often a hypocrite to her own ideals.

The episode "Future Pool" is proof that her vision is flawed, as it isn't really future vision, but a probability calculator based on the facts she knows (which is also why Garnet never predicted Rose being Pink Diamond or all other numerous surprising things). Even Sapphire in SUF shows it’s all a probability calculation that she’s running.

Even Garnet didn’t predict Bluebird to turn on Steven and all and try to kill him. If she even “saw” that possibility, she didn’t even warn Steven and she egged him on to give her a chance.

But ironically, Garnet didn’t really “learn her lesson” in these episodes, did she? Not the crux of it at least. Her future vision was getting more and more inaccurate in “Future Pool” as she couldn’t get a read on how Steven had grown as a person and wasn’t behaving as expected.

But instead of stepping back and assessing whether she should reconsider her relationship with the ability, as Steven tires to nudge her to think for herself instead of over-relying on visions that aren’t set in stone, Garnet goes back to the same as usual as she learns Steven had matured and factors that in to get back her more accurate future calculations.

Pink’s palanquin

Another example of Garnet robbing people of their agency and being bad at communicating is when Greg was kidnapped by Blue Diamond.

Instead of communicating to Steven that Blue Diamond was in Korea and that she would kidnap Greg if they went there, she just told him to not go.

Steven was at this point super frustrated at the gems not telling him anything and not communicating, while his rising frustration (and trauma) with the gem stuff was rising and he didn’t want to be constantly dismissed and denying knowing about this gem past that was affecting him so much now.

But again, Garnet is bad at communicating.

And when Steven goes to Korea, she robs Steven of his agency by saying this would've happened regardless.

Realistically speaking, if Garnet sat down and talked with Steven, acknowledging his feelings instead of dismissing them and how he felt about his heritage and Rose, (which has been a huge contributor in going into Korea in the first place, being denied his feelings) and Garnet actually explained Blue was there and the consequences going there, Steven would've likely not gone.

But in this twist of irony, Garnet denies her own agency with her flawed view on her vision, doesn't make an effort in communicating with Steven, it ends up fulfilling her vision.

Denying responsibility

It's very interesting that being the leader of the team, the one everyone looks up to, she sometimes struggles acknowledging fault or responsibility.

It’s not that she doesn’t ever not admit fault to something, she has admitted plenty of times. But there are times where she’s steadfast in not having any responsibility or that she had a part in too.

And this stands as an interesting contrast to her companions in the cast, Amethyst and Pearl, who are often confronted with their issues and are expected to change their mind or admit fault.

But there are many times where Garnet simply denies her doing anything wrong. And being the de facto leader, it gets accepted.

Garnet was still very responsible for the proposal thing. And even if Ruby and Sapphire were the ones telling Steven to propose, Garnet could’ve unfused, let the two of them take responsibility and apologise to Steven.

She just brushes it off as them being lovebirds so it’s okay for them to almost ruin Steven’s closest relationship and pins it as his fault for trusting them, despite them being his guardians who he opened up to with a sensitive issue. She denies Ruby and Sapphire their agency and even justifies their bad behaviour because love (but at the same time faults Steven to act on his emotions, despite being actually considerate enough to ask his guardians whether this was a good idea).

Garnet is still responsible for Ruby and Sapphire, because even if Garnet is technically her own person, Ruby and Sapphire are still a part of her and the two of them can choose to become her at any time just as Garnet can choose to become Ruby and Sapphire any time.

Fusion

And that’s another flaw Garnet has. She thinks she “knows better” about fusion, just because she’s a permafusion for thousands of years.

And while she does have a lot of sage and good advice about fusion

She still has her flaws about it. And often lets fusion become a scapegoat for her own responsibility or other people’s.

Like when Sugilite runs rampage.

They don’t even apologise to either Steven or Pearl for all the hurt Sugilite had caused (heck, she almost seemed fine with killing Pearl or at least being fine with all the destruction she caused. Steven even had his bones cracked when a huge boulder hit his face due to Sugilite).

Even if Sugilite wouldn’t be able to apologise, Garnet and Amethyst still could as it was their decision to fuse in the first place even with Pearl’s warnings that they tend to lose control. In fact, Garnet was the one to bring up fusing with Amethyst in the first place.

The only comment Garnet makes afterwards is how Sugilite overworked their bodies and that’s why they’re tired at the end of unfusing. No apology for the hurt they caused.

It’s an interesting contrast to how other fusions act.

Smoky is still apologising on Steven’s behalf with the havoc caused in “Guidance”. Steven apologises to Mega Pearl for Pearl and Pink Pearl, since the trip to the Reef didn’t turn out well. Even Stevonnie is treated as both their fusion and Steven and Connie, and Stevonnie treats themself as that too.

Meanwhile Garnet flip flops between being the result of Ruby and Sapphire’s actions to having no responsibility for Ruby and Sapphire.

Garnet even excuses Bluebird, saying Steven can’t judge her just because she’s a fusion of two of Steven’s enemies that wanna murder him. Which first of all, that was his house and he has every right to not want some strangers invited in there, let alone the fusion of his previous murderers.

Second of all, he absolutely can judge people based on their components. In fact, Garnet is yet again a hypocrite as she really likes Stevonnie, Smoky and all the other fusions because they’re the fusions of their friends. She doesn’t treat them as just their own people, the components matter too with the relationship she has to them. Garnet likes Fluorite, sure, but she isn’t family. But Smoky Quartz is family even at first sight, just because they’re a fusion of Amethyst and Steven.

Reflection

Garnet is by no means perfect, and that’s what makes her a good character. She has flaws like everyone else, just as she has strengths like everyone else.

She doesn’t mean ill with any of this. A lot of it is her being well-meaning too, and she tries a lot to be a leader for the team which is a tough spot.

In fact, being thrust in a leader position is probably why Garnet started over-relying on her future vision. She had to fill the spot Rose left for them, be the mature one as everyone processed their grief and keeping the team together, especially how prone to conflict Pearl and Amethyst were with each other earlier on before Steven stepped up to be the heart of the team.

So it just becomes this interesting if a little tragic and ironic thing that the very things Garnet preaches about and is a symbol of that others look up to, are the very things Garnet is really bad at.

TLDR

While Garnet is often seen as flawless or nearly perfect aside from her fusion with Ruby and Sapphire sometimes showing co-dependence, she does have significant flaws. Her biggest flaw is poor communication, which contradicts her emphasis on its importance in relationships. This flaw becomes especially apparent in her interactions with Steven, where her lack of guidance contributes to his struggles, such as in the proposal situation and the Korea thing.

Garnet’s over-reliance on her future vision also leads her to undermine others’ agency, assuming outcomes are inevitable rather than communicating and acting on them. This creates a paradox, as Garnet’s vision isn’t always accurate, she knows it isn't, she knows it isn't really future vision but a probability calculator and she often has blind spots and she herself is a result of that blind spot.

But Garnet still falls back to treating her visions as inevitable and misses opportunities to protect or support others, including Steven, by denying their and her own agency. Additionally, she sometimes avoids taking responsibility, particularly when it comes to the consequences of her lack of communication, and also using her future vision and fusion as an excuse in certain aspects.

Despite these flaws, it makes Garnet a more complex and compelling character, as dealing with her leadership role she was forced into after Rose's absence. Acknowledging her flaws gives depth to her character and emphasizes the show’s theme that no one is perfect.

#steven universe #garnet #su meta #my stuff

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autistic-ben-tennyson · 6 months ago

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Ben and Gwen: lonely kid and gifted child

I’ve thought a lot about these two and their family dynamic. Both are relatable to me but in different ways. Like Gwen, I’ve always been the “mature” one who was good at school and loved by the adults in my life, but I also don’t have any friends and have a desire for fame and attention like Ben. At first glance, they seem to have little to complain about, being white kids with stable homes and two parents, compared to someone like Kevin, but there’s more to a character than just the surface and I think both have a lot of emotional issues relating to their self worth.

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With Gwen, we get glimpses into her life and how everyone views her as perfect. Sunny envied how she was adored by her parents and Verdona and Gwen wished her mother would stop thinking of her as the “good influence”. All the adults in her family loved her and expected her to be the role model for the other kids which is a double edged sword. Yes you get praise and love but also pressure and high expectations. You’re expected to babysit the other kids and often have to bury your true feelings to please everyone and people will envy the love you get. And that love is often conditional and based around living up to their standards, remember how Natalie told her “normal people don’t glow” and how she doesn’t like her daughter or nephew using their powers around her.

As a kid, she was constantly doing extracurriculars like cotillion and judo before earning a scholarship to go to college early in Omniverse. We got a glimpse into her daily life in “It’s not Easy Being Gwen” where everyone expects her to fulfill certain obligations. Gwen seems like a child prodigy who feels she has to be the best and is always filling her schedule with activities and is always trying to get into the top schools. I think that’s why she fell for Kevin. He was the only one who loved her without putting her on a pedestal or because she’s family. The only person she could be herself around and doesn’t force her to act like a perfectionist. People complain about her outfit change in OV and I agree with some of the criticisms, but with all the pressure in her life, I get why she would want a change from the expectations in her life.

Ben strikes me as someone with a deep inferiority complex. It’s implied that he’s a bit of a loner who doesn’t have many friends with JT ditching him for Cash. He did get along better with Sunny which makes me wonder if he can relate to being in Gwen’s shadow. Fans talk about how great Carl and Sandra are as parents and while they are nice people, their free range approach can seem negligent. They only seemed concerned about Ben’s heroics once they witnessed it. By that time, Ben had been on late night road trips with Kevin, who punched holes in their doors, for weeks and didn’t even come home one night in “Save the Last Dance”. Ben may have acted the way he did in the OS as a cry for help as he feels neglected and the favoritism everyone has towards Gwen may rub off on him. It reminds me a bit of how Steven from SU acted the way he did in the early episodes because he was constantly being left alone without the gems or Greg while being compared to Rose. Kids who don’t have friends nor get much attention while living in a family member’s shadow can and do develop inferiority complexes.

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Ben’s desire for fame seems to stem from wanting to be loved and wanting to feel special. He becomes so full of himself because people finally love him as opposed to viewing him as some average kid. Fans have dismissed the bullying he faced as cliche or unnecessary but it adds to his character. A lonely, bullied kid who’s in the shadow of his overachieving cousin will want something that makes him feel special, like the Omnitrix. Ben has to learn throughout the 4 shows that he is the hero, not the watch. I think that’s why he loved using transformations like Four-arms, Humungousaur and Feedback so much even if they were inadequate for the situation as they made him feel confident. The way he fights is reminiscent of standing up to a bully too, picking an intimidating form, offering a chance to back off and then doing what he can to stop the threat. It’s easy to write him off as just a spoiled brat or narcissistic but I think 1, that’s ableist and 2, is a rather shallow way of looking at his character. While he can be insufferable at times, is it wrong to want acknowledgement or praise when there’s people like Will Harangue or the Rooters who hate you just for existing? I think he deserves a break from fans who hate him and he acts a lot better than most kids would in his situation. Compare him to Shinji Ikari from Evangelion, who I also love as a character, who would break down after seeing what Ben has to deal with every day.

I think both may envy each other at times. Gwen has been shown to be jealous of Ben getting all the glory as well as how Ben was given a car by her boyfriend despite her parents being wealthier. Like Sunny, Ben may have viewed Gwen as a stuck-up overachiever who got all the respect from their parents. That was until they bonded and became friends in the OS but it occasionally came back like when Ben lashed out at her for telling him he couldn’t use Feedback, believing she was trying to take the only thing he had. Because they have it easier than Kevin, it’s easy to expect them to just get over it but I think both Tennyson cousins need a lot of therapy and need to talk about their issues with each other. Both characters mean a lot to me and remind me of my own struggles.

#ben 10 #ben 10 alien force #ben 10 ultimate alien #ben tennyson #gwen tennyson #ben 10 uaf #ben 10 omniverse #ben 10 analysis #Youtube #fandom essay #essay #gwevin #Natalie Tennyson #Sunny Tennyson #Verdona Tennyson

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genshin-impact-updates · 6 months ago

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Gemstone Wrought of Tears and Mettle

"Not long after we first met, I saw Kachina crying, and tried to hand her a handkerchief. But smiling back, she said to me, 'Don't worry, I'll wipe my own tears away.' That was a moment I'll always remember. So don't you worry about her either — the girl's made of strong stuff. Just make sure you give her all the encouragement she needs."

— Mualani

◆ Name: Kachina

◆ Title: Mottled Gold Yet Unsmelted

◆ Nanatzcayan Young Braveheart

◆ Vision: Geo

◆ Constellation: Ochotona Princeps

Just like other younglings of the Children of Echoes, Kachina grew up surrounded by adorable Tepetlisaurs, shiny gems dug up from the depths, and heroic stories passed down by tribal elders. She came to know the mountain paths like the back of her hand, developing a great instinct and skill for searching out the treasures of the earth. In her leisure time, she and her friends would often visit the recording studios where musicians made their music, where they would dance freely to the pulsing rhythms. Growing up in such an environment, the occasional bump or scratch was unavoidable, and when she hurt herself, Kachina would cry out in pain just like any other child. But long before others had recovered from their pain, she would have wiped away her tears and stood back up again.

Of course, she understands why the adults might see her as a good kid — yet she struggles to comprehend why she, of all people, was given the name of "Uthabiti." For as the ancient poem goes:

"The one that dares stand firm as a mountain, their bones like battlements, and hold the sun's gaze — it is they that shall be given unto eternity."

"Fear itself should instead fear me, for my body is like a roaring blaze; destined to melt down all that is mean and lowly, then cast it once more as an epitaph."

What part of her lives up to the lofty spirit embodied by this great name? The young Kachina has yet to figure this out. But having been granted this great honor, she is determined never to give up, no matter how many of her bids at the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame end in vain. Even if it means being ostracized and reproached by her peers, or feeling disappointed, inferior, and at times nearly overwhelmed by landslides of negativity... In the end, she'll wipe it all away along with her tears. Because one thing is for certain — that "Uthabiti" Kachina will never be defeated by her tears.

#genshin impact #genshin impact updates #genshin impact news #official #kachina #well! here's this

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hopepetal · 1 year ago

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They had been running for some time now, chasing after Gem and Scott ever since proclaiming themselves allies. Chasing, without end, prey that was an expert at evading. It was frustrating, and not to mention exhausting.

Pearl took a moment to gasp for air, her footsteps stumbling to a halt. It took Scar a moment to notice, but when he did he stopped as well, turning to look back at her. “You good, Pearl?” he asked, tilting his head slightly in question.

“Yeah,” she got out, “doin’ lovely, mate. Don’t worry about me, just need a second.” She bent over, resting her hands on her knees as she gasped. Her lungs and legs burned from the strain, and despite his calm demeanor she knew Scar was feeling the same.

It took Pearl a moment to realize that her hair was cascading down around her, falling into her face despite the fact that she had tied her hair back earlier. With a groan, she realized her ponytail had come loose, the ribbon she had used still tangled in her hair. “Hold on,” she got out, straightening back up, “I have to tie my hair back up. Can’t be fighting with my hair down.”

“Wait!” Scar set down his shield and bow before stepping forward. “I have a better idea.” Before Pearl could protest, he gently took the tangled ribbon from her hair.

Pearl frowned. “What are you planning, Scar?”

“Sit down, Pearl.” Scar lowered himself to the ground and sat with his legs folded beneath him. “I’ll braid your hair.”

Pearl raised an eyebrow, laughing. She still clutched her bow in her hand, looking around nervously– they were almost a full death game in, and she still was on edge. As if she was planning on winning. “You know we don’t have that kind of time, Scar. Gem and Scott are still out there, and who knows what they’re planning?”

Scar shook his head, patting the ground in front of him. “Sit down. We need this rest, you know. Can’t fight too well if we’re exhausted.”

Pearl sighed, reluctantly setting down her bow as she sat. She kept her shield in her hand, laying it across her lap and fidgeting with the handle. “Alright.” She felt Scar pull her hair back, gently beginning to comb his fingers through her tangled locks. “Y’know, the final fight would go a lot easier if you killed me.”

Scar shook his head, still continuing to carefully brush through Pearl’s hair. “You know why I won’t do that, Pearl. I don’t like all those ‘heroic sacrifices’.”

Pearl laughed, continuing to fidget with her shield. Something about her laughter sounded a little bitter, nostalgic for something that had never happened. “Yeah, I can’t imagine why.”

Scar began dividing her hair up into sections, humming softly as he began to braid. “You have nice hair,” he commented, “very shiny. And soft.”

“You think so?” Pearl asked, free hand drifting up to play with one of her free locks. “Honestly, it just gets in the way during these games. I’m thinking of cutting it.”

Scar gasped, though the smile remained on his face. “Oh, I can only imagine… this game hasn’t even given us hairbrushes, the nerve!” After a moment of silence, he continued. “If you cut your hair, I won’t have any to braid, you know. How’s a man supposed to keep his hands busy like that?”

Pearl laughed, finally seeming to relax slightly as she set her shield to the side. “Grow out your own hair, you goof.” There was a sadness in her voice that Scar couldn’t physically understand– he’d never had long hair, so why did she sound like she was grieving something that never happened? And something so small at that.

For Pearl, the reason why was simple. How could she not grieve the parts of her friends that they’d forgotten they’d ever had? A smile that was missing its mischievousness, a laugh that was missing its depth. A look that had no recognition, no shared secrets. Memories like missing puzzle pieces, lost somewhere unknown. That was what she saw every time blood stained the ground, every time family was pitted against one another like soldiers at war.

Scar continued to braid Pearl’s hair, humming a cheery tune that Pearl knew he couldn’t recall learning. Deft hands paused, lightly holding the strands of hair, before Scar pulled away to grab something. Pearl heard him pick up his sword then hesitate, considering something.

“Aren’t you afraid of me stabbing you in the back?” he asked, to which Pearl laughed. “What? It’s a serious question!”

Pearl turned slightly to look at Scar, giving him a smile. “If you were going to stab me, Scar, it would’ve been when I asked you to. Besides,” she added, turning back around, “even if you did stab me now, I wouldn’t be upset. You’d get ten extra hearts.”

“Eh,” Scar dismissed, far too nonchalant for a discussion of death, “I don’t need ten extra hearts.”

Pearl raised an eyebrow, though she knew he wouldn’t be able to see that. “You might not think the same when we’re fighting against Gem and Scott, mate.”

Scar cut something with his sword before setting it back to the side, his hands taking Pearl’s hair in them again. “That’s a problem for future Scar. Present Scar doesn’t kill his only friend in the entire server.”

Pearl felt a pang of guilt shoot through her. She knew that feeling well– loneliness, grief. Loneliness was an old friend that had once been her only companion. She recognized that in Scar, in his voice and his eyes. She had seen it once before, in the second game. Not that he would remember it.

He might, soon. The voice that whispered to her was none other than her own, her deepest thoughts given words. He could win this. He could become like us.

I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, she shot back, unknowingly tensing up. It was a little silly, getting into an argument with herself, but Pearl had always been a rather silly person. Unconventional, even. At one point, she’d been called insane. Perhaps it was fitting.

And yet you want him to win. The voice made a good point– she made a good point. If she didn’t want Scar to win, she could easily just kill him now. She should kill him now if she so desperately wanted to spare him the fate of the victors. He’d put up a fight, and he was good with a sword. Pearl knew that much, knew that there would be a moment of surprise before his eyes narrowed and heart hardened and the battle began. She also knew that he wouldn’t win against her on the chance she did try her hardest, that she fought with all her might.

Scar knew this too, and perhaps that was why he teamed up with her in the first place. Maybe he had found kinship in their shared loneliness. Maybe he’d wanted protection. Maybe he needed a friend. It was unlikely, but maybe he’d felt drawn to her by a bond he couldn’t quite understand, one made by witnessing the violent and sudden end of a server he couldn’t remember. There were a thousand possible reasons as to why he’d chosen her, and perhaps she’d truly never left the tower after all, because the fact he had chosen her at all still slightly baffled her.

Well. No matter. He chose her, and in the end they’d all die anyway.

“You have gentle hands,” she commented. “Joel tried braiding my hair before. Nearly tugged my whole head off my neck, that man. It’s a wonder Lizzie’s put up with him this long.” No matter what memories they lost, it always seemed like Joel and Lizzie’s marriage remained an unchangeable fact. Maybe it had something to do with “‘til Death do us part’”, though Pearl wasn’t really sure.

Maybe she’d try marrying someone when they got back to Hermitcraft, just to see if it carried over to the next death game. And wasn’t that a strange thought, the next death game? There would be another, Pearl knew, if Grian had anything to say about it. He was a little strange like that, but she’d come to expect those kinds of things from her brother.

“Why thank you!” Scar was beaming, she could tell by his voice. “This just comes so naturally to me. Maybe I should’ve been a hairdresser instead of a trader.”

Pearl laughed, remembering the intricate braids Scar would put his hair in during Last Life and their home server, Hermitcraft. Although he couldn’t remember them, he remembered how to do them. That was a small relief, at the very least. It was nice to know that her friends kept some parts of themselves, instead of being the blank slates she had originally thought when she first regained her memories.

“Maybe,” she responded, starting to pick at the grass in front of her, plucking a small flower from the ground. “I’d go to you all the time if you were my hairdresser.” Her voice took on a teasing lilt as she continued. “Just as long as you promise not to do anything too crazy with my hair, alright?”

Scar giggled, his laughter another part of himself that he had kept even after the loss of his memories. “I can’t promise anything, sunflower! Who knows what might happen if you stop paying attention? I might turn you blonde if you aren’t careful.”

Pearl snorted, twirling a strand of grass around her finger idly. “And where do you suppose you’ll get the dye for that, mate? Or the means to make my hair lighter so it’s easier to dye? We’re not exactly exploding with resources here.”

“Hmm, true…” Scar hummed thoughtfully. “We’ve found ourselves in a bit of a pickle, Pearl!”

Pearl shook her head, rolling her eyes. “No, Scar, we aren’t. I didn’t want to go blonde in the first place, so there’s no need to get the materials we’d need for it. Just keep braiding my hair, you goof!”

“Aww, alright!” Scar laughed softly as he went back to braiding Pearl’s hair. “Almost done.” His voice took on an uncharacteristically serious tone. “How are you feeling? Injuries, exhaustion? General… mental state?” He gave a small chuckle on the last one. “I mean, other than the obvious. This game has been… a trip.”

Pearl groaned, stretching out her arms in front of her. “Tell me about it. I lost all of my Mounders.” Her shoulders slumped. “I really wanted them to win, Scar. I really did.”

“I know,” Scar murmured, “and I’m sorry you didn’t get to see that through. You did your best, Pearl.” He paused. “And what about you? I would’ve thought that after all your allies… got out… that you would want to take up the sword and win for them. But you haven’t really… been doing that. You even offered to let me kill you.”

Pearl held back a shudder, wanting to wrap her arms around herself to fight off the sudden cold that had settled over her. “I don’t want to win,” she mumbled, “Even if I did, I don’t think they’d be too happy if I tried.”

Scar made a confused noise. “What was that? I couldn’t quite catch it.”

Pearl shook her head. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” She took a breath. “I just don’t want to win. Don’t see the point in all this, really. Never have. What’s a victory when everyone else around you is dead?”

Scar hummed thoughtfully, thinking about it. “I suppose you’re right. But in the end, isn’t it better for it to be them than me?”

Pearl chuckled sadly. “Not when you have to live with the consequences.”

Scar paused for a moment, as if struck by a sudden revelation. “...I think I understand. Thanks for, uh, answering my questions.” He continued braiding for another moment. “Alright, I think we’re all done!”

Pearl stood with Scar, reaching back to gently touch her braid. There was a shallow pool of water nearby, and she walked over to check her reflection. “Really, Scar?” Woven into her braid was a sunflower, which must’ve been what Scar cut with his sword earlier.

Scar laughed, joining her by the water. “Doesn’t it look pretty? I thought it was fitting. And!” he continued, over Pearl’s soft laughter, “it adds some brightness to the whole ensemble!” He gestured at Pearl’s outfit, the same she had worn in her past games.

Maybe she would change up her red look next game. If there was a next game. “It does, it does,” she agreed, stifling her laughter. “Thank you, Scar. I look very pretty now, and my hair is out of the way.”

Scar looked over at her, eyes wide. “You mean you won’t cut it? You promise?”

Pearl smiled, reaching out and putting a hand on Scar’s shoulder. “I promise I won’t cut my hair, Scar. Not after you put so much effort into braiding it. I wouldn’t do that to ya, mate. That’s just cruel.”

Scar grinned. “I knew I could trust you!” With that, he turned away from the water and walked back to where he had left his sword and shield.

Pearl spent another moment there, gazing out at the water. Did he really mean that? Did Scar truly trust her? If so, had it just been this small moment that made him let down his guard? No, surely not. Scar was intelligent and cunning, and rarely did he let his walls down for anyone. Something must’ve happened for him to feel this way towards her. Something she had done, or said, maybe.

And that was just if he was being truthful with his words– she knew Scar wasn’t one to ignore the benefits of weaving lies and charm into his speech. He was a masterful manipulator, she knew many underestimated him for the cheery, unassuming front he put up. But that was just another reason as to why he was dangerous.

“Pearl?” Scar’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she looked back at her ally. “You comin’?”

“Yeah.” Pearl jogged over, feeling much more energized than before. Picking up her bow and her shield, she did one last check to make sure everything she had was in order. Once she was certain, she turned to Scar with a smile. “Lets win this one, Scar.”

Scar grinned in return, red eyes shining. “Why, I think that’s a wonderful idea!”

Lightning struck the ground as Gem took Scott’s sacrifice, and once again Pearl stopped Scar. “My offer still stands, you know. Kill me and take the hearts, you’ll stand a better chance against Gem if you do.”

Scar pretended to think about it. “I think I’ll stand a better chance against Gem if I have you on my team. So, no thank you! But thanks for the offer. Come on, we can’t let Gem get away!”

The chase continued, feeling much more light-hearted than the ones at the end of Double Life had been. To be fair, she had gone a little insane in the last few days, but still. Maybe it was Scar’s jovial attitude about killing. Maybe it was the fact that she still had an ally this late into the game. Maybe it was something Pearl would never be able to put her finger on, no matter how hard she tried to think of a reason.

The two inevitably caught up with Gem, who had grown exhausted from the chase. Despite being enemies now, Pearl still felt guilty as she raised her sword to attack, Gem’s wide eyes and shouts of an unfair fight making her hesitate and pull back. It was two against one after all, and Pearl had no intentions of winning. Ganging up on Gem like that felt wrong, but maybe that was just her old bond to the other holding her back. Scar had no such qualms, swooping in when she pulled back to quickly cut Gem down.

Pearl could hardly believe it had happened until lightning struck the ground, and silence rang between the two as Scar stood over Gem’s body. They’d discovered that bodies remained after the last death when Jimmy had died, but it was still a little disturbing to just see Gem laying there. Like she was asleep.

It didn’t feel right.

Pearl had to bite back a snort. Four death games in, and she was still disturbed by the sight of dead bodies. Honestly, it was a little pathetic. She’d killed, and been killed, and yet… somehow, it never got any easier. Somehow, it just got harder. The blood staining her hands had become so much that it was hard to hold onto her weapon, and her scars ached whenever she killed.

Pearl brushed her braid back over her shoulder and lowered her bow, offering Scar a weak smile. “You did it, Scar. Good job.”

Scar laughed softly, not turning around to face her just yet. “It’s just us two left, then. The last ones alive.” “Mhm. What’s your plan now, Scar?” Pearl kept her voice casual, trying to hide the trembling in her hands. How are you going to do it?

How are you going to kill me?

Scar answered her question by turning and raising his bow. Pearl hardly had any time to blink before he shot her, the force of the arrow sending her stumbling back with a shout. Instinct took over then, and she ran as Scar continued to shoot at her. All thoughts of sacrifice fled her mind as she dodged the flying arrows that missed her just barely, reminding her just how good of a shot Scar was.

“Going for it immediately, huh?” she shouted back as she ran, pulling her sword. Not that she intended to use it, not to kill. But she would put up a fight. If Scar wouldn’t let her sacrifice herself for him, then she would do the next best thing. She would fight him, and he would earn his victory. Not like the hollow sacrifice Scott made for her, where victory was force-fed to Pearl by his hands. No, she wouldn’t do that to Scar. She respected him too much to throw the fight.

That didn’t mean she would try to win, not in the slightest. But she would do her best to not make it easy for him. His victory would be painful no matter what she did, but at the very least she could make sure it wasn’t a hollow one.

The next arrow hit her as she ran through the field of sunflowers they had been sitting in just earlier, when Scar had offered to braid her hair. It felt like a lifetime ago as she crashed into the ground, yelping in pain as she tried to scramble back up. “Really, Scar?” She couldn’t help but laugh as she ran, the pain shocking as adrenaline flowed through her veins.

“This game!” Scar called, continuing the chase as he spoke. “There were more of them, weren’t there? And you won.”

Pearl stumbled, surprise catching her off guard mid-stride. She cursed and turned back, swinging her sword down and catching Scar in the side. He stumbled back, granting her more time to flee– but not enough. As she ran, Scar drew back the bowstring, aiming carefully. A running target was harder to hit, but Pearl was moving in a relatively straight path. All he had to do was aim a little ahead, steady, then release.

It was over the moment the arrow flew, striking Pearl in the chest and pushing her over the edge of a cliff, sending her plummeting into the caves below. Lightning struck, and then all was silent.

Scar stood, clutching his bow in a white-knuckle grip. “Pearl?” He took a step forward. The wind blew around him, rustling through his hair and shawl. Sunflowers bowed against the breeze, gesturing in the direction where she’d fallen. “Pearl?! Pearl, sunflower, where are you?”

The breeze led him a few steps further in a stumbling haze, until he stood at the edge of the caves that he’d sent his friend? Enemy? falling into. He didn’t know what he expected– maybe to see Pearl gazing back up at him, a smile on her face and weapon drawn, hurt but alive– but as he looked down into the caves, he found only the body of his first and final ally.

A presence danced around him, heavier than the wind but acting just like it. She’s dead, Scar. You won. Five words whispered in his ear, as thin as the passing breeze. Five words that would’ve meant the world to Scar, once upon a time. Five words that now meant nothing to him as he gazed down at the body of his only friend.

Crouching, Scar swung his legs over the edge of the cave, slowly and carefully lowering himself down. He had to find footholds so that he wouldn’t fall and possibly lose his life as well– the fight with Pearl had left him with fewer hearts than he would’ve liked. “Hold on, Pearl,” he mumbled as he made his way down to where Pearl lay. “I’m coming to get you, I’m… I’m coming, don’t worry, I’ll be right there.”

He dropped the last few feet, wincing as pain shot up his legs and sapped at his strength. Luckily, the drop wasn’t far enough to cause any actual injury, but it was closer than he would’ve liked. He stumbled to catch himself, pulling himself to a halt in front of Pearl’s body.

It was hard to look at her like this. Pearl was someone who was so full of life, always. She was strong and fierce, fighting for what she wanted every day, every moment. She never gave up, not once in all the time that Scar knew her. It hadn’t been long, and it was hard to really get to know someone during a death game like this, but Scar had always been pretty good at reading people.

He knelt by Pearl’s body, brushing her hair out of her face and gently closing her eyes. He didn’t delude himself with pretending she was asleep– what was the point of avoiding death now, when he had caused so much of it? His hands were stained red with blood that he would never be able to wash off.

Scar lingered a moment longer before shrugging off his shawl and gently wrapping it around Pearl. He was careful with her body, handling her as gently as he could as he settled her back against the stone. There wasn’t as much blood as Scar thought there should’ve been, but he wiped the blood that was there off Pearl’s face as best he could.

Then, his hands went to the braid. It had held up well, keeping the sunflower he had woven in secured in her hair. He hesitated for a moment before untying the ribbon that held it in place and beginning to undo the braid.

He began to hum while he worked. Slowly, reverently. A song that came from a place he couldn’t quite remember, a home he once thought he’d never forget. In another world, he would know he was humming the last rites for a loved one, to send them off into the stars. In this world, all he knew of it was the deep, longing ache in his chest and the tears that it caused to spring to his eyes.

Carefully, Scar took the sunflower from Pearl’s hair, placing it down in his lap. He gently combed his fingers through her hair one last time, before tucking it into the shawl. Picking the sunflower back up, he leaned forward and gently kissed her on the forehead. “Good night, sweet sunflower. And goodbye.”

He stood and once more began humming softly, climbing out of the ravine with the sunflower still in his hand. Scar took extra care to not crush the delicate flower as he pulled himself up onto solid ground. The sun was just beginning to set as he made his way toward the Secret Keeper, the intimidating statue that reigned over the entire server. The towering tyrant seemed to gaze down at Scar with eyes he knew he couldn’t see, taunting him with a victory that tasted at best bittersweet.

It grew dark as Scar approached the buttons, but he held tight to the reminder of the sun’s light in his hand. It gave him the strength to push forward even as his legs threatened to give out from under him. He could not hide the trembling, however, that came from the rush of adrenaline and fear.

He raised his eyes to meet the invisible ones looking down on him, a challenge held in his gaze, “You wanted me to be the villain?!” he called out, the weight of being watched settling on his shoulders. “Fine! Here I am!” He reached out and pressed the button to succeed.

Welcome home.

And Scar… remembered. What sounded like thousands of voices overlapping filled his mind, causing him to stumble back with a yelp. He dropped the sunflower, clutching at his head as he was forced to his knees in front of the Secret Keeper.

Sacrifices offered and refused. Atonement rejected, forgiveness given. Arms outstretched, to offer a helping hand. Tears falling into blood-stained water as the two left locked eyes. “For all you have done to keep me alive this long, you may slay me and take the enchanter.”

Bloodied sand, prickling cactus spines, heat waves and cool nights. Two impossible friends, against the world. Traitorous actions, painful fists, a killing blow. “Scar, whatever happens, I think we can count this as a double victory.”

A loneliness that echoed in the silence around him, howling as the wind at night. Bonds broken off entirely, leaving him with only the stars for company. “Everything that happened last season is null and void. Doesn’t count, okay?”

A bitterness that came from once tasting too much sweetness, like slightly burnt cookies. A loneliness that ached worse than when he had been truly alone, for this ache was born of lies and deceit. “I made them, they’re for your secret soulmate.”

A moment of joy, in the midst. A time of family, friendship, and security. Before the secrets, before the lies and the pain, before the fire and the red wars. “We’re the cockers!”

Allies for the first time in what felt like forever. People who truly had his back, no matter what. A place where he could let his guard down and smile, laugh, and live. If only for a moment, he knew what it was like to be loved. He was protected, and he was protective. “You don't go against the family.”

You are seated in a field, surrounded by grass blades, ebbing and flowing through the gusts of your imagination. Each of those blades represent a past life. Memories. Desires. Dreams. And past loves… By plucking one you shall reveal–

“Home,” Scar gasped out, eyes snapping open. “I need to go home.”

You are home.

The presence became louder, more unbearable. Each voice clamored for attention, every new memory begging to be heard. The weight of the universe pushed him into the ground, making him gasp for air in a strained panic.

It was too much. All the memories, all the emotions– it was too much. Scar yelled in pain as it just grew louder and louder, the pressure growing as the weight pushing him down increased. Just like a volcano, it felt as though he was going to erupt at any minute.

And then a cold wind brushed up against Scar’s skin, weaving and dancing around him. “Enough.”

The voices instantly quieted, the pressure vanishing as Scar collapsed to the ground gasping for air. He tried blinking away the tears and black spots that cluttered his vision, making it difficult to see properly.

What he could see, though, took his breath away.

Pearl stood in front of him as a shimmering silver spirit, facing the Secret Keeper with her wings flared out to their full span. She glowed as if she were made from moonlight and stardust, and Scar couldn’t help but stare at her in awe.

“He belongs with us. You will leave him alone.” Her voice was thin and brittle– as if it might snap were someone able to reach out and grab it. There was an echo to it as well, ringing in Scar’s mind as she spoke.

The feeling of being watched vanished completely, and Pearl turned back to Scar. She smiled a silvery smile, and held out her hand to him. “C’mon, mate. Let's go home.”

Scar took her hand, gasping at the sudden coldness that flooded his body– Death. He stood up, trying not to look down at his body that lay where he had fallen just moments earlier. As he stepped forward to join his friend, he couldn’t help but glance back and notice the sunflower lying beside his body, just inches away from his open hand. Nothing he could do about it now.

Scar turned back to face Pearl, noticing the three other spirits that had gathered. He remembered them all now. The winners of the previous games. His allies, his enemies, his friends. His eyes caught Grian’s, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Well hello there,” he greeted his old ally with a grin, letting go of Pearl’s hand to bow dramatically. “Guess we finally cashed in on that double victory, huh?”

Grian laughed, rolling his eyes. His expression warmed as he took a step forward, reaching out to take Scar’s hand in his. “Little late, but I’ll accept it. How are you, Scar?”

“Well, he’s very dead, so I can’t imagine he’s doing great,” Scott interjected, ignoring the glare the two avians gave him. “What? I’m not wrong.”

Scar shook his head. “That you are! I’m actually doing much better now that I remember everyone’s going to come back. Makes me feel a lot less guilty about killing all those people!”

Pearl sighed, though she couldn’t hide the smile on her face. “Y’know, I felt the same way after I won Double Life. And now the games are so much easier for me! It’s nice to get all the murderous urges out now that I know everyone’s going to be fine eventually.”

“This is why everyone calls you two insane,” Martyn muttered, crossing his arms. “Now can we go back home now? I don’t like hanging out in these servers longer than I have to.”

Grian let go of Scar’s hand to pull up some sort of screen, typing commands into it. “Sure, just give me one second.” He continued typing on the screen, swiping through various options and closing others. “Good game, by the way,” he added, without looking up, “I don’t think anyone expected you to win.”

Scar gave a half shrug. “To be honest, G, I didn’t either! Totally thought Gem was going to get this one.”

Grian nodded. “But that’s just how these games go, mhm? Expect the unexpected. Pearl’s win should’ve taught us that much.” He spent another moment typing before closing the screen. “…Alright, we should be heading back to our respective servers soon enough.” He reached out to take Scar’s hand again, taking Pearl’s hand in his other.

“Can’t believe we almost have all of the Boatem crew here,” Scar blurted out, “do you think Impulse will join us next time?”

Pearl laughed. “I hope so! I don’t think Mumbo will be winning any time soon, though. So we might just have to settle for four out of five.”

Scar nodded sagely. “You speak very wise words, Pearl. I fear Mumbo may be too… how do people say it? I fear he may be too much of a wet cat.”

Martyn groaned. “Oh, don’t remind me.”

Laughter rose from the group as the code began its work, and they all began to fade away. Grian held tightly to Scar and Pearl’s hands, locking eyes with the both of them. “I’ll see you both soon, okay?”

Pearl giggled, squeezing Grian’s hand in return. “See you soon, Griba!”

“Goodbye!” Scar called to Martyn and Scott, their responding farewells faint as the server faded away around him.

And then there was darkness.

And then Scar woke up.

#my writing #pearlescentmoon #goodtimeswithscar #geminitay #grian #martyn inthelittlewood #scott smajor #secret life #secret life fanfic

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theobsessedcookiefan · 3 months ago

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Oh oh I have a good one what if y/n cookies was lover of the five beast and they see them get corrupted as how is they reaction seeing them crying broken heart saying please please please PLEASE give him/her back give me back my beloved cookie of volition/ knowledge/change/ happiness/ solidarity I want them back to me I’m will do anything just please turn back to normal

NOOO.. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... Alr, I'll do it bc I like to torture myself and y'all need to suffer with me 😠😠😠

I'm going to make different names for the pre-corrupted beasts!! Bc I seriously doubt they were named that way before 😓😓

I read somewhere that Burning Spice was called Warming Spice before?? I'm not sure tho- but I'll use that name!! I'll try to be original in the names but if it gets too close to other names that other people give them then I'm so sorry bc I probably saw it and don't remember 😓😓😓

Ohboyitendeduplongerthanexpected

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Life is a bitch sometimes, it can give you everything you ever desired and take it back in an instant, were you too egotistical? Did you broke the universe balance by being too happy? Maybe it wasn't fair, you lived happily with the best Cookies you've ever met, compassionate, heroic and righteous, the whole package if you could say so, and they loved you oh so much, so much that they would sacrifice everything for your well-being and happiness, to protect your smile; the prettiest smile they've ever seen.

You remember when it started, the first warning came that damned week, you, Blueberry Milk and Saccharine Sugar were helping the locals to make a new orphanage, having a gift exchange game for the kids, at one moment the adults had to bring the food from the first location and left the kids with both of you, they were quite the handful if you were being honest but what could you expect from little cookies? You decided that maybe a little game would calm them down, but you were so busy, not noticing that your partners were getting stressed, when you came back with everything to play you saw half the kids laying down in the ground, obviously you panicked, trying to see if they were breathing or not but thank the divines they were only asleep. When you found the other you saw quite the scene, Saccharine Sugar was playing a melody with her harp and Blueberry Milk was helping the kids to lay down more comfortable in the floor, once he saw you she shook her a bit, she blinked and the music stopped, making the kids wake up, it wasn't that bad but you still told them not to do that again. If only you could've been there when they got the idea..

The second warning came at a perfect afternoon in White Flour's temple, it had been a busy day for her, many cookies came searching for her to make their wishes reality, she seemed extremely tired after all that work so you offered your lap for her to rest her head on, she ended up telling you about how greed changed some of them, how many of them wanted money and gems, it was disappointing really. If only you reassured her that that money could be used for helping people..

The third sign was the fights between Sea Salt and Warming Spice, those two had always been close and used to spar to improve their fighting skills so you were used to it, but that day it ended up with both of them badly injured, you remember running to stop the reddish cookie from using the sharp end of the blade, your worried expression and tone of voice seemed to snap them both of some kind of trance and so you told them to go directly to the healer of the village. If only you were there with them when they fought again..

Then it all faded to chaos, maybe they realized they held all that power or grew bored of the routine? Either way you remember standing in front of a destroyed village, cookie's screams sounding everywhere, it was such a horrible vision, you couldn't even start to comprehend what happened, that was until you heard that melodic voice, it was Saccharine Sugar! Was she hurt too? The virtues were the heroes of the village, they obviously fought against whatever destroyed right? Right..?. Without other thought in mind you ran to where her voice could be heard and what you saw was horrifying, her wings were creating big gusts of wind that were destroying the houses around and she was laughing at it.. She was actually enjoying it. It couldn't be! She was the most gentle of the five, she couldn't find pleasure in hurting others could she? No, not your Saccharine Sugar, not her. You ran towards her extending your hand to try and reach her, she didn't expect you to appear so the wind stopped and you were able to hug her, thing that surprised her.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

"Please.. Please stop, we can find a solution for this, just stop, we can rebuild the village, I know they'll forgive you, just stop please."

It was a desperate plea more than anything else, but she didn't respond, her face expressionless and soon everything faded to black for you.

When you woke up you didn't recognize the place you were in, that was until you looked up, it was night time already? You could've sworn it was afternoon before.. Before.. Oh no, without thinking it twice you got up as quickly as you could, starting to run, trying to see if you could identify the place you were in, you ran for a while until you found one of the villagers hiding behind a barn, a barn? Oh! You were on that area, you got closer to the Cookie hiding and they told you how the virtues started to destroy everything they saw, how many of the villagers didn't survive the chaos and how the remaining were trying to escape but every entrance to the village was guarded by one of them, that was good, at least you knew where your partners were now, you thanked the villager, telling them to hide inside the barn instead and that you would stop the virtues. Oh how wrong you were.

You found them? Yes of course you did, they were guarding the entrances like that villager said, but they were different, not only their appearance but their personality, you remember trying to get to each one of them, pleading for them to stop this madness;

"Please, don't you see you're hurting others? You're supposed to protect them! We can still fix this!"

"If you continue with this you'll only get far away from yourself, please come back, I'll talk to everyone and try to make them understand what happened!"

"I know you care about them, you're not as apathetic as you act, I promise we can solve this together! Just please.."

"Come on.. This is just cruel and you know it! Your plays are supposed to bring others joy, not pain!"

It didn't work, at the end they just looked at you as if they didn't had any idea what you were talking about, as if this was what they were meant to do. Maybe they couldn't be saved? Maybe they were supposed to end like this? Probably, maybe this was what the witches wanted all along..

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

#cookie run #cookie run x reader #crk x reader #beast cookies #beast cookies x reader #crk

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fafnir19 · 1 month ago

Text

The King-Boy

The sun shone brightly on a crisp autumn afternoon as Tristan, with a hint of reluctance, made his way from his student apartment to his family home. His strides were purposeful, yet there was an air of casualness about him with his hands shoved into the pockets of his blue varsity jacket —a signature Tristan charm.

He'd been tasked with babysitting his younger sister, Emily, and while he wasn't exactly thrilled about it, he knew it was the least he could do after rejecting his father's wishes. The tension between them was palpable; Tristan's decision to turn down the military scholarship had been a sore spot, and his father's disappointment hung heavy in the air.

He knew his father wanted the best for him, but the idea of a disciplined military life never sat well with Tristan's free-spirited nature. He had always been a bit of a rebel, and the thought of obedience and rigid rules made him cringe. Besides, the prospect of being sent to war zones, fighting for causes he didn't believe in, was not something he was willing to risk his life for.

Whatsoever today, Tristan had no choice but to put that aside and focus on Emily. Upon arriving at the cozy family home, Tristan found Emily in her pink-themed bedroom, a room that screamed 'little princess.' She sat on her bed, her curly brown locks bouncing as she eagerly awaited her brother's arrival. "Tristan!" she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with adoration. "You're here! Are you going to read me a story?" He couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm, his heart softening despite himself. "Of course, Em. What story did you have in mind?" Emily scrambled to her bookshelf and pulled out a well-worn fairy tale book. "This one! It's about a princess and an evil queen. I want to know if the princess gets saved." Sighing, Tristan sat on the edge of the bed, his varsity jacket creasing slightly.

"Alright, let's see what this princess is up to." He opened the book, his deep voice filling the room as he began to read. "Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, there lived a beautiful princess..." As Tristan narrated the tale, Emily's eyes grew wide with wonder. The story was one of adventure and peril, where the princess was captured by an evil queen with magical powers. Brave knights attempted to rescue her, but many fell victim to the queen's dark magic, transformed into creatures or slain by her guards. Tristan's voice took on a dramatic tone, bringing the characters to life. "The king, desperate to save his daughter, sought a brave soul who could break the curse. But all who tried..." He paused for effect, "...met a grim fate." Emily's attention was rapt, her small hands clasped tightly together. "Do you think anyone can save her, Tristan?" He shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess we'll have to wait and see." Tristan's voice held a hint of boredom, his mind drifting to his own predicament. He, too, felt trapped, albeit in a different kind of fairy tale. "I bet you could save the princess," Emily said, her voice filled with admiration. "You're so strong and smart." A chuckle escaped Tristan's lips. "Me? Save a princess? I don't think so. I'm not the heroic type, and I'm definitely not risking my life for a stranger." Emily's face fell slightly, but her belief in her brother was unwavering. "But you're my hero, Tristan. I know you'd help her if you could." She reached into a toy box and pulled out a plastic necklace with a glittering red gem. "And with this magic necklace, you could control dragons! The princess would be saved for sure." Tristan couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. He allowed Emily to place the toy necklace around his neck, indulging her playful imagination. “Thanks, Emily," he said and played along. "I'll keep it safe until the right prince comes along."

As Tristan continued reading, Emily's eyes grew heavy, and she drifted off to sleep. As Tristan sat there, the gem at his neck began to glow, emitting a soft light that illuminated the room. Startled, he reached for the necklace, but before he could grasp it, a whirlwind of magic engulfed him and a blinding flash transported him into the very fairy tale he had been reading. He found himself in a grand hall of a castle, its high ceilings and ornate columns a stark contrast to Emily's cozy room. The air was thick with the scent of incense, and the sound of distant trumpets echoed through the halls. Tristan, now dressed in a blue velvet jerkin, tight white pants, and golden riding boots, stood in awe, taking in his new surroundings.

"Noble Tristan, what a blessing that you are here to free my daughter!" A deep voice startled him, and he turned to face a regal figure—the king himself. Tristan's heart raced, realizing he was now a part of the very story he had been reading. Although surprised by the king's knowledge of his name, Tristan maintained his composure. He had no intention of playing the hero, but he recognized this as his chance to find a way back home. Feigning interest, he played along, knowing this was his ticket to finding the elusive queen. "Your Majesty, I am at your service. I shall do whatever it takes to aid in the princess's rescue." His mind, however, was already plotting his escape from this fantastical realm. "But first, I must ask, where might I find the queen?" The king's eyes narrowed, and he stroked his beard thoughtfully. "The queen, with her dark magic, resides in a castle beyond the northern mountains.” Delighted by Tristan's willingness, the king revealed his plan. "We have learned of a secret passage that leads directly to the Queen's castle. if you can distract her, my men will sneak into her castle and rescue my daughter." Tristan just nodded.

And so, with the king's guidance, Tristan embarked on his quest, riding through enchanted forests and crossing mystical rivers. The journey was not without its perils, but the young man's determination kept him focused.

Finally, the majestic castle of the evil Queen loomed before them. Guards, clad in dark armor, escorted Tristan while he strode through the castle's halls, his boots echoing on the stone floors. The throne room loomed ahead, and as he entered, the evil Queen's laughter echoed off the walls, sending shivers down his spine. "Ah, another brave soul, come to rescue the princess?" she cackled, her eyes sparkling with malevolence. "Do you not fear the fate of those who came before you?" Tristan stood tall, his voice steady. "I do not seek the princess, my lady. I have a more personal request. I wish to return home, and I was told you might hold the key to my freedom." The Queen's eyes narrowed, her interest piqued. "And why should I assist you, young man? What could you possibly offer me?" Tristan leaned forward, his expression earnest. "Knowledge, my lady. I have learned of a secret plan—an invasion of your castle. If you help me, I can provide details that might save countless lives." The Queen's laughter filled the room and the knowledge of his impending betrayal only added to her amusement. "You would betray your king for your own gain? How delightfully cunning. Very well, young Tristan, I shall send you home, but first, share with me these secrets." Tristan revealed the king's plan, his words flowing freely. The Queen listened intently, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction as she realized the extent of the betrayal. Within hours, the queen's forces had captured every man involved.

Tristan, stood before the evil Queen, his once indifferent demeanor now laced with a hint of nervousness. He had played his part, revealing the King's plan, and now awaited his reward—a passage back to his world.

The Queen's smirk sent a chill down his spine. Delighted by Tristan's treachery, she was offering him a place by her side. "Don't you want to stay and explore the wonders of this realm? You could be a revered knight, admired by all." Her words were tempting, playing on his desire for admiration. But Tristan's reluctance to commit to anything beyond his self-interest remained steadfast. "A knight? No, thank you, Your Majesty. To die on some battlefield, fighting for a cause that isn't mine? I'd rather not end up a casualty of war. I want to return home." His response was laced with a hint of sarcasm, a remnant of his mischievous nature.

The Queen's eyes narrowed, her amusement turning to intrigue. "Very well, Tristan. To go home, you must kiss me and voice your wish." As the words left her lips, Tristan couldn't help but grin. *So this is how it's done in fairy tales*, he thought, amused by the cliché. He leaned in, his lips brushing against hers. The kiss was innocent at first, a mere formality to seal their agreement. But as their lips touched, a spark ignited within Tristan, a sensation he had never known before. His body responded with a hunger he couldn't control. His cock throbbed against the confines of his pants, straining against the fabric. The Queen, sensing his arousal, broke the kiss and ran her fingers along his jawline, her touch sending waves of pleasure through him. "My, my, what have we here?" she purred, her eyes glinting with satisfaction. With deliberate slowness, she began to undress him, her fingers deftly unbuttoning his jerkin and sliding it off his shoulders. Tristan stood before her, naked and exposed, his cock standing erect, a testament to his desire. The Queen positioned herself on her throne, her dress pooling around her like a dark cloud. She spread her legs, revealing her moist core, and beckoned him with a tilt of her head. Tristan needed no further invitation. He moved towards her, his cock leading the way, and thrust into her with a rhythm that spoke of his urgency. "Yes, my noble Tristan, show me your strength," she crooned, her voice laced with encouragement. "Show me how you wield your sword." Her words spurred him on, and he fucked her with increasing fervor. The throne creaked with each powerful thrust, the sound of flesh slapping against flesh filling the room. Tristan's breath came in ragged gasps as he neared his climax. "I'm so close," he moaned, his voice hoarse with desire. The Queen matched his rhythm, her hips rising to meet his, her fingers digging into his shoulders. "Show me, Tristan. Show me the power of your sword." With a final, powerful thrust, Tristan reached his climax, his body shuddering as he released himself deep within her. He cried out, a sound that was part pleasure and part surprise, as he experienced a release unlike any he had known before.

Spent, he collapsed at the Queen's feet, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

The Queen, still seated on the throne, looked down at him with a satisfied smile. Her hand reached out, stroking his flaccid cock. To his surprise, he felt himself respond, his cock twitching back to life and slowly stiffening once more. "Oh, my dear Tristan," she cooed, her voice dripping with satisfaction, "I see you are not yet done. Are you wishing to put your sword in my service, Tristan?" she asked, her voice laced with both power and seduction. She knew full well the power of her words, the double meaning they held. Tristan, still dazed from the intensity of his orgasm, didn't fully comprehend her words. He assumed she was referring to his cock, and without hesitation, he answered, "Yes, my Queen." A grin played around the queen's lips, because she had him right where she wanted! She reveled in the thought that Tristan has just unwittingly pledged himself to her. "Welcome, my knight," she said, her voice dripping with satisfaction. "And how far might you go to serve me, my loyal subject?" Her tone was light, almost playful, but the undercurrent of power was unmistakable. The question caught Tristan off guard. But before he could process his response, the words tumbled from his mouth before he could stop them, as if some unseen force guided his tongue. "I would die for you, my Queen." He froze, shocked by his own declaration and the consequences of it slowly dawning on him. Had he just agreed to become her knight? To serve and protect her, even at the cost of his own life? How could he, the very embodiment of youthful reluctance, offer such a profound sacrifice? His mouth had betrayed him, speaking words he never would have uttered under normal circumstances. The realization hit him like a slap. He had just pledged his life to this woman, this evil enchantress. As if reading his thoughts, the Queen chuckled, a sound that sent shivers down his spine. "Oh, my dear Tristan, you have just become my knight. Your fate is sealed, and your loyalty is now unwavering." His agreement to serve her with his 'sword' had triggered a spell, binding him to her will. Tristan's mind raced as he tried to process what was happening. He had never been one to commit wholeheartedly to a cause, especially one as dangerous as knighthood. But now, under the Queen's spell, his thoughts were transforming. The idea of fighting on the battlefield, of risking his life for her, no longer filled him with dread but with a sense of purpose and honor. And strangely, the thought of dying for her made his cock twitch with desire.

The queen's eyes narrowed, a mixture of amusement and triumph dancing in their depths. She had sensed the change in him, the magic coursing through his veins. "Excellent, my knight. Your devotion is... inspiring." She rose from her throne, her movements graceful and calculated. "Come, let us prepare you for your new role." As if in a trance, he followed her, his steps steady and sure, as if he had always been destined for this path. She led him to a nearby chamber. The marble floor of the chamber was cold against Tristan's bare feet as he followed the queen, his body still glistening with sweat from their passionate encounter. The air was heavy with the scent of incense, and the flickering torchlight cast an eerie glow on the stone walls, creating an atmosphere that both intrigued and unnerved him. At the center of the room, a massive bathtub, carved from pure white marble, awaited them, its surface shimmering with steam. The queen, dressed in her elegant black dress, stood by the tub, her eyes sparkling with a mixture of satisfaction and anticipation. Tristan's heart quickened as he realized the vulnerability of his nakedness in contrast to her fully-clothed form. It was a stark reminder of the power she held over him, a power he had willingly surrendered. "Step in, my knight," she purred, her voice laced with a command he couldn't refuse. Obediently, Tristan approached the tub and lowered himself into the hot, soothing water.

The queen knelt beside the bath, her fingers trailing along his skin, sending shivers down his spine. She held a sponge, dripping with fragrant soap, and began to wash him with slow, deliberate strokes. "You have served me well, Tristan," she whispered, her breath warm on his neck. "And I shall reward you." Her words sent a thrill through him, but it was not the promise of a reward that made his heart race. It was the touch of her hands, the intimacy of this moment, and the knowledge that he was entirely at her mercy. She washed his shoulders, her fingers kneading the tense muscles, and then moved down his arms, her touch both gentle and possessive. As the sponge glided over his chest and arms, he felt a tingling sensation, and his breath caught. His body hair, once a source of pride, was disappearing, leaving his skin smooth and flawless. The queen's magic was at work, transforming him, and he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of excitement at the loss of his former self. Her hands traveled lower, and she cupped his balls, "Your manhood will be a symbol of your dedication." His balls, once heavy and low, began to shrink and tighten, moving upwards as if drawn by an invisible force. It was a strange, almost pleasurable sensation, and he found himself grinning. "My Queen, what... what are you doing to me?" "Ah, my knight, you are becoming more perfect by the moment," she murmured, her voice dripping with satisfaction. "These shrunken, transformed balls will keep you youthful forever. A fitting gift for my loyal servant." Tristan shuddered, his cock hardening at her words. The idea of being her eternal servant, a plaything, should have terrified him, but instead, he felt a rush of excitement. He had become her pleasure tool, and the thought of being nothing more than an object of her desire sent a wave of arousal through him. "Do you like what you see, my knight?" she asked, her fingers tracing the outline of his hardening cock through the water. "Do you like how I've made you?" "Yes, my Queen," he replied, his voice hoarse with desire. "I belong to you." She smiled, a triumphant gleam in her eyes, and continued her bathing ritual, ensuring every inch of his skin was touched by her magic. The water grew cooler, and she helped him out of the tub, her hands never leaving his body. She dried him with a soft cloth, her movements slow and sensual, as if she were savoring every moment. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she produced the outfit of a knight, but with a seductive twist. The black leather pants she offered him were tight, hugging his legs like a second skin, and he felt a surge of power as he slid them on. No underwear, just his bare skin against the leather. The jerkin, black velvet with a plunging neckline, framed his chest, leaving it exposed to her gaze. "Dress, my knight," she commanded, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Let me see my creation." Tristan complied, pulling on the pants, feeling the soft leather caress his skin. His cock strained against the material, the outline clearly visible but he no longer cared about modesty. The queen had taken that from him, replacing it with a constant state of arousal. He donned the jerkin, feeling the velvet brush against his nipples, now sensitive to the slightest touch. "Perfect, you are the embodiment of my desires. A bold knight, ready for battle, and a youthful pleasure boy, eager to serve." she whispered, running her hands over his chest and down his stomach, lingering on the bulge in his pants.

Tristan looked down at himself, his body a perfect blend of strength and sensuality. He was no longer the hesitant jock; he was a creation of the queen's making, designed for fighting and fucking.

The thought should have been alarming, but instead, it excited him. "Your transformation is complete, my knight. From now on, you will serve me, and the very thought of sacrificing your life for me will bring you pleasure." The queen's eyes sparkled with triumph. "You are mine, Tristan, body and soul." He stood tall, his body humming with newfound energy, his mind already embracing the destiny she had envisioned for him. Tristan's reluctance and indifference had vanished, replaced by a burning desire to please his queen, to fight and fuck in her name. As he left the chamber, his footsteps confident, he couldn't help but grin, his eyes gleaming with a newfound lust for life—or perhaps, more accurately, a lust for death in the service of his dark and enchanting queen.

Eighty years had passed since that fateful day when her brother, Tristan, had vanished, leaving nothing but a trail of unanswered questions. The pain of his disappearance had dulled over time, but the memories remained vivid, especially the one of him reading to her from a fairy tale book, a cherished moment before he vanished without a trace. Now, in the twilight of her life, Emily found herself in a senior home, sipping lukewarm tea, a far cry from the warm and lively household she once knew. She had long given up complaining about the temperature of her tea, knowing the nurses wouldn't heed her requests. But on this particular day, as she reached for a faded fairy tale book, a surge of nostalgia and curiosity overcame her. It was the fairy tale book that Tristan had always read to her. The pain of his disappearance too raw to bear, she had avoided the book for decades, for it was the last thing Tristan had read to her before his sudden absence. But now, as she approached the end of her journey on this earth, she felt prepared to revisit the story. "It's time to finally finish the story, Tristan," she whispered, her voice carrying a mix of determination and sorrow.

As she turned the pages, a bittersweet smile crept across her face. She noticed the peculiar coincidence of the protagonist's name, Tristan, identical to her brother's. It was as if the author had known her brother, capturing his essence in the character's deeds and demeanor.

The tale spoke of a young man, noble and brave, who found himself entangled in a web of magic and deceit. This Tristan, like her brother, was charismatic and confident, his charm effortlessly drawing people to him. But there was a darkness to this fictional Tristan, a mirror of the flaws Emily knew all too well in her brother. The tale spoke of Tristan's betrayal of the king, a deceitful act committed for personal gain. Emily's eyes widened as she read, for she saw her brother's actions in this fictional betrayal. It was a trait she had witnessed in him—a tendency to prioritize his interests, sometimes at the expense of others. She thought back to the countless times Tristan had charmed his way out of trouble, his mischievous smile belying a clever mind. "How could he betray the king and the princess?" she whispered, her voice carrying a mix of disappointment and understanding. In her heart, she believed that the queen's magic, which bound Tristan to her service, was a fitting punishment for his treachery. It was a harsh lesson in loyalty and honor, one that her brother had seemingly failed to learn. Yet, as the story progressed, Emily's disgust grew. The ease with which Tristan succumbed to the queen's enchantment, becoming her knight and, worse, her pleasure boy, was unsettling. She had always known her brother to be a charmer, but this... this was different.

The tale continued, revealing that Tristan's free spirit could not be contained for long. He rallied the queen's warriors, turning them against her, and in a twist of fate, he became their leader. With cunning and guile, he tricked the queen, a common trope in ancient fairy tales. But Tristan's punishment was cruel; he had the queen shackled in red-hot iron, forcing her to grant his every wish. Yet, despite his efforts, he remained trapped in his youthful form, forever horny and without a trace of modesty. He ruled the realm with a youthful vigor, conquering other kingdoms and earning the title 'King-Boy'.

Emily's heart fluttered as she read these words, unsure if she was thinking of the fictional Tristan or her brother. "He always did have a way of getting himself into peculiar situations," she sighed, a mixture of fondness and exasperation in her voice. A tear escaped, rolling down her wrinkled cheek, as she remembered her brother's playful smile and the sound of his laughter.

As Emily's fingers brushed the final page, the ancient binding began to glow, emitting a crimson light that illuminated the room. A figure emerged from its pages —her brother, Tristan! Emily's breath caught in her throat as she beheld a young man, no older than nineteen, with a mischievous glint in his eye, his attire a blend of fantasy and allure. He was dressed in enchanted knight attire, his black leather pants hugging his legs, and a black velvet jerkin showcasing his chest. His blond hair, once neatly styled, now held a slight wave, and his piercing blue eyes had softened with a lustful gleam.

"Tristan?" Emily whispered, her voice trembling. The young man smiled, and it was a smile she knew all too well. "Hello, Emily. It seems you've been reading about my adventures." His voice carried a hint of amusement, and he strode into the room with the confidence of royalty. “I've missed your company." His gaze, once indifferent, now held a mischievous glint, as if he relished the surprise he had caused. Emily's eyes welled up with tears of joy and relief. She offered him the teacup, a gesture of hospitality. "Welcome home, dear brother. I'm afraid the tea isn't very warm." Tristan took the cup and frowned, his brow furrowing in a familiar manner. "Indeed, it's rather lukewarm, isn't it? I've never been one for cold tea." Emily sighed, her gaze drifting to the window. "I've complained about the tea countless times, but the nurses here never seem to listen." Tristan took the cup and walked to the door. "Maid!" he called out as a nurse hurried past the hallway. "This tea is cold!" The nurse, flustered and annoyed, stopped in her tracks. "The tea is hot enough, and I've no time for your games, young man. Mr. Williams in room 203 can't breathe, and I need to attend to him." In a swift motion Tristan poured the tea onto the nurse, startling her. "Hey!" she exclaimed, taken aback by the sudden action. "Cold tea, indeed!" he exclaimed. "If it were hot, you'd be howling in pain. Apologize, maid, for your insolence!" The nurse, to Emily's astonishment, fell to her knees, as if compelled by an unseen force. "I—I'm sorry, sir," she stammered. "Excellent," Tristan purred, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "As a merciful king, I shall grant you a chance to redeem yourself. Bring us hot tea, posthaste, and address me as my King." As the nurse scurried off, Emily's mind raced. "Tristan, what about Mr. Williams?" Playfully raising an eyebrow, Tristan feigned ignorance. ""Emily, he can no longer breathe. I doubt tea is on his mind at the moment." Emily's expression turned from concern to confusion, and then to realization. Tristan's indifference to the plight of others had not faded over the years. She took a deep breath, her emotions warring within her. "But Tristan, he might—" He cut her off, his eyes sparkling with ambition. "Do you think they'd still offer me that scholarship at the military university? I could make those generals bow with a mere glance!"

Emily's emotions battled within her. The joy of having her brother back was tempered by the realization that he hadn't changed. The same playful arrogance that had always charmed her now left her conflicted. "Tristan, you... you haven't changed a bit. But I thought..." "Changed? Why should I? The world bends to my will, and I've ruled the fairy tale realm for decades. Imagine what I could do at that military university! I've conquered countless fairy tale realms, and now, I could rule this world too." Tristan's eyes gleamed with ambition. Emily shook her head, a mixture of fondness and exasperation washing over her. "You always were stubborn, Tristan. But I'm just glad you're here. I've missed you so much." Tristan's expression softened, and for a fleeting moment, a hint of vulnerability flashed in his eyes. "I've missed you too, Emily. But enough of this sentimentality. Let's enjoy this tea and plot my return to the mortal realm. I have a kingdom to rule and a world to conquer!" As they awaited the nurse's return, Emily couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder and unease. The brother she knew and loved was back, but he was also a king from a fairy tale, with all the complexities and contradictions that entailed. He spoke of conquests and power, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was the hero or the villain of his own story.

#male tf #male transformation #servant #mystery #fairy tales #prince tf #evil queen

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hmshermitcraft · 2 months ago

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(Shiny Duo for the theme :3)

Gem doesn't understand how everyone seems to be so blind. She's been writing for the news about this new "superhero" for only a week and she's already figured out her identity. How has no seen this? Her coworker, Pearl, is terrible at hiding anything. Especially from Gem. To Gem, it's obvious that Pearl's face is the same as the hero's, the mask covers 5% of her face, it's clearly her (not that she looks at Pearl's face that often...). And it's suspicious how Pearl refuses to cover any stories on "Selene". She always disappears when Selene shows up and it's ridiculous how no one's seen this yet!

Gem is just writing the story that is meant to reveal Pearl's identity outside a nearby Cafe when there's a loud crash. Gem turns to see a monster standing before her. The Cafe shuts it's doors and windows leaving her trapped outside. No one else is around, Gem is alone.

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Pearl hopes she isn't coming off as creepy, watching Gem from the window of the building. She just looks so cute down there. Pearl couldn't be happier that her work crush is the one writing stories about her hero persona, it means Gem watches all of her battles. She's tried to clue Gem into her identity, hoping she'll catch on and ask her about it. But nothing has come of it, was Gem really that dense??? And as Selene, she pays extra attention to Gem when she's around, trying to give her good shots with the camera. Pearl is pulled from her thoughts when she hears Gem's scream, she looks down and sees a monster grabbing her, and her heart drops.

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Gem's thoughts are frantic as she's kidnapped. "No, no no no no! Please, save me, literally anyone! Ugh, even if it's Pearl, I don't care! I swear, if she gets me out of here, I won't tell anyone who she is, I swear!" Tears stream down her face as she prays for help. Then, she hears a familiar voice

"PUT. HER. DOWN!"

Gem will not pretend an awkward conversation didn't follow Pearl's heroic rescue. Which was very heroic, and also very... How does Gem say this diplomatically? Hot.

Pearl knows she should be a little offended that Gem was planning to expose her secret identity. And she is! She is a little. But in the glow of a successful rescue, she manages to find the humour in it.

Gem wasn't oblivious to Pearl's attempts to reveal her secret identity no! Just oblivious to the fact Pearl was only doing it for Gem. Ha! Take that miss clever and pretty reporter!

#hermitshipping #ask #gem tag #pearl tag #gempearl #mod 🎀#weekly theme: superpowers

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starmatrixgirl · 20 days ago

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

#Heroic Gems Impact #magical girl #original character #oc #christmas #mahou shoujo

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sunshines-child · 11 months ago

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Screw "my mama was quiet and my papa was loud" what about My mother, yes, my mother. A gentle tide pull, carrying the treasures she takes from the shores to give them back again tenfold. Smart and crafty, slipping between grains of sand for the knowledge of the gems that hid between them. Gentle and soothing, she held me every night as boisterous voices filled the halls, slurred words mixing with the smell of potent wine. My father. Muse of many a bards tale, heroic and wily he was. I never knew him, and I still don't as he sails those seas, parting them like a razor blade. I feel like he s a rushing current, strong, beating against the rocks greedy and demanding. He contrasts with my mother, yet they mingle together smooth, and it is the only time his force dwindles down and he lays quiet. My father, the ever rushing current, and my mother, the gentle tide pull. Oh how I love them, both.

#epic the musical #odyseussy #the odyssey #odysseus #telemachus #penelope #tagamemnon

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clean-casual-analysis · 6 months ago

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When the villain is a philosophy

When you think of the word antagonist, the first thing that comes to mind is a villain. This is completely natural, given that stories of good vs evil tend to follow a heroic protagonist fighting against an evil antagonist. But once you get into the definition of the word, a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something, moral alignment doesn’t dictate whether a character should be a protagonist or an antagonist. The most recognizable examples of this would be the likes of Invader Zim and Megamind, characters that are villainous in nature but are still the protagonists of their respective stories.

But villain protagonists and hero antagonists aren’t what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about the antagonists that aren’t entirely focused on, at least in the traditional sense. Antagonists that, despite being the source of conflict in the narrative, don’t actually show up a lot of the time. These antagonists, while characters in their own right, are more symbolic in nature. The protagonists of these stories aren’t just trying to defeat the antagonists, but the rotten philosophies that these antagonists have. The beliefs that push the antagonists to do their villainous acts.

White Diamond: Uniformity and the Status Quo

In the entirety of the original Steven Universe series, not counting the movie or SU Future, White Diamond appears in three episodes out of one hundred and sixty episodes. (Two if we don’t count White Pearl/Volleyball) That’s not even one percent of the series. In most series involving a good vs evil plot line, we usually switch perspectives between our heroes and villains to understand how they’re reacting to the events of the story. But SU is entirely told from Steven’s perspective. The audience only gets new information about gems, homeworld, Rose Quartz, etcetera, when Steven himself learns it. Because of this perspective, we don’t see the final antagonist of the series until the very end of the show.

But even though White Diamond is not present throughout the majority of the show, her homeworld subordinates and beliefs fill in the place of the hurdles that the protagonists must pass. Think about what the show is about and what lessons it teaches. Relationships are intricate and need mutual respect, being proud of who and what you are, and (most importantly) societal roles do not define you. The development of the main characters each involve acceptance of the self and bucking of what’s expected of them. Pearl fully moving on from Rose, Garnet improving her self-love, Amethyst fully accepting herself for what she is, Peridot’s disillusionment with Homeworld and growing appreciation for earth, Connie disobeying her mother’s strict rules, Steven slowly becoming someone better than even his own mother, I could go on. It’s honestly surprising, looking back, how most of the characters’ core issues stem from the lack of self-assurance and how homeworld views their flaws.

White Diamond and her Homeworld regime ultimately represent how systems put limits and stigma onto people for the sake of uniformity. The consequence of living inside your own head. A fusion cannot happen between two different gems, Pearls must be servants, Quartz gems must be big and strong, and Diamonds must be the perfect leaders. Why? Because that’s just what gems do. Because that’s how the system works. Homeworld’s status quo is one of creating an ever-expanding empire at the cost of independence, self-expression, unique lifeforms, and healthy relationships. The system can’t be wrong, White Diamond can’t be flawed, it’s how things have always been so why change what isn’t broken.

Sauron: Dominance and Corruption

While he has more screen presence and is a much more a significant part of the story of Lord of the Rings than White Diamond is to SU, the dark lord Sauron is similarly one small part of a larger tale. Heck, he doesn’t even have dialogue in the book trilogy. Also, like White Diamond, Sauron is best represented by his many underlings. Ruthless orcs with crude but effective weaponry, colossal beasts to crush his enemies underfoot, massive armies dedicated to the dark lord’s cause of dominating all life in Midde Earth. But what’s most notable about Sauron isn’t the great power he possesses or the armies he commands, it’s the way he corrupts and deceives those that stand against him.

The betrayal of Saruman the White, the nine Nazgûl once being great kings of men who were turned into terrible ringwraiths, and most notoriously, the enticing power of the one ring. Boromir, believing that Gondor can use this evil weapon for good. Smeagol, utterly degraded into a deceitful cave dwelling throttler named Gollum. Frodo, forced to carry a heavy burden that weighs him down both physically and mentally. To Sauron, the corruption of good is a weapon he wields with unmatched lethality.

The insidious nature of his villainy is what makes Sauron the great representative of dominance and corruption that he is. The promises of more enticing good people to do evil for the “right” reasons and the ruthless conquest for dominion over all is all too real an evil to ignore.

The Martians: Colonialism and Warfare

I debated with myself on whether or not the martians from War of the Worlds should be included here. Unlike Sauron or White Diamond, the martians are clear and present throughout the story. On the other hand, there isn’t a named martian general or a big bad that’s shown to lead the alien invaders into combat. In the end, the fact that the martians are made to purely represent the darkest parts of humanity outweighs the secondary theme of this essay.

One of, if not THE first alien invasion story, War of the Worlds messaging is clear and easy to understand. The tentacled beings from Mars are coldly intelligent, remorseless, and regard our world with envious eyes. They use human blood as sustenance when they aren’t vaporizing us by the hundreds, their tripods are horrific machines of mass destruction, and their invasion is one of slaughter and destruction. But the book is quick to remind us that humanity isn’t so morally innocent compared to the martians. The consumption of our blood seems horrific, but humans have also killed animals and each other for food and resources. Their tripods are colossal and terrifying, but humanity has made countless destructive war machines. The invaders are dead set on wiping out humanity, but humanity not only brought extinction to animals like the dodo bird but to entire groups of our own kind. The martians are not simply an alien invasion to fight back against, it’s a cautious look into our worst future. A humanity that prioritizes ruthless colonization and military might is a humanity doomed to be parasitic and heartless.

War of the Worlds also takes a critical view towards solving problems through warfare. Violence is sometimes needed to fight evil, but that does make violence a good thing. The action and battles in War of the Worlds are not thrilling or glorious, they are horrific and even bumbling to an extent. Much like the early British imperials that they represent, the martians are arrogant and only win because they have the better technology. Even the destruction of a tripod has severe consequences, a flaming wreckage falling into a lake and boiling the humans hiding there alive. There is nothing pride or goodness to found in destruction and death. Warfare and violence should be the last resort of those trying to survive, yet humanity and martians brandish their weapons without care or empathy for those beneath them.

The Truth, In-Fighting, and the Seemingly Insignificant

These antagonists all represent a morally dangerous part of humanity. The stubborn refusal to change a flawed status quo, the desire to dominate and corrupt those who don’t, needless conquest and bloody war. But despite all their power and influence, these philosophies that the villains believe in fail them in the end.

For White Diamond, her ultimate failure stems from the mortal enemy of all tyrannical systems: the truth. In the last episode of Steven Universe, White Diamond removes the gemstone from our protagonist’s body. Believing that the mischievous Pink Diamond is merely hiding in this human body, White seeks to end this silly game once and for all. But once the gemstone is removed, it does form into Pink Diamond or even Rose Quartz. It forms a bright pink Steven. In the final act of Change Your Mind, White Diamond is faced with reality and all its implications. This gemstone is Steven, it’s always been Steven. This half human is not the irrational or childish person, it’s White. The leader of Homeworld, the one who’s supposed to know all and make things better, is wrong. But in order to do that, she needs to leave her own head. One of the hardest things for a person to do is admit when they’re wrong, that their foundational beliefs holding up a status quo is deeply flawed and objectively false. But accepting that you were wrong, learning from and fixing your mistakes, and becoming something better than what you were before is the greatest reward anyone genuinely looking for redemption can ask for.

For Sauron, his victory over Middle Earth comes so close. Minas Tirith has been ravaged, the army of man outside the black gates are crumbling before his might, and the ring bearer has been corrupted. However, just when all hope is burned to ash, something unexpected happens. Gollum, the epitome of the corruptive power that the one ring possesses, attacks Frodo to get back his precious. Whether it’s through struggling with Frodo like in the movie or not paying attention like in the book, Gollum falls into the fires of Mount Doom with the ring in tow. In the movies, we’re told that the eye of Sauron can pierce through cloud and stone. Because of this detail, I personally wonder what was going through the dark lord’s mind as he watched Gollum plummet to his death. The one ring’s defense, Sauron’s greatest strength, corrupting others into fighting amongst each other, was what led to his ultimate downfall. This is not the first time something like this has happened. Think back to the orcs fighting amongst themselves, or when Wormtongue stabs Saruman in the back. Not to mention that the mercy of both Frodo and Bilbo is what led to Gollum reaching Mount Doom in the first place. Even with all his armies and power, Sauron underestimated the petty infighting amongst his followers and the little acts of kindness of his enemies. Even when the forces of darkness seemingly succeed, all they’ll have left is each other to destroy. As Frodo himself said in the Two Towers book, they can’t conquer forever.

For the martians, their demise comes outwardly from nowhere. Their Tripods fall silent and they all die due to sickness. The book states that the martians either never encountered bacteria like earth’s or they had wiped out all disease on Mars. In both scenarios, the martian’s belief in their untouchable superiority over earth led their death. As soon as their invasion started, they were doomed. War of the Worlds isn’t just a hard look at what humanity could become, but also a love letter to all types of life. Bacteria, the seemingly most insignificant part of our world, is our savior here. It is so, so easy to despise germs and how they make mankind ill. But they also decompose dead flesh, helps the human body digest food, and are just as vital to our world as so many other creatures’ humanity takes for granted. All forms of life has a place in this world and to undervalue, let alone actively want to eliminate, all of it is foolhardy and black-hearted.

It’s how these stories come to an end is why I’m attracted to the idea of villains representing abhorrent philosophies. They show the inherent flaws of such morally bankrupt ideas and how their failures are inevitable. The desire for uniformity and belief that your status quo is flawless cannot stand up to the truth of the situation. Great and powerful conquerors seeking to corrupt will find themselves destroying each other when there is nothing left to dominate, while small acts of generosity and sympathy keep their opponents afloat. Arrogant war lords with their mighty machines will crumble to the things they deem to be insignificant.

#steven universe #white diamond #sauron #tolkien #lord of the rings #martians #war of the worlds #analysis #character analysis #media analysis

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rainyinautumn · 1 year ago

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Scar does not lay down and die. He’s fought too hard to go out like that.

It’s a strange feeling, to know that he’s in full control of when he dies. No one chasing him down, no ticking clock, no curses. Sure, he doesn’t have regen, but he has a full row of hearts—a whole life ahead of him that he can spend in Sunflower Valley.

He doesn’t remember until he arrives that there’s nothing for him there. It’s about fifty percent craters. Some of them are blackened by the wither, and others by gunpowder. Despite it all, though, there are still sunflowers. Not many, but they’re facing his way when arrives, as if trying to be the welcoming party he never had. Scar sits down at the edge of one of the craters and swings his feet back and forth over the drop. It’s not deep enough to kill him, hardly even deep enough to take a heart off of him. The ash settled at the bottom is picked up by the wind, blowing into Scar’s boots and hair. He doesn’t wipe it out. It’s his only reminder that he wasn’t always alone in this world.

Across the crater, the air shimmers purple. Before Scar can figure out what it is, the color coalesces into a ghostly figure with a faint halo that shines just like the sun. Grian smiles at him wanly and holds out a bouquet of poppies and lilacs.

“You’ve won, Scar,” he says. “It’s time to go.”

“But I’m not ready yet,” he objects.

“He didn’t get me any flowers,” Scott mutters as he sits down beside him, transparent and crowned with a dozen tiny stars. “Trust me, you’re ready. You’ve won. There’s nothing left.”

“Well, I never had much anyway,” Scar says coolly. “Can’t say this feels too different.”

“I know.” Pearl’s voice comes from his other side along with the soft glow of the moon, and his heart aches, unwilling to turn toward her. “I know, but the game’s over, Scar. You did well.”

He wants to tell her sorry, but that would be disingenuous. He wouldn’t change a thing about that fight—the only thing he regrets is that it had to be her.

“More than well, I’d say.” Martyn takes shape in the center of the crater, his coral crown glittering the angry red of Mars. “I’m loving the trend of villainous winners we’ve got going here. Who do you think’s gonna be next? Joel? Gem?”

“Maybe we’re due for a more heartfelt finale,” Scott says, sending a sidelong glance Scar’s way. “No offense.”

“Didn’t you win through a battle royale?” he retorts.

“Didn’t we all?” Grian sighs. “It’s just the way of the game. Killing people. It’s a bit hard to get a heroic winner out of that.”

Scar stares at his feet. “I thought I’d feel more relieved,” he admits. “Like I’d- like I’d, y’know, won something. Now that the adrenaline’s gone, it’s all just kinda…”

“Empty?” Grian fills in for him.

“Disappointing?” Scott suggests.

“Sad?” Pearl says.

Martyn kicks a rock. “Fleeting?”

“One of those things,” Scar sighs. “So… now what?”

“I already told you,” Grian huffs, tired but good-natured. “It’s time to go.”

“Die, you mean,” Scar says. “It’s time for me to die.”

Martyn draws an axe that looks far more corporeal than the rest of him. “It’s my turn to take you out,” he tells him. “I was planning on a nice quick beheading, but I’m open to suggestions.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Scar stammers, scrambling backward. “I don’t get to choose how I go?”

“Well, sort of,” Grian explains. “You’ve won. The only thing that can take you out now is another winner.”

“Pearl zapped me when my time was up,” Martyn says. “Didn’t hurt for more than a second.”

“And what if I don’t let you?” Scar asks.

Scott puts a hand on his shoulder, but it goes right through. “There’s no way around this, Scar.”

“Martyn has to kill you,” Pearl reiterates. “It’s not up to him, or us, or you. No one can move on until you’re gone.”

“Says who?”

Grian gestures broadly at the horizon. “Who do you think?”

The Secretkeeper looms in the distance, a dark sky overhead. It’s watching him. Scar knows it is. It’s waiting, impatient as ever, for its final task to be completed.

Martyn hefts his axe over his shoulder. The move should be threatening, but there’s no malice in it. His hand sits firmly on the handle, white-knuckled and duty-bound, but the rest of him is relaxed. He doesn’t want this to be a fight.

“I guess everyone’s waiting on me, huh?” Scar says. “Let’s get this over with.”

He walks up to Martyn and kneels, removing his hood to expose the back of his neck. He feels the cold edge of the axe blade placed against it and screws his eyes shut.

“Any last words?” Martyn asks.

“I’m taking away all your reputation points for this.”

He laughs, genuine and nostalgic. “Fair enough.”

The axe lifts, and a breeze ruffles Scar’s hair as it comes back down on his neck.

There’s a searing flash of pain, and then nothing. His eyes stay closed, staring at the darkness.

“Scar,” Grian says, his voice closer than before. “Scar, it’s done.”

He blinks warily, taking a moment to process the view he sees. The rest of the world now has the shimmering transparency of the ghosts, while the other winners are now solid and real in front of him. Grian is still holding the bouquet—when he extends it to Scar, it changes shape, twisting into a flower crown.

“Wait,” Pearl says. “One last thing.” She waves her hand and two glowing sunflowers wrap themselves into the wreath, blooming side by side. “There.”

Grian steps forward, right in front of Scar, who’s still kneeling in the center of the crater. “Congratulations, Scar,” he says. “You won.”

The crown is a perfect fit.

#couldn't just write nothing about scar's win so here have this #the last winner has to kill the most recent and there's technically nothing in canon that says I'm wrong so #clutching this headcanon forever #goodtimeswithscar #secret life #slsmp spoilers #trafficblr #relevant rainy things

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